On May 21, 2022, Eric Rank will present the sermonette, titled, “Much Will Be Required,” and Dave Harris will present the sermon, titled, “The Realm of God.”
The live services are available, over video and audio, at http://eternalgod.org/live-services/ (12:30 pm Pacific Time; 1:30 pm Mountain Time; 2:30 pm Central Time; 3:30 pm Eastern Time; 8:30 pm Greenwich Mean Time; 9:30 pm Central European Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.
Express wrote on May 13:
“Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia Dmitry Medvedev said… NATO support [for Ukraine] will make a direct conflict between the alliance and Moscow more likely. He also warned that this could even result in a full-blown nuclear war…. This comes as NATO looks set to welcome Finland and Sweden as new members in a move that has appeared to rub Moscow the wrong way. The Kremlin warned it ‘will be forced to take retaliatory steps, both of a military-technical and other nature’ if the Nordic NATO plans materialize…
“Putin already put his nuclear forces on high alert back in March, sparking fears of a nuclear war. He has also been unveiling some terrifying weapons in his 6,000 strong arsenal. This includes the Sarmat II, dubbed Satan II by the West. This is an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of carrying 10 or more nuclear warheads and can hit targets in the US and Europe.”
Express wrote on May 13:
“Turkish President [Tayyip Erdoan] argued Finland’s plan to apply for NATO membership, and the expectation that Sweden will follow, would bring about the expansion of the alliance that Russian President Vladimir Putin aimed to prevent from happening by invading Ukraine… Saying it was a mistake for NATO to accept Greece as a member in the past, he added: ‘As Turkey, we don’t want to repeat similar mistakes.’… Mr Erdoğan then said: ‘Furthermore, Scandinavian countries are guesthouses for terrorist organisations. They are even members of the parliament in some countries. It is not possible for us to be in favour.’
“Mr Erdoğan’s comments were primarily directed at the militant group the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which Turkey regards as a terrorist organisation, although they appeared to encompass the communities of Kurdish origin in Scandinavia as a whole. Sweden has a large Kurdish diaspora, with the community considered to be one of the largest outside of the Middle East…. any decision on enlargement [of NATO] must be made by unanimous agreement of its members, a single country opposing a nation’s bid to join could block the membership from unfolding.”
The Associated Press added on May 16:
“Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday ratcheted up his objection to Sweden and Finland joining NATO… [He] said Swedish and Finnish officials — who are expected in Turkey next week — should not bother to come if they hope to convince Ankara into relaxing its objections to their membership.”
Deutsche Welle wrote on May 18:
“Turkey on Wednesday stopped NATO members from starting talks on the bids launched by Finland and Sweden to join the alliance… Helsinki and Sweden handed their official bid to NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday morning… other members of the alliance have given their full backing to the Nordic countries and remain optimistic that they can overcome Turkey’s objections. They hope to complete the process in six months rather than the usual 12 months.”
Turkey is the second-largest military in NATO. It joined NATO 70 years ago. Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty says an attack on any NATO country should be seen as an attack on all. While Sweden and Finland have long had close relations with NATO, they are not covered by its security guarantee.
Deutsche Welle wrote on May 13:
“If [Sweden] formally joins NATO, it will end over 200 years of Swedish non-alignment. It would be a severe setback for Russian President Vladimir Putin… NATO’s land border with Russia is set to more than double if Finland and Sweden submit their membership applications.
“Such an expansion by the Western military alliance would leave Russia surrounded by NATO countries in the Baltic Sea and the Arctic.”
Deutsche Welle reported on May 14:
“Finland’s ruling Social Democrats backed a proposal on Saturday to apply for NATO membership… The party followed in the footsteps of Prime Minister Sanna Marin, who released a joint statement with President Sauli Niinisto on Thursday saying Finland must join the alliance ‘without delay.’… With the majority of Parliament backing membership, an official application is expected within days…
“The Kremlin’s response to the Finnish president was that any move to abandon Finland’s historically neutral stance would be a mistake. Putin said Russia posed no threat to Finland, but that membership in NATO could negatively affect the countries’ relations. The Kremlin cut off Russian electricity supplies to Finland on Friday night after the firm supplying the electricity, RAO Nordic, complained of payment arrears. Russia provided about 10% of Finland’s electricity, but this has largely been covered by imports from Sweden.
“NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has previously said both Finland and Sweden would be welcomed into the alliance ‘with open arms.’”
On Tuesday, May 17, Finland’s legislature approved the country’s bid for NATO membership with 188 votes in favor and eight against. The vote in Parliament was seen a formality. Deutsche Welle wrote:
“The vote clears the way for a Finnish application for membership in the Western defense alliance. President Niinisto will now have to sign the application and hand it in to NATO’s headquarters in Brussels… .German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said Germany will increase military cooperation with Sweden and Finland during the application process… Finland joining NATO would be the biggest security policy shift for the country since after World War II, after which the country adopted a policy of military nonalignment and neutrality.
“Finland shares a 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) long border with Russia, and Moscow has strongly opposed its membership in NATO. Neutral Finland was invaded by the Soviet Union in 1939 and fought two wars against it during the course of World War II. It ultimately lost large chunks of the eastern Karelia province to the Soviet Union and had to pay reparations.”
On Sunday, Sweden’s governing party backed a plan to join NATO. Axios wrote that “Sweden’s Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson announced Monday that her government will formally apply to join NATO”, continuing: “Sweden does not share a border with Russia but has long feared the possibility of Moscow invading Gotland — a strategically located island in the Baltic Sea viewed as critical to the defense of the region.”
The Sun reported on May 16 that as a consequence, “Russia has started deploying nuclear missiles toward its border with Finland.”
Express wrote on May 14:
“Sergei Lavrov… told a Russian audience: ‘The collective West has declared total hybrid war on us and it is hard to predict how long all this will last but it is clear the consequences will be felt by everyone, without exception. We did everything to avoid a direct clash – but now that the challenge has been thrown down, we of course accept it.’…
“Efforts by the West to isolate Russia were doomed to fail, Mr Lavrov claimed, while pointing to the importance of Russia’s relations with China, India, Algeria and Gulf states. His comments come two days after Boris Johnson travelled to Finland and Sweden to sign security pacts with the two Scandinavian nations, which pledge military assistance if either party is attacked…
“As well as threats of cyber warfare, concerns have been raised that Russia may resort to chemical or biological weapons. It has already hinted at using its nuclear option. Russia is also not averse to targeted attacks on individuals on foreign soil, including in the UK: the Russian Government has already been blamed for the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in London and the attempted poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal.”
The Dossier wrote on May 14:
“The United States has now delegated some $56 billion… ‘for Ukraine’, but hardly any of it is actually going to the Ukrainian people… If you think the people of Ukraine are going to see one dime of this money, think again. Not even the ‘humanitarian aid’ portions of the assistance will reach the Ukrainian people…
“… the majority of the funds from the latest $40 billion behemoth will be used to supply weapons purchase orders, and resupply weapons that were already sent to Ukraine, which arrived with a seeming back room deal to add to the deep pockets of the weapons manufacturers back home.”
The Ron Paul Institute wrote on May 18:
“NBC’s Meet the Press just aired an absolutely freakish segment in which the influential narrative management firm Center for a New American Security (CNAS) ran war games simulating a direct US hot war with China. CNAS is funded by the Pentagon and by military-industrial complex corporations Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin, as well as the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office, which as Antiwar’s Dave DeCamp notes is the de facto Taiwanese embassy in the US.
“The war game simulates a conflict over Taiwan which we are informed is set in the year 2027, in which China launches strikes on the US military in order to open the way to an invasion of the island. We are not told why there needs to be a specific year inserted into mainstream American consciousness about when we can expect such a conflict, but then we are also not told why NBC is platforming a war machine think tank’s simulation of a military conflict with China at all.
“It happens that the Center for a New American Security was the home of the man assigned by the Biden administration to lead the Pentagon task force responsible for re-evaluating the administration’s posture toward China. That man, Ely Ratner, is on record saying that the Trump administration was insufficiently hawkish toward China. Ratner is now the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs in the Biden administration…
“It also happens that CNAS co-founder Michele Flournoy, who appeared in the Meet the Press war games segment… wrote… in 2020… that the US needed to develop ‘the capability to credibly threaten to sink all of China’s military vessels, submarines, and merchant ships in the South China Sea within 72 hours.’…
“It also happens that CNAS is routinely cited by the mass media as an authoritative source on all things China and Russia, with no mention ever made of the conflict of interest arising from their war machine funding… citing war machine-funded think tanks as expert analysis without even disclosing their financial conflict of interest is plainly journalistic malpractice. But it happens all the time in the mass media anyway, because the mass media exist to circulate propaganda, not journalism.
“This is getting so, so crazy… the mass media are now openly teaming up with war machine think tanks to begin seeding the normalization of a hot war with China into the minds of the public… The mass-scale psychological manipulation is getting more and more overt and more and more shameless.
“This is headed somewhere very, very bad. Hopefully humanity wakes up in time to stop these lunatics from driving us off a precipice from which there is no return.”
The Evening Standard wrote on May 13:
“Israeli police clashed with Palestinian mourners packed around the coffin of killed Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh at the start of her funeral procession in Jerusalem on Friday… The violent scenes underlined the growing anger over Ms Abu Akleh’s killing which has threatened to add further fuel to an already raging conflict. Ms Abu Akleh, who had covered Palestinian affairs and the Middle East for more than two decades, was shot while reporting on an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday.
“Palestinian authorities described Ms Abu Akleh’s killing as an assassination by Israeli forces. Israel’s government initially suggested Palestinian fire might have been to blame, but officials have also said they could not rule out it was Israeli gunfire that killed her… The inquiry has raised two possibilities, the military said in a statement. The first, that Ms Abu Akleh was hit by Palestinian militants who fired dozens of bullets toward Israeli military vehicles, ‘which is also the direction where Ms. Abu Akleh was.’ The second, that an Israeli soldier returning fire from a jeep toward a gunman had inadvertently hit her…
“Ms Abu Akleh’s death has drawn widespread condemnation. Video footage from the moments after she was shot showed the 51-year-old wearing a blue vest marked ‘Press’… Israel, which has voiced regret at Ms Abu Akleh’s death, has proposed a joint investigation with the Palestinians, asking them to provide the bullet for examination. The Palestinians have rejected the Israeli request. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday said Israel was fully responsible and called for an international investigation.”
Breitbart wrote on May 16:
“Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gloated Monday as the prosecution in his corruption trial asked the court for permission to amend its indictment against him when a key witness backtracked on his earlier testimony against him. ‘In your face,’ Netanyahu told reporters.
“He faces three charges, which have been described by critics from the beginning as bogus, and as an apparent effort by Netanyahu’s political enemies in the Israeli legal fraternity to remove him from power…
“The prosecution has… been clouded by revelations that state investigators unlawfully hacked Netanyahu’s phone and those of his associates in an effort to spy on him and use damaging personal information to turn witnesses against him. Netanyahu has refused to accept any plea deals and has insisted on proving his innocence. The prosecution has stumbled as the post-Netanyahu government, a ragtag coalition led by former aide Naftali Bennet, has moved closer to internal collapse.”
Israel 365 wrote on May 16:
“‘Washington’s bipartisan consensus is that Iran does not yet have nuclear weapons or missiles capable of threatening the United States with a nuclear attack,’ wrote Peter Vincent Pry, the EMP Task Force on National and Homeland Security executive director. ‘But some Israeli analysts and some highly credible U.S. experts disagree with the “consensus view.’”…
“‘Assessments that Iran does not yet have nuclear weapons assume erroneously: our intelligence is perfect, Iran’s civilian nuclear program is all there is, and no clandestine nuclear weapons program exists in Iran’s numerous underground military facilities — including unaccounted uranium and plutonium facilities for fueling nuclear weapons, as in North Korea,’ the report warns…
“Washington’s intelligence assessments that Tehran ‘suspended its nuclear-weapons program in 2003 are contradicted,’ the group cautions, ‘both by Iran’s nuclear archives, stolen by Israel in 2018, indicating Iran’s ongoing nuclear-weapons program (reported at several sites in 2006, 2017, and 2019) and by Iran’s rapid resumption of enriching uranium to prohibited levels. This demonstrates an existing capability to quickly produce weapons-grade uranium.’…
“‘Iran is a threshold nuclear weapons state,’ Pry concludes. ‘Prudence would dictate regarding Iran as a de facto nuclear threat.’”
Deutsche Welle wrote on May 15:
“In a blow to Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD party, voters backed the conservatives, CDU, in an election Germany’s most populous state. The Greens meanwhile more than doubled the number of votes they received…. In Germany’s federal system, state lawmakers hold a considerable amount of power and the election in NRW was considered an important bellwether for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s ruling SPD party…. Around 13 million people were eligible to vote, making it the biggest election in Germany this year, and one of the most important outside of the general election…
“The victory will be seen as an important boost for the CDU, relegated to the opposition in last year’s election after 16 years in power under Merkel… The CDU has tried to recover from its big defeat in last year’s general election by gaining ground in regional governments. Just last week, voters in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein delivered a landslide victory in the CDU….”
According to Bild Online, this was the biggest defeat ever for the SPD in NRW. Bild blamed Scholz for the disaster for his indecisiveness and lack of clarity.
Breitbart wrote on May 16:
“[Fauci] used an interview on CNN to reveal he does not want to serve under the former president if he is re-elected in 2024 and would likely resign… Fauci’s antipathy towards Trump was made plain on notable occasions, none more so than when he accused the former president of ‘poisoning the well’ on vaccinations…
“Previous to that he questioned the Trump administration’s vaccine rollout efficiency and publicly called into question Trump’s ability to deliver on his promises to protect all Americans during the height of the coronavirus pandemic… Fauci said, ‘the divisiveness during the Trump administration’ made his job difficult… ‘I had to be publicly correcting misrepresentation on the part of the president and on the part of people in the administration.’
“Fauci, 82, has been the director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases since 1984. He was appointed as Chief Medical Advisor to the Biden administration in 2021.”
Fox News added on May 16:
“Many conservatives expressed relief on Sunday when Dr. Anthony Fauci declared he would not stick around as chief medical adviser at the White House if… Trump wins the 2024 election… Fauci has emerged as a symbol of COVID-era lockdowns and restrictions in the eyes of many Trump supporters… [Many stated that] this was the best possible endorsement for Trump in 2024…”
Due to Fauci’s many failed predictions, wrong and dangerous advice and false promises, his resignation has been long overdue. Of course, Trump should have fired him when he had the chance.
Israel 365 wrote on May 18:
“In four days, the World Health Organization will vote on resolutions that will give them emergency powers over any country they choose [by unilaterally declaring a health emergency in that country]. The Biden administration initiated the measures but kept them under wraps until just a few weeks ago when the vote was a foregone conclusion. It was recently revealed that Israel fell into lockstep, backing the measure…
“If passed, the resolutions will go into effect in November. [They] will empower WHO’s Director-General to declare health emergencies or crises in any nation and do so unilaterally and against the opposition of the target nation. The Director-General will be able to declare these health crises based merely on his personal opinion or consideration that there is a potential or possible threat to other nations.”
It seems that Biden is doing whatever he can to destroy the USA.
Law Professor Jonathan Turley wrote on May 16 (reprinted by the Ron Paul Institute):
“Politicians have long viewed tragedies and crises as opportunities not to be ‘wasted.’… Governor Kathy Hochul (D-NY) adopted the same approach to the massacre in Buffalo in renewing calls for censorship on the Internet…
“As it became more likely that Elon Musk could buy Twitter, there was a notable shift in the comments of pro-censorship figures. Hillary Clinton went to Twitter to call on the European Union to quickly pass the Digital Services Act in Europe to force censorship ‘before it’s too late.’…
“At the same time, the United Kingdom is pushing its own Online Safety Act and recently Musk was summoned to Parliament to answer for his alarming suggestion of restoring free speech on social media… It is threatening to take ten percent of the company’s profits if Musk does not censor users.
“Now, Hochul is trying to rally voters to the cause of censorship in the wake of the Buffalo tragedy. To defend free speech in response to such a call is to risk being denounced as supporting violent extremists or dishonoring the fallen.
“The government would then be able to determine what constitutes ‘unfettered sharing of hate information on the internet.’ Indeed, the Biden Administration already created a Disinformation Governance Board that is ready to start that work with great eagerness. It may be a bitter pill for some who value free speech, but it is hard to defend the abstraction of free speech in the aftermath of a massacre. That is why this is a crisis that cannot be wasted. As the Biden’s Administration’s ‘Mary Poppins of Disinformation’ might say, a crisis ‘helps the censorship medicine go down in a most delightful way.’”
Perhaps she is going to release another childish song on video. Please spare us!
The New York Post wrote on May 19:
“Despite calling The Post’s reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop a ‘Trump campaign product’ and blasting Republican concerns about the teaching of ‘critical race theory’ in public schools as ‘weaponizing people’s emotion,’ the now-former head of the Biden administration’s short-lived disinformation board is denying she has a pro-Democrat bias.
“Nina Janowicz made the far-fetched claim to MSNBC ‘All In’ host Chris Hayes hours after she announced her resignation following the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to ‘pause’ the Disinformation Governance Board… The board was criticized almost from the moment of its creation last month by conservatives, libertarians and even some liberals, who compared it to the Ministry of Truth from George Orwell’s novel ‘1984.’”
Newsmax wrote on May 17:
“A former White House staffer during the Trump administration has apparently posted more than 120,000 emails [to a searchable database this week through his organization, Marco Polo] from Hunter Biden’s now-infamous laptop computer, which was seized by the FBI in 2019… The emails reportedly span from December 2009 to March 2019 — shortly before Hunter Biden dropped off his MacBook Pro at a Delaware computer store, but never returned to pick it up…
“Among the reported highlights, according to the Daily Mail: The ‘10 for the big guy’ message, which potentially links President Joe Biden to son Hunter’s overseas business dealings — during Joe Biden’s time as vice president (2009-17) — through a 10% equity stake in a Chinese energy conglomerate… Hunter Biden describing an apparent quid pro quo with a Mexican billionaire’s son, outlining how Biden got him into the White House and presidential inauguration ceremony, and then thanking him for visits to a villa…
“The site also pointed out that Hunter Biden’s laptop had been abandoned… as a legal loophole for posting the trove of emails online…
“The Daily Mail reportedly had the laptop authenticated by top cyber forensics experts last year; and earlier in 2022, The Washington Post and The New York Times independently verified the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop…
“This potentially sets the stage for Republican lawmakers launching a full-scale investigation into the alleged corruption exposed from Hunter Biden’s laptop in 2023, if Republicans take back control of the House chamber after the November midterm elections.”
Republicans have said that, if they come to power in the midterm election and if the allegations against Hunter Biden and Joe Biden are proven to be true, an impeachment procedure against Joe Biden would be initiated.
Breitbart wrote on May 12:
“The San Diego County Board of Supervisors has adopted a new definition of ‘woman’ that would reportedly allow male-to-female transgender residents to demand inclusion as women in jails, homeless shelters, and domestic violence shelters… the ordinance… include[s] those who simply identify as women…
“Local television station KUSI-TV [said:] ‘Now in San Diego County, the definition of “women” will include transwomen and intersex women…’
“Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson declined to provide a definition of ‘woman’ in her confirmation hearings in March.”
The Daily Mail wrote on May 14:
“A dozen native oysters washed down with vintage champagne, then a large tranche of oozing, bloomy, artisan Camembert — there is no finer or more elegant lunch.
“You could be enjoying such delicacies on holiday in Normandy and, for decades, you may have wished we did this just as well at home… At last the British are beating the French at what they do best — producing the greatest food and wine… As for our seafood, it is riding a high… Tourists are flocking to the British coast in pursuit of the freshest lobster, crab, Dover sole and turbot, while there’s an expanding market for buying fish online, direct from the boats….
“The popularity of shellfish has also boomed. Oysters, once a rarity on menus, are popular again. Our brown crab is considered the best worldwide owing to cold waters, and we can even buy ormer — or abalone — farmed in Jersey.
“So these are exciting times. Essentially, one no longer needs to live near a good fishmonger to buy the freshest fish. There are seafood sellers online who will deliver even live shellfish to your door via overnight courier.”
“Sadly,” all these “delicious” “foods” are forbidden in the Bible and declared to be “unclean,” since they are harmful to humans.
The Daily Mail wrote on May 14:
“Motorists are facing a massive used car premium with some second hand vehicles costing some £26,000 more than a brand new model… A nearly new Landrover Defender with a list price of £62,000 will cost £10,000 more if the car is second and with relatively low mileage. This is especially true if the car is bought using a PCP plan, which are affected by changes in the interest rate…
“The Bank of England’s monetary policy committee has indicated that interest rates will have to rise further in order to counter the threat of runaway inflation despite the very real threat of the country moving into recession… Also, manufacturers have said that the supply of microchips used in onboard computers and vital safety systems are in incredibly short supply since Covid-19.
“Under normal market conditions, a second hand car will lose a considerable percentage of its value as soon as its front wheels hit the tarmac outside the dealership… Even Britain’s cheapest car, the Dacia Sandero has seen it price increase. A one-year-old version with 10,000 miles on the clock will cost £12,481 – or £312 a month on a three-year PCP with £2,000 deposit. This makes the used car £5,333 more expensive than the new version…
“New car buyers, however can face long waiting lists before they can sit into their vehicle… Popular marques such as BMW and VW have told prospective buyers that there is a nine-month waiting list… Worse still for motorists, diesel prices have soared to a new record high despite the cut in fuel duty, figures show.”
Acknowledgement and Disclaimer
These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.
In much of the Scriptures, there is mention of covenants.
For a start, what is the meaning of the Hebrew word for covenant? Every instance in the Old testament is translated from the Hebrew word בְּרִית bĕriyth. A few times the Hebrew word is translated as confederate or league, but in most of those places, covenant could have been used instead. The word bĕriyth is from a root with the sense of “cutting”, because pacts or covenants were made by passing between cut pieces of flesh of an animal sacrifice. So actually, the expression “make a covenant” literally means “cut a covenant.” This becomes very obvious in the covenant of circumcision. Genesis 15:9-11, 17-18 shows the passing between cut pieces of flesh. Genesis 15:9-11 reads: “So He said to him, ‘Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.’ Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.” Genesis 15:17-18 continues: “And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between the pieces. On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: ‘To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates…’”
Many covenants can be compared with formal and personal contracts when God is involved. They establish relationships, especially between individuals.
The first occurring covenant in the Bible, other than the covenant of day and night (Jeremiah 33:25), is that of marriage, although it is mentioned directly only in a way that it was not being kept correctly. Malachi 2:14-16 answers the question as to why God was not receiving the offerings from their hands (compare verse 13): “Yet you say, ‘For what reason?’” God answers: “Because the LORD has been witness Between you and the wife of your youth, With whom you have dealt treacherously; Yet she is your companion And your wife by covenant. But did He not make them one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth. For the LORD God of Israel says That He hates divorce…”
The first time a covenant was mentioned specifically in the book of Genesis is in chapter 6:18. God was about to destroy the earth with a flood because of all the evil upon it. He told Noah because of his righteousness, “…I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.” The contents of this covenant is stated in Genesis 9:11-17: “‘Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.’ And God said: ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.’ And God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.’”
We can be very grateful for this covenant knowing that a flood will not destroy all flesh as it states “for perpetual generations” and an “everlasting covenant”. Interestingly, both “perpetual” and “everlasting” are translated from the same Hebrew word that is also translated “continuance, always, without end.” The fact that God uses it twice in the one passage proves its certainty.
The next covenant mentioned was given to one man, Abram, but, as we will see, the blessings of this covenant were also to his descendants. God had described this man as righteous in Genesis 15:6: “And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” The covenant is stated in Genesis 15:18. At this time, Abram had just experienced a disturbing prophetic dream: “On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: ‘To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates…’”
In that Scripture, we see that God had promised Abram descendants. But Sarai was barren up until this time. So, at her suggestion, Abram fathered a son through Hagar, Sarai’s maid. This caused upset between Sarai and Hagar and so Hagar finished up fleeing into the wilderness to escape from Sarai. Here, as related in Genesis 16:10, “…the Angel of the LORD said to her, ‘I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude,’” and that she was to name her son Ishmael (compare verse 11). So now Abram has a son, Ishmael, whom God is going to bless greatly. And the fact that God was going to bless Ishmael is repeated three more times in later passages. However, Ishmael was not Abram’s descendant through whom God would fulfill His promise to Abram to give him the land, as we will see.
In Genesis 17 God made another covenant with Abram, one that was much more comprehensive than the previous covenant. Beginning in Genesis 17:1-9, we read: “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.’ Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: ‘As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be called Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.’ And God said to Abraham: ‘As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.’”
This is the first time in the Bible that God introduces Himself as God Almighty or “El Shaddai” (compare verse 1). According to the Soncino commentary, there are numerous ways to explain the meaning of these Hebrew words, including “being‘sufficient’”; “your God and Protector”; “being victorious and mighty over all”; and other interpretations. Shaddai (Almighty) has also been derived from a root meaning ‘to heap benefits’; and it would then mean ‘Dispenser of Benefits’, the friend who shepherds the patriarchs and preserves them from all harm. God is reassuring Abram that even though his hopes may be dim at times, nothing is impossible to God Almighty.
Then God made a further covenant with Abraham, the covenant of circumcision, also referred to in Acts 7:8. Genesis 17:10-11 reads: “This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.”
So now we also see that this covenant in Genesis 17:1-9 has a sign, that of circumcision, just like the covenant with Noah had a sign, that of the rainbow. The difference is that circumcision was itself a covenant, as well as a sign, while the rainbow was a sign, but not a covenant.
Then God spoke about Sarai, that her name was to be changed to Sarah and that she would be a mother of nations; kings and peoples will be from her at ninety years old. This was such a miraculous thing that God here reveals her age, something He does with no other woman in the Bible.
In Genesis 17:18-21, we read: “And Abraham said to God, ‘Oh, that Ishmael might live before you!’ Then God said: ‘No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.’” So, as mentioned before, Ishmael was to be greatly blessed, but the covenant blessings God promised to Abraham were to pass down through Isaac.
After Isaac was born, and when he was weaned, Abraham had a great feast to celebrate the occasion (compare Genesis 21:8). Ishmael, up until this time had been Abraham’s only son, but now was relegated into second place, as he was not the offspring of Sarah, but of Sarah’s maid. On this occasion, he laughed at or ridiculed Isaac (verse 9). Galatians 4:29 says, he persecuted Isaac: “But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now.” Sarah asked Abraham to “cast out” Ishmael and his mother, but the matter was “very displeasing in his sight” (Genesis 21:11). So God comforted Abraham again showing him that Ishmael would be blessed. Genesis 21:12-13 states: “But God said to Abraham, ‘Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called. Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed.”
Again, Ishmael would be blessed but God emphasised the covenant blessings would pass through Isaac. In Genesis 21:18, when Ishmael was dying of thirst, God again reveals that Ishmael would be a great nation when He said to Hagar: “Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.” This is the fourth time God has promised blessings to Ishmael.
Of course, God’s covenants with Abraham were not the only covenants mentioned in the Bible. In the same chapter, there arose a dispute over a well that Abimelech’s servants had seized. Abimelech denied knowledge of this so Abraham and Abimelech made a covenant at Beersheba in which Abraham made a witness of the covenant by giving seven ewe lambs to Abimelech. They were a “witness” or we might say, a sign of this covenant. In this instance, they swore an oath and made a covenant (compare Genesis 21:27-32.)
As an aside, when Abraham died, both Isaac and Ishmael buried Abraham where Sarah had been buried in the field of Heth (compare Genesis 25:9-10). This implies that Ishmael was aware of the happenings in the land of his birth, so even though he was not living with his father, he was living close enough to travel to the burial.
The continuation of the covenants and their blessings occur with Isaac’s sons, Esau the firstborn and Jacob. In Genesis 25:27, we read: “So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents.” He may have been mild, but he was also cunning. After all, his name meant supplanter.
In Genesis 26:3-5, God again reminded Isaac of the oath He had sworn to Abraham after Abraham had shown that he was willing to sacrifice Isaac: “Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and to your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”
Galatians 3:16 explains that the promises which God gave to Abraham included the promise of the “Seed”—Jesus Christ—and that through Him, all the nations of the earth would be blessed (compare Genesis 22:18). The covenant which God established with Isaac makes specific mention of the promise of the Seed. It was a prophecy of the Messiah to come, and it was still because of Abraham’s righteousness, not because of anything Isaac had done. But of course, Isaac had to agree to the covenant which God wanted to make with him, which he obviously did.
In the book of Luke 1:72-73, we read that God would “perform the mercy promised to our fathers And to remember His holy covenant, The oath which He swore to our father Abraham.” The implication of this verse is that the oath God swore and the covenant are closely related and the covenant was established and confirmed by an oath. In fact, the terms oath and covenant are used together, as we will see.
During this time another covenant was made between Isaac and Abimelech that Isaac would not harm Abimelech or his people since he recognized that God was with Isaac (compare Genesis 26:28-30).
(To Be Continued)
Lead Writer: Paul Niehoff (Australia)
The story of Cain and Abel in the book of Genesis is well known to many people in the world. The huge majority if asked, religious or not, have at one point or another heard or read about this story; however, most would probably not recognize the meaning and symbolism it holds for us today.
To begin, let us look at the kind of work differentiated between both Cain and Abel. Abel’s line of work was very symbolic since he was a keeper of sheep and we know how David was a shepherd and how Jesus many times was referred to as a keeper of sheep. This showed how He cares for the Church and His people by looking after them, watching over them, loving them, and feeding them. He is using today the ministry in God’s church for this task as well, showing compassion and love for others, a giving attitude and even the willingness to give one’s life for the flock if the circumstance arises.
Cain’s line of work was quite different. It was very labor-intensive by raising fruits and vegetables. His type was predicted already by God in Genesis 3:17-19 and how there was much work involved to provide food.
In Genesis 4:3, we read about the process of time, the end of days, which could signify the end of agriculture and the beginning of Autumn. Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible states that this might refer to the time “after harvest, after the fruits of the earth were gathered in, and so a proper season to bring an offering to the Lord, in gratitude for the plenty of good things they had been favoured with.” Their offerings would then be symbolic of the Feast of Tabernacles where we also give up offerings to God. This shows the brothers might have appeared before God at a precise time near the Autumn of the year, which could mean that they were told by God when to bring the offerings.
Now when it came to what was given, we read in verses 3-5 that God approved Abel’s offering but not Cain’s, and as a result, Cain became angry. He had the wrong attitude since his offering was not from the heart, and in verse 7 God makes it clear what Cain should do: “If you do well shall you not be accepted? And if you do not well, sin lies at the door.”
The Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary states the following:
“… sin lieth at the door—sin, that is, a sin offering—a common meaning of the word in Scripture (as in Ho[sea] 4:8; 2Co[rinthians] 5:21; Heb[rews] 9:28). The purport of the divine rebuke to Cain was this, ‘Why art thou angry, as if unjustly treated? If thou doest well (that is, wert innocent and sinless) a thank offering would have been accepted as a token of thy dependence as a creature. But as thou doest not well (that is, art a sinner), a sin offering is necessary, by bringing which thou wouldest have met with acceptance and retained the honors of thy birthright.’ This language implies that previous instructions had been given as to the mode of worship; Abel offered through faith (Heb[rews] 11:4).”
In other words, the phrase in verse 7 could be understood to convey the following thought:
“If you do well, shall you not be accepted [in the future and bring the proper sacrifice]? And if you do not well, sin [a sin offering] lies at the door.”
God was really being compassionate with Cain here, giving him another chance, showing that He had mercy. If Cain would repent and still bring the proper offering (“if you do well”), then he would be accepted; but if he did not do so, then “sin [a sin offering] lies at the door.” At the end of verse 7, Cain would have to gain control over sin, over his mistakes, by an offering provided by God, which was a noble gesture of grace on God’s part. Yet in spite of this act of mercy, Cain did not accept God’s grace of supplying a sin-offering for him to conquer sin. He responded with something terrible and in no way in accordance with God’s command. He offered up his own brother, as stated in verses 8-9. The sin of murder continued with lying.
The Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary includes these additional remarks:
“If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?—A better rendering is, ‘Shalt thou not have the excellency’? which is the true sense of the words referring to the high privileges and authority belonging to the first-born in patriarchal times…. it was Cain’s conviction, that this honor had been withdrawn from him, by the rejection of his sacrifice, and conferred on his younger brother—hence the secret flame of jealousy, which kindled into a settled hatred and fell revenge.”
Cain had his chance and he blew it, and as a result, he was now to be sent away from the land (verses 10-12). He was to be a wanderer — one without a fixed dwelling place. Yet Cain considered this punishment to be harsh, more than he could handle (verses 13-14). Cain’s punishment involved him being “driven out” from the land he formerly tilled, and away from the “face” of God. However, Cain did not show any remorse for what he had done, by killing his brother, and he didn’t repent of that sin. God could have killed him right there on the spot but He chose to spare his life, even preventing others from killing him (verse 15), perhaps still giving him a chance to think about what he had done, so his heart could change, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
We saw here how one brother was more righteous than the other and also more giving, especially in the heart, while the other brother was not. Because God was more accepting of Abel’s offering, rather than Cain’s, jealously crept in and got the better of him, thus resorting to murder – the first recorded murder in the Bible (1 John 3:12). As a consequence, his life would prove to be very difficult and his blessings would be taken away. Being righteous could very well have its sacrifices. Because Abel was willing to do what God wanted and to please God rather than pleasing man, his life was given up, just as Christ’s life was given up as a sacrifice for us so that we can be saved.
God could have intervened on Abel’s behalf but He let it happen since He had something better in store for him anyway. Life is only temporary. Abel was righteous in God’s eyes, and he will be in God’s Kingdom. This was a good lesson for mankind. Human nature is carnal and hostile towards God. We read about what happened to Adam and Eve, and how easy it is for sin to take over.
In this world today, we should have the attitude that Abel had by pleasing God rather than man. We in the church will be hated by others because of our beliefs, and the end time prophecies tell us how the church will be persecuted for righteousness sake. Those who hate God and disobey His laws will have their reward, which isn’t a pleasant one by any means. And those who love God and obey His laws will also have their reward, blessings beyond what the human mind can even comprehend.
compiled by Dave Harris
“Konsequenzen des Ukraine-Krieges im Lichte biblischer Prophezeiung,” is the title of a new AufPostenStehen program, presented by Norbert Link. Title in English: “Consequences of the Ukraine War in the Light of Biblical Prophecy.”
Pentecost will be observed on Sunday, June 5, 2022. We will broadcast a live service at 12:30 pm, PST.
“Der Kampf mit dem EGO,” the sermonette presented last Sabbath in Germany by Daniel Blasinger, is now posted. Title in English: “The Fight with the Ego.”
“Biden’s Ministry of Truth and Consequences of the Ukraine War—Comments on News and Prophecy, May 14, 2022,” the first message presented last Sabbath by Norbert Link, is now posted. Here is a summary:
In this program, we speak on the formation of the new “Disinformation Governance Board”, warning of the dangers of such a body and of the people involved who are being accused of having a history of spreading lies and misinformation… which, according to some, can also be said, allegedly, of the US government itself over many years. It is contended that the formation of the new body manifests the ever-growing move towards total dictatorship within the USA. We also speak on the consequences of the war in Ukraine for the USA and for the entire world—including the depletion of America’s weapons and famine for many countries.
“Remember the Frog,” the sermon presented last Sabbath by Brian Gale, is now posted. Here is a summary:
The analogy of the frog in boiling water is reviewed in connection with the true Christian who has to be very careful about deception that can happen slowly and gradually and can lead to unintended consequences if we’re not very careful.
by Norbert Link
In this issue, we publish many warnings of a coming nuclear war between Russia and the West, in light of developments pertaining to Russia, Ukraine, Finland and Sweden. Even though the Bible does NOT prophesy a nuclear war between Russia and the West at this time, nuclear war between Europe and the USA and the United Kingdom IS prophesied, which will be FOLLOWED by nuclear war between Russia, China and other Far Eastern nations (the “kings of the East”) and a united Europe under the dictatorship of the “beast”. Sadly, most observers do not understand any of this and are thereby totally ignorant as to what is and will be happening soon. At the same time, demands for restrictions of free speech in the USA are getting louder, also and especially in light of the Buffalo massacre. Please view our new message, “Biden’s Ministry of Truth and Consequences of the Ukraine War—Comments on News and Prophecy, May 14, 2022” .
We also focus on Israel and Iran; the ongoing downfall of Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz; a “promise” by Dr. Fauci that may sound to be too good to be true; a new ridiculous definition of “woman”; and some sad “accomplishments” by the United Kingdom.
