By John Thiel, The Consummation of the Everlasting Covenant Conference, Prelude, mp3

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 55:1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Wherefore do ye spend money for [that which is] not bread? and your labour for [that which] satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye [that which is] good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. 3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, [even] the sure mercies of David.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

This one statement encompasses all the beginning. Many read this in reference to this earth and its heaven. But in the beginning God, He existed everlasting. Before anything was created God, Father, Son or the Word and Holy Spirit were together in a blissful existence and the Bible tells us that God the Father and the Word and the Holy Spirit created all the universe and created the worlds as it says in Hebrews. God creating not only those planets and those constellations but creating intelligent beings on those worlds was confronted with a serious possibility because he created intelligent beings. Free moral agents with the ability of pleasure and enjoyment that God himself has and these free moral agents could choose to work contrary to their creator. That was the potential.

They could choose not to be submissive to the lawfulness of the existence of the joy of the Godhead. Iniquity is the term used for lawlessness. Insubordination to the creator was a possibility. Indeed the Bible sights this as an actual event after a long period of time. The very closest next to God in the chain of command pursued that path, a path of defying his creator. He was free to do that and he did. He was the first in the chain of command from God himself and he took with him a third of all the ministering angels of Gods order. That wasn’t enough.

When God created this planet, the earth was without form and void. God had created this planet in its emptiness and darkness and then he came to put life on this planet to create the planet into a life sustaining planet. The spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. In Gods eternal plan he had resolved if anything would happen like Lucifer turning against him, he would pursue a plan of recovery and placed upon this planet after he had created the dry earth and all that was on it, he placed man upon it and there the interaction of this dilemma was to be worked through. Indeed Lucifer managed to turn the man that God had created in his own image to follow Lucifers rebellion. For this crisis, the eternal mind had already been prepared. Should sin and evil arise, God had covenanted from everlasting before he even created anything. He already had that covenant in his mind.

1 Peter 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, [as] silver and gold, from your vain conversation [received] by tradition from your fathers;

1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

1:20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

Foreordained before the foundation of this world. This planet already existed as a mass of water, the foundation was already there. But before the foundation of the world the everlasting covenant was already ordained. It already existed in the mind of our God.

Romans 16:25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,

16:26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:

The mystery that was kept secret that nobody knew about apart from God, this mystery through the gospel and the scriptures of the prophets was made known. Should sin arise there was a mystery that was already there. That is a mystery. The mystery of evil, how does it arise? That mystery was already cared for by the mystery of God which many people have asked, where did God begin from? That is a mystery for us. To us the horizons of existence prevent us from understanding that there is such a being that has always existed. But for the mystery of iniquity, that mystery, arising and the recovery from that mystery has been revealed. The mystery was kept secret since the world began. In the American Revised Version it says ‘kept in silence through times eternal’.

The earth was dark through misapprehension of God. {DA 22.1}

     The plan for our redemption was not an afterthought, a plan formulated after the fall of Adam. It was a revelation of “the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal.” Romans 16:25, R. V. It was an unfolding of the principles that from eternal ages have been the foundation of God’s throne. From the beginning, God and Christ knew of the apostasy of Satan, and of the fall of man through the deceptive power of the apostate. God did not ordain that sin should exist, but He foresaw its existence, and made provision to meet the terrible emergency. So great was His love for the world, that He covenanted to give His only-begotten Son, “that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. {DA 22.2}

This long standing eternal foundation of Gods throne is a study which we are called upon to enter into.

The science of redemption is the science of all sciences; the science that is the study of the angels and of all the intelligences of the unfallen worlds; the science that engages the attention of our Lord and Saviour; the science that enters into the purpose brooded in the mind of the Infinite–“kept in silence through times eternal” (Romans 16:25, R.V.); the science that will be the study of God’s redeemed throughout endless ages. This is the highest study in which it is possible for man to engage. As no other study can, it will quicken the mind and uplift the soul. {Ed 126.2}

This study is the theme for our coming conference in two weeks. This which was brooding in the mind of the infinite one, kept in silence through times eternal, this science is a science that will deal with all the questions and the problems that exist on this planet and that exist in the universe. The comprehension of that which pertains to us here on earth is essential to understand for our salvation. There was a pact between the Father and the Word. In the beginning was the word and the word was with and was God. In the beginning before anything was created in the universe, there was the Word and it was with God. In the eternal past there was a pact made between the Word and the Father.

Psalms 2:7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou [art] my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

The Word became the Son of God by what? I declare the decree or I declare it for a decree. The Word existed with God as God in eternity. For him to become the Son of God was not that he was begotten as budding off from God which so many people today imagine. It was by decree that he became the son of God. Why the decree? In the mind of the infinite God the potential of evil and iniquity arising needed to be met and the pact was made between the Father and the Word that the Word would be his son. That can be clearly identified as you study God’s word. The science of it all is given in the Bible. It needs careful study. I testify to you that those who occupy their mind with this study and science will discover a spectrum of truth that you only see in the bits and pieces of the teaching of Christianity today. During our conference we will be covering this spectrum very carefully. In this prelude I’m covering the spectrum as quickly as possible.

   In its wide range of style and subjects the Bible has something to interest every mind and appeal to every heart. In its pages are found history the most ancient; biography the truest to life; principles of government for the control of the state, for the regulation of the household–principles that human wisdom has never equaled. It contains philosophy the most profound, poetry the sweetest and the most sublime, the most impassioned and the most pathetic. Immeasurably superior in value to the productions of any human author are the Bible writings, even when thus considered; but of infinitely wider scope, of infinitely greater value, are they when viewed in their relation to the grand central thought. Viewed in the light of this thought, every topic has a new significance. In the most simply stated truths are involved principles that are as high as heaven and that compass eternity. {

We want to get a sense of that.

The central theme of the Bible, the theme about which every other in the whole book clusters, is the redemption plan, the restoration in the human soul of the image of God. From the first intimation of hope in the sentence pronounced in Eden to that last glorious promise of the Revelation, “They shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads” (Revelation 22:4), the burden of every book and every passage of the Bible is the unfolding of this wondrous theme–man’s uplifting–the power of God, “which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:57. {Ed 125.2}

It is the purpose of this short prelude to help us understand that subjects such as the prophecies are not prophecies but are out on a limb on their own. They are part of this great science that was couched in the mind of the infinite one for all eternity.

He who grasps this thought has before him an infinite field for study. He has the key that will unlock to him the whole treasure house of God’s word. {Ed 126.1}

I know this to be true. In my study of scripture since I was 12/13 years of age, God has unfolded this to me. It has come to a point where my heart can pour out with joy in the connection of this entire scope.

The science of redemption is the science of all sciences; {Ed 126.2}

It was made manifest after sin.

From the first intimation of hope in the sentence pronounced in Eden {Ed 125.2}

From that it began to unfold. In one pen stroke of one sentence you see the whole scope of it if you are aware of it. After Adam and Eve had made their excuses, even blaming God, God unveiled the genetics of the science that he had brooded in his eternal mind.

Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Just let this statement penetrate your mind under inspiration. The drama of all ages is expressed in this statement. The serpent’s seed, who is the serpent? The father of all iniquity with whom this mystery of iniquity commenced, all who are the offspring of him are lined up in this statement of the goats. All who have opened upon their hearts to Gods wonderful grace, the woman’s seed, the children of God. One pen stroke, isn’t it an amazing mind that puts it together. You can’t see it unless you read all the scripture in all its connectivity.

     The history of nations that one after another have occupied their allotted time and place, unconsciously witnessing to the truth of which they themselves knew not the meaning, speaks to us. To every nation and to every individual of today God has assigned a place in His great plan. Today men and nations are being measured by the plummet in the hand of Him who makes no mistake. All are by their own choice deciding their destiny, and God is overruling all for the accomplishment of His purposes. {Ed 178.2}

These are free moral agents in Gods great plan. Isn’t this profound?

     The history which the great I AM has marked out in His word, uniting link after link in the prophetic chain, from eternity in the past to eternity in the future, tells us where we are today in the procession of the ages, and what may be expected in the time to come. All that prophecy has foretold as coming to pass, until the present time, has been traced on the pages of history, and we may be assured that all which is yet to come will be fulfilled in its order. {Ed 178.3}

     The final overthrow of all earthly dominions is plainly foretold in the word of truth. In the prophecy uttered when sentence from God was pronounced upon the last king of Israel is given the message: {Ed 179.1}

     “Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: . . . exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him.” Ezekiel 21:26, 27. {Ed 179.2}

Although the diadem of the Jewish nation was still partially in place right through to the time of Christ, it says I’m removing the last king and I’m going to turn it over until the one who has the right of the kingdom will have it.

     The crown removed from Israel passed successively to the kingdoms of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. God says, “It shall be no more, until He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him.” {Ed 179.3}

     That time is at hand. Today the signs of the times declare that we are standing on the threshold of great and solemn events. Everything in our world is in agitation. Before our eyes is fulfilling the Saviour’s prophecy of the events to precede His coming: “Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. . . . Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” Matthew 24:6, 7. {Ed 179.4}

     The present is a time of overwhelming interest to all living. Rulers and statesmen, men who occupy positions of trust and authority, thinking men and women of all classes, have their attention fixed upon the events taking place about us. They are watching the strained, restless relations that exist among the nations. They observe the intensity that is taking possession of every earthly element, and they recognize that something great and decisive is about to take place–that the world is on the verge of a stupendous crisis. {Ed 179.5}

That stupendous crisis is the fruition of the everlasting covenant when you see it in all its connectivity. The most compact rendition of this spectrum of truth is found in the prophecies of Daniel. Daniel 2 is the most compact one of them all.

The Image of Daniel 2

The pagan nations and empires that came into existence after the kings of Israel were demoted. There was no more king after the last king when Babylon took over. From Babylon, the head of his image that Nebuchadnezzar saw, God gave Nebuchadnezzar a compact view of the whole drama in his mind. Imagine giving it to a heathen king. He gave this compact view to the king of Babylon in 606BC. Then Medo-persia conquered and toppled the kingdom as it became weak. Then came Greece and then Rome and then the feet where the nations which will no longer develop anymore empires, the clay and the metal joined together. At the feet of clay something is going to happen which is called the consummation.

Daniel 2:34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet [that were] of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.

2:35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

This is a short summary of everything that God had in his mind. The stone cut out without hands will come and crush the history of this world and build a complete new system when all has taken place in fruition of the everlasting covenant. Daniel 7 is exactly parallel to Daniel 2 with greater detail. The lion loses his great conquering power in the experience. Then comes Medo Persia the bear, Greece the Leopard, and Rome this predatory beast.

The Eyes of Man and the Eyes of God

In the eyes of man it was precious metals but in the eyes of God it is a predatory mentality that comes and destroys. This is Satan’s seed. The description of Daniel 7 is connected with the description of the 2300 years of Daniel 8 which takes us to 1844 where the judgement commences in Gods great plan of the everlasting covenant. In Daniel 9 in reference to the 2300 day prophecy, there is a statement where God gave the Jews another week to benefit from the covenant. He gave the covenant for a whole week of opportunity but they stoned Stephen and thus rejected Christ completely.

Daniel 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make [it] desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

That determined shall be poured upon the desolator. The consummation will do what? It will come down and crush and destroy the desolator. It is part of the everlasting covenant. The serpent’s seed will be decimated. As it destroys the world empires after the thousand years, there is a complete destruction of the serpent’s seed full stop. Affliction will never rise the second time because at the end of all that, the consummation of the everlasting covenant which was in the mind of God to deal with iniquity into eternity has been achieved. It is through the interplay of this mystery. The desired end of all who want to see this drama of evil to be completed is expressed in Jeremiah. Here is the great God who looks on this planet and he appeals to them.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

29:12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.

Most people read this applicable to the Jews but this is part of Gods great science of the everlasting covenant to give you an expected end. That is the meaning of the word consummation that will destroy Satan’s seed while simultaneously redeeming the faithful seed. This is the consummation. Jesus expressed this.

Matthew 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth [his] sheep from the goats:

25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

The individual intelligences that make a choice to turn towards God in the madness that has existed in the raising of iniquity by Lucifer, these people will come to God’s expectations that he has planned for them. Come, this kingdom has been prepared for you form the foundation of the world. Notice how intimately he connects that with the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 25:35 For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

25:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

He is talking about het woman’s seed.

Matthew 25:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed [thee]? or thirsty, and gave [thee] drink?

25:38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took [thee] in? or naked, and clothed [thee]?

25:39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done [it] unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done [it] unto me.

25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

In the long distant pass this was prepared for them but not man who came later into the equation.

Matthew 25:42 For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

25:43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

25:44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did [it] not to one of the least of these, ye did [it] not to me.

25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Here is the fruition, the consummation of the everlasting covenant. Standing before Jesus is the woman’s seed on the right and the serpent’s seed on the left. Can you see there is no sitting on the fence? This is one or the other. The choice is affected by what we do with Jesus because he is the Son of God for the purpose to create a universe in which there will be no more iniquity. What has the serpents seed tried to do with Jesus? Who are the people that make their choice that they are the serpent’s seed? Here is a small drama played by which every man discovers that he has a choice to make. It is not just Jesus the seed but all his true brethren.

Mark 15:12 And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do [unto him] whom ye call the King of the Jews?

15:13 And they cried out again, Crucify him.

How do you and I crucify Jesus? Not in that I have sinned, that is why he was crucified to save but to make a choice was to reject him as your personal saviour. It is told in the scripture how we reject him.

What Should We Do With Jesus?

We have all transgressed God’s laws and we should all suffer its consequences because the wages of sin is death and suffering and everything you see on this planet is as a consequence of sin. The destructive predatory behaviour is all serpents’ seed. The wars in history, the horrifying data observed in scripture, all this is the consequence of iniquity. We have all transgressed and God has made provision so that would not take place.

Romans 3:16 Destruction and misery [are] in their ways:

3:17 And the way of peace have they not known:

3:18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.

3:19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law [is] the knowledge of sin.

There is nothing you can do anymore. We have sinned and we have to suffer the consequences of sin. Ever all that try to keep the law as good a motive it may be, they can’t be saved by simply doing that as they have already transgressed. God knows this and looks at these people so trapped into sin by Satan, to meet the consequences in his plan of his everlasting covenant, we read of this in Galatians 4.

The Everlasting Covenant in Action

Galatians 4:3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

God sent forth his son, remember the pact they made by decree? God sent his son so he would be come and made of a woman, the woman’s seed. What for?

Galatians 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

He was made under the law. He God was made of a woman.

Galatians 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed [is] every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

Are we cursed? Yes we are.

3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed [is] every one that hangeth on a tree:

Here is this amazing mystery. What? God comes into the very presence of sin. To cut a long story short.

2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

He was made to be sin for us who knew no sin so we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Brooding in the mind of the infinite one he would deal with this terrible dilemma that he would become sin.

Romans 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

We are intelligent free moral agents and having all botched it having totally disobeyed Gods laws in our practise of life. Here in the free moral agent that the Lord is trying to reach, he says look at me, look at what I have brooding in my mind, I the God of your creation have become sin with you. So that I as I become sin with you, I could condemn the sin in the flesh so that you might have the righteousness of the law fulfilled in you so that you maybe the woman’s seed. This blows the mind. This does something to a rational thinking person who says what is this? This amazing story God had in plan before creating any being.

     But man was not abandoned to the results of the evil he had chosen. In the sentence pronounced upon Satan was given an intimation of redemption. “I will put enmity between thee and the woman,” God said, “and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Genesis 3:15. This sentence, spoken in the hearing of our first parents, was to them a promise. Before they heard of the thorn and the thistle, of the toil and sorrow that must be their portion, or of the dust to which they must return, they listened to words that could not fail of giving them hope. All that had been lost by yielding to Satan could be regained through Christ. {Ed 27.1}

What do you see of the everlasting gospel in nature?

     This intimation also nature repeats to us. Though marred by sin, it speaks not only of creation but of redemption. Though the earth bears testimony to the curse in the evident signs of decay, it is still rich and beautiful in the tokens of life-giving power. The trees cast off their leaves, only to be robed with fresher verdure; the flowers die, to spring forth in new beauty; and in every manifestation of creative power is held out the assurance that we may be created anew in “righteousness and holiness of truth.” Ephesians 4:24, margin. Thus the very objects and operations of nature that bring so vividly to mind our great loss become to us the messengers of hope. {Ed 27.2}

As you ponder this, those who open their heart to this phenomenon have Jesus shining in their heart. When Jesus is shining in the heart it brings light out of darkness. Hasn’t he done that through history? He shines in our dark heart to reveal the glory of God. It shines in your heart and what does it produce? We become the epistles of Christ. What does that mean? The everlasting covenant. A covenant that is to be built into us as we open our hearts to this amazing story.

Hebrews 10:16 This [is] the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;

10:17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

Isn’t that the everlasting covenant? He is going to remove iniquity. How? Through the blood of the covenant, through Jesus Christ. Those who reject the offer of this beautiful story that has been brooding in the mind of God, what have they done to this planet? What is the consummation that destroys the desolator?

Isaiah 24:4 The earth mourneth [and] fadeth away, the world languisheth [and] fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.

24:5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.

24:6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.

If you understand this whole picture, this beautiful everlasting covenant even in nature that man has systematically destroyed by disrespecting Gods order, putting his own way in to it, he destroys himself. The consummation is going to finally deal with the desolator. Not only have they destroyed Gods people and crucified Christ, they have desolated the planet. As they do this, this planet will consume them. This is what God gave Jesus to save us from. If the Jews had accepted Jesus and if the planet had submitted to God in Jesus Christ this planet would have been renewed and Jesus wouldn’t have gone back to heaven. That is in Zechariah’s prophecy. When the grand fruition of the consummation takes place, the desolators are desolated. I hope we can pick up on segments of this huge science so we can benefit in our research of what Christianity is about so we might be redeemed from sure desolation.

Isaiah 55:1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

55:2 Wherefore do ye spend money for [that which is] not bread? and your labour for [that which] satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye [that which is] good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

55:3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, [even] the sure mercies of David.

Study David and you will know what he means. Are you a desolated people or a desolator? You do it the way that you treat each other. The way we treat each other will show whether I’m a desolator or whether I’m being desolated by others. God’s people open their hearts to the everlasting covenant, they are not destroyers, they are reformers and as reformers they are not bigots, as reformers they embrace the forgiving nature of God himself. When we see what sin around us, we do not do what the predators do. We are not predators as children of God. Pick up the story of the everlasting covenant and we will rejoice in life and in fatness.

Amen.