"The Torah is eternal and can never change"
The claim, stated fairly
Maimonides' ninth principle: the Torah will not be changed and there will be no other Torah from God.
God himself promised a new covenant "not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers".
Jeremiah 31:31-32 promises a new covenant with Israel and Judah, different from the Sinai covenant that was broken. It writes the Torah on the heart (31:33).
Yeshua said he came not to destroy the Torah but to fulfil it (Matthew 5:17). Messianic Jews do not throw out the Torah; they believe its covenant terms are fulfilled in the new covenant God announced.
The text
31הִנֵּ֛ה יָמִ֥ים בָּאִ֖ים נְאֻם־יְהוָ֑ה וְכָרַתִּ֗י אֶת־בֵּ֧ית יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל וְאֶת־בֵּ֥ית יְהוּדָ֖ה בְּרִ֥ית חֲדָשָֽׁה׃ 32לֹ֣א כַבְּרִ֗ית אֲשֶׁ֤ר כָּרַ֨תִּי֙ אֶת־אֲבוֹתָ֔ם בְּיוֹם֙ הֶחֱזִיקִ֣י בְיָדָ֔ם לְהוֹצִיאָ֖ם מֵאֶ֖רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲשֶׁר־הֵ֜מָּה הֵפֵ֣רוּ אֶת־בְּרִיתִ֗י וְאָנֹכִ֛י בָּעַ֥לְתִּי בָ֖ם נְאֻם־יְהוָֽה׃ 33כִּ֣י זֹ֣את הַבְּרִ֡ית אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶכְרֹת֩ אֶת־בֵּ֨ית יִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל אַחֲרֵ֨י הַיָּמִ֤ים הָהֵם֙ נְאֻם־יְהוָ֔ה נָתַ֤תִּי אֶת־תּֽוֹרָתִי֙ בְּקִרְבָּ֔ם וְעַל־לִבָּ֖ם אֶכְתֲּבֶ֑נָּה וְהָיִ֤יתִי לָהֶם֙ לֵֽאלֹהִ֔ים וְהֵ֖מָּה יִֽהְיוּ־לִ֥י לְעָֽם׃
31Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; 32not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; forasmuch as they broke My covenant, although I was a lord over them, saith the LORD. 33But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the LORD, I will put My law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people;
WEB/WMB: “Behold, the days come,” says the LORD, “that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which covenant of mine they broke, although I was a husband to them,” says the LORD. “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says the LORD: “I will put my law in their inward parts, and I will write it in their heart. I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Jeremiah 31:31-33 (Hebrew, JPS 1917, WMB)
In the New Covenant
20Likewise, he took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
Luke 22:20 (WMB)
17“Don’t think that I came to destroy the Torah or the Prophets. I didn’t come to destroy, but to fulfill.
Matthew 5:17 (WMB)
Where scholars disagree
Jewish commentators read Jeremiah 31 as a renewal of the same covenant with deeper obedience. The text's "not according to the covenant" is the point under dispute.
Sources
- Maimonides, Commentary on the Mishnah, Sanhedrin 10, principle 9
- Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex. English: JPS 1917; World Messianic Bible (public domain).