The Rituals of the Old and New Covenants Compared

Unfortunately, Christians often confuse or blend the rituals of the Old Covenant with those of the New Covenant in Christ. Moreover, all too often, ritual takes precedence over the reality to which they point. In other words, Christians sometimes lose sight of the significance and purpose of the ritual - Why they are performing them (the Hebrews did the same thing).

Before delving into the rituals of Scripture, we should define our terms to avoid some of the confusion which will be inherent to this topic. When I type "ritual" into my search engine, it is defined as "a religious or solemn ceremony consisting of a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order." Merriam-Webster defines it as "the established form for a ceremony." Interestingly, the English word "ritual" does not appear in the King James Version of the Bible. However, it does appear six times in the New Living Translation. The Hebrew word "aboda" is translated into English as "service" or "work" in the King James Version. Moreover, this is very consistent with the way that the Hebrew Scriptures view the rituals associated with the Old Covenant - as works or labors on behalf of God, the Tabernacle, etc. Like the other laws of Torah, these rituals were seen as things to do or to perform.

In the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament to Christians), Torah outlines a rich tapestry of rituals related to the priesthood, sacrifices, offerings, clean and unclean, festivals, and everyday life. From the Christian perspective, it is important to understand that ALL of those rituals of Torah pointed to Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said that he came to this earth to fulfill them! Paul described them as shadows of the reality found in Jesus Christ. But how exactly did Christ embody those rituals? Well, the New Testament reveals that Jesus is the Lamb of God. He is the one who actually carries away our sins. He sacrificed/offered himself to God on our behalf. Jesus provided his own blood so that we would have access to the true Holy of Holies in Heaven. He is the first of the firstfruits presented to God in Heaven. He is our Sabbath rest from our own works. He is the one for whom the Trumpet sounds. He is the one who tabernacled in the flesh for us. Jesus is the one who washed away our filth and made us clean before God! He is our High Priest, and the One who made it possible for us to receive the Holy Spirit to circumcise our hearts and make us a part of God's people!

In the New Testament, however, Christians are only given a handful of rituals. They are the Eucharist, baptism, the laying on of hands, and the model prayer (the one some folks refer to as "The Lord's Prayer). "What about marriage?" some of my friends will ask. Interestingly, you will NOT find any ritual related to marriage in either the Old or New Testaments. Scripturally speaking, marriage is viewed as a special covenant between two people. Hence, it is NOT regarded as a ritual in Scripture. Now, admittedly, humans have developed their own ceremonies and rituals associated with this covenant; but there are NOT any Scriptural rituals mandated for it. Unlike the Old Covenant ritual which pointed to Christ, we should also note that the four New Covenant rituals all point to what Christ has done for us! The Eucharist is symbolic of us accepting the body and blood of Christ. Likewise, baptism is symbolic of the death of our former sinful self and our rebirth to a new life in Jesus. The Laying on of Hands is symbolic of the transference of the Holy Spirit to each of us, the ordination of the different offices of the ekklesia, and the healing which we can receive through Christ. Finally, the model or "Lord's Prayer" relates to how Christ expects us to pray to our Father in Heaven. That's it! There simply aren't any Scriptural formulas for how religious services, marriages, or funerals are to be performed.

Interestingly, in all of the rituals related to both the Old and New Covenants, we must understand that they were given to remind us (the participants) of spiritual truths/realities. Again, their ONLY purpose was to remind us about what God will do or has done for all of us! In other words, they are symbolic of spiritual realities, they are NOT the reality! God gave them to "his" people to help us, NOT to give us more to do! Under normal circumstances we should follow them, but we must NOT lose sight of the fact that Christ actually died for us and shed his blood to enable us to stand before God free of our sins. Likewise, Christ washed away our sins and gave us the Holy Spirit. In other words, the rituals do NOT accomplish these things for us. They are a means to an end, they are NOT the end!