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.
Hebrews 8:13
When people read that the Old
Covenant has been made obsolete, they immediately assume the end of the
moral law of God, represented by the Ten Commandments. But is this what
is implied when it is said that the Old Covenant has been made obsolete?
The
Old Covenant cannot be contemplated apart from the temple, and the
daily animal sacrifices that were offered to God according to the law of
Moses. But in AD 70, the second temple was destroyed by General Titus
of Rome. From that time till now, the Jews ceased to offer the different
sacrifices required of them by the law of the Old Covenant. By the
destruction of the temple, the Old Covenant became obsolete.
Effectively, the Old Covenant can be said to have come to an end with
the destruction of the temple though the death of Jesus Christ on the
cross was the fulfilment of all the animal sacrifices that were offered
for sin signifying the end of the Old Covenant.
So,
it is not true to say that the moral law of God are obsolete because
the Bible speaks of the Old Covenant becoming obsolete. The absence of
the temple life meant the end of the Old Covenant. The death of Jesus
Christ on the cross signalled the end of the sacrificial system in
Israel, even though they still continued to offer animals after His
death, but the destruction of the temple brought to end the sacrificial
system of worship finally making obsolete the Old Covenant because
without a temple, there will be no place where the animals will be
offered.
Toni
