TO: The Hebrews (Part II)
FROM: Jehovah, God of the Hebrews
The Changing of the Priesthood
11 Therefore, if it had been possible to reach the goal
through the system of cohanim derived from Levi (since in connection with it,
the people were given the Torah), what need would there have been for another,
different kind of cohen, the one spoken of as to be compared with Malki-Tzedek
and not to be compared with Aharon? 12 For if the system of cohanim is
transformed, there must of necessity occur a transformation of Torah. 13
The one about whom these things are said belongs to another tribe, from which
no one has ever served at the altar; 14 for everyone knows that our Lord
arose out of Y'hudah, and that Moshe said nothing about this tribe when he
spoke about cohanim. 15 It becomes even clearer if a "different
kind of cohen," one like Malki-Tzedek, arises, 16 one who became a
cohen not by virtue of a rule in the Torah concerning physical descent, but by
virtue of the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is stated,
"You are a cohen FOREVER, to be compared with Malki-Tzedek." 18
Thus, on the one hand, the earlier rule is set aside because of its weakness
and inefficacy 19 (for the Torah did not bring anything to the goal);
and, on the other hand, a hope of something better is introduced, through which
we are drawing near to God. 20 What is more, God swore an oath. For no
oath was sworn in connection with those who become cohanim now; 21 but
Yeshua became a cohen by the oath which God swore when He said to Him,
"ADONAI has sworn and will not change His mind, 'You are a cohen
forever.'" 22 Also this shows how much better is the Covenant of
which Yeshua has become guarantor. 23 Moreover, the present cohanim are
many in number, because they are prevented by death from continuing in office. 24
But because Yeshua lives forever, His position as cohen does not pass on to
someone else; 25 and consequently, He is totally able to deliver those
who approach God through Him; since Yeshua is alive forever and thus forever
able to intercede on their behalf. 26 This is the kind of cohen gadol
that meets our need - holy, without evil, without stain, set apart from sinners
and raised higher than the heavens; 27 one who does not have the daily
necessity, like the other cohanim g'dolim, of offering up sacrifices first for
their own sins and only then for those of the people; because Yeshua offered
one sacrifice, once and for all, by offering up Himself. 28 For the
Torah appoints as cohanim g'dolim men who have weakness; but the text which
speaks about the swearing of the oath, a text written later than the Torah,
appoints God’s Son, Yeshua, who has been brought to the goal forever.
Who is this Almighty Jehovah
God that He created the heavens and the earth; made man to have a
relationship with Him and controls all things? Does He not make the rules since He is in
charge? Who are we, as sinful men, that
we do not humble ourselves to the one and only Yeshua who is perfect and Holy
in all things? Listen, for the time is
very short! Let us bow before Him in
repentant humility and see the reason Jehovah sent His Son to save us when the
blood of animals could not.
To begin, let us compare the differences between the first priesthood Jehovah temporarily put in place under the order of Aaron and the second, never-ending
priesthood Jehovah ordained in the order of Yeshua.
- Earthly priesthood
- Order of Aaron
- All born of Adam (Aaron)
- Tribe of Levi (descendants)
- All sinful and inefficient
- Sins covered by animal blood
- Continuous sin offerings
- Temporary
- Passed to next generation
- Earthly tabernacle
- Mortal death
WHAT IS:
- Heavenly priesthood
- Order of Yeshua
- Born of Jehovah (His Son, Yeshua)
- Tribe of Judah (born of the Virgin Mary)
- Sinless and perfect in all ways
- Sins forever covered by Yeshua’s own blood
- Removes sin debt once-for-all
- Permanent
- Never passed to others
- Living tabernacle (our bodies)
- Lives eternally as Great High Priest and as King of kings and Lord of lords
The book of Hebrews is the declaration from Jehovah God; the eternal Creator and God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel), that better things were put into place by his Son, Yeshua, over 2000 years ago. Jehovah transformed the priesthood from the earthly, sinful priests to His perfect Son, Yeshua. Yeshua now serves as the only and forever Great High Priest through which all men must come for forgiveness of sin, once-for-all, past, present and future. There can be no turning back to or continuing in the old Jewish system as this system has been replaced by the unique priesthood of Yeshua, Messiah Christ.
Jehovah's people must now look only to Yeshua, whose atoning death, resurrection and ascension opened the way into the true, heavenly sanctuary of Jehovah's presence.
1 A psalm of David: ADONAI
says to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your
footstool." 2 ADONAI will send your powerful scepter out from
Tziyon, so that you will rule over your enemies around you. 3 On the day
your forces mobilize, your people willingly offer themselves in holy splendors
from the womb of the dawn; the dew of your youth is yours. 4 ADONAI has
sworn it, and he will never retract -"You are a cohen forever, to be
compared with Malki-Tzedek."
The
words “in the order of” are defined as: likeness of a high order or position; similar
in class or the rite of ordination, holy orders as following a plan of
arrangement.
Now let us look at the similarities between the high and holy
orders of Yeshua and Malki-Tzedek.
(Click here to review Chapter 5: God's Ultimate Love Gift )
Malki-Tzedek:
- A priest of Most High God
- Not of Aaron
- Not a descendant of Levi
- King of Righteousness
- King of Salem (peace)
- Without genealogy of man
- Without beginning or end
- Bread and wine with Abraham
- Foreshadow of Yeshua: God’s Sacrificial Lamb
Yeshua:
- A priest of Most High God
- Not of Aaron
- Not a descendant of Levi
- King of Righteousness
- King of JeruSalem (coming)
- Without genealogy of man
- Without beginning or end
- Bread and wine with Disciples
- Completed Mission: the New Covenant
1 Here is the whole point of what we have been saying:
we do have just such a cohen gadol as has been described. Yeshua sits at the
right hand of HaG'dulah in heaven. 2 There He serves in the Holy Place,
that is, in the true Tent of Meeting, the one erected not by human beings but
by ADONAI. 3 For every cohen gadol is appointed to offer both gifts
and sacrifices; so this cohen gadol too has to have something He can offer. 4
Now if He were on earth, He wouldn't be a cohen at all, since there already are
cohanim offering the gifts required by the Torah. 5 But what they are
serving is only a copy and shadow of the heavenly original; for when Moshe was
about to erect the Tent, God warned him, "See to it that you make
everything according to the pattern you were shown on the mountain." 6
But now the work Yeshua has been given to do is far superior to theirs, just
as the covenant He mediates is better. For this covenant has been given as
Torah on the basis of better promises. 7 Indeed, if the first
covenant had not given ground for faultfinding, there would have been no need
for a second one. 8 For God does find fault with the people when He
says, "'See! The days are coming,' says ADONAI, 'when I will establish
over the house of Isra'el and over the house of Y'hudah a new covenant. 9 "'It will not be like the covenant
which I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by their hand and
led them forth out of the land of Egypt; because they, for their part, did not
remain faithful to my covenant; so I, for my part, stopped concerning myself
with them,' says ADONAI. 10 "'For this is the covenant which I will
make with the house of Isra'el after those days,' says ADONAI: 'I will put my
Torah in their minds and write it on their hearts; I will be their God, and
they will be my people. 11 "'None of them will teach his
fellow-citizen or his brother, saying, "Know ADONAI!" For all will
know me, from the least of them to the greatest, 12 because I will be
merciful toward their wickedness and remember their sins no more.’ 13 By
calling this Covenant, "new,"
ADONAI has made the first covenant "old"
and what is old, obsolete and aging will soon disappear.
This
comparison of the two priesthoods is written and presented to the Hebrews by
Jehovah God, testifying with indisputable evidence, qualifying and justifying
Jehovah's Holy truth, removing all doubt, that His Son, Yeshua, is the heir of all
things. Yeshua is the Great High Priest
forever and ever without end, the Mediator of the New Covenant!
What Was: Old Covenant Worship in the Earthly Tabernacle
1 Now the first covenant had both regulations for
worship and a Holy Place here on earth. 2 A tent was set up, the outer
one, which was called the Holy Place; in it were the menorah, the table and the
Bread of the Presence. 3 Behind the second parokhet was a tent called
the Holiest Place, 4 which had the golden altar for burning incense and
the Ark of the Covenant, entirely covered with gold. In the Ark were the gold
jar containing the man, Aharon's rod that sprouted and the stone Tablets of the
Covenant; 5 and above it were the k'ruvim representing the Sh'khinah,
casting their shadow on the lid of the Ark - but now is not the time to discuss
these things in detail. 6 With things so arranged, the cohanim go into
the outer tent all the time to discharge their duties; 7 but
only the cohen hagadol enters the inner one; and he goes in only once a year,
and he must always bring blood, which he offers both for himself and for the
sins committed by the people. 8 By this arrangement, the Ruach
HaKodesh showed that so long as the first Tent had standing, the way into the
Holiest Place was still closed. 9 This symbolizes the present age and
indicates that the conscience of the person performing the service cannot be
brought to the goal by the gifts and sacrifices he offers. 10 For they
involve only food and drink and various ceremonial washings - regulations
concerning the outward life, imposed until the time for God to reshape the
whole structure.
Nothing but the Blood of Jesus/O the Blood of Jesus
performed by Sarah Hart Pearsons
Nothing But the
Blood
Blood is life! Jehovah began weaving
the crimson cord of man’s redemption through the shedding of blood in the
Garden of Eden. (Genesis 3) In the middle
of the garden stood the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve
disobeyed Jehovah by eating fruit from this tree. Sin now entered mankind through Adam. With guilt, Adam saw his fear and nakedness
before Jehovah. This original sin brought
about Jehovah's judgment of death, cursed ground to toil and increased pain in
childbearing upon Adam, Eve and all their descendants.
What did Jehovah do next? The Lord
Jehovah made garments of skin for Adam and Eve and clothed them… the FIRST BLOOD
SHED…TO COVER THEIR SIN! This shadow of
truth is the progressive revelation leading up to the “once-for-all” sacrifice
of Jehovah's perfect Lamb, His only Son, Yeshua.
Continuing in Genesis 4, we see that Jehovah was
pleased with Abel’s offering of the firstborn of his flocks, but the altar of
Cain displeased Jehovah with the fruits of the soil. Why?
Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin!
From the altars of Abel in Genesis, to the Passover lamb in Egypt, the Tabernacle
in the wilderness, and the Temple in Jerusalem, it is all about the blood; the
foreshadowing of The Lamb of Jehovah, Yeshua, who shed His blood, once-for-all for
the sins of all mankind. Jehovah offers
redemption from sin to each one who personally chooses to follow Yeshua as
their personal Savior and Lord of their life. Yeshua has provided the only way
to Heaven and eternal life. Everyone will make a choice and that choice will be to either accept or reject His offer of eternal
life.
Jehovah's way is accepting His Son, Yeshua as personal Savior and Lord. Accept the fact that you are lost and ask Jehovah to save you by:
· Bowing down in
all humility and in repentance of your sin, asking for forgiveness and turning
from your way of life to Jehovah's way.
· Praying from
your heart by faith believing that Yeshua, Jehovah's Son, died for you to take away
your sins and that Yeshua rose again with victory over death, offering you the
greatest gift ever given: Eternal Life!
Ask Him to come and live in your heart as Savior and receive Him as Lord
of your life.
· Receiving His
gift of life with praise and thanksgiving for saving you and giving you everlasting
life in the Kingdom of Heaven.
You have now received the gift of Jehovah's Holy Spirit as your comforter,
teacher and guide for your daily walk in the fruit of His Spirit – love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control. (Click here to review Chapter 17 on the Holy Spirit)
Those who belong to Yeshua Christ have crucified the sinful nature with
its passions and desires.
What sacrifice! What love! What grace! What Mercy!
What a great, holy, mighty, and awesome Jehovah God! The Maker and Ruler of all things loved us so
much that He provided the way of life and forgiveness of sin for those who
choose His only Son, Yeshua. Praise Him
without end! What can wash away my
sin? The progressive revelation begins
and ends with nothing but the blood of
Yeshua, God’s sacrificial Lamb.
What Is: THE
BLOOD OF YESHUA
11 But when the Messiah appeared as cohen gadol of the
good things that are happening already, then, through the greater and more perfect
Tent which is not man-made (that is, it is not of this created world), 12
YESHUA entered the Holiest Place once and for all. And He entered not by
means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of His own blood, thus
setting people free forever. 13 For if sprinkling ceremonially
unclean persons with the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer
restores their outward purity; 14 then how much more the blood of the
Messiah, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered Himself to God as a sacrifice
without blemish, will purify our conscience from works that lead to death, so
that we can serve the living God! 15 It is because of this
death that YESHUA is mediator of a new
covenant. Because a death has occurred which sets people free from the
transgressions committed under the first covenant, those who have been called
may receive the promised eternal inheritance. 16 For where there is a
will, there must necessarily be produced evidence of its maker's death, 17
since a will goes into effect only upon death; it never has force while its
maker is still alive. 18 This is why the first covenant too was
inaugurated with blood. 19 After Moshe had proclaimed every command of
the Torah to all the people, he took the blood of the calves with some water
and used scarlet wool and hyssop to sprinkle both the scroll itself and all the
people; 20 and Moshe said, "This is the blood of the covenant which
God has ordained for you. 21 Likewise, he sprinkled with the blood both
the Tent and all the things used in its ceremonies. 22 In fact,
according to the Torah, almost everything is purified with blood; indeed,
without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. 23
Now this is how the copies of the heavenly things had to be purified, but the
heavenly things themselves require better sacrifices than these. 24 For
the Messiah has entered a Holiest Place, which is not man-made and merely a
copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, in order to appear now on our
behalf in the very presence of God. 25 Further, YESHUA did not enter
heaven to offer Himself over and over again, like the cohen hagadol who enters
the Holiest Place year after year with blood that is not his own; 26 for
then Yeshua would have had to suffer death many times - from the founding of
the universe on. But as it is, YESHUA has appeared once at the end of the
ages in order to do away with sin through the sacrifice of Himself. 27
Just as human beings have to die once, but after this comes judgment, 28
so also the Messiah, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will
appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to deliver those who are
eagerly waiting for Him.
What Was: The Shadow of What Is
The first Passover in Egypt, recorded in Exodus 12
1 ADONAI spoke to Moshe and Aharon in the land of
Egypt; he said, 2 "You are to begin your calendar with this month;
it will be the first month of the year for you. 3 Speak to all the
assembly of Isra'el and say, 'On the tenth day of this month, each man is to
take a lamb for his family, one per household. 5 Your animal must be
without defect, a male in its first year, 6 "'You are to keep it
until the fourteenth day of the month, and then the entire assembly of the
community of Isra'el will slaughter it at dusk. 7 They are to take some
of the blood and smear it on the two sides and top of the doorframe at the
entrance of the house in which they eat it. With your belt fastened, your shoes
on your feet and your staff in your hand; you are to eat it hurriedly. It is
ADONAI's Pesach [Passover]. 12 For that night, I will pass through the
land of Egypt and kill all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both men and
animals; and I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt; I am
ADONAI. 13 The blood will serve you as a sign marking the houses where
you are; when I see the blood, I will
pass over [Hebrew: pasach] you.
What Is: Jerusalem 33AD
1 But the festival of Matzah, known as Pesach, was
approaching; 2 and the head cohanim and the Torah-teachers began trying
to find some way to get rid of Yeshua, because they were afraid of the people. 3
At this point the Adversary went into Y'hudah from K'riot, who was one of the
Twelve. 4 He approached the head cohanim and the Temple guard and
discussed with them how he might turn Yeshua over to them. 5 They were
pleased and offered to pay him money. 6 He agreed and began looking for
a good opportunity to betray Yeshua without the people's knowledge. 7
Then came the day of matzah, on which the Passover lamb had to be killed. 8
Yeshua sent Kefa and Yochanan, instructing them, "Go and prepare our
Seder, so we can eat." 9 They asked him, "Where do you want us
to prepare it?" 10 He told them, "As you're going into the
city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house he
enters, 11 and say to its owner, `The Rabbi says to you, "Where is
the guest room, where I am to eat the Pesach meal with my talmidim?" ' 12
He will show you a large room upstairs already furnished; make the preparations
there." 13 They went and found things just as Yeshua had told them
they would be, and they prepared for the Seder. 14 When the time came,
Yeshua and the emissaries reclined at the table, and He 15 said to them,
"I have really wanted so much to celebrate this Seder with you before I
die! 16 For I tell you, it is certain that I will not celebrate it again
until it is given its full meaning in the Kingdom of God." 17 Then,
taking a cup of wine, He made the b'rakhah and said, "Take this and share
it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you that from now on, I will not
drink the `fruit of the vine' until the Kingdom of God comes." 19
Also, taking a piece of matzah, Yeshua made the b'rakhah, broke it, gave it to
them and said, "This is My body, which is being given for you; do this in
memory of Me." 20 Yeshua did the same with the cup after the meal,
saying, "This cup is the New Covenant, ratified by My blood, which is
being poured out for you.”
The shadow was the first Passover in Egypt, giving the Hebrew people
physical freedom from slavery. The
fulfillment of the true Passover by Yeshua in Jerusalem, gave the Hebrew people
the right to choose both physical and spiritual freedom! The bondage of sin causes physical and
spiritual death. With the freedom from
bondage comes the New Covenant made possible by Yeshua, who fulfills the position
of The Great High Priest and intercedes with our Father Jehovah God for those
who love Him.
Yeshua said, “It is Finished” when He died on the cross. He was in agreement with His Father Jehovah that
the plan for the ages was complete. The
way for each one to enter Heaven was bought through the blood of His Son,
Yeshua.
The real question is, “are you going to accept or reject Jehovah's way?” The greatest love gift ever given is Jehovah's gift of eternal life. This gift is received by those who love Yeshua more for
what He did than one’s own selfish desires that end in destruction.
Choose Jehovah's way today for tomorrow may never come.
Let Freedom Ring
performed by The Gaither Vocal Band
