On August 26, 2007, Papua New Guinea’s late Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare participated in the signing of what was presented as a covenant with the God of Israel during the All Pacific Prayer Assembly in Port Moresby.
In this video, we examine the significance of the covenant statement that PNG “concurred with the terms and conditions” of the covenant, and consider it in light of Deuteronomy 28, where Moses sets out blessings for obedience and consequences for disobedience to the covenant of Yahweh.
What did this covenant mean for Papua New Guinea? What were the terms and conditions? And how should Deuteronomy 28 be understood in relation to a nation's commitment before Elohim?
Sh'ma Yisrael — Hear, O Israel!
This message calls Papua New Guinea to remember the covenant, examine its commitments, and return to the ways of Yahweh.
Watch, share, subscribe, and follow for more teachings and historical messages connecting Papua New Guinea, Israel, the Covenant, and Torah.
Hashtags
#PapuaNewGuinea #PNG #Covenant #Israel #Yahweh #Torah #Deuteronomy28 #Deuteronomy #MichaelSomare #August262007 #NewCovenant #CovenantWithIsrael #ShmaYisrael #Messianic #OneNewman #TorahTruth #BiblicalCovenant #PNGHistory #Repentance #ReturnToYahweh
In this video, we examine the significance of the covenant statement that PNG “concurred with the terms and conditions” of the covenant, and consider it in light of Deuteronomy 28, where Moses sets out blessings for obedience and consequences for disobedience to the covenant of Yahweh.
What did this covenant mean for Papua New Guinea? What were the terms and conditions? And how should Deuteronomy 28 be understood in relation to a nation's commitment before Elohim?
Sh'ma Yisrael — Hear, O Israel!
This message calls Papua New Guinea to remember the covenant, examine its commitments, and return to the ways of Yahweh.
Watch, share, subscribe, and follow for more teachings and historical messages connecting Papua New Guinea, Israel, the Covenant, and Torah.
Hashtags
#PapuaNewGuinea #PNG #Covenant #Israel #Yahweh #Torah #Deuteronomy28 #Deuteronomy #MichaelSomare #August262007 #NewCovenant #CovenantWithIsrael #ShmaYisrael #Messianic #OneNewman #TorahTruth #BiblicalCovenant #PNGHistory #Repentance #ReturnToYahweh
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Short filmTranscript
00:04Copyright Notice
00:05This video was retrieved from the EMTV video archives at the request of Simtopas.
00:13The original footage was preserved in the EMTV archives and later retrieved from the archived reels kept under the relevant
00:20archive code by Lenka of EMTV.
00:24Copyright Pastor Israel Ben-Kanan. All rights reserved.
00:28This video is copyright restricted. No unauthorized copying, reproduction, editing, redistribution, uploading, or commercial use is permitted without prior permission
00:40from Pastor Israel Ben-Kanan.
00:42Special thanks to EMTV for preserving and retrieving this historical footage.
00:47Yeshu'a melech ha-kavod, aur ha-olam le-olam.
00:54Hallelujah!
00:56Hallu'a et Yeshu'a!
00:58Everyday life, this is what it means to take the covenant seriously. National Repentance Day should therefore become more than
01:05a yearly ceremony.
01:06It should become a national reminder that Papua New Guinea once publicly declared its agreement with covenant terms and conditions
01:13and must continually examine whether its conduct reflects that declaration.
01:18The call is not merely, God bless Papua New Guinea.
01:22The deeper prayer should be, God teach Papua New Guinea to walk in your ways.
01:28Then blessing becomes something to receive with humility rather than something to demand.
01:33The Torah also teaches that God's commandments are not given merely to restrict people, but to teach them how to
01:41live.
02:14And sign it with the blood of His Son.
02:21But since the days of the Lord Jesus on earth, Israel has yet to sign this covenant.
02:31And this covenant was not only meant for Israel, it was meant for all nations on the earth.
02:43Whoever, those people who have come to give their loyalty to Christianity have enjoyed the benefits of the covenant on
02:55an individual level.
02:59But no nation on earth has ever put a signature to this covenant.
03:07A covenant cannot be effected unless another party puts a signature to it.
03:18And so how wonderful the covenant might have been.
03:22It was not effective because there was no other counter signature to it.
03:28By any nation on earth.
03:34The day will come when Israel will have to sign in him some.
03:40But this year, somehow, on the 7th, 7th, 7th, happened to be the 7th of July, 2007.
03:56Which is actually the independence anniversary of the Solomon Islands as a nation.
04:04But circumstances pretended that our Prime Minister should sign his covenant on that date.
04:16However, a little province in the Solomon Islands called Malayta province.
04:25The Premier of Malayta province took a bold step to commit Malayta as a province to this covenant and sign
04:36this covenant.
04:43But that's only a province.
04:47But now we have the privilege of a nation.
04:59None other than Papua New Guinea.
05:04And none other than you, sir, the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea.
05:14To put your signature to the covenant.
05:25It's the cry from the heart of all the Christians in Papua New Guinea.
05:38And I'm sure you have been grieved on that.
05:42But I'd like to say on behalf of your people in Papua New Guinea, it's their honor and privilege that
05:48you, according to the word of God, also are their spiritual leader.
05:55And that you will sign it on their behalf.
06:06Thank you, sir.
06:14As the covenant is read, please, I want silence.
06:20You can make noise after the covenant is fully read.
06:30And I will hand over the mic to our Prime Minister to read out the covenant before the signing.
06:38If the whole prayer assembly can be upstanding, please.
06:42Amen.
06:43And people of Papua New Guinea and people of the Pacific.
06:47The Lord declares, I will put the law in their minds and write them on their hearts.
06:58I will be their God and they will be my people.
07:01Amen.
07:02No longer will the man teach his neighbor for a man or his brother, saying,
07:10Know the Lord, because they will all know me.
07:14From the least of them to the greatest, for I forgive them their wickedness.
07:20And I will remember their sins.
07:23It's no more.
07:25End of quote.
07:30I, Michael Sumare, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, to hereby, with the terms and conditions
07:40of this covenant, and do and treat the Lord on behalf of the people of Papua New Guinea, that God
08:01would fulfill the stated intent of covenant to become applicable to the nation of Papua New Guinea.
08:10And the people who today join me in declaring that the God of Israel is also their God.
08:18Amen.
08:19And that today, tonight, I do make this declaration that the Reverend Sione Family Memorial Church,
08:32Morocco, Papua New Guinea, this Sunday, 26th of August, 2007.
08:38Shema Papua New Guinea, concurred with the covenant, now keep the Torah.
08:44Shema Yisrael.
08:45Hear, O Israel.
08:47Adonai our God.
08:48Adonai is one.
08:50You are to love Adonai, your God, with all your heart, all your being, and all your resources.
08:57Deuteronomy 6, 4-5
08:59The Shema begins with one essential command.
09:03Hear.
09:03But, in the biblical understanding, hearing God is not merely listening to words.
09:08To truly hear is to receive His instruction and respond through obedience.
09:13The Shema, therefore, establishes the foundation for covenant life.
09:17Hear God, love Him, obey Him, and walk in His ways.
09:21This principle is highly relevant to Papua New Guinea because of the National Covenant Declaration
09:27associated with 26th of August, 2007.
09:31The document records Prime Minister Grand Chief Sir Michael Samare declaring that he concur
09:37with the terms and conditions of this covenant.
09:40The word concur means to agree with, consent to, or accept.
09:45It does not mean to conquer.
09:47Therefore, the important question is not simply whether PNG once made a declaration to God,
09:53but what it means to concur with the covenant's terms and conditions.
09:57If a person agrees to the terms of a covenant, those terms carry responsibility.
10:02A covenant is not simply a promise of benefits.
10:05It involves faithfulness, obedience, and accountability.
10:08This is why the Torah provides such an important framework for understanding covenant responsibility.
10:15The Torah repeatedly connects hearing with obedience.
10:19Deuteronomy 6 does not stop after saying, hear.
10:22It continues by commanding God's people to love Him, to keep His words upon their hearts,
10:27to teach them to their children, and to speak of them continually in daily life.
10:32The covenant is therefore intended to become a way of life.
10:35This is where Papua New Guinea must take the 2007 Declaration seriously.
10:40If PNG concurred with the covenant, then PNG must ask, are we walking according to the covenant?
10:48This question cannot be answered merely by holding National Repentance Day ceremonies,
10:52singing worship songs, gathering for prayer, or asking God to bless the nation.
10:57Those things are important, but biblical repentance must produce obedience.
11:03The Torah gives the covenant people God's instructions for living.
11:07It teaches righteousness, justice, honesty, compassion, faithfulness, sexual morality,
11:13care for the poor and vulnerable, respect for life, proper treatment of others,
11:18integrity in leadership, and love for God.
11:20These principles expose the areas where a nation needs repentance and transformation.
11:27Therefore, National Repentance Day should become a time for Papua New Guinea to return
11:32not only to prayer, but also to the ways of God revealed in His Torah.
11:37Deuteronomy 28 demonstrates why this matters.
11:40Moses places before Israel the consequences of obedience and disobedience.
11:45Blessings are associated with diligently listening to the voice of Yahweh and carefully observing His commandments,
11:52while severe consequences are associated with refusing to listen and turning away from His commandments.
11:59This means that covenant blessing should never be treated as automatic.
12:03The covenant carries responsibility.
12:05The covenant carries terms and conditions the covenant calls for obedience.
12:10The covenant contains blessings for faithfulness.
12:13The covenant contains warnings concerning disobedience.
12:17Therefore, Papua New Guinea should not simply ask,
12:21where are the blessings?
12:23It should first ask, are we keeping the covenant responsibilities?
12:27This is where keeping the Torah becomes central.
12:30To keep Torah does not mean that Papua New Guinea should attempt to become ancient Israel
12:35or pretend that the modern nation-state is identical to biblical Israel.
12:39Nor does it mean that every commandment given specifically to Israel's ancient land, priesthood, or temple,
12:46can simply be transferred mechanically to a modern state.
12:49Rather, it means taking seriously God's revealed instruction
12:53and allowing its righteous principles to shape the lives of God's people.
12:58For a Messianic believer, Torah obedience must also be understood through Yeshua, the Messiah.
13:04Yeshua did not teach his followers to despise God's Torah.
13:08When asked about the greatest commandment, he pointed directly to the Shema.
13:13Love Yahweh with all your heart, soul, and strength.
13:16He then joined it with the command to love one's neighbor as oneself.
13:20This means that Torah is not merely a collection of regulations.
13:25At its heart is love expressed through obedience.
13:28Yeshua said,
13:30If you love me, you will keep my commands.
13:33The New Covenant does not therefore eliminate the concept of obedience.
13:38Jeremiah 31 describes the New Covenant as God's Torah being written upon the hearts of his people.
13:44Hebrews 8 repeats this promise.
13:47The goal is not a people who reject God's instruction,
13:50but a people whose hearts are transformed so that they desire to walk in his ways.
13:56This has profound implications for Papua New Guinea.
14:00If we want righteousness, we must learn God's definition of righteousness.
14:04If we want justice, we must follow God's principles of justice.
14:09If we want honest leadership, we must reject corruption and dishonesty.
14:13If we want peaceful communities, we must reject hatred, revenge, and violence.
14:19If we want strong families, we must honor God's instructions concerning marriage, sexual purity, and family responsibility.
14:27If we want compassion for the poor and vulnerable, we must practice the mercy and justice commanded in Torah.
14:34If we want leaders who fear God, we must demand integrity rather than merely political popularity.
14:41Keeping Torah must therefore become practical.
14:44It means that repentance must reach the police station, the government office, the courtroom, the marketplace, the village, the church,
14:51the family, and the individual heart.
14:54It means that a person cannot claim to love God while deliberately practicing corruption, stealing public money, exploiting another person,
15:02committing violence, or participating in injustice.
15:05A nation cannot simply proclaim, God bless Papua New Guinea, while rejecting the righteousness God requires.
15:12The blessing must be understood in connection with obedience.
15:16Deuteronomy 28 should therefore be approached as a covenant warning and invitation.
15:21It should not be used to declare that every cyclone, drought, economic crisis, sickness, or social problem is automatically a
15:30specific punishment from God.
15:32But it should cause the nation to examine its ways.
15:35Are we listening?
15:36Are we obeying?
15:37Are we walking in righteousness?
15:38Are we teaching our children God's ways?
15:40Are our leaders acting with integrity?
15:43Are we protecting the weak?
15:45Are we seeking justice?
15:46Are we turning away from corruption?
15:48These are covenant questions.
15:50The 2007 Declaration also identifies the God of Israel.
15:54Therefore, those who understand the Declaration as a continuing spiritual commitment should take seriously the biblical relationship between God, His
16:03Torah, His covenant purposes, and Israel.
16:06But standing with Israel should never become a substitute for obedience to God.
16:12The greater responsibility is to live faithfully before the God of Israel.
16:17This also provides a more balanced way to consider the 2017 Jerusalem vote.
16:23PNG abstained rather than voting against Israel, legally and diplomatically.
16:29The 2007 covenant cannot simply be treated as an international treaty requiring every future government to vote for Israel at
16:38the United Nations.
16:39However, Christians who understand the 2007 Declaration as a spiritual commitment can legitimately ask whether later decisions are consistent with
16:49its spirit.
16:50Yet the examination must go deeper than foreign policy.
16:53The first question is not whether PNG voted correctly at the United Nations.
16:58The first question is whether PNG is walking correctly before God.
17:03A nation could vote for Israel at every UN resolution and still be filled with corruption, injustice, violence, and dishonesty.
17:12That would not constitute biblical covenant faithfulness.
17:16Likewise, a nation could claim neutrality in international politics while genuinely pursuing justice, righteousness, mercy, and integrity.
17:25Therefore, the covenant must be examined as a whole.
17:27The Shuma gives us the foundation, hear God, then love God, then keep His words, then teach them to the
17:36next generation, then live them in everyday life.
17:39This is what it means to take the covenant seriously.
17:43National Repentance Day should therefore become more than a yearly ceremony.
17:47It should become a national reminder that Papua New Guinea once publicly declared its agreement with covenant terms and conditions,
17:54and must continually examine whether its conduct reflects that declaration.
17:58The call is not merely, God bless Papua New Guinea.
18:03The deeper prayer should be, God teach Papua New Guinea to walk in your ways.
18:08Then blessing becomes something to receive with humility rather than something to demand.
18:14The Torah also teaches that God's commandments are not given merely to restrict people, but to teach them how to
18:21live.
18:22Obedience produces a community shaped by justice, holiness, compassion, and order.
18:27When those principles are abandoned, society suffers.
18:31Therefore, if Papua New Guinea wants genuine national transformation,
18:35it must return to the biblical pattern, Shema, hear, Teshuvah, return.
18:40Torah, learn God's instruction.
18:43Obedience, walk in His ways.
18:46Righteousness, practice what is right.
18:49Justice, defend what is just.
18:52Faithfulness, remain true to God.
18:55The ultimate challenge is therefore simple.
18:57Papua New Guinea, you concurred with the covenant.
19:00Will you now live according to its terms and conditions?
19:03Will we merely remember the covenant?
19:06Or will we walk in it?
19:08Will we ask for blessings while ignoring obedience?
19:12Or will we seek first to obey God?
19:15Will National Repentance Day remain one day on the calendar?
19:19Or will repentance become a way of life?
19:21And will we merely say that the God of Israel is our God?
19:25Or will we hear His voice, love Him, and keep His Torah?
19:28The Shema gives the answer here, O Israel, Yahweh our God, Yahweh is one.
19:35And you are to love Yahweh, your God, with all your heart, all your being, and all your resources.
19:42For Papua New Guinea, the application is therefore,
19:45We concurred with the covenant.
19:47Now let us live faithfully according to its terms and conditions.
19:51Let us return to Yahweh, honor His Torah, walk in His commandments,
19:56Practice righteousness and justice, teach His ways to our children,
20:00And demonstrate by our conduct that our declaration was not merely words.
20:05The covenant was declared.
20:07The terms and conditions were accepted.
20:09Now the nation must walk in obedience.
20:12Shema, Papua New Guinea, hear and obey.
20:22Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the Old President Prayer Assembly,
20:27By Honorable Grand Chief, Sir Michael Thomas Amari, will now make his official declaration.
20:35People of God, I now would like to thank the opportunity to congratulate you for a successful gathering.
20:49And I hope the next five days will be a successful deliberation on what you are gathered here for.
20:58And I would now say, with that, with those few remarks, I now officially declare the Pacific Prayer Assembly now
21:13declared open.
21:28A
21:29The
21:29The
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21:34The
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22:06To all my friends, followers, and viewers, Shalom.
22:10If you have watched my videos before, I want to personally invite you to come back and reconnect with this
22:16ministry.
22:17There are many new messages, teachings, and discussions coming, including Shema Papua New Guinea, concurred with the covenant, now keep
22:25the Torah.
22:26If you have stopped watching, come back and join us again.
22:29If you have been watching, but have not yet subscribed or followed, please take a moment to do so.
22:36YouTube, subscribe, Dailymotion, follow Rumble, follow your subscription, and follow helps this message reach more people, not only in Papua
22:45New Guinea, but around the world.
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22:49Become part of the community.
22:51Subscribe, follow, share, comment, and stay connected for the messages that are coming.
22:56Come back.
22:57We are continuing the journey.
22:59Shema Papua New Guinea.
23:00Hear and obey.
23:02Thank you for standing with us.
23:03Pastor Israel Ben Kanan.
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