Hebrews Chapter Eight, Getting Back On Topic

 

Hebrews 8:1 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.

 

We have now exited the parenthetical portion of the epistle. The writer, in an effort to extrapolate about the superiority of Jesus in regards to His High Priesthood and relation to Melchizedek, went down a bypath in chapter 5. The pause in his advance happens in Hebrews 5:11 and 12 when he relates that while he has much to say about the topic, the hearers have grown dull, and need milk rather than solid food.

Paul, suffering the same imposition in Corinth, writes to them, “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were unable to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal,” 1 Corinthians 3:1-3. The issue in Corinth was one of denominational boundaries. Or rather, proto-denominational boundaries. Certain disciples claimed to follow Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas (Peter), or Christ, 1 Corinthians 1:12. Apparently this division was in part inspired by who had been baptized by whom, verse 13-15.

 

Yet Paul makes it clear in 1 Corinthians 1:17 and 3:6, 7 that human instrumentality was not the focus of his ministry, or any other’s ministry. Jesus Christ crucified was his focus, 1 Corinthians 1:18. Denominations demonstrate how carnal we can be, even when endowed with the Holy Spirit sent from Heaven. Mind you, some schisms are good. They are not denominational disputes, but genuine spiritual battles for cardinal truths in the Christian faith. Roman Catholicism, Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventism, et, al., have departed from orthodox Christianity by abandoning Jesus Christ as God and Savior and substituting Him with human works to make up for their counterfeit’s lack of saving power. Such divisions are necessary, 1 Corinthians 11:19, 1 John 2:19.

 

Having led the Hebrew Christians to consider the superiority of Jesus Christ as opposed to the Aaronic priesthood and its manifold frailties, he now returns to the matter at hand. The author states that the main point of what he is attempting to convey is that we, as believers, have such a High Priest. His work finished, He is seated at God’s right hand in Heaven. Paul attests to the same truth, writing, “Christ is sitting at the right hand of God,” Colossians 3:1. Mark wrote, “So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God,” Mark 16:19.

 

It has already been firmly established that the Old Testament priests did not sit. Their task was never done. Why? Because the earthly tabernacle was not created to genuinely remove the punishment of sin once for all. It was, along with the Law, a teaching tool God gave over to cultivate Israel. The Law reflected man’s guilt by showcasing God’s perfection. The tabernacle demonstrated by many symbols that God likewise had a means of removing man’s sin from him. Man’s sin would be transferred to the lamb of God’s appointment, a lamb uniquely chosen by Him to once for all contend with the issue of sin. Man led our race into sin, following Satan into bondage and death. By Man again, we might be reborn and freed from bondage, bought back to become in Christ what we were intended to be in Adam: His sons.

 

Having accomplished this in Calvary, our Lord ascended into Heaven, Luke 24:51, Acts 1:9. His work is finished; He is not being sacrificed any longer on Roman Catholic altars, or any other altars, because His work is accomplished. We cannot add to it, or take from it. He signified this by sitting at the Father’s right hand, waiting for His enemies to be made His footstool. His ministry is now one of mediation for the saints. He pleads the efficacy of His blood before the Father on our behalf, for those who have been ransomed by His blood and purchased from every nation under Heaven.

 

We are told that Jesus is the Minister of the true tabernacle. It is a structure God built, and not men. This will be dealt with in more detail later in this chapter, but sufficed to say the earthly tabernacle, Solomon’s temple, and Zerubbabel’s temple are shadows of the true temple. If the high priest on earth was a representation of our Lord’s ministry, then we see something of His ministry in Heaven. The High Priest was to enter the Holy Place behind the veil alone, once a year, with blood to sprinkle upon the mercy seat. But rather than bulls or goats, Jesus bore His own blood, offering His life to God in our stead when He went behind the veil, into the Holiest of All. Not being from Levi, He did not enter the sanctuary of the priests appointed by Law. Rather, our Lord entered the sanctuary of God, appointed by the Father. The writer is emphatically clear that this tabernacle, and all that transpired within, was that which the Lord erected, and not man. Adam’s fallen race had absolutely nothing to do with our salvation. We do not, and cannot, contribute. Failure to make this distinction is the difference between faith and religion, or Heaven and Hell.