If you will look back in chapter 5, Moses tells them in verse 2 that God made a “covenant” with the people who were there at that moment. Those who “are here today, all of us who are ALIVE.” That was the people of Israel—the Jews. He says The people who were before them—their fathers, like Abraham, Issac, Jacob, and Joseph did not have this covenant—only them—the People there at that time. Also, this covenant or law was not for every nation on earth—only to the people there and their descendants. So this law was not for the gentiles. The gentiles were forbidden to worship in God’s temple. This law was not for them—only the Jews. Now a gentile could become a Jewish proselyte but he would have to convert to Judaism. But generally, the gentiles of the Bible did not keep the Jewish law of Moses. The Old Testament is a history of the Jewish nation and how God preserved a special people in which to bring The Messiah, Christ into the world. Jesus was born a Jew. He kept the old law of Moses because it was His duty as a Jew.
But it was necessary for Christ to come and bring a NEW law, one that was for ALL nations and peoples—not just the Jews. Many scriptures in the New Testament teach about the NEW law (testament) OF Faith, that was replacing the old (testament) law of the Jews. Hebrews particularly deals with this as The writer shows how Christ is better than Moses, the blood of Christ is better than the blood of animals, Christ as our High Priest is better than the Jewish priesthood of the Old Testament, and how the New Testament is better than the Old Testament. Hebrews 9:16-17 tells specifically When Christ’s NEW law of Faith was to begin— after His death on the cross. So all of the commandments in the Old Testament were only for the Jews until Jesus died on the cross. Read Colossians 2:14. Then his new law came into effect (Hebrews 8:16-17). Christ brought certain laws from the Old Testament over into His new law in Matthew 5-7. All of the 10 commandments were broughover as part of His new law -with amendments- EXCEPT one. 1) keeping the 7th day holy was no longer a command. Instead emphasis was put on the “first day of the week”. It was the day Jesus rose from the dead. It was the day the church of Christ (Romans 16:16) began in Acts 2, fifty days after Jesus’s death. See verse 47, the Lord began adding to the Church the saved people. And it was the day 1st century Christians came together to worship Acts 20:7. The 2) second thing that Christ did not include in His new law was “tithing”. Instead, He gave a new commandment to the churches in 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 in which they were to give only as they had been prospered.
2 Timothy 3:16 says we are to “rightly divide” the word of God. Without understanding the law of Moses verses the Law of Christ, people get very confused and end up binding things they ought not.
As always, I ask you to please read these scriptures; study these things. As the Bereans did in Acts 17:11-study the Bible to see whether these things are so.
