Hebrews 8:7-13

For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another.  But God found fault with the people and said: “The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.  It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord.  This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord.  I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.  I will be their God, and they will be my people.  No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.  For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”  By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear (Hebrews 8:7-13 NIV).

   In this passage of Hebrews, the author quotes Jeremiah to show that this new covenant being explained was not introduced for the first time by the Messiah, rather God foretold of this new covenant through the prophet Jeremiah.  To give a synopsis of what the author of Hebrews is saying: What I have been talking about is what Jeremiah foretold.  We Christians are not making this up in retrospect.
   Around 2002, I did an intense ten month study of the book of Jeremiah.  As someone who was not raised in a Christian family and who did not start studying the Bible until I was 23, I had everything to learn from this book.  Having an interest in history, I was amazed as I personally verified the historical accuracy.  And having heard the Old Testament was filled with “God’s wrath,” I was amazed to learn not only of the righteous justice of God, yet also of His patience and mercy.
   In the first section of the book, Jeremiah the prophet keeps proclaiming statements from God, warning the Israelites, really to the point of pleading, to abstain from the wrong they are doing.  Doing such a close study of the book, the repetitive warnings got tedious as God kept telling the Israelites in Judah to stop doing wrong.  They were worshiping false gods along with many other sinful acts.  Jeremiah gave them God’s warnings.  Yet they did not listen.  Then the day came.  I remember where I was sitting when I read that passage in Jeremiah.  God’s proclamation: the warnings are over.  God said Jerusalem would be destroyed, and the majority of Israelites will be exiled.  The end had come.
   Yet in that same passage, where the just wrath of God echoed from Judah, God still offered mercy.  Incredible.  God told the people through Jeremiah that after the seventy years of exile in Babylon which the Israelites were going to experience, that He would bring His people home.  God carried out with His promise!  In 536 B.C. (some say 539 B.C. though I think that is inaccurate), after the first wave of exiles had been marched to Babylon in 605 B.C. and the third and final wave of exiles had been marched to Babylon in 586 B.C., King Cyrus gave a proclamation that Israelites could return to their homeland and rebuild their temple.  That is why the book of Ezra is one of my favorite Old Testament books.  It is about going home.
   Remember the Mosaic covenant was that if the Israelites would obey the laws and decrees given through Moses, then they would live long and prosper in the land that God would give to them.  Yet often the Israelites did not obey.  Yet even during the time of Jeremiah, before the fall of the Southern kingdom of Israel, God was promising that He would restore Israel even though they in no way deserved it.  God delivered the Israelites from exile because He loves the Jewish people, and all other people.  And love is why He worked through the Mosaic covenant to lead to the New Covenant which would be offered by and through the Messiah, the Christ.  And the core of that covenant would be the forgiveness of sins which was made available to all people through the substitutional atonement made by Jesus Christ on the cross.  The forgiveness of sins does not come about by any of the godliness or the works of a person.  The forgiveness is due to God’s mercy and grace.  There is forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ!
   At this very time in my journey, I write in the basement of a friend’s house.  My circumstances: I am unemployed and my car died.  That friend, and his great wife and daughter, have blessed me more than I can say by allowing me to stay with them while I look for a ministry position.  Yet it is a reminder that I have no permanent home in this world.  Not quite one year ago, God enabled me to leave the Denver metropolitan area to teach in a school in Appalachia.  Leaving Colorado was one of the hardest things I have ever done, because I have friends there and because I lived there for sixteen years.  Yet I knew going to teach in Appalachia was what I was supposed to do.  The town where I lived, Lost Creek, simply had a post office, two schools, and scattered homes.  I was sometimes lonely.  (I did have incredibly personal times with God on early evening walks in the woods.)  Yet despite the culture shock, I had hoped Lost Creek would be my new home.  Yet then, God whisked me to Ithaca, N.Y. just before my car died, which was a blessing because I could not have made it at the Brethren mission in the rural area without a car.  Now here I am in another unfamiliar place in upstate New York.  It has been occasion to reflect on how I consider both Annandale, Virginia, and Denver, Colorado to be my hometowns, but I may never live in either of those two places again.  And where will my home be two months from now?  I have no idea.  I have sent resumes to churches in numerous states.  Will I feel at home there?  Or will it be lonely like early times in Lost Creek.  Yet I know I have a home in heaven.  This is a promise of the new covenant.  Just as the Israelites got to make that epic journey home in 536 B.C., all followers of Jesus will one day be home in heaven with the One who forgave our sins.  During your days in this world, God may have you get extremely rooted in some community, or God may have you journey to various places, or God may have a variety of things for you during various seasons of your life.  The journey of each person is unique, just as God made each person unique in some way.  Yet thanks to the new covenant mediated by the Messiah, an eternal home awaits all who believe in Jesus.  Jesus frequently began parables saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like…….”  Jesus promised His followers heaven.
   And if you believe in Jesus, you also have blessings available in the present, wherever you live.  Maybe you are unemployed like me at this time, or maybe you are encountering some other hardship or challenge.  Being united with Jesus, you still have the love of God right here and now, a true love which can result in joy and peace.  And you even have a mission to love other people, all of whom need the love of Jesus.  And whatever your circumstances, you will also have challenges due to following Jesus!  As you persevere, keep in mind that as the sun of this world starts setting, you will be headed for a glorious eternal home.
God bless you!
Hunter Irvine
   I close by sharing a music video featuring Michael W. Smith.  It is a ten minute video, yet this is special.  I think it is worth the commitment to see it through.
http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=9FE91FNU
or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPBmFwBSGb0&list=RDsr6L_vaQ42s&index=27

Hebrews 8:3-6

Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer.  If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already men who offer the gifts prescribed by the law.  They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven.  This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”  But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises (Hebrews 8:3-6 NIV).

   Note how the author of Hebrews states in the present tense that priests are serving at the sanctuary on earth.  Thus Hebrews was obviously written before 70 A.D.!

   Why is the ministry of Jesus superior to the ministry of the high priests who were of the lineage of Aaron and who served in the temple in Jerusalem?  And why is covenant of which Jesus is the mediator superior to the old covenant of which Moses what the mediator?  Let us briefly look at some of the things priests did as their duty under the Mosaic Law.  YHWH, the Hebrew sacred name for God, which in most English Bibles is translated as "the LORD," gave Moses on Mt. Sinai, among other laws, regulations which required sacrifices.  These sacrifices involved giving over animals and grain to Hebrew priests, who would in turn kill the animals.  The required sacrifices included the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, the ordination offering, and the fellowship offering (Leviticus 7:37-38).

   Most often, the offering had to be a male animal without defect.  The fellowship offering was the most unique in that it could be male or female, and apparently with defect.  This seems to have been an offering to provide some food for the priests, yet even it started as an offering to God with all fat parts and the kidneys burned on the altar “to the LORD.”  Speaking of food for priests, they got a portion of the grain offering, and they could eat the hide of the guilt offering and certain sin offerings, yet never the fat (Leviticus 7:1-10).

   Most of these offerings, not the grain offering obviously, would involve the animal being killed, and then blood was sprinkled on all sides of the altar, or in front of the curtain in the case of the sin offering.  After the sprinkling of the blood, the fat portion at least was burned on the altar as a sacrifice to the LORD.

   In 2 Chronicles, Hezekiah had the temple cleansed and restored by the Levites, and then the sacrifices by priests resumed.  While burnt offerings were sacrificed, some Levites sang, and some Levites played trumpets.  Then after the sacrificing, Psalms of David and “Asaph the seer” were sung, and people worshiped God praising Him, which is told about in 2 Chronicles 29:27-30.  Killing these animals was a festive occasion for them.

   Why did such a slaughter of animals, with blood being sprinkled on an altar or poured out result in atonement for sins?  Why all this death of animals?!  The death of the animals was the substitute for the death which people deserved.  The tragic death of those animals was the purpose of God to bring forgiveness of sins for the Israelites.  Israelites could be grateful to God for allowing the animal sacrifice to be accepted by God as atonement for their sins.  Yet it was only temporary atonement.  God revealed in Genesis that only people were made in the image of God, having a spiritual nature, thus animals could only be a temporary atonement for people.

   This animal sacrificing was to foreshadow and prepare the Israelites, and really the world, for the Messiah who was coming to be the Eternal Sacrifice, once for all people.  The Messiah made the offer of the permanent forgiveness of sins for any person who believes in Him.  And this answers the two questions.  The sacrifice of the priests in the temple in Jerusalem resulted in temporary atonement only, whereas the sacrifice of Jesus resulted in permanent atonement, thus the ministry of Jesus is superior to the ministry done by the Israelite priests in the temple.  And the Mosaic Covenant required Israelites to obey the Law, yet they were never able to perfectly do so.  We learn from the Hebrew Scriptures that often the animal sacrifices were being neglected!  Yet Jesus did live a perfect life, and He did fulfill the Law, which included dying as the permanent sacrifice for sins.  Thus for any person who believes in Jesus, he or she is forgiven of sins, united with God in Spirit, and enabled by the Holy Spirit to live a life pleasing to God.  That is why the New Covenant is superior.

   Jesus Christ died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  If a person believes in Jesus, the One who was the perfect substitute for the wages of sin, which is spiritual death, then she or he has eternal life!

Hunter Irvine

Hebrews 8:1-2

The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man (Hebrews 8:1-2 NIV).

   When I was a new Christian in my twenties, I worshiped at a church, The Falls Church, which frequently recited the Nicene Creed as a part of Sunday worship.  This creed is a result of the Council of Nicea held in 325 A.D.  And one of the proclamations in that creed is “…. he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father…”  The Nicene Creed captured this truth from Scripture considering it is stated in this Hebrews passage, and there is a similar statement in Ephesians 1:20.  On an occasion when I started thinking about that statement, I was perplexed as to why Jesus needed to sit down until coming again.  And if one with the Father, I would think He should be described as more than simply being at the right hand?

   Fortunately, Dr. Neil Lightfoot clarifies the first question.  “…His sitting suggests His kingly state…” (1)  Jesus does not need to simply sit down in heaven.  The phrase is symbolic supporting the Kingship of Jesus as the author of Hebrews continues giving evidence and illustrations that Jesus is both High Priest and King of heaven.

   Regarding Jesus being relegated to the “right hand,” there is nothing like a great Bible dictionary from 1901 to answer that question: “Figuratively the power of the Almighty…” (2)  Within the song that Moses and other Israelites sang to YHWH are the verses: “Your right hand, O’LORD was majestic in power.  Your right hand, O’LORD, shattered the enemy” (Exodus 15:6 NIV).  The emphasis for the statement that Jesus is at the right hand of the Majesty is not to say that Jesus is less than Majestic, rather to symbolically show that Jesus is victorious.  The One who was qualified by suffering to be the High Priest need sacrifice no more.  It is finished!  Jesus is the victor, and the victory was of the highest honor.

   Doing something different here by getting away from our text, yet keeping in the spirit of the book of Hebrews, I say a few things about the Council of Nicea since I brought up this subject which is less familiar in the U.S. culture today.  First, in my opinion, a huge omission from the creed is the lack of a statement about the atonement.  I do not know whose hypothesis is correct regarding a reason why.  My speculation is the Christians at the Council of Nicea simply took it for granted.  If so, in my opinion it is a tragic omission.  As we have learned, the author of Hebrews focuses us on the atonement of Jesus!
   Secondly, the person who called the Council was the Roman emperor Constantine, and Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, wrote about the Council.  To stick with one problem with these two; other writings by both of these men expose that they blamed the entire Jewish ethnic group for the crucifixion of Jesus. (3)  They were wrong.  First, it is evil to blame an ethnic group for a crime committed by a small group of people.  Second, Jesus forgave the people who crucified him.  All Christians should do likewise.  Thirdly, Jesus died for all sinners; it was His plan.  Thus ultimately all sinners are responsible for the death of Jesus.  That includes you and me.  Praise be to God, there is forgiveness of sins offered to all by Jesus the Messiah, which came through His sacrifice, which He made since Jesus loves all people.

   Concluding with positive news on the Council of Nicea: it included Christian leaders from a wide area there in 325 A.D.  Eusebius, the Bishop of Caesarea who tackled an early Christian history endeavor, though a downright weird writer, preserved priceless early Christian history.  Sometimes called Eusebius Pamphilus, the second name apparently taken from a mentor who was a martyr, he gives us insight into the attendees.  Note that “bishop” is a word adopted by many in early churches as a title for an “overseer.”  “....while the present assembly included more than two hundred and fifty bishops; but such a multitude of presbyters, deacons and acolothists accompanied them, that it was difficult to determine their number.” (4)  And Christians came from all over the place!  “Sacred” is not the word I would have chosen for a bunch of Christians having a big meeting, but I want you to get a feel of the voice of the author.  “The sacred edifice, as if enlarged by the pleasure of God, enclosed at the same time within its walls, both Syrians and Cilicians, Phoenicians, Arabians, and inhabitants of Palestine; Egyptians, Thebeans, and Lybians, with others arriving from Mesopotamia.  A bishop from Persia was also present.  Nor was the Scythian absent from this assembly.  Pontus, also, and Galatia, Pamphylia and Cappadocia, Asia and Phrygia furnished representatives from their most able divines.  Thracians too, Macedonians, Achaians and Epirotes, and those who resided at a vast distance beyond them, were convened.  That illustrious Spaniard, who is so highly spoken of, took his seat with the others.” (5)  Early Christianity was ethnically diverse.  That is what the New Covenant is all about, since Jesus died as the perfect sacrifice for all people, and people of every ethnic group have an opportunity to believe in Jesus.

Hunter Irvine

(1) Neil R. Lightfoot, Jesus Christ Today: A Commentary on the Book of Hebrews (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1976), 154.
(2) Smith’s Bible Dictionary (Philadelphia: A.J. Holman Company, 1901), 261.
(3) See Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History: Complete and Unabridged, trans. C.F. Cruse (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson, 1998), 70-71 & 424.
(4) Ibid., 391.
(5) Ibid., 390.

Hebrews 7:26-28

Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.  Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people.  He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.  For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever (Hebrews 7:26-28 NIV).

   I start with the last statement because it raises a theological question in the light of the first sentence of this passage: If Jesus was without sin, even though he was fully human as the incarnate Christ, and if Jesus was fully God, how come He needed to be “perfected?”  How does someone without sin get “perfected?”  Note that Dr. Neil Lightfoot points out other passages which state Jesus was without sin: Hebrews 4:15, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 2:22, 1 John 3:5, John 8:29, John 8:46, and John 10:32.
   Dr. Lightfoot drives home in his commentary that Hebrews reveals that the context of “perfection” concerns “qualification,” and the qualification concerns Priesthood. (1)  Dr. Lightfoot brilliantly pieces together our book, basing his definition on Hebrews 2:10, which ties this perfection to suffering, and brings in Hebrews 5:9, which gives the result of this “perfection.”  “By going through the school of suffering, Jesus was perfectly qualified to be Priest.  Because of His suffering, He became the source (aitios, literally, “cause”) of men’s salvation.” (2)
   I love kids.  They are so full of enthusiasm!  Just yesterday I was at a church picnic, and it was so cool to see young people of various ages having fun throwing flying discs and playing kickball, soccer, and volleyball.  As someone who does youth ministry, how I lament at the suffering that goes on with young people due to broken families, abuse, and all kind of other stuff.  Being an extremely sensitive guy, it hurts me when young people suffer even though they are not related physically to me.  Suffering is not what anyone I know wants, so why would it be a qualification for Jesus?  God the Father allowed Jesus, God the Son, to suffer physical and spiritual death on a cross.  Does this exhibit that the Father is cruel and even sick?  No, because in fact all three Persons of the Trinity would have suffered since all three are One.  God accepted suffering because He loves people.  Jesus was willing to suffer more than we can comprehend to save people.
   In Chapter one of Hebrews, the title Son is used five times to refer to Jesus, and the name Jesus is not stated until chapter two.  I think the author of Hebrews was tactful in his decision to start softly with a Messianic title, before even saying the name that some Hebrews would have found offensive.  Yet most importantly the brilliant Dr. Neil Lightfoot recognized an objective of the early chapters of Hebrews was “… to demonstrate Christ as Son because Sonship is the essential predicate of eternal priesthood.” (3)  In Hebrews 5:4, the author states, “No one takes this honor [the high priesthood] upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was.  So Christ also did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a high priest.  But God said to him, ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father’”(NIV), which is quoting from Psalm 2:7.  That is the oath: God the Father chose God the Son and being the eternal high priest was a duty for the Son.  Being the eternal high priest would bring suffering, yet the result of that suffering would be eternal goodness.
   Jewish priests were required under the Mosaic Law to consistently sacrifice animals.  Jesus does not need to sacrifice animals daily.  Jesus paid the price of spiritual death for every person on the cross at Calvary.  The wages of sins has been paid by the Son of God, and anyone who believes in Jesus receives that atonement.  The Sacrifice of Jesus was Himself!  The Messiah gave up His life to save you and me.  He died.  He was resurrected.  He is alive.
   This passage is incredible.  Dr. Lightfoot sums it all up: “Jesus the perfect high priest and Jesus the perfect sacrifice.” (4)  If you have never received Jesus, you can do so right now.  Believe in Jesus now and you will have eternal life from the One who loves you so much that He died, physically and spiritually died, to offer you salvation!

Hunter Irvine

(1) Neil R. Lightfoot, Jesus Christ Today: A Commentary on the Book of Hebrews (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1976), 149.
(2) Ibid., 110.
(3) Ibid., 105.
(4) Ibid., 149.

Hebrews 7:23-25

Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.  Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them (Hebrews 7:23-25 NIV).

   It was a day of enlightenment about a year and a half ago when I pondered the issue of anointing carried out under the Mosaic Covenant.  I discovered there were three groups of people who were anointed:

First, priests were anointed!

= Exodus 30:22-33

Second, prophets were anointed!

= I Kings 19:16

Third, kings of Israel were anointed!

= I Samuel 16:13  (David)
= 2 Kings 9:1-6  (Jehu)

This led me to realize the extent of being the Christ, which is the Greek word for "Anointed One."  The Hebrew word is Messiah!

Scripture reveals Jesus fit all three positions of being anointed:

Jesus is a forever Priest!
The author of Hebrews states that here.

Jesus is The Prophet
The Prophet is foretold in Deuteronomy 18:15, and Peter affirms the Prophet is Jesus in Acts 3: 22.
(Honestly, I use to think the Prophet needed to be someone who foretold of the Christ to come, since that was a key nature of the prophets under the Mosaic Covenant.  However, I changed my view on this.  Now Dr. Tom Varney at CCU use to say a prophet was someone who listened to God, and then spoke for God.  Yet is not both something Christians should be doing?  Yet our primary means of listening to God is the Scripture, which includes prophets who heard from God in a variety of manners.
   I do think the office of prophet under the Mosaic Covenant was a special office which involved speaking for God regarding blessings or curses under the Mosaic Covenant, and which had a key duty of foretelling of the Messiah.  Yet Jesus was the Prophet as He directly foretold of His death and resurrection, He foretold the sending of the Holy Spirit, He foretold the destruction of Jerusalem, which took place in 70 A.D., and He foretold His return.)
   The ultimate prophecy that He would suffer, die, and then be resurrected is recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke:
= Matthew 26:2
= Mark 9: 30-32
= Luke 18: 31-33

Thirdly, Jesus is the King of Kings, which is revealed in Revelation.
= Revelation 19:16   (King of Kings and Lord of Lords is written on His robe and on His thigh in the vision.)

   Based on the anointings under the Mosaic Covenant, it makes sense the Anointed One would be the Most High Priest, the Prophet, and the King of Kings.
   Also, this theology of Jesus fulfilling the offices of Priest, Prophet, and King is recorded as early as Eusebius, and discussed by followers of Jesus in the past, including John Calvin and Susanna Wesley.

   I add that whereas priests, prophets, and kings under the Mosaic Covenant were anointed with olive oil, (and other things were added to the olive oil for the “sacred oil” for priests), Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit!
The Holy Spirit came upon Jesus at His baptism!
= Mark 1:9-10
= Luke 3:21-22

   So the author of Hebrews states in these verses that Jesus is able to save because He has a forever priesthood.  And being a forever priest, His sacrifice on the cross was able to be a single sacrifice which could transcend time and space.  The atonement was made on the cross nearly 2,000 years ago.  And even today, Jesus can apply that atonement as He is the forever priest for anyone who believes in Him.

   I conclude this piece with a prayer of thanksgiving:

+ Holy God, thank you for encouraging us through the book of Hebrews that Jesus is alive, and that we can come to You for forgiveness and life, even today.  It is through the Holy name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
Hunter Irvine

[This piece was drastically edited on 5/31/19.]