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THE COVENANT WITH DEATH

Part VII

In the Covenant With Death, we have elaborated on the BC Old Testament timeline in which Israel turned away from the LORD, and followed the gods of the Gentiles. Scripture shows these "gods" were actually fallen angels seeking to be worshiped. This transition away from following the LORD indicates that Israel was seduced by the split spiritual power that amounts to hemispheric halves of the divided house of the Devil.

The Gospels reveal that Satan's "house" is mysteriously divided, and the symbiotic way in which these spiritual factions work for their own self interest, amounts to the "arms" that are utilized by the "strong man," described by Jesus Christ.

"When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth the spoils" (Luke 11:21,22).

The Lord Jesus Christ understood how Satan's iniquitous imitation of God works, as the "Sin" in mankind's Flesh and Blood condition (with "Sin" a euphemism for the spirit identified as "Hell") captures and then delivers its captives to "Death."

"Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience [to the Spirit of the Lord] unto righteousness?" (Romans 6:16).  

The fashion in which the Satanic spirits work are actually a counterfeit version of how the Holy Spirit of God draws us to Christ.

"When the comforter is come…which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me" (John 15:26).

The progression of the spirit of Hell causing the earth dwellers to follow Death, is seen in Revelation under the two pseudonyms of Antichrist and False Prophet, which are actually Death and Hell.

"And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth…and he spake as a dragon and [he] causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast [inhabited by the Death spirit]" (Revelation 13:11,12).

In spite of the fact that God chose Israel as "a special people unto himself" (Deuteronomy 7:6), it may be said that the "Hell" half of Satan's corrupted spirit captivated the Old Testament chosen of the Lord. As we have previously shown, "Hell" allures, "Hell" captures, and "Hell" ultimately causes its prey to be delivered unto "Death."

Understanding this two-stage process is crucial to understanding how Christ redeems us in the Spirit, for Jesus repeatedly stated He came to set the captives free.

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to…preach deliverance to the captives… I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin" (Luke 4:18, John 8:34).

At the same time, the emphasis was not stated to be delivering fallen Israel from the death they had invoked through this "covenant" with death, because Jesus understood that the Sin/Hell component of Satan's spirit is what delivers their prey to death. Just as Adam and Eve were warned if they disobeyed God [committed sin/responded to the spirit of "Hell"] and ate the forbidden fruit, they would "surely die" (Genesis 2:17).

Obviously, Christ demonstrated that the Life the Father sent Jesus to deliver was successful in conquering the Death that Satan generated, through the LORD's resurrection.

Christ's sinless state is transferred to those that believe in Him, and that is why the New Testament says those inhabited by the Spirit of the Lord cannot sin!

"Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his [Spiritual] seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God" (I John 3:9).

To put it another way, the grave could not hold Christ because He had no sin to conduct Him into Spiritual Death, and we share in that resurrection because He is in us.

"[The Lord] was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15).

The Scripture teaches us that when we are born again in the Spirit through embracing Jesus as our Saviour, we are raised from the dead with Him, and this is the first resurrection. 

"You, being dead in yours sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses…blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death [Spiritual Death] hath no power" (Colossians 2:13, Revelation 20:6).

In essence, although there are specific events in Israelite history that seem to pinpoint just when Israel finally entered (and confirmed) their "covenant with death" (Isaiah 28:15), recognizing the concept of the scalability of one's response to the Holy Spirit seen in the parable of the Sower and the Seed gives us an important clue. In the Sower story, some seed (which is the word of God) fell on good ground, and brought forth fruit. Some fell on better ground and brought forth much fruit. 

"Some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. Some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it" (Luke 8:5-7).

The Spiritual seed itself is constant, whether it's the seed of God, or the reverse, which is the "seed" that progresses deeper into death. You are already dead without Christ. In short, it's never going to get easier to respond to Christ than it is at this very moment. This is why more people come to Christ when they are still young. The variable is the "ground" the seed was planted in.

The common denominator of the lost is they were not growing at all, nor were they bearing fruit. The text is clear that when the cycle has progressed to its culmination, this is just before the 7^th stage in the cycle. We have repeatedly shown that when the timeline is about to shift to a new era, this equivocates with the point of no return.

In the case of Israel in the BC timeline, the Crucifixion Collision is the turning point. In the Gospels, we see that the Jews who encountered Jesus made their decisions rather quickly how they would respond to Him. For example, there is not a single instance where those who accused him --- such as those who said "he casteth out devils through the prince of the devils" (Matthew 9:34) – ever changed their mind and became Christians.

By the time of the finale of Christ's ministry, the entire mob is making a formal declaration of the covenant with death that was made by Israel. Furthermore, the Spirit of the Lord arranged for this "covenant" to be repeatedly confirmed.

"And Pilate, when he had called together the chief priest and the rulers and the people, said unto them…[I] found no fault in this man…and they cried out all at once, saying, Away with this man" (Luke 23:13,14,18).

Pilate made the effort to confirm their death wish, and tried a second time to try and release Jesus.

"Pilate therefore, willing to release Jesus, spake again to them. But they cried, saying, Crucify him, crucify him" (Luke 23:21).

Still hoping to avert what he obviously considered a move that would have lasting repercussions, Pilate tried to persuade the people it was unjust to execute Jesus.

"And he said unto them the third time, Why, what evil hath he done? I have found no cause of death in him" (Luke 23:22).

But the crowd in Jerusalem loudly shouted, "requiring that he might be crucified" (Luke 23:23). At this point Pilate saw he could not stop the lust for death, and said he washed his hands of the matter, declaring himself innocent of the blood of this just person.

"Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children" (Matthew 27:25).

It's significant that in the Spiritual configuration of the world at that time, the Gentile Romans represented Death, as they were not chosen by the LORD (Pilate also saying he had the power to crucify), whereas Israel was clearly chosen. Additional signs were given in Scripture indicating the Jews were inhabited by the spirit of Hell, as one of the attributes of Hell is they were forbidden to kill.

"The Jews [had] said unto [Pilate], It is not lawful for us to put any man to death" (John 18:31).

Jesus had already linked the Jews to the spirit of Hell.

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte [convert], and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves" (Matthew 23:15).

There is a very subtle clue imbedded in the previous verse, and it points us to the fact of the spiritual alignment in the BC timeline showing the Jews with the spirit of Hell and the Gentiles with the spirit of Death (the "two parts" of Zechariah 13:8). This is also an indication the cycle will be recapitulated in the AD Christian era.

Just as Jesus pointed out the pharisaical Jews "compass sea and land" to make a convert, the AD Christian era "Jews" (the Christians – Romans 2:29) are in the metaphoric "Sea," whereas the BC era Pharisees were in the "Sand," the text subtly points us toward the truth we've repeatedly articulated about the Sand and the Sea. 

Moreover, just as Pilate allowed three opportunities to the Jews to confirm they desired a covenant with death, JESUS CHRIST, as the Lord of Life, did the same as Pilate -- making sure those that believed on him had three opportunities to confirm they desired the Life He offered.

After He was resurrected from the dead, he arranged to dine with the disciples.

"Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. This is now the third time that Jesus showed himself to the disciples, after that he was risen from the dead" (John 21:12,14).

The covenant with death that was made by Israel in the BC Old Covenant timeline is Sequentially Recapitulated by Spiritual Israel in the AD New Testament timeline, but further details of the "doubling" in the AD Christian timeline will have to wait for another day.

- James Lloyd

To Be Continued