The Mosaic Law/Covenant was a specific Covenant given exclusively to Israel and was never binding upon mankind as a whole. This has been a source of confusion among Christians. Let's look at to whom the Mosaic Covenant was given to.
Exod 31:16-18
16 Wherefore ***the children of Israel*** shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.
17 It is a sign ***between me and the children of Israel*** for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.
18 And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.(KJV)
Deut 5:1-3
1 And Moses called ***all Israel, and said unto them***, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them.
2 The LORD our God made a covenant ***with us*** in Horeb.
3 The LORD ***made not*** this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.
(KJV) [Moses them recounted the 10 Commandments in the following verses].
We see clearly from these statements that the Old Covenant, and particularly the 10 Commandments, were NOT universal laws binding on all mankind since creation, but were specific to Israel, from the days of Moses onward. There is no escaping this conclusion if you one understands Grammar and Context.
So are the Ten Commandments part of the Mosaic Covenant?
Exod 34:28
28 And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables........
***the words of the covenant,*** the ten commandments.
(KJV)
Deut 4:13
13 And he declared unto you ***his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments;*** and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.
(KJV)
So we see from the above scriptures that the Ten Commandments are in fact "The Covenant" or let's say the centerpiece of the Mosaic Covenant.
Now when Jesus came He came to give us a New Covenant via His sacrifice for us. It is through His sacrifice in which we are able to be grafted into the Jewish New Covenant and inherit the blessings of entering the Kingdom of God.
Mat 26:28 For this is My blood of ***the new covenant,*** which is shed for many for the remission of sins. NKJV
Now below is the Prophesy of that NEW Covenant that God promised Israel.
Jer 31:31-32
31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: (KJV)
It must be emphasized that this NEW Covenant is NOT a Gentile Covenant but a Jewish Covenant given to Israel First and then we who are Gentiles can be "grafted into" this Jewish Covenant. Jesus gave the New Covenant to His Apostles who are the 12 representatives of the 12 tribes of Israel in whom the Promise of this NEW Covenant was promised by God.
So now that we have a New and better Covenant, what happened to the Old one? It was completely done away with and replaced.
Heb 8:6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a ***better covenant, which was established on better promises.***
7 For if that FIRST covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.
8 Because finding fault with them, He says: "BEHOLD, THE DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL MAKE A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH�
9 NOT ACCORDING TO THE COVENANT THAT I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS IN THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; BECAUSE THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DISREGARDED THEM, SAYS THE LORD.
10 FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS IN THEIR MIND AND WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.
11 NONE OF THEM SHALL TEACH HIS NEIGHBOR, AND NONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, 'KNOW THE LORD,' FOR ALL SHALL KNOW ME, FROM THE LEAST OF THEM TO THE GREATEST OF THEM.
12 FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR UNRIGHTEOUSNESS, AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE."
Now look what Paul says next about the New and Old Covenants.
13 In that He says, "A NEW COVENANT," He has made the first OBSOLETE. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to VANISH AWAY.
Paul said that the first Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, has been made "obsolete" and that it was ready to "vanish away". Why is that? Because The New Covenant that was promised by God has now come into being. God fulfilled His promise to Israel that He made in Jeremiah 31:31. He was going to make a New Covenant and it was NOT going to based upon the Old Mosaic Covenant. It was going to be something entirely new.
Heb 10:8-10
8 Above when he said, "Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law";
9 Then said he, "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God." ****
He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.***
Did you catch that? God took away the FIRST Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant so THAT He may establish the SECOND Covenant, the New Covenant that Christ brought in.
10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (KJV)
In verse 9 above we have clear language that demonstrates that God took away the Mosaic Covenant so that He may establish the Second Covenant.
Eph 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
15 Having ***ABOLISHED*** in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Above in Ephesians 2:14 we see that Jesus Christ "abolished" the Law of commandments contained in ordinances. What are those? Those are all the Laws contained in the Mosaic Covenant. All 613 of them which includes the original Ten Commandments. Does this mean that we can now murder and commit adultery? Of course not. Jesus implemented God's "Moral Principles" in the New Covenant which is also known as "The Law of Christ". It is important to distinguish between God's "Moral Principles" and the laws themselves. In part two I will address the New Covenant, The Law of Christ. Before I do I would like for you to examine the situation that the Early Church was having regarding the Gentiles and how the leaders of the Church came to the theological conclusion that the Gentile Christians were never under "the Mosaic Law" and were never bound to any of it's requirements.
(Acts 15:23-24) �The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings,
Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, �You must be circumcised and keep the law� � to whom we gave no such commandment � it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth.
For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.� .
Act 21:18 On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.
19 When he had greeted them, he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
20 And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord. And they said to him, "You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law;
21 but they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.
22 What then? The assembly must certainly meet, for they will hear that you have come.
23 Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have taken a vow.
24 Take them and be purified with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads, and that all may know that those things of which they were informed concerning you are nothing, but that you yourself also walk orderly and keep the law.
25 But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written and decided that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality."
Here is Young's. Psalms 119:160 The sum of Thy word is truth, And to the age is every judgment of Thy righteousness! YLT
The ASV reads the way you quoted. Psa 119:160 The sum of thy word is truth; And every one of thy righteous ordinances endureth for ever.
I would have to agree with Young's as it is a more literal word for word translation. The NKJV has it correctly as well. The ASV did not translate this correctly and is a bit misleading. I don't know what translation Daniel is using but I checked several and the ASV is the only one that says "ordinances". None I have found says "LAW". I also looked it up in the "Septuagint" and it says this.
Psalms 160 The beginning of thy words is truth; and all the judgments of thy righteousness endure for ever. LXXE
So we see that this also confirms Young's and the NKJV.
The word "judgment" in Hebrew is this.:
H4941 mishpat pronounced mish-pawt'
From H8199; properly a verdict (favorable or unfavorable) pronounced judicially, especially a sentence or formal decree (human or (particularly) divine law, individual or collectively), including the act, the place, the suit, the crime, and the penalty; abstractly justice, including a particular right, or privilege (statutory or customary), or even a style: - + adversary, ceremony, charge, X crime, custom, desert, determination, discretion, disposing, due, fashion, form, to be judged, judgment, just (-ice, -ly), (manner of) law (-ful), manner, measure, (due) order, ordinance, right, sentence, usest, X worthy, + wrong.
The actual word for "Law" is : H8451 tôrâh pronounced to-raw',
From H3384; a precept or statute, especially the Decalogue or Pentateuch: - law.
Had the word "LAW" been intended as in "The LAW" which Daniel in error is claiming then the word Torah would have been used instead of "mishpat" .
As we can see from the meaning of "Mishpat", it is used as a "judgment or a sentence". In other words it is God passing sentence on something or someone. "His righteous judgment". This goes to His "moral Character" in that every sentence, every judgment He gives is truly righteous and His righteousness is forever.
It is from NIV. Okay, you want to KJV, I will use KJV,
You: Judgment and law is different.
Me: They are ESSENTIALLY the same. Same in essence different in name. Because KJV version said such:
"If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments (Psalm 89:30) and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.(Psalm 119:160b)"
if you follow his judgments, you follow the law so, NIV translation is not a mistake, the essence of the verse is being put forward.
It is also said in KJV version:
"Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them." Exodus 21:1.
Leviticus 18:5
"Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD."
And they uses the same Hebrew rood word. So your assumption falls apart here.
2. Another assumption of you, Jesus have fulfill all the prophecy in the OT.
Me: He has not, Daniel prophecy ended with the final judgment.
So does Joel, some of his prophecy is being quoted in Acts.
You are reading more into the scriptures then allows and you are ignoring the New Testament scriptures that clearly and irrefutably state that the Mosaic Covenant/The Law was made "OBSOLETE".
Why are you ignoring this? You seem to be relying upon the Old Testament and ignoring the New Testament.
Do you understand the difference between God's "moral Principles" and the laws themselves?
You say that Jesus did not fulfill all the prophesies concerning Himself yet in Jesus own words below He said He did. So Daniel, is Jesus wrong or are you?
What you are failing again to realize is that Jesus was referring to ALL the Old Testament Prophesies concerning His FIRST COMING, not His future Second. Let's review them again.
Luke 24:25 Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
26 Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"
27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. NKJV
Now don't miss this next passage. It is very important. Look at the Grammar.
Luke 24:44 Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, THAT ALL THINGS MUST BE FULFILLED which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me."
45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
46 Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,
47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Let me re-quote: "THAT ALL THINGS MUST BE FULFILLED which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.""
Jesus said Himself that He did IN FACT FULFILL ALL prophesies concerning Himself. This obviously means His FIRST Coming. Now look again at Matt 5:
Mat 5:17 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy BUT TO FULFILL.
18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law UNTILL ALL IS FULFILLED."
Guess what was one of the main prophesies Jesus fulfilled? Paul quotes it in Hebrews. It is Jeremiah 31:31. [brackets are mine]
Heb 8:6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.
7 For if that first covenant [Mosaic/LAW]had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. [the New Covenant of Grace]
8 Because finding fault with them, He says: "BEHOLD, THE DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL MAKE A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH�
9 NOT ACCORDING TO THE COVENANT THAT I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS IN THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; BECAUSE THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DISREGARDED THEM, SAYS THE LORD.
10 FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS IN THEIR MIND AND WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.
11 NONE OF THEM SHALL TEACH HIS NEIGHBOR, AND NONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, 'KNOW THE LORD,' FOR ALL SHALL KNOW ME, FROM THE LEAST OF THEM TO THE GREATEST OF THEM.
12 FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR UNRIGHTEOUSNESS, AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE."
13 In that He says, "A NEW COVENANT," He has made the first OBSOLETE. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to....VANISH AWAY.
Paul clearly said that God has made (past tense) the OLD Covenant OBSOLETE and was ready to vanish away. Paul is speaking about the Mosaic Law...ALL of it, not just part of it. That is all 613 Commandments including the original Ten. Notice that the Prophesy says clearly that the NEW Covenant was NOT going to be based upon anything of the OLD Covenant but be something entirely different. If this is not true then this is one reason why the statement of Jesus in Matthew 5 would be a direct contradiction to Hebrews 8 above as well as others.
dear leon and walter, thanks for settin me straight on the hebrew translation.. i dont know how i got onto the asv it didnt say any when i got there but when i clicked to go there it was sposed to be the hebrew.. translation on the youngs site .. hehe
told ya im not a hebrew man .. hehe tryin to learn .. gotta look more closely when i click on to find the verse i lookin for i recon.. anyways thanks again
and daniel i appreciate your view as well. makes us study more and thats always good.
You said: I keep referring to the OT. And you said Jesus have fulfilled everything prophesied regarding already.
Me: Now, we must referred to the OT to see what is prophesied regarding Jesus. And prophecy regarding the second coming of Christ in Daniel had not been fulfilled. So, according to you, law had been done away because Christ had fulfilled every thing prophesied regarding him yet I showed you He had not. Therefore, the law had not done away.
Ok. In the NT, what it said about the law. 1 John 3:4 pointed out that transgression of the law is sin. It is also said that we become righteous through the law (Romans 2:13: (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.).
You: Saying old covenant is with fault.
Me: God said his law is perfect. If law is the covenant then, God is contradictory. "Law is perfect at the same time, law is with fault."
You: The new Covenant did not include the law and you quoted Hebrew.
Me: In Hebrew it is said in New Covenant, "I will put my laws into their mind". Care to explain why God said this?
You: Moral principle and the law is different.
ME: The law is the moral principle of God. Because the law is righteous.
Please go back and re-read my post. I demonstrated where Jesus Himself said that He did in fact FULFILL ALL things concerning Himself that was contained in scriptures from Moses, Psalms and the Prophets. What I see you are are misinterpreting is what Jesus meant. Jesus was talking about all the Prophesies concerning His FIRST coming. He was obviously not including those prophesies concerning His Second coming. This harmonizes perfectly in His statement in Mat 5. In fact it helps in clarifying what He meant. Scripture interpreting Scripture. Daniel this not any personal interpretation on my part but what the Grammatical Hermeneutic says and what the other scriptures confirm.
Additionally you seem to have a problem with me quoting "Hebrews". Why? Do you not realize that Paul was quoting Jeremiah 31:31 and applying it as fulfulled prophesy? Do you accept and believe what Paul said in that the Old Covenant was made OBSOLETE and was ready to VANISH AWAY?
If you do not then please explain why.
Daniel....do you place equal value and importance in all the New Testament as you do the Old Testament? Do you recognize the New Testament as the Inspired Word of God?
you: judgment and law is different. Judgment is God's moral.
me: In KJV and Hebrew bible, the same root word is used in Exodus 21:1 and Leviticus 18:5, when God is referring to the law.
you: Therefore, judgment is eternal but not the law.
me: therefore, I had not misunderstood Psalm 119:160 which point to eternal law.
you: THAT ALL THINGS MUST BE FULFILLED which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.
me: Luke 24 is to explain to people that the law predict the suffering of Christ, that's why Jesus must died. The law did not predict its own abolish. You predicted that, No where in the OT predict the Law passed away. So when Jesus said he fulfilled the law, he fulfilled everything including the eternalness of the law.
you: Matthew 5.
me:"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets;" That is equivalent in saying " I do not come to destroy the law" and it is also equivalent in saying " the law is not abolish with my coming"
Don''t translate word to word but translate in context.
If Jesus come to abolish the law, why then He explain the law to others. In the Sermon of the mount, he explain so many law, just said the law is abolish it is much easier to said so.
you: I am against you quoting book of Hebrew.
me: No, Book of Hebrew proved that the law is not destroyed. What is the New Covenant? "10 FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS IN THEIR MIND AND WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE." He said in the new covenant, that the laws shall be written in our mind, therefore, it is not abolished.
you: I keep on quoting OT.
Me: I quoted from NT also. Like 1 John which stated that sin is transgression of the law, Romans 2 which said we become righteous by obeying the law. I also quoted the Luke 16:17 which state we must obey the law. On the other hand, you are not quoting anything from the OT except indirectly as in Hebrews. Because there is nothing in the OT that said the law will be abolished.
Luke 24:44 Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, THAT ALL THINGS MUST BE FULFILLED which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me."
45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
46 Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,
47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Let me re-quote: "THAT ALL THINGS MUST BE FULFILLED which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.""
Daniel...Jesus Himself said exactly what I said. Jesus said that He FULFILLED ALL things concerning Himself. What was Jesus obviously talking about? His FIRST COMING. So is Jesus wrong Daniel or are you just not fully understanding what He meant?
Additionally I see you did comment on what Paul said regarding the Mosaic Law being made OBSOLETE.
