Category: Holy Bible Book

My Answer to Dr. Henebury’s question: Which Covenant Could Christ Be?

Good evening Dr. Henebury,

I’ve enjoyed reading your latest articles exploring the covenants. They make for such a wonderful treasure hunt in Yahweh’s word.

You asked “Which covenant could Christ be?” This is a wonderful challenge so here is my take for what it is worth.

I agree that Matthew 12 can be seen within the messianic redemptive theme of Isaiah 42.

Concerning Matthew’s quote of “in His name Gentiles will trust.”, this is more directly expanded upon in Isaiah 11 where the passage describes the ‘Branch’, the “root of Jesse” to whom the “Gentiles seek”. In Romans 15 Paul quotes Isaiah (11?) describing Jesus as the “minister of (to) the circumcision for the truth of God” which truth “confirms the promises made unto the fathers”. Those promises made to the fathers, Paul explains, are related (in part) to the “mercy” Yahweh will show the gentiles.

Romans 15:8-12 8 Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers: 9 And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name. 10 And again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people. 11 And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people. 12 And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust.

Isaiah 11:1,10
And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:….

10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

Isaiah 49 builds upon this theme by describing a “servant”, a “light to the Gentiles”, a “Redeemer of Israel” , a “covenant for the people”.

Which covenant can Christ be?

For what it is worth my reply to Dr. Henebury is below. For those interested, before you read my reply I’d encourage you to read his article to get the full context of his question and then see what you come up with yourself. It’s a wonderful subject and worthy of every Berean’s consideration. Dr. Henebury’s article is here.

Authors Note:
For those of you wondering, I hope to finish up Part II of Rebooting a Christian Conspiracy Theory by next week. I was hoping to post it this week but not quite done yet.

The Heart of Daniel 9

With all we have learned in these article the one thing that stands out to me, is how intimately Daniel 9 and the 70 Seven’s (shabuwa) are connect to the Oath (shebuw’ah) Yahweh swore (shaba) with Abraham. An oath confirmed to Isaac, Jacob, and David, brought to Israel’s attention by Moses, mentioned by Daniel in his opening plea to Yahweh (Dan. 9:4), mentioned by Zacharias (father of John), Mary, Peter, and Paul.

For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess [OT- shaba] to God. (Romans 14:11 insertions mine) I Swear Indeed!

The Messiah Factors and Daniel 9
This background concerning shaba and seven brings me to Messiah Factors and Daniel 9. Remember Daniel 9 is the only prophecy in the Bible which provides a specific and datable timeline for the coming of the Messiah. It is my belief that these numbers, these prophetic messianic symbols are the means by which Yahweh intended the prophecy of 70 sevens to be calculated. What better way to ensure that His people (the Jewish People) understood that Yeshua is the Messiah of the Scriptures than connect the fulfillment of the prophecy of 70 Sevens with symbolism of Yahweh’s redemptive plan as found in the Torah of Moses?

And then there is apostle Paul’s quote from this famous passage:

Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; that every tongue should confess [shaba/swear] that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)

How many times have you heard or read Phillippians 2:9-11 and not realized its awesome context. Do you understand that someday every single one of us will bow a knee and every one of our tongues will confess (sware-shaba an oath of seven) that Yeshua is our Lord and our Savior?

By the way, for those who doubt that Paul is referencing an Old Testament quote here in Phillipians, take note of Romans 14:11 where he used the same quote only prefaces it with “it is written” a clear reference to the Old Testament.

Daniel 9 and the Oath of Sevens

Are you beginning to see the connection? Daniel’s opening words in chapter 9 are a plea for Yahweh to remember the “covenant and mercy” which we now know was an oath of sevens He the living God of the Bible made with Abraham, an oath (shabuw’ah) which foretold the coming Messiah. While Daniel was praying for this “covenant and mercy” Yahweh sends the angel Gabriel with a prophecy of 70 Sevens.

Are you beginning to see the connection? Daniel’s opening words in chapter 9 are a plea for Yahweh to remember the “covenant and mercy” which we now know was an oath of sevens He the living God of the Bible made with Abraham, an oath (shabuw’ah) which foretold the coming Messiah. While Daniel was praying for this “covenant and mercy” Yahweh sends the angel Gabriel with a prophecy of 70 Sevens.

Well of the Sevenfold Oath

In Genesis 22, YHWH, by His own sovereign will, swore (shaba) an oath (shabuw’ah) with Abraham that he would bless Abraham and that this blessing would include, in part, that through Abraham’s seed all nations of the earth would be blessed. A couple of verses help illustrate this promised seed and His purpose. The apostle Paul describes the “seed” in this way:

Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. (Galatians 3:16)

The author of Hebrews describes Yeshua as the seed of Abraham who sent to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.

For verily he [Yeshua] took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. Hebrews 2:16-17

After the birth of John, Zachariah his father prophesied about the coming messiah. He describes this coming “mercy” and the “holy covenant” as the oath Yahweh swore with Abraham.

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;

As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;

To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,.. (Luke 1:68-73)

Finally the apostle Peter explains to his Jewish brethren that Yeshua was the fulfillment of this covenant made with Abraham.

Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities. (Acts 3:25-26)

Seven, 70, & Sevens: Daniel 9 & the Bible’s Messianic Symbolism part 4

I Swear Sevens
At the heart of Daniel 9 is the fascinating Hebrew word shaba (shaw-bah) which means to swear. Now you won’t see shaba in the English text of Daniel 9, but it is the Hebrew root word from which 7, 70, Sevens, and oath are derived. In fact, the Hebrew phonetic spelling of swear and 7 are exactly the same.

It wasn’t until the Middle Ages that the Mesorites added vowel pointings (cantillation marks) to the Hebrew text in order to help the reader distinguish between the words (based upon their interpretation of the text).

Take a look at the images to the right, I’ve provided the phonetic spelling of swear and seven without the pointings. I’ve also included the Hebrew numerical letter value for each word. As you can see they are the exact same word.

The TWOT Bible Lexicon provides us with some fascinating insights into the word shaba (shaw-bah) to swear:

It is apparent that sh¹ba± “swear” is identical in its consonantal root to the word sheba± “seven.” It is identical, of course, to the feminine form of seven-the masculine adding a fourth letter, “he”-and it is in the feminine in which the Hebrew counts his cardinal numbers! [another approach is to call shib±â the fem. from though it is used with masc. nouns, and sheba± the masc. from used with fem. nouns. R.L.H.]

Not only is the Hebrew verb “to swear” identical in the ancient unpointed text to the number seven, but also a relationship is suggested by the 2000 B.C. incident of Gen 21:22-34 . Here Abimelech desires Abraham to swear to deal uprightly, while Abraham in turn requires Abimelech to swear that the well of water belongs to him, Abraham. Abraham then seals the oath by giving exactly seven ewe lambs as a testimonial witness to Abimelech, and the well is called Beer-sheba, or Well-of-the-seven-oath! Thus BDB has defined sh¹ba± by the pithy oneline paraphrase, “to… seven one self, or bind oneself by seven things” (p. 989). Gesenius cites Herodotus iii:8 and the Iliad, xix:243, to give evidence that in the ancient world it was not uncommon to seal an agreement by the septenary number….

Seven, 70, & Sevens: Daniel 9 & the Bible’s Messianic Symbolism part 3

Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment [dabar-word] to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks [sevens/70], and threescore and two weeks [sevens]: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. (Daniel 9:24-25)

Fascinating, isn’t it? Notice in verse 24 that the prophecy gives an overview of the 6 goals that will be accomplished in regards to the Jewish people and the city of Jerusalem. After this summary in verse 25 the angel then gives the first specifics of this countdown to the messiah. Notice it clearly states that from the going forth of this “commandment” (Hebrew dabar or word) it will be 7 “weeks” (sevens) until the coming of the Messiah.

Let me tell you about the Hebrew word the English text presents as “weeks” (sevens). This is one of the most fascinating Hebrew words in the Bible.