	AllExperts > Churches Of Christ
	Search

About John Fields
Expertise
I can intelligently and respectfully discuss MOST thoughtful questions pertaining to doctrinal issues within the Churches of Christ. I feel myself to be especially adept when answering questions regarding the Gospel of Christ and baptism. I always strive to be humble, realizing that there are some issues that are respectfully and honorably debatable. I realize that the Bible is perfect and able to provide any truth that the seeker of truth is after. At the same time I realize that though I am very conscientious about pointing people in the right direction, I am still a fallible human being and certainly capable of making mistakes. I will always give my opinion AS my opinion and strive not to state as fact something which cannot be supported by good logic or a good thorough study through the scriptures.

Experience
I am a minister within the Churches of Christ. I have been preaching for 14 years and have been on five separate mission trips to the Volta Region of Ghana, West Africa. I have preached the Gospel to literally thousands of people and it is my passion to do so.

Education/Credentials
I graduated with honors from Atkins High School in Atkins, AR in 1984. I went on to get my Bible degree at Harding University in Searcy, AR where I graduated Cum Laude.

You are here: Experts > Religion/Spirituality > Christianity - Restorationism > Churches Of Christ > Old Testament

Churches Of Christ - Old Testament

Expert: John Fields - 8/20/2009

Question
Hello,

I have had a Jewish person tell me that the New Covenant cannot replace the Old Covenant because the Mosaic Covenant was supposed to be eternal. He sited the following Biblical quotes to prove his argument. What do you say? How can the New Covenant of grace and of Jesus Christ replace the Old Covenant, when the Old Covenant was supposed to be eternal. Please look at the Bible quotes I have listed below, which someone else has pointed out to me.

GENESIS 17:9-10 - "God said to abraham, 'and as for you, you shall keep my covenant-you and your offsrping after you THROUGHOUT THEIR GENERATIONS"

EXODUS 31:16 - "the children of Israel shall observe the sabbath, to make the sabbath an ETERNAL covenant for their generations"

DEUTERONOMY 11:1 - "you shall love H-shem, your G-d, and you shall safeguard his charge, his decrees, his ordinances, and his commandment, ALL THE DAYS"

DEUTERONOMY 28:46 - "they (the commandments) will be a sign and a wonder, in you and in your offsrping, FOREVER"

DEUTERONOMY 29:28 - "the hidden (sins) are for H-shem, our G-D, but the revealed (sins) are for us and our children FOREVER, to carry out all the words of this torah"

PSALM 111:7-9 - "his handiwork is truth and justice, faithful are all his orders, they are steadfast FOREVER, for ETERNITY, accomplished in truth and fairness. he sent redemption to his people; he commanded his covenant for eternity"

2 KINGS 17:37 - "and the decrees and the laws, and the torah and the commandment that he wrote for you, you shall OBSERVE TO DO ALL THE DAYS; and you shall not fear the gods of others""

Thank you: Alex

Answer
Dear Alex, I appreciate your question which is a very good one. I'll see if I can help. I'll focus my time on these things. What does forever mean to us, what did it potentially mean to the Jew of earlier times, and what light does the New Testament shed on it?

First what do we think about forever? Forever means a never-ending period of time (actually eternity is the absence of time). Since God created time He will be the one to dispose of it as well. Hence, when many of us today read passages from the Bible which talk about forever, we have a tendency to take these passages literally. But should we always?

Sometimes the Bible uses concrete ideas as figures of speech, idiom or metaphor. When it does, it does not intend that it should be taken literally. But sometimes we still do. For example: In Mark 1:4-5 it says this(4) John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.

Taken literally, ALL, every person in Judea and Jerusalem, received John's baptism. But we see that this is not the case in Luke 7:29-30 (29) When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they acknowledged God’s justice, having been baptized with the baptism of John. 30 But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John.

What had happened is that ALL was used as a figure of speech to convey the huge influence that John had. Although he had a great influence and ALL the people were said to have come to him and to have been baptized, not all were. It was a figure of speech. Sometimes ALL means ALL, but sometimes ALL means most.

The same holds true with some renderings of forever in the Old Testament.

A common greeting to kings of the time was "Oh King, live forever." This was to indicate through figure of speech that they wanted the king to know they wished him a prosperous life. To live forever would truly be to prosper.

Consider these Old Testament examples:

Isaiah 34:8-10 (8) For the LORD has a day of vengeance, A year of recompense for the cause of Zion. 9 Its streams will be turned into pitch, And its loose earth into brimstone, And its land will become burning pitch. 10 It will not be quenched night or day; Its smoke will go up forever. From generation to generation it will be desolate; None will pass through it forever
and ever.
Is this land still burning today? No. It was a figure of speech indicating the severity of God's judgment.

Jeremiah 17:4 And you will, even of yourself, let go of your inheritance That I gave you; And I will make you serve your enemies In the land which you do not know; For you have kindled a fire in My anger Which will burn forever.
Will God be angry for all eternity or was He showing how angry He was at that time? The latter.

Jonah 2:6 “I descended to the roots of the mountains. The earth with its bars was around me forever, But You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God.
Jonah felt as though the earth's bars were around him forever. But he came up and preached later.

Exodus 14:13 But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever.
The Israelites saw the Egyptians at other times, but were never again their slaves.

Isaiah 66:24 “Then they will go forth and look On the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm will not die And their fire will not be quenched; And they will be an abhorrence to all mankind.”
Are those corpses still burning and worm-ridden or are they long since gone? This showed they were utterly destroyed. Forever could be a figure of speech or could represent a period of fulfilled time.

I will deal with the scriptures you listed above apart from the figures of speech we have looked at in the New Testament.

The covenant that God had with Abraham is indeed forever. It was based upon faith and not upon law and will be fulfilled today in the salvation of people and will continue with people's continued salvation in Heaven (Galatians 3:17-18).

The rest concerning the Law of Moses fall under one umbrella. The Old Law was identified as a tutor to lead us to Jesus in Galatians 3:23-25 (23) But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. 24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

This shows that we are NO LONGER under law. Law brings recognition of guilt because it is impossible to keep 100%. If we stumble in one we are guilty of all (James 2:10). Due to this, when we see we are guilty we feel compelled to go to Jesus and do something about it. The Law brings us salvation not in the sense that we FOLLOW it but that it LEADS us to Jesus.

The New did not replace the Old it fulfilled it. Matthew 5:17-19 (17) “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 “Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

This happened with the event of the cross as shown in Colossians 2:13-17 (13) When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. 16 Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— 17 things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.

Any who cling to law-keeping for salvation will be sorely disappointed in the last day. Jesus is the fulfillment of righteousness. He kept the law and gave us the benefit of perfect law-keeping even as we broke the law and gave Him the curse of our sins. By His stripes we are healed!

Add to this Answer Ask a Question