The TEN Commandments ARE the Old Covenant the New Covenant replaced them.
In
Exodus 34:28 we read: “And He (God) wrote upon the tables
the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.”
Deuteronomy 4:13: “And He declared unto you
His covenant, which He commanded you to perform, even
the Ten Commandments.”
Deuteronomy 9:9: “When I was gone up into the mount to receive
the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant.”
Deuteronomy 9:15: “So I turned and came down from the mount . . . and
the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands.”
Deuteronomy 10:8: “At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry
the ark of the LORD’s covenant, to stand before the LORD to serve him, and to formulate blessings in his name, as they do to this very day.”
And Jeremiah and Hebrews say
Christ replaced the Old Covenant with the New.
““Indeed, a time is coming,” says the Lord, “when
I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah.
It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I delivered them from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them,” says the Lord. “But
I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel after I plant them back in the land,” says the Lord.
“I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts and minds. I will be their God and they will be my people.” (
Jeremiah 31:31–33) (NET)
“For
if that first covenant had been faultless, no one would have looked for a second one. But showing its fault, God says to them, “Look, the days are coming, says the Lord, when
I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
“It will not be like the covenant that I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I had no regard for them, says the Lord.
“For this is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and I will inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they will be my people. “And there will be no need at all for each one to teach his countryman or each one to teach his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ since they will all know me, from the least to the greatest. “For I will be merciful toward their evil deeds, and their sins I will remember no longer.”
When he speaks of a new covenant, he makes the first obsolete. Now what is growing obsolete and aging is about to disappear.” (
Hebrews 8:7–13) (NET)
Since Christ abolished the Old Covenant, we use the Ten Commandments for instruction and commentary in defining outward sin. But Before the Ten Commandments and during the time of the Old Covenant, believers like Abraham had the two great commandments written in their heart. Just as believers today. Indeed, Jesus said the Ten Commandments
hung from the two great commandments.
“Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:36–40)
The two great commandments work this way: They do the opposite of what the Ten Commandments forbade: If love motivates your thoughts and actions, you won't want to steal or murder. Instead of stealing you will want to give. Instead of murdering you will love your enemies and bless them instead. Instead of simply not lying about others, you will promote them as you do your own-self.....
