Now that we have a bit of background on the book of Hebrews from my two previous posts (7/28/08 and 8/3/08), let’s turn to our study of “When Better is Best”. The first point we will consider is a better covenant.
A Better Covenant
Let’s look first at the Old Covenant and examine why a better covenant was necessary. The Old Covenant was made by God with Moses and the people of Israel at Mount Sinai. It was a covenant specifically with the Jewish people and was never intended to be a covenant with any Gentile. It contained the Law which was given to Moses while he was on the mountain. In addition to the Law, the Old Covenant provided for the tabernacle in the wilderness in which the glory of God dwelt among the Israelites. It was evidence of God’s desire to dwell among his creation and begin the process of restoring fellowship between God and man. The Old Covenant was God’s idea, but it was never intended to be permanent.
The Old Covenant Law is detailed primarily in the books of Exodus and Leviticus in the Old Testament and also in the Jewish Torah. Hundreds of rules and laws were given by God to Moses and Moses in turn relayed them to the Israelites. There were rules for every situation imaginable from the supreme law detailed in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) to the laws concerning bodily discharges (Leviticus 15) (yes, God certainly thought of EVERYTHING!!!).
Here are just a few examples of what was contained in the Old Covenant Law given to the Israelites:
· The Tabernacle and its furnishings had to be constructed according to a precise pattern shown to Moses by God on Mount Sinai
· There were Laws dealing with every type of offering or sacrifice a person was required to bring in response to his sin or worship
· Certain foods were considered acceptable (kosher): i.e. any animal having cloven hooves and chewing the cud (Leviticus 11: 3), anything from the water that has fins or scales (Lev. 11: 9), and certain insects which creep on all fours and have jointed legs above their feet with which to leap on the earth (Lev 11: 21). Ok, this one ‘creeps’ me out but there it is in Leviticus!! Check it out for yourself!!
· There was a law concerning childbirth and what period of time a woman would be considered unclean (Leviticus 12). If she gave birth to a male child, she would be considered unclean for 1 week, while a female child caused her to be unclean for two weeks. Then there was an additional time period that had to pass before she could take a sacrifice to the temple for her purification. At the end of either 33 days plus 1 week for a male birth or 66 days plus 2 weeks for a female birth the woman was required to bring a sacrifice to the temple. (Now, why do you think God decided that more days were required after a female birth???) She was to bring either a lamb or two young pigeons or turtledoves (depending on the wealth of the family) as a sin offering and when it was slain the blood of that animal atoned for her sin. Only after this was she considered clean.
We see this taking place in Luke 2:22-24 when Mary and Joseph brought the baby Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord and offer sacrifices for her purification.
· There were many laws concerning leprosy and how to deal with the homes of lepers. (Leviticus 13-14)
· Every seventh year was considered a Sabbath year under the Old Covenant when no crops were sown so that the land could rest. God promised to provide adequately for the Israelites in that seventh year if they would obey his command and observe the Sabbath year.
It is impossible to detail the hundreds of laws that comprised the Old Covenant but I hope you understand that it was equally impossible for the Israelites to keep all the hundreds of laws proscribed by the Old Covenant.
Next week we will continue our look at A Better Covenant.
