1.9 Old Testament Obsolete

If you want to discuss instrumental music with your middle school friends, your case will seem much more convincing if you first learn to spell "obselete" correctly. Or so they tell me. There's not much on this page, but I remember starting it to try to explain to a friend why instruments were appropriate in Psalms but not in New Testament worship.

• Hebrews 8: 7, 13
• 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.
• 13 When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.
• Galatians 3:24-25
• 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.

A useful illustration to understand the passage in Hebrews is that of going car shopping. If you have a car that you use, that is your car. Once you begin discussing buying a new car, though, that first car begins to become the "old car". In Jeremiah, the new covenant is prophesied. As soon as a new covenant is mentioned, the first one becomes the "old covenant". The new covenant that was coming would be better - God's laws would be written on the hearts and minds of His people, rather than tablets of stone. God's people would know Him directly, and would come to His covenant of their own accord, rather than being born into it. The best part of the new covenant is that sins would no longer be remembered... true forgiveness would be possible. 

The old covenant teaches us about God. It teaches us about His power, His love, His mercy, His justice, His holiness, and His plan. His plan in the old covenant is a shadow - the new covenant reveals it fully. Now that faith (Christ) has come, we are no longer under the old covenant.

This means that we no longer offer sacrifices for our sins - Christ has been sacrificed for us. We no longer follow the purification rituals of the old covenant - we live a life that is purified by Christ's sacrifice and that is transformed as He fills our lives. We do not follow the justice rules of the old covenant - we imitate Christ as we seek peace with our brethren and the world, and leave justice to the Judgement.  

This also means that our worship practices have changed. We no longer go to the temple to pray - God lives in us, and Christ is the mediator. We are priests under the Great High Priest. We follow the examples and commands for worship in the New Testament. God did not have to go back and strike every command of the old law one by one - "thou shalt no longer burn incense, thou shalt no longer blow the trumpet at the feast of the new moon" - The whole old covenant was nailed to the cross and a new one begun. So how do we know how to worship God? We look at what was revealed by the Holy Spirit through the apostles. There are commands for worship of God to include assembly, breaking bread, singing, praying, and teaching, and examples for these as well. 

It's amazing how Christ changed everything. The old covenant has many shadows of the new that we understand only in retrospect. We are blessed with knowledge of God's revealed will. It's also amazing to think that this life is also a shadow- Heaven will be an even fuller revelation. God's plan, and God Himself, are truly worthy of praise!!