Hebrews Chapter 8
A Better Ministry and Heavenly Tabernacle
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;”
This verse summarizes what we have just read in the previous verses concerning Jesus as The High Priest, Who now sits on the right hand of God The Father.
Ephesians 1:20, “Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set [him] at his own right hand in the heavenly [places],
Colossians 3:1, “¶If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.”
Hebrews 8:2, “A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.”
The True Tabernacle is NOT the one made by man (the one from the time of Moses through David), but rather made (“pitched”) ONLY by God. Only Jesus could enter that Sanctuary of which the earthly temporal tabernacle was merely a “figure” or “Type”.
The martyred disciple, Steven, in his very last words of testimony, said this about the Tabernacle (and the Temple): Acts 7:44-50, “¶Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen. Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus (Joshua) into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David; Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. But Solomon built him an house. ¶Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven [is] my throne, and earth [is] my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what [is] the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things?“
The “prophet” that Stephen mentioned here was Isaiah, referring back to Isaiah 66:1&2, “Thus saith the LORD, The heaven [is] my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where [is] the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those [things] hath mine hand made, and all those [things] have been, saith the LORD: but to this [man] will I look, [even] to [him that is] poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.“
More corroborating detail in provided by God in the Hebrews Chapter 9 as we find here:
Hebrews 9:8&9, “The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: Which [was] a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;“
Hebrews 9:11, “¶But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;“
Hebrews 8:3, “¶For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore [it is] of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.”
Hebrews 8:4, “For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:”
We are reminded that Jesus was not a Levite, but rather of the tribe of Judah (Juda in the New Testament), and that Jesus would not qualify to be a priest in the Earthly realm according to the Law.
Hebrews 8:5, “Who serve unto the example (ὑπόδειγμα (hypodeigma))G5262 and shadow (σκιά (skia))G4639 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 (τύπος (typos))G5179 shewed to thee in the mount.”
Note the three references that help to make clear that the Earthly Tabernacle, and priestly ordinances, that were established according to the Law were NEVER intended to be the “substance” of the means of mediation with God, but rather only “Types”(τύπος (typos))G5179… being 1) “examples”, 2) “shadows” and in the 3) “pattern” (or “fashion”) of Heavenly things.
Some useful references:
Colossians 2:17, “Which are a shadow (σκιά (skia))G4639 of things to come; but the body [is] of Christ.”
Hebrews 9:9, “Which [was] a figure (παραβολή (parabolē))G3850 for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;” Note that the word for “figure” is the same word for “parable” or “riddle”.
Hebrews 9:23, “¶[It was] therefore necessary that the patterns (ὑπόδειγμα (hypodeigma))G5262 of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.“
Exodus 25:40, “And look that thou make [them] after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.“
Numbers 8:4, “And this work of the candlestick [was] of beaten gold, unto the shaft thereof, unto the flowers thereof, [was] beaten work: according unto the pattern which the LORD had shewed Moses, so he made the candlestick.“
Acts 7:44, “¶Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion (τύπος (typos))G5179 that he had seen.”
Hebrews 8:6, “But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant (testament), which was established upon better promises.”
2 Corinthians 3:6, “Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. ¶But if the ministration of death, written [and] engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which [glory] was to be done away: How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?”
Hebrews 7:22, “By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament (covenant)”.
We should well consider that the word for better does not mean that the old had no value, but it is better because it provides the substance and reality of salvation that they “Types” could not. The old “earthly” priesthood taught the nature of the true priesthood and the new “spiritual” priesthood fulfilled the expectation of that true priesthood. The law had value as a pattern that taught about another priesthood, but did not in itself have any power to save. Jesus’s Priesthood was better because it was different in that instead of being only an ineffective picture of salvation, it provided the reality of salvation. God’s people, the believers, have in Jesus a better hope because in Him all the penalties for all their sins have been fully paid.
A New Covenant (Testament)
Hebrews 8:7, “¶For if that first [covenant] had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.”
These verses reviewed earlier re-state this point:
Hebrews 7:11, “¶If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood,(for under it the people received the law,) what further need [was there] that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?“
Hebrews 7:18&19, “¶For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope [did]; by the which we draw nigh unto God.“
Hebrews 8:8, “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:”
This verse hearkens back to the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 31:31-34, “¶Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day [that] I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this [shall be] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.“
Hebrews 8:9, “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.”
Jeremiah 31:32, “Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day [that] I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:”
Hebrews 10:16&17, “¶This [is] the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” (this is another restatement of Jeremiah 31:34)
Hebrews 8:10, “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:“
Jeremiah 31:33. “But this [shall be] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.“
Zechariah 8:8, “And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.”
Hebrews 8:11, “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.“
Jeremiah 31:34A, “And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.“
Also…Isaiah 54:13, “And all thy children [shall be] taught of the LORD; and great [shall be] the peace of thy children.
John 6:45, “It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.“
Micah 4:2, “And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.“
1 John 2:27, “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.“
1 Corinthians 2:13, “Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.“
Hebrews 8:12, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.“
Jeremiah 31:34B, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.“
Romans 11:27, “For this [is] my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.“
Hebrews 8:13, “¶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.“
Jesus Christ is the end (goal) of the law (the Old Covenant), as we read in Romans 10:4, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” It (the Old Testament) is described as decaying (note, that is neither “decayed”…nor “obsolete”) in that it still has purpose.
Just like the Hebrews, we must remember the Old Testament signs, types, and patterns (talked about in the preceding verses of Chapter 8), were physically discernible, but were pointing to the invisible spiritual substance of the heavenly kingdom in Jesus. We might consider this the admonition of not walking by sight, but by faith; 2 Corinthians 5:7 “(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)” or not living by works, but by grace. In that sense, we never want to return to the Old Covenant that depends on works.
In establishing the New Covenant, the Old Levitical Covenant is done away. It has served its purpose in pointing us to our need for a Savior, but in Jesus Christ, Who Is That Savior, the Old Covenant can thus vanish away.
The Old Covenant/Old Testament was indeed one of “works” that required perfect obedience, which could never be perfectly kept by sinful mankind, and hence would never make peace between God and man, but in the New Covenant/New Testament of Grace, wrought through the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ, perfectly fulfilled the old covenant law by which all believers through Faith are saved (by God’s intercessory Grace through Jesus).
Ephesians 2:8&9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Ephesians 2:14&15 ¶For he (Jesus) is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
This is perhaps the best summary of the above…
Galatians 3:17-26. “And this I say, [that] the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. (referring back to the Promise made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and 430 years after that in Egypt and then the law of the Old Covenant was given) For if the inheritance be of the law, [it is] no more of promise: but God gave [it] to Abraham by promise. ¶Wherefore then [serveth] the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and [it was] ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not [a mediator] of one, but God is one. ¶[Is] the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to [bring us] unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. ¶For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”
Galatians 5:1, “¶Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.“
2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.“
Psalm 102:25&26, “Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:“
Isaiah 51:6, “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.“
Isaiah 65:17, “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.“
Isaiah 66:22, “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.“
2 Peter 3:12&13, “Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.“
And we must remember that Jesus said, in “Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” and again in Mark 13:31, “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.” And again in Luke 21:33, “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.”
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