ONLY JESUS TRANSFORMS Hebrews 8 Lesson for October 25-26, 2014 Floria Perez Scripture Passage: Hebrews 8:1-13, NASB Lesson Passage: Hebrews 8, NASB Exegetical Idea Jesus is the mediator of a new and better covenant which has been enacted on better promises; He is ministering in the heavenly tabernacle at the right hand of God; the New Covenant is written on our hearts and has made the old one obsolete. Teaching Idea The new covenant is superior to the old covenant, because it replaces external commandments with internal enablement, the ability to obey God s commands from the heart. Lesson Aim Help my audience identify ways their lives will reflect the new covenant. Introduction Back in 1932, President Franklin Roosevelt sought to rescue the country from the pit of the Great Depression by launching the New Deal. The concept caught the imagination of the people. The time was ripe for a radically new economic and social program. In this chapter, the writer of Hebrews announces God's "new deal" a covenant, or agreement, between God and humanity. It offers far superior promises to those of the "old deal" (Old Testament laws and regulations). Warming up: What does knowing you are God's child mean to you? I. The Reality, Not the Shadow, vss. 1-6 a. The writer of Hebrews sums up the main point of all that he had said in the chapters previous to this point: Jesus, the Son of God, has passed through the heavens. He is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. Our Lord Jesus Christ serves in the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, vss. 1-2 "high priest" Jesus is the High Priest that God provided (Heb 5:4-5) for us under the New Covenant (Heb 8:10-12). The old system was flawed because of mankind s inability to keep the covenant, so God made a New Covenant and based it on His ability to fulfill it (Heb 8:6). Then He set up Jesus as the guarantor of these promises (Heb 7:22). "who has taken His seat" It refers to the finished work of Christ. Jesus sat down because His work was finished and complete. He entered into rest because everything was done; not one thing was left unfinished. 1
"at the right hand" This is the place of honor, of authority and power (cf. Heb. 1:3, 13; 8:1; 10:12-13; 12:2; Acts 2:33-35). "of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens" God does not have a physical throne because He is a spirit. It s the long hand way of referring to God without mentioning His name (cf. Heb. 12:2). [The term "heavens" is plural as it is in the OT. It is plural because it refers to several levels: 1. The atmosphere above the earth where birds fly and clouds form (cf. Gen. 1:1); 2. The starry sky, the realm of the heavenly lights, sun, moon, stars, and planets (cf. Gen. 1:14); 3. The personal presence of God and the angelic realm] Jesus serves in the heavenly tabernacle. The temple worship, as illustrated and outlined in the law, was a replica of the worship currently taking place in heaven. The pattern revealed to Moses on Mt. Sinai and constructed during the wilderness (cf. Exod.25-40) was a mere copy (cf. Heb. 9:11, 24). The heavenly tabernacle was created by God (Heb 10:1). Where Jesus poured His blood on the Mercy Seat for us (Heb 9:11-12), it was a perfect offering, not given according to the Law but according to the eternal priesthood that God ordained through Jesus. b. As our High Priest, Jesus has made offerings and sacrifices for us. If he were on earth, he would not even be a priest. On earth [other] priests offered gifts by following the instructions that Moses gave. They serve at a place that is a pattern, a shadow, of what is in heaven. When Moses was about to make the tent, God warned him, "Be sure to make everything based on the plan I showed you on the mountain.", vss. 3-5 "to offer" This is the emphasis on the substitutionary atonement of Christ's sacrifice. His offering is His life (cf. Rom 4:25, 5:6, 5:8; Heb 2:17, 3:1, 5:1, 8:4). "a copy and shadow of the heavenly things", Old Testament temple worship was based on a pattern of the real thing that took place in the heavenly tabernacle. Moses was shown the entire thing when he met with God on the mountain. Then God instructed Moses to recreate this tabernacle and its practices on earth with a warning to make it exactly as he was shown. (cf. Exod. 25:9, 40; Rev. 11:19; 13:6; 15:5) The earthly system was a model or replica of the true system. It looked like it, it functioned like it, but it was merely a pattern and foreshadowing of the real thing. This is why Moses was told to make it exactly according to what he saw, because it was simply a model. The main point the writer is making in Hebrews 8 is that Jesus, our High Priest, entered into the heavenly tabernacle to perform His priestly duties (Heb 8:2, Heb 9:11 ). The model portrayed by the earthly priests, in the earthly tabernacle, is based on the pattern of the true tabernacle in heaven. The Levitical priesthood was given so we could visualize everything Jesus did there. Everything we learn from the Levitical priest is a 2
foreshadowing to Jesus and His priesthood. God gave us these examples to teach us so we would have complete understanding of this true priesthood. Maybe you built model planes or cars as a kid _ these models weren t real, nor were they ever a substitute for the real thing. In the same way, we can gain a lot of understanding by looking at the earthly system as long as we understand that it is merely a copy and a shadow of the true system in heaven where Jesus resides seated at the right hand of God the Father because His work is perfect and complete. This heavenly tabernacle will one day cease to exist (cf. Rev. 21:22). It served its purpose during this age, but will not be needed in the end! c. Jesus has obtained a more excellent ministry; He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises, vs. 6 Jesus is the mediator or guarantor of the Covenant of grace. This covenant is far superior in every way imaginable to the Covenant of Law. This is because it is founded on better promises and backed by an oath between God and Jesus that it will be lasting and eternal (Heb 7:20-22, 28). APPLICATION: How does it strengthen your faith to know that even after more than 600 years, God kept His promise to give the new covenant to His people? Both the covenant and its promises will now be considered. II. The Superior Covenant, vss. 7-12 a. For if introduces the reason for a better covenant. If it wasn t imperfect, then there would have been no reason for a second covenant, vs. 7. The old covenant could not take away the sins of the people and bring them into a right relationship with God; and the Israelites had broken the first covenant by their rebellion (3:5-4:20). The writer will prove that there is a promise of a New Covenant by quoting Jeremiah 31:31-34. By doing so, he argued that such as promise demonstrated the inadequacy of the old one. b. The promise of a New Covenant was made. The passage says that God found fault with the people. The first covenant was flawed because of mankind s inability to keep it (Rom 7:12-13), not because of God. Human weakness was the problem, not the Law. As a consequence, God withdrew His protection, vss. 8-9. The first covenant was based on blessings and curses (Deu 28). It was not like the covenant that God made Abraham and it is certainly not like the covenant that God made with us through Jesus. It was behavioral based. If they kept the commandments they received the blessings listed in the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy. If they disobeyed the commandments they received the curses listed. It was all spelled out, the Israelites were well aware of the terms when they agreed to it (Exodus 24:3). 3
"new covenant" This passage in Jeremiah (cf. Jer. 31:31-34) is the only mention in the OT of a "new" covenant, but it is described in Ezekiel 36:22-38. This would have been very shocking to Jews. APPLICATION: Can you recall when someone showed you mercy and grace? How does this help you understand God s grace and mercy towards each of us? c. The better promises rest solely in the Lord Jesus: i. Internalize - He put his laws in our hearts and minds so that we can be familiar and intimate with His ways and precepts, vs. 8:10. The first laws were written in stone. God s laws are now a part of us written by the Spirit of God (cf. II Corinthians 3:3). They are a part of our new nature. We no longer have to strive to live according to God s law; we simply live by the Spirit of God and by doing so fulfill these laws. "Hearts" This refers to the entire person (cf. Deut. 6:6; 11:18; 30:6, 14) APPLICATION: Do you function better under external restraint (the law) or inner constraint (God's Spirit)? Why? ii. Intimacy - He makes us His people, declaring that He will be our God, vs. 8:10. This means family in the deepest sense of the word. Such intimacy can be expressed as Abba, for dear father. Jesus introduced this intimate way of addressing God but Paul invites Christians to think of God in this warm, affectionate way, confident of our welcome as his children through Jesus Christ. iii. Know God - He reveals himself to us so that we do not need someone to tell us about God, we can experience Him for ourselves, vs. 8:11 In the Old Covenant, the people had a mediator to represent them to God and to relay to them what God spoke. Moses is a perfect example; He spoke to God on behalf of the people and He spoke to the people on behalf of God. The only time God spoke directly to the Israelites, they begged Him not to. They were consumed with fear and begged God to only speak to Moses on their behalf (Exodus 20:18-19). The New Covenant, because of Jesus atoning blood, made it so that we could speak directly to God without fear and hesitation. He became a personal God to everyone who believes in Him. No longer do we need someone to teach us about God, instead God reveals himself directly to us teaching us by the Holy Spirit dwelling inside (ICor 2:10;16, I John 2:20,27). Isaiah prophesied about this very thing, All your sons will be taught by the LORD, and great will be your children s peace (Isaiah 54:13). iv. Forgiveness - He has forgiven our sins and goes a step further declaring that he will also forget them entirely, vs. 8:12. He will remember our sins no more (Isaiah 43:25)! 4
The Old Covenant gave instructions for a yearly sacrifice for sin. In the New Covenant God made it so that the issue of sin was completely and permanently dealt with once and for all. Because of it we have been made holy and acceptable to God (Heb 10:10, 10:14). Since we are holy and acceptable we can approach Him in faith knowing we are forgiven and God will never hold our sin against us (Heb 4:16, 10:22). This is drastically different than what the Israelites experienced under the Covenant of Law. APPLICATION: What happens to you when you say to God, "Thank you for forgiving and forgetting my sin"? III. Summary, vs. 13 From the OT prophecy that the writer just quoted, he drew the conclusion that the old covenant was obsolete and aging and would soon disappear, vs. 13 Since the new covenant has begun in Christ, the old covenant is no longer needed. Since Jesus gave Himself as the one-and-for-all atoning sacrifice, the old covenant rituals and sacrifices for sins are unnecessary and, in fact, are obsolete. The end of the old covenant was inevitable. In fact, within a few years of when the Book of Hebrews was written, the city of Jerusalem was captured by Rome and the temple was destroyed, thereby putting an end to the old covenant sacrifices in A.D. 70. We have these amazing things as New Covenant believers, which is why our covenant is far superior to the previous one. This is what David saw and why he pronounced a blessing on us (Psalms 32:1-2, Romans 4:6-8). APPLICATION: how has God s forgiving mercy influenced your walk with Christ? What does God s promise of a new covenant say about His love for you? Responding in Prayer Ask God to forgive your sins, naming those you can think of specifically. Note: written in part by internet bible lessons (Juli Camarin); Mastering the New Testament, Hebrews ; Explore the Bible Leader Guide. 5