Christianity and Judaism — The Old Covenant, the New Covenant, & Redemption From Sin
Summary
There is one unchanging God in the Bible whose way of forgiving sins has remained consistent from the Old Testament to the New.
There is one character of God. One consistent personality and one consistent theme across the whole Bible.
About This Study
This study is not affiliated with any denomination. It is based entirely on the Bible and reflects the teaching of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All conclusions are drawn directly from the full context of Scripture, with clear references so readers can examine the evidence for themselves.
Both Christianity and Judaism preserve the Scriptures, but both have also accumulated centuries of religious traditions. This study goes back to the biblical text itself and compares the patterns directly – applying the same standard to both religions.
Contents
Preface – Our Unchanging God of the Bible
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The 1st Parallel - God's Old and New Covenants
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The 2nd Parallel - The Daily Requirement
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The 3rd Parallel - The Eating of the Sacrifice for Forgiveness
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The 4th Parallel - No Breaking of Bones of the Sacrifice
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The 5th Parallel - How to Approach God
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Daily Sacrifices in the Old Covenant – How God Was Present Among His People
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More Scripture on the Old Covenant Daily Sacrifices
Preface – Our Unchanging God of the Bible
Here are the characteristics of God that carried over from the Old Covenant to the New – yet are rarely taught today:
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God forgives sins on a daily basis, as Jesus taught in His prayer.
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His forgiveness requires a daily redemption sacrifice – fulfilled by Jesus on our behalf and given as the “daily Bread of Life.”
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The sacrifice must be eaten daily. Jesus’ prayer shows how to ask the Father for the Bread of Life.
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Forgiveness is contingent upon forgiving others, as stated in the Lord’s Prayer.
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After this reconciliation, God sends the Holy Spirit to dwell with believers daily – also reflected in the Lord’s Prayer.
God's ways of dealing with people have remained consistent from the Old Covenant to the New. Although Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant law, important parallels carried forward into the New Covenant that are often overlooked today. These biblical parallels show that God’s foundational ways have not changed. They also explain the precise wording and significance of the Lord’s Prayer.
In determining which Old Covenant requirements were fulfilled by Jesus, churches overlooked some important elements that Jesus Himself carried forward into the New Covenant. These are reflected in the Lord’s Prayer, whose deeper meaning is also widely missed today.
★ Two key requirements carried forward into the New Covenant but are rarely recognized today:
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Daily renewal
(daily forgiveness of sins and receiving the Holy Spirit, as in Jesus's prayer)
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Eating of the sacrifice
(the spiritual daily Bread of life through Jesus's prayer)
1. The 1st Parallel - God's Old and New Covenants
This parallel compares the Old Covenant and the New Covenant as described in the Bible, rather than religious traditions.
Under the Old Covenant:
Under the Old Covenant, God established a system of offerings and sacrifices for atonement. From the Christian understanding of Scripture, this system also prepared the way for the coming of the Messiah and His final sacrifice. Scripture identifies Israel as God's chosen people. For example:
Exodus 19:5 Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine.
A side note: Christianity and Judaism differ fundamentally over the identity of Jesus. Christians believe that Jesus is the Messiah promised in the Hebrew Scriptures, while Judaism does not accept Him as the Messiah. This study does not attempt to resolve that disagreement through religious tradition. Instead, it compares the biblical texts and patterns so readers can examine the evidence for themselves.
Under the New Covenant:
Under the New Covenant, Jesus—the perfect and final sacrifice − fulfilled the Old Covenant sacrificial requirements. Through His sacrifice, redemption is offered to all who believe in Him, Jew and Gentile alike.
Galatians 3:13 Christ bought us with His blood and made us free from the Law.
John 14:15-16 [Jesus:] “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever.
2. The 2nd Parallel - The Daily Requirement
Under the Old Covenant:
When the people of Israel sinned, God provided sacrifices for atonement. Regular sacrifices were also presented daily, as God instructed. The Old Covenant therefore included an ongoing pattern of sacrifice, atonement, and reconciliation with God.
Exodus 29:38-39
This is what you are to offer on the altar regularly each day: two lambs a year old. Offer one in the morning and the other at twilight.
Under the New Covenant:
When Christians sin, Jesus has already provided the perfect and final sacrifice, becoming our spiritual Bread of Life. Accordingly, He taught us to ask God for this Bread and for forgiveness daily through the Lord’s Prayer. As long as we remain in Jesus as He instructed, we remain reconciled with God. There is still no lifelong blanket forgiveness that eliminates the need for daily reconciliation.
Matthew 6:11-12
Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, ...
John 15:4
Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
★ Sure, Jesus paid the price once for all, but Scripture still tells us to ask God for forgiveness daily. This is what Jesus taught in the Lord’s Prayer.
★ This daily aspect of reconciliation is widely misunderstood, largely because the meaning of the Lord’s Prayer itself has been misunderstood, leading many church teachings down different paths shaped by tradition.
The important difference is that under the Old Covenant, new sacrifices were repeatedly offered as required by the Law. Under the New Covenant, Christians do not repeat the sacrifice – Jesus’ one perfect sacrifice is sufficient. Instead, we spiritually receive the Bread of Life and ask for forgiveness daily through the Lord’s Prayer, as Jesus taught.
★ Both the old and new covenants accomplished these same two objectives:
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Daily forgiveness of sins
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Maintaining a daily relationship with God
Related Bible Study: The Lord's Prayer Is Severely Misunderstood
3. The 3rd Parallel - The Eating of the Sacrifice for Forgiveness
★ Under the Old Covenant, the Jewish priests ate the daily sacrifice as part of the atonement for sins. Under the New Covenant, Christians receive the daily spiritual Bread of Life – Jesus Himself – for forgiveness.
For God's redemption design to work, the sacrifice (on our behalf) must be eaten to atone for our sins:
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Old covenant: The Jewish priests ate the sacrifice.
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New covenant: Christians eat the Bread of life for forgiveness, we spiritually eat it by faith, when we pray the Lord's Prayer.
Under the Old Covenant:
God instructed the priests to eat portions of certain sacrifices and offerings. In some cases, this eating was specifically connected with atonement for sins, as the passages below show.
★ The sacrifice was not merely offered – the priests were also required to eat it.
Exodus 29:31-33
“Take the ram for the ordination and cook the meat in a sacred place. At the entrance to the tent of meeting, Aaron and his sons are to eat the meat of the ram and the bread that is in the basket. They are to eat these offerings by which atonement was made for their ordination and consecration...
Leviticus 6:25–26 (6:18–19 in the Hebrew Bible)
“Tell Aaron and his sons that this is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered, the sin offering shall be slaughtered before the LORD; it is most holy. The priest who offers it shall eat it; it must be eaten in a holy place, in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting.
Leviticus 10:17
Moses asked them, “Why didn’t you eat the offering for sin in the holy place? It is very holy and was given to you to take away the sins of the congregation and to make peace with the Lord for them.
Under the New Covenant:
Under the New Covenant, Jesus is the perfect and final sacrifice and the Bread of Life. God the Father gives us this spiritual Bread when we ask, and we receive it by faith for forgiveness of sins. The Lord’s Prayer provides the spiritual way of receiving this Bread daily – not through physically eating bread, but through genuinely praying the Lord’s Prayer with the correct meaning of the “daily Bread.”
★ Jesus is the perfect and final sacrifice who became the Bread of Life in the Lord’s Prayer He taught us.
John 6:33, 6:51
Jesus said: "...my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
John 6:57
…the one who “feeds” on me…
Paul also referred to Israel’s eating of sacrifices when teaching about participation in the New Covenant:
1 Corinthians 10:18
Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar?
4. The 4th Parallel - No Breaking of Bones of the Sacrifice
God included specific details in the Old Covenant sacrificial system to point to the Messiah. When the Old and New Covenants are read together, this consistency becomes clear.
Under the Old Covenant:
Under the Old Covenant, God gave a specific instruction regarding the Passover sacrifice: its bones were not to be broken.
Numbers 9:11–12
They must not leave any of it till morning or break any of its bones…
Exodus 12:46
…Do not break any of the bones.
Under the New Covenant:
Jesus – the perfect and final sacrifice – fulfilled this same pattern. When the Roman soldiers broke the legs of the others being crucified, they did not break Jesus’ legs. John specifically tells us that this happened to fulfill Scripture: “Not one of his bones will be broken.”
John 19:33-36
But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs... These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken."
When the soldiers came to Jesus, they did not break His legs, even though they broke the legs of the others.
This detail is significant. The unbroken bones of the Passover lamb foreshadowed the Messiah – and Jesus fulfilled that pattern exactly.
These connections are often overlooked, yet they point clearly to the consistency of God’s design and the identity of the Messiah.
5. The 5th Parallel - How to Approach God
Under the Old Covenant:
Approaching God required following His instructions carefully. Moses removed his sandals at the burning bush. The Israelites were required to keep their distance when God met with Moses at Mount Sinai. And only the high priest could enter the Most Holy Place, following God’s specific requirements.
Under the New Covenant:
Jesus’ sacrifice gave us direct access to God and taught us to call Him “our Father,” but approaching God still calls for reverence and humility.
Kneeling in private during prayer is a fitting expression of humility, worship, and reverence before God. The Old Testament repeatedly refers to people bending their knees before other gods, something that deeply grieved God. This helps show the significance of kneeling as an act of worship and reverence toward God. Our relationship is that He is our God and Father, and we are His children.
The covenant-comparison below highlights a key takeaway: under the Old Covenant, forgiveness required daily obedience to detailed commands. Under the New Covenant, Jesus fulfilled those requirements and transformed them into a daily spiritual practice. Although the method changed, God’s expectation of daily reconciliation did not.
★ God's personality has always been the same – reconcile with Him on a daily basis. For us under the new covenant, the Lord's Prayer accomplishes this by receiving the daily Bread of Life.
6. Daily Sacrifices in the Old Covenant — How God Was Present Among His People
God gave Israel detailed instructions through Moses for sacrifices, offerings, worship, and atonement. The Levites were set apart for service to God, with the priests carrying out the sacrificial duties on behalf of the people. Through the atonement God provided, their sins could be forgiven. As a result, God was present among them, in the cloud by day and fire by night:
Exodus 40:34-35 & 38
Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels.
God’s presence among His people was connected with their reconciliation to Him. As they followed His instructions for worship and atonement, God remained among them and provided for them throughout their journey. Today we understand these Old Covenant provisions as preparing the way for the Messiah and the New Covenant.
The main point is that under the Old Covenant, the people of Israel were given detailed requirements for worship and atonement that had to be carried out continually. Yet today, the much simpler requirement of genuinely praying the Lord’s Prayer daily for renewal and forgiveness is widely resisted or misunderstood.
Churches made a serious mistake in their misinterpretation of these teachings. They missed the daily need to worship God and ask for forgiveness of sins, which is evident in the Lord’s Prayer.
7. More Scripture on the Old Covenant Daily Sacrifices
These verses are only some examples. The Old Covenant contained many additional requirements and preparations surrounding sacrifices and offerings.
Leviticus 5:6
”As a penalty for the sin they have committed, they must bring to the Lord a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for them for their sin.“
Numbers 28:3
Say to them: ‘This is the food offering you are to present to the Lord: two lambs 1-year-old without defect, as a regular burnt offering each day.
Exodus 29:38-39
“This is what you are to offer on the altar regularly each day: two lambs 1-year old. Offer one in the morning and the other at twilight.
Exodus 29:42
“For the generations to come this burnt offering is to be made regularly at the entrance to the tent of meeting, before the Lord. There I will meet you and speak to you
Leviticus 4:31
…In this way the priest will make atonement for them, and they will be forgiven.
2 Chronicles 2:4 (2:3 in the Hebrew Bible)
King Solomon said: Now I am about to build a temple for the Name of the Lord my God and to dedicate it to him for burning fragrant incense before him, for setting out the consecrated bread regularly, and for making burnt offerings every morning and evening and on the Sabbaths, at the New Moons and at the appointed festivals of the Lord our God. This is a lasting ordinance for Israel.
7.1 How the Old Covenant Sacrificial System Operated — The Twelve Tribes, the Priestly Levites, and the Origin of the 10% Tithe
After Israel entered the Promised Land, the tribes received their territorial inheritances. The tribe of Levi, however, did not receive a territorial inheritance like the other tribes. The Levites were set apart for service to God, and provisions from the other Israelites supported them so they could carry out their assigned duties.
This is also where the biblical 10% tithe comes from. The Israelites gave a tenth to support the Levites because the Levites had no territorial inheritance and were set apart for the work God assigned them. This Old Covenant arrangement is the basis for the 10% tithe still taught by many Protestant churches today.
After the Jews came out of the desert and arrived at the promised land. Eleven of the 12 tribes of Israel were given their land allotment in the promised land. But the 12th tribe, the tribe of Levi, were not given any land. Instead they were given a portion of the produce from the other 11 tribes. This way the tribe of Levi would not have to work the land for survival. And instead they would dedicate their time to serving God in the temple. In the old covenant God had hundreds of commandments to be performed on a regular basis. Serving God in the temple was demanding work; a full-time job for all the Levites; they deserved the 10% tithes from the other tribes for their hard work. This is how God balanced the distribution equally among the 12 tribes.
Note, today many Protestant churches stress the need to tithe 10% of income based on the Law of Moses in the Old Testament. But their ministers are not performing the demanding work assigned to the Levites – nor should they, because Jesus fulfilled those Old Covenant requirements. The 10% tithe was specifically given to support the Levites for that work. Churches should follow Paul’s teaching that “any gift is acceptable.” But before donations, churches need to preach from the whole Bible – not just the high-level parts summarized as “by faith alone,” or Catholic traditions! See Are We True Christians?
Deuteronomy 18:1-5
The Levitical priests—indeed, the whole tribe of Levi—are to have no allotment or inheritance with Israel. They shall live on the food offerings presented to the Lord, for that is their inheritance. They shall have no inheritance among their fellow Israelites; the Lord is their inheritance, as he promised them.
This is the share due the priests from the people who sacrifice a bull or a sheep: the shoulder, the internal organs and the meat from the head. You are to give them the first-fruits of your grain, new wine and olive oil, and the first wool from the shearing of your sheep, for the Lord your God has chosen them and their descendants out of all your tribes to stand and minister in the Lord’s name always.
Last updated: September 14, 2026
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