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But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all…and to Jesus… Hebrews 12.22-24
In the ancient Middle East many cities were founded on what are called tells. A tell is a mound or hill on which a city is located, and many of those cities were built and re-built on the ruins of ancient cities that went before. Each time a city was razed and a new one erected, archaeologists expect to find certain similarities – the “footprint” of the city, building materials, and some cultural items – but also new technologies and artifacts at each successive level of construction.
So it is with the Law of God and the Church. While the Church is being erected on the “tell” of Old Testament Israel, it is not ancient Israel; therefore, while there are certainly many areas of continuity with ancient Israel, and many similarities of purpose and character between Israel and the Church, the Law of ancient Israel must be understood anew and applied in a manner consistent with the age of grace and the Spirit in which the Church is being built.
The Law is still valid, but not in exactly the same way it was before the proclamation of the Gospel, the giving of the Spirit, and the new creation. We have not come to Old Testament Israel when we pick up those Old Covenant laws; we are the new City of those who, through faith in Jesus Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, are called to live out God’s Law in love for Him and for our neighbors in ways the Old Testament saints simply could not.
This is a challenge for church leaders, and one they must labor to understand and pursue within the framework of God’s more complete revelation in Scripture, as well as from the practice of previous generations of the followers of Christ.
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