The Bible is filled with duality, shadow pictures and symbolism of that which is yet to come, that which is perfect. Hebrews, chapters 7-10 offers us a detailed account of the role and purpose of the tabernacle and Levitical priesthood as a pattern of the heavenly.
The covenant that God made with the children of Israel at Sinai included the establishment of an earthly tabernacle and priesthood. It was ordained by God that the tribe of Levi would occupy the priesthood, dedicated to the service of temple worship on behalf of the nation. When the children of Israel entered the promised land, each tribe was given a portion of land as their inheritance. Levi’s inheritance was the Lord, and as such, their brethren were instructed to bring their tithes and offerings to the storehouses throughout the land for the support of these Levites who served in the temple.
Malachi 3:10 “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”
Both the temple itself and the priesthood were patterned according to God’s specific instructions. Hebrews 8:5 “Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.”
Hebrews 9:2-4 “For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary. And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant.”
The priests went daily into the first room, where they performed their temple service. Only the high priest was allowed entry into the inner sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, once each year on the Day of Atonement. He brought with him a blood sacrifice, for himself as well as for the nation as a whole. These rehearsals were carried out year after year, generation after generation. Hebrews 9:9-10 “Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience. Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.”
These were only figures, shadows of the sacrifice of our savior as our eternal High Priest. These earthly sacrifices could not cleanse mankind from sin or a guilty conscience. They were instituted as a substitute until he appeared, whose eternal priesthood they foretold.
His coming ushers in a change in the priesthood. He serves in a heavenly tabernacle, not made with hands. Because his life has no beginning and no end, he is our faithful High Priest forever. He offers the perfect sacrifice, his own body, which is able to cleanse once and for all those who trust in him.
The old covenant is set aside for the new. The shadow fades as the reality appears. There is no longer a need for earthly priests to continually offer the blood of bulls and goats to picture the remission of sins. The perfect sacrifice has been presented, once and for all. Through him we enter into a new (renewed) covenant.
Hebrews 10:16-17 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them. And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”
The renewed covenant supercedes the old one that had been written on tables of stone, but does not nullify it. The problem was not with the torah, but with the hearts of the people. Hebrews 8:8-10 “For finding fault with THEM, he saith, 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: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people”. Paul tells us in Romans 7:12 “Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.”
God’s law is perfect. The problem lies with mankind, who does not have a heart to keep it. Our savior and High Priest has opened the way for us into the Holy of Holies, behind the veil that once separated mankind from the Father, We now have access to him through the blood of Yeshua. We can enter into the renewed covenant now by allowing him to put his laws in our hearts and minds. Isaiah prophecies of a day when the Kingdom of God reigns on this earth.
Isaiah 2:3 “And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”
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