BSF Acts: Week 12, Day 3: Hebrews 8:1–9:10

Hebrews 8:1–9:10

Summary:

Jesus is the High Priest of the new covenant.  The old covenant was made by man with God beginning with a promise of obedience.  The new covenant is between God and God for the benefit of mankind.  It is perfect and complete.  Jesus serves in the tabernacle in heaven directly in the presence of the Almighty (which He is), not empty handed but with the ultimate blood sacrifice and offering, that of His own life on the cross paying the price for all eternity.

Questions:

6. Jesus is our high priest in heaven in the heavenly tabernacle in the presence of God.  He talks with God daily about us and has made the ultimate offering and sacrifice for us to be cleansed of the stain of sin.
7. From verses 6–13 we read that the new covenant is superior to the old covenant. See Exodus 24:7–8.

a. An agreement or promise made between 2 parties

b. Old: Man promised obedience to God’s law, God promised forgiveness of sins through blood.  The people did not remain faithful.  New: God provided forgiveness of sins through the blood of His son, God promised all men will know Him and His law

c. (Personal) I do nothing to receive forgiveness, I only do works out of rejoicing.  I live under the new God/God

8. There were regulations for worship and structure.  There were also restrictions to entry and only timing as well as the preparation that needed to go into place in advance.  The sacrifices were not sufficient, only ceremonial.

Conclusion:

This whole deal of “deal-making” is a very human condition.  How often do people in trouble make promises to God, playing “let’s make a deal”?  If you will get me out of this mess then I will…  The problem with that is the same problem that existed under the old covenant.  Everything belongs to God anyway.  It would be like me saying to you – I want to make a deal with you, I’ll buy your car with the money you have in the bank – give me your checkbook and I’ll write you a check for it right now. 

The old covenant helped people see that they needed forgiveness and that the path to forgiveness was through sacrifice.  But they lacked anything sufficient to deal with.  Not only that, but the one thing they had, obedience, they failed at even as the law was being delivered.  God stepped in, through Christ, and paid the price that was sufficient – once and for all.