Chapter 8 – Covenant
Abraham
The covenant between Melchizedek[1] and Abraham was formalized approximately 1900 years before Jesus. Implications of this covenant merit further consideration. This contract covered Abraham and his descendants;[2] the Jewish people were covered by this covenant. The history of the Hebrew people is replete with implications to this covenant. There are more than a dozen references to covenant in the Bible; for example it is affirmed as being an “everlasting covenant.”[3]
As a result of this agreement, the Jews became the chosen people; they were to bring an increased spiritual awareness to our planet. A significant part of this pact was the people were to remain faithful to God, which was the major aspect of the agreement.[4]
Being the chosen people did not mean bad things couldn’t happen to them, rather they would be helped when bad did things happen. For example, about a hundred years after Melchizedek, the tribes who later became the Jewish people were taken to Egypt and the time in captivity was difficult for them; they were delivered from the Egyptian captivity a couple hundred years later when Moses led them out.[5]
About eight hundred years later Nebuchadnezzar conquered part of Israel and once again they were taken into captivity, this time to Babylon; about 500 years before Jesus the Israelites returned to Palestine.[6]
At the time of Jesus, Israel was relatively peaceful; the Romans were in control but they were careful not to anger the Israelites, their rule was very tolerant in the Mediterranean world;[7] the Roman procurator, Pontius Pilate, was actually afraid of them.[8]
When it came time to select a race for the bestowal of our creator father, the Jewish people were chosen because they had the best spiritual, intellectual, and racial characteristics.[9] The covenant had produced a race that could form the foundation for the bestowal of Michael on our planet.
During the life of Jesus the covenant was still operative. This covenant said God would help them as long as they believed.
This covenant was in effect until Tuesday before the crucifixion. That afternoon Jesus gave his final discourse in the temple. Among other things, he told his listeners that they were about to lose their position in the world as the standard-bearers of eternal truth and the custodians of the divine law.[10] They were the bearers of truth to our world but this was about to change; he gave them one last chance to repent, but they did not.
That evening the Sanhedrin, the ruling body of Jerusalem, met and debated what to do about Jesus. They had previously informally voted for his death, but this evening they voted on a formal resolution; without any trial they voted unanimously for the death of Jesus.
As a direct consequence of this vote, the Melchizedek covenant with Abraham ended just before midnight on Tuesday, April 4, AD 30.[11] That was the real termination of the Jewish nation.
From this time on the Jews were left to finish their brief and short lease of national life wholly in accordance with their purely human status among the nations of Urantia. Israel had repudiated the Son of the God who made a covenant with Abraham, and the plan to make the children of Abraham the light-bearers of truth to the world had been shattered. The divine covenant had been abrogated, and the end of the Hebrew nation drew on apace.[12]
When we make a covenant with God we must totally and eternally honor the agreement; taking the oath of a covenant is serious business. While we enjoy the assistance of our Father, it is imperative we remember our obligations under the agreement, the covenant.
The downfall of Jerusalem was terrible. In 70 AD the Roman army entered the city, destroyed the temple, killed over one million Jews, and over 95,000 captives were taken as prisoners.[13]
Breaking a solemn covenant is serious.
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Appendix 2 has a further discussion of Melchizedek. ↑
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Bible, Genesis 17:7-8 ↑
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Bible, 1 Chronicles 16:17 ↑
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All references are to The Urantia Book unless otherwise stated. The number refers to the single column version in the format page.paragraph; 1020.7 ↑
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Ryrie Study Bible, Expanded Edition, New American Standard Bible, 1995 update, Moody Press, Chicago, 1995, p 90 ↑
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Ryrie Study Bible, p 720-1 ↑
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1332.2 ↑
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1988.1 ↑
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1344.2 ↑
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1906.3 ↑
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1909.4 ↑
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1910.1 ↑
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http://www.bible-history.com/jerusalem/firstcenturyjerusalem_destruction_of_jerusalem_in_70_a_d_.html
Retrieved 1/3/18. ↑