Question: When was the end of forever?
Throughout the Torah (commonly known as “The Law”), God clearly and repeatedly declares His commandments are eternal, forever, perpetual, or to be observed throughout our generations for all time.
But…
Popular doctrine and tradition teaches that Jesus put an end to The Law, and those “Old Testament” commandments don’t apply today.
This creates a logical dilemma:
If God said His commandments are forever, how could they have come to an end?
If God’s commandments came to an end, how could He have said they are forever?
An example from Exodus 12
God gave Moses and Aaron instructions to observe Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, In verse 14 God stated Passover is to be observed for all time:
This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to YHWH; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. (Exodus 12:14)
In verse 17, speaking of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, God said:
And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore, you shall observe this day throughout your generations, as a statute forever. (Exodus 12:17)
Continuing through chapter 12, we read:
You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. (Exodus 12:24)
How do we reconcile the apparent discrepancy between scripture and doctrine?
Given that God repeatedly said His commandments are forever, how do we reconcile this with the popular doctrine that God’s commandments are no more? There are only five logical possibilities:
God lied — God knew His commandments would come to an end in the First Century, but He still told Moses they were forever.
God made a mistake — God genuinely believed His commandments would be forever when He gave them to Moses. But, in the First Century, God discovered He was wrong.
God changed — God intended for His commandments to be eternal at the time He gave them to Moses. However, God later changed His mind, ended His eternal commandments, and gave us a new set of eternal commandments in their place.
God was deposed — Jesus overthrew everything in the “Old Testament” and established his own rulership with his own instructions and commandments.
Popular doctrine is false — God’s eternal commandments are still in effect today, and we are obligated to obey them.
Which is the most logical explanation for God repeatedly declaring His commandments are eternal and the Son of God declaring he did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets?
Bonus Point to Ponder
If God could declare His Torah (The Law) to be forever then later discard it and establish a different set of instructions and commandments…
Then we have no security of salvation.
If God can go back on His word,
Renege on His promises,
Disregard His eternal commandments
Then he can one day decide to put an end to the Gospel of Christ,
Renege on the promise never to forsake us,
Disregard Jesus’ sacrifice for our atonement
After all, wouldn’t that would be consistent with His past character and behavior?
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