Covenant vs Religion: Why the Bible Is Not Christianity
One of the greatest misconceptions in modern organised religion is that Christianity and the Bible are in sync and are the same.
They're not.
The Bible is a covenant record gven to the race of Israel; Christianity is a much later religious system based upon misunderstood and out oc context interpretations of that record. As we true Israelites remove tradition and look at the Scripture itself, a completely different picture emerges. A picture rooted in identity, lineage, and covenant.
A Book Written By Israelites For Israelites
The Bible is written by Israelites, for Israelites, and to israelites. From Genesis to Revelation, every part of the narrative centers upon one family line that descends from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Their laws, history, blessings, punishments, and future hopes are directed solely to them.
The Scripture makes this clear.
"These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the LORD made between him and the children of Israel" (Leviticus 26:46)
There is no confusion or ambiguity here. The covenant was never intended to be global or multi-national. It was always specific, conditioned, and exclusive.
That exclusivity is further clarified in Psalm 147:19-20
"He (The Most High God) showed his word to Jacob; his statutes and judgments to Israel. He has not done so with any nation."
The Bible itself says that other nations did not receive His Word.
Covenant is Not Religion
Israel's covenant was an agreement between their God - the God of Israel - and their race. Religion, on the other hand, is a system of belief and practice that can be followed by anyone. When these two ideas are confused, there are serious implications to the theology that results.
In addition to land, law, lineage, discipline, and restoration, the covenant includes the identity of Israel. Christianity seeks to expand this covenant across all racial lines, thereby stripping the covenant of its original context and conditions. In doing so, Christianity converts a national covenant to a universal religion. However, Scripture never authorizes such a conversion.
The Gods of the Other Nations
The Bible does not indicate that the God of Israel is seeking to be worshipped by all races. To the contrary, it indicates just the opposite. Deuteronomy 6:14 the God of Israel commands His chosen people, the Israelites:
"You shall not follow after other gods, the gods of the people which surround you."
The God of Israel here makes it clear that other races have their wn gods, while He is the God of the Israelites.
If Christianity claims that Israel's God is also its God, then it creates confusion, conflict of interest, and replacement theology.
Who is the Church?
One of the most damaging concepts to emerge from Christianity is that it replaces Israel as the Church or / and as the chosen people. Such claims are directly contrary to Scripture. To begin with, the Bible declares the children of Israel to be the Church (Acts 7:38). There is nowhere in the Bible where the Israelites are separate from the Church, because Israel IS the Church They are the congregation as they received the holy covenant.
The prophetic promise of restoration is specifically connected to bloodline Israel
Replacement Theology and the Prophecy of New Jerusalem
The Book of Revelation, the last book in the New Testament, describes the future Kingdom prepared by the God of Israel. The New Jerusalem has twelve gates with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel (Revelation 21:10-12). This is literal, tribal, and national. The future hope described in the Bible is reserved for the same people that are addressed in its pages.
It is unfortunate that Christianity attempts to take for itself the promises that were never made to it. In doing so, it attempts to sideline the very people that the God of Israel affirms His love for and covenant commitment to (1 Kings, 10:9, Ezra 3:11)
This replacement theology cannot possibly be pleasing to the God of Israel.
Scripture, history, and prophecy confirm that redemption, law, and the promised Kingdom belong exclusively to Israel.
Like All Respected Men Throughout History, Christ Was for His Own People
The New Testament indicates that Christ’s mission did not include the whole world; rather, it was to redeem Israel alone. Acts 13:23 states that Jesus was "a Savior to Israel" from the line of David as promised by God the Most High.
In like manner, Acts 5:29-31 confirms that repentance and forgiveness was only given to Israel as well. Only Israel was subject to the Law Covenant of Moses, which only they could possibly break. You can only break something that you were actually given. As such, because non-Israelite races were never given the Law-covenant, they can never be accused of being sinners. This is why only so-called black people were on the slave ships. They were guilty of breaking the Law. Non-Israelites were not.
It's important to remember that sin, according to the Bible, is to break the Law of Moses (1 Jon 3:4)
John 3:16
John 3:16 must be read in covenant context. Isaiah 45:17 states, “But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.” This clarifies that the “world” being saved is Israel, the covenant nation, not all peoples. Christ was quoting the prophet Isaiah's words when he was speaking to a fellow Jew, Nicodemus, in John 3.
The Curses that Came with Breaking the Law-Covenant
The Book of Deuteronomy, chapter 28 from verses 45-68, states if Israel disobeyed the Law Covenant, there would be national curses for them in the form of exile, slavery, oppression and being scattered to the four corners of the earth. Since these curses were real and historical, and were a result of their violation of the Law Covenant, redemption is needed. for the Israelites.
'Greeks, Strangers and Gentiles' in the NT
Okay, so firstly, the word Gentile does not mean non-Israelite or non-Jew. The word Gentile simply means “nation” It can therefore apply to both Israelites and non-Israelites alike. This is why in Genesis 25:23, the God of Israel tells Rebekah, Isaac’s wife, that “Two goy (nations) are within thy womb.” Rebekah was carrying twins in her womb - Jacob and Esau. Jacob went on to become the Patriarch of the 12 Tribes of Israel. This shows that the word ‘Gentile’ can and has often been applied to Israelites from very early on in the Bible.
We see the same use of goy for Israelites in the New Testament:
John 11:48
"If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation (goy)”
The persons peaking here were the chief priests and the Pharisees. Would they really be saying the Romans would come and take away their non-Jews? That makes no sense. What they were saying, and what they were concerned about was that if their nation - the Israelites - started to believe in Christ in large numbers, then the Edomite Roman leaders who were governing the land of Judea at the time, would take away their rulership over the temple and their nation - the Israelites. In effect, the Pharisees were concerned that they would lose their high positions of power and authority over the Israelites.
Now that makes sense.
While the Apostle Peter often refers to estranged and scattered Israelites as 'strangers' (1 Peter 1:1-2), the Apostle Paul refers to them as "the Greeks and Gentiles", and accuses them of violating the Law, he is not referring to people from every nation on earth. That would have made no sense since the Law of Moses was never given to other races. Rather, when Paul spoke of "the Greeks" and Gentiles", he was speaking of dispersed Israelites who lived throughout the Greco-Roman Empire.
Scholars stress that the New Testament is mostly the reconciliation between the God of Israel and the 10 lost tribed House of Israel/Ephraim. Scholars tend to stress this fact because they see that many have been mistaught about the Bible, not understanding that the Bible is I.O. (Israel only).
Research will reveal that in New Testament times, many Israelites - especially those of the northern Kingdom House of Ephraim (The 10 Tribes), had discontinued from their Israelite heritage, being divorced by the God of Israel due to their consistent idolatry by worshipping the gods of other races. (Jeremiah 3:8, Jeremiah 11:16-17). As such, many Israelites had adopted pagan Greek customs. They spoke Greek as their mother language, not Hebrew. They wrote in Greek, dressed like the ethnic Greeks, and raised their kids in Greek customs, not Israelite ones. They became known as Hellenists (Greek speaking Israelites).
Grafted in "Again" - Romans 11:23
It was these Greek speaking Israelites that Paul said would be "grafted in again." - Romans 11:23. Notice that Paul used the word "again." This word is often missed. To be grafted in again, one had to be cut off in the first place. This only happened to the Israelites, specifically the northern Kingdom House of Israel in Jeremiah 11:16-17. This is the history that organised religon misses. The 10 northern tribes (branches) of the northern kingdom House of Ephraim were "cut off" and this is why Paul, in Romans 11, refers so often to branches. The branches represent family members in a family tree. All family trees have branches. Those branches represent the family members.
It is well documented by historians that many of these Hellenists (Greek speaking Israelites) lived throughout the ancient Greco-Roman Empire during the time of the New Testament Age. They went under names such as Roman, Corinthian, Galatians etc. See 1 Corinthians 10:1-4, where Paul is reminding these "Corinthians" that their ancestors went through the Red Sea with Moses.
Did the ethnic Greeks/Corinthians walk through the Red Sea with Moses? Of course not, Israel did. So we can understand that these Corinthians were actually Israelites. In all his letters, Paul was writing to his scattered brethren, the Israelites.
Peter and Paul were not confused, therefore they was not accusing non-Israelites of breaking a Law of Moses that they were never given. Nor were they contradicting the Scripture. Instead, they were calling members of their racial family who had been scattered throughout the Greco-Roman Empire back to covenant accountability.
The New Covenant Will Be Made with Israel Only - Hebrews 8:8-11, Romans 9:3-5
Quoting a Bible scholar, "A new covenant can only be made with those who had the old one." As such, the Bible prophecizes that the New Coveann twill be made with the northern kindom House of Israel and the southern kingdom House of Judah. As it was that way in the beginning, so shall it be in the end.
Revelation 7:9 - The Final Regathering of Scattered Israel
Revelation 7:9 is often misread as multicultural salvation, but the Greek text tells a different story. The passage describes a multitude coming out of all nations, not of all nations. The Greek word ek is in the original Greek text, meaning OUT OF, not of. So the correct understanding of Revelation 7:9 is:
“After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of (ek = OUT OF) all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.”
Revelation 5:9 is almost a carbon copy of Revelation 7:9. In Revelation 5:9, the translators accurately translated the word 'ek' to mean OUT OF all nations. However in Revelation 7:9 they were not consistent i their translation.
This aligns with Israel’s covenant history of scattering and regathering. The multitude represents dispersed Israelites returning from every nation they were revealed into, fulfilling prophetic restoration promises. It is not about all races becoming Israel, but Israel emerging from the nations where they were scattered, restored once again to covenant identity and favour with The Most High.
It is not possible for anyone to become another race. Why this strange belief is taught and encouraged in organized relation is very damaging.
A Return to Biblical Truth
Recognising the distinction between covenant and religion changeS everything. The Bible is not Christianity. It is an Israelite covenant document that is rooted in Israelite history. When we read the Bible without epigeous bias, it does not call for the world to become Israel. Instead, it calls for the true bloodline Israelites to remember who they are and who The Most High is to them.
Identity and covenant bring truth. Truth starts when emotion and tradition stop.
Judith Asher, Author of The True Hebrews Book series