nthebrews8

Caution to students of God's Word - Please remember two things when using our studies: #1. Our commentary is not God's Word. It is only our interpretation or understanding of "His Word" and even though we try our best to be accurate we may or may not be correct. #2. The King James translation, or any other translation, of the original Hebrew text has some words which were given different translations at different places probably because of the interpreters preconceived ideas of what they think God meant to say. For example: According to the notes in the "Dake's Annotated Reference Bible" the Hebrew word hayah in the KJV is Trans. (became) 67 times, (becamest or came to pass) 505 times, (become) 66 times, and (come to pass) 131 times, but for some reason in Genesis 1:2 it is translated (was)! That sure changes the way a person perceives the original creation of the earth, doesn't it? Gen. 1:2 And the earth was (became) without form, ... Having said that, let us continue with our "Key Knowledge" lessons. These are pamphlets containing knowledge, we believe, you must have to fully and accurately unlock and understand the Word of God.

John 15:26
But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

John 16:13-14
[13] Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. [14] He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

This Bible Study was originally written by Roger Christopherson,
published at http://www.theseason.org/

Without the leading by the Holy Spirit, there is no understanding of the truths, for all the truth of the Scriptures are revealed to us by God's Spirit.

"The Efficacy [producing an Intended Effect] of Christ's Priesthood,"
"The Old and New Covenants Compared and Contrasted."

Hebrews 8:1 "Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an High Priest, Who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;"

Paul is stating that of all the things that have been said to this point, this is summing it all up. We have a High Priest who is now setting at the right hand of our Heavenly Father in the Heavens, and He shall stay there until the day of His return, that time when all of His enemies are made His footstool.

Hebrews 8:2 "A Minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man."

The "sanctuary" is made up of Christ's body, that the many membered body that is eternal, and continues to grow. The "true tabernacle" also is that many membered body of Christ. Jesus stated in Matthew 26:61; "And said, "This fellow said, 'I am able to destroy the Temple of God, and to build it in three days.' " This is referring to the fact that upon Christ's death on the cross, the veil in the temple of God leading into the holy of holies was rent in two. Then after Jesus' flesh body lay in the tomb for the three days and three nights, He was transformed into His transfigured body, and came out of the tomb after three days and three nights victorious over death, and from that day forward the sanctuary and the tabernacle of Christ was formed.

The tent or tabernacle that Moses built in the wilderness has long rotted away, but the tent, or tabernacle that Christ built when He rose from the dead is an eternal sanctuary that has no end. It is made up of every person that has come to believe on Jesus Christ, repented to the Father in Jesus name, from the time of His resurrection, to the very last day of this earth age. Every member that goes to make up that sanctuary has received life everlasting and that is why it is an eternal sanctuary.

After this earth age has come to a close, and after the thousand year reign of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ on earth, which is called the Millennium age; and after that great white thone judgment; yes and even after the Devil and all those that followed him have walked into hell fire for their final destruction; then this sanctuary will continue on eternally. Then the New Jerusalem will descend down from the heavens to earth.

Revelation 21:1 "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea."

Revelation 21:2 "And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."

Revelation 21:3 "And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God."

This is why there will be no end to the Tabernacle, and the sanctuary, because in that beautiful new Jerusalem, there will be no end.

Revelation 21:22 "And I saw no Temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of it."

Revelation 21:23 "And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof."

Revelation 21:24 "And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

When you come to see the Love that God has for all His children, and receive and believe on His Son Jesus Christ who paid the price for all of your sins and you repent to our Heavenly Father, then you become part of this eternal sanctuary, and what we read of the new Jerusalem is prepared for you to live in eternally.

Hebrews 8:3 "For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this Man have somewhat also to offer."

Just as every earthly priest had something to offer up to God, in the form of an animal sacrifice, or gifts of love and offerings, so also does the Son of Man [Jesus Christ] have something to offer up to God. Our Lords offering was His own shed blood on the cross, offered up as the full payment for the sins of all persons that will believe on Him, and accept that gift of Christ. Our acceptance comes by the repenting of our sins to the Father, that is the reason our Heavenly Father demands that you identify your sins, and qualify them by saying "In Jesus Name". For by your own methods there is no forgiveness, for there is no other way to the Father but by Christ. That is real love that Christ gave to you and me.

Hebrews 8:4 "For if He were on earth, He should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:"

Christ was an exception to the old priest that offered their gifts according to the law.

Hebrews 8:5 "Who served unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, "See", saith he, "That thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount."

When the old priest served up the offerings under the law, it was a type of the heavenly gifts that Christ would give. When God gave Moses the pattern and plans for the tabernacle while up on Mount Sinai, He demanded that Moses build that tabernacle to the exact size, shape, manner, and using the materials that God designated to be used. This tabernacle of Moses' time was a copy, or better said, a type of what Christ's Temple would be. It was not a true temple but only a shadow of what would come and be built later.

For now, rather then having a priest entering the "Holy of Holies" each year, Christ has become our High Priest that split that veil of the "Holy of Holies", and we can come to the Father at any time we chose.

Hebrews 8:6 "But now hath He obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the Mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises."

The reason that this is possible is that there is forgiveness which is established on the promises of God. These promises are absolutely and legally sure, and it is upon the promises of the Old Testament that the fulfillment of the promises of Christ in the New Testament are even established. The Old Testament spoke of what would take place in the New Testament and was an "ensample" [example] of what we shall face in the final generation, and on into eternity. The only thing in the Old Testament that was done away with is the blood sacrifices of animals and blood ordinances, for Christ fulfilled those requirements of our Heavenly Father.

The Old Covenant is not out of existence because God promised Abraham that his children and their inheritance would become as numerous as the stars of the heavens and the sands of the sea, and continue forever.

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

There was no fault in that first covenant, other then that first covenant was to become a type of what would come to pass later. It was not God that broke any part of that covenant, but it was man that broke away from that covenant with God. That is why we need repentance, for all men fall short and need repentance.

Hebrews 8:8 "For finding fault with them, He saith, "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:"

This promise was stated in Jeremiah 31:31; "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:"

Jeremiah 31:32 "Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which My covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord:"

Jeremiah 31:33 "But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be My People."

Jeremiah 31:34 "And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, `Know the Lord:' for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

This is an Old Testament promise that has not come to pass yet, and before we end this chapter there will be more Old Testament promises given by Paul.

Hebrews 8:9 "Not according to the covenant that I made with their father in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt: because they continued not in My covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord."

God saved them in the wilderness, and Moses was a type of that savior. Moses was a type of the Priest that would come, and only a type. Moses tried real hard to lead them, however even after the Children of Israel had seen the parting of the Red Sea; the feeding of the manna for forty years; the pillar of fire by night and clouds by day they still doubted God and turned to idolatry. God gave them the quail in the desert to feed them, the brass serpent to heal them, and water coming forth from a rock to give them drink, and they still doubted God and His love for them. The children of Israel couldn't follow God or Moses, for their concentration of what Moses had to say, and what God did for them was very short lived in their minds.

Is it any wonder that God became very disgusted with them. Sometimes we wonder why God even bothers with His children when they pay so little attention to Him, yet we can be thankful that He does. When you become a parent you see how your little ones mess up in their innocence, and get into all sorts of mischief. Yet though those events that stress our patience, our love for that child is still strong and binding. It is so easy to forgive that child when he or she repents or ask forgiveness for the things that he or she has done. Our Heavenly Father has emotions, and love that desires that all will be brought back to Him, however many will not, and that is why we were all created with free will to choose whether we will love Him, returning His love, or reject His love.

Hebrews 8:10 "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put My laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to Me a people:"

We read this from Jeremiah 31 earlier, and this event has not come to pass yet. This is looking forward to the Millennium age, as recorded in Ezekiel chapters 40 - 48. When we look around the world today, even the Christian world, most of the people are Biblically illiterate. When this time comes God will no longer call the House of Israel, "not My people", but He will claim them for Himself.

Hebrews 8:11 "And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest."

This is talking about the Millennium age, the time when Satan will be thrown in the pit, and all evil rudiments of this age are eliminated. It is talking about a time when all people will be changed into their spiritual bodies, and there will be no sickness nor deformities, and all souls will have full understanding.

What did God say that He would put in all peoples minds, from the least to the greatest? The Law, God's law that is unchanging, so don't you dare tell me that the law is done away with, for that will be the one thing that controls all person's actions, that law will be the core of their thoughts and desires. Today we need teachers to teach us of the laws of God, and what we should and should not do nor say, but in the Millennium age there will be no need for the law to be taught, for everyone will know God's law. It will be as natural to them as putting on their shoes when they leave the house, or turning the key when they start their car.

What will be taught in the Millennium age then if every one knows God's law? Discipline and obedience, for it will seem that God's children have always been very inadequate in following the laws that God has given them. We seem to be all wrapped up in man's laws of precedence today that change with the morals of the day.

To find out what this Millennium age will be like, we must go to Ezekiel 44:23; "And they shall teach My People the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean."

Ezekiel 44:24 "And in controversy they shall stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according to My judgments: and shall keep My laws and My statutes in all Mine assemblies; and they shall hallow My sabbaths."

With the laws the focus in their minds, the object will be to keep those laws, and be able to understand the difference between the clean and the unclean, and this takes discipline. It will be God's elect, the Zadok, that will be the judges here, and the ones that give out the discipline. Those are the ones that did not bow to Satan in this age of the flesh.

Ezekiel 44:25 "And they shall come at no dead person to defile themselves: but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that hath had no husband, they may defile themselves."

This verse outlines just who you as one of the Elect, or Zadok, can approach during the Millennium age, to tell them to get their act together and straighten up. That dear friend that you have in this age, that you were afraid to tell them of Christ is off limits to you.

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

This verse is directed to that Millennium age, the age of teaching discipline and obedience. God is going to be more then fare to those that were unrighteous in this world age of the flesh. God is going to be merciful to all of those unrighteous people, but we all fall short of the laws of God. This is that time when every knee shall bow to Christ on that first day of the Millennium, all of the people that fell short will see the sins they have committed and be ashamed of them.

However this is not to say that they will not fall away again by the end of the Millennium age when Satan is released again to try and test those people again. In the Millennium age you will also be given a choice and free will to go the way that you will go. For it will be by their works only [of the unsaved] at the end of the Millennium age that God will judge you, for the age of Grace that we are in now will end with the return of Jesus Christ. The time of the writing of names in the Lamb's "book of life" will be over at the end and close of this age of the flesh. Then those that have there names written there will never be judged by any sin, but they will receive their eternal rewards on that first day of the Millennium age, at the sounding of the seventh trumpet.

There are two points that I would like to bring out here, one is from Paul's writing of this time in I Corinthians 15:50-53, and the second is from Revelation 20:12-14.

I Corinthians 15:50 "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption."

Your flesh body or anyone's flesh body will no longert exist when Christ returns to set up His Kingdom age of the Millennium.

I Corinthians 15:51 "Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,"

Notice friend, that you will not fly anywhere, but you will be changed at Christ coming. This is the mystery that Paul is making known to all those that have eyes to see with understanding.

I Corinthians 15:52 "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."

All events that happen at Christ's return happens instantly, in the wink of an eye. Then all flesh bodies will be changed at that time (you will no longer be in this animal body you're in now.) and that is why you will never be sick and you will have full understanding during the time of the Millennium age. You will not be bound to an occupation, making a living, tending to children, or any of the obligations of this flesh life. All souls, young and old alike will exist as mature, well, and thinking individuals. Again the time is at the last trump, the seventh trump, and it will take place right here on earth, not on some distant planet. The existence is in another dimension, other than what is common to this flesh age.

I Corinthians 15:53 "for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality."

Though the spiritually dead receive their incorruptible body, that body they receive shall still be (mortal), subject at judgment and to die the second death (The death of the soul). Although at this time, all of God's elect and those that have repented to the Father in Jesus name during this earth age, and have not bowed to Satan, nor taken his name or number, will receive not only their incorruptible bodies, but bodies that will be immortal [shall never die, will have been given immortal souls].

The second point is the judgment that shall come at the end of the Millennium age.

Revelation 20:12 "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works."

There are two sets of books, one for the saved, where only their name is mentioned because their sins are blotted out. The other set of books are to record all the works of those that are not saved in this dispensation of grace. Those works you will be judged by, will be, from the Millennium age, and if you lived during the time of Antichrist and bowed to him, you will have no works for you threw them over to Satan, the Antichrist. So, your judgment at the great white throne before God, will be by your works only from within the Millennium age, and that is why the purpose of the Millennium age is discipline. You have failed in the flesh age, and if you also fail in the Millennium age, there is no hope for you.

During this age of grace, when you repent for your sins, then all those sins are washed away and will never more be remembered by God. They are blotted out and all that remains is your name in the Lamb's book of Life. The Lamb, Christ, was sacrificed for any sin that you have repented of, so get off the guilt trip once you have repented. When you are saved you still are in this flesh body and will fall short and then you don't need to be saved all over again, but you need to repent of that sin, and get on with your life. It is a kin to blasphemy when you keep hanging on to old sin's guilt, once you have repented of them. It is like saying that Christ's blood was not enough to pay the price.

Revelation 20:13 "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works."

Remember on the first day of the Millennium age, those whose name are written in the Lamb's book of life received their incorruptible bodies, that were immortal, and there will never be a judgment of sins upon them. That is because the blood of Christ has blotted them all out, and the only thing remaining is their name in the "book of life". God told us that the "sea" are the peoples of the earth, while the dead refered to here, are those that are spiritually dead (still have mortal souls).

Revelation 20:14 "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death,"

The death that is given here is spiritual death that will come when you failed both in the age of the flesh and in the Millennium age when Jesus Christ is here on earth. Does this mean that you have a second chance? No, for those who are judged from the Millennium age, are those that had no knowledge and were innocent from the age of the flesh. If you have tasted of the goodness of Christ in this age of the flesh, and turn from it, there is no second chance in the Millennium age. However what is taught in most Christian churches today doesn't give the individual even that first chance.

Those things are selected by you for your way of life, and most people bring on the hardships that come their way. there is no such thing as luck, but only opportunity, and the eyes to see them when they come your way. However if you really plan ahead and plan your life out, you are going to end up on the positive side, especially when you are in Christ and have His blessings. When you go past that step of the spiritual milk bottle of the Word of God, and seek the depths of the truth (the meat of His Word) in His Word, you will know how to claim those blessings and have them.

Hebrews 8:13 "In that He saith, "A New Covenant," He hath made the first old, Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away."

Remember that we have been talking about an Old Covenant and a New Covenant. The Old Covenant was a tent that went all the way back to the original tabernacle with Moses in the wilderness. Moses built the original tent out of cloth that rotted away after years, with all it's fancy trim. That tent was symbolic, but what is the New Covenant? Christ said, "destroy this Temple, and I will rebuild it in three days."

That Temple is made up of both His body, and the many membered body that is made up of every soul that believes on Christ, and has the blood of Christ covering their sins through repentance. My fellow Christian, this New Covenant will never get old, for it is an eternal Covenant. It is the only eternal thing that there is, and it pertains only to our Heavenly Father and those that overcame.

No matter what man builds or establishes, it gets old and worn out. It will age even if it is made of stone, because the pollutions that man makes will soon eat the stone away. But God, in the body of Christ built a temple that shall never age, and it shall refurbish itself through repentance, in that when you repent, the aged pollution of the guilt of sin is washed clean, and marked paid in full by the blood of Christ.

To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits; to understand it, the highest of all goals. We pray that with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you accomplish both.

doctrine of many of our Christian churches, (The Man on a White Horse)
political direction of our country, (The Man on a Red Horse)
economic direction our country has taken, (The Man on a Black Horse)
and teaching of our schools and media, (The Man on a Pale Horse)

The Four Hidden Dynasties of the New World Order Revelation 6:1-8
"The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse"
Did you know all four are being ridden by Satan?