Lesson 15

Hebrews 8 – New King James Version

1 Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.

3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer. 4 For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; 5 who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” 6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.

7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. 8 Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 9 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 11 None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

13 In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

First Impression?

• My comrades suggested “why all the ramble to get here”, salvation, no more teaching, planned obsolescence and agree with everybody. I was overtaken by verse 10. It was interesting how hard the chapters seemed leading up to this and how simple this seemed.

The main point – What is the main point?

• Answers I heard included verse 10, the Holy Spirit, but the answer I wanted was Christ is our High Priest (from the first two verses). Odd how getting to the main point and jumping off makes getting to the main point slip the mind.

What is the true tabernacle?

• Opinions included Jesus, Jesus, House of God, and a place of worship in the heavenly realms. The last was the one I was looking for. It is amazing to see my friends’ brains working through the topic while nothing comes from their mouths.

Why is the second covenant better?

• Opinions included everlasting, Jesus at center, still in place, and relational. In a run to the end (so to speak), the key facet is that the second covenant works whereas the first one really only brought forth the need for salvation.

What is the second covenant?

• Lots of odd comments as we worked through this one. The key is to think of the second in terms of the first. The first was basically, follow all my laws, and you can be my people. The first was not possible. The second was love my son and you are my people. Simple and fulfilling.

My laws in their mind. What does this mean to you?

• This was my favorite question of the day. I am not sure any of the responses helped.

Write them on their hearts. Same?

• Now we got somewhere. The ideal response was that when the law was written in our minds, we knew what to do, but when it was written in our hearts, we felt emotion helping us to understand what to do.

I will be their God. Same?

• Interestingly, the King James version used slightly different words that I think were a change in language more so than a difference in meaning. The basic meaning to me was that God will lead us once we love His Son.

They will be my people, Same?

• The full measure of the verse brings us to we will know what to do, we will want to do the right thing emotionally, we will be led by God to do a particular thing, and because we love God, we will do this right thing. The discussion was hopefully very fruitful, but there is a lot to dig out of these verses. I am sure there is way more the longer we spend studying and the more we have experience to help us learn.

Why has the first covenant not vanished away?

• The premise is that the second covenant has made the first irrelevant, but only for salvation. The true purpose of the first covenant was to show that man had been made to need God and that sin requires salvation. For all those who do not yet believe in Christ, the first covenant is still there to help them understand that they too need the second covenant.