Hebrews 8:13 "By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear."
There are only two differences between the old and new covenants. One, hehe. I can never remember, but the main one is that the Law of God is now written on the heart. It is almost the same agreement made with the same people. It is only written on the heart of true israelites, who for the most part of the last almost 2000 years have endeavored to follow it as Christians.
Jeremiah 31:31 prophecy.
The OT isn't outdated. It's purpose was simply fulfilled. It did several things:
Demonstrated the character of God, both His mercy and His judgment.
Showed that we have no power to live free of sin by our own strength. It did this through the near immediate fall of man and the record of continuing transgressions.
Gave us many moral principles and moral laws around which we should align our lives.
Showed that the wages of sin is death and atoning sacrifice must be made to avoid eternal death in hell.
Promised a future perfect sacrifice.
Promised a future gift of writing His law in our hearts and minds and strengthening those who submit to Christ so that we live as He commands us.
Foretold in extreme detail the coming of Christ, the purpose of His ministry, the way He would be sacrificed, and the impact He would have on the world so that none who believed could mistake Him for someone or something else.
Isaiah 53 is an amazing bit of scripture.
The elements of the OT that are gone, obsolete now, are the Covenant laws of circumcision and the Mosaic covenant. These are laws like having a fringe on your garment, abstaining from pork and shellfish, and keeping the sign of the Mosaic covenant (Sabbath keeping). Laws like the other 9 of the 10 commandments were reiterated and amplified by Christ during His ministry. Moral laws like caring for the poor, keeping sex to marriage, abstaining from covetousness, hate, and idolatry were all reiterated in the NT by either Christ or an apostle.
The OT still contains a lot of prophecy to be fulfilled as well as information to help interpret NT prophecy. The old forms, sacrifices, temples, and practices are obsolete but the lessons remain.
One can not read and understand the new without the old. The new covenant is God's Law written on the heart. Many words in the new are defined in the old... I have a list that keeps growing including the word food. In the Greek Hebrews 4:9 says, "There remains therefore a Sabbath to the people of God."
Yeah, he fulfilled them in himself. Done and done. 70 AD put the capstone on that with the destruction of Jerusalem. Sept 8th being the great anniversary of that celebratory event.
That would be abolishing them.
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