Jesus inaugurated the vastly superior new covenant in his death, rendering the old one obsolete.
The “word” that God now speaks “in the Son” surpasses all the past revelations made in “the prophets.” Jesus went beyond them, “having achieved the purification of sins.” Consequently, he “sat down” at the right hand of God and inherited “all things.”
And among other things, his exaltation signaled the commencement of the promised “new covenant.”
The letter to the Hebrews contrasts the everlasting priesthood, new covenant, and once-for-all sacrifice of the Son with the multiple priests, obsolete covenant, and repeated animal sacrifices of the Levitical code.
God promised a new priesthood “after the order of Melchizedek.” That declaration demonstrated that the Aaronic priesthood could never achieve the “purification of sins,” otherwise, there would be no need for a new priesthood.
Under the old legislation, the people received the law with its regulations for sacrifices, the calendar, and the priesthood. But the promise of a new order of priests also means “a change of law” was in order - (Hebrews 7:11-14).
EVERLASTING PRIESTHOOD
The old priesthood was dependent on lineal descent and multiple generations of priests due to human mortality. In contrast, 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 has been installed by the oath of God (“The Lord swore and will not regret: You are a priest everlastingly”); therefore, his priesthood is 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,” and not of a temporary tent “made-by-hand.”
The animal sacrifices of the Levitical system constituted only “glimpses and shadows of the heavenly realities,” therefore, they could never cleanse the sinner’s “conscious” of sin - (Hebrews 8:1-6).
BETTER COVENANT
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 a 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 the letter, the “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 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 the “SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD”- (Jeremiah 31:31-33, Ezekiel 36:22-27, 2 Corinthians 3:1-3).
By establishing the “new covenant,” Jesus “made the first one obsolete,” and that means the covenant established at Sinai ceased to be in effect for God’s people because of the superior sacrifice, covenant, and priestly office of the “Son.”
NO GOING BACK
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 now to the old system means abandoning the supreme benefits of the new one established by the Son of God and through his great sacrifice.
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.”
The position of Hebrews is that to return to the Levitical order means abandoning the superior new covenant established by Jesus. And doing so amounts to apostasy and disobedience to the word of the Son.
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