Hebrews
Chapter 8
Memory verses for this week:
1
Tim 2:5 For there is
one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
1 Tim 2:6 Who gave
himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
Introduction:
In Chapter 7, we studied about how
that Christ’s Priesthood was not like that of Aaron’s order.
Those priests lived for a span of time and then died.
Christ’s priesthood was patterned after that of Melchisedec,
who was prophet, priest, and king.
While Melchisedec was just a man, we had no record of his
parents are when he died. Christ
is eternal, and will forever be our Great High Priest.
I. Summing Up of the
Priesthood of Jesus Christ
Heb 8:1
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;
Heb 8:2
A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle,
which the Lord pitched, and not man.
In Christ, we see
a high priest that took a place which no Levitical priest could ever
take. This was
due to his inherent right being the Son of God.
No high priest could ever be seated on the right hand of God. Than honor was bestowed upon God’s only Begotten Son, Jesus
Christ. We have
studied about the tabernacle and how that the High Priest only went
into the innermost compartment called the Holy of Holies once per
year. He offered a sin offering for his own sins, and then
one for the people. But
in doing that, he never sat down, and his job was never completed.
When Jesus offered His blood for our sins, He sat down on the
right hand of God which signified that the job was finally finished,
once and for all. Every
sin ever committed or will be committed could be covered by the
blood of Christ if people would come and accept Jesus as Lord and
Savior. Jesus
sits today on the right hand of God as our Great High Priest.
Christ is a minister of the ‘heavenly sanctuary’… the
true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, not man.
Heb 8:3 For
every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices:
wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to
offer.
Heb 8:4
For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing
that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:
Heb 8:5
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 showed to thee in the mount.
Verse 3 speaks of how the Old Testament high priest offered both gifts
and sacrifices. Jesus
offered up Himself as a sacrifice for our sins.
And when we pray, He offers those prayers and praises before
God. Never doubt that
God hears our prayers when we pray in the name of Jesus Christ.
Acts
10:3 He saw in a vision
evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in
to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius.
Acts
10:4 And when he looked
on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto
him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before
God.
Rev
5:8 And when he had
taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down
before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials
full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
Rev
5:9 And they sung a new
song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the
seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by
thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Rev
5:10 And hast made us
unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
Verse 4 tell us that Christ could not be our high priest if he were on
the earth. According to
the law, only descendants of Levi could serve in that capacity, and
Jesus was from the tribe of Judah.
We know the tabernacle was set up for earthly and imperfect
men to minister through.
All of the Old Testament offerings and ministry were just a
shadow of Christ and His perfect work in Heaven as our Great High
Priest. God gave
specific instructions as to how he was to build the tabernacle, and
he was to follow the pattern given on the mount.
This indicates how that we as believers should follow the
teachings of the Word without turning aside.
II. A Better Covenant
Heb 8:6
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.
There are three important points in
verse 6.
1.
Christ had a more excellent ministry than
Aaron.
2.
He is the mediator of a better covenant than
the one made with Israel.
3.
This covenant was established upon better
promise than the covenant
made with Israel.
If we analyze the covenant made with Israel, we find that it depended
upon man’s ability to carry out its requirements. The old covenant was based upon “If you will do
thus and so, I will do certain things.”
Lev
26:1 Ye shall make you
no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image,
neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down
unto it: for I am the LORD your God.
Lev
26:2 Ye shall keep my
sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.
Lev
26:3 If ye walk in my
statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;
Lev
26:4 Then I will give
you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and
the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
Lev
26:5 And your threshing
shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the
sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in
your land safely.
Lev
26:6 And I will give
peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you
afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall
the sword go through your land.
Lev
26:7 And ye shall chase
your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.
Lev
26:8 And five of you
shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand
to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.
Lev
26:9 For I will have
respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and
establish my covenant with you.
Lev
26:10 And ye shall eat
old store, and bring forth the old because of the new.
Lev
26:11 And I will set my
tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you.
Lev
26:12 And I will walk
among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.
Lev
26:13 I am the LORD
your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye
should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your
yoke, and made you go upright.
Lev
26:14 But if ye will
not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;
Lev
26:15 And if ye shall
despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye
will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant:
Lev
26:16 I also will do
this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and
the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of
heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall
eat it.
Lev
26:17 And I will set my
face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they
that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none
pursueth you.
Lev
26:18 And if ye will
not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven
times more for your sins.
Lev
26:19 And I will break
the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and
your earth as brass:
Lev
26:20 And your strength
shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase,
neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits.
Lev
26:21 And if ye walk
contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven
times more plagues upon you according to your sins.
Lev
26:22 I will also send
wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and
destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways
shall be desolate.
Lev
26:23 And if ye will
not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto
me;
Lev
26:24 Then will I also
walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your
sins.
Oh how much better the covenant of the New Testament is… it is really
“I Will”. Man’s
lack of ability to perform will not prevent him from being saved if
he truly comes to Christ for salvation.
Our lack of works certainly will diminish our crowns and
rewards, but we will not stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ to
determine whether we will enter Heaven.
That was done by Christ’s Work and Sacrifice there on
Calvary.
If the old covenant had been perfect, it would never have been set to
one side and a new one brought in.
The first covenant was weak in that it depended upon the
flesh. Man’s
performance was required.
And with the works of the flesh no man will be justified
before God.
Gal
2:16 Knowing that a man
is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus
Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be
justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law:
for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Gal
2:17 But if, while we
seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners,
is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.
Gal
2:18 For if I build
again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
Gal
2:19 For I through the
law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.
Gal
2:20 I am crucified
with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in
me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith
of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Gal
2:21 I do not frustrate
the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ
is dead in vain.
Rom
8:3 For what the law
could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his
own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin
in the flesh:
Rom
8:4 That the
righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not
after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Heb 8:7
For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no
place have been sought for the second.
Heb 8:8
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:
Heb 8:9
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.
It is important to realize that there was nothing wrong with the law,
but the weakness was in the flesh of man.
We simply can not live up to the law.
Only Christ lived perfectly and fulfilled every jot and
tittle of the law.
Rom
7:12 Wherefore the law
is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
Rom
7:13 Was then that
which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might
appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by
the commandment might become exceeding sinful.
Rom
7:14 For we know that
the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
God had declared many years before Christ came that there would be a new
covenant with Israel and Judah.
Jer
31:31 Behold, the days
come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house
of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
Jer
31:32 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 my
covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the
LORD:
Jer
31:33 But this shall be
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
write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be
my people.
Jer
31:34 And they shall
teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother,
saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of
them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive
their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
The new covenant mentioned in verses 8 – 9 will find fulfillment
during the 1,000 year millennial reign of Christ.
Israel as a nation is blinded to Christ today, but during the
seven years of tribulation, they will finally see that Jesus is the
true Messiah and the nation will be born as in a day.
III. The New Covenant for
Israel at the Close of the Tribulation
Heb 8:10
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:
Heb 8:11
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.
In verse 10, the term “after those days” is in reference to the
times of the Gentiles being fulfilled.
We know that today we live in the time of the Gentiles, but
that time is coming to a close, in what I think is a short time
frame. God said
he would put the laws into their mind and write them in their
hearts. The first
law was written on two tables of stone.
We know the first law was written on two tables of stone.
By the time Moses got down off the mountain with the law, the
children of Israel had already broken them.
They had turned from serving God and made a golden calf to
worship. (Exod. 20:3-5)
The first law was called a ministration of death.
To break the law meant for you to die.
2
Cor 3:3 Forasmuch as ye
are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by
us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not
in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart.
2
Cor 3:4 And such trust
have we through Christ to God-ward:
2
Cor 3:5 Not that we are
sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our
sufficiency is of God;
2
Cor 3:6 Who also hath
made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but
of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
2
Cor 3:7 But if the
ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious,
so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face
of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be
done away:
2
Cor 3:8 How shall not
the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?
2
Cor 3:9 For if the
ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the
ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
2
Cor 3:10 For even that
which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of
the glory that excelleth.
2
Cor 3:11 For if that
which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is
glorious.
When God puts the law of the new covenant into the hearts of the Jews,
they will all know the Lord and teach every man his brother.
We know they did not accept the new covenant when Jesus came
the first time. Very
few knew the Lord, and they still ignore his teachings today.
There are a few who are saved even today out of season like
Paul was, but they are the exception rather than the rule.
Heb 8:12
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their
sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
Heb 8:13
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.
When Israel turns back to God, and He saves their soul, their sins will
be put away from them and never remembered against them anymore.
God is so wonderful.
The Bible teaches us that he moves our sins as far way as the
east is from the west.
If your start traveling north, when you get to the top of the
north pole, you start going south.
Then at the bottom of the earth, you start going North. But if you go east, you continue to circle.
Same if you go west.
See how far our sins are put away.
As far as the east is from the west.
Psa
103:12 As far as the
east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions
from us.
Psa
103:13 Like as a father
pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
Psa
103:14 For he knoweth
our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
We mentioned earlier that one day the Jewish nation will be gathered
together and God will save them and write the new covenant on their
hearts. In that day,
hew will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.
Heb
8:10 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:
Albert Barnes in his Notes on the Bible said this about the New
Covenant.
Christ had obtained a more exalted ministry than the Jewish
priests held, because he was the Mediator in a better covenant—a
covenant that related rather to the heart than to external
observances; Heb. 8:6-13. That new covenant excelled the old in the
following respects:
(a)
It was established on better promises; Heb. 8:6.
(b)
It was not a covenant requiring mainly external observances,
but pertained to the soul, and the Law of that covenant was written
there; Heb. 8:7-10.
(c)
It was connected with the diffusion of the knowledge of the
Lord among all classes from the highest to the lowest; Heb. 8:11.
(d) The evidence of
forgiveness might be made more clear than it was under the old
dispensation, and the way in which sins are pardoned be much better
understood; Heb. 8:12. These considerations involved the
consequence, also, which is stated in Heb. 8:13, that the old
covenant was of necessity about to vanish away.
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