Hebrews 8 and the incendiary idea that changed the old world forever.
Let us begin by reading Hebrews 8
1 Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer. 4 Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the Law; 5 who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, “SEE,” He says, “THAT YOU MAKE all things ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN WHICH WAS SHOWN YOU ON THE MOUNTAIN.” 6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.
A New Covenant
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. 8 For finding fault with them, He says, “BEHOLD, DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD,
WHEN I WILL EFFECT A NEW COVENANT
WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH;
9 NOT LIKE THE COVENANT WHICH I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS
ON THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND
TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT;
FOR THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT,
AND I DID NOT CARE FOR THEM, SAYS THE LORD.
10 “FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL
AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD:
I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS,
AND I WILL WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS.
AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD,
AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.
11 “AND THEY SHALL NOT TEACH EVERYONE HIS FELLOW CITIZEN,
AND EVERYONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, ‘KNOW THE LORD,’
FOR ALL WILL KNOW ME,
FROM THE LEAST TO THE GREATEST OF THEM.
12 “FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES,
AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE.”
13 When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear. Hebrews 8 We have seen then Jesus was from Judah, and this disqualifies him from the Levitical priesthood. However, this was not a problem because according to the Scriptures his lineage is from the order of Melchizedek.
Lets look now at the text and dig a little deeper:
Verses 1 and 2
1 Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. NASB
What I have learned so far in this study is that we have hit some serious Royal Psalms. The Lord of heaven speaks to the earthly kingly Lord. This is the first time that a king held both offices of priesthood and kingship at the same time. Not only this but he is also the High priest of the genuine, real heavenly tabernacle. It is the Lord that set this original heavenly Sanctuary
Verses 3 and 4
3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer. 4 Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the Law;
The job of the High Priest was to offer gifts and sacrifices to the Lord. As we have already seen earlier if Jesus was on earth he would be disqualified in being any type of high priest in terms of the Law of Moses. For Apollos this tabernacle which was on earth was only a shadow of the original tabernacle.
Verse 5
5 who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, “SEE,” He says, “THAT YOU MAKE all things ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN WHICH WAS SHOWN YOU ON THE MOUNTAIN.” NASB
Moses had to follow an exact pattern with exact measurements. Notice that Apollos says the phrase ‘a copy and shadow of heavenly things’.
Verse 6
” 6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.
A New Covenant NASB
This is a summing up before the evidence. Jesus priesthood and officiating from a heavenly tabernacle means that Jesus has a greater ministry and compared to the old covenant of Moses from Mt Sinai; he is a Mediator of a better covenant and better promises.
Verse 7
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.
There were obviously faults with the old covenant because of Jeremiah 31:31.
Verses 8 to 12
8 For finding fault with them, He says, “BEHOLD, DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD,
WHEN I WILL EFFECT A NEW COVENANT
WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH;
9 NOT LIKE THE COVENANT WHICH I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS
ON THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND
TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT;
FOR THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT,
AND I DID NOT CARE FOR THEM, SAYS THE LORD.
10 “FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL
AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD:
I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS,
AND I WILL WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS.
AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD,
AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.
11 “AND THEY SHALL NOT TEACH EVERYONE HIS FELLOW CITIZEN,
AND EVERYONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, ‘KNOW THE LORD,’
FOR ALL WILL KNOW ME,
FROM THE LEAST TO THE GREATEST OF THEM.
12 “FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES,
AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE.”
In the mount Sinai covenant the laws were written on stone and the people partied and turned their back on God with the creation of a Golden Calf. This type of disobedience continued throughout the time of the kings and the prophets until they were exiled (both kingdoms; Israel and Judah)
The centre of solution is found in verse 10:
“I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS,
AND I WILL WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS.
AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD,
AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.”
This is a new type of covenant, and it is spiritual in content. We know this because Jeremiah talked about ‘writing on hearts. The heart the centre of feeling can only be found inside a person and not outside such as stone.
Verse 13
13 When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear. Hebrews 8
This is a very harsh statement for the Jewish community because the Sinai Covenant has been superseded with the promised Messiah.
Even though Christendom and Judaism have split a long time ago they are still a cousin religion and we share the same Scriptures. We can disagree but let us always love our Jewish neighbour and show respect even in our differences.
Digression
There are some serious things being said here. We can see a serious battle of ideas going on in Judaism at this time. This is a battle for the genuine Judaism and where the centre is to be found.
Let me spell it out:
Is the centre of the covenant in the first five books of Moses?
Has the centre moved from Moses to a new centre found within the Psalms and the Prophets?
The old covenant of Moses has not been disestablished but it has a new centre in the Psalms and the Prophets.
Within Judaism there was a split, and we see right here in this text where the split is. This is figuratively speaking incendiary, within the Jewish community that would wipe out much of polytheism in Europe and the birth pangs of Christianity.
What about the Temple? My own personal opinion is that if we remember rightly King David was forbidden from building a temple because he was a man of war. However, he prepared a lot of the ground work for Solomon to build a temple in Jerusalem (The first temple). God also allowed the rebuilding of the temple when Israel was allowed to come back from their exile. This was a blessing for the Jewish people. Sometimes I ask myself the question why God allowed the Temple to be destroyed. One I do know as a fact that Herod had blood on his hands as he murdered children because he feared he would lose his crown. He did not have a right to touch the Temple. I do not know what the modern Jewish community thinks about this, and I would like to know more.
Reflection
We can see a paradigm shift happening in Judaism and through Christ the old world would change forever and never be the same again. For Christians Jesus is the Messiah and he is King; High Priest and sacrifice offered for our sins. ‘The lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world’ and by his resurrection we have eternal life.
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