Nazarene Israelite Two House Congregation of Port Elizabeth
The Kingdom of Elohim.
Those of us called out of the churches of the world, often wonder why everyone alive could not understand the Scriptural truths that we came to believe, since our Father called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. The fact of the matter is that not everyone who hears the good news about the coming Kingdom of Elohim understands and believes it, because Satan and his agents have deceived most of humanity to believe that they are immortal and will exist eternally after death.
Satan and his many agents as teachers in the different religions of the world have succeeded in selling his own aspirations as well as his final destination to his deceived audience, as their most important teaching. Satan wanted to go to heaven to take over Elohim’s throne in rebellion, as we read from Isaiah 14: 13 – 15 as follows: “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of Elohim, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. (14) I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’(15) Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit.” Jude a bond-servant of Yahshua wrote about the final destination of Satan and his demons in Jude 13 saying: ‘Wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering (fallen) stars (stars being angels as per Revelation 1: 20), for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.’ Is it not odd that Christianity, Moslems, Hindus and other religions believe that ‘good’ people go to heaven, beholding the face of Elohim for all eternity, and that the wicked will be doomed to live eternally in a non-consuming fire, when they die one day. Most believers have been deceived by their ministers, teachers, and Pastors to believe this false doctrine. But this foremost false doctrine is nowhere to be found in the Scriptures. For those who think this to be a figment of our imagination, as it is not possible for their Pastors and teachers, who have studied up to seven years to qualify to guide their congregants in the way of G-d, to be deceived. However, we read from Revelation 12: 9, ‘And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.’ Is it possible that Satan has deceived all the inhabitants of the earth including their learned teachers? Do you realize that most of the doctrines taught by most religions of the world, including Christianity are the exact opposite of what the word of Elohim teaches?
The truth is that the gospel of the coming Kingdom of Elohim is directly related to the resurrection of the dead and eternal life. Yahshua Himself explained this to Nicodemus in John 3: 3 – 13, in this way: ‘Yahshua answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of Elohim.” (4) Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” (5) Yahshua answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water (immersed) and (received) the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of Elohim. (6) That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (7) Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ (8) The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit. (A spirit being is able to move around like the wind, from one place to another by simply desiring to be there.) (9) Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?” (10) Yahshua answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not understand these things? (11) Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak that which we know, and bear witness of that which we have seen; and you do not receive our witness. (12) If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how shall you believe if I tell you heavenly things? (13) And no one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven, even the Son of Man.”’ Do you believe Yahshua the Word of Elohim, who became flesh? Yahshua came as the Son of Man to become the kinsman redeemer of the house of Israel, who were scattered into the world because of idolatry to show us how we could be born again as children of Elohim, after having been immersed into His saving name (as per Acts 2: 36 - 38[1]) and received a portion of the Set-apart Spirit when the preaching elder who immersed us laid his hands upon us (as per Acts 8: 12 – 17[2]), and like He was the first born again from the dead (as per Colossians 1: 18[3]) to be resurrected as the Son of Elohim (as per Romans 1: 1 – 4[4]). Do you believe in the resurrection of the dead? If you do then why do you want to go to heaven - if Yahshua is coming back to resurrect the dead?
Churchianity has since its inception taught John 3: 16 to be the true Gospel, as follows: “For Elohim so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” Even though this is indeed good news, the true gospel entails much more than this. The problem with Churchianity is, despite confessing faith in Messiah, they do not actually believe in what He taught whilst He was on earth. The crux of this verse is that whoever believes in Him should not perish. But what does it mean to believe in Him? Firstly it means that:
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We should believe in what Yahshua taught and did whilst He was on earth, and
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That we should believe in His name Yahshua – which essentially means that He is the Salvation of YHVH. Whereas the name Jesus does not mean that at all.
But what did Yahshua teach whilst He was here on earth? To commence with, He taught the true gospel as recorded in Mark 1: 14 – 15 in this way: “And after John had been taken into custody, Yahshua came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of Elohim,” (15) and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of Elohim is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel.” Despite the fact that Christianity is still the biggest religion in the world with well over a million professed members, yet it is absolutely absurd that not many of the adherents of the Christian faith are aware of Messiah’s central teaching and main purpose for coming to the earth the first time, about 2,000 years ago. The heart and core of Messiah’s message, as the prophet YHVH promised Moses to come in His name, was that the Kingdom of Elohim would be established upon the earth as it is presently in heaven; and secondly that at His return Messiah will bring the remnant of the lost sheep of the house of Israel whom YHVH has been calling since Messiah’s first coming to return to the covenant relationship they made with Him, together with their remaining Torah observant brothers from the house of Judah, to rebuild the Tabernacle of David which has fallen and to re-establish the commonwealth of Israel as the kingdom of YHVH over Israel and a model nation so that the rest of mankind will learn to seek Elohim.
The reason for most who profess faith in Messiah not to understand Messiah’s main message is as He explained to His disciples when they asked Him, why He spoke to people in parables in Matthew 13: 10. Yahshua answered them in verses 11 & 12, saying: “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. (12) For whoever has, to him shall more be given, and he shall have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.” The parable under discussion here is the ‘Parable of the Sower’ recorded in verses 3 – 9 of Matthew 13. Paraphrased this parable is as follows: ‘A sower went out to sow. As he sowed, some seeds fell among the path and the birds came and ate it. Other seeds fell on rocky ground with not much soil; they sprang up immediately but withered in the sun. Others fell upon thorns and were choked when they grew up. Some however, fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.’
It is important for those who teach to understand the meaning of this parable, so that they do not become despondent. This parable is explained as follows:
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The people in the world hear and see but they do not understand, because their eyes are closed to the truth and they cannot see or hear. YHVH allows Satan to blind the minds of unbelievers, so that they do not understand the good news of Messiah. We read this in 2 Corinthians 4: 3 & 4, as follows: ‘And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, (4) in whose case the god of this world (Satan) has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the esteem of Messiah, who is the image of Elohim.’ Yes, when someone hears the truth and does not believe it, Satan removes it from his heart – this is essentially the seed which was sown along the path. This is also in agreement with Yahshua’s explanation of the first part of the parable in Matthew 13: 18 & 19, where He said: “Hear then the parable of the sower, (19) When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.”
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The seed that was sown on rocky ground is about the individual who hears the truth and immediately receives it with joy. However, he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the world, immediately he falls away. When this person’s family and friends reject him for his beliefs, or when keeping the Sabbath and Set-apart days, bring harassment, he shuts his heart to the truth.
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The seed that was sown among thorns, tells us about the individual who hears the truth and responds for a while. But the worries of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. This individual’s life is very complicated. He belongs to all sorts of clubs and societies and is living the high life. He is physically stretched to the limit and because he is concerned about his investments and the irons that he has in many fires, he soon forgets his newly found faith.
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The seed that was sown in good soil are those who hear and understand the truth. They bear fruit and in one case bear a hundred fold, in another, sixty fold and in another, thirty fold. We are blessed because we hear and see the truth, because YHVH has opened our minds to it, through His Set-apart Spirit, which indwells us.
The message that Yahshua taught was the Good News of the coming Kingdom of Elohim. This world is dying due to global warming, oil depletion, natural disasters, manmade disasters, etc. and Yahshua brought a message of a New World with a better future for all. Our world today can be compared to the time of Noah. In Noah’s day Elohim saw that the wickedness of man was very great and that every intent in his heart was only evil continually – this is quoted from Genesis 6: 15. Like at that time, our newspapers are full of stories of murder, rape, child abuse and stories about world leaders stealing and committing adultery. Only the very naïve do not recognize the signs of a dying world. The ongoing crime and violence leaves the world with very little hope!
Yahshua was very serious regarding preaching about the coming Kingdom of Elohim, as also recorded in Luke 4: 43, in this way: ’But He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of Elohim to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.” To understand the importance of the Message Messiah proclaimed, we also read about it in the following Scriptural witnesses:
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Matthew 4: 17, 23: ‘From that time Yahshua began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (23) ‘And Yahshua was going about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.’
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Matthew 5: 3, 10: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (10) “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
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Matthew 5: 19, 20: “Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and so teaches others, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (20) For I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
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Matthew 6: 10, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
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Matthew 6: 33, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.”
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Matthew 7: 21, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Master, Master,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.”
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Matthew 26: 29, “But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
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Luke 9: 1 – 2: ‘And He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons, and to heal diseases. (2) And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of Elohim, and to perform healing.’ And
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Acts 1: 3, ‘To these He also presented Himself alive, after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of Elohim.’
Messiah also taught His disciples after they asked Him to tell them about His return and the end of the age in Matthew 24. The same message is also recorded in Mark 13 and Luke 21. In this teaching He again stressed that this Gospel of the Kingdom of Elohim has to be preached as a witness to the whole world, before the end shall come (verse 14). Over the past number of years we have seen how the people whom YHVH our Elohim has called to be watchmen have gone back to the world and the churches of this world. The people who were supposed to blow the Trumpet – to warn the world of its impending demise and the hope of the coming Kingdom of Elohim, were too busy abolishing the ways of Elohim and getting back into the world and its pagan traditions. In addition, we are so caught up in the worries of this world, we became in-ward turned – worried about everything else, but the kingdom of Elohim.
Yahshua’s followers preached about the coming Kingdom of Elohim, as recorded in the following Scriptures: In Matthew 3: 2 John the Immerser announced that “the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” Rav Kepha (Peter) also spoke about the Kingdom of Elohim in 2 Peter 1: 10 & 11, saying: ‘Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; (11) for this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Master and Savior Yahshua Messiah will be abundantly supplied to you.’ We also read about Phillip’s message in Acts 8: 12 as follows: “But when they believed Phillip preaching the good news about the kingdom of Elohim and the name of Yahshua Messiah, they were being immersed men and women alike.” But, the Good News or Gospel was actually introduced before Messiah’s earthly life. It is called an everlasting Gospel in Revelation 14: 6, as follows: “And I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people.” In Hebrews 4: 2 we see that the Gospel was preached to ancient Israel, as follows: “For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.” The gospel was preached to Abraham as we read in Galatians 3: 8 “And the Scriptures, foreseeing that Elohim would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ’ALL THE NATIONS SHALL BE BLESSED IN YOU.” The Good News about the glorious future of mankind has been the plan of YHVH from the beginning. It was proclaimed to King David – he wrote about that kingdom of Elohim in Psalm 145: 10 – 13 as follows: “All Thy works shall give thanks to Thee, O YHVH, and Thy faithful (godly) ones shall bless Thee. (11) They shall speak of the esteem (glory) of Thy kingdom, and talk of Thy power; (12) to make known to the sons of men Thy mighty acts, and the glory of the majesty of Thy kingdom. (13) Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Thy dominion endures throughout all generations.” Daniel knew about the coming kingdom of Elohim as recorded for us in Daniel 7: 27 “Then the sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole earth will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.”
One of the misunderstandings about the Kingdom was that two thousand years would separate Yahshua’s first coming as the sacrificial Lamb in John 1: 29[5] from His return as conquering King of the Kingdom as per Revelation 19: 11 – 16, as follows: ‘And I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war. (12) And His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon His head are many diadems; and He has a name written upon Him which no one knows except Himself. (13) And He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of Elohim. (14) And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. (15) And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations; and He will rule them with a rod of iron and He treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of Elohim, the Almighty. (16) And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND MASTER OF MASTERS.”’ His first coming fulfilled a vital role of the Gospel - His sacrifice to make possible the forgiveness and justification of the lost sheep of the house of Israel, to return to the commonwealth of Israel by the time He is ready to return and marry His bride comprising both the house of Israel and the house of Judah as described in Jeremiah 31: 31 - 33[6]. His second coming will be to finally usher in the Kingdom of Elohim on earth, as it is now in heaven. Like with any other kingdom, the Kingdom of Elohim will comprise the following basic fundamentals:
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It will have a Ruler or King – namely Messiah
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It will have subjects over which the King rules; and
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The King will rule according to Laws given in the Torah Moses gave the children of Israel at Horeb.
In the coming Kingdom of Elohim – Yahshua will rule as King of Kings and Master of Masters from Jerusalem. He will rule the reestablished commonwealth of Israel, comprising those of us called from the house of Israel who qualifies and those who remain Torah observant from the house of Judah as His bride and rulers under Him, plus their children and the people who survive the Great Tribulation during the Millennium. Those who qualify to be in the first resurrection at Messiah’s return, will rule under Messiah as Kings and Priests for a thousand years, as witnessed in Revelation 20: 6, as follows: “Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of Elohim and of Messiah and will reign with Him for a thousand years.” We see further that since Messiah will return to establish Elohim’s kingdom on earth, Elohim’s chosen and Messiah’s elect will rule on earth, as recorded in Revelation 5: 10, in this way: “And Thou hast made them to be a kingdom and priests to our Elohim; and they will reign upon the earth.” The kingdom of Elohim will be governed according to Torah and Yahshua the Messiah will slowly but surely change all people’s hearts and minds to want to obey Elohim’s way. All the evil that Satan caused will be stopped. Crime will be eradicated by divine force and people will be re-educated to know and keep the Laws of YHVH. We see from Isaiah 11: 6 – 9 that even the nature of animals will be changed during Messiah’s rule, as follows: ‘And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little boy will lead them. (7) Also the cow and the bear will graze; their young will lie down together; and the lion will eat straw like the ox. (8) And the nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. (9) They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of YHVH as the waters cover the sea.” We see further from Micah 4: 1 – 4 that eventually all the people of the world will start following the example of the reestablished commonwealth of Israel, in this way: ‘And it will come about in the last days that the mountain (Government) of the house of YHVH will be established as the chief of the mountains. It will be raised above the hills, and the peoples will stream to it. (2) And many nations will come and say, come and let us go up to the mountain of YHVH and to the house of the Elohim of Jacob, that He may teach us about His ways and that we may walk in His paths.” For from Zion will go forth the law, even the word of YHVH from Jerusalem. (3) And He will judge between many peoples and render decisions for mighty, distant nations. Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they train for war. (4) And each of them will sit under his vine and under his fig tree, with no one to make them afraid, for the mouth of YHVH of hosts has spoken.’
The prophets in the Tanach under Elohim’s inspiration envisioned His everlasting Kingdom as recorded in:
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Isaiah 9: 7: ‘There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of YHVH will accomplish this.’
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Psalm 145: 13: ‘Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Thy dominion endures throughout all generations.’ and
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Daniel 7: 27: ‘Then the sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.’
Rav Kepha, who had expected to see Elohim’s Kingdom while he lived, wrote in 2 Peter 1: 10 & 11, saying: ‘Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; (11) for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Master and Savior Yahshua Messiah will be abundantly supplied to you.’ Though Rav Kepha did not live to see Elohim’s Kingdom, he did not lose heart. Believers must continue to believe in the sure promise of the Kingdom. We must faithfully serve Elohim while we wait for it. Life may bring many disappointments and trials, testing our faith in Elohim’s promises, and Messiah identified three areas of temptation His people would encounter in Matthew 13, discussed earlier, namely; the work of Satan, the temptation to covet material possessions, and personal trials. But, a believer needs to confront all of these at times. All temp us and distract us from what should be out primary focus in life as Messiah confirmed in Matthew 6: 33, saying: “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.” Rav Shaul exhorted believers of his day, in Acts 14: 21 & 22, saying: ‘And after they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, (22) strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of Elohim.” Those who remain faithful will look beyond their distress and put their confidence in Elohim. These are the ones who will inherit the Kingdom of Elohim.
Even so it is very important for each one of us to tell the world about the Wonderful World Tomorrow. We need to start proclaiming the True Gospel – giving the people in this world HOPE for the future. Our reward will be eternal life in the land under YHVH/Yahshua.
[1] Acts 2: 36 – 38: “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that Elohim has made Him both Master and Messiah—this Yahshua whom you crucified.” Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Kepha and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren what shall we do?” ‘And Kepha said to them, “Repent, and let each of you be immersed in the name of Yahshua Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Set-apart Spirit.”
[2] Acts 8: 12 – 17: ‘But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of Elohim and the name of Yahshua Messiah they were being immersed, men and woman alike. And even Simon (Magus) himself believed; and after being immersed, he continued on with Philip; and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed. Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of Elohim, they sent them Kepha and Yochanan, who came down and prayed for them, that they might receive the set-apart Spirit. For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been immersed in the name of the Master Yahshua. Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Set-apart Spirit.’
[3] Colossians 1: 18, ‘He is also head of the body, the congregation; and He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything.
[4] Romans 1: 1 – 4: ‘Shaul, a bond-servant of Messiah Yahshua, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of Elohim. Which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of Elohim with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the spirit of holiness, Yahshua Messiah our Master.’
[5] John 1: 29, ‘The next day he saw Yahshua coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of Elohim who takes away the sin of the world!’
[6] Jeremiah 31: 31 – 33: “Behold, days are coming,” declares YHVH, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares YHVH. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares YHVH, “I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be My people.”