New International Version
Chapter 8: The
High Priest of a New Covenant
1Now
the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest,
who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2and
who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a
mere human being.
3Every
high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was
necessary for this one also to have something to offer. 4If he
were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already priests who
offer the gifts prescribed by the law. 5They
serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is
why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it
that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”a6But in
fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant
of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is
established on better promises.
7For if
there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have
been sought for another. 8But
God found fault with the people and saidb :
“The
days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the
people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 9 It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when
I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not
remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the
Lord.
10This
is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel
after
that time, declares the Lord.
I will
put my laws in their minds
and
write them on their hearts.
I will
be their God,
and
they will be my people.
11No
longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the
Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
12 For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their
sins no more.”c13By
calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is
obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.
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- The Abrahamic Covenant: (Genesis 12: 1-3) 1The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your
country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2“I
will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your
name great, and you will be a blessing. 3I will bless those who bless
you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be
blessed through you.”
- The "Replacement Theology" people say that "the church" has "replaced" ISRAEL. There is one word for that teaching: WRONG! ~ Do your own research. God is a Covenant-Keeper...God never changes a covenant! Oh and by the way...Israel is not occupying the land, they OWN it...and they don't need anyone's permission to defend themselves.
- The Mosaic
Covenant: (Exodus 19) The Mosaic Covenant is a conditional
covenant made between God and the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19-24).
It
includes the Ten Commandments(Ex. 20). It is sometimes called the Sinai Covenant
but is more often referred to as the Mosaic Covenant since Moses was God’s
chosen leader of Israel at that time. The pattern of the covenant is very
similar to other ancient covenants of that time because it is between a
sovereign king (God) and his people or subjects (Israel). At the time of the
covenant, God reminded the people of their obligation to be obedient to His
law (Exodus 19:5),
and the people agreed to the covenant when they said, “All that the Lord has
spoken we will do!” (Exodus 19:8). This covenant would serve to set the
nation of Israel apart from all other nations as God’s chosen people and was
as equally binding as the unconditional covenant that God made with Abraham
because it is also a blood covenant. The Mosaic Covenant is a significant
covenant in both God’s redemptive history and in the history of the nation of
Israel through whom God would sovereignly choose to bless the world with both
His written Word and the Living Word, Jesus Christ.
- The Mosaic Covenant was centered around God's
giving His divine law to Moses on Mount Sinai. In understanding the different
covenants in the Bible and their relationship with one another, it is
important to understand that the Mosaic Covenant
differs significantly from the Abrahamic Covenant and later biblical
covenants because it is conditional in that the blessings that God promises are directly
related to Israel’s obedience to the Mosaic
Law. If Israel is obedient, then God
will bless them, but if they disobey, then God will punish them. The
blessings and curses that are associated with this conditional covenant are
found in detail in Deuteronomy 28. The other covenants found in the Bible
are unilateral covenants of promise, in which God binds Himself to do what He
promised, regardless of what the recipients of the promises might do. On the
other hand the Mosaic Covenant is a bilateral agreement, which specifies the
obligations of both parties to the covenant.
- The Mosaic Covenant is especially significant
because in it God promises to make Israel “a kingdom of priests and a holy
nation” (Exodus 19:6). Israel was to be God’s light to the
dark world around them. They were to be a separate and called-out nation so
that everyone around them would know that they worshiped Yahweh, the
covenant-keeping God. It is significant because it is here that Israel
received the Mosaic Law that was to be a schoolmaster pointing the way
towards the coming of Christ (Galatians 3:24-25). The Mosaic Law would reveal to people their sinfulness
and their need for a Savior, and it is the Mosaic Law that Christ Himself
said that He did not come to abolish but to fulfill. This is an important
point because some people get confused by thinking that keeping the Law saved
people in the Old Testament, but
the Bible is clear that salvation has always been by faith alone, and the
promise of salvation by faith that God had made to Abraham as part of the Abrahamic Covenant still remained in
effect (Galatians 3:16-18).
- Also, the sacrificial system of the Mosaic
Covenant did not really take away sins (Hebrews 10:1-4); it simply foreshadowed the bearing of sin by Christ, the
perfect high priest Who was also the perfect sacrifice (Hebrews 9:11-28). Therefore, the Mosaic Covenant itself, with all its
detailed laws, could not save people. It is not that there was any problem
with the Law itself, for the Law is perfect and was given by a holy God, but
the Law had no power to give people new life, and the people were not able to
obey the Law perfectly (Galatians 3:21).
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- Old Covenant v.s. New Covenant
- The New Covenant: “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel - after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. ~Jer. 31 / Hebrews 8:10
(Jeremiah 31, and here restated again in Hebrews 8:10)
- In this chapter, the writer of Hebrews announces God's "new deal"—a new covenant, or agreement, between God and humanity. It's not that the Old was "bad" or "wrong"...it is just that the NEW IS FAR BETTER! This is a MAJOR point of the writer in Hebrews, so don't miss this point!
- It offers far superior promises to those of the "old deal" (Old Testament laws and regulations)
- I want to include an Old Testament look at a
few covenants God made with his people; otherwise we cannot fully
appreciate the significance of the "New Covenant" that we find
here in Chapter 8. Each of these covenants
are "eternal" in that they are still in as much effect as they
were when God made them. God is
the "Covenant-Keeper" with his people; He keeps his promises.
- How does a Covenant differ from a contract?
- In simple terms, a covenant is an
agreement between two parties, as is a contract. Significant though, is that a contract is based on mis-trust,
while a covenant is based on
trust.
- Covenant of Grace: The covenant
of grace promises eternal life for all people who have faith in Christ. It is part of the primary covenants in the Westminster Confession of Faith. He also
promises the Holy Spirit. The Covenant of Grace, promised eternal blessing for belief in
Christ and obedience to God's word. It is seen as the basis for all
biblical covenants that God made individually with Noah, Abraham, and
David, nationally with O.T. Israel as a people, and universally with man
in the New Covenant.
- Without faith, it is impossible to please God.
~Hebrews 11:6
·
Davidic Covenant: (2 Samuel 7:12-16)
(This is God talking to David through
the Prophet Nathan) "When your
time comes and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up after you your
descendant, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. I
will be a father to him, and he will be a son to Me. When he does wrong, I will discipline him
with a human rod and with blows from others.
But my faithful love will never leave him as I removed it from Saul; I
removed him from your way. Your house
and kingdom will endure before Me forever, and your throne will be
established forever." (~ 2 Samuel 7:12-16)
- The Davidic
Covenant refers to God’s promises to David through Nathan the prophet and is
found in2 Samuel 7and later summarized in1 Chronicles 17:11–14and2 Chronicles 6:16.
- This is an unconditional covenant made between God and
David through which God promises David and Israel that the Messiah (Jesus
Christ) would come from the lineage of David and the tribe of Judah and would
establish a kingdom that would endure forever.
- The Davidic Covenant is unconditional because God does not place
any conditions of obedience upon its fulfillment. The surety of the promises
made rests solely on God’s faithfulness and does not depend at all on David
or Israel’s obedience.
- The Davidic Covenant
centers on several key promises that are made to David. First, God reaffirms
the promise of the land that He made in the first two covenants with Israel
(the Abrahamic and Mosaic Covenants). This promise is seen in2 Samuel 7:10, “I will provide a place for my people Israel and will
plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be
disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore.” God then promises
that David’s son will succeed him as king of Israel and that this son (Solomon)
would build the temple. This promise is seen in2 Samuel 7:12–13, " I will raise up your offspring to succeed you,
your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who
will build a house for my Name.”
- But then the promise continues and expands: “I
will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (verse 13), and “Your house
and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established
forever” (verse 16). What began as a promise that David’s son Solomon would
be blessed and build the temple turns into something different—the promise of
an everlasting kingdom. Another Son of David would rule forever and build a
lasting House. This is a reference to the Messiah, Jesus Christ, called the
Son of David in Matthew 21:9.
- The promise that David’s “house,” “kingdom,”
and “throne” will be established forever is significant because it shows that
the Messiah will come from the lineage of David and that He will establish a
kingdom from which He will reign. The covenant is summarized by the words
“house,” promising a dynasty in the lineage of David; “kingdom,” referring to
a people who are governed by a king; “throne,” emphasizing the authority of
the king’s rule; and “forever,” emphasizing the eternal and unconditional
nature of this promise to David and Israel.
- The New Covenant: “This is the covenant I will make with the people of
Israel - after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will
put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God,
and they will be my people. ~Jer. 31
(Jeremiah 31, and restated again in Hebrews
8:10) In this chapter, the writer of Hebrews announces God's "new
deal"—a covenant, or agreement, between God and humanity. It offers far
superior promises to those of the "old deal" (Old Testament laws
and regulations).
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Questions:
·
"We do have such a high priest" (v. 1) refers to
the description of Jesus in 7:23-28. What additional facts do you learn about
him (vv. 1-2)?
·
What is Christ's heavenly ministry (vv. 3-6)?
·
Verse 6 looks back to prove Christ's superior ministry and
ahead to prove that we have a superior covenant with God. The key is
"better promises." What was the problem with the first covenant
(vv. 7-12)?
·
What guarantees God's "new deal" (v. 12)?
(See also vv. 1-3; 9:14.)
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*Note: www.gotquestions.org was helpful to research these covenants.
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