The Discipline of Jesus: Vengeance of the Covenant

There is a lot of interesting content in Jesus's sermon as seen in Luke 12.  There are several topics worthy of discussion, but the one I'd like to share my thoughts on today is the relationship between a Master and his servants:

43 That slave whose master finds him working when he comes will be rewarded... 

47 And that slave who knew his master’s will and didn’t prepare himself or do it will be severely beaten. 48 But the one who did not know and did things deserving of blows will be beaten lightly. Much will be required of everyone who has been given much. And even more will be expected of the one who has been entrusted with more.

Wow!  Did Jesus really say that a slave might be severely beaten?  Yes, he did.  For what reason?  Not doing his Master's will.  Notice that the ignorant slave was beaten only lightly while the one who knew better was beaten severely.  In some ways that makes it better to be ignorant, but the kicker is that once you become aware then ignorance is no longer an excuse.  The grace one had enjoyed is no longer available.  Of course, as per verse 43 the obedient slave is rewarded.

Jesus also speaks in a similar nature in Revelation 3:

19 As many as I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be committed and repent.

The disobedient that Jesus loves are disciplined.  He desires their repentance.

Jesus seems to be echoing what the Almighty promised during the exodus regarding His covenant.  He explains this in quite some detail in Leviticus 26.  While many teach that this covenant is irrelevant Father disagrees as I shared here: COVENANT LOYALTY:  One Thousand Generations.

As we read through the Almighty's promises in Leviticus 26, we see that He offers examples of good things that would happen to those who obey:

3 “If you follow My statutes and faithfully observe My commands, 4 I will give you rain at the right time, and the land will yield its produce, and the trees of the field will bear their fruit. 5 Your threshing will continue until grape harvest, and the grape harvest will continue until sowing time; you will have plenty of food to eat and live securely in your land.6 I will give peace to the land, and you will lie down with nothing to frighten you. I will remove dangerous animals from the land, and no sword will pass through your land.

Later He explains how bad things will befall those that disobey:

14 “But if you do not obey Me and observe all these commands— 15 if you reject My statutes and despise My ordinances, and do not observe all My commands—and break My covenant, 16 then I will do this to you: I will bring terror on you—wasting disease and fever that will cause your eyes to fail and your life to ebb away. You will sow your seed in vain because your enemies will eat it. 17 I will turn against you, so that you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even though no one is pursuing you.

Seems pretty clear....Blessings to those who obey His will, discipline to those who don't obey Him.  Notice how this is essentially the same thing that Jesus promised.  Rewards to the obedient and discipline to the disobedient. 

Remember how Jesus said the ignorant are disciplined lightly while those who know better are disciplined severely?  Well, hold on to your hat, here we go in the next verse of Leviticus:

18 “But if after these things you will not obey Me, I will proceed to discipline you seven times for your sins. 19 I will break down your strong pride.

So those that are disciplined initially that don't repent will now be disciplined much more severely!  Seven times as much!  It is to break down their strong pride.

Father offers examples of His discipline in the greater context of this chapter and then He says it again:

21 “If you act with hostility toward Me and are unwilling to obey Me, I will multiply your plagues seven times for your sins. 

Again, we see his discipline will increase 7 times over!  Read in context to see the examples.  

Then again He says:

23 “If in spite of these things you do not accept My discipline, but act with hostility toward Me, 24 then I will act with hostility toward you; I also will strike you seven times for your sins. 25 I will bring a sword against you to execute the vengeance of the covenant.

Again, if the discipline doesn't bring repentance then it is increased 7 fold.  Father refers to it as the VENGEANCE OF THE COVENANT.   Again, read the full chapter to see the examples.

But, He's not done.  Again He says:

27 “And if in spite of this you do not obey Me but act with hostility toward Me, 28 I will act with furious hostility toward you; I will also discipline you seven times for your sins. 29 You will eat the flesh of your sons; you will eat the flesh of your daughters.

Once again we see the warning that discipline will be increased 7 fold for those who don't repent.  This time I included His example.  The unrepentant will eat the flesh of their children!  I include this because most will find it repugnant and extreme.  Please don't think it is a bluff or an exaggeration for it has happened at least once:  2 Kings 6:24-31.

(For those that claim that keeping Father's Law is impossible, wouldn't this be an extreme punishment for failing to do the impossible?)

In summary, both Father and Jesus promise reward for obedience, discipline for disobedience, and severe discipline for willful disobedience.  Claiming that this covenant doesn't pertain to you will only bring about greater discipline.  My reason in sharing this is so that when you see bad things happen in the world or in your own life you will remember His covenant.  After all, who is Master of your life:  Lady Luck or those spoken of above?

COVENANT LOYALTY: One Thousand Generations

We all know the amazing biblical story of the Almighty saving the Hebrews from their Egyptian slavery.  Sources indicate that this occurred about 1200-1500 B.C., that is approximately 3500 years ago.

Most of us have also heard of the covenant that the Almighty made with exodus multitude at that time.  You will usually hear it referred to in Christianity as the "Old Covenant".   But is 3500 years really that old?  Let's have a look:

9 Know that Yahweh your God is God, the faithful God who keeps His gracious covenant loyalty for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commands.  (Deuteronomy 7)

Notice that Father promises to be loyal to this covenant for 1000 generations.  A biblical generation is usually considered to be somewhere between 20 - 70 years.  Doing simple math we see that Father will be loyal to this covenant for a minimum of 20,000 years.  It's only been 3500 years!  This covenant isn't anywhere near its expiration.   (This is also briefly discussed a previous post: Law vs. Covenant.)

If Father promises to be loyal to His covenant for at least 20,000 - 70,000 years yet we believe that He abandoned it 2000 years ago at only 1500 years of age, what does that say about our belief in His promise and/or the accuracy of the Bible?

Does Father break promises?  Is He a liar?  Or is the Bible at fault here?

I choose none of the above.  I believe it is man that is in error.

Please read the above passage in its context:  Deuteronomy 7:7-16.  Be sure to pay attention to verse 15 where the promise is made that the keepers of the covenant will have all sickness removed from them.

Other passages that speak of the thousand generation covenant loyalty: HERE.

I'm sure you want to ask about the New Covenant and all the words attributed to Paul that appear to disagree with what the Almighty promised above.   Please stay tuned as I'm working toward the topic of the New Covenant.  As for Paul, your questions should be answered HERE.

Now let's have a look at what Father said would happen in "the later days":

29 But from there, you will search for the Lord your God, and you will find Him when you seek Him with all your heart and all your soul. 30 When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, you will return to the Lord your God in later days and obey Him. 31 He will not leave you, destroy you, or forget the covenant with your fathers that He swore to them by oath, because the Lord your God is a compassionate God.  (Deuteronomy 4)

Notice that in the later days the people will return to the Almighty and obey Him.  He will not forget the covenant.

“When all these things happen to you—the blessings and curses I have set before you—and you come to your senses while you are in all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, 2 and you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey Him with all your heart and all your soul by doing everything I am giving you today, 3 then He will restore your fortunes, have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.4 Even if your exiles are at the ends of the earth, He will gather you and bring you back from there. 5 The Lord your God will bring you into the land your fathers possessed, and you will take possession of it. He will cause you to prosper and multiply you more than He did your fathers. 6 The Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and all your soul so that you will live. 7 The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. 8 Then you will again obey Him and follow all His commands I am giving you today.  (Deuteronomy 30)

We see the prophecy that when multiple generations return to the Almighty with all their heart and soul, obeying Him and following all of His commands given at that time, that He will regather them all to their land and circumcise their hearts.

This hasn't yet happened yet to any large degree.  There are many other promises of this last day return.  Hopefully that will be the subject of a later post.

As for now, my hope is that you will see that it is wrong to consider this covenant old or obsolete for to do so makes Father out to be a liar.