01/31/2025
God is in Control: Hebrews 8:4-6: “For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; 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.’ 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.” (NKJ)
Jesus was not qualified to serve in the inferior earthly priesthood as under the old Jewish system, where priests were chosen from the tribe of Levi, and sacrifices were offered daily on the altar for forgiveness of sins. This system would not have allowed Jesus to be a priest, because He was from the from the tribe of Judah. However, His perfect sacrifice ended all need for further priests and sacrifices. Jesus is the only One qualified to serve in the superior heavenly priesthood.
The use of the present tense, “there are already men who offer the gifts” indicates that Hebbrews was written before A.D. 70 when the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, ending the sacrifices.
The pattern for the tabernacle built by Moses was given by God. It was a pattern of the spiritual reality of Christ’s sacrifice and thus it looked forward to the future reality. The ministry of the tabernacle was only a type and symbol of the realities accomplished by Christ. Therefore, His ministry surpasses that of the Levitical priesthood as substance surpasses show.
There is no tabernacle in heaven of which the earthly one is a copy, but rather the earthly tabernacle was an expression of eternal, theological principles. Because the temple at Jerusalem had not yet been destroyed, using the worship system there is an example and it would have had a great impact on this original audience.
No earthly priest could take away sin the way Jesus did. Therefore Jesus’ ministry is far better than the ministry of the priesthood under the Law of Moses. Jesus has mediated for us a better covenant, a covenant of grace and not of works, guaranteed for us by a cosigner. Hebrews 7:22: “By so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant.” It is a covenant marked by believing and receiving instead of by earning and deserving with promises of blessing and undeserved favor instead of promises to curse and judge.
