Book 50

 

Through the Bible with Les Feldick

LESSON 3 * PART 4 * BOOK 50

Hebrews 8:11 – 9:14 – Part 2

 

Now as we begin this last lesson for book 50, let’s go back to Hebrews chapter 9 where we ran out of time again in our last lesson. As we teach this we see the association of the Old Testament economy as it was practiced back there first in the tabernacle, and later on in the Temple which had the same floor plan as the tabernacle. But, here in Hebrews we’re really referring to that tent in the wilderness. And then our last verse was that “all these things,” the furnishings, the Day of Atonement, the bringing in of the animal’s blood, all of that was just a picture of what would be fulfilled and consummated when Christ would go the way of the Cross. So now the first word of verse 11 is what?

Hebrews 9:11a

“But…” Now you have the flip-side! Yes, all that was as good as it could be, BUT it had now outworn its usefulness. Now we’ve got something ‘far better,’ as we’ve been seeing all through the Book of Hebrews.

Hebrews 9:11a

“But Christ (after the priesthood of Melchizedek) being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, (now I’m reading this slowly) not made with hands,….”

Well, if it’s not made with hands, where is it? In heaven. In the heavenlies. There is a prototype and we showed that several weeks ago, that when Moses got instructions to build the tabernacle in the wilderness, what was it patterned after? The likeness of the one in heaven. Alright, and here it is again. That this Priest, Christ, the Priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with silver and gold and animal skins and linens and so forth. But with materials of the Heavenlies and only God knows what that is.

My, aren’t you getting kind of homesick for Heaven? I think every believer from the young ones to the old one should be – and you know what? We had to drop a television station a while back and we had kids that were eleven and twelve years old who called and cried, literally, bawled, because they were using our program every morning in their home schooling and wanted to know why in the world we had to drop the program? Well, I’ll tell you that tears you up. But, on the other hand, it thrills us, that we do have a lot of kids listening and watching our program.

A couple of years ago, Iris and I were just beside ourselves because a mother and two kids came to one of our seminars and the kids came up; one was 14, and one was 12, something like that. And they hugged us like long lost grandparents! And the poor mother was so embarrassed. And she said, “Well Les, you’ve got to remember, they watch you every morning.” Well you know, that thrills our hearts that we’re not just appealing to the ‘gray hairs;’ we do have a large audience of kids, eight, nine, ten – in fact we’ve got one family, now their kids are 17 and 18 and they’ve been with us for almost seven or eight years every morning. So you keep praying that we’ll keep reaching a lot of these younger folks.

But anyway, most of you understand that the tabernacle in the wilderness was made of earthly materials, but this tabernacle, this prototype, if I may call it that, is made in glory, with things that we can’t comprehend. All I know is, it’s glorious! It’s going to be beyond human comprehension. Alright, so verse 11, finishing it.

Hebrews 9:11b

“…by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;” (creation). So it’s not on this earth. Alright now verse 12, and here comes the whole meat or the substance of this portion of Scripture.

Hebrews 9:12

“Neither by the blood of goats and calves, (as we just saw in the previous verses in our last program) but by his own blood (the Blood of the Cross, on Calvary as the high priest entered behind the veil with the blood of an animal. This high Priest, Christ Jesus Himself) enters into the holy place, (in heaven. In other words into the presence of God the Father. Not with the blood of bulls and calves) having obtained eternal redemption for us.”

With His own Blood we have the redemption. Now I know this is all hard for us humans to comprehend but we take it by faith. How did He approach the Father in the Holy of Holies in heaven presenting His own Blood at the Mercy Seat of the Throne Room? Remember Aaron and the following priests came in behind the veil with the blood of animals, so Christ came in with His own Blood. Now I’m going to take you back to John’s Gospel for a short lesson, we haven’t done this either for a long time.

I think we did it when we taught the gospel of John verse by verse. So come back with me to chapter 20 and you all know the account. How that Mary Magdalene, along with all of the other believers and followers of Jesus, had no idea that He would be raised from the dead. That fact never entered their mind, even though Jesus had told the Twelve more than once, that He would die and rise again, yet it was hidden from them, providentially of course. And so Mary Magdalene is no different and so she’s going to carry out the process of anointing the body after the burial.

John 20:1

“The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, (in other words, before full daylight.) when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.”

Now here comes the human element, the minute she sees that, she’s shaken to her toes and what does she do? She just turns on her heels and she runs as fast as that poor girl can run and finds Peter and John.

John 20:2

“Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, (whom we know was, John) and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.”

Peter doesn’t say, “Well, Mary, we know! He’s not supposed to be in the tomb. He’s raised from the dead!” He hasn’t got the foggiest notion of resurrection yet, and so he’s just as shocked as Mary.

John 20:3

“Peter therefore went forth, and the other disciple, and came to the sepulchre.”

Don’t think for a minute that was an early morning stroll. They ran! This was shocking, the tomb empty! With all those Roman guards stationed with threat of their lives if anybody would try to take the corpse. Because you know, that’s what the Pharisees did. They made sure that the Romans stationed guards around the tomb because they had heard that somebody had said He would be raised after three days and three nights, so they thought that was just a gimmick. They’d come and steal the corpse and then they’d be able to say, “See, He rose from the dead.” So they purposely asked the Romans to put extra guards around the tomb.

Now if you know Roman law, you know that when those men were stationed with that kind of responsibility it was with their lives at stake. And here comes Mary and now Peter and John and I don’t even see any record that the soldiers are around. They’ve either run for their lives or they’re already executed, but they’re not there. But the tomb is empty.

John 20:4

“So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre.”

I think this is all so practical because we’re pretty confident that Peter was quite a bit older than John and so the young man shows his athletic ability. And so John outruns Peter, and gets to the sepulchre first. But of course, John is more timid than Peter and so he doesn’t go right in. You want to remember the sepulchre was a cave in the limestone and that’s why the stone could be rolled away from the opening. And so verse 5.

John 20:5-6

And he (John) stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in.(I just picture him as being a little bit young and timid.) 6. Then cometh Simon Peter following him, (now I like to bring this down to the every day. He’s probably around forty years old. And I don’t know how far he’s run but he’s been running pretty hard, so what’s he doing? He’s huffing and he’s puffing, but he doesn’t even stop to get his breath, Can’t you just hear him? So Peter) went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie.” As he looks around, he just surveys the whole scenario. Now verse 7.

John 20:7

“And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.” In other words, meticulously folded in a place by itself. This wasn’t just some ramshackle casting off of these grave clothes.

John 20:8

“Then went in also that other disciple, (John) which came first to the sepulchre, (now watch this) and he saw, (the evidence and he, what?) and believed.”

Now what does that tell you? He didn’t know anything of resurrection before this. He knew Who Jesus was, he was a believer, but he had no concept of resurrection. Again that just tells us something. You see, to believe in the resurrection was not a prerequisite for salvation in the Kingdom Gospel. All they were to believe was that Jesus of Nazareth was Who He said He was. And that He was the King of Israel, the Promised Messiah, and that’s all. They didn’t have to believe in a death, burial and a resurrection like we do for salvation, as found in I Corinthians 15:1-4, and Romans 10:9-10 So it wasn’t necessary for Peter and John to have believed in resurrection up to this point because it wasn’t expected of them. God had kept it secret from them, as you see in Luke 18:31-34, but now when they see the evidence, they believe. Now look at the next verse.

John 20:9

“For as yet they (Peter and John and I guess I can safely include Mary Magdalene) knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.” Plain English. They didn’t know, but they didn’t have to know to be saved in that Kingdom economy. Now verse 10:

John 20:10-11

“Then the disciples went away again unto their own home. 11. But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre,”

I suppose her curiosity got the best of her. What in the world caused Peter and John to exit so quickly and go? And so she looks in. Now she sees something that Peter and John did not. And what is that? Angels.

John 20:12-15a

“And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. 14. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. 15. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seeketh thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener,…”

I have to stop right here. Why, first and foremost does not Mary recognize the resurrected Christ? Well, I have to feel the number one reason is found in Isaiah chapter 52. Why do you suppose Mary did not recognize Jesus, as He’s now standing there in human form, bodily? He didn’t have a ‘kooky’ look about Him. He looked very normal. But here in Isaiah is what she saw last before they took Christ down from the Cross.

Isaiah 52:13-14a

“Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. (so we know the prophet is speaking of the Messiah.) 14. As many were astonied(astonished) at thee; his visage (or His appearance) was so marred more than any man,…”

Now listen, we know that the human beings were experts at torture. All the way up through human history, they have been able to torture men beyond human comprehension, but,nobody under the most extreme torture ever had their facial appearance so distorted and so marred as Christ’s was on the Cross. Now we have to realize that, yes, He was scourged. He took the beatings that the Romans administered before He went to the Cross, and they pulled His beard, and the crown of thorns but other than that, we have nothing in the record that they beat on His face, so we have to kind of put two and two together.

What caused his visage to make him look so horrible that it was worse than any human being had ever appeared? The sins of mankind. All the sin of the world was laid on Christ as He hung on that Cross. And you and I again, in the human realm, cannot comprehend that, but I can see that this would cause that physical deforming of His very appearance. And so “He was more marred than any man and his form more marred than the sons of men.” Not so much because of what the Romans had done, but because of the sin that was laid on Him as He hung there on the Cross.

Alright, so now if you’ll come back to John, use just a little bit of human logic. So if the first thing that Mary would have thought of Christ coming back to life, she would have had to undertake seeing that marred face and all that went with it. But here stands Someone looking perfectly whole. Not a scar. Not a mark, except in His hands and His feet and His side. Looking at verse 15 again:

John 20:15b

“…supposing him to be the gardener, (which means He looked perfectly normal, not like anything bizarre at all) saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.” I will give Him the proper burial and all the ceremonial ritual of the spices and herbs and so forth is implied. Now Jesus speaks in verse 16.

John 20:16a

“Jesus saith unto her, Mary….”

Iris and I are learning that when we’re in strange places people recognize our voice far before they’ll recognize our facial appearance and you just watch for it. I’ve given this example before. You can be in the kitchen and if your television is in the den or living room completely out of sight and if you hear a movie with someone that was maybe a great star thirty or forty years ago, you’ll recognize the voice long before you will the picture. I know I do. I can recognize a voice just immediately. Well, I think it’s typical of everybody. Well it’s the same way here. She didn’t recognize anything about Him from His physical appearance but the minute He spoke; it was voice recognition. And that’s all He had to say, “Mary,” see?

John 20:16b

“…She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.” Can’t you just hear the excitement in that? These people are human! Just as human as we are and to suddenly realize that this was Jesus standing there in front of her alive and normal looking! No wonder she was shook. And now look what she does.

John 20:17a

“Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not:…’”

Again, you’ve got to read between the lines once in a while and you won’t do any violence to Scripture by doing it. What was the custom even back then when you saw somebody that you hadn’t seen in a while or you were just suddenly engrossed in who they are? Well, you hug them! You all do. My, I see a lot of people and I’ve always said, I’m not a born hugger, but I see some of the rest of you and, my, you can hug! Well, listen, they were no different. So what’s she ready to do? She’s ready to give Him a bear-hug. To think that He’s alive and well and normal! But what does Jesus do? He stops her short and he says: “Touch me not.” Mary, don’t you hug me. Why?

John 20:17b-19

“…for I am not yet ascended to my Father: (now He’s not talking about Acts chapter 1, He’s talking about an immediate ascension right here.) but go to my brethren, (the eleven) and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. 18. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her. 19. Then the same day at evening, (Sunday night) being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.”

Now where was He those eight or ten hours? In Glory! Plain as day. Alright now let’s come back to Hebrews once again and maybe this will all fall in place. Back to Hebrews chapter 9 verses 11 and 12 again:

Hebrews 9:11-12a

“But Christ (Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified, now resurrected) being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, (in other words, this glorious tabernacle in the heavenlies) 12. Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place,…” He did not enter once a year, but rather, once for all eternity He entered into the holy place, that is in heaven. Not the one behind the veil as it was on earth, but he entered into the Holy of Holies in the Heavenlies, into the very presence of the merciful, gracious God, not with the blood of bulls and calves but with his own Blood.

Now what does He do? When He leaves off speaking with Mary, He took some of His Blood that was shed on the Cross – I feel He literally took His own Blood and being the God that He was, that was no problem for Him to recapture some of that Blood that had fallen. He takes that Blood and He takes it right up into the Throne Room of Heaven and presents it as the full atoning Blood now, of the Cross, which was far above the animal’s blood. It was the Blood offering that all of humanity had now been waiting 4,000 years, from Adam, and now it finally happens.

And now, He has totally removed the veil and we no longer have to go through all of this ritual. Now every believer has full access, without apology, into that Throne Room of heaven. Why? Because this divine Blood of Christ has now been placed on the Mercy Seat forever and ever. Alright verses 13 and 14:

Hebrews 9:13-14

“For if the blood of bulls and goats, or the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, (if it could) sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: (in that old economy) 14. How much more(oh, beyond comparison!) shall the blood of Christ, (you cannot compare the efficacy of animal’s blood with this divine Blood of Christ) who through the eternal Spirit offered himself (as the supreme sacrifice. See how plain this is? He is the atoning Blood. He is the supreme sacrifice and so) without spot to God, purged your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

Oh, what a difference. We’re not worshipping idols of wood and stone. We’re not worshipping some manmade religion. When we come in under that shed Blood of Christ by faith in His death, burial and resurrection; we now have full access to God. We can pray to Him twenty-four hours a day and we can slip out into eternity with full assurance that we’re going into His presence.

 

Through the Bible with Les Feldick

LESSON 3 * PART 3 * BOOK 50

Hebrews 8:11 – 9:14

 

Alright, back to where we left off – we were in Hebrews chapter 9 and again, we’re just trying to show that everything that went before was God ordained and even though it wasn’t perfect from man’s side, it was from God’s. But it had no power and consequently the Law was weak and beggarly as Paul calls it in Galatians and now as we saw in our last program then, that everything back there in the tabernacle was a preview of the finished work of the Cross. And how even the materials in the Ark of the Covenant all spoke of His death, His burial, His resurrection and the Word of God being the very manna that would sustain us for this Age of Grace.

Now let’s just go on, I think Chuck is doing the numbers today, and we’re going to be in Hebrews 9 and we’re going to start verse 6 in this half-hour and just continue on.

Hebrews 9:6a

“Now when these things were thus ordained,…”

That is by God Himself. The furnishings in the tabernacle, all the way from the brazen altar, the laver of cleansing, to the table of showbread, to the candlestick and the altar of incense. And then behind the veil was the Ark of the Covenant in which were the three things we just spoke of. Now continuing the verse:

Hebrews 9:6b-7a

“… the priests (the priests of Israel, all Levites remember) went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. 7. But into the second went the high priest alone, once every year,…”

Let me come back to my diagram here on the chalk board. So daily, the priests would begin with the animal sacrifices out here at the brazen altar; they would stop at the laver of cleansing and wash and wash and wash. And then they would come on in and they would replace the loaves of bread on the table of showbread and they would trim the wicks and fill the oil and all that in the candlestick. They would trim the fires and everything on this altar of incense but never beyond the veil. And then they would accomplish their daily work and go back out. Now that’s as far as they could go in their daily ministration, but once a year the priest could go behind the veil.

We were just talking at break and I’ve never been able to discern from Scripture, did he come around the end of the veil? We know he didn’t go under it, but somehow or other, once a year the high priest would come in behind the veil and sprinkle the blood upon the Mercy Seat and then go back out, get the blood of another animal; come back in for the sins of Israel and go back out. And only once a year on what we call the Day of Atonement.

Remember the Day of Atonement could not take away Israel’s sin. It was only a stopgap, it was a covering and that’s why David said in the Psalms, “Blessed is the man whose sins are covered.” They weren’t atoned for completely; they couldn’t be with animal’s blood. I wasn’t planning to do this – maybe I’d better do it again. So few people understand this whole concept of the departure of the Jewish believers or unbelievers as far as that goes in the Old Testament economy. And the Scripture is so plain that they went down into Hades or Sheol or Hell as we call it in the English. But Hades was divided by a great gulf, and on one side were the ‘flames of torment’ and on the other side was ‘Paradise.’ But it was all down in the center part of the earth.

Now maybe we’d better chase down the Scriptures for this because it’s been a long time since we’ve done this. Come back with me to Matthew chapter 12, and we’ll begin at verse 38. Remember this in Christ’s earthly ministry.

Matthew 12:38-39

“Then certain of the scribes and the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. (now you remember, the Jews were always requiring a sign. And His answers are in red if you have a red letter edition) 39. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; but shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:”

If you ever have somebody scorn the story of Jonah, then you just tell them well, the Creator of the whole universe believed it. And if the Creator Himself believed it, you’d better! Because if you don’t you’re going to stand in danger of the judgment someday, because if you can’t believe that, then you can’t believe the work of the Cross. That’s the way I look at it. Because one is just as believable as the other. And so here the Lord of Glory Himself is putting His stamp of affirmation on the story of Jonah.

Matthew 12:40

“For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Which means the very center.“In the heart of the earth.” Now let’s go up and get a little glimpse of that place in the center of the earth, in Luke, chapter 16, and we can jump in at verse 19. Again, I think we’ll just take the time to read a good portion of this because the Word of God is more powerful than any two-edged sword. And it’s certainly more powerful than anything I can say, so we’ll just let it speak for itself. And again in the words of the Lord Jesus, Himself. Now I can never emphasize enough that even though He was on earth in the flesh, He never stopped being the Creator God of Genesis 1:1. And of course, this is what Hebrews has been showing; that Christ was totally God in the flesh. So, as God you see, He knows exactly what He’s talking about and this is not a parable.

Luke 16:19-21

“There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously everyday: (in other words, he was really rich.) 20. And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores. 21. And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.” Now that poor guy was in really tough shape, materially, wasn’t he? Now verse 22.

Luke 16:22a

“And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom:…”

We know the beggar was a believer, because he’s carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom. Now you want to remember that Abraham is 2,000 years before Christ’s earthly ministry.

Luke 16:22b-23a

“…the rich man also died, and was buried: (but his soul is in Hell) 23. And in hell he lifted up his eyes,…”

Now the rich man is in the same center of the earth of course, but he is not on the Paradise side, he is on the torment side. And so in Hell, this place of the departed, down here in the center of the earth, as Jesus said in Matthew 12, the rich man is in torment; and Abraham and Lazarus are over here on the Paradise side, all in the center of the earth.

Luke 16:23-28

“And in hell he (the rich man) lift up his eyes, being in torment, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. for I am tormented in this flame. 25. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. (Now here it comes) 26. And beside all this, (Abraham tells the rich man) between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: (no bridges across it. No way across) so that they who would pass from hence to you cannot; (Lazarus can’t come over and help you.) neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. (you can’t come over here) 27. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, (Abraham) that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: (my kinsmen, still alive up there in Israel) 28. For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.”

You know what that tells me? Every lost human being, the moment they depart this life, they wish they could have somebody go back and tell their loved ones, don’t come here. But it’s impossible see? Alright, and this is no different. Now remember this is not a parable. I have to feel that Jesus is giving us a little window of information that is as true as truth can be. So the rich man says, “send back Lazarus that they can be warned, that they not come to this place of torment.” Now verse 29.

Luke 16:29

“Abraham said unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.”

What does that mean? They’ve got the Word of God. Now today, you see, when lost people immediately find themselves in that place of torment, and if they could scream send somebody to warn their loved ones, what would still be the same answer? They have the Word of God. Only God would probably narrow it down a little more and say, “they have Paul’s epistles, and Paul salvation message” You remember, what I’m always showing from Peter, Peter says, “that if you would have salvation, you go to the epistles of Paul for according to the wisdom given unto him, and found in I Corinthians 15:1-4 and Romans 10:9-10.” Now verse 30.

Luke 16:30-31

“And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. (oh, if somebody could just tell them what it’s like down here, they would believe. No they won’t. Look at the next verse) 31. “And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets; (now remember this is an Old Testament economy, if they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets) neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.”

What does God know? The human mindset. And it’s no different today. My, sometimes I guess we wonder, if only God could just sort of manifest Himself in some tremendous way people would believe. No they won’t. Someone wrote me the other day and they said, “Les, I’m beginning to realize more and more as I hear you teach, that if Christ would come today, the world would crucify Him again.” And I’m afraid that’s true, because the vast majority wants nothing to do with these things.

Alright so now we can establish that in the Old Testament economy before the Blood of Christ was shed, since animal blood could not take away the sin of even the greatest believer such as Moses and Abraham, they went down into the center of the earth into the Paradise side of Sheol. But when the Blood was shed and the work of the Cross was finished, that now we see as Paul teaches in Ephesians chapter 4, that it all falls in place again so perfectly, and so clearly. I want to give you time to find it because you’ve got to read this with your own eyes, otherwise it won’t sink in.

Now remember the setting, all the Old Testament believers have been going down into Paradise, only in the realm of soul and spirit of course, fully conscious. But when Christ says to the thief on the cross and I don’t have to have you read that one, you all know what He said. What did He say? “Today thou shalt be with me (where?) in Paradise.” Not up in Heaven, in Paradise. Alright, now here Paul, puts the frosting on the cake:

Ephesians 4:8a

“Wherefore he saith, (that is Christ in verse 7) When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive,…” In other words, He took those that were in captivity down in that paradise side of Sheol, and removed them. Now who were the ones in captivity? These Old Testament believers waiting for the atoning Blood. Maybe I should put it this way. They’re waiting for the work of the Cross. They’re waiting for Christ to come down in those three days and three nights and declare unto them as Peter puts it in his epistle, “He preached unto them (what?) that the atoning Blood was now shed and He could take them out and now they could go into the Heavenlies into the presence of God because, because of Christ’s Blood their sins were totally removed.”

I was just talking to somebody on the phone again the other evening. about my maintaining that at salvation we are forgiven and God has sent our sins far, far away. I think the Psalmist puts it, “as into the depths of the deepest sea.” Doesn’t he? Never to be remembered against us any more. Well you see, when that happens and you and I are so cleansed by the Blood of Christ, now we have no compunction with saying, as Paul does, “to be absent from the body is to be(where?) present with the Lord.”

He doesn’t hold our past against us. He’s forgotten it. It’s gone and we are now fit to go into His presence. But the Old Testament saints were only under the blood of animals. And it was just a stopgap, as I’ve been saying over and over all afternoon. It was just a covering waiting for the finished work of the Cross. Alright, now let’s read on in Ephesians.

Ephesians 4:8-9

“Wherefore he saith, When he ascended, up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. 9. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?…)” See how that fits with Matthew 12. Then verse 10.

Ephesians 4:10

“(…He that descended (the Christ of the Cross) is the same also that ascended up far above all the heavens, that he might fill (or fulfill) all things.)”

See how plain that is? You don’t have to be a seminary graduate to understand that. You don’t have to be a PhD in English. It’s just plain as day “that as Jonah was three days in the belly of the fish, for three days and three nights; so must the Son of man be in the heart of the earth, three days and three nights.” What is it but that he descended first into the lower parts of the earth, took captive all these Old Testament believers, and took them up to Paradise which is now in heaven and torment of course now is enlarged, according to the Old Testament prophets. The torment side of Sheol now covers the whole area because Paradise is now in glory.

Well, now let’s come back to Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 7, and see if we can make some more sense out of this:

Hebrews 9:7-8

“But unto the second (that is beyond the vail, back into that Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant was placed.) went the high priest alone once a year, not without blood,(animal blood) which he offered for himself, (and then he’d have to go back out and kill the second animal, take it’s blood and again go behind the veil) and (that) for the errors of the people: 8. The Holy Ghost this signifying, (showing) that the way into the holiest of all (the very presence of God) was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:”

In other words, when the high priest would go in behind the veil, oh he was going into the Shekinah Glory presence of God as it hovered above this little tabernacle. But there was no way he had access into the throne room of God in heaven because all he had was animal blood. And it could not remove sin. It merely covered it.

Okay, now can we go to the next verse, verse 9, and all of this was a figure, a type, a picture, all of this:

Hebrews 9:9

Which was a figure for the time then present, (animal sacrifices, temple worship) in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, (or whole or complete) as pertaining to the conscience;”

Animal blood could not do it. Now isn’t it amazing that Israel did not lose the temple until after Christ was crucified, buried and risen from the dead? I’d never thought of it really before. Isn’t it amazing? Those Romans could just as well have destroyed Jerusalem and the temple before all that was finished.

My goodness, they were fighting the Jews for a hundred years before Christ came. But oh, God in His Sovereignty made sure that that temple worship kept on going until the finished work of the Cross was accomplished because you see, otherwise, there would have been a time in there where the Jews had no way of approaching God. If the Cross hadn’t been completed and if the temple was gone, then there would have been nothing. But God made sure that they could keep on with that temple worship, they could still bring their sacrifices. Remember, though that it was a dead religion. And not many of them were true believers anymore, but there were a few.

But God in His Sovereignty made everything fit, that after the work of the Cross was completed, the temple could be destroyed. And that’s why Paul can write in here that “everything pertained to the Law is like an old worn out garment, that you can fold up and lay it aside.” How it all fits historically, as well as Biblically! Alright, now then, verse 10 – all of these things of tabernacle worship:

Hebrews 9:10

“Which stood only (that all, that’s as far as it could go) in meats and drinks, and divers washing, and carnal (or fleshly or earthly) ordinances, imposed on them (that is on Israel)until (there’s your time word, when?) the time of reformation.” (or setting everything straight.)

In other words, again, they stayed under this old system of tabernacle, animal sacrificial worship, until that work of the Cross was consummated, and then all of this could fade away – it was now useless. It counts for nothing, and that’s the whole purpose of this letter to the Hebrews. Now let’s look at verse 10 carefully, for the minutes that are left.

All of this worship service, all of this daily operation of the priest, the yearly practice of the Day of Atonement was all just simply a ritual “of meats and drinks.” In other words, there were drink offerings that were poured out. The animal sacrifices and the burnt offerings and so forth, and then the next one; it’s real interesting – diverse what? “Washings.” A lot of people don’t want to hear this, but what do you suppose the word washing is in the Greek? You’d better write this in your margin. It’s ‘baptismos.’ In other words, along with all this sacrificial worship they had baptisms as we would call it. But they didn’t call it baptism in the Old Testament. What did they call it? Washing. Now goodness, I don’t have to tell you that. Let me go back to Leviticus chapter 8, and we’ll just have time for one verse. Now this is preparation for the priesthood. But not only was it when they prepared for the priesthood it was every day, as they got ready to do this ‘daily ministration.’ Whoever happened to be the priest’s turn for that particular day, how did they have to start? Wash, wash, wash – in water.

Leviticus 8:6

“And Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water.”

Now if that would have been in the Greek it would have said he ‘baptized them in water.’ That’s really what it said. And so the whole religion of Judaism was based on wash, wash, wash. And so when we come to John the Baptist and he begins baptizing in the River Jordan, were the Jews all shook up, saying, “What in the world is all this?” No, nothing new. They’d been used to it for 1,500 years.

 

Through the Bible with Les Feldick

LESSON 3 * PART 2 * BOOK 50

Once, By His Own Blood – Part 2

Hebrews 8:11 – 9:14

 

Well here we are finishing up our 50th book this afternoon, with each book containing twelve programs. Who would have thought when we were asked to do a television program starting in Genesis 1, that we’d still be taping over 10 years later, and when we finish this afternoon we would have taped 600 programs. We thought when we came on television that this would probably be about a six month deal, but here we are still. We just give the Lord the credit, the praise. And how we thank you for all your support, your prayers and all that it takes.

Alright, let’s go right back where we left off in Hebrews and we’re now ready to start chapter 9. Now it’s rather interesting that after Paul almost exhausts chapters 7 and 8 with the constant reference to the high priesthood of Melchisedec now we move on into these chapters and we’re certainly still going to be looking at that priesthood but we never again see the name Melchisedec. And as I study, I find it’s rather interesting that it is used so rarely through Scripture.

Genesis 14 is when we have the first mention of Melchizedek and then again in Psalms, I think it’s 107. Then we see nothing more of Melchizedek until we get here to the book of Hebrews and again it’s only just for a couple chapters in here. Now the name disappears but the priesthood continues.

Hebrews 9:1-2a

“Then verily the first covenant (again going back to the Mosaic) had also ordinances of divine service, (in other words, they had to go through the ritual prescribed) and a worldly (or an earthly) sanctuary. 2. For there was a tabernacle…” (a tent)

Now I trust you all know that the word tabernacle is better translated in our English, as a tent. It was a temporary place that could be taken down, folded up and moved. It was not stone and brick and mortar like the temple which came later. But it was a temporary tent situation and so, consequently, it was called a tabernacle.

Hebrews 9:2-3

“For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary. 3. And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;” In other words, all part of this same little tent. Now while we were waiting for the cameras to get ready, I just quickly drew a little makeshift illustration of what we’re talking about. This isn’t according to scale, but in the outer fence there was only a gate on the East. I’m using the typical directions of North, and East and South and West. This is the way the tabernacle was always set as was the temple on the Mount in Jerusalem. Alright, so as you came in from the East through the outer gate the very first thing that was in the furnishings was the brazen altar; the sacrifices. Then you came to the laver of cleansing, which was filled with water. And then you came to the first door of the tent, or the veil if you want to call it that, and this was called the sanctuary. This was the only place that the priests ministered every day of the year.

And in this, we had the table of showbread with the twelve flat loaves of bread. Down here was the candlestick, the light for the sanctuary. And then right over here next to the veil was the altar of incense, which was still in here but close enough that the aroma of the incense covered the Ark of the Covenant, which was just behind the veil. And we’re going to look in a minute how, specifically, God told Moses to place these. And then here was the veil that most Bible readers are acquainted with, the veil that rent when Christ died on that Cross. But it was the veil behind which only once a year the high priest could go and sprinkle the blood on the Mercy Seat, which was above the Ark of the Covenant. So this is basically the floor plan.

Now the Temple was established years later on the same kind of a floor plan, only instead of being a temporary tent, it was made of all the materials that are part and parcel of a building. In other words, the mortar and the stone and the gold and the silver and all the rest of it. But, out in the wilderness, which Paul is dealing with here, it was just the little tent. Now verse 3.

Hebrews 9:3-4

“And after the second veil, (the back room of this little tent or of) the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; (or what we really refer to so often as the Holy of Holies.) 4. Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein (that is in the Ark – this little box made of wood and covered with pure gold) was the golden pot that had (a sample of the) manna (the food in the wilderness) and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;” (or the Ten Commandments.)

Let’s go back to Exodus chapter 40. And the children of Israel are now ready to set up the tabernacle. The last year has been spent getting everything ready. Craftsmen of every sort were commissioned to do the work and they must have been brilliant – to take pure gold and overlay these articles of wood, out of which everything was tremendously beautiful. Verse 19.

Exodus 40:19

“And he spread abroad the tent over the tabernacle, (the various hides and cloth and so forth) and he put the covering of the tent above and upon it; as the LORD commanded Moses.”

Now I just had the question during our last break, of whether the Lord spoke directly to Moses. Well, of course He did – with the exception of the Ten Commandments – they were written in tables of stone by God’s own finger. But all the rest of the setting up of the ritual and the appointing of the priests; that was done orally as God spoke directly with Moses. Now verse 20.

Exodus 40:20

“And he took and put the testimony into the ark, (the tables of stone) and set the staves on the ark, and put the mercy seat above upon the ark.”

Now I’m going to stop and shock a few people. The word ‘ark’ in Hebrew is also what we would call a what? A coffin. Same word. And the analogy is the same; So this Ark of the Covenant was a coffin. Oh, not for a human corpse but for something else that was going to die and it spoke of death throughout Scripture and what was that? The Law!

Now I know that shocks people but I’m going to show you here in just a minute that that’s what the Scripture called it, ‘a ministration of death.’ So the Law, the tables of stone, were placed into that little box, that Ark of the Covenant, which was a coffin that spoke of death. But whenever you speak of death in the spiritual, what’s the next item? Life! Out of death always comes life. Let’s follow it. That’ll come in a little bit later.

Exodus 40:21-22

“And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the vail of the covering, and covered the ark of the testimony; as the LORD commanded Moses. 22. And he put the table in the tent of the congregation, upon the side of the tabernacle northward, without the vail. 23. And he set the bread in order upon it before the LORD; as the LORD had commanded Moses.” In other words, that’s the table of showbread. So here are the instructions: that as you would come in from the East, up here on the North side was to be the table of showbread. Alright, then just read on a little bit further.

Exodus 40:24

“And he put the candlestick in the tent of the congregation, over against the table, on the side of the tabernacle (what?) southward.” So you’ve got the table of showbread up here; on the south-side you’ve got the candlestick and then in the center right next to the veil was the altar of incense, so that the incense would literally cover the Ark of the Covenant without actually being in the room. So, it was not behind the vail but it was close enough that the effect would cover the Ark of the Covenant. Verse 25.

Exodus 40:25-26

“And he lighted the lamps (down here in the candlestick) before the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses 26. And he put the golden altar in the tent of the congregation before the vail.” In other words, right in front of the veil was the altar of incense.

Exodus 40:27-28

“And he burnt sweet incense thereon; as the LORD commanded Moses. 28. And he set up the hanging at the door of the tabernacle.” And so on and so forth. Now when we studied all this back in Exodus the thing I always like to emphasize, and I still do, is that everything – every jot and tittle of this tabernacle set up – was a picture of the complete finished work of the Cross. In fact, if you’ve got a little imagination, you can see that the very floor plan depicted a cross. You come from the altar to the laver of cleaning to the two articles here and over to here. And everything from man comes with sacrifice toward God, but with God, the God of mercy, everything moves out this direction. And that’s what makes Bible study so interesting.

Whenever I read scoffers, I feel sorry for them. You know why? Because they scoff and they ridicule and they have no concept of how beautifully this whole Book is put together from Genesis to Revelation. The words I use so often are, ‘”it’s so intricate.” It is as intricate as the illustration that I gave years ago, back when we first started on television, “like a Swiss watch.” Everything is in perfect harmony, everything in ways that man could never imagine, all fit, and dovetail together. And that proves that it is a supernatural revelation of the mind of God.

Now just this right here that we’ve been talking about should be enough to convince anybody that the very setting of all these various furnishings of this tabernacle worship was already picturing a cross and how everything spoke of the very mercy of God, moving out to meet sinful men. On the other hand, the only way sinful men could approach this Holy God was through sacrifice and the shed blood. Now we’re going to see later in this chapter, of course, that the blood of animals couldn’t take away sin. All it did was stop-gap it. It was a covering but it was all looking forward to when Christ would finish that work of the Cross.

Alright now let’s see, while we’re back here in Exodus, let’s just stop in at the Book of Numbers chapter 17. If you remember a few weeks ago, we covered the rebellion of Korah. I don’t remember if it was the last taping or the one before. You remember how that Korah came up to Moses and said, “You and Aaron think you’re too much. After all who are you that you have to do all this. God can use any of us. I can be my own priest.” Remember that? At that time I read you the account here in chapter 16 of what took place. Alright now, as a follow up of that, Moses told Korah, “Alright bring all the people that are consorting with you against us and we will just see what God thinks of the whole scenario.” And you know what happened. The ground opened up and all those that sided with Korah and his rebellion went down, the Scripture says, into the pit.

Alright now, chapter 17 follows that. Let’s just take the time to read this. Every once in a while someone will call my program “a program of Bible reading.” Well, I don’t mind that a bit because after all that’s what we do mostly, we just let the Scripture speak for itself.

Numbers 17:1-2

“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2. Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod (like a shepherd’s rod) according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: (In other words, one from each one of the Twelve Tribes – Judah and Reuben and Ephraim and all the rest of them.) write thou every man’s name upon his rod.”

Numbers 17:3-5a

“And thou shalt write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their father (one rod per tribe.) 4. And thou shalt lay them up (all twelve of them) in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I (God says) will meet with you. 5. And it shall come to pass, that the man’s rod whom I shall choose, shall blossom:…” Remember, they’re starting out with dead sticks of wood. These rods are just dead sticks of wood, probably almond.

Numbers 17:5b-8

“…and I will make to cease from me the murmuring of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you. 6. And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod a piece, for each prince one, according to their fathers; houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. (remember Aaron’s will be a rod from the Tribe of Levi.) 7. And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness. 8. And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi (remember will be the rod from the Tribe of Levi.) was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds.” But only his rod did this. Now I suppose the scoffer reads that and thinks boy, that’s pretty good story telling. But see, there’s more to it than that. This is telling us a tremendous New Testament truth. What is it?

Numbers 17:9-10a

“And Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD unto all the children of Israel: and they looked and took every man his rod. 10. And the LORD said unto Moses, Bring Aaron’s rod again before the testimony, to be kept…”

Remember what the Book of Hebrews said? “That within the ark of the testimony was a sample of the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of testimony.” That was in the Ark of the Covenant, in that box. Alright, completing the verse:

Numbers 18:10b-13

“…for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me that they die not. 11. And Moses did so; as the LORD commanded him, so did he. 12. And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, ‘Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish. 13. Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the LORD shall die; shall we be consumed with dying?’”

Well what did they suddenly realize? The power and the Holiness of God, that Aaron was the designated priest of Israel and the rest of them dare not usurp that kind of authority. But it goes further than that. This wasn’t just a sign to Israel because, in this little box that we call the Ark of the Covenant (and that’s all it was remember, it was just a box over which of course) you had the angelic beings and the gold. But in here you had Aaron’s rod that budded, the tables of the testimony and a sample of the manna. Now, if the Law, the testimony on the stones, spoke of death, then what did the budding dead almond stick speak of? Resurrection life!

And so even though those tables of stone were a ministration of death in that box which was a coffin, there was also the promise of life to come. And when life to come came along, what do we have to sustain it? The Bread of Life! Now there’s a whole sermon for you right there in one little box!

Now let’s turn up to II Corinthians chapter 3, and see if that isn’t just exactly the way the Scripture puts it. I think I mentioned it once before on the program, when I taught this one night in one of my classes here in Oklahoma, I’ll tell you what, you could almost hear a pin drop. They were so shocked when I called the Law a ministration of death. That’s all the Law could do was kill; it couldn’t save anybody. It couldn’t give life to anybody, and it still can’t. As much as people try it will never work. And that’s why Law-keepers are doomed – they are beating a dead horse. It’ll never get up and give them a ride.

Alright, II Corinthians, chapter 3, let’s just jump in at verse 6. Paul is writing. And he says:

II Corinthians 3:6a

“Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, (that is the Law) but of the spirit:…”

And that’s where we are. We’re not under the Law, we’re under grace. Now I guess I’d better stop and explain again because some people get all bent out of shape when I say, look, we’re not under the Mosaic Law. And they say, “You mean I can do whatever I please and get away with it?” That’s not what I said. I said, “You’re not under the Law because we’re under Grace.”

Now then, since Israel was under the Law and they tried to keep it, what happened? They failed – miserably. I already gave you an example in the last program. And the reason was those Ten Commandments on those tablets of stone had no power. Nothing to help the people keep them, so they were ministrations of death. But now, we come under grace the moment we become a believer and we’re not under the Law but we’ve got something a million times better, and what is that? The indwelling Spirit. And it’s the Spirit of God that keeps the believer from breaking, if I may use that word, the Law. The Holy Spirit will never tell a believer to steal. The Holy Spirit will never lead a believer to gossip. The Holy Spirit will never lead any of us to go contrary to the basic laws of God, that’s the whole power element. Finishing the verse.

II Corinthians 3:6b

“…not of the letter, (the law) but of the spirit: (the power of the Holy Spirit. Now look at the conclusion) for the letter (law) killeth, (that’s all the Law can do, it’s a ministration of death.) but the spirit giveth life.” What was that? The rod that budded. Now do you see it all fit? Alright, then come down to verse 7.

II Corinthians 3:7

“But if the ministration of death, (that’s what your Bible calls it) written and engraven in stone was glorious, (and it was. It was great for its time) so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; (when he came down from the mountain, remember) which glory was to be (what?) done away;”

The day would come when all that pertained to Moses, like I said in the last program, would be folded up like a worn out garment and laid aside. And Israel to this day, can’t understand that. But trusting God to give us wisdom, we do. Verse 8:

II Corinthians 3:8

“How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather (or more, what?) glorious?”

Now what does that tell us? All that the Law was in all of its glory under the Mosaic system has faded away and in its place has come something a million times better. We’re not living under a ministration of death. We are living under eternal life. It’s already promised. It’s already begun. Oh we may pass away from this old earthly tabernacle some day, and Iris and I talk about it. I mean after all, we’re walking into the sunset whether we like it or not. And if the Lord doesn’t come, one of these days, it’s very possible either she or I will suddenly be gone. That’s the way of all flesh, that’s why we pray harder and harder that the Lord will come. I don’t fancy going to the cemetery and I don’t think she does either. And I don’t think any of us do. But if the Lord doesn’t come, that’s going to happen, but the death of a believer is what? Oh! It’s a graduation into something far better because we’ve already got that eternal life.

So remember we are no longer under a ministration of death. We are now under a ministry of life. Eternal life! But again, don’t forget now that that Ark of the Covenant contained the three things that pertain to all of these end-time events. It contained the rod that budded, speaking of resurrection life, it spoke of the ministration of death which was the Law and had to be put away, and it spoke then of the manna which would be the Bread of Life, that would sustain us as believers as we go through this earthly sojourn. They were all back there in type, but now revealed by the Apostle Paul.

 

Through the Bible with Les Feldick

LESSON 3 * PART 1 * BOOK 50

Once, By His Own Blood

Hebrews 8:11 – 9:14

 

We left off in Hebrews chapter 8 verse 9. But to get a good understanding of where we left off let’s start with verse 7.

I think Hebrews was written by the Apostle Paul. We know it is first and foremost directed to Jewish believers. And that’s why it’s called the epistle to the Hebrews. Consequently, there is not one word in this whole letter to the Hebrews that is what we would call the body of Christ or the Church language.

You will find almost nothing that pertains directly to the body of Christ. In other words, you don’t see the term “The body of Christ.” There is not that emphasis on salvation through faith alone in the death, burial and resurrection. And there is certainly no reference to pastors, bishops, deacons and elders in Hebrews because again, it’s not directed to the Gentile Church. This letter does not address the body of Christ as such, but all the things I trust we’ve been learning now over these last seven or eight chapters are fundamental truths on which the body of Christ rests. Even Romans chapter 3 when Paul says:

Romans 3:21

“But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets:” So everything is a progressive revelation and Hebrews is one of those sections of Scripture that, even though it’s not directly addressed to the Gentile body of Christ, it shows us the fundamental truths that were so necessary for our Gospel to come about. We also find that in all of Hebrews there is this constant comparison of that which was good (was in the past), to that which is better (is now). In fact, back up to verse 6 – what’s the first two words?

Hebrews 8:6a

“But now…” In other words, that which was past is past but now, see?

Hebrews 8:6b

“…hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, (see, that constant comparison and ) by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, (Better than that which was before, the old covenant) which was established upon better promises.” I really love this! Yes, the Law was good. Judaism was good as far as it went, but now, that has faded off and folded up like an old garment and now we’ve got things that are far better. Now verse 7.

Hebrews 8:7

“For if (conditional) that first covenant (the Covenant of Law) had been faultless, (if it had been perfect) then (there) should be no place have been sought for a second.” That stands to reason doesn’t it? Again, “If it ain’t broke – don’t fix it.” It’s only when something is amiss that we dive into it and make corrections. So Paul says: “if the first had been perfect, there’d be no need to correct it.” But it wasn’t. It was fleshly and weak.

Hebrews 8:8

“For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold the days come, saith the Lord, when I will (future) make a new (better) covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:” Now that’s not addressed to the Church. The new covenant, even in Jeremiah (we’re going to look at it after a bit), was never addressed to the Gentile Church; it was addressed to Israel and we’ll look at that. Oh if only people could separate Israel and the Church, how the Scriptures would just open up to them.

Hebrews 8:9

“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 continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.” Well, we went through that explicitly back in chapter 3 especially, when we rehearsed their unbelief at Kadesh-barnea. And what did the Lord say? “They entered not because of unbelief.” And the warning is even for us then, don’t harden your hearts as they did – keep trusting. Now verse 10 for something totally fresh.

Hebrews 8:10

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, (after all the years – 1500 at the time Paul writes this, So that after all those years) saith the Lord; I will (future tense) put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will (future) be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:” Now they haven’t been that since way back in Old Testament history when the Shekinah Glory left the Temple. Remember when God was speaking to Daniel and said, “Thy people.” Why? Because they were no longer God’s people, they had turned away in unbelief. But the day is coming when once again they will be the people of God, and we’re getting closer and closer to that day. Now let’s go back to Jeremiah 31, and see this New Covenant in its original setting. And then you’ll readily see that this has no direct – indirect, yes – but no direct bearing on the Gentile Church.This is a covenant that God has made with Israel not to be fulfilled of course, until Christ returns.

Jeremiah 31:31

“Behold the days come, (a promise for the future) saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:” See how perfectly the Apostle Paul quoted this?

Jeremiah 31:32

“Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant, they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD.”

When God gave the Law to Israel, and as we’re going to see when we get into chapter 9, He gave them the Tabernacle and the whole sacrificial system of worship. He gave them the priesthood; my they had everything going for them. God was present, remember, in that pillar of fire by night and the cloud by day.

For forty years after they had rejected Canaan, He fed them in the wilderness. He provided the water, provided everything they needed. And yet, what did the Nation of Israel do with it? Rejected it. They spurned Him for the most part, see? And so, because of their unbelief, this covenant of Law became nothing but a broken covenant waiting for the day when this new one will take center stage. Alright, now verse 33.

Jeremiah 31:33a

“But (See there’s that flip-side again. Oh they just scorned the first covenant. But) this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD,…” In other words, after those days of unbelief and of breaking the original covenant, the Mosaic Law, After those days, saith the LORD:)

Jeremiah 31:33b

“…I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; (not on tables of stone but He’s going to literally implant it in the heart of every Israelite, and then what will happen?) and (I) will be their God and they shall be my people.” Now I’m going to just read on because there’s some good stuff in here.

Jeremiah 31:34a

“And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour,…” Do you remember back when Moses gave the Law, what was the instruction to every Jew? Teach it, and teach it. Memorize it, memorize it. When you get up in the morning, think on the Law. When you go to bed at night, you think on the Law. And it was just constantly programmed into their thinking. But you see, when this becomes a reality, which will be, of course, when Christ returns and sets up that glorious Kingdom, then Israel won’t have to constantly be reminded because it will just be implanted in their very being. Looking at the verse again.

Jeremiah 31:34

“And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” What a promise! Now verse 35.

Jeremiah 31:35

“Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, which divides the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:” In other words, the God of Creation. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He’s speaking. And now look at the promise in light especially of the Middle East scenario today (2002). Many people think that Israel should be driven into the sea. But what does the Scripture say?

Jeremiah 31:36

“If those ordinances (the sun, moon, and stars) depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.” Alright now then, if the sun and moon would suddenly quit shining. If the stars would suddenly fall out of their position, then it’s possible Israel would cease to be a nation, but not until.

Jeremiah 31:37a

“Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can me measured,…” And what’d we just hear again in the news this last week? They found another galaxy of some billion-trillion years out into space. Well that’s just a guess, but what does that tell you? How vast the universe is. Human science can’t measure it. But God says:

Jeremiah 31:37b

“…and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.”

So if all that could happen then Israel might cease to be a nation, so it’ll never happen. Now I know most of us who are Biblically oriented are real concerned about the situation in the Middle East. It almost looks as though the life of the Nation of Israel is slowly but surely being snuffed out and I was just reading in the Jerusalem Post again last night where a lot of the Jewish people actually think that. They think they’re about to lose their country. No, they are not. Now they’re going to be squeezed. They’re going to go through some terrible times and the Old Testament prophecies that it’s going to come to the place where they will stand totally isolated. All alone with no one to help them, but they’re not going disappear.And so we can take comfort in that, that the Word of God is steadfast and sure. And they are there.

I trust they are there as a part of the end-time scenario now and it just tells us that the Lord’s coming is getting nearer. I made a big mistake back in 1993 – I thought that, by the end of the millennium, the Lord would return. Well, I didn’t set it in concrete, but I shouldn’t have even said that much because we can’t even speculate. Remember when I told you about the cartoon I’d seen about the end-time. The old boy sitting outside his cave door and above he had written ‘The End Is Near.” But then he had second thoughts and he added “er.” “The End is Nearer.” And so that’s the way I leave it today – the end is nearer than it was yesterday and it’s certainly a lot nearer than it was when Israel first declared themselves an independent state in 1948. But we can see that – all the ramifications of the world, the turmoil, the perplexity, the wars.

Somebody called me on the phone the other day, and again I have to respect what people tell me and I didn’t ask for a documentary of it, but he had heard someone give a lecture that right now today, there are 50 wars raging around the planet. Fifty. Well, I knew it was well over 40 the last I read in one of the news magazines. But just think about it, fifty wars are raging. Forty-eight of them involve the Muslim people. And so we find ourselves in a world that’s in turmoil. And it’s not just politics, it’s not just economics, it’s religious. If you’ll go back into history, you’ll find that most of the turmoil all the way back was usually, not always, but usually based on religious differences. But the Nation of Israel in spite of all the pressure; in spite of all the gloom will never again cease to be a nation. So lets look at verse 37 again.

Jeremiah 31:37

“Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also search out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.” But it’s not going to happen because this New Covenant is a covenant set from the eternal Sovereign God and He will never go back on His Word. Alright, back to Hebrews chapter 8 verse 11.

Hebrews 8:11-12

“And they (coming back to Jeremiah 31:31) shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. 12. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”

Here again, you and I in the human realm cannot comprehend the Grace of God, even concerning Israel. My, God should have cast them out of His thinking centuries and centuries ago. They have no reason to still be in God’s favor. They’ve been a rebellious people, an ungodly people. In fact let me take you back to another verse, go all the way back to II Samuel chapter 7 and it just shows the mind of a merciful God.

God has never changed. He has never even had a thought of casting away His People, Israel. Even as Paul says in Romans 11, “hath God cast away His People?” God forbid. Don’t even think such a thing. That even though they had rejected Him and crucified Him, yet God has not cast away His people, Israel. Alright and the promise begins way back here in II Samuel chapter 7 verse 14 where God is addressing King David and He tells David concerning the Nation of Israel:

II Samuel 7:14

“I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men;” In other words, in another place, Isaiah speaks of people coming in with a language that the Jews couldn’t understand. They’d be overrun by their Gentile enemies. But that’s not going to stop God. He said, “I will chasten them with the rod of men and with the stripes of the children of men.” Verse 15:

II Samuel 7:15a

“But (even though they are iniquitous and steeped in unbelief, yet God says) my mercy shall not depart away from him,…”

Now go back to Exodus chapter 33 verse 19. And don’t forget these things. These are the very words of the Eternal God. And it’s nothing that men or nations or governments can ever change, it’s set in concrete, as I like to so often express it.

Exodus 33:19

“And he (God) said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, (that is before Moses) and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; (Now here comes the promise.) and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.”

If you’ll remember when we were teaching in Romans several years ago, I used the analogy, it’s just like someone who has stepped out in the bright sunlight and these things just come down upon him, but God retreated and He retreated into His Sovereignty. Even though men may have just exclaimed “No way!” But God retreats into His Sovereignty, He is Absolute, and in His Sovereignty what does He say? “I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy. And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious.” Nobody can change that. He’s Sovereign.

And though we as mortals can’t understand some of these things, we have to remember that in His Sovereignty God can do whatever He wants to do even though we as humans may sometimes think it’s ridiculous. But from His Sovereignty, never. Now, Hebrews 8 again, verse 12 – with what we’ve just been seeing from the Old Testament, for God says:

Hebrews 8:12a

“For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness,…” Even though they’ve been a wicked and an ungodly nation. You go back to the Old Testament and you wonder how God ever put up with it. And never forget the vast majority then, as now, even though they were ‘religious,’ they didn’t have saving faith.

And I’m always going back to Elijah when he confronted the prophets of Baal. That’s probably the clearest explanation of the spiritual level of Israel. And here most of Israel had fallen down and worshipped Jezebel’s god, Baal. And you know the story, and when Elijah confronted them and the fire from Heaven lapped up all the water that Elijah had put on his sacrifices and God instructed him to kill the prophets of Baal, which he did. But then he got the message from ole Jezebel, “that tomorrow at this time he’ll be as dead as my priests of Baal are.”

And poor old Elijah did what? He ran and he ran and I always like to make it graphic. He was more than a marathon runner. He was triple that. And he ran all the way to the Negev. That’s a good hundred miles. And then he gets down under a juniper tree and I would imagine he all pooped out. Scared to death. And what’s he say? “Lord, take my life, I’m the last one left in Israel. Take me and forget about the nation.” And what was God’s answer, “Elijah, I have seven thousand that have not bowed their knee to Baal.”

And we think, well that’s a pretty good chunk of people – seven thousand. But out of an average population of 7 million, 7,000 is one tenth of one percent. Even in Israel, that’s all that were remaining true to Jehovah. Well, it’s never been much different. At the time of the flood it was less than that. There were just eight. And I feel there were four billion people on the earth at the time of the flood. Eight people. That’s all.

And now another graphic illustration. When you get into Acts chapter 1, after the Lord has been ministering to Israel, up and down the dusty roads of the little nation and they come together in the upper room, how many were there? A hundred and twenty. Now I have to feel that that was most, if not all, of the TRUE believers in Israel concerning Christ. A hundred and twenty after three years of His miracles and His ministry. Then we wonder why people don’t listen to me or you?

It’s always been that way. We can never expect much from the multitudes, at least I don’t. That’s why I’m tickled if people call and say we’re going to get twenty people together, will you come? Sure I’ll go! Because I’d rather have twenty true believers who are really concerned as to have a whole stadium full that want to be entertained. But you see, it’s always been that way. God has always had to settle for that tiny little remnant. Alright in the couple of minutes we have left let’s look at verses 12 and 13.

Hebrews 8:12

“For (God says,) I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” Now stop and think. Can you and I forget something that has happened in the past? Not very likely. Not if it’s made an imprint on us. We can try our best but you cannot forget it, it’s there. And as you go through life something will just trigger it and there it’s back.

But what about God? He can. See, God can forget. And that’s the precious promise that when He forgives, He forgets. He doesn’t throw up our past. Our own memory will, but God won’t. And always remember that God doesn’t hold (I don’t care how black the past) that against us. He has forgotten it. Well, He did the same thing with Israel. And so then verse 13 in the few seconds that are left.

Hebrews 8:13

“In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old, (like a garment that’s ready to be folded up and cast aside.) Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.”

Well, what’s He still trying to impress upon these Jewish people? That the old system of Law and the old religion of Judaism is now worn out, it’s past, it’s done and they’re to look for something totally new.

 

Through the Bible with Les Feldick

LESSON 2 * PART 4 * BOOK 50

Hebrews 7:20 – 8:10 – Part 2

 

Let’s begin where we left off in the last lesson, and that would be Hebrews chapter 8, and verse 3. But again, I don’t like to just jump in like that, so let’s go back a verse or two. We might as well go back to verse 1.

Hebrews 8:1-2

“Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on 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 pitched, and not man.”

I told you in the last program you could take a two-way approach on verse 2. He could be speaking of the body of us as believers, who is the temple of the Holy Spirit. And Christ is the very Core and the makeup of that. But it could also be talking to, a reference to, the Old Testament tabernacle or temple, which was set in those two rooms the sanctuary and the Holy of Holies. And which was pitched according to the pattern in Heaven. And we’ll look at that again further in this chapter. Now verse 3.

Hebrews 8:3

“For every high priest (whether it was of the Aaronic or whether it’s this high priest, Melchisedec) is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.” He has to have a reason for fulfilling His priesthood. Now verse 4.

Hebrews 8:4

“For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:” He couldn’t do that. See that? He couldn’t operate in His priesthood if He had to do as Israel’s priests did because it just wouldn’t fit. He could not offer animal sacrifices. He could not fulfill the priesthood in the temple because His work was so totally, totally above and beyond the animal sacrifices of Judaism. Now verse 5.

Hebrews 8:5a

“(these priests of Israel, Judaism) Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle:…”The tabernacle at Mt. Sinai, in the wilderness. In other words, God is making sure that Moses builds that tabernacle according to the floor plan of the original, which is in Heaven. We looked at it in the last moments of our last program and we’re going to look at it again in a moment. Now finishing verse 5.

Hebrews 8:5b

“for, See, (take note) saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.” As Moses is about to build that tabernacle at Mt. Sinai, in the wilderness, the Lord spoke and said, “See, (take note) that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount.”

Now let’s go back again for just a quick review of where we were in the last program, but a different verse. Let’s go to Exodus chapter 25 and verse 40. In the last program we looked at verses 8 and 9, but now we’re going to look at the last verse. And this just shows the importance of it. Moses could not take this lightly. He couldn’t just throw up a tent and build and altar and start killing animals. It all had to be according to God’s divine purposes. And those of you who have studied the tabernacle with me remember that everything, with nothing excepted, was all a picture of this work of the Cross.

Every instrument in the sanctuary. Every bolt of cloth, every piece of gold and silver, it all spoke of the coming of the work of the Cross. So this is why God was so adamant that Moses did everything in a particular way. Now verse 40, and God is giving Moses instructions:

Exodus 25:40

“Look, (make sure) that thou make them (that is all the things that are going into this tabernacle) after their pattern, (in other words, he couldn’t just make-shift it. It had to) be exactly as God had given him the pattern) which was shewed thee in the mount.” (when he was up there in Mt. Sinai.)

Alright now then, come to the last chapter of Exodus, chapter 40, and we’ll look at verse 33. And again the language is such that it just sends you flying to the finished work of the Cross. Now in all these intervening chapters, they’ve been crafting the materials that went into this tabernacle. The gold, the linen, the animal’s hair, the altar of incense and the brazen altar made of brass, all these things were crafted by craftsmen that God had raised up out of the Israelites. Now Exodus 40:33:

Exodus 40:33-34

“He (Moses) reared up the court round about the tabernacle (in other words, the outer fence that went clear around the perimeter) and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. (in other words that was the last thing that was finished) So Moses finished the work. 34. Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.” In other words, God put His stamp of approval upon everything that the Israelites had now made with their craftsmanship and they erected it and set it up. And in verse 35 we find the presence of God was so awesome.

Exodus 40:35

“And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.” Well, anyway all of that was set in motion to give us a preview of what Christ would accomplish in His work of the Cross. Alright, let’s come back to Hebrews once again finishing verse 5.

Hebrews 8:5b

“…for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.” Everything exactly as God had instructed. Now verse 6, here we come again, what’s the word?) But, (the flipside. Yes, Moses and all the craftsmen of Israel worked almost a year formulating all the things that went into that earthly tabernacle there out in the foot of Mt. Sinai.)

Hebrews 8:6a

“But now (on this side) he hath obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a (what?) better…” You see the constant comparison of that which was good, the Mosaic system, the Mosaic Law. It was good up to a point but it could not be perfect. But now, now on this side we have that which is perfect because Christ Himself established it and finished it.

Hebrews 8:6

But now he hath obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.”

My, aren’t we fortunate? I try to impress on people that you and I, as believers in this Age of Grace, as members of the Body of Christ, have it so far above the promises made to Israel. Now we know God’s going to do wondrous things yet with Israel someday, but the promises that He has given to us as believers, as members of the Body of Christ are beyond comprehension. You and I can’t begin to get a glimpse of the glory that’s going to be revealed to us because all this is so much better than what God promised Israel. Now verse 7. Right off the bat I just see something that just thrills me:

Hebrews 8:7a

“For if that first covenant had been faultless,…” You know what I’m going to ring the bell on? Was it faultless? No, it was full of fault. My, it was weak; it was beggarly. That first covenant of Law wasn’t faultless, but if it had been; had it been faultless:

Hebrews 8:7b

“then should no place have been sought for the second.” That stands to reason doesn’t it? What’s our expression? “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” If you’ve got something that’s perfect, leave it alone. You know, I wrote to a carmaker one time. I had an automobile that I thought was as close to perfect as humans could make it. And they dropped that one from their line of cars. In fact it’s the one I’ve been driving, with over 230 thousand miles on it. That was as perfect a car as automobiles could be made and then that’s the one they dropped from their line. And I wrote to the company, I don’t suppose it got any further than the ‘round file’ but I told them, “For the first time in the history of your company you made an automobile that is almost perfect, and then you drop it.” I said, “Typical American business.”

But nevertheless, see, when something is perfect you don’t have to ask for anything more. But the Law and temple worship wasn’t perfect. It was full of faults and so consequently there had to be room for a second covenant. Now let’s go into verse 8, then I’m going to stop and digress.

Hebrews 8:8-9

“For finding fault with them, (Who did? God did. God found fault with His own system of Law) he saith, Behold, the days come, saith 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; (which was the covenant of Law) because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.”

Now just stop and rehearse for a minute. As soon as Israel came through the Red Sea and they congregate down there at the base of Mt. Sinai, God calls Moses up in to the mountain and gives him the Ten Commandments (and I’m going to even skip over the horrors of what took place when he came down and he broke the first set). But later on he gets the second set, set in stone and Israel comes under the Law.

They’ve got that beautiful little tent out in the wilderness, they now have a priesthood, hey, they’re ready to go. They’ve got everything going for them. The Shekinah Glory is right up there above the Tabernacle. Can you imagine it, can you picture it? The presence of God is right there above them, a cloud by day to give them shade in that desert heat. It was a pillar of fire by night to protect them from any predators. Boy, they had it made.

And so God leads them up to Kadesh-barnea. And what happens. Oh, they floundered and they failed in what? Unbelief! Remember when we were back there in chapter 3 of Hebrews, I made mention of the fact that there’s probably no other concept of Scripture that is repeated so often as how disgusted God was with Israel when they would not go in and take the Promised Land. All because of their unbelief.

Well, what was part of the problem? The system of Law. It was not perfect. Had they had the indwelling Holy Spirit, had they had that relationship with their God that we have, I don’t think they would have fallen in unbelief. But they didn’t. All they had was the weak system of Law. Alright, let’s go back and look at a few of them. Now we had one here a few programs back and we’ll look at it again, too. But as you go back there, stop at Galatians. Now these are the Scriptural concepts of the system of Law, and what Israel was so proud of, but oh, it was weak. Galatians 4:8-9.

Now again, what was the problem with the Galatian believers? Well, they were Gentiles, but they were being coaxed to go back under certain aspects of the Jewish Law. The Judaizers from Jerusalem were not content that these Gentiles could be saved by faith alone, but they had to keep the Law. They had to keep temple worship, they had to practice circumcision and all the rest. And so Paul writes this little letter of Galatians, just almost beside himself how these Galatians come out of such a glorious position in grace and even be tempted to go back under the Law; and here’s why:

Galatians 4:8

“Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, (they were pagans remember) ye did service unto them who by nature are no gods.” What’s he saying? You were worshipping dead idols: wood and stone and silver and gold. They were dead, they couldn’t do anything for you. And these Galatians had come out of that. Now verse 9.

Galatians 4:9a

“But now, (again, after they had come out of paganism, out of idol worship, they’d stepped into the Grace of God and Paul’s Gospel) after that ye have known God, (the true God) or rather (he says) are known of God,…”

I just pointed out to someone again last night. One of the ramifications of our faith today is that God knows us as if we’re the only person on earth. Do you feel that way? That’s how God feels about you, the believer. It’s just as if you were the only one! And we have this confidence that when we pray, we’re not just coming up with multitudes of millions of prayers. My, I wouldn’t even bother to pray if I thought that’s what it was. But we don’t, we come up as an individual. When Christ died, He would have died that death if YOU would have been the only person living. Now that’s what we call a personal salvation. So now this is what Paul is saying:

Galatians 4:9b

“…how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?”

How could you, when you came out of paganism and not only did you know God but God knew you. What a difference. What were the weak and beggarly elements? The Law. That’s all it was good for. It was weak and beggarly. It couldn’t give men power to live a good life. All it could do was condemn them, as we saw in the first program this afternoon. Alright, let’s just turn the page while we’re in Galatians and go to chapter 5 verse 1. And Paul is still on the same premise. Don’t go back under the Law. Don’t embrace any kind of legalism.

Galatians 5:1

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ (through His finished work, remember) hath made us free, be not entangled again with the (what?) yoke of bondage.” Now we covered that a few weeks ago here on the program. What does a yoke always make you think of? To me, a yoke of oxen. Why? Because around their neck they had that piece of wood that was their burden, with which they pulled. And that’s the whole concept. The Law was just like a yoke around an oxen’s neck. It burdened them.

Alright now, even Peter uses the same language, and I think we can go all the way up to Acts 15, when Peter finally, after I think, a long day of confrontation, disputation, comes to Paul’s defense. Now this is at the Jerusalem counsel when Paul has finally confronted the leaders of Jerusalem not to try and put his Gentile believers under the Law. And so Peter finally gets his own eyes opened and what does he tell us?

Acts 15:9-10a

“He put no difference between us (Jews) and them (Gentiles) purifying their (Gentiles) hearts by faith. (now here it comes, from the lips of Peter) 10. Now therefore, why tempt (or test) God, to put a (what?) yoke upon the neck of the disciples,…” (these Gentile believers)

 

Well, what kind of a yoke is Peter referring to? The oxen. Same thing. Why put your believers under a yoke like oxen pulling a plow, that’s what the Law did. Now the word disciples in that verse, I don’t like to use, because too many people will immediately think of the Twelve. No, we’re talking about Gentile believers. And so he says:

Acts 15:10b

“…which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?” What’s Peter admitting? The Law never helped them. The Law was not a successful thing for the Nation of Israel. They were constantly under the yoke of it and it had no power to help them. And so he says, “don’t put a yoke upon the neck of those Gentile believers, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear.”

Now let’s go back to Galatians chapter 4, because there’s another verse back there that I think we should look at. All in this concept that the Law can do nothing except put us in bondage. Let’s just start with verse 1 because I want you to see how that all through, especially since Paul’s revelations have come on the scene, how that we see this constant reference to the Law as something that was less than perfect.

Galatians 4:1-3

“Now I say, That the heir, (the child) as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; 2. But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. 3. Even so (he’s just using this as an example) we, when we were children, we were in (what?) bondage under the elements of the world:” That was the Law. And so you see, this constant reference through Scripture that to live under a legalistic system is not freedom, it’s not liberty; but rather it’s bondage. And that’s why Paul comes out then and says, “you’re not under the Law; you’re under grace.” And oh, what a difference!

Let’s come back to Hebrews once again, to verse 8. Since the Law was full of faults. Since it was a system of bondage. Since there was no liberty in it.

Hebrews 8:8a

“For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold the days come….” Now that was prophecy, that was foretold in the Old Testament that this thing of the Law was a stopgap only leading up to the coming of Israel’s Messiah and the Savior of the world. And so his promise was:

Hebrews 8:8b

“…Behold the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:” Now whenever you see God saying “I will”whether it’s back in Abrahamic Covenant or any other time, what is it? It’s a promise of something future that’s coming. And so here He’s promising the Nation of Israel that the day is coming when they will come out from under this covenant of Law. And they will go into a new covenant that God is going to make with the House of Israel and the House of Judah.

Hebrews 8:9a

“Not according to the covenant that He made with the fathers…” Speaking again of Moses and Aaron and the Tabernacle and so forth in the wilderness. And then verse 10.

Hebrews 8:10

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord.; I will put my laws in their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:”

Now let’s go all the way back to where we had the promise of that new covenant. And that’s in Jeremiah chapter 31 and, by the way, we in this Age of Grace are getting the overflow of the promise of this covenant, but we are not actually under the covenant. That’s waiting for the Kingdom Age when God will set up His Kingdom here on the earth, and believing Israel will become the top-dog of the nations and they will enjoy this covenant.

Jeremiah 31:31

“Behold, the days come, (here’s the prophecy) I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah.” Now this is the covenant in verse 34.

Jeremiah 31:34

“And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” When will that happen? When Christ sets up His 1000 year earthy kingdom, that I feel is coming soon.