Clean, Once and for All - Hebrews 10:1-18

The Old Testament sacrifices were the parable – the earthly example given to show us the reality of heaven. Jesus’ sacrifice was the real thing. The real thing has a whole different outcome than did the parable. Hebrews 10:1-18 will teach us more; I encourage you to read it now.

Click picture for a printable handout for this section.

Never Enough (10:1-4)

The old covenant, the priesthood, and the sacrifices – all based on the Law – are the parable. They were “a symbol for the present time” (Hebrews 9:9). However, cast on their pages was a shadow of the good things to come. The Law didn’t contain the good things – grace, forgiveness, eternity, and so on – in and of itself but the light of God cast a shadow of the reality in heaven onto the pages of the Old Testament Law or the Torah.

Since the Law didn’t contain the good things, it could “never perfect the worshipers” because “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:1, 4). The sacrifices didn’t have the power to cleanse our conscience and purify our inner self; only the blood of Jesus could do that. Again, the Old Testament was a time when “gifts and sacrifices [were] offered that cannot perfect the worshiper’s conscience” (Hebrews 9:9). But, “how much more will the blood of the Messiah... cleanse our consciences from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:14).

The sacrifices were necessary, though, because “in the sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year” (Hebrews 10:3). God gave the Law as a definition for sin and to reveal the regulations required to atone for sin. Consider this hypothetical situation with me… After revealing the nature of sin and the method of atonement, God could have left it at that until the time came for Jesus to come to earth. However, by having the people make the sacrifices day after day, their sins were ever before them. Year after year, as the high priest entered the Most Holy Place on the Day of Atonement, they were reminded of their sinful position before Holy God and their desperate need for salvation.

Jesus left a similar reminder for us today. The days of the Old Testament sacrifices are long behind us. And yet, Jesus called us to remember another sacrifice when He said, “This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19). With each Lord’s Supper, each cup reminds us of His poured out blood and every bit of bread remembers His broken body. We humbly remember Him in that moment as the weight of our own sin reveals the inadequacy of our works and our desperate need for salvation.

Jesus is Enough (10:5-10)

King David figured out a lot of stuff before his time; this is one of those times. The Spirit inspiring him to write as he did may have had something to do with it as well. Either way, Jesus – the Word made flesh – spoke through His ancestor David in Psalm 40. The author of Hebrews quotes Psalm 40:6-8 here in chapter 10.

David knew the sacrifices and offerings didn’t satisfy a righteous God; they would never atone for sin. Only the Savior who came to do the will of the Father would satisfy the need for atonement for sin. Only the sacrifice of the Son would fully cleanse and forgive us from sin’s filth.

David figured this out long before Jesus was born. Even still, many of us today don’t get it. We may not offer animal sacrifices to atone for our sin but we still try to attain salvation through works. Even many who believe in salvation by faith fall into the trap of adding works to their salvation. They formulize…

• Grace plus right behavior will give me eternal life.
• Grace plus tithing a certain amount will lead to salvation.
• Grace plus not doing bad things will grant me God’s favor.
• Grace plus serving in ministries will earn me a spot in heaven.

No, no, no! Grace plus nothing. Period. We can’t add anything to it. The Messiah alone purifies us because that is the will of the Father which Jesus established when He took away the time of the sacrifices. “By this will of God, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all” (Hebrews 10:10).

His Victory is More than Enough (10:11-14)

The sacrifices served as a constant reminder. The priests sacrificed day after day, year after year, even though those sacrifices would never clean away the filth sin left upon our hearts and minds. Not so with Jesus, though. He sacrificed one time and the job was done. “‘It is finished!’ Then bowing His head, He gave up His spirit” (John 19:30). And unlike any other priest in the history of the Jewish priesthood, He sat down after making the sacrifice because for the first time, the Priest completed the work of sin’s atonement.

“He is now waiting until His enemies are made His footstool” (Hebrews 10:13). Permit me a moment of humorous honesty here. The New Testament is full of references to Jesus completed sacrificial work leading to the establishment of His enemies as His footstool. I guess I always pictured this as a reference to Jesus kind of kicked back and relaxed with His feet propped up. The only mental picture I know in our current culture for a footstool is a piece of furniture also known as an ottoman. I started wondering this week, however, if the Old Testament used this phrase in a different way than how we use it today. After all, we should use the Old Testament to understand the New, not modern day culture.

My suspicions were correct. A footstool has nothing to do with furniture. The cultural idea is to stomp on something with the foot. Similar words mean to crush an item with the foot or to stomp it into pieces. Most commonly, a victor would place his foot upon the neck of the enemy after battle as a sign of triumph and defeat of the enemy.

The Old Testament refers to a footstool six times. At first glance, though, none of them seem to refer to placing one’s foot on the neck of the enemy as a sign of victory. They all refer to the Ark of the Covenant and/or the Most Holy Place as the Lord’s footstool. For example, look at the first time it’s used, “Then King David rose to his feet and said, ‘Listen to me, my brothers and my people. It was in my heart to build a house as a resting place for the ark of the Lord’s covenant and as a footstool for our God’” (1 Chronicles 28:2; for other uses read Psalm 99:5, 110:1, 132:7; Isaiah 66:1-2; and Lamentations 2:1).

Although possibly not evident at first, I see a gut-wrenching connection between the cultural use and the Scriptural use. A connection that fits right in with all we’ve learned through this study in Hebrews.

The temple… the Most Holy Place… the Ark of the Covenant… down to the mercy seat of God… is where God stamped His foot upon the neck of His enemy and declared His victory over sin and death. Satan was defeated when Jesus shed His blood upon the mercy seat of God in the true tabernacle before God’s presence.

Let’s bring this up to modern day. The temple is destroyed; we don’t know where the Ark is hidden away. Remember though, that our priestly service remains because our body is the temple of the Spirit of God (Romans 12:1, 1 Corinthians 3:16-17). Friend, Jesus will stomp on the neck of sin and death in your life! He defeated them to no longer control you or have power over you. His blood purified you inside and out once and for all. In the end, He will – in all His power and majesty; Jesus is not a wimp! – stomp His foot on the neck of Satan and powerfully declare, “You are defeated. You have no power over this life anymore because she is Mine and is covered by My blood.”

“Death has been swallowed up in victory. Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting? Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57).

No More – Enough is Enough (10:15-18)

Whew. Ok, that last part was intense but we have to push on to the end.

The Holy Spirit confirms the testimony that all of this is true. The New Covenant, as presented in Jeremiah 31:33-34, contains five parts. We studied them in an earlier section. The last two parts of the covenant affirm that He will grant us mercy when we distort and twist His truth and He will grant us grace even though we mess up every time we try to live right. “Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer an offering for sin” (Hebrews 10:18). Once and for all, God forgives and cleanses us from every type of sin because of Jesus’ sacrifice. Nothing we can offer, no sacrifice we can make, no work we can try to accomplish will ever add to that. The work is done.


← Previous Section: The Real Thing: Our New Covenant Purpose    

Next Section: As the Day Draws Near →

The Real Thing: Our new covenant purpose - Hebrews 9:11-28

Our last section taught us the priesthood and sacrifices of the old covenant were a parable meant to teach us about the reality of heaven. It’s important to remember a parable isn’t a made-up story used for teaching purposes. In its true definition, a parable is an earthly example used to teach a heavenly lesson. The earthly example may or may not have actually happened; in this case, it did.

Click picture for a printable handout for this section.

The passage for this section is long. We’ll break it up as we work through it verse by verse; however, I encourage you to read Hebrews 9:11-28 in its entirety before we start breaking it up.

The Real Thing

Reread Hebrews 9:11-12.

“But…” is an important word of transition. It shows us that what the author is about to write is contrary to what he just wrote. Jesus’ sacrifice was the real thing made in the real sanctuary before the real throne of the real God. His sacrifice wasn’t part of the parable. It wasn’t an earthly example to teach us about something heavenly. He literally and truly came before God in the Most Holy Place of heaven and sprinkled blood upon the altar to purify for sin; not His sin, though, but ours. Yours. And mine. The earthly high priest took the blood of an animal with him to purify for sin but not Jesus. He took His own blood from His sacrificed body. And finally, that was enough. He redeemed all mankind – from Genesis to Revelation.

This is the real thing so we better pay attention.

The Real Response

Reread Hebrews 9:13-14.

The blood of the animals sufficiently purified our flesh – our outer selves – although the high priest did have to repeat it on an annual basis. However, the blood of Jesus far supersedes that of goats and calves. We find real power in Jesus' blood – power to purify even our inner conscience.

Our consciences can become a messed up place. They are weak (1 Corinthians 8:7-12), seared (1 Timothy 1:4-5), and defiled (Titus 1:15). Jesus’ blood has the power, however, to redeem even the weakest among us; even those whose conscience is so cauterized that it feels no pain and so stained and contaminated that it no longer shows new filth.

The power that purifies us both inwardly and outwardly calls for a response on our part. Jesus’ shed blood before God’s holy throne empowers us to live a new covenant purpose – to serve the living God. We learned about this type of service in the last section. Latreuo service calls us into the Holy Place where we serve as priests of the Most High God in His kingdom. In that service, He calls us to continually shine our light out to the world, to regularly consume the bread of the word, and to daily stand before God in prayer and intercession. It’s all made possible by the power of the blood of Jesus.

The Real Covenant

Reread Hebrews 9:15.

Covenants involve a promise given, a time of hope, and a realization of the promise. We studied this earlier here and here.

Jesus mediated a new covenant; it was the seventh made between God and man. All seven covenants were part of one common goal which was the restoration of the relationship between God and man for all eternity. Adam and Eve severed that relationship when they sinned in the Garden of Eden. God’s whole plan and purpose since then has been to restore the relationship.

Adapted from The NIV Study Bible ©1985

The Real Death

Reread Hebrews 9:16-18.

When I first read these verses, I thought, “What on earth is this talking about? Why mention a will all of a sudden?” My research helped me answer the question, however, and the answer is powerful.

The author of Hebrews isn’t writing about wills all of a sudden. He’s been writing about them all along. The word used for covenant is the exact same word as the will mentioned in verses 16-17. In other words, a will and a covenant are the same thing.

A will goes into effect when the one who established the will has passed away. In the will, the deceased shares the inheritance each of their loved ones will receive. That is exactly what God did when He cut covenant with mankind – He made a will which would go into effect upon His death.

We’ve already studied that Jesus is completely God here and here. God cut covenant or established the will with mankind in an elaborate process to restore our relationship with Him and give us the inheritance He desires for us as His loved one. The problem, however, was He had to die for the will (covenant) to go into effect. Therefore, God became a man so He could die and we could receive our inheritance.

I don’t know about you, but to me that seems worthy of a response of priestly service on our part. A response of priestly service involves regularly shining our light, consuming His Word, and entering His presence in prayer.

The Real Blood

Reread Hebrews 9:19-23.

The earthly tabernacle required earthly blood but the heavenly tabernacle required something better – heavenly blood. Jesus couldn’t take the blood of goats and calves into the true holy sanctuary. He had to take His own blood as God who died to enact the will and bring the inheritance promised to mankind.

The Real Sacrifice in the Real Sanctuary

Reread Hebrews 9:24-28.

Jesus isn’t part of the parable. He died a real death to establish a real covenant. He shed real blood which He sprinkled before the throne in the real sanctuary. This is no earthly example; this is truth. This is reality. This is eternally, absolutely serious.

So real, so eternal, so absolute, and so serious, in fact, that Jesus’ sacrifice was sufficient for all mankind for all time – from Genesis through Revelation. In the parable, the high priest sprinkled the blood on the mercy seat year after year in order to atone for the sins of the people. With Jesus’ reality, His blood sprinkled on the mercy seat before God covers our sin once and for all.

People die once because of sin (Genesis 2:15-17). We don't die immediately and repeatedly after each individual sin. After our death, judgment comes based on our response to Jesus’ sacrifice. That’s the real point because Jesus also died once – not because He sinned but because of our sin. His death bore the weight of our sin once and for all. He doesn't need to die repeatedly after each of our individual sins. Therefore, when judgment comes, so will salvation for those who accepted Him.

The Real Truth

When you stand before God at some point, He won’t care about your excuses. “Oh, I would have done the whole Christian thing, but the church was full of hypocrites.” Or, perhaps yours is something like this, “I went to church but so-and-so made me mad and I left.” Maybe your excuses focus on the Word of God, “Yeah, I’d read the Bible except it’s all just made up by men who had no clue what life is like for me today.” You know what – God’s not going to care about your excuses.

He’ll look at you – the one for whom He lovingly gave His life – and say, “None of that matters. I sacrificed My blood so you could inherit eternity with Me. You let your excuses keep you from that very real truth. Depart from Me.”

Or, you have no excuse. You’ve realized you’re a sinner – your outer flesh is defiled, your inner conscience is seared. You’ll never live up to the level of perfection required by God’s holy law. Yet, you have also considered Jesus and realized the significance of His sacrifice and the grace He offers for those who accept Him. By faith, you’ve come to this moment before Him trusting only in the sufficiency of His blood to atone for your sin. And in that moment, He’ll look at you – the one for whom He lovingly gave His life – and say, “Your faith has made you well. Come, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 9:22, 25:34).

It’s a real choice and it’s all up to you at this point.

After writing this section, I came across this video produced by One for Israel. In it, they do a fantastic job presenting this very process...



← Previous Section: Our Old Covenant Purpose    

Next Section: Clean, Once and for All →

Our Old Covenant Purpose - Hebrews 9:1-10

I’m more excited about this week’s section than most we’ve done so far – and that’s something! I’ve loved all of this study so far. We become so engrossed in our own little reality in our own little time that we lose sight of the greater picture. This study reminds over and over, however, that God’s reality focuses on the whole picture, beginning with the fall of Adam and Eve and ending with a new heaven and a new earth sometime in the future. His reality includes a plan to redeem every person in every land in every era from the beginning until the end.

Click picture for a printable handout for this section.

Last week’s section revealed the old covenant plan had a fault due to our inability to live up to it. I asked a question a few weeks ago and I ask it again now, “If the old covenant – the Law, the sacrifices, the priesthood – had a fault, then why do it? Why not skip it and go straight from Melchizedek’s priesthood to that of Jesus the Messiah?”

We found the first answer when I posed my question the first time. We learned the old covenant was required in order to define and reveal sin for us. “For no one will be justified in His sight by the works of the law, because the knowledge of sin comes through the law” (Romans 3:20; see also Romans 7:7-8 and Galatians 3:19).

The second answer is equally as important and we find it at the beginning of the passage for this section. I encourage you to start by reading Hebrews 9:1-10. The old covenant was necessary because it gave us the regulations required to atone for our sin. To reveal sin without offering a plan for atonement would be inadequate. In its completeness, the Law both defines sin and offers a way to make it right.

What are those regulations? (9:1)

Regulations are the acts required to make someone righteous. The regulations utilize great detail to show us both the ministry / worship required of us and the place where that worship should occur. We’ll look at them in a lot less detail here.

Regulations for Ministry
Some translations say “ministry” while others prefer the word “worship.” Either way, the idea here isn’t the normal words for ministry (diakonos from which we get deacon) or for worship (proskyneo from which we get prostrate). Hebrews 9:1 uses a far less common word, latreia, which means, “the service and worship of God according to the requirements of the Levitical law.” More simply put, the old covenant gave us regulations for how to worship and serve in the Temple.

Regulations for the Earthly Sanctuary
The tabernacle was “a copy and shadow of what is in heaven” based upon a pattern given to Moses by God (Hebrews 8:5). The real thing is God's throne room in heaven.

The Law gave us the regulations to atone for our sin – both in the required acts of service and the location in which those acts were done.

Regulations for the Earthly Sanctuary (9:2-5)

When stripped of all the elaborate details, the sanctuary was an outer room called the Holy Place and an inner room known as the Most Holy Place or the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies was a square room half as big as the Holy Place.

The Holy Place contained the lampstand with the oil, the table with the loaves of bread, and the altar with the incense. The Hebrews passage lists the altar of incense in the Holy of Holies but the Old Testament lists it as “in front of the veil by the ark of the testimony where the High Priest could burn incense “every morning” and “at twilight” (Taken from Exodus 30:6-8). If the High Priest burned incense twice a day then the altar must have been in the Holy Place as the High Priest could only enter the Holy of Holies one time per year. We’ll discuss the possible reasons why the author of Hebrews changed it in the application later.

The Most Holy Place, or the Holy of Holies, contained the Ark of the Covenant covered by the mercy seat. Two golden cherubim angels covered the mercy seat with outstretched wings. The Ark held a golden jar of manna (Exodus 16:31-36), Aaron’s staff that had budded (Numbers 17:1-11), and the tablet on which God engraved the Law (Exodus 25:16). This location was most holy because it was God’s dwelling place on earth. He told Moses, “I will meet with you there above the mercy seat, between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the testimony; I will speak with you from there about all that I command you regarding the Israelites” (Exodus 25:22).

Regulations for Ministry (9:6-7)

The priests and high priest had very specific duties. The requirements were long and complex. Here, though, we’ll look only at the basic duties given in the Hebrews passage.

The priests entered the Holy Place daily. The oil in the lamp was to burn continually so it required constant care; they had to place fresh bread on the table before every Sabbath. The priests ate the removed bread in a holy place (Leviticus 24:1-9). The Law also required them to burn incense on the altar every morning and evening (Exodus 30:7-8).

The Holy of Holies was entirely different. The high priest alone could enter the Most Holy Place, and only once a year on the Day of Atonement. The rituals involved were deep and intricate. Regarding the Holy of Holies, though, he entered the room with blood from the bronze altar outside the sanctuary, incense from the altar of incense, and coals from the altar. The smoke from the burning incense would cover the mercy seat to protect the high priest while he sprinkled the blood from the sacrifice on the mercy seat (Leviticus 16:11-14).

What’s the Point for Us? (9:8-10)

Ok, wow, that’s a lot of details and information. Actually, though, it’s nothing compared to the depth of detail given in the five books of the Torah! Perhaps, like me, you find it interesting because of a Spirit-given love for the Jewish people and their history. Or, maybe you like it because it’s part of the Word of God, although I admit, many Christians bore easily with the Old Testament Law. Why should we care?

We care because as long as the ancient tabernacle and later the Jewish Temple stood, “the way into the Holiest Place was still closed” (Hebrews 9:8 CJB). With the Messiah, that way is now open to us.

All of the regulations were physical representations of the true Holy Place before God; they were only to be “imposed until the time of restoration” (Hebrews 9:10). Or, to put it another way, they were “imposed until the time for God to reshape the whole structure” (Hebrews 9:10 CJB). With the Messiah, the time of restoration began.

One little word in verse 9 really helps us understand the significance of it all. The regulations were “a symbol for the present time.” The word symbol is the same Greek word we often translate as parable. A parable is an earthly example used to teach a spiritual, heavenly truth. The earthly tabernacle and temple ministry are an earthly example used to teach us about the true tabernacle and service before God’s holy throne in glory. That throne room is the Holy of Holies where Jesus entered with the blood of His own sacrificed body. “We have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens – Jesus the Son of God… We have this hope as an anchor for our lives, safe and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. Jesus has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner… who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and the true tabernacle that was set up by the Lord and not man” (Hebrews 4:14, 6:19-20, and 8:1).

As a parable, great significance hides in the details if we are willing to search it out. What can we learn from this elaborate parable?

We have three duties as priests to fulfill on a regular, ongoing basis.
We are followers of Jesus. Therefore, we are priests of the tabernacle in which He serves as high priest. “To Him who loves us and has set us free from our sins by His blood, and made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father – the glory and dominion are His forever and ever” (Revelation 1:5-6; see also Revelation 5:9-10). The items in the Holy Place and the regular duties of the priests show us our similar duties.

The lampstand burned continually to shine light outward and provide illumination. Likewise, we need to continually shine God’s light out to the world through the power of the Holy Spirit within us. Oil often symbolizes the Holy Spirit in Scripture. (Matthew 5:14, John 8:12, Ephesians 5:8).

The priests inwardly consumed the old bread on the table weekly after they replaced it with fresh loaves. Similarly, we come together once a week to consume the bread of life – the Word of God, the Word made Flesh (Matthew 26:26, John 6:31-58).

Finally, the priests burned incense on the altar every morning and evening. The smoke permeated the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. Even more, it rose upward before God as a fragrant offering. The burning incense represented the prayers of the people (Revelation 5:8, 8:3-5). Our third duty as priests in God’s kingdom is to regularly and daily intercede before God on behalf of the people.

Remember the discrepancy between the book of Hebrews and the Old Testament regarding the location of the altar of incense? Let’s consider that now. Even in the days of the old covenant, the smoke from the altar entered the Holy of Holies to cover the mercy seat and protect the life of the high priest. In that regard, it has served a duty in both rooms since the beginning. However, I think there’s more here.

When Jesus died, God tore the veil separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies in two from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51). This tear revealed to us that the way into the Holy of Holies was opened for all people at all times; not only the High Priest on the Day of Atonement (Hebrews 6:19-20). We no longer need a high priest to take the incense from the altar into the Holy of Holies for us along with the blood of the sacrifice. With Jesus’ final and sufficient sacrifice, we can boldly approach God’s holy place personally and individually. We can stand in His presence and offer up our own incense prayers for forgiveness, intercession, praise, and thanksgiving.

We have a high priest who atones for our sin and enables our connection with the holy, triune God.
The Holy of Holies contained only one piece of furniture but within it were three separate items. The Holy of Holies was an exact representation of one God comprised of three distinct persons. Unfortunately, the three elements of the triune God also revealed our human nature to sin against each individual One. Therefore, we also see the need to sprinkle the blood of atonement upon the mercy seat.

The manna was the bread of heaven which came down to offer life to the people. Jesus clearly taught us that He is the true bread of heaven (John 6:31-58). However, the Israelite people responded to the manna with gripes and complaints of ungratefulness. Likewise, in our sin nature, we respond to Jesus' gift of the bread of His body with ungratefulness.

The staff was the symbol of being a priesthood chosen by God. A staff also offers guidance. The Holy Spirit guides us into all truth (John 16:13). Even more, He is the mark sealing us as a chosen priesthood (Ephesians 1:13). Aaron’s staff budded in response to complaints among the Israelite people. Others among the people felt they were more qualified to serve as priest. Yet God made Aaron's staff bloom to confirm that he was God's choice for the priesthood. Our sinful response to God’s guidance through the Holy Spirit is to rear the ugly head of pride and rebellion. We choose to control our lives ourselves rather than submit to the control of the Spirit who has marked us as His chosen one.

The tablet contained the Law – the standard of perfection of a Holy God (Leviticus 22:31-33). The fault with the old covenant wasn’t with perfect God; the fault was in our inability to live up to it. In the tablet, we see our final sin response – our failure and lack of perfection. We can never live up to God’s perfect standard.

We have a temple and a temple ministry.
This has been long; I know. Thank you for staying with me until now. This is the heart of why we care about the duties and requirements of the ancient tabernacle. The Jewish temple was destroyed 1,945 years ago. And yet, the temple still exists today as the dwelling place of God on earth. “Don’t you yourselves know that you are God’s sanctuary and that the Spirit of God lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s sanctuary, God will destroy him; for God’s sanctuary is holy, and that is what you are” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). The destruction of the temple ended the daily service of the priests and yet we are called to perform that very service – that latreia duty. “Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1).

Friend, you are the temple of God and He calls you to perform the regulated acts of the priests within your body. He has saved you by grace as our high priest Jesus sprinkled the blood on the mercy seat to atone for our ungratefulness, pride and rebellion, and lack of perfection. Now is the time for you to step into your daily duties as priest in His kingdom - shine your light continually in the darkness, consume the bread of Jesus and His Word on a regular basis, and enter God's holy presence in prayer to intercede for this hurting world. This is your spiritual worship; this is your latreia.


← Previous Section: Experience the Better Covenant    

Next Section: The Real Thing: Our new covenant purpose →

Experience the Better Covenant - Hebrews 8:7-13

A better promise has given us a better hope of a better covenant. The old promise given to Abraham gave us a hope of mercy through the old covenant and the Law. The new promise given to David gives us a hope of grace through the new covenant and Jesus. That was the last section.

Click picture for a printable handout for this section.

We live under a better covenant - our next section will help us recognize five of its life-changing qualities. I encourage you to start by reading Hebrews 8:7-13. Before we go there, however, let’s consider a little context.

Why was the new covenant necessary? (8:7-8)

We needed the new covenant because the first one, the one based on the Law, had a fault. The old covenant consisted of three parts – God, the people, and the Law. The fault wasn’t with God. He’s perfect. The fault wasn’t even with the Law despite its length and complexity. The Law was complete. The problem came when God looked at us and found “fault with His people… because they didn’t continue in [His] covenant” (Hebrews 8:8-9). The fault with the old covenant was that we couldn’t keep it; when we don’t keep the Law, we sin. We mess up every time no matter how hard we try to live a sinless life.

The new covenant shouldn’t have been a surprise just like a priest from Melchizedek’s order shouldn’t have been a surprise. Consider a brief timeline of the Old Testament… Abraham and Melchizedek had their exchange we discussed in depth over the last several sections. Soon thereafter, God cut covenant with Abraham. Hundreds of years passed before God gave the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. After God established all of that and while it was still fully active, God made these two significant promises. Take note of that – God made promises of a priest of Melchizedek’s order and of a new covenant several centuries after God gave the Law. The people should have been ready; they should have been watching and waiting for a better priesthood and a better covenant. God had told them it was coming.

Where did God make those promises? (8:9)

God prophesied through David that a priest would come in the order of Melchizedek in Psalm 110:4. We’ve already studied through that whole thing in previous sections so we won’t review it here.

God prophesied through Jeremiah that He would make a new covenant in Jeremiah 31:31-34. In fact, this section’s Scripture passage is almost a word for word quote of that prophetic passage. The only difference is a change in an explanation of the cause and effect for the new covenant. Jeremiah described the fault as “a covenant they broke even though I had married them” (Jeremiah 31:32). The author of Hebrews described the fault a little differently although the implications are the same. He wrote, “I disregarded them because they did not continue in My covenant” (Hebrews 8:9).

What are the qualities of the new covenant? (8:10-13)

Both Scripture passages – Jeremiah and Hebrews – are consistent in their description of the new covenant. They both list five qualities which is a number symbolic of the grace inherent in the new covenant. And consistent with Hebrew poetry, the middle one stands alone as different from the other four. Let’s consider each one…

I will put My laws into their minds and write them on their hearts.
The old covenant required regulation based on the Law. God gave the Law; we had to live up to it. Of course, as noted earlier, the people failed. We still fail to this day. The new covenant was different because God now wrote His law on our hearts and minds, not on tablets of stone. We have the law within teaching us right from wrong. The Spirit dwells within each believer and guides us to the truth (John 16:13). God can transform our minds to discern His will (Romans 12:2).

I see something significant here that we may skim over and miss at first reading. God doesn’t only put His law in our minds nor does He just write it on our hearts. He does both. Why is this significant? We are made of three parts; soul or spirit, mind or heart, and body. The mind and heart refer to the part of our triune self that relates with others. They are our emotions, understanding, feelings, thoughts, etc. If mind and heart refer to the same part of each of us, then why include both? I don’t think the repetition is merely poetic imagery. I think God wants us to know His law is within our mind – guiding us as we make logical, rational thought processes. He’s with us as we try to understand and think our way through a situation. That’s not all, though. His law is also within our heart – guiding us as we feel emotional tugs in certain ways. Our emotions don’t control us; rather, His law controls our emotions. We don’t kill our ability to feel but rather, our feelings submit to the direction of His law.

I will be their God, and they will be My people
Simple words but they have become so powerful to me lately. Scripture repeats them at least 20 times throughout its pages starting with a powerful series of promises made to Moses in Exodus 6:6-7. The four cups of Passover remember that series of promises; this promise in particular is the fourth of that series. It’s the cup of which Jesus said He will not drink it again until He drinks it with all of us in His Father’s kingdom (Matthew 26:29). The final repetition is in the very last chapter in a description of eternity, “Look! God’s dwelling is with humanity, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God” (Revelation 21:3). A promise first made 4,000 years ago, made possible by a sacrifice made 2,000 years ago, honored in celebration still today, will reach completion sometime in the future. Another example of a promise made, a time as we live in hope, and a future completion of the promise! Like I said, that’s some powerful words even if they are so simple.

Each person will not teach his fellow citizen, and each his brother, saying ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know Me, from the least to the greatest of them
Prophets aren’t part of the new covenant because the Word of God is complete and the Spirit guides us in understanding it. We no longer need prophets to bring God’s Word to us, help us understand it, or apply it to our lives. We are all capable on our own if the Spirit fills us and we submit to His leading. Isaiah, just like Jeremiah, prophesied this day would come when he wrote, “Then all your children will be taught by the Lord” (Isaiah 54:13). Jesus confirmed His ministry was that of which Isaiah prophesied when He said, “It is written in the Prophets: ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has listened to and learned from the Father comes to Me” (John 6:45).

I will be merciful to their wrongdoing
We pervert and twist the Law into some distortion of what God intended. And in the consequence for our perversion and twisting of the truth, we become like Cain who said, “My punishment is too great to bear!” (Genesis 4:13). Under the new covenant, God knows we can’t bear the weight of our punishment and so He grants us mercy for each and every sin. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Mercy.

I will never again remember their sins
The Law gave us a list of regulations to define sin; we could never achieve its complex requirements. Good grief, we couldn’t even obey the simple ones like “Honor your father and your mother” (Exodus 20:12). It’s too hard because, like Cain, we “do not do what is right” and “sin is crouching at the door” (Genesis 4:7). Our sinful nature desires to make us miss the mark and mess up every time. And yet, under the new covenant, God forgets all of it. “It is I who sweep away your transgressions for My own sake and remember your sins no more” (Isaiah 43:25). Grace.

The new covenant for us

The law is still our definition of sin. Out of love for God who loved us and gave Himself for us, we still try to live according to His standard. But that covenant is old, aging, and about to disappear. The very meaning of the particular word used for new indicates that God meant for the new covenant to take the place of what used to be. With Jesus, a new covenant came and God declared what had been to be old.

We live under that new covenant. We live in a time when we can know Jesus, the priest of Melchizedek’s order, promised through King David. We can experience the new covenant promised through Jeremiah.

We can experience inward transformation in our heart and mind through the power of the Holy Spirit and the power of God’s Word written within us.

We can experience the hope of a coming fourth cup of the Passover when God will dwell among us; He will be our God and we will be His people for eternity.

We can experience the ability to know and understand the Word of God through the direct instruction of the Spirit within us. We can experience a relationship with Him as He calls to each of us as His own.

We can experience mercy when the punishment for our wrongdoing is more than we can bear.

We can experience grace when God forgets our sin so it no longer separates us from Him.

Are you willing to go there?

← Previous Section: Jesus: Something Better    

Next Section: Our Old Covenant Purpose →