Hebrews 8

1 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.

     Jesus Christ, the eternal King-Priest of the New Covenant, has ascended to the throne of the Majesty in heaven and become the Minister of the true tabernacle which God has set in heaven. The next two chapters will expound on this function of Christ as the Melchizedekian High Priest of the celestial tabernacle. Throughout the book of Hebrews, the Apostle refers to the tabernacle (skene) instead of the “temple,” probably to continue the typological connection of Moses and the Law, for the true tabernacle was pre-figured by the Mosaic example in the wilderness (Heb 8:5). In contrast to the first tabernacle, the heavenly is more perfect and made without hands (Ps 102:19; Heb 9:11).

     The Greek word here for sanctuary is hagion, which Strong’s dictionary has assigned a separate number for exclusive use in the book of Hebrews (G39 –hagion, noun). However, a word search reveals that hagion is found often in the Greek Bible, where Strong’s mis-classifies it as an adjective (G40 – hagios). In both the New Testament and Septuagint, hagion is translated, “holy things, sanctuary, the saints, holy place, the holy of holies,” etc. Context establishes the correct translation. The LXX uses hagion for both the Holy Place (του αγιου) and the Holy of Holies (των αγιων), but note the singular grammatical number for the former and the plural number for the latter (see both in Exodus 26:33).

     Although the identical term which the Septuagint renders, “the Holy of Holies” occurs Heb 8:2 (των αγιων), for some reason the KJV has made it read, “the sanctuary.” That makes the Apostle redundant here, for “sanctuary” and “tabernacle” are synonyms. In my view, the correct translation is: “A minister of the Holy of Holies and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord has set up and not man.” Alternatively, it is possible that των αγιων should be translated, “of the holy things” (as sometimes in the LXX).

     These translation inconsistencies continue in the next chapter, where in verse one, το αγιον (singular) is translated “sanctuary,” but in verse 2, αγια is also translated “sanctuary.” Later on however, τα αγια has been rendered “the Holy of Holies” (Heb 9:24-25; 13:11) along with των αγιων (Heb 9:8; 10:19) and αγια αγιων (Heb 9:3). Elsewhere in the New Testament, των αγιων is often translated “the saints” (i.e. Rev 17:6; 1Cor 6:1).

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. 4 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.

     The Law of Moses spelled out in careful detail the duties of the High Priest. Offering gifts and sacrifices in the Temple were among the most sacred ceremonies of all. In the next chapter the Apostle gives the typology of the High Priest on the Day of Atonement to Christ entering the Holy of Holies (Heb 9:7-14). Yet, unlike the Jewish High Priest, Christ hath given Himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour (Eph 5:2). Moreover, the Jewish High Priest would enter once a year into the Holy of Holies, but Jesus has once entered there to stay. He offers the sacrifices and intercedes for us continually (Heb 7:3; 7:25). How great is this gift (doron) that Jesus offered. This word appears only once in the epistles (Eph 2:8), but often in Hebrews and the Gospels in reference to gifts offered in the Temple.

     Jesus does not offer gifts in the Temple on earth, but serves as the Minister of the true tabernacle in heaven (v2). The Tabernacle of the Testimony that God had commanded Moses to build was minutely designed by God to mirror and foreshadow the true spiritual tabernacle. That is to say, studying the designs of the physical tabernacle helps us to understand its true, spiritual counterpart in heaven. The types and shadows of the Old Covenant tabernacle (and later temple) reveal many profound analogies of the person and ministry of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God offered up for the sins of the people.   

     Jesus cannot be High Priest in the earthly temple, the Apostle says, because priests are there already offering the gifts that the Law requires. The Apostle describes this earthly temple scene as if it were then functioning. In other words, the priests were offering and serving (v5) at the time of his writing. If so, then the book of Hebrews must have been written before the destruction of Jerusalem, for it is unlikely that the writer would have written in this manner if that beautiful temple lay in rubble and ashes. In A.D. 70, the city of Jerusalem was overrun by the Roman armies, who demolished the Temple. The Jewish priesthood did not continue after that devastating event.

6 But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.

     The Apostle established this point in the previous chapter. The Aaronic priests were fallible, imperfect men; their ministry was limited by their infirmity (Heb 7:28). Jesus Christ, on the other hand, is perfect, holy, harmless, undefiled (Heb 7:26); His is an excellent ministry which will continue unchangeable forever (Heb 7:24), for it is sustained by the power of an endless life (Heb 7:16).

      The word mediator (mesites) refers to a go-between or bridge-man that works to reconcile two estranged parties (see Job 9:33, LXX). The Jewish priests were ministers but not mediators in the true sense of the word. For there is…one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave Himself a ransom for all (1Tim 2:5-6). See Heb 9:15 for more of Jesus as our Mediator. See my note for Heb 7:22.

     Some of the better promises of the New Covenant are detailed in v8-12. They are established upon the sworn authority of God (Heb 7:20-21) and witnessed by Word and Wonders (Heb 2:3-4). From top to bottom, the New is a better covenant. The Old was primarily tuned to man’s physical life. Its promises spoke of long life, peace from war, abundance of grain and cattle, happiness and prosperity – all in the framework of a physical nation led by earthly kings and Law. The New Covenant is primarily tuned to man’s spiritual life. Its promises speak of intangible, spiritual blessings – promises of everlasting joy and peace in heaven, of seeing Christ face to face, of reigning for eternity with the saints of all time past. Its framework is not a nation but a Kingdom of many nations with Jesus Christ its ruler upon a heavenly throne. Of course, the Old did hint of eternal life and the New does hint of earthly blessings. However, the better promises are that the New Covenant extends to fullest measure in the spiritual part of Man; it is able to veritably justify, forgive and redeem. While the Old set the standard of Law, the New provides us with the power to keep it (Rom 8:3).

     The first covenant refers to the Law given to the Jews at Sinai and that covenant had its faults. It was not sinful, wrong or invalid (see Rom 7:7-12), but it was incomplete and imperfect. In fact, it’s validity was contingent upon future acts of Christ the Messiah. Why then did God ordain it? Why didn’t He just send His Son right away to save Mankind? While God’s thoughts and purposes are too profound for our finite minds to comprehend, Paul provides us with a strong reason, saying: The Law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith (Gal 3:24). In other words, the Old Testament teaches us about Christ. It prepares us, so that we might understand Him. Here are some ways the Law guides Man in the search for Truth and God.

     The powerful testimonies of the Old Testament Scriptures should have bowled over the Jewish nation when the Desire of all nations came suddenly to His temple  (Hag 2:7; Mal 3:1). And yes, many Jews did see these things; but many did not. They wanted to go on living according to the carnal commandment (Heb 7:16). Here in the book of Hebrews, the Apostle shows how futile that is. Yet, let us not chide the Jews too harshly for their blindness, for the Word of prophecy says that the day is approaching when even this better covenant will be rejected by the vast majority of living men.

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.

     Here is another powerful Old Testament description of the New Covenant that the Messiah would set up. The quotation is an astonishing, 500 year-old prophecy from the Septuagint version of Jeremiah 31:31-34 that should have illuminated the Jewish nation to this full knowledge: Christ and His teaching are fulfilling the words of their own prophets. These verses shows that the primary “fault” (v7) of the Old Covenant was that the seed of Abraham had failed to keep it – they continued not in My covenant…so I regarded them not, saith the Lord (v9). At the time of Christ, the Jews had seriously perverted the Old Covenant by means of the so-called “oral law” of the Pharisees. In fact, they so greatly manipulated the Law that they made it lawful to transgress the Law of God (Mat 15:3). No wonder they rejected and killed the very Messiah the Law spoke about (Luke 24:25-27).

      The Spirit by Jeremiah named both Israel and Judah as receptors of the new covenant. Yet, at the time of Jeremiah’s writing, those two houses of Israel were enemies. In fact, most historians believe that the ten tribes which made up the house of Israel did not even exist anymore, having been carried away captive by the Assyrians about a hundred years earlier. Clearly the Holy Spirit had a further design in distinctly naming both, which I believe involves the promises of God to all the seed of Abraham, whether by the Law or by faith (Rom 4:16). The New Covenant would compass two great enemies in one, breaking down the middle wall and making them one in Christ (Eph 2:14-18; Acts 2:39). The New Testament is emphatic that the promises of God to Israel and Judah were not received by the blood descendants of Abraham, but by his adopted children of faith as predicted by Jeremiah in the New Covenant. This is the true, spiritual Israel of God (Gal 3:7-9; Rom 15:8-9), for if there exists an Israel after the flesh (1Cor 10:18), then there exists an Israel after the spirit (Rom 2:28). God has only one olive tree made up of Jews, Gentiles and every nation under heaven (Rom 9).

     Dispensationalists generally attempt to re-locate the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy to a theoretical “Millennial Kingdom” that Christ will set up on earth after the Church has been raptured. Yet, the holy Author has placed this prophecy in the book of Hebrews to show that Christ’s new covenant has replaced the old Jewish covenant (Heb 8:13; 10:9). He is speaking of the present Kingdom reign of Christ. It is entirely dishonest to wrest this prophecy from the Apostle’s point and throw it thousands of years into the future, into an imaginative era beyond the Church Age. Impossibly, these futurists dissect the new covenant of verse 8 from the new covenant of Christ which is the topic of the chapter. Surely this new covenant (v8, diatheke kainos) is the same new testament (kainos diatheke) that Jesus instituted with His own blood (Mat 26:28).

10 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.

     This prophecy predicts a dramatic change in the nature of God’s covenant with Mankind (Heb 7:12). The physical nature of the Old becomes spiritual in nature under the New, which is not written upon tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart (2Cor 3:3). For while the Old purposed to regulate/reform the outer man thereby affecting the inner man, the New purposes to reform the inner man, expecting thereby that man’s works and life will follow. Thus, the Old was made up of ceremonies, feasts, sacrifices and rituals to help remember and keep the Covenant. The New however, has only a few physical reminders (like baptism, communion, covered/uncovered head) and instead lays out a simple set of spiritual principles to live by and so glorify God. These principles (love God and fellow man) are indeed written in our hearts and minds, and they are lived out always – not just on feast days or Sabbaths.

     Yet, even under the Old Covenant the Law of God was, in the end, a matter of heart and mind (Ps 37:31; Ps 19:7-8). The tremendous difference in the New is that the Paraclete has come to dwell within every true believer, teaching him, guiding him and empowering him (Rom 8:1-14). The Old had no permanent in-person Spirit of wisdom and grace. Of course, each one must also die to self so that the Spirit can live (Gal 2:20). God seeks a relationship: “If you will serve Me, I will make you Mine.”

     The chief point of this particular prophecy is the new presence of the Holy Spirit in each individual under the New Covenant. It is not saying that there will be no need for teaching in the Church (Heb 5:12; 1Cor 12:28), but that the one great Teacher will be made available to each person individually. The prophet Joel joins Jeremiah in predicting this advent (Joel 2:28-29), which was appropriately signified by the tongues of fire at the great meeting on Pentecost (Acts 2:14-18). Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit after His departure and said that He would teach you all things (John 14:26; 15:26; 16:7-15).

     It is impossible to over-emphasize the significance of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in the believer. And the verses given above show that His primary work is to remind us what Jesus has already said in His Word. The Apostle John wrote, The anointing (or Holy Spirit) which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you (1John 2:27; Luke 12:12). Later, the writer to the Hebrews will re-quote Jeremiah and state that this speaks of the work of the Holy Spirit (Heb 10:15-18).

     Today, the world knows about Christ as never before. The Word has been printed in every language and in many versions. It is not for lack of witness that the Church of Christ has not expanded further into the nations.

     From the least to the greatest. Compare with Zec 12:8, which uses a similar concept describe further this separate prophetical detail of the New Covenant.

12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

     This is the new truth of the New Covenant. Mercy, pardon, grace and righteousness is now available to Mankind on account of the great works of Christ on our behalf. The Old looked forward in type and analogies to this new reality. In a word, this is justification. By keeping the Old Covenant a man could be accepted by God, but the soul was not cleansed, the man was not justified – there was no means for the Law to accomplish that. Under the New Covenant, a man’s sins can be taken away, remembered no more – and that is justification. No longer accepted by God in unrighteous state, but truly made righteous, the soul completely cleansed. Such a man can enter boldly into the Holy of Holies.

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.

     The Old Covenant has been superseded by Christ’s new covenant. He took away the first in order to establish the second (Heb 10:9). The former has ended, is abolished (2Cor 3:13), finished – not destroyed, but fulfilled (Mat 5:17), for the promises made under the Old have come to pass in the New. In that sense, the New is an extension of the old. The foreshadow has been made reality. The Old has not been declared “invalid” because it continues to fulfill its purpose in pointing Man to Christ (Gal 3:24-25). However, the terms of the Old have been updated; the old ones are now old and obsolete.

     The Greek word for new in this verse is kainos, which means “of a different kind.” Neos is another word that also is translated new, but it means “youthful or new in respect to age.” While the New Covenant could be thought of as new in respect to age (Heb 12:24), it is more significantly new in that it is different in kind from the Old Covenant (see note v6).

     The old covenant is ready to vanish away, it is nigh disappearing (YLT). The verb tense indicates that some were still holding in honor the old covenant that God made with the Jewish nation. And it is another indication that this book was probably written before the destruction of Jerusalem (see v4).      

   God made at least six different covenants with Man which are listed below. Each one of these covenants has two distinct aspects. The covenant with Adam, for instance, was modified after Adam’s sin. Noah received a covenant before and after the Flood (Gen 6:12-22; Gen 9:11-17). Abram received the covenant before he left Ur and then an updated version in Canaan. Moses received the first tables of stone written by the hand of God, but the second was written by his own hand. The covenants to Levi and David were perpetual covenants, but their first aspects were in the physical realm and the second in the spiritual realm.