All of the Laws in the Old Covenant (Old Testament) Will Not Last Forever:There is no doubt that Israel received the Old Covenant also referred to as the Old Testament. However, this same Old Testament teaches that some day God would Raise Up A Prophet Greater Than Moses. This prophet will teach, and Israel should listen to him. This promise is found in the Torah itself in Deuteronomy 18:18.
Later, offering a further revelation to Israel through the prophet Jeremiah, God reveals this promise.
“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord (Jeremiah 31:31-32).
So you see, even though God gave Israel the Torah, there is a promise of a New Covenant some day.
Christians believe that Jesus was the prophet Moses foretold about and that the New Testament is the covenant that Jeremiah foretold about. While Jesus did reconfirm things like the 10 commandments, other laws like the sacrificial system laws, were fulfilled through His death. No one is able to keep all the laws of the old covenant, all of the time. After all, ask yourself, are people being put to death for not keeping the Sabbath or committing adultery or other Mosaic Laws like not honoring your mother and father? Under Mosaic Law violations of these law requires the death penalty as punishment.
God allowed for a permanent sacrifice to be in place for us through the death of Jesus (around 30 A.D.) before He allowed the temple to be destroyed in 70 A.D. For the last 40 years that the temple stood, Rabbis were aware that their sacrifices were unacceptable to God on the Day of Atonement. For more on this please read Crimson Wool.
They also knew the destruction of the temple and sacrificial system was coming to an end. For more on this please read Four Signs Of The Coming Destruction Of The Temple.
There are Bible scholars who translate the word forever as meaning until the end of a specific time. For more on this please read How Long Is Forever?
For Talmudic support on the concept of the New Covenant found in Jeremiah 31:31 replacing the Old Covenant, meaning that the Old Covenant laws will not be in effect forever please read Talmud Comments On Mosaic Law.
The Hebrew word olam means in the far distance. When looking off in the far distance it is difficult to make out any details and what is beyond that horizon cannot be seen. This concept is the olam. The word olam is also used for time for the distant past or the distant future as a time that is difficult to know or perceive. This word is frequently translated as eternity or forever but in the English language it is misunderstood to mean a continual span of time that never ends. In the Hebrew mind it is simply what is at or beyond the horizon, a very distant time. A common phrase in the Hebrew is "l'olam va'ed" and is usually translated as "forever and ever" but in the Hebrew it means "to the distant horizon and again" meaning "a very distant time and even further" and is used to express the idea of a very ancient or future time.(1)
The meaning of olam should be determined from the context in which it is used.(2)
Today, there are tens of thousands of Jewish people that believe in Jesus as their Messiah. Some have formed what's known as Torah observant Messianic congregations. They believe that many of the things in the Torah should still be practiced today. The exception is that since they recognize Jesus as their Saviour, they believe that the Old Testament feast and sacrificial system pointed towards the Messiah and His sacrifice on our behalf. They still celebrate feasts like Passover and the Day of Atonement but do so with an understanding that Jesus filled these holidays full of what they were truly intended to do, point towards Him. They feel they find a deeper understanding of Messiah's redemption by observing the commandments that they are able to observe. No one is being stoned to death for not observing a Sabbath, but they find spiritual enrichment in gathering together on a Saturday, the sabbath, and sharing in fellowship and worship. They seek to practice Biblical Judaism not Rabbinical Judaism. They observe Old Testament commandments because they feel it is still a good guideline on how to live, not because they don't recognize the New Covenant has replaced the Old.
Just one example (of many) of the difference between Mosaic Law and New Covenant or Millennial Law is found at the end of the book of Zechariah. Under the Mosaic Law the Feast of Tabernacles was mandatory for the Jewish people only. However, under Millennial Law/New Covenant the observance of Tabernacles will be mandatory for the entire world. Any nation that does not obey will be punished. Zechariah 14:16-19 makes this clear.(2)
This factor (that Mosaic Law will not be in effect during the Millennium) is especially apparent in the concluding chapters of the book of Ezekiel.
Page xi: The text of the concluding chapters, dealing with the Temple of the future, presents almost insurmountable difficulties. The types and number of sacrifices prescribed there differ from those mentioned in the Pentateuch; and there are many innovations which, according to the accepted law, are normally beyond the authority of a prophet to institute (Shab. 104a). With reference to these difficulties the Rabbis said that only Elijah, the prophet who is to herald the final redemption, will be able to explain them satisfactorily (men. 45a).(2)
These closing chapters present almost insuperable difficulties. They contain discrepancies, contradictions with Pentateuchal laws, and terms which do not occur elsewhere.(2)
All the "discrepancies" which "baffle" the rabbis unsuccessful attempts at harmonization would evaporate if they would concede that there is a new law, a new covenant, in operation during the Messianic Kingdom. Instead they stubbornly stick to the doctrine that the Mosaic Law is eternal. In truth, the Mosaic Law or Mosaic Covenant was never designed to be eternal in the first place. It was designed to be temporary in nature.(2)
How can the commandments be fulfilled in Jesus when they are in effect during the Messianic Era? For an answer to this please read The Law During The Millennial Kingdom.
For believers in Jesus as the Messiah, they believe that Jesus was the goal of the law. In other words, the law was created to show us that due to our inability to keep all the law all the time, we needed forgiveness. Jesus is able to offer that. For more on this please read The End Of The Law.
Through love, both the love God showed us when He sent His Son to die on the cross for our sins and the love that we are to show our neighbor, the spirit of the law lives on from generation to generation.
This article is written in part to offer an alternative viewpoint concerning reason # 3 in the book Twenty-six reasons why Jews don't believe in Jesus by Asher Norman. There is no intent to be offensive toward any other viewpoint. It is simply offered as a source of information.
1). http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/27_eternity.html
2). http://hadavar.org/lawofmoses.html
