Q: What is the covenant for a kingdom that Jesus made with his
disciples? Is it the same as the new covenant? I tried to explain the
difference to a bible study recently and was surprised that I don't really
understand it myself. How do you explain
it? . . .
_________________________
A:
The Watchtower Society explains that the "covenant for a kingdom" is
"a special
covenant" between only Jesus and the 144,000 who will rule with him in his kingdom;
whereas the "new covenant" makes the other one possible. Their
"covenant for a kingdom" is also vital in their explanation that only the
144,000 are included in the new covenant and only they are permitted to partake
of the emblems at the annual Memorial celebration. Here is what a recent
(2006) Watchtower said regarding this:
6 On the night that Jesus instituted the
Memorial of his death, he told his faithful apostles: “You are the ones that
have stuck with me in my trials; and I make a covenant with you, just as my
Father has made a covenant with me, for a kingdom, that you may eat and
drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones to judge the twelve tribes
of Israel.” (Luke 22:28-30) Jesus here referred to a special covenant that he
made with his 144,000 spirit-begotten brothers, who would remain “faithful even
to death” and prove themselves ‘conquerors.’—Revelation 2:10; 3:21.
7 Those of this limited group forgo all hopes of living
forever on earth as humans of flesh and blood. They will reign with Christ in
heaven, sitting on thrones to judge humankind. (Revelation 20:4, 6) Let us now
examine other scriptures that apply only to these anointed ones and that show
why the “other sheep” do not partake of the Memorial emblems.—John 10:16. —w06
2/15 p. 22 Gathering Things in Heaven and Things on Earth (Bold mine)
Contrary to what the above Watchtower states,
Jesus did not make a "covenant for a kingdom" with his disciples, although he
definitely is the mediator of the "new covenant." (Heb. 9:15) According to Luke's
account, on the night when
Jesus celebrated the last Passover with his disciples and instituted the
memorial of his death, he mentioned the new covenant when he took the cup and handed it to them saying: "This
cup means the new covenant (διαθήκη, di·a·the′ke) by virtue of my blood,
which is to be poured out in your behalf." (Luke 22:20) But when Jesus promised
the kingdom to his faithful disciples a moment later, he did not use the word "covenant."
Please note: Jesus did not tell his disciples: "I make a covenant with you just
as my Father has made a covenant with me."
That the word "covenant" (διαθήκη, di·a·the′ke) does not appear at Luke
22:29 is acknowledged in the New World Translation
Reference Bible (Rbi8),
for it omits the Scripture from the 33 places where the word
covenant does
appear in the Greek Scriptures. Here is what it says in the Appendix, page 1584:
The word di·a·the′ke
occurs 33 times in the Greek text, namely, in Mt 26:28; Mr 14:24; Lu
1:72; 22:20; Ac 3:25; 7:8; Ro 9:4; 11:27; 1Co 11:25; 2Co 3:6, 14; Ga 3:15,
17; 4:24; Eph 2:12; Heb 7:22; 8:6, 8, 9, 9, 10; 9:4, 4, 15, 15, 16, 17, 20;
10:16, 29; 12:24; 13:20; Re 11:19. The New
World Translation renders the Greek word
di·a·the′ke
as “covenant” in these 33 places. (Bold added)
The word di·a·the′ke
occurs in quotations from the Hebrew Scriptures seven times, namely, in Ro 11:27
(from Isa 59:21); Heb 8:8 (from Jer 31:31), 9 (twice, from Jer 31:32), 10 (from
Jer 31:33); 9:20 (from Ex 24:8); 10:16 (from Jer 31:33). In these seven quoted
texts the Hebrew word in M is ברית
(berith′,
“covenant”), and the Greek word in LXX is διαθήκη (di·a·the′ke).
—New World Translation Reference Bible,
pages 1584-1585 7D “Covenant” Used in the Ancient Hebrew
Sense. See also The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures,
1985 Edition, Appendix 5C, page 1157.
Note that Luke 22:29 is missing in the
above list of scriptures. What is the significance that the
word "covenant" does not appear at Luke 22:29?
Since Jesus did not use the word, neither did he make a "covenant for a kingdom"
with his apostles. Then what
did Jesus tell them? In view of his impending arrest and death,
Jesus assured his disciples that they had not followed him in vain, but they were
sure
of receiving the kingdom, just as he had promised them on at least two earlier
occasions, such as when he had told them: "Have no fear, little flock, because
your Father has approved of giving you the kingdom." (Luke
12:32; Matt. 19:28) That is why other
Translations render Luke 22:29 as saying: "and
I assign
(give; grant; appoint; bestow) to you,
as my Father assigned
to me, a kingdom." (ESV) The word for "assign" being
dia·ti'the·mi (διατίθεμαι),
meaning "to dispose" as in a will.
The word "covenant" in Luke 22:29
(appearing twice) is an
interpolation, and it is dishonest because it is inserted with
the full knowledge
that the word does not belong, as
admitted (by omission) in the New World Translation Reference Bible (see
also Box below). Why has the word covenant
been
added in that verse in the NWT? In order to support the teaching that the
new covenant is restricted to only the 144,000, which is a major doctrine of ours
but has no scriptural support. No wonder that the average publisher is
confused when attempting to explain the "new covenant" in association with the
"covenant for a kingdom." (It is much like a Trinitarian attempting to explain
how Jesus is God's only-begotten Son.) It is a bold example of going "beyond the
things that are written" and of making unauthorized additions to God's Word. (Prov. 30:5,6; Matt. 15:6, 9; 1 Cor. 4:6)
The Society's interpretation of Jesus' words at Luke 22:29 is primarily based on the
teaching of J. F. Rutherford (the Society's second president) regarding the "great crowd" of
Revelation, whom he identified as being an "earthly class" that will
survive the great tribulation to live on earth. He never did acknowledge them as
being "Jehovah's witnesses." It was not until after his death in early 1942 that the
Watchtower of that summer finally corrected that. (See Proclaimers book,
page 83, footnote.) What has not been corrected,
though, is the scriptural fact that the new covenant embraces all of God's people,
including the great crowd, all of whom exercise faith in the "blood of the
covenant." (Matt. 26:28) In Revelation they are shown as having "washed their
robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb," which Jesus referred to at
Luke 22:20 as "the new covenant by virtue of my blood." The new
covenant is about forgiveness of sins, not about ruling with Christ in his
kingdom. (Matt. 26:27,28; Eph. 1:7) That is why the great crowd is seen standing "before
the throne of God, and they are rendering him sacred service day and night in
his temple." It is impossible for anyone to be serving God in his temple apart
from being in the new covenant, and having had one's sins forgiven; just as it was not possible to do so under the
old covenant. (Rev. 7:9, 13-15; Num. 3:5-10)
Should this disregard for truth by the Watchtower Society cause your
Bible Student to conclude that God does not have a household? To the contrary!
The Scriptures foretold the presence of the "man of lawlessness" within God's
temple, where he would exercise great authority over God's people, having them
in subjection with harshness, "even with tyranny." (Ezek. 34:4) This
lawless one's presence is not from Jehovah but rather exists "according to the
operation of Satan." (2 Thess. 2:3,4, 9)
He is revealed immediately before Christ's return, at which time he
will be done away with. (2 Thess. 2:8) But why would God tolerate such a wicked
element within his own household? Remember, Jesus said that the Father is
looking for persons who worship "with spirit and truth." How much do we
love the
"truth"? Will we go along with what we know is a lie when love of the
truth results in persecution and suffering? (2 Thess. 2:10) Will we follow the
crowd, believing that there
is safety in numbers? (Exodus 23:2; Isaiah 59:13-15) That would make us no different from the world! (Eph. 4:17,18) We need to be given the opportunity to prove what sort of persons we
individually are, for we will all be judged accordingly. "So that is why God
lets an operation of error go to them, that they may get to believing the lie,
in order that they all may be judged because they did not believe the truth but
took pleasure in unrighteousness." (2 Thess. 2:11,12; 1 Peter 4:17-19)
While we submit to God's temple arrangement, at the same time we need to keep "testing the inspired expressions to see whether they
originate with God." With the help of God's holy spirit we "take note of the
inspired expression of truth and the inspired expression of error." (1 John 4:1,
6)
See also "Did
Jesus Make a Covenant for a Kingdom with his Disciples?" And, "Does
the Greek word "diatithemi" mean "to make a covenant," as some Bible
dictionaries claim?"
In the
English language we say that God "makes a covenant" [which
in
the Greek copy of The New World Translation, is
translated from the English back into the Greek as
"κάνω διαθήκη"]; but in the original Greek
language, God does not make a covenant, he "gives"*
a covenant [η διαθήκη
ην διαθήσομαι].
The word
"διαθήσομαι
[diathísomai]"**
appears seven times in the Greek Scriptures: Luke 22:29; Acts 3:25; Heb.
8:10; 9:16, 17; 10:16. In five of those places it is regarding a
"covenant," such as at Acts 3:25, where according to the Amplified Bible,
Peter explains: "You
are the descendants (sons) of the prophets and the heirs of
the covenant
which God
made and gave
to your forefathers."
In Hebrews 10:16, Paul writes: "This
is the covenant
that I will make with them after those days, declares the
Lord." (ESV) In the five places where it says that God "makes a covenant,"
the word "covenant" is always included, in order to clarify what
it is that God makes (or
literally "gives").
But in Luke 22:29, where the word
διαθήσομαι
occurs twice, Jesus does
not mention any covenant. Rather than giving [making] a covenant with his
disciples, Jesus is assuring them that they will receive the kingdom, just
as he received from his Father: "And
I assign
to you,
as my Father assigned
to me, a kingdom." (ESV) The Greek word
διατίθεμαι does not in itself
indicate what it is that is being given, or assigned. It does not mean
to "covenant" [verb]. If
διατίθεμαι
were to mean to "make a covenant," as is
claimed by the translators of the New World Translation, then it
would not be necessary to include the word "covenant" to specify what is
being covenanted, as the translators of the NWT put it: God is "covenanting a covenant."
And if it is to emphasize the point that it is a covenant that God makes, as some may
argue,
then why did Jesus not mention a
covenant for the same reason when promising his disciples the kingdom in Luke 22:29?
That
is why Paul, in his discussion of the new covenant, writing to the Hebrews
(8:10), specifies that it was a covenant
[διαθήκη]
that God gave [διατίθεμαι]
to the house of Israel. In Hebrews 9:15-22, Paul further explains how we
receive the benefits of the covenant when he explains how a covenant―or a
will, or a testament―works, seeing that our three words mean the same in
Greek.
In Luke 22:29 Jesus promised
to give his disciples the kingdom. No covenant is mentioned.
(Compare
Luke 12:32)
* The word
διατίθεμαι is variously translated as:
grant; appoint; confer;
assign; bestow; give; dispose; etc. (See
Strong's #1303; Thayer's Greek Lexicon) It does not mean "make", although in certain places it is translated as
such because in English we don't say
that God "gives" a covenant but that he "makes" a covenant.
Διατίθεμαι is
translated as "to make a covenant" only if it is accompanied by the
word covenant,
διαθήκη.
(See Hebrews 8:10 and 10:16, where Paul quotes from Jeremiah
31:31.) If you speak another language, how is it
said in your tongue, in your Bible? Does God "make" or "give" a covenant? Did Jesus "make"
a covenant with his disciples, or assure them that they will receive the kingdom?
The word "covenant" in the
New World Translation in Luke
22:29 is an interpolation, as is acknowledged in the NWT
Reference Bible,
by failing to list it among the 33 times where it occurs in the Greek
text."―Rbi8 p. 1584 7D “Covenant” Used in the Ancient Hebrew Sense.
** Although appearing to be different to someone not familiar with the
Greek language,
διατίθεμαι
-
διαθέτω
-
διαθήσομαι
are the same word, depending on how it is used in a sentence, as for example
in English the words
do
-
does
are the same.