INTRODUCTION

    A. Judaism is not the end, nor is it the solution. It is the means to get to
         the solution.

    B. Judaism was designed with a mission. When that mission was
         completed Judaism was no longer needed. 

    C. Judaism was not designed to last forever, nor was Patriarchy designed
         to last forever. 

        1. Jeremiah 31:31: “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD,
            when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with
            the house of Judah.”

        2. Acts 17:30: “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but
            now commands all men everywhere to repent.”

    D. I will be using the New King James Version (NKJV) and making
         comparison with the Tanakh (a modern Jewish Bible).

DISCUSSION

  I. JUDAISM IS THE TUTOR.

    A. Galatians 3:24: “Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ,
         that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no
         longer under a tutor.”

    B. The word “tutor” (or “schoolmaster”; KJV) is from the Greek word
         “paidagogos.” It refers to guardians of school age boys. The tutor was
         not the teacher, but led the boys to the teacher. They were responsible
         for getting the boys to school safely. They kept them on the right path
         and out of mischief.

    C. The purpose of Moses and the prophets was to bring people to
         Christ. Was it capable of doing this in the first century? Yes it was. 

        1. In Acts 2, Peter quotes Psalms and Joel.

        2. In Acts 8, Philip begins with Isaiah 53:7-8 to teach Christ.

        3. Jesus uses many Old Testament scriptures to prove who He is.

    D. Is the Old Testament capable of bringing people to Christ today? Yes
         it is.

        1. The Bible has not changed. It is as effective as it always has been.

        2. Scripture is linked together to make a unified whole. The Old
            Testament and New Testament complement each other. You will
            know more about the New from the Old. You will know more of
            the Old from the New.

    E. The Old Testament is the tutor.

        1. It is not the teacher, but is the guide to the teacher.

        2. It is not the be all, end all.

        3. It was never meant to last forever.

        4. Jeremiah 31:31-33: “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD,
            when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with
            the house of Judah – not according to the covenant that I made with
            their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out
            of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a
            husband to them, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will
            make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I
            will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will
            be their God, and they shall be My people.”

        5. Once the tutor has accomplished his job, there is no longer the need
            for him. Once he has taken the children to the Teacher there is no
            longer a need for the tutor.

        6. You can think of Judaism as the school bus. It delivers the children
            to the school–that is, Christ. Once it has made it to the school there
            is no need for the children to stay on the bus. 

        7. Judaism had a purpose. It is the line that brought in the Christ. Once
            His mission was completed so, too, was the mission of Judaism.

    F. Someone is changing the tutor–it cannot lead to Messiah.

        1. The Old Testament brings all to Jesus of Nazareth.

        2. Modern Judaism seeks to deny Jesus of Nazareth.

        3. Modern Jewish Bibles must be altered the identifying prophecies of
            the Messiah. If prophecy leads to Jesus then prophecy must be
            changed.

        4. Often the words, “Meaning of Heb. Uncertain,” appear in critical
            verses.

            a. Psalm 22:17 (Tanakh): “Dogs surround me; a pack of evil ones
               close in on me, like lions [they maul] my hands and feet.”

            b. Psalm 2:12 (Tanakh): “Pay homage in good faith, lest He be
                angered, and your way be doomed in the mere flash of His anger.
                Happy are all who take refuge in Him” (Meaning in Heb.
                uncertain). 

  II. WHAT DO YOU HAVE IF JUDAISM IS KEPT AND THE NEW
      TESTAMENT DENIED?

    A. What does Judaism offer?

        1. The oracles of God (Romans 3:1,2).

        2. The oracles of God presented a teaching that leads to Christ.

    B. What if the Christ were ignored?

        1. Then the oracles are ignored.

        2. This would render Judaism pointless.

        3. Judaism without the Christ is empty.

        4. Judaism where there is no Christ is a dead end.

        5. The very purpose of Judaism is ignored.

        6. Judaism is not the answer, it leads to the answer. 

        7. Christ is the answer.

    C. The mysteries of the past are never solved.

        1. The Old Testament (by itself) is an unresolved book.

        2. The mysteries presented in it are not solved.

        3. 1 Peter 1:10-12: “Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and
             searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come
             to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ
             who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the
             sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it
             was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering
             the things which now have been reported to you through those who
             have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from
             heaven -- things which angels desire to look into.”

        4. The Old Testament ends with a promise. It ends waiting for
            someone who is desperately needed. It ends unresolved. There is
            the promise of a solution, but not now.

        5. Malachi 4:5: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the
            coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. 6 And he will
            turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the
            children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a
            curse.”

        6. There are mysteries which cannot be solved except through the
            New Testament and Christ.

            a. Zechariah 11:12-13 (NKJV): “Then I said to them, ‘If it is
                agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain.’ So they
                weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver. And the LORD
                said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter’ -- that princely price they set
                on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into
                the house of the LORD for the potter.”

            b. Zechariah 11:12-13 (Tanakh): “Then I said to them, ‘if you are
                satisfied pay me my wages; if not, don’t.’ So they weighed out
                my wages, thirty shekels of silver– the noble sum that I was worth
                in their estimation. The LORD said to me, ‘Deposit it in the
                treasury.’ And I took the thirty shekels and deposited it in the
                treasury in the House of the Lord.”

                1) All reference to the potter is missing.

                2) Why would anyone go to the temple to pay the potter?

            c. Psalm 110:4 (NKJV): “The LORD has sworn And will not relent,
                ‘You are a priest forever According to the order of
                Melchizedek.’”

            d. Psalm 110:4 (Tanakh): “The LORD has sworn and will not relent,
                ‘You are a priest forever, a rightful king by My decree.’”

                1) What is the meaning of “a priest forever according to the order
                    of Melchizedek”?

                2) You cannot know the meaning of this verse without help from
                     the book of Hebrews, which explains the meaning.

       7. The Old Testament prepares the way for understanding the New.

        8. The New Testament answers the questions remaining in the Old.

  III. CHRIST IS THE BETTER WAY.

    A. Christ is the fulfillment of the law of Moses. It is completed through
         Him, it ends with Him.

    B. Matthew 5:17: “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the
        Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.  For assuredly, I say
        to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no
        means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.”

    C. 2 Corinthians 3:2-16: “You are our epistle written in our hearts,
         known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ,
         ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living 
        God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart. 
        And we have such trust through Christ toward God.  Not that we are
        sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but
        our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of
        the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills,
        but the Spirit gives life.  But if the ministry of death, written and
        engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could
        not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his
        countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of
        the Spirit not be more glorious?  For if the ministry of condemnation 
        had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. 
        For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because
        of the glory that excels.  For if what is passing away was glorious, what
        remains is much more glorious.  Therefore, since we have such hope,
        we use great boldness of speech – unlike Moses, who put a veil over
        his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end
        of what was passing away.  But their minds were blinded. For until this
        day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament,
        because the veil is taken away in Christ.  But even to this day, when
        Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. 16 Nevertheless when one
        turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.”

    D. Colossians 2:14: “Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements
         that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out
         of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”

    E. Romans 7:1-4: “Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those
        who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as
        he lives?  For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to
        her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released
        from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she
        marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her
        husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress,
        though she has married another man.  Therefore, my brethren, you also
        have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may
        be married to another -- to Him who was raised from the dead, that
        we should bear fruit to God.”

    F. Christ is the focus of the law of Moses and Israel. Without Him the
        purpose of Israel is removed.

    G. Without Jesus of Nazareth there is no sacrifice for sins and all that was
        planned and purposed comes to nothing. All the promises of God
        become nothing.

        1. Daniel 2:44 is made void.

        2. Genesis 3:15 is still unresolved.

        3. All prophcies of the Messiah become meaningless.

IV. ILLUSTRATIONS.

    A. A mathematical equation is not the solution, it brings the solution. The
         solution is the number at the end which is the answer to the problem.
         After you receive the solution (the final number) the equation is
         academic. Can you learn from the equation? Yes. Do you still need 
         the equation? Yes, so you can know the answer is correct. If you do
         not like the number at the end then you will have to go back to the
         equation and change all the numbers to find a new solution. Changing
         the numbers in the equation will never produce the correct answer.
         The original equation produces the same answer, which will always be
         the correct answer.

    B. A person is traveling in a remote area and becomes terribly sick. On
         the trail comes a guide. This guide sees the sick traveler and tells the
         traveler that he knows where there is a doctor. The doctor is very
         good, can help the traveler, but cannot be found without the guide.
         The traveler follows the guide and eventually they make it to the
         doctor’s house. Once the traveler makes it to the doctor he no longer
         needs the guide to help him–he now has the doctor. The guide could
         only guide, he cannot heal. The doctor is the solution to the problem,
         the guide takes the traveler to the solution. Once the guide’s job is
         done there is no need for him anymore. If the traveler refuses the 
         doctor he refuses the guide as well, and the work of the guide
         becomes pointless. 

CONCLUSION

    A. The Law of Moses came to an end in Christ.

    B. The Old Testament is the guide to Christ, it is not the final word from
         God.

    C. Without the New Testament you have an unresolved book, mysteries,
         locked doors and confusion.

    D. The Old Testament is an equation that demands an answer. Judaism
         was designed to bring in the Messiah, the answer to sin. Modern
         Judaism denies the answer–Jesus of Nazareth. Thus it continues to
         look for another answer by changing the equation by changing
         prophecy, scripture, and the design and purpose of Judaism.

    E. The answer is Christ, Who brings the perfect law of liberty to all.

    F. Romans 1:16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is
         the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew
         first and also for the Greek.”
 
 

William Howard
304 Crosswalk Drive
Auburn, GA  30011