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NASB | Hebrews 8:13 When He said, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Hebrews 8:13 When God speaks of "A new covenant," He makes the first one obsolete. And whatever is becoming obsolete (out of use, annulled) and growing old is ready to disappear. |
Bible Question (short): The Old Covenant lingers? |
Question (full): This different opinion on Hebrews 8:13 is reminiscent of the difficulty many have with 1 Corinthians 13:8. The thing was going to end. But when? In the first place, who said it would end? Was it the person who wrote to the Hebrews? Or was it Jeremiah? (If you say it was God then ask whom did he use to reveal it). What was supposed to end? Was it the sacrifice of lambs only? Or was it the entire Old Covenant? When was it to end? Was it supposed to go on for another seventy years after the cross? Or was it to end abruptly at the cross? The writer to the Hebrews was referring to the fact that God had spoken. He was saying that’s the way it is whenever God speaks of old and new. “ When God speaks of a new covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and ready to be put aside” (NLT). “When God speaks of a new [covenant or agreement], He makes the first one obsolete (out of use). And what is obsolete (out of use and annulled because of age) is ripe for disappearance and to be dispensed with altogether” (AMP). The point would be moot by now if we could decide that the Old Covenant has certainly finally gone by now, two thousand years after the cross. But alas! There is no consensus as to that. There are those who still keep the Sabbath, abstain from meats, pay the tithe, etc. Please note that someone is asking, based on the same verse, whether there are ten commandments now in force, or nine. There are Messianic Jewish churches now, and it is not a secret what they do there. But I visited a Protestant church not long ago and saw an entire observation of the Feast of Tabernacles. When will that Old Covenant die? As always, it is unfortunate when the original questioner disappears without responding to the answers that have been given. I wonder what rut and disciplerami understand by now? Is it possible they still think the New Covenant has not even started as yet? |