Hebrews

8.1-13

The Levitical priests never sat down because their job of offering sacrifices for sin was never done (see Heb. 10:11). As the writer of Hebrews brings us literally to the "main point" he has been leading to in the previous seven chapters, he points out two final indications of Jesus superiority as High Priest: 1) His seat of honor at the right hand of God, and 2) His heavenly sanctuary in the true tabernacle. Just as the law was finished, so too was the work of sacrifice. Jesus' job was complete, and He alone, as our High Priest, was worthy of the honor to be at God's right hand and to rest from the work (v.1). By also declaring Christ to be in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, he also exalts Christ above any other priest. We know that the former tents of the tabernacle were merely intended to mirror the heavenly sanctuary of God, where Christ now resides in the permanent presence of God the Father. So now, in this high and exalted place, as our Mediator, Christ has gone further and negotiated for us a better covenant. It was the same in that it was written by God, and for the Jews. It was dramatically different by not being legalistic (v.9), being internal rather than external (v.10), being personal (v.11), bringing total forgiveness (v.12), and that it was for now, not for the future (v.13). The old covenant no longer served a purpose. Christ's sacrifice was complete. The age of Mosaic law and Levitical priests was over. The age of Christ, God's Son, had arrived and will endure now forevermore.

CHAPTER 8

Jesus, High Priest of a New Covenant

1 Now the main point in what is being said is this: we have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,
2 a minister in the holy places and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.
3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer.
4 Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the Law;
5 who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, “SEE,” He says, “THAT YOU MAKE all things ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN WHICH WAS SHOWN YOU ON THE MOUNTAIN.”
6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.
8 For finding fault with them, He says,
“BEHOLD, DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD,
WHEN I WILL COMPLETE A NEW COVENANT
WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH;
9 NOT LIKE THE COVENANT WHICH I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS
IN THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND
TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT;
FOR THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT,
AND I DID NOT CARE FOR THEM, SAYS THE LORD.
10 “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 INTO THEIR MINDS,
AND UPON THEIR HEARTS I WILL WRITE THEM.
AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD,
AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.
11 “AND THEY SHALL NOT TEACH EVERYONE HIS FELLOW CITIZEN,
AND EVERYONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, ‘KNOW THE LORD,’
FOR ALL WILL KNOW ME,
FROM THE LEAST TO THE GREATEST OF THEM.
12 “FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES,
AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE.”
13 When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.