Change of Law
Since this “Word spoken in a son” is complete and definitive, it is “better than” the partial revelations of the past “spoken in the prophets.”. Unlike his predecessors, the Son, “having achieved the purification of sins,” sat down at God’s right hand where he remains to this day mediating for his people as their faithful High Priest. Logically, this means that the previous “words” by the prophets and the ministries of the Levitical priests proved insufficient to remove the stain of sin from the covenant community.
The Letter to the Hebrews demonstrates the superiority of the word in
the “Son” by contrasting his priesthood, covenant, and sacrifice to the
Levitical priesthood, covenant, and repeated animal sacrifices performed in the
ancient Tabernacle.
 |
| [Photo by Kouji Tsuru on Unsplash] |
The fact that God promised a future priesthood “after the order of Melchizedek” demonstrated beyond doubt that the Levitical priesthood and sacrifices were incapable of achieving the “purification of sins” and cleansing the individual believer’s conscience.
The former priestly order required multiple
priests and animal sacrifices, and it was received at Mount Sinai as part of
the Mosaic legislation. Therefore, the promised change in the priesthood
also meant a “change of law”
- (Hebrews 7:11-12).
Due to human mortality, the Levitical
priesthood was dependent on lineal descent and multiple generations of qualified
priests. Humanity's frailty was always the weakness of the system. Therefore, a
fundamental change in the law itself became necessary, or at least, a change in
the regulations that governed the priesthood, the annual calendar, and sacrifices
for sin.
THE NEW HIGH PRIEST
In contrast, the priesthood “after the
order of Melchizedek” is perpetual since it is based on the endless
resurrected life of the Son. He is, therefore, the “priest forever” who
serves in the “real Tabernacle not made with hands” where he now intercedes
continually for his “brethren” - (Hebrews 7:15-17).
Unlike the old priesthood, this priest after
the “order of Melchizedek” was installed by the word and oath of Yahweh
- (“Yahweh swore and will not regret: You are a priest everlastingly”). Therefore,
he holds the priesthood “un-transmissible.”
Moreover, he became the “guarantor of a
better covenant” that saves “to the uttermost” everyone who
approaches God through him because he “lives evermore to intercede in their
behalf” - (Hebrews 7:19-25).
The old high priest entered the “holy of
holies” once each year with blood from sacrificial animals to stand briefly in the Sanctuary
as he applied animal blood to cleanse the sins of the nation committed in the
preceding year.
In contrast, Jesus entered the “real sanctuary” once for all and with his own blood to atone for the sins of his people, then he “sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens” where he remains to this day.
The Tabernacle carried by Israel in the
wilderness was a mere “glimpse and shadow of the heavenly reality,” just
as Moses was told to make the earthly Tent “according to the pattern he saw
in the mount” - (Hebrews 8:1-5).
Jesus is also the mediator of a better
covenant legislated on better promises. 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 “I will conclude a new covenant” with Israel - (Hebrews 8:6-7).
According to Hebrews, the New Covenant
is NOT “according to the covenant” made at Sinai. It is NOT
a “renewed” or modified covenant, but something new, one that is necessary
because the old legislation was incapable of purifying sins and the human conscience
- (Hebrews 8:8-13).
By establishing the promised New Covenant, Jesus
made the “first one obsolete.” Even now. it is in the process of
disappearing, at least, from the perspective of the Letter to the Hebrews,
and it is governed by a different set of rules than the Mosaic legislation.
Thus, the jurisdiction of the Levitical code
over the conduct, hopes, and beliefs of the people of God has been superseded
by the “word of the Son.” Therefore, anyone who wishes to remain under
the old system chooses that which is obsolete and incapable of cleansing either
the stain of sin or a guilty conscience.
RELATED POSTS:
Comments
Post a Comment