THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE

TO THE

8:1-3

Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; 2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. 3 For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.

Here we see the principal point of what is being spoken. The sum is that every priest must have a gift to offer, and a sanctuary in which to do it. Chris was not qualified for the earthly sanctuary because He was of the tribe of Judah. Therefore, He is the minister of the tabernacle made by God. The earthly tabernacle was just a picture of Christ, and what He would do for us. The high priests offered both gifts and sacrifices for the people. Now, Christ has already made the final sacrifice.

He does not offer again His once for all completed sacrifice. As the high priest did not enter the Holy Place without blood, so Christ has entered the heavenly Holy Place with His own blood. That "blood of sprinkling" is in heaven, and is made effective to sprinkle believers (1Peter 1:2).

The term "consecrate" as a priest, means literally, to fill the hand; implying that an offering is given into the hands of the priest, which it is his duty to present to God. If a man be a priest, he must have some gift in his hands to offer. Therefore, Christ, as a priest, has His blood as His gift to offer before God.

8:4, 5

For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: 5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.

Christ's priestly office is exercised in heaven, not in earth; in the power of His resurrection life, not of His earthly life. If He were on earth, He would not even be a priest (compare Hebrews 7:13,14); therefore, certainly, He could not exercise the high priestly function in the earthly Holy of Holies.

Since there are already those who offer the gifts according to the law, His "ministry" must be "in the heavens," not on earth. If His priesthood ended on the earth, He would not even be a priest at all. Christ's priesthood on earth does not stop at the sacrifice on the cross which He offered as a priest on earth; but gone on to the glorious work of His priesthood; the bringing of the blood into the Holy of Holies. He could not have done this in the earthly Holy of Holies, as He was not of Levitical decent.

The place, the heavenly Holy of Holies, is as essential to the atonement being made as the gift itself. The body was burnt outside the gate; but the sanctification was effected by the presentation of the blood within the sanctuary by the high priest. If on earth, He would not be a priest in the sense of the law of Moses.

God gave Moses an exact pattern to follow. Thus the earthly tabernacle was a copy of a copy; but the earthly accurately represented the perfect original in heaven (Exodus 25:40).

Christ’s ministry in heaven is far greater than any ministry He could have here on earth. He has stepped between us and God, to carry into effect God's covenant with us. He is the messenger of the New Covenant.

The promises of the Old Covenant were mainly of earthly, and the promises of the New Covenant of heavenly blessings. The fulfillment of the earthly promises is a pledge of the fulfillment of the heavenly. It is like a teacher that gives a lesson to a student, leading them to a higher stage. It is as a schoolmaster leading and preparing men for Christ (Galatians 3:24, 25).

For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. 8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: 9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when 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, saith the Lord.

The Old Covenant, as far as its morality, was perfect and without fault. However, when it comes to saving souls, it is defective. If the law was perfect in the ability of saving souls, then there would be no need of another, and the second would have never been sought after. It is not actually the law that is at fault, but those that try to keep it.

Now, with the New Covenant, the shed blood of Christ cleanses the believer from all sin. Remember that the law could never cleanse sin. The cleansing of sin comes only through the shedding of priceless blood (Leviticus 17:11; Hebrews 9:22).

The New Covenant is very different from, and far superior than the Old. The Old Covenant "worked wrath" (Romans 4:15) through man's disobedience of it. The New Covenant enables us to obey by the Spirit's inward stimulation.

In the Old Covenant the Lord, as a father takes his child by the hand, supported and guided their steps. There are three stages of this process: (1) the promise; (2) the instruction; (3) the fulfillment. The instruction part began at the exodus from Egypt. The Israelites did not obey the Lord, so in righteous retaliation, He regarded them not.

8:10-13

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: 11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. 13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

Here we see the better promises. The first is that God will write His law upon their hearts. This New Covenant was enacted as a law, "The law of faith" (Romans 3:27; 8:2; 9:31). This Covenant was is not written on tablets of stone, but on fleshly tables of the heart, by the Spirit of God (2 Corinthians 3:3). There will come a time when the Jews that once rejected the Messiah, will receive Him. He will be there God, and they will be His people.

The second of the better promises is that they will not have to teach others about the Lord; from the little one to the great one (Zechariah 12:8). Under the Old Covenant, the priest was to have knowledge, and through him the people were to seek the law. However, under the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit teaches every believer.

The third of the better promises is the forgiveness of sins. Not only is God a righteous God, but He is a God of mercy as well. God could send all to hell, and be justified in doing so. However, He extends mercy and grace to whosoever will, and forgives all that call upon Him. With the Old Covenant there was a continual remembrance of sins (Hebrews 10:3), but with the New Covenant He chooses not to remember the sins of our past (Psalms 25:7; Isaiah 43:25; Acts 13:39; Hebrews 10:17).