How do Christians explain our departure from Old Testament practices?
Paul wrote, “All scripture is inspired by God” (2 Timothy 3:16). The “scripture” he mentioned was what we call the Old Testament. We no longer offer sacrifices on an altar in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 7:1-10). We no longer worry about sowing two different kinds of seed in one field (Leviticus 19:19). Most Christians no longer observe the Sabbath regulations of the Bible (sundown Friday to sundown Saturday). This article will explain Christians’ departure from these practices. In a second article we’ll explore how to apply the Old Testament today.
The Shift from Old to New Testament
The Old and New Testaments form one story of God revealing himself. In the Old Testament, God revealed himself to the Jews, the descendants of Jacob (also called Israel), son of Isaac, son of Abraham. The Jews (children of Israel) were a nation that worshipped the Lord. God gave them laws that covered the three major parts of life. These were eternal moral laws that explained how people of all times should live, ceremonial laws that explained how the Jews were to worship God, and civil laws that told the Jews how to govern their nation and practise justice.
In the New Testament, God revealed himself through his Son Jesus Christ to all people for all time. But the overall message of the Bible did not change. That message is that God made us, he loves us in spite of our often rebellious attitude towards him, and he wants to reconcile us to himself.
The kingdom Jesus introduced was a spiritual one, not a physical one. It was the kingdom of God.
The Old Testament writers spoke about issues that were important to a nation that had a special relationship with God and was under judges or a king. By the end of the Old Testament, that nation was weak politically and made up of only two of the original twelve tribes. When Jesus Christ began his ministry, some of his followers expected him to restore the political glory of the Old Testament Jewish nation. But the kingdom Jesus introduced was a spiritual one, not a physical one. It was the kingdom of God. Thus, it needed different kinds of laws to govern its citizens.
This is similar to what has happened to most African nations. Most were under a colonial power that had laws. However, at independence, a new government came to power and made different political laws. There were eternal laws—against murder, for example—that were the same under both governments. Other laws—such as the laws of inheritance—were based upon the culture and history of the indigenous people. To understand the modern laws in Africa, one has to have a good understanding of the colonial laws, traditional ethnic laws, and the transition period that led to the new laws of each nation.
Yet Christians Don’t Discard the Old Testament
Though it does not apply to us in the same way it did to a Jewish nation, the Old Testament is important for Christians today. We can learn about the character, power, and majesty of God from the Old Testament. The experiences of the Israelites in the Old Testament “happened to them as examples for us” (1 Corinthians 10:11). God preserved these people because the Messiah, Jesus Christ, would be born of “the royal line of David” (John 7:42). The sacrifices described in the Old Testament are pictures or illustrations of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. Once Christ came, those sacrifices were not necessary (Hebrews 10:1-18). The ceremonial laws and the civil laws of the Old Testament are helpful to understand but are no longer necessary for believers to follow.
Jesus and the apostles testified to the authority of the Old Testament.
Jesus and the apostles testified to the authority of the Old Testament. He said, “I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose” (Matthew 5:17). Jesus did not abolish God’s eternal principles; he applied them in a new context. Six times in Matthew 5 Jesus quoted an Old Testament law or tradition and then said, “You have heard…but I say…” Each time Jesus took a law that was given to the Jewish kingdom in the Old Testament and told us how that law should be understood in the kingdom of God in the New Testament.
An Important Distinction for Reading the Old Testament
Because many practices and customs in Africa are similar to those in the Old Testament, we Africans often identify more easily with the Old Testament than Westerners do. However, this can lead to misunderstanding among Christians concerning the Old Testament. Therefore we must distinguish between:
1. Moral Laws, Based on God’s Holy Nature
For instance, “Honour your father and mother” or “You must not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:12, 14).
2. Ceremonial Laws, Concerning the Sacrificial System
For instance, “On the eighth day each person being purified must bring two male lambs and a one-year-old female lamb, all with no defects, along with a grain offering of six litres of choice flour moistened with olive oil, and a cup of olive oil” (Leviticus 14:10).
3. Civil Laws, Which Told Israel How to Govern Their Nation
These also dealt with issues of land, economics, and justice. For instance, “Suppose someone digs or uncovers a pit and fails to cover it, and then an ox or a donkey falls into it. The owner of the pit must pay full compensation to the owner of the animal, but then he gets to keep the dead animal” (Exodus 21:33-34).
The Jews did not distinguish between these various kinds of laws or consider one kind more important. In addition, there is often overlap between such laws. Nevertheless, noting these differences is a helpful way of knowing how to apply the Old Testament today.
Laws about morality are based on God’s holy nature and valid for all people everywhere. The laws that governed ceremony and worship by the Jews before the coming of Christ have been replaced by church worship. The specific ceremonies, dress, and forms of worship do not need to be practised by Christians. The civil laws that told the Jews how to govern a nation that no longer exists as it did in the Old Testament can help guide us in governing with wisdom but are not followed today since each nation has its own laws. But not all laws are easily distinguished. Is the commandment to observe the Sabbath (Exodus 20:8-11), for instance, still in effect today?
These questions will be dealt with in a second article.
Questions for Applying the Old Testament Today
We should not say, “Old Testament people practised polygamy; some Africans today practise polygamy; there is no difference.” Instead, we should ask what God was telling the Old Testament people by a particular law, ask how the teaching of Jesus and the New Testament gave a fuller understanding of that truth, and then apply it to our time. We can do this by asking the following four questions:
- What did the law mean to the people in the Old Testament?
- Can you identity differences between those people and believers today?
- What was the principle or truth that God revealed in the Old Testament by this law?
- How does the New Testament teaching give a fuller understanding of God’s principle or truth in this law?
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