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Galatians 3:17
says, “This is what I mean: the law, which came 430
years afterward, does not annul a covenant
previously ratified by God, so as to make
the promise void.”
The Law spoken of
here is the Mosaic Covenant. The New
Testament writers use this expression for
the entire legal code that God established
for Israel after the exodus. The Ten
Commandments are called the covenant because
they were the words of the covenant. They
served as the framework for the entire legal
code.
Exodus 34:27-28 says, “Then the
Lord said to Moses, "Write down these words,
for in accordance with these words I have
made a covenant with you and with Israel."
So he was there with the Lord forty days and
forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink
water. And he wrote on the tablets the words
of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.”
Deuteronomy 4:13 says, “So He declared to
you His covenant which He commanded you to
perform, that is, the Ten Commandments; and
He wrote them on two tablets of stone.”
The Law was first given to
Israel alone and no one had this set of laws
prior to the establishment of Israel as a
nation.
Deuteronomy 5:2-3
says, “The Lord our God made a covenant with us
at Horeb. The Lord did not make this
covenant with our fathers, but with us, with
all those of us alive here today.”
The Sabbath was unique to Israel.
The Sabbath was not
kept or commanded of anyone until God gave it to
Israel after the exodus. The Bible is very
clear that the patriarchs were never given
the Sabbath as a day of rest to be kept.
Deuteronomy 5:2-3 says, “The Lord our God
made a covenant with us at Horeb. The Lord
did not make this covenant with our fathers,
but with us, with all those of us alive here
today.”
Nehemiah tells us that the
Sabbath was made known to Israel at that
time. That means no one before that was
aware of its meaning. The Sabbath was not
given to be kept as a day of rest to anyone
until it was given to Israel in the
wilderness.
Nehemiah 9:13-14 says, “You
came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them
from heaven and gave them right rules and
true laws, good statutes and commandments,
and you made known to them your holy Sabbath
and commanded them commandments and statutes
and a law by Moses your servant.”
The Old Covenant was abolished (all
of it):
Hebrews 8:13 says,
“In
speaking of a new covenant, he makes the
first one obsolete. And what is becoming
obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish
away.”
•
The law
was weak, useless and
made nothing perfect (Hebrews 7:18-19).
•
God found fault with
the Old Covenant and created a
better covenant, enacted on better promises
(Hebrews 8:7-8).
•
The Old
Covenant is obsolete, growing
old and ready to vanish (Hebrews 8:13). [The
Book of Hebrews was written before
the destruction of Jerusalem and the
temple in A.D. 70]
•
The Law was only a shadow of the good things to come
and can never make someone perfect
(Hebrews 10:1).
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Covenants:
Each covenant is a standalone, legal
contract unless otherwise stated. Each
covenant has its own set of rules and
regulations.
God's laws
change according to the covenant you are
under. Look at these terms about the end of
the Old Covenant Law (including the Ten
Commandments):
• The
Law imprisoned us (Galatians 3:19),
• The Law
was only a guardian until Christ
came (Galatians 3:24-25),
• We have
died to the law through the body of
Christ (Romans 7:4),
• The Law
arouses our sinful passions (Romans 7:5),
• The Law
produces fruit that leads to death
(Romans 7:5),
• We have
been released from the law (Romans 7:6),
• The Law
was the 10 Commandment law (Romans 7:7).
• The Law
increases sin which produces death
(Romans 7:8),
• The Law
has come to an end (Romans 10:4),
• The
letter of the Law kills (2 Corinthians 3:6),
• The Law
was a ministry of death (2 Corinthians 3:7),
• The Law
was a ministry of condemnation (2 Corinthians 3:9),
• The Law
had no glory at all (2 Corinthians 3:10),
• The Law
was brought to an end (2 Corinthians 3:11),
• The Law
had to change (Hebrews 7:12),
• The Law
was set aside (Hebrews 7:18),
• The Law
is obsolete (Hebrews 8:13),
• The
obsolete Law includes the Ten
Commandments (Hebrews 9:1, 4).
• The Law
was done away with (Hebrews 10:9). |
God gave different laws for
each covenant. That's just how covenants
work. Each covenant has its own set of
rules, regulations, and laws.
The Old Covenant even predicted that
the Sabbath would be brought to an end (Isa. 1:13;
Lam. 2:6; Hos. 2:11), and the New Covenant
clearly says that the Sabbath, along with all the
other ceremonial requirements of the Old
Covenant Law have come to an end (Colossians 2:14-17;
Ephesians 2:11-16; Galatians 4:10-11; 4:21; 5:1-4; Romans 14:5-12).
Many things from the Old Covenant Law
have clearly changed.
Under the New Covenant,
where is anyone commanded to keep:
•
Seventh day Sabbath?
•
Circumcision?
•
Dietary restrictions
regarding unclean
meats?
•
New Moons
Celebrations?
•
Holy Days”
•
Annual
Feasts?
•
The Levitical Priesthood?
•
Animal Sacrifices? |
Each covenant is a
new legal contract. A contract must have all
of its legal requirements clearly defined in the
contract. Each biblical covenant can use
elements from previous covenants, reapply
them, or omit them completely and give
totally new laws.
Jesus
gave His Church the New Covenant to live by
in place of the Old Covenant law.
John 1:17 says, “For
the law was given through Moses; grace and
truth came through Jesus Christ.”
Hebrews 7:22 says, “This makes Jesus the
guarantor of a better covenant.”
Hebrews 8:6-7 says, “But as it is, Christ has
obtained a ministry that is as much more
excellent than the old as the covenant he
mediates is better, since it is enacted on
better promises. For if that first covenant
had been faultless, there would have been no
occasion to look for a second.”
Hebrews 12:24 says, “and to Jesus, the
mediator of a new covenant, and to the
sprinkled blood that speaks a better word
than the blood of Abel.”
Hebrews 13:20
says, “Now may the God of peace who brought
again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the
great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of
the eternal covenant,”
The Old
Covenant and the
Sabbath had a beginning and an end. Neither were
eternal.
Unlike the Mosaic Covenant
that was made with Israel alone, the New
Covenant is made up of people from every
nation, tongue, and people on earth who accepts Jesus
Christ as their Lord and Savior (Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 2:11-22; Matthew 28:18-20;
Isaiah 9:6; Romans 10:9; Luke 2:11; 1 Timothy 1:15; Luke 19:10; Acts 13:23; Titus 2:13;
1 Timothy 4:10; 1 John 4:14).
Christians live
under the New Covenant, not the Old Covenant Law given to Israel
alone on Mount Sinai. The New Covenant is a “better” covenant than the Old
Covenant in every possible way!
Why
would anyone want to try to live by the Old
Covenant Law when we have the New Covenant
of grace to live by?
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