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Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. ² A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the lampstand and the table with its consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place. ³ Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, ⁴ which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. ⁵ Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover. But we cannot discuss these things in detail now.

Only a few decades ago, it was not unusual for books to be written and sermons to be preached about the various details of the Old Testament tabernacle. These usually came at the subject typologically, demonstrating how Christ fulfilled everything. They were often illuminating, even inspiring. But as Raymond Brown says in his commentary, most interpretations revealed ‘more of the expositor’s ingenuity than the message of Scripture.’

He goes on to quote Calvin:

‘Since nothing is enough for inquisitive men the apostle cuts out any opportunity for subtleties…in case too much discussion of these things might break the thread of his argument…philosophizing beyond reasonable bounds (as some do) is not only futile but also dangerous…we must show discretion and moderation in case we desire to know more than it has pleased God to reveal.’ (‘Christ above all’, p.152).

The comment at the end of verse 5 is quite tantalising. We might wonder what he would have said had he chosen to go into detail. (Rather like we may think, ‘I wish I could have been there for that Bible study Jesus gave the two on the road to Emmaus’: Luke 24: 27&32). But the writer of Hebrews intends to continue with his main aim: to demonstrate the superiority of the substance we have in Christ, over all the Old Testament shadows.

⁷ For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. ⁸ But God found fault with the people and said:

‘The days are coming, declares the Lord,
    when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
    and with the people of Judah.
⁹ It will not be like the covenant
    I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
    to lead them out of Egypt,
because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,
    and I turned away from them,
declares the Lord.
¹⁰ This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel
    after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
    and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
    and they will be my people.
¹¹ No longer will they teach their neighbours,
    or say to one another, “Know the Lord,”
because they will all know me,
    from the least of them to the greatest.
¹² For I will forgive their wickedness
    and will remember their sins no more.’

¹³ By calling this covenant ‘new’, he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.

A few years ago my dear Uncle Richard passed away. He was a very influential churchman and lay preacher in the Lancaster area, and a kindly encourager to many. At his funeral service one of my cousins paid a tribute in which he said, ‘My father believed in internal life!’ At least, that’s how I heard it. He obviously meant to say ‘eternal life’, but it came out as ‘internal’. As reflected on this, however, I recognised that it is an appropriate description of the life God gives to His New Covenant people.

What was ”wrong” with the Old Covenant was the people (see verses 7,8). Their hearts were all wrong. They needed internal reconstruction. They required an ‘inside job’. This is what God provided in and through the coming of Jesus. We are no longer a people just trying to keep external laws; we are internally transformed. We are renewed within. We have a new power supply: new appetites, new desires, new ambitions and longings, new abilities. I like to say that the Holy Spirit gives us the want to and the can do.

This is why we can say that in Jesus we have ”a better covenant” (Hebrews 7:22). Jesus is a better Priest, from a better order of Priesthood, and He has inaugurated a better covenant. Why would anyone go back from Him?

‘The old covenant is like the light of a candle; when the sun rises, it is no longer needed.’ Tom Hale: ‘Applied New Testament Commentary’, p.865.

Now the main point of what we are saying is this: we do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, ² and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.

³ Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. ⁴ If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. ⁵ They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: ‘See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.’⁶ But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.

‘Worldly men suppose that the only real and true things are the things which they can see or feel. They think that heavenly things are only imaginary and don’t really exist. But the man who is spiritual knows that this world is passing away. He knows that only heavenly and spiritual things are ultimately real and lasting. This is why the writer says here that the earthly sanctuary built by the Jews is only a copy and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary built by Jesus.’ Tom Hale: ‘The Applied New Testament Commentary’, p.864.

Now the main point of what we are saying is this: we do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, ² and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.

³ Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. ⁴ If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. ⁵ They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: ‘See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.’⁶ But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.

“We don’t choose what we will do for God; He invites us to join Him where He wants to involve us.”
― Henry T. Blackaby, 

The highlighted words in the Hebrews text provide the template for effective ministry. This is true for every generation. It is not about asking God to bless our plans, but waiting on Him to know His plans, and seeking to implement them. Prayer is not about getting man’s will done in heaven, but seeing God’s will done on earth.

“Jesus was the Son of God. Yet He never took the initiative to dream a dream or launch a new ministry. He lived His life in absolute dependence upon His Father. If Jesus was that dependent on the Father, then you and I should realize how ludicrous it is for us to set out on our own without any direction or guidance from the Father.”
― Henry T. Blackaby,

May my cry come before you, Lord;
    give me understanding according to your word.
¹⁷⁰ May my supplication come before you;
    deliver me according to your promise.
¹⁷¹ May my lips overflow with praise,
    for you teach me your decrees.
¹⁷² May my tongue sing of your word,
    for all your commands are righteous.
¹⁷³ May your hand be ready to help me,
    for I have chosen your precepts.
¹⁷⁴ I long for your salvation, Lord,
    and your law gives me delight.
¹⁷⁵ Let me live that I may praise you,
    and may your laws sustain me.
¹⁷⁶ I have strayed like a lost sheep.
    Seek your servant,
    for I have not forgotten your commands.

Verse 170 reads like this in ‘The Message’:

Give my request your personal attention,
    rescue me on the terms of your promise.

One major implication of taking God’s Word seriously is that we take His promises seriously. I found George Mueller’s biography inspiring and instructive when I first read it – probably close to 30 years ago. I saw how, in his experience of God, the Bible and prayer went hand in hand. He read the Bible diligently, looked to the Holy Spirit to be His Teacher, and his faith-filled prayers were fuelled by what he knew God had said. He prayed according to God’s promises. The Lord still has much to teach us through him today.

I wanted to stay with these verses for another day, and look at them in two other versions. I believe they capture something of the emotion, passion, ecstasy even, that this individual feels towards God’s Word. May such a heart be given to us!

I’ve been slandered unmercifully by the politicians,
    but my awe at your words keeps me stable.
I’m ecstatic over what you say,
    like one who strikes it rich.
I hate lies—can’t stand them!—
    but I love what you have revealed.
Seven times each day I stop and shout praises
    for the way you keep everything running right.
For those who love what you reveal, everything fits—
    no stumbling around in the dark for them.
I wait expectantly for your salvation;
    God, I do what you tell me.
My soul guards and keeps all your instructions—
    oh, how much I love them!
I follow your directions, abide by your counsel;
    my life’s an open book before you (The Message).

Powerful people harass me without cause,
    but my heart trembles only at your word.
¹⁶² I rejoice in your word
    like one who discovers a great treasure.
¹⁶³ I hate and abhor all falsehood,
    but I love your instructions.
¹⁶⁴ I will praise you seven times a day
    because all your regulations are just.
¹⁶⁵ Those who love your instructions have great peace
    and do not stumble.
¹⁶⁶ I long for your rescue, Lord,
    so I have obeyed your commands.
¹⁶⁷ I have obeyed your laws,
    for I love them very much.
¹⁶⁸ Yes, I obey your commandments and laws
    because you know everything I do (New Living Translation).

¹⁶¹ Rulers persecute me without cause,
    but my heart trembles at your word.
¹⁶² I rejoice in your promise
    like one who finds great spoil.
¹⁶³ I hate and detest falsehood
    but I love your law.
¹⁶⁴ Seven times a day I praise you
    for your righteous laws.
¹⁶⁵ Great peace have those who love your law,
    and nothing can make them stumble.
¹⁶⁶ I wait for your salvation, Lord,
    and I follow your commands.
¹⁶⁷ I obey your statutes,
    for I love them greatly.
¹⁶⁸ I obey your precepts and your statutes,
    for all my ways are known to you.

“The Holy Scriptures are our letters from home.” -Augustine of Hippo

“Nobody ever outgrows Scripture; the book widens and deepens with our years.” -Charles Spurgeon

Derek Prince said, ‘Faith is taking God seriously.’

It seems to me that those who have made the greatest difference in the world have been ‘people of the Book.’ They have taken (they take!) the Bible seriously because they take God seriously.

N.T. Wright has said, “The Bible is the book of my life. It’s the book I live with, the book I live by, the book I want to die by.”

Many years ago, when I was a child, my dear old pastor, George Tett, sat next to me and pointed to the letters spelling ‘Holy Bible’ on the spine of this most wonderful Book. He said, ‘Honour, Obey, Love Your Bible It Brings Life Everlasting.’

In this section of Psalm 119 we see someone taking the Scriptures seriously. Their attitude – one for us to emulate – involves a mixture of trembling, rejoicing, loving, waiting, following and obeying. It also opens with the implicit warning that the world will hate those who love God’s Word. Nevertheless, there is ”Great peace” in being Bible-centred. But clearly, if we take God seriously we will do what He says.

Kierkegaard commented, however: “The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are ob (and hence ‘God-centred’).liged to act accordingly.”

PRAYER: Lord, help me to be a serious reader of the Bible.

Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. ²⁷ Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. ²⁸ For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

Here a further contrast is drawn between Jesus, our great High Priest, and all the other priests of the Levitical order.

As we have seen:

• Their impermanence is contrasted with His permanence; and in today’s passage we note
• Their imperfection contrasted with His perfection.

Those Old Testament priests had to first offer sacrifices for their own sins before sacrificing on behalf of the people. But Jesus was both Priest and Victim. He offered the one final sacrifice of His perfect life for us all,

‘There was no other good enough, to pay the price of sin. He only could unlock the gates of heaven, and let us in.’

While we needed a Priest to be like us in our humanity, we also needed Him to be unlike us with respect to sin:

 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to feel sympathy for our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:15,16)

Jesus is the ”high priest who truly meets our need”, and the fact that He is ”exalted above the heavens” is the supreme attestation that the Father in heaven is pleased with Him and His work. He has raised Him to His own Right Hand. This is the divine seal of approval on God’s Son.

So now we have a high priest who perfectly fits our needs: completely holy, uncompromised by sin, with authority extending as high as God’s presence in heaven itself. Unlike the other high priests, he doesn’t have to offer sacrifices for his own sins every day before he can get around to us and our sins. He’s done it, once and for all: offered up himself as the sacrifice. The law appoints as high priests men who are never able to get the job done right. But this intervening command of God, which came later, appoints the Son, who is absolutely, eternally perfect.‘ ‘The Message’.

Such a high priest truly meets our need…

There is something so beautiful about this statement in its economy and simplicity.

I believe everyone will admit, if they are honest, that something inside of them is ‘missing’. An all-important piece of the puzzle doesn’t appear to be in the box. They have a need that nothing and no-one can satisfy. There is no ‘scratch’ to relieve their unremitting ‘itch’.

Until they come to Christ , that is.

Saint Augustine famously said, ”Thou hast made us for thyself and our hearts find no rest until they rest in thee.”

Recently, Jilly and I saw a testimony, given by a young man: a perhaps a not entirely unfamiliar story of a search for life and meaning in the destructive world of drug addiction. But at the end of his self-damaging journey, he had a life-transforming encounter with Jesus…

…and this ”high priest truly” met his need.

”This “I” was made in the image of God for fellowship with God. Without God it is miserable, empty, confused, and frustrated. Without God life has no meaning; but with God at its centre there is life, an inner strength and peace, a deep satisfaction, an unfading joy known only to those who know Jesus Christ. ‘ Billy Graham