November
5th Hebrews
8
Superior Tabernacle
1:
Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such
an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the
Majesty in the heavens; 2: A minister of the sanctuary, and of the
true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. 3: For every
high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it
is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. 4: For if
he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are
priests that offer gifts according to the law: 5: Who serve unto the
example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God
when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that
thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the
mount. 6: But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how
much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was
established upon better promises.
Superior
Promises
7:
For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place
have been sought for the second. 8: For finding fault with them, he
saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: 9: Not
according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day
when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt;
because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not,
saith the Lord. 10: For this is the covenant that I will make with
the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my
laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be
to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: 11: And they shall
not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying,
Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
12: For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins
and their iniquities will I remember no more. 13: In that he saith, A
new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and
waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
And
so the writer wants to summaries up until this point in his letter.
We have a high priest – Christ Jesus. he has been set on the right
hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens. He is a minister of
the sanctuary of the true sanctuary which the Lord pitched and not
man. (The writer is not saying that in heaven there is a tabernacle
like that which was pitched on earth in Israel’s wanderings what he
is saying is that the Tabernacle on earth was a sort of picture of
what Christ is doing as the High Priest for his people in heaven.)
The work of a priest was to offer gifts and sacrifices and so Christ
has to have something to offer. If he were an earthly priest he would
not even qualify to be a priest because he would be disqualified
according to the law. However the human priests were but a type of
the heavenly ministry of Christ. When Moses was commanded to build
the Tabernacle he was told to build it according to what he saw as
the pattern in the heaven. Christ has obtained a ministry that excels
the Levitical priesthood, because he is the mediator of a superior
covenant which is based on better promises. If the Old Covenant with
Israel had been adequate then there would have been no need for a
Second Covenant. There was a fault with the Old Covenant (because it
operated only in the area of the flesh) God has said, that he will
make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of
Judah. It will be very different to the old covenant which l made
with the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt. They didn’t
keep my covenant and l had no respect for them. The covenant l will
make with them will be like this – I will put my laws into their
minds and write them on their hearts. I will be to them a God and
they will be to be a people. There will be no more need for men to
teach his neighbour because everyman will know the Lord from the
least to the greatest. I will be merciful to their unrighteousness
and their sins and iniquities l will remember no more. This covenant
with both houses of Israel is the hope of Israel. It is a covenant of
law and a covenant of mercy and forgiveness. The new covenant will
replace the old, which even now is decaying and becoming ancient and
is it ready to vanish away completely. It will vanish away when the
new Covenant is established, in the day of the Lord, at Christs
coming to confront Israel and to rule from Zion.
- What is Christ's ministry today?
- What is the work of a priest?
- What will the New Covenant be like?
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