Manna From Messiah
.
Pastor Ellen Mumper, Canada
Is
the OT Relevant for Our Lives Today?
Why are the first 39 books of our Bible called the Old
Testament and the latter 27 called the New?
Is this a proper way of looking at the Word of God and does it all apply to
us as believers today?
First we need to define terms. For the sake of this study
I want to start with defining exactly what the New Testament is. Many have said
that the word testament is interchangeable with the word covenant. Technically
the word covenant is a written agreement between two or more parties to perform
some action. The word testament refers to a legal document declaring a person's
wishes at his death. The Greek word for testament is pronounced
'dee-ath-ay-kay' and is alternately used for both testament and covenant, such
as in Mark 14:24. The 'older' portion of our Bibles deals more with covenants.
Matthew 26:28 uses the term new testament. "For this is my blood of the new
testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." This is when Yeshua had His last supper at Pesach
(Passover) with his disciples. He defined for us what the new testament
entailed. This passage is repeated in Mark 14:24 and Luke 22:20 and explained
further in 1 Corinthians 11:25.
"After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had eaten, saying,
This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do, as oft as you drink it, in
remembrance of me."
What was new and what was old? The new was that rather than the blood of animals being shed for
sin, His blood would once and for all pay for our sin.
Some say that the Old Testament was done away with.
Hebrews 8:13 is a difficult passage to understand out of context. "In that he says, A new covenant, he
has made the first old. Now that which decays and waxes old is ready to vanish
away." Put with Hebrews 9 it becomes very clear. It
had to do with blood. What passed away was the temple, destroyed in AD 70, and
so with it, the sacrificial system and Levitical priesthood.
2 Corinthians 3:14 doesn't say that the old covenant
itself was done away with. It says the veil was done away with. "But their minds were blinded: for
until this day remains the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old
testament; which vail is done away in Christ." What was the veil?
In Exodus 26:31-33 God teaches us what the veil was and what it was for. Verse
33 says "And thou shalt
hang up the vail under the taches, that thou mayest bring in thither within the
vail the ark of the testimony: and the vail shall divide unto you between the
holy place and the most holy." The veil separated the Holy of Holies from
the rest of the Tabernacle or Temple. This sacred room was especially holy and
covered the Shekinah glory of God. Sin could not come into His presence and the
High Priest could only come there once a year, with blood, on Yom Kippur. To
violate the protocol would have meant his death. When Yeshua died that veil was
torn from the top to the bottom and now we as believers have direct access to
God, made possible by the shed blood of Yeshua, our High Priest. Hebrews 9
explains what the last verse of Hebrews 8 suggests. What has been done away
with, at least temporarily until the Kingdom of Messiah and the new temple, is
the Levitical priesthood and sacrificial system.
Hebrews 9:15- 20 also explain why there is a new and an
old covenant. It has to do with the blood atonement and not with the
"law" (Torah). Verse 15 especially says : "And for this cause he is the mediator of the new
testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions
that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the
promise of eternal inheritance."
What are some of the "OT" covenants? Just briefly we can think of a few of
them. There is a covenant with Noach in Genesis 6:8 and Genesis 9:9. God says
He will never again destroy the earth with a flood. Is this true? Is it
relevant today? We know that the end time judgment will be fire, not a flood. There
is a covenant with Avraham in Genesis 15 and 17. In this covenant God promised
to his seed forever the land of Israel. He promised that in Abraham all the
families of the earth would be blessed, also, in Genesis 12. Is this still
binding today? Are we in Abraham? Romans 4 says we are. There is a covenant at
Sinai with Moshe and the children of Israel in Exodus 24:7 and 8. Is it still
binding today? That is a big debate. With a fear of putting someone "under
the law" or "Judaising" many are afraid to say we are under that
covenant. Let us just say for now that the Torah is wrongly interpreted as LAW
by many believers. In fact it is a book of Instructions for holy living for a
people already covenanted to God by faith. It does not deal with salvation. And
there is a covenant with David in 2 Samuel 7:14- 17. Verse 13 says that it is
forever. Is it relevant for us? The promise of Messiah to sit on David's throne
has everything to do with us. He is our Saviour, our Redeemer. Also He is
soon coming back!
One main problem in answering the question about the
relevance of the Old Testament to our lives today is the confusion over who is
Israel. Some of the verses we have looked at tell us that the commandments are
forever. Surely this does not mean forever only until Messiah's death and
resurrection. Some say they are only for Israel. When Yeshua came He 'did away'
with the "law". This is just not so. What He did away with is the law
of sin and death that was our judgment for breaking His commandments and offending
a holy God. This Yeshua certainly did away with by the blood of the new
covenant that bought our redemption.
When Israel left Mitzrayim (Egypt) they came out with a
mixed multitude far beyond the twelve tribes of Israel. This mixed multitude
often caused Israel grief, as we know. They led Israel into idolatry many
times. But many people of these nations stood with Israel at Sinai to receive
His commandments. What does God say about the stranger who joins himself to
Israel? There is one law both for the children of Israel AND for the 'stranger
that dwells among' them. Leviticus 24:22 "You shall have one manner of
law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the
LORD your God." Have you and I come to believe in the Lord God of Israel?
Ruth did. She said in Ruth 1:16 "your people .will be my people and your
God will be my God." She was totally one of the children of Israel and an
ancestor of Yeshua our Messiah by joining the people of Israel by faith. The
children of Avraham (Abraham) have always been by faith, as it says in Romans
4. Verse 16 makes it clear that the seed of Avraham (Abraham) are by faith!
"Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the
promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law,
but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us
all,"
Further- the book of Ephesians is very beautiful in
explaining who Israel is! Ephesians 2:11 says that those who were counted as
Gentiles- goyim, from the nations- by the circumcision (Jews) are now made nigh
by the blood of Messiah. Verse 12 says in that state, without Messiah, such
people were outside the covenant. Now they are made one by faith in Messiah and
are partakers of the covenant. As you know, Sha'ul (the apostle Paul) says
there is NO difference, in Messiah. Ephesians 4 states that there is ONE Lord,
ONE faith, ONE body. ONE. We are all the children of Avraham (Abraham) by faith
in Messiah Yeshua. One may not be born in the bloodline of one of the twelve
tribes but in Messiah be part of Israel.
There are many parts of the "Old Testament"
that we cannot do. We are not in the land under a theocracy and cannot peform
judgments and sentences the way the Torah said to. We do not have a temple and
altar to bring an animal sacrifice to. There is no Levitical priesthood and no
sacrificial system. If we need further proof of our standing, 1 Peter 2:9 gives
the same charge to the true church as was given to the nation of Israel. We are
a kingdom because we have a King- Yeshua. We are priests because we are to
bring the lost world to Him in intercession and witness. We are to be holy.
This promise, this charge, in 1 Peter 2:9 is "Old Testament." 1 Peter
2:9 "But you are a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that you
should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into
his marvellous light."
Finally there is a verse that speaks very well to what
"relates" to us. We all want His blessing. We all want His face and
provision in our lives. Yeshua said "If
you love Me, keep MY commandments" in John
14:15. Yochanan (John) said in 1 John 5:3 that "His commandments are not grievous." The verse we need to latch onto, if we want God's
blessing on our lives, is James 1:25. " But whoso looks into the perfect law of liberty, and
continues therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work,
this man shall be blessed in his deed."
Torah/ instruction for holy living, is called FREEDOM!
What we need to do is read the "Old Testament"
with an open heart and mind. Where instructions are given we need to ask- not
"is this done away with in the church?" but "is this even
possible? if it is, how can I do this, Lord, so that I may please YOU?"
When we read of "old things" such as the festivals we need to realise
that these are not "Jewish" things but they are the festivals of the
Lord that teach about the life and work of the Messiah. Yeshua said that Moshe
(Moses) taught of Him.
Truly He is on every page.
Yes! THAT is
relevant to our lives.
Ellen Mumper
