It was made obsolete by a new and better covenant but never revoked, dismissed, abolished, or otherwise done away with. The law must still be fulfilled but fulfilled by hearts that have been changed, first of all, as per Jer 31 & Ez 36, fulfilled by hearts that have been molded by the divine Potter into hearts that love, love being that virtue which fulfills the Law-but the* right* way. This begins with faith as a response to grace,which restores communion with God and man so He may do His work of justification/salvation in us.
The interpretation of the New Covenant according to Jewish teaching is that of a “Renewed Covenant” that will be instituted at the end of days during the Messianic age, when all peoples shall of their own free will worship the G-d of Abraham (that is, no forced conversion to Judaism) and peace among the nations will reign. G-d has proclaimed time after time in the Hebrew Bible that the Covenant He gave to the Jewish people via Moses is an Eternal Covenant, never to be changed or replaced by another.
Judaism believes that G-d too follows the dictates of the Covenants He has established as in a partnership: that is, G-d is bound by His Covenant. This is why Abraham, even before the Mosaic Covenant (Torah) was established, has enough chutzpah to challenge G-d for being unjust in seeking to destroy Sodom and why Abraham fails the test by NOT disobeying G-d when He tells him to slay his son. G-d limits Himself according to this covenantal partnership with humanity by promising not to destroy the earth again with another flood and by not destroying Adam and Eve after they committed the sin of disobedience.
That’s correct. And He is ALWAYS FAITHFUL to them. One covenent does not override another, or replace another. But each covenent brings the previous one to a more perfect fulfillment.
Just wondering about that.
)Here’s the thing: Judaism does not believe that the Covenant has to be fulfilled by the Messiah or anyone else. The Covenant is the Law, a partnership between humanity and G-d, which is to be maintained even during the Messianic era. Actually, it is to be practiced with even more devotion at that time. The job of the Messiah, according to Judaism, is not to save the Jewish people and the rest of humanity from their sins as in the Christian sense so that they may go to heaven, since there is nothing to be saved from. (The Hebrew word “Moshiach” most definitely does not mean Savior.) The sins one commits can be atoned for by means of prayer if directly against G-d and by means of making amends toward one’s neighbors if committed against them. And at the end of days, all nations will be redeemed by their worship of G-d and thus live together in peace. In the meantime, before the Messiah comes, the Jews have the responsibility of acting as a priestly people who carry the Word of G-d to the other nations by their example, and so do the Christians, who have already successfully spread the morality taught by Jesus and contained in the Torah throughout the earth.
The New Testament addresses the salvation of all souls throughout the Earth. And so the Covenant between God and the Jews is certainly valid, but it is specifically between God and the Jews. I’m not aware of any mandate under that covenant to “Go forth and **baptize all nations **in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” The Jews apostles (all of whom were Jews) clearly broke ground with this New Gospel, and the Jews were not at all pleased about that seeking the persecution of the Christians initially through Paul and others.
Are you saying that G-d made a mistake by giving the Jews the Old Covenant, even after He had said several times in the Hebrew Bible that the Old Covenant is eternal? That would be an odd interpretation, in my view.
No, God never makes mistakes. The Old Testament Covenant with the Jews has simply been amended and offered anew to the whole world.
I think “amended” is perhaps the wrong term. Nothing has been added to the covenant. Rather, it has transcended the old through the perfect sacrifice of G-d Himself.
I’m sure that that is true for Jewish people now. But before the temple was destroyed, sins were atoned for by sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. And I think (???) that the Paschal Sacrifice also atoned for sin.