Restoring Apostolic Faith

One of the greatest misconceptions in modern Christianity is the idea that the Old Testament is about law, while the New Testament is about grace.

Scripture never actually presents that contrast, though many claim that it does.

From the beginning, God’s relationship with Israel was covenantal—established by His grace, sustained through covenant faithfulness, and expressed through both His commands and His gracious provision. As scholars such as N. T. Wright and John H. Walton have repeatedly emphasized, covenant was never about earning God’s favor. It was about living faithfully within a relationship God Himself had initiated.

The Law itself was one expression of that grace.

When Israel sinned, God did not abandon His covenant people. He graciously provided priests, sacrifices, festivals, purification rites, and the Day of Atonement as means by which covenant fellowship could be restored. None of these earned salvation. They were God’s gracious provision for a people who continually fell short.

But they were never the destination.

They were shadows.

One of the clearest places we see this is in Jeremiah 7.

God tells Jeremiah something that, if read in isolation, almost sounds contradictory:

“For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice…’” (Jer. 7:22–23)

At first glance, this seems impossible.

Didn’t God command sacrifices in Exodus and Leviticus?

Of course He did.

So what is Jeremiah saying?

The answer is found by reading the whole biblical story rather than isolating a single verse.

Imagine telling your child:

“I appreciate you cleaning up the broken vase, but I told you not to throw the ball in the house.”

You are not saying cleaning up the glass was wrong.

You’re reminding them that obedience was always the greater priority.

That is exactly what Jeremiah is doing.

A Hebrew Way of Speaking

Part of the confusion surrounding Jeremiah 7 comes from reading Hebrew rhetoric through modern Western ears.

The biblical writers often used a literary device commonly called relative negation (sometimes called comparative negation). Rather than absolutely denying one thing, they emphasized another by comparison. The point is not, “This never mattered,” but, “This was never the primary issue.”

Jeremiah is not claiming God never instituted sacrifices.

He is saying that compared to covenant faithfulness, sacrifices were never God’s ultimate concern.

This pattern appears throughout Scripture.

Samuel tells Saul,

“To obey is better than sacrifice…” (1 Sam. 15:22)

Hosea records God’s words,

“I desire steadfast love rather than sacrifice…” (Hos. 6:6)

Jesus quotes Hosea twice (Matt. 9:13; 12:7), reminding Israel that mercy had always been the weightier matter.

The same rhetorical pattern continues into the New Testament.

Paul writes,

“Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel.” (1 Cor. 1:17)

Yet Paul clearly baptized believers (1 Cor. 1:14–16). His point was never that baptism was unimportant. Rather, proclaiming the gospel was his primary apostolic commission.

Likewise, when Jesus says,

“Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life.” (John 6:27)

He is not forbidding ordinary labor.

He is establishing priorities.

Recognizing this Hebraic way of speaking prevents us from creating contradictions where the biblical authors intended emphasis. As Craig S. Keener frequently notes, first-century Jewish communication often emphasized one truth by subordinating another without denying its validity.

One Story, One Message

Jeremiah 7 is not an isolated idea.

It stands within a consistent message proclaimed throughout Scripture.

• God graciously established sacrifices as part of the covenant (Exod. 24; Lev. 1–7; 16).
• “To obey is better than sacrifice.” (1 Sam. 15:22)
• “I desire steadfast love rather than sacrifice.” (Hos. 6:6)
• God desires justice, mercy, and humility above ritual (Mic. 6:6–8).
• “Obey My voice.” (Jer. 7:22–23)
• “Sacrifice and offering You have not desired…” (Ps. 40:6–8)

Notice what none of these passages say.

None reject the Law.

None claim the sacrificial system was a mistake.

Instead, they insist that sacrifices were never intended to replace faithful obedience.

God graciously gave the sacrificial system, but Israel gradually began treating sacrifices as though they could compensate for persistent rebellion. They assumed ritual could replace covenant faithfulness.

The prophets answered with one consistent refrain:

Obey My voice.

Jeremiah Wasn’t Correcting Moses

The prophets never opposed Moses.

They opposed Israel’s misuse of Moses.

Jeremiah wasn’t correcting the Law.

He was correcting Israel’s misunderstanding of the Law.

The sacrificial system was never the problem.

The human heart was.

Hebrews Brings the Story to Its Climax

The writer of Hebrews reaches back to Psalm 40 and declares:

“Sacrifices and offerings You have not desired…” (Heb. 10:5–10)

This is not an attack on Moses.

It is an explanation of Moses.

The sacrificial system never competed with Christ.

It anticipated Him.

Every priest, every offering, every festival, and every Day of Atonement pointed beyond themselves to the perfect obedience and once-for-all sacrifice of the Messiah. As G. K. Beale argues throughout his work on biblical theology, the institutions of the Old Testament find their fulfillment—not their contradiction—in Christ.

This is also why Jeremiah could promise a coming New Covenant in which God would write His law upon the hearts of His people (Jer. 31:31–34), and why Hebrews later explains that promise through the finished work of Christ (Heb. 8:8–13; 10:15–18).

The cross did not interrupt God’s plan.

It fulfilled it.

Grace in Shadow, Grace in Fullness

From Exodus to Hebrews, the story never changes.

God has always desired faithful hearts before faithful rituals.

The Law was never the enemy of grace.

It was one expression of God’s grace within the covenant, providing temporary restoration while pointing beyond itself to something greater.

The sacrificial system never competed with Christ.

It anticipated Him.

The cross did not introduce God’s grace.

It revealed the fullness of the grace God had been showing His people all along.

The Law was grace expressed through shadows.

Christ is grace revealed in fullness.