Tuesday Night Study Notes May 09, 2017

Hebrews 8-9

Hebrews 8

V3 Sacrifice for sin is essential to the concept of priesthood. , representing a superior priesthood, offered a superior sacrifice. He laid down His own life to atone for sin.

V4 Jesus is not qualified to serve in the inferior earthly priesthood, but He is of the higher order of .

V5 Constable comments, “God had explained to the fact that the tabernacle was a prototype of another temple, "the heavenly" one, when He gave him the directions for the construction of "the tabernacle" (Exod. 25:40; cf. Rev. 4:5-6; 6:9-11; 8:3-5; 11:19; 21:22). Moses may have received a vision of God's heavenly dwelling place then (cf. 1 Chron. 28:19).” Exodus 25:40 makes it clear that what was built on the earth (Moses’ tabernacle) was made according to a pattern that existed in heaven - the pattern which was shown to you [Moses] on the mountain. Therefore, there is a heavenly temple that served as a pattern for the earthly tabernacle and temple. Jesus’ ministry as our High Priest takes place in this heavenly temple, not in the copy and shadow.

“Plato advanced the theory that physical things on earth are only shadows and copies of realities that exist in heaven. So what the writer to the Hebrews wrote here would have made sense to Platonic Greeks.

The writer's point was that Jesus' priesthood was not an earthly priesthood, but one that operated in the realm of heaven. Jesus could have functioned as a priest on earth after the order of Melchizedek, but His real priestly ministry of sacrifice and intercession began when He entered heaven. Jesus interceded for others during His earthly ministry (e.g., Luke 22:32; John 17), but His ministry as our King-Priest began with His ascension.” (Constable)

If God required Moses to proceed exactly according to the pattern God showed him, it is also required of worshipers today that they do all things according to the pattern God has revealed, which is His word, the Bible.

Coffman’s commentary on the ‘pattern’ of worship set forth in the : “And regarding the worship, is there a pattern of scriptural worship? Of course there is. The New Testament declares that God must be worshiped "in Spirit and in truth" (John 4:24); that teaching human commandments for doctrine constitutes "vain worship" (Mark 7:7); that "God is not worshiped with men's hands" (Acts 17:24,25); that man shall not "add unto these things" (Revelation 22:18); that one who "abideth not in the teaching of Christ hath not God" (2 John 1:9); that men "make the commandment of God of none effect" by their traditions (Matthew 15:6); and that all Christians should learn "not to go beyond the things which are written" (1 Corinthians 4:6).

But what is that pattern? God is to be worshiped: (1) through prayers (Acts 2:46; 2 Thessalonians 5:17; 1 Corinthians 14:15); (2) through observance of the Lord's Supper (Acts 20:7; 2:46; 1 Corinthians 11:28); (3) by giving of one's means to support the truth (Acts 20:35; 1 Corinthians 16:2; 2 Corinthians 8:7-14); (4) in reading, studying, teaching and preaching God's word (Acts 2:46; 20:7; 2 Timothy 4:2); and (5) by the singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs unto God (Colossians 3:16; Ephesians 5:19; 1 Corinthians 14:15).

V6 No earthly priest could take away sin the way Jesus did. A better covenant: a covenant of grace, not works, which is guaranteed for us by a cosigner (:22). It is a covenant marked by believing and receiving instead of by earning and deserving. It’s one of Promises that become alive to us through the Spirit of God; Promises of blessing and undeserved favor instead of promises of cursing.

JESUS IS THE BETTER HIGH PRIEST: An oath from God confirmed it (Heb 6:13-20, 7:20-22), not based on heredity, but on personal greatness (Heb 7:11-16), Jesus lives forever (Heb 7:16, 23-25), He is holy, he never sinned, so there is no need for a sacrifice for himself (as there was with the High Priest, Heb 7:26-28), He can take people all the way into God’s presence (7:25), he is our forerunner (Heb 6:19-20), we are anchored to him forever, there is no more veil of separation (Heb 6:20), we can have full access to God, he saves to the uttermost, He is the Son of God not a mere man (Heb 1:1-8), He is compassionate (Heb 2:17, 4:14-16), He is seated with God on His Throne (Heb 8:1), with ONE sacrifice he accomplished what the other High Priests of Judaism couldn’t (Heb 10:11-14). This is Jesus, our mediator that connects us with God forever.

Summarizing "the first covenant," the one which was annulled - (1) It was the one made with Israel and . (2) It was the one that had the 10 commandments as a basic component. (3) It was the one made at the time of Israel's coming out of Egypt. (4) It was the one said by God himself to be with Moses (with "thee"), as well as with Israel (Exodus 24:27). So it means the whole religious system of the Jews, the Decalogue, the priesthood, the sacrifices, the tabernacle ritual, the temple services (as later developed), the statutes, and the judgments, and the commandments, and embracing the entire ceremonial and moral constitution of Judaism.

Jesus is our Mediator for this greater covenant. Mediator is the ancient Greek word mesites, which means “one who stands in the middle between two people and brings them together.” (Barclay) Moses was the mediator of the Old Covenant, because he “brought the two parties together.”

V7 If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant. If God established a , it means that there is something lacking in the Old Covenant (as there was with the priesthood). He’s about to quote to prove his point. COVENANTS –The New Covenant is a branch of the Abrahamic Covenant. In the Abrahamic Covenant, God promised a piece of real estate for his descendants, an incalculable number of descendants, and blessing for his descendants and for all people through his descendants (Gen. 12:1-7; et al.). Deuteronomy 29—30, sometimes called the Palestinian Covenant, gave more information about the land God had promised to Abraham. The Davidic Covenant gave more information about God's promises regarding descendants (2 Sam. 7). There were many other OT (Old Testament covenants). These include the covenants with Adam and . The New Covenant revealed the particulars of the promised blessing (Jer. 31). Each of these later covenants relates to the Abrahamic Covenant organically; they were outgrowths of it.

V8-12 Quotes Jeremiah 31:31-34. Israel isn’t limited to the physical descendants of Abraham (Galatians 3:29, etc.), it’s all who believe. Jesus said the cup at the Lord's Supper represented His blood that is the New Covenant.

God gave the promise of a new covenant because the people of Israel had failed Him. He also did so because the Old Mosaic Covenant did not have the power to enable them to remain faithful to God. The New Covenant has the power whereby God's people may remain faithful, namely, the presence of God living within the believer. This is one way in which it differs from the Old Covenant (v. 9).

God promised that the New Covenant would enable the Israelites to do four things. They would know and desire to do God's will (v. 10b), enjoy a privileged, unique relationship with God (v. 10c), know God directly (v. 11), and experience permanent forgiveness of their sins (v. 12). These are the "better promises" the writer referred to earlier (v. 6).

Craig Blaising comments: ". . . the new covenant promises are not yet fully realized. The promises in Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Ezekiel describe a people who have the law written in their hearts, who walk in the way of the Lord, fully under the control of the Holy Spirit. These same promises look to a people who are raised from the dead [Ezek. 37], enjoying the blessings of an eternal inheritance with God dwelling with them and in them forever.”

Coffman comments:

“The more spiritual nature of the new covenant is stressed, being founded upon the spirit rather than upon the letter; but perhaps the most astounding thing in the prophecy is the statement that there will be no need to teach men, saying, "Know the Lord," since all will already know him. How can such a thing be? Only by the requirement that one must know the Lord BEFORE he can enter his kingdom, can these words be true. This focuses attention upon the vast difference between the old and new covenants with regard to the manner of entering them. Men were physically born into the old covenant, circumcised the eighth day, and thus grew up as members of that religious community; and, as a result, all manner of irreligious and unconverted persons were legally associated with the old Israel. Thus it can never be in the new covenant. Infant membership in the new covenant is impossible, for one must know the Lord before he can enter the kingdom. As the apostle John expressed it, “But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on his name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12,13).

I will make: The Lord makes it plain that this covenant originates with God, not with man. At Sinai, under the Old Covenant, the words were if you (Exodus 19:5), but in the New Covenant, the words are I will.

This covenant is truly new, not merely “new and improved” in the way things are marketed to us today.

With the house of Israel and the house of Judah: The New Covenant definitely began with Israel, but did not end with Israel (Matthew 15:24 and Acts 1:8).

This covenant is not like the covenant God made with their fathers. Again, this emphasizes that there is something substantially different about the New Covenant. The weakness of the Old Covenant was not in the Covenant itself. It was in the weakness and inability of man. The reason the Old Covenant didn’t “work” was because they did not continue in My covenant.

I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts: The New Covenant features transformation from within, not regulation through external law.

I will be their God, and they shall be My people: The New Covenant also features a greater intimacy with God than what was available under the Old Covenant.

Their sins and lawless deeds I will remember no more: The New Covenant offers a true, complete cleansing from sin, different and better than the mere “covering over” of sin in the Old Covenant.

V13 The Old Covenant, the Jewish Law and the temple were all obsolete and aging and the text says they will soon disappear. Clearly this was written in the mid to late 60’s of the 1st century, shortly before 70 AD when (as predicted) the Romans sacked , burned the temple to the ground, killed hundreds of thousands of Jews and scattered the rest of the Jews throughout the world (cf. Matt. 24:1-2). Since then, the Jews have had no temple, no sacrifice and in essence, no Judaism! The message to these discouraged Jewish Christians, who thought of going back to a more Jewish faith, is clear. They simply can’t go back to an inferior covenant, which is ready to completely vanish away.

Differences Between the New Covenant and the Old Covenant

1. They were instituted at different times. The Old Covenant around 1446 b.c., the New Covenant around 33 a.d.

2. They were instituted at different places. The Old Covenant at Mount Sinai, the New Covenant at Mount Zion.

3. They were spoken in different ways. The Old Covenant was thundered with fear and dread at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:17-24). Jesus Christ, God the Son, declared the New Covenant with love and grace. 4. They are different in their mediators. Moses mediated the Old Covenant. Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant.

5. They are different in their subject matter. The Old Covenant demanded a covenant of works. The New Covenant fulfills the covenant of works through Jesus’ completed work.

6. They are different in how they were dedicated. The Old Covenant was dedicated with the blood of animals sprinkled on the people (Exodus 24:5-8). The New Covenant was dedicated with Jesus’ blood spiritually applied to His people.

7. They are different in their priests. The Old Covenant is represented by the priesthood of the Law of Moses and high priests descended from . The New Covenant has a priesthood of all believers and a High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

8. They are different in their sacrifices. The Old Covenant demanded endless repetition of imperfect sacrifices. The New Covenant provides a once and for all, perfect sacrifice of the Son of God Himself.

9. They are different in how/where they were written. The Old Covenant was written by God on tablets of stone. The New Covenant is written by God on the hearts of His people.

10. They are different in their goals. The goal of the Old Covenant was to discover sin, to condemn it, and to set a “fence” around it. The goal of the New Covenant is to declare the love, grace, and mercy of God, and to give repentance, remission of sin, and eternal life.

11. They are different in their practical effect on living. The Old Covenant ends in bondage (through no fault of its own). The New Covenant provides true liberty.

12. They are different in their giving of the Holy Spirit. Under the Old Covenant, God did grant the Holy Spirit, but not in the same way and extent that He is given to believer under the New Covenant.

13. They are different in their idea of the Kingdom of God. Under the Old Covenant, it is mainly seen as the supreme rule of Israel over the nations. Under the New Covenant, it is both a present spiritual reality and a coming literal fact.

14. They are different in their substance. The Old Covenant has vivid shadows. The New Covenant has the reality.

15. They are different in the extent of their administration. The Old Covenant was confined to the descendants of Abraham through and Jacob according to the flesh. The New Covenant is extended to all nations and races under heaven.

16. They are different in what they actually accomplish. The Old Covenant made nothing perfect. The New Covenant can, and will bring in the perfection of God’s people.

17. They are different in their duration. The Old Covenant was designed to be removed. The New Covenant was designed to last forever.

CHAPTER 9

V1 The earthly sanctuary: This is the tabernacle constructed and erected in the wilderness by Moses upon instructions of God. The tabernacle ordained by the Old Covenant was planned by God for an earthly service. The word "ordinances" in this place means "regulations." Beginning here is a detailed and extensive contrast between that worldly sanctuary, whether the tabernacle or the temple, which was the center of the Jewish religious institution, with the heavenly counterpart of it which is the grand theater of the redemptive ministry of Jesus.

THE TABERNACLE: The portable earthly meeting place of God with the children of Israel from the time of the Exodus from Egypt through the conquering of the land of Canaan. MacArthur comments on the Tabernacle, “This was a big area. It was about 150 feet long, and 75 feet wide. And there was only one gate, and it was on the east, and it was 30 feet wide, 7-1/2 feet high. Now, that is a perfect picture of Jesus Christ, who said, "I am the way," who also said, "I am the door." To the Tabernacle or the place of God there was only one door. How many doors are there to God now? One door, Jesus Christ. So the fact of one door pictures Jesus Christ. is very exclusive. Men only come to God through Jesus Christ.”

The tabernacle consisted of an external courtyard (150 feet by 75 feet), and a tent-like structure (the tabernacle proper) covered by rug-like coverings for a roof. The tent (tabernacle proper) was divided into the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. The tent was made of acacia wood boards overlaid with gold and fitted together to form the walls, measuring 45 by 15 feet. The whole compound was surrounded by a high fence about 7 feet in height. The fence was made of linen hangings held by pillars.

“As we walked from the east going in, we would first of all come to the brazen altar.

It was made of acacia wood. It was 7-1/2 feet square, so it was a large altar. It stood 4-1/2 feet off the ground. The top was covered by a brass grate, and the coals were underneath the grate, and the sacrifice was placed on the grate. On four corners of the altar were the horns of the altar to which the animal was bound when it was being sacrificed. The brazen altar is a perfect picture of Jesus Christ, the one who was a sacrifice for sin.

Having moved past that, continuing west, we would come to the next piece of furniture that is in the court, and that is the laver, or a wash area. This was made of brass. In it, the priests washed their hands and used it also to wash their feet as they went about the bloody services of sacrifice. It again is a picture of Jesus Christ, who is the cleanser of His people.

And it's a wonderful picture when you put the two together. Once we have come to the brazen altar and received forgiveness for sins, we're not through. We still need to go to the laver for the daily cleansing that brings about restoration and the pure joy of full fellowship. So both of them picture Jesus. And together they picture the work of Christ on earth, as He provided the forgiveness and the cleansing in the cross.” (MacArthur)

The tabernacle or tent was divided into two rooms. The larger room (the first part) was a 15 foot by 30 foot “holy place.” Behind the second veil was the smaller room was a 15 foot by 15 foot, called the Holiest of All or Holy of Holies. There the presence of God dwelt and only the High Priest could enter, and only once a year to present the sacrifice for the sins of the people, then he would leave.

The lampstand (candlesticks or Menora) with a middle stem and six branches stood in the first part and was of an unspecified size, made of pure gold.

The golden candlestick was the only source of light in the holy place, symbolizing the truth that the only light of the church is the word of God, making the candlestick also a symbol of the Bible, or type of it. Zechariah's question of the meaning of the seven golden candlesticks (Zechariah 4:1-6) received this response from the angel, "This is the word of the Lord"; and although limited as "unto Zerubbabel" in that reference, there can be little doubt that it stands for all the word of the Lord in the whole Bible; and, it is an accurate type of it. Its seven branches stand for the seven divisions of the Bible: (1) the Law of Moses; (2) and the Prophets; (3) and the Psalms (Luke 24:44) in the Old Testament; and the other four divisions; (4) the Gospels; (5) the Book of Acts; (6) the Epistles; and (7) Revelation, in the New Testament, the last four divisions are clear because of the inherent nature of the books themselves, and from the revelation of three Old Testament divisions enunciated by the Lord himself. Other and more elaborate divisions of the Bible are sometimes given; but the divisions noted here have the authority of Jesus' own acceptance of them.

On the candlesticks, the two longest arms, on the right and on the left, make the longest projection in the things represented, the left branch () going all the way back to creation, and the right (Revelation) reaching all the way to the judgment and eternity.

The candlestick required constant care, twice a day, or more often, when the lamps were trimmed and supplied with oil, a good analogy of the constant care, meditation, reading and study of the Bible we should employ.

Also, note the centrality of the division is the Four Gospels, standing exactly where it should, with the three branches on the left descending (as through history) and flowing into it, and the three branches on the right rising and coming up out of it. The Old Testament looks forward to the gospel; the rest of the New Testament looks back to it.

The table sat in the first part and was made of acacia wood covered with gold, 3 feet long, 11Ž2 feet wide, and 2 feet 3 inches high. It held twelve loaves of showbread, each representing God’s fellowship with the twelve tribes of Israel (Exodus 25:23-30). Of course, the bread symbolizes also the bread of the Lord's Supper, which is also symbolic of that bread which came down from God out of heaven, the bread of life, of which, if a man eat, he shall never die; and God shall raise him up at the last day. See John 6. And at the end of the week the priests ate it, and only the priests were allowed to eat it.

V3 The sanctuary refers to the first part, known as the “holy place.” A veil (a thick curtain) separated the first part from the Holiest of All, also known as the “holy of holies” (Exodus 26:31-33).

The three colors of the veil (Exodus 26:31ff), blue above, scarlet beneath, and purple between, suggest the Trinity, and particularly the person of Christ whose heavenly nature (the blue) was perfectly blended with his earthly nature (the scarlet) to form the perfect co-mingling of the two (the purple) in his person as the unique God-man. There were embroidered cherubim upon it.

WHAT THE VEIL SYMBOLIZES

1. It is a symbol of the mysteries of the Old Testament. Paul said of Israel, “But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. (2 Corinthians 3:14-16).

2. It is a symbol of death and Christ's triumph over death. Isaiah said,

And he (God) will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces (Isaiah 25:7,8). The destruction of that veil symbolizes the triumph of Christ over death; and before that, the veil stood for centuries as a symbol of death itself, with its strategic location between the sanctuary (earth or the church) and the most holy place (heaven). Note the reference to Christ's entering heaven for us as "entering into that which is within the veil" (:19).

3. The veil also typified the flesh of Christ, or his person, and the fact of his person's being torn, at the very moment of the Lord's death, for our sins. It is therefore "through the veil, that is to say his flesh," that one draws near to God (:19-22).

4. There is symbolism in the veil as a symbol of the law of Moses, and the annulment of the law when Christ died and the veil was torn in half (Colossians 2:14).

5. It was a symbol of the concealment of the ministry of the high priest on the day of atonement, and is therefore symbolic of the office of the Jewish high priest, and in its being torn, a symbol of the removal of that office. No earthly high priest is now needed; there is only "one mediator between God and man, himself also man, Christ Jesus" (:5,6).

6. The veil was symbolical of the separation between God and man because of sin. I was there to emphasize the unbridgeable gulf that separated them; again, the double symbolism is continued in the tearing of the veil being made, in the New Testament, to be the opening up of a "new and living way" through Christ for people to draw near to God (Hebrews 10:20).

7. The veil is a symbol of the equality among God's children. The old covenant had the average Jewish person, the lesser priests, and then high priest, who alone could enter the holiest place of all; but all these distinctions are removed in Christ's kingdom. "All of you are brethren" is the way Jesus expressed it (Matthew 23:8). Peter called all of God's children as a "holy priesthood" (1 Peter 2:5), and even as a "royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9).

THE SO WHAT (regarding the veil): Therefore, every time a human being gets between God and one of his priests (Christians) and tries to be something of a higher priest to be a mediator or “go between”, that person is only trying to patch up that old veil which was destroyed by the hand of God when Christ was crucified. The golden altar of incense was made of acacia wood covered with gold, 11Ž2 feet square and 3 feet high. It stood at the veil before the “holy of holies,” and was used to burn incense (Exodus 30:1-8).

The golden altar of incense was technically not in the Holy of Holies (:4), but it was at the entrance through the veil, it did pertain to the most holy place. It is discussed here in connection with the holy place, along with the candlestick, and the table of showbread. In its use, the altar was significantly associated with the solemn ritual on the day of atonement, when the high priest made two or three excursions within the Holy of Holies with this altar as the pivot around which his activities revolved.

The altar of incense should be understood as a type or symbol of the prayers of God's people (Revelation 5:8), the incense representing the prayers, and the altar the institution of prayer itself.

V4 The ark of the covenant stood inside the Holiest of All, and was a chest made of acacia wood covered with gold, roughly 33Ž4 feet long (45”), 21Ž4 feet wide (27”), and 21Ž4 feet high (27”), with rings for polls along it’s side by which it would be carried (Exodus 25:10-22). Inside it were among other things, the tablets of the ten commandments.

Inside the ark was the golden pot (or jar) that had the manna (Exodus 16:33), Aaron’s rod that budded (Numbers 17:6-11), and the tablets of the covenant or the ten commandments (Exodus 25:16).

The manna reminded Israel of God’s provision and their ungratefulness. Aaron’s rod reminded them of their rebellion against God’s authority. The tablets of the covenant reminded them of their failure to keep the Ten Commandments and rest of the law.

MacArthur continues, “And we would move then into the Holy Place, and first of all on the left side would appear the golden lamp stand. Then we would look to the right and we would see the table of showbread. This was made of acacia wood, again, overlaid with gold. It was three feet long, one and a half feet wide, and about two and a quarter feet high off the ground. And on it every Sabbath they laid 12 loaves, one for every tribe in Israel, six in two rows. And at the end of the week the priests ate it, and only the priests were allowed to eat it.

Then continuing to the center we would see the altar of incense. It again was made of acacia wood, and it was sheathed in gold. It was one and a half feet square, three feet high. And on this were placed the burning coals from the brazen altar way out in the courtyard where sacrifice was made. Now you say, "Well, what are these three things supposed to be all about?" Again, they are pictures of Jesus Christ.

Let me show you what I mean. In the outer courtyard, all the things out there are connected with salvation and the cleansing of sin. Now, where did Jesus accomplish salvation and the cleansing of sin? On the earth. And that's the courtyard, outside immediate God's presence. The very fact that it was the outer court, accessible to all the people, pictures Christ in the world, openly manifesting Himself before men. But when He goes into the Holy Place, He is shut off from the men of the world. And so whatever it is that's going on in the Holy Place, it'll have to do with that which He does when He gets back to heaven."