"Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed" Lev. 19:19What is the writer talking about when he refers to mixing of two different types? And is this a commandment we should be obeying yet today? Some Jews and Seventh-Day Adventists would say, "Yes!"
"Do not mate different kinds of animals." Lev. 19:19
"Do not plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together" Deut. 22:10
Well, first of all, when the Bible warns against mixing two different types together, whether it be seeds, animals, or fabrics - it's a metaphor for the nation of Israel to not intermix with the foreign, secular nations around them. In Deuteronomy, we read:
"Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods, and the LORD's anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you." Deuteronomy 7:3,4It's clear throughout the Old Testament that God chose the nation of Israel to be his holy (set apart) people for his purposes and glory. They were to be different than the nations around them. Commands such as not mixing two types of fabric together were given so the people would remember God's desire for His people to live differently.
Since we do not live under the Old Testament Law with its over 600 commands, we are not bound by these decrees. Today, we live in the New Testament era. Jesus fulfilled the law by obeying all of it and then made the one and final sacrifice of dying on the cross, therefore taking the punishment for not obeying the law upon himself in our place!
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to filfill them." Matthew 5:17If we don't live under the Old Testament and the law, but the New Testament, what does that look like? Simple. Grace. We live in a time when God's grace is available to those who would believe in Jesus and accept his gift of forgiveness of sin - in other words, GRACE.
"For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace." Romans 6:14A. J. Jacobs wrote the book, "The Year of Living Biblically," after he devoted himself to reading and living entirely by the commands, principles, and teachings of the Bible - both Old and New Testament, for one year. It's an insightful, sometimes comical look, at what it would look like today if someone took the Bible (mostly the Old Testament Law) and tried to practice it to the letter today. It's a fun read, but keep in mind A. J. Jacobs is at best an agnostic and doesn't distinguish well, if at all, between the two testaments in the Bible.
There is a new television show coming out this fall on CBS called, Living Biblically. I haven't seen an episode from it yet, but based on the main character, Chip Curry's, "God Squad," assembled to give him guidance, it appears it will be another attempt to combine and follow both the Old and the New Testament laws and teachings. So, while it may be humorous, keep in mind that no one, save one, has ever been able to keep all of the Bible's Old Testament commands.
Where does that leave us today? Well, the teachings of the New Testament are still applicable today. And they are written for us, Christians. Again and again, we are told as Christians to not be like the world.
"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Romans 12:2aChristians are to be set apart from the ways of the world similarly to the nation of Israel was to be different from the evil nations around them. We live under a New Testament, a new covenant, where grace reigns supreme.
You shouldn't need to read a book or watch a television show to see how living Biblically according to the New Testament looks - you should just be able to look around you at your Christian brothers and sisters!
(All Bible references are from the New International Version)
