Hebrews Chapter Eight
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.
1. Now the main point to the things being reported: we have such a High Priest Who is seated to the right of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2. a Minister of the holy places and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord did set up, and not man (literal).1
The writer now provides a summary statement of what he has just covered. He began with Jesus, Who, after providing cleansing from our sins, is seated by the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:3), but now it is also clear that this Jesus is our High Priest, and it has been made abundantly evident that He did not come according to the Levitical priesthood (Hebrews 7:14). As a High Priest forever, according to the likeness of Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:15-16), He is not only seated with the Majesty, but is a Minister in the heavenly tabernacle, of which the earthly was but a shadow, interceding with the Father (the Majesty) for us (Hebrews 7:25).
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.
For every high priest is appointed to be offering not only gifts but also sacrifices; therefore, [it is] necessary that this One [Christ] should also have something to offer (literal).2
The task of every high priest under the Levitical priesthood was to make offerings to God, whether gifts to Him, or sacrifices for the sins of the people. Since the writer has made a solid case for Jesus being our High Priest, and so much greater than the earthly high priests, the parallel would require Jesus to make a superior offering.
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.
4. For, truly, if He [Jesus] was on earth, He would not be a priest (there being priests who are offering gifts according to the Law [of Moses] 5. who are serving an imitation and shadow of the heavenly things, even as Moses was instructed, being about to erect the tabernacle, He [the Lord] says, “Take care to make all things according to the pattern that you were shown on the mountain”) (literal).3
The writer reminds his audience that if Jesus had been on the earth at that time, He would not be a priest; at the time that this letter was written, the temple and Jerusalem were still standing (written late AD 60s).4 Not being from the family of Levi, Jesus would not have been considered to be qualified to be a priest. Moreover, there were still priests who were continuing the temple practices even though they had been ended in Christ; they had rejected their Messiah, and so they continued as before. There is much speculation within Jewish tradition regarding the curtain that hid the Holy of Holies, but what seems to be quite consistent is that there was always a spare curtain on hand should the one hanging become contaminated, and also on the eve of the Day of Atonement, they would hang a new curtain so as to ensure that it was in no way defiled.5 Therefore, when the temple veil was torn from top to bottom when Jesus died, the priests undoubtedly replaced it immediately with the one that was on hand. Consequently, it is to be expected that the temple routine of the priests would have continued as before – for the ordinary Jew, nothing had changed. However, what would have been different was the presence of the followers of Jesus in the general temple area, praying and expressing the truth of His redemption to all who would hear (Acts 2:46-3:1).
As Jehovah gave Moses instructions on the building of the tabernacle with all of its furnishings, He said, “According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it” (Exodus 25:9). The Lord did not simply provide general instructions and give Moses the latitude to build it however he liked; His directions were very specific, and they were to be followed very carefully. Even though they were just a shadow of the heavenly original, the Lord wanted to be sure that the reflection was accurate.
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.
And now He has obtained a more excellent service, as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been established upon better promises (literal).6
It is through His death and resurrection that Jesus obtained a priestly service that is far greater than what was available through the Levitical priesthood. Obtained (tugchano), in the Greek, is in the perfect tense (this is a one-time past action with continuing results), active voice (Jesus gained this service through His own actions) and indicative mood (it is a statement of fact);7 there is no doubt as to the truth of this. Moreover, service (ministry) is from a Greek word (leitourgias) that identifies this specifically as being a priestly, or sacred, service;8 based upon what we have learned thus far, this is a clear reference to Jesus’ role as our High Priest!
We now have the writer’s first use of the word covenant (diathekes).9 This word will be used frequently in the next part of this letter, and so it is important that we have a firm understanding of what it means. It can refer to a last will and testament through which property is dispensed according to the will of the testator (the one who makes the will); within our application here, a difficulty seems to arise because God, Who is immortal (1 Timothy 1:17), is the Testator, and a will only comes into effect when the testator dies. Yet, Jesus, Who was God in the flesh, did die; let’s consider this for a moment. Jesus was fully God and fully man; He was the Son of God and the Son of Man. “And to the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only wise God: honor and glory forevermore! Amen” (1 Timothy 1:17, literal).10 Jesus said that God is a Spirit (John 4:24); therefore, we must understand that the Son of Man died, but the Son of God continued to live. His body (the Son of Man) was laid in Joseph’s tomb (Matthew 27:57-60), yet His soul (the Son of God) went to Paradise, where He had an appointment with the repentant thief (Luke 23:43). Being made in the image of God, when we die our body is buried (it is dead), but our soul continues to live (either in torment or in glory); the soul of Jesus was God, both sinless and eternal. As the sinless Son of Man, Jesus died – the perfect Lamb to pay the penalty of sin forever; He rose in a new body that is no longer subject to death – He, the Son of Man, arose in immortality: the Son of Man conquered death! As the risen Son of Man, He is our High Priest and Mediator before God; as the Son of God, He has always been immortal. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God … And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us …” (John 1:1, 14a); John later wrote: “For there are [present tense] three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one” (1 John 5:7). All of this to say that in order for covenant, as it is used here, to be a last will and testament, it must be very carefully applied.
A difficulty with our English word covenant, as a translation, is that it suggests an agreement, which means that at least two parties have accepted the terms. Yes, the covenant spoken of here is between God and men (two parties), but what we must understand is that it is God Who makes the terms of the covenant (the promises and conditions); mankind did not negotiate with God to arrive at an agreement, rather, it is our responsibility to correctly understand the promises and the conditions that are in His covenant. Therefore, the covenant is entirely God’s – He lays out the terms and conditions upon which He will fulfill His promises. It is His covenant with us; we do not get to negotiate the terms, nor are we able to challenge it. We must keep this in mind as the writer begins to expound on the covenants (old and new).
Jesus is described as being the Mediator of a better covenant. A mediator (mesites) is someone who stands between two parties in order to bring reconciliation so that a common goal can be reached.11 “For there is one God, and one mediator (mesites) between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).12 Jesus, Who paid the price for sin, is the only Way between humanity and God (John 14:6); everyone who desires to be reconciled with God must come through Him. Keep in mind what we just learned about God’s covenant; therefore, when we come to the Mediator, it is understood that we come to Him on His unnegotiable terms. The mediation that must take place is between a sinful humanity and a holy God, and the Covenant lays out the terms that must be met in order for a sinner to approach God. Under the Old Covenant, the Mosaic Law was the guide for the Israelites to follow, governing every aspect of their daily living, as well as what was necessary to bring a temporary cleansing from sin. The New Covenant that Jesus established includes His ability to offer a complete salvation from sin, and the burden of the Mosaic Law has been annulled (Hebrews 7:18). Our High Priest, Jesus, being the Son of Man, is able to identify with the sinner (in that He lived on this earth among sinners), and, as the Son of God, He has complete knowledge of what God requires – He is the perfect Mediator!
Jesus is the Mediator of a better covenant, which has been established upon better promises. As Jesus met with His disciples on the night before His crucifixion, He told them that His shed blood would establish a New Covenant: “This cup is the new testament [covenant] in my blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:20b).13 This New Covenant is that better covenant, and the writer elaborates that it is founded upon better promises. We have already looked at the failure of the Levitical priesthood to provide anything other than a temporary cleansing from sins; Christ, as our High Priest, is able to impart a permanent cleansing from sin. The Old Covenant (OC) required continual offerings for sins committed, as well as an annual Day of Atonement when, once each year, an offering for sin was made in the presence of God (in the Holy of Holies). Our High Priest, God in the flesh, offered Himself as a one-time offering for sins forever, thereby bringing to an end the Mosaic sacrificial system, and making complete cleansing from sin a possibility. The promises of the OC focused on an earthly fulfillment: God promised to give the land of Canaan to Abraham (Genesis 12:7), and many generations later, the focus was still on that land that flowed with milk and honey (Exodus 3:8). All of this was to preserve the family line of promise that began with Abraham, and found its end in Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:1-16). What we find in Jesus’ teachings is the promise of a heavenly dwelling with Him (John 14:2-3), with little consideration for this earthly life – except that it will be fraught with tribulation and persecution (Matthew 10:22; John 16:33). What is immediately evident is that there is a shift from the earthly to the heavenly, going from the OC to the New.
As we have learned, Jesus’ priesthood was established by God with an oath (Psalm 110:4), unlike the Levitical priests under the Law of Moses; therefore, the promises of Jesus that are a part of the New Covenant (NC), come to us with the full surety of God. So when Jesus said that He was going to heaven to prepare a place for us, we rejoice (John 14:2); however, when He also promises us tribulation in this life, we don’t want to think about it, yet we are to be encouraged because He has overcome the world (John 16:33) – it doesn’t diminish the tribulations, but helps us to look beyond this life.
The writer has made it clear that the OC has been annulled because it was unable to make anyone perfect before God (Hebrews 7:18). The NC that Jesus has established through His sacrifice, is better because it is supported by an eternal High Priest, not according to the dictates of the OC, but in keeping with Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:20-22). A change in the priesthood has, in turn, required a change of the Law (Hebrews 7:12): from ineffective priests and sacrifices under the OC, to an ever-living High Priest Who has the ability to completely save from sin. The weakness of the OC has been emphasized in the previous chapter, as the writer built the case for the annulment of the OC. The NC, having an immortal High Priest Who is interceding with the Father on behalf of those who are His, indeed makes it a much better covenant.
7. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
For if that first [Covenant] had been without fault, then a place would not have been sought for a second (literal).14
Again, the weakness of the OC is noted; its greatest fault was that it could never provide a permanent cleansing from sin. In fact, it was not meant to be a permanent covenant: “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24). The OC was a guide (schoolmaster) intended to point everyone to the promised Messiah Who would bring about the defeat of Satan, and introduce a complete cleansing from sin (a second covenant –NC).
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.
8. For finding fault, to them He said, “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “And I will establish for the house of Israel and for the house of Judah, a new covenant, 9. not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took hold of their hand to lead them out from the land of Egypt, because they did not persevere in My covenant, and I disregarded them,” says the Lord; 10. “because this [is] the covenant that I will ordain to the house of Israel, after those days,” says the Lord, “I am placing My Laws into their mind and on their hearts I will write them, and I will be God unto them, and unto Me they will be a people, 11. And they will certainly not teach each his friend, and each his brother, saying, ‘Come to know the Lord,’ because all will know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, 12. I will be merciful to their wrongdoings, and I am never reminded of their sins and of their iniquities again” (literal).15
God knew the weaknesses of the OC, and He used the prophet Jeremiah to reveal that a day was coming when He would introduce a new covenant – the writer quotes God’s words from Jeremiah 31:31-34. The Lord said that He will make, or establish, a new covenant with Israel and Judah; make (establish) is the Hebrew karath, which means to cut.16 The common practice in making an earthly covenant was to cut an animal into two parts, and then each party of the covenant would walk between the parts symbolizing that they were bound to each other in this matter; then they would eat the meat together, further indicating their togetherness.17
At the time of Jeremiah, Judah was still in their own land, and Jerusalem and the temple were still intact; Israel, on the other hand, had been in exile for some time already. It was during this time that the Lord sought to gain the attention of the people of Judah so that they would not have to face the same judgment as Israel. “And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding [apostate] Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also” (Jeremiah 3:8).18 Despite having witnessed the Lord using Assyria to bring judgment against Israel for their wickedness (Jeremiah 3:7), the people of Judah gave no heed to the warnings of their prophets, and continued in their sins against Jehovah. It was to such a people that Jeremiah was a prophet of the Lord. What is interesting is that the Lord declared that one day He would establish a new covenant for Israel and Judah; Israel was already in exile for her apostasy, and Judah was rapidly heading in the same direction, yet Jehovah provided a glimpse of what would come through the promised Messiah.
The declaration is that, in the future, God will establish a NC with Israel and Judah; you will recall that Israel as a unified nation had ceased to exist right after the reign of Solomon, who failed to follow the Lord in his latter years (1 Kings 11:11-13). In other words, the NC that the Lord would institute would be for all of the children of Israel, not just for Judah (the only part of the original Israel that was still functioning as a kingdom). Although the people were exiled separately (Israel to the Assyrians and, later, Judah to the Babylonians), when they resettled the land and rebuilt Jerusalem and the temple, they did so as one people: Israel (Ezra 6:16-17). The northern tribes of Israel were exiled by Tiglath-Pileser and Shalmaneser, kings of Assyria (two exiles took place: 2 Kings 15:29; 2 Kings 18:9-11), Judah was taken by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (1 Chronicles 6:15), and those who returned from exile did so under the reigns of Cyrus, Darius and Artexerxes, kings of Persia (Ezra 6:14). They were taken from the land as two nations, but they returned as one.
How should we understand the word of the Lord through Jeremiah about making a NC with Israel and Judah, and Jesus’ words saying that through His blood a NC would be established? At the time that the Lord spoke through Jeremiah, Israel and Judah were two separate nations; even before Israel had been scattered into exile by Assyria, it had separated from Judah. Therefore, the Lord was making it very clear that the NC that He would make would be with Israel as a whole – not just the ten tribes who had separated from Judah. As noted above, when the Jewish exiles returned to their land, they came as Israel, not Israel and Judah; therefore, we know that when Jesus sat down with His disciples before His crucifixion, He was speaking to members of the family of Israel (without differentiating between the formerly separated nations). Moreover, as the Lord, through Jeremiah, begins to explain the covenant that He will make, He speaks only of Israel (Jeremiah 31:32). This is noteworthy; He’s clarified that He is addressing both Israel and Judah, and then changes to only Israel, indicating that the exiled peoples will come back as one!
As Jesus spoke of the NC with His disciples, He was speaking to those who were of Israel. However, there are many who take the prophecy of Jeremiah to mean that the NC is only for Israel. For the most part, this position is taken by those who hold to a dispensational view of the Scriptures, and, thereby, draw “a clear distinction between Israel and the Church.”19 They emphasize such a clear distinction because their dispensational theology requires it, not because it is found in Scripture (despite their vehement claims to the contrary).
Paul expressed great sorrow for his Jewish brethren, “4. Who are Israelites; of whom [is] the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the Law, and the service, and the promises; 5. whose [are] the fathers, and out of whom [is] the Christ according to the flesh – He Who is over all, God blessed to the ages. Amen. 6. But it is by no means as if the Word of God did fail, for not all who are of Israel [are] this Israel” (Romans 9:4-6, literal).20 Paul cites the advantages of the children of Israel, and then concludes that just because not all Jews are in Christ, it is not a failure of God’s Word, but a clear indication that not everyone who is a Jew (of Israel) is of the true Israel. Earlier Paul declared: “28. For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly … 29. But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly … whose praise is not of men, but of God” (Romans 2:28-29). Jewish traditions and the Law of Moses provided a very obvious outward expression of being a Jew, yet Paul argues that that does not make anyone a Jew; rather, a Jew is someone whose heart is right with God. To the Philippians, Paul wrote of his impressive credentials as a Jew: “5. Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; 6. Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. 7. But what things were gain to me [i.e., his Jewish advantages], those I counted loss for Christ” (Philippians 3:5-7). Paul is saying this: being born of Israel is nothing, living as a Jew is nothing, and every advantage that a Jew can have, is nothing! Christ, Who paid humanities’ debt of sin, is everything! Paul, who was a Jew’s Jew, considered the advantage of being a Jew to be historical: “1. What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? 2. much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles [sayings] of God” (Romans 3:1-2).21 The Jews were entrusted with the sayings of God (the text of the OT), but that is obviously in the past; in other words, under the NC there is no advantage for the Jew: “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him” (Romans 10:12). The promise that the Lord made to Abraham (“in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed,” Genesis 12:3b) came to fruition in the Lord Jesus Christ and the NC through His shed blood – i.e., the Gospel that He commissioned His disciples to teach to everyone (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15).
Let’s bring several threads together: 1) the Gospel of the NC was included in the Lord’s promise to Abraham, 2) the Lord told Jeremiah that He would make a NC with Israel, 3) Jesus declared to His disciples that His shed blood would be a NC, and 4) the writer of Hebrews states that the OC has been fulfilled and removed to make room for a NC in the Lord Jesus. The prophecy of a NC was woven all throughout the OT. In this final instance, the writer appeals to the prophecy of Jeremiah to clarify the present situation, and quotes it. Let’s look into it carefully.
The Lord promises to set a NC into place that would be very different from that which He made with Israel as they came out of Egypt. At that time, the covenant was the Law of Moses, which was based upon the Law of God (the Ten Commandments). This covenant (the OC) set the standard for how Israel lived, served to define sin for them, and taught them God’s holiness; under this OC, the Lord provided a sacrificial system and a priesthood by which the people could receive a temporary cleansing from sin – they came to know sin, and had a means for dealing with it. Although they agreed to do what the Lord required (Exodus 19:8), they not only failed to follow the Lord’s guidance, but, for most of their early years in the Promised Land, they departed from the Lord entirely and followed the gods of the heathen (they did not persevere in My covenant; Judges 2:17). It was because they failed to remain faithful to the Lord and His covenant that both Israel and Judah were exiled.
Through Jeremiah, the Lord provides a clearer picture of what the NC will look like. As the basis for the OC, God wrote His Laws upon two tables of stone (Exodus 31:18), from which Moses taught the people (Exodus 24:12), and the tables were kept in the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies, in the presence of God (Exodus 25:16). With the NC, the Lord says that He will place His Laws into the mind and write them on the heart. What are God’s Laws? The Lord wrote the Ten Commandments upon two tables of stone (His Laws); for the NC, He will write those same Laws upon the heart, put them into the mind, and He will be God to them and they will be His people. Who will these people be?
Hosea, who was a prophet to Israel before they were exiled, had three children and they were all named by the Lord: the first was a son, Jezreel, and the Lord’s pronouncement was the destruction (cause to cease) of Israel (Hosea 1:4),22 the second was a daughter, Loruhamah, with the Lord’s word that “I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel that I should altogether pardon them” (Hosea 1:6b, literal),23 and with the third child, Loammi, the Lord declares: “for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God ” (Hosea 1:9). The summation of this is: “Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God” (Hosea 1:10). We need to balance this with Isaiah’s words (Isaiah was a contemporary of Hosea, but sent to Judah): “Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah” (Isaiah 1:9). Isaiah attributes the survival of Israel (Isaiah 1:3) to the Lord’s mercy, and that it is only by a very small remnant (a few survivors24); yet the Lord, through Hosea, sets the number of Israel as countless. Let’s bring these together.
The Lord said to Hosea: “in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God” (Hosea 1:10b). Where did the Lord say, “Ye are not my people”? It was in Israel (the place) with Hosea’s third child, therefore, we would expect that it would be here that people would be called “the sons of the living God.” Jesus commissioned His disciples to testify of Him beginning in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria (that defines the core region of Israel), and John records these words: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the ability to become children [sons] of God, to those who are believing in His name” (John 1:12, literal).25 Even Paul’s ministry began primarily in the regions of Judea (Acts 26:20). In the place where the Lord declared, “Ye are not my people,” that is the same area where, under the NC, those who are believing in the name of Jesus are called the children of God!
As we know, Paul received the message of the Gospel from the Lord Jesus (Galatians 1:11-12), and his ministry was focused on the Gentiles (2 Timothy 1:10-11). Therefore, Paul was the herald of the NC (the Gospel) wherever he went, but his particular focus was on those who were not of the ancestry of Israel. To the Corinthians, Paul declared: “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 fleshy tables of the heart” (2 Corinthians 3:3). It is the Spirit of God Who comes to abide within everyone who, in faith, turns to Christ for cleansing, and Who writes God’s Law upon the heart – not on stone, as with Israel, but on the heart! It is clear that everyone who is in Christ has the Spirit (Romans 8:9), and it is the Spirit Who places the Law of God (the Ten Commandments) into our minds and writes them upon our hearts. The Message of the NC is not limited to the physical descendants of Israel, but is for everyone: “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2).
The Lord, through Jeremiah, goes on to explain that they will certainly not teach each his friend, and each his brother, saying, ‘Come to know [ginosko] the Lord,’ because all will know [oida] Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. This describes those who have accepted the terms of the NC (in Christ), who now have God’s Law placed into their minds and written upon their hearts; they are abiding in Christ and enduring in Him, having entered into a relationship with their Creator, the Spirit of God being within them. Among those who are God’s people (Biblically speaking), everyone has already come to know (ginosko, come to understand) the Lord, and also holds the hope of a future when he will know (oida, future tense, full knowledge) Him in fullness! “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). This is only applicable to the one who is remaining in Christ and living in obedience to His commands (John 15:10).
The final assurance of the superiority of the NC comes through the Lord’s words to Jeremiah: I will be merciful to their wrongdoings, and I am never reminded of their sins and of their iniquities again. Once again, this applies only to the one who is abiding faithfully in Christ. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1). That glorious state of being without condemnation is only for those who are in Christ Jesus! The writer of Hebrews has already issued a warning against permitting an evil heart of unbelief to enter into us that we should become apostate from God (Hebrews 3:12); it is only as we remain in a state of faithful obedience to the Lord that we also retain the “no condemnation” before God. This far surpasses the temporary cleansing from sin that was available under the OC, yet the essential ingredient in both the OC and NC is the same: faith in the Lord, which includes obedience to Him!
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.
By saying “new,” He has made the first obsolete; and what is becoming obsolete and growing old [is] close to destruction (literal).26
It is the Lord Who spoke through Jeremiah of a new covenant; the writer clarifies that by saying new, the Lord has deemed the OC to be obsolete. This took place when Christ fulfilled and rendered the OC of no effect, even as He established the NC in His shed blood. While Jerusalem and the temple remained, the Jewish religious leaders continued with the sacrifices as before (after all, they had rejected Jesus as their Messiah), but, perhaps, the writer is also hinting at a declining participation by the Jews in the OC traditions (becoming obsolete) – after all, the message of the Gospel was spreading everywhere (including among the Jews in Judea), and it is founded upon the NC in Christ, not the OC. In truth, the OC temple rituals were very close to being destroyed; within a few years of writing this letter, the temple and Jerusalem were obliterated so that not one stone was left upon another (Matthew 24:2; Luke 19:41-44).
There are many today who believe that when the Lord returns to establish His millennial kingdom, that the practices of the Mosaic Law will once again be instituted. Some hold that it is not the OC, but the same practices are included with a different purpose,27 while others simply state that “the Old Covenant will be brought in.”28 Most of this is because of the prophecies that are found in Ezekiel who was a prophet to Judah at the time that they were exiled. I certainly do not profess to have a full understanding of Ezekiel, but, when the broader message of the Scriptures is considered, it seems that forcing Ezekiel’s prophecies onto the Millennium is not appropriate. The writer of Hebrews states very clearly that by identifying a new covenant, the Lord has rendered the OC to be obsolete, useless, and discarded; when the Lord declares that the OC has been replaced by a NC, then we should not seek to revive it.
What the Scriptures show is that the OC was used to point forward to the coming Prophet Who would settle the matter of sin, and it served to preserve the lineage of Abraham from whom that Prophet would come. Therefore, it is only appropriate that when the Promised One came, that changes would be made because of the momentous work that He would accomplish. Indeed, Jesus came, the promised Prophet and Messiah, and through His shed blood, death, and resurrection accomplished the fulfillment of Genesis 3:15 (the defeat of Satan), and also brought a blessing to the whole world (Genesis 12:3). The writer states very plainly that the OC has been made void (annulled, Hebrews 7:18) because of its inability to bring complete cleansing from sin; what has been ended by the Lord, we must not seek to reinstate – it is no more!
The writer, as he addressed a Hebrew readership, has very carefully emphasized the significance of the Lord Jesus as the Son of God, the importance of Him being the Son of Man, and the amazing shift that He accomplished by ending the OC and establishing a NC through His blood. It is the latter that he has explained in some detail so that his fellow Hebrews would be able to understand that everything is not as it was, but that we have a High Priest Who has instituted a NC, and, at the same time, annulled the imperfect OC. The writer has arrived at the pinnacle of his letter: the OC is gone; now he will continue to explain how the NC (unfamiliar) is to be understood in the light of the OC (familiar to his audience). It is not that the OC was without purpose; Paul stated that it was there to point forward to faith in Christ (Galatians 3:24), and that it was there only until the Seed (Christ) would come (Galatians 3:19). It is clearly evident that the OC is no more; that is the point that the writer is making, and we would do well to accept it.
1. Now the main point to the things being reported: we have such a High Priest Who is seated to the right of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2. a Minister of the holy places and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord did set up, and not man (literal).1
The writer now provides a summary statement of what he has just covered. He began with Jesus, Who, after providing cleansing from our sins, is seated by the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:3), but now it is also clear that this Jesus is our High Priest, and it has been made abundantly evident that He did not come according to the Levitical priesthood (Hebrews 7:14). As a High Priest forever, according to the likeness of Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:15-16), He is not only seated with the Majesty, but is a Minister in the heavenly tabernacle, of which the earthly was but a shadow, interceding with the Father (the Majesty) for us (Hebrews 7:25).
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.
For every high priest is appointed to be offering not only gifts but also sacrifices; therefore, [it is] necessary that this One [Christ] should also have something to offer (literal).2
The task of every high priest under the Levitical priesthood was to make offerings to God, whether gifts to Him, or sacrifices for the sins of the people. Since the writer has made a solid case for Jesus being our High Priest, and so much greater than the earthly high priests, the parallel would require Jesus to make a superior offering.
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.
4. For, truly, if He [Jesus] was on earth, He would not be a priest (there being priests who are offering gifts according to the Law [of Moses] 5. who are serving an imitation and shadow of the heavenly things, even as Moses was instructed, being about to erect the tabernacle, He [the Lord] says, “Take care to make all things according to the pattern that you were shown on the mountain”) (literal).3
The writer reminds his audience that if Jesus had been on the earth at that time, He would not be a priest; at the time that this letter was written, the temple and Jerusalem were still standing (written late AD 60s).4 Not being from the family of Levi, Jesus would not have been considered to be qualified to be a priest. Moreover, there were still priests who were continuing the temple practices even though they had been ended in Christ; they had rejected their Messiah, and so they continued as before. There is much speculation within Jewish tradition regarding the curtain that hid the Holy of Holies, but what seems to be quite consistent is that there was always a spare curtain on hand should the one hanging become contaminated, and also on the eve of the Day of Atonement, they would hang a new curtain so as to ensure that it was in no way defiled.5 Therefore, when the temple veil was torn from top to bottom when Jesus died, the priests undoubtedly replaced it immediately with the one that was on hand. Consequently, it is to be expected that the temple routine of the priests would have continued as before – for the ordinary Jew, nothing had changed. However, what would have been different was the presence of the followers of Jesus in the general temple area, praying and expressing the truth of His redemption to all who would hear (Acts 2:46-3:1).
As Jehovah gave Moses instructions on the building of the tabernacle with all of its furnishings, He said, “According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it” (Exodus 25:9). The Lord did not simply provide general instructions and give Moses the latitude to build it however he liked; His directions were very specific, and they were to be followed very carefully. Even though they were just a shadow of the heavenly original, the Lord wanted to be sure that the reflection was accurate.
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.
And now He has obtained a more excellent service, as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been established upon better promises (literal).6
It is through His death and resurrection that Jesus obtained a priestly service that is far greater than what was available through the Levitical priesthood. Obtained (tugchano), in the Greek, is in the perfect tense (this is a one-time past action with continuing results), active voice (Jesus gained this service through His own actions) and indicative mood (it is a statement of fact);7 there is no doubt as to the truth of this. Moreover, service (ministry) is from a Greek word (leitourgias) that identifies this specifically as being a priestly, or sacred, service;8 based upon what we have learned thus far, this is a clear reference to Jesus’ role as our High Priest!
We now have the writer’s first use of the word covenant (diathekes).9 This word will be used frequently in the next part of this letter, and so it is important that we have a firm understanding of what it means. It can refer to a last will and testament through which property is dispensed according to the will of the testator (the one who makes the will); within our application here, a difficulty seems to arise because God, Who is immortal (1 Timothy 1:17), is the Testator, and a will only comes into effect when the testator dies. Yet, Jesus, Who was God in the flesh, did die; let’s consider this for a moment. Jesus was fully God and fully man; He was the Son of God and the Son of Man. “And to the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only wise God: honor and glory forevermore! Amen” (1 Timothy 1:17, literal).10 Jesus said that God is a Spirit (John 4:24); therefore, we must understand that the Son of Man died, but the Son of God continued to live. His body (the Son of Man) was laid in Joseph’s tomb (Matthew 27:57-60), yet His soul (the Son of God) went to Paradise, where He had an appointment with the repentant thief (Luke 23:43). Being made in the image of God, when we die our body is buried (it is dead), but our soul continues to live (either in torment or in glory); the soul of Jesus was God, both sinless and eternal. As the sinless Son of Man, Jesus died – the perfect Lamb to pay the penalty of sin forever; He rose in a new body that is no longer subject to death – He, the Son of Man, arose in immortality: the Son of Man conquered death! As the risen Son of Man, He is our High Priest and Mediator before God; as the Son of God, He has always been immortal. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God … And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us …” (John 1:1, 14a); John later wrote: “For there are [present tense] three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one” (1 John 5:7). All of this to say that in order for covenant, as it is used here, to be a last will and testament, it must be very carefully applied.
A difficulty with our English word covenant, as a translation, is that it suggests an agreement, which means that at least two parties have accepted the terms. Yes, the covenant spoken of here is between God and men (two parties), but what we must understand is that it is God Who makes the terms of the covenant (the promises and conditions); mankind did not negotiate with God to arrive at an agreement, rather, it is our responsibility to correctly understand the promises and the conditions that are in His covenant. Therefore, the covenant is entirely God’s – He lays out the terms and conditions upon which He will fulfill His promises. It is His covenant with us; we do not get to negotiate the terms, nor are we able to challenge it. We must keep this in mind as the writer begins to expound on the covenants (old and new).
Jesus is described as being the Mediator of a better covenant. A mediator (mesites) is someone who stands between two parties in order to bring reconciliation so that a common goal can be reached.11 “For there is one God, and one mediator (mesites) between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).12 Jesus, Who paid the price for sin, is the only Way between humanity and God (John 14:6); everyone who desires to be reconciled with God must come through Him. Keep in mind what we just learned about God’s covenant; therefore, when we come to the Mediator, it is understood that we come to Him on His unnegotiable terms. The mediation that must take place is between a sinful humanity and a holy God, and the Covenant lays out the terms that must be met in order for a sinner to approach God. Under the Old Covenant, the Mosaic Law was the guide for the Israelites to follow, governing every aspect of their daily living, as well as what was necessary to bring a temporary cleansing from sin. The New Covenant that Jesus established includes His ability to offer a complete salvation from sin, and the burden of the Mosaic Law has been annulled (Hebrews 7:18). Our High Priest, Jesus, being the Son of Man, is able to identify with the sinner (in that He lived on this earth among sinners), and, as the Son of God, He has complete knowledge of what God requires – He is the perfect Mediator!
Jesus is the Mediator of a better covenant, which has been established upon better promises. As Jesus met with His disciples on the night before His crucifixion, He told them that His shed blood would establish a New Covenant: “This cup is the new testament [covenant] in my blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:20b).13 This New Covenant is that better covenant, and the writer elaborates that it is founded upon better promises. We have already looked at the failure of the Levitical priesthood to provide anything other than a temporary cleansing from sins; Christ, as our High Priest, is able to impart a permanent cleansing from sin. The Old Covenant (OC) required continual offerings for sins committed, as well as an annual Day of Atonement when, once each year, an offering for sin was made in the presence of God (in the Holy of Holies). Our High Priest, God in the flesh, offered Himself as a one-time offering for sins forever, thereby bringing to an end the Mosaic sacrificial system, and making complete cleansing from sin a possibility. The promises of the OC focused on an earthly fulfillment: God promised to give the land of Canaan to Abraham (Genesis 12:7), and many generations later, the focus was still on that land that flowed with milk and honey (Exodus 3:8). All of this was to preserve the family line of promise that began with Abraham, and found its end in Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:1-16). What we find in Jesus’ teachings is the promise of a heavenly dwelling with Him (John 14:2-3), with little consideration for this earthly life – except that it will be fraught with tribulation and persecution (Matthew 10:22; John 16:33). What is immediately evident is that there is a shift from the earthly to the heavenly, going from the OC to the New.
As we have learned, Jesus’ priesthood was established by God with an oath (Psalm 110:4), unlike the Levitical priests under the Law of Moses; therefore, the promises of Jesus that are a part of the New Covenant (NC), come to us with the full surety of God. So when Jesus said that He was going to heaven to prepare a place for us, we rejoice (John 14:2); however, when He also promises us tribulation in this life, we don’t want to think about it, yet we are to be encouraged because He has overcome the world (John 16:33) – it doesn’t diminish the tribulations, but helps us to look beyond this life.
The writer has made it clear that the OC has been annulled because it was unable to make anyone perfect before God (Hebrews 7:18). The NC that Jesus has established through His sacrifice, is better because it is supported by an eternal High Priest, not according to the dictates of the OC, but in keeping with Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:20-22). A change in the priesthood has, in turn, required a change of the Law (Hebrews 7:12): from ineffective priests and sacrifices under the OC, to an ever-living High Priest Who has the ability to completely save from sin. The weakness of the OC has been emphasized in the previous chapter, as the writer built the case for the annulment of the OC. The NC, having an immortal High Priest Who is interceding with the Father on behalf of those who are His, indeed makes it a much better covenant.
7. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
For if that first [Covenant] had been without fault, then a place would not have been sought for a second (literal).14
Again, the weakness of the OC is noted; its greatest fault was that it could never provide a permanent cleansing from sin. In fact, it was not meant to be a permanent covenant: “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24). The OC was a guide (schoolmaster) intended to point everyone to the promised Messiah Who would bring about the defeat of Satan, and introduce a complete cleansing from sin (a second covenant –NC).
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.
8. For finding fault, to them He said, “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “And I will establish for the house of Israel and for the house of Judah, a new covenant, 9. not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took hold of their hand to lead them out from the land of Egypt, because they did not persevere in My covenant, and I disregarded them,” says the Lord; 10. “because this [is] the covenant that I will ordain to the house of Israel, after those days,” says the Lord, “I am placing My Laws into their mind and on their hearts I will write them, and I will be God unto them, and unto Me they will be a people, 11. And they will certainly not teach each his friend, and each his brother, saying, ‘Come to know the Lord,’ because all will know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, 12. I will be merciful to their wrongdoings, and I am never reminded of their sins and of their iniquities again” (literal).15
God knew the weaknesses of the OC, and He used the prophet Jeremiah to reveal that a day was coming when He would introduce a new covenant – the writer quotes God’s words from Jeremiah 31:31-34. The Lord said that He will make, or establish, a new covenant with Israel and Judah; make (establish) is the Hebrew karath, which means to cut.16 The common practice in making an earthly covenant was to cut an animal into two parts, and then each party of the covenant would walk between the parts symbolizing that they were bound to each other in this matter; then they would eat the meat together, further indicating their togetherness.17
At the time of Jeremiah, Judah was still in their own land, and Jerusalem and the temple were still intact; Israel, on the other hand, had been in exile for some time already. It was during this time that the Lord sought to gain the attention of the people of Judah so that they would not have to face the same judgment as Israel. “And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding [apostate] Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also” (Jeremiah 3:8).18 Despite having witnessed the Lord using Assyria to bring judgment against Israel for their wickedness (Jeremiah 3:7), the people of Judah gave no heed to the warnings of their prophets, and continued in their sins against Jehovah. It was to such a people that Jeremiah was a prophet of the Lord. What is interesting is that the Lord declared that one day He would establish a new covenant for Israel and Judah; Israel was already in exile for her apostasy, and Judah was rapidly heading in the same direction, yet Jehovah provided a glimpse of what would come through the promised Messiah.
The declaration is that, in the future, God will establish a NC with Israel and Judah; you will recall that Israel as a unified nation had ceased to exist right after the reign of Solomon, who failed to follow the Lord in his latter years (1 Kings 11:11-13). In other words, the NC that the Lord would institute would be for all of the children of Israel, not just for Judah (the only part of the original Israel that was still functioning as a kingdom). Although the people were exiled separately (Israel to the Assyrians and, later, Judah to the Babylonians), when they resettled the land and rebuilt Jerusalem and the temple, they did so as one people: Israel (Ezra 6:16-17). The northern tribes of Israel were exiled by Tiglath-Pileser and Shalmaneser, kings of Assyria (two exiles took place: 2 Kings 15:29; 2 Kings 18:9-11), Judah was taken by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (1 Chronicles 6:15), and those who returned from exile did so under the reigns of Cyrus, Darius and Artexerxes, kings of Persia (Ezra 6:14). They were taken from the land as two nations, but they returned as one.
How should we understand the word of the Lord through Jeremiah about making a NC with Israel and Judah, and Jesus’ words saying that through His blood a NC would be established? At the time that the Lord spoke through Jeremiah, Israel and Judah were two separate nations; even before Israel had been scattered into exile by Assyria, it had separated from Judah. Therefore, the Lord was making it very clear that the NC that He would make would be with Israel as a whole – not just the ten tribes who had separated from Judah. As noted above, when the Jewish exiles returned to their land, they came as Israel, not Israel and Judah; therefore, we know that when Jesus sat down with His disciples before His crucifixion, He was speaking to members of the family of Israel (without differentiating between the formerly separated nations). Moreover, as the Lord, through Jeremiah, begins to explain the covenant that He will make, He speaks only of Israel (Jeremiah 31:32). This is noteworthy; He’s clarified that He is addressing both Israel and Judah, and then changes to only Israel, indicating that the exiled peoples will come back as one!
As Jesus spoke of the NC with His disciples, He was speaking to those who were of Israel. However, there are many who take the prophecy of Jeremiah to mean that the NC is only for Israel. For the most part, this position is taken by those who hold to a dispensational view of the Scriptures, and, thereby, draw “a clear distinction between Israel and the Church.”19 They emphasize such a clear distinction because their dispensational theology requires it, not because it is found in Scripture (despite their vehement claims to the contrary).
Paul expressed great sorrow for his Jewish brethren, “4. Who are Israelites; of whom [is] the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the Law, and the service, and the promises; 5. whose [are] the fathers, and out of whom [is] the Christ according to the flesh – He Who is over all, God blessed to the ages. Amen. 6. But it is by no means as if the Word of God did fail, for not all who are of Israel [are] this Israel” (Romans 9:4-6, literal).20 Paul cites the advantages of the children of Israel, and then concludes that just because not all Jews are in Christ, it is not a failure of God’s Word, but a clear indication that not everyone who is a Jew (of Israel) is of the true Israel. Earlier Paul declared: “28. For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly … 29. But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly … whose praise is not of men, but of God” (Romans 2:28-29). Jewish traditions and the Law of Moses provided a very obvious outward expression of being a Jew, yet Paul argues that that does not make anyone a Jew; rather, a Jew is someone whose heart is right with God. To the Philippians, Paul wrote of his impressive credentials as a Jew: “5. Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; 6. Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. 7. But what things were gain to me [i.e., his Jewish advantages], those I counted loss for Christ” (Philippians 3:5-7). Paul is saying this: being born of Israel is nothing, living as a Jew is nothing, and every advantage that a Jew can have, is nothing! Christ, Who paid humanities’ debt of sin, is everything! Paul, who was a Jew’s Jew, considered the advantage of being a Jew to be historical: “1. What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? 2. much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles [sayings] of God” (Romans 3:1-2).21 The Jews were entrusted with the sayings of God (the text of the OT), but that is obviously in the past; in other words, under the NC there is no advantage for the Jew: “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him” (Romans 10:12). The promise that the Lord made to Abraham (“in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed,” Genesis 12:3b) came to fruition in the Lord Jesus Christ and the NC through His shed blood – i.e., the Gospel that He commissioned His disciples to teach to everyone (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15).
Let’s bring several threads together: 1) the Gospel of the NC was included in the Lord’s promise to Abraham, 2) the Lord told Jeremiah that He would make a NC with Israel, 3) Jesus declared to His disciples that His shed blood would be a NC, and 4) the writer of Hebrews states that the OC has been fulfilled and removed to make room for a NC in the Lord Jesus. The prophecy of a NC was woven all throughout the OT. In this final instance, the writer appeals to the prophecy of Jeremiah to clarify the present situation, and quotes it. Let’s look into it carefully.
The Lord promises to set a NC into place that would be very different from that which He made with Israel as they came out of Egypt. At that time, the covenant was the Law of Moses, which was based upon the Law of God (the Ten Commandments). This covenant (the OC) set the standard for how Israel lived, served to define sin for them, and taught them God’s holiness; under this OC, the Lord provided a sacrificial system and a priesthood by which the people could receive a temporary cleansing from sin – they came to know sin, and had a means for dealing with it. Although they agreed to do what the Lord required (Exodus 19:8), they not only failed to follow the Lord’s guidance, but, for most of their early years in the Promised Land, they departed from the Lord entirely and followed the gods of the heathen (they did not persevere in My covenant; Judges 2:17). It was because they failed to remain faithful to the Lord and His covenant that both Israel and Judah were exiled.
Through Jeremiah, the Lord provides a clearer picture of what the NC will look like. As the basis for the OC, God wrote His Laws upon two tables of stone (Exodus 31:18), from which Moses taught the people (Exodus 24:12), and the tables were kept in the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies, in the presence of God (Exodus 25:16). With the NC, the Lord says that He will place His Laws into the mind and write them on the heart. What are God’s Laws? The Lord wrote the Ten Commandments upon two tables of stone (His Laws); for the NC, He will write those same Laws upon the heart, put them into the mind, and He will be God to them and they will be His people. Who will these people be?
Hosea, who was a prophet to Israel before they were exiled, had three children and they were all named by the Lord: the first was a son, Jezreel, and the Lord’s pronouncement was the destruction (cause to cease) of Israel (Hosea 1:4),22 the second was a daughter, Loruhamah, with the Lord’s word that “I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel that I should altogether pardon them” (Hosea 1:6b, literal),23 and with the third child, Loammi, the Lord declares: “for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God ” (Hosea 1:9). The summation of this is: “Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God” (Hosea 1:10). We need to balance this with Isaiah’s words (Isaiah was a contemporary of Hosea, but sent to Judah): “Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah” (Isaiah 1:9). Isaiah attributes the survival of Israel (Isaiah 1:3) to the Lord’s mercy, and that it is only by a very small remnant (a few survivors24); yet the Lord, through Hosea, sets the number of Israel as countless. Let’s bring these together.
The Lord said to Hosea: “in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God” (Hosea 1:10b). Where did the Lord say, “Ye are not my people”? It was in Israel (the place) with Hosea’s third child, therefore, we would expect that it would be here that people would be called “the sons of the living God.” Jesus commissioned His disciples to testify of Him beginning in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria (that defines the core region of Israel), and John records these words: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the ability to become children [sons] of God, to those who are believing in His name” (John 1:12, literal).25 Even Paul’s ministry began primarily in the regions of Judea (Acts 26:20). In the place where the Lord declared, “Ye are not my people,” that is the same area where, under the NC, those who are believing in the name of Jesus are called the children of God!
As we know, Paul received the message of the Gospel from the Lord Jesus (Galatians 1:11-12), and his ministry was focused on the Gentiles (2 Timothy 1:10-11). Therefore, Paul was the herald of the NC (the Gospel) wherever he went, but his particular focus was on those who were not of the ancestry of Israel. To the Corinthians, Paul declared: “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 fleshy tables of the heart” (2 Corinthians 3:3). It is the Spirit of God Who comes to abide within everyone who, in faith, turns to Christ for cleansing, and Who writes God’s Law upon the heart – not on stone, as with Israel, but on the heart! It is clear that everyone who is in Christ has the Spirit (Romans 8:9), and it is the Spirit Who places the Law of God (the Ten Commandments) into our minds and writes them upon our hearts. The Message of the NC is not limited to the physical descendants of Israel, but is for everyone: “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2).
The Lord, through Jeremiah, goes on to explain that they will certainly not teach each his friend, and each his brother, saying, ‘Come to know [ginosko] the Lord,’ because all will know [oida] Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. This describes those who have accepted the terms of the NC (in Christ), who now have God’s Law placed into their minds and written upon their hearts; they are abiding in Christ and enduring in Him, having entered into a relationship with their Creator, the Spirit of God being within them. Among those who are God’s people (Biblically speaking), everyone has already come to know (ginosko, come to understand) the Lord, and also holds the hope of a future when he will know (oida, future tense, full knowledge) Him in fullness! “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). This is only applicable to the one who is remaining in Christ and living in obedience to His commands (John 15:10).
The final assurance of the superiority of the NC comes through the Lord’s words to Jeremiah: I will be merciful to their wrongdoings, and I am never reminded of their sins and of their iniquities again. Once again, this applies only to the one who is abiding faithfully in Christ. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1). That glorious state of being without condemnation is only for those who are in Christ Jesus! The writer of Hebrews has already issued a warning against permitting an evil heart of unbelief to enter into us that we should become apostate from God (Hebrews 3:12); it is only as we remain in a state of faithful obedience to the Lord that we also retain the “no condemnation” before God. This far surpasses the temporary cleansing from sin that was available under the OC, yet the essential ingredient in both the OC and NC is the same: faith in the Lord, which includes obedience to Him!
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.
By saying “new,” He has made the first obsolete; and what is becoming obsolete and growing old [is] close to destruction (literal).26
It is the Lord Who spoke through Jeremiah of a new covenant; the writer clarifies that by saying new, the Lord has deemed the OC to be obsolete. This took place when Christ fulfilled and rendered the OC of no effect, even as He established the NC in His shed blood. While Jerusalem and the temple remained, the Jewish religious leaders continued with the sacrifices as before (after all, they had rejected Jesus as their Messiah), but, perhaps, the writer is also hinting at a declining participation by the Jews in the OC traditions (becoming obsolete) – after all, the message of the Gospel was spreading everywhere (including among the Jews in Judea), and it is founded upon the NC in Christ, not the OC. In truth, the OC temple rituals were very close to being destroyed; within a few years of writing this letter, the temple and Jerusalem were obliterated so that not one stone was left upon another (Matthew 24:2; Luke 19:41-44).
There are many today who believe that when the Lord returns to establish His millennial kingdom, that the practices of the Mosaic Law will once again be instituted. Some hold that it is not the OC, but the same practices are included with a different purpose,27 while others simply state that “the Old Covenant will be brought in.”28 Most of this is because of the prophecies that are found in Ezekiel who was a prophet to Judah at the time that they were exiled. I certainly do not profess to have a full understanding of Ezekiel, but, when the broader message of the Scriptures is considered, it seems that forcing Ezekiel’s prophecies onto the Millennium is not appropriate. The writer of Hebrews states very clearly that by identifying a new covenant, the Lord has rendered the OC to be obsolete, useless, and discarded; when the Lord declares that the OC has been replaced by a NC, then we should not seek to revive it.
What the Scriptures show is that the OC was used to point forward to the coming Prophet Who would settle the matter of sin, and it served to preserve the lineage of Abraham from whom that Prophet would come. Therefore, it is only appropriate that when the Promised One came, that changes would be made because of the momentous work that He would accomplish. Indeed, Jesus came, the promised Prophet and Messiah, and through His shed blood, death, and resurrection accomplished the fulfillment of Genesis 3:15 (the defeat of Satan), and also brought a blessing to the whole world (Genesis 12:3). The writer states very plainly that the OC has been made void (annulled, Hebrews 7:18) because of its inability to bring complete cleansing from sin; what has been ended by the Lord, we must not seek to reinstate – it is no more!
The writer, as he addressed a Hebrew readership, has very carefully emphasized the significance of the Lord Jesus as the Son of God, the importance of Him being the Son of Man, and the amazing shift that He accomplished by ending the OC and establishing a NC through His blood. It is the latter that he has explained in some detail so that his fellow Hebrews would be able to understand that everything is not as it was, but that we have a High Priest Who has instituted a NC, and, at the same time, annulled the imperfect OC. The writer has arrived at the pinnacle of his letter: the OC is gone; now he will continue to explain how the NC (unfamiliar) is to be understood in the light of the OC (familiar to his audience). It is not that the OC was without purpose; Paul stated that it was there to point forward to faith in Christ (Galatians 3:24), and that it was there only until the Seed (Christ) would come (Galatians 3:19). It is clearly evident that the OC is no more; that is the point that the writer is making, and we would do well to accept it.
END NOTES:
1 Stephanus 1550 NT; Friberg Lexicon; Gingrich Lexicon.
2 Ibid.
3 Stephanus 1550 NT; Friberg Lexicon; Gingrich Lexicon.
4 https://www.understandchristianity.com/timelines/chronology-new-testament-books/.
5 https://www.sefaria.org/Tosefta_Shekalim_(Lieberman).3.15?lang=bi.
6 Stephanus 1550 NT; Friberg Lexicon; Gingrich Lexicon.
7 Strong’s Online.
8 Vine’s “ministry.”
9 Stephanus 1550 NT.
10 Stephanus 1550 NT; Gingrich Lexicon.
11 Bauer Greek-English Lexicon.
12 Strong’s Online.
13 Gingrich Lexicon.
14 Stephanus 1550 NT; Gingrich Lexicon; A Dictionary of New Testament Greek Synonyms, p. 17 (https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofnewt0000berr/page/16/mode/2up).
15 Stephanus 1550 NT; Gingrich Lexicon; Friberg Lexicon; Bauer Greek-English Lexicon; Gesenius Hebrew-English Lexicon.
16 BDB.
17 https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4714-covenant.
18 BDB.
19 https://www.wayoflife.org/database/study_bible_dispensationally.html.
20 Stephanus 1550 NT; Friberg Lexicon; Gingrich Lexicon; Vine’s “law.”
21 Friberg Lexicon.
22 BDB.
23 Gesenius Hebrew-English Lexicon.
24 BDB.
25 Stephanus 1550 NT; Friberg Lexicon.
26 Stephanus 1550 NT; Friberg Lexicon, Gingrich Lexicon; Bauer Greek-English Lexicon.
27 https://www.preceptaustin.org/the-millennium-in-the-old-and-new-testament, (John Walvoord).
28 https://www.askelm.com/news/n020620.htm.
1 Stephanus 1550 NT; Friberg Lexicon; Gingrich Lexicon.
2 Ibid.
3 Stephanus 1550 NT; Friberg Lexicon; Gingrich Lexicon.
4 https://www.understandchristianity.com/timelines/chronology-new-testament-books/.
5 https://www.sefaria.org/Tosefta_Shekalim_(Lieberman).3.15?lang=bi.
6 Stephanus 1550 NT; Friberg Lexicon; Gingrich Lexicon.
7 Strong’s Online.
8 Vine’s “ministry.”
9 Stephanus 1550 NT.
10 Stephanus 1550 NT; Gingrich Lexicon.
11 Bauer Greek-English Lexicon.
12 Strong’s Online.
13 Gingrich Lexicon.
14 Stephanus 1550 NT; Gingrich Lexicon; A Dictionary of New Testament Greek Synonyms, p. 17 (https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofnewt0000berr/page/16/mode/2up).
15 Stephanus 1550 NT; Gingrich Lexicon; Friberg Lexicon; Bauer Greek-English Lexicon; Gesenius Hebrew-English Lexicon.
16 BDB.
17 https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4714-covenant.
18 BDB.
19 https://www.wayoflife.org/database/study_bible_dispensationally.html.
20 Stephanus 1550 NT; Friberg Lexicon; Gingrich Lexicon; Vine’s “law.”
21 Friberg Lexicon.
22 BDB.
23 Gesenius Hebrew-English Lexicon.
24 BDB.
25 Stephanus 1550 NT; Friberg Lexicon.
26 Stephanus 1550 NT; Friberg Lexicon, Gingrich Lexicon; Bauer Greek-English Lexicon.
27 https://www.preceptaustin.org/the-millennium-in-the-old-and-new-testament, (John Walvoord).
28 https://www.askelm.com/news/n020620.htm.