The Old Covenant was temporary until Jesus established the New Covenant or agreement with humanity. Hebrews 8:13 When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear. [1] Many people confuse the terms Old Covenant and Old Testament.
The Old Covenant refers to a relationship that the Lord established with the nation of Israel on Mount Sinai. This is recorded in Exodus twenty-four. The Old Testament is the part of the Bible written before Jesus’s time, from Genesis to Malachi. Although the Old Covenant was temporary, the Old Testament is not and is an enduring inspired writing of the Lord to humanity.
The Old Covenant Required Repeated Sacrifices
The Old Covenant required repeated, daily sacrifices of animals that provided a temporary covering of sins. This system foreshadowed the coming of the Messiah as the final sacrifice. Hebrews 10:4 For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said to God, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings. But you have given me a body to offer. [2] Under the New Covenant established by God, we are made holy through the sacrifice of Jesus. The need for further animal sacrifices ended when Jesus paid the price for our sins on the cross.
When the Old Covenant was in place, only the high priest could enter the Most Holy Place where God’s presence dwelt and only one time each year. Under the New Covenant, Jesus Himself is our High Priest or go-between. As people of faith, we can come into God’s presence because of what Jesus has done.
Hebrews 10:20 By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. [3]
We Need a Savior
The Old Covenant clarifies that no man is righteous before God, and no person can save himself. Under the Old Covenant, people relied on the sacrificial system that looked forward to the coming of the Messiah and justification by faith.
Galatians 4: 4 But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.[4] Our sin debt was canceled when Jesus died for our sins. The ultimate purpose of the Old Covenant was to point people to Jesus. When we place our faith in Jesus, we become children of God through faith.
To learn how the Old Covenant was temporary, listen here:
https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/jesus-new-covenant
[1-4] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation . Tyndale House Publishers.