Jesus Christ
The Passion
The Old and New Convenant
by Rhawn Joseph, Ph.D.
Throughout ancient history, almost all of the principle patriarchal gods were violent, mass murdering, conquering warriors, e.g., Marduk, Mazda, Zeus, Apollo, Mars, and Yahweh: "the Lord of hosts" which means: "Lord of armies." Yahweh also means: "The Destroyer."
These warrior gods, including Yahweh, were prone to mass murder and extremely violent rages. Yahweh repeatedly threatened and engaged in the slaughter of enemies and believers alike, without mercy or regard for
women and children. The Lord God of the ancient Israelites repeatedly
demanded that His people engage in widespread ethnic cleansing, mass murder, and genocide.
"Behold I send an angel before thee, to keep thee in the way. Beware of him and obey his voice, for I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an
adversary unto thine adversaries, and I will cut them off..... I will send my
terror before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt
come..... and I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased
and inherit the land." -Exodus 23:20-30
"...when you approach a town, you shall lay seizure to it, and when the
Lord your god delivers it into your hand, you shall put all its males to the
sword. You may, however, take as your booty the women, the children, the
livestock, and everything in the town--all its spoils--and enjoy the spoil of
your enemy which the Lord your god gives you.... In the towns of the
people which the Lord your god is giving you as a heritage, you shall not
let a soul remain alive." -Exodus 20:15-18; -Deuteronomy 20:12-16
"When Israel had killed all the inhabitants of Ai....and all of them, to the last man had fallen by the sword, all the Israelites turned back to Ai and put it to the sword...until all the inhabitants of Ai had been exterminated... and the king of Ai was impaled on a stake and it was left lying at the entrance to the city gate." -Deuteronomy 8:24-29.
Led by Moses, and their "Lord God" (Yahweh) the ancient Hebrews/Israelites murdered untold numbers, perhaps hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women, children, including even their livestock. These atrocities werecommitted against all manner of innocent peoples not because they had sinned, but because they happened to be along the path to the "promised land" and because they had the misfortune of living on land and possessing property that the "Lord God" wanted to give to his people.
"When the Lord they God shall bring thee into the land, and shall cast out many nations before thee, the Hittite, and the Gergashite, and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite... and the Lord thy god shall deliver them up before thee, and thou shalt smite them, then thou shall utterly destroy them." -Deuteronomy 7:1-2.
"Of the cities of these peoples, that the Lord thy God giveth thee for an
inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breathest." -Deuteronomy,
20:16.
"God" gloried not only in the murder of innocent women and children, but took special satisfaction in the theft of their property--the spoils of a godly-genocidal war. The Lord God believed that theft and injustice was a testament to his glory as a conquering warrior god.
"Great and goody cities, which thou didst not build and houses full of all good things which thou didst not fill, and cisterns hewn, which thou
didst not hew, and vineyards and olive-trees, which thou didst not plant,
and thou shalt eat and be satisfied." -Deuteronomy 6:10-11.
Yahweh, the Lord of Hosts, the "Destroyer," apparently so enjoyed the
spectacle of mass murder, that once he began to kill He found it difficult to
stop, killing everything and everyone, the guilty and the innocent, the
righteous and the wicked, and even their animals. Apparently only the sight
of blood and more blood, the signs of death, could cool his ardor for
indiscriminate mass murder. God knows this and in planning the Exodus from Egypt, explained to Moses that the only way for Moses to protect himself and the Jews from slaughter was by painting their doors red with blood: "When I see the blood" He informs Moses, "I will pass over you, and there shall be no plague upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt" -Exodus 12:12-13.
Despite Yahweh's Covenant and his commandment "thou shall not kill" Yahweh kills and murders the innocent and guilty alike and encourages and in fact orders the Israelites to murder even babies and women with children.
"And they warred... as the Lord commanded and slew all the males. And they slew the Kings... and they took all the women and their little ones...
and they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles with fire... And Moses was wroth...and said unto them. Have ye saved all the women and the little ones alive? Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him." -Numbers, 31.
Moreover, it is not just Egyptians or the hapless innocents who the
Israelites and their Lord God slaughtered in their 40 years of wondering, but
tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of Jews. The Lord God kills
them for rebelling, He kills them for "murmuring," He kills them for
complaining, He kills them for questioning. And He kills their wives,
brothers, fathers, mothers, and children: "Go forth and slay brother,
neighbor, and kin." -Genesis, 32:26-29.
The ancient Israelis not only received special permission from their "Lord God" to murder wayward Jews, non-Jews and Jewish non-believers,
including women and children whom they slaughtered without mercy (e.g.
Numbers, 31 15-18; Numbers 34, 50-53), but even Jewish babies. Indeed, it
was a Hebrew religious-tradition to kill and slaughter not only non-Jewish
males in general but first born Jewish sons (a custom until the time of
Moses).
"A blessing on him who seizes your babies and dashes them against rocks." -Psalm, 137:9.
"I polluted them with their own offerings, making them sacrifice all their first-born, which was to punish them, so that they would learn that I am Yahweh." -Ezekiel, 20:25-36; 22:28-29.
The God of the "Old Testament" and thus the God of the First Covenant, ruled his people through fear and terror.
"Terror, and the pit, and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of earth
-Isaiah, 24:17.
"And as the Lord took delight in doing you good and multiplying you, so the Lord will take delight in bringing ruin upon you and
destroying you." -Deuteronomy, 26:63.
The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, which will swoop down like the eagle... a ruthless nation, that will show the old no regard and the young no mercy.... It shall devour the offspring... you shall eat your own issue, the flesh of your sons and daughters... until He has wiped you out... leaving you nothing.... until it has brought ruin unto you..." -Deuteronomy, 28:47-55.
"And now Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God." -Deuteronomy, 10:12.
"The beginning of wisdom is fear ofthe Lord." -Proverbs 1:7, 9:10.
"God has come... in order that the fer of Him may be ever with you so you do not go astray." - Exodus 20:17.
"Tell them that this is what the LORD , the God of Israel, says: 'Cursed is the man who does not obey the terms of this covenant." - Jeremiah 11:3.
Fear, terror, destruction, this is what God promised Moses and the children of Israel if they disobyed his commandments and broke his covenant.
Yet, the LORD, the God of Israel, also promised a new covenant:
"For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath. Behold, saith the Lord, the days come that I will make a New Convenant with the house of Israel." Deuteronomy 4:31.
"The time is coming," declares the LORD , "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant. "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD." -Jeremiah 31.
Jesus declared himself the messenger of God, the Messiah, and he offered a New Covenant with the house of Israel and the world--exactly as God promised. Instead of terror and fear, Jesus offered love and forgiveness. Instead of war, he offered peace. Instead of destruction, he offered salvation and the redemption of one's sins.
"The Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." -Luke 9.
"For I came not to judge the world, but to save the world." -John 12.
"These things I command you, that ye love one another." -John 14.
But in offering a New Covenant, Jesus was also challenging the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees who demanded obedience, instead, to their concept of the first covenant: Not love but vengence, "an eye for an eye."
Jesus continually antagonized the priestly elite by preaching a message of tolerance, love, and non-violence. He had broken with the past: It was to be the New Convenant with God:
"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." -Matthew 5.
Whereas Jesus preached a message from a God of love and forgiveness, the Pharisees and chief priests believed in the wrathful god who would destroy his enemies and those who dared to transgress his laws. Only be strictingly adhering to their interpretation of God's laws, the Pharisee's believed, could the people of Israel find redemption and favor in God's eyes.
But Jesus answered: "Judge not, least ye be judged."
"And the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes." -Matthew 7.
Jesus, the Pharisees believed, was undermining their work, their authority and that of the prophets.
And Jesus answered: "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."
The Pharisees and chief priests were enraged and plotted to destroy him. They, their scribes and secret spies, constantly challenged him, mocked him, claiming he was committing blasphemy and was challenging the authority of scripture, Mosaic law and the commandments.
Jesus answered: "Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven" -Matthew 5.
Jesus was violating scripture, the sabbath, the word of the prophets, the Pharisees and chief priests declared.
Jesus answered: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them" -Matthew 5.
Indeed, Jesus preached not just love, but a very strict form of self-control, so that even the temptation to sin might be abolished.
"And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire." -Mark 9.
Their efforts to undermine Jesus were too no avail. The people loved him. His fame and his following grew.
"And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people." -Matthew 9.
His fame and his following were growing. Everyday even greater crowds of people would gather to hear him speak and to be healed: "they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick....And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?" -Matthew 9.
Jesus, many began to believe, was not just the son of King David, but the promised Messiah, the Christ, the King of the Jews.
Jesus was also coming to the attention of the chief priest and elders, and the whisperings of the people, were causing them alarm. Again the Pharisees accused him of being in league with the devil.
"This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. The Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils." But as some of the Pharisees also had the power to heal the sick and cast out devils, Jesus turned their accusations against them. "And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them...And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges....Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him. But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all." -Matthew 12.
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