The OT as an impossible goal?

Question

I have heard it said by some Christians that the Mosaic law of the Bible was set as an impossible goal that no one could reach.

I find this logically hard to believe if G-d came down to a group of people and said I am giving you a set of rules and regulations so you may get close to me that are eternal. And then 1,500 years latter this same G-d says never mind. I set those goals to show you that you could not achieve them.

Sounds a little sadistic doesn’t it? Why would a benevolent Creator set up a test just for people to fail? Dose he enjoy watching them suffer?

I here what your saying Mr Ed but then where is the clause that says all this will change when the Messiah dies. It talks about the laws being eternal it even says if someone tells you not to follow the law you are not to listen to them.

Answer 1

The way you put it, it sounds a little sadistic, yes. However it is more along this line: God's law is meant to show how perfect God is. He is telling man: "If you want to be perfect, this is it". However even in the Old Testament you see the command to love God and love one another, as being the all-encompassing commands. You see Man presented as a sinner, depending on God's mercy. You see the whole principle of forgiveness. Grace is not a new concept in the New Testament. It was there all along. As God gave the laws, he prescribed the sacrifices for sin. So He was even telling them at the time that they could not fulfill the law in themselves. He wasn't fooling them or playing with them.
Christ the redeemer was promised all along. The difference is now He has come, He has been revealed, and we can look back to His finished work at the cross in stead of looking forward to it.
So we can look at it with much more understanding.
Good question, by the way.

Answer 2

It wasn't and isn't possible for anybody to keep all the law and God knows that. That's why He instructed the Israelites to bring animal sacrifices, once a year for the whole people or for the individual whenever a person had sinned.
The law together with the animal offerings provided a way for the people to be considered righteous before God. God can not ignore sin, He can forgive it though. In the Old Testament an innocent animal had to die in order for a person to be forgiven for her/his sins.
Christians believe that Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice and that because of Him, we don't have to sacrifice animals for our sins anymore. He was the perfect, innocent lamb.
The reason the Israelites failed regarding the law was not because they couldn't keep it. They didn't care about it and after some time it was all but forgotten.
It's not that they weren't able to keep it, they just couldn't be bothered with it which is why they eventually lost the land God gave them.
You can read all about that in the first and second book of Kings.
About the addtional details:
The New Testament doesn't say anywhere that the law would not be valid anymore after Jesus' death!! Jesus Himself said in Matthew 5,1-18:
"Don't think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. Yes, I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or stroke will pass from the Torah."

Answer 3

In a way yes, the Israelites have failed to adhere to their Mosaic law and their priestly status were taken away.

Now here comes the Son of God who witnessed to people about his Father the only true God and talked about love and even showing this love their enemies. What does Christendom do? They claim to have three gods and they've been warring and killing since the 4th century, not only against their enemies but to their fellow brothers in Christendom.

Answer 4

JASONWTX god was not telling them how to make bread as an ingredient. he was telling them to make bread and use dung as fuel in order to cook it. you are an idiot if you think that god would do something mean to his children.

the old testament is not an impossible goal it was a set of rules and disiplines laid out to teach the human race. the human race had to be taught the same way a human is
by rules and punishments in it's infancy
and later after it has learned you teach the child to live through principles such as how jesus taught when he fulfilled the law of moses.

Answer 5

In my understanding, the only way we (or anyone who chooses to) can fulfill the Law is by being loving.
If G-d is love, then everything He does, says & commands is based in love.
We can only satisfy the requirements of this by being loving. Our motive for all we do has to be love. I think any other motive, such as selfishness or ambition, will be purged away, & only those things done with love as the motive will endure.

Answer 6

Bro -- Look at the end of Ezekiel Ch 4.

You think what you said is hard to believe?

Get this -- the end of the chapter has god coming down to give people a recipe for making bread from feces, and discussing the difference between human dung and animal dung -- the point being, he wanted some people to eat poop-defiled bread...

do you see a GOD coming to earth to have a conversation with someone about sh!tbread? how to make it? and who to feed it to???

honestly, it is the most ridiculous book ever written.

Kuraimizu: the scripture specifically states -- EZ 4:12 And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight. 13. And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them.


Did you see that? DEFILED Bread. Bread which is defiled because it was made with fecal ingedient. And he wanted them to eat it. And yes, that is cruel. WAKE UP!!

Read it -- dont just parrot what other morons tell you to think about it, because then, you are nothing but a moron yourself.

Answer 7

The bible makes about as much sense as the koran, and the koran makes about as much sense as scuba gear for horses!!

Answer 8

You hit the nail right on the head, gratvol!

Answer 9

This 'god' guy is a real creep.