The Olive Branch Homepage, New Covenants & Commandments, Preface

Preface to the Revelations
The Olive Branch (Volume I) is a collection of late twentieth century revelations, prophecies, visions and inspired apostolic counsel received from God over a ten year period (1986-96), principally through a single revelator who has come to be known by many through his spiritual name, Lev-Tsiyon.
At a time when the increasingly vocal and influential New Age religion, with its dangerous mish-mash of occultic doctrines and practices, is trumpeting a "new age of Aquarius" in which it believes it will make a major leap forward at the end of the twentieth century, it is appropriate that the true God of Creation, Yahweh-Elohim, the author of the greatest Book that has ever been, and ever will be -- the Bible -- should bring forth a new Word for the Christian community to enable it to meet the challenges of the forthcoming millennium and its mushrooming neo-paganism.

The Olive Branch and the Bible

The Olive Branch is not a new Bible, nor does it claim equality with the Bible, which is Christendom's 'Book of Books' in perpetuity. It is regarded as a secondary canon of scripture by the Christian community which espouses it. It is not, moreover, a self-contained record of the Gospel of Salvation as the Bible is. Reading the book as a self-contained manual of the faith will give a distorted view of the Gospel and must therefore be read with the Bible background in mind. We do not advise this book to be studied until the Bible has first been thoroughly digested. Certain themes predominate in this book, not because they are more improtant than other ones in the Bible but because the local needs of the Church and the age required that they be attended to in some detail. Each age has its own controversies and difficulties to which a revelation of God must address itself. The first Christians faced very different problems to our own. For one thing, there was only one Christian Church, not hundreds as there are today. They fought against different enemies such as the Gnostics who presented a very real challenge to the apostolic faith. Today's Christian enemies, though similar, have appeared in newer, more suble forms. It is these that the Olive Branch principally confronts.

A Book for All People

For whom has the Olive Branch been written? It is for every man and woman who desires to "keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus" (Rev.14:12, AV). It is for those who are truly searching for more light and truth, who desire to know and have communion with the Saviour of mankind, the Lord Jesus Christ (Lk.2:11; Jn.17:3), and who believe that the Bible is the Word of God.
It does, however, also contain a message for everyone of every religious or non-religious persuasion. There are keys of knowledge and understanding within its pages that will illuminate the human condition with all its perplexities and contradictions. There is help for all those who desire to understand themselves and the purpose of life.

The Modern World and its Dangers

The world of the late 1990s is bursting at the seams with ever increasing numbers of pseudo-Christian and non-Christian sects each with a message of salvation for the individual and the world. The spiritual air-waves are jammed with strange and contradictory teachings. Everywhere there are false prophets, anti-christs, gurus and self-acclaimed supermen calling for disciples. Droves of young people are streaming towards these pied-pipers of the murky deep, and marching off to the drum-beats of the occult, atheism and materialism. And a great many of these prophets of the New Age are working within the Christian community, redefining biblical terminology to facilitate the absorption of Christianity into their emerging One World Religion.

The Mission of the Olive Branch

The Olive Branch makes the double claim of being both the spearhead of an evangelical, apostolic New Testament renewal for the twenty-first century as well as the manual of the Millennial Christian theocratic society that is to come. It regards itself theologically as the final phase of the reformation initiated by Martin Luther whilst also being the door to the complete restoration of the Gospel which will characterise the thousand years culture and civilisation of which Christ will be earthly Regent.
The vision of the Olive Branch is revolutionary and challenging. It has little tolerance for watered-down versions of the Gospel. It is a no nonsense book. The truth is stated plainly and at times (from a liberal view-point) brutally. Its purpose, for those who accept the challenge to read it, is to force all those who are earnestly searching for the truth to look at themselves honestly. And it will expose the naked lie of those who are fighting against God and His righteousness whether in or outside the Christian community. It does not expect to be accepted by all those whom it views as being its natural allies any more than by those who will almost certainly makes themselves its enemy. And its greatest enemy will be the counterfeit Christianity whose purpose is to steer the churches into its neo-pagan One World Religion. Never, therefore, was there a greater need for a clear, straight-forward revelation from God to confirm the Bible message and to reach out a helping hand to a spiritually dying world.

Historical Background

Every revelation of God emerges from a cultural and religious backdrop, and the Olive Branch is no exception. Just as the Christian Church emerged from Judaism and was initially perceived as a Jewish sect, and as the Protestant Reformation emerged from the Catholicism of its chief mover, Martin Luther, so also was the Olive Branch a product of many Christian traditions in its early days.
Historically Protestantism gradually moved away from Catholic assumptions to an increasingly more New Testament paradigm as groups have tried to re-create what is sometimes called the "New Testament Church". The purpose of the Olive Leaf is to point Christians towards not so much a "post-New Testament Church" as to a "Millennial New Testament Church" whilst providing direction for Christians living in the times leading to the coming pre-Millennial terror known as the Great Tribulation.
There are many in the Christian world who are rightly seeing in the signs of the times evidence of the rapidly approaching age of barbarism that is to prelude the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Olive Branch confirms such a vision in no uncertain terms. And by, amongst other things, accurately predicting major political events like the reunification of Germany, the break-up of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, and the outcome of the Gulf War, the Olive Branch claims at least some right to comment in the Christian community on matters of spiritual importance too.

The People behind the Olive Branch

No work of God occurs in a vacuum. As the Protestant Reformation was a 16th century effort to reconstitute the life and teaching of Western Christendom that began in Germany and spread throughout much of northern and central Europe, to then diffuse across the whole world, so the New Covenant Reformation and Restoration is a late 20th century effort to both reconstitute the life and teaching of New Testament Christianity that began in England and was developed in Norway, and a movement to prepare a body of committed believers for the Millennial Church to come. However, the scale and modus operandi of the two is very different.
New Covenant theology and practice, far from being a popular uprising against the abuse of ecclesiastical power and the corruption of Christian doctrine by one particular Church, which was the impetus behind the Protestant Reformation, was conceived and evolved in a tiny crucible of like-minded souls called, initially, the Restoration Christian Fellowship, and which has today become B'rit Chadashah.

Ministries of the New Covenant

B'rit Chadashah, which in Hebrew means "New Covenant", is an organisation which has two parts: (1) The New Covenant Church of God, whose purpose is to precisely implement the revelation of the Olive Branch as a new Christian denomination, and (2) B'rit Chadashah Evangelical Association (BCEA) which is an association of evangelical churches and groups sympathetic with the Olive Branch's aims but who act independently of the New Covenant Church of God, selectively implementing those parts of the Olive Branch which they feel are appropriate to their local needs and special calling. The constituent members of BCEA co-operate together in evangelism as well as with other bodies of evangelical Christians.
B'rit Chadashah was organised in April 1996, a little under a year before the first edition of the Olive Branch was published. It has friendly relations with several evangelical churches in Europe and has supported their missionary programs as well as those of such organisations as RadMin. B'rit Chadashah has a co-operative ministry with the International Christian Schools in India, which is not itself a member of BCEA, and together they run several orphanages.

Small Beginnings for a Servant Ministry

The Olive Branch is very much the product of the relationship between the people who formed the early prototype New Covenant communities in Norway and the emerging New Covenant teachings. It is therefore a history of congregations and individuals struggling to be faithful to the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and records both their triumphs and failures. Because this activity was very largely concealed from the world, being by and large a small local Norwegian phenomenon in its early days, the work of the New Covenant was not generally known internationally before the publication of the Olive Branch.
This publication, and the events leading up to it, is very much a part of a divine timetable. Unlike the explosive origins of the Reformation, which led to bloody warfare and centuries of internecine strife, it is our hope that the New Covenant Reformation and Restoration will be perceived as a servant ministry to the wider Body of Christ and not as a competitor -- an ally of true Bible-believing Christians, no matter which denominations they may come from.
But because the content of the Olive Branch is wholly new, it will undoubtedly (though unfortunately) be perceived by many churches and denominations as a threat. The people who produced it therefore expect a mixed reception from the world.

Spiritual Warfare

We live in the last days when a spiritual war is being waged between the powers of good and evil for the possession of the souls of men and women everywhere. It is a war of life and death. The present world system, which is rapidly evolving towards a One World Dictatorship under the control of evil powers, will be short-lived, but at its apex ruin millions of lives, as the very first of the revelations of this book attests.
This contest begins in the mind of man. Our language is being subtlely changed so that evil, using the vocubulary of good, is able to masquerade as good itself. Even Christian terminology has, as we have said, been hijacked and is being used to create a false Christianity in the world. And this false Christianity is expanding rapidly, deceiving millions.
The Olive Branch, though difficult in some parts to understand, is nevertheless not a book for a spiritual élite, but for all. It contains a call for both rich man and beggar to draw near to the Kingdom of God. And though its use is principally for one denomination -- B'rit Chadashah -- it has practical application for all Christians who wish to conform themselves more faithfully to the holy practice of the Christian faith. It is, in short, a manual of discipleship for everyone claiming the name of Christ.

Opposition and Persecution to Come

Much evil will be said about this book in the future. Many will wish for it to disappear but it is destined to play an important rôle in Christendom in the future no matter what men will say about it. Critics will attempt to place it on the dissecting table and tear it apart in the same way as they have tried with the Bible. Some will say it is a fraud, an insidious cult, a work of Satan, and slander it as only such men know how. Some will be motivated by ignorance, some by fear, some by pure evil. Those who espouse it are bound to be persecuted, as the bearers of every fresh revelation of God's Word have in every age. It will, in time, be condemned, banned and burned by men, churches, governments and secular organisations alike. Like its mother, the Bible, it will be hated because it is a thorn-in-the-side of the wicked, whose sins it unashamedly and boldly exposes.

Your Choice

For you, the reader, this may well be a choosing time. For those who fear to have their lives shaken up, we recommend that you put this book aside now, because once you have been illuminated by the light of its truth, whether you accept it or not, you will become accountable before God as to how you live your life.
May the Lord God of Israel, who is the Olive Branch's inspiration and to whom it is dedicated, bless you and illuminate you, through our Lord and Saviour Yahshua haMashiach (Jesus Christ), as you prayerfully read through its pages. Amen.