©2011-2026, David E. Robinson: At the Gates of Yerushalayim Ministries
Lessons from the Wilderness, Volume 75
Covenant
Reality and Apostolic Leadership, Part Three
More on Questions Yet Asked:
Corrections in Context
[i] [ii] [iii] [iv]
2 Corinthians 3:1-4 [ESV]
4 ySuch is the confidence
that we have through Christ toward God. 5 zNot that we are
sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but aour sufficiency is from
God, 6 who has made
us sufficient to be bministers
of ca new covenant, not of dthe letter but of the
Spirit. For the letter kills, but ethe
Spirit gives life. [v]
Before we begin, I have to make some very necessary corrections and refinements. Brethren, as you know from our series on false teachers, I had to correct myself. I am teachable and correctable – that means I must let the text support my conclusions, and along with that, what I consider as certain. Now, this last one, what I consider to be certain, often is far from that. I read and study, and then I decide as to what I write.
That almost always gets me in trouble. For what I write has to BE right; I am human though. I reach at times too far, and then I have to correct myself. We’ll get to that in a moment, but first, lets summarize Parts One and Two. Now, both parts, and I give HaShem all the glory, offer a coherent call to discern God’s voice through Scripture, covenant, and an accountable community; the revisions we will see below preserve the strength of my contentions while making what I claim more precise, balanced, and defensible. So, let us look at some recap of what we covered.
1. In Part One, I touched on authority, discernment, and obedient hearing.
Part One identifies the central modern challenge, both Christian and Messianic, as a crisis of authority and discernment. Believers live amid competing voices: Scripture, pastors, traditions, politics, social media, influencers, algorithms, AI, and personal desires. The fundamental issue is therefore not merely false teaching or lack of information, but determining whose voice deserves believing loyalty. The study then traced a biblical pattern from the Torah through the New Testament: God speaks, His people are called to hear, and faithful hearing results in obedience. Matthew 7, John 10, and James 1[vi] particularly support the argument that hearing without doing is inadequate. Deception is presented not only as an intellectual error but also as a moral problem: people can be drawn to messages because those messages satisfy desires, fears, or preferences.
We then began the discussion of declining Christian identification, uneven Scripture engagement, and growing openness to AI spiritual guidance; all these illustrates the urgency of the question. Technology itself is not treated as the enemy; rather, the decisive question is where authority resides. Part One concludes that Scripture presents God as faithfully revealing why He is worthy to be heard and followed.
2. Part Two in summary: covenant reality and apostolic service.
Part Two opens with the development of the “Covenant Reality”, seen as a covenant-centered worldview rooted in the Hebrew Bible and interpreted within its Second Temple Jewish setting. I argue that covenant begins with God’s gracious initiative, calls forth faithful obedience, provides repentance and atonement for failure, and remains meaningful even amid judgment and exile.
The study then emphasized that the promised new covenant, especially as seen in Jeremiah and Ezekiel, ought to be understood as God’s instruction written on the heart by the Spirit, rather than simply as the removal of all obligation. Then I also urge my readers to move beyond merely devotional reading of Scripture, but toward careful study which is attentive to language, literary patterns, historical setting, and the Bible’s divine-human character.
The second part presents apostolic leadership through the idea of shalichut, or an “authorized agency”. In this model, an apostle’s authority is not personal status, charisma, or institutional branding, but faithful representation of the One who sends. Leadership is therefore meant to serve and guard covenant faithfulness, not replace the community’s direct responsibility to hear and obey God.
Finally, Part Two connected this covenant vision to Part One’s authority crisis. It argues that discernment is not best understood as isolated private intuition, but as hearing God within a Scripture-shaped covenant community where teaching, character, obedience, and leadership can be tested.
Now, we come to the “fun” part where I make the following:
Clarifications and
Refinements to Parts One and Two.
The central convictions of both these studies remain unchanged: God has spoken; His people are called to hear and obey; Scripture must be read carefully within its historical setting; and leadership is valid only insofar as it faithfully represents the Messiah. The following clarifications are then humbly offered to make those convictions clearer and to prevent misunderstandings.
- Scripture engagement is necessary, but Bible consumption alone is not discipleship.
The call to hear and obey God remains essential, yet “Scripture engagement” should not mean merely reading frequently, collecting information, or mastering isolated verses. Faithful engagement includes reading, hearing, studying in context, prayerful reflection, communal discussion, and concrete obedience. Scripture is the normative witness by which believers learn to recognize the voice of God, but discipleship is also formed through the Spirit’s work, prayer, the gathered community, pastoral care, correction, and relationships of accountability. Therefore, mature discipleship is not simply exposure to biblical material; it is the Spirit-formed submission to Scripture that reshapes conduct, relationships, and allegiance to Messiah.
2. “Covenant Reality” requires a single, stable definition.
In these studies, the phrase “Covenant Reality” is used to speak about God’s covenant faithfulness, Israel’s covenant calling, the promised new covenant, transformed hearts, communal life, and leadership. These themes belong together, but they should not be treated as interchangeable.
Therefore, for clarity, going forth, the term will be used in this sense:
“Covenant Reality is the lived order established by God’s covenant: graciously initiated by God, expressed through faithful obedience, renewed through repentance, and fulfilled through the Spirit’s internalization of God’s instruction in the Messiah-centered community.”
This definition then allows us to
distinguish the four-related dimensions: God’s historical covenant purposes,
the promised new-covenant renewal, the inward transformation of believers, and
the public life of the covenant community.
3.
Grace and obedience must be held
together without reducing either.
We understand that the covenant begins in God’s mercy and election, not in human achievement. Israel did not earn God’s choice, and no one establishes righteousness before God by accumulating merit. At the same time though, grace does not make obedience irrelevant. Within Scripture, obedience is the grateful and faithful response of a people whom God has called to belong to Him. This truth must be stated carefully. Obedience is neither a payment for admission into God’s favor nor a merely optional addition to faith. It is the fruit of covenant loyalty. When believers fail, Scripture also provides the language of repentance, forgiveness, restoration, and renewed faithfulness.
4. The new covenant involves both continuity and genuine transformation.
Jeremiah’s promise that God will write His instruction upon the heart establishes continuity with God’s prior revelation. The new covenant should therefore not be portrayed as a rejection of the God of Israel, the Hebrew Scriptures, or God’s moral will. Yet continuity must not obscure the real changes that are emphasized in the apostolic writings. The new covenant is marked by the Messiah’s decisive work, the gift of the Spirit, the fulfillment of sacrificial and priestly expectations, and the inclusion of Gentiles in the people of God. Passages such as 2 Corinthians 3, Acts 15, Galatians, Romans 7-10, and Hebrews 8-10, must be addressed directly rather than treated as secondary difficulties. A sound covenant theology must explain both what continues and what has been transformed in Messiah.
5. Second Temple Judaism and Christian tradition are not-to-be treated as uniform.
The phrase
“Jewish perspective” can conceal significant diversity among biblical, Second
Temple, rabbinic, and modern Jewish sources. Likewise, “Christian theology”
includes many traditions, some of which differ sharply on Torah, covenant,
Israel, grace, and the new covenant. For instance, Second Temple Judaism
contains both heavenly-apocalyptic and communal-embodied dimensions. The
apostolic witness does not reject heavenly realities; it locates their decisive
expression in the incarnate Messiah, Spirit-formed communities, and faithful public
conduct.
Accordingly, broad claims always need to be qualified. Rather than my speaking as though all Christians teach the same thing or all Jewish sources say the same thing, it is more accurate to refer to particular interpretations, communities, texts, or theological traditions. This strengthens our argument by allowing evidence to speak with appropriate precision.
6. The esoteric and embodied contrast is a teaching aid, not an absolute historical division.
The model of the shaliach, while rightly emphasizes that a sent representative has no independent authority apart from the sender, means that no modern leader should claim unquestionable authority merely by using titles such as apostle, prophet, pastor, teacher, or rabbi.
Faithful authority must be tested by its conformity to the character and teaching of Messiah, fidelity to the apostolic gospel, consistency between doctrine and conduct, willingness to accept correction, refusal to exploit others, and concern for the vulnerable. Authority in the covenant community is not and cannot be about self-exaltation; it is strictly an accountable service. The strongest leaders do not make themselves the final voice. They direct the community back to the word and character of the King.
8. Covenant community guards against individualism, but it must also guard against abuse.It is right to
reject a purely private approach in which each person treats inner impressions
as unquestionable divine speech. Discernment belongs within a Scripture-shaped
community. Yet community itself is not automatically safe or correct; a congregation,
tradition, or leader can also become mistaken, coercive, or self-protective. Consequently,
covenant community must be both communal and accountable: open to Scripture,
governed by truthful interpretation, willing to examine claims, resistant to
personality cults, and humble enough to receive correction. The community does
not replace God’s voice; it helps believers hear, test, and obey that voice
faithfully.
The historical direction of these studies is sound: biblical interpretation should attend carefully to the ancient Jewish world in which Scripture was written. To make the case more persuasive, major claims should have been shown directly from Scripture and relevant ancient sources.
For example, covenant grace and obligation may be grounded in Exodus 19:4–6 and Deuteronomy 7:6–11; covenant persistence after judgment in Leviticus 26:40–45, Jeremiah 31:35–37, and Ezekiel 36:22–28; inward renewal in Jeremiah 31:31–34 and Ezekiel 11:19–20; and apostolic sending in Luke 10:16, John 13:20, John 20:21, and Acts 15:1–29. Scholarly voices remain helpful, but primary texts should carry the principal weight of the argument. In short, I should have restructured some of my sections a bit better, for some of what I wrote revisited topics that I had mentioned before. If I made my arguments a bit cumbersome, please forgive me, for I should and could have used a more linear structure. I will strive though in my future posts, to make the arguments clearer, more concise and easier to follow.
That said, these refinements I pray will preserve the central direction of both studies: believers need neither isolation nor dependence upon human personalities, but a covenantal life in which Scripture, the Spirit, faithful obedience, and accountable community direct them to hear and follow the Messiah and lest we forget, His God, our God.
We do well to
heed what Yeshua said in John 17 ; this is where he begins His High Priestly
prayer, but what I want to focus on here is what He says in verses 1-3:
17 1 After
Yeshua had said these things, he looked up toward heaven and said, “Father, the
time has come. Glorify your Son, so that the Son may glorify you—2 just
as you gave him authority over all mankind, so that he might give eternal life
to all those whom you have given him.
3 And eternal life is this: to know you, the one true God, and him whom you sent, Yeshua the Messiah. [1]
As I said at the
beginning of the post – I am human. I erred in not giving you a fuller
explanation of all I researched, and you deserved the greater reading. I have
laid before you the places I should have taken more time with. As we go forward,
I will recall my unintended mistakes, and give you a fuller treatment of this
very important issue, that of answering the question:
“Whose voice are we listening to?”
I pray you’ll continue to follow as we delve further into this topic. In Part Four, I will explore the role that community plays in this matter, and I will begin expounding upon the topics outlined here and give you the full measure of my arguments. Bear with me, for to give coherent and sound arguments, it will require that we delve deep into these subjects.
Till then, May the God of Peace bless you and keep you,
Amein.
[1] FAIR USE DISCLAIMER: This blog site may contain content that is not authorized for use by its owner. All such material will be cited back to its original source. According to Section 107 of the Copyright Act: “…the fair use of a copyrighted work […] for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright…” I have made and will continue to make every effort to stay within all ethical and moral guidelines in the use of material presented here, and the use of these materials is solely intended for educational purposes only, and all efforts to obtain or sustain fair use of non-owned material will be made.
[1] Author’s note: This site is for education only and is not affiliated with any institution, organization, or religious group. It is the sole production of its editor/author. Use of information from Jewish-themed websites (or any other source material) should not be construed as these sites endorsing or confirming any thesis introduced by the author of this epistle. I present the information from their respective sites for instructional purposes only and/or to aid in the readers understanding of the subjects discussed.
[1]
Author’s note: Throughout
these studies, I will be using the NET Bible® and the NET Notes®: within the
notes you will see symbols like this: ( א B Ψ 892*
2427 sys). These are abbreviations used by the NET Bible® for identifying the
principal manuscript evidence that they (authors and translators of the NET
Bible®) used in translating the New Testament. Please go to https://bible.org/netbible/
and see their section labeled “NET Bible Principals of Translation” for
a more complete explanation on these symbols and other items pertinent to the
way the NET Bible uses them. This is not to say that the NET® Bible will be our
only source of God’s word but will be used as seen fit.
[1]
Author’s Note: In these studies,
I have used the notes that come along with the passages I cite from the sources
that I cite: these need a bit of a disclaimer though. As in all things, not
everything that is footnoted is something that I necessarily agree with, especially
if it contradicts what I believe pertains to any matters of the Torah or the
commandments of God. I give you the notes as they are written by the authors of
the material I cite from, so that you can see the information contained within
them. It truly is not my place to edit them; if they state anything that is in
opposition to what I teach, then so be it. I will address these issues if
requested. That is not to say I should not challenge something I believe, in my
humble opinion, might contradict the truth of God’s word; that I will do in the
main body of my epistles for that is where my gentle dissent belongs. Most (but
not all) of the differences will come when I quote from a source that displays
a decidedly Western/Greek mindset, as opposed to a Hebraic perspective. I must
be intellectually honest – I am biased toward the God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, and His son, Yeshua the Messiah. I pray then we all can find common
ground as we study the Scriptures. Also, some may be put off by the length or
depth of the notes; not everyone has access to the references I do, therefore I
try to include the notes that come with the material I use, so each can see for
themselves the information the originator has pointedly gleaned. I hope you
avail yourselves to these inclusions – they help us to understand how the
material in scripture is laid out – the thought process of the original writer.
q ch.
5:12; 10:12; 12:11
r
[ch. 11:4]
s
[Acts 18:27; 1 Cor. 16:3]
t [1
Cor. 9:2]
1
Some manuscripts your
u See
Matt. 16:16
v Ex.
24:12
w
Prov. 3:3; 7:3; Jer. 17:1
x
Ezek. 11:19; 36:26; [Jer. 31:33; Heb. 8:10]
2
Greek fleshly hearts
y
Eph. 3:12
z
[Eph. 2:8]
a See
1 Cor. 15:10
b
Eph. 3:7; Col. 1:23, 25; [ch. 4:1; 5:18; 1 Tim. 1:12]
c
Jer. 31:31; Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25; Heb. 8:8, 13; [ver. 14; Heb. 9:15]
d See
Rom. 2:27
e
[John 6:63; Rom. 8:2]
[v] The Holy Bible: English
Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025), 2 Co 3:1-6.
[vi] See in particular, Matthew 7:24–27,
John 10:27, and James 1:22.
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