Obsolete Life

The writer of Hebrews draws the justifiable conclusion that the Old Covenant is obsolete, aging and soon to disappear. The ceremonies still being conducted under it were spiritually empty; and the author's words suggest that the prophetic words of Jesus about the destruction of the temple (Matt 24.1-2) in Jerusalem were in his mind. The temple and its rituals were both empty of life, and so too was the covenant they proclaimed. It is likely that this prophecy was fulfilled soon after the book of Hebrews was written. If so, it was a dramatic confirmation of the writer's thesis about the Old Covenant. While the Mosaic Law still has a purpose in God's plan (cf. Gal. 3), it never was the vehicle that brought salvation. Rather, It brings people to Christ by showing fallen humanity their sinfulness and need for salvation. It helps us understand God and His ways. It is related to the new covenant as promise to fulfillment. While the law was incapable of bringing salvation because of the weakness and sinfulness of fallen mankind, the grace of God through the death of Jesus Christ delivered what the law could only hint toward. Just as the Jews (and many Jewish Christians) were clinging to the old Covenant and its rituals, we too, often live in obsolete ways. Bound to that which no longer has purpose or power we live in the old life and the old patterns…