August 9, 2008
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Hebrews 8
Pastor Don continued with his study of Hebrews (6/27/08). We reviewed a bit about Melchizedek, and pointed out that no one on earth except Jesus could fit all the criterion for being a priest in the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 8:1 Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,
This is Jesus who sits at the right hand of God, which is a seat of power.
Hebrews 8:2 a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.
We need to understand that the tabernacle and temple that we have on earth was a pattern given to Moses, David, and Solomon by God. And soon we will see the Temple of Ezekiel. These patterns were given to show us what the Tabernacle in Heaven is like.
Hebrews 8:3-4 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer. For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law;
Jesus was not of the tribe of Levi, He was not a priest of the Levites. A question was raised about how could Jesus then debate with the Levites in the Temple. Pastor Don told us that the Jews were never afraid of a debate or a hot discussion. Nothing was forbidden to discuss, so Jesus could have debated with the priests and Levites.
Jesus was a priest on earth, but did not wear the robes of a Levite, for He was of the tribe of Judah. He had spiritual authority over the Levites, for Jesus came from the higher order of Melchizedek. The Levites were priests under the Law, but Melchizedek was before the Law.
Hebrews 8:5 who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”
The temple on Earth and the worship is a type and shadow of the Heavenly Temple. Moses was given the pattern and did as God instructed. The Levites followed the pattern God gave to Moses.
Hebrews 8:6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.
What was the better covenant established on? It was established on the oath made by God to all of us through Abraham. Jesus’s promises came directly from the Father and His covenant. They are the very Word of God.
Hebrews 7:21 (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him: “The LORD has sworn and will not relent,‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek’”),
God spoke the promise and gave an oath and His oath and promises are better than any made by man, no way will God take them back. He gave them directly to the Son. God gave the power and authority to Moses, but none of the Israelites were without sin. Jesus was without sin.
Hebrews 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.
If Moses and the Israelites were faultless, (Deuteronomy 28-32) in keeping of the covenant, then there would have been no need for a second covenant. If they were able to keep the law, if they could have been perfect, but they were not able to keep the law or be perfect. So there needed to be a substitutionary sacrifice – the blood of bulls and goats – to cover the sins of the people. But bulls and goat’s blood is not equal to the Blood of Jesus.
Hebrews 8:8 Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—
A new covenant – through Jesus.
Hebrews 8:9-12 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 did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
Judah means praise -praise and worshippers. God is a covenant God, and will establish his covenant in the Last Days with the Jews, and those who are of the faith who are praisers of the Lord. In this dispensation we will need all those in the five fold ministry. In the Last Days, everyone will know Him, hear Him speak by the Spirit, and will be in places and position to serve Him.
Hebrews 8:13 In that He says, “A new covenant, ” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
The first covenant (the Law) is obsolete. The people who think that strict keeping of the Law of Moses is the way to God, will realize that that is impossible to keep – only Jesus could keep that law. Moses sinned, Elijah sinned. Why do people look at Jesus and think that more of the same law keeping will get them into heaven? Moses had no tabernacle when he sinned. Jesus is the perfect embodiment of the Law, if you know the Law, how is it you can say that you do not know Jesus?
Someone asked about relatives who are Jewish, who do not want to hear about Jesus, or haven’t had the opportunity to learn about Jesus, and what would happen to them and all those who have never heard about Jesus. Pastor Don replied that God has ways of doing things that exceed our mercy. In our small way of thinking, we could judge others and send everyone to hell, based on narrow and small theology, but in God there is hope. Even today angels are manifesting to muslims, and God is preparing people to receive Jesus. Jesus, when asked to show them the Father, said John 14:8-11 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
Someone wondered about those Jews who never heard about Jesus, and Pastor Don said that they would be judged on what they know, that God is perfect Justice. Pastor Don then pointed out that if you reject Jesus after hearing about Him, you will lose more than you know.
Pastor Don pointed out that the Torah was read in a cycle, and wherever you are on a particular day, the same passage of Torah is read. There are scriptures in Isaiah that deal with Jesus, such as Isaiah 53 which are taken out of the cycle of readings. If you read Isaiah 52-54 you will see Jesus. The Jewish teachers try to say that this is really a reference to the nation Israel, not a person, but this does not line up with the scriptures, for the scriptures read “he”, but the Nation of Israel is referred to as “she”.
Equal weight is given to oral law and written law, and the scriptures are seen as subject to interpretation in some churches. So there are traditional teachings regarding the scriptures even in some Christian churches that do not line up with the Word of God, for the churches have gone toward tradition.
God’s mercy is so big, BIG.
Pastor Don told us that most of us do not want the truth, we want to be right. We learned stuff in childhood that we cling to, even though we know that it does not line up with the Word of God. We tend to justify our dysfunctionality. Sometimes we get so used to a particular way of thinking or believing that we don’t see the truth anymore, and we just do it, preferring to suffer the consequences rather than change and see that we are a new creations in Christ.
Pastor Don called it the 4 D’s: Distraction; deception, devastation, and death. By His (Jesus’s) grace, we don’t see death.
Romans 2:14-16 for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.
Hebrews 8:13 In that He says, “A new covenant, ” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
A NEW COVENANT, the first is obsolete. Often it is not instantly that we break away from the old covenant, it is not a clean break. As we grow older and more mature in Christ, we will find that our old habits will pass away and we will be doing them less and less.
We talked about some recent Jewish history, such as the Hasidic Jewish leader who passed away, that people believed was the Messiah, and when he died and was not reborn, their hope for a Messiah passed with him. He had no children to pass his line on, and before he died, he had a stroke which took away his ability to speak or write, so he could not tell his followers what to do.
The Jews did not want to accept Jesus, the suffering Messiah, they were looking for a victorious king. But one day, they will call out to the Lord, and God will save them. They will see the Messiah as King, for they are still part of God’s covenant.
When we hear the truth, we have to override our desire to be right, and adjust our lives to the truth, God’s truth.
We did not have a Friday Bible study on July 4, and continued with Hebrews on July 11.
I will share that with you next. I just want to have you remember that God is not through with the Jewish nation, He has plans and purposes for them, and has not written them out of His plans. God keeps His covenants, ALL OF THEM.
Have a blessed day!
Heather
