Covenants, Calendars and Clarity, Part 5

Previously, in Part 4, just a few weeks ago, here were some of the things that we covered.

I always like to do a quick review of the previous time that we had a chance to talk about this issue.

So, previously we talked about and asked the question, are the Old Covenant laws valid for us today?

We saw that the answer is that those that are moral and directly related to the Ten Commandments certainly are valid for us today, and we observe them, we respect them.

Well, we also came to see that there were many laws that were given as national land laws to the Hebrews.

There were ceremonial rituals, there were laws regarding blood statutes, laws that God gave to His people at that time, at that period of time in history, to a covenant people who were of the descendants of Abraham, and those laws were applicable for them, and those laws are not applicable for us today.

We saw that the Old Covenant laws were based on the principles of love for God, and love for neighbor, fairness, and justice.

Even many of them that are not applicable to us today were all to teach the people about love for their neighbor, love for God, or a sense of fairness and justice. Even though most of them were intended for a carnal physical people who were in a special land covenant with God, and they may not apply to us today, many of them certainly have spiritual principles, and if you read them closely and look at them, you can draw out a nugget of wisdom or a spiritual principle, even from many of those laws, that have no application for us today.

We saw that it's a mistake to look at every Old Covenant law or command and automatically think that it applies to us today, and that is a common problem with a lot of people. They read something and it's, quote, it's in the Bible, so they think that they should do it. You have to look at the context of the time and the people to whom the law was given to, and you have to seek the spiritual principle to be able to apply many of those laws for us today under a different covenant, under the New Covenant. We saw that the Old Covenant laws fall into some basic categories.

Some were moral and universal. They were applicable before there was an Old Covenant, so obviously they're still applicable today.

Some were specifically for an ancient people who lacked the knowledge of basic health laws, including sanitation.

They lacked an understanding of how disease is spread, so God in His great love gave them instructions for them to protect themselves from themselves, because again, they were an ancient people who didn't live very well in Egypt and came out with a lot of bad living habits, and God wanted to protect them.

We saw that some were ceremonial or ritual, and those rituals, those ceremonies, are good to study.

They're good to draw on analogies and metaphors from, but remember they were specifically for an Old Covenant nation, and they were either fulfilled when the Covenant was broken and those peoples were all taken in captivity, and they were certainly filled by the life and death of Jesus Christ, who fulfilled every ritual.

The words of Jesus Christ and the example of the Apostles in the New Covenant are what help us to understand how to apply the laws given in the Old Covenant, whether they're valid for us today, which ones are important, which ones are moral, and which ones we continue to observe in the Church today.

So that was a recap of Part 4. Today I would like to conclude Part 5, the last in this series, by reviewing the historical and biblical events that led to what we call the New Covenant, what the Scriptures reveal as the New Covenant. Why is the New Testament written in Greek? And the Old Testament was written in Hebrew.

Why didn't God write the New Testament in Hebrew? Well, as we'll see, God had a different plan for the New Covenant, and God himself orchestrated world events in a certain way so that when it was time to introduce the New Covenant, it could be accepted by everybody in the then-known world.

The New Covenant is not a covenant for Jewish people. It's not exclusively a covenant for people of Hebrew descent.

It's a universal covenant, and God orchestrated world events so that it could have its greatest impact immediately upon the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus Christ back to heaven.

That's what we will see today.

You may recall that we mentioned a few times ago our understanding that Israel and Judah divided his nations.

First, Israel went into captivity because she disobeyed God, and then in 585 BC Judah was taken into captivity, and both nations were removed from the Promised Land.

The Covenant was broken. The Covenant was about the land. The people were removed from the land. They were adulterous.

They were unfaithful to God. They broke the Covenant and were taken into captivity.

Well, the Babylonians who captured Judah themselves were taken over by the Persians.

And in time, Judah was made a province, and it permitted Jewish exiles to return and rebuild the temple.

We need to understand that most of the Jews who had been taken into captivity stayed in Babylon.

Most Jews did not return to Judah to rebuild the temple.

The modified language they spoke when they returned was no longer ancient Hebrew.

It was a language that was related to Hebrew. It was called Aramaic.

The difficulty was that it was more than a dialect. If you spoke Hebrew and I spoke Aramaic, we could not understand one another.

But that was a language that they brought back from exile. It was very similar to a language in Persia called Imperial Aramaic.

And that's the language that they returned with. Ancient Hebrew was still important for worship.

But the common people of Galilee, including the people that had even been there before the Jews came back, spoke Aramaic.

By the time of Jesus Christ, the people in Galilee and Samaria and most of Judah spoke every day the common people Aramaic, not the Hebrew language.

God even inspired portions of the Old Testament to be written in Aramaic. Did you know that?

There are chapters in Ezra and in Daniel and in Jeremiah that were originally written in Aramaic, not Hebrew.

Because, starting with the captivity, it became the language of the common people.

But as they say in late-night television, that's not all.

So I'd like to talk to you today a little bit and hopefully provide some clarity about these languages that intersected this part of the world and what God had orchestrated, what God had done, so that the new covenant could have a booster charge after Jesus Christ ascended to heaven and the gospel could be preached.

The truth is, the fact is that original Hebrew, by the time of coming back from captivity, was losing its hold on the people.

And that frustrated the Jewish leaders to no end, because most ethnicities, their culture is tied into their language.

And when you begin to lose your language, you begin to lose your culture.

But it was an uphill battle. The world of Asia Minor at this time, the most common language was Greek.

That was the most common language in the entire empire that would become known as the Roman Empire.

And Jews were beginning to speak Greek everywhere within this empire.

As a matter of fact, here's the problem. So many Jews were speaking Greek as a common language that about 300 BC, the Jews decided to take the Old Testament that was translated originally and given in Hebrew, and they translated into Greek, called the Septuagint. And that was completed about 200 BC, 200 years before Jesus Christ was born. So, so many Jews were speaking Greek that they needed to literally translate the Scriptures into Greek, because these individuals did not read Hebrew.

That is what was happening to Hebrew. It was in decline. So around 200 BC, this Greek translation of the Old Testament, called the Septuagint, was widely accepted and began being used in many synagogues.

So you have ancient Hebrew that is dying. It's becoming like Latin is today.

Ancient Hebrew became the language of Jewish scholars and those who were fascinated about studying Scripture, the common people were speaking Aramaic, but within the wider range of the empire, the most commonly spoken language was Greek. So you have these three interchanges going on within languages.

Let's go to Mark 7 and verse 6. Take a look at a Scripture here.

I'm going to ask a question and we'll answer. Does the New Testament ever have Jesus quoting from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Bible, rather than the original Hebrew translation, which is called the Mesuretic text? Did Jesus ever himself quote from this Greek translation of the original Bible? And the answer to that question is yes. And here's one place that he did, and that I'll explain how we know. Mark 7 verses 6 through 7. It says, And he answered and said to them, Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, The people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, and in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.

Now, how do we know this came? Jesus is quoting from the Septuagint rather than the original Hebrew translations, the Mesuretic text. Alright, here's how we know. The Mesuretic text version reads this way, Quote, Their worship of me is made up of only rules taught by men. End of quote.

In the Mesuretic text, there's no reference to worship being in vain. But here's what the Septuagint, who Jesus was certainly fully aware of. Remember, it had been completed 200 years before he was born.

Here's what it says, Quote, They worship me in vain, their teachings are but rules taught by men.

So in this quotation, Jesus decides to quote a translation of the Bible. He chooses the Septuagint, and that makes a big difference because the context of Mark 7 is not on worship.

It's on the way that they were living and expecting other people to live. They were all tied up into these ceremonial laws and washing before eating and things of that nature.

So the Mesuretic text version of Isaiah 29 verse 13 wouldn't fit at all, while the Septuagint version is directly on his point since it deals with both vain worship and teachings. So that's how we know.

So let's ask another question. We see now that Jesus was willing to use the Septuagint.

He quoted from the Septuagint. Let's ask the question, what languages would Jesus have been able to speak at this time in history? Well, certainly being from a religious, temple-observing family, he would have naturally spoken and read Hebrew. In Luke, in ancient Hebrew, in Luke chapter 2, when his family discovered him missing after a Holy Day pilgrimage. Remember that in Luke chapter 2?

And they are on their journey home. And where's Jesus? I don't know. I thought he was with you.

I thought he was with you. Maybe someone should call an 800 number. Well, we better go back and find him. So they turned around and they went back. And what did they find? It says they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking questions.

It was logical and it makes sense being from a religious, temple-observing family. And even at the age of 12 years old, that he would have been able to speak and he would have been able to read and have a discussion in Hebrew. So that's a certainty. I don't think there's any question about that. He may also, indications in the Scriptures, have spoken Greek. And how do we know this? Well, according to the Scriptures, he spoke directly to a Roman centurion in Matthew, chapter 8 and verse 5. It doesn't say that there was a translator. It says the Roman centurion came up and spoke to him about someone being healed. And Jesus carried on a natural conversation with him. In Matthew 27, he had a direct one-on-one, mono-mono, conversation with Pontius Pilate.

It doesn't say there was a translator there. It says he carried on a conversation directly with Pilate without a translator. Now, neither of these men would have known ancient Hebrew or cared.

Neither of them would have made any effort to speak in Hebrew at all. The one language that they would have all known would have been Greek. A language that they would have shared because of their cultures. And they also probably would not have lowered themselves to speak in Aramaic, which was considered a language of just common people. Remember, you're talking about a Roman centurion, a man who's a military officer. You're also talking about a Roman governor, Pilate, who most likely would not have lowered himself to speak in a language like Aramaic.

So, there's a good chance that Jesus may have spoken Greek. It's generally recognized that Jesus would have been able to speak in Hebrew, as I mentioned a few minutes ago. But aside from speaking Hebrew and aside from speaking Greek, what was the daily language in that area of the world known as Galilee and Judea? Well, the daily language of the common people was Aramaic.

So, what does this mean? Well, it means, and if you'll turn to Matthew, chapter 27 and 43, it means that in order for Jesus Christ to do what he was commissioned to do, that is to preach the gospel, and he was preaching the gospel to the common people, not to kings. He was preaching the gospel to the common people. In order for him to do that, he would have needed to speak Aramaic. Are there any scriptural proofs that he spoke Aramaic?

Well, Matthew, chapter 27, verse 43. Let's see an example. Matthew, chapter 27, verse 43.

This is an example of him on the cross.

It says, written in Matthew's account, he trusted in God, let him deliver him now, if he will have him, for he said, I am the Son of God. Even the robbers who were crucified with him reviled him with the same thing. Now, from the sixth hour into the ninth hour, there was darkness over all the land, and about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, that is, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani is Aramaic. It's not ancient Hebrew. It's not Greek. It's Aramaic.

It is one of the most striking Aramaic sentences found on the lips of Jesus Christ in the Gospels.

In this sentence, these Aramaic words and phrases are actually transliterated in the original Greek.

So, in the original Greek, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani is Aramaic.

And the part that we read, that is, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me, is transliterated into Greek.

And, of course, we translate it into English so that we can understand it.

But this is Jesus himself saying Aramaic words from the cross.

It also happens to be a quotation from Psalm chapter 22.

And if you look at people who study language, linguists and historians, it's generally understood that Jesus and his disciples primarily spoke Aramaic.

That is the common language of Judea in the first century AD.

Did some speak Greek? Absolutely. Especially if you were in business.

If you were doing business with people from all over the Roman Empire, you would learn to speak Greek because it was the universal language.

Did some people speak ancient Hebrew? Very few did.

Some did. First of all, most Jews were not even literate, so they didn't read any language. But it was primarily Hebrew.

Ancient Hebrew was the language of those who were religiously connected and interested in Hebrew religion in great detail.

The towns of Nazareth and Capernaum and Galilee where Jesus spent most of his time were Aramaic-speaking communities, not ancient Hebrew-speaking communities.

So yes, Jesus would have understood ancient Hebrew, but by this time it was simply the language of religious scholars.

Like our modern Latin today, it was a language of the educated, but most Jewish people were not highly educated. They were simple, illiterate people struggling to survive, being born and speaking the common language that existed in that area of the world at that time, and that was Aramaic. Here's another example of Jesus speaking Aramaic.

We won't turn there. It happens to be in Mark chapter 5 and beginning in verse 38. You may remember the ruler of the synagogue came to Jesus and said, will you come and heal my daughter? And Jesus showed up and she had already died, and he had said she is just sleeping, and they ridiculed him. And you may remember the words that he said. He said, which is translated, little girl, I say to you arise. That phrase, again, is Aramaic. It's not Greek.

It's not ancient Hebrew. It's Aramaic. So again, this shouldn't surprise us because Jesus came to preach the gospel to common, ordinary people, not to religious scholars. He usually locked horns with them constantly, so they weren't for what the gospel was all about.

The common language of the people was Aramaic.

Now let's take a look at a scripture that confuses a lot of people. John chapter 19 and verse 17. John chapter 19 and verse 17.

Again, going back to the time of his crucifixion.

He says, in he, bearing his cross, went out to a place called the place of the skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha. Now there's a problem with that translation.

The problem is that Golgotha is not a Hebrew word.

Golgotha is Aramaic. It is an ancient Hebrew. So why does it say here, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha? Well, it's a Greek word, Hebrewisti, and it means the language of Jewish people.

The language of Jewish people was in ancient Hebrew. The language of the Hebrews was Aramaic in a similar way. The language of the American people is not American. The language of the American people is a dialect of English. All right? So when the scripture says here, which is called in Hebrew, it means which is called in the language the Hebrews were speaking, Golgotha, which again is an Aramaic word.

Let's continue verse 18, where they crucified him and two others with him, one on one side and Jesus in the center. Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross, and the writing was Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews.

Then many of the Jews read this title for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, meaning Jerusalem, and it was written on it in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. And again, this confuses a lot of people. The word Hebrew is the same Greek word as I read just a few seconds ago. It means written in the language that the Hebrew common people spoke. Therefore, the chief priest of the Jews said the Pilate, do not write the king of the Jews, but I am the king of the Jews. And Pilate answered what I have written, I have written. In other words, Pilate said, get over it. I'm not going to change what I wrote. I was trying to be sarcastic. I was trying to rub it in your face, and I'm not going to change it at all. Now why would he have done this? Well, Rome was a multilingual empire. It was customary for official notices to be written in more than one language. Aramaic was the common language in Judea. Latin was the official language of the Roman Empire.

Greek was the language of the people in the marketplace, and especially those who did business around the eastern provinces of the empire. So let's focus a little bit on Greek and see what God had planned and what God has done. I want you probably noticed that one of the ways that this phrase was written was in Greek. Rather, the entire New Testament was written in Greek. It was not written in ancient Hebrew. That may seem strange, since you may think it would have been written in ancient Hebrew like the Old Testament was, or perhaps even in Aramaic, since that was the common language of the disciples and Jesus himself.

Well, the fact is that most Jews could not understand Hebrew anymore. Again, emphasizing that during the time of Jesus himself, during his era, a lot of Jewish writings were being written in Greek at that time, including such works as Second Maccabees was originally written in Greek and First Esdras was originally written in Greek. God inspired every book in the New Testament to be written in Greek. Now, I know there are some conspiracy theorists out there who have a Judaic mindset, who have deluded themselves and want to believe that the New Testament was originally written in Hebrew, and there was this great conspiracy to put down Hebrews.

So, the New Testament we have today was translated from those original manuscripts that were in Hebrew, and all of those manuscripts were destroyed. So, there would be no evidence that the New Testament was ever written originally in Hebrew. Brethren, that is an absolute myth. And that's a myth by some who just want to promote their own agenda and want to deny that the Word of God, that the Word of God that we read and understand and live by is legitimate. Because that's what you're telling me, if you're telling me that what we have today was simply part of some grand conspiracy in order to put Hebrew down, then you're telling me that what we have today isn't the sure Word of God.

And I reject that because I consider that idea and that concept to be heresy. What we have today, the oldest manuscripts we have today, are what God wants us to have and the Word of God that we live by. And in every case, it happens to be Greek. There has never, ever been a manuscript of the New Testament of a single book written in Hebrew that predates the Greek manuscripts that we have today.

So the entire New Testament was written in Greek and it was written in Greek for a reason. Let me call to you from an article in Wikipedia called the Languages of the Roman Empire, just a paragraph I'd like to read to you, so that we can understand how behind the scenes God is working in order to prepare the world to be able to accept the New Covenant and the good news of the coming kingdom of God to the people that it would be targeted for under that New Covenant.

And again, I'll be quoting just one paragraph here. Quote, "'Coin Greek' had become a shared language around the Eastern Mediterranean and into Asia Minor as a consequence of the conquest of Alexander the Great. The linguistic frontier dividing the Latin West and the Greek East passed through the Balkan Peninsula. Educated Romans, particularly those of the ruling elite, studied and often achieved a high degree of fluency in Greek, which was useful for diplomatic communications in the East and even beyond the borders of the Empire.

The international use of Greek was one condition that enabled the spread of Christianity as indicated, for example, by the choice of Greek as the language of the Epistles of Paul and its use for the ecumenical councils of the Christian Roman Empire." End of quote. So, brethren, what happened here from the time that Alexander of Macedon conquered that part of the world before there was a Roman Empire and he Hellenized that part of the world and he introduced Greek culture and Greek language began to take hold and then the Romans came on the scene and they loved everything Greek.

They loved Greek statues, they loved Greek architecture, they loved the Greek language, they wanted to be like Greeks. You can see all of this leading up to the point in time where the New Covenant and the Gospel, the timing would be exact for God to be able to do what he intended to do and that was to fulfill prophecy and to progress the preaching of the Gospel beyond Judah and into the far reaches eventually of the earth. Let's go to Genesis chapter 12 beginning in verse 1 and let's see or review the prophecy and the progression of God calling Gentiles.

Genesis chapter 12 beginning in verse 1.

Genesis chapter 12 in verse 1. Now the Lord God said to Abraham, Get out of your country from your family and from your father's house to a land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and I will curse him who curses you for all families of the earth shall be blessed. So, brethren, what is this prophecy about? If we think that this prophecy is about the physical descendants of Abraham bringing civilization into the third world and modern medical technology and building roads and teaching people about civilized things, if we think that is primarily what this scripture is about, we miss the point. Turn with me to Galatians chapter 3 through 5. Chapter 3 through 5, if you'll turn there with me.

This is a prophecy that goes far beyond mere physical blessings. It's a prophecy regarding the birth of Jesus Christ the Messiah. If you look at both genealogies of Jesus Christ in Luke and in Matthew's account, you know who's there? Abraham is in both genealogies. So, if you think that this prophecy that I just read from Genesis 12 was primarily about physical blessings, brethren, let's allow the Apostle Paul to tell us what it's about. Galatians chapter 3 and verse 5.

Therefore, he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does he do it by works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Now, we know, of course, the book of Galatians, the context is circumcision, and there were some in that congregation who said, you can't be saved unless you have that little flesh cut off.

Only then can you be saved. First of all, that doesn't allow too much room for salvation for the other half of the human race, does it? Right? And Paul objected to the idea that there's some physical thing you do in order to be saved. So that's why he says, did it come to you by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Now, let's pick it up here in verse 6. Just as Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness, therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. What is Paul saying here? He's saying DNA doesn't matter anymore for us. The true sons of Abraham, the true ones who will be fulfilling that promise are those who are of faith. They have faith in God just like Abraham had faith in God, and of course his faith was reflected by his obedience by doing what God asked him to do. Again, verse 7, therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham and the scripture for seeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand saying, and here he's going to quote from Genesis 12, in you all the nations shall be blessed. So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. Paul is talking about the power behind that new covenant that we've been talking about. What was promised to Abraham went far beyond promises of physical blessings. What God said in Genesis 12 is that from the lineage of Abraham would come the Savior. And sure enough, if you look at the genealogies of Jesus Christ in the two Gospels, both of them mentioned that so-and-so begot Abraham who begot. I think you know how the rest of the story goes. So it's a very powerful statement that I think we should know and understand. Now let's go to Acts chapter 1 and verse 6. If you'll turn there with me, Acts chapter 1 and verse 6. Here's the commission they're given. Therefore, when they come together, they ask them saying, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? They're still thinking about a physical kingdom. They don't get it. They're still thinking about a physical kingdom, a physical Messiah, and the nation of Judah being great again, like the glory days of David and Solomon. Are you gonna do it now? And he said to them, it is not for you to know the time through the season which the Father has put in his own authority. But when you shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and that of course would be beginning in the day of Pentecost, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem. That's a small circle. And all Judea, the circle gets bigger, and Samaria, the circle gets even a little bigger, and to the end of the earth. That's the commission he gives them under the new covenant. The witness that they were to give was that Jesus Christ as King was also the Son of God.

That he lived and died and was resurrected to offer salvation to anyone whom the Father calls and who responds. So starting in Jerusalem with Jewish converts and eventually spreading the Gentiles throughout the world was the step-by-step process that Jesus Christ told them would happen. It was a prophecy, and it was fulfilled. Let's see a turning point in this prophecy that occurred during the ministry of Paul in Acts. Let's go back now to chapter 13 and verse 42. Acts chapter 13 and verse 42.

Acts chapter 13 and verse 42. So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. Now when the congregation had broken up many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. On the next Sabbath almost a whole city came together to hear the Word of God, but when Jesus saw the multitudes they were filled with envy and contradicting and blaspheming they opposed the things spoken by Paul. So that was the reaction of the Jews in the city and the proselytes in the city.

Verse 46. Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said it was necessary that the Word of God should be spoken to you first but since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life behold we turn to the Gentiles for so the Lord has commanded us I have set you as a light to the Gentiles this is prophecy from the Old Testament that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth now when the Gentiles heard this they were glad and glorified the Word of the Lord and as many as been appointed to eternal life believed and the Word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region rather this was a major breakthrough in the Gentiles responding to the gospel message and being converted before this time an occasional Gentile maybe their family were baptized and converted but from this point on forward the number of Gentiles would greatly multiply as a matter of fact there would be so many Gentile converts they would dwarf the Jewish converts and all of this was fulfilling prophecy was what God had originally intended Paul is saying Paul is teaching in his writings that the New Covenant is opened everyone by their faith and of course that faith has to be reflected by obedience to what God tells us to do it's faith that makes us the sons of Abraham far more than having the DNA of Abraham it is our faith in Christ is Savior that makes us righteous how important is that faith well let's take a look at another scriptural example that I think you might find rather interesting okay let's go to Matthew chapter 15 and verse 21 I want to give you the example of the power of faith Matthew chapter 15 and verse 21 Matthew chapter 15 then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon you know these were Gentile areas there were some Jews who lived there but primarily both of them were Gentile communities and behold a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to him saying have mercy on me O Lord son of David my daughter is severely demon possessed but he answered her not a word and his disciples came and urged him saying send her away for she cries out to us but he answered and said I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel so that was Jesus's mission now the mission he gave his disciples was a different mission wasn't it he said I want you to take the good news of this kingdom to all the world but his mission was to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel but I want you to notice her reaction she's a Gentile verse 25 then she came and worshipped him saying Lord help me but he answered and said it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to little dogs a lot of people might have been offended by that a lot of people might have perceived that statement is rude but I want you to notice how her faith and her humility is responded to here and she said yes Lord yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master's table then Jesus answered and said in her old woman great is your faith let it be to you as you desire and her daughter was healed from that very hour you see it was her faith that made it possible even though that wasn't his mission when she responded back to him though she was a Gentile humbly and in faith what did Jesus say done deal that is the power of faith that is the essence of the new covenant let me give you another example Matthew chapter 8 do you remember the story of the Roman centurion who came to Jesus and asked him to heal his servant Jesus said yeah I'll come the man says no you don't even have to come I'm a man under authority I know how authority works I tell this guy you do this he does that you do this he does that all you have to do is say that my servant will be healed and it's a done deal you don't even need to come and you remember what Jesus's response was he said he had not found greater faith even in Israel the power the strength of the new covenant is our faith our belief that Jesus Christ is a Savior is the King of Kings that he lived and he died so that all of us could be offered eternal life he's returning to this world to establish the kingdom of God so salvation can be offered to everyone that is the power of the new covenant and it's based on faith and attitude and a commitment of faith so in conclusion why did God direct and inspire the New Testament to be written in Greek rather than ancient Hebrew or Latin or any other language well the Old Testament was written in Hebrew because God was calling a people who spoke Hebrew it was a covenant for them he obviously wanted to communicate with them so he spoke to them he revealed to them through Moses in the language of Hebrew there's nothing sacred about the Hebrew language it was one of many Semitic languages but God wanted to communicate with his covenant people by the time we get to Jesus Christ ancient Hebrew is in decline it's primarily spoken of written by religious Jews there was a very small number of people in comparison to the masses of Jews and others who did not speak Hebrew on the scene comes a new covenant introduced by the messenger himself Jesus Christ this is a universal covenant for anyone of any ethnicity anyone whom the father chooses to call and whom responds to that calling from the father the good news is the foundation of the new covenant if the New Testament had been written in Hebrew or even written Aramaic it probably would have never gotten outside of Judea it would have only have been known and understood and connected with a very small number of people it probably would have been no better than the hundreds of other small insignificant religions that sprung up in that area of the world and all died in a generation it would have been like many of the other insignificant cults and religions that arose for a short period of time and quickly evaporated but that wasn't God's plan God had choreographed world events so that a widely spoken language could make it possible for the good news of God's kingdom to spread throughout the world there was one language to make that possible from Judea to Rome to Spain and every place else in between and that language was Greek this is why God inspired the New Testament to be written in the Greek language the Greek language is not sacred the Greek language is not holy it was the language God chose so that he could communicate with the greatest number of people to introduce a new covenant one whose foundation is faith it became a powerful missionary tool for the early disciples for now the Gentiles themselves could read God's Word in their own tongue when Paul went into many cities and he entered the synagogues they were reading from already the Septuagint the Jews in those synagogues already understood Greek spoke Greek obviously the Gentiles in those cities spoke Greek and could hear the Word of God in their native language one final scripture Revelation chapter 7 dropping down to verse 9 Revelation chapter 7 and verse 9 God isn't done he's calling many Gentiles today and I agree with mr.

cubic I think that the greatest work of the church is yet to be done and even after the work of the church is done there's coming a time a very horrific time in history known as the great tribulation this is what the book of Revelation tells us will happen after the great tribulation because it's obviously going to be a time of terror and tumult for many people and it's going to wake up many people to God's way of life to their calling some who've been asleep perhaps for decades so Revelation chapter 7 this is an event that occurs after 144,000 from all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed then there's something else that occurs in this prophecy in verse 9 and after these things I looked and behold a great multitude not just a mere 144,000 a number so massive that you cannot count it a great multitude for which no one could number of all nations tribes peoples and tongues because this is for whom the new covenant was intended standing before the throne and before the lamb clothed with white robes with palm branches in their hands and crying out with a loud voice saying salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the lamb all the angels stood around the throne and all the elders and the four living creatures and fell in their faces before the throne and worshipped God saying a man so brethren in a few short weeks we will begin this spring holy day season by observing the new covenant Passover not the old covenant Passover we will begin by observing the new covenant days of unleavened bread we will not be keeping a seder because a seder looks backward Jesus Christ kept the Passover with his disciples we will not be eating lamb and bitter herbs because that is looking backwards Jesus Christ fulfilled the role of the lamb the bitter herbs were replaced by a quality that we're supposed to have by possessing the Spirit of God that is called joy so the new covenant is forward-looking it's positive the old covenant was always looking on the horrible events of the past and reliving the same cycle over and over again of oppression and sadness and slavery the new covenant is about freedom it's about faith and that's what we'll be emphasizing during the spring holy days this year thank you have a wonderful Sabbath