Old Covenant vs New Covenant

Intro

Have you ever wondered why your parents make certain rules?

Funny laws that are obsolete

Are rules randomly chosen, made at a whim, or unreasonable?

Law of Moses

Laws that seem irrelevant

Exodus 23:19 ESV

“The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

What does this mean?

Numbers 28:11 ESV

“At the beginnings of your months, you shall offer a burnt offering to the Lord: two bulls from the herd, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish;

Chinese New Year next Friday night. Cut some animals!

Leviticus 25:10 ESV

And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan.

Anyone a slave here?

Describe Culture

Nomadic culture, spread out, cities were not dense. Respect and trustworthiness shown by family and represented by Patriarch. Society of strength -> women were defenseless, so protected. Misogyny is not true. OT records war over how one tribe treated a woman, in Judges. All cultures had slaves, and even tortured people, but not the Jews. Mild form of slavery, more like indebted servant who had rights and hope for freedom. Nobody knew who God was, so worshipped many just in case.

Who God is!

Supreme being, knowable, change Israeli culture by rules, sent in the middle of pagan cultures.

Like Mexico, New Mex, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma all being Muslim.

All laws communicate who God is and how He wanted to make Himself known in an evil world.

Similar to commands to us, like: “Don’t go rant on social media about yourself all the time.”

Or, “Don’t destroy babies while they’re still in the womb.”

Nobody would have understood back then

Theocracy

We’re used to people ruling and deciding what’s good

God wanted to be the direct authority on earth

Covenant -> (Like Executive Order or Judicial-Federal law over U.S.) Way God would relate with people and bless them

God relates with Israel

God blesses Israel

Law of Christ

Some aren’t reiterated in NT

Sabbath, passes away in and

Dietary laws, pass away and other passages

Same God, different people and different times, same love

Many are

Adultery

Stealing

Lying

Slandering

Law of Christ emphasizes higher spiritual standard! Sermon on Mt.

Covenant -> What way does God relate with us, and how are we blessed?

Our culture, every culture

Obsessions, sin, and need

God addresses these by His Spirit, not by a written Law

We NOW KNOW who God is!

Jeremiah 31:31–34 ESV

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Jeremiah 31:31 ESV

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,

Break out into groups

Small Group

Can anyone explain the passage about “You shall not boil a goat in its mother’s milk” ? How do you think this might still apply today? (Hint: It was a common pagan practice to boil a baby goat in its mother’s milk. Jews were commanded not to be like them, or any of their pagan neighbors)

Should we follow the Old Testament Law today? If yes, how? And if no, why not?

If God were to make another set of Laws today for Americans, what do you think He would say? What Laws do you think there should be for Facebook, for High School, for interacting with your parents, etc?

Should we follow the Old Testament Law today? Why or why not?

What are some ways our culture accepts evil as good, and ways that our culture makes good things into evil things?

Are there any commands in the New Testament that you disagree with? Or do any of you have friends that might disagree with commands in the New Testament? If yes, why do you think they disagree?

You’ve only been alive for 15 years, give or take. Are you sure you know better?

I’ve only been alive for 26 years. Don’t trust me. Don’t trust Brian, who’s been here for 30 something years. Trust the Word, that’s from everlasting to everlasting.

Relevance Today

Boiling goat in its mother’s milk story

God wants us to be fundamentally different than other cultures.

God wants us to be like Him.

Slavery

God has always hated slavery, but He’s patient and wants to save people from hell before saving them from injustices here

Story of Philemon

OT kills “Stealers of persons”

Homosexuality

NT does reiterate more than the OT.

God does not hate homosexuals - Christopher Yuan

Not about being heterosexual -> holiness

2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

If you were going to live on earth forever, what kind of person would you want to become?

What would you want your character to be like?

Who are you becoming?

Do you love God, or only what He gives?

When something bad happens, and you either distance yourself or get angry, that is the part of you that has been taking God for granted.

Enemy wants you separated from God and dead. God wants you alive with Him.

You’ve only been alive for 15 years, give or take. Are you sure you know better?

I’ve only been alive for 26 years. I don’t know everything, and neither does Brian. Trust the Word, that’s from everlasting to everlasting.

The voices. What do they say?

Some voices say you’re not good enough.

Some voices say the desires you want know can be satisfied immediately instead of waiting

Some voices say your failures will all you’ll be remembered for

Some voices say your family will be better off if you’re dead

Some voices say you’re unloved

BUT GOD!

Jesus says you’re beautiful. You’re immensely loved. You’re better off with Him. You’re better off following Him than trying it alone. You’re eternally safe in Him. You’re honored and valued because He made you.

Announcement: Next week, we’re meeting in the Auditorium for a party, and we’re gonna have a blast! No animal sacrifices necessary!