A Better Covenant Hebrews 8:1-13 Hebrews – Lesson 8 A Better Covenant Hebrews 8:1-13 Hebrews - Lesson 8

Review Jesus Better than Melchizedek The Levitical Priesthood could not remove sin, and was therefore inferior and temporary Another priesthood was required, which was permanent and perfect Jesus’ unique qualifications provided a “clean break” from the Law His sacrifice ONCE FOR ALL sealed the salvation of all who are His He FOREVER intercedes in God’s presence for His children Hebrews - Lesson 8

The Main Point … Read Hebrews 8:1-2 The author comes to the main point of what we discussed in last week’s lesson We have such a High Priest Perfect (by character) Present (at God’s right hand) Permanent Sworn by God’s Oath Hebrews - Lesson 8

The Service of Our High Priest Jesus serves in the true tabernacle Built by the Lord, not by man The tabernacle built by man was temporary and was presided over by men who served temporarily Though built according to the pattern The true tabernacle was built by God and is presided over by His Son Hebrews - Lesson 8

Service in the Sanctuary Read Hebrews 8:3-6 What must those who are appointed as priests offer? What sort of gifts and sacrifices did the earthly High Priests offer? How often? What did our High Priest offer? Read Hebrews 7:27 Hebrews - Lesson 8

The Earthly Tabernacle Where did the pattern for the Tabernacle come from? Read Exodus 25:8-9, 40 Why was it important to follow God’s pattern? What was God trying to accomplish? Why didn’t following God’s pattern result in a perfect, permanent sanctuary? Only a shadow of the real thing, but important that it reflect God’s intent Hebrews - Lesson 8

Our Author vs. Plato Some Platonic thought inferred here by some Alas, from my college days: Plato imagined a man in a cave A fire was burning outside The man could see the reflection of the fire on the wall He never saw the fire, but could see a reflection or shadow of it Philo viewed the Exodus passage in this way Probably not the intention of our author Hebrews - Lesson 8

The Earthly Priesthood Why would Jesus not be allowed to serve as a priest on earth? Wrong tribe – Judah vs. Levi Levites already appointed to serve Think about this: Jesus would have been seen as a layman Historical point: Verse 4: “for there are already men who offer the gifts prescribed by the law” Possibly indicates that Temple service was still taking place, supporting a mid-60’s dating of the letter Hebrews - Lesson 8

The Heavenly Priesthood What qualifications does Jesus have to serve as our High Priest? A Priest in the order of Melchizedek Jesus’ priestly service can only be offered in the true sanctuary Not on earth Service rendered in the true sanctuary MUST be superior to that offered in an earthly sanctuary Hebrews - Lesson 8

A Better Covenant Read Hebrews 8:7-12 What are the better promises? The author wants to hold our attention Why a new covenant? What was wrong with the old one? Read Jeremiah 7:21-26 Our author quotes from Jeremiah 31:31-34 Though he ignores that the oracle was delivered via Jeremiah and simply adds: “says the Lord” Hebrews - Lesson 8

The Better Covenant Jeremiah speaks of the “new” covenant Some translations render the phrase “new testament”, from whence comes the name What are the attributes of the better covenant? Implanting of God’s law in man’s heart (vs. 10) A personal knowledge of God (vs. 11) Forgiveness of sins (vs. 12) These are the promises from verse 7 Hebrews - Lesson 8

God’s Law in Men’s Hearts More than committing it to memory Read Deut 6:4-9 This apparently didn’t work The defect was not in the Law, but in man’s ability to keep it Read Ezek 11:19-20 God will change men’s hearts to make it possible for His law to live there A fuller and deeper relationship than before Hebrews - Lesson 8

A Personal Knowledge of God Read Judges 2:10-15 This passage sums up most of Israel’s history in the following thousand years Israel constantly forgot God God seeks a new relationship with his people, one where we know Him intimately Though that is what He sought from the very beginning with Adam and Eve Hebrews - Lesson 8

The Forgiveness of Sin Read Hebrews 10:1-4 Read Micah 7:18-20 The Law and its sacrifices could not remove sin Read Micah 7:18-20 Micah speaks of God’s nature in wanting to forgive and pardon Our God is full of mercy, compassion and forgiveness Hebrews - Lesson 8

God’s Promises … Such are the promises of the New Covenant “I will put My laws in their mind” “They will all know Me” “I will remember their sins no more” “I will be their God and they will be My people” Hebrews - Lesson 8

The New Supersedes the Old Read Hebrews 8:13 Our author makes the point that the very mention of a new covenant renders the old obsolete, and with it: The earthly priesthood The earthly sanctuary The earthly sacrifices The age of the law and the prophets has passed; the age of the Son is here Hebrews - Lesson 8

An Analogy … This will get me in trouble When a MAN says he needs a new pair of shoes, he means: The pair that he has is worn out and obsolete The new pair will replace the old pair The old pair will be discarded The new pair will be better than the old Hebrews - Lesson 8

Will Soon Disappear … Re-read Hebrews 8:13 Two schools of thought The author is continuing his argument about the superiority of the New Covenant by saying that the Old Covenant is passing away The author is writing prophetically about the destruction of the Temple and associated Covenant which - if we’ve dated the writing correctly - will take place in a few short years Hebrews - Lesson 8

Next Week’s Lesson Questions? Lesson 9 – A Better Sanctuary Hebrews 9:1-14 Questions? Hebrews - Lesson 8 Hebrews - Lesson 8