Hebrews 8:1-13
The High Priest of a New Covenant
1The 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, 2and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man.
3Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. 4If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already men who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. 5They 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." 6But 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.
7For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8But 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.
9It 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.
10This 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.
11No 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.
12For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more."
13By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.
The author of Hebrews tells us that we have a High Priest that sits at the right hand of the throne of His Majesty in heaven...He is Jesus Christ...This High Priest is One who came from the LORD, He was not appointed by man, but was sent by God...Jesus is now at the throne of God can intercede for our sins, if we believe in Him...He came from God and is with God, and He is alive...Jesus is our reconciler...We need to pray to Him, not only when we sin, but all times...He is beside God and is ready to help us...
God told Moses to build our first tabernacle...God warned Moses to build the tabernacle according to the pattern shown to him on the sacred mountain...This tabernacle would be where the people would pray and communicate to God...The newly built tabernacle would be "the" sanctuary...A place for God's people to worship Him...It would be a sacred, spiritual, beautiful place...It would be a place where God's people who had sinned could go and take and make sacrifices and be forgiven...
This tabernacle would be on earth and because it was made of earthly materials would wear out, fade, and deteriorate with age and time...Jesus, now being with God and is in the presence of God, is better than the original tabernacle (as well as the other temples that we built)...Jesus would not deteriorate and die...Sacred tabernacles and temples used to be the place to go and communicate with God...The place where we can go now is to Jesus and pray to Him...He is our new Temple...Jesus is our Mediator to God...Jesus is a better prayer sanctuary than the original tabernacle...
The prophet, Jeremiah (in chapter 31), told us that that a new covenant is coming for the house of Israel...This covenant will not be like the original covenant with the forefathers and Moses, that He brought out of Egypt...The new covenant will be for the house of Israel...God will now put His laws in our hearts and in our minds...God will make us aware of what is right and what is wrong...God gives us the moral values to know right from wrong...God's eternal power and through His divine nature we are given moral conscientiousness...God is and God is in us...He tells us that He will be our God and we will be His people...He will forgive our wickedness and will remember our sins no more...
By calling this covenant "new" God has made the first covenant obsolete and what is old will age and soon disappear...The temple as Jesus predicted was destroyed around 70 a.d. by the Romans...Jesus replaces not only the first tabernacle, but also this Temple of Herod...As the Hebrew writer states here, the new covenant has replaced the old covenant...
The new covenant, the new promise from God was fulfilled when Jesus died on the cross...Jesus' blood on the cross paid for our sins and God will forgive our wicked sins as He promises in Jeremiah...The new covenant guarantees us that He will forgive us, we will be His people, we can follow Jesus teachings and God's will, and we will die in the delight of the company of the Father and Son...