Mike,

Will the old covenant be practiced in the millennium? Like the holy days, the sabbath, animal sacrifices (Eze 43:18-27)?

D____

Hi D____,

Thank you for your questions. The answer to them all is an emphatic NO! In Christ there is no ‘going back’ to the “weak and beggarly elements to which we were once in bondage.”

Gal 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

The ‘millennium’ is the time when God’s elect will be “ruling with a rod of iron.” This phrase is used three times in the book of Revelation:

Rev 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.
Rev 12:5 And she brought forth a man child [ Christ’s elect], who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne [Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:].
Rev 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

Christ’s elect broke the sabbath and “did that which is not lawful” according to the law of Moses. Instead of “preparing twice as much on the sixth day,” Christ’s elect “went through the corn on the sabbath day and ate the ears of corn…”

Mat 12:1 At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungered, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.

The law was very clear; such actions were not to be tolerated:

Exo 16:5 And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.

The ‘day of preparation’ was as much a part of the law as was the sabbath ‘day of rest.’ To fail to “prepare twice as much on the sixth day” was a grave infraction of the law.

Exo 16:27 And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none.
Exo 16:28 And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?
Exo 16:29 See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.

A man who did find some sticks with which to prepare a meal on the seventh day was stoned to death. You were not to be gathering either food or sticks on the sabbath under the law of Moses!

But Christ was not Moses. Like Moses, Christ was a reformer! And the law of Moses was only to endure “until the time of reformation:”

Heb 9:10 Which [ “first tabernacle”] stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them [ only] until the time of reformation.

There will be no going back to the weak and beggarly elements of Moses “carnal ordinances.” They were only “until the time of reformation” and that reformation is here and now:

Gal 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Gal 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Gal 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
Gal 4:7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant [ under the law], but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Gal 4:8 Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods [ Those still under the “law not made for a righteous man” 1Ti 1:9].
Gal 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

And what is it to which these Galatians wanted to “turn again?”

Gal 4:21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law…

And again:

Gal 3:1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
Gal 3:2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Gal 3:3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

Notice how God’s spirit correlates “the works of the law” with “being made perfect by the flesh.” Notice how God’s spirit contrasts the works of the law, that these Galatians thought would make them perfect with “the hearing of faith.”

Now, to answer your question about keeping the holy days during the millennium. What is it that tells Paul that these Galatians are wanting to “return to the weak and beggarly elements…[ of] works of the law?”

Gal 4:10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.

These are not pagan holidays, these are Jewish law of Moses, sabbath and holy “days.” These are Jewish “new moons.” These are Jewish “times;” “three times in the year shall all your males appear before me…” These are Jewish law of Moses “years of rest and the year of Jubilee.” This entire book is a refutation of Judaizers who were infiltrating and bringing in the bondage of the law of Moses to a Gentile church which had “begun in the spirit.”

Look at Peter’s assessment of the law of Moses:

Act 15:5 But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them [ Gentile converts] to keep the law of Moses.
Act 15:6 And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.
Act 15:7 And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men [ and] brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.
Act 15:8 And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as [ he did] unto us;
Act 15:9 And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
Act 15:10 Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

This “yoke… which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear” is the same “yoke of bondage” to which Paul is referring in Galatians.

Gal 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Gal 5:2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
Gal 5:3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.

Being “a debtor to keep the whole law” is not a positive thing. It is not positive for either a Jew or a Gentile. Here is how Peter concludes his remarks in Act 15:

Act 15:11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.

This conference about the need to keep the law of Moses followed immediately on the heels of Paul’s chastisement of Peter in Antioch. This conference was held as a direct result of “certain men saying you must keep the law of Moses…:”

Act 15:1 And certain men which came down [ to Antioch] from Judea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.

Paul had made it clear to both Peter and Barnabas:

Gal 2:15 We [ Peter, Barnabas and Paul] who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,
Gal 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh [ not even Jewish flesh in the millennium] be justified.

I hope this has answered your question.

Regarding what Ezekiel says about “showing the house to the house…” it would help you to read a paper posted entitled Where and What Is Heaven?

Notice what Ezekiel reports concerning this ‘house:’

Eze 43:6 And I heard him [ Christ in His Father] speaking unto me out of the house; and the man stood by me.
Eze 43:7 And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever…

Now put these two verses together with what Paul tells us in Hebrews about this same ‘tabernacle’ where God dwells. It is so easy to overlook the fact that right this very moment we can enter into the holy of holies if we are in Christ. It is so easy for the eyes which see only the words formed by the letters to fail to see that Ezekiel’s description of the coming tabernacle is nothing less than a physical description of God’s spiritual ‘house.’

Heb 9:1 Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary [ And why was it a “worldly sanctuary?].
Heb 9:2 For [ because] there was a [ physical “worldly”] tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the [ physical worldly] candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary.
Heb 9:3 And after the second veil, the [ physical “worldly sanctuary”] tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;
Heb 9:4 Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;
Heb 9:5 And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.
Heb 9:6 Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first [ worldly sanctuary] tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God.
Heb 9:7 But into the second [ worldly sanctuary] went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:
Heb 9:8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all [ that which is not a “worldly sanctuary”] was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:
Heb 9:9 >Which was [ one and all] a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make himthat did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;

This now brings us back to the verse we referenced at the beginning of this discussion:

Heb 9:10 Which [“worldly sanctuary”] stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them [ only] until the time of reformation.

No, there will never again be a “worldly sanctuary.” When Christ said that one jot or one tittle of the law would not pass till all would be fulfilled, He was referring to the fact that He, Himself was that fulfillment. “The way into the holiest of all…” is not another physical “worldly sanctuary.” It is rather Christ Himself:

Joh 14:8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
Joh 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

Have we “been so long with Christ” and are we still like Phillip, failing to see that Christ is the way into the holiest of all? Read that paper on heaven then you will understand what God really meant when he told Ezekiel to “show the house unto the house…” We are that house in which God is pleased to dwell. It will never again be a house made with hands.

Act 7:47 But Solomon built him an house.
Act 7:48 Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,

If after reading that paper you still have questions, then let me hear from you again.

Mike