Chapter Seven: The Better Covenant (Hebrews 8)
Key theme: Press on to maturity
I.A SUPERIOR PERSON—CHRIST—chapters 1–6
B.Better than the angels—1:4–2:18
(Exhortation: drifting from the Word, )
C.Better than Moses—3:1–4:13
(Exhortation: doubting the Word, 3:7–4:13)
D.Better than Aaron—4:14–6:20
(Exhortation: dullness toward the Word, 5:11–6:20)
II.A SUPERIOR PRIESTHOOD—MELCHIZEDEK—chapters 7–10
A.A superior order—7
B.A superior covenant—8
C.A superior sanctuary—9
D.A superior sacrifice—10
(Exhortation: despising the Word—
III.A SUPERIOR PRINCIPLE—FAITH—chapters 11–13
A.The great examples of faith—11
B.The endurance of faith—chastening—12
(Exhortation: defying the Word—
C.Closing practical exhortations—13
(Heb. 1:4–2:18)
(Heb. 3:1–4:13)
(Heb. 4:14–5:10)
(Heb. 5:11–6:20)
(Heb. 7)
(Heb. 8)
(Heb. 9)
(Heb. 10)
(Heb. 11)
(Heb. 12)
(Heb. 13)
A man from Leeds, England visited his doctor to have his hearing checked. The doctor removed the man’s hearing aid, and the patient’s hearing immediately improved! He had been wearing the device in the wrong ear for over 20 years!
I once asked a pastor friend, “Do you have a deaf ministry in your church?” He replied, “There are times when I think the whole church needs a deaf ministry—they just don’t seem to hear me.”
There is a difference between listening and really hearing, Jesus often cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” This statement suggests that it takes more than physical ears to hear the voice of God. It also requires a receptive heart. “Today, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts” ().
Many people have avoided the Epistle to the Hebrews and, consequently, have robbed themselves of practical spiritual help. Some have avoided this book because they are “afraid of it.” The “warnings” in Hebrews have made them uneasy. Others have avoided this book because they think it is “too difficult” for the average Bible student. To be sure, there are some profound truths in Hebrews, and no preacher or teacher would dare to claim that he knows them all! But the general message of the book is clear and there is no reason why you and I should not understand and profit from it.
Perhaps the best way to begin our study is to notice five characteristics of the Epistle to the Hebrews.
The word better is used thirteen times in this book as the writer shows the superiority of Jesus Christ and His salvation over the Hebrew system of religion. Christ is “better than the angels” (). He brought in “a better hope” () because He is the Mediator of “a better covenant, which was established on better promises” ().
Another word that is repeated in this book is perfect; in the original Greek it is used fourteen times. It means a perfect standing before God. This perfection could never be accomplished by the levitical priesthood () or by the Law (), nor could the blood of animal sacrifices achieve it (). Jesus Christ gave Himself as one offering for sin, and by this He has “perfected forever them that are sanctified” ().
So the writer is contrasting the Old Testament system of Law with the New Testament ministry of grace. He is making it clear that the Jewish religious system was temporary and that it could not bring in the eternal “better things” that are found in Jesus Christ.
Eternal is a third word that is important to the message of Hebrews. Christ is the “author of eternal salvation” (). Through His death, He “obtained eternal redemption” () and He shares with believers “the promise of eternal inheritance” (). His throne is forever () and He is a priest forever (; ; , ). “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever” ().
When you combine these three important words, you discover that Jesus Christ and the Christian life He gives us are better because these blessings are eternal and they give us a perfect standing before God. The religious system under the Mosaic Law was imperfect because it could not accomplish a once-for-all redemption that was eternal.
But why did the writer ask his readers to evaluate their faith and what Jesus Christ had to offer them? Because they were going through difficult times and were being tempted to go back to the Jewish religion. The temple was still standing when this book was written, and all the priestly ceremonies were still being carried on daily. How easy it would have been for these Jewish believers to escape persecution by going back into the old Mosaic system which they had known before.
These people were “second generation believers,” having been won to Christ by those who had known Jesus Christ during His ministry on earth (). They were true believers () and not mere professors. They had been persecuted because of their faith (; ; ), and yet they had faithfully ministered to the needs of others who had suffered (). But they were being seduced by teachers of false doctrine (), and they were in danger of forgetting the true Word that their first leaders, now dead, had taught them ().
The tragic thing about these believers is that they were at a standstill spiritually and in danger of going backward (). Some of them had even forsaken the regular worship services () and were not making spiritual progress (). In the Christian life, if you do not go forward, you go backward; there is no permanent standing still.
“How can you go back into your former religion?” the writer asked them. “Just take time to evaluate what you have in Jesus Christ. He is better than anything you ever had under the Law.”
The Book of Hebrews exalts the person and the work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. When you realize all that you have in and through Him, you have no desire for anyone else or anything else!
The writer calls this epistle “the word of exhortation” (). The Greek word translated “exhortation” simply means “encouragement.” It is translated “comfort” in , and “consolation” in ; . This word is related to the Greek word translated “Comforter” in , referring to the Holy Spirit. The Epistle to the Hebrews was not written to frighten people, but to encourage people. We are commanded to “encourage one another daily” (, NIV). It reminds us that we have “strong encouragement” in Jesus Christ (, NASB).
At this point we must answer the usual question: “But what about those five terrible warnings found in Hebrews?”
To begin with, these five passages are not really “warnings.” Three basic words are translated “warn” in the New Testament, and the only one used in Hebrews is translated “admonished” in (KJV, where it refers to Moses) and “spake” in . Only in is it translated “warned,” where it refers to Noah “being warned of God.” I think that the best description of the five so-called warning passages is the one given in —“exhortation” (KJV), or “encouragement” (BERK). This does not minimize the seriousness of these five sections of the book, but it does help us grasp their purpose: to encourage us to trust God and heed His Word.
The Epistle to the Hebrews opens with an important declaration: “God … has spoken to us in His Son” (, NASB). Near the close of the book, the writer states: “See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking” (, NASB). In other words, the theme of Hebrews seems to be: “God has spoken; we have His Word. What are we doing about it?”
With this truth in mind, we can now better understand the significance of those five “problem passages” in Hebrews. Each of these passages encourages us to heed God’s Word (“God … has spoken”) by pointing out the sad spiritual consequences that result if we do not. Let me list these passages for you and explain their sequence in the Book of Hebrews. I think you will see how they all hang together and present one message: heed God’s word.
Drifting from the Word— (neglect)
Doubting the Word—3:7–4:13 (hard heart)
Dullness toward the Word—5:11–6:20 (sluggishness)
Despising the Word— (willfulness)
Defying the Word— (refusing to hear)
If we do not listen to God’s Word and really hear it, we will start to drift. Neglect always leads to drifting, in things material and physical as well as spiritual. As we drift from the Word, we start to doubt the Word; because faith comes by hearing the Word of God (). We start to get hard hearts, and this leads to spiritual sluggishness which produces dullness toward the Word. We become “dull of hearing”—lazy listeners! This leads to a despiteful attitude toward the Word to the extent that we willfully disobey God; and this gradually develops into a defiant attitude—we almost “dare” God to do anything!
Now what does God do while this spiritual regression is going on? He keeps speaking to us, encouraging us to get back to the Word. If we fail to listen and obey, then He begins to chasten us. This chastening process is the theme of Hebrews 12, the climactic chapter in the epistle. “The Lord shall judge His people” (, italics mine). God does not allow His children to become “spoiled brats” by permitting them to willfully defy His Word. He always chastens in love.
These five exhortations are addressed to people who are truly born again. Their purpose is to get the readers to pay close attention to God’s Word. While there is some stern language in some of these passages, it is my understanding that none of these exhortations “threatens” the reader by suggesting that he may “lose his salvation.” If he persists in defying God’s Word, he may lose his life (“Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?”—). The inference is that if we do not submit, we might die. “There is a sin unto death” (). But if the Epistle to the Hebrews teaches anything, it teaches the assurance of eternal life in a living High Priest who can never die ().
Some students try to explain away the “problem” of “losing your salvation” or “apostasy” by claiming that the readers were not truly born again, but were only “professors” of Christian faith. However, the way the writer addresses them would eliminate that approach; for he called them “holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling” (). He told them that they had a High Priest in heaven (), which he would not have written if they were lost. They had been “made partakers of the Holy Spirit” (). The admonitions in would be meaningless if addressed to unsaved people.
The Epistle to the Hebrews is a book of evaluation, proving that Jesus Christ is better than anything the Law of Moses has to offer. The epistle is also a book of exhortation, urging its readers to hear and heed the Word of God, lest they regress spiritually and experience the chastening hand of God.
As you study this book, you will find yourself asking: “What am I really trusting? Am I trusting the Word of God, or am I trusting the things of this world that are shaking and ready to fall away?”
This letter was written to believers at a strategic time in history. The temple was still standing and the sacrifices were still being offered. But in a few years, both the city and the temple would be destroyed. The Jewish nation would be scattered, and this would include Jewish believers in Jesus Christ. The ages were colliding! God was “shaking” the order of things (). He wanted His people to have their feet on the solid foundation of faith; He did not want them to trust in things that would vanish.
I believe that the church today is living in similar circumstances. Everything around us is shaking and changing. People are discovering that they have been depending on the “scaffolding” and not on the solid foundation. Even God’s people have gotten so caught up in this world’s system that their confidence is not in the Lord, but in money, buildings, programs, and other passing material things. As God continues to “shake” society, the scaffolding will fall away; and God’s people will discover that their only confidence must be in the Word of God.
God wants our hearts to be “established with grace” (). That word “established” is used, in one form or another, eight times in Hebrews. It means: “to be solidly grounded, to stand firm on your feet.” It carries the idea of strength, reliability, confirmation, permanence. This, I think, is the key message of Hebrews: “You can be secure while everything around you is falling apart!” We have a “kingdom which cannot be moved” (). God’s Word is steadfast () and so is the hope we have in Him ().
Of course, there is no security for a person who has never trusted Jesus Christ as his own Saviour from sin. Nor is there security to those who have made a “lip profession” but whose lives do not give evidence of true salvation (; ). Christ saves “to the uttermost” (i.e., “eternally”) only those who have come to God through faith in Him ().
I like to tell congregations the story about the conductor who got on the train, began to take tickets, and told the first passenger whose ticket he took, “Sir, you’re on the wrong train.” When he looked at the next ticket, he told that passenger the same thing.
“But the brakeman told me to get on this train,” the passenger protested.
“I’ll double-check,” said the conductor. He did and discovered that he was on the wrong train!
I fear there are many people who have a false faith, who have not really heard and heeded God’s Word. Sometimes they are so busy telling everybody else what to do that they fail to examine their own situations. The Epistle to the Hebrews is a book of examination: it helps you discover where your faith really is.
The focus in this book is on the future. The writer informs us that he is speaking about “the world to come” (), a time when believers will reign with Christ. Jesus Christ is “heir of all things” () and we share the “promise of eternal inheritance” (). Like the patriarchs lauded in Hebrews 11, we are looking for that future city of God (, ).
Like these great men and women of faith, we today should be “strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (). This is one reason why God is shaking everything around us. He wants us to turn loose from the things of this world and stop depending on them. He wants us to center our attention on the world to come. This does not mean that we become so heavenly minded that we’re no earthly good. Rather it means that we “hang loose” as far as this world is concerned, and start living for the eternal values of the world to come.
Abraham and Lot, his nephew, illustrate these two different attitudes (Gen. 13–14). Abraham was a wealthy man who could have lived in an expensive house in any location that he chose. But he was first of all God’s servant, a pilgrim and a stranger; and this meant living in tents. Lot chose to abandon the pilgrim life and move into the evil city of Sodom. Which of these two men had true security? It would appear that Lot was safer in the city than Abraham was in his tents on the plain. But Lot became a prisoner of war! And Abraham had to rescue him.
Instead of heeding God’s warning, Lot went back into the city; and when God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot lost everything (Gen. 19). Lot was a saved man (), but he trusted in the things of this world instead of trusting the Word of God. Lot forfeited the permanent because he depended on and lived for the immediate.
Martyred missionary Jim Elliot said it best: “He is no fool to give what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”
You and I as God’s children have been promised a future reward. As with Abraham and Moses of old, the decisions we make today will determine the rewards tomorrow. More than this, our decisions should be motivated by the expectation of receiving rewards. Abraham obeyed God because “he looked for a city” (). Moses forsook the treasures and the pleasures of Egypt because “he had respect unto the recompense of the reward” (). These great men and women (, ) of faith “lived in the future tense” and thus were able to overcome the temptations of the world and the flesh.
In fact, it was this same attitude of faith that carried our Lord Jesus Christ through the agony of the cross: “Jesus … for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame” (). The emphasis in the Epistle to the Hebrews is: “Don’t live for what the world will promise you today! Live for what God has promised you in the future! Be a stranger and a pilgrim on this earth! Walk by faith, not by sight!”
This letter is not a diet for “spiritual babes” who want to be spoon-fed and coddled (). In this letter you will find “strong meat” that demands some “spiritual molars” for chewing and enjoying. The emphasis in Hebrews is not on what Christ did on the earth (the “milk”), but what He is now doing in heaven (the “meat” of the Word). He is the great High Priest who enables us by giving us grace (). He is also the Great Shepherd of the sheep who equips us to do His will (). He is working in us to accomplish His purposes. What a thrill it is for us to be a part of such a marvelous ministry!
Dr. A.W. Tozer used to remind us, “Every man must choose his world.” True believers have “tasted the good Word of God, and the powers of the world [age] to come” (); this should mean we have no interest in or appetite for the present sinful world system. Abraham chose the right world and became the father of the faithful. Lot chose the wrong world and became the father of the enemies of God’s people (). Abraham became the friend of God (), but Lot became the friend of the world—and lost everything. Lot was “saved, yet so as by fire” () and lost his reward.
The Epistle to the Hebrews exalts the person and the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. The first three verses set this high and holy theme which is maintained throughout the entire book. Their immediate purpose is to prove that Jesus Christ is superior to the prophets, men who were held in the highest esteem by the Jewish people.
In His person, Christ is superior to the prophets. To begin with, He is the very Son of God and not merely a man called by God. The author makes it clear that Jesus Christ is God (), for his description could never be applied to mortal man. “Brightness of His glory” refers to the shekinah glory of God that dwelt in the tabernacle and temple. (See and . The word Shekinah is a transliteration of a Hebrew word that means “to dwell.”) Christ is to the Father what the rays of the sun are to the sun. He is the radiance of God’s glory. As it is impossible to separate the rays from the sun, it is also impossible to separate Christ’s glory from the nature of God.
“Express image” () carries the idea of “the exact imprint.” Our English word character comes from the Greek word translated “image.” Literally, Jesus Christ is “the exact representation of the very substance of God” (see ). Only Jesus could honestly say, “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father” (). When you see Christ, you see the glory of God ().
In His work, Christ is also superior to the prophets. To begin with, He is the Creator of the universe; for by Him, God “made the worlds” (). Not only did Christ create all things by His Word (), but He also upholds all things by that same powerful Word (). “And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist [hold together]” ().
The word “upholding” () does not mean “holding up,” as though the universe is a burden on the back of Jesus. It means “holding and carrying from one place to another.” He is the God of Creation and the God of providence who guides this universe to its divinely ordained destiny.
He is also the superior Prophet who declares God’s Word. The contrast between Christ, the Prophet, and the other prophets, is easy to see:
Christ
The Prophets
God the Son
Men called by God
One Son
Many prophets
A final and complete message
A fragmentary and incomplete message
But Jesus Christ has a ministry as Priest, and this reveals His greatness. By Himself He “purged our sins” (). This aspect of His ministry will be explained in detail in Hebrews 7–10.
Finally, Jesus Christ reigns as King (). He has sat down, for His work is finished; and He has sat down “on the right hand of the Majesty on high,” the place of honor. This proves that He is equal with God the Father, for no mere created being could ever sit at God’s right hand.
Creator, Prophet, Priest, and King—Jesus Christ is superior to all of the prophets and servants of God who have ever appeared on the sacred pages of the Scriptures. It is no wonder that the Father said, at the hour of Christ’s transfiguration, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him” (). Two of the greatest prophets were there with Jesus—Moses and Elijah; but Christ is superior to them.
As we study Hebrews together, we must keep in mind that our purpose is not to get lost in curious doctrinal details. Nor is our purpose to attack or defend some pet doctrine. Our purpose is to hear God speak in Jesus Christ, and to heed that Word. We want to echo the prayer of the Greeks: “Sir, we would see Jesus” (). If our purpose is to know Christ better and exalt Him more, then whatever differences we may have in our understanding of the book will be forgotten in our worship of Him.
Hebrews 1:4–2:18
Angels were most important in the Jewish religion, primarily because thousands of angels assisted in the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai. This fact is stated in (where “saints” in KJV means “holy ones” or “angels”); ; ; and . Since the theme of Hebrews is the superiority of Christ and His salvation to the Law of Moses, the writer would have to deal with the important subject of angels.
This long section on angels is divided into three sections. First, there is an affirmation () of the superiority of Christ to the angels. The proof presented consists of seven quotations from the Old Testament. Second, there is an exhortation () that the readers (and this includes us) pay earnest heed to the Word God has given through His Son. Finally, there is an explanation () as to how Christ, with a human body, could still be superior to angels who are spirits.
Affirmation: Christ Is Superior to the Angels ()
This section is comprised of seven quotations from the Old Testament, all of which prove the superiority of Christ to the angels. Scholars tell us that the writer quoted from the Greek version of the Hebrew Old Testament, known as the Septuagint. (The word Septuagint is a Greek word that means “seventy.” Tradition claims that seventy men translated the Hebrew Old Testament into the Greek. The abbreviation for Septuagint is LXX, Roman numerals for seventy.) However, the same Holy Spirit who inspired the Scriptures has the right to quote and restate the truth as He sees fit.
Let us note the affirmations that are made about our Lord Jesus Christ, and the quotations that are cited to support them.
He is the Son (vv. ). The “more excellent name” that Jesus possesses is “Son.” While the angels collectively may be termed “the sons of God” (), no angel would be given this title individually. It belongs uniquely to our Lord Jesus Christ. The first quotation is from : “Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee.” Paul pinpointed the time of this “begetting”: the resurrection of Jesus Christ (). From eternity, Jesus Christ was God the Son. He humbled Himself and became Man (see ). In His resurrection, however, He glorified that humanity received from the Father and received back the eternal glory He had veiled (, ). The Resurrection declares: “Jesus is God’s Son!” ()
The second quotation is from . The immediate application in David’s experience was to his son, Solomon, whom God would love and discipline as a son (see ). But the ultimate application is to Jesus Christ, the “greater than Solomon” ().
He is the Firstborn who receives worship (v. ). The term “firstborn” in the Bible does not always mean “born first.” God made Solomon the firstborn () even though Solomon is listed tenth in the official genealogy (). The title is one of rank and honor, for the firstborn receives the inheritance and the special blessing. Christ is the “Firstborn of all creation” (, NASB) because He created all things; and He is the highest of all who came back from the dead (). When He came into the world, the angels worshiped Him (quoted from in the LXX: “Heavens, rejoice with Him, let the sons of God pay Him homage!”). God commanded them to do so, which proves that Jesus Christ is God; for none of God’s angels would worship a mere creature.
He is served by the angels (v. ). This is a quotation from . The Hebrew and Greek words for “spirit” are also translated “wind.” Angels are created spirits; they have no bodies, though they can assume human forms when ministering on earth. Angels sometimes served our Lord when He was on earth (; ), and they serve Him and us now.
He is God enthroned and anointed (vv. ). In some false cults this quotation from is translated, “Thy divine throne,” because cultists dislike this strong affirmation that Jesus Christ is God. But the translation must stand: “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever.” Angels minister before the throne; they do not sit on the throne. One of the main teachings of Psalm 110 is that Jesus Christ, God’s Anointed (Messiah, Christ), is now enthroned in glory. Jesus Himself referred to this important psalm (; ), and Peter used it on the Day of Pentecost (). Our Lord has not yet entered into His earthly kingdom, but He has been enthroned in glory ().
When Christ ascended and entered the heavenly glory, He was anointed for His heavenly ministry with “the oil of gladness” (). This probably refers to , which Peter referred to at Pentecost: “Thou shalt make Me full of joy with Thy countenance” (). What a joyful scene that must have been! Psalm 45 is a wedding psalm, and our Lord today is the heavenly Bridegroom who experiences “the joy that was set before Him” (). Angels praise Him, but they cannot share that position or that joy. Our Lord’s throne is forever, which means He is eternal God.
He is the eternal Creator (vv. ). This long quotation comes from . The angels did not found the earth, for they too are a part of creation. Jesus Christ is the Creator, and one day He will do away with the old creation and bring in a new creation. Everything around us changes, but He will never change. He is “the same yesterday, and today, and forever” (). Creation is like an old garment which will one day be discarded in favor of a new one.
Christ is the Sovereign; angels are the servants (vv. ). Again, the writer quotes . The fact that Jesus Christ is now at the Father’s right hand (the place of honor) is mentioned many times in the New Testament (see ; ; ; ; ; ; , ; ; ; ; ). Angels are the ministering spirits who serve the Lord seated on the throne. But they also minister to us who are the “heirs of salvation” through faith in Christ. The angels today are serving us!
It would be impossible to do away with the evidence presented in these quotations. Jesus Christ is greater than the angels, and this means He is also greater than the Law which they helped deliver to the people of lsrael.
Admonition: Heed the Word and Don’t Drift ()
This is the first of the five admonitions found in Hebrews. Their purpose is to encourage all readers to pay attention to God’s Word and obey it. We have already noted that these admonitions become stronger as we progress through the book, from drifting from God’s Word to defying God’s Word (). We also noted that God does not sit idly by and permit His children to rebel against Him. He will continue to speak and, when necessary, He chastens His own.
The admonition is written to believers, for the writer includes himself when he writes “we.” The danger here is that of neglecting our salvation. Please note that the author did not write “rejecting” but “neglecting.” He is not encouraging sinners to become Christians; rather, he is encouraging Christians to pay attention to the great salvation they have received from the Lord.
“Lest … we should let them slip” () might better be translated “lest we drift away from them.” Later (), the writer uses the illustration of an anchor to show how confident we can be in the promises of God. More spiritual problems are caused by neglect than perhaps by any other failure on our part. We neglect God’s Word, prayer, worship with God’s people (see ), and other opportunities for spiritual growth, and as a result, we start to drift. The anchor does not move; we do.
During the Old Testament days, people who did not heed the Word were sometimes punished. That Word was given through angels, so how much greater responsibility do we have today who have received the Word from the Son of God! In , “transgression” refers to sins of commission, while “disobedience” suggests sins of omission.
I have often told the story of the pastor who preached a series of sermons on “the sins of the saints.” He was reprimanded by a member of the church. “After all,” said the member, “sin in the life of a Christian is different from sin in the lives of other people.”
“Yes,” replied the pastor, “it’s worse!”
We have the idea that believers today “under grace” can escape the chastening hand of God that was so evident “under Law.” But to whom much is given, much shall be required. Not only have we received the Word from the Son of God, but that Word has been confirmed by apostolic miracles (). The phrase “signs and wonders” is found eleven times in the New Testament. Here it refers to the miracles that witnessed to the Word and gave confirmation that it was true. These miracles were performed by the Apostles (see ; ). Today we have the completed Word of God; so there is no need for these apostolic miracles. God now bears witness through His Spirit using the Word (; ). The Spirit also gives spiritual gifts to God’s people so that they may minister in the church (1 Cor. 12; ).
Too many Christians today take the Word of God for granted and neglect it. In my pastoral ministry, I have discovered that neglect of the Word of God and prayer, publicly and privately, is the cause of most “spiritual drifting.” I need not multiply examples because every believer knows that this is true. He has either experienced this “drifting” or has seen it in the lives of others.
The next time you sing “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” recall that the composer, Robert Robinson, was converted under the mighty preaching of George Whitefield, but that later he drifted from the Lord, He had been greatly used as a pastor, but neglect of spiritual things led him astray. In an attempt to find peace, he began to travel. During one of his journeys, he met a young woman who was evidently very spiritually minded.
“What do you think of this hymn I have been reading?” she asked Robinson, handing him the book. It was his own hymn! He tried to avoid her question but it was hopeless, for the Lord was speaking to him. Finally, he broke down and confessed who he was and how he had been living away from the Lord.
“But these ‘streams of mercy’ are still flowing,” the woman assured him; and through her encouragement, Robinson was restored to fellowship with the Lord.
It is easy to drift with the current, but it is difficult to return against the stream. Our salvation is a “great salvation,” purchased at a great price. It brings with it great promises and blessings, and it leads to a great inheritance in glory. How can we neglect it?
Explanation: Why Jesus Christ Is Not Inferior Because of His Humanity ()
The fact that angels are “ministering spirits” without human bodies would seem to give them an advantage over Jesus Christ who had a human body while He ministered on earth. (Today He has a glorified body that knows no limitations.) The writer gave four reasons that explain why our Lord’s humanity was neither a handicap nor a mark of inferiority.
His humanity enabled Him to regain man’s lost dominion (vv. ). The quotation here is from , and you will want to read that entire psalm carefully. When God created the first man and woman, He gave them dominion over His Creation (). David marveled that God would share His power and glory with feeble man! Man was created “a little lower than the angels” (and therefore inferior to them), but man was given privileges far higher than the angels. God never promised the angels that they would reign in “the world to come” ().
But we have a serious problem here, for it is obvious that man today is not exercising dominion over creation. Certainly man cannot control the fish, fowl, or animals. In fact, man has a hard time controlling himself! “But now we see not yet all things put under him” ().
“But we see Jesus!” () He is God’s answer to man’s dilemma. Jesus Christ became man that He might suffer and die for man’s sin and restore the dominion that was lost because of sin. When our Lord was here on earth, He exercised that lost dominion. He had dominion over the fish (see ; ; ), over the fowl (, ), and over the wild beasts (), and the domesticated beasts (). As the last Adam (), Jesus Christ regained man’s lost dominion. Today, everything is under His feet ().
Man was “crowned … with glory and honor” (, NASB), but he lost his crown and became the slave of sin. Jesus Christ has regained that “glory and honor” (), and believers today share His kingly dominion (). One day, when He establishes His kingdom, we shall reign with Him in glory and honor. Jesus Christ did all of this for us—for lost sinners—because of “the grace of God” (). If He had not become man, He could not have died and “taste[d] death [experienced death] for every man” (). It is true that angels cannot die; but it is also true that angels cannot save lost sinners and restore man’s lost dominion.
His humanity enabled Him to bring many sons to glory (vv. ). Christ is not only the Last Adam, but He is also the Captain of salvation. That word Captain literally means “pioneer—one who opens the way for others to follow.” Christ gave up His glory to become man. He regained His glory when He arose and ascended to heaven. Now He shares that glory with all who trust Him for salvation (). He is bringing many sons and daughters to glory!
Christ is united to us, and we are united to Him: we are spiritually one. In fact, we are His “brethren” (). The writer quotes —a messianic psalm—in which Christ refers to His church as His brethren. This means we and the Son of God share the same nature and belong to the same family! What a marvel of God’s grace!
The writer of Hebrews also quoted from the LXX. The immediate reference, of course, is to the Prophet Isaiah and his unique sons who were given significant names (see ; ). But the ultimate reference is to Jesus Christ. Not only are believers His brethren, but we are also His children: “Behold I and the children which God hath given Me” (). If Jesus Christ had not come to earth and become man, He could not take us from earth to share in His glory. The Incarnation, Crucifixion, and Resurrection must go together. They all lead to glory.
One phrase in ought to be discussed before we move on: “Make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” This statement does not suggest that Jesus Christ was imperfect when He was here on earth. The word translated “perfect” means “complete, effective, adequate.” Jesus could not have become an adequate Saviour and High Priest had He not become Man and suffered and died.
His humanity enabled Him to disarm Satan and deliver us from death (vv. ). Angels cannot die. Jesus did not come to save angels (note ); He came to save humans. This meant that He had to take on Himself flesh and blood and become a Man. Only then could He die and through His death defeat Satan. The word “destroy” does not mean “annihilate,” for it is obvious that Satan is still alive and busy. The word means “render inoperative, make of none effect.” Satan is not destroyed, but he is disarmed.
In what sense did Satan have the power of death? The final authority of death is in the hands of our God (; ; ). Satan can do only that which is permitted by God (; ). But because Satan is the author of sin (), and sin brings death (), in this sense Satan exercises power in the realm of death. Jesus called him a murderer (). Satan uses the fear of death as a terrible weapon to gain control over the lives of people. His kingdom is one of darkness and death (). We who trust in Jesus Christ have once and for all been delivered from Satan’s authority and from the terrible fear of death. The death, burial, and resurrection of Christ have given us victory! ()
Jesus Christ did not take on Himself the nature of angels in order to save the fallen angels (; ). Instead, He stooped lower than the angels to become Man! And not just “man” in general; but He became a Jew, a part of the “seed of Abraham” (). The Jews were a despised and hated race, and yet our Lord became a Jew.
His humanity enables Him to be a sympathetic High Priest to His people (vv. ). Being pure spirits who have never suffered, the angels cannot identify with us in our weaknesses and needs. But Jesus can! While He was here on earth, Jesus was “made like unto His brethren” in that He experienced the sinless infirmities of human nature. He knew what it was to be a helpless baby, a growing child, a maturing adolescent. He knew the experiences of weariness, hunger, and thirst (). He knew what it was to be despised and rejected, to be lied about and falsely accused. He experienced physical suffering and death. All of this was a part of His “training” for His heavenly ministry as High Priest.
If you want an example of a man who was not a merciful and faithful high priest, then read the account about Eli (). Here was a high priest who did not even lead his own sons into a faithful walk with God. Eli even accused brokenhearted Hannah of being drunk! ()
Jesus Christ is both merciful and faithful: He is merciful toward people and faithful toward God. He can never fail in His priestly ministries. He made the necessary sacrifice for our sins so that we might be reconciled to God. He did not need to make a sacrifice for Himself, because He is sinless.
But what happens when we who have been saved are tempted to sin? He stands ready to help us! He was tempted when He was on earth, but no temptation ever conquered Him. Because He has defeated every enemy, He is able to give us the grace that we need to overcome temptation. The word “succour” () literally means “to run to the cry of a child.” It means “to bring help when it is needed.” Angels are able to serve us (), but they are not able to succour us in our times of temptation. Only Jesus Christ can do that, and He can do it because He became a man and suffered and died.
It might be good at this point to explain the difference between our Lord’s ministry as High Priest and His ministry as Advocate (). As our High Priest, our Lord is able to give us grace to keep us from sinning when we are tempted. If we do sin, then He as our Advocate represents us before the throne of God and forgives us when we sincerely confess our sins to Him (1 John 1:5–2:2). Both of these ministries are involved in His present work of intercession; and it is this intercessory ministry that is the guarantee of our eternal salvation (note that in it is “to the uttermost”—i.e., eternally—and not “from the uttermost”).
As you review this section, you cannot help but be amazed at the grace and wisdom of God. From a human point of view, it would seem foolish for God to become Man; yet it was this very act of grace that made possible our salvation and all that goes with it. When Jesus Christ became Man, He did not become inferior to the angels, for in His human body He accomplished something that angels could never accomplish. At the same time, He made it possible for us to share in His glory!
He is not ashamed to call us His brothers and sisters.
Are we ashamed to call Him “Lord”?
Hebrews 3:1–4:13
Next to Abraham, Moses was undoubtedly the man most greatly revered by the Jewish people. To go back to the Law meant to go back to Moses, and the recipients of this Letter to the Hebrews were sorely tempted to do just that. It was important that the writer convince his readers that Jesus Christ is greater than Moses, for the entire system of Jewish religion came through Moses. In this section, we learn that Jesus Christ is superior to Moses in at least three respects.
Christ Is Greater in His Person ()
The twofold description of the readers makes it clear that they were converted people. “Holy brethren” could only be applied to people in the family of God, set apart by the grace of God. That the writer was referring to people in the church, the body of Christ, is clear from his use of the phrase “partakers of the heavenly calling.” No unconverted Jew or Gentile could ever claim that blessing! The word translated “partakers” here is translated “partners” in , where it describes the relationship of four men in the fishing business: they were in it together.
True Christians not only share in a heavenly calling, but they also share in Jesus Christ (). Through the Holy Spirit, we are “members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones” (). True believers are also “partakers of the Holy Spirit” (). “Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His” (). Because we are God’s children, we also partake in God’s loving chastening (). Not to be chastened is evidence that a person is not one of God’s children.
Because these people were holy brothers and sisters, and partakers of a heavenly calling, they were able to give a “confession” of their faith in Jesus Christ. The word simply means “to say the same thing.” All true Christians “say the same thing” when it comes to their experience of salvation. Twice in this epistle, the writer exhorted the readers to hold fast to this confession (; , NASB). It was this same confession that they were “strangers and pilgrims” on the earth that characterized men and women of faith in the ages past ().
It was not Moses who did all of this for the people addressed in this epistle; it was Jesus Christ! The writer did not exhort them to consider Moses, but to consider Christ. The word means “to consider carefully, to understand fully.” This is no quick glance at Jesus Christ! It is a careful consideration of who He is and what He has done.
That Christ is superior to Moses in His person is an obvious fact. Moses was a mere man, called to be a prophet and leader, while Jesus Christ is the Son of God sent by the Father into the world. The title apostle means “one sent with a commission.” Moses was called and commissioned by God, but Jesus Christ was sent as God’s “last Word” to sinful man. You may want to read some of the verses in the Gospel of John where Jesus is referred to as “sent from God” (, ; , ; , ; ; ; ; ; ; and note also ).
Jesus Christ is not only the Apostle, but He is also the High Priest. Moses was a prophet who on occasion served as a priest (see ), but he was never a high priest. That title belonged to his brother Aaron. In fact, Jesus Christ has the title “great High Priest” ().
As the Apostle, Jesus Christ represented God to men; and as the High Priest, He now represents men to God in heaven. Moses, of course, fulfilled similar ministries, for he taught Israel God’s truth and he prayed for Israel when he met God on the mount (see ). Moses was primarily the prophet of Law, while Jesus Christ is the Messenger of God’s grace (see ). Moses helped prepare the way for the coming of the Saviour to the earth.
However, the writer of Hebrews notes that Moses and Jesus Christ were both faithful in the work God gave them to do. Moses was not sinless, as was Jesus Christ, but he was faithful and obeyed God’s will (). This would be an encouragement to those first-century Jewish believers to remain faithful to Christ, even in the midst of the tough trials they were experiencing. Instead of going back to Moses, they should imitate Moses and be faithful in their calling.
Christ Is Greater in His Ministry ()
The word “house” is used six times in these verses. It refers to the people of God, not to a material building. Moses ministered to Israel, the people of God under the Old Covenant. Today, Christ ministers to His church, the people of God under the New Covenant (“whose house are we,” ). You find an illustration of this dual use of “house” in 2 Samuel 7. David wanted to build a temple for God, a house in which God could dwell. But God told David that He would build David’s house (household, family) and make a covenant with David’s descendants.
The contrast between Moses and Christ is clear: Moses was a servant in the house, while Jesus Christ is a Son over the house. Moses was a member of the household, but Jesus built the house! By the way, the truth in these verses is a powerful argument for the deity of Jesus Christ. If God built all things, and Jesus Christ built God’s house, then Jesus Christ must be God.
There is another factor in Christ’s superiority over Moses: the Prophet Moses spoke about things to come, but Jesus Christ brought the fulfillment of these things (). Moses ministered “in the shadows,” as it were (see and ), while Jesus Christ brought the full and final light of the Gospel of the grace of God.
The Greek word translated “servant” () is not the usual New Testament word for servant or slave. This word carries the meaning of “a voluntary servant who acts because of affection.” In the New Testament, it is used only of Moses. At the beginning of his ministry, Moses was a bit hesitant and resisted God’s call. But once he surrendered, he obeyed out of a heart of love and devotion.
The “if” clause () needs to be understood in the light of the total context, which is Moses leading Israel out of Egypt and to the Promised Land. The writer is not suggesting that we, as Christians, must keep ourselves saved. This would contradict the major theme of the book, which is the finished work of Christ and His heavenly ministry guaranteeing our eternal salvation (). Rather, the writer is affirming that those who hold fast their confidence and hope are proving that they are truly born again.
The word “confidence” literally means “freedom of speech, openness.” When you are free to speak, then there is no fear and you have confidence. A believer can come with boldness (same word as “confidence”) to the throne of grace () with openness and freedom and not be afraid. We have this boldness because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ (). Therefore, we should not cast away our confidence, no matter what the circumstances might be. We should not have confidence in ourselves, because we are too prone to fail; but we should have confidence in Jesus Christ who never fails.
Because of this confidence in Christ and this confession of Christ, we can experience joy and hope (). The writer exhorted these suffering saints to enjoy their spiritual experience and not simply endure it. Jesus Christ is the beloved Son over His house, and He will care for each member of the family. He is the faithful High Priest who provides all the grace we need for each demand of life. As the Great Shepherd of the sheep (), Jesus Christ is using the experiences in His people’s lives to equip them for service that will glorify His name.
In other words, those who have trusted Christ prove this confession by their steadfastness, confidence, and joyful hope. They are not burdened by the past or threatened by the present, but are “living in the future tense” as they await the “blessed hope” of their Lord’s return. It is this “heavenly calling” that motivates the believers to keep on living for the Saviour even when the going is tough.
The wandering of Israel in the wilderness is a major topic in this section. Two men in that nation—Caleb and Joshua—illustrate the attitude described in . Everybody else in Israel over the age of twenty was to die in the wilderness and never enter the Promised Land (see ). But Caleb and Joshua believed God and God honored their faith. For forty years, Caleb and Joshua watched their friends and relatives die; but those two men of faith had confidence in God’s Word that they would one day enter Canaan. While others were experiencing sorrow and death, Caleb and Joshua rejoiced in confident hope. As believers, we know that God is taking us to heaven, and we should reveal the same kind of joyful confidence and hope.
Christ Is Greater in the Rest He Gives (Heb. 3:7–4:13)
This long section is the second of the five exhortations in this epistle. In the first exhortation (), the writer pointed out the danger of drifting from the Word because of neglect. In this exhortation, he explains the danger of doubting and disbelieving the Word because of hardness of heart. It is important that we understand the background of this section, which is the Exodus of Israel from Egypt and their experiences of unbelief in the wilderness.
To begin with, we must understand that there are spiritual lessons in the geography of Israel’s experiences. The nation’s bondage in Egypt is an illustration of a sinner’s bondage in this world. Much as Israel was delivered from Egypt by the blood of lambs and the power of God, so a sinner who believes on Christ is delivered from the bondage of sin (). Jesus Christ is “the Lamb of God” whose death and resurrection have made our deliverance from sin a reality.
It was not God’s will that Israel remain either in Egypt or in the wilderness. His desire was that the people enter their glorious inheritance in the land of Canaan. But when Israel got to the border of their inheritance, they delayed because they doubted the promise of God (Num. 13–14). “We are not able” wept the ten spies and the people. “We are able with God’s help!” said Moses, Joshua, and Caleb. Because the people went backward in unbelief instead of forward by faith, they missed their inheritance and died in the wilderness. It was the new generation that possessed the land and entered into their rest.
What does Canaan represent to us as Christians today? It represents our spiritual inheritance in Christ (, , ). It is unfortunate that some of our hymns and Gospel songs use Canaan as a picture of heaven, and “crossing the Jordan” as a picture of death. Since Canaan was a place of battles, and even of defeats, it is not a good illustration of heaven! Israel had to cross the river by faith (a picture of the believer as he dies to self and the world, Rom. 6) and claim the inheritance by faith. They had to “step out by faith” () and claim the land for themselves, just as believers today must do.
Now we can understand what the wilderness wanderings represent: the experiences of believers who will not claim their spiritual inheritance in Christ, who doubt God’s Word and live in restless unbelief. To be sure, God is with them, as He was with Israel; but they do not enjoy the fullness of God’s blessing. They are “out of Egypt” but they are not yet “in Canaan.”
With this background, we can now better understand one of the key words in this section—rest (, ; , , ). The writer mentioned two different “rests” found in Old Testament history: (1) God’s Sabbath rest, when He ceased from His Creation activities (; ); (2) Israel’s rest in Canaan (; ; ). But he saw in these “rests” illustrations of the spiritual experiences of believers today. The Sabbath rest is a picture of our rest in Christ through salvation (; see ). The Canaan rest is a picture of our present rest as we claim our inheritance in Christ (; note the emphasis on the Word of God). The first is the rest of salvation; the second is the rest of submission.
But there is a third rest that enters into the discussion, that future rest that all believers will enjoy with God. “There remaineth, therefore, a rest to the people of God” (). This word for rest is the Greek word sabbatismos—“a keeping of a Sabbath”—and this is the only place in the New Testament where this word is used. When the saints enter heaven, it will be like sharing God’s great Sabbath rest, with all labors and battles ended ().
We may diagram these rests in this way:
Past
Present
Future
God’s Sabbath rest
Salvation rest
Heaven
Israel’s Canaan rest
Submission rest (victory in Christ)
With this background of Israel’s history and the “rests” involved, we may now examine the passage itself. The writer gives a threefold admonition.
Let us take heed (vv. ). Take heed to what? To the sad history of the nation of Israel and the important lesson it teaches. The writer quotes from , which records God’s response to Israel’s tragic spiritual condition. God had delivered His people from Egypt and had cared for them, revealing His power in many signs and wonders. Israel saw all of this and benefited from it, but the experience did not bring them closer to God or make them trust Him more. All that God did for them did not benefit them spiritually. In fact, just the opposite took place: they hardened their hearts against God! They put God to the test and He did not fail them; yet they failed Him.
The heart of every problem is a problem in the heart. The people of Israel (except Moses, Joshua, and Caleb) erred in their hearts (), which means that their hearts wandered from God and His Word. They also had evil hearts of unbelief (); they did not believe that God would give them victory in Canaan. They had seen God perform great signs in Egypt. Yet they doubted He was adequate for the challenge of Canaan.
When a person has an erring heart and a disbelieving heart, the result will also be a hard heart. This is a heart that is insensitive to the Word and work of God. So hard was the heart of Israel that the people even wanted to return to Egypt! Imagine wanting to exchange their freedom under God for slavery in Egypt! Of course, all this history spoke to the hearts of the readers of this letter because they were in danger of “going back” themselves.
God’s judgment fell on Israel in the wilderness at Kadesh Barnea. That entire generation was condemned to die, and only the new generation would enter the land. God said, “They shall not enter into My rest” (). But what message does this bring to a believer today? No believer today, Jew or Gentile, could go back into the Mosaic legal system since the temple is gone and there is no priesthood. But every believer is tempted to give up his confession of Christ and go back into the world system’s life of compromise and bondage. This is especially true during times of persecution and suffering. The fires of persecution have always purified the church because suffering separates true believers from the counterfeit. True believers are willing to suffer for Christ and they hold firmly to their convictions and their confession of faith (see , ). We are not saved by holding to our confession. The fact that we hold to our confession is proof that we are God’s true children.
It is important that we take heed and recognize the spiritual dangers that exist. But it is also important that we encourage each other to be faithful to the Lord (). We get the impression that some of these believers addressed were careless about their fellowship in the local assembly (see ). Christians belong to each other and need each other. Moses, Caleb, and Joshua did try to encourage Israel when the nation refused to enter Canaan, but the people would not listen.
It is clear from this section that God was grieved with Israel during the entire forty years they wandered in the wilderness. The Jews had not been out of Egypt long when they began to provoke God (). After He supplied bread for them, they complained about a lack of water (). Moses called that place “Massah and Meribah” which means “provocation and trial.” These same words are used in .
The sin of Israel is stated in —“departing from the living God.” The Greek word gives us our English word “apostasy.” This is the only place this word is used in Hebrews. Does “apostasy” mean abandoning one’s faith and therefore being condemned forever? That does not fit into this context. Israel departed from the living God by refusing God’s will for their lives and stubbornly wanting to go their own way back to Egypt. God did not permit them to return to Egypt. Rather, He disciplined them in the wilderness. God did not allow His people to return to bondage.
The emphasis in Hebrews is that true believers have an eternal salvation because they trust a living Saviour who constantly intercedes for them. But the writer is careful to point out that this confidence is no excuse for sin. God disciplines His children. Remember that Canaan is not a picture of heaven, but of the believer’s present spiritual inheritance in Christ. Believers who doubt God’s Word and rebel against Him do not miss heaven, but they do miss out on the blessings of their inheritance today, and they must suffer the chastening of God.
Let us fear (vv. ). Believers today may enter and enjoy their spiritual inheritance in Christ. We must be careful lest we fail to believe God’s Word, for it is only as the Word is “mixed with faith” that it can accomplish its purposes. The argument in this section is given in several propositions: (1) God finished His work and rested, so that His rest has been available since Creation. (2) The Jews failed to enter into their rest. (3) Many years later (Ps. 95), God said that a rest was still available. That “today” is still here! This means that Joshua did not lead Israel into the true rest, because a rest still remains. (Note that the name “Jesus” in , KJV, ought to be “Joshua.” “Jesus” is the Greek form of “Joshua.”)
The Canaan rest for Israel is a picture of the spiritual rest we find in Christ when we surrender to Him. When we come to Christ by faith, we find salvation rest (). When we yield and learn of Him and obey Him by faith, we enjoy submission rest (). The first is “peace with God” (); the second is the “peace of God” (). It is by believing that we enter into rest (); it is by obeying God by faith and surrendering to His will that the rest enters into us.
Let us labor (vv. ). “Give diligence” is a good translation of this admonition. Diligence is the opposite of “drifting” (). How do we give diligence? By paying close attention to the Word of God. Israel did not believe God’s Word, so the rebels fell in the wilderness. “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” ().
In comparing the Word of God to a sword, the writer is not suggesting that God uses His Word to slaughter the saints! It is true that the Word cuts the heart of sinners with conviction (; ), and that the Word defeats Satan (). The Greek word translated “sword” means “a short sword or dagger.” The emphasis is on the power of the Word to penetrate and expose the inner heart of man. The Word is a “discerner” or “critic.” The Israelites criticized God’s Word instead of allowing the Word to judge them. Consequently, they lost their inheritance.
Of course, God sees our hearts (); but we do not always know what is there (). God uses the Word to enable us to see the sin and unbelief in our own hearts. The Word exposes our hearts; and then, if we trust God, the Word enables our hearts to obey God and claim His promises. This is why each believer should be diligent to apply himself to hear and heed God’s Word. In the Word we see God, and we also see how God sees us. We see ourselves as we really are. This experience enables us to be honest with God, to trust His will, and to obey Him.
All of this is possible because of the finished work of Jesus Christ. (The two “He’s” in refer to Jesus Christ.) God rested when He finished the work of Creation. God’s Son rested when He completed the work of the new creation. We may enter into His rest by trusting His Word and obeying His will. We can do this as we listen to His Word, understand it, trust it, and obey it. Only in this way can we claim our inheritance in Christ.
Before Joshua conquered Jericho, he went out to survey the situation; and he met the Lord Jesus Christ (). Joshua discovered that he was second in command! The Lord had a sword in His hand, and Joshua fell at His feet in complete submission. It was this action in private that gave Joshua his public victory.
We too claim our spiritual inheritance by surrendering to Him and trusting His Word. We must beware of an evil heart of unbelief.
Hebrews 4:14–5:10
Moses did not lead the people of Israel into the promised rest; in fact, he himself was forbidden to enter the land. Joshua led them into their physical rest, but not into the promised spiritual rest (see ). But what about Aaron, the first high priest? Is it possible that the Aaronic priesthood, with all of its sacrifices and ceremonies, could bring a troubled soul into rest?
The Hebrew Christians who received this letter were sorely tempted to return to the religion of their fathers. After all, any Jew could travel to Jerusalem and see the temple and the priests ministering at the altar. Here was something real, visible, concrete. When a person is going through persecution, as these Hebrew Christians were, it is much easier to walk by sight than by faith. Some of us have doubted the Lord under much less provocation than these people were enduring.
The central theme of Hebrews is the priesthood of Jesus Christ, what He is now doing in heaven on behalf of His people. Is the high priestly ministry of Christ superior to that of Aaron and his successors? Yes, it is; and the writer proves his assertion by presenting four arguments.
Jesus Christ Has a Superior Title ()
“Seeing then that we have a GREAT High Priest” (, emphasis mine). Aaron was a “high priest,” but Jesus Christ is the GREAT High Priest. No Old Testament priest could assume that title. But in what does our Lord’s greatness consist?
To begin with, Jesus Christ is both God and Man. He is “Jesus, the Son of God.” The name “Jesus” means “Saviour” and identifies His humanity and His ministry on earth. “Son of God” affirms His deity and the fact that He is God. In His unique person, Jesus Christ unites Deity and humanity, so that He can bring people to God and bring to people all that God has for them.
Not only in His person, but also in His position Jesus Christ is great. Aaron and his successors ministered in the tabernacle and temple precincts, once a year entering the holy of holies. But Jesus Christ has “passed through the heavens” (, literal translation). When He ascended to the Father, Jesus Christ passed through the atmospheric heavens and the planetary heavens into the third heaven where God dwells (). How much better is it to have a High Priest who ministers in a heavenly tabernacle than in an earthly one!
But there is another aspect to Christ’s position: not only is He in heaven, but He is enthroned. His throne is “the throne of grace” (). The mercy seat on the ark of the covenant was God’s throne in Israel (), but it could never be called “a throne of grace.” Grace does not veil itself from the people. Grace does not hide itself in a tent.
Furthermore, the common people were not permitted to enter the holy precincts of the tabernacle and the temple, and the priests got only as far as the veil. The high priest alone went beyond the veil, and only on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16). But every believer in Christ is invited, and is even encouraged, to “come boldly unto the throne of grace”! What a great throne it is because our Great High Priest is ministering there.
Jesus Christ, our Great High Priest, is enthroned in heaven. Something else makes Him great: He is ministering mercy and grace to those who come for help. Mercy means that God does not give us what we do deserve; grace means that He gives us what we do not deserve. No Old Testament high priest could minister mercy and grace in quite the same way. When an Israelite was tempted, he could not easily run to the high priest for help; and he certainly could not enter the holy of holies for God’s help. But as believers in Jesus Christ, we can run to our High Priest at any time, in any circumstance, and find the help that we need.
Now because of the superiority of Jesus Christ, the Great High Priest, over Aaron, two important conclusions can be drawn. First, there is no need in giving up our profession just because we are going through testing and trial (). The word translated “profession” means “confession.” These Hebrew Christians were tempted to give up their confession of faith in Christ and their confidence in Him (see , ). It was not a matter of giving up their salvation, since salvation through Christ is eternal (). It was a matter of their public confession of faith. By returning to the Old Testament system, they would be telling everyone that they had no faith in Christ (see ). This kind of unbelief would only bring reproach to Christ’s name.
After all, the great purpose of salvation is the glory of God (see , , ). It was the glory of God that so concerned Moses when Israel broke God’s Law and made the golden calf (Ex. 32). God offered to destroy the nation and to begin a new one from Moses, but Moses refused the offer. Instead Moses interceded for Israel on the basis of God’s glory and God’s promise; and God spared the people, even though He disciplined them for their sin ().
The second conclusion is this: there is no need to go back because we can come boldly into the presence of God and get the help we need (). No trial is too great, no temptation is too strong, but that Jesus Christ can give us the mercy and grace that we need, when we need it. “But He is so far away!” we may argue. “And He is the perfect Son of God! What can He know about the problems of weak sinners like us?”
But that is a part of His greatness! When He was ministering on earth in a human body, He experienced all that we experience, and even more. After all, a sinless person would feel temptations and trials in a much greater way than you and I could ever feel them. Christ was tempted, yet He did not sin; and He is able to help us when we are tempted. If we fail to hold fast our confession, we are not proving that Jesus Christ has failed. We are only telling the world that we failed to draw on His grace and mercy when it was freely available to us.
Jesus Christ Has a Superior Ordination (, )
When I became pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church in Covington, Kentucky, it was necessary for me to go to the city hall and be bonded. Otherwise, I would not have the authority to perform marriages. I had to show my ordination certificate and prove that I was indeed ministering at the church.
One day I received a frantic phone call from one of our members. Some Christian friends were being married the next day by a relative from Michigan, and they discovered that he was not authorized to perform the ceremony! Could I help them? The visiting pastor could read the ceremony as well as I could, and he knew the couple better than I did; but he lacked the authority to minister.
No man could appoint himself as a priest, let alone as high priest. King Saul invaded the priesthood and lost his kingdom (1 Sam. 13). Korah and his fellow rebels tried to make themselves priests, and God judged them (Num. 16). When King Uzziah tried to enter the temple and burn incense, God smote him with leprosy ().
Aaron was chosen by God to be the high priest, and he was duly ordained and installed in office (Ex. 28). He was chosen from men to minister for men. His main task was at the altar: to offer the sacrifices God had appointed (see ; ). Unless the sacrifices were offered in the right place, by the right person, they were not accepted by God.
The very existence of a priesthood and a system of sacrifices gave evidence that man is estranged from God. It was an act of grace on God’s part that He instituted the whole levitical system. Today, that system is fulfilled in the ministry of Jesus Christ. He is both the sacrifice and the High Priest who ministers to God’s people on the basis of His once-for-all offering on the cross.
The subject of ordination stated in is further developed in . Jesus Christ did not appoint Himself as High Priest. He was appointed by God the Father. The quotation in is from . This psalm was already quoted in to prove that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. But the emphasis in is on the priesthood of Jesus Christ, not on His deity. What significance, then, does this quotation have for the argument?
The answer to that question is in , where the Apostle Paul quoted and explained what it means. The phrase, “Today have I begotten Thee,” does not refer to the birth of Christ at Bethlehem, but to His resurrection from the dead. The Son of God was “begotten” into a glorious new life in His resurrection! He ascended to heaven in a glorified body to become our High Priest at the throne of grace. When Aaron was ordained to the priesthood, he offered the sacrifices of animals. But Jesus Christ, to become our High Priest, offered the sacrifice of Himself—and then arose from the dead!
But God the Father not only said, “Thou art My Son” in ; He also said, “Thou art a Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” (, quoted from ). This psalm was also quoted earlier in Hebrews () to affirm Jesus Christ’s final victory over all His enemies. When Aaron was ordained, God did not speak directly to him and declare his priesthood. But the Father did make this special declaration concerning His Son.
Two factors make Christ’s priesthood unique and, therefore, His ordination greater. First, He is a High Priest forever. No Old Testament priest ministered forever because each priest died and relinquished the office to his successor. The word “forever” is an important one in this epistle. At least six times the writer affirms that Christ’s high priesthood is forever (; ; , , , ). And, since He is a Priest forever, He gives His people salvation forever ().
The second factor that makes Christ’s ordination unique is that He belongs to a different order from the Old Testament priests. They belonged to the order of Aaron; He belongs to the order of Melchizedek. This is a key concept in Hebrews, so we must take time to examine and understand it.
Melchizedek is mentioned in only two places in the entire Old Testament— and . His name means “King of Righteousness,” and he was also “King of Salem [peace].” But the fascinating thing about Melchizedek is that he was both a priest and a king! King Uzziah wanted to be both a priest and a king, and God judged him. Only in Jesus Christ and in pre-Law Melchizedek were these two offices combined. Jesus Christ is a High Priest on a throne!
The reason Jesus Christ can be “a Priest forever” is that He belongs to the “order of Melchizedek.” As far as the Old Testament record is concerned, Melchizedek did not die (see ). Of course, because he was a real man, he did die at some time; but the record is not given to us. So Melchizedek becomes a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ who is a Priest forever.
But Melchizedek also pictures our Lord as a heavenly High Priest. Jesus Christ could never have served as a priest when He was on earth because He did not belong to the tribe of Levi. Jesus was born of the seed of David, the tribe of Judah. He became the sacrifice on earth that He might become the High Priest in heaven. All of these truths will be developed in Hebrews 7–10, but they are introduced here.
Jesus Christ Reveals a Superior Sympathy (, )
Every Old Testament high priest had to minister to people who were “ignorant, and … out of the way [wayward]” (). God made no provision but judgment for high-handed sins of rebellion (see ; ). But He did make provision when people sinned through ignorance or weakness. An Old Testament priest could identify with the sinners, since he himself was a sinner. In fact, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest had to offer a sacrifice for himself before he could offer one for the nation! (Lev. 16; )
You would think that one sinner would have compassion for another sinner, but this is not always the case. Sin makes a person selfish. Sin can blind us to the hurts of others. Sin can harden our hearts and make us judgmental instead of sympathetic. Remember how heartbroken Hannah, who was praying for a son, was accused by high priest Eli of being drunk? () And when King David was confronted with a story of a rich man’s sin, he had no sympathy for him, even though David himself was a worse sinner (2 Sam. 12).
No, it is the spiritually minded person with a clean heart who sympathizes with a sinner and seeks to help him (see ). Because we are so sinful, we have a hard time helping other sinners; but because Jesus is perfect, He is able to meet our needs after we sin.
Our Lord was prepared for His high priestly ministry during His days of ministry on earth (). The phrase, “In the days of His flesh,” means, “In the days when He was on earth in a human body.” From birth to death, our Lord experienced the sinless infirmities of human nature. He knew what it was to grow and mature (). He experienced hunger and thirst, as well as weariness (, ). He also faced temptations to sin () and persecutions from the hands of sinful men.
How could the Son of God “learn obedience”? In the same way any son must learn obedience: by the experiences of life. We must remember that our Lord, in His earthly walk, lived by faith in the Father’s will. As God, He needed to learn nothing. But as the Son of God come in human flesh, He had to experience that which His people would experience, so that He might be able to minister as their High Priest. He did not need to learn how to obey because it would be impossible for God to be disobedient. Rather, as the God-Man in human flesh, He had to learn what was involved in obedience. In this way, He identified with us.
This preparation involved the experience of death. The writer of Hebrews () focuses on our Lord’s experience in the Garden of Gethsemane (). As He faced the Cross, it was not the physical suffering that burdened Jesus, but the fact that He would be made sin and separated from His Father. Other servants of God have faced death and not expressed such great emotion; but no other servant ever bore on his body the sins of the whole world.
In His Gethsemane prayer, our Lord did not oppose the Father, but prayed, “Not My will, but Thine, be done” (). He was not praying to be spared from death, but to be saved out of death. He was praying for resurrection from the dead, and God answered that prayer. He had prophesied His own death and had made it clear that He was laying down His life of His own free will. This ties in with the quotation from , cited in , that promised His resurrection from the dead.
The writer of Hebrews states that Jesus’ prayer “was heard” (), that is, answered by the Father. Since He did die on the cross, this could not have been what He was praying about; for if the Father had answered, the Son would not have been crucified. He did not pray to be saved from death, but out of death; and God answered His prayer by raising Him from the dead.
No one else ever died the kind of death that Jesus died. He was made sin for us (; ). Men have died because of their own sins, but only Jesus died for the sins of a whole world. He experienced the ultimate in suffering and, therefore, He is able to sympathize with His people when they are suffering. The readers of this epistle were going through difficult times, but they had “not yet resisted unto blood” (). Their goods had been seized and they had been ridiculed (), but they had not been crucified and forsaken by the Father.
No matter what trials we meet, Jesus Christ is able to understand our needs and help us. We need never doubt His ability to sympathize and strengthen. It is also worth noting that sometimes God puts us through difficulties that we might better understand the needs of others, and become able to encourage them (see ).
When Charles Haddon Spurgeon was a young preacher in London, his successful ministry aroused the envy of some of the clergy; and they attacked him with various kinds of slander and gossip. His sermons were called “trashy,” and he was called “an actor” and “a pulpit buffoon.” Even after his ministry was established, Spurgeon was lied about in the press (including the religious press); and this was bound to discourage him.
After one particularly scurrilous report in the press, Spurgeon fell before the Lord and prayed, “O Lord Jesus, Thou didst make Thyself of no reputation for me. I willingly lay my reputation down for Thy sake.” From that time on, Spurgeon had peace in his heart. He knew that his Great High Priest understood his need and would give him the grace that he needed for each hour.
Jesus Christ Offered a Superior Sacrifice (, )
This topic has already been touched on, and the writer of Hebrews discusses it in detail in Hebrews 9–10. Two important matters are involved.
The first is that Jesus Christ did not need to offer any sacrifices for Himself. On the annual Day of Atonement, the high priest first had to sacrifice for himself; and then he could offer the sacrifices for his nation (Lev. 16). Since Jesus is the sinless Son of God, there was no need for Him to sacrifice for Himself. He was in perfect fellowship with the Father and needed no cleansing.
The second matter is that our Lord’s sacrifice was once and for all, whereas the Old Testament sacrifices had to be repeated. Furthermore, those sacrifices could only cover sins; they could never cleanse sins. It required the sacrifice of the spotless Lamb of God for sin to be cleansed and removed.
Because He is the sinless, eternal Son of God, and because He offered a perfect sacrifice, Jesus Christ is the “Author of eternal salvation” (). No Old Testament priest could offer eternal salvation to anyone, but that is exactly what we have in Jesus Christ. The phrase “being made perfect” does not suggest that Jesus was imperfect! The word means “made complete”; we described it in our study of . By means of His earthly sufferings, Jesus Christ was equipped for His heavenly ministry as our High Priest. He is able to save, keep, and strengthen His people.
Does the phrase “them that obey Him” () suggest that, if we do not obey Him, we may lose that eternal salvation? To “obey God” is the same as “to trust God,” as “them that obey Him” is a description of those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ. “A great company of the priests were obedient to the faith” (). “But they have not all obeyed the Gospel” (). “Ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth” (). Once we have put our faith in Jesus Christ, and thus obeyed His call, we experience His eternal salvation.
It is difficult to resist the four arguments presented in this section. We must conclude with the writer that Jesus Christ the great High Priest is superior to Aaron. It would be foolish for anyone to return to the inferiorities of the old Law when he could enjoy the superiorities of Jesus Christ. Then why were these Hebrew believers tempted to go back into legalism? Because they were not going on to maturity in Christ! For this reason the writer paused to exhort them to grow up in the Lord; and that is the theme for our next chapter.
Hebrews 5:11–6:20
“We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised” (, NIV).
This verse summarizes the main message of this difficult (and often misunderstood) section of the epistle. Israel wanted to go back to Egypt; and, as a result, a whole generation failed to inherit what God had promised. They were safely delivered out of Egypt, but they never enjoyed the promised rest in Canaan. We believers today can make the same mistake.
If you keep in mind that the emphasis in this section is on making spiritual progress, you will steer safely through misinterpretations that could create problems. In this section, the writer deals with three topics that relate to spiritual progress.
The Marks of Spiritual Immaturity ()
The writer is about to begin his explanation of the heavenly priesthood of Christ, but he is not sure his readers are ready for what he has to teach. The problem is not that he is a dull teacher, but that they are dull hearers! The word translated “dull” in is translated “slothful” in . It refers to a condition of spiritual apathy and laziness that prevents spiritual development.
What, then, are the marks of spiritual immaturity?
Dullness toward the Word (v. ). These believers started on their “backward journey” by drifting from the Word (), and then doubting the Word (Heb. 3:7–4:13). As a result, they were now “dull of hearing”; that is, unable to listen to the Word, receive it, and act on it. They did not have the attitude of the Thessalonians: “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the Word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the Word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe” ().
One of the first symptoms of spiritual regression, or backsliding, is a dullness toward the Bible. Sunday School class is dull, the preaching is dull, anything spiritual is dull. The problem is usually not with the Sunday School teacher or the pastor, but with the believer himself.
Inability to share (v. ). The ability to share spiritual truth with others is a mark of maturity. Not all Christians have the gift of teaching, but all can share what they learn from the Word. One of the hardest lessons children must learn is the lesson of sharing. The recipients of this letter had been saved long enough to be able to share God’s truth with others. But, instead of helping others to grow, these Hebrew Christians were in need of learning again the simple teachings of the Christian life. They were experiencing a second childhood!
A “baby food” diet (vv. ). Milk is predigested food, and it is specially suited to babies. But only those who have teeth can enjoy meat. The writer defines the “milk” as “the first principles of the oracles of God” (). The “meat” of the Word is the teaching about our Lord’s ministry now in heaven as our High Priest. The writer wanted to give this “meat” to them, but they were not ready for it.
The “milk” of the Word refers to what Jesus Christ did on earth—His birth, life, teaching, death, burial, and resurrection. The “meat” of the Word refers to what Jesus Christ is now doing in heaven. We begin the Christian life on the basis of His finished work on earth. We grow in the Christian life on the basis of His unfinished work in heaven.
Of course, even the maturest adult never outgrows milk. As believers, we can still learn much from our Lord’s work on earth. But we must not stop there! We must make spiritual progress, and we can do this only if we learn about Christ’s priestly ministry for us in heaven. (See for a summary of what the Lord wants to do for His people now.)
Unskillful in using the Word (v. ). As we grow in the Word, we learn to use it in daily life. As we apply the Word, we exercise our “spiritual senses” and develop spiritual discernment. It is a characteristic of little children that they lack discernment. A baby will put anything into its mouth. An immature believer will listen to any preacher on the radio or television and not be able to identify whether or not he is true to the Scriptures.
Just as our physical bodies have senses without which we could not function, so our inner “spiritual man” has “spiritual senses.” For example: “O taste and see that the Lord is good” (). “But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear” (). As we feed on the Word of God and apply it in daily life, our inner “spiritual senses” get their exercise and become strong and keen. Paul called this process exercising ourselves unto godliness ().
The ability to discern good and evil is a vital part of Christian maturity. The nation of Israel in Moses’ day lacked this discernment and failed to claim its promised inheritance. The readers of this letter were in danger of making the same mistake. It is impossible to stand still in the Christian life: we either go forward and claim God’s blessing, or we go backward and wander about aimlessly.
I once heard a preacher say, “Most Christians are ‘betweeners.’ ”
“What do you mean by that?” I asked.
“They are between Egypt and Canaan—out of the place of danger, but not yet into the place of rest and rich inheritance,” he replied. “They are between Good Friday and Easter Sunday—saved by the blood but not yet enjoying newness of resurrection life.”
Are you a “betweener”?
The Call to Spiritual Maturity ()
No one can escape coming into the world as a baby because that is the only way to get here! But it is tragic when a baby fails to mature. No matter how much parents and grandparents love to hold and cuddle a baby, it is their great desire that the baby grow up and enjoy a full life as a mature adult. God has the same desire for His children. That is why He calls to us, “Go on to maturity!” (, NIV)
It is a call to spiritual progress (vv. ). If we are going to make progress, we have to leave the childhood things behind and go forward in spiritual growth. literally reads, “Therefore, having left [once and for all] the elementary lessons [the ABCs] of the teaching of Christ.” When I was in kindergarten, the teacher taught us our ABCs. (We didn’t have television to teach us in those days.) You learn your ABCs so that you might read words, sentences, books—in fact, anything in literature. But you do not keep learning the basics. You use the basics to go on to better things.
The phrase, “Let us go on,” should be translated, “Let us be carried forward.” It is God who enables us to progress as we yield to Him, receive His Word, and act on it. A baby does not “grow himself.” He grows as he eats, sleeps, exercises, and permits his body to function. Nature, as ordained by God, carries the baby along day after day, and gradually he matures into an adult. It is normal for Christians to grow; it is abnormal for them to have arrested growth.
The writer lists six foundational truths of the Christian life, all of which, by the way, are also foundational to the Jewish faith. After all, our Christian faith is based on the Jewish faith and is a fulfillment of it. “Salvation is of the Jews” (). If the readers of this epistle went back to Judaism in order to escape persecution, they would only be abandoning the perfect for the imperfect, the mature for the immature.
The first two items (repentance and faith) are Godward and mark the initiation of the spiritual life. To repent means to change one’s mind. It is not simply a “bad feeling about sin,” because that could be regret or remorse. It is changing one’s mind about sin to the point of turning from it. Once a sinner has repented (and this itself is a gift from God, ; ), then he is able to exercise faith in God. Repentance and faith go together ().
The next two items (baptisms and laying on of hands) have to do with a person’s relationship to the local assembly of believers. In the New Testament, a person who repented and trusted Christ was baptized and became a part of a local church (). The word “baptisms” in is plural and can be translated “washings” (). While water itself can never cleanse sin (), baptism is a symbol of spiritual cleansing (“Get up, be baptized, and wash your sins away, calling on His name”—, NIV) as well as our identification with Christ in death, burial, and resurrection (). The “laying on of hands” () symbolized the sharing of some blessing (; ) or the setting apart of a person for ministry ().
The last two items, the resurrection of the dead () and the final judgment (), have to do with the future. Both orthodox Jews and Christians believe in these doctrines. The Old Testament teaches a general resurrection, but does not make the doctrine clear. The New Testament teaches a resurrection of the saved and also a resurrection of the lost (; , ).
The lesson of the paragraph () is clear: “You have laid the foundation. You know your ABCs. Now move forward! Let God carry you along to maturity!”
This progress does not affect salvation (vv. ). These verses, along with the exhortation in , have given people cause for worry and concern, mainly because these verses have been misunderstood and misapplied. I have received long-distance phone calls from upset people who have misread this passage and convinced themselves (or been convinced by Satan) that they were hopelessly lost and had committed some unpardonable sin. While I do not want to give a false assurance to any professed Christian who is not truly born again, neither do I want to cause some true believer to stumble and miss God’s best.
Bible students over the years have come up with several approaches to this serious passage. One view is that the writer is warning us against the sin of apostasy, willfully turning one’s back on Jesus Christ and returning to the old life. According to them, such a person would be lost forever. I have several problems with this interpretation. To begin with, the Greek word apostasia is not used in this passage. The verb for “fall away” () is parapipto, which literally means “to fall alongside.” Second, we always interpret the obscure by the obvious. There are many verses in Scripture that assure the true believer that he can never be lost. In fact, one of the greatest arguments for security is the last section of this chapter! (; see also ; ; )
Those who teach that we can lose our salvation also teach that such a person can be restored. But this passage () teaches just the opposite! If you omit the intervening clauses, the statement reads: “For it is impossible … to renew them again to repentance.” In other words, if this refers to apostasy, once a saved person turns his back on Christ, he cannot be restored to salvation. He is lost forever.
Others claim that the people addressed were not true believers. They had cooperated with the Holy Spirit up to a point, but were not actually born again. Well, let’s examine the description of these people and see if they possessed true salvation.
They were “enlightened” (). The “once” means “enlightened once and for all.” The way this same verb is used in indicates an experience of true salvation (see ).
They “tasted of the heavenly gift” (), and “tasted the good Word of God, and the powers of the world [age] to come” (). To claim that these people “tasted but did not eat” is to base interpretation on one meaning of an English word. God permitted His Son to “taste death for every man” (). Surely Jesus Christ did not simply sample death on the cross! “Taste” carries the idea of “experience.” These Hebrew believers had experienced the gift of salvation, the Word of God, and the power of God. Doesn’t this describe authentic salvation?
They “were made partakers of the Holy Spirit” (). To suggest that they only went along with the Holy Spirit to a certain extent is to ignore the simple meaning of the verb. It means “to become sharers.” These same people were not only “sharers of the Holy Spirit,” but also “sharers of the heavenly calling” () and “sharers of Christ” ().
In view of these facts, I have concluded that the people addressed were true believers, not mere professors. Furthermore, how could unsaved people ever disgrace Jesus Christ and put Him to open shame?
A third view is that this sin (whatever it is) could be committed only by Hebrew Christians in the first century, while the temple services were still going on. If so, then why did the writer connect this exhortation with the heavenly priesthood of our Lord and the importance of spiritual maturity? If what he wrote about cannot happen today, what is the motivation behind the exhortation? It all seems futile to me if we limit these verses to first-century Jewish believers.
Then what is the writer trying to say to us? It is probable that he is describing a hypothetical case to prove his point that a true believer cannot lose his salvation. His statement in seems to support this interpretation: “Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case” (NIV). His argument runs like this:
“Let’s suppose that you do not go on to maturity. Does this mean that you will go back to condemnation, that you will lose your salvation? Impossible! If you could lose your salvation, it would be impossible to get it back again; and this would disgrace Jesus Christ. He would have to be crucified again for you, and this could never happen.”
In , the writer changed the pronouns from “we” and “us” to “those.” This change also suggests that he had a hypothetical case in mind.
However, there is another possible interpretation that does not require a hypothetical case. You should note that the words “crucify” and “put” in are, in the Greek, present participles: “while they are crucifying … and while they are putting Him to an open shame.” The writer did not say that these people could never be brought to repentance. He said that they could not be brought to repentance while they were treating Jesus Christ in such a shameful way. Once they stop disgracing Jesus Christ in this way, they can be brought to repentance and renew their fellowship with God.
Whatever approach you take, please keep in mind that the writer’s purpose was not to frighten the readers but to assure them. If he had wanted to frighten them, he would have named whatever sin (or sins) would have caused them to disgrace Jesus Christ; but he did not do so. In fact, he avoided the word apostasy and used instead “to fall by the wayside” (see for a similar word).
Christians can “sin unto death” (; ). This is God’s chastening, a theme the writer of Hebrews will take up in Hebrews 12.
This progress results in fruitfulness (vv. ). This illustration of a field reminds us of our Lord’s Parable of the Sower (, ), as well as Paul’s teaching about the fire testing our works (). A field proves its worth by bearing fruit; and a true believer, as he makes spiritual progress, bears fruit for God’s glory. Note that the “thorns and briars” are burned, not the field. God never curses His own!
The crop of God’s blessing pictured in is called “things that accompany salvation” in . Not every believer bears the same amount of fruit (“some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty,” ); but every believer bears the same kind of fruit as proof that he is a child of God (). This is the fruit of Christian character and conduct () produced by the Spirit as we mature in Christ.
The writer listed some of the fruit that he knew had been produced in their lives (): because of their love, they had worked and labored for the Lord; they had ministered to other saints; and they were still ministering (see ; ). These are some of the “things that accompany salvation.”
But he was concerned lest they rest on their achievements and not press on to full maturity and the enjoyment of God’s rich inheritance.
This progress demands diligent effort (vv. ). While it is true that it is God who “carries us along” to maturity (, ), it is also true that the believer must do his part. We must not be lazy (“slothful,” the same word as “dull” in ) but apply ourselves to the spiritual resources God has given us. We have the promises from God. We should exercise faith and patience and claim these promises for ourselves! Like Caleb and Joshua, we must believe God’s promise and want to go in and claim the land! The illustration of the farm (), and the admonition to be diligent, always remind me of Solomon’s warning (). Read it—and heed it!
The Basis for Spiritual Security ()
Lest anyone should misinterpret his exhortation to spiritual maturity, the writer ended this section with a tremendous argument for the assurance of salvation. All of us Christians are not making the spiritual progress we should, but we need never fear that God will condemn us. The writer gave three arguments for the certain salvation of true believers.
God’s promise (vv. ). God’s main promise to Abraham is recorded in . In spite of Abraham’s failures and sins, God kept His promise and Isaac was born. Many of God’s promises do not depend on our character but on His faithfulness. The phrase “patiently endured” () is the exact opposite of “slothful” (). The readers of this letter were about to give up; their endurance was running out (see ). “You will obtain and enjoy what God has promised if you diligently apply yourself to the development of your spiritual life,” is what the writer stated.
We Christians today have more of God’s promises than did Abraham! What is keeping us from making spiritual progress? We do not apply ourselves by faith. To return to the illustration of the farm, the farmer does not reap a harvest by sitting on the porch looking at the seed. He must get busy and plow, plant, weed, cultivate, and perhaps water the soil. The believer who neglects church fellowship, ignores his Bible, and forgets to pray is not going to reap much of a harvest.
God’s oath (vv. ). God not only gave Abraham a promise, but He also confirmed that promise with an oath. When a witness takes an oath in court, he is confronted with the words “so help me God.” We call on the greater to witness for the lesser. None is greater than God, so He swore by Himself!
But God did not do this only for Abraham. He has also given His promise and oath to “the heirs of promise” (). Abraham and his descendants are the first of these heirs (see ), but all believers are included as “Abraham’s [spiritual] seed” (). So our assurance of salvation is guaranteed by God’s promise and God’s oath, “two immutable [unchangeable] things” (). We have “strong consolation” (or “great encouragement”) concerning the hope set before us! Hebrews is a book of encouragement, not discouragement!
The phrase “fled for refuge” () suggests the Old Testament “cities of refuge” described in and Joshua 20. God appointed six cities, three on each side of the Jordan, into which a man could flee if he had accidentally killed someone. The elders of the city would investigate the case. If they determined that it was indeed manslaughter and not murder, they would permit the man to live in the city until the death of the high priest. Then he could return to his home. The members of the slain man’s family could not avenge themselves so long as the man remained in the city.
We have fled to Jesus Christ, and He is our eternal refuge. As our High Priest, He will never die (); and we have eternal salvation. No avenger can touch us, because He has already died and arisen from the dead.
God’s Son (vv. ). Our hope in Christ is like an anchor for the soul. The anchor was a popular symbol in the early church. At least sixty-six pictures of anchors have been found in the catacombs. The Greek stoic philosopher Epictetus wrote: “One must not tie a ship to a single anchor, nor life to a single hope.” Christians have but one anchor—Jesus Christ our hope (, ).
However, this spiritual anchor is different from material anchors on ships. For one thing, we are anchored upward—to heaven—not downward. We are anchored, not to stand still, but to move ahead! Our anchor is “sure”—it cannot break—and “steadfast”—it cannot slip. No earthly anchor can give that kind of security!
The writer then clinches the argument: this Saviour is our “forerunner” who has gone ahead to heaven so that we may one day follow! () The Old Testament high priest was not a “forerunner” because nobody could follow him into the holy of holies. But Jesus Christ has gone to heaven so that one day we may follow.
Dr. H.A. Ironside has suggested that the two phrases “within the veil” () and “without the camp” () summarize the Epistle to the Hebrews. Jesus Christ is “within the veil” as our High Priest. We can therefore come boldly to His throne and receive all the help that we need. But we must not be “secret saints.” We must be willing to identify with Christ in His rejection and go “without the camp, bearing His reproach” (). The Hebrew believers who received this letter were tempted to compromise to avoid that reproach. However, if we live “within the veil,” we shall have no trouble going “without the camp.”
Regardless of what approach you take to the exhortation in this section, be sure to lay hold of the main lesson: believers must go on to maturity, and God has made it possible for us to do so. If we start to drift from the Word (), then we will also start to doubt the Word (Heb. 3:7–4:13). Before long, we will get dull toward the Word (Heb. 5:11–6:20) and become lazy believers. The best way to keep from drifting is—to lay hold of the anchor!
Anchored heavenward! How much more secure can you be?
Hebrews 7
Ever since a city librarian introduced me to the Sherlock Holmes stories many years ago, I have been a reader of good detective fiction. Of course, I always try to solve the mystery before I get to the final chapter, and sometimes I succeed. This much I have learned: never overlook any character in the story, even the most incidental. He or she may be the criminal.
If you were asked to name the most important people in the Old Testament, I doubt that Melchizedek’s name would be on your list. He appeared once, in ; and he was referred to once more, in . You could hardly call this “top billing.” But the Holy Spirit reached back into the Old Testament and used those two passages to present a most important truth: the priesthood of Jesus Christ is superior to that of Aaron because “the order of Melchizedek” is superior to “the order of Levi.”
Chapter 7 of Hebrews introduces the second main section, as we have outhned it: A superior Priesthood (Heb. 7–10). In Hebrews 7, the writer argued that Christ’s priesthood, like Melchizedek’s, is superior in its order. In Hebrews 8, the emphasis is on Christ’s better covenant; in Hebrews 9, it is His better sanctuary; and Hebrews 10 concludes the section by arguing for Christ’s better sacrifice.
The Jewish nation was accustomed to the priesthood of the tribe of Levi. This tribe was chosen by God to serve in the tabernacle (Ex. 29; Num. 18). Aaron was the first high priest, appointed by God. In spite of their many failures, the priests had served God for centuries; but now the writer has affirmed that their priesthood has ended! To defend this statement, and to prove that the order of Melchizedek is superior to that of Aaron, he presents three arguments.
The Historical Argument: Melchizedek and Abraham ()
The record of the event discussed is in , so take time to read it. The writer of our epistle wanted us to note several facts about this mysterious man, Melchizedek.
He was both king and priest (v. ). We have noted already that, in the Old Testament economy, the throne and the altar were separated. Those persons who attempted to invade the priests’ office were judged by God. But here is a man who had both offices—king and priest! Aaron never had that privilege. And it is important to note that Melchizedek was not a “counterfeit” priest: he was the “priest of the Most High God” (see , ). His ministry was legitimate.
His name is significant (v. ). In the Bible, names and their meanings are often important. We name our children today without much consideration for what their names mean, but this was not the case in Bible days. Sometimes a great spiritual crisis was the occasion for changing a person’s name (see ; ). The name Melchizedek means “king of righteousness” in the Hebrew language. The word Salem means “peace” (the Hebrew word shalom), so that Melchizedek is “king of peace” as well as “king of righteousness.”
“Righteousness” and “peace” are often found together in Scripture. “And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever” (), “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other” (). “In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth” (). “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable … And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace” (). Of course, God’s purpose for His people is that they bear “the peaceable fruit of righteousness” ().
True peace can be experienced only on the basis of righteousness. If we want to enjoy “peace with God” we must be “justified [declared righteous] by faith” (). Man cannot produce righteousness by keeping the Old Testament Law (). It is only through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross that righteousness and peace could have “kissed each other.”
He received tithes from Abraham (v. ). This important fact is explained in . The word “tithe” means “one tenth.” Under the Jewish Law, the Jews were commanded to give God one tenth of their crops, herds, and flocks (). These tithes were brought to the Levites () at the tabernacle and later at the temple (). If the trip was too long for transporting grain, fruit, or animals, the tithe could be converted into money ().
Tithing, however, did not originate with Moses. Abraham practiced tithing long before the Law was given. In fact, archeologists have discovered that other nations also tithed in that day; so the practice is an ancient one.
His family history is different (v. ). Melchizedek was a man (see ), so he had to have had a mother and a father. But there is no record of his genealogy (“descent”) in the Old Testament; and this is significant because most great persons in the Old Testament have their ancestry identified. It was especially important that the priests be able to prove their ancestry (see ; ). Here the writer of Hebrews uses an argument from silence, but it is a valid one.
Melchizedek was not an angel or some superhuman creature; nor was he an Old Testament appearance of Jesus Christ. He was a real man, a real king, and a real priest in a real city. But as far as the record is concerned, he was not born, nor did he die. In this way, he is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God. Though Jesus Christ did die, Calvary was not the end; for He arose from the dead and today lives in “the power of an endless life” (). Since there is no account of Melchizedek’s death, as far as the record is concerned, it seems that Melchizedek is still serving as a priest and king. This is another way in which he is like the eternal Son of God.
The application is clear: neither Aaron nor any of his descendants could claim to be “without genealogy” (, NASB). They could not claim to have an endless ministry. Nor could they claim to be both kings and priests, like Jesus Christ.
He had authority to receive tithes and to bless Abraham (vv. ). The greatness of Melchizedek is seen in the fact that Abraham gave him tithes from the loot of a miniwar. Abraham acknowledged the authority of Melchizedek. Furthermore, Melchizedek blessed Abraham in a special way; and “the less is blessed of the better” (). In giving Melchizedek tithes and in receiving his blessing, Abraham affirmed the greatness of this king-priest.
But how does this relate to Aaron? In an interesting way: Aaron and the tribe of Levi were “in the loins” of Abraham, yet unborn! So, when their father, Abraham, acknowledged the greatness of Melchizedek, the tribe of Levi was also involved. The Jewish people believe strongly in “racial solidarity,” and this is one example of it. The paying of the tithes involved not just the patriarch Abraham, but also the unborn generations in his loins.
Since Jesus Christ came “of the seed of Abraham” (), does this mean that He too was a part of this experience? No, because Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. His identification with Abraham was for “the days of His flesh” (). Since Christ existed before Abraham (), He could not have been “in Abraham” as were Aaron and his family.
The Doctrinal Argument: Christ and Aaron ()
In this section, the writer took his argument one step further. Not only is Melchizedek greater than Aaron, but Melchizedek has replaced Aaron! It is no longer “the order of Aaron” or “the order of Levi.” It is forever “the order of Melchizedek.” Why would God effect such a radical change?
Because both the priesthood and the Law were imperfect (vv. ). The words translated “perfect” and “perfection” are key words in this epistle (; ; ; , ; ; , ). They essentially mean “completed, fulfilled.” The Old Testament priests could not by their ministry complete the work of God in the heart of a worshiper. “For the Law made nothing perfect” (). The animal sacrifices could not give any worshiper a perfect standing before God (). The Mosaic system of divine Law was not a permanent system. It was “added” to serve as a “schoolmaster” to prepare the way for the coming of Christ (Gal. 3:19–4:7).
Since the priests received their authority from the Old Testament Law (), and since the priesthood has been changed, there has also been a change in that Law. The President of the United States cannot proclaim himself King of the United States because U.S. law makes no provision for a king. First, the law would have to be changed.
The Law of Moses made no provision for a priesthood from the tribe of Judah (). Since our High Priest is from the tribe of Judah, according to His human ancestry, then there must have been a change in Moses’ Law. There has been! The entire system of Old Testament Law has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ and has been taken out of the way (). The believer has been set free from the Law () and is dead to the Law ().
This new arrangement does not suggest that a Christian has the right to be lawless. “Free from the Law” does not mean “free to sin.” Rather, it means that we are free to do the will of God. We obey, not because of outward compulsion, but because of inward constraint (; ). The indwelling Holy Spirit enables us to fulfill the “righteousness of the Law” as we yield to Him ().
Because, being imperfect, the priesthood and the Law could not continue forever (vv. ). The word “another” in means “another of a different kind.” The levitical priests were made priests by the authority of a temporary and imperfect Law. Jesus Christ was made Priest by a declaration of God. Because the Law was “weak and useless” (, NIV), it could not continue forever. But because Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, He lives by “the power of an endless life” (). What a contrast between the profitless Law and an endless life!
Since Jesus Christ is Priest forever, and since He has a nature to match that eternal priesthood, He can never be replaced. The annulling (, “disannulling”) of the Law meant the abolishing of the priesthood. But nobody can annul “the power of an endless life”! The logic holds: Jesus Christ is a Priest forever.
The writer kept in mind the temptation his readers were facing to go back into the old temple system. This is why he reminded them () that Jesus Christ has accomplished what the Law could never accomplish: He brought in a better hope, and He enables us to draw near to God. To go back to Judaism would mean losing the enjoyment of their fellowship with God through Christ. The only hope Judaism had was the coming of Christ, and that blessing these believers already had.
Because God’s oath cannot be broken (vv. ). No priest in the order of Aaron was ever ordained and established on the basis of God’s personal oath. The Aaronic priests ministered “after the law of a carnal [physical] commandment” (). Their moral or spiritual fitness was not examined. The important thing was that a priest belonged to the right tribe and met the right physical and ceremonial requirements ().
Jesus Christ’s heavenly priesthood was established on the basis of His work on the cross, His character (; ), and the oath of God. “Thou art a Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” (; ). Note the introduction to the statement: “The Lord swore and will not repent [change His mind].” The matter is finally settled and it cannot be changed.
The presence of this oath gives to the priesthood of our Lord a greater degree of permanence and assurance. Jesus Christ is the “surety of a better testament [covenant]” (). The word “surety” means “one who guarantees that the terms of an agreement will be carried out.” Judah was willing to be the surety for Benjamin, to guarantee to their father that the boy would return home safely (). Paul was willing to be the surety for the slave Onesimus (). Perhaps the nearest equivalent we have today is a bondsman who posts bail for someone under indictment and guarantees that the indicted person will appear in court and stand trial.
As the Mediator between God and man (), Jesus Christ is God’s great Surety. Our risen and ever-living Saviour guarantees that the terms of God’s covenant will be fulfilled completely. God will not abandon His people. But our Lord not only guarantees to us that God will fulfill the promises. As our Representative to God, He perfectly meets the terms of the agreement on our behalf. We of ourselves could never meet the terms; but because we have trusted Him, He has saved us and He has guaranteed that He will keep us.
In , we have the first occurrence of a very important word in Hebrews—“testament.” This word, which is usually translated “covenant,” is used twenty-one times in the letter, and it is the equivalent of “last will and testament.” We will examine the word more closely in our study of Hebrews 8.
The writer has given three reasons why God changed the order of the priesthood from that of Aaron to that of Melchizedek: (1) the priesthood and the Law were imperfect; (2) being imperfect, they could not continue forever; (3) God had sworn by His oath that the new order would be established. Then the writer of this letter to the Hebrews closed this section with a fourth reason.
Because, being men, the priests died (vv. ). Not only was the priesthood imperfect, but it was also interrupted by death. There were many high priests because no one priest could live forever. In contrast, the church has one High Priest, Jesus the Son of God, who lives forever! An unchanging priest means an unchangeable priesthood, and this means security and confidence for God’s people. “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever” (). “Thou art a Priest forever” ().
Occasionally we read a story in the newspaper about the illegal handling of a will. Perhaps some unscrupulous relative or business partner managed to get his hands on a will and use it for his own selfish purposes. But this could never happen to our Lord’s “last will and testament” in His blood. He wrote the will and then died to make it take effect. But He arose from the dead and ascended to heaven, and there He is “probating” His own will!
The fact that the unchanging Christ continues as High Priest means, logically, that there is an “unchangeable priesthood” (). The Greek word translated “unchangeable” carries the idea of “valid and unalterable.” The word was used at the end of legal contracts. Our Lord’s priesthood in heaven is “valid and unalterable.” Because it is, we can have confidence in the midst of this shaking, changing world.
What is the conclusion of the matter? It is stated in : “Wherefore [because He is the ever-living, unchanging High Priest], He is able also to save them to the uttermost [completely, forever] that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.” It is unfortunate that this verse is often read, “He is able to save from the uttermost” instead of “to the uttermost.” To be sure, it is true that Christ can save any sinner from any condition; but that is not the import of the verse. The emphasis is on the fact that He saves completely, forever, all who put their faith in Him. Because He is our High Priest forever, He can save forever.
The basis for this completed salvation is the heavenly intercession of the Saviour. The word translated “make intercession” simply means “to meet, to approach, to appeal, to make petition.” We must not imagine that God the Father is angry with us so that God the Son must constantly appeal to Him not to judge us! The Father and the Son are in total agreement in the plan of salvation (). Neither should we imagine our Lord Jesus uttering prayers on our behalf in heaven, or repeatedly “offering His blood” as a sacrifice. That work was completed on the cross once and for all.
Intercession involves our Lord’s representation of His people at the throne of God. Through Christ, believers are able to draw near to God in prayer and also to offer spiritual sacrifices to God (; ). It has well been said that Christ’s life in heaven is His prayer for us. It is what He is that determines what He does.
In reviewing the reasoning found in this long section (), we are impressed with the logic of the writer. Jesus Christ’s priesthood after the order of Melchizedek is superior to that of Aaron and has replaced it. Both the historical argument and the doctrinal argument are sound. But the writer adds a third argument.
The Practical Argument: Christ and the Believer ()
No matter how devoted and obedient the Aaronic priests were, they could not always meet the needs of all the people. But Jesus Christ perfectly meets all of our needs. “For such an High Priest became us” means “He was suited to us; He meets our needs completely.” The emphasis here is on His sinlessness. Being perfect, He is able to exercise a perfect ministry for His people. Because of their sins, some of the Old Testament priests not only were unable to serve the people, but actually abused them. This could never happen with Jesus Christ and His people.
The Old Testament priests were “set apart” for their ministry, so in that sense they were “holy.” But they were not always holy in character. They were sinners like the people to whom they ministered. “Harmless” () means “blameless.” No Jewish priest could claim this distinction. “Undefiled” means “unstained.” Again, only Jesus Christ can claim these characteristics. When He was ministering on earth, our Lord was a friend of publicans and sinners (; ), but His contact with them did not defile His character or His conduct. There was contact without contamination. He was not isolated; He was separated. Today, He is “separate from sinners” because of His position (“made higher than the heavens”); but He is not separated from the people to whom He ministers. He is always available to us at His throne of grace.
Another proof of His sinlessness is the fact that our Lord never had to offer sacrifices for His own cleansing, as did the priests. On the annual Day of Atonement, the high priest first had to sacrifice for himself before he could sacrifice for the people (Lev. 16). There were also daily sacrifices offered as a part of the temple ritual; and, if a priest had sinned, he had to bring a sacrifice for his own cleansing (; ). But Jesus Christ offered just one sacrifice for our sins and settled the matter forever (see ).
This is the kind of High Priest we need! We are prone to sin daily, even hourly; and we need to be able to turn to Him for spiritual help. As our High Priest, Jesus Christ gives us the grace and mercy that we need not to sin. But if we do sin, He is our Advocate at God’s throne (). If we confess our sins to Him, He forgives us and restores us ().
The application is obvious: why turn away from such an adequate High Priest? What more can you find in any other person? The men who served under the Law of Moses had human infirmities and weaknesses, and they often failed. Our heavenly High Priest has been “consecrated [perfected] forevermore” () and there is no spot or blemish in Him. Such a High Priest “suits us perfectly”!
Are you availing yourself of His gracious ministry?
Hebrews 8
I once spoke at a meeting of religious broadcasters at which a friend of mine was to provide the ministry of music. He is a superb pianist with a gift for interpreting Christian music, and I have always enjoyed listening to him. But that day my heart went out to him in sympathy, because the motel had given the most deteriorated and derelict piano I have ever seen. It must have been donated by a local wrecking company. My friend did his best, but it would have been much better had he been playing a decent instrument.
Jesus Christ is God’s superior Priest; but is there anything that can minimize this superiority? Nothing! For He ministers on the basis of a better covenant (Heb. 8), in a better sanctuary (Heb. 9), and because of a better sacrifice (Heb. 10). It is the better covenant that is the theme of this chapter. The writer presented three evidences for the superiority of this covenant.
It Is Ministered by a Superior High Priest ()
Is the writer arguing in circles? First he shows the superiority of Christ, and then says, “Since He is superior, the covenant He ministers must be a superior covenant.” No, this is not reasoning in a circle; for the conclusion is logical. A superior priest could never minister on the basis of an inferior covenant. To change the illustration, the most gifted lawyer can do very little if the will he is probating is inadequate. It is unthinkable that our Lord would minister on the basis of an inferior “last will and testament.”
“This is the sum” simply means, “This is the main point and the climax of my discussion.” He then presented several “summary arguments” to prove that our Lord is indeed a superior High Priest.
His moral adequacy (v. ). “We have such an High Priest” [italics mine]. This statement refers us back to . “For such an high priest became us [was suited to us]” (). The fact that Jesus Christ is morally perfect and yet identified with us in our needs and temptations makes Him superior to any other priest, past or present. Those of his readers who wanted to go back into the Old Testament priesthood would have to leave this suitable High Priest.
His finished work (v. ). Today our Lord is seated because His work is completed. There were no chairs in the Old Testament tabernacle because the work of the priests was never finished. Each repeated sacrifice was only a reminder that none of the sacrifices ever provided a finished salvation. The blood of animals did not wash away sin or cleanse the guilty conscience; it only covered sin until that day when Jesus Christ died to take away the sin of the world ().
His enthronement (v. ). Jesus Christ is not just “seated.” It is where He is seated that adds glory to His person and His work. He is seated on the throne in heaven at the right hand of the Father. This great truth was introduced early in this epistle (), and it will be mentioned again (; ). This enthronement was the fulfillment of the Father’s promise to the Son: “Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool” (). Not only did the high priest of Israel never sit down in the tabernacle, but he never sat down on a throne. Only a priest “after the order of Melchizedek” could be enthroned, for Melchizedek was both king and priest ().
His supreme exaltation (vv. ). He is “in the heavens.” Jesus Christ, in His ascension and exaltation, “passed through the heavens” (, NASB). He is now exalted as high as anyone could be (; ). The fact that He ministers in a heavenly sanctuary is important to the argument presented in this chapter.
As we review these four “summary arguments,” we can see how logical it is that our Lord ministers on the basis of a superior covenant. Can you conceive of a high priest who is perfect morally, ministering on the basis of a covenant that could not change human hearts? Could a priest who has finished his work minister from a covenant that could finish nothing? Can we conceive of a king-priest in the highest heaven being limited by an Old Covenant that made nothing perfect? () The conclusion seems reasonable: the presence of a superior High Priest in heaven demands a superior covenant if He is to minister effectively to God’s people.
It Is Ministered in a Better Place ()
In this paragraph, the writer expanded on the marvelous truth that Jesus Christ today ministers in the heavenly sanctuary. The reason for this discussion is not difficult to determine. His readers knew that there was a real temple in Jerusalem, and that in the temple there were priests offering gifts and sacrifices. How easy it would be to go back into the traditional Mosaic system! After all, how do we know that the Lord Jesus is ministering in a sanctuary? Has anyone actually seen Him in His high priestly work?
Good questions—and there are good answers!
The logical answer (v. ). It has already been determined that Jesus Christ is a High Priest. But all high priests serve others; the title is not honorary. Each Old Testament high priest was appointed “to offer gifts and sacrifices”; therefore, Jesus Christ must offer gifts and sacrifices (see ; ). But these sacrifices must not be offered just anywhere; they must be offered in God’s appointed place (). That appointed place is the sanctuary. The conclusion is logical: if Jesus Christ is a High Priest who offers gifts and sacrifices, then He must have a sanctuary in which He ministers. Since He is in heaven, that sanctuary must be in heaven.
We must not, however, get the impression that our Lord is offering sacrifices in heaven that correspond to the Old Testament sacrifices. The word “somewhat” in is in the singular, and the phrase “to offer” is in a Greek tense that implies “offer once and for all.” On the cross, He offered Himself as the one sacrifice for sin forever (). In other words, our Lord is “a living sacrifice” in heaven. He is not offering Himself over and over because that is unnecessary.
The genealogical answer (v. ). We have met this truth before in . As far as His human ancestry is concerned, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah. God had promised that the Messiah would come from the kingly tribe of Judah (). But the priests had to come from the tribe of Levi. Therefore, if Jesus Christ were still on earth, He could not function as a priest. But He can serve as High Priest in heaven because there the order of Melchizedek governs the ministry, not the order of Aaron.
Again, the argument is sound. David predicted that Jesus Christ would be a Priest (). Jesus’ earthly birth into the tribe of Judah would not permit Him to be an earthly priest; therefore, He must be a Priest in heaven. He would not be accepted in the earthly sanctuary, so He must be serving in the heavenly sanctuary.
The typological answer (v. ). A “type” is an Old Testament picture of a New Testament truth. Each type is identified as such in the New Testament, so we must not try to make every Old Testament person or event into a type. The word “pattern” in this verse is the Greek word tupos, from which we get our English word “type.”
The priests then serving in the temple were actually serving in a sanctuary that was a copy (“example”) of the heavenly sanctuary. The quotation is from , where it refers obliquely to a heavenly sanctuary. Moses saw this pattern on the mount and duplicated its essentials in the earthly tabernacle. This does not mean that the heavenly tabernacle is made up of skins and fabrics. It is the basic pattern and meaning of the sanctuary that is emphasized here. The true sanctuary is in heaven; the tabernacle and temple were but imitations or copies of the true.
This is a telling argument for remaining faithful to Jesus Christ and not going back into Judaism. The earthly priesthood and sanctuary seemed quite real and stable, and yet they were but copies of the true! The Old Testament system was but shadows (see ). The Law was but a “shadow of good things to come” (); the true and full light came in Jesus Christ. So why go back into the shadows?
In the Book of Revelation, where the heavenly scene is described, we can find parallels to the Old Testament tabernacle. John states that there is a temple of God in heaven (). Of course, there will be no temple in the eternal state, because the entire city of God will be a temple (). For example, there is a brazen altar () as well as an altar of incense (). The “sea of glass” () reminds us of the laver, and the seven lamps of fire () suggest the seven-branched lampstand in the tabernacle.
Since Jesus Christ is ministering in the original sanctuary, and not the copy, He is ministering in a better place. Why fellowship with priests who are serving in a copied sanctuary when you can fellowship with Christ in the original heavenly sanctuary? It would be like trying to live on the blueprint instead of in the building itself!
The writer has now given us two evidences of the superiority of the New Covenant: it is ministered by a superior Priest, Jesus Christ; and it is ministered in a superior place, heaven itself. He devoted the remainder of this section to the third evidence.
It Is Founded on Better Promises ()
Moses was the mediator (go-between) of the Old Covenant in the giving of the Law (). The people of Israel were so frightened at Mount Sinai that they begged Moses to speak to them so that they would not have to hear God speak (). Sad to say, this fear of God did not last long; for the people soon disobeyed the very Law they promised to keep. The Mediator of the New Covenant is Jesus Christ, and He is the only Mediator (). Christ’s ministry as Mediator is more excellent than that of the Old Testament priests because it is based on a better covenant; and His covenant is founded on better promises.
The “better covenant” that is referred to in this paragraph was announced by the Prophet Jeremiah (). The promise was given in a prophecy that assured the Jews of future restoration. Jeremiah ministered during the closing years of the nation’s history, before Judah went into Babylonian Captivity. At a time when the nation’s future seemed completely destroyed, God gave the promise of restoration and blessing.
Before our Lord went to Calvary, He celebrated the Passover with His disciples in the Upper Room. At that supper, He instituted what we call “the Lord’s Supper.” He said, taking the cup, “This cup is the new testament [covenant] in My blood, which is shed for you” (; ). The Apostle Paul quoted these words and applied them to the church (). The writer of Hebrews states clearly that Jesus Christ now “is the Mediator of the New Covenant” () and repeats it ().
What, then, is the relationship between this New Covenant promised to Israel, but today experienced by the church? Or, to state it another way, how can God promise these blessings to the Jews and then turn around and give them to the church?
Some Bible students solve the problem by concluding that the church is “spiritual Israel” and that the New Covenant promises therefore belong to “Abraham’s spiritual seed” today. That believers today are the “spiritual seed” of Abraham is clear from ; but this is not the same as saying that the church is “spiritual Israel.” The promise quoted in specifically names “the house of Israel and … the house of Judah.” Once we are permitted to make such plain words as “Israel” and “Judah” mean something else, there is no end to how we might interpret the Bible!
Other students believe that this “New Covenant” has no present fulfillment in the church, but that it will be fulfilled only when the Jews are regathered and the kingdom is established at our Lord’s return to earth in glory. But then we have the problem of explaining and , verses that state that Jesus Christ is today the Mediator of the New Covenant. To affirm that there are two “new covenants,” one for Israel and one for the church, is to create more questions!
Perhaps the solution is found in God’s principle of “to the Jew first” (). God did promise a New Covenant for His people, but the blessings of this covenant are wrapped up in God’s Son, Jesus Christ. He is the Mediator of the New Covenant. When Jesus began His ministry on earth, He went to His own people first (). When He sent out His disciples, He sent them only to Israel (). When He commissioned the church to witness, He instructed them to begin in Jerusalem (; ). Peter’s message at Pentecost was addressed only to Jews and to Gentiles who were Jewish proselytes (see , , ). In his second recorded sermon, Peter clearly stated that the Good News of the Gospel would go to the Jews first ().
But the nation rejected the message and the messengers. While it is true that thousands of individuals trusted Christ and were saved, it is also true that most of the nation rejected the Word, and that the religious leaders opposed the ministry of the church. One result was the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7). But what was God’s response? The Gospel moved from Jerusalem and Judea into Samaria (Acts 8), and then to the Gentiles (Acts 10).
The church today is made up of regenerated Jews and Gentiles who are one body in Christ (; ). All who are “in Christ” share in the New Covenant which was purchased on the cross. Today the blessings of the New Covenant are applied to individuals. When Jesus comes in glory to redeem Israel, then the blessings of the New Covenant will be applied to that beleaguered nation. Read all of Jeremiah 31 to see what God has planned for Israel, His people.
Before we examine the “better promises” of the New Covenant, we must settle another matter. We must not conclude that the existence of the New Covenant means that the Old Covenant was wrong or that the Law has no ministry today. Both covenants were given by God. Both covenants were given for people’s good. Both covenants had blessings attached to them. If Israel had obeyed the terms of the Old Covenant, God would have blessed them and they would have been ready for the coming of their Messiah. Paul pointed out that the Old Covenant had its share of glory (). We must not criticize the Old Covenant or minimize it.
Even though the New Covenant of grace brings with it freedom from the Law of Moses (), it does not bring freedom to disobey God and sin. God still desires that the “righteousness of the Law” should be fulfilled in us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit (). There is a lawful use of the Law ().
Now we are ready to consider the “better promises” that belong to the New Covenant.
The promise of God’s grace (vv. ). The emphasis in the New Covenant is on God’s “I will.” The nation of Israel at Sinai said, “All the words which the Lord hath said will we do” (). But they did not obey God’s words. It is one thing to say, “We will!” and quite another thing to do it. But the New Covenant does not depend on man’s faithfulness to God but on God’s faithful promise to man. The writer of Hebrews affirms God’s “I will” on behalf of those who trust Jesus Christ (). In fact, God’s “I will” is stated three times in that one verse and six times in .
God led Israel out of Egypt the way a father would take a child by the hand and lead him. God gave Israel His holy Law for their own good, to separate them from the other nations and to protect them from the sinful practices of the heathen. But the nation failed; “they continued not in My covenant” (). God’s responses to Israel’s disobedience were to discipline them repeatedly and finally to send them into captivity.
God did not find fault with His covenant but with His people. “Wherefore, the Law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good” (). The problem is not with the Law, but with our sinful natures, for by ourselves we cannot keep God’s Law. The Law “made nothing perfect” () because it could not change any human heart. Only God’s grace can do that.
The New Covenant is wholly of God’s grace; no sinner can become a part of this New Covenant without faith in Jesus Christ. Grace and faith go together just as the Law and works go together (). The Law says, “The man that doeth them [the things written in the Law] shall live in them” (). But grace says, “The work is done—believe and live!”
The promise of internal change (v. ). The Law of Moses could declare God’s holy standard, but it could never provide the power needed for obedience. Sinful people need a new heart and a new disposition within; and this is just what the New Covenant provides. (For a parallel passage, see .) When a sinner trusts Christ, he receives a divine nature within (). This divine nature creates a desire to love and obey God. By nature, sinful people are hateful and disobedient (); but the new nature gives each believer both the desire and the dynamic for a godly life.
The Law was external; God’s demands were written on tablets of stone. But the New Covenant makes it possible for God’s Word to be written on human minds and hearts (). God’s grace makes possible an internal transformation that makes a surrendered believer more and more like Jesus Christ ().
It is unfortunate that many Christians think they are saved by grace but must then fulfill their Christian life according to the Old Testament Law. They want the New Covenant for salvation but the Old Covenant for sanctification. The Apostle Paul had a phrase to describe this condition: “fallen from grace” (). Not “fallen from salvation,” but fallen from the sphere of God’s blessing through grace. We do not become holy people by trying to obey God’s Law in our own power. It is by yielding to the Holy Spirit within that we fulfill the righteousness of the Law (); and this is wholly of grace.
The promise of forgiveness for all (vv. ). There is no forgiveness under the Law because the Law was not given for that purpose. “Therefore by the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight; for by the Law is knowledge of sin” (). The Law could not promise forgiveness to Israel, let alone to all mankind. It is only through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that forgiveness is possible to all who will call on Him. The Old Testament sacrifices brought a remembrance of sins, not a remission of sins (, ).
quotes . It refers to that day when Israel shall be reunited with Judah () and shall rejoice in the promised kingdom (). In that day, there will be no need to share the Gospel with others because everyone will know the Lord personally. However, until that day, it is both our privilege and our responsibility to share the Gospel message with a lost world.
What does it mean that God remembers our sins and iniquities no more? () This important statement is quoted again in . Does it mean that our all-knowing God can actually forget what we have done? If God forgot anything, He would cease to be God! The phrase “remember no more” means “hold against us no more.” God recalls what we have done, but He does not hold it against us. He deals with us on the basis of grace and mercy, not law and merit. Once sin has been forgiven, it is never brought before us again. The matter is settled eternally.
As a pastor in counseling ministry I have often heard people say, “Well, I can forgive—but I cannot forget!”
“Of course you can’t forget,” I usually reply. “The more you try to put this thing out of your mind, the more you will remember it. But that isn’t what it means to forget.” Then I go on to explain that “to forget” means “not to hold it against the person who has wronged us.” We may remember what others have done, but we treat them as though they never did it.
How is this possible? It is possible because of the cross, for there God treated His Son as though He had done it! Our experience of forgiveness from God makes it possible for us to forgive others.
The promise of eternal blessing (v. ). The Old Covenant was still governing the nation of Israel at the time this epistle was written. The temple was standing and the priests were offering their appointed sacrifices. Devout Jews probably thought that their Christian friends were foolish to abandon such a “solid religion” for a faith that was seemingly intangible. What the unbelieving Jews did not realize was that their “solid religion” had grown old and was about to vanish away. In A.D. 70 the city of Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed by the Romans, and the Jews have not had a temple or a priesthood to serve them ever since (see ).
However, the New Covenant brings eternal blessing. Jesus Christ is the Author of “eternal salvation” () and “eternal redemption” (). The New Covenant can never get old and disappear. The Greek word translated “new” means “new in quality,” not “new in time.” This New Covenant is of such quality that it will never need to be replaced!
Yes, our Lord is ministering on the basis of a better covenant, a New Covenant that makes us partakers of the new nature and the wonderful new life that only Christ can give.