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“Oh, the unspeakable greatness of that exchange,—the Sinless One is condemned, and he who is guilty goes free; the Blessing bears the curse, and the cursed is brought into blessing; the Life dies, and the dead live; the Glory is whelmed in darkness, and he who knew nothing but confusion of face is clothed with glory.”

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Location: Kingsland, Georgia, United States

A person God turned around many times.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Hebrews chapter nine



Heb. 9:1  Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.
Heb. 9:2  For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary.
Heb. 9:3  And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;
Heb. 9:4  Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;
Heb. 9:5  And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.
Heb. 9:6  Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God.
Heb. 9:7  But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:
Heb. 9:8  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:
Heb. 9:9  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;
Heb. 9:10  Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.
Heb. 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;
Heb. 9:12  Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
Heb. 9:13  For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
Heb. 9:14  How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Heb. 9:15  And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
Heb. 9:16  For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
Heb. 9:17  For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.
Heb. 9:18  Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.
Heb. 9:19  For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,
Heb. 9:20  Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.
Heb. 9:21  Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.
Heb. 9:22  And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Heb. 9:23  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Heb. 9:24  For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
Heb. 9:25  Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;
Heb. 9:26  For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
Heb. 9:27  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Heb. 9:28  So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
 
The writer of Hebrews (WoH) up to this point in his epistle, has proven in many ways that Jesus, the Messiah, the Prince of peace, fulfilled the promise which the Father swore with an oath.
 
“The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool.
The LORD shall send the rod of Thy strength out of Zion: rule Thou in the midst of Thine enemies.
Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: Thou hast the dew of Thy youth.
The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.” (Ps. 110:1-4).

Run through a sieve and winnowed of all the theological provings, the essence of the gospel message from Hebrews 9 is boiled down to a handful of promises. “Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, … having obtained eternal redemption for us…. The blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, [shall] purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God…. They which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance…. So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”
 
“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; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” (Heb. 8:1,2).
 
“For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.” (Heb. 8:3). 
 
The epistle of Hebrews is more than a letter, it is a treatise. And, although the whole epistle of Hebrews is not a treatise that concerns which compartment Jesus entered upon His ascension, much of chapter 9 spells out the fact that Jesus entered into a Holy Place ministry, not the Most Holy ministry. Therefore, I often bring out that idea. The whole epistle is a treatise on the fact that Jesus became the High Priest to minister in the heavenly tabernacle in behalf of all who have been humbled and whose hearts are honest toward Him. Then and now, the same passionate Rabbi and compassionate Priest will help us as He had helped so many while He walked the earth.

Jesus told His disciples, “I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever;… He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” (Jn. 14:16,17). “And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the scriptures?” (Lk. 24:32). “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven” (Acts 1:11) continued to speak to the church and to minister to them the convictions that had so awakened their hearts and minds, and brought comfort to their souls.

The book of Hebrews is for us as it was for the early Jewish Christians; and, it is full of precious promises with assuring oaths that all apply until He can finish cleansing His sanctuary, cleansing not only Mt. Zion where His Father’s kingdom dwells, but also cleansing the hearts and minds and consciences of His people, so that He can dwell in them forever. The main message of the book of Hebrews is that God wants to swear to each one of us, and to never repent of His oath, “Thou art My son, this day have I begotten thee. And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to Me a son.” (Heb. 1:5).

“For both He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare Thy name unto My brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto Thee.
And again, I will put My trust in Him.
And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given Me.” (Heb. 2:11-13). 

Christ’s ascension was for the purpose of anointing, with His perfect sacrifice, His Father’s work of reconciling man to Himself, and of restoring the divine nature in humanity. “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy [place].” (Dan. 9:24). In keeping with Daniel’s prophecy, the WoH says that Jesus shed His blood to anoint the “holiest of all [τών άγίων―ton hagion, the holy place]” (Heb. 9:8), “the throne of the Majesty in the heavens” (Heb. 8:1), “a Minister of the sanctuary [ton hagion], the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” (Heb. 8:2).

Daniel 9:24 uses the phrase, “to anointH4886 the most Holy.H6944 H6944 [qodesh qodashim]”. The SDA Bible Commentary, volume 4, page 852, has this to say on this point:

The most Holy. Heb. qodesh qodashim, “something most holy,” or, “someone most holy”. The Hebrew phrase is applied to the altar (Ex. 29:37; 40:10), other vessels and furniture pertaining to the tabernacle (Ex. 30:29), the holy perfume (Ex. 30:36), specified meat offerings (Lev.  2:3,10;6:17;10:12), trespass offerings (Lev. 7:1,6), the showbread (Lev. 24:5-9), devoted things (Lev. 27:28), the holy district (Num. 18:10; Eze.43:12), and the most holy place of the sanctuary (Ex. 26:33,34). The phrase is nowhere applied to persons unless, as some suggest, it is so applied to the text under consideration and in 1Chron. 23:13. The latter text may be translated, “Aaron was separated to anoint him a most holy one,” although it may also be rendered as in the KJV. Jewish expositors and many Christian commentators have held that the Messiah is referred to.
   In view of the fact that the Hebrew phrase cannot elsewhere be shown to refer definitely to a person, and in view of the fact that the heavenly sanctuary is under discussion in the larger aspects of the vision, (see on Dan. 8:14), it is reasonable to conclude that Daniel is here speaking of the anointing of the heavenly sanctuary prior to the time of Christ’s inauguration as high priest.

Notice that “qodesh qodashim” referred to things, and not to the Lord Himself, and that the most holy things were associated with the whole sanctuary―the Most Holy place, the Holy Place, the Court, and all the holy items connected with them. “In the most holy place [qodesh qodashim] shalt thou eat it; every male shall eat it: it shall be holy unto thee.” (Num. 18:10). Even the outer court for the Gentiles could be classed as most holy, as seen in Ezekiel 43:12. “This is the law of the house; Upon the top of the mountain [Moriah] the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy [qodesh qodashim]. Behold, this is the law of the house.” (Eze. 43:12). So, Dan. 9:24 does not say that Messiah would anoint the Most Holy Place of the earthly or heavenly tabernacle, but, rather the most holy heavenly tabernacle.

Everything associated with the God of heaven is most holy, or, holiest of all. Particularly is this true of the heavenly sanctuary. And this word, “anoint,” means, “dedicate”. In other words, Christ’s death, among other reasons, was for the inauguration or dedication of the heavenly temple for the work of ending the great controversy and overcoming Satan’s reign of terror on the earth. It made provision for the plan of salvation, “having obtained eternal redemption for us” (Heb. 9:12), provision which the work of the Holy Spirit gave new power. When Jesus cried, “It is finished!” He wasn’t simply stating the accomplishment or the end of something; He was also forecasting and promising His people that He would begin to save them with a power heretofore unknown, threatening Satan’s kingdom in an unprecedented way. That power was Christ’s reuniting humanity with God and all heaven, “of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,” making of twain one new man (Eph. 3:15;2:15). His crucifixion dedicated the heavenly sanctuary where His most holy Father was, and where He was about to enter.

“Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.” (Jn. 13:7). “Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God be glorified in Him, God shall also glorify Him in Himself, and shall straightway glorify Him. Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek Me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.… Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest Thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow Me now; but thou shalt follow Me afterwards…. I go to prepare a place for you.” (Jn. 13:3-33,36;14:2).

The fulfillment of Christ’s glorification and anointing the sanctuary, and His war against Satan’s captivity of humanity, is seen in Revelation 12.

“And she brought forth a man Child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her Child was caught up unto God, and to His throne….
And there was war in heaven: Michael and His angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.” (Rev. 12:5,7-10).

The WoH recognized the concept of type/antitype, and staunchly holds true to that regime. (See Heb. 8:1-5). The type, he said, was “of necessity” an “example and shadow” of eternal realities (Heb. 8:3,5). He stated that the earthly tabernacle was a “pattern” (Heb. 9:23) of heavenly things, “figures of the true” (Heb. 9:24).

Thus, when he launches into describing the articles of furniture of the two compartments of the earthly, he lays the foundation to explain their heavenly counterpart, the things of Christ that provide for our salvation by faith in Him, the redemption of our hearts, minds, and characters, our transformation into Christ’s image—“the promise of eternal inheritance” (Heb. 9:15), as Paul called it, “the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession” (Eph. 1: 14). The WoH delineates the items within the first veil of the “tabernacle” [skene], or “worldly sanctuary” (Heb. 9:1) [hagion], “holy or holy place”; that is, as he calls it, “the first” (Heb. 9:2) compartment “which is called the sanctuary” (Heb. 9:2) [hagia], “holies or holy places”. Then, he moves through the “second veil” (Heb. 9:3), into “the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all” (Heb. 9:3), [hagia hagion], “the holy of holies”, the Most Holy Place.

Here he lists the articles associated with it. He attaches the “the golden censer” (Heb. 9:4) to “the Holiest of all”. But, the WoH makes no mention of the altar of incense, neither is it listed in Hebrews 9:2. The altar of incense was a transition piece, a kind of laver into the Most Holy, since it prepared the priest entering the Most Holy to be acceptable, as the laver did for entering the sanctuary. Christ’s resurrection and coronation, His heavenly baptism of water and fire, symbolized by the laver and altar of incense, represents the baptism of water and fire for the child of God who falls on the stone and breaks, being raised to new life in the Holy Spirit, and his final sealing at the veil where his Forerunner stood until 1844. (See Rev. 8:3).

Once “dedicated” (Heb. 9:18), or, “ordained” (Heb. 9:6), the “worldly sanctuary” (Heb. 9:1) functioned on a daily basis, the priest going in “always” (Heb. 9:6), bringing the blood-borne sins “into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God” (Heb. 9:6).

“But into the second” (Heb. 9:7) “tabernacle” [skene] (Heb. 9:3) “went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people.” (Heb. 9:7).

“The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all [ton hagion, the holy place] was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing.” (Heb. 9:8). “This signifying” (Heb. 9:8) is commentary on, not only the immediately preceding verse 7, but the whole preceding seven verses that deal with the earthly holy places—the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. The whole sanctuary was the subject of Hebrews 8-10; and the whole sanctuary was “the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle [skene, “sanctuary”, (not hagia hagion)]: for, See, saith He, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.” (Heb. 8:5).

The phrase, “This signifying” (Heb. 9:8), referring to the heavenly “holiest of all” (Heb. 9:8), included both “tabernacle[s]” under investigation by the WoH (Heb. 9:2,3). The phrase, “the holiest of all” (Heb. 9:8), gives the impression that only the heavenly Most Holy Place is the focus of Heb. 9:8 and of Hebrews chapter 9 in general, when in reality the whole sanctuary is the subject matter of the verses preceding verse 8. The whole sanctuary is the object referred to later, throughout Hebrews 9 and 10, in order to amplify the previous thought of verse 8, as the rest of the chapter describes the workings in the holy place and even the courtyard, speaking of the “gifts and sacrifices” (Heb. 9:9). Additionally, “meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances” (Heb. 9:10) dealt with the holy place and court.

Clearly, the Most Holy Place is not the sole focus in verse eight, with regard to “the holiest of all [ton hagion, the holy place]” (Heb. 9:8). In Hebrews 9:8, the WoH decoded the anti-typical ministry with the Greek hagion, relating to both holy and most holy ministries of the whole sanctuary, rather than specifically using the terminology hagia hagion, meaning solely the “Holy of holies”. This, no doubt, keyed the original Greek reading Jews to distinguish between the two nouns and to comprehend a plural heavenly ministry and office for Christ to administer upon His ascension; and it should key us into His plural ministry, as well. By consistently using, without exception, the general word, hagion (holy place, singular) or hagia (holy places, plural), and never once using the specific term hagia hagion (most holy place), the WoH seems to expect the readers to naturally refer to the typical earthly sanctuary’s first compartment and then to follow through in the inner Most Holy  compartment, in order to understand the work of Christ in the heavenly places. Thus, the WoH relies on their knowledge of sanctuary information found in the Torah, with its two compartments and its daily and annual ministries, their lack of knowledge of which he mourned.

“Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit.” (Heb. 5:11-6:3).

It was the whole sanctuary, a two compartment heavenly sanctuary, which could not be made manifest while the earthly system was in place and getting all the attention. After Christ was “parted from them, and carried up into heaven” (Lk. 24:51) and “sat on the right hand of God” (Mk. 16:19), the apostles “returned to Jerusalem with great joy: and were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God.” (Lk. 24:52,53). It was the “true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man” (Heb. 8:2), that could not dawn on any mind until the need for a temple arose at the loss of Herod’s temple, when Rome destroyed it. “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for Himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations He shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.” (Dan. 9:26,27). “When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.” (Lk. 21:20,21).

But, “the time of reformation” (Heb. 9:10) having come at the full rejection of the Messiah by the Jewish nation, and the dispersion of the Jews and the destruction of the temple being imminent (Dan. 9:27), the heavenly sanctuary was now unveiled to the church, and they must walk and worship by faith and not by sight, more so than they previously had to do.

As “the holiest of all” (Heb. 9:8) outshone the earthly tabernacle (Eze. 1), so the heavenly Minister in every respect outshines the earthly priests (Heb. 8:6), “Christ being come an High Priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands.” (Heb. 9:11).

He entered once into the holy place (Heb. 9:12) (hagion, “sanctuary”, “the holy [place]”). To correctly understand this phrase, “by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place” (Heb. 9:12), we must connect the daily aspects of the typical sanctuary to the annual which is described in verse 7: “Into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people” (Heb. 9:7). The two “once” events can encompass both the earthly Day of Atonement ceremony in the Most Holy Place and Christ’s “once” entering into the Heavenly Holy Place, only if the Holy Place is “heaven itself” (Heb. 9:24); in which case, they would include both of Christ’s ministries in the heavenly Holy Place and Most Holy Place. Mistakenly connecting the two “once” events into one may be why King James’ theologians incorrectly used the phrase “holiest of all” in Heb. 9:8 when translating hagion (“holy place”) in that verse, even though the WoH was obviously not speaking of the Most Holy place, “the Holiest of all” (Heb. 9:3), which is the Greek hagia hagion.

The whole sanctuary in heaven became apparent, as it was the whole heavenly ministry that Christ had begun upon His ascension, when He was “set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens” (Heb. 8:1) “to offer gifts and sacrifices” (Heb. 8:3) peace offerings and sin offerings in the Holy Place of the sanctuary. His ministry would begin in the Holy Place and, at the fulfillment of that ministry, move to the Most Holy ministry.

In Hebrews 8 verses 3 and 4, mention is made of the blended priest/high priest performing gifts and sacrifices. The author of Hebrews does a lot of conglomerating of the titles of priest and high priest, using the titles of the two offices interchangeably; and here he lumps together both priest and high priest to explain the ministry of the earthly system, as if to communicate that Christ’s work in the whole heavenly sanctuary, “the holy place” (Heb. 9:12), “heaven itself” (Heb. 9:24), must ultimately encompass both priestly and high priestly services. The animals mentioned for the ceremonies reveal more than Day of Atonement sacrifices of “bulls and of goats” (Heb. 9:13), but also mentioning “the ashes of an heifer” (Heb. 9:13) for “sprinkling the unclean” (Heb. 9:13) leper, for his “purifying of the flesh” (Heb. 9:13). This, in the Mosaic system, was accomplished neither in the Most Holy Place, within the second veil, nor even by the High Priest; but, it was performed by an ordinary priest, in the court, and at random times when the case came before him (see Numbers 19). Again, this indicates that the WoH, when treating the heavenly “holiest of all”, hagion, was dealing with more than issues of the Most Holy Place, the “Holiest of all”, hagia hagion.

Hebrews 9:14, continuing to develop that idea, again speaks not to a Day of Atonement issue, but to us of our daily cleansing from the leprosy of sin. “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb. 9:14). This is for us a daily ministration issue because the writer is comparing leprosy to dead service, “twice dead” (Jude 12) without the abiding Spirit of God, like the wretched leprosy that needed the typical cleansing. The WoH here is comparing Christ’s heavenly work to an Old Testament Court and Holy Place work. But, even though it is not a Most Holy Place issue, it is a heavenly holiest of all issue because the Holy Spirit is involved. Nevertheless, Christ’s heavenly work Paul said was a foretaste and not His final redemption. “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory.” (Eph. 1:13,14). Thus, the new covenant, the “new testament” was the atonement for the “first testament”, the “dead works” of the whole old covenant Earth overrun by the multitudinous forms of Baal and Ashtoreth worship, a world “superstitious” in “the times of this ignorance” (Acts 17:22,30).

“For this cause He is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.” (Heb. 9:15). This new “new testament”, “new covenant” (Heb. 8:13), “the atonement” (Rom 5:11), is the true “redemption” (Heb. 9:15) and the “promise of eternal inheritance” (Heb. 9:15). Thus, Hebrews 9:15 gives a sense of the Most Holy Place cleansing of the sanctuary. We will come back to this later.

The “blood of goats and calves” (Heb. 9:12) is another evidence that Hebrews 9 is not referring to the Most Holy Place of the Day of Atonement, but to the Mosaic system dedication. “For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people” (Heb. 9:19).

By this, I’m not trying to confuse the arguments of Christ’s ascending into the Most Holy Place, but to show that we simply cannot assume that Hebrews chapter 9 is proving that Jesus went immediately to accomplish the Day of Atonement cleansing, and also that the “hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil” (Heb. 6:19) need not mean that Jesus entered within the “second veil” (Heb. 9:3) to accomplish “the atonement” (Rom. 5:11). The atonement to the individual, related above in Hebrews 9:13, was performed by the common priests and equated to a work that Jesus, who though our High Priest, would accomplish “within the veil” (Heb. 6:19) of the entire heavenly tabernacle, at His ascension. Moses used that very phrase in regard to the work of the priests and High Priest within the whole sanctuary. “Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest’s office for every thing of the altar, and within the vail; and ye shall serve.” (Num. 18:7). Here “within the vail” referred to only the Holy Place ministry, Aaron’s sons never having entered the veil of the Most Holy. And, the phrase, “who have fled for refuge …within the veil” (Heb. 6:18,19) alludes to the account of Joab fleeing the sword of Solomon. He entered within the first veil, but not the second. (1Ki. 2:28). Even “hallowed” (Ex. 29:21) Aaron was not to enter within the second veil except on the 10th day of the 7th month, to cleanse of the sanctuary. “And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.” (Lev. 16:2).

Jesus’ work within the “holy place[s]” (Heb. 9:12) [ta hagia, “the heavenlies”, both heavenly “holy places”, the holiest of all, or simply “heaven” (Heb. 9:24)] entailed more than Aaron’s work within the earthly second veil. Christ’s death did the work that “purified” (Heb. 9:23) and ordained “the heavens” (Heb. 9:23) and “the heavenly things” (Heb. 9:23) with the “better” (Heb. 9:23) self-sacrifice of His body and soul. He kept His body and spirit as a constant living sacrifice, ready at His Father’s word to lay them down, along with His spotless union with His Father, a close connection never once broken, except for that fateful day on Calvary. Many things did Christ’s death accomplish for His heavenly work of our salvation—our reconciliation to God, our daily sanctification, and ultimately our preparation for His return in power and glory, “the great day of His wrath” (Rev. 6:17).

Neither must the following passage relate to only a most holy place experience, since the words, “the holiest” (Heb. 10:19), are again the Greek ta hagia, “holy places”. WoH’s general use again of hagia means that the veil in this verse must be the door of the whole heavenly sanctuary. “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest, ta hagia [“a greater and more perfect tabernacle” (Heb. 9:11)] by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh.” (Heb. 10:19,20). “His flesh” meant the access to the whole heavenly sanctuary. “Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.… But He spake of the temple of His body.” (Jn. 2:19,21). “And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the Man whose name is The BRANCH; and He shall grow up out of His place, and He shall build the temple of the LORD: even He shall build the temple of the LORD; and He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon His throne; and He shall be a priest upon His throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” (Zech. 6:12,13). We may enter into the Holy Place and bow before the throne of grace where Aaron and his sons served before the Lord. “In the tabernacle of the congregation without the vail, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the LORD.” (Ex. 27:21).

This boldness to enter through the veil of the heavenly sanctuary comes from the “hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast,… which entereth into that within the veil” (Heb. 6:19) in “the heavens” (Heb. 8:1). Yet, that hope and boldness and “importunity” (Lk. 11:8) to approach our God, who has proven His love and willingness to accept us on those terms, does not yet take us into the Most Holy Place. We go by faith with Him into the first veil of the “holiest of all” (Heb. 9:8) [G39 ton hagion, “the holy place”], “heaven itself” (Heb. 9:24) (Lev. 16:2) and cling to the altar of incense which is “most holy” [qodesh qodashim] and whoever touches “the altar shall be holy” (Ex. 29:37) that is, “must be holy”. Even though the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary began in 1844 the cleansing is not yet completed, as it should have already been. There has been a delay of the final cleansing, as seen from Rev. 10:6, “And sware by Him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be [delay] no longer.”

Not until we begin this final phase of the investigative judgment, that is, the shaking, the Latter Rain of the Holy Spirit, and the Loud Cry, will we fully enter into the second veil with Jesus with a boldness we receive from Him; we will follow Him “whithersoever He goeth” (Rev. 14:4). We will then, by faith, “[ascend] up to heaven in a cloud” (Rev 11:12), and “sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:6) as the church did while the apostles lived. Then we’ll be prepared for the great time of trouble, Jacob’s trouble, and the day of Christ’s appearing. Then our soul temples will be without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. The church, as the 144,000 and great multitude which no man can number, will be fully cleansed; and, then the heavenly sanctuary will be fully cleansed.

Until that final cleansing, the cleansing of the Father’s heavenly sanctuary is yet a work in progress. But, if we will faithfully follow the work of Jesus within the first veil, coming under the power of His gospel from the Early Rain of the Holy Spirit, yet seeking to be sealed, to enter the second veil and to receive the Latter Rain of the Holy Spirit, then we will receive the great Latter Rains and be preparing for the great time of trouble that is just about to surprise the world. “They that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.” (Rev. 17:8). We will have held fast salvation and “the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end.” (Heb. 3:14). Our names will be retained in the book of life, so that we will not be surprised.

As we said earlier, Hebrews 9:15 is interesting. It seems to refer to Jesus’ ascension to commence the preliminaries to cleanse the sanctuary. “And for this cause He is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.” (Heb. 9:15). “The redemption of the transgressions….” This is significant. It sounds like the warning to Israel through the Messianic 70 week prophecy.

“Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy [place] [qodesh qodashim].” (Dan. 9:24). Notice this prophecy’s parallels to Hebrews 9:15. “To finish the transgression…to make reconciliation for iniquity” sounds very much like “the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament”. “To bring in everlasting righteousness” sounds like “they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance”; and, “to anoint the most Holy” sounds like, “Almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.” (Heb. 9:22,23).

But, the message from Dan. 9:24 does not address a cleansing of the sanctuary. We previously showed that the term, qodesh qodashim, “most holy” or “holiest of all” was general language to the holiness characterizing anything associated to the sanctuary. Christ’s anointing the most holy need not mean “Holiest of all” (Heb. 9:3) hagia hagion, the term the WoH used when he describes the Most Holy Place. It can also speak of the “holiest of all” of Heb. 9:8, hagion, the heavenly sanctuary, the dwelling of divinity, “a greater and more perfect tabernacle” (Heb. 9:11).

This latter is the more likely interpretation of Dan. 9:24, since hagion/hagia, “holy place/places”, are the words used exclusively throughout Hebrews 8 to 10. This assumes that Hebrews 8 to 10 are commentary on the 70 week prophecy of Daniel, which is my opinion.

The WoH defines the first testament as the covenant that Moses set up. “Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.” (Heb. 9:18-20). It is “that first covenant” (Heb. 8:7), which did not possess the “established” “better promises” (Heb. 8:6) of a “more excellent ministry” and the “better covenant” (Heb. 8:6), the “new covenant” (Heb. 8:13). Therefore, the first covenant was faulty or limited, compared with the “the second”, which God “sought” (Heb. 8:7). “Because of transgressions” (Gal. 3:19), the Mosaic testament was “added” (Gal. 3:19). The Israelites coming out of Egypt needed the strong force and structure of the moral law, and the sacrificial system of the ceremonial law, woven into every aspect of life. Yet, faith was still lacking, and the unbelief they demonstrated, in spite of the “glorious” “old testament” (2Cor. 3:11,14), never allowed the Lord’s expectation of them to manifest. His desire for the nation was seen in a remnant, Moses and David, Sampson and Samuel, Caleb and Joshua, Gideon and Jephthah, John the Baptist and “Simeon…just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel” (Lk. 2:25), and many others; but, by far the vast majority, like King Saul, never felt attracted to the salvation and the rest of body, mind, and soul that God wanted to offer Israel, and through them, the whole world.

But, now that Messiah had offered up His soul, He made reconciliation between God and man and brought in everlasting righteousness (Dan. 9:24). He opened heaven to us again and poured out His Eternal Spirit upon all who responded to His call (Heb. 9:15). Through His Spirit we again can know God, the living God (Heb. 9:14). He replaced dead works, empty of faith and love and hope, that are “the strength of sin” (1Cor. 15:56) with possession of “the promise of eternal inheritance.” (Heb. 9:15). “Adoption” (Gal. 4:5) into “the whole family in heaven” (Eph. 3:15) gives us access to “heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 2:6). “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” (Eph. 1:3). We “[are]…enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and [are] made partakers of the Holy Ghost” (Heb. 6:4), having tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come.” (Heb. 6:5). We have a living connection through the faith God gives us, and the freedom of constant communion. We are loved, and therefore “hope”, “which we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil” (Heb. 6:19) of the heavenly ta hagia, where our Lord has given to us to flee “for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us” (Heb. 6:18). We have “an High Priest…who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens” (Heb. 7:26), “wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.” (Heb. 7:25).

“But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (Jn. 1:12,13). Through the divine “powers of the world to come” (Heb. 6:5;), we receive His willpower to overcome sin; “not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.” (Zech. 4:6). “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” (2Cor. 10:4,5).

“By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Heb. 10:10). “Where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.” (Heb. 10:18). “For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that He had said before, 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.” (Heb. 10:14-17). Therefore, we have “no more conscience of sins” “that are past, through the forbearance of God” (Heb. 10:2;Rom. 3:25). “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24), “we have peace with God” (Rom. 5:1). “Jesus…is our peace” (Eph. 2:13,14); and thus, “God hath…given us the spirit…of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2Tim. 1:7).

“Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh”—His poured out spirit and His broken body hanging on the tree—“and having an High Priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” (Heb. 10:19-22). Abiding in the family of heaven through the cross of Christ, and His words aiding in us, we may ask what we will and He will do it for us. (Jn. 15:7; Rev. 11:6). “Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it.” (1Thess. 5:24).

“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause He is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.” (Heb. 9:14,15). This is the salvation that Jesus “Messiah the Prince” (Dan 9:25) gave us when He anointed the heavenly sanctuary, qodesh qodashim, ta hagia, by His blood; this is Jesus’ Early Rain work which we must possess if we are to take part in the Latter Rain when He concludes His Most Holy ministry that began in 1844.

This holy work of Christ Satan sought to destroy. “Yea, he magnified himself even to the Prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down.” (Dan. 8:11). Messiah “sealed up” the vision and prophecy, and “anointed” the most Holy. (Dan. 9:24). That is, the vision of Daniel 8 and its longest biblical prophecy of 2,300 years until the sanctuary would be cleansed (Dan. 8:14), was sealed or confirmed, established, inaugurated, by Christ offering up to His Father the demonstration and example of perfect self-sacrifice, perfect obedience. The sacrifice of Jesus established the sanctuary cleansing during the end of time investigative judgment; His death authorized the closing of probation and the end of sin. Because He, as “the Son of man”, on the cross suffered the judgment of the whole world, God “hath given Him authority to execute judgment.” (Jn. 5:27).

His death anointed the most Holy, qodesh qodashim, which we previously showed means simply “heaven itself” (Heb. 9:24), the “greater and more perfect tabernacle” (Heb. 9:11). His death also anointed “the heavenly things” (Heb. 9:23) of the sanctuary in heaven. It was to Daniel 9:24’s “anoint the Most holy” that the WoH must have referred when he wrote of Christ’s death “ordaining” (Heb. 9:6) or dedicating the holy places in heaven, “Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.” (Heb. 9:18). Jesus did not cleanse the Most Holy Place of the heavenly tabernacle by His self-sacrifice; rather, the offering up of Himself anointed or prepared the whole heavenly sanctuary for the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, and looking forward to that complete purging which would come later. “Because He hath poured out His soul unto death” (Isa. 53:12), His offering ratified the 2300 year prophecy to finally cleanse His heavenly tabernacle of all sin upon the lapse of the remaining part of the vision, 1810 years after ascending to begin His work in heaven (Dan. 8:14).

“It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these [animal burnt offerings]; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these” (Heb. 9:23)—purified by Jesus’ expiring “soul and body in hell.” (Matt. 10:28). “The wrath of God abideth on Him.” (Jn. 3:36). He bore our eternal death in judgment, and “the chastisement of our peace was upon Him.” (Isa. 53:5). “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (Jn. 3:16). “Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God” (Heb. 9:14), took our place in judgment day, “for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, [which we are under today if we don’t possess the “powers of the world to come” to bring “into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ”], they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.” (Heb. 9:15). 

“Now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” (Heb. 9:26-28).

Paul, writing to the Christians at Colosse, wrote, “Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His saints.” (Col. 1:26). A triumph, mingled with dread for our sake, rang out after Christ ascended and fought Satan, “Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” (Rev. 12:12). “Now once in the end of the world….” The WoH was not saying that his day was the very end of the world. It was the “consummation of the ages,” or, the end of the ages. Nevertheless, he did not account for how long the end would continue. One thing is sure, it has continued a long time. We see in Revelation the time taking longer than was wanted by many who lived in the Dark Ages. “And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” (Rev. 6:10).

Not until much later do we see the end of the final age just before the seventh trumpet sounds. “And sware by Him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as He hath declared to His servants the prophets.” (Rev. 10:6,7).

Is this world of sin and sorrow our “eternal inheritance”? Being able to enter within the veil for the victory over sin is excellent and powerful, for which Christ’s death has made provision. It brings us to justification, and we receive the Spirit of God and taste “the powers of the world to come” (Heb. 6:5); but, the blessed hope is to be given a permanent separation from evil by our sin’s eternal extermination. A world without sin is the better eternal inheritance; and that only comes through the work to prepare His people for judgment day, the work of the Most Holy Place, the epitome of Christ’s salvation.

It may seem extremely long by the human’s short comprehension of time, but the completion of the end of the ages will come. “Beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come.” (2Pet. 3:8-10). “According to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself,” our Father has His reasons for taking so long for “the mystery of His will” (Eph. 1:9). The extended period is for our benefit and for His honor, for the playing out of Satan’s 1,260 year papal supremacy and his final delusion during the 7 trumpets.

“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” (Heb. 9:7,28). The ministry of Jesus in the better and more perfect tabernacle of His heavenly home was to encompass both ministrations of the daily, Holy Place mediation, and the final Most Holy intercession, “the judgment”, at the end of the last age.

That Most Holy cleansing of the sanctuary requires of us affliction of soul (Lev. 23:27-32) to receive the Latter Rain, not the celebration (Ex. 32:2-6;Num.25:1-3) which we see happening in all of the fallen churches, as if they have already receive the Latter Rain. “For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.” (Jer. 6:13,14).

“I [will] cause to cease…the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate.” (Jer. 7:34).

“Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make My people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and He that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against Him. Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.” (Mic. 3:5,6).

“Is not My word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” (Jer. 23:29).

Dr. Ford’s theology, that there is no investigative judgment, has attacked the foundation of the Advent movement. His big miscalculation of theology concerning the “holiest of all” and hagion/hagia has led many Adventists to flock to the evangelical’s methods, where he has also gone. We are seeing the anti-type of Baal-Peor at the borders of the heavenly Canaan. But, the 144,000 will not be defiled with these false worship, emotion-only, sensational services being doled out by the Great Whore (see Rev. 14:4). There is nothing redemptive about those churches’ practices. “Ye shall know them by their fruits.” (Matt. 7:16).

“For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” (Isa. 60:2,3).

The Most Holy Place work is a work of judgment. It is time to fear before God. “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.” (Heb. 4:1). Are the followers of Dr. Ford really surrendered to the Law of God? Have they finished wrestling with God’s guilt and shame and all-powerful authority to command them? Have they come to a God-given importunity before the Spirit of Prophecy―which is “like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces”―and the deathly need of a Savior and Friend? Is the Spirit of Christ a constant, “eternal” wonderful counselor to them? Have they entered into His rest, or have they come short of it?

This is a pertinent question because it involves the issue of all time, the imitation peace that Satan offers through the one false religion—the religion that avoids the hard language of God’s Law, so that the conscience doesn’t have to strive for surrender to God’s infinite righteousness, and come to Him in genuine, whole-hearted faith for His mercy. Lawlessness is the essence of spiritualism and service to Satan. Are the professors of truth truly at peace with God through surrender to the Law and justification via their schoolmaster and Law-giver? Or, have they bailed out of the Advent movement and the high standard of the Spirit of Prophecy, “zealously    affect[ing] you” (Gal 4:17), all the while “inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matt. 7:15)? Have they fallen on the Stone and been broken? Have they wrestled with the condemnation of “our schoolmaster” (Gal. 3:24), God’s Law through Ellen White, until they collapsed on the Stone, exhausted and humbled and truly sorry for their sin? And, have we? We shall all be known by our fruits.

“Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: from which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.” (1Tim. 1:5-7).

To reiterate:

Run through a sieve and winnowed of all the theological provings, the essence of the gospel message from Hebrews 9 is boiled down to a handful of promises.

“Christ [is become] an High Priest of good things to come,… (verse 11)
having obtained eternal redemption for us…. (verse 12)
The blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, [shall] purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God…. (verse 14)
…that they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance…. (verse 15)
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” (verse 28)

For the Greek usages of the sanctuary compartments I used Interlinear Greek-English New Testament, by George Ricker Berry.

Monday, September 02, 2013

Hebrews chapter eight

Heb 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;

Heb 8:2  A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.

Heb 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.

Heb 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:

Heb 8:5  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.

Heb 8:6  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.

Heb 8:7  For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.

Heb 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:

Heb 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.

Heb 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:

Heb 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.

Heb 8:12  For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

Heb 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.
 
“Now of the things which we have spoken…” (Heb. 8:1). So far we have learned from the writer of Hebrews (WoH) that Jesus, the Son of God, was, “by inheritance” (Heb. 1:4), greater than the angels. They excel in strength and can disappear into a fire’s flame (Ps. 103:20;Jdg. 13:20;Heb. 1:7); they come and go like a flash of lightning (Eze. 1:14), but He is greater than them. They were His “fellows”, but He was “anointed…with the oil of gladness above” them all. (Heb. 1:9). They worship Him. (Heb. 1:6).

He was greater than all creation. “Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of Thine hands: they shall perish; but Thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt Thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail.” (Heb. 1:10-12).
 
Far above the actions of the cherubim of heaven, He sits enthroned; He is “made higher than the heavens.” (Heb. 7:26;Eze. 1:22-28).
 
He was greater than Abraham (Heb. 7:4) and Aaron (Heb. 7:6-10), more faithful than Moses (Heb. 3:3), His priesthood excels Aaron’s as Melchisidec excelled Abram, the ancient forefather of Aaron. (Heb. 7:11). Adonai’s priesthood was declared directly by God, and then He confirmed it by an oath, while Aaron’s was commanded through a human mediator (Heb. 7:20-22). His priesthood was better than Aaron’s because He ever lives and is not subject to the spiritual deformities and perversions (Lev. 10:1,2;1Sam. 2:12-17,22), physical infirmities (Heb. 7:28) and death (Heb. 7:16,23) of the sons of Aaron. He is “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners.” (Heb. 7:26). Messiah Jesus’s High Priesthood was “made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. For He testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.” (Heb. 7:16-17).
 
Thus, Jesus has an unchanging priesthood, He will never be superseded (Mal. 3:6;Heb. 13:8;7:24). The heavens will pass away, but He abideth the same forever; and He lives for making intercession for us. As He lived for union with His Father (Matt. 27:46) so He lives for reconciling and reuniting His creation together to His Father. He is the quintessential Mediator for our redemption. As a mother loves to be surrounded by her children, so does He desire of His children, and that throughout all eternity (Matt. 23:37).
 
“… this is the sum…” (Heb. 8:1). Taken all together, what comes next sums all up all the greatness, power, eternal existence, and exceeding purity of Jesus. “We have such an High Priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” (Heb. 8:1,2).
 
The abiding place of the King of kings, where thousand thousands minister unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stand before Him (Daniel 7:10); that temple, filled with the glory of the eternal throne, where seraphim, its shining guardians, veil their faces in adoration, could find, in the most magnificent structure ever reared by human hands, but a faint reflection of its vastness and glory. Great Controversy, p. 414.
 
The vast space of the heavenly temple in the Nebula Orion, the abiding place of the King of creation, is beyond all human comprehension. This is the holy tent which the Father pitched and not man. “And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings. And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of His loins even upward, and from the appearance of His loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD.” (Eze. 1:25-28).

 
“Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of His holiness.” (Ps. 48:1).
 
“For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this Man have somewhat also to offer.” (Heb. 8:3). Following the logic of type and antitype, the Aaronic priests “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.” (Heb. 8:5). Therefore, the WoH claims the necessity of a temple for Jesus to officiate in and a sacrificial system of His own; but an infinitely better one than the earthly, “as the heavens are higher than the earth” (Isa. 55:9), the earthly system being infinitely flawed in comparison to the heavenly.
 
“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.” (Heb. 8:6).
 
Not only is the heavenly original a billion times more powerful than the earthly to change our sinful natures to overcome our sins, but the heavenly principles involved are infinitely better than a carnal economy that, as effective as it was to convict of sin, righteousness, and the judgment, and to reconcile the soul to God, the object that portrayed truth and grace fell far short of the infinite portrayal of truth by the almighty Messiah, Adonai come in the flesh and justified in the Spirit.
 
“For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.” (Heb. 7:18). “For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.” (Heb. 7:19). “For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.” (Heb. 8:7).
 
The flaws of the Mosaic covenant, previously noted by the WoH, lay in the weakness and inefficiency of the human priests and animal sacrifices and the earthliness of it which limited its ability to communicate the love and grace of God. But, the Person to whom the Mosaic system as a shadow pointed, brought to fallen humanity a fuller measure of grace, the soul struck by the sight of its beloved Jesus on the cross, fixed and now abiding in Christ, sealed by the Spirit of God. In addition, the first covenant had waxed old, decayed, and was “ready to vanish away.” (Heb. 8:13).
 
“For finding fault with them [the many faults surrounding the imperfect covenant and less desirable promises (Heb. 8:6) of the ailing Israelite economy, allowed to be infiltrated by the apostatizing Israelites with yet another false religion, Babylonian Judaism (Mal. 2:11-13) with its resultant unholy, humanistic Mishnah], 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.” (Heb. 8:8). That original promise through Jeremiah of a second covenant that came with the Messiah, Lord of heaven and royal Prince of peace, must wait during a long period of punishment and humbling for Israel, 600 years of captivity and degradation by Satan.

That new covenant, born out of adversity and humiliation prior to the Messiah’s arrival, could have come to Israel if they had conformed to God’s will for His character to be imparted to them. “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.” (Dan. 9:24).
 
If they had happily accepted the will and character transfer from Adonai, they would have become the humble, self-denying gospel warriors to take to the world the good news of the Messiah’s coming and of the robe of His righteousness by His Spirit which He offered everyone who would receive Him. They would have avoided the fulfillment of the warning and threat forecasted against them to Daniel in his 70 week prophecy. That is, if they were to reject the original desire of God for their nation to be a light to the world, then the final nation facilitating their 600 year Babylonian captivity—the Roman Empire—would come and destroy them, as Adonai had warned them from the beginning (Lev. 26:14ff;Deut. 28:15ff;Deut. 29:18-28;Isa. 10:17,18,22,23).
 
“And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for [because of] Himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for [because of] the overspreading of abominations He shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.” (Dan. 9:26,27).
 
“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:
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.
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:
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.
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
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.” (Heb. 8:8-13).

 “At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.
Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.
The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.
Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things.
For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God.
For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.
Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither.
They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn.
Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.
For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.
Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.
Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.
And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, saith the LORD.
Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.
Thus saith the LORD; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.
And there is hope in thine end, saith the LORD, that thy children shall come again to their own border.
I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn Thou me, and I shall be turned; for Thou art the LORD my God.
Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.
Is Ephraim My dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore My bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD.
Set thee up waymarks, make thee high heaps: set thine heart toward the highway, even the way which thou wentest: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities.
How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; The LORD bless thee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness.
And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all the cities thereof together, husbandmen, and they that go forth with flocks.
For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.
Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me.
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast.
And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the LORD.
In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.
But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.
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.
Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is His name:
If those ordinances depart from before Me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before Me for ever.
Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the city shall be built to the LORD from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner.
And the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it upon the hill Gareb, and shall compass about to Goath.
And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto the LORD; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever.” (Jer. 31).