The Covenant - Josh Morris

Someone sent me a video that they had seen on tik tok where they were pointing out that Jesus is not even his name and that it’s a name that was just invented by Christians

His name given to him by the angel and then confirmed at his circumcision was Yeshua or Yehoshua.

This is a Hebrew name. If you were to translate the Hebrew name directly into English we would likely call him Joshua

But Yeshua was translated to Greek first and certain letters and sounds don’t translate from Hebrew to Greek, so it was translated as Lesous which in English is translated as Jesus

The name Joshua and Jesus are essentially the same

I had a struggle with my name earlier this year. I turned 40 and it rocked me. I was not ready to turn 40. I have a whole list of reasons but here’s the weirdest one.

I started thinking about it and I decided I might have an early expiration date. Not just me, all Josh’s out there in the world. Why? Because I started thinking about it and I couldn’t think of one old Josh. Think about it, have you ever heard anyone say “Grandpa Josh”? Nope. It’s never happened.

So I started thinking that Josh’s don’t live long enough for me to know an old Josh.

Then my friend George showed me this app where you can see how many people were named Joshua and you could see that before 1978 there were hardly any people named Joshua but from 1978 – 1986, every Christian family in America named their son Joshua.

I went to a small private school and my graduating class had 32 students in it. 15 of those students were male. How many were named Joshua? 3! I went to that school from Kindergarten to 12th grade and I was never the only Josh in my class

So now I know that I share a name with Jesus and that the Josh’s took over around the time that I was born so pretty soon every old dude that you know will be named Joshua.

So the name Yeshua is important for us to note and also the fact that Jesus was circumcised.

Yeshua was a Jew and he abided by the Jewish practices and that began with his circumcision.

Now, let’s talk about covenants. There was a covenant made between God and Adam and Eve. God would fulfill his portion of the covenant by giving them the land of the garden and this creation and man was supposed to steward and rule over the land in the right way and they were not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil but they broke the covenant by eating of the tree.

Then God made a covenant with Noah and he continued to make covenants with mankind in order to bring his Lordship back to the earth and to mankind.

Today we will look at the covenant he made with Abraham. We are going to read a lot today from the TLV Bible.

Genesis 15:1 (TLV)

After these things the word of Adonai came to Abram in a vision saying, “Do not fear, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”

Genesis 15:2 (TLV)

But Abram said, “My Lord Adonai, what will You give me, since I am living without children, and the heir of my household is Eliezer of Damascus?”

Genesis 15:3 (TLV)

Then Abram said, “Look! You have given me no seed, so a house-born servant is my heir.”

Genesis 15:4 (TLV)

Then behold, the word of Adonai came to him saying, “This one will not be your heir, but in fact, one who will come from your own body will be your heir.”

Genesis 15:5 (TLV)

He took him outside and said, “Look up now, at the sky, and count the stars—if you are able to count them.” Then He said to him, “So shall your seed be.”

Genesis 15:6 (TLV)

Then he believed in Adonai and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Genesis 15:7 (TLV)

Then He said to him, “I am Adonai who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans, in order to give you this land to inherit it.”

Genesis 15:8 (TLV)

So he said, “My Lord Adonai, how will I know that I will inherit it?”

Genesis 15:9 (TLV)

Then He said to him, “Bring Me a three year old young cow, a three year old she-goat, a three year old ram, a turtle-dove and a young bird.”

Genesis 15:10 (TLV)

So he brought all these to Him and cut them in half, and put each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds.

Genesis 15:17 (TLV)

When the sun set and it became dark, behold, there was a smoking oven and a fiery torch that passed between these pieces.

Genesis 15:18 (TLV)

On that day Adonai cut a covenant with Abram, saying, “I give this land to your seed, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River”

In a covenant in the day of Abraham, there was always blood and the cutting of flesh.

In this type of covenant, the animals were split in two and the two parties that were entering into the covenant would walk through the animal parts and then they would part ways to walk around the outside of the animal parts and then meet back together in the middle of the sacrifice

This stood as a sign for the covenant that was made, and it held each party to the covenant

In this covenant however, Abraham (then called Abram) had fallen asleep, and he sees that instead of him and God walking through the cut pieces, it is a smoking oven and a fiery torch.

God walks through the pieces and Abram does not. Yet it says that on that day God (Adonai) cut covenant with Abram.

What sign will Abram have of this covenant?

Genesis 17:1 (TLV)

When Abram was 99 years old, Adonai appeared to Abram, and He said to him, “I am El Shaddai. Continually walk before Me and you will be blameless.

Genesis 17:2 (TLV)

My heart’s desire is to make My covenant between Me and you, and then I will multiply you exceedingly much.”

Genesis 17:3 (TLV)

Abram fell on his face, and God spoke with him, saying,

Genesis 17:4 (TLV)

“For My part, because My covenant is with you, you will be the father of a multitude of nations.

Genesis 17:5 (TLV)

No longer will your name be Abram, but your name will be Abraham, because I make you the father of a multitude of nations.

Genesis 17:9 (TLV)

God also said to Abraham, “As for you, My covenant you must keep, you and your seed after you throughout their generations.

Genesis 17:10 (TLV)

This is My covenant that you must keep between Me and you and your seed after you: all your males must be circumcised.

Genesis 17:11 (TLV)

You must be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and this will become a sign of the covenant between Me and you.”

The sign of the covenant for the humans that entered the covenant was the sign of circumcision

They were to keep this covenant and if they did then God would be their king yet again and they would be blessed under his rulership in a similar way to how Adam and Eve were blessed living under his rulership before the fall.

So, the question is, who cut covenant with Abraham? God? Well yes but it’s not that simple. Let’s look at it closer

Jewish people have a belief that God is shapeless and formless and that no man can see him. We believe something very similar to that.

John 1:18 (NLT)

No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.

John 5:37 (NLT)

“And the Father who sent me has testified about me himself. You have never heard his voice or seen him face to face,

John 5:38 (NLT)

and you do not have his message in your hearts, because you do not believe me—the one he sent to you.”

John 6:46 (NLT)

“(Not that anyone has ever seen the Father; only I, who was sent from God, have seen him.)”

Colossians 1:15 (NLT)

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation

Can anyone here see things that are invisible?

1 Timothy 1:17 (NLT)

All honor and glory to God forever and ever! He is the eternal King, the unseen one who never dies; he alone is God. Amen.

1 Timothy 6:16 (NLT)

He alone can never die, and he lives in light so brilliant that no human can approach him. No human eye has ever seen him, nor ever will. All honor and power to him forever! Amen.

1 John 4:12 (NLT)

No one has ever seen God.

1 John 4:20 (NLT)

If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?

Does anyone feel confident that they’ve seen God? Did Abraham see God?

We just read a moment ago that Adonai (God) APPEARED to Abraham. Who was it?

Genesis 18:1 (TLV)

Then Adonai appeared to him at Mamre’s large trees while he was sitting in the entrance of his tent during the heat of the day.

Genesis 18:2 (TLV)

When he lifted up his eyes to see, suddenly, three men were standing right by him. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed down to the ground.

Genesis 18:3 (TLV)

Then he said, “My Lord, if now I have found favor in your eyes, please do not pass by your servant.

Genesis 18:4 (TLV)

Please let a little water be brought so you can wash your feet, and make yourselves comfortable under the tree.

Genesis 18:5 (TLV)

And let me bring a bit of bread so that you can refresh yourselves—then you can pass on—since you have passed by your servant.”

Genesis 18:8 (TLV)

Then he took butter and milk and the young ox that he had prepared and set it before them. While he was standing by them under the tree, they ate.

The two men with Adonai or the “angel of YHVH” were angels but Adonai doesn’t speak as a messenger of the Lord, he speaks as Adonai himself and Abraham acknowledges him as Lord or Adonai.

Who could this be? One who is like the son of man but is God at the same time.

He ate with Abraham and he stood there as a man interacting with and talking to Abraham

How could we know for sure that this was Yeshua? What if he told us it was him but we just missed it?

There is a story in John where Yeshua claims to be the “I am” and they try to stone him because of it. They are trying to stone him because he is claiming to be God but he says more than that and they understood that. Look closely at what he claims and what their response is.

John 8:54 (TLV)

Yeshua answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing. It is My Father who gives Me glory—the One of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’

John 8:55 (TLV)

Yet you do not know Him, but I know Him. If I say I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you. Yet I do know Him and keep His Word.

John 8:56 (TLV)

Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day; he saw it and was thrilled.”

John 8:57 (TLV)

Then the Judeans said to Him, “You’re not even fifty years old and you’ve seen Abraham?”

John 8:58 (TLV)

Yeshua answered, “Amen, amen I tell you, before Abraham was, I am!”

John 8:59 (TLV)

Then they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Yeshua hid Himself and went out from the Temple.

He doesn’t simply say he is God. He says Abraham rejoiced to see ME!

They respond you aren’t even 50 yet so how did you SEE Abraham

He says I was around even before Abraham and I am the great I am.

I am the God who showed up to Abraham and I am the one who ate lunch with him, and I am the embodied word of God the father standing before you in the same way I did to Abraham. He rejoiced to see me and yet you don’t receive me.

And now back to the circumcision of Jesus. Abraham made a covenant with Yeshua and it was Yeshua who walked through the animal parts in a glorified form but Abraham himself as a man did not walk through the animal parts. The covenant was made with Abraham and while God blessed him and made him a great nation, Abraham could never keep the covenant on his own and live the perfect life that was required to keep covenant so Yeshua walks through the parts in the spiritual realm and enters into covenant with man but what man could enter the covenant and fulfill it? Yeshua himself entered the covenant through circumcision and lived the life that no man could live and perfectly fulfilled the covenant.

Related Media

Related Sermons