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Dafei Tang

What Is New Covenant

Covenant of Abraham

The covenant of Abraham was modeled after the Tree of Life, in that the three beasts were cut in halves, representing the six attributes on either side of the central axle, the two birds remain whole representing the four attributes on the central axle as unified, as follows:

Left Keter – Half Turtledove Right
Binah – Half Heifer Chochmah – Half Heifer
Gevurah – Half she-goat Tiferet – Half Turtledove Chesed – Half she-goat
Hod – Half Ram Yesod – Half Pigeon Netzach – Half Ram
  Malchut – Half Pigeon

It is explained by Sefer Yetzirah that this is the covenant between five and five, in that five fingers are on the right and five fingers on the left.

Similarly, the covenant at Mt Sinai administered by Moses followed the same pattern in that the sign was symbolized by two tablets, five commandments on the right side and five commandments on the left side.

The covenant of Sinai was reinforced at the 40th year in the wilderness, once at one side of Jordan (Deu 29:1), again at Shechem when Israel crossed the river (Deu 27:4, Josh 8:32), again with the Jordan river as the central axle of the Tree of Life, and the two pronouncements on both sides of the river represent the right and left side of the Tree of Life.

New Covenant

The New Covenant was prophesized as follows:

הִנֵּה יָמִים בָּאִים, נְאֻם-יְהוָה;וְכָרַתִּי, אֶת-בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאֶת-בֵּית יְהוּדָה–בְּרִית חֲדָשָׁה

 

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah (Jer 31:30)
כִּי זֹאת הַבְּרִית אֲשֶׁר אֶכְרֹת אֶת-בֵּית   יִשְׂרָאֵל אַחֲרֵי הַיָּמִים   

הָהֵם, נְאֻם-יְהוָה, נָתַתִּי אֶת-תּוֹרָתִי

בְּקִרְבָּם, וְעַל-לִבָּם אֶכְתְּבֶנָּה וְהָיִיתִי לָהֶם לֵאלֹהִים, וְהֵמָּה יִהְיוּ לִי לְעָם.

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the LORD, I will put My law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God,

and they shall be My people; (Jer 31:32)

It becomes immediately apparent that the content of the two covenants is the same Torah, the difference is the people at the receiving end. He who has the Torah written on the stone tablets lives with the Old Covenant consciousness, and he who has the Torah written on the heart lives the New Covenant consciousness.

For this reason, Shavuot is not called Kabbalat Torah קַבָּלָת תּוֹרָה, but Matan Torah מַתָּן תּוֹרָה. For Kabbalat Torah is the New Covenant Consciousness, and Matan Torah is the Old Covenant Consciousness.

The concept of “Old Covenant” was first introduced by Paul in 2 Corinthian 3:14:

But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the Old Covenant; which vail is done away in Christ.

This verse is crucial in understanding the essence of “Old Covenant”, it is the same Torah covered with a veil.

When Moses descended from Mt. Sinai the third time, his face radiated with light, this is the light of Torah. Since the people at the time could not receive it due to the intensity of the light, he had to cover it with a veil.

When the light of Torah is covered with a veil, this is Old Covenant, when the veil is removed and the light of Torah shines forth, this is New Covenant. There is nothing wrong with the Torah, the problem is with the people, the receiver, the vessel that can’t contain the light.

Paul continued:

Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. (Gal 4:24)

There are two Covenants, one from Mt Sinai, and one from Jerusalem above. What does this mean?

Now Torah in her pristine form was first given to Abraham:

עֵקֶב, אֲשֶׁר-שָׁמַע אַבְרָהָם בְּקֹלִי וַיִּשְׁמֹר, מִשְׁמַרְתִּי, מִצְו ֹתַי, חֻקּוֹתַי וְתוֹרֹתָי because that Abraham hearkened to My

voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My

laws. (Gen 26:5)

If the children of Israel had not sinned with the Golden Calf, they would have received the same Torah as Abraham did, which is Torat Avraham תּוֹרַת אַבְרָהָם.

Now according to the Rabbis, the Oral Torah was added because of the sin of the Golden Calf, in other word, had Israel not sinned, they would have received the Written Torah only.

Oral Torah was called Torah from Sinai, or Torah Mi’Sinai תוֹרָה מִסִּינַי. This idea is confirmed by Paul:

Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.(Gal 3:19)

But the Prophet Isaiah said, Torah is from Zion and Jerusalem:

כִּי מִצִּיּוֹן תֵּצֵא תוֹרָה, וּדְבַר-יְהוָה מִירוּשָׁלָםִ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. ( Isa 2:3)

Why would Isaiah juxtapose Torah from Zion with Torah from Sinai?

The secret is that Torah from Zion or Torah from Jerusalem is the new Torah, or Torah Chadasha תוֹרָה חֲדָשָׁה。

What is New Torah, this is the same Torah with all her secrets revealed by Mashiach, with Torah written in the heart, as opposed to Torah written on the stone tablets:

Torah from Zion תוֹרָה מִצִּיּוֹן 807
Torah on the tablets of your heart תּוֹרָה עַל-לוּחַ לִבֶּךָ 807

For this reason the Torah today is veiled, and the light is concealed, so the concept of the veil of Torah is the same as the foreskin of the heart. For this reason, we are to circumcise our heart:

וּמַלְתֶּם, אֵת עָרְלַת לְבַבְכֶם; וְעָרְפְּכֶם–לֹא תַקְשׁוּ, עוֹד Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked (Deu 10:16)

Astonishingly, foreskin of the heart, Orlat Lev עָרְלַת לֵב in gematria is 723, which is exactly the same of “the Veil of Torah” הַמַּסְוֶה הַתּוֹרָה:

Foreskin of heart עָרְלַת לֵב 732
The Veil of Torah הַמַּסְוֶה הַתּוֹרָה 732

When one circumcised his heart and is able to receive the light of Torah, he lives in the New Covenant, which is Torah from Zion (instead of Torah from Sinai).

Tree of Life and Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil

That Torah is both Tree of Life and Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is revealed in the following verse:

רְאֵה נָתַתִּי לְפָנֶיךָ הַיּוֹם, אֶת-הַחַיִּים וְאֶת-הַטּוֹב, וְאֶת-הַמָּוֶת, וְאֶת-הָרָע. See, I have set before thee this day life

and good, and death and evil (Deu 30:15)

At the simple level, this is not making any sense, how could Torah be both Life and Death, Good and Evil?

Life is Tree of Life, Death is Tree of Death, Eitz HaMavet עֵץ הַמָּוֶת  which in gematria is 611, exactly same of Torah תּוֹרָה, which manifests as the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, this is why the verse says: Good and Evil. When Torah is received and used properly, this is Life, otherwise it is Death. Death is Old Covenant, and Life is New Covenant.

The same concept is with the Covenant of Pieces with Abraham, which is fashioned after the Tree of Life, and the gematria of the three beasts and two birds is exactly the same as Tree of Life and Tree of Knowledge:

Heifer, He-Goat, Ram, Turtledove, Yong Pigeon עֶגְלָה עֵז אַיִל תֹר גוֹזָל 872
Tree of Life, Tree of Knowledge עֵץ הַחַיִּים עֵץ הַדַּעַת 872

The same concept can be found in the New Covenant, in that Mashiach is the Living Torah, the Tree of Life that was nailed to the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, aka the Cross. For the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is curse, while the Tree of Life is blessing, and the death of Mashiach is that which atones for the sin thereby transforming the curse into blessing, and Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil into Tree of Life:

Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil to Tree of Life עֵץ הַדַּעַת טוֹב וָרָע לָעֵץ הַחַיִּים 1195
Death of Yeshua HaMashiach מוֹת יֵשׁוּע הַמָּשִׁיחַ 1195

The signature declaration of Mashiach is: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6), where the Life is the Tree of Life, and the Way and Truth is the rectified Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, but how?

I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life אֲנִי הַדֶּרֶךְ וְהָאֱמֶת וְהַחַיִּים 821
The Life, The Good, The Death, The Evil הַחַיִּים הַטּוֹב הַמָּוֶת הָרָע 821

These four words are exactly that which were concealed in Deu 30:15, as discussed above.

But the Way, Derech דֶּרֶךְ is a public road, open to everybody, to those who are infants, for those that are mature will blaze the narrow road and traverse the strait gate.

According to Sefer Yetzirah, the narrow road is Nativ נָתִיב, which is the 32 paths of wisdom, which is the secret path of esoteric wisdom of Torah, and few there be that finds it:

נָתִיב, לֹא-יְדָעוֹ עָיִט; וְלֹא שְׁזָפַתּוּ, עֵין אַיָּה That path no bird of prey knoweth, neither hath the falcon’s eye seen it (Job 28:7)

That path no bird of prey knoweth נָתִיב, לֹא-יְדָעוֹ עָיִט in gematria is 672 = 32 x 21, where 32 alludes to the 32 paths of wisdom, and 21 squared is 441, the gematria of Truth, Emet אֱמֶת. This verse therefore is the secret of the Way and the Truth, which is not known by the two unclean birds, bird of prey and falcon Ayit v’Aya עַיִט וְאַיָּה in gematria is 111, exactly the same gematria of veil, מַּסְוֶה, symbolizing those with uncircumcised heart, therefore do not know the Way of Mashiach, the Nativ נָתִיב.

For the four letters of Nativ נָתִיב when read in reverse form Beit Nun בֵּית נ, meaning the House of 50 (Nun), i.e. the 50 gates of understanding that follow the 32 paths of wisdom.

When Truth and Way are unified as one, this is the power that can rectify the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil:

The Way and The Truth are One הַנָתִיב וְהָאֱמֶת אֶחָד 932
Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil עֵץ הַדַּעַת טוֹב וָרָע 932
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