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Listen "The Old is Obsolete, But Still Useful (Hebrew 8:13)"
Episode Synopsis
https://youtu.be/N0O0l9_Q7mY?si=0t2KaR_ah0MLetQM
Preamble: Interstate I-95
Well, most of you know that I was born and raised in the city of Philadelphia. I grew up just a few miles from one of the busiest entries onto Interstate I-95. If you don't know, I-95 is one of the busiest interstates in the United States. It goes all the way on the East Coast from the northern part of Maine down to South Florida. It is one of the first freeways built when the freeway system was established in the mid-1950s.
I-95 is a free interstate from Maine through the New England states into New York. But then you get to New Jersey and something happens. The state of New Jersey has determined that I-95, the road as it goes through the state of New Jersey, will be the New Jersey Turnpike. So many states have a turnpike, but New Jersey didn't build a new turnpike.
They commandeered the federally funded preexisting road and said we're going to add a bunch of rules and regulations to I-95. We're going to rename it and we're going to change how it functions for this period of time. So while you're driving through New Jersey, it is the New Jersey Turnpike. And then when you get out of New Jersey into Delaware, I-95 then throws off the shackles or extra elements of the New Jersey Turnpike and it becomes just I-95 again. It's not a perfect analogy, but it's how I see the old Covenant.
In the old Covenant, God gives humanity certain commands, expectations. From the Garden of Eden down through the pre-flood world to Noah, all the way down to Abraham, and down to us today, through the ancient world, through the medieval era, all the way down to the modern world. God has certain commands that all people everywhere are responsible for obeying. That's what theologians often call the moral law.
These are ideas that everyone is accountable to. It goes from beginning to end. It's sort of like I-95 from the very northern part of Maine down to South Florida. The entire East Coast has this one interstate running through it. However, for a brief season in history, God added some extra stuff to the moral law. So the moral law, like I-95, goes all the way down. You get into one moment, there's a bunch of stuff added to it. Then, when you get past that into Delaware, those are set aside.
The old covenant is this: God gives the moral law. He says, All humans everywhere, this is what all humans must do. But then, for this brief season, God takes this nation called Israel and he establishes a covenant with them, a sacred contract. He says to Israel, for this period of time, you people, you Israelites, I'm gonna give you some extra stuff. So Israel is like a New Jersey turnpike. And then when you get into Delaware, it's like Jesus rose from the dead. Delaware is the new covenant.
Introduction: Moral Law vs. Mosaic Law
Anyway, this morning, what I wanna do is two major things. First, I want to make sure we understand the distinction between the moral and Old Covenant laws. What is that which God has given us from the beginning that passes through time, that we're all accountable to, versus what was given just to the Israelites for that period? From the time they came out of Egypt to the time Jesus came, that period of time, the old covenant was only for a certain group of people for that certain period of time. We need to understand the distinction between those two things.
The second thing I want to do is, I want to give us some understanding of why. Why God did this? Why did God create a turnpike in this place we call Palestine in the land of Canaan? Why would God have done that for those people at that time period? And why did he bring it to an end? Why did he do this?
It doesn't always seem to make sense to us. And so that's what our goal is. And as we understand the reasons why, the purposes, that will give us some practical application for our own lives. So that's our plan for this morning. First,
Preamble: Interstate I-95
Well, most of you know that I was born and raised in the city of Philadelphia. I grew up just a few miles from one of the busiest entries onto Interstate I-95. If you don't know, I-95 is one of the busiest interstates in the United States. It goes all the way on the East Coast from the northern part of Maine down to South Florida. It is one of the first freeways built when the freeway system was established in the mid-1950s.
I-95 is a free interstate from Maine through the New England states into New York. But then you get to New Jersey and something happens. The state of New Jersey has determined that I-95, the road as it goes through the state of New Jersey, will be the New Jersey Turnpike. So many states have a turnpike, but New Jersey didn't build a new turnpike.
They commandeered the federally funded preexisting road and said we're going to add a bunch of rules and regulations to I-95. We're going to rename it and we're going to change how it functions for this period of time. So while you're driving through New Jersey, it is the New Jersey Turnpike. And then when you get out of New Jersey into Delaware, I-95 then throws off the shackles or extra elements of the New Jersey Turnpike and it becomes just I-95 again. It's not a perfect analogy, but it's how I see the old Covenant.
In the old Covenant, God gives humanity certain commands, expectations. From the Garden of Eden down through the pre-flood world to Noah, all the way down to Abraham, and down to us today, through the ancient world, through the medieval era, all the way down to the modern world. God has certain commands that all people everywhere are responsible for obeying. That's what theologians often call the moral law.
These are ideas that everyone is accountable to. It goes from beginning to end. It's sort of like I-95 from the very northern part of Maine down to South Florida. The entire East Coast has this one interstate running through it. However, for a brief season in history, God added some extra stuff to the moral law. So the moral law, like I-95, goes all the way down. You get into one moment, there's a bunch of stuff added to it. Then, when you get past that into Delaware, those are set aside.
The old covenant is this: God gives the moral law. He says, All humans everywhere, this is what all humans must do. But then, for this brief season, God takes this nation called Israel and he establishes a covenant with them, a sacred contract. He says to Israel, for this period of time, you people, you Israelites, I'm gonna give you some extra stuff. So Israel is like a New Jersey turnpike. And then when you get into Delaware, it's like Jesus rose from the dead. Delaware is the new covenant.
Introduction: Moral Law vs. Mosaic Law
Anyway, this morning, what I wanna do is two major things. First, I want to make sure we understand the distinction between the moral and Old Covenant laws. What is that which God has given us from the beginning that passes through time, that we're all accountable to, versus what was given just to the Israelites for that period? From the time they came out of Egypt to the time Jesus came, that period of time, the old covenant was only for a certain group of people for that certain period of time. We need to understand the distinction between those two things.
The second thing I want to do is, I want to give us some understanding of why. Why God did this? Why did God create a turnpike in this place we call Palestine in the land of Canaan? Why would God have done that for those people at that time period? And why did he bring it to an end? Why did he do this?
It doesn't always seem to make sense to us. And so that's what our goal is. And as we understand the reasons why, the purposes, that will give us some practical application for our own lives. So that's our plan for this morning. First,
In God we trust