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Hebrews 8- Minister of the Holy & true Tabernacle
The Main Point

Now the main point of what is being said is this:
We have this kind of high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and the true tabernacle that was set up by the Lord and not man.
Hebrews 8:1-2 CSB

Let’s not miss this, the author of Hebrews emphasizes the ‘main point’ of the letter (not just this chapter, a reference added to the Letters later). Let’s look more closely.
- ἀρχιερεύς – archiereus, High Priest in english points to the ‘chief priests’ of Judaism and also to Christ.
Specifically, by the text which follows, the author affirms a text familiar to some from Luke 22:69 and other references. “[He] is seated at the right hand of God].”

Ministers

Now the writer of Hebrews points beyond the authority, nearer to our experience. God assigns a High Priest to minister to His people. Consequently, the High Priest is: “A minister of the sanctuary.”

“Minister” is a favorite description of the leader of some denominations of Christianity, and for good reason. Because a minister is a servant, perhaps even a public servant of his community. He may even be a tax collector, assigned as a minister of the state or your servant of government delivering some military labor.

Yet τῶν ἁγίων λειτουργὸς καὶ τῆς σκηνῆς, “a minister of the sanctuary and true tabernacle” serves the Lord God. A High Priest ministers to God’s people from the sanctuary.

Reverends

Of course we commonly hear of the esteemed leaders of some churches referred to as Reverend Soandso or the Reverend Doctor Soandso. But ‘reverend relates more to their position in the sanctuary, ἅγιον hagion, defined as: reverend, worthy of veneration; of persons whose services God employs; set apart to God; in a moral sense, pure sinless upright holy.

Once again, from the text of Hebrews (in Greek) the imagery of holiness points back to the position of the High Priest in the Holy of Holies. And that is where the author points next.

and of the true Tabernacle

καὶ τῆς σκηνῆς τῆς ἀληθινῆς
Hebrews 8:2b gk.

Perhaps we understand the Holy of Holies more in the context of the Temple, yet it’s description as an exact place for God to come down to the High Priest is a temporary meeting place within a tent.

Hebrew מִשְׁכָּן (mishkan), Tabernacle in English.

Therefore, the Tabernacle, σκηνή skēnē is a tent, a shadow of the place of holiness like prescribed to Moses. This was why Peter wanted to build three tabernacles when he witnessed Moses and Elijah with Jesus.

Exodus 25:

8 “They are to make a sanctuary for me so that I may dwell among them. 9 You must make it according to all that I show you—the pattern of the tabernacle as well as the pattern of all its furnishings.

The key point of the author of Hebrews is this ‘pattern of the tabernacle.’ Consequently Jesus the Messiah becomes a minister of the sanctuary and ‘true tabernacle.’ His appointment as a minister of Authority at the right hand of God makes Jesus a better High Priest.

The tabernacles of the earth (including the Temples of Jerusalem) are temporary.

These serve as a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was warned when he was about to complete the tabernacle.
Hebrews 8:5

Covenant

What is a covenant? (Twenty-first century Christians and Jews can hardly imagine its impact, because we do not even keep our less solemn promises.)

‘I’ve heard of it. I think God may be involved in a covenant.’

“I will establish My covenant with you,” said God [אֱלֹהִים] to Noah.

And “the LORD [יְהֹוָה] made a covenant with Abram.”

But covenants may also be made between men. A covenant [בְּרִית bĕriyth] [διαθήκη diathēkē] is and alliance and pledge, a solemn promise to the agreed relationship.

The Person of God our Father in heaven has made a covenant with you. Who do you think would break it? Certainly not the LORD!

And Jew and follower of the Way knew scripture well enough to recall their heritage of breaking covenants with the Lord God. For a long history of kings ‘did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.’

The Prophet Jeremiah

Jeremiah by Michaelango

Jeremiah lived about 600 years before the writer of Hebrews. His witness of the fall of Jerusalem follows calls for repentance which went unheeded.

“Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, “Cursed is the man who does not heed the words of this covenant which I commanded your forefathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Listen to My voice, and do according to all which I command you; so you shall be My people, and I will be your God,’ in order to confirm the oath which I swore to your forefathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day.”’” Then I said, “Amen, O LORD.”

11:6 וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהוָה֙ אֵלַ֔י קְרָ֨א אֶת־כָּל־הַדְּבָרִ֤ים הָאֵ֨לֶּה֙ בְּעָרֵ֣י יְהוּדָ֔ה וּבְחֻצֹ֥ות יְרוּשָׁלִַ֖ם לֵאמֹ֑ר שִׁמְע֗וּ אֶת־דִּבְרֵי֙ הַבְּרִ֣ית הַזֹּ֔את וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֖ם אֹותָֽם׃

And the LORD said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying,
‘Hear the words of this covenant and do them.
Jeremiah 11:6

The author of Hebrews now quotes scripture they know.

Jeremiah 31:31-34 excerpts

I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
Jeremiah 31:31; Hebrews 8:8

“… My covenant which they broke… – Jeremiah 31:32

I showed no concern for them, says the Lord,
because they did not continue in my covenant.
Hebrews 8:9B

32 This one will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors… —the Lord’s declaration. “I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts…

“For I will forgive their iniquity and never again remember their sin.
Jeremiah 31:34D; Hebrews 8:12

A Superior Covenant

His point: we broke the old covenant and the intercession of human priests is insufficient.

The author of Hebrews shows how the Temple and tabernacle were mere shadows of the relationship to the Lord yet to be fulfilled in a superior covenant. He then continues after quoting Jeremiah’s prophesy with hope for a more perfect outcome of its fulfillment.

13 By 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 author of Hebrews will proceed by contrasting Jesus with the old covenant.
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February 5, 2019
Another Sabbath: No Rest
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy:
Exodus 20:8

Sabbath? So what?

We were making plans for Sunday shopping after church, but then we missed church. Some Sundays we hurry out of time-extended gatherings at our church to join the crowds in local restaurants. This week we had no Sabbath and no rest.

As Christians we were raised to know that actually Saturday is the Sabbath – שַׁבָּת – shabbath, the seventh day of the week; however Christians call Sunday, our ‘day of rest.’ Yet when was the last time you felt like you had ‘a day of rest?’

Closed on Sunday – Rest in the Lord (it’s a Commandment).

So what’s this “rest day” all about?

And what does the Sabbath have to do with God?

After all, when we attended church last week for more than three hours, it seemed alright to slip out early (before the music and worship mercifully concluded).

Lot’s of rules, but little holiness

You are to labor six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God.

You must not do any work —
Exodus 20:10

—you, your son or daughter, your male or female servant, your livestock, or the resident alien who is within your city gates.

So who’s working?

We are shopping… and we have to eat. It’s all those kitchen and superstore slaves who are working, not us.

Isn’t a day off a sort of ‘Sabbath?’

The Bible seems to have a lot of old rules that don’t apply to Sunday.

Rest from Above

“Observe the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Whoever profanes it must be put to death. If anyone does work on it, that person must be cut off from his people. – Exodus 31:13

Imagine anyone, even devout Christians and most Jews, calling for capital punishment for someone profaning the Sabbath. Yet the Lord established this holiness of routine for a set-aside culture to make us different.

שָׁבַת shabath: Rest, when no one else rests; worship, when no one else acknowledges the LORD.

Holiness and rest require separation. These are more than a command, but a gift from the Lord to set us apart from the world.

“Observe the Sabbath because it is holy to you…

LORD, who is like you among the gods?
Who is like you, glorious in holiness,
revered with praises, performing wonders?
Exodus 15:11 CSB

The One True God is unlike any other god!

He is not like the angels nor is the LORD like a man. We were created in His Image from the dust of the earth and the Lord breathed spirit into our lowly being. GOD is above all, separated by the glory of His holiness, and He commands us to rest, making the Sabbath holy.

An archaic common understanding was that the LORD is like a King, therefore man is a common subject of this heavenly King or Kings. Mankind is separated from the Eternal Highest by His own holiness.

We are commoners, yet made in His Image.

Chaos reigns in the life of man, while in the creation of God righteousness will reign, providing rest in our purpose and meaning.

Rest requires our holy separation from the chaotic fallen daily drudgery of this selfish failing flesh.

Jesus and Sabbath Controversies

Mark 2:

23 On the Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to make their way, picking some heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”

25 He said to them, “Have you never read what David and those who were with him did when he was in need and hungry — 26 how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest and ate the bread of the Presence —which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests —and also gave some to his companions?”

27 Then he told them,

“The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. So then, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
Mark 2:27

A Sabbath for mankind

Dear sojourner through this difficult life,

Are you not famished for the bread of heaven?

Jesus journeyed from town to town with good news for all and as he does so, even on the Sabbath, the Lord and His disciples snack on the grain of the fields.

(You eat on the Sabbath, right?) It is no sin, according to Jesus.

In fact, the Lord refers to a time when David, anointed King of Israel, fled Saul and was fed by a priest, who replaced the Bread of the Presence set aside for worship with warm bread.

John 6:51

“The Sabbath was made for man,” Jesus assures us; but rest a little.

It is the Lord’s will that we separate this day of rest from our week, dedicating our Sabbath-rest to Him.

Lord of the Sabbath

Jesus also assures us that “the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

In another place in scripture Jesus refers to Himself as the manna – the bread of heaven. Jesus IS the bread and wine, the body and blood Present on the altar of Sacrifice. He IS the manna of life sent down from heaven, that we might have eternal life.

The Son of God IS the Son of Man, He who commanded us to rest on the Sabbath. He IS Lord of the Sabbath and the rest of your week.

Will you set aside a time of holiness to worship the Lord?

Consider the Lord of שָׁבַת [the Sabbath] this Sabbath. Set aside a time of rest.
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November 30, 2018
Give Thanks to the Lord – Psalm 136 & Psalm 95

His faithful love endures forever.
Psalm 136

I don’t know about you, but once again Thanksgiving seems to be upon us as a prerequisite observance preceding the rush of the Christmas holidays. Some would observe in political correctness, ‘the holiday season,’ which promoted for lights in darkness and gifts seemingly endures forever.

I have previously mentioned this hustle and bustle of black Friday having overtaken the archaic imagery of worshiping pilgrims. Yet each year’s commercial focus on a relatively minor Jewish holiday and formerly insignificant Christian observance grows more and more into a worship of our prosperity (for which we give thanks).

Puritans forbade Christmas, considering it too pagan. Governor Bradford actually threatened New Englanders with work, jail or fines if they were caught observing Christmas.
Christianity.com

Perhaps our 17th century Puritan forefathers, who celebrated on this uniquely American Thanksgiving holiday, weren’t so far from the truth of this holiday season. For these brief days provide little rest and even less thanks.

Thanks giving in two Psalms

Set aside your devices and distractions for a moment as you gather together with family and you will see much bounty, a recurring theme for America and also Israel of the Psalms and Scripture.

Who will you thank?

Your host and hostess? Sure. Or maybe family who have made this gathering possible? Perhaps. Yet the thanks giving of those faithful to the Lord is always to God.

No book better expresses our worship, our praises, and singing with joy to the LORD than Psalms, which is the hymnal of Jewish and Christian worship.

One simple form of praising God for the worshipers is to simply repeat a single phrase, when the worship leader praises the LORD. One example of several with thanksgiving of the worshipers for God is Psalm 136.

You could give thanksgiving to God right now simply by repeating your response out loud after reading every praise of the Psalm [linked below].

Psalm 136

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. [136:1 הֹודוּ לַיהוָה כִּי־טֹוב כִּי לְעֹולָם חַסְדֹּֽו׃]

His faithful love endures forever. OR

For His mercy endures forever. OR

For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Different translations all reinforce God’s love in our response of worship to the LORD. The Psalmist praises God in many ways:

v.4 He alone does great wonders.

v.7 He made the great lights

v.23 He remembered us in our humiliation

²⁵Who giveth food to all flesh:

for his mercy endureth for ever.

²⁶O give thanks unto the God of heaven:

for his mercy endureth for ever.

King James Version (KJV)

This is giving thanks as the Pilgrims of America’s founding would have given to God – not only on this holiday, but also in other worship.

Thanks is often a theme of worship, therefore thanking God is the first fruits of harvest for believers of all faiths who landed in this new world.

Yet we have forgotten the lessons of the Lord — He who has preserved us for bounty and blessings of a new land.

Are we so unlike those who worshiped the Lord before, yet then neglected to thank their Provider?

Psalm 95

Worship

¹Come, let us shout joyfully to the Lord,
shout triumphantly to the rock of our salvation!

²Let us enter his presence with thanksgiving;
let us shout triumphantly to him in song.
Psalm 95 CSB

³For the Lord is a great God,
a great King above all gods.

If the LORD is God, then as worshipers giving God thanks, what must we do?

Hear this caution from the Psalm, that we might not give our thanks lightly, forgetting the worship of Almighty God our Creator.

6 Come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
7 For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
the sheep under his care.

The Psalmist then reminds worshipers of those who had previously turned from the Lord.

Warning

Today, if you hear his voice:
8 Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah,
as on that day at Massah in the wilderness
9 where your fathers tested me;
they tried me, though they had seen what I did.
Psalm 95, referring to exodus 17:17

Wilderness of the Negev

Meribah מְרִיבָה means testing and is the place where the Hebrews escaping Egypt tested the Lord, rather than giving thanks to the Lord. And Massah מַסָּה means quarreling, the politics of an ungrateful saved people in the wilderness.

The Lord saved many who had fled to the New World from persecution and death in the seventeenth century. The Pilgrims and others gave God thanks for this. Yet the Psalmist reminds worshipers to not harden our hearts.

Those escaping to a new land had far to go and much to learn of community, about authority and of thankfulness. Because of their testing and quarreling, the promise of the Lord would not be fulfilled in their generation.

Therefore let us heed these cautions of the Psalmist in our attitude of thanks to the Lord. Even today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.

10 For forty years I was disgusted with that generation;
I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray;
they do not know my ways.”
11 So I swore in my anger,
“They will not enter my rest.”

Would you enter the eternal rest of the Lord? Do you thank the Lord this day?

We will have more to say of this rest in our Lord after this holiday of Thanks giving.

November 22, 2018