In his death, Jesus inaugurated the promised and vastly superior new covenant, rendering the old one obsolete.
Some members of the congregation were considering leaving the
church and returning to the local synagogue to avoid increasing pressure and
potential persecution. To combat this temptation, Hebrews demonstrates
the vast superiority of what God has accomplished in His Son over the old Levitical
regulations.
In the process, the epistle contrasts the everlasting priesthood, the
new covenant, and the once-for-all sacrifice of the Son with
the multiple priests, obsolete covenant, and repeated
animal sacrifices of the old order.
In the scriptures, God promised the new priesthood “after
the order of Melchizedek.” That declaration
demonstrated that the Aaronic priesthood could not achieve the “purification
of sins,” otherwise, there would be no need for this new order. Under the old
code, the people received the law with its regulations for sacrifices and the
priesthood. However, the promise of a new order of priests also meant “a
change of law” - (Hebrews
7:11-14).
The old priesthood was dependent on lineal descent and multiple
generations of priests due to human mortality, but the priesthood “after
the order of Melchizedek” is perpetual since it is based on the endless
resurrection life of the “Son.” Unlike the Aaronic priests, the Son was
installed by the oath of God (“The Lord swore and will not regret: You are a
priest everlastingly”), and therefore, his priesthood is perpetual and not “transmissible”
- (Hebrews 7:15-22).
And thus, Jesus also is the “guarantor of a better covenant,” and he is well able to save his “brethren” to the uttermost since he “lives evermore to intercede for them” - (Psalm 110:4, Hebrews 7:19-25).
Unlike his predecessors, he “sat down on the right hand of the
Majesty in the heavens” and became the minister of “the Real Tabernacle,”
not a temporary tent “made-by-hand.” The Levitical system with its
animal sacrifices constituted only “glimpses and shadows of the heavenly
realities,” therefore, it could never cleanse the “conscience” of
sin - (Hebrews 8:1-6).
Having attained a more distinguished ministry, he became the “mediator
of a better covenant legislated upon better promises.” And if the “first
covenant” had been faultless, there would have been no need for the second
one. However, having found fault with it, the Lord announced the coming days
when He would “conclude a new covenant” with His people - (Hebrews
8:7-13).
In
Hebrews, the promised “new covenant” is expressly stated NOT
to be “according to the covenant” made at Sinai. It is not a “renewed”
or modified version of the Law given at Sinai, but instead, it is an entirely
new covenant that is well able to achieve the “purification of sins.” Under
it, all citizens of the kingdom know God for His righteous requirements have
been inscribed on their hearts.
By establishing the “new covenant,” Jesus “made the
first one obsolete,” which means the covenant established at Sinai ceased
to be in effect for God’s people because of the superior sacrifice and priestly
office of the “Son.”
Since the “new
covenant” achieved the “purification of sins” and “cleansed the
conscience” of the believer, its benefits far surpass those of the old Levitical
code.
To
return to the old system would mean abandoning the supreme benefits of the new
one established by the exalted Son of God. Not only so but forsaking the
assembly after one has received the knowledge of the truth is tantamount to “trampling
underfoot the Son of God and the blood of the covenant.” The Lord will judge His people, and in the end, the
apostate will find just what a “fearful thing it is to fall into the hands
of a Living God.”
Thus, returning to the old order to avoid
suffering and persecution is not an option.
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