God was speaking of the time when He created Israel’s heavens and the earth. The material creation existed long before Yahweh spoke these words. The Mosaic Covenant was thought of as the heaven and earth. Moses is using metaphorical language when emphasizing rulers of Israel as the heavens and the people as the earth.
In Deuteronomy 32:1, Moses said, “Give ear, O heavens, and let me speak; And let the earth hear the words of my mouth.” Moses was not speaking to the literal heavens and rocks on earth he was speaking to the people of Israel. In figurative language, the "heavens and earth here are simply the covenant, religious and political authorities in the land of Palestine and the people who lived there.
Matthew 5:17-19 is a favorite passage that often raises discussions and debates. Jesus said he came not to destroy the Law but to keep the Law perfectly. “Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets; I came not to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished.”
Of special significance to the word “destroy” translates the Greek term kataluo, literally meaning to “loose down.” The word is found seventeen times in the New Testament. It is used, for example, for the destruction of the Jewish temple by the Romans (Matthew. 26:61; 27:40; Acts 6:14), and of the dissolving of the human body at death. (2 Corinthians 5:1)
It is especially important to note how the word is used in Matthew 5:17. In this context, “destroy” is set in opposition to “fulfill.” Christ came "… not to destroy, but [all — adversative particle] to fulfill. Jesus did not come to this earth for the purpose of acting as an adversary of the law. His goal was to obey it keeps it perfectly, to fulfill it.
Christ fulfilled the demands of the Mosaic law, which called for perfect obedience or else imposed a “curse” Galatians 3:10-13 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them. But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith. Yet the law is not of faith, but "the man who does them shall live by them. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree). Christ fulfilled the demands of the Mosaic law, which called for perfect obedience or else imposed a “curse.”
Christ also said he came to fulfill all things written of him (Luke 24:44) and he did fulfill all, things. Ever futurist camp will tell you Christ fulfilled all the Mosaic Law and the Law passed away which we agree.
But wait one minute, not so fast. Jesus also said, before the law would pass away heaven and earth must pass away first. Matthew 5:17-19 "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
Do you get the power of these words? Jesus plainly said that not one “jot or tittle” (representative of the smallest markings of the Hebrew script) would pass away until heaven and earth passed away. If heaven and earth did not pass away the law of Moses was not fulfilled by Christ, and thus remains as an obligatory legal system for today, then it is not a partially binding regime; rather, it is a totally compelling system.
Consequently, nothing of the law was to fail until heaven and earth (the Mosaic covenant) had completely accomplished its purpose. The harmony between Matthew 5:17-18 and Isaiah. 51:15,16 is this. When the old Mosaic covenant known as the heaven and earth have completely accomplished its purpose every “jot or tittle” (representative of the smallest markings of the Hebrew script) has passed away.
It was “easier” for the old Mosaic covenant known as the heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law. Luke 16:17 "And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail. So the heaven and earth had to have passed away before the Mosaic law in the order that Jesus gives them.
