The Better Covenant

The Better Covenant
Hebrews 8

While the Old Covenant was a physical covenant which required physical observances, the New Covenant is spiritual and while the observances have changed somewhat; they are both spiritual and physical. The Old Covenant was a shadow of things to come, or we could say that it is a shadow of a New Covenantal reality. The High Priest that we’ve been studying about is Jesus and we have compared Him to the Old Covenant high priests who were sinners trying to do the work of God.

In today’s lesson we are going to look at our High Priest who has ushered in a New Covenant and then we will compare that with the Old Covenant. We will look at why the New Covenant is better than the Old Covenant and discuss why the Old Covenant is obsolete.
First of all, I want to draw your attention to Hebrews 8:11. Listen to what it says. “And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.”

I am going to let that there and we will come back to that later to discuss that, but keep that in mind as we go along through the rest of the lesson.

Meanwhile, back in Hebrews 8:1 the author is asking us for a review. So back to chapter 1 of Hebrews and on.

Up to this point we talked about:
The various ways that God speaks to mankind
The Glory of the Son
We compared Jesus to the Angels and Jesus was better
The various warnings that were given up to this point
Jesus being perfect in suffering
We compared Jesus to Moses as an Apostle and Jesus was better
The various types of rest that God has given to Mankind
The Priesthood of Melchizedec
We compared the Priesthood of Melchizedec to the Aaronic Priesthood and the Priesthood of Melchizedec was better.
We talked about Who Melchizedec is and why Jesus can take on Melchizedec’s Priesthood
The Oath that God swore to Abraham
The swearing of oaths

All these things add up to one thing, we have a high priest setting on the right hand of Our Majestic Lord. Psalm 24

A Better High Priest

We go right from acknowledging the placement of our risen Christ to describing His ministry. The word minister in verse 2 of Chapter 8 is Leitourgos which means public servant. This word actually has deeper meaning than just a public servant though and we want to look at its deeper definition. It gets broken down to public servant in the Temple or Gospel and a worshipper of God and a benefactor of man. This is not necessarily the definition across the board wherever minister is used, but in this verse it is. This word Leitourgos is also where we get our word Liturgy.

Going on to the word sanctuary the Greek word is Hagion (Hag`-ee-on). The definition of Hagion is Holy Place, or Holiest of All or Sacred thing. Based on the definition of this word and by dissecting the word we understand that Sanctuary has been Sanctified by the presence of God.

The next word we want to look at is tabernacle. The word tabernacle in Hebrews 8:2 is Skene (Skeenee) and means tent or cloth hut. Literally it means habitation. With this in mind let’s read Hebrews 8:2 again and see how that sounds. “A minister of the Sanctuary, and of the true Tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man.” So breaking this verse apart using the Greek to give meaning to the words that have been used, we start to see something that would help us to understand this verse.

The context of this is: Our High Priest who is defined by His position at the throne of our Majestic God, is a Public Servant to the extent He draws man’s heart to God; through His serving in the place that has been Sanctified by Himself, making it a Holy Place in the living quarters that was set up by God. So the true Tabernacle is a place designed and pitched (or put into existence) by God. We can draw from this a conclusion that The True Tabernacle of God is not the Tabernacle that Moses and the Israelites built, but one that God built.

1 Corinthians 6:19, 20
Romans 12:1, 2
Jude 24, 25

The Tabernacle is the heart of man that God has bought with a price (His own Blood) and has Sanctified it by a continued renewing of our minds making our hearts holy and unblameable before Him, allowing Him to Dwell (Tabernacle) with us. Just as the Shekinah Glory came and rested on the physical tabernacle that Moses and the Israelites set up, God’s Shekinah Glory can rest on the Tabernacle that He so intricately has set up and purified.

The high priests under the Old Covenant were ordained by God to offer gifts and sacrifices to God on behalf of the people. This High Priest, who sits on the right hand of the throne of Majesty has offered His own sacrifices and gifts to God on behalf of mankind.

Ephesians 5:2

The High Priest here in Hebrews 8 is set at the right hand of Majesty. His work is complete. The high priests would not sit so long as they were in the tabernacle made under the Old Covenant because their work was never finished as long as they were in it. Jesus as our High Priest has finished His work of offerings and gifts to God, thus He is set down.

Exodus 25:40
Revelation 21:22

The Old Covenant was a shadow of heavenly things, and its key distinguishing feature was to bring men to Christ.

A Better Covenant

Jesus has a better ministry than the Levitical priests did due to the fact that He is a Better High Priest and has initiated a New Covenant which produces better promises.

The Old Covenant could deal with man’s faults by pointing them out, but did nothing to correct the faultiness of the heart. It was all about the physical relationship with God, keeping in touch with the sacrifices and methods of worship. They were promised under the Old Covenant that God would bless them physically with wealth, and health if they would keep His ways.

The New Covenant, not only was able to deal with the faults of mankind, but was able to correct the faultiness of the heart of man through a re-creation of the heart. God promises blessings which are not physical, but are spiritual. Consider the Peace, the Joy, the Hope, the Power to Live Above Sin, the Restored Relationship, and the Everlasting Life that God has promised to all who receive His gift of Salvation.

The Old Covenant was not without fault but served the purpose of helping people to understand their need of a Savior. When Jesus, our Savior came, He mediated a New Covenant which offered better promises.

Hebrews 8:8 Gives the promise that God would make a new covenant with Israel; offering them the Better Covenant. He goes on to clarify saying “Not according to the covenant that I had made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the Land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not”.

Jeremiah 31:31-34
Zechariah 8:7,8
Isaiah 54:13

This New Covenant is not like the Old Covenant for more than one reason, but I want to draw your minds to something that is noteworthy. The Old Covenant was written on tablets of stone while the New Covenant is written on the Fleshy tables of the heart. Instead of the Law of God being on some piece of stone hidden away in the Ark of the Covenant, the Law of God becomes incorporated into the heart of man, the Ark of the New Covenant and the New Mercy Seat. The Mercy Seat is the Throne of God where He reigns over your life under the New Covenant.

Now as we move on to verse 11, What have we set the stage for?
Does this mean that Christian teachers have wasted their time in teaching in the church? Does this mean that the time of discipleship is over? This is not how the Early Church felt, and the Apostles as well as other leaders in the church took time out to teach. One of the gifts that is mentioned is the gift of being a teacher. So then, what does this mean?

First of all, lets look at the New Covenant. If the New Covenant allows for mankind to have the laws of that covenant written on their heart, and allows God to reside in their heart (the Ark of The New Covenant); then it is evident that those who have accepted the terms of this covenant know who God is even if it is a basic knowledge. God’s ways are past finding out so we will never on this side of death understand God completely.

A New Covenant

Psalm 103:1-22
The joys of knowing your sins have been forgiven is something that under the Old Covenant they never could truly experience. Sure, they made sacrifices for atonement for their sins; but it was just a temporary fix for them. Every year they had to make the trek as heads of households and all of Israel if they could to Jerusalem to make yet another atonement for their sins.

Now that the New Covenant has been issued, the Old Covenant is gone. This does not mean that it is of no value, but that it has no hold over us. Hebrew 8:13 describes it as decaying preparing to vanish away. What then is the point of including the Old Covenant in our Biblical Canon? As we strive to learn more about God and the plan that He has set up for mankind the text of the Old Covenantal agreement has value in helping us to understand some key points about God. It is of great value to see how God has worked with mankind in the past.

For what it is worth, I want to just give you something to think about. There is a group of professing Christians, who believe that God wants them to re-instate the Old Covenant ways of worship and living including returning to animal sacrifices. Every once in a while this doctrine pops up and I just wanted to make you aware of it. What then does it mean if you return to the Old Covenant ways of doing things? It means you have rejected Jesus Christ your Savior and the New Covenant.

Psalm 101:1-6

Jesus Our High Priest

Hebrews 4:14-5:1-14, 7:1-28

“Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.” Hebrews 4:14

First of all, I want to summarize the book of Hebrews. The Book of Hebrews was written as a means of pointing out the best of the two covenants. We do not merely see the comparison of the Old Covenant Vs. the New Covenant, but we see them explained in a way that helps us to get a better picture and vision of the types of our Saviour.
The author no doubt was dealing with a group of Christians who had come to the point spiritually, they no longer were feeling God speaking to them. It seems as though they had began dabbling again with the Old Covenantal system of worship so their seeing could replace their lack of feeling.

Jesus is the perfect High Priest, not just because He has that connection with His Father, but because He was acquainted with grief and chose to bear ours. Isaiah 53:3,4

In Hebrews 5 we will discuss the priesthood, both Aaron’s priesthood and the priesthood of Melchizedek.

Aaron’s appointment as a priest begins in Exodus 19:6, Exodus 28:1,2
The first mention of the priesthood begins as a Priesthood for the entire Israel nation with God as their High Priest. The whole purpose of this priesthood was to maintain the religious nature of the worship of God and through the holiness of the nation of Israel, the heathen nations would be drawn to God. Once the nation of Israel was established as a nation of priests, God proceeded with special instructions for them (a code of conduct if you will). The power of God when He spoke was so awesome that the Israelite trembled and begged Moses to have God speak through him. So was God’s initial plan for the priesthood failed?
God’s plan for the priesthood was not failed, but actually makes a very good point! Our God is so holy that sinful humanity, as most certainly some of the Israelites would have been, cannot bear to be in the presence of a Holy God.
Till now, God had remained the High Priest for all of humanity, but He began setting the stage for the arrival of a High Priest that could Identify with the people. First of all, God set up Aaron the world’s first human High Priest. He was human so he identified with mankind, but he was imperfect as were a myriad of following High Priests.
I hope I was able to give a concise study of the Aaronic Priesthood, and then as we look at Melchizedek, we can remember the Old Covenant Priesthood, which pointed to something far greater.

Who was Melchizedek?
The King of Righteousness
Then the King of Salem (or Peace)
Many people believe that Salem is the same as Jerusalem.
No Beginning or End
No Father or Mother
High Priest for ever

Other View Points:
Ancient literature uses Melchizedek as a nickname for Shem the son of Noah.
Some People believe Melchizedek was an earthly King who was so righteous he was also made High Priest.
Jewish Hellenistic philosopher Philo identifies Melchizedek as Logos
Some people believe it was a manifestation of the Holy Spirit.

They do not really know what become of the inhabitants of Jebus/Jerusalem during the conquest but many believe because of their righteous king Melchizedek they were integrated into the camp of Israel. They also believe that the descendants of Melchizedek became Jerusalem’s Priests. This view goes against what the Word of God says.

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Hebrews 3:6
Hebrews 10:23
1 Thessalonians 5:21
2 Thessalonians 2:15
Matthew 11:28

Genesis 14:1-24 (14:17-24)
Melchizedek blessed Abraham and Abraham gave him Tithes. This is all it says in Genesis about Melchizedec but it is full of implications. Melchizedek recognizes His authority over Abraham as He has the power and authority to Bless. Abraham would not give tithes to a fellow human, He obviously understood this was God standing before him as a pre-incarnate Christ. At this point in time, Abraham was careful in his dealings with humans and he understood what was going on in this discourse. This was the beginning of an anointing on Abraham’s life. We go right into another discourse, where the king of Sodom, who apparently was standing there through the previous conversation with Melchizedek, wants to bless Abraham as well for his role in rescuing his people. Abraham refuses with an oath to God that he would no longer take blessings or goods from the hand of the wicked, lest they should boast that they had increased Abraham’s wealth.
Abraham’s faithfulness was then rewarded with a further blessing that would eventually bless all nations!

Psalm 110:4
Acts 16:17 Servants of the Most High God…

The job description of the High Priest was to offer sacrifices and gifts on behalf of the people to God. No High Priest of God would try to honour himself with his position or by his position, but he would wait on a holy appointment for the calling. The same way Christ did not look for his own glory in being a High Priest, but was chosen by His Father for that calling.
Jesus, as we pointed out before was acquainted with grief or sorrows. Hebrews 5:7 indicates an earnest prayer to save Him from death. Through His faithfulness, He became the Author of Salvation and and the High Priest forever.

The earthly High Priest was the only one allowed to enter the Holy of Holies (on penalty of death), but through Jesus death He tore down that middle wall of partition between us as mankind to give us an entrance with the Father in the Heavenly Holy of Holies.

Isaiah 32:1
“Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.”

Tithe : Numbers 31:41

How does knowing that Jesus is our High Priest strengthen our profession?
Knowing that Jesus Christ as God in the Flesh knows what it is like to face temptations, He understands our weaknesses and intercedes on our behalf.

Does coming boldly to God imply a lack of humility?
Esther 4:16 Though Esther had no assurance of being heard by the king, because of her desperation, she approached the king with her petition. She actually was facing a penalty of death for coming uninvited.
That middle wall of separation between us and God has been torn away. It is as if there is a standing invitation to approach the throne of God. We do not need to go through a ritual now to hear the voice of God, but do we have the attitude that I will die if I don’t hear from him? The Word of God always brings life!

If, despite your sin, Jesus has compassion on you, how should you relate to other sinners?
Matthew 18 Treating each other with humility and forgiveness is actually a display of the meekness we carry within our soul. If a Righteous God who has the power to destroy mankind for its sin chooses to be merciful then who are we to look at a fellow sinner in disdain.

Why is it important that Jesus is of the Priestly order of Melchizedek, not Aaron’s?
The earthly priesthood has always been faulty for the reason of those who were the priests, even though they were ordained by God for that purpose, had a sinful nature and were not the perfect priest. Melchizedek was first the King of Righteousness and then the King of Peace. Everything about speaks of a deity!

If Jesus learned obedience through suffering, what might be our calling?
As sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, we too are called to obedience. The question remains though, Are you obeying your Father because that is what you are called to do, or are you obeying Him because as a son or daughter you wish to see His plan fulfilled. The real answer lies in that question. If we are just being obedient because that is our calling, then we will always chafe under that obedience. This is a heart question, and must be answered with the heart. We can either remain a servant in the kingdom of God or be a partner.

What is significant about Jesus coming through the tribe of Judah?
Though it was prophesied by Jacob (Aka Israel) that a kings would rule from among the descendants of Judah until “Shiloh” come and draws all men to Him. This is a reference to Jesus our Savior and Messiah.

Over what people what people was Melchizedek Priest?
Melchizedek is a priest for all the people of the world.

Why is it important that Jesus’ priesthood is unchangeable?
Death and corruption are a result of the curse of sin. Jesus Priesthood is unchangeable because He will never experience death again nor will ever experience corruption. The Old Testament Priesthood kept changing for both of those. The Priest would first experience death and then corruption. This just further solidifies Jesus place the the ultimate High Priest.

What does it mean to save them to the uttermost?
Ephesians 3:20,21 Jesus power to save has no ending.

What is unique about our High Priest’s sacrifice?
The Old Testament Priests would sacrifice the best lambs for the sins of the people, but our High Priest sacrificed Himself as the perfect Lamb. All the other sacrifices and there were quite a few, pointed to this one sacrifice which was done once and for all! Hebrews 4:14-16