Which Laws in the Old Testament do We Observe

Today, brethren, I want to ask a question. Which of the Old Testament laws are applicable today? Should we be able to decide which ones we'll keep and which ones we don't? Do we have that right to select them? And to start, I want to go back to the beginning. What is better than start at the beginning? So, I want to go back to two trees. In the days of the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, were given by God a choice to make of two trees. And we read that in Genesis chapter 2.

So, let's go to it. We're going to look through a few scriptures in the area of Genesis, but we'll look at a few others as well. But in Genesis chapter 2, in verse 9, it reads, "...and out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow, that is pleasant to the sight and good for food." And by the way, including peach trees, as we heard in the sermon, very good analogy there.

I really thought that was a really good analogy anyway. Thank you. But amongst all those trees, there was a tree of life, was also in the midst of the Garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I usually like to call it the tree of death, because in the end, the outcome of that tree is death. So, God put these two trees in front of Adam and Eve, and we read in verse 16 and 17, God commanded a man, saying, "...of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the knowledge of good and evil," between brackets, the tree of death, "...you will not eat it, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." And that means the outcome of it will be death.

Not on that very day, that split second, but the outcome of it will be death. And we know that that is true, and that brings us to an interesting point, right there at the beginning, that you and I do not have an immortal soul. That's what is God is saying, because if you're gonna die, you do not have an immortal soul. So that's right there, right up front. But what God, in the principle, yeah, when we look at it from the principle, what God is telling Adam and Eve, and is telling us, is that you and I have the freedom to choose and to decide what is good and what is bad, and the result of that is death.

Or we believe in God that what he tells us, that what is good and bad, and the result of that is life. That's basically what he's saying. You and I have a choice. We either believe God, or we don't. And we think we know it better, and we can make our own choice in what deciding what is right and what is good, because the outcome of that will ultimately be suffering, pain and death. Put it in a very simple way. God knows best what is good for us, and we either trust him or we don't.

So, what does trust build? Think about it, because faith, in a sense, is trust, right? I mean, if I believe in somebody, if I trust him, I have faith that he's gonna do what he said he would do. That's what basically faith is. Absolutely have full confidence and trust in the other person. What does that build? It builds a sound relationship.

Think about it. Your children trust in mom and dad, little children, when you say to a child, jump and I'll catch you, they jump because they trust us. And we've got that relationship, as we heard in the sermon, that love that a father has for a child, that a single man and a single lady, we might not fully grasp, but once we become parents, we understand a deeper degree of love and relationship that that love is the foundation of.

So God is looking for a relationship, a family relationship. In fact, we know later, it's not just between individuals, but with all nations and people. And look at Deuteronomy chapter 30. Deuteronomy chapter 30 was, let's look starting from verse 1, just lost it very quickly, Deuteronomy chapter 30 verse 1. It says, Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which have set before you. Basically, God is showing, just like at Adam and Eve, there's a blessing, life, the tree of life.

And like at Adam and Eve, there's a curse, the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which the end result is death. So He's basically saying the same thing, and He's saying, I call you to mind that you need to understand this clearly. And then He brings a very, very pertinent point that what He's looking for is a relationship in the heart.

It's a matter of the heart. It's an intent of the heart. And look at verse 6, He says, And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart. He is looking for an attitude of the mind, which you and I know, it comes to us through God's Holy Spirit, when God through His Spirit writes His laws and His principles in our minds. So that's what God is looking for.

Now, circumcision obviously was a physical act or example, but the real meaning behind it is a circumcision of the heart. In other words, it's a matter of the heart. In other words, is how we were responding and using God's Holy Spirit to write those principles and laws in our mind. So right at the beginning there, God is using principle to show that a lot of these things point to God's Holy Spirit and also point to Christ, as I'll show in a moment. And then He says a little later, He says in verse 15, that is Deuteronomy 30, I've said before you life and good, death and evil.

That's exactly those two trees, a tree of life and a tree of death, a tree of life and good and a tree of death and evil. In other words, bad outcomes. And a little later, He says if you keep this and if you do it, and particularly He's looking at the heart, you will live and you'll be happy and you'll have success. But if your heart, look at verse 17, but if your heart turns away, so God wants a relationship in the heart.

That's what He's looking at. And then later on in verse 19, I says, I call heaven and earth as a witness and I've set before you life and death. I've set before you two trees, a tree of life and a tree of death. And He says, a tree of blessing and a tree of cursing. Therefore, choose the tree of life. Choose what is good for you. In other words, trust me, trust God, have a relationship with God that you trust God, that God knows what is good and what is bad for you, so you believe in what He says, what's good and bad.

And don't trust your own mind or human nature or whatever it is to say or to decide, well, I think this is good and I think this is bad. Well, God has given us a mind and we need to use it. That's okay and that's good within God's laws, within God's principles. But when you and I don't trust God and we say, oh well, I know it better, we've got a problem. Because God is perfect. God is holy. God is early and He says, be you holy as I am holy.

And He only wants the best for us, like you and I, only want the best for our children. Which one of the fathers and the mother's are do not want the best for your children? Of course, that's what we want for them. We want them to succeed. We want to educate them and train them, so they actually grow up as successful people in life. That's what we want. So that's exactly with God. And so He is giving us a choice. And look at in verse 20, that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him for His your life and the length of your days.

So our life for us is eternal life. He is our eternal life. Not just when He says, one of the commandments is honor your father and mother, that you may live a long life. Think of it, we honor our spiritual father, so that we may have long life, eternal life. So it is so beautiful God puts it all together. But there is an enemy. And if we go back to Genesis and we go back to Genesis 3, yeah we have the first life. In Genesis 3 verse 1, Genesis 3 verse 1, the adversary, the enemy, the one that is malignant.

In Portuguese, the adversary is used, translated as the one that is the malignant one, which is actually an interesting way of putting it, the malignant one, the adversary. And it says in verse 1 chapter 3, now the serpent was more cunning. And this is what we see in the world today, Brevans. The human reasoning of some of these people, particularly of some of the leaders, as we are in the sermonette, in the sermonette we heard that some of the things people are doing, it really makes him angry. It makes me angry because we are, can't we see that we're hurting ourselves?

But it's so subtle, because it appears that you're doing good, but you can see the outcome is not going to be good. You can see it. And he says, and you're so subtle. And now he says, yeah, that you're so subtle, more than any other beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, God has indeed said, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden.

You see how subtle he is? Don't God say, we can't eat of every tree of the garden. And the woman said, no, no, no, look in verse 3, you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, there was a tree of the knowledge of good and evil, there was a tree of death, and you shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die. Did Eve know what God said? Of course she did. Adam and Eve knew it very well. God says, don't touch it or eat it, don't follow that way of distrusting God.

Think about it. That's what it is, of believing what God tells you what's right and wrong. Don't follow that way of not believing God because, and Eve knew it very well, says the outcome will be death. And look at what Satan said, and the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die. Satan called God a liar. Wow! And we can see what he is basically saying in modern religious language, in modern religious tongue.

Language is a tongue, it's a language, is what's it's Satanist sign is, you'll not die. In other words, you have an immortal soul. That's what it's saying. In modern religious language, Satanist sign, you have an immortal soul. What is one of the most ingrained beliefs in religions today?

You have an immortal soul. It is an ingrained belief. So, he's called God a liar. And then, he starts mixing truth with a lie. And remember, verse is tactic all the time. You know, you see it today. There's so much stuff on the media, and this and that, that it's, hmm, there's a lot of truth, and a little bit of lie in the middle. But then it kind of, and there's a lot of truth, so that you think it's true, but a little lie in there.

It's just unbelievable. And that's how he deceives. That's how he deceives. And Yahiyiyi says, in verse 5, For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be open, and you'll be like God, knowing good and evil. What? How do you know what's good and evil? By trusting God what he tells us, and with a foreknow, and we'll all be like God, because that's what God wants us to be, to be his sons and daughters in the kingdom of God. You read Hebrews chapter 2 verse 10, that says that we are to have, that's the goal, to be glorified as children.

You read that 2nd Corinthians 6 verse 16 through 18 says that we are the temple of God, and we are to be his sons and daughters. So he wants us, God wants us, to be of his kind, of his type of beings, but he's still the father, and we are the children, but of that kind, kind of beings. So that means we are to be like God, not God, but of the same kind of beings.

So he's mixing a truth, yeah, but throwing it in that God doesn't want to do that to us, which he does, he wants us to be his children. That's the purpose of creating mankind. But he's saying, yeah, well, if you don't eat of this tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will then not know what is good and evil. Again, it's very subtle, because, and God allowed it. Understand that God allowed it, because by God not calling it the tree of death, by calling it the tree of knowledge of good and evil, it in a sense created like an open door for it.

God allows it, because God is testing our hearts. You see, and God is through it. He wants a change of heart. He wants us to follow him willingly and to learn to have the character of saying no to that malignant one, to that evil one. And that's what he wants us to learn. So, with that in mind, let me get back to the question. Which laws are applicable today?

Now, we know God doesn't change. You read in Hebrews 13 verse 8. Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. You read in Malachi 3 verse 6. God says, I do not change. So, which laws do we need to observe as Christians? And we need to understand there are different types of laws. We need to understand that there are spiritual laws, such as the Ten Commandments, which basically reveal the attitude, the mind, the character of God, that holy, godly, righteous character of outgoing concern and love. And then there were priestly laws for the ministers, priests in that time, of the tribal Levi, particularly the priests of the children of Aaron.

And they had to do sacrifices, which were added because of sin, as an atonement for sin, to pay as a penalty, as a fine, for breaking a law. And then we read also in Old Testament, understand that Israel was a country. The nation of Israel, there was the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom, there was a country. And therefore, there are civil laws, just like Asia. We have laws here in Kentucky, we have laws in Ohio, we have laws in the States. In Canada, they have laws. They are different laws of the country. But at that time, Israel was a country, so there were specific laws which are applicable to, for instance, judicial system and to punishments, to actually keep a society together.

Like in this country, if you break certain laws, there are certain penalties as a country, as a nation, to keep people behaving in a civil manner. And then there were other principles, for instance, of which some of them, they are still applicable today. For instance, principles of health, principles of quarantine, and other principles. They were general good principles of safety. For instance, you have a board, if you have a building and you're on top of the building, you have railing around it so people don't fall.

So there were, those are not spiritual laws, they're just kind of common sense, basic principles. And so there are various types of laws in the Old Testament. But in first place, let's realize that a lot of those laws were in place, particularly God's eternal spiritual laws, were in place before, before the Old Covenant. You see, you and I get, as you read through the Bible in Genesis, and then you get to a point, they leave Egypt, and then they go to Mount Sinai, which believed to be in Pentecost that year, and then they receive the Ten Commandments, and there they get what it's called the Old Covenant.

So the Old Covenant, let's call it, is ratified right there, just after Pentecost and that period, they get the Old Covenant. But there were a number of laws that were applicable before. Let me just, if you just quickly turn the Bible with me, starting in Genesis, right from the beginning, in Genesis chapter 2, verse 2 and 3.

He says, on the seventh day God entered his work, and he died, and he rested, and on verse 3, and God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, there is the Sabbath. Right at the time of Adam and Eve, the Sabbath was made, was sanctified, was for man, it wasn't for the Jews. The Jews didn't even exist! They weren't even born! So the Sabbath was right there at the beginning. Then, let's look at another law.

In Genesis chapter 4, verse 3 to 5, we read the story about Cain and Abel, and we read the story of Cain murdered Abel. And you see, and we can see in verse 3 how the situation was being built up to that. The situation is that it says in chapter 4, verse 3, in the process of time. Now, there are various speculative ideas of what could that be, but imagine if it was the time gap between the tenth of the first month and the fourteenth of the first month. So there was a process of time that had to happen that we, we know, the Israelites had to select a lamb on the tenth and on the fourteenth they had to kill.

And that pointed to Christ. So I'm not saying that is it, but that is speculative. But what if it was that? And if that was the case, then this sacrifice here represented or pointed to the possible lamb which is Christ. And then you read a little later that they were to offer a sacrifice and, and as you know, pain offered an offering which was not of an animal.

Or if that is the case, that it pointed to Christ. No wonder God got upset that He was basically rejecting Christ.

Because He says, oh well, we'll just have a bit of fruit here. It's an offering. Now, there are offerings of fruit and food in Leviticus. You read in the first few chapters of Leviticus, maybe in chapter 2 or chapter 3, there is offerings of food. So it's not that offerings of food are necessarily wrong, but in this context at that time it was wrong. And the possibility, again, I say, I'm speculative, I'm speculative, that if that was on symbolizing the Passover, already foreseen it into the future, because mankind had already sinned, Adam and Eve and all that, so there was a need of a redeemer of a sapphire. No wonder God very cross. But look at it! You read in that section, particularly in verse 7, if you do well, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. So there was already an understanding there were certain things that were right and wrong, and there was sin.

And he says, what happened? Then he went and he killed. You read it in verse 8. Towards the end of verse 8 he says, they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him. He murdered his brother, cold-blooded. And then when God came to him, he says, Ammon, my brother's keeper, what an arrogant attitude! What an arrogant attitude! And so we can see that there was sin.

And you can see that murder was a sin. So we can see examples here of God's laws right at the beginning, well at the beginning, in the first few chapters of the Bible.

Look a bit further in chapter 6 verse 5. And he says, Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart. What is God looking at? He's looking at our hearts. We've got to have God's law in our minds, in our hearts. And what writes the Lord God's laws in our minds, in our hearts, is God's only Spirit. So, and therefore, God was very upset with that. Why? Because the relationship, the trust relationship between God and mankind had gone completely wrong. Then we get to chapter 7.

Now chapter 7, in verse 2, it says, You shall take with you seven of each of the clean animals, a male and a female, and it was seven pairs, and of two of each of the animals which are unclean.

You know, it was a pair, one pair, a male and a female. Now imagine, in first place, he had to know which animals they were to build the ark.

You know, you had to have enough room for those animals that were clean and unclean.

And he surely knew, you know, it took decades to build that ark. Right? So he had to know. I mean, when we go out to, to, what's it called, the ark, help me tonight? Arking counter? Arking counter, we go to the arking counter hour, they built a replica, actual size. It's fascinating to see, and they had all those areas to put to different animals, etc. It's really amazing to get a sense of that size. But it shows he had to build all that, had to plan, and obviously God guided him and showed him how to build and to plan all that correctly, but it had to have place for clean animals and place for unclean animals. Insufficient quantity and food for them and all that stuff. Now imagine he sits at the door and how does he go and get two lions and, and, and, and how many is your ark? By the way, 14 because it's a clean animal. Right? So how does he go out and get 14 and all of that? And in pairs and probably a lot of them were they young little, little animals because so that they would grow and then mate etc. So, so it all that. He wasn't there and, and the animals, he wasn't kind of going out and fetch them. They actually walked in by themselves, I'm sure. I mean, imagine all these animals coming in. Somehow they came in. So the question is, did they know about clean and unclean food? They did! There was no question. Oh, I don't see Yase's Noah saying, but excuse me, what is unclean animals? I don't know what that is.

Of course, they knew very well. So these laws were in existence well before the old covenant. Well before. Look at chapter 8 verse 20, that Genesis 8 verse 20. And he says, And he says, You can see offerings were already offered in first place long ago. In fact, you know, they were offered at the time of Cain and Abel. You know that they had to offer clean animals, not unclean.

How did they know that? Because God told them. And that was long before the old covenant.

And by the way, for heaven today, we still have to have offerings. Read it Romans 12. Romans 12 verse 1 and 2 offer a living sacrifice, which is your reasonable service. We still do an offering, but it's in a different form. It's a living sacrifice. It's a matter of the heart.

It's a matter of the heart. So you can see all these laws were in place. Look at Genesis 14.

Genesis 14 verse 20. Genesis 14 verse 20. It says, and this is the situation between Abram and Melchizedek. And it says, And he blessed, and blessed be God, Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.

And he, that's Abram, gave him, Melchizedek, a tithe of all. Where did he get tithe? I don't know, blue, because it was a law right there. Look a bit further in Genesis 35. Genesis 35 verse 1 and 2. And then God said to Jacob, Arise, go to Bethel and dwell there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother. And Jacob said to his house old, and to all who were with him, put away the foreign gods that are amongst you, and purify yourselves, and change your garments. You know, they knew the first commandments, which are basically you've got to have only one God, and not have idols. It's right there in the beginning.

We also know that in Genesis 26 verse 5, talks about Abraham. Look at it. Let's go back to it. Genesis 26 verse 5. Genesis 26 verse 5. It says, because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

Abraham. And by the way, that's long before the old covenant. So, it's nothing unusual that these commandments are valid, because they're spiritual laws.

But then we get to the situation in Exodus, where there's the old covenant. And you may say, well, wait a minute. Let me ask the question. Why covenants?

Yeah, why covenants? Because in the end, a covenant, it just says, obey my laws.

And we are supposed to obey God's laws anyway. So, why a covenant?

You see, a covenant is a contract. And a contract is like, say for instance, you want to buy a house or buy a car, you go to the seller and you sign a contract. And it says, you do this, and I pay you X over a certain period, at a certain degree of regularity, or you bring in also a contract with a bank into it, and you pay. Now, if you don't adhere to the contract, and you don't pay for your house, in a sane world, you lose the house.

Today, I don't know what's happening anymore. But in a sane world, you lose the house.

So, that's a contract. That's a covenant. A covenant is a contract. So, why a contract with God when a contract says, obey my laws? Because we're supposed to obey God's laws anyway.

You see, because in a contract God says, you're by my laws, and what I'll do besides the natural automatic benefits and blessings from obey my laws, if you obey my laws, I will give you more blessings. That's what it is. That's why I cover it. I'm saying, not only you'll have the natural outcome from obey my laws, but I'm making an agreement. If you do that, I will not only do that, but I'll shower you with more blessings.

That's why a covenant with God.

God wants to bless us more. That's why there's a covenant.

So, the old covenant had certain blessings for them to go to the promised land.

It never promised them eternal life.

And so, we read in Exodus 19 and 20 and 21 and 22 and 23. That is by the old covenant.

And then you read in, and if we go there in Exodus, so let's just go back to Exodus very quickly.

Exodus chapter 20.

Exodus chapter 20. You can see when the 10 commandments were given.

And then you can see certain additions to additional things that were discussed about how to treat your servants, how to handle situations of property, how to have situations how to treat animals and things like that, and to be justice for everybody, and about the festivals. And by the way, by the way, verse about the festivals, you're reading Exodus 23 verse 14 through 17. It says three times, it shall keep the feasts and all this.

Do you know that this was after when this old covenant is signed, was after they kept the passover in Egypt, was after they kept the days of 11 bread.

So the passover and days of 11 bread, that's Exodus 12, and that which represents called Zolidays, were before the old covenant. But yeah, we get to this time, yeah, in verse 23 is itemizing these items, and then we get to chapter 24, and then they signed this contract.

They're with God, and they say at the end of verse 3, all these words which the Lord has said, we will do. It reminds me of a wedding.

There's a bride in the group, and it says, will you love your wife, do this, and this, and this. And what the other one says, I do. And then there's, to the woman, will you do this, this, this, this? And then he says, I do. That's a covenant. That's a contract. The same thing here in verse 3 of chapter 24 of Exodus. It says, all the words which the Lord has said, we will do. I will do.

They have signed a contract. And look at verse 4. And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, and he rose early in the morning and built an altar. And then he says, and then he took the blood, and he sprinkled the blood. You can see that in verse 6. And then look in verse 7.

Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the eating of the people, and they all said, all that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, sprinkled on the people, and this is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you, according to all these words. In other words, the contract was signed in blood.

Literally was signed in blood. So in the contract, all it said is, all by my laws, which you and I are supposed to obey anyway.

But then he said, if you do that, I'll bless you even more. I'll bless you even more. I'll bless you even more. Now, there were also, in this section of the Old Testament of the Lord, then there are other laws that are added or talked about afterwards. They are different sacrifices. You can read that in Leviticus by the Levites. There were other laws which I mentioned, which are civil laws. They were added, and there were a number of other laws. And then there were also laws that the people added, which Christ didn't like. They called them Coban. They called this as Coban, and Christ said, you are adding these things. It's your traditions. It's against what God intends. So what we have is in the Old Testament. What we do have is a number of laws. Some are spiritual, but some were added, like civil laws and of that kind.

Then we come to the New Covenant. The New Covenant. The New Covenant is the one that you and I know, that symbolized by the New Covenant Passover. Christ died, and now we have this is the blood of the New Covenant that we take, that we take at Passover. And with that, Christ is now telling us a new level of obedience, which is obedience in the Spirit. Yes, we've got to obey, but our hearts and our minds have got to be right. And if you look, for instance, at Matthew 5, verse 17, which is a scripture that people quite often use to disclaim that we don't have to keep the laws.

Matthew 5, verse 17, it says, do not think that I came to destroy the law. How clear is that?

Don't think I came to destroy the law. Don't think I came to do away with the law. Now, interesting. The law, Yah, was intended to mean not only just the Ten Commandments, but was the Torah, because, I mean, it was talking about the books of the Old Testament. There's the law, the prophets, and the writings. And it says, I dare not come to destroy the law. We call it the Pentateuch, the five first books, and the prophets. I dare not come to destroy but to fall.

Now, quite often we only use one side of the meaning, which it says, I came to obey them.

Correct. But do you know, for instance, there are a number of prophecies, both in the Torah, in the Pentateuch, in the first books of the Bible, that pointed to the need of a Redeemer of Christ. There are a number of prophecies in the law that pointed to Christ, just like the Book of Prophets. There were prophecies that pointed to Christ, like in the writings, in the Psalms, there are Psalms that pointed to Christ, and Christ came to fulfill them. In other words, those prophecies that pointed to Christ were fulfilled. So Yah is a duality in meaning that not only Christ obeyed the laws, but He also fulfilled those prophecies which were in the law which pointed to Christ. As an example, they did offerings. You know, they were sacrifices, right? In the law!

Now we don't offer sacrifices today. Why? Because those sacrifices pointed to Christ.

And so we have the sacrificial lamb, Christ. So we don't do sacrifices that way because Christ is our sacrifice. He died once for us, and that is explained clearly in the Book of Hebrews.

So a number of points in the Old Testament pointed either to Christ or pointed to the Holy Spirit.

There are a number of laws in the Old Testament that point to the Holy Spirit. And what I mean by that? What does the Holy Spirit do to you? And to me? God's Holy Spirit, in this new covenant, God's Holy Spirit writes God's law in our minds, in and in our hearts, isn't it?

So you and I don't literally need something on the wall to remind us we've got to keep God's commandments because God's Holy Spirit reminds us in our mind, in our hearts, that we've got to keep God's commandments. And that example, circumcision, circumcision reminds us of a contract with God.

But now we have circumcision of the heart that reminds us of that same contract with God, that covenant with God. And there are others. For instance, there's one that is of tassels. You read that section of tassels. It says there in that section of tassels that because of your oratory, you're reading Numbers 15, verse 38 to 40, it says because of the oratory of your eyes, cover yourself. You read that in the Autonomy 22, verse 12. Cover yourself. Why? Because in those days, maybe they were like the Scottish, you know, that maybe they didn't have something underneath. And if you stand in some area, maybe you need to cover yourself. And therefore, you needed to tie that together so that cloth wouldn't open up and be a little bit of an exhibition.

Now, if you need that today to remind you that you've got to control your eyes, well, then maybe do it. But I don't think that's what we need. We need God's Holy Spirit to remind us to keep our eyes in the right place and to keep our minds in the right place. So to me, it's more important for us to love God's ways and to have God's Holy Spirit so that we, every moment of our lives, keep our thoughts clean, keep our eyes proper, and do things in a godly way. Because as we heard in the sermon, the important is, are we living that way? Are we living that way? That is the critical point, and it's a matter of the heart. It's not because you put something on the wall or you put a little ribbon, a blue ribbon, or whatever it is, around your belt. Because what you need to remind you, and what I need to remind you, is God's Holy Spirit to do God's things correctly. So, yes, there were laws, they were changed, some of them were changed. What do you mean? I'll give you an example.

Give me an example. Exodus 29. Exodus 29, verse 9. Exodus 29, verse 9.

Exodus 29, verse 9.

You know, it's talking about Aaron and his sons, and it says, it shall gird them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and you put the heads on them, the priesthood shall be theirs for a perpetual statue. You shall consecrate Aaron and his sons. In other words, the priesthood was for Aaron and his sons, not his daughters, his sons, the priests.

Right? So, that's what it was.

Then we have the book of Leviticus, which is basically, if you read the first five chapters, for instance, just the first five chapters, it's about a number of sacrifices that are given, the burnt offering and the meat offering and the peace offering and the sin offering and and there's another one slips down my mind, but it's similar to similar offer, but it's different. But anyway, there were those sacrifices which were to be conducted by the priesthood, by the priests. What happened? What happened? As we know, the prophecy in Daniel, there's a prophecy in Daniel that says there will be that 70 weeks prophecy and on the last week there will be the Messiah and he'll be cut off and then he'll seize the offerings. Well, what do you mean? Because Christ's sacrifice fulfilled that prophecy. Christ fulfilled the prophecy. Another example that Christ fulfilled the prophecy and therefore that offering seized. Why? Because now we have Christ's sacrifice in place of that. Now spiritually you and I still offer living sacrifices in the new and living way as you read in Hebrews 10, but what it is is that physical sacrifice was stopped.

So let's look at a few points in Hebrews. We're going to start in chapter 7. So let's look at a few points in Hebrews where it covers this very clearly. So let's go to Hebrews chapter 7 and we'll start in verse 11 and 12. Hebrews chapter 7 verse 11 and 12.

Therefore if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood, now we saw the Levitical priesthood had been appointed right there. We saw it in Exodus. And they were the ones to bring the sacrifices. Now by the way, that was an instruction by God, right? It was an instruction by God. Two ethylene vites do that, or rather the sons of Aaron, most specifically.

It was not a sworn statement by God. All right. Now he says, therefore, verse 11, therefore if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received the law. What further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, which is Christ, and not be according to the order of Aaron. Because Christ is made a priest according to the order of Melchizedek, but his physical descent, you know, he was a Jew, not a Levite. Not a Levite.

Verse 12, for the priesthood being changed. What do you mean the priesthood was changed? Was changed from the line of Aaron, which is a line of Levi, to Christ's, and is a heavenly priesthood.

Therefore, our necessity there is also a change of the law. And what do you mean a change of the law?

How? Look at that's read then in verse 13, for he of whom these things are spoken, belongs to another tribe. You see, the law said only children of Aaron, of the tribe of Levi, could bring sacrifices. That's what the law said. Now there's going to be a change of the law if it's going to be through Christ, which is of the tribe of Judah. The law has to change. Verse 13, continue to read, for he which is Christ, of whom these things are spoken, belongs to another tribe, from which no man was officiated at the altar. You know, the Jews could not officiate at the altar. Verse 14, for it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning the priesthood. Nothing! So there has to be a change of the law, and it is yet far more evident if in the likeness of Melchizedek there rises another priest, who has come not according to the law of fleshly command. You see, that was a command, an instruction given at the time of Moses, saying to Aaron and his sons to be the priests.

So there's a fleshly command, but according, because now Melchizedek is according to the power of an endless life. For he testifies, that's the Father testifies, you, Christ, are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former command, which said the offerings were done by those sons of Aaron, because of its weakness and unprofitableness, because that those people were frail, they still sinned, and all that. Verse 19, for the law made nothing perfect. That law made nothing perfect. On the other hand, there is the bringing of a better hope through Christ, through which we draw near to God. And verse 20, and inasmuch as he was not made a priest without an oath, for they have become priests without an oath, and it was the sons of Aaron became priests because there was a command, but there was not an oath by God. But he Christ with an oath by him, that's the Father, who said to him, Christ, the Lord has sworn, that's God has sworn the Father, and will not relent. You, Christ, are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. So it wasn't just a command, it was a sworn statement by God the Father. He changed that and he says, now it's going to be according to the order of Melchizedek, and it's going to be Christ. So, verse 22, by so much more Jesus has become a surety, a proof, a guarantee of a better covenant. In other words, remember why do we get covenants from God? To get better promises. And there is a surety, a guarantee of a better promise.

Look at verse 28, jumping in. For the law appoints as high priests man who have weaknesses, but the word of oath from God the Father, which came after the law, appoints the Son, that's Christ, who has been perfected forever.

So we therefore have superior promises, and that's what chapter 8 goes about it.

And you're reading chapter 8 verse 8. He says, talking about the old covenant, he says, because finding fault with them, with the people. Why? Because they don't obey.

And then he says, be all the days are coming, says the Lord, verse 8, that I'll make a new covenant, a new contract with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. And with that, all those people, that is still coming. Now we are part of that contract as the first fruits, but that part for the whole of nations is still to come in the world tomorrow. But then, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them and to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant. And I disregarded them, says the Lord. For this is the covenant that I'll make with the house of Israel. And after those days, says the Lord, I will put my laws into their mind and write them into their hearts, and I'll be their God, and they shall be my people. God wants these laws in our minds, in our hearts. Doesn't want them on a wall, nice to see, or in tassels for us to wear. He wants them in a heart that we practice it, that we live it. That's what He wants. That's what He wants from us.

And therefore, we read in chapter 9, verse 9 and 10. It is a scene. It was symbolic. In other words, this was all symbolic. For the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered, which cannot make Him who perform this service perfect in regard to conscience. And so, that old covenant, those old offerings, were only symbol of Christ and of the Holy Spirit. Because it's Christ and God's Holy Spirit, we follow Christ, and we need the power of God's Holy Spirit in us to sanctify us, the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. And it says, concerning these things in verse 10, concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly oldness, imposed until the time of Reformation. So, those things were temporary until Christ came, and He died, and therefore there was a change in that law.

Look at verse 13 and 14. And it says, for if the blood of bulls and goats and ashes of a ifa, sprinkled and cleaned, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more, verse 14, shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. And for this reason, He's the mediator of a new covenant. It's a new covenant. It's a new way. And part of that, we read in Romans 12, we need to make now sacrifices which are spiritual, which are living sacrifices. And so, brethren, we can see that there were various, various laws in the Old Testament. Some were civil, but some were eternal. We can see that a lot of the eternal spiritual laws were in place well before the Old Covenant. We see that sacrifices and their ceremonial laws were added because of sin, because we needed a Redeemer, which is Christ, and they pointed to Christ. Those sacrifices pointed to Christ.

And what God, in the end, is looking is for a matter, a situation, a real desire for us to have a relationship with Him and from our heart to really have the right intent and motive to do the things that He wants us to do. And therefore, we get down to one important point.

And that is, God's laws have a spiritual intent and a purpose, and they define sin.

They are spiritual, they are eternal. The Ten Commandments, those laws are eternal.

Yes, there are some laws that are of more and implied important points, like they are safety laws. They are laws that are civil. They are laws that were of quarantine. But those were to look after society and things of that kind. But God's Ten Commandments are permanent. We are to live by every word of God. They express the mind of God, a mind of love.

And in the end, even the laws that we don't, for instance, we don't have to her law says you've got to build something and you have a fence around it so people don't get hurt. Those laws, even though they're not applicable to us today, in spiritual intent, they are applicable because we need to look after our brother. Not like Cain said, am I brother's keeper? We are our brother's keeper. We need to look after the safety and well-being of our brothers.

Because all of this, in the end, points to a spiritual principle, which is God's outgoing love for fellow man, for us, for humanity, and we need to become like God.