There are several widely held opinions in the Christian community concerning the Jews and the nation of Israel; primarily that the Jews and Israel deserves a special and favored status by all Christians, and also that the land of Israel deserves a special, if not holy, status among the nations. These issues alone, and not all the others that may arise concerning the Jews and Israel, shall be the focus of this discussion.
The history of Christianity can unfortunately be summarized as a continual effort to remove as many of the blessings from Christ’s perfect and complete redemptive work as possible, and thereby remove these promises from the scriptures. However, it is almost as destructive to add anything to the scriptures that is not there. Thus, this discussion shall focus on the importance, or lack thereof, of the Jews in the New Covenant era and Israel as set forth in the scriptures. For to me, it is only the scripture that matters, no matter how many Christians may believe otherwise. And then determine if this is not just another example of something that has been added to the scriptures.
The blessing of Abraham
I have been a devout believer for over 46 years and one of the things that has been pounded into my Christian head regarding the Jews is that God will bless those who bless them and curse those that curse them, or words to that effect. We will start there.
This blessing is contained in Gen. 12:1-4 and reads as follows:
“Now the Lord had said to Abram:
‘Get out of your country, From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’4 So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him.”
This was the first time that God spoke to Abram and is the original passage from which the blessing is derived. The other 20+ scriptures that refer back to this passage simply recite it. (see Appendix A) Some of them add a reference to the land that was given to Abram and his descendants. However, if God gives the land to Abram, then it is a matter of law and custom that his descendants would inherit the land after him. For instance:
“I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed”
Otherwise, none of these 20+ scriptures expand upon the original blessing.
It is widely believed that the verse that reads “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you” applies to all Jews, even those alive today. And thus, we surmise that we must be very careful about how we speak about the Jews. However, a close look at the passage discloses that the blessing is directed to Abram and only to Abram. Even a casual reading of this passage with this point in mind will lead the reader to understand that it was directed at the man Abram and Abram alone. It was spoken to Abram (“Now the Lord had said to Abram:”) and God says “you” to Abram twice in this verse. An objective interpretation cannot extend it beyond the man Abram. In this entire passage, God was speaking to Abram. Thus, the blessing was bestowed on Abram. It was not bestowed on anyone or anything else.
The only verse in this passage that could possibly be stretched to include the nation Israel is “And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed”. Without a doubt, all families of the earth have been blessed by Jesus, who was “in” Abram at the time as his seed, a point that was made on several occasions in the New Testament. (Matt. 1:1, Rom. 1:3) The verse is stating a fact, that in Abram all the families of the earth would be blessed. They certainly were. It does not bestow an additional blessing. If one wants to find an additional blessing, then he must look elsewhere.
Therefore, God would bless those who bless Abraham and curse those who curse Abraham. The one man. This fact was born out in his life story. If anyone was blessed in his life, it was Abraham. But the same cannot be said of the nation of Israel. For instance, after the original nation split into the two nations, Israel and Judah, after Solomon’s death, the nation of Israel did not have a single righteous king, not one. They went from one fierce judgment from God to the next. From the time of Solomon’s death to the total destruction of the nation of Israel at the hands of Assyria, there is no evidence of any blessing at all. (1 Chron. 5:26, 2 Kings 15:29, 17:3-6) Since that time, they have been collectively referred to as “The Ten Lost Tribes of Israel”. Where is the blessing there?
Paul addresses the role, or rather the absence of any role, of Jews and Judaism in the gospel message at length on two separate occasions, in Galatians 3 and Romans 9-11.
The principal message in Paul’s letter to the Galatians is that the gospel does not include any Old Testament laws and any who attempt to do so “let him be accursed”. (Gal. 1:8) Paul hones in on the subject in Chapter 3, where he wrote “Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.” (Gal. 3:7) and “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Gal. 3:29) And even more thoroughly in verses 13-29.
The fact that the Abrahamic blessing was on the man and not the nation was of paramount importance to Paul and I find it impossible to read the following passage and conclude otherwise. Look closely at Paul’s words:
“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith… 16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ… 18 For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise… 26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
In the above passage, Paul goes to considerable lengths to declare unequivocally that the blessing on Abraham was NOT to his seeds, plural, but only to his “seed”, singular, Christ and to those “in Christ Jesus”. Let that single point sink in. It is the point of the passage. Permit me to repeat that singular verse which in and of itself should end all dispute:
“Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ.”
Gal. 3:16
Paul wrote that, and he wrote that to make the point in as clear and concise a manner as possible, that the blessing on Abraham was NOT on Israel, but on Abraham and on Christ. That is the whole point of the verse. There is absolutely no other way to read it or interpret it. This is confirmation of our earlier reading of Gen. 12:1-4 where we saw that the blessing was on the man Abraham, and not on the nation to come. God’s blessing was on Abram and his seed (singular) Christ, not on his seeds (plural), the nation Israel. If this conflicts with your long-held beliefs, then take it up with Paul.
Paul went on to further emphasize the point by explaining that the blessing was not pursuant to the law, as it would be if to Israel, but by promise, which is through faith in Christ:
“18 For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise… 26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”
Paul further emphasizes the same point by stating “There is neither Jew nor Greek”, which is to say that neither Jews nor Greeks enjoy any special status in the Kingdom of God. Can you accept that?
Paul goes to extraordinary lengths in the passage in Galatians to make the point that God’s blessing on Abraham was on Abraham the man and on Christ, his seed (singular). It was not on the Jews. This is Paul’s point. It is not on Israel or Judah. Read it again if you still do not believe me. I am not making this up. I am getting it from Paul. The blessing really was, and is, only on the man Abram and his seed, Jesus, and on one else.
As a final exclamation point on the subject, Paul ends his letter by referring to the church universal as “the Israel of God” and that he considers the matter resolved without any further discussion, he adds “From now on let no one trouble me.”
Gal. 6:16-17
And consider also Eph. 2:14 “For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us, (Jew and Gentile)”.
What more could Paul write to make it any clearer? The blessing on Abraham was NOT on the nation of Israel, but on the one man Abraham and on his seed Christ. The Jew has no greater Abrahamic blessing than anyone else. (We will get to the promise to the Jews concerning their homeland later.) I am well aware that I am contesting long-held beliefs by the majority of Christendom, having had it pounded into us from our rebirth, but we must give way to scripture and be ready to replace myth with Bible whenever needed. And it is certainly needed in this case. You can bless Jews as much as you want and receive no greater blessing than if you bless me.
Paul’s second discourse on Jews in a Christian setting is found in Romans 9-11. That’s right, three whole chapters on the subject and nowhere in this discourse is any reference to the Jews as God’s chosen people or that they enjoy a favored status within the Body of Christ. It is more of an account of their stubborn disobedience and God’s judgment upon them for their unbelief. The singular favorable passage refers to a remnant being saved at the end, but that is a reference to Jews alone, not instructions to the church about their treatment of Jews.
Anyone who has spent any time in Christian circles should have noticed that all those who espouse a reverence for Jews within the Church or impose Hebrew linguistics and references to our Lord and our faith as though they have a more enlightened view of our faith, only use Old Testament scriptures. This is because there are NO New Testament scriptures to substantiate their practices and conveniently ignore all the Old Testament scriptures that unload vast amounts of curses upon those Jews who strayed from their law, as most did. Consider Deuteronomy 28:15-68 which for 54 verses lists an endless stream of horrific curses that God will pour out on the Jews if they disobey, which they did again and again. If you read these 54 verses, you will see a more accurate summary of Old Testament Jews than the one usually portrayed by those who want me to revere all Jews and all things Hebrew.
Christians love to say that America is blessed when it blesses Israel and cursed when it does not, and write books about it. They compare political actions to natural disasters to substantiate their claim. So, I have done my own comparison and noticed no such association. In fact, at the moment when I am writing this, in 2018, America is suffering some of the worst natural disasters since the Dust Bowl. Fires are raging all over California, Nevada, Utah, Oregon, Washington and Color-ado. Yet, there is no political action against Israel to blame for this. President Trump is going out of his way to bless Israel. This whole claim is manipulated and bogus. It would be just as easy for me to claim that America is being severely judged and cursed with these wildfires right now for blessing Israel. I could, but will not, because there is no association between blessing or cursing Israel and God blessing or cursing anyone else. The promises that I seek to enforce with God have absolutely nothing to do with the Jews or Israel. I know my Bible better than that.
God’s Chosen People?
Hopefully I have succeeded in dispelling the myth that, apart from Christ, the Jews and the nation of Israel are heirs of the blessing to Abraham. They are not. So now we will direct our attention to other mythical sources of special status for Jews outside of the blessing to Abraham. The most common belief is that the Jews are “God’s chosen people”, even now in the Christian Era. I do not contest that the Jews were God’s chosen people before Christ. I see no point in arguing about that. They have Genesis to Malachi to support that claim. But what about now?
The Jews’ special status before the coming of Christ was a result of their unique covenant with God. They were unique in all the earth in this regard. But this changed. Their covenant with God was replaced with a new covenant through Jesus. When it was replaced, the old covenant became obsolete.
“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.”
(Heb. 8:13)
The fact that the Old Covenant was replaced by a new and living covenant is something that most Christians already know and accept. Therefore, I will not burden the reader with a lengthy display of scriptures establishing this fact, but rather assign them to an Appendix so that it can be optional reading. (see Appendix B)
So if the Jews’ special status as “God’s chosen people” rested upon their possession of a special covenant with God, and that covenant is now obsolete and has in fact been replaced with a New Covenant, then there is no more validity to the Jews’ claim that they are God’s chosen people. Their status as God’s chosen people went the way of their covenant with God. It is obsolete. It has been replaced. It is gone.
They were promised some land and they have that. It is not called the “Promised Land” for nothing, and is based on several Old Testament passages in which God promises the land to them. This promise does not extend to Christians in any way and should not concern Christians in any way. It is about land and Jews. Its only purpose seems to be as a means for Christian leaders to raise money to pay for themselves to take a trip and to lead a group.
However, there is reliable justification for Christians to believe that they are God’s true chosen people and comprise God’s holy nation:
“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” 1 Peter 2:9
No mention of special status for Jews or Israel in the New Testament
There are 85 instances in the New Testament when the nation “Israel” is mentioned. All but one is a reference to the nation of Israel as the nation or the land in a context where no other word would suffice. None of them refers to any special status for the Jews or the nation Israel. The one verse that is the sole exception is a verse that describes all Christian believers as the “Israel of God”, which is the exact opposite of what Jews wish to promote. (Gal. 6:16) If something as truly significant as the Jews being special or chosen in the Christian Era is a fact, then shouldn’t the New Testament have said that? It does not. Nowhere. Not once. This conspicuous absence should say all that you need to hear. Most New Testament writers were Jews. James was the head of the Church in Jerusalem, which consisted entirely of Jewish believers, and he said nothing about it in his letter. John wrote four letters and did not mention it. Jude was the Lord’s brother and he said nothing about it in his letter. Neither did Peter in his two letters. If the Jews were special in the New Testament world, then these apostles would have said so, but did not, and our faith is “built on the foundation of the apostlesand prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.” (Eph. 2:20).
The only exception to this is Paul’s discourse on this subject in Romans Chapters 9-11. For three entire chapters in his letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul discusses the status of the Jewish people in the New Testament era. In this discourse, Paul talks almost entirely about their salvation, or rather their lack of salvation. He starts out by expressing the enormous sorrow and grief that he feels for the Israelites and would trade his salvation for theirs if it were possible. That is hardly an expression of a revered status.
“I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, 4 who are Israelites”
Rom. 9:1-4
In this discourse on Israel, Paul makes the point that the Jews are not the children of God:
“That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.”
Rom. 9:8
This verse makes the significant point that “those who are the children of the flesh”, the Jews, are “are not the children of God”. Do you see that? But “the children of the promise”, the believers by faith, “are counted as the seed”, and are the true children of God. It does the Jew no good to be a Jew in the flesh. He must be a child of the promise to be counted.
Paul described the Jews as “vessels of wrath prepared for destruction” whom God endured “with much longsuffering”. (Rom. 9:22) That is who the Jews are, not chosen or special, but the people who have rejected God’s only begotten Son and the salvation that He offers for 2000 years and therefore will be destroyed.
Paul is in such great sorrow and continual grief in his heart because the Jews are obviously going to hell. They will be judged for their rebellion and disobedience and their destruction is a certainty. It is a scathing rebuke of a people whom Paul dearly loved. Only at the end does Paul give them a glimmer of hope. He says that at the end of this age, a remnant, which is a very small percentage, will be saved as a testimony to God’s goodness. But in general, the three chapters are mostly about how and why the Jews have missed salvation. There is no objective reading of this discourse that could lead the reader to believe that Paul believed that the Jews enjoyed any special status because they were Jews, other than the fact that God in His mercy would save a few of them at the end of this age despite their stiff-necked and stubborn nature toward God. If anything, this discourse serves as another example of Jewish New Testament writers failing to mention any special status for Jews or the nation of Israel, even when discussed at great length.
Some Christians go out of their way to refer to our Lord as Jeshua and to God as Yahweh or Jehovah. I see no New Testament basis for this practice. If they want to live under the Old Covenant, then they are in for a rough ride. I prefer the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father.
Three references in the New Testament to Jews’ condemnation
As mentioned above, Paul once referred to the body of Christian believers as the “Israel of God”. Here it is:
“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.”
Gal. 6:15-16
I have never read a single commentary on this phrase “Israel of God” that did not interpret it to mean the body of all Christian believers and NOT a reference to the Jews or the nation of Israel. That is certainly how I have always read it. It is a significant biblical reference. If the Body of Christ is now the true “Israel of God”, then there has been a substitution of the church for the old nation of Israel. This interpretation is customarily referred to as “substitution theology” and is a widely accepted New Testament belief. The church is now the “Israel of God”. It is a continuation of Paul’s theme in Chapter 3 of the same letter where he wrote “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Gal. 3:29) The context of this passage is Paul’s great letter to the Galatians in which he argues at length that we are not saved by the Jewish law, but by faith. In the previous verse, he wrote “For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.” Paul states that being Jewish does not matter; neither one matters. That being Jewish avails nothing.
The second and third references to the status of Jews as written in the New Testament are found in The Revelation of Jesus:
In His letter to the church in Smyrna, our Lord said, “I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.” Rev. 2:9
And in His letter to the church in Philadelphia, our Lord said, “Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.” Rev. 3:9
Jewish believers take the position that Jesus was not referring to real Jews, but imposters, because Jesus said “are not”. However, this interpretation is not consistent with them saying that they are Jews and that they are in a synagogue. Who else could it be but Jews? Jesus is stating for the record that although they claim to be Jews, they are not real Jews and worship in a synagogue of satan. This is consistent with His reference to their “blasphemy” and that He “will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you”. Jesus said the those who call themselves Jews worship in a synagogue of satan and He will make them come to the real believers, the Christians, and make the “Jews” worship at their feet.
This interpretation is also consistent with the behavior of the Jews at that time, which was not one that accurately reflected the true Jewish faith. All faith had long been abandoned and replaced with fierce persecution of the Body of Christ, outrageous blasphemy and savage brutality. Historically, they really had created a synagogue of Satan. A description of Jews at that time as liars, blasphemers and worshipers in a synagogue of Satan is quite accurate historically. I read Flavius Josephus’ First Jewish-Roman War, 66-70 AD, in which he describes the Jewish nation’s behavior at that time and their unusual savagery and can attest to the accuracy of this description. This savagery was all the more repulsive and appalling to Josephus because it was in comparison to Roman savagery, which was unparalleled at that time and place. It was for this very reason that the Jewish General Joseph switched sides and adopted the Roman name Josephus.
The Holy Land
Many Christians get goose bumps when they go there. It is their dream. Oh, and to be baptized in the Jordan River is akin to the rapture. OK, go ahead. There is no harm in any of that. I am as impressed with the creation of Israel as a nation in 1948 and its miraculous endurance since then as much as anyone. It has God written all over it. But it is all to fulfill prophecies to the Jews, principally in Ezekiel and Jeremiah, not Christians. It is their homeland, not mine.
I have a close friend who pastors a Messianic congregation in Israel. He is very annoyed with American Christians who give money to Israel because the Israeli government is fiercely opposed to the Messianic community and uses that same money to persecute them in an aggressive manner, often with brutality.
It seems that if ever a Christian leader wants to get a big round of applause, he just mentions his strong support for Israel and cites “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem”. But, this verse is not a command at all. David is telling them how to pray for Jerusalem.
“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
‘May they prosper who love you.
Peace be within your walls,
Prosperity within your palaces’.”Ps. 122:6-7
Jerusalem was a precious place to David. Anyone who reads his story will understand why he wanted people to pray for its peace and prosperity. However, I do not read this passage as a biblical command to pray for Jerusalem.
I was baptized in the James River in Virginia and it was special enough for me.
Most of the Jews whom I have met are smarter than me, but not godlier. Most of them are heathens and pursue success in business at any cost. They are the descendants of Jews who have rejected the gospel for 2000 years. The “Holy Land” is not holy to me. The glory zone where I pray is my holy land.
Conclusion
If it is possible for us to start over in our thinking about Israel and the Jews by restricting our thinking to the Bible alone and also try to suppress all the outside opinions forced on us, then we would see the error of our ways. Based on the words of our Lord and head of the church, they are a “synagogue of satan”, blasphemers and liars. And based upon the words of the Apostle Paul, they are a disobedient and contrary people awaiting destruction and condemn-nation. Oh, how wrong we have been because we accepted propaganda rather than scripture. I challenge anyone to prove me wrong from the scriptures. And please spare me the “scripture clearly teaches”, “everyone knows” and the “it is well established” retorts so prevalent in unsupported positions of all kinds. Those are the watchwords and trade-marks of the false teacher. I much prefer that you show me.
Appendix A
Blessing to Abraham
And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless. “I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly.” Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,
“I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”
since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed?
“I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;
God also said to him, “I am God Almighty; Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, And kings shall come forth from you.
Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. But the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty, so that the land was filled with them.
‘The LORD your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are this day like the stars of heaven in number. ‘May the LORD, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand-fold more than you are and bless you, just as He has promised you!
“He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock, in the land which He swore to your forefathers to give you.
“Your servant is in the midst of Your people which You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted.
“You made their sons numerous as the stars of heaven, And You brought them into the land Which You had told their fathers to enter and possess.
“Look to Abraham your father And to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain; When he was but one I called him, Then I blessed him and multiplied him.”
The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land ” So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him.
“Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham.
‘See, I have placed the land before you; go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to them and their descendants after them.’
“So you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am giving you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may live long on the land which the LORD your God is giving you for all time.”
“You shall therefore keep every commandment which I am commanding you today, so that you may be strong and go in and possess the land into which you are about to cross to possess it; so that you may prolong your days on the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give to them and to their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. “For the land, into which you are entering to possess it, is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, where you used to sow your seed and water it with your foot like a vegetable garden.
“Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ.
“It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘AND IN YOUR SEED ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED.’ “For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”
And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.
Appendix B
The Old Covenant replaced with New Covenant
In discussing this change and when and how it would take place, Jesus said “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 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 till all is fulfilled.” (Matt. 5:17-18) In so setting forth the timetable for the exchange, Jesus said that it would occur when the Old Covenant was fulfilled. By saying “til all is fulfilled” and “pass”, He indicated that it would be fulfilled and pass. And it did.
He also said when this would happen. “For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.” (Matt. 11:13) Meaning that the prophets and law would stand until John the Baptist, but not after.
Note again that Jesus had said, “til all is fulfilled”. The Old Covenant would end when it was fulfilled. “And he said unto them, ‘These are the words which I spoke unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me’.” (Luke 24:44) Indicating that the law and the prophets were fulfilled in Christ and came to an end at that time.
Elsewhere, the New Testament confirms the obsolescence of the Old Covenant and the entering of the new. In the letter to the Hebrews, the writer writes, “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.” (Heb. 8:13) The Old Covenant is obsolete. And again, “by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh” (Heb. 10:20) God provided a new and living way through Christ. Why would anyone want another? The old serves no useful purpose.
“For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
John 1:17
“and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.”
Acts 13:39