The LORD shall reign forever, even your God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise you the LORD.
The title is Psalms 146:10, the first of the final five Psalms, all beginning and ending with the Hebrew words Halal Jah, or Hallelu-JAH, rendered “Praise you the LORD.” The first part of the verse appears quoted in Revelation 11:15 as the last (seventh) trump sounds and the final judgment begins. Psalms 149:9 ends describing the judgment, saying, “the way of the wicked He (Jehovah) turns upside down.”
Revelation 11 says the LORD’s judgment, destroying those who are destroying the earth, comes when His testament is seen, and there are lightnings, voices, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail, all from heaven. We know the lightning is enlightenment, God-given understanding, and the voices are the thunders that accompany the light, speaking what is understood. This revelation is what is now shaking the old world, so those who are destroying the earth will be shaken out of it. The hail describes the word of God, reserved, frozen, in heaven and now sent, as a testament, to earth.
Revelation 11
14 The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe comes quickly.
15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our LORD, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
16 And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
17 Saying, We give you thanks, O LORD God Almighty, which are, and was, and are to come; because you have taken to you your great power, and have reigned.
18 And the nations were angry, and your wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that you should give reward unto your servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear your name, small and great; and should destroy them which destroy the earth.
19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.
The actual “third woe” isn’t defined until Revelation 12:12, after we are told of the accusers, the dragon who has deceived the whole world, is cast down into the earth, and his angels (messengers) with him. We know this false accuser well, the misleading spirit (sa’iyr) called the devil, in men who’ve destroyed the old world by their deceptions and delusions. As we know, the “dragon” is the word drakon, which is referring to a venomous serpent, who poisons and then devours with its wide-open mouth. The dragon is Babylon, meaning those who rule the world after gaining control by poisoning the mind of men into confusion and delusion. The “third woe” is the great wrath of dragon, now, when he realizes his end (kalah) has come.
Revelation 12
1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitant of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has but a short time.
13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
When we are told, in verse 11, the dragon is overcome by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, it is referring us back to “the Ark of His Testament.” The testimony of the Jesus Christ is Jehovah’s Salvation, His testimony in us is the blood of the Lamb that saves the world from the destroyers.
The word “testament” is the Greek word diatheke, meaning a disposition, in a legal sense. It is describing a final determination laid out in an orderly manner. It is the word also, and most often, translated covenant, which is the testament of the LORD’s will.
The word only appears four times in the Gospels, three times as “Testament,” when the LORD, at the last supper, tells of the blood of His testament, which is God’s will made known by Him. The will of God is described the fourth time the word appears, in Luke 1:72, where Zechariah is speaking of John the Baptist, through who the Father would prepare the ways for all men to become His sons, by Christ manifested in them. He is speaking of John, who is the Grace of God personified, showing the LORD remembers His Oath.
Isaiah 63
11 Then He [the LORD] remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him?
12 That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name?
13 That led them through the deep, as a horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble?
14 As a beast goes down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD caused him to rest: so did you lead your people, to make yourself a glorious name.
15 Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of your holiness and of your glory: where is your zeal and your strength, the sounding of your bowels and of your mercies toward me? are they restrained?
16 Doubtless you are our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: you, O LORD, are our father, our redeemer; your name is from everlasting.
17 O LORD, why have you made us to err from your ways, and hardened our heart from your fear? Return for your servants’ sake, the tribes of your inheritance.
18 The people of your holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down your sanctuary.
19 We are yours: you never barest rule over them; they were not called by your name.
Isaiah 64
1 Oh that you would rend the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might flow down at your presence,
2 As when the melting fire burned, the fire caused the waters to boil, to make your name known to your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at your presence!
3 When you did terrible things which we looked not for, you came down, the mountains flowed down at your presence.
4 For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither has the eye seen, O God, beside you, what he has prepared for him that waits for him.
5 You meet him that rejoices and works righteousness, those that remember you in your ways: behold, you are wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.
Luke 1
57 Now Elisabeth’s [the Oath of God] full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son.
58 And her neighbors and her cousins heard how the LORD had shewed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her.
59 And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zechariah [Jehovah has remembered], after the name of his father.
60 And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John [Jehovah’s Grace].
61 And they said unto her, There is none of your kindred that is called by this name.
62 And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called.
63 And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marveled all.
64 And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, and praised God.
65 And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judaea.
66 And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the LORD was with him.
67 And his father Zechariah [Jehovah has remembered] was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,
68 Blessed be the LORD God of Israel; for he has visited and redeemed his people,
69 And has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;
70 As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:
71 That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;
72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant [diatheke];
73 The oath which he swore to our father Abraham,
74 That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,
75 In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.
76 And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Highest: for you shall go before the face of the LORD to prepare his ways;
77 To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,
78 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high has visited us,
79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
80 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.
Genesis 17
1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be you perfect.
2 And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.
3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,
4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations.
5 Neither shall your name any more be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made you.
6 And I will make you exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come out of you.
7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your seed after you in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto you, and to your seed after you.
8 And I will give unto you, and to your seed after you, the land wherein you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
9 And God said unto Abraham, You shall keep my covenant therefore, you, and your seed after you in their generations.
The LORD later makes (codifies) the covenant through Moses, and tells him the written word is the blood of the covenant (testament), His written will.
Exodus 24
1 And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, you, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship you afar off.
2 And Moses alone shall come near the LORD: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him.
3 And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD has said will we do.
4 And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and built an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
5 And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD.
6 And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
7 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD has said will we do, and be obedient.
8 And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD has made with you concerning all these words.
9 Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel:
10 And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.
11 And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.
12 And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give you tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that you may teach them.
13 And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God.
14 And he said unto the elders, Tarry you here for us, until we come again unto you: and, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you: if any man have any matters to do, let him come unto them.
15 And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount.
16 And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud.
17 And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.
18 And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.
The vail that remains to this day over the face of Moses, that covered the glory of the LORD in Him, is removed by new covenant that says everyone will know the LORD, know His glory is in man where He dwells. As seen above, the covenant is the will of God, first spoken to Abraham, written by Moses and then the prophets, and fulfilled (the will of God) by Jesus. This was understood by the apostles, who also understood the degeneration into ignorance and darkness that would follow, as Paul writes of in Act 20:29 & 30.
Acts 20
27 For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers, to feed [teach] the church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood.
29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
32 And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.
33 I have coveted no man’s silver, or gold, or apparel.
34 Yea, you yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.
35 I have shewed you all things, how that so laboring you ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the LORD Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
Here following is the new covenant, through Jeremiah in Jeremiah 31:34, not being teaching His word, an aspect already present in Exodus 24:12 where Moses is told to write and teach it. In verse 34 He says of the old, “they shall teach no more” saying, “know the LORD,” and then telling of the new, He says, “for they all shall know Me.”
Jeremiah 31
31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was a husband unto them, saith the LORD:
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
Friends, the new covenant is the testament that has always been taught by the LORD, as Christ in men, writing His laws into our hearts and minds, until now as the Holy Spirit, unknown, hidden behind the veil of flesh. The point Paul makes in 2 Corinthians 3 is that the testament, the true word of God being taught is the evidence it is the LORD Himself in us, who all men can know, and will now know. This is what is said in Hebrews 10 when we are told of the body, the flesh the LORD prepares for himself, and then quote Psalms 40:7 “I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me.” The following verses then say, “8 I delight to do your will, O my God: yea, your law is within my heart. 9 I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, you know.”
Again, this is how and why Paul says to the Thessalonians, in 1 Thessalonians 2:19, “Are not even you in the presence of our LORD Jesus Christ at his coming,” after saying in verse 13 that they received his word as the word of God, as it is.
Now I ask you, “Are not even you in the presence of our LORD Jesus Christ at his coming?”
2 Corinthians 2
14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ, and makes manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place.
15 For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:
16 To the one we are the savor of death unto death; and to the other the savor of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?
17 For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.
2 Corinthians 3
1 Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?
2 You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:
3 Forasmuch as you are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
4 And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:
5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
6 Who also has made us able ministers of the new testament [diatheke]; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.
7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraved in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:
8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?
9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more does the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
10 For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excels.
11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remains is glorious.
12 Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:
13 And not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:
14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remains the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament [diatheke]; which vail is done away in Christ.
15 But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.
16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the LORD, the vail shall be taken away.
17 Now the LORD is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the LORD is, there is liberty.
18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the LORD, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the LORD.
2 Corinthians 4
1 Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;
2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the LORD; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the LORD Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
It is by this testament the living God brings us to life, Jesus Christ alive in us, in Spirit and truth.
Hebrews 13
6 So that we may boldly say, The LORD is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
7 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.
8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.
9 Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.
20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our LORD Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant [diatheke],
21 Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
John 5
21 For as the Father raises up the dead, and quickens them; even so the Son quickens whom he will.
22 For the Father judges no man, but has committed all judgment unto the Son:
23 That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honors not the Son honors not the Father which has sent him.
24 Truly, truly, I say unto you, He that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
25 Truly, truly, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
26 For as the Father has life in himself; so has he given to the Son to have life in himself;
27 And has given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which has sent me
Hebrews 10
5 Wherefore when he comes into the world, he says, Sacrifice and offering you would not, but a body have you prepared me:
6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you have had no pleasure.
7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do your will, O God.
8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin you would not, neither had pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do your will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 And every priest stands daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God;
13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.
14 For by one offering he has perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,
16 This is the covenant [diatheke] that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
20 By a new and living way, which he has consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
21 And having a high priest over the house of God;
22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together [into one stick – ‘ets], as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as you see the day approaching.
26 For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins,
27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
28 He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose you, shall he be thought worthy, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant [diatheke], wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and has done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
30 For we know him that has said, Vengeance belongs unto me, I will recompense, says the LORD. And again, The LORD shall judge his people.
31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Psalms 40
1 I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
2 He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
3 And he has put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.
4 Blessed is that man that makes the LORD his trust, and respects not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
5 Many, O LORD my God, are your wonderful works which you have done, and your thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto you: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.
6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire; mine ears have you opened: burnt offering and sin offering have you not required.
7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,
8 I delight to do your will, O my God: yea, your law is within my heart.
9 I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, you know.
10 I have not hid your righteousness within my heart; I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation: I have not concealed your lovingkindness and your truth from the great congregation.
Psalms 146
1 Praise you the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul.
2 While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.
3 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
4 His breath goes forth, he returns to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.
5 Happy is he that has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:
6 Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keeps truth forever:
7 Which executes judgment for the oppressed: which gives food to the hungry. The LORD looses the prisoners:
8 The LORD opens the eyes of the blind: the LORD raises them that are bowed down: the LORD love the righteous:
9 The LORD preserves the strangers; he relieves the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turns upside down.
10 The LORD shall reign forever, even your God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise you the LORD.
