God’s first covenant with Israel was
written in the book of Moses.
His book was also called the book of the covenant: “He read in
their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found
in the house of the Lord” (2 Chr 34:30).
The Hebrews broke
their first Covenant.
God condemned Israel and complained, “My covenant they brake”
(Jer 31:32). Elsewhere, the Bible says, “They continued not in
my covenant” (Heb 8:9).
As punishment,
God cast Israel from their Promised Land.
He said, “Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land
that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye
serve other gods day and night; where I will not shew you favour”
(Jer 16:13).
Israel’s
rebellion was written in a book.
God commanded, “Write it before them in a table, and note it in a
book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever: that
this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not
hear the law of the Lord: which say to the seers, See not; and to
the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things” (Is 30:8-10).
God made a new
covenant with Israel.
The New Testament states, “This is the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will
put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I
will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people” (Heb
8:10).
The book contains
promises of God’s grace.
When commanding the book to be written, God added, “Therefore
will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore
will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you. . . For the
people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem” (Is 30:18-19).
The book is to be
sealed.
Isaiah noted, “The vision of all is become unto you as the words
of a book that is sealed” (Is 29:11).
The book will
come to an unlearned person.
Isaiah continued, “The book is delivered to him that is not
learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not
learned” (Is 29:12).
The book is for
the time of the end.
The Bible says, “Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables,
that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an
appointed time, but at the end it shall speak” (Hab 2:2-3.
The book, a
record of Joseph, will be joined with the Bible, a record of Judah.
Ezekiel prophesied, “Take thee one stick, and write upon it, For
Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take
another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim
and for all the house of Israel his companions: and join them one
to another into one stick” (Ezek 37:17).
The book will
come out of the ground.
David prophesied, “Truth shall spring out of the earth; and
righteousness shall look down from heaven” (Ps 85:11). Since
Jesus said, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth”
(John 17:17), the truth that David prophesied to come out of the
ground is a book – the book of the latter-day covenant.
When Israel broke
the covenant, they became lost sheep.
Jeremiah said, “My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds
have caused them to go astray” (Jer 50:6).
Jesus came to the
lost sheep of Israel.
He said, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of
Israel” (Matt 15:24).
Jesus promised to
visit other lost sheep.
Jesus said, “Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them
also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be
one fold, and one shepherd” (John 10:16).
Jesus promised to
declare His Father after leaving the Garden of Gethsemane.
There, he prayed, “I have declared unto them thy name, and will
declare it” (John 17:26).
Jesus will
declare His Father’s name through the horns of unicorns.
The Bible reveals, “Thou hast heard me from the horns of the
unicorns. I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of
the congregation will I praise thee” (Ps 22:21-22).
The horns of
unicorns refer to Ephraim and Manasseh.
Moses explained, “His horns are like the horns of unicorns: with
them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and
they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of
Manasseh” (Duet 33:17).
The purpose of
the book is to gather Israel to Jesus.
Ezekiel continued his prophecy, “Behold, I will take the children
of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will
gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land” (Ez
37:21).
