Out of the Shadows into Eternal Glory
Hebrews 8:1-13
8:1 The main point!
1. The main point isn't that we have a high priest.
2. The main point is that we have the kind of High Priest that the author has presented:
a. He is the Expressed Essential Image of the One God (chapter 1), and
b. He is man, the same as we are, without any sin. (chapter 2)
As such, He perfectly represents God and He perfectly represents us.
c. A crucial part of this point is that He is no longer on this earth, but is at the Right Hand of the Throne of the Majesty in the Heavens.
3. Without either of these truths, there is no point!!!!!!!!!!
8:2-5 Our High Priest in the heavens.
1. Vs 2 The real/true tabernacle is God Made, not man made—very important!
a. Our High Priest only ministers in the Holies of this heavenly tabernacle!
2. Vs 3-4 Earthly priests are appointed to offer gifts and sacrifice—bodies of dead animals.
a. Vs 3 The Heavenly Priest must have something to offer—and He offered His own Body. Heb 9:14; 10:9-12; I Cor 11:24
Note: Whereas the earthly priests had to offer a different dead animal each time because the sacrificial fire consumed each one, our Heavenly Priest offers His own body as the Continual/Perpetual Burnt Offering in the Heavens, FOR ALL ETERNITY a sweet aroma before the Father in our stead and on our behalf!! (Ex 29:41; Num 28:3)
b. Vs 4 Since He is an Eternal High Priest, He could have no part in the temporary earthly priesthood that dealt with the law that was inherently weak according to the flesh. (Rom 8:3) The priests are just like their sacrifices—they die!
c. Vs 5 These priests only "serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things." They were never intended to minister forever. The law of the priestly succession points to the temporariness of their office!
Note: Shadows do not cast forward! Shadows resemble the shape of an object that is lit from in front of it by a bright light. The tabernacle worship and service that the earthly priests served, was but a shadow cast by the Glory of God in Covenant, shining upon the Mysterious Union that is the only Satisfactory Offering that is well pleasing to the Father and adequate for the purging of the sins of His people! The Heavenly Sanctuary is the perfect and acceptable Body of our God Man ever in the Presence of the Most High God, and we in Him!!!!!!!!
1). The heavenly sanctuary and tabernacle are the real thing! This glorious Covenant is Eternal, this holy dwelling place is the Dwelling Place of the Most High God. The earthly tabernacle was but a shadowy sketch. Don't worship the sketch/pattern!!
I Timothy 1:9 "…Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace WHICH WAS GIVEN TO US IN CHRIST JESUS BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN." See also Titus 1:2, I Peter 1:1-4
8:6-13 The better covenant and the better promises:
1. Vs 6-7 Both covenants, the Old and New are with men!!!!!
a. The faulty covenant: It was made with faulty men, men who said, "ALL that the Lord has spoken, we will do."(Ex 19:8) They said this after murmuring against Moses and tempting the Lord 3 times since being delivered from Egypt.(Ex 15:22-17:7; Jer 31:31-32) This covenant was weak because of man's flesh. Romans 8:3
b. The better covenant was made with a Better Man! (Ps 40:6-8) This Man learned obedience, not rebellion, by the things that He suffered!(Heb 5:8)
2. Vs 8-12 The Word of the Covenant is spoken by the Holy Spirit. (Heb 10:15-17)
a. Vs 10 In a real sense, the New Covenant is made with the house of Israel through the Seed of Abraham, and that Seed is Christ!(Gal 3:15-19) The God Man Christ Jesus is the signer of the Covenant and He signed it with His own blood! And who is the "house of Israel? See Heb 3:1-6, "Whose House we are if we hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the Hope firm to the end!" Paul makes it clear that the Israel of God are the seed of faith! "Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham". Galatians 3:7
b. The "doing" in this Covenant has been done by the Almighty God through the Son of His Pleasure. (Matthew 3:17)
8:13 The old covenant, and all of its shadows are now obsolete and have passed away!
1. They were passing away when Hebrews was written, because the temple still stood in Jerusalem. The New Covenant was what got these people kicked out of that shadow temple. But the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD would be the final "vanishing away" of that old covenant shadow.
Warning!!!! Do not worship the shadow!! Beware of "messianic" stuff that places greater emphasis on the OT shadows and traditions than The One Who is the Fulfillment of it all. If it is more Jewish than Christ, it is Galatianism!! If it wears a cloak of "superiority", it is Galatianism!! The shadow has been done away by the Full Glory of our Redeemer, our Holy of Holies, our Tabernacle! Both Jew and Gentile are now ONE temple "for a habitation of God in the Spirit." Ephesians 2:22
Psalm 84 A Psalm anticipating this glorious truth. Note especially verse 9. Our Shield and His Anointed is our High Priest. This is the tabernacle we long for. This is the pilgrimage our hearts are set on!
Hebrews 8:1-13
8:1 The main point!
1. The main point isn't that we have a high priest.
2. The main point is that we have the kind of High Priest that the author has presented:
a. He is the Expressed Essential Image of the One God (chapter 1), and
b. He is man, the same as we are, without any sin. (chapter 2)
As such, He perfectly represents God and He perfectly represents us.
c. A crucial part of this point is that He is no longer on this earth, but is at the Right Hand of the Throne of the Majesty in the Heavens.
3. Without either of these truths, there is no point!!!!!!!!!!
8:2-5 Our High Priest in the heavens.
1. Vs 2 The real/true tabernacle is God Made, not man made—very important!
a. Our High Priest only ministers in the Holies of this heavenly tabernacle!
2. Vs 3-4 Earthly priests are appointed to offer gifts and sacrifice—bodies of dead animals.
a. Vs 3 The Heavenly Priest must have something to offer—and He offered His own Body. Heb 9:14; 10:9-12; I Cor 11:24
Note: Whereas the earthly priests had to offer a different dead animal each time because the sacrificial fire consumed each one, our Heavenly Priest offers His own body as the Continual/Perpetual Burnt Offering in the Heavens, FOR ALL ETERNITY a sweet aroma before the Father in our stead and on our behalf!! (Ex 29:41; Num 28:3)
b. Vs 4 Since He is an Eternal High Priest, He could have no part in the temporary earthly priesthood that dealt with the law that was inherently weak according to the flesh. (Rom 8:3) The priests are just like their sacrifices—they die!
c. Vs 5 These priests only "serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things." They were never intended to minister forever. The law of the priestly succession points to the temporariness of their office!
Note: Shadows do not cast forward! Shadows resemble the shape of an object that is lit from in front of it by a bright light. The tabernacle worship and service that the earthly priests served, was but a shadow cast by the Glory of God in Covenant, shining upon the Mysterious Union that is the only Satisfactory Offering that is well pleasing to the Father and adequate for the purging of the sins of His people! The Heavenly Sanctuary is the perfect and acceptable Body of our God Man ever in the Presence of the Most High God, and we in Him!!!!!!!!
1). The heavenly sanctuary and tabernacle are the real thing! This glorious Covenant is Eternal, this holy dwelling place is the Dwelling Place of the Most High God. The earthly tabernacle was but a shadowy sketch. Don't worship the sketch/pattern!!
I Timothy 1:9 "…Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace WHICH WAS GIVEN TO US IN CHRIST JESUS BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN." See also Titus 1:2, I Peter 1:1-4
8:6-13 The better covenant and the better promises:
1. Vs 6-7 Both covenants, the Old and New are with men!!!!!
a. The faulty covenant: It was made with faulty men, men who said, "ALL that the Lord has spoken, we will do."(Ex 19:8) They said this after murmuring against Moses and tempting the Lord 3 times since being delivered from Egypt.(Ex 15:22-17:7; Jer 31:31-32) This covenant was weak because of man's flesh. Romans 8:3
b. The better covenant was made with a Better Man! (Ps 40:6-8) This Man learned obedience, not rebellion, by the things that He suffered!(Heb 5:8)
2. Vs 8-12 The Word of the Covenant is spoken by the Holy Spirit. (Heb 10:15-17)
a. Vs 10 In a real sense, the New Covenant is made with the house of Israel through the Seed of Abraham, and that Seed is Christ!(Gal 3:15-19) The God Man Christ Jesus is the signer of the Covenant and He signed it with His own blood! And who is the "house of Israel? See Heb 3:1-6, "Whose House we are if we hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the Hope firm to the end!" Paul makes it clear that the Israel of God are the seed of faith! "Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham". Galatians 3:7
b. The "doing" in this Covenant has been done by the Almighty God through the Son of His Pleasure. (Matthew 3:17)
8:13 The old covenant, and all of its shadows are now obsolete and have passed away!
1. They were passing away when Hebrews was written, because the temple still stood in Jerusalem. The New Covenant was what got these people kicked out of that shadow temple. But the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD would be the final "vanishing away" of that old covenant shadow.
Warning!!!! Do not worship the shadow!! Beware of "messianic" stuff that places greater emphasis on the OT shadows and traditions than The One Who is the Fulfillment of it all. If it is more Jewish than Christ, it is Galatianism!! If it wears a cloak of "superiority", it is Galatianism!! The shadow has been done away by the Full Glory of our Redeemer, our Holy of Holies, our Tabernacle! Both Jew and Gentile are now ONE temple "for a habitation of God in the Spirit." Ephesians 2:22
Psalm 84 A Psalm anticipating this glorious truth. Note especially verse 9. Our Shield and His Anointed is our High Priest. This is the tabernacle we long for. This is the pilgrimage our hearts are set on!