Comments for December 2

2:3 The way in which God invites the adversary to consider Job at this point in his trials gives a clear indication that Yahweh was in control as he later -:6 - gives that adversary permission to afflict Job more.

2:3 The way in which God invites the adversary to consider Job at this point in his trials gives a clear indication that Yahweh was in control as he later -:6 - gives that adversary permission to afflict Job more. He was in control throughout all of Job’s tribulations. The book of Job teaches us that no matter how difficult life becomes our Father in in control and working for our own eternal well-being.

1:1 the land of Uz could well be the land inhabited by – Gen 10:23 “Uz”. If so it would make him a descendant of Shem – Abraham

1:3  Job is the only person in scripture whose possessions are listed so precisely. Why would we be told this?

1:11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to his face.

I hope I never harbour rivalry, envy and ill will to my brothers and sisters such that I utter (or secretly think) this sort of prayer to God. I would hate to think that my malevolent mind would be the cause of suffering for my brothers and sisters.

Rather "love one another out of a pure heart fervently" 1 Peter 1:22

2:10 In all this, Job did not sin with his lips. (Unlike Job's  wife who sinned with her lips: "Curse God and die")

2:1Was “satan” one of the “sons of God” or an antagonist who had joined them?

It is sad to say that those who are “sons of God” can also be adversaries to their fellow believers.

Are we ever adversaries to our fellow believers – putting stumbling blocks in their way as we all walk together towards the kingdom of God?

2 v.2 - That this is a precursor of the death and resurrection of Christ is without question (Matt.12:40). This aspect of being in hell - which means a place of darkness, usually the grave, as we know - is also brought out in Acts 2:27 which quotes Psa. 16:10.

2:4 That Jonah 'looked towards thy holy temple' shows that he was aware of the words of Solomon and also recognised his error. 1 Kings 8:30

3:2 The commission from the Lord is almost identical to the one he was given in Jonah 1:2 He has to preach the words that Yahweh gave him. Now he doubtless was aware that this was the task of a prophet so why is his commission spelt out so specifically?
I suggest that the commission is so specific because Jonah had already been rebellious.
3:4 This is the sum total of the recorded words of Jonah's prophecy, though we have noticed 2 Kings 14:25 that he had spoken other words which had been fulfilled.

Apparently the people of Nineveh were worshipping, amongst others, a fish god, who was half man half fish and white in appearance. Perhaps this is why they initially accepted Jonah as his skin, we are told, would be bleached white by the stomach juices of the whale, and he would have a strong smell of fish, we might assume. Did God do all this so that the people of Nineveh would listen to Jonah in the end, as well as His other reasons?

2:3 Despite Jonah's flight towards Tarshish and the seeming natural storm Jonah knew it was of God. He has said so in the boat during the storm. He expresses this realisation directly to God in this chapter. If only we could see God at work in our lives when He is. The signs are doubtless there but we tend so often to find natural explanations for the things that happen.

The way in which the king and the people repented so that the words which Jonah had spoken did not come to pass shows that there is more to the work of a prophet than simply predicting or foretelling the future. As the words of Jonah did not come to pass his prophecy failed - or so it would seem. However God was more concerned that the men of Nineveh would repent. He did not want to destroy them, If Israel had repented like Nineveh then much of the predictions of the prophets would not have come true!

3:5 The preaching of Jonah caused gentiles to accept the message. Jesus gave the sign of Jonah - (Matthew 12:39 Matthew 16:4). Jesus' message was accepted by the gentiles though, like Jonah, the Jews of Jesus day did not want the message to go to the gentiles.

Jonah 2:2-9. Jonah’s prayer here is certainly a psalm of thanksgiving.

2:4 In saying he was 'cast out of thy sight' Jonah is not simply saying that God cannot see him which is clearly untrue. He is saying that because of his rebellion he has destroyed his fellowship with his God.

3:6The word translated 'robe' here is the same word translated 'garment' in Josh 7:21 which helps to fill in the picture of what Achan actually took. It was not just a piece of clothing. It was royal apparel.

ASKED AGAIN
 
As parents, one of the things we try to teach our children is to respect authority and to do what they are told.  Try as we might, there are still regular times when a child has to be asked two, three, or even more times to do a task before they finally rouse themselves to do as they are told. As parents we find that their unresponsive attitude can be quite frustrating, yet we are also like children in God's sight.
 
Jonah, a grown man, was asked to go to Nineveh to proclaim God's message to the people there.  He did the same as our children sometimes do: he hid.  But like a parent God didn't forget or ask another of his children to do the job.  Instead Jonah paid a consequence that got him thinking about his actions, and then God asked him a second time.  This time, when God had asked twice, Jonah did as he was told.
 
We are probably no better than Jonah, and just like our children.  How many times do we have to be told what God wants from us before we obey? Do we regularly proclaim God's message and love our neighbours as ourselves (even neighbours we don't like)?  Do we totally trust God in every aspect of our lives?  Or pray without ceasing?  Let's not be like our children or even like Jonah, but be quick to obey and serve the LORD with all of our hearts.

3:3 This time the prophet's obedience was instant, he responded without a complaint or excuse, not only that he preach what the LORD had told him. An example to each of us, we all have been called.

Jonah had rebelled against the Word of the LORD. He had been given an assignment and decided he did not want to do it. But after being entombed in the great fish, he realized that he could not thwart the LORD's will. He sought the LORD and promised to carry out his duty (Jon 2:7-9). He went to the idolatrous Ninevites to preach the Truth. The question is: why was Jonah reluctant to go to Nineveh in the first place? Tomorrow we will find out.

The scribes and Pharisees asked Jesus for a sign (Matt 12:38).  The only indication He would give was that of Jonah (Matt 12:39-41).  Here we see the equation between Jonah's stay in the belly of the fish and the Lord's stay in the tomb.  Jonah was released from the darkness of the fish to see light once more.  Likewise, Jesus was released from the blackness of the grave to see light again for ever.

a) Have you noticed how many quotations from the Psalms there are in Jonah’s prayer in Jon 2? Probably 15. b) In Jon 3:1 God again came to Jonah, and told him to go East to Nineveh. This time he went.  I wonder how long apart these two calls were?

2:1 Jonah had been pursuing a course which was astray from God’s command. God had intervened to create an environment in which Jonah could think about his actions. He has now thought about his position and prays. Not because he is in a fix but because he has repented and seeks to be reconciled to God.

3:1`God heard Jonah’s prayer and delivered him. However the original command still stands. So God makes the same request of Jonah as He had made in Jon 1:2. Jonah’s response will determine the sincerity or otherwise of his repentance.

The use of sackcloth, worn as a sign of woe by those in mourning and anguish, was common in the Near East (3:5,6,8).  Sackcloth was a coarse cloth made from either goat or camel hair.  It was used for bagging things.  One of the qualities of sackcloth is that it is porous.  This is interesting, since those in anguish or mourning, wearing sackcloth, sometimes described their troubles as being poured out like water (e.g. Job 3:24).  The first example of the use of sackcloth, in the Bible, is by Jacob (Gen 37:34). 

3:6-7 The king of Nineveh not only repented but saw the need for national repentance. This highlights the extent of his recognition of his sin. As king he needed to recover the people he had allowed to fall away. So we see a gentile who recognised sin being spoken to by a prophet who did not recognise God’s compassion.

2:9 Having experienced in his own life God's power to rescue him from the jaws of death, Jonah brings his personal thanksgiving to a climax with the words "Salvation comes from the LORD". There were no other words that could show his appreciation of all that God had done for him. 

Jonah was entombed in a great fish that the LORD prepared (provided) for His purpose (1:17; 2:1).  No further description of the sea creature is given.  Therefore, it is not accurate to call it a whale, as is the wont of some.

2:2-9    These verses actually record the prayer that Jonah uttered in the great fish.  He sees – verse :9 – that God seeks praise rather than animals. Another indication that he was not unwilling to speak about his God.

2:1-3 - V2  the belly of a fish is referred to as ["hell" KJV or the "grave" NIV - the original Hebrew word is "sheol" (7585) and is translated in the KJV as grave, pit, hell]. Sheol is not a fiery place in the middle of the death as the fish's belly amply demonstrates, it is the grave - the fishes belly must have seemed like a grave to Jonah at the time. Animals go to sheol Psa 49:14  as did the righteous Jacob Gen 37:35 ["grave" is translated from the Hebrew "sheol" in both cases]. The Bible notes in a number of places the dead have no thoughts. The death state is like sleep Psa 146:4

3:3 Nineveh was indeed a great city, being much larger than Babylon.  Diodorus said that the circumference of the city was 55 miles.  The population was probably 600,000 - 1 million.  There were 120,000 small children alone (4:11).

2:9 Jonah’s exclamation ‘salvation is of the Lord’ echoes the Psalm – Psa 3:8. So Jonah recognised that, even though he had fled away from God it was God who had delivered him, as David expressed.

3:4 The way that Nineveh responded to the preaching of Jonah contrasts markedly with Sodom in the days of Lot when the city was destroyed because they would not heed the words of Lot – Gen 19:25

2:5     In talking about the waters compassing him Jonah is quoting Psa 69:1

Jon 3:10

“And God (Elohim) saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God (Elohim) repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.”  Likewise, we read in Gen 6:6, “And it repented the LORD (Yahweh) that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.” How are we to interpret these passages when compared to Mal 3:6 and James 1:17 wherein it states the LORD God does not change, and “with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning”?

By a careful reading of the passages in question in their contexts, and by clearly defining what is and what is not said, we see that the context of Jon 3 and Gen 6 reveals the sinful state man is living in, and it is man’s sinfulness that triggered God’s sorrow, not man’s existence. The Hebrew word for, “repented” is # <5162>, nacham, and expresses the idea, “to be sorry” for, or “to pity” what has taken place. “Repented” here does not indicate a change, but a state of regret. Neither of these passages shows that God’s character changed, or that God did something contrary to His character. The Ninevites changed, not God, and they became obedient, so He preserved them. Their change did not obligate God to do what He said He would. If that were the case, where would we be?

2:3,5,9 Jonah’s mind seems to have been in the Psalms in his prayer. Consider the use he makes of the Psalms.

Is Scripture the language we use in prayer?

2:10    A simple piece of narrative.  However it echoes Genesis and the creation narrative where God spake and it was done  as described in Psa 33:9

SECOND CHANCES

"Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: 'Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.'"(Jonah 3:1-2) God had given Jonah his first opportunity to obey him, but Jonah had stuffed it up. Instead of preaching to the people of Nineveh, he had run away, rebelled against God, disobeyed and should have ended up either drowned or digested! But God gave him a second chance. After the experiences of the first chance, Jonah grudgingly did as he was told.

But after Jonah had preached to Nineveh and had seen how God gave the people there a second chance, he got really grumpy. It seems he was happy enough to have had his second chance - after all, a second chance was one of the things he had prayed for while he was inside the fish. But Jonah couldn't bear the thought of these 'sinners' in Nineveh being given grace from God.

I am glad God gives me second chances. Like Jonah, I often fail miserably the first time (and often more than that), but God gives me more chances until I get it right. Let's remember the second chances that God has given us, and be gracious in offering God's grace and his second chances to others. Freely we have received, Let's freely give.

3:3 Nineveh was not three days journey from where Jonah was cast up on the sea shore. It was the distance either across or round the walls of the city.

Jonah's prayer in the Psalms

The ordeal Jonah went through prepared Jesus for his own death. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the fish, hidden away as if he were in the grave, so Jesus would be dead for three days (see Matt 12:40). The idea of Jonah's ordeal as a foreshadowing of the death of Jesus is further carried on in Psalm 88. Notice how similar this is to Jonah's prayer in Jonah 2, and all the references to the grave and the water:

"my life draweth nigh unto the grave. I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength: Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand. Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves." Psa 88:3-7

The rest of the chapter is full of similarities with Jonah's prayer. How many can you find?

GOD IS READY TO LISTEN

He is ready to listen. Even if we have turned away from God, even if we have sinned against Him and feel distant, unclean and feel that perhaps He doesn't want to hear us any more, He is ready to hear your prayer - and respond to it.

Not many of us get to go as low as Jonah. He was one of the few chosen to hear God's voice and given a task to do. But Jonah refused and ran the opposite direction trying to escape from God. He had a guilty conscience. He knew he had done wrong. He even admitted his sin to the sailors on the ship he was sailing on. But as he lay below deck, I suspect he was keeping strangely silent instead of praying to the LORD his God. He was running away!

It wasn't until he had been heaved overboard, nearly drowned in the sea, and swallowed by a huge fish that Jonah was distressed enough to call on God. "From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. He said, 'In my distress I called to the LORD and he answered me.'" (Jon 2:1-2).

If God listened to rebellious Jonah when he discovered he was in trouble, he will listen to us too. He wants to hear from you. Let's turn to him today.

3:10   In His foreknowledge God knew that this repentance would be short lived. He knew that Assyria would behave terribly towards His people. However, even knowing this, he accepted their repentance at face value. How encouraged we should be with this realisation.

2:4   In saying that he will look towards God’s holy temple Jonah is reflecting on the words of Solomon – 1Kin 8:30 – in his prayer at the dedication of the temple.

Jon 2:1

“THEN Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly.”

This is one of those great Biblical mysteries. Jonah tried to escape God’s command to preach to the Ninevites only to be swallowed up by a great fish and then to be vomited out of its belly. This story is often cited as merely a myth, but is it?

We know Jonah was a real person (2Kin 14:25). Jesus also recognized Jonah as a real person and recounted it as a true historical event, likening it to his own death and resurrection (Matt 12:29-31; 16:4; Luke 11:29-30,32). Thus, there is no disputing the veracity of this story.

The ancient Babylonian historian, Berosus wrote that the Assyrians worshipped a fish-man god called Dagon. This would explain why the Ninevites were so eager to accept Jonah’s preaching once they learned that he had been swallowed and then vomited out of a big sea fish! They believed Jonah was a fish god! Dagon is mentioned several times in relation to the Philistine god (Judg 16:23,24; 1Sam 5:1-7; 1Chron 10:10).

Since the Bible also tells us “God prepared a great fish” (Jon 1:17), God either specifically created this fish, or prepared an existing big fish and had it in the right place at the right time.

2:4       Isn’t it ironic? Jonah fled “from the presence of the Lord” Jon 1:3 but now, in distress, he calls upon the same God worried that he is not in God’s presence! Do we ever feel like this?

2:4   Jonah had sought to flee from the presence of the Lord –  1:3 – but now, in distress, being out of God’s presence is not an appealing position to be in. When we feel that the constraints of the gospel are too much for us we should remember that the alternative is  worse.

2:7 Jonah a servant of God struggled with his commission. However when he was in great difficulty it did not stop him praying to his God. We can learn from this. Whilst the journey might be challenging we have a God who listens to our prayers.

3:9 The king of Nineveh’s repentance is interesting. It seems that he did not know how God would respond. However we might conclude that he was aware that the God of Israel was merciful. It is probable that he was aware of at least some elements of the Law of Moses.

A careful reading of Jon 2:1-9 convinces us that it contains two of Jonah's prayers.  The second prayer, from the fish's belly, is a prayer of thanksgiving. It celebrates God's saving response to Jonah's first prayer. That first prayer was a cry for help that he silently 'screamed' as he tumbled into the ocean's depths.

The words of Jonah 2:7, ​​​​​​​​'When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to you,into your holy temple' remembers his 'cry for help' for salvation from a watery grave – 'the belly of Sheol'. The remembered prayer is recounted in Jon 2:1-7.

Did Jonah actually die by drowning? Was he dead for three days and nights in the fish's belly, as Jesus seems to be implying in Matt 12:38-40?

Whatever is the answer to this question, when Jonah became conscious he realised that God had wrought salvation in response to his first prayer.  That first prayer contained a vow (Jonah 2:9) that Jonah had now to fulfil.

3:2 how do we understand God commanding Jonah twice to go to Nineveh? One thing we learn is that God is compassionate. God brought circumstances into Jonah’s life so that he could reflect on God’s command and once Jonah had learnt God spoke to him again. Wouldn’t it be terrible if God forsook His children the first time they disregarded His word?

2:7-9 We might think that in times of distress that the last thing on our midst would be that God is a saviour. But this was Jonah’s way of thinking. Difficulties did not diminish his recognition of Yahweh as the God and the Creator of all things. In reality God was always in Jonah’s mind. In both good and difficult times. Is this our way of thinking?

2:7 It was when Jonah was in deep despair that he "remembered the Lord”. It is good to remember our God when we are in difficulty. However we should not only call on Him when we are in trouble. He deserves our praise at all times.

3:3 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time

It could be, without being dogmatic,  that there is a gap in time from 2:10 to 3:1 - maybe some weeks or months. During that time, news of a Jewish prophet being swallowed by a fish and miraculously surviving would have circulated far and wide - including Nineveh. The returned sailors' testimony would have added to this excitement.  So when God commands Jonah to return to Nineveh from his Jewish home, Jonah would have been listened to as the man whom God protected in the stomach of the fish. His bleached complexion (from the stomach acids of the fish) may still have been obvious, thereby confirming his identification as the prophet of God.

3:1-2 We see the mercy of God in that he spoke to Jonah “the second time”. It would have been easy for God to find another prophet to send to Nineveh. However in His love He spoke to Jonah again charging him to preach to the Ninevites.

We learn from this how merciful and compassionate Yahweh is towards His children.

9 v. 15 - This is the constant theme of this book - to point out to its Jewish readers (and to us) that the covenant established by Jesus' death is not only new and different but better and eternal in its nature. See also 7:22, 8:6,8, 12:24, 2Cor. 3:6

8:1 provides a summary of what the Apostle wishes us to see in the first eight chapters of Hebrews. This summary is most helpful in that it ensures that we are seeing the correct message in the letter.

ch.9 - And now the tabernacle on the day of Atonement is described so that Jesus can be presented as a better more effective sacrifice than the sacrifices on that day.

8:6 Moses was a 'mediator' (Deuteronomy 5:5) His works as a mediator are described in Deuteronomy 5:5. But Jesus work is associated with a 'better covenant'. It is 'better' because it can bring life - Moses' law could not.

9:11 In saying 'not made with hands' we are reminded of a Biblical phrase which occurs a number of times

All these uses show that the event spoken of was of God's instigation.

8:6 Notice the way that Jesus was better than the old order
1. More excellent ministry
2. Better covenant
3. Better promises

In fact throughout the whole of the letter to the Hebrews we see about 12 occasions where Jesus is 'better' than the Mosaic order - though the word 'better' is not always used.

9:13-14 Another contrast is developed. Whilst the animals could only purify the flesh the sacrifice of Christ purged the conscience.

OUT OF THE SHADOWS

God gave Moses a pattern when he made the Tabernacle. The pattern Moses was given, we learn from Hebrews, was the pattern of heaven itself. So when the Tabernacle was completed in all its splendour, Israel had a little slice of heaven in the midst of them. They should have been able to look at the Tabernacle and see all that was holy and pure - to see God dwelling among them.

Now we learn that the Tabernacle, all its furnishings and the offerings associated with it, are just a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. (Hebrews 6 v 5) The priests at the Tabernacle were only a shadow of the great High Priest, Jesus. The covenant God made with Israel was only a precursor to a much better covenant. Now, instead of having rituals to perform for sin, we can have our sins forgiven through Jesus Christ.

Even though so much has been fulfilled and made better, the patterns have not all been fulfilled. The dwelling of God is not with men, and we have not been made totally sinless, because we still sin. One day Jesus will return and then, just as the Tabernacle was a shadow of the real thing, so our lives will be taken out of the shadowlands and brought into a wonderful reality in the kingdom of God.

8:3Gifts and sacrifices picks up on two aspects of the offerings under the law of Moses.  Whilst Israel seemed too often viewed their offerings as an obligation they were not only something that God requested but something that Israel wanted to offer also.

How do we feel about our service to God? Is it done out of obligation or freely. The Lord loveth a cheerful giver (2Cor 9:7)

9:9,14 Notice the contrast being drawn between the day of atonement and the sacrifice of Christ. The sacrifice on the day of atonement was not effective in purging the conscience. The sacrifice of Christ is. A telling point for those who wished to return to the law of Moses.

9:9 The very existence of the place where the priests performed their service was a testimony that God's presence was inaccessible

The writer to the Hebrews confirms that Jesus superseded the Law of Moses. He also looks beyond the present dispensation towards the one that Christ will bring when He returns. He quotes Jeremiah in this look forward (8:10-12; cf. Jer 31:33,34).

Jesus is described as a mediator of a new covenant (8:6; 9:15).  His role as mediator is to reconcile two parties, those of humankind and God.  Men and women are naturally alienated from God, but Jesus is the means whereby men and women can be brought into a harmonious relationship with the LORD.  He is able to do this because He behaved perfectly before God, His Father, and because He gave His life on the cross.  His selfless sacrifice on the cross was the means to take away the sins of people.  But, He is not the Savior of all people automatically, i.e. He is not a universal Savior.  His sin offering is for many not for all (9:28).  All people do have access to Him, but salvation is conditional upon their believing the true Gospel; being baptised into His Name; and behaving in the same Godly manner as He did.  When people do this they come into this covenant relationship with the LORD.  They now have the freedom to pray directly to Him in Jesus' Name. This is because Jesus, as a mediator, brought God to us (Immanuel = God with us Isa 7:14).

8:8  Israel were expected to realise that the law of Moses was to be replaced because it was flawed – if that were not so God would not have given the ‘new covenant’ recorded in Jer 31:31. In this we learn a way of looking at Scripture. The words, against the background of earlier revelation, teach principles.

9:12  Even on the day of Atonement the high priest entered into the holy place more than once performing the office of priest. Jesus only had to make one offering. ‘Eternal redemption’ contrasts with the ‘year by year’ of the day of Atonement which Paul addresses in chapter 10

9:11-14 In these few verses, and in other sections of this letter the author carefully shows that Christ became both priest and sacrifice. Christ became subject and object at the same time; He served at the alter as priest and was laid on the alter as a sacrifice. Christ shed his blood as a sacrifice on the cross, and figuratively as high priest entered the Most Holy Place of the temple.

9:5The word translated ‘mercyseat’ <2435> is only found once elsewhere – Rom 3:25– where it is translated ‘propitiation. So the use of the word in Hebrews explains what is meant in Rom 3:25

8:13  Isa 51:6 which is quoted in the vanishing away of the old order is set in a context of speaking to those who ‘follow after righteousness’ Isa 51:1. Whilst the Jews sought to establish their own righteousness – Rom 10:3 – God was removing the law of ordinances for those who sought His righteousness.

8:12 The new covenant has an element which was absent from the Law of Moses – the forgiveness of sins. But it is spoken of – Jer 31:34–in the new covenant. This sets the scene for the way the writer will move on to highlight the shortcomings of the day of Atonement in chapter 9 and 10

The real priesthood

It's not often that we will find such a clear pointer in our studies as this in verse 1: "this is the main point of what we are saying". So we can read what follows and be confident of its importance. What then is the writer's main point?

It's right there in v1-5 and then expounded throughout the rest of Hebrews. If we were to reword it we might read this: "If Jesus were on earth, he wouldn't be a priest because you've already got earthly priests. Instead, he lives in heaven with God and is a heavenly priest. In fact, heaven and earth are so different, and heaven is so incomprehensible to us that God has created the earthly service (contained in earthly buildings, temples, tabernacles and such) just so that we can comprehend the true heavenly temple and priesthood. So Jesus isn't an alternative priest, Jesus is the true priest, the real building, whereas your law and temple is just a learning aid to help you understand him".

Can you imagine how inflammatory that statement was to Hebrew people? Furthermore in 8:13 we read that the Hebrew form of worship (and its temple and priesthood) was obsolete, old and decaying away! Let's be careful not to go back to the learning aid, rather than the true.

9:24 Exo 24:18 shows that Moses met with God for a short period of time this is contrasted with Jesus who went to heaven, not just up into a mountain.

9:10  The important word here is ‘until’ – The whole of the ritual of the law of Moses was a temporary affair, to be superseded when Christ came. This was the key thing that they had to remember.

Heb 8:8,13

“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, When I will make a new covenant…In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old…”

“New” is the Greek word, kainos, # <2537>. It is new not just in the sense of time (neos, # <3501>), but also in the sense of quality – Expository Dictionary of the Bible Words. Jesus’ priesthood was better than the Aaronic priesthood (Heb 5:1-7); Jesus is related to a better covenant (Heb 8:1-13); Jesus is a better sanctuary (Heb 9:1-12); Jesus is a better sacrifice than the animals were (Heb 9:13 to Heb 10:18), and in Jesus the new covenant is based on better promises (Heb 10:19 to chapter 12:3). Jesus is the only “high priest over the house of God” (Heb 10:21). This covenant relationship is “new” in point of time (neos, Heb 12:24), as well as “new” in quality (kainos, Heb 9:15). Only through Jesus is it possible to have a new relationship with God.

The typological Old Testament Covenant foreshadowed the eschatological reality of the New Testament Covenant saving act in Christ, the "new and living way" (Heb 10:20).

9:24  Another (see  9:11) time that “not made with hands” is emphasised.

8:4     The nature of Jesus’ priesthood has been discussed already in Heb 7:1-28. The writer now returns to the subject and emphasises that from a natural perspective Jesus would not be a priest. This highlights the point that Jesus was not involved in priestly matters relating to the building – Herod’s temple.

Heb 8:8

“…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.”

The “new covenant” is the new covenant of Jer 31:31. It reads: “Behold, the days come saith the LORD (Yahweh), that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah.” What is this “new covenant”?

In Lev 26:40-44 we read about the covenant God made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It was a land covenant… “… and I will remember the land”(v. 42). This land promised to Abraham and his descendants was the land of Canaan (Gen 12:1-3,7). They received the land of Canaan and became a great nation (Gen 46:3; Exo 6:2-8; Deut 1:6-8; Deut 30:17-20). But, the Israelites sinned grievously and though the LORD was patient and longsuffering with them, He eventually drove them out of the land. The northern kingdom of Israel was carried away into Assyrian captivity in 733 B.C. (2Kin 17:5,6,22,23). The southern kingdom of Judah was carried away into Babylonian captivity (2Kin 24; 2Chron 36; Dan 1:2. This captivity would last 70 years, but only a remnant would be restored to the land, not the whole nation (Isa 10:20-22 Jer 23:3). We still await a full restoration of God’s covenant to Abraham and that “in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (Gen 12:3).

The “new covenant” addressed here in Heb 8, is the Abrahamic covenant, which preceded the Mosaic covenant by four centuries. “It is 'new' in relation to Israel in that they are for the first time inducted into it” (The Christadelphian, 1953, pp. 40, 41). Christ is “the seed” (Gal 3:16; Acts 3:24-26) and if we are in Christ then we are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise (Gal 3:26-29).

" ... This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you" (Luke 22:20). Alfred Nicholls writes in Remember the Days of Old p. 85: “Christ’s use of the word ‘new’ then links the Abrahamic covenant with his own death, and the confirmation of it in his blood: ‘this is my blood of the new covenant'. Abraham looked forward in faith to that confirmation, indeed, symbolically took part in it in a vision (Genesis 15), in which God Himself was represented by a burning lamp passing between the tokens of the future sacrifice of Christ. The patriarch slept the deep sleep of death while the generations passed and he awoke to find that ‘in the same day’ the Lord had repeated the covenant. He rejoiced indeed to see the day of Christ, for although in the sense of its fulfilment he ‘received not the promise’, he was persuaded of the ‘better thing’ which went far beyond any immediate possession on the part of a dying, childless man of the land whereon he lay.” 

The New Covenant encompassed in Christ is still very much in effect, though it has remained largely unfulfilled. The ultimate fulfillment will come during the Kingdom Age. It rested upon the sacrifice of Christ, and secures the eternal blessedness of the house of Israel and Judah and to all who believe (Heb 8:10-13 cf. Jer 31:31-34; Gal 3:13-29). Both Israel and Judah will be forgiven and restored, not on the basis of the old Mosaic conditional Covenant, but on the basis of the New Abrahamic unconditional land Covenant in Christ still to be fulfilled (cf. Gal 3:15-18; Heb 6:13-20).

The Abrahamic Covenant is an example of a covenant that could be signed and sealed, but not every provision would go immediately into effect. Some went into effect right away as the change of names and circumcision. Another part of it went into effect 25 years later when Isaac was born, and then another 400 years before the conquest of the land of Canaan, while other provisions are still in the future, like the settlement of ALL the Promised Land. This awaits the return of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, and then Israel's final redemption and restoration.

9:25     The use of the phrase “Every year”, echoing Lev 16:34, introduces the day of atonement that will be spoken of in Hebrews 10 and builds upon the description of the tabernacle which was presented in Heb 9:2-5

9:13-14           Notice the contrast. Animal sacrifices – even those supremely associated with cleansing – can only purify the flesh. Whereas Jesus’ sacrifice purges the ‘conscience’ thus it is more effective. Ceremonial cleanness is not as valuable as a mind which has been purged.

COMPLETELY UNQUALIFIED

Jesus was completely unqualified for the job he was given. He is our high priest. The main qualification of a high priest was that he should be a descendant of Aaron, the high priest for Israel in the wilderness. Jesus wasn't. He was from Judah and so disqualified from taking the high priest position before he had even applied for it. God's word puts it this way:"If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already men who offer the gifts prescribed by the law." (Heb 8:4). In all other ways, Jesus is the only one truly qualified to fit that position.

Time and again God takes unqualified people and sets them in positions that he has for them. Paul as a preacher to the Gentiles; timid Timothy as a leader of the early church; David the shepherd as king of Israel;  fishermen as disciples of Jesus and preachers of God's way. Even in the list of qualifications given for overseers and deacons, it is not the business and financial orientated leaders of men that are selected, but people with a heart and life given to God.

As it was with Jesus, it is the state of our heart that qualifies us to serve our God, not our university degree or any other experience. Let's make sure our hearts are open to hearing from God so that we can serve Him in the way He asks of us.

1. Hebrews 8-9 show the difference between Christ (the Son of God) and God (the Father of Christ). The covenants (old and new) are between God and man. Man can only be reconciled to God by the shedding of blood.

2. Heb 8:6 - Jesus is the "mediator<3316>" (Jesus is the "mediator<3316>" between God and man 1Tim 2:5);

Heb 9:11-14 - Christ is offered to God (God isn't offered to God, that wouldn't make sense); Heb 9:15 - Jesus is the mediator of the new "testament/covenant(<1242> some versions replace testament with covenant but the Greek words here are the same)" and again we are reminded of the role of mediator 1Tim 2:5 (God doesn't mediate with man from one part of Himself to another part of himself, that would be illogical, because Christ was man tempted in all points as we are (unlike God who cannot be tempoted with evil Heb 4:15;James 1:13) and now sits on the right hand of God he is uniquely suited for the role of mediator between man and God; Heb 9:24-26 - Christ appears for us in God's presence (note it doesn't limit to the Father's presence, it reads in God's presence) as a mediator.

3. Heb 8:8-10 - God makes the "covenant/testament<1242>" (which needs something to happen between immortal sinless God and mortal man in order to reconcile/activate the covenant); Heb 9:1-10 touches on the old and new covenant among other things.

4. Heb 9:16-22 - there can be no will without blood and no forgiveness without the shedding of blood which cleanses; Heb 9:20 - God "enjoined/commanded<1781>" believers keep the blood of the covenant/testament; Heb 9:26-28 - Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people (seeing as Christ is a sacrifice to God in order to reconcile us to God, how could Christ possibly be God as many trinitarians believe? It would be illogical sacrificing God to God, so God could be reconciled, and would God be a mediator to God?, not to mention God can't die or even be seen by mortals (1Tim 6:16) in contrast to Christ who died and was seen by many; John 17:21-23 explains the oneness.

9:15-23      Jesus’ shedding of blood is now contrasted with the beginning of the old covenant where Moses sprinkled the book of the law and the people - Exo 24:6-9– saying that whilst the “pattern” (the old Covenant) was enjoined with animal blood the new covenant was enjoined by the death of a man – making it more effective. In fact this new covenant is the means whereby sins can be forgiven and forgotten rather than brought o remembrance.

9:13-14   Notice that the writer is not saying that the sacrifices under the Law of Moses were of no value. Rather, through the holy spirit, he is making the point that if you have confidence in what you did under the Law of Moses then surely you will take hold of the more effective sacrifice of Jesus.

Heb 9:28

“So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”