Why does the Hebrew writer contrast Mount Sinai with Mount Zion?

Question: Hi Jeffrey, I hope you are doing well. I have a question regarding Hebrews 12:18-29. Why does the writer use the example of the events in Mount Sinai (verses 18-21) and contrasts them with Mount Zion and the heavenly Jerusalem and everything else in verses 22-24? What is the significance of what the writer…

Read More

Was the Law of Moses applicable to Gentiles?

Question: I have a question about the passage in Colossians 2:11-14: “In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the…

Read More

The law is perfect, but the covenant was faulty, so they cannot be the same

Question: A quick question on your article Is the covenant different from the Law? If, as Psalm 19 says, “the law of the Lord is perfect,” and the law mentioned there is the same as the covenant mentioned in Hebrews, then why wouldn’t the covenant be faultless (i.e. “perfect”) as opposed to Hebrews 8:7? I believe…

Read More

The Sin and Guilt Offerings

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/SinAndGuiltOfferings.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Hebrews 13:10-16   I.         The Law of Moses featured numerous sacrifices and making sense of them can be difficult             A.        There were five categories: Sin, trespass, burnt, meat, and peace offerings                         1.         But they were also grouped in another way: Firstfruits, wave, heave, vow, voluntary, and drink offerings                         2.         They were also divided…

Read More

Does Deuteronomy 29:14-15 teach that the old covenant is still in effect?

Question: Does Deuteronomy 29:14-15 teach that the old covenant is still in effect? Answer: “I make this covenant and this oath, not with you alone, but with him who stands here with us today before the LORD our God, as well as with him who is not here with us today” (Deuteronomy 29:14-15). Moses is…

Read More

Doesn’t the Bible teach that we must keep the law of Moses?

Question: I grew up in the church and Christianity, and all the while I was taught that we don’t have to keep the Law that was told to Moses or what the Jewish call the Torah. However, I came across multiple scriptures that made me question whether the law really was done away with. Here…

Read More

Do I have to marry my brother’s widow?

Question: Please help. My pastor told me that God spoke to her that I should marry my elder brother’s widow with four children. I have a fiancee whom I dearly love but my pastor says she is being used by devil worshippers to capture me. My dad joined in devil worship a long time ago…

Read More

The Purpose of the Old Law

I.         As we study the Bible, we learn that God has had three laws in effect at different periods of time – The Patriarchal, The Mosaical, and Christ’s Law.             A.        Much confusion has arisen because people do not distinguish between these laws             B.        While the laws are related, because they all derive from the same source, they are…

Read More

Was the Lord’s Supper a part of the Passover meal?

Question: Greetings, First, I’d like to say that I praise God for your site. I use it for my Bible study and it has really helped me a lot. Now the question I have is whether or not it is sinful for me to be in a church that is teaching we should only use…

Read More

Does the new covenant entirely override the law of Moses?

Question: I read your article regarding following the Old Testament and I’m just trying to wrap my head around the entire idea of the old covenant versus the new covenant. The old covenant was the laws and edicts of God to Moses and his people, however, through Jesus, God imposed a new covenant that was guided…

Read More

On Stoning Adulterers and Not Eating Shellfish

by Hugh Fulford via The Fellowship Room Periodically — at least three or four times a year — someone feels compelled to demonstrate his or her lack of knowledge of the Bible by writing a letter to the editor of the local newspaper railing against Bible-believers who oppose homosexuality. (Capital punishment of convicted murderers is another…

Read More

Didn’t Jesus fulfill the Old Testament when he came in the flesh?

Question: I have a question: Didn’t Jesus fulfill the Old Testament when he came in the flesh? Answer: When Jesus was born, the Mosaic law was still in effect. He was circumcised and presented to God as the firstborn male of Mary and Joseph as the old law prescribed: “And when eight days had passed,…

Read More

If Christ put us under one law, why wasn’t it the Law of Moses?

Question: From your web page Do Jews and Christians both follow the teachings of the Old Testament?: “This law ended with the death of Jesus Christ, allowing both Jews and Gentiles to come under one new law.” So there is one law, right? Why does a huge part of the Old Testament say to Israel that…

Read More

Back to Basics: Christ and the Law

by Frank Jamerson When brethren are confused about whether Christ came to fulfill the law and prophets or to perpetuate them, it is time to get back to basics! One brother said, “Continuity of law is evident in Matthew 5:17, in that there is nothing about following Jesus that would be obnoxious to Moses.” He…

Read More

If all Scripture is profitable, why don’t we use the Old Law?

Question: Could you explain how II Timothy 3:16 relates to our not being under the Old Testament? I would like to know so I can better equip myself. Thank you. Answer: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man…

Read More

Should Churches of Christ Observe Passover?

by Mark W.White via Biblical Insights, Vol. 13, No. 1, January 2013 The Jewish Passover usually comes around each year in our month of April. Those who are familiar with Old Testament history understand the significance of this holy day for the Jewish nation. God delivered the children of Israel from their Egyptian bondage through a…

Read More

Does John 14:15 mean we are under the Ten Commandments?

Question: I love your website! It has been very helpful to me in my studies.  I have been studying with a friend of mine who still believes that we are under the ten commandments.  He wants to use the verse John 14:15 “If you love me keep my commandments” as proof that we are still…

Read More

If God condemned something in the past does that mean the law remains?

Question: Hello! I came across a website today about Leviticus and homosexuality. At the bottom it said the following: “Now, if God never changes and never goes back on His word, what He says in Leviticus stands for all time. Thus, what He condemns in the Old Testament remains condemned into the New Testament and…

Read More

Do Christians celebrate Yom Kippur?

Question: Hello! Do Christians celebrate Yom Kippur? Should Christians fast on Yom Kippur? Why or why not? Is there anything that Christians should do on Yom Kippur? Thanks! Answer: Yom Kippur and the other Jewish feasts are a part of the Old Testament. Jews continue to celebrate them because they refuse to believe that the…

Read More

Could you explain the importance of waiting eight days for circumcision?

Question: Could you explain the importance of waiting eight days for circumcision? Answer: “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘If a woman has conceived, and borne a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of her customary impurity she shall be unclean. And on the eighth day the…

Read More

How many priests carried the ark of God across river Jordan?

Question: How many priests carried the ark of God across river Jordan? Answer: In the building of the ark we find: “You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four corners; two rings shall be on one side, and two rings on the other side. And you shall make…

Read More

Do we still need to redeem our firstborn?

Question: Does the Bible still expect us to redeem our firstborn with offering in the New Testament? Answer: Jesus is the one and only sacrifice in the New Testament. “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). There are no other sacrifices…

Read More

An Eye for an Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth

by Steve Dewhurst Such is modern man’s ignorance of God’s word, as well as His justice and mercy, that we often misunderstand the simplest Bible expressions and concepts. For example, the age-old principle of justice contained in the phrase “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” is frequently seen as a…

Read More

Was a woman forced to marry her rapist?

Question: So in Deuteronomy 22:28-29, it says “If a man finds a girl, a virgin not engaged, and lays hold on her, and lies with her, and they are found, then the man who lay with her shall give to the girl’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife. Because he…

Read More

Why Messianic Jews follow the Old Law

Question: Shalom brother, If the commandments of Yahweh were done away with by Yahshua, then why does it say in I John 2:4-7; II John 1:6; Revelation 12:17; Revelation 22:14. Yahshua also said in John 14:15, John 15:10.  Yahshua took away the sacrificial laws and the death penalty, his blood is so pure that there…

Read More

Would you explain Hebrews 13:10-13?

Question: I’m having a little trouble trying to wrap my mind around what Hebrews 13:10-13 is teaching. What is your understanding of these verses? I really do value your observations and commentary. Answer: I’m going to expand the range just a little bit so we get a complete thought: “Do not be carried about with…

Read More

What commandments of Jesus are we to keep?

Question: In John 14:15, Jesus says, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” What commandments would that be? Is Jesus the God of the Old Testament? Answer: The same commandments Jesus told the apostles to teach: “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on…

Read More

Why were women valued less than men in the Old Testament?

Question: I love God.  I am a strong woman and have always asserted myself and believe that men and women are equal in the eyes of God.  There is actually a scripture that says “all of mankind is created equal in the eyes of God.” I do know there are different roles for each sex,…

Read More

Will Jews be judged under the law or the new covenant?

Question: Will Jews be judged under the law or the new covenant? Answer: There is only one covenant in effect today. “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Everyone is judged according to Jesus’ teachings. “He…

Read More

Did the Levitical priesthood replace the priesthood of Melchizedek?

Question: “For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law” (Hebrews 7:12). Did the Levitical priesthood replace the priesthood of Melchizedek? Answer: Under the Old Law of Moses, priests came from the tribe of Levi and, starting with David, kings came from the tribe of Judah. Melchizedek was…

Read More