The New Blood Covenant of Christ:
In Genesis chapter three we find God’s solution to the choice made by Adam and Eve in the garden. In this one verse God reveals the ultimate fulfillment of His plan. We will find this one unchanging purpose throughout the whole of scripture. In this verse God is addressing Satan and making it clear that he will pay for the corruption of God’s creation.
Gen 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.
Some have labeled this verse as the “Protoevangelium”. It is the first indication of the solution to sin, which is the Gospel of the coming Messiah. He would be the Seed of the woman. The serpent would bruise His heel, but He would eventually crush the head of the wicked one. If you want to truly understand the whole purpose of scripture and God’s one, unchanging plan of redemption, then trace this coming Seed starting in Genesis and ending in the Book of Revelation. It is all about this One Seed.
In his book “Abraham’s Four Seeds” Pastor John G. Reisinger documents the seed line that would lead to the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. It is an excellent resource which attempts to cut through the doctrines of men, by relying solely on what is written in the text. Pastor Reisinger has a habit of asking those hard questions sometimes needed to challenge our understanding of God’s Word. Reisinger’s sole purpose is to reveal Jesus Christ in every page of the Bible. Pastor Reisinger has told the story of one of his pastor friends who called the Bible… “a HIM book”. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of God’s Plan to restore the creation to its former perfection. On the road to Emmaus, Christ reveals that the whole Bible is about Him.
Luk 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
After the book of Genesis states that Abraham had been chosen by God, we find the promise that all of the families of the world would be blessed through his seed. Abraham and his wife Sarah attempted to “help” God, by allowing the slave woman Hagar to produce a descendant from Abraham. Through Hagar’s son, Ishmael, millions of Arab people in the modern world are also Abraham’s natural seed. However, he was not the seed that would produce the Messiah. By rejuvenating the dead womb of Sarah, God would later produce a miracle child. Sarah laughed when told she would conceive a child in her old age and thus the name “Isaac” means “laughter”. The seed line of the Messiah would come through Isaac, instead of Ishmael.
Gen 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
(The word “thee” in this verse is Abraham.)
God commanded Abraham to circumcise his male offspring as the “Sign” of this covenant promise. This sign would later be a focus of the New Testament Book of Galatians. Here Paul enters into a theological argument with the Judaizers who insist Gentile Christians must also be circumcised. There are some today who still take the side of the Judaizers.
Later Isaac had fraternal twin sons, Esau and Jacob. Jacob, the younger of the two, ends up being the one elect, chosen by God to continue the seed line of the Messiah. Later Jacob’s name is changed to Israel and through this lineage the Messiah will come.
Jacob’s son Joseph ends up being sold into slavery in Egypt due to the jealousy of his brothers, although God uses their wicked intentions to continue His plan of redemption.
Jacob’s family then goes to Egypt where their descendants later become slaves under a future ruler of the land.
Moses becomes the instrument of God who will go up against the powerful ruler of Egypt, because the Pharaoh refuses to release the descendants of Jacob from their bondage.
After the Children of Israel escape their bondage in Egypt they arrive at Mount Sinai (which is in Arabia). Moses goes up to the mountain and receives from God the tablets of stone containing the Ten Commandments, which is the actual Sinai covenant. (Hebrews 9:4) These are further explained through approximately 600 ordinances recorded by Moses. These give the specifics of the covenant. For example, if your neighbor’s cattle steals your grass, by eating it, how should the situation be handled in regard to the original covenant?
The fourth commandment of Sabbath keeping would be the “Sign” of this covenant. A man found working on the Friday sundown, to Saturday sundown time of rest was to be stoned to death for picking up sticks, because it was considered work. The people were forbidden from traveling a distance more than about 3/4 of a mile on this day.
Great confusion still exists today among Christians as to the present observance of this “Sign” given to the Israelites under the Sinai Covenant. We will deal with this issue in chapter 5 of this book.
An important part of the Sinai covenant would be the system of animal sacrifices offered to cover the sins of the people. During the following years, thousands upon thousands of animals would be slaughtered and their blood offered as a shadow of the one Blood sacrifice coming to bring in the New Covenant.
The often overlooked parameter of the Sinai covenant regards the If-Then conditional aspect of the covenant. This will be important later in our story, because some today insist the Sinai covenant is still in effect.
Exo_19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
Although Israel promised to keep the Old Covenant, it was an impossible task for humans made of rotten flesh like me. We find in Jeremiah 31:32 a clear statement that Israel had broken the Old Covenant.
At times the nation feared God and remembered the covenant, and at other times they fell away from God and sought after other gods.
It was a constant struggle, but throughout the trials and tribulations of the Israelites “the seed of the woman” was being passed down through the descendants of Abraham and Jacob. It eventually was passed through the Tribe of Judah to King David. God made a promise to David that through his son the throne of his kingdom would be established, “forever”. How long is “forever”?
2Sa 7:12 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
2Sa 7:13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
David’s descendants would produce Mary, the virgin mother of Christ, whose womb would receive the Messiah, through which all the families of the earth would be blessed, as promised to Abraham in Genesis 12:3.
The prophet Jeremiah foretold of a New Covenant, different from the Sinai Covenant which the Children of Israel had broken.
Jer 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:
Jer 31:32 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 an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
Jer 31:33 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.
Jer 31:34 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.
We will find some of these same words repeated in Hebrews 8:6-13.
After this prophecy was recorded by Jeremiah, the Israelites should have been looking for a New Covenant which was to replace the Sinai covenant they had broken.
Near the end of the Babylonian captivity, the angel Gabriel appeared to Daniel and gave him the time when the Messiah would appear.
Dan 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
Notice the reference to “iniquity” and “sin”, also found in Jeremiah 31:34
The angel also gave Daniel the time at which the prophecy was to commence.
Dan 9:25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
Jesus of Nazareth would appear as the promised Messiah at the exact time foretold by the angel Gabriel. Also, remember the angel Gabriel appeared to Daniel “AFTER” the promise of the New Covenant given to Jeremiah.
The 1599 Geneva Bible was the Bible the Pilgrims brought to America.
The following commentary is found at Daniel 9:27. Compare the wording of Daniel 9:27 to the words of Christ at Matthew 26:28. They both speak of a “covenant” with “many“.
Daniel 9:27
And he (a) 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 (b) cease, (c) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make [it] desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
(a) By the preaching of the Gospel he affirmed his promise, first to the Jews, and after to the Gentiles.
(b) Christ accomplished this by his death and resurrection.
(c) Meaning that Jerusalem and the sanctuary would be utterly destroyed because of their rebellion against God, and their idolatry: or as some read, that the plague will be so great, that they will all be astonished at them.
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Millions of evangelical Christians today hold to a completely different interpretation of Daniel 9:27, in which the angel Gabriel does not mention the New Covenant, already foretold in Jeremiah 31:31-34. This interpretation will be discussed later in this book. We must remember that Daniel was reading from Jeremiah at the beginning of Daniel chapter 9. We will also come to see the New Covenant of the Messiah is the ultimate completion of God’s Plan for the world.
The Atonement Clock by Christian Gedge, is one of the most powerful little books I have ever had the privilege to read. It details the timing of Bible chronology. He pinpoints the year that Jesus of Nazareth would be baptized in the Jordan River by His Father from heaven, as well as major events that occurred throughout the history of the nation of Israel. It also gives an excellent explanation of the ancient Hebrew Lunar/Solar calendar, which used a seven year cycle. On the seventh year, the land was to be allowed to rest by not being planted. Israel had ignored this command, but God enforced it during their 70 years in Babylon. No Christian’s library would be complete without the book titled “The Atonement Clock”. It highlights God’s countdown to the fulfillment of God‘s Plan of redemption.
The Messiah would establish the New Blood Covenant, thus fulfilling the Promise made to Abraham. He confirmed His destiny as “the seed of the woman” at the Last Supper, by announcing that He would fulfill the New Blood Covenant foretold in Jeremiah chapter 31. The disciples thought this meal was going to be just another commemoration of the Passover of the Exodus, in which the blood of a lamb was placed upon the doorposts. It was something they celebrated every year.
This time God’s own Son revealed it would be His Blood that would be the ultimate and final sacrifice for sin. He was the promised Lamb of God through which the promise would be fulfilled. This time the Blood would cover the sinner, instead of the doorpost.
Mat 26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
(The Greek word for covenant is the same as testament here. G1242. )
Each time we partake of the Last Supper, it is this “New Blood Covenant” we are commemorating. We should understand it as the fulfillment of the promise first found at Genesis 3:15, and the Promise to Abraham, and the promise to David, and the promise to all those who accept His gift of Grace.
Praise God and the precious gift of His Son, Jesus Christ!
Jesus of Nazareth was and is the Son of the Living God who defeated sin and death at Calvary, fulfilling every yot and tittle of Jeremiah 31:31-34.
This New Covenant fulfilled in His Blood replaced the sacrifice of animals for sin. John 19:30, Mark 15:38
When did the New Covenant go into effect?
Heb_9:16 For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
The Greek word “diatheke”̄ can be translated as “testament” or as “covenant”. It is the same Greek word. Therefore, the books of the Bible written during the first century which we usually refer to as the “New Testament” can also be referred to as “The New Covenant”.
After Christ lived the perfect sinless life by keeping all of God’s Commandments, which is something no man has ever done, He was arrested, tortured, and suffered a cruel death on Calvary’s Cross.
He could have prayed to the Father and had thousands of angels to intercede for Him. No human was capable of forcing Him to lay down on that Cross and let Roman soldiers drive iron spikes through His body. He did it for me. It was not the spikes that held Him to the Cross. It was His love for a rotten sinner like me.
Mat_26:53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?
During his suffering a drop of Blood ran down His body, dripped off into the air and headed toward the earth. Before it hit the ground it fell onto me and covered me with His Grace. It only takes one drop of Christ’s Blood to atone for the sins of all humans on this planet. It is the free gift of Grace. Nothing you can ever do will bring you into a right relationship with God. It is not what you can do. It is what He has already done.
His last words on the Cross fulfilled the New Covenant.
John 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
There are some who insist there are Old Testament promises not fulfilled at the Cross. We should all prayerfully consider that God sent His precious, innocent Son, to die a cruel death, in order to fulfill the promise made in Genesis 3:15.
Was this not enough?
If someone tells you there is something He left undone, refer them back to this verse and the words of the one who was God in human form… “It is finished.”
The eternal destiny of every person on this planet is linked to His last three words on the Cross.
At the moment Jesus died, the veil in the temple which separated the Holy of Holies from the people was ripped in half, symbolizing that animal sacrifices, the Levitical priesthood and the whole Sinai covenant system had just become “obsolete”.
Mar_15:38 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.
Heb 8:13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
Some today cannot let go of the Sinai covenant. Some even claim the New Blood Covenant of Grace will come to an end 7 years before the Second Coming of Christ and then God will go back to the Sinai Covenant again. We will deal with these claims later in this book.
When dealing with issues such as these, our only source of truth is God’s Word.
What do we find written in the New Testament which may settle these issues?
We must rely upon the principle of “Conflict Resolution”. If the statements of men or women produce conflict in any verse, then their interpretation cannot be correct.
To whom were the promises to Abraham made?
Gal 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
The Apostle Paul said the Abrahamic Promise was only made to Christ, who is the one seed.
Paul also makes it clear the promise was not made to the “many” seeds.
How does a person inherit the promises made to Abraham?
Gal 3:29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
(Christians are the Seed of Abraham who will inherit the promise found in Genesis chapter 12.)
How does the Apostle Paul compare the Old Sinai Covenant to the New Covenant?
Gal 4:22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
Gal 4:23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
Gal 4:24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
Gal 4:25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
(In these verses the Apostle Paul compares the Sinai Covenant to slavery and the apostle also confirms the location of Mount Sinai.)
Gal 4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
(In Hebrews 11:16, we find that the New Jerusalem is now in heaven.)
Gal 4:30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
(Here Paul makes it clear that we are to cast out the Sinai Covenant and that the inheritance does not come through the Old covenant.)
Gal 4:31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.
(We are the children of the New Covenant, instead of the Old.)
Since the New Covenant was to be made with Israel and Judah, is it in effect now or will it be fulfilled in the future?
Heb 8:6 But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
(This verse makes it clear it was in effect during the first century.)
Who were the first people who became members of the New Covenant ?
Act 2:14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
Act 2:22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
Act 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
(Note the reference to “men of Judea” and “house of Israel” and compare to Jer. 31:33.)
Act 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
Act 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Act 2:39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
Act 2:40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.
Act 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
(About 3,000 Israelites accepted the New Blood Covenant on the Day of Pentecost.)
Are there Two Israels according to the Apostle Paul?
Rom 9:6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
Rom 9:8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
There is an Israel of the Flesh, who are not the children of God.
And there is an Israel of the Promise, who are the children of God.
Tremendous confusion is produced by lumping these two groups together into one group called “Israel”.
What were the Gentiles grafted into?
Eph 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
Paul begins the chapter with two groups of Israelites.
Rom 11:1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
(Paul was an Israelite, who accepted the New Covenant.)
Rom 11:2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying,
Rom 11:3 Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.
(There was a group of Israelites who worshipped Baal, referred to here as “they“.)
Rom 11:4 But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
(There was a remnant of 7,000 Israelites who would not bow to Baal.)
Rom 11:5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
(Paul said there was also an elect group of Israelites during his time.)
Rom 11:16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. (The original branches were faithful Israelites, who had become part of the New Covenant, by accepting Christ.)
Rom 11:17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
(The wild Gentile branches were grafted in among the cultivated Israelite branches, which remained in the tree.)
Rom 11:23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.
(The branches broken off can be grafted back in through faith in Christ.)
The Olive Tree here is a symbol of the New Blood Covenant Church.
Rom 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
(The last Gentile comes into the New Covenant on the day of Christ’s Second Coming. Part of the Israelites were blinded as to who the Messiah was. However, the other part, like Paul, were not blinded and were the “remnant” of Israelites who accepted Christ.)
Rom 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
The Greek translation of the word “so” in this verse is the Greek word “houto”. It means- “in this manner“, which refers back to being grafted into the Olive Tree as found in verse 23.
Some today have changed the word “so”, which is an adverb of manner, into the word “then”, which is an adverb of time. By changing this one word some have completely changed the meaning of the passage in an attempt to postpone the fulfillment of this verse.
Rom 11:27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
(The covenant in this verse is the New Blood Covenant of Christ, “now” in effect, based on Hebrews 8:6. It is not waiting on a future fulfillment. The “Deliverer“ came out of Sion (Zion) about 2,000 years ago and took away the sins of all peoples at Calvary.)
Rom 11:28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes.
There are two different groups in Romans 11:28. The first group are enemies of the Gospel, because they are the Israelites who rejected Christ. They can be grafted back into the tree, by faith in Christ. The second group are the election who are the Israelite branches remaining in the Olive Tree through faith in Christ. The Apostle Paul started the chapter with two groups of Israelites and Paul ends the chapter in the same way. Refer back to the Israelite Baal worshippers and the remnant of 7,000 Israelites who would not bow to Baal, at the beginning of the chapter.
Salvation now comes by being grafted into the Olive Tree, which is a symbol of the New Blood Covenant Church of Christ.
My wife and I support two ministries who are taking the Gospel of the New Covenant to the modern descendants of Jacob. They are Jews for Jesus and Word of Messiah. If we truly love the modern Jewish people, then we need to make sure they are grafted into the Olive Tree. This is clearly Paul’s message at the end of Romans chapter 11.
Which Covenant is in effect, now?
Heb 8:6 But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
(Would God ever go back to a weaker covenant with Moses as the mediator?)
Heb 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
Heb 8:8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
(The New Covenant was necessary because no one but Christ could keep the Old covenant.)
Heb 8:13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
(The New Covenant has made the Sinai covenant “obsolete”.)
Heb 9:12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
Heb 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;
Heb 10:17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
(Compare to Jeremiah 31:33-34.)
Heb 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
Heb 13:20 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, (The New Covenant is “everlasting”.)
Rev 12:11 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.
(A person cannot be under the Blood of the Lamb and not be under the Grace of the New Blood Covenant.)
What is the spiritual difference between the Sinai covenant and the New Covenant foretold by Jeremiah?
In the Sinai covenant the laws were written on tablets of stone.
Heb_9:4 Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;
In the New Covenant the laws are written on the heart through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Heb 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
1Co_6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
2Co_3:3 Forasmuch as ye 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.
2Co 3:4 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God.
2Co 3:5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God,
2Co 3:6 who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
In the New Covenant, it is the Holy Spirit who lives inside of us and constantly corrects us in our daily battle with sin. Therefore, God’s Law is written inside of us.
1Jn 3:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
1Jn 3:23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
1Jn 3:24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.
The New Blood Covenant of Jesus Christ is the thing that ties all denominations together into One Body.
Sadly, there are very few today who have heard a sermon on the New Blood Covenant.
In the chapters that follow, we will attempt to understand why the New Covenant has been overlooked, misunderstood, and mostly ignored by the modern Church.
