Hebrews 8:1-13

Hebrews 8:1-13

“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; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount. 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. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. 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: 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. 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: 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. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. 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.”

The True Tabernacle, Where Jesus Christ Resides As Our Mediator and High Priest

Hebrews 8:1-5, “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; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law [presently, when Paul was writing this, a little before 70AD. That priesthood and Levitical system is now passed away, destroyed by the Roman Empire in 70AD]: 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.” First, J. Vernon McGee points out that verse 1 is very significant, he translates the Greek as “In consideration of the things which are spoken, this is the focal (chief) point. We have such an high priest, who is sat down in the heavens on the right hand of the Majesty…Who is set on the right hand of the throne.” i.e. Jesus Christ is our High Priest, and he is literally sat down on his throne, which is right next to God the Father’s throne, side by side with God the Father. He points out that Jesus Christ has done something that no other high priest has ever done. Hebrews 4:14-16 explains what Jesus is doing on his throne of intercession, that he is interceding between us and God the Father. J. Vernon McGee does an excellent job of expounding on these first five verses, so I’ll quote a bit of what he has to say here. “It is my belief that when God instructed Moses to build the tabernacle in the wilderness, God gave him a pattern of the original in heaven, the true tabernacle (v. 2), meaning genuine. The tabernacle in its beautiful simplicity furnishes a type of Jesus Christ (which is almost lost in the complicated detail of the temple). The tabernacle was called a tent, the sides of which were upright boards, covered on both sides with gold. It measured thirty cubits long and ten cubits wide and was divided into two compartments. The first compartment was called the Holy Place. In it were three articles of furniture: the golden lampstand; the golden table of showbread; and the golden altar where incense was offered---no sacrifice other than incense [burned, waved over this altar, in an incense burner]. The lampstand was a type of Christ, the Light of the World. The table of showbread symbolized Him as the Bread of Life. The golden altar [of incense] at which the high priest offered prayer, spoke of Christ, our Great Intercessor. Then on the great Day of Atonement the high priest passed through the separating veil to the inner compartment, the Holy of Holies, in which were two articles of furniture. (1) The ark of the covenant was a box made of wood, covered with gold inside and outside, in which were the Ten Commandments written on tables of stone, a pot of manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded. The Ten Commandments speak of the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ came to fulfill the Law [and through the indwelling Holy Spirit, gives us the ability to both love God’s Law and keep it in our own lives, as the rest of Hebrews 8 will show us], and He is the only one who kept it in all of its detail. Then the pot of manna speaks of the fact that He is the Bread of Life even today. Aaron’s rod that budded speaks of Christ’s resurrection. (2) The ark of the covenant was covered with a highly ornamented top called the mercy seat. Crowning it were two cherubim of beaten gold. Once a year the high priest placed blood on the mercy seat, and that is what made it a mercy seat. That was God’s dwelling place; that is, the place where God met with the children of Israel. Around the tabernacle was a court, surrounded by a linen fence one hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide. In that outer court were two articles of furniture. The first was the brazen altar where all sacrifices were made. The sin question was settled there, but since saints still sin, there was also a laver where the priests could wash, signifying the cleansing [and overcoming] from sin. [It was made of brass women’s looking glasses, polished to a mirror image, and filled with water. The mirror image signified God’s Law, which shows where the sin, dirt is, on an individual looking into it. The water in the brazen laver is symbolic of the Holy Spirit, which enables the cleansing from sin to take place.] Now, the Holy Place is where the priests served and where they worshipped. We worship God when we pray, feed upon His Word, and walk in the light of His presence, that is, in obedience to Him [i.e. which equates to obedience to his Laws]. No one but the high priest (and he only once a year) entered into the next compartment, the Holy of Holies. But when the Lord Jesus died, the separating veil was rent in twain---torn in two---signifying that He had forever opened the way into the Holy of Holies and the presence of God. We might say that the Lord Jesus Christ took the tabernacle, which was horizontal, and made it perpendicular to the earth so that the Holy of Holies is now in heaven---because that is where He is. And we are going to find in the following chapter that the golden altar of incense, together with the ark of the covenant, are now in heaven. They are there because Christ Himself is there. If you had been in the wilderness with Israel, you would have seen the tabernacle in the heart of the encampment, with the tents of the tribes camped around it. You would have seen the pillar of cloud over the tabernacle by day and the pillar of fire by night. You would have seen the priests busily running to and fro carrying on their ministry of offering sacrifices and observing all the ritual which God had commanded. [see ROSES GUIDE TO THE TABERNACLE. For ordering information, see: http://www.unityinchrist.com/messianicmovement/roseguide.html. I have one, and it is very thorough, with fine graphics, an excellent resource.] Now all of that was a shadow of a reality. The reality itself was in heaven. And today Jesus is there in the heavenly tabernacle functioning in behalf of you and me.” [THRU THE BIBLE, Vol. V, p.558, col.1 through col.2, par 4.]

Is Jesus Real To You? Is He Actually In Your Life?

Now J. Vernon McGee gets personal, takes this to the personal level. “My friend, is Christ real to you right now? If you still like to run around in a ritual and have a nice beautiful church service (there’s nothing wrong with that---don’t misunderstand me [although many of those services are in the dead or dying revivals turned denominations]), but if you think that is worship, and if you think that you are serving God by just teaching a Sunday school class or singing in the choir, I have news for you. He is trying to tell us, friend, that Jesus is up yonder in heaven for you right at this very moment. What does that really mean to you? Come now, don’t choke on this [spiritual] steak. Don’t ask for a glass of milk. Don’t start running around doing little things. Let the pots and pans alone, Martha; you don’t need to be handling them right now. Let’s sit at Jesus’ feet. Let Him be a reality in our lives. When you left the house this morning, did you take Him with you? Were you conscious of His presence? He is in heaven serving you, friend! Christ is your intercessor. You are to go to Him to make confession of your sin. Why is it that you are worrying your pastor to death with your problems? Why do you keep going to him for counseling? Isn’t Jesus real to you today? Quit being a little baby that has to be burped all the time. Grow up! Come into the presence of the living Saviour. That is what the writer is talking about. Oh, may God take the veil from our eyes, and may He make Jesus Christ---in all of His power, and in all of His salvation, and in all of His love, and in all of His care for you---a true reality! I have been asked, “Why don’t you run up the American flag? Why don’t you fight corruption and lawlessness?” The reason I don’t preach about those things is because I teach the Word of God, and I am trying to get folk into the presence of the living Christ. When that is accomplished, all of those other things will drop into their right places. If you walk in the light of His presence, you are going to walk with Him down the street. If you go into a barroom, Christ is going to have to go in with you. I don’t know whether you would want to take Him into a bar or not. When Christ is with you, these are many things you are going to have to stop and consider. You will watch your conduct when you are conscious of Jesus Christ with you all the time. He is the living intercessor today. He is alive. [J. Vernon McGee, THRU THE BIBLE, Vol.V, p.558, col.2, par.6, p.559, col.1, par.1-2]

Paul Defines The New Covenant

The New Covenant is defined by the apostle Paul in Hebrews 8:6-13, “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. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. 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: 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. 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: 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. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. 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.” The apostle Paul was directly and pretty precisely quoting from Jeremiah 31:31-34. By calling this covenant “new” he has made the first one obsolete. And what he said was becoming obsolete and aging, would soon disappear. Well, when Paul wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews, he was in Rome (around 67-68AD). Judea and Jerusalem had already rebelled and thrown the Romans out of the land of Judea, and Paul was probably privy to Roman plans to just go into Palestine and conquer the Jewish nation and devastate the city of Jerusalem. He knew when that took place, the Levitical priesthood and the whole old covenant system would come crashing down, and come to an end. Jews right now, know they cannot sacrifice a Passover lamb at Passover, because there is not a Levitical priesthood to carry it out. In Jeremiah 31:31-34 God prophecied through Jeremiah that he would make a new covenant with the kingdoms of Israel and Judah at the time of the coming of the Messiah to save them, what we would call the 2^nd coming of Christ (see: http://www.unityinchrist.com/jeremiah/jer8.html and scroll to the paragraph title The New Covenant for coverage of that). But Paul here in Hebrews chapter 8 is telling us that for Christians, believers in Jesus Christ, God has already initiated the new covenant defined in Jeremiah 31:31-34. That is the significance of Hebrews chapter 8, and it is a huge revelation. Now let’s digest those verses and see what they are telling us. The apostle Paul also gave the central theme of the new covenant in Hebrews 10:6, where he stated, “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the LORD. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them upon their minds.” That is the central core of the new covenant.

By the simplest definition of what we see Paul saying in Hebrews 8:6-13, the core of the message is that those living in this new covenant would fit into this condition: “I will put My law in their minds and write them upon their hearts…” [verse 10] If the Holy Spirit is in us, we have this ability---the law of God has been put in our minds and has been written on our hearts. That by Paul’s definition, places us right in the new covenant, even though as originally quoted from Jeremiah 31:31-34, the new covenant does not come upon the House of Judah or the House of Israel until after Jesus Christ’s 2^nd coming. But for the Church, the Body of Christ, we’re in the new covenant right now if God’s Holy Spirit dwells in us.

The Next Question: Which Laws of God Is Hebrews 8:6-13 Talking About?

The next question raised by this Scripture in Hebrews 8:6-13 is: Which laws of God are being talked about here? Which laws of God is the Holy Spirit writing on our minds and upon our hearts? The old covenant law of God was ratified by God under Moses, but this is talking about a new covenant, ratified in the blood of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. So naturally, it would have to be the laws spoken by Jesus Christ and the apostles in the New Testament. Don’t forget, Jesus is God in the flesh, the one who was YHVH of the Old Testament, the one who gave the Law to Moses on Sinai (cf. John 1:1-11)---the Torah. What do we find Jesus saying or quoting about the law of God which is in the New Testament? Mark 12:28-32, “Noticing the Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, ‘Of all the commandments, which is the most important?’ ‘The most important one,’ answered Jesus, ‘is this: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Jesus was quoting from Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and Leviticus 19:18. And these two laws are a summation of the Ten Commandments. The first one mentioned by Jesus, that we are to love God with all our hearts, is a summation of the first four of the Ten Commandments. The second law mentioned by Jesus, loving our nighbours as ourselves, is a summation of the last six of the Ten Commandments, which tell us how we are to love our neighbours (i.e. by not murdering them, not committing adultery against your neighbour’s wife, not stealing from your neighbour, not lying to him or her, and not coveting their belongings.) So Jesus indicates that the Ten Commandments are an integral part of the law of God. Did Jesus say anything, give any commandments, or re-affirm the law of God, the Ten Commandments, or which ones were to be followed? Yes he did. Let’s look at Matthew 5:17-19, 21-26, 38-48, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. [Question, has heaven and earth passed away? No. When do they pass away? Revelation 20:15 and Revelation 21:1. So according to Jesus, the whole law of God, every jot and tittle, is still in force, as modified by Hebrews, with it’s adjustments, to fit Christians, instead of a nation as Constitutional laws. That Old Testament Law has not been abrogated, according to Jesus. Hmm. He continues.] Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

Murder

“Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: but I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the alter, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. [see http://www.unityinchrist.com/wwcofg/reconciliation/MinistryOfReconciliation1.htm this is tough stuff, the New Testament application of the Law of God is getting tougher, not easier.] Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing” (verses 21-26) Instead of not murdering others, you’re not even supposed to hate your brother, neighbour anymore. He goes further, you’re supposed to love your enemies, verses 38-48, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: but I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect [mature]. Even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

Adultery

Verses 27-28, “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: but I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”

The Ten Commandments That Are Re-Affirmed and Re-Commanded in the New Testament

1^st and 2^nd Commandments

As we saw in Mark 12:28-32, Jesus himself mentioned the first commandment, which also doubles as one of the Great Commandments. Linked to that is the 2^nd Commandment, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Ephesians 4:29, “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” Colossians 3:8, “But now ye also put off all these, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.”

3^rd Commandment forbidding idolatry

1^st Corinthians 10:14, “Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.”

Galatians 5:19-20, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Colossians 3:5, “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”

Four Commandment: The Sabbath Command

Basically, if you search from one end of the New Testament to the other, you will find all the Ten Commandments mentioned and re-commanded by Jesus or the apostles except for the Fourth Commandment, the Sabbath Command (Exodus 20:8-11). The Sabbath is mentioned in the New Testament in a different way, and many a believer doesn’t choose to look at it this way, out of longstanding Church custom. But the apostle Peter said in 1^st Peter 2:21-22, “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow in his steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.” Now let’s analyze this. Peter told us to follow Jesus example. He then says Jesus Christ did no sin, he didn’t sin at all. John in 1^st John 3:4 defines sin this way, “Sin is the transgression of the law.” So Jesus never broke any of God’s Laws. Which Laws? All of them, the whole kit and caboodle, the Ten Commandments, including the Sabbath Command, and all 613 of the other ones found in the Torah, clean and unclean foods (Leviticus 11), the Holy Days (Leviticus 23:1-44), you name it. So did Jesus keep the 7^th Day Sabbath? Yes he did. Did Peter tell us to follow his example of not breaking God’s Laws? Yes he did. It’s pretty simple. If you want more proof about Jesus Christ’s observance of the Sabbath, see http://www.unityinchrist.com/wwcofg/Has%20the%20Sabbath%20Been%20Abrogated.htm. I will not take time to discuss it here, because I thoroughly discuss the subject in that article. (See also http://www.unityinchrist.com/hebrews/Hebrews4-1-16.htm.) Did the early New Testament Church follow Christ’s example concerning Sabbath and Holy Days? See: http://www.unityinchrist.com/history2/earlychurch1.htm.

5^th Commandment: Honour Thy Father and Mother

Matthew 19:18, “He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and mother…”

Luke 18:20, “Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Honour thy father and thy mother…”

Ephesians 6:1-3, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honor thy father and mother, (which is the first commandment with promise;) that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.”

6^th Commandment: Thou shalt not murder

Matthew 19:18, “He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness…”

7^th Commandment: Thou shalt not commit adultery

Mark 10:19, Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother…”

8^th Commandment: Thou shalt not steal

Mark 10:19, “Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, do not kill, Do not steal…”

Luke 18:20, “Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal…”

Ephesians 4:28, “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.” Paul brings the 8^th Commandment right to its spiritual intent, just as Jesus did for adultery and murder, not hating or lusting, bringing these laws right to the thought level, where all sin begins. This one, Paul says, ‘Go in the opposite direction, work and give to the poor, instead of stealing.’

9^th Commandment: Thou shalt not bear false witness

Ephesians 4:25, “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.”

Colossians 3:9, “Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds.”

10^th Commandment: Thou shalt not covet

Ephesians 5:3, “But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints.”

Colossians 3:5, “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” Paul makes the connection between the 2^nd and 10^th Commandments, linking them together, saying if you’re breaking one, you’re automatically breaking the other. All the Ten Commandments appear to have been made tougher to keep, not easier. But realize now that it is no longer we in our own puny efforts or works that accomplish the keeping of this Ten Commandment law which we see re-iterated in the New Testament. It is the Lord dwelling within each and every one of us through the Holy Spirit (read John 14 and 16), it is the Lord Jesus Christ who writes these laws in our minds and upon our hearts (Hebrews 8:10; 10:16; Jeremiah 31:31-34). I don’t see the Ten Commandment Law of God being done away with in the New Testament, or by the enabling of the new covenant for believers, as a lot of misguided theologians like to erroneously teach. How can you possibly think so, after reading these plain statements in God’s Word? Paul says in Romans 8:7-9a, “Because the carnal mind [of all unbelievers] is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be the Spirit of God dwell in you…” What Paul is saying is that those who don’t have God’s indwelling Holy Spirit hate God’s laws, whereas it’s the other way around with us believers, we love God’s laws, as David said in Psalm 119:97, “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.” King David had the exact opposite of normal mankind’s hostility toward God’s law. Why? Paul shows us in Romans 8, that those with God’s Holy Spirit love God’s law, whereas those who don’t have God’s Holy Spirit indwelling them are hostile toward God’s law, because they’re hostile toward God himself. It’s as simple as that. We need God’s Holy Spirit to really be within God’s new covenant, in order to have God writing his laws in our minds and upon our hearts, as he said in Hebrews 8:10 and 10:16 and Jeremiah 31:31-34.