Hebrews 7-9 - The Old Covenant vs The New Covenant

The Priesthoods of Melchizedek and Christ

Heb 7:24-25 LSB - 

[24] but [Jesus], on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. 

[25] Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

Heb 7:26-28 LSB - 

[26] For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; 

[27] who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the [sins] of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. 

[28] For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, [appoints] a Son, who has been made perfect forever.

Aaron, and the true Melchizedek

Author: Isaac Watts

1 Jesus, in thee our eyes behold

A thousand glories more

Than the rich gems and polished gold

The sons of Aaron wore.

2 They first their own burnt offerings brought

To purge themselves from sin;

Thy life was pure without a spot,

And all thy nature clean.

3 Fresh blood, as constant as the day,

Was on their altar spilt;

But thy one offering takes away

For ever all our guilt.

4 Their priesthood ran through several hands,

For mortal was their race;

Thy never-changing office stands

Eternal as thy days.

5 Once in the circuit of a year,

With blood (but not his own),

Aaron within the veil appears,

Before the golden throne.

6 But Christ, by his own powerful blood,

Ascends above the skies,

And, in the presence of our God,

Shows his own sacrifice.

7 Jesus, the King of Glory, reigns

On Zion’s heavenly hill;

Looks like a lamb that has been slain,

And wears his priesthood still.

8 He ever lives to intercede

Before his Father’s face;

Give him, my soul, thy cause to plead,

Nor doubt the Father’s grace.

 

Jesus, High Priest of a New Covenant

Heb 8:6 LSB - [6] But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.

Heb 8:10-13 LSB - 

[10] "FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS, AND UPON THEIR HEARTS I WILL WRITE THEM. AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. 

[11] "AND THEY SHALL NOT TEACH EVERYONE HIS FELLOW CITIZEN, AND EVERYONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, 'KNOW THE LORD,' FOR ALL WILL KNOW ME, FROM THE LEAST TO THE GREATEST OF THEM. 

[12] "FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES, AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE." 

[13] When He said, "A new [covenant]," He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.

Jer 31:33-34 LSB - 

[33] "But this is the covenant which I will cut with the house of Israel after those days," declares Yahweh: "I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 

[34] "And they will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know Yahweh,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares Yahweh, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."

The New Covenant

Author: Charles Wesley

1 O God most merciful and true,

Thy nature to my soul impart;

’Stablish with me the cov'nant new,

And write perfection on my heart.

2 To real holiness restored,

O let me gain my Saviour’s mind;

And in the knowledge of my Lord

Fulness of life eternal find.

3 Remember, Lord, my sins no more,

That them I may no more forget;

But, sunk in guiltless shame, adore

With speechless wonder at thy feet.

4 O’erwhelmed with thy stupendous grace,

I shall not in thy presence move;

But breathe unutterable praise,

And rapturous awe, and silent love.

5 Then every murmuring thought and vain

Expires in sweet confusion lost:

I cannot of my cross complain,

I cannot of my goodness boast.

6 Pardon'd for all that I have done,

My mouth as in the dust I hide,

And glory give to God alone,

My God forever pacified!

 

The Old Covenant

Heb 9:6-7 LSB - [6] Now when these things have been so prepared, the priests are continually entering the first part [of the] tabernacle performing the divine worship, [7] but into the second, only the high priest [enters] once a year, not without [taking] blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.

The New Covenant

Heb 9:11-12 LSB - [11] But when Christ appeared [as] a high priest of the good things to come, [He entered] through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, [12] and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy places once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

Heb 9:13-14 LSB - [13] For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, [14] how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Heb 9:27-28 LSB - [27] And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this [comes] judgment, [28] so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without [reference to] sin, to those who eagerly await Him.

 Jesus, in thee our eyes behold

Author: Isaac Watts

1 Jesus, in thee our eyes behold
A thousand glories more
Than the rich gems and polished gold
The sons of Aaron wore.

2 They first their own burnt offerings brought
To purge themselves from sin;
Thy life was pure without a spot,
And all thy nature clean.

3 Fresh blood, as constant as the day,
Was on their altar spilt;
But thy one offering takes away
For ever all our guilt.

4 Their priesthood ran through several hands,
For mortal was their race;
Thy never-changing office stands
Eternal as thy days.

5 Once in the circuit of a year,
With blood (but not his own),
Aaron within the veil appears,
Before the golden throne.

6 But Christ, by his own powerful blood,
Ascends above the skies,
And, in the presence of our God,
Shows his own sacrifice.

7 Jesus, the King of Glory, reigns
On Zion’s heavenly hill;
Looks like a lamb that has been slain,
And wears his priesthood still.

8 He ever lives to intercede
Before his Father’s face;
Give him, my soul, thy cause to plead,
Nor doubt the Father’s grace.