THE POINT OF HEBREWS
HEBREWS 8:1–6
The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven
(Hebrews 8:1).
In Hebrews 8:1 the author announces the foundational purpose of his entire letter. There has to be a Great High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, because the Levitical priesthood was always inferior to that of Melchizedek’s priesthood. The priesthood of Melchizedek was permanent and kingly, as well as established by God’s oath, and thus superior to Levi’s.
Now, do we indeed have such a priest? Yes. The author has shown in the first chapters of Hebrews that Jesus is the very Son of God, superior to prophets, the angels, and Moses. What’s more, enthroned as King of kings, Christ’s priesthood is superior to Levi’s. In Hebrews 8–10, the author will provide further arguments to prove that Jesus is the Great High Priest, the final priest, and the only priest we need.
So the author’s point is not merely that such a Great High Priest is necessary for our salvation but that we do indeed have this priest in Jesus. During His life Jesus was faithful as an Adamic priest, a priest who serves but does not rule. Because of His faithfulness, at His ascension He was made King of kings, a Melchizedekian Priest-king. He has ascended to rule as a man next to God, something Adam should have done but did not do because of his sin.
Jesus sits at the “right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” The word Majesty refers to God, of course, but why does the author of Hebrews use it here? Probably to call attention to the glory of God, the glory cloud that surrounds Him and His throne. Jesus has entered that environment and sits enthroned next to the Father.
Heaven is “the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man” (8:2). Genesis 1:1 shows us that God set up the heavenly tabernacle at the beginning. The goal of history is for earth to become like heaven, as a result of the labors of Spirit-filled, godly people. (“Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”) Jesus, the New Adam, now sits as Melchizedek in heaven to direct affairs on earth, and to bring about the “heavenization” of His people on earth.
As a result, God’s original purposes for this world will ultimately come to pass.
CORAM DEO
Jeremiah 18–20
Jesus is directing all of human history from His throne in heaven. As you see “bad things” happen in the world, take heart knowing that Jesus is bringing them to pass as part of His direction of history. Since we are called to serve, we must work to make this a better world. Remember, He who is in charge cannot fail.
For further study: Acts 1:9–11 • 2 Thess. 1:3–8 • Rev. 1:12–18
wednesday
july
7
What Jesus Offers to God
HEBREWS 8:1–6
Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it is necessary for this One also to have something to offer
(Hebrews 8:3).
According to Hebrews 8:2, Jesus is serving the Father in the heavenly tabernacle. The next verse teaches us that He is offering to the Father “gifts and sacrifices.” This language points back to and requires some understanding of the sacrifices in the book of Leviticus.
We can divide the sacrifices of Leviticus into three groups. “Gifts” include the whole burnt offering and the cereal offering. “Sacrifices” refer to the communion offering. These sacrifices were basically gifts offered to God, though they were based on the atoning death of the animal slaughtered. The sacrifices that focused most specifically on atonement, however, were the sin and trespass offerings, which are grouped together as the third kind of sacrifice.
Hebrews 9–10 will show us that Jesus opened the gate of heaven for His people by being our sin and trespass offering. Here in Hebrews 8:3, however, the focus seems to be slightly different. Jesus, as a Priest in heaven, needs to have gifts and sacrifices to offer to the Father. And He has those offerings in us. We are the living sacrifices. We are the whole burnt offerings, the cereal offerings, and the communion offerings that Jesus presents to the Father who accepts us.
Here again the practical side of the theme of Hebrews comes to the fore. The author exhorts us to persevere through the wilderness. He tells us that Jesus has gone ahead on our behalf, and is now reaching back to help us. He tells us that Jesus is highly motivated to make sure that we succeed. It is Jesus’ desire to present all of the elect as perfect, spotless gifts and sacrifices to the Father, because Jesus loves His Father and wants to give Him supreme honor.
So now, as priest, Jesus wields the knife and cuts us, dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. At times this will be painful, and we may become afflicted with doubts. But do you think Jesus is going to let you fall away and be lost? Certainly not! You are part of Jesus’ gift to the Father, and He is going to make sure you make it to the end.
CORAM DEO
Jeremiah 21–24
As you prepare to understand Hebrews 8–10, start reading over Leviticus 1–7. Today take note of Leviticus 1:9, 13, 17; 2:2, 9, 12; 3:5, 16. What do these seven verses say about the sacrifice? Whose job is it to make sure that these offerings are pleasing to God? Focus on Christ’s control.
For further study: Psalm 51:14–16 • Philippians 4:18 • Hebrews 10:4–7
thursday
july
8
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