Hebrews 10:1–4

¹ For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. ² For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. ³ But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. ⁴ For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.

Commentary
Vs. 1 "For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect."

The law then was just a shadow, a faint portrayal (LN 58.65; also see Col. 2:13-17; Heb 8:3-5), and thus was not the very image of all the good things that everyone who believes receives from the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore those sacrifices which God through the law commanded the Israelite's too observe were not the solution for their sins, or anybody else's, they were only in effect until the fulfillment of those offerings came in the Person and Sacrifice of Christ Himself. And so those sacrifices really were insufficient in every sense, since they could neither remove sins, nor undo the damage done by them, they could only provide a temporal covering for the worshipers who observed them, and thus they did not provide the everlasting remission of them. And so unlike Christ and His Sacrifice which has dealt with sin once and for all time, they needed to be repeated year after year, therefore they made no one perfect, that is perfect in the sight of Almighty God, for that is something only the Lord Jesus Christ and His Sacrifice does (see Heb. 10:14). 

Vs. 2 "For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins." 

Now if they could have made anyone perfect the next logical step would have been that they would've stopped being offered. "For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins." However with those sacrifices no one is purified in the sight of God, they're sins are only temporarily covered, not permanently atoned for.

Vs. 3 "But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year."

Therefore those sacrifices not only failed to permanently purify the worshipers in the sight of God, but the worshipers own consciences were never cleared from their own guilt and sins. "For in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year." The power of the Cross, of the Lord Jesus Christ Crucified and Risen from the dead for the permanent remission of sins cannot be overstated, for it's by Jesus and Jesus alone that we have remission of all our sins and everlasting life (Acts 4:12). 

Vs. 4 "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins."

The finial refute then of those who were still holding too the Old Covenant sacrifices is that those sacrifices, that is the blood of bulls and goats etc. could never take away sins. For it simply isn't possible that any animal's shed blood could ever provide permanent atonement for sinful humanity, (whether individually or collectively) for sin entered the world through man, therefore only through the Sinless Son of Man and His sacrifice of Himself on the cross could our sins be taken away. Therefore I urge you to be reconciled to God by faith in the Lord Jesus so that you may have remission/forgiveness of all your sins and everlasting life, which begins the moment you repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ through the Gospel. For then God by His Spirit will give you not only a new heart and a new mind (Heb. 10:16), but also a new life. For having dwelt with your past, (and thus liberated you from it, Rom 6:17-23) He is free to make you into a new and so much better person (2 Cor 5:17)! Therefore don't delay be reconciled to God today! 

Scripture Quotations
The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.

Hebrews 9:23-28

²³ Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴ For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; ²⁵ not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another—²⁶ He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. ²⁷ And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, ²⁸ so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

Commentary

Vs. 23 "Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these."

If the heavenly sanctuary needed to be purified with the Blood of Christ before it could go into service for God on our behalf. So too the copies of it, that is the earthly tabernacle and it's articles of service along with those who ministered there were likewise sanctified with blood, since the earthly tabernacle was a foreshadow of the heavenly Tabernacle and Sanctuary and Service. Thus Blood for our salvation, Blood for the Covenant, and Blood for the Heavenly Sanctuary and Service because of sin having entered the world through man. 

Vs. 24 For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 

When the Lord Jesus was on earth as a Man He did not enter the holy places made with hands, for those places were only copies of the true, but rather His High Priestly service takes place in heaven itself, in the Presence of God Himself, for us all who believe in Him (Heb 4:14-16). 

Vs. 25-26 ²⁵ not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another—²⁶ He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 

Now unlike the the earthly priesthood that God commanded Aaron and his sons to serve in. The Lord Jesus Christ did not enter the Most Holy Place with the blood of another, that is with sacrificial blood of animals, as they were commanded to offer every year on the Day of Atonement (see Lev. 16). For then He would have had to offer Himself many times to enter the Heavenly Sanctuary on behalf of us. That's the first point the Superiority of Jesus Christ's Sacrifice which once and for all time paved the way for Him and Him alone to enter the Heavenly Sanctuary on our behalf. And so unlike the blood of lambs and bulls and goats whose sacrifice could never completely deal with sin, and thus needed to be repeated over and over again, Jesus Christ has once and for all, at the end of the ages, appeared as the Son of Man/Son of God on earth to deal with sin by the Sacrifice of Himself. The Atonement then that has been brought by the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ exceeds and excels everything and anything that mere mortal sinful mankind could ever do for themselves or anyone else. 

Vs. 27-28 ²⁷ And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, ²⁸ so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

We all are brought into this world by the hand of God (Psalm 139:13-16), and we are all return to Him when we die (Ecc. 12:7). And so how we return to Him is the most critical thing for us all in this life, whether we are reconciled to Himself by faith in His Son Jesus Christ or not. For after our bodies die our spirits go back to God who gave them, and at the appointed time we will all stand before Him and give an accounting of ourselves to Him. Therefore only those who are reconciled to God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ while in this earthly life will go to be with Him for eternal salvation (John 5:24), while those who do not repent and believe in Christ through the Gospel will be judged by the Lord Jesus Christ at the Judgment Seat of Christ before being sent to spend an eternity in the Lake of fire (Rev. 21:11-15; 21:6-8). And so first and foremost in this life is being reconciled to God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 10:42-43; 2 Cor 5:21), who not only saves us from the wrath to come (1 Thess. 1:10), but He by His Spirit brings us to life and transforms our persons and lives, sealing and sanctifying and equipping us not only to spend an eternity with Himself, but also for living abundant and fruitful lives down here while we are sojourners with Him, being His witnesses and workers for His Name and Kingdoms sake so that through us who believe He can manifest the manifold the immeasurable wisdom and mercies of God who has not only reconciled and restored us, but through Christ, God's grace is being extended to every wayward and lost and sinful person who repents and believes in Him. For being reconciled to God not only changes our eternal destinies, but having been reconciled to God by faith In Christ we experience all the fullness of God who transforms our hearts and minds satisfying all the deep desires and longing that we could never satisfy by our own means, bringing us all of God's life, liberty, love, joy, peace and all the fruits of His Spirit that makes for having an abundant and abounding life which no one or nothing in this life could ever do for us, and so now rather than chasing after the false "gods" of this this life that promise much but deliver nothing, we now eagerly wait for His return, for then Jesus will end this present evil and violent and godless age before ushering in His everlasting Kingdom (2 Peter 3:13) where we will fully bear His image forever (1 Cor 15:49), and where He will wipe every tear from our eyes when He sets up His Everlasting Kingdom when He makes all things New! (Rev. 21:1-5). Therefore for everyone who repents and believes in the Lord Christ there is a glorious present and an eternal future without pain, without suffering, without sin and Satan and all of the ravages of it awaiting us all as the beloved children of God (Rom 8:16-17), whose destinies are certain and whose futures are assured. Something which is available to you as well if you seek the Lord Jesus Christ today He will be found by you because He is seeking for you (Luke 15). Therefore open your heart to Him and receive Him today and have God's reconciliation and life by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Isaiah 55:6-7; Rev. 3:20).

Scripture Quotations
The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.

Hebrews 9:16-22

¹⁶ For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. ¹⁷ For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives. ¹⁸ Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood. ¹⁹ For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, ²⁰ saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.” ²¹ Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. ²² And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.

Commentary

Vs. 16-17 ¹⁶ For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. ¹⁷ For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives.

Throughout the Book of Hebrews the Word of God has been systematically showing the Superiority of Christ's Person, His Priesthood, His Sacrifice, His Service as well as the Superiority of the New Covenant (Heb. 7:22; 8:6). Now in order for the New Covenant (here being refereed to as a testament) to be enacted there had to be the death of the testator, that is before a will and testament is enforced the testator must have died, thus the analogy is that Christ Himself must also have died (shed His blood unto death) before the New Covenant could be enacted (Matt. 26:28; Heb. 9:15-16). 

Vs. 18-22 ¹⁸ Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood. ¹⁹ For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, ²⁰ saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.” ²¹ Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. ²² And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.

Similarly then the first covenant was also dedicated with blood. Now in order to show the importance of this the Word of God recalls how Moses according to the commandment of God did so, recalling some of the various sacrificial ceremonially rituals that were required and he performed in order to purify both the book of the covenant, as well as the people, and even the tabernacle and all it's vessels of ministry (Exodus 24:1-8, 29:12, 16, 20-21, 36; Lev 4; 14; 17:6 etc.). The point being made then is that according to the law sacrificial blood was not only required to sanctify the people, along with whatever articles of ministry were to be used on their behalf, but without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins, thereby establishing the principal for Lord and Saviors own blood washing away the sins us all who believe in Him (Rev. 1:5). How exceedingly precious then is the shed Blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who by doing so on our behalf has not only sanctified our persons and lives; but through His own blood, and His alone, He has provided the everlasting atonement that God required for us all who believe in Him to be reconciled back to Himself (1 Peter 1:18-21). The Blood of Christ then is the only means by which we come into a New and Everlasting Covenant relationship with God (Matt 26:28). Something which I now urge you to do, for by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ's Person's Life, Death, Resurrection from the dead and Ascension back to God the Father in heaven you can have remission of all your sins and new and everlasting life with Christ the moment that you do, for if anyone calls upon the Name of the Lord they shall be saved (Rom 10:11-13). Therefore don't delay call upon the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ today! 

Scripture Quotations

The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.

Word Study Notes 

The Greek word διαθήκη (Str. 1242) translated testament in verse 16 is translated covenant elsewhere in the Book of Hebrews, and throughout the rest of the New Testament (see Matt. 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 1:72; 22:20; Acts 3:25; 7:8; Rom. 9:4; 11:27; 1 Cor 11:25; 2 Cor 3:6, 14; Gal. 3:15, 17; 4:24; Eph 2:12; Heb. 7:22; 8:6, 8-10; 9:4, 9:15-17, 20; 10:16, 29; 12:24; 13:20; Rev. 11:19). 

Hebrews 9:11-15

¹¹ But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. ¹² Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. ¹³ For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, ¹⁴ how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? ¹⁵ And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

Commentary

Vs. 11-12 ¹¹ But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. ¹² Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

When the Old Covenant high priests entered the Holiest of All in the earthly Tabernacle once a year on the Day of Atonement to make atonement for his own sins and the sins of the people committed in ignorance this ritual could not make their consciences perfect, that is the blood of the sacrificial animals was not enough to take away their guilt by providing the everlasting atonement for their sins and transgressions that was required, and thus open the way once and for all for them all to enter the Holiest of All. And so that sense of guilt and incompleteness always remained with them no matter how many times they performed the ritual; a principal which runs true today with every religious service and ritual that seeks to draw near to God outside of faith in the Finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross for us all. Therefore God's Presence on that most intimate level was off limits to them, they had to remain outside, even the high priest did not have unrestricted access to God (Lev. 16:1-2). And so the insufficiency of his service and sacrifice is here being contrasted with the all surpassing Sufficiency of Christs who came as High Priest of the good things to come. Some of which is not only providing everlasting atonement and life through His own Finished Work on the Cross for us all who believe in Him but also His making the way for us to have the Personal Presence of God indwelling our persons, through His Holy Spirit indwelling, regenerating, and sanctifying us all who believe in Him making us God's redeemed and holy people, who once were not a people, but now are the people of God (1 Peter 2:10). Therefore when the Lord Jesus Christ came as High Priest He did not come to serve in the earthly sanctuary; which sons of men built and served in as a foreshadow of the good things to come. Rather He came to serve as God's High Priest in the perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, but rather in the Heavenly Sanctuary (Heb 8:1-2, 9:11) where having entered the Holiest of All (not by the blood of calves and bulls) but with His own blood, He has obtained eternal redemption for us all who believe in Him (vs. 12). 

Vs. 13-14 ¹³ For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, ¹⁴ how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Under the Old Covenant the blood of bulls and goats without blemish was a part of the required sin offerings (Lev. 4:1-34), especially on the Day of Atonement (Lev 16:14-15). Similarly the blood of a bull was also used to purify Aaron and his sons for their duties in the priesthood (Ex. 29:1-37; Lev. 8:13-17). While the ashes of a heifer was part of the purification ritual that was required to purify anyone who became ceremonially defiled (see Num. 19:1-22). Now these Old Covenant commanded ordinances only purified the flesh in the sight of God, allowing those people who adhered to them to remain in the Covenant community of God (Lev. 7:20; 17:1-7; Num. 19:13 etc.). And so these rituals only purified the flesh (and thus their souls) were not reconciled back to God through their observing these. Nonetheless the point is if observing these then gave the worshipers a sense of being right with God for having observed them, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? For it is the Lord Jesus Christ alone who is sinless (without spot), who through the eternal Spirit, the Holy Spirit, offered Himself up to God on the Cross to pay the penalty for all our sins and transgressions, thereby opening the door of eternal salvation to us all the moment we believe in Him (John 6:47; 10:9); saving us then not only from the wrath to come, but also cleansing our consciences from dead works; that is from all manner of dead "religious works" that sanctify or save no one, but only hold people in bondage of trying to earn and attain for themselves what only Jesus Christ Himself could do (Eph 2:8-9). Therefore having been born again and brought to life by the Spirit of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ we can now serve God in the newness of the Spirit, and not in the oldness of letter (Rom. 7:6; also see 2 Cor 3:5-9, 12-17). Something which God commands all people to do, to repent and believe in Gospel, and thus by His Son's finished work on the Cross be reconciled to Himself so that you will have remission of all your sins and everlasting life  the moment you believe and thus having been saved and set free from sin and death you can now freely and faithfully follow Him in discipleship. For the Day of Salvation from sin, Satan, and death is right now, freely available to you no matter what you have done, for God loves you and has provided through His Son all that is needed for you to be reconciled to Himself, to have new and everlasting life, therefore today begin a new and everlasting course of life for yourself, receive the gift of God's salvation and mercies and life for yourself by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ today (Rev. 3:20). 

Scripture Quotations
The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.

Hebrews 9:6-10

⁶ Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. ⁷ But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance; ⁸ the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. ⁹ It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience—¹⁰ concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.

Commentary

Vs. 6 "Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services." 

The first part of the Tabernacle was that which the officiating priest went into every day to lay the show bread in order (on the Sabbath), light the golden lamp stand, burn the daily incense (Ex. 30:7) and perform all of the various service that God then required (the origins of which are described in Ex. 40:17-33).

Vs. 7-8 "But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance; ⁸ the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing.

The second part of the Tabernacle was the Holiest of All (see 9:1-5), it was the place where the high priest alone as a mediator between God and man went into once a year on the day of atonement (the ritual of which is described in Lev. 16). Now before the high priest could even do so, he himself had to offer a sacrificial blood sin offering first for himself (Lev. 16:6), and then for the people's sins committed in ignorance (Lev 16:15). Now through all these rituals the Holy Spirit was indicating that the way into God's Presence by His grace given us through His Son was not yet present for them, and thus the way for us into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest to them while the Tabernacle was still standing. It is most fitting then when the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified for us all, that in the moment that He died on the cross that God Himself tore the veil in temple from top to bottom, indicating that He had now made the way for sinful mankind (that's you and me) to be reconciled to Himself and come into the Holiest of All to be in an everlasting relationship with Himself through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ who is now God's only Mediator between God and mankind (Matt 27:51-56; John 3:16; 1 Tim 2:5-6). 

Vs. 9-10 ⁹ It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience—¹⁰ concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.

The Tabernacle and all of it's sacrifices and rituals then was symbolic, representative then of all that the Lord Jesus Christ has now done and fulfilled in restoring us who believe in Him back to God. And so just as the worshipers who offered their sacrifices for their sins could not have their consciences made perfect by those gifts, so too with the high priests who offered sacrifices, first for themselves and then for those worshipers, for both their service and their adherence too those ordinances were only until the time of reformation, (gr. διόρθωσις, Str. 1357). The inability (and insufficiency) of the Tabernacle and it's service in making anyone perfect in regards to conscience or anything else then is the point being made by these passages. "For the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of la better hope, through which we draw near to God." Heb. 7:19
Therefore let us all draw near to God by the way that He has prescribed for us all and that is through His only begotten Son the Lord Jesus Christ (John 14:6; Acts 4:12, 10:43; 1 Tim 2:5-6; Rev. 22:17); whose Sinless Life, Crucifixion Death, Resurrection from the Dead, and Ascension back to God the Father in heaven has made the way for us all to enter the Holiest of All, and thus have remission of all our sins and everlasting life with Himself by faith in His Person. Therefore don't delay, while it is the Day of Salvation be reconciled to God today and begin a New Life with Christ!

Scripture Quotations
The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.

Additional Resources Consulted 
MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. (A. Farstad, Ed.) (p. 2184). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

Note on sins committed in ignorance
Under the Old Covenant there was no atonement for those sins committed "high handed" (Numbers 15:27-29, 30-31) meaning in knowing rebellious defiance towards God, for by doing so those who did so were declaring themselves to have rejected the Lord and His Word given to them (consider Numbers 15:1-15 (vs. 6-9); 16:1-40; Jeremiah 44:1-30, vs. 15-30 as some examples of this). Therefore in light of how seriously God dealt with those who did so, we should all consider such actions of willful defiance towards God as being very serious, whether under the Old Covenant or New, because those who now profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and yet knowingly and defiantly promote and expound those things that He abhors and hates as either coming from Him, or as now being acceptable to Him, are playing with an Everlasting fire that will not be quenched (Mark 9:42-49; Heb. 12:28-29). 

Hebrews 9:1-5

¹ Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary. ² For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary; ³ and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, ⁴ which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; ⁵ and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

Commentary

Vs. 1 "Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary."

Having announced that the Lord Jesus Christ is our High Priest of the New Covenant (8:3) and that Old Covenant is now obsolete and growing old and is ready to vanish away (8:16). The Word of God now returns to describing some of the aspects of the Old Covenants service, so that the contrast between the temporary earthly service that once existed, and the eternal service and sacrifice of Christ that now is will be even more apparent when He returns to discussing it and it's implications for us all. And so here a brief overview of the first covenants Divine service in the earthly sanctuary is given us. 

Vs. 2 "For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary;"

The tabernacle is what God commanded Moses to build in the wilderness (Ex. 26:1-37), (while the later Temple was given by the Word of God through David and was built by his son Solomon). Now the tabernacle's service was unique in that the tribes of Israel during their wilderness sojourn encamped around it in a specific order (Num. 1:51-54, 2:1-34), something that will be revisited with the Millennial Temple (Ezekiel 40-48:35). While the lampstand (see Ex. 21:35-40; Lev 24:2-4; Num. 8:1-4; also Ex. 40:17-33), the table which the showbread was placed upon (see Ex. 25:23-30; Lev 24:5-9), the sanctuary, (Ex. 25:8-9) and their arrangement was all done in a very specific way by the high priest; but the outsider who came near was to be put to death (Ex. 40:1-38; Num. 3:10, 38). 

Vs. 3  "and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All" 

The second veil, the place called the "Holiest of All" was where the Ark of Covenant resided, where the high priest once year went into to meet with God on the mercy seat of it on behalf of all the people (Ex 25:17-22; Num. 7:89), the holy ritual of which is described in (Lev. 16:1-34). 

Vs. 4-5  ⁴ which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; ⁵ and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

The golden censer was that which the high priest carried the burning incense from the altar of incense on into the Holiest of All (Ex. 30:1-10; also consider Rev 8:3), where the Ark of the Covenant was overlaid in pure gold (Ex. 25:1-22). Also in the Holiest of All there was the golden pot that held some of the manna which God fed the Israelite's with during their wilderness sojourn as a testimony to them (Ex. 16:32-24). Along with that there was Aaron's Rod that budded (Num. 17:1-13), and there was the tablets of Covenant (the Ten Commandments) that were placed inside the Ark where the golden cherubim overshadowed the mercy seat which was placed on top of the Ark of Covenant where the high priest met with God once a year on behalf of the people (Ex. 25:17-22). All highly significant and important and symbolic things which the Word of God does not want us to now go into great detail on, and thus miss what they were all pointing us too. And so in the next section the Word of God will continue on with His exhortation to show us the Superiority of Christ's sacrifice and Service.

Scripture Quotations
The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.

Hebrews 8:7-13

⁷ For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. ⁸ Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—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 did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. ¹⁰ For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. ¹¹ None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. ¹² For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” ¹³ In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

Commentary

Vs. 7 "For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second."

The very fact that the first covenant failed to keep the Israelite's in a right relationship with God is the reason for God's Promises of bringing in a second. Now the "fault" with the first covenant is that it could do nothing about changing what was fundamentally wrong with the Old Covenant Israelite's, and all of us today, and that is our sin nature (and thus our Spiritually dead state because of it) that we have all inherited from Adam, and thus our separation from God because of it. For though the Law made temporary provisions for their sins, it did not provide a permanent solution for them (or us) to be reconciled back to God, and thus the Law did not resolve that fundamental problem of what was wrong with them and is wrong with us all and that is our sin nature and our inabilities to keep it.

Vs. 8  "Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—"

Therefore under the Old Covenant God could only find fault with them, because the Law required not just their obedience, but their ongoing blameless adherence to all of it's statutes, regulations, and commandments (consider Gal. 3:10-14; James 2:10), grace then is not something that comes to us through the Old Covenant, but only through the New Covenant do we find the grace of God (Rom 3:19-26; 4:4-8, 4:16; 5:1-2, 20-21; 6:14; 7:1-6; 11:5-6; Eph. 2:8-9 etc.).
It is clear then by the example of the Old Covenant Israelite's failures to keep His Covenant that God never intended for either them, or us, to be reconciled to Him by it, "but it was added because of transgressions until the Seed should come", that is the Promised Seed first spoken of in Genesis 3:15, prophesied in greater detail in Isaiah 7:14, and then fulfilled with the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 1:31-35; Gal. 3:19-25; 4:4-5). Who has by His own Sinless Life, Crucifixion death, and Resurrection from the dead not only made the everlasting atonement for all of our sins who believe in Him, but the Lord Jesus Christ has also paved the way for humanity to be reconciled back to God through Himself via the New Covenant by which God not only extends His grace to us, but He also by the regenerating work of His Holy Spirit gives us a new heart and mind, and thus sin and all of it's corrupting influence and power which has corrupted all of creation is no longer the dominating force in us who believe, but rather it is God's Spirit who not only sanctifies us, but He is the One who is also changing us from one glory to another, that is changing us from bearing the image of Adam to the image of Christ. Therefore the Law or Old Covenant by it's very nature does two very important things: First it shows us all our own sinful condition (Rom 7:7-12). And second it shows us all that there is absolutely nothing that we ourselves can do about it, to either change what is fundamentally wrong with ourselves and thus bring ourselves back into a reconciled relationship with God Himself. Something which every religion in the world seeks to do, and will always fail to do, because the only way to be reconciled to God and healed from the ravages of sin is through the work of God Himself through His own Son the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is what God in the Lord Jesus Christ through New Covenant promises to do, to first reconcile us to Himself by His grace alone, given to us all through His Son alone, the moment we believe in Him (Eph. 1:13-14; Titus 3:4-5). Then by His Spirit He regenerates us, bringing us to Spirit life and uniting us all who believe with the Lord Jesus Christ, giving us a new heart and new mind, and thus a new nature we are transformed from what we once were into a new creation, with new desires and new appetites (2 Cor 5:17). The Law then good in that it reveals to us God's Righteousness is often the means by which God brings us to Christ when we see ourselves as we really are, sinful and separated from God, and thus we see that there is nothing that we can do that would reconcile us back to God other then to repent and believe in His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, who has already done everything that is necessary for us to be reconciled back to God the Father by faith in Himself. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16

Vs. 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 did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord."

Therefore when God made His promises of a New Covenant by which He would bring the houses of Judah and Israel back to Himself, (a reference to the divided nation of Israel that had separated itself into two factions during King Solomon's reign), He did so not according to the Old Covenant that He made with their fathers when He took them by the hand and brought out of Egypt; because they did not continue in it, that is the very things God commanded them to do they did not keep doing and the very things He commanded them not to do those they did! Therefore God disregarded them according to it (Lev 18:1-5), for the Israelite's in breaking the Covenant God made with them when He brought them out of Egypt left Him with no other recourse other then to bring in a New Covenant through which He could restore not only the Israelite's to Himself (Jeremiah 31:31-34 Ezekiel 16:60-63), but also all of believing humanity back to Himself (Isaiah 42:6-9; 49:6), which He has done through His own Son the Lord Jesus Christ who is now the Covenant Bearer or Surety for us, and because He is the Covenant Bearer for us God has commanded our obedience to Him and Him alone (See Acts 3:11-26, vs. 23).  

Vs. 10 ¹⁰ For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 

Whereas the Old Covenant (i.e. the Law) was righteous and holy and good, it gives us no inherent desires to want to keep it, but rather it only arouses and awakens the sin nature, and thus rather then defeating sin within us, sin is only made very real to us all through it (Rom 7:4-12). Therefore in the New Covenant God does something fundamentally different with us, and that is God puts His Laws in our minds and our hearts of us all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now this He does by His Holy Spirit who again is the One who both seals us for all eternity, but also He is the One who is sanctifying us by God's Word, and thus is transforming us into Christ likeness through the same (John 17:17, 19). Therefore no one who claims to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and yet is hostile to God's Unchanging and Everlasting moral decrees has been born of God, for God's Spirit always works in accord with His Word to make us His sanctified people. 

Vs. 11 "None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them." 

In the Old Covenant economy people would like to say to each other, "Know the Lord" as an exhortation and appeal for people to keep God's commandments. However with the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilling the Old Covenant and ushering in the New, and thus with His Holy Spirit being poured out and into us all who believe in Him, there is no need for such exhortations amongst us who believe in Him. For we all Know Him, from the least of us to the greatest of us, for He by His Spirit indwells us all who believe in Him. And thus we all have a God given hunger for His Word, desiring to both here it, but also declare it, so that it might be obeyed by us, and by all. That is the state of every born again Christian. There is then only one kind of believing Christian and that is the one who knows God by God's grace alone through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone, and thus having all our sins washed away by the blood of Lamb of God through faith in His death on the Cross we have the washing and renewing by the Holy Spirit by which we are given new hearts and new minds, and thus we can now see things not from the fleshes, or this world's unregenerate perspectives, but from God's (1 Cor 2:13-16).

Vs. 12  For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

The superiority then of the New Covenant to the Old is self evident, for God never said to the Israelite's through the Old Covenant that He would be merciful to their unrighteousness, and all their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more, rather these promises now come to us all through the New Covenant which the Lord Jesus Christ ushered in. And so the New Covenant is not based on being maintained by the works of man, as was the nature of the Old Covenant, but rather the Work of God. 

Vs. 13 In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

Therefore with the New Covenant being ushered in God Himself has made the first Covenant obsolete. Thus the Old Covenant is no longer valid as a means for being in a Covenant relationship with God. We must all come to God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and not by "faith" in keeping or having kept some of the Old Covenant commandments, statutes, and or stipulations (Gal. 2:21). Therefore since God Himself has made the first Covenant obsolete, it is growing old and is ready to vanish away. Believers then must resist and reject every inclination or word of man which would seek to put them back under the Law, as the Apostle did for the Gentile believers and the early church in Acts 15.

Scripture Quotations 
The New King James Version. (1982). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

Hebrews 8:1-6

¹ Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, ² a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man. ³ For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer. ⁴ For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; ⁵ who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” ⁶ But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.

Commentary

Vs. 1 "Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens"

If Jews thought that Christians were somehow lacking because they had the temple and the priesthood and all that was found and required in the Law, then sadly they were missing it all, because the Lord Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Law! And all that they were still holding onto was only a foreshadow of Christ Himself and His Ministry on our behalf. And so unlike Aaron and the earthly priesthood that came through him, which only served God in the earthly Tabernacle, then Temple, both of which were only made by human hands. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Everlasting High Priest of God who is now seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, and thus He alone intercedes for us from there. Something which Aaron and the high priests who followed him could never do, because of their sinful and mortal nature. For even here on earth they could only enter the holy of the holiness behind the veil only once a year, and only after going through great preparations to sanctify both the altar, the temple, the priests, the people, as well as themselves, so that their offering would be accepted, and they themselves would not be consumed by God's Holiness, for any sort of irreverence on their part (consider Lev. 10:1-3, 16:1-34). And so consider our Most Blessed State with God for we do not need an earthly priest to intercede for us, for we have Christ Himself as our High Priest before God who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens. 

Vs. 2 "a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man."

The Lord Jesus Christ alone is the Minister of the heavenly sanctuary and the true tabernacle which the Lord erected and not man. A read of the Book of Revelations and the related passages of it will reveal that Christ's realm and Ministry is that of God's alone. All then that God commanded be done on earth was just types and figures, representations, of His own true heavenly Ministry (vs. 5). 

Vs. 3 "For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer." 

Following the model that God Himself ordained that the high priest would be the one to offer both the gifts, as well as the required sacrifices for sins, it was thus necessary that this One (a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ) also have something to offer. 
Vs. 4 "For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law;"

The Jesus the Messiah then did not serve as a priest on earth because there are priests who offer gifts and sacrifices according to the law, who were called by God through the tribe of Levi to serve Him there, to serve the copies and the shadow of the reality (vs. 5), all which is found fulfilled in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.  His high priestly service then is not that of the earthly sanctuary but rather the heavenly, where He serves God the Father as High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek forever.

Vs. 5 who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”

And so it would be impossible for the Lord Jesus Christ to serve on earth as a priest, because He would then only be serving the copy and shadow of what He Himself came to fulfill! And that was not His purpose for coming forth from God, rather that purpose was for those descended from Levi, to prepare the people for the coming and finial sacrifice of Christ Himself. Therefore when God commanded Moses to make the Tabernacle, God solemnly told him to make all things according to the pattern shown him on the mountain.  

Vs. 6 "But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises."

Therefore the Lord Jesus Christ has obtained a more excellent ministry, because His is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. The Lord Jesus Christ than is not a Minister of the Old Covenant, but of the New (2 Cor 3:5-11) which establishes for us eternal salvation because it was given through better promises which Christ Himself has fulfilled and will fulfill as He keeps us all who believe in Him secured in Himself for the day of redemption. Consider then that A Better Sanctuary, A Better Ministry, A Better Covenant, all equates with a better life both here and now and for eternity for us all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, because He is Ministering for us all who believe in Him through Better Promises. For that is what is the result of Christ's Sacrifice add Service on our behalf, not only the remission of all our sins and everlasting life the moment we believe in Him, but also abundant life here and now as we follow Him, all which culminates in an eternity with Him. Therefore if you have been seeking life and liberty and freedom and fulfillment and significance for yourself and have not found it, maybe it is because what you are doing and pursuing is not capable of doing that? For all the deepest longings of our souls are only satisfied when we are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, as Jesus Himself said: "I Am the bread of life, he who comes to Me shall never hunger, and He who believes in Me shall never thirst."  John 6:35 
The Lord Jesus Christ alone then can and satisfy all those God placed deep longings within you when you come home to God the Father by faith in Him, something that mere "religion" will never do (Luke 15:11-32). Therefore I urge you be reconciled to God today, by repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for then you will be not only be saved and satisfied from on High, but you will also be transformed by the renewing and the regeneration of the Holy Spirit which will bring Christ's life and purposes into you, and thus He will begin a new life in you and work out everlasting purposes through you, impacting lives all around you, therefore don't delay be reconciled to God today!  

Scripture Quotations

The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.

Additional Resources Consulted

Vs. 1. MacDonald, William. Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. Edited by Arthur Farstad. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995. 

Hebrews 7:20-28

²⁰ And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath ²¹ (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him: “The Lord has sworn And will not relent, ‘You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek’ ”), ²² by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant. ²³ Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. ²⁴ But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. ²⁵ Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. ²⁶ For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; ²⁷ who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. ²⁸ For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.

Commentary

Vs. 20-21 ²⁰ And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath ²¹ (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him: “The Lord has sworn And will not relent, ‘You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek’ ”), 

The point being made here is that the Lord Jesus Christ, unlike Aaron and his priesthood, was made a Priest by an oath given by the Lord God. And so the oath being given by God the Father to Christ His Son is His own confirmation to Him (and us all) that His Priesthood is not only Superior to Aaron's but it will have no end, Therefore the Scripture again states: The Lord has sworn And will not relent, ‘You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek’ ” 

Vs. 22 "by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant." 

The New Covenant and Christ's Priesthood then is eminently Superior to the Old Covenant and Aaron's priesthood born out of it, because as previously stated both Aaron and the Old Covenant made nothing, or no one perfect (Heb. 7:11-19, vs. 11-12, 19). And so Jesus has become, by an oath made by God, a surety (i.e guarantor) of a better covenant, established on better promises (Heb 8:6). 

Vs. 23 "Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing." 

The Word of God continues on reasoning with us as to why both Jesus' Person and Priesthood is Superior to Aaron's. Under the Old Covenant both the high priest, and those priests who served with him were all temporary, their tenures were all limited by their own morality. And so with each and every generation there was always the need for a new high priest (and priests) who would officiate before God on behalf of the people. Now some of these men were Godly, like Samuel, and some were not, like Eli and his sons (see 1 Samuel 1-4). And so Aaron's priesthood by it's very nature had the fundamental flaw of lacking any sort of consistency or permanence, because not all men are holy, and not all men are just, and no man (whether just or not) is assured of life itself, only death itself. Therefore death always limited them all from continuing on in their service, (and thus their work on behalf of both the individual, as well as the nation of Israel was temporary) because theirs was not the eternal service for God, it was and will always be Jesus Christ's the Lord.  

Vs. 24 "But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood."

And so unlike them, the Lord Jesus Christ whose Person, Sacrifice, and now Intercession for us all who believe in Him continues forever, He has an Unchanging Priesthood via the New Covenant.

Vs. 25 "Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them." 

Since then Jesus Christ's Person and tenure as High Priest of God on our behalf will never end, "...He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them." Now being saved to the uttermost (gr. παντελές) means not only completely, but also perpetually, forever. Thus with Christ's sacrifice for our sins completed; and thus forever satisfying the justice of God; the Lord Jesus Christ's intercession on our behalf is likewise forever interceding for us as need arises, being based solely upon His Atoning sacrifice at Calvary which is the means by which we as sinful men, woman, and children are reconciled to God the moment we believe in Him (Eph. 1:13-14). 

Vs. 26 "For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens;" 

The point being made here is that there was but One Man, the Son of Man/Son of God the Lord Jesus Christ who alone could fulfill this unique Role as the Everlasting High Priest to God for us. 

Jesus Christ alone is holy, for He alone is the expressed Image of God (Col. 1:15).
Jesus Christ alone is harmless, (gr. ἄκακος, "guileless, without fault, upright, innocent"). And yet more than just being blameless or innocent in every sense, this word also indicates something that is exceedingly good in it's fundamental nature, and thus is the antithesis of every and any form of evil. In stark contrast to that then the devils fundamental nature is to kill, steal, and destroy in whatever ways he can, for that is what he is naturally, and so that is what he seeks to do too, and through men and woman's lives in this world of which He rules, and holds sway over. Therefore where such things take place you now the devil is at work deceiving and or swaying people to do his own evil will. Now the only reason I'm stating as much is so that you will understand the striking contrast between the Works of the Son of God the Lord Jesus Christ and the works of the devil, because the Lord Jesus Christ not only is Good, but He only seeks to do Good, and will do nothing but Good, which is in accord with the Will of God, and which is in accord with His own Fundamental Nature. 
Jesus Christ alone is undefiled, neither Aaron nor the priests descended from him were undefiled,
if they were God would not have required a sacrifice first for their own sins, before they could begin interceding on behalf of the people for theirs.
Jesus Christ alone is separate from sinners, now this does not mean that Jesus has nothing to do with sinners, for He was crucified with and for sinners (Isaiah 53). What it means is that as our Crucified, Resurrected, and now Ascended Lord and Savior seated at the right hand of God, Jesus Christ alone is both uniquely qualified, and in the position to intercede to God for us, because He alone is separate from sinners, because Jesus Christ alone has a Sinless Nature.

Vs. 27 "who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself."

Because of the Lord Jesus Christ's Sinless Person and Nature (as well as the Completeness and Sufficiency and Finality of His own Sacrifice) He does not need to offer up daily sacrifices, first for His own sins, and then for the peoples He is interceding for, because this He did once and for all time when He offered up Himself to God on the cross for us all. The Lord Jesus Christ's Sinless Person and Sacrifice then uniquely qualifies Him to serve as God's High Priest on our behalf. 

Vs. 28 "For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever."

 

Another failing of the Law is that it only appoints as high priests men who have weaknesses (gr. ἀσθένειαa: weakness, incapacity, limitation etc.). And so unlike the Lord Jesus Christ whose Divine Person and Nature has no weaknesses, and who alone was called by an oath given by God Himself, (referencing Psalm 110:4), the high priests the law appointed were all men bound with weaknesses, in that they all bore a sinful nature, and they all were subject to death. And so with the Lord Jesus Christ their is no weaknesses or limitations. For even as the Son of Man who once subjected Himself in the flesh to death (John 10:17-18), Jesus is no more subject to death, because He has by His own Resurrection from the dead been Perfected forever, when by laying down His own life on the Cross for us all, He three days later He took it up again on behalf of us all. The Lord Jesus Christ then is the first born of the Resurrection of the dead, and thus by doing so He alone has enacted God's Promise of everlasting life coming to one and all who repent and believe in Him crucified and Risen from the dead. Therefore unlike the mere mortal men whom the Law appointed as high priests, who only serve for a season, because they are all subject to sin and death, and thus they can by no means deliver themselves or anyone else from it's clutches, because of their own inherent weaknesses and mortality. The oath sworn by God the Father to His own Son Jesus Christ that He would be a Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek, exceedingly surpasses and supplants everything that Aaron and the high priesthood that came through him did and could do. For apart from Christ and His ministry for us there is no escape from sin and ultimately death which it brings to bear on us all. The Superiority then of Christ's Person and Priesthood over Aaron and that which came through the Law then is self evident to one and all who repent and believe and thus trust not in Aaron and Law (and thus ones own righteousness according to it) but only in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Scripture Quotations

The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.

Resources Consulted For Word Studies

Kittel, Gerhard, Gerhard Friedrich, and Geoffrey William Bromiley. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 1985.

Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains. New York: United Bible Societies, 1996.