Hebrews

[0:00] We are continuing our exposition, somewhat superficial exposition, of the epistle to the Hebrews. And I've got the last few verses of chapter 7 that we want to connect with chapter 8.

[0:17] And we just might be able to finish the entire chapter this morning, that is chapter 8 if we get going. So if you will note from your reference in the last couple of verses of chapter 7, beginning with verse 26, the writer says, For it was fitting, appropriate, that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

[0:46] Of course, speaking only of the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 27, who does not need daily, like those high priests, and of course he is thinking in terms of all of the previous high priests that served in the Levitical priesthood, who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people, because this he did once for all when he offered up himself.

[1:23] For the law, referring of course to the law of Moses, the law appoints men as high priests who are weak.

[1:34] But the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints a son, made perfect forever. And once again, the writer is contrasting the superiority of the priesthood of Christ as opposed to the position and the authority of the Levitical priests, all of whom had to die, go the way of all flesh, all of whom, when they went into the Holy of Holies, had to offer blood, sacrifice for themselves, and then for the people.

[2:08] Christ contrasts that dramatically, because he not only is the one making the offer, he is also the offering.

[2:20] And that is totally unique, completely unlike any of the other priests. This is so special and so different. And then chapter 8 opens, if you will look at your sheet.

[2:34] Well, actually, we won't be on the sheet until about the third verse, but let's continue on. Now, the main point in what has been said, in other words, what I've been getting to all along, main point in what has been said is this.

[2:51] We have such a high priest who has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens. And there it needs to be pointed out also that Christ is seated at the right hand of the majesty on high.

[3:13] That's another contrast, because when you look at the Levitical priesthood, those who operated under Levi and Aaron, and you examine the items of furniture and the tabernacle that were later moved into the permanent housing of the temple, you've got the table of showbread, you've got the altar of incense, and you've got the ark of the cup, all of these things in the temple, but you don't have a chair.

[3:42] There are no chairs there. There's no place for the high priest to sit down, symbolizing the fact that his work is never done. There is no seat for him.

[3:54] But Christ, in that he offered himself once, sacrificed for all, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, Because when he said, it is finished, it was finished.

[4:07] And then his work of redemption was accomplished. He is eligible to take a seat and receive from his father, well done, thou good and faithful servant.

[4:18] And we may assume that that is exactly what happened. He sat down at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens. A minister in the sanctuary.

[4:29] And in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices.

[4:41] Hence, it is necessary that this high priest, referring of course to Christ, also have something to offer. Now, if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all.

[4:56] Since there are those who offer the gifts according to the law. Now, if you will, we can switch to our scripture sheet because 8b begins here with verse 3.

[5:08] For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices, whereof it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.

[5:24] For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest. Seeing, and I'm reading just the bold print now here from the King James. Seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law.

[5:38] Verse 5. Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things. And keep in mind, that's all they could do. Was just minister to the shadow of heavenly things.

[5:50] Because the real was not apparent to them at all. And what they were doing was just a shadow. And he goes on to explain some of the other renderings in that. The first one is the authorized standard version that says, after verse 5.

[6:06] Excuse me. Who serve that which is a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. And Alfred, A.L.F. says, Such as serve the delineation and shadow.

[6:20] And Phillips renders it. These men are serving what is only a pattern. Or reproduction of things that exist in heaven. And I don't mind telling you.

[6:32] I have never really been able to put in my mind the exact purpose and significance. Of the heavenly tabernacle.

[6:42] But there is no question that there was a tabernacle in heaven. And it was based upon that tabernacle that God gave specific dimensions to Moses for the building of the tabernacle in the wilderness.

[7:04] And he even charged him and he said, See to it that you make it just like the one in the heavenly. So obviously he had some kind of blueprint or idea as to what that tabernacle was.

[7:16] And what in the world this tabernacle is doing in heaven? I have no idea. All we know is it is there. And Moses was to use that tabernacle as a pattern for the one he was going to build on earth.

[7:32] I do not understand the significance of that. Nor, to the best of my knowledge, is the significance actually explained. But it is just a statement of fact that it is there in the heavenlies.

[7:45] And verse 5 says that they serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things. And the heavenly things, of course, is the original one that is there. And we continue reading at the top of page 8c then.

[7:59] As Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle for, See, saith he, that is God, that thou, Moses, make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mouth.

[8:21] When Moses went up into the mount of God, Mount Sinai, There God gave him a picture or blueprint or something of the tabernacle that existed in heaven.

[8:33] And he gave instructions to Moses, Moses, I want it made just like this. And that included the dimensions. That included the gates, the bars, the rings that would hold the poles together, the boards, the silver sockets into which they were placed to provide stability.

[8:55] Everything. He had it all before him. And Moses was charged to make a duplicate there on earth. And apparently that is exactly what he did.

[9:05] And by the way, a brief aside here, but it is of interest as regards this tabernacle. When they were moving through the wilderness, it was the responsibility of the Levites.

[9:20] Nobody else could even touch this equipment. The items of furniture, the boards, the sockets, everything. Hey, this was a big deal. Well, these boards were, I think, if memory serves me correctly, they were like 12 feet high, made of acacia wood, maybe 18 inches wide and a couple of inches thick.

[9:43] And standing on end and put side by side like a fence. And then they had rings on them. And then they slipped poles through those outer rings to hold everything together.

[9:54] And then those boards, massive and heavy, each one, were seated in a base plate of solid silver to give it stability.

[10:06] So that thing wasn't going anywhere. It was really solid. And it was a good size. I don't recall the exact dimensions, but it was a whole lot bigger than, a lot bigger than this restaurant by way of square footage.

[10:19] And in it were all the items of furniture and the tabernacle and everything, or the tents and the offering where the priest conducted it. And this was quite a deal.

[10:31] And then when they broke camp, they had to take all that stuff apart. It's kind of like a circus that has to move and dismantle everything and take it to another place and set it all up again.

[10:43] Only this was a lot more involved and a lot heavier. And these things were heavy. And they had to be born through the wilderness. Carried all the way for all those years into the land of Israel.

[10:57] And when they got there, they apparently set it up there until God gave Solomon instructions for building the temple.

[11:07] And actually, what the temple was, it was a replacement for the tabernacle. Because the tabernacle was never intended to be permanent. It was just a temporary thing until the temple was built.

[11:21] And the question remains to this day, what happened to the tabernacle? Do you have any idea how much room it would take to store all those items?

[11:35] All of those silver vases upon which those boards were placed? And all the poles and the rods and everything? It would take a lot of storage space.

[11:47] And some are of the opinion, but it hasn't been verified. Some are of the opinion that under the Temple Mount, close to where the Dome of the Rock is listed, there is a huge area that is cavernous-like.

[12:05] It's almost like a gigantic basement right under the Temple Mount. And the Temple Mount, the Temple Mount is large enough to accompany 12 football fields.

[12:20] Temple Mount is a pretty big place. And they utilized scientific equipment to penetrate the walls down there. And they discovered that there is a huge open area, huge open space under the Temple Mount.

[12:37] And they don't know what's in there. Some theorized that that's where all of this tabernacle stuff is stored. Because it's unthinkable that it would have been destroyed. And that's entirely possible that it may be under there.

[12:50] And by the way, all of this area under the Temple Mount appears to have been nothing more than a gigantic stone quarry.

[13:03] From which they quarried all of those massive stones that are going to be used in the wall around the Temple.

[13:15] And these are really big, big stones. Each one, some of them weigh a couple of hundred tons.

[13:26] I mean, these things are absolutely gigantic. And when you talk about the ordeal that would be involved that just moves them, you can be sure of this.

[13:40] They didn't want to move them any further than they had to. So it's really quite logical that they would quarry them from as nearby a place as they could where they could provide the stone in order to get those to the Temple Mount.

[13:52] So time will tell eventually whether that's what this is all about or not. But I think it's absolutely fascinating. And by the way, in the 1990s, there was a Jewish excavation crew that was working under the Temple Mount.

[14:09] And you've got to understand that the Dome of the Rock, the one with the golden dome on it, that's Muslim, not Jewish. It's Muslim. Tradition says that it is built where the Temple was.

[14:24] And that the Muslims tore down the Temple, the Jewish Temple, and built the Dome of the Rock over top of it. Now, that's not completely verified, and the jury is still out on that.

[14:37] But the idea, what you need to know is that when the Jews retook Jerusalem in 67, in the Six Day War in 1967, they regained from the Muslims, from the Arabs, control of the whole Temple Mount.

[14:59] And they hadn't been in it for decades, you know. But they regained control. This is when Moshe Dayan, the guy with the patch, was the commanding general. And they went in there and got to the Western Wall and hadn't been there for hundreds of years.

[15:14] And to the victor belonged the spoils. So, the Jews had complete control of the Temple Mount, including the Dome of the Rock.

[15:27] But the Dome of the Rock was Muslim. And in an effort to soothe the ruffled feathers of the Arabs who had just been soundly beaten by the Jews, the Jews voluntarily gave back control of that part of the Temple Mount where the Dome of the Rock is to the Muslims.

[15:54] Gave them jurisdiction. Jurisdiction. They ceded it to them. Gave them jurisdiction and authority over it in an effort to kind of tone down the tension that existed as a result of their having lost that war.

[16:10] And to this very day, they maintained control over the Temple Mount area there where the Dome of the Rock is. And, of course, Israel has control over the rest of it. So, all of this stuff really comes into play big time.

[16:21] And especially here in Hebrews. In verse 6, let's continue. But now, he obtained a more excellent ministry.

[16:32] And there, once again, is the superiority of Christ. By how much also he, that is Christ, is the mediator of a better covenant.

[16:44] And what is that covenant? That's the new covenant that he's going to go on and talk about. Which was established upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, that's the law of Moses.

[17:02] That's called the first covenant. And like I've illustrated before, it was never called the first covenant until the second covenant came into play.

[17:12] It was always just called the covenant. The covenant of Moses. Joe? Now, you said that the second covenant comes into play. But doesn't that come into play on his second coming? Isn't that when the second covenant is set up?

[17:24] Right. Yeah. We'll get to that in a moment. It's coming up here. And he says that, for if that first covenant had been faultless. And the problem, the problem with the first covenant, which was the covenant, the law of Moses.

[17:44] If, in other words, what he's saying, if the covenant established by Moses would have been adequate. Would have done the job that needed to be done.

[17:55] Then there wouldn't be any need for a second covenant. That's the point that he's making here. So, what was wrong with the first covenant? How could there be anything wrong with the first covenant?

[18:07] If it was a covenant that God gave, wouldn't the covenant be perfect? In connection with the one who gave it? The keeper? Well, here's the problem.

[18:20] The covenant was perfect. But those to whom the covenant was given were not. Remember Romans 8, where Paul makes the point.

[18:33] And he says in Romans chapter 8, For what? The law could not do.

[18:44] End that. It was weak through the flesh. Now listen guys, here's an important distinction. The law was not weak.

[18:54] But the law was made weak through the flesh. Whose flesh? Yours. Mine. The problem with the law that Paul says, The law is just and holy and perfect, but it was given to human beings who were not.

[19:13] The law is a reflection of the character and nature of God. Which means, when man goes to live up to that law, he is in over his head.

[19:27] He cannot do it. The law reflected the justice, the righteousness, the holiness of God, and man could not come up to it. That's why there will be a need for another law.

[19:42] And this new law, he goes on to describe, and he says, It is established upon better promises, for if that first covenant, one coming through Moses, had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.

[20:02] Just wouldn't have been any need for it. But, for finding fault with them, he said, that is, God finding fault with the people of Israel, he says, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant.

[20:24] with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah. And the reason he mentions both of these, is because, the first time this covenant surfaces, is by way of a prophecy and a promise, and it is in Jeremiah, chapter 31.

[20:47] And what we need to remember, is that Jeremiah, penned his prophecy, about 500 years, before Christ was born in Bethlehem.

[21:01] And in Jeremiah 31, that's where this promise, of a new covenant, is given. And this is what the writer of Hebrews, is talking about.

[21:11] And fellas, more importantly, this is what Jesus, was talking about, the night he was betrayed, when he took the cup, and said, this cup, is the new covenant, in my blood.

[21:28] And, let's time get away from us, I want to establish something here, so that you can think about it, in the meanwhile, because this is really, really important. When Christ died, on that cross, he provided, the legal, judicial basis, for the establishment, of the kingdom.

[21:55] And when, when he shed his own blood, when he said, it is finished, that provided the basis, for the provision, of the new covenant. And you might say, in a sense, that Christ, signed off, on that new covenant, in his death.

[22:18] But, the nation of Israel, with whom the covenant is made, has never signed off on it. They remain, in obstinate unbelief.

[22:31] And the covenant, has never been ratified. And here is a really, really important point. So today, are we, still under, the old covenant?

[22:42] Or are we, under the new covenant? And the answer is, we aren't under either one. This is exclusively Jewish. Exclusively Israel.

[22:53] What are we? Who are we? What are we? We are the odd guys. We are the mystery, of which Paul was speaking. We don't belong to either covenant.

[23:07] The law of Moses, was never given to Gentiles. It was given to Israel. And this new covenant, God says, I'm going to make it, with the house, of Israel, and the house, of Judah.

[23:20] Those are both Jewish. And the reason, the reason Jeremiah mentions both of those, 500 years earlier, is because, Israel, was a divided nation, between the northern, and the southern kingdom.

[23:34] That broke up under Rehoboam, remember? So, you've got the northern kingdom, and you've got the southern kingdom. And what, what Jeremiah is saying, and what the writer of Hebrews is repeating, is, that these, two kingdoms, that made up, Israel, that became a divided kingdom, are going to be reunited.

[23:55] And God is going to make this new covenant, with both of them. So, let's continue on. It says, The days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant, with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah, not, according to the covenant, that I made, with their fathers.

[24:19] That was, the law of Moses. Covenant of Moses. First covenant. In the day, when I took them, by the hand, to lead them, out of the land, of Egypt.

[24:31] And I, regarded them, he says, because they, I'm sorry, I skipped the verse. Because, they, continued, not, in my covenant. Remember, when Moses, came down from the mountain, and he presented the covenant, to the people of Israel, and, what God was doing, was making a proposition, to the nation of Israel.

[24:56] And Moses, came down with the law, with all these requirements, and with all these promises, and the essence of it was, what, what God told Moses, to offer to the children of Israel, was this.

[25:10] If you will obey me, if you will follow my ordinances, and my directions, then, I will be your God, and you will be my people, and I will care for you, and I will protect you, and I will provide for you.

[25:26] So, what do you think? Have we got a deal, or not? And the people answered, and said, all that the Lord, has spoken, will we do.

[25:39] So, they, in essence, they, told Moses, Moses, you go back up in the mountain, and tell God, he's got a deal. He's got a deal. We'll be his people, he'll be our God.

[25:51] And guys, you've got to realize, how absolutely radical this was, in connection with all of the, polytheism, and the worship of many gods, and deities, that was going on in that day.

[26:02] So, here is God calling himself, to a peculiar people, who are to be special, unlike anyone else, to himself. And he gives them, and them alone.

[26:12] And this is really, really important. I wish, Christians could get a handle on this. That, we are not, under the law of Moses, and never have been. When God gave the law, to Israel, he made it very clear.

[26:28] He told Moses, thus, shalt thou say, unto, the sons of Jacob, the people of Israel. And, the Egyptians, the Egyptians, never had the law of Moses.

[26:41] Babylonians, never had the law of Moses. Never given for them. Never intended for them. What did they have? They had their own pagan deities. And they worship, false gods. And, this is exactly, what, what Paul is referring to, in Ephesians 2, when he says, remember, you Gentiles, in times past, were without God, and without hope, in this present world.

[27:07] That was their status. And, it was the nation of Israel, that had this special covenant relation. And, and God says, I regarded them not. They, they continued not, in my covenant.

[27:18] In other words, they just broke it repeatedly. And, I regarded them not, says the Lord. For this, is the covenant, that I, will make, with the house of Israel.

[27:31] After, these days, saith the Lord, I will put, my law, into their mind, and write them, in their hearts. And, I will be to them, a God.

[27:44] And, they shall be to me, a people. And, they shall not teach, every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord.

[27:55] For all shall know me, from the least, to the greatest. For, I will be merciful, in their unrighteousness, and their sins, and their iniquities, will I remember, no more.

[28:07] When, has this ever happened? Not yet. It never happened. Nope. It never happened. The larvae is formed, about four times, in the Old Testament, it tells this. Yep. Almost word for word, in one of those, in the Old Testament, it tells exactly, this is going to happen.

[28:23] Yep. And, you'd think that, after a while, you'd think, after a while, even the Christian church, would get the message. But no, there are so many, running around, saying, we are the new Israel, we are the recipients, of the new covenant, which is complete nonsense.

[28:37] Because, the covenant, in order to be valid, the covenant, has to be, signed off, by both parties, in the covenant. Israel, has never signed off.

[28:48] They remain, in rejection, and unbelief, of Jesus being the Messiah. When's that going to change? It's going to change, when, Zechariah says, and they shall look upon him, whom they pierced, and they will mourn.

[29:05] That will be, the believing remnant, of Israel, as they are, right on the brink, of annihilation, and the Antichrist, and his forces, are prepared, to deliver, the coup de grace, to Israel, and lo and behold, John says, I saw, in the heavens, a sign, of the Son of Man, coming.

[29:27] And boy, when he comes, someone said, he's not going to be, in a good mood, this time. He is coming, to rescue his people, and Israel, the believing remnant, then, will look upon him, whom they pierced, and they will embrace him, in a way, that they did not, when Peter, offered him, to Israel, the day of Pentecost, in Acts chapter 2.

[29:53] And nationally, they rejected him. But this time, this will be the ratification, of the new covenant. And it's going to be glorious. It will be. It will be heaven on earth.

[30:04] It will be. I will be merciful, to their unrighteousness, and their sins, and their iniquities, will I remember no more. He's talking about, the national rejection, and unbelief, of the Jewish people.

[30:20] They are going to, see the light, and they are going to, get it. In that, he said, a new covenant, he hath made, the first, old, and, yeah, I've got, I've got sheets here, but I don't have them, I won't take time, to distribute them.

[30:38] So, if we'll just look at, chapter 8, I'll continue, in, in my Bible, I'll be merciful to them, verse 13, when he says, the new covenant, he's made the first covenant, he's made the first, obsolete.

[30:53] In other words, the new covenant, is a, a radical, update. It's an update, to the old covenant. The old covenant, served its purpose, for that, which it was intended.

[31:09] But it was, inadequate, and could not do, what needed to be done. And the new covenant, will of course, because it will involve, the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. So, when he says, a new covenant, he's made the first, obsolete.

[31:22] But whatever, is becoming obsolete, and growing old, is ready, to disappear. And that brings us, to a conclusion, of chapter 8. I'm reluctant, to start 9.

[31:34] But you may have, some questions, or comments, we'll be glad to entertain them. Mike, and then Dan. I've always been, a little confused, a lot confused, about it. Christ knew, that all of this, was going to happen, that when he, entered Jerusalem, on, what, you know, Palm Sunday, he was heartbroken, because, it was not going to happen.

[32:01] Right. And that, he knew this all along. He, in mind, like mine, I can't comprehend that.

[32:12] Yeah, well, I feel, I, I, I can, I can agree with you. I'm coming from the same place, really. I find it hard to get into. The disciples, they really thought, that when Christ, arrived in Jerusalem, that was going to be it.

[32:27] He was going to establish that kingdom. In fact, the parable that he gave, about the landowner, who went away, for a long period of time, and came back, we're told that, Jesus gave, that parable, because, they, were, nearing, Jerusalem, and, the disciples, thought, the kingdom, of heaven, was about to appear.

[32:48] And, Christ knew that it wasn't. And, he had already told them, earlier, that he was going to Jerusalem, be crucified, be shamelessly entreated, by, the Gentiles, the Romans, and be crucified.

[33:03] And, Peter, Peter took him aside, and said, don't say that. That's not going to happen. We're not going to let that happen. That will never happen to you. And, you can be sure that, when they rode into town, and people were, strong in the area, saying, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest, Hosanna to the Son, blessed is he, that cometh in the name of the Lord.

[33:24] I can just see old Peter, sidling up to Jesus, while he's seated on that donkey, and saying, see, Master, I told you, they love you here. It's going to be wonderful.

[33:35] Yeah, well, we know what happened, though, three days later, don't we? Yeah. Okay, looks like the food is here. Dan, you had a comment or question? Well, who are we?

[33:49] Pardon me? Who are we? I mean, if I reject... Who are we? We are, we are members of the spiritual body of Christ that is composed of believing Jews and believing Gentiles, where the two are made into one new man.

[34:11] This is Ephesians chapter 3. And it is something that the Old Testament never mentions. Never prophesies, never predicts.

[34:21] The church is not there at all. We just spring in the beam as a result of the revelations that God gave to the Apostle Paul. It's a whole brand new thing.

[34:32] And that's who we are. We are, we are, we are not under the first covenant. We're not under the second covenant. This does not mean we have no law because we are under the law of liberty in Christ Jesus that sets us free from the law of sin and death.

[34:48] That too is Romans chapter 8. So we are not lawless, but we are not under the Mosaic law. Never have been. And we are not under the new because the new has never been instituted.

[34:59] The basis for it was made. When Christ died on the cross, He provided the legal basis for the establishment of the kingdom and of the second covenant. But until Israel signs off on it, it isn't going to happen.

[35:12] It is going to happen as surely as the first one did. Other thoughts? Yeah, Joe? Yeah, this tells us all about God. He will become our God. You know, the story is not, he hasn't incorporated us yet, but by reading this and knowing this, we know what kind of a God He is and what His plans are and everything for the world to come.

[35:33] This is what helps us, you know, you know what's going to happen if you don't accept Christ as your Lord and Savior and animal. You know what's going to happen. It's right in here. Amen. Couldn't be any clearer. So we need this story that's really not to us or about us, but it's going to affect us.

[35:48] It does. It does, and it's something we need to know, even though it does not directly apply to us, because if you don't know that, you can't figure out what's going on, what the plan and program of God is.

[35:58] So it's a very, very important ingredient. Thank you. Thank you.