WHAT DOES IT MEAN THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS WERE UNTIL JOHN?

[Doug]

[Luke 16:16 KJV] "The law and the prophets [were] until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it."

What is meant that the law and prophets were until John? Does this mean the law was now done away? Does this mean there would be no more any prophets?

The law and the prophets prophesied that God would establish a kingdom which would last forever:

[2 Samuel 7:12 KJV] "And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom."
[2 Samuel 7:13 KJV] "He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever."
[2 Samuel 7:16 KJV] "And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever."

[Jeremiah 33:17 KJV] "For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;"

[Isaiah 9:6 KJV] "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."
[Isaiah 9:7 KJV] "Of the increase of [his] government and peace [there shall be] no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this."

[1 Chronicles 17:11 KJV] "And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go [to be] with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom."
[1 Chronicles 17:12 KJV] "He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne for ever."
[Jeremiah 23:5 KJV] "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth."

[Jeremiah 23:6 KJV] "In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this [is] his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS."

[Psalm 89:3 KJV] "I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant,"
[Psalm 89:4 KJV] "Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah."
[Psalm 89:35 KJV] "Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David."
[Psalm 89:36 KJV] "His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me."
[Psalm 89:37 KJV] "It shall be established for ever as the moon, and [as] a faithful witness in heaven. Selah."

[Luke 1:31 KJV] "And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS."
[Luke 1:32 KJV] "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:"
[Luke 1:33 KJV] "And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end."...........Jesus was identified as the one who would establish and reign in the prophetic kingdom.

[John 1:29 KJV] "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."
[John 1:30 KJV] "This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me."
[John 1:31 KJV] "And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water."..........John water baptized to make Jesus known to Israel.

[Mark 1:14 KJV] "Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,"............Jesus began to preach the gospel of the kingdom which was prophesied by the law and the prophets. The prophets stopped prophesying about the kingdom because the kingdom that would fulfill their prophecies was at hand............[Matthew 4:17 KJV] "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.".........The time when the prophesied kingdom would be established was fulfilled...........[Mark 1:15 KJV] "And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel."

That the law and the prophets were until John didn't mean the law was done away. It didn't mean there would be no longer prophets. What was meant was the law and the prophets would no longer prophesize about the kingdom.

 

[William Barton]

IMO:
John the Baptist is the forerunner of a new era that looks to Jesus the Messiah, rather than to the Law.

 

[1stCenturyLady]

Jesus was the fulfillment of the Law vs. Spirit, and the Prophecies about the coming Messiah.

 

[1stCenturyLady]

IMO:
John the Baptist is the forerunner of a new era that looks to Jesus the Messiah, rather than to the Law.

I agree. That is why John the Baptist only preached repentance. The key to receiving Christ's powerful Spirit to not sin is repentance. Acts. 2:38; 1 John 1:9.

How many times do we need to receive God's power? Only once. But some teach we are never free from sin as if Jesus didn't take away our desire to sin, and Satan won. 1 John 3:8-9. That is why not only Calvinism, but Arminianism teach to use 1 John 1:9 like a get out of hell free card, and must repent of known sins daily.

The point of receiving the Holy Spirit is to not commit intentional sin anymore to begin with, especially since the evidence of receiving the Holy Spirit is the lack of desire to commit sin! That is what Romans 6 is about calling our old sin nature, "the old man" who was crucified. Why sin when you don't have to. The desire to commit willfully known sin called lawlessness, 1 John 3:4-5, has been taken away IF actually born again of the Holy Spirit which is also what Romans 6 is about, but because of these false teachers that run rampant, Paul also told us to keep telling ourselves the truth called reckoning. What is taught by false teachers regarding reckoning ourselves free from sin is telling yourself A LIE! and maybe, someday you will receive a new body and THEN you will finally be free from sin. What heresy against the recreating power of the blood of Jesus!

 

[Soyeong]

[Luke 16:16 KJV] "The law and the prophets [were] until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it."

What is meant that the law and prophets were until John? Does this mean the law was now done away? Does this mean there would be no more any prophets?

The law and the prophets prophesied that God would establish a kingdom which would last forever:

[2 Samuel 7:12 KJV] "And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom."
[2 Samuel 7:13 KJV] "He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever."
[2 Samuel 7:16 KJV] "And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever."

[Jeremiah 33:17 KJV] "For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;"

[Isaiah 9:6 KJV] "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."
[Isaiah 9:7 KJV] "Of the increase of [his] government and peace [there shall be] no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this."

[1 Chronicles 17:11 KJV] "And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go [to be] with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom."
[1 Chronicles 17:12 KJV] "He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne for ever."
[Jeremiah 23:5 KJV] "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth."

[Jeremiah 23:6 KJV] "In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this [is] his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS."

[Psalm 89:3 KJV] "I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant,"
[Psalm 89:4 KJV] "Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah."
[Psalm 89:35 KJV] "Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David."
[Psalm 89:36 KJV] "His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me."
[Psalm 89:37 KJV] "It shall be established for ever as the moon, and [as] a faithful witness in heaven. Selah."

[Luke 1:31 KJV] "And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS."
[Luke 1:32 KJV] "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:"
[Luke 1:33 KJV] "And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end."...........Jesus was identified as the one who would establish and reign in the prophetic kingdom.

[John 1:29 KJV] "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."
[John 1:30 KJV] "This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me."
[John 1:31 KJV] "And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water."..........John water baptized to make Jesus known to Israel.

[Mark 1:14 KJV] "Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,"............Jesus began to preach the gospel of the kingdom which was prophesied by the law and the prophets. The prophets stopped prophesying about the kingdom because the kingdom that would fulfill their prophecies was at hand............[Matthew 4:17 KJV] "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.".........The time when the prophesied kingdom would be established was fulfilled...........[Mark 1:15 KJV] "And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel."

That the law and the prophets were until John didn't mean the law was done away. It didn't mean there would be no longer prophets. What was meant was the law and the prophets would no longer prophesize about the kingdom.

Neither Jesus nor John spread the message to stop repenting because the Law of God has ended now that they have come and we have been cursed by being set free to become doers of what it reveals to be wickedness, but just opposite, they called for repentance from our disobedience to it, which was in accordance with Jesus being sent as the promised seed to bless us by turning us from our wickedness Acts 3:25-26). In Luke 16:17, Jesus said that it would be easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least part to disappear from the law, so he did not thing that the least part had disappeared from the law. Moreover, Jesus proceeded to teach how to obey the Law of God in Luke 16:18.