OUR FATHER WHOSE SON'S SHED BLOOD WAS PROOF IN HEAVEN OF THE SACRIFICE THAT SECURED THE ETERNAL COVENANT

The book of Hebrews chapter 9 verses  16 - 28 says this;

16 In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, 17 because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. 18 This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. 19 When Moses had proclaimed every command of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. 20 He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.” 21 In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. 22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

23 It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. 25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.  

The writer of Hebrews reveals a vital component of the nature of covenants that are secured by blood.

In the same way that a legal will is only valid if the writer of the will is proven to have died, the covenant of blood is only valid if the person securing the covenant is proven to have died. The blood itself is then the proof of death. 

When blood was spilled on the ark and on the utensils of the covenant, the blood was proof that a death had been exacted upon the sacrifice in order to perform the cleansing.

All the sacrifices pertaining to the earthly tabernacle were temporal and thus had to be performed yearly with the blood being presented each time but the sacrifice that Jesus gave of His own life was eternal (once and for all)  and ascended into heaven itself where  His sacrifice became a better sacrifice because He was directly in the presence of God. 

When the Lord Jesus was on the cross, a Roman soldier pierced His side to ascertain that Jesus had legally died.
The blood that poured out of His side was the proof of death that secured the covenant. Confirmed by the precept that the life of the body was in the blood (Leviticus chapter 17 verse 11), if the blood is spilled on the ground or presented at the tabernacle, it is legal proof of the death of the one whose blood it was.

Considering the legal case that was before heaven when Cain killed Abel, the ground had received Abel's blood and the blood cried out from the ground that was proof of the death of Abel and this was enough to find Cain guilty of the crime of murder even though Cain had denied knowledge of Abel's whereabouts.

When Jesus died on the cross, the Roman soldier's verification of the Jesus's death using a spear plunged into His side resulted in Jesus's blood pouring onto the earth.  The earth quaked in revolt upon receipt of a righteous person's blood and this registered in heaven as proof of Jesus's death in the same was that Abel's innocent blood gave proof to heaven of Abel's death.

This is why Jesus said in Luke chapter 22 verse 20 , "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you".  The blood that was shed as proof in heaven, secured the covenant. 

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHOSE SON MEDIATES IN A GREATER TABERNACLE THAT IS NOT PART OF THIS CREATION

The book of Hebrews chapter 9 verses 11  - 15 says this;

  11 But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. 13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO MADE A WAY FOR MANKIND TO REACH HIM THROUGH JESUS CHRIST

In the book of Hebrews chapter 9 verses 1 - 10, the writer focuses in on the practices of the earthly sanctuary that were governed by the first covenant. The spaces and accoutrements of the tabernacle all signified levels of the heavenly realm and the item pertinent to the point that the writer wanted to make was the fact that in the holy place, ordinary priests could enter to carry out tasks and routines but the inner space was the most holy place and only the high priest could enter this space and he could only do this once a year and only while he was carrying the blood for the atonement of his own sin and for the sin of the people of Israel.

In this detail of highly restricted access, the Holy Spirit was revealing that the way to the presence of God had not been made known to men and this would be true as long as the space of the tabernacle was still in operation because the activitites of offering sacrifies were ongoing in the tabernacle but still access into the inner space was not provided for anyone except the high priest. 

What was made clear in the protocols of the old order was that they were insufficient to give mankind access to their God and this pointed to the a new order that would be built by God Himself and would be mediated by the perfect and eternal Son of God.

1 Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. 2 A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the lampstand and the table with its consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place. 3 Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, 4 which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. 5 Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover. But we cannot discuss these things in detail now.

6 When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. 7 But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. 8 The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still functioning. 9 This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. 10 They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO PROMISED A NEW AND BETTER COVENANT AND JESUS WAS THE FULFILLMENT OF THAT PROMISE

The book Hebrews chapter 8 verses 7 - 13 gives the scriptural basis for the obsolesence of the old covenant when the new eternal covenant was revealed.  Pointing to the book of Jeremiah chapter 31 verses 31 - 34, the writer demontrates that the scriptures, having prescribed the old covenant, directly mentions a new covenant that would displace the old covenant that God made with His people.  The children of Israel had broken the first covenant and as such, a new covenant of a new type that involved the transformation of the hearts of men and that would provide grace for the integration of the race of men into the family of God.

This new covenant was a better covenant that made the old covenant obsolete and so the children of children are alerted that it was coming and would overide the covenant made with their fathers.

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.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO HAS GIVEN A SUPERIOR PRIESTLY MINISTRY TO HIS SON 

The book of Hebrews chapter 8 verses 1 - 6 says this;

1 Now the main 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, 2 and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.

3 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. 4 If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. 5 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.” 6 But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.

In this passage, the writer of Hebrews continues to emphasize the qualifications of the Lord Jesus Christ as a priest who supercedes the priests of the Levitical order.

1) He sat at the right hand of Majesty in Heaven

2) He serves in the orginal God-built sanctuary of which the earthly tabernacle made by men was merely a shadow.

3) The covenant to which He is a mediator is superior to the old covenant because it encapsulates better promises.

Jesus is a calibre of high priest who can ensure eternal representation for men before the sanctuary in heaven. 

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHOSE SON WAS MADE PERFECT FOREVER BY BEING SINLESS AND BY HIS SACRIFICE FOR MEN

Hebrews chapter 7 verses 23 - 28 says this;

23 Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; 24 but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

26 Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27 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. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

Whereas the priests innuaguated by the law were flawed human beings and thus needed to offer sacrifices to cover their own sins before they could offer sacrifices for the rest of the children of Israel,  the Lord Jesus was holy, bameless and pure (set apart from sinners). The Lord Jesus was therefore the perfect priest who, already exalted above the heavens, could accurately represent humanity before God.

Also, Levitical priests, being mortal, could only serve during their life spans while Jesus is the eternally living priest  who sustains a permanent priesthood and thus His priesthood is able to completely save those who come to God through Him because He is ever present.   

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO SWORE TO THE ETERNAL PRIESTHOOD OF JESUS

The writer of the book of Hebrews chapter 7 verses 13 - 22 continues his examination of what the king and priest named Melchizedek represented.

Because the priestly tribe of Levi did not exist at the time Abraham encountered Melchizedek, it is clear that Melchizedek come from a priestly line that had nothing to do with the Levitic priestly tribe that was later established in the law. Further to that, the Lord Jesus came from the tribe of Judah which had no prescription of priesthood.

What is revealed is that there is a priesthood that exists that is not secured through ancestral lineages but rather through the indestructibility of that priest's life which the Lord Jesus fulfilled by rising from the dead.

13 He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. 15 And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, 16 one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is declared:

                       “You are a priest forever,

                        in the order of Melchizedek.”

18 The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless 19 (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.

20 And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, 21 but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him:

                “The Lord has sworn

                and will not change his mind:

                ‘You are a priest forever.’”

22 Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.

The priesthood occupied by the Lord Jesus is also one secured by an eternal oath of God which makes Jesus an eternal priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Whereas Levitical priest were not innaugurated by oaths, the priestly line to which Jesus belonged was one that was sworn to by God himself and as such was a better covenant because it was a priesthood that was under-written by the life of God forever.

Amen.

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