We are continuing our New Testament study on the New Covenant as revealed in the writings of the Apostle Paul. Before figuring out “different gospel” Paul is speaking against in the letter to the Galatians, we should look at what “gospel” he presented to the Galatian congregations, as recorded in Acts 13:14-52.
This is a very heavy section of scripture. God tells Moses about the people’s rebellion and calls on Moses to check on the people. God tells Moses that he is willing to take very drastic measures to punish the people and promote Moses to an even higher level.
David finally brings all the tribes of Israel under one ruler and starts considering Yerushalayim as the center for the nation.
In Exodus 31, we meet the two men (beside Moses) whose work and talent were used to make the Tabernacle which began as the “pattern shown on the Mountain” a living, functional reality. However, he gives them a reminder that they are still supposed to keep the Sabbath, no exceptions. They can’t break the sabbath, even for the sake of building the Tabernacle or they will be “cut off from their people.”
The kind of presuppositions we bring to the New Testament can color our view of the Bible as a whole. This is a discussion series on the more difficult passages of the New Testament that anti-nomians often use to try to take us away from Torah and lead us to “freedom.”
Today, we look at 2nd Corinthians 3, which includes an involved discussion on the “new covenant,” “old covenant” and a “veil” over it, “ministry of the spirit,” “ministry of condemnation/death” and “ministry of righteousness.” As this passage is commonly interpreted, Paul taught that Christ abolished the “old covenant,” doing away with the “ceremonial law,” which was anything connected to the tabernacle/temple ministry. That would include Shabbat (Sabbath) and the other “appointed times to the LORD” as well as “clean” and “unclean” foods. This discussion will explore how Paul explained himself in this letter and in other writings on the same topic.
Moses was shown many wonderful things on the Mountain, including the ritual to anoint his older brother Aaron and Aaron’s four sons as priests before Him. The overall theme of these two chapters is atonement: atonement for the people and for Aaron and his sons. Even inanimate objects, such as Aaron’s wardrobe, the altar and the Tabernacle itself have to be atoned before they can perform a sacred use.
Saul is dead but David is not yet king over all of Israel. As the chapter begins “Now there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David; and David grew steadily stronger, but the house of Saul grew weaker continually” (2nd Sam. 3:1). Most of Saul’s sons are dead but David’s family is growing.