Christianity and Judaism Compared: God’s Consistent Pattern of Daily Forgiveness
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.
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 - How to Approach God
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Daily Sacrifices in the Old Covenant — Why God Was 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, whether Jews or Gentiles, 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.
Regarding the ceremonial commands fulfilled by Jesus, churches declared what ended but overlooked key elements He carried forward—clearly embedded in the Lord’s Prayer, whose deeper meaning is often overlooked. Two key requirements carried forward to the New Covenant, but churches don't know it:
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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 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.
Jews Old Covenant:
God chose to start with an old covenant before Christ using a proxy redemption plan of substitutionary offerings and sacrifices, paving the way for the final plan, the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Several verses in Exodus and Deuteronomy clearly stated that the Jews were God's chosen people. 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, today's Jewish people are no longer God's chosen people, because they rejected Jesus Christ. The Messiah has come. But they continue to reject Him to this day. They were God's chosen people when they "obeyed His voice". What Paul talked about in the New Testament, was referring to "the Elect" Jews. Those that were like Paul that God "Elected", who genuinely followed God's law of Moses but naively missed seeing Jesus as the Messiah. But today's Jews? The New Testament scripture is in front of them!!! And they continue to strongly and mockingly reject it!
Christians New Covenant:
In the new covenant, Jesus the perfect and final sacrifice fulfilled the old law and nailed it to the cross - He purchased those who believed in Him with His blood, and they became His, meaning saved. The new-covenant opened God's salvation offer to the whole earth.
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
Jews Old Covenant:
When the Jewish people sinned, God's instructions were to present daily sacrifices to the Lord to atone for their sins. In other words, although sin separated them from God, it did not remove Israel from covenant standing, provided the required daily sacrifices were offered as instructed. They remained God's chosen people as long as the daily sacrifices were presented as instructed (Exodus 29:38-39). No blanket forgiveness for life.
Christians New Covenant:
When the Christian believers sinned, Jesus having completely fulfilled God's substitutionary requirement, provided the perfect spiritual prayer for the forgiveness of sins, the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke11:2-4). As long as this prayer is prayed daily as He instructed, a Christian remains in Jesus, and Jesus remains in him. And only then those Christians remain forgiven and belonging to Jesus. Still no blanket forgiveness for life:
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.
Although Jesus paid the price once for all, we are still to ask God for forgiveness daily according to Scripture. 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.
Note, in this "daily" parallel, the big difference is, the Jews performed works of the flesh as required by the law, by repeating new sacrifices daily. The Christians pray the Lord's Prayer in their hearts daily as Jesus commanded, which is not works of the flesh nor repeating sacrifices! It is not "law"; it is a spiritual act of daily praying for forgiveness based on the same perfect sacrifice. It is part of God's salvation design. He turned Jesus' sacrifice into "Bread of life" that He gives to people daily, when we pray the Lord's Prayer and mean it correctly.
Both the old and new covenants accomplished these same 2 objectives for God:
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Daily forgiveness of sins
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Keep the relationship with God daily.
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: Jews ate the sacrifice for forgiveness; they physically ate it.
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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.
Jews Old Covenant:
Most animal sacrifices and grain offerings served as food for the priests and their families as instructed by God (see the last section at the bottom of this page). God's instructions to the Priests in Leviticus were to present part of the sacrifice as burnt offering to the Lord, and the majority remainder of it to be eaten by the Priests and their families that same day as atonement for sins. So the eating of sacrifices started back in those days. Then
Jesus did the same by informing us He's the sacrificial Bread we must eat for forgiveness of sins.
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
“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.
Christians New Covenant:
Jesus as the perfect and final sacrifice, said His sacrifice on the cross turned into a "Bread of life" that God the Father gives us when we ask, and we should eat for the forgiveness of sins. This "Daily Bread" is spiritual and is received by faith, not through a physical ritual. Jesus taught that it is received through the genuine daily praying of the Lord's Prayer.
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 the Jewish eating of sacrifices when explaining the new covenant of Jesus to the gentiles:
1 Corinthians 10:18
Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar?
4. The 4th Parallel - How to Approach God
Jews Old Covenant:
Under the Old Covenant, approaching God required following God’s exact instructions. Examples include Moses removing his sandals before the burning bush, the people remaining at a distance from Mount Sinai, and only the high priest entering the Most Holy Place—under specific conditions and at appointed times.
Christians New Covenant:
Under the New Covenant, Jesus’ death granted believers direct access to God, allowing them to address Him as “our Father.” However, this access does not remove reverence or proper approach. Jesus’ prayer provides the proper way for how God is to be approached.
And note, God will hear you better if you pray this prayer on your knees in private. Kneeling is a symbol of humility, worship, and reverend to God. "Kneeling" was mentioned hundreds of times in the old-testament about the Jews "bending their knees" to other gods, which grieved God tremendously. This teaches us about God's personality, for example how much the act of "kneeling" means to Him; it is the perfect gesture for worshiping. Our relationship with God is, He is our God and we are His children, not His friends as in equal. Learning this, is part of the spiritual growing that God expects of us.
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 in the new covenant, the Lord's Prayer accomplishes this by receiving the daily Bread of life.
5. Daily Sacrifices in the Old Covenant — Why God Was Among His People
God’s instructions to Moses in the Books of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, hundreds of commandments, were given to the Jews in the desert. In those early days when the Jews learned the law from Moses, these commandments were precisely and perfectly performed daily by the Levites, designated by God to be the priestly tribe for executing God's commandments on behalf of the Jewish people. With the ceremonial law met, their sins were forgiven. As a result, God lived among them, in the form of smoke by day, and fire pillar 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 was only able to do this after their sins were forgiven. He would not have been able to otherwise. During that time, God’s blessings accompanied them in their travels, daily food provided in the desert, etc. Today, we know that that was God’s preparatory provision until the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. So in the same way today, in the new covenant, we become filled with the Holy Spirit when we pray the Lord's Prayer daily, when using the correct meaning of the "Bread". Then God's blessings will pour out on us!
The main point here is, that the Jews actually carried-out all these difficult precise requirements and repeated them daily (example in Numbers 28:3-8), for the forgiveness of sins. But today, if you tell someone you have to pray the Lord’s Prayer daily to worship God and for the daily renewal and forgiveness of sins, they complain. “That's 'works', no that's not what it means, my sins are already forgiven, I'm covered by the blood, etc.", and all the other hi-level statements churches use.
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.
6. More Scripture on the Old Covenant Daily Sacrifices
Note, these verses are only some examples; not showing the hundreds of specific daily requirements and preparations that led to each sacrifice.
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
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.
6.1 How the Old Covenant Sacrificial System Operated — The Twelve Tribes, the Priestly Levites, and the Origin of the 10% Tithe
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 the protestants stress the need to tithe 10% of income based on this part of the Old Testament Bible. They don't do any work, compared to their Levites counterparts; not saying they should do the Levites work, which today Jesus fulfilled. What I'm saying is Protestants should not stress the 10% tithe, instead they should go with Paul's word of "any gift is acceptable". But first preach from the whole Bible, not just the high-level parts, calling it "by faith alone"! 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: March 11, 2026
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