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Richio said: "Those laws were to show them how to love, please, obey and worship God. Some of them were just to make them different from other nations, like the food and clothing restrictions."
These two sentences appear to me to contradict one another. I think you were right the first time. Tassels were given to help remind them to keep the law, not "to make them different from other nations" (Num 15:39). The food laws were intended to make them holy to the Creator (Lev 11:1-44). Likely this involves health concerns. The puffer fish will kill you within minutes if not prepared correctly. It still does that to this day, it wasn't purified by Mark 7:19. Peter certainly didn't get that message. "But Peter said, "Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean." (Acts 10:14). He specifically said the vision of Acts 10 was so he would know not to call any person common or unclean (Acts 10:28). Why would we think we know better than Peter?
Generally speaking the body sloughs off dirt and contaminants eaten with food, thus purifying it. This assumes a society eating real food, which the Jews did. Who knows what Jesus would have had to say about McDonald's or Jack-in-the-Box? We know much they serve causes long term health problems. Our bodies are the temple of God's spirit we're expected to take care of them.(I Cor 6:19-20).
There seems to be some confusion about Ephesians 2:15. It talks of abolishing enmity, not the law. Verse 14 talks of the "middle wall of separation". This was a wall the Jews erected near the temple beyond which gentiles could not go. It was not sanctioned by God; the Jews did it on their own. It was established by their own ordinance. Ultimately, Jesus made clear that we are all equal before Him. "Then Peter opened his mouth and said: "In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. 35 But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him." (Acts 10:34-35) The petty commands contained in the Jews ordinances that created the contention between Jews and Gentiles were eliminated, not the law.
The confusion continues in Romans 10:4. "End' has more than one possible meaning. Another option is 'aim' or 'goal'. This actually goes well with Galatians 3:23-25, which explains that " we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ". The goal of the law was to preserve and prepare Israel for Christ. Christ was the goal of the law. It takes faith to keep the law, particularly things like helping your enemy (Ex 23:4-5). Humanly speaking it makes no sense. That was supposed to prepare Israel to trust in their savior. Unfortunately they didn't do the greatest job obeying.
"But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor" (Gal 3:25). What most people don't know is that this tutor didn't teach academics, but morals and values. This particular type of 'tutor' was in the place of wealthy parents. His job was to make the child a responsible citizen. When the child came of age he was no longer under this 'tutor', just like we usually move away from our parents about age 21. Do we repudiate everything our parents taught us? Hopefully nothing. Actually the 'tutor' was often a valued consultant to the adult child as long as the 'tutor' lived.
Even so, Messiah is the absolute authority, not the law, but we can consult the law for valuable insight and advice should we have a question. " Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good." (Ro 7:12). "So He said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments." (Mt 19:17)
Messiah is the only one that has authority over the law. He upheld the law in almost all circumstances. Only in divorce did he undercut the law and in that case he held believers to a higher standard. He exhorted us to keep the covenant of the Lord, which was the intention of the Creator from the beginning. "He has commanded His covenant forever" (Ps 111:9b). His covenant is not the law, which as the old covenant has faded because the Levites are scattered and the temple destroyed. They were not from the beginning. That doesn't diminish the rest of the law that "show us how to love, please, obey and worship God"
Richio also said " "Why is God so different from one covenant to the other? The answer is that He's not." I'm sorry, I don't see how that fits with " when Jesus came and died on the cross, that put an end to the Old Testament laws completely ".
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'" (Mat 7:21-23): Wouldn't lawlessness be connected with a disregard for law?
Some things in the law are more important than others. The kingdom of God does not revolve around what we eat or drink. However, "Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." (Mat 5:19)
"Those laws were to show them how to love, please, obey and worship God." Since God doesn't change perhaps we could learn from them too.
LEW
I hope I figure this question out one day! I was soooo tired of going to a church that picked out certain OT laws and said we HAD to follow them. Take tithing for instance. We were pretty much told if we didn't give at LEAST that 10% that we were not saved and would be cursed. Even though at the time we were dirt poor and could hardly afford to pay our utilities. Then they would have "Sacrifice Sunday" where everyone would give a huge amount of money which went to expanding the building.
I hope I figure this question out one day! I was soooo tired of going to a church that picked out certain OT laws and said we HAD to follow them. Take tithing for instance. We were pretty much told if we didn't give at LEAST that 10% that we were not saved and would be cursed. Even though at the time we were dirt poor and could hardly afford to pay our utilities. Then they would have "Sacrifice Sunday" where everyone would give a huge amount of money which went to expanding the building.
If you look at tithing in its context and who did it, you will see that it was mainly farmers that did it bringing in produce that was then redistributed to the poor.
This is now taken as money as few are now farmers and money is of course easier to handle. The problem is that the money is no longer distributed and the church leaders benefit big time.
The whole thing has degraded to temple worship only w/o sacrifice apart from your "required" tithe. If there are those that redistribute 90-95% of takings, that would be OK, but that sadly is NOT the case.
This is the biggest CON in the world calling it a tithe. Were it called a contribution or subs, it would be more honorable but they like to paint this false concept that God blesses those that give.
I was taken for $30k in 2 years and as I was on the financial committee, my contributions amounted to 70% of the takings. Since then I have fallen on hard times and NO ONE has given me even a grocery hamper.
NEVER again will they get one cent out of me and that currency denomination is discontinued here.
You may as well throw your money in a wishing well.
Richio said: "Those laws were to show them how to love, please, obey and worship God. Some of them were just to make them different from other nations, like the food and clothing restrictions."
These two sentences appear to me to contradict one another. I think you were right the first time. Tassels were given to help remind them to keep the law, not "to make them different from other nations" (Num 15:39). The food laws were intended to make them holy to the Creator (Lev 11:1-44). Likely this involves health concerns. The puffer fish will kill you within minutes if not prepared correctly. It still does that to this day, it wasn't purified by Mark 7:19. Peter certainly didn't get that message. "But Peter said, "Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean." (Acts 10:14). He specifically said the vision of Acts 10 was so he would know not to call any person common or unclean (Acts 10:28). Why would we think we know better than Peter?
Generally speaking the body sloughs off dirt and contaminants eaten with food, thus purifying it. This assumes a society eating real food, which the Jews did. Who knows what Jesus would have had to say about McDonald's or Jack-in-the-Box? We know much they serve causes long term health problems. Our bodies are the temple of God's spirit we're expected to take care of them.(I Cor 6:19-20).
There seems to be some confusion about Ephesians 2:15. It talks of abolishing enmity, not the law. Verse 14 talks of the "middle wall of separation". This was a wall the Jews erected near the temple beyond which gentiles could not go. It was not sanctioned by God; the Jews did it on their own. It was established by their own ordinance. Ultimately, Jesus made clear that we are all equal before Him. "Then Peter opened his mouth and said: "In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. 35 But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him." (Acts 10:34-35) The petty commands contained in the Jews ordinances that created the contention between Jews and Gentiles were eliminated, not the law.
The confusion continues in Romans 10:4. "End' has more than one possible meaning. Another option is 'aim' or 'goal'. This actually goes well with Galatians 3:23-25, which explains that " we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ". The goal of the law was to preserve and prepare Israel for Christ. Christ was the goal of the law. It takes faith to keep the law, particularly things like helping your enemy (Ex 23:4-5). Humanly speaking it makes no sense. That was supposed to prepare Israel to trust in their savior. Unfortunately they didn't do the greatest job obeying.
"But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor" (Gal 3:25). What most people don't know is that this tutor didn't teach academics, but morals and values. This particular type of 'tutor' was in the place of wealthy parents. His job was to make the child a responsible citizen. When the child came of age he was no longer under this 'tutor', just like we usually move away from our parents about age 21. Do we repudiate everything our parents taught us? Hopefully nothing. Actually the 'tutor' was often a valued consultant to the adult child as long as the 'tutor' lived.
Even so, Messiah is the absolute authority, not the law, but we can consult the law for valuable insight and advice should we have a question. " Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good." (Ro 7:12). "So He said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments." (Mt 19:17)
Messiah is the only one that has authority over the law. He upheld the law in almost all circumstances. Only in divorce did he undercut the law and in that case he held believers to a higher standard. He exhorted us to keep the covenant of the Lord, which was the intention of the Creator from the beginning. "He has commanded His covenant forever" (Ps 111:9b). His covenant is not the law, which as the old covenant has faded because the Levites are scattered and the temple destroyed. They were not from the beginning. That doesn't diminish the rest of the law that "show us how to love, please, obey and worship God"
Richio also said " "Why is God so different from one covenant to the other? The answer is that He's not." I'm sorry, I don't see how that fits with " when Jesus came and died on the cross, that put an end to the Old Testament laws completely ".
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'" (Mat 7:21-23): Wouldn't lawlessness be connected with a disregard for law?
Some things in the law are more important than others. The kingdom of God does not revolve around what we eat or drink. However, "Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." (Mat 5:19)
"Those laws were to show them how to love, please, obey and worship God." Since God doesn't change perhaps we could learn from them too.
LEW
Hi LEW, Richio said: “These quotes seem to be from another thread.”
At least someone is listening. LOL
The specific OT prescriptions of exactly how to go about worshiping God, were there because they needed specific instructions.
‘Else, they would just “wing it”.
Seeing how they couldn’t even wait for Moses to come down from the mountain, but made a golden calf to worship, improvisation just wasn’t a good idea.
So here’s some specific instructions… ______________
Many of those instructions dealt with the clean and the unclean.
Just as food restrictions also dealt with clean and unclean foods (what we take into ourselves),
these instructions illustrate in a concrete way, how things of God are clean and only the clean and holy is acceptable to Him, because He is holy.
A secondary but necessary result of these practices, were the health benefits of not “generating” (I can’t think of the right word) and spreading disease.
One reason, God chose one nation, was to distinguish God’s people, a holy people - from the world’s people, the unholy people.
These things were so - as examples to us to illustrate higher truth. (1Cor 10:6)
God has not changed. He is at once holy and also loving and merciful.
The problem was that man’s disobedience and rebellion – sin – separated us – made us unclean.
The OT practices were more or less ceremonial and those ceremonies did not fix the real problem.
To fix the real problem, a perfect sacrifice had to be made and the only perfection is God Himself.
He became man and offered Himself in our stead – this too is ceremonial in a sense, since we are still not perfect, but we can cling to God’s righteousness through faith in His Christ.
And why do need to cling to that righteousness? Because YHWH is still holy, but Jesus constantly stands between believers and the holy God.
Now that YHWH sees only the righteousness of Jesus, we are clean and acceptable.
He is our mediator.
Now that we are acceptable, God can fellowship with us and we with Him – even as members of His family.
so much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.
The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing,
but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently.
Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens;
who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices,
first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. Hebrews 7:22-27
Now that the perfect sacrifice has been made, these distinctions of clean and unclean foods and even holy and unholy nations are moot.
It is really about individual relationships not nations.
Jesus died for all men, because the holy God loves us that much.
His sacrifice was not just sufficient to cleanse a particular people, but all people.
Sure the Ten Commandments still stand, and in Matthew 5, we see how Jesus calls us obey not so much out of obligation with rules regulations and prescribed ordinances, but out of purity of motive – even striving for purity of thought.
"Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,
not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt,
My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD.
"But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,"
declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Jeremiah 31:31-33
And so we’re called to obey the Ten Commandments and the commandments of Jesus to love, not from obeying regulations out of obligation, but in the spirit of the Law.
Even the Sabbath – as it is one of the ten.
We must always look at the context to determine what is meant by “the Law”.
“The Law” can refer to God’s Law concerning our relationship with Him and our relationship with other people.
This is the Law referred to in Jeremiah 31 and in Matthew 5.
OR
It can refer to the regulations which Jesus made obsolete.
OR
As in the teachers of “the Law”, it can refer to the Talmud – hundreds of additional manmade regulations prescribed by the Rabbis – creating all sorts of contrivances, loopholes, and catches – making God’s Law seem impossible and keeping the teachers of “the Law” in a position of power.
As for Mat 7:21-23 "depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!":
These people wanted credit for all the things they had done.
Sort of like... when asked at the gate, why they should be let in, they did not respond "because of Jesus" - rather they set forth a list of thier accomplishents and in so doing, they were not following the spirit of the Law, but the letter of the Law.
The letter of the Law is of the flesh and so the "Law" they were obeying is dead and no better than lawlessness, because it is righteousness from the Self and not from God. (Romans 8)
I appreciate the chance to clear up any confusion, I may have caused.
One way to think about all of this: the Old Covenant, and the New Covenant, are actually contracts between man and God.
The way it is: the old contract is NOT "done away with" by the new one, but remains in force for everyone, UNLESS they have accepted the terms of the new contract (brought by the death and ressurrection of Jesus)...in which case then: we are required to keep the terms of the new contract...some of which supercede terms in the old contract. (The new contract came because it was found that NOBODY could successfully comply with the terms of the old contract...we all failed...except for one: Jesus)
If we don't have the new contract, then we will be judged by the terms of the (much harsher) old contract. (good luck with that...you'll need it)..
We each decide which one we would like to live under. It is VERY common to hear people say "you have gotta observe and do this or that" (old testament law) (such as tithing, observing the sabbath, etc, etc, etc). That's fine if they want to, but my question then would be why don't they keep ALL of the old testament law? One example: blood sacrifice of doves, sheep, cattle, goats....
So, obviously, they are not observing all of the old testament law (contract), but just parts of it (that they happen to like, for whatever reason). It's like signing a contract with a builder to build you a new house. Then when he finishes the basement, he says "I'm done! I abided by our contract!" You say "well...yeah...the basement is nice, but what about the rest of the house?" And he says "well...uh...I just don't believe in that part of the contract...."....
The new contract is available to everyone...it's just that lots of people don't want it. So, they'll have to deal (eventually) with the old contract....and that's a very rough road...
One way to think about all of this: the Old Covenant, and the New Covenant, are actually contracts between man and God.
The way it is: the old contract is NOT "done away with" by the new one, but remains in force for everyone, UNLESS they have accepted the terms of the new contract (brought by the death and ressurrection of Jesus)...in which case then: we are required to keep the terms of the new contract...some of which supercede terms in the old contract. (The new contract came because it was found that NOBODY could successfully comply with the terms of the old contract...we all failed...except for one: Jesus)
If we don't have the new contract, then we will be judged by the terms of the (much harsher) old contract. (good luck with that...you'll need it)..
We each decide which one we would like to live under. It is VERY common to hear people say "you have gotta observe and do this or that" (old testament law) (such as tithing, observing the sabbath, etc, etc, etc). That's fine if they want to, but my question then would be why don't they keep ALL of the old testament law? One example: blood sacrifice of doves, sheep, cattle, goats....
So, obviously, they are not observing all of the old testament law (contract), but just parts of it (that they happen to like, for whatever reason). It's like signing a contract with a builder to build you a new house. Then when he finishes the basement, he says "I'm done! I abided by our contract!" You say "well...yeah...the basement is nice, but what about the rest of the house?" And he says "well...uh...I just don't believe in that part of the contract...."....
The new contract is available to everyone...it's just that lots of people don't want it. So, they'll have to deal (eventually) with the old contract....and that's a very rough road...
Bud
I agree Bud.
Jesus did not abolish God's Law (the Ten).
He did however, do away with the law of sin and death, if the new contract is agreed to by the party of the second part.
(Romans 8)
The benefits of the old contract were temporary, as life itself is temporary.
The benefits of the new contract are eternal - leading to life eternal.
If one continues under the terms of the old contract, one must abide by every term of said contract,
and the benefits of the new contract do not apply.
There are some things people don't understand about the New Covenant. Others have quoted Jer 31:33 where we learn that with the New Covenant the Creator will write His laws in our hearts. This is also quoted in Heb 8:10 and 10:16. His Law, made up of His laws, is fundamentally His covenant (Ps 78:10, Hos 8:1) which is recorded in Exodus 20-23:19 (Deu 4:12-13, 23). To have something written in the heart means that one conducts Himself according to that standard (Deu 8:2, Rom 2:14-15). You do what is in your heart. In other words, God can tell what kind of person you are, what is in your heart, by what you do.
If you do His Law, His covenant, it is written in your heart. If you don't do His Law, it is not. This is not The Law, or the Law of Moses, but that which was from the beginning. Abraham kept "My Laws" (Gen 26:5).
Jesus was the covenant sacrifice of the New Covenant (Mat 26:27-28, Heb 9:26). His blood was "shed for many for the remission of sins". Actually the primary meaning of 'remission' means 'release from slavery'. Jesus also tells us that "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin." (John 8:34). The instruction in Exodus 20, in particular, but also the details that follow through the middle of chapter 23 were part of Gods plan that Israel not sin (Ex 20:20). The purpose for His covenant in Exodus 20 is the same as the purpose of the New Covenant; we separate from sin.
Paul also tells us "Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?" (Rom 6:16) He tells us later that Jesus life releases us from the law of sin and death (Rom 8:2, also quoted recently). This is not the law, but "another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members." (Rom 7:23, the forth verse before Rom 8:2)
So Jesus blood set the stage to release us from slavery to sin, and His very real resurrected life released Paul from the law of sin, which caused Him to sin, which normally brought death. Christ's life released him from the force that made Him sin "that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." (Rom 8:4) Now he could keep the righteous requirements of the law, unlike before his conversion when: "…for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice"(Rom 7:18b-19). Christ delivered Paul from that sorry state, not by hiding his sin, but by enabling Him to do what was right and righteous.
Yes, Christ is available to make intercession for us. "My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And IF anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (I John 2:1). The desire is that we not sin, not that we hide behind Christ. On the rare occasion that the believer does sin, Christ will intervene with the Father. John said 'if anyone sins' not 'when anyone sins'.
"But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not! 18 "For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor." (Gal 2:17-18) A transgressor is not the servant of Christ, but sin.
Hebrews 9:26 referred to above claims Christ "appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself". The primary meaning of "put away" is actually 'abolish'. His purpose is to abolish sin, not hide it from view. He's interested in people who are serious about respecting and loving Him and their fellow man. Showing concern for others only when it's convenient shows that person to be unfaithful and untrustworthy. This is not the spirit of God.
So the message is the same from at least Exodus 20:20 through I John 2:1. Don't sin! His spirit comes after repentance (Acts 2:38). Repentance assumes a change of heart, a change of direction, renouncing the bad and grasping the good. It also assumes one knows what is acceptable and what is not.
The educational system of the Jews revolved around the Hebrew scriptures, especially the law. It gives the details of how to love God and love neighbor. The Jews had large chunks of it memorized. Christians on the other hand have generally grown up assuming the law was irrelevant. What makes us think we might have a clue about what direction to go once we recognize the crooked path we are on? In other words: can we know how to repent, go the right way, if we don't know His instruction in detail? Yes, Jesus clarified some of it, but he didn't deal with all of it. Occasionally the Jews got something right. He didn't necessarily deal with those things.
"He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked." (I John 2:6) "And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (Gal 5:24). ""Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Rom 6:4). "by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust"(II Pet 1:4). "And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." (I John 3:3). The New Covenant is not business as usual.
"For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it." (Luke 9:24) Grasping the New Covenant requires a fundamentally different mindset than the average person. The believer must trust what the Creator said, especially in the beginning and act on it. One must be very diligent and very careful because there is so much entrenched miss-information floating around.
"For many will come in My name, saying, I am the Christ, and will deceive many" (Mat 24:5). " Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven" (Mat 7:21). Will the Father call someone who follows His instruction lawless, because he follows the Fathers instruction? (Mat 7:23)
So the message is the same from at least Exodus 20:20 through I John 2:1. Don't sin! His spirit comes after repentance (Acts 2:38). Repentance assumes a change of heart, a change of direction, renouncing the bad and grasping the good. It also assumes one knows what is acceptable and what is not.
Extraordinarily insightful, LEW.
I've saved your post and that of Simple Living for my own notes, so I can read them again in a year - and in the years to come.
Lately, I just keep coming back to Matthew 5 and Romans 8.
This seems to be something that some Christians are divided on.
Did Jesus make the old covenant of Moses obsolete.. or not.. ?
And God said…
---
"Certainly, then, There occurs a setting aside of the proceeding commandment on account of its weakness and ineffectiveness. For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in besides of a better hope did, through which we are drawing near to God.
For if the first covenant had been faultless, no place would have been sought for the second.”
Hebrews 7:18
---
"In his saying "a new covenant" He has made the former one obsolete and growing old is near to vanishing away."
Hebrews 8:13
---
"But their mental powers were dulled. For to this present day the same veil remains uplifted at the reading of the old covenant, BECAUSE IT IS DONE AWAY WITH BY MEANS OF CHRIST. In fact, down till today whenever Moses is read, a veil lies upon their hearts. But when there is a turning to God, the veil is taken away."
2Corinthians 3.12
---
So where does the New Testament REALLY begin.. ?
-
Greetings accelerator,
Yes it is obsolete. Many people confuse the Covenant with Abraham with the Mosaic Covenant. Thats the problem. Both the Mosaic Covenant and the New Covenant are based on the Abrahamic Covenant.
This is a great topic because it's so misunderstood by a lot of people. God is generally seen as a God of wrath in the Old Testament and a God of love in the New Testament. "Why is God so different from one covenant to the other?"
Hi Simple Living,
And yet so many people miss that this happened in the end times 2000 years ago. In the New Covenant swords are beaten into plow shares and Gentiles seek God.The OT said this would happen.
Micah 4
Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the LORD’s house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And peoples shall flow to it.
2 Many nations shall come and say,
“ Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.”
For out of Zion the law shall go forth,
And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
3 He shall judge between many peoples,
And rebuke strong nations afar off;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
It is also what is meant by the wolf grazing next to the lamb in Isaiah 65. Instead of Israel or Gods people being separate we are mixed in with the rest of the world.
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Another Way To Look At This...
