Is the Old Testament fading away?

READER QUESTION to The Refiner's Fire:

I saw in Hebrews that the Old Testament is fading or vanishing away. How can that be true? The Old Testament contains God's Divine Instructions to us!

OUR RESPONSE:

Thank you for the excellent question. Fear not! One simply has to look at that particular passage in context, using the Hebrew mindset:

Hebrews 8:10. But this is the covenant which I will give to the family of the house of Israel after those days, says Master YHWH: I will put my Torah in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts; and I will be to them a Elohim, and they will be to me a people.

11. And one will not teach his son of the city nor his brother, nor say: You shall know your Master YHWH: because they will all know me, from the youngest of them to the oldest. 12. And I will forgive them their iniquity; and their sins will I remember no more. 13. In that he said a Renewed (Covenant), he made the first old; and that which is old and decaying, is near to disappearing. (Aramaic English New Testament)

The context is Jeremiah 31:31-34, what is “near to disappearing” is the sinful nature of man that breaks Torah, not the standard of Torah. It is imperative to remember that WE broke Torah, not YHWH. YHWH did not drop the standard of Torah because Israel chose disobedience; rather, He installed a Renewed Covenant to write Torah upon the heart through the work of the Ruach haKodesh, according to Mashiyach.

The fact of the matter is that in Mashiyach, YHWH raised the bar; He magnified Torah (see Isaiah 42:21). Because mankind broke Covenant, YHWH requires complete renovation on our part, not HIS part of the Covenant. This verse in its twisted form, became one of the “crown jewels” of Christianity which teaches that Torah is decaying and is near to disappearing - but NOTHING could be farther from the truth!

Also important is that fact that, back in chapter 7, it is the “instruction” (Torah) of the Levitical priests being discussed, pointing towards Awraham submitting his sons to be into the line of Melchisedec (Malki-Tzedek), by tithing to this man in advance.

What happens is a switching of priestly modalities within Torah where the priestly model in Exodus gives way to its predecessor from Genesis, in accordance with all the prophecies in the Tanakh. Again, Pagan tradition uses this passage to teach that it is the “Law” that is passing away.

Another vital component to understanding this priesthood is that the akeida (binding of Isaac) points to the Malki-Tzedek priesthood, not to the Levitical priesthood. The akeida is fully realized in Mashiyach ben Yoseph, the Suffering Servant who is Y’shua.