Discovering The Jewish Jesus

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: Paul says the problem is not the law. He said the problem is us. There is a sinful element to our nature, and the fact that we're weak in our flesh makes it impossible for us to keep the law in and of ourselves.

In the previous two episodes, we've examined the Abrahamic covenant and the Mosaic covenant. I want to do a quick review, and then we're going to move forward today into the new covenant and see how they all synchronize together. As I indicated in my first teaching in this series, the Abrahamic covenant is based on three primary foundations. Number one, it's based on faith. Abraham believed God, Genesis 15:6, and it was counted to him as righteousness. Righteousness simply means, in its most elementary form, as being right with God. Abraham heard God's voice, he agreed with God, he believed God, and that put him into the right relationship with God.

The Abrahamic covenant is based once again on faith. Abraham believed God. Secondly, the Abrahamic covenant is unconditional. As we study Genesis 15 and Genesis 26, we see that because Abraham believed God and his belief translated into action and obedience, the Lord said, "Abraham, because you've done this thing, by myself, I have sworn," declares the Lord. "I'm going to do this." It's unconditional. God said, "I'm going to do it," not based on anything else happening. God's going to do it. It's unconditional.

Father God illustrated this in Genesis 15 when Abraham made a sacrifice to the Lord and he took the animals. He cut the animals in half and laid them next to each other, one half on this side, one half on the other side. In the ancient world, when people were making a covenant, what they would do would be they would both walk through the center of the sacrifice. Both parties that entered into the covenant would walk through the sacrifice together. But when Abraham laid out the offering to the Lord, he fell into a trance. While he was in a trance, God himself appeared as a fire, and he moved through the two halves of those animal sacrifices by himself. Nothing that Abraham did took part in that. It was all God alone. It was unconditional. It was sovereign. God himself is doing it.

So once again, the Abrahamic covenant is based on faith. It's unconditional because God himself is going to do it. It's not based on the other person fulfilling their end of the bargain. No, this is unconditional. God's going to do it unconditionally. And then the third thing that we learned about the Abrahamic covenant is that it's tied to promises. God said to Abraham, "Abraham, in your seed, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed," based on promises.

Now from there, we looked at the Mosaic covenant, and we looked at some startling differences between the Abrahamic covenant and the Mosaic covenant. Number one, the Abrahamic covenant is permanent. It's the covenant through which Jesus's coming is built. We're going to study the book of Galatians and we're going to see how Jesus is the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant and that the blessing of Abraham has come upon Gentiles through their relationship with Jesus. So the Abrahamic covenant is still in place, of which Yeshua is the fulfillment.

Unlike the Mosaic covenant, because the Mosaic covenant was not a permanent covenant, but rather it's a temporary administrative covenant. And so the scripture tells us that the Mosaic covenant is becoming obsolete. Now don't misunderstand. The Mosaic covenant is still in place as a self-revelation of God. The Mosaic covenant contains the moral disposition of who God is, and we apply it to our lives in the Spirit.

But in terms of relating to God through the Mosaic covenant as a way of being blessed if we keep it, that way has become obsolete because Jesus has redeemed us from the curse that came upon God's people that tried to receive a blessing through the Mosaic covenant. Let me better explain it this way. The Mosaic covenant promised a blessing in Deuteronomy 28 if it could be kept. But Deuteronomy 28 also says if you can't keep it, a curse is going to come upon you.

History reveals to us that Israel nor any man could ever live up to the standards of the Mosaic covenant in order to be blessed by it because the Lord tells us that in order to be blessed, they had to keep all the commandments and statutes of the Mosaic covenant. What we find out over history is that mankind has not been able to do it, and as a result of that, rather than being blessed by the Mosaic covenant, a curse has come upon those that try to approach God through it because they can't fulfill their end of the bargain.

And so the Mosaic covenant as a way to be blessed was temporary. The reason the Lord gave us the Mosaic covenant, according to the book of Galatians chapter 3, is so that mankind would become aware of the fact that they can't earn God's blessing based on their own works. Father God wanted to prepare man, listen now, to receive a savior. He wanted man to become poor in spirit. Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." To be poor in spirit means to recognize that in and of our flesh we are not capable of obeying God, of walking in the Spirit. And realizing our own deficiency, we are then prepared to receive God's Spirit, to receive his empowerment, to become totally dependent on him, which is what God is after because as Paul said, in our weakness, his strength is perfected.

So let me say this again. The Abrahamic covenant is permanent, built upon the foundations of faith, God's sovereignty, and the promises of God. The Mosaic covenant is rather conditional. It's conditional, get this now, and it is temporary. It is a temporary administrative covenant designed, listen now, to keep Israel and mankind in place until Messiah could come. And you're going to see this. You don't have to take my word for that because in a little bit later in the series, I'm going to bring you through the book of Galatians chapter 3, and I'm going to show you in the word of God that what I'm saying to you, beloved, is factual.

Dustin Roberts: You're listening to Discovering the Jewish Jesus with Rabbi Schneider. He's going to be right back. But first, I want to let you know that you can watch full episodes of Discovering the Jewish Jesus on Roku Television. We have episodes that are filmed in the Holy Land and outreach events from Nigeria and Gulu, Uganda, all sorts of places. Every episode is available to help deepen your understanding of scripture and the Jewish roots of your faith. So search for Discovering the Jewish Jesus on Roku today.

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Rabbi K.A. Schneider: So I want to continue on today by reading a scripture that I haven't read for you yet in regards to the Mosaic covenant before we go on to the new covenant. I'm reading now from the book of Exodus chapter number 19, beginning in verse number 5. "Now then," the Lord says, "if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is mine. And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel." So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words which the Lord had commanded him.

Now listen to that phrase. "So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words which the Lord had commanded him." All the people answered together and said, "All that the Lord has spoken, we will do." I want you to notice a couple of things here. Number one, notice how Moses called the elders of the people and he spoke to them all the words that the Lord had given him. Now I pointed this out a few episodes ago. In the book of Mark chapter 7, we read that there were all these rules and regulations that were being taught as commandments of God by the Pharisees of Jesus's day.

And what these Pharisees believed, that all these regulations that they were teaching that are not actually recorded in the Bible about washing of hands, about washing of pots and pans, and Jesus said, "And many other things like them." They were saying that these regulations were taught by Moses to the elders of Israel that we just read about when Moses came down from the mountain and taught them. We just saw that in Exodus here chapter number 19 verse 7. What Jesus said is all these other regulations that the Pharisees were teaching were not part of what God gave Moses at Mount Sinai, but rather he said they were the traditions of men.

That is called in Rabbinic Judaism today, as I've mentioned earlier, that is called the Oral Law. It was not written down. It was passed down orally. Once again, Orthodox Judaism and the Pharisees of Jesus's day believe that it was just passed down from Moses to the elders, the elders passed it on to each generation. It was passed down orally. It was known as the Oral Law, but eventually it was written down. And around 200 AD, it's called the Mishnah. The Oral Law was eventually written down 200 AD, some time after Jesus had come, called the Mishnah. And then there was a commentary written on the Oral Law called the Talmud. It was all complete, the Mishnah and the Talmud together, around 500 AD.

Once again, I want to repeat to you, this is very much a part of Orthodox Judaism today. It was a part of the Judaism of Jesus' day that the Pharisees held to. Jesus said very much of it was just the tradition of men. But I want to continue on here. I want to, that was just a little bit of informative information to give you the background of the New Testament and how it relates to the scripture that we just read here in Exodus chapter number 19. Let's look at the next verse, verse 8. "All the people answered together and said, 'All the Lord has spoken, we will do.'"

Now once again, Deuteronomy 28 says, "Okay, if you do all these things, Israel, you're going to be blessed when you come in. You're going to be blessed when you go out. Your basket's going to be blessed. Your kneading bowl's going to be blessed. Your offspring's going to be blessed." But then the Lord continued in Deuteronomy 28. He said, "If you don't do these things, then all these curses are going to come upon you." What happened to Israel? They were exiled out of the land, exiled into the nations of the earth, suffered many, many horrendous things. And they found themselves, listen beloved ones, not being blessed but being a people that has had to endure tremendous hardship.

What the New Testament teaches is this: that although the law promised a blessing, the blessing that it promised could never be received because of the weakness and the sinfulness of human nature. Let's go now to the book of Romans chapter number 7 to illustrate what I'm talking about here. Verse 12, Romans 7, Paul says, "For then the law is holy, the commandment is holy and righteous and good." Paul said the law is a good thing. The Ten Commandments are holy. They came from God. When Moses was with God, he came down from the mountain and his face was glowing, shining with the glory of God. But then it began to fade because the glory of God could never be maintained through the Mosaic law because once again, the Mosaic law in order to, in terms of the fullness of the blessing that it carried, could only be brought into place if people kept the conditions of it.

So Paul says no, the problem isn't the law. The law's a good thing. It's a self-revelation of who God is. It came down from heaven itself. It's holy. Paul says no, the problem isn't the law, Romans 7:12. The law is holy, righteous, spiritual, good. He said no, the problem is us. The problem is human beings. The problem was Israel when they first received it because we as human beings are made up of flesh. There is a sinful element to our nature, and the fact that we're weak in our flesh and there's a sinful element to our nature, it makes it impossible for us to keep the law in and of ourselves. So listen what Paul says as he continues in Romans chapter 7 verse number 14. "For we know that the law is spiritual," Paul said, "but I am of flesh, sold into bondage and into the bondage," he said, "of sin."

So the law then promised a blessing, but the blessing that it promised could never be received because it was a conditional covenant and mankind is not able to live up to the conditions of it. So why the law then? Why was it given? Paul tells us in the book of Galatians chapter 3 so that mankind could become utterly aware of his inability to fully please God, to fully love God, to fully keep his commandments. And as a result, mankind would fall on his knees just like Paul does at the end of all this in the book of Romans and he said, "Who then shall set me free," he said, "from this body of death?" And he says, "Thanks be to God, thanks be to God in Christ Jesus."

That's the whole point of the law. The whole point of the law is that mankind would fall to his knees recognizing his corruption and call out for mercy. "Who will save me?" And then Jesus would appear, and mankind would be fully prepared to receive him. Many of you can attest to this. When did you get really serious about Jesus? Wasn't it at a point in your life when you knew, beloved child of God, that you really needed him? Most people don't ever get really sold out for Jesus unless there's a great need in their life, unless they realize there's a great weakness, unless they're in a position that they can't help themselves anymore. And when mankind gets that desperate, he then begins to trust in God.

This is what Paul was teaching in the book of Second Corinthians chapter number 1. Paul said there that "I'm burdened excessively, beyond strength, so that I despair even of life." He said, "But this happens to me so that I would learn to trust in God that raises the dead." In other words, Paul was saying, "Oh, I've run into such tremendous trouble and problems in my life. It's overwhelming." He said, "But this is happening to me because God wants me to learn to trust in him." And before these things happened, I still had some self-reliance. I still thought that I could do it. I still was taking some confidence in the flesh. So the purpose of the law breaks mankind down to recognize that without a savior, he's empty and there's corruption within him.

So what we're going to do now is we're going to begin to put all this together as we continue on to the new covenant. The principle of the new covenant, first I'm just going to speak separately about the new covenant and then in next broadcast, we're going to go through the book of Galatians. You're really going to love this. You're really going to find this exceptional. I encourage you to invite people over your home and just listen to the teaching and then do a Bible study together. Take notes as I'm teaching. Just write down the scripture references I go through and then have a Bible study together in your home, going through the scriptures that I'm giving during the broadcast. In fact, it'd be a great thing to do every week. Start a Bible study in your home. I know it'll be a real time of ministry and fellowship for you.

But I want to say this as we begin to get ready for that. The new covenant, listen, is that which both the Abrahamic covenant and the Mosaic covenant were aiming for. Let me say it again. The new covenant, which is the covenant that Jesus established, remember at his last Passover meal with his disciples, we call that the Lord's Supper or Communion, right? And he lifted up the Passover wine and he said, "This is my blood shed for you for the forgiveness of sin." Get this now, "In the new covenant. This is the blood of the new covenant shed for you," he said, "for the forgiveness of sin" in Matthew and in Luke. Both the Abrahamic covenant and the Mosaic covenant were pointed towards the new covenant. The fulfillment of them both is in the new covenant because the new covenant is built upon the principles of the Abrahamic covenant, and the Mosaic covenant was a temporary administrative covenant until the Abrahamic covenant in place until it could be fulfilled in Jesus.

And so in the book of Galatians, Paul tells us that this Mosaic covenant that we just got done discussing today, beloved ones, there was a purpose for it. That it wasn't just to beat man up, but it was to prepare man for Jesus. Now hear me, beloved church, with this final word today before we close. The new covenant satisfies, hear me now, both God's mercy and his justice. Because our God by nature is a God that delights to show mercy. But our God by nature is also a moral God who has to punish sin because the Bible says that the wages of sin is death. That even when Adam and Eve sinned and death came upon them as a result, it's still in force today. When a man disobeys God, a separation takes place and the result of that separation is death because anything that's not united to God dies.

And so what God did in the new covenant is he satisfied both his desire to show mercy and his justice by sending his Son to die in the place of the guilty, to die in our place so we wouldn't have to die. And because his Son, beloved children of God, died in our place, now God doesn't have to judge us for our sin. Now we don't have to die and he can fulfill the desire of his heart, which is to show mercy to you and I. This is such an awesome and beautiful thing. I hope that you're really being blessed by how the Old and New Testaments fit together like a hand in a glove. Next, we're going to look at, listen now, the synchronization. The synchronization of the Abrahamic, Mosaic, and new covenants. I love you. May God bless you.

There's a portion in God's word that I've really been putting myself under, asking the Lord to shepherd me into perfect obedience. It's the story of the rich young ruler that came to Jesus in Matthew 19. It's also repeated in Mark and Luke. And the rich young ruler says to Jesus, "Good teacher." Jesus says, "Why do you call me good? Only God's good." And then the rich young ruler said to Jesus, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Yeshua said, "Keep all the commandments." The rich young ruler said, "I've done all the commandments from my youth." He was a moral man. Then Yeshua said to him, "Now go and sell everything you have and you will inherit the kingdom of God." And the Bible says the rich young ruler went away sad because he wasn't able to surrender his possessions to the Lord. And the disciples were really like, "Wow, who can inherit the kingdom of God?" Jesus said, "What's impossible with man is possible with God." Beloved, we don't have to earn our salvation, but Jesus is calling for us to surrender. Will you surrender your finances to him?

Dustin Roberts: Thank you, Rabbi. And friends, if what Rabbi shared today, if it resonated with you, I want to invite you, respond right now. Call us at 800-777-7835. That's 800-777-7835. And you can also give generously through the mail. Send your check to Discovering the Jewish Jesus, PO Box 777, Blissfield, Michigan 49228. Or if you'd like, give online at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. And look, while you're there online, I want to point you to something special on our YouTube channel. You're going to find a large selection of powerful stories there that we call "God Moments." They're unique and personal stories that showcase the transformative power of God working in and through the lives of people where God is bringing light into dark places and hope into challenging situations. These God Moments, they're waiting and available right now. Just search for Discovering the Jewish Jesus on YouTube. And you know what? You can find all of Rabbi's great teaching videos there, available for free right now, too.

And if you'd like to learn more about everything that we do at Discovering the Jewish Jesus, go to our website, discoveringthejewishjesus.com. There's lots of helpful resources there, articles on God's feast days, and so, so much more. Thank you for being a part of this ministry. Thank you for praying for us. Thank you for giving and making things like this possible. We look forward to hearing from you soon. Now, here's Rabbi with God's sacred and special blessing. I hope it will bless you today and every day. Rabbi.

Rabbi K.A. Schneider: What I love about the Aaronic blessing is that it did not originate with man. The words actually proceeded from the very essence of God himself. The blessing comes from the book of Numbers chapter 6. So listen to these words and receive the blessing of the Lord into your life today.

The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift you up with his countenance and the Lord give you, beloved one, his peace. And now in Hebrew.

*Rabbi Schneider chants the Aaronic blessing in Hebrew.*

God bless you and shalom.

Dustin Roberts: I'm your host, Dustin Roberts, and this program is produced and sponsored by Discovering the Jewish Jesus. Join us again when Rabbi Schneider shows how the new covenant speaks to anyone who's ever confused walking with God with trying to earn salvation. That's Wednesday on Discovering the Jewish Jesus.