THE EARTHLY SANCTUARY
HEBREWS 8:3–8
If He were on earth, He would not be a priest, for there are already men who offer the gifts prescribed by the law
(Hebrews 8:4).
The author of Hebrews now wants us to understand the relationship between the Aaronic priesthood of the earthly sanctuary and the Melchizedekian priesthood of the heavenly sanctuary. To understand this, we must begin to consider what the Bible teaches about typology. A type is a copy or shadow, which reveals the pattern of something greater—something more substantial and glorious. The earthly sanctuaries (tabernacle, temple) were copies, or types, of heaven.
Hebrews 8:4 says that if Jesus were still on earth, He would not be a priest. At the time of this epistle’s writing, the temple was still standing, and the readers could see the Levitical priests going about their business of offering gifts in the earthly sanctuary. But, writes Hebrews, the earthly sanctuary was never intended to be permanent. The earthly sanctuary was secondary, being a copy of the heavenly one, and preliminary, being only temporary.
The earthly sanctuary was secondary in that Moses was told to make the tabernacle precisely according to the pattern revealed to him from heaven. The tabernacle, and later the temple, were symbolic copies of heavenly realities. Genesis 1:1 says that God made heaven and earth, in that order, implying that earth is a copy of heaven—something the Old Testament makes clear in many ways. There is an earthly work that must be done before the heavenly work can be done, but the earthly work is secondary to the heavenly one.
As a result, the earthly sanctuary was preliminary. The work of the priests pictured the earthly work that Jesus would eventually come to do. The priests of the old order never finished their work. They died and new priests came along to keep it going. But Jesus finished the work connected with the earthly sanctuary. There will be no more new priests in this sense. The work in the sanctuary is over and thus is no longer necessary. Jesus has now entered the heavenly sanctuary to do a new kind of work, the work of bringing all of us to God. The work on earth was designed to open the gate to heaven. Jesus’ new work in heaven is to bring many sons (and daughters) to glory.
CORAM DEO
Jeremiah 25–29
If the earth is a copy of heaven, we can learn about heaven through observing the earth. The magnificence of the creation is awe inspiring. How much more inspiring it is when we realize it is but a copy. Today focus on the copy, knowing that its glory only reflects the glory of the original.
For further study: Psalms 19; 69:34–36 • Romans 1:19–20
friday
july
9
Need for a New Covenant
HEBREWS 8:7–13
For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people
(Hebrews 8:7–8a).
The “first covenant” is the covenant with Aaron through Moses. But behind this covenant, is the one with Adam. There was nothing wrong with that covenant in itself. If Adam had done the earthly work, he would have been rewarded by being allowed to do the heavenly work also. But Adam failed, and his failure was repeated by every new priest and every new person who lived after him. Thus nobody ever accomplished the work of the earthly sanctuary.
Adam did not resist the devil. Adam did not offer the world to God. Adam did not protect his bride. Aaron was supposed to do these things, but he also failed. At the golden calf, Aaron did not resist the people’s desire for an idol. He failed to offer the world (symbolized by the sacrificial animals) to God. Instead he sacrificed to the idol. He did not protect God’s bride.
But Jesus succeeded where all others failed. He resisted the devil. He offered the world to God by offering Himself, the new Adam, the (animal) Lamb of God, the new concentration point of the cosmos. Jesus protected the bride and will always do so.
Thus, Jesus is a Minister of a better covenant, a new covenant made with a New Adam. Jesus fulfilled the terms of the first (Adamic) covenant, both by obeying it fully and by taking its curse of death upon Himself. Now Jesus has moved into a new and better covenant, the Melchizedekian Priest-King covenant of the heavenly sanctuary.
Because Jesus has finished the work, several things follow. God has definitively forgiven our sins. Sins were provisionally forgiven before Jesus finished the work, but now they are fully wiped away for the people of God (Hebrews 8:12). What’s more, God’s law is written on our hearts in a new way, and we are given the Spirit to help us obey them.
With Jesus as our priest, we cannot ever fully fall away. Since the old covenant was completed, it was no longer necessary. From the perspective of the author of Hebrews, it was fading fast and would soon disappear. That happened when the temple was destroyed in a.d. 70.
CORAM DEO
Jeremiah 30–33
WEEKEND
Jeremiah 34–38
Since the new covenant is richer, fuller, and more glorious than the old, consider the following questions: If God required a tithe of 10 percent in the old, should we give less in the new? If God included children in the old covenant by circumcision, does He want them excluded now?
For further study: Ezek. 37:26–28 • Zech. 12:10 • Heb. 10:15–18
WEEKEND