The following is my response to several arguments that were presented to me by someone close to me, in an effort to discount the value in seeking to live a Godly life by following His commandments found in the Torah. These arguments are very similar to my own background, and represent what I believe is the underlying issue with modern day Christianity and it’s failure to produce fruit that the world can see, which would cause a turning of hearts back to God. All of the presented arguments will be in bold, with my responses in italics. I will begin with what I believe to be the basic principles that should be the foundation to a Godly approach to understanding Scripture and leading a life that pleases God, based on the belief that God is never changing, and that Jesus did not come to do anything different from what God had already established (Mat. 26:39), and only to make it more full (Mat. 5:17).
Foundational Principles:
1. God NEVER changes!
– Malachi 3:6
– God promises that He will always be faithful to His covenant with Israel, despite their infidelity. Nowhere in Scripture is any condition placed on this covenant in that God will “do away” with it due to the Israelites unfaithfulness.
– James 1:17
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change”
2. Yeshua was God’s plan from the very beginning, not a “plan B”
– Luke 24:27
– 2 Sam. 7:12-15, Isa. 7:14, Isa 9:6-7, Isa 50:6, Isa 52:13-53:12, Jer 23:5-6, Dan 7:13-14, Mic. 5:2-4, Zech. 9:9, Zech 12:10-12
3. God’s commandments were not given as a means of salvation: sacrifices have no power to justify a person, only to sanctify them before God
– Heb 9:13-14
4. Salvation has always been accomplished through faith and not by works
– Heb 11:1-12
Arguments
Claim: Noahic Covenant – made with the animals
– I think you are referring to Gen 9:9-17, where God makes the covenant with Noah, his offspring, and “every living creature,” and seals it with the sign of the rainbow, which is “an everlasting covenant.”
– Gen 9:9-17 “For all future generations”
– This is also an everlasting covenant, not to be undone by anyone or anything, including another, later covenant.
– Still in effect, and hasn’t been done away with.
Claim: Abrahamic Covenant – made with Abraham and all of His seed. Abraham was asleep. God made this covenant, therefore no one can change it.
– Can you point to a covenant in the scriptures between God and man that was not initiated by God? Here are just a few examples of this same covenant reiterated and reestablished by God
– Genesis 12:1-3 “All the families of the earth”
– Gen 12:7 “To your offspring I will give this land”
– Gen 15:5 “As the stars & sand”
– 15:7-21 “Sojourners and strangers, slavery”
– 17:7-8 “Between you and your offspring” “an everlasting covenant” “Circumcision”
– 18:10 “ A son will be born”
– 21:18 – Ishmael to be a great nation
– 22:16-19 “Because you have done this”
Claim: Mosaic Covenant – “God gave the covenant to Moses but the people said no! That is why JESUS did away with this one.”
– God made this covenant with the entire multitude of Israel, including Moses and the many egyptians that fled Egypt with Israel, not just Moses (Ex 12:37-38, 19, 34:27-28)
– When and where did Jesus “do away with” this covenant?
– This covenant is summarized when God says “I will be your God, and you shall be my people;” the commands of the Torah were simply the detailed instructions of what it looks like to be God’s people, in the exact same way that God’s mercy and lovingkindness and favor is what it looks like for God to be our God.
– It is generally accepted by Biblical scholars that the 10 commandments were the “preamble” to the rest of the commands given in the Torah. If Yeshua “did away” with the whole covenant, then by doing so He also denounced God as being the One True God who redeemed the Israelites from captivity, and condones idolatry and all the other sins outlined in the 10 commandments.
– How can God say “thousands of generations” (Ex. 20:5) if less than 50 generations later He would “do away with” everything He established? *(Matt. 1)
– Why are some parts of this covenant still relevant but not others, like food, and how do we determine which ones have been done away with? (Ex. 21-23 is full of laws dealing with simply treating other people kindly and with dignity, which of these are “done away with?”)
– Mat. 5:17-18 “I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill… until heaven and earth pass away not one jot or tittle shall pass.” Just as His coming (and therefore fulfilling the Messianic prophecies) did not “do away with” the promise of his coming and the redemption of God’s people, his fulfilling of the Torah did not do away with it either. Yeshua specifically says right after that that not one jot or tittle will pass from the Torah until heaven and earth pass away, and whoever breaks even the least of the commandments and teaches others to do the same will be least in the kingdom.
– When and where do the Israelites say “no” to the covenant?
– Ex 19:8 “All that the LORD has spoken we will do”
– Yes they sinned by creating the golden calf, but they also paid the price for that sin (Ex. 32:27-28, 35)
– Yes, the Israelites turned away from God and made a golden calf even before Moses had come back down the mountain, but just as the rainbow reminds God of his promise to never flood the earth again, Moses reminded God of His promise to make them a great nation. God still upheld and honored this covenant despite their nearly immediate betrayal. It was Moses who broke the tablets, literally “broke” the covenant, but God renewed it, writing it all on new tablets.
– Ex 32:10 “That I may make a great nation of you.” God never said that his covenant with Moses was nullified simply because of the golden calf incident. What he did say was “I will destroy them and start over with you.” Did God actually do this? No. Does this mean God changes his mind? No. Just as a parent may relent from severely punishing their child in the moment doesn’t mean that that child will go unpunished, and God addresses this fact in v. 34 “in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.”
– If Jesus did away with even one word of the Commands/Covenant/Torah/Scriptures, he broke the very law that defines His Messiahship, therefore nullifying His qualification as the sinless Messiah
– Deut. 13:1-5, anyone who performs miracles in the name of the LORD and teaches others to stray from God’s commandments is a false prophet, and should be put to death.
– 1 John 3:4-6 says that sin is lawlessness, and it was this lawlessness that Jesus appeared in order to take away, because in Him there was no lawlessness. Nobody who abides in Jesus keeps on practicing lawlessness, nor have they even known Him. If Jesus came to “do away with the law” then He could not, at the same time, take away lawlessness.
– 1 john 2:4, Anyone who says they know him but do not keep His commandments is a liar; in v 6 it says that if we abide in Him, we ought to walk in the same way He walked.
– God is faithful to keep His promises even when we fail to serve Him, which is the definition of mercy and grace!
– Jer. 30 is full of detailed descriptions of all the ways that God’s people will suffer for their foolish betrayal of His covenant, and vividly describes how God will allow them to be punished “because your sins are flagrant,” and even despite this God explains how He will rescue and save His people from the lands where they are scattered as well as punish any of the nations who treats them with contempt.
– Jer 31:0 “Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against Him, I do remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him.”
– God chastises Israel and they are punished for their disobedience, but He never even once implies that He will blot out or revoke His covenant with them.
– Scripture is filled with the covenant being renewed and reestablished and reaffirmed many times over. God did not forsake His side of the covenant simply because the people sinned – and he hasn’t to this day!
– Ex. 34:10-26
– In Deut. 29 This covenant was once again renewed with the next generation of Israelites in Moab right before they entered the promised land
– In Deut. 30, God explicitly tells the Israelites that after they turn away and serve other gods, if they will “return to the LORD” and obey all the commandments set before them, then He will be with them and they will prosper as a nation.
– Ezekiel 11:9-10
– Ezekiel 11 16-21
– There are no references in the scriptures that indicate that a failure to keep the commandments will result it being removed from the covenant or being considered “not God’s people”
– The entire history of Israel’s relationship with God can be summed up by this: Redemption, dedication, fornication, punishment, repeat. 1st John 3:4 says that “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.” And he continues in v. 5 “You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin.” Yeshua appeared to take away lawlessness.
Claim: Davidic Covenant – through David’s line Messiah would come
– No issues with this, Isaiah and Psalms and many of the other prophetic writings are full of this type of promise, these are the Messianic prophecies, by which we can know that Jesus is the promised Messiah! Without the foundation of Torah and the prophets (the “old testament”) we cannot know that Jesus is who He claimed to be.
Claim: New Covenant – God the Father made with His Son, JESUS and that includes us when we believe on HIM.
– In much the same way that the “old covenant” was summed up by the words “I will be your God, and you shall be my people,” the new covenant will be summarized by the words “For they shall all know me.” This verbiage is very similar to that in Phil. 2:11 “Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord”
– This has not come to pass yet, neither has the City been “rebuilt for the Lord” according to the rest of the “New covenant” passage in Jer 31.
– Yeshua said at the last supper “This is my blood of the covenant,” only the book of Luke uses the phrase “new covenant” when describing this scene.
– Luke 1:57 begins Zechariah’s prophecy, and He specifically prophecies that God has visited His people to redeem them, and goes on to further illuminate that part of this salvation promise is that it will lead to God’s people “to remember His holy covenant,” to “serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness.” This is very clearly a true prophecy that, much like all other biblical prophecy, has an immediate as well as a future fulfillment. It is undeniable that the full fruition of this prophecy has yet to be fulfilled, as the Jews still largely reject Jesus.
– In Romans 11:5-6, paul is talking about the remnant of Israel that have been have been chosen by His grace to remain as his Chosen people. It is logical to conclude that He is referring to those who believed in Yeshua as being the Messiah, but the grace he refers to is talking about being part of the remnant on the account of mercy instead of works, it is not talking about how salvation works so as to discard the commandments.
– Rom. 11:11 “To make Israel Jealous.” Why would a people who consider themselves special because of their covenant with God be jealous of a people who forsake that covenant entirely? Throughout history, regardless of their status (obedience) before God, their identity has always been founded on their covenant with Elohim. Why would they be jealous of a people or a Messiah who tells them to abandon their covenant with God? It is this very notion that causes Jews to reject Jesus in the first place!
– Yes, the blindness of Israel has to do with their disbelief due to their hard hearts (rom 11:7, 25), but they were also deceived by the religious rulers who spoke of Yeshua as a sabbath breaker and a blasphemer, which he was not. Further, Yeshua tells us himself that their blindness had to happen in order to fulfill the prophecies in Psalms. They crucified Him on the grounds of being a blasphemer! But was he really? The Gospel’s tell us that Yeshua knew no sin, so if He did break the sabbath or blasphemed, then He was not the true Messiah. Clearly the people were deceived, which is why they did not believe his testimony.
– Jer 30:21 says that the prince of His people “will be one of themselves” and goes on to describe how”He” (their prince) will draw near and approach God, and then he reestablishes the covenant again in v. 22
– Where is Israel’s prince that has the authority to approach God without losing his life? This prophecy has not yet been fulfilled, neither has the fullness of the covenant that is spoken of in Jeremiah come to pass yet. Yes, we are the first fruits, but the entire prophecy has to be fulfilled as it is written or Jeremiah’s writings are false prophecy.
Claim: The law given to Moses lists 613 laws. No one has nor can keep them all. GOD wanted His people to understand that they need HIM only.
– Nobody was ever supposed to be able to keep them all.
– As a man, there are laws that only pertain to women that I could not keep even if I tried.
– As someone living outside Israel, there are laws that can only be kept within Israel.
– As a forerigner (not of Jewish heritage) even if I lived in the land, there are laws that I would not be able to keep because I am a “foreigner.”
– As a common man and not a priest, there are laws that only the priests could keep.
– Even Yeshua did not keep every single one of the 613 commands, because he was neither of priestly lineage [Heb 8:4] (He was of the tribe of Judah, not Levi) nor was he a woman, or (as far as we know) a land owner, slave owner, or business owner. The point of the Law was not to see how many one person could keep – that would imply righteousness by works – they were literally laws by which to abide as God’s people for righteous living. In the same way, obeying the laws of society does not make you a just person. You can never break a law and still be evil and hate your neighbor. To say that the law is useless or obsolete because nobody can keep every single one perfectly would be to say that God is a spiteful god who just wanted to see people fail to make a point. This is even more cruel when you consider that it wasn’t for another 1500 years or so until He sent a means of redemption according to this thinking.
– Even Adam and Eve couldn’t keep from breaking the single command they were given. Where Adam and Eve went wrong was not in their disobedience, it was in their pride and failure to repent, just like Israel throughout their entire history. Throughout the scriptures, God repeatedly warns Israel that “if you will not turn from your wicked ways” then punishment and suffering will come. God want’s us to be contrite and have a right heart. He doesn’t expect perfection or nobody would ever be good enough even if they believe in Jesus.
– In a way, the Law is an act of mercy because through it, we are given many opportunities to repent when we fall short of God’s expectations. God never threatens His people for their failure to keep them, He only promises to cut someone off for very specific things that are either detestable to him or things regarding the Holy days when he desires to meet with us. Aside from these things, there is always a promise to reconcile the relationship if the people will only repent.
– Gal. 2:16 We are dead to the works of the law as a means of trying to become worthy. We always have been. The Torah was never intended to make a person righteous or justified. The Torah was given in order that the Israelites who obeyed it would be holy, set apart, from the nations. It was never an issue of salvation, as much as some tried to make it that. It would be absurd to try to gain Salvation or justification by our own merits.
Claim: GOD never intended for His people to have Kings. But, the people insisted because they wanted to be like everyone else. Kings are only people (sinners like us all) and did not always seek Adonai. When they didn’t, the results were punishment which included exile and slavery. When they did seek Adonai, GOD blessed…..
– Agreed. No issues here.
– Samuel 15:22-23
– And Samuel said, “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king.”
Claim: GOD sent several prophets to the Jewish nation in order to try to get HIS people to live the way HE wanted them to.
– Agreed. And they would then repent, and walk in His ways for a time, and then stray from His commands. This was one of the things that proves God is merciful, because He promised that He would be their God and they would be His people, no matter what. When they walked in His ways, he showed them His favor and they flourished as a nation. When they didn’t, He didn’t simply abandon them, he let them reap the consequences of their actions. Sometimes that meant that He would allow them to be punished, but in the end the promise to redeem them never faltered or changed.
Claim: For about 400 years prior to the birth of Messiah (JESUS), GOD withheld all conversations with His people. (The Macabeean period) HE sent no more Prophets. There were a few Israelites that knew they should be worshipping Adonai only, but most did not. The Maccabee family did serve Adonai and all 5 boys followed their fathers teaching. Judah Maccabee was the warrior that lead the Israelite people to defeat the pagans that had taken over their country. Since Adonai had not spoken in many years, Judah prayed, studied Torah and followed the examples of previous Godly warriors and GOD blessed. When ever he took his eyes off of GOD (not often) he failed. As good of a job as the Maccabees did to bring the people back to worship Adonai, even Judah Maccabee, shortly before his death, made a pact (treaty) with Rome for their promised protection. That is why the Romans were everywhere during JESUS’ time on earth.
– This is True that the voice of God became nearly silent for that period, at least as far as we have recorded in the Canon of Scripture. However, the last (known) prophet before this period was Malachi.
– Malachi 3:1 refers to the promised redeemer as “the mesenger of the covenant in whom you delight.” What covenant did the priest’s dlight in? He continues in 3:3-4 saying that when that messenger comes, “He will refine the sons of Levi, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord, as in the former days.”
– Malachi 4:4 sternly warns Israel to “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.” Why would God give such a stern warning, followed by the prophecy about sending Elijah before the day of the Lord, only for Yeshua to come less than 500 years later and sweep under the rug the very thing God warned them to remember?
Claim: much prophecy of the Messiah is throughout the OT. I don’t understand why all believers don’t celebrate the birth of Messiah. The answer to 1000’s of years of prayers!!!
– Without these prophecies, nobody would have known what he would do. He fulfilled every single messianic prophecy, which was why some recognized him as the Messiah while others did not and do not.
– The relevance of His birth is not lost, it is simply not celebrated in the way that some would like. So the answer to why someone would choose to not adopt the sad worldly version of celebrating the birth of Jesus can be found when God tells His people very explicitly not to worship Him in the ways that the nations worship their gods. (Deut. 12:4, 29-31)
– Further, not that it detracts from the fundamental importance of his earthly birth, to celebrate the birth of a deity was a very common pagan practice both before and following the birth of Jesus, so anyone who truly wants to worship God in the way which He chooses should be hesitant to adopt a practice that was so associated with false gods.
– The importance of His birth has never been lost on me; I recognize that failure to be born in a human body from a human mother would have negated the central aspect of Yeshua’s identity and ability to empathize with our human struggles. However, the absence in my life of a big celebration focused solely on His birth has never once caused me to question the credibility or sincerity of what I believe in the way that celebrating Christmas did before I ever even questioned the origins of the holiday.
– Lastly, I don’t believe there is anything even remotely wrong or immoral in purely celebrating the birth of the savior. I don’t agree with adapting pagan traditions and devoting them to God (the very thing that he says is abominable). However, I would much rather devote my time, thoughts, and energy in attempting to worship God by keeping the Holy days that He has explicitly commanded His people to keep, special appointed times that are set aside BY HIM and to be times when He draws closer to us, than worry about keeping a secular human tradition just because it seems important. This is the same reason why Hannukah isn’t really emphasized in our house beyond just the fun of giving the kids presents and remembering how God once again saved His people from bondage.
Claim: JESUS addressed the Law in Matthew (sermon on the amount), but he was talking to Jews, not Gentiles. AND—— HE hadn’t died for our sins yet.
– Almost all of what Jesus said was spoken to Jewish crowds. He appeared to Jewish people, and taught in Jewish synagogues. Why would that exclude what he said from applying to those who would be saved by faith in him after his ascension? If a branch is grafted into the tree, it does not become a new tree, it becomes an extension of that tree and takes on some of the characteristics of the original tree; the original tree is not changed, only the branch that is grafted in. A brand new, completely different tree is not formed by grafting in a branch.
– If Yeshua’s words to the Jews prior to His sacrifice were “only for the jews” because he hadn’t died yet, which of His commands are we as Gentiles supposed to keep?
– If we are only to take as “gospel truth” the words of Jesus that were spoken to non-jews or that were spoken by him after he died, we would be left with a lot of questions. Either all of Jesus’ words are for all of His followers (Jew or gentile ) or none of them are for us unless we are Jewish.
– If Jesus’ words to the jews were only intended for the Jews, then much of Jesus’ words are not for us; however, Jesus specifically prays on behalf of all who will know him through the testimony of those Jewish men that he taught so intimately.
Claim: JESUS celebrated the festivals- again HE hadn’t died yet.
– Yes He did, and John tells us in 1 John 2:6, “Whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked.” Jesus IS God, and God never changes. If we believe this, and if we believe that a house divided against itself cannot stand, then either Jesus was not God as he claimed, or our understanding of what Jesus did needs to be reexamined. I tend to err on the side of assuming that my understanding is flawed, not Jesus’ message.
Claim: Paul celebrated the festivals, but only with his Jewish friends.
– Paul wrote the book of Corinthians to the church in Corinth, which was full of greeks. And yet still Paul even instructs the Corinthian believers in 1 Cor. 5:6-8 to “keep the feast” with sincerity and truth. It is a fallacy to assume that everything written in scripture lacks a literal meaning simply because an explanation is not attached to it. The only scripture in existence at the time Paul wrote his letters were the Hebrew scriptures (Torah) and there was an assumption in all churches that study of the Torah was being practiced and that the reference to “keeping the feast with the new leaven” would not only be an allegory, but also a reference to keeping the feast with right intentions.
– Gals 2:16 Paul Was arguing against faith plus circumcision as a means of salvation, not righteous obedience to God’s commands.
– All things to all people ≠ hypocrisy. Paul did not live “as a jew to the jews” and “as a gentile to the gentiles.” If this were the case, how could he have been justified in confronting Peter – the chief apostle (Gal. 2:9) – regarding Peter’s own hypocrisy in doing such things?
– Gal 2:11-14: James was caught in the act of “living like a Jew among the Jews, and as a gentile among the gentiles.” Oaul called him out on this, and “opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.”
– In Acts 21, Paul visited James in Jerusalem. When he arrived, the believers there reported to him how many of their fellow Jews had been added to the numbers of believers. Specifically, they report that (v. 20-24) “they are all zealous for the Law, but they have heard reports that you have been teaching Jews to forsake Moses and teaching against circumcision. What should we do about this? Here is our solution, join these 4 men in their Nazarite vow, and purify yourself by taking the same vow, and pay for their sacrifices along with yours so that they may complete their vows and shave their heads, that way everybody will know that there is no truth to these reports, but that you yourself also live inn observance of the law.”
– What is this all about? Were the Jerusalem believers conspiring with Paul to fool the Jewish believers and non-believing Jews into thinking that he hadn’t been teaching against keeping the Law, and was in fact still practicing the Law himself? Were they really so devious? Paul had just poured out his heart in desperation to lay down his life in order to visit Jerusalem, so why would he be afraid of what some of the young believers thought about some supposedly false report? If Paul really was this deceitful, then his words ought not to be trusted.
– Instead, we see further down in v. 26 that the next day Paul purified himself by doing a mikveh, or ritual baptism, and took the 4 men to the temple to notify the priests when the days of their vow would be completed so as to prepare the sacrifice associated with the Nazarite vow.
– Later, after being arrested, Paul pleas with the people to believe his testimony, crying out “I am a Jew, by Rabbi Gamaliel, under the strict
– Acts 28:17-25:
– V. 17 Paul calls the local Jewish leaders, who would have had nothing to do with him had there been any credible widespread complaints about this formerly infamous Jew who studied under the tutorship of the Chief Priest (Gamaliel) teaching people to disregard Torah, and Paul capitalizes on the fact that the rumors of him teaching people to forsake Torah observance were untrue
– V. 18 They examined the evidence (of which there was none to prove Paul’s guilt as a heretic) and wished to set him free
– v. 21 “We have received no letters about you, nor has anyone spoken any evil about you”
– V. 22 “We want to hear your stance, because we are familiar with the sect of The Way
– V. 23, Paul uses “the law of Moses” to convince them of Jesus’ Messiahship
– V. 24, … and some were convinced! Hallelujah! Paul used the Torah to convince some of the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem that Jesus is the Messiah!
– 2 Pet. 3:15-16
– Even Paul’s contemporaries found his letters difficult to understand, and Peter warns that people twist his words to their own destruction, just as they do “the other scriptures.”
– 1 Corinthians 11:27 “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.
– If paul only celebrated the Jewish festivals with his Jewish friends, why is he warning the Corinthian church about easting the Passover meal “in an unworthy manner?” (Num. 9:10-11)
Claim: Luke 22:20 – JESUS’ words indicate the establishment of a New Covenant
– Yes, but only in this one account of the Last supper is the word “new” used. Even so, a new covenant does not necessarily usurp or negate the original. Couples renew their wedding vows all the time, it doesn’t undo anything that was done before, it simply reestablishes the existing covenant in light of the experiences and observations ascertained up to that point in the relationship.
– Jesus uses the same greek word for “new” when he says in John 13:34 “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.” How can this commandment be new while at the same time He also says that the entire Torah depends on loving your neighbor?
Claim: Hebrews 8:8 quotation of Jeremiah 31:31-34, promising a new covenant
– No, v. 1-7 of Heb 8 says specifically that the point of what the author is saying is that “we have such a high priest” and talks about how Yeshua specifically would not be a priest if he were here on earth because he would not be qualified to offer sacrifices “according to the law.”
– V. 8 specifically says “He finds fault with “them” referring to the earthly priest
– The Jeremiah 31 covenant prophecy has not yet been fulfilled so long as there are people who need to be taught the ways of God and His commands. Writing the covenant on the hearts of the nations does not equate to disregarding the written law of God in the Torah. What good is it to have the covenant of my marriage written on my heart if I don’t hold to it with my actions and life?
Claim: Hebrews 8:13 the new covenant makes the old covenant obsolete
– False, the word “covenant” is not in any of the original manuscripts in this verse, because the subject matter that the Hebrews author is writing about is the priesthood, not the covenant. A better reading of this verse would be “In speaking of the new priesthood, He makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”
Claim: Hebrews 9:15 how the NEW Covenant works
– Again, the word “covenant” is not found anywhere in this chapter before v. 15 (look at Strongs, it’s not there)
– This is because the writer is talking about the Heavenly priesthood of Jesus and the work He performed as our High Priest.
– Look at the context of the entire chapter: The writer is contrasting what the earthly priesthood was required to do on a continual repetetive basis compared to what Jesus did once and for all
– This only “abolishes” or “fulfills” the commands of sin offerings and good will offerings and all other offerings if the reader assumes that it was the act of sacrificing an animal through which a person was redeemed. If you look at the structure of v. 13-14, the write is not saying “because the sprinkling of blood cannot purify,” but rather he is saying “if the sprinkling of blood sanctifies the flesh for ceremonial purity, then how much more will the sprinkling of Jesus blood purify our conscience”
– The Hebrews writer even states in V. 8 “By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and offerings are offered … which deal only with … regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.”
– Has the time of reformation come? Has heaven and earth been set right and been made new? The writer uses the present tense when referring to the sacrifices in the Temple, indicating that they were still ongoing and that he expected they would until creation was restored to the pre-sin state.
Claim: Hebrews 12:24 JESUS is the mediator of the NEW Covenant
– I don’t disagree that Jesus is and will mediate a new covenant when it is fully fulfilled, but the covenant that makes whole (“fulfills”) the pre-existing covenant does not get rid of the old.
Claim: Hebrews was written for the Jewish people
– So then why do you accept it as part of the Bible? What value is the book of hebrews to somebody who reject their identity as being grafted into the Jewish people?
– The book of Hebrews was written to people who may have been Jewish by birth but who had come to believe in Yeshua as the promised Messiah (aka Christians)
– Heb 1:3 also says that Yeshua is the “exact imprint” of God’s nature. God never changes, and His words are never made false. If God said that a commandment or instruction was “eternal” and then later negated any expectation for obedience to that command, then he is by very nature a liar. God’s plan did not change simply because the Israelites were unable to keep 613 individual commands on a national level. God planned from the beginning of creation to send a redeemer to fight the serpent and crush it’s head, and Yeshua was the ultimate fulfillment of that. However, simply because the fullness of the promise came does not remove the expectations that God has for those who claim to love him and desire to be His people.
Argument- I have no problem with anyone celebrating the Festivals. But, to me, the festivals are all meant to remember the past and what Adonai did for the Jewish people. Which is okay, but why not live in the freedom of the New Covenant and live the way JESUS wants us to today. HE said we HIS people and can do and will do anything HE does. We have dominion over this world except when we give it to the enemy. It’s time we live in the victory of JESUS and trample the enemy.
– I find freedom in the Torah. The deeper understanding of knowing exactly how God desires to be worshipped is one of the most freeing things I’ve ever experienced. I have never had to question if some tradition or practice is offensive or might bring shame to His name because I know that the practices and traditions I keep are rooted in His very words. When I celebrated Christmas, as I got older, I began to struggle with what it meant to actually “celebrate his birthday” and why that was relevant in a world that claims to do the same thing while also focusing almost entirely on the carnal and materialistic side of it. All my life I was taught that Christians are supposed to be “holy” or “set apart” from the world, all the while nearly every christian tradition and holiday originated in a secular holiday, whether it was pagan or not. I realize that that doesn’t automatically mean that anyone who celebrates christmas is guilty of materialism, but when you can’t tell the difference between the decorations, traditions, timing, songs, rituals, and overall materialism of the worldly christmas celebrations compared to those of “Christ followers” then it begs the question: If we are called to be “set apart” or “holy” then why are we copying, adopting, or even attempting to repurpose those worldly traditions that ultimately do nothing but cause us to blend in with the rest of the secular world? Knowing what my Creator does and does not want to be done in order to worship Him is the most freeing experience I could experience. Sure, its easy enough to say “Well as long as you’re ‘bound’ to only worshiping God according to the Bible you’re not truly free to worship Him in spirit.” However, trapping your mind and heart in this endless loop of “I’m free to worship however I please” only ever leads to mimicking the world and adopting their ways, which is something God specifically warns us against.
– The prophecies of Ezekiel and Zecheriah are FULL of prophecies about the future kingdom and the Holy days and the sacrifices that will take place, as well as warnings to the nations that the Lord will withhold the rain from those nations that do not come to Jerusalem for those specific feasts.
– Jesus only fulfilled the prophecies surrounding the spring feasts at His first coming.
– He was our passover lamb and redeemed us from the bondage of death and sin (Passover)
– He was without sin (unleavened bread)
– He was the firstfruits of the resurrection (feast of first fruits)
– The Holy Spirit (the Spirit is the spiritual manifestation of the same Jesus that came to earth and ascended after the resurrection) came to the believers in Jesus when they were in Jerusalem for the feast of Weeks (Shavuot)
– One day when he returns, He will fulfill the prophecies surrounding the Fall Feasts
– When the trumpet sounds at the feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah) one day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord when he returns (bonus, it is very likely that he was actually born on the day of Yom Teruah, which is historically also recognized as the day that David and various other kings were anointed as King)
– After defeating satan, he will establish His kingdom on earth and tabernacle with us (feast of tabernacles/Sukkot)
– At the end of days, there will be a great Judgement day, during which every person will account for the sins they have committed, which is spelled out in the Day of Atonement/Yom Kippur
Expressions & Meditations 