Heaven And Earth Will Not Pass Away Until… (Matthew 5:17-18) - Part 1
When teaching on the biblical topic that the law has ended, some will ask a very good question about what Matthew 5:17 means in relationship to the ending of the law.
Jesus stated the following words:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17)
When we read Matthew 5:17, it is vital that we also read Matthew 5:18, where Jesus said,
“For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”
Notice the phrases: until heaven and earth disappear and until everything is accomplished.
Let’s examine both of these phrases through the eyes and ears of the first-century Jewish audience who heard Jesus speak.
Understanding the phrases, Law and the Prophets and heaven and earth, as a Jewish person would have understood them is critical to properly interpreting and applying Matthew 5:17-18.
With this statement in Matthew 5:17-18, Jesus is communicating to his first-century, Jewish audience about the Law of Moses and the Prophets of Israel.
The Law of Moses taught the people of Israel about God’s commandments and requirements, along with the blessings for obeying the law and curses for disobeying the law.
The Prophets of Israel spoke to the people of Israel about their failure to obey Law of Moses and the consequences for their failure to obey.
The Law of Moses contained the commandments and requirements the people of Israel were to observe.
If they disobeyed the commandments and did not observe the requirements, they would be cursed (Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28-30).
However, if they obeyed the commandments and observed the requirements they would blessed (Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28-30).
Deuteronomy 30-32 records that that people of Israel would not obey the law and would, therefore, fall under its curses.
In Deuteronomy 4:26, God stated that he would call heaven and earth as a witness against the people of Israel for their failure to obey the law of Moses and the consequences that would follow.
“I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it, but will be utterly destroyed.”
In Deuteronomy 30:19, God stated that he calls heaven and earth as a witness against the people concerning the law of blessings and curses.
“I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing.”
In Deuteronomy 31:24-29, Moses calls heaven and earth as witness against the Israelites for their future disobedience to the law.
Assemble before me [Moses] all the elders of your tribes and all your officers so that I may speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to witness against them. For I know that after my death you will become utterly corrupt and turn from the path I have commanded you. And in the days to come, disaster will befall you because you will do evil in the sight of the LORD to provoke Him to anger by the work of your hands.”
In these verses we see that heaven and earth would testify against the people of Israel for their success or failure to obey the law.
The heaven and earth would testify against the nation of Israel as heaven poured out either blessings or cursings upon Israel.
If they obeyed the law, blessings would flow from heaven to earth for the people.
If they disobeyed, curses would be poured out upon them from heaven to earth.
For example, when the people of Israel disobeyed the law of Moses, they would be scattered into all nations, and their land would not produce food because their would be no rain from heaven (2 Chronicles 6:26-27; 7:13).
The history of Israel contained from Exodus 19 (the establishment of the law) -70 AD (the final destruction of Jerusalem for disobedient to the law - Jesus spoke about this in Matthew 24-25; Luke 21; Mark 13), reveal the rebellion of the people of Israel to the Law of Moses and the curses from heaven to earth upon them.
The Prophets used the same phrase, heaven and earth, to speak against the people because they rebelled to the law.
Isaiah 1:2 states, “Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth! For the Lord has spoken: “I reared children (the people of Israel) and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me (willfully turned against the law of Moses in disobedience).”
With this understanding of heaven and earth, as it related to the Law of Moses, let’s return to the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:17-18.
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
In Part Two, we will continue to examine Matthew 5:17-19 as seek to understand how the original hearers (first-century Jewish people) of Jesus understood him.
