20230820

the real thing

Hebrews 8:1-13 (JDV)

Hebrews 8:1 But the main point of these sayings is: We have this kind of high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the sky,
Hebrews 8:2 a minister of the sacred places and the true tabernacle that was pitched by the Lord and not a human.
Hebrews 8:3 You see, every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; therefore, it was necessary for this priest also to have something to offer.
Hebrews 8:4 So if he were on earth, he wouldn’t be a priest, since there are those offering the gifts as the law commands.
Hebrews 8:5 These serve as a copy and shadow of the sky things, as Moses was warned when he was about to complete the tabernacle. You see, God said, Be careful that you make everything according to the model that was shown to you on the mountain.
Hebrews 8:6 But Jesus has now obtained a more valuable ministry, and to that degree, he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has received legal status based on better promises.
Hebrews 8:7 You see, if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no place for a second one.
Hebrews 8:8 But finding fault with his people, he says: See, 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 –
Hebrews 8:9 not like the covenant that I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. I showed no concern for them, says the Lord, because they did not stay with my covenant.
Hebrews 8:10 You see, this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
Hebrews 8:11 And each person will not teach his fellow citizen, and each his brother or sister, saying, “Know the Lord,” because they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them.
Hebrews 8:12 You see, I will forgive their wrongdoing, and I will never again remember their failures.
Hebrews 8:13 By the saying “a new covenant”, he has declared that the first is obsolete. And what is obsolete and growing old is about to pass away.

the real thing

At this moment, I have in my possession a library of 5,009 books on the Bible, theology, ministry, history, biography, literature, and reference works. Yet I only possess less than five of the actual paper originals of these books. All 5009 books are digital copies in .pdf format. I can read the books, benefit from their content, and reflect their content in my writing, but I have never laid eyes on the real thing.

Such was the case for Jews living under the old covenant. The real thing is God’s permanent covenant, put into effect by Christ’s death on the cross. All of the aspects of the old covenant were shadows and copies.

In one of my digital resources, Govett writes, “Moses’ covenant has been shown to be a temporary one, and the blood with which it was inaugurated at Sinai was but that of bulls and goats; Christ’s, the blood of the Son of God; and the covenant and testament which it has introduced are eternal, founded on the eternal life of resurrection.” Thus, the sense in which the covenant is eternal is that it is not temporary. It is a permanent covenant.

Have you accepted the terms of God’s permanent covenant? It is the real thing.

Govett, Robert. Christ Superior to Angels, Moses, and Aaron: a Comment on the Epistle to the Hebrews. 1884. p. 494.