SERMON NOTES ON HEBREWS
By MIKE BALLOUN
Continued
-------
[1]
HEBREWS CHAPTER 7: 1-19
The
first verse of Chapter 7 takes us to the events recorded by Moses in Genesis regarding Melchizedek, who Paul has twice mentioned
in his argument in chapters past and then paused, and now takes him up in
earnest to show us God’s meaning in the history recorded. Paul is looking
forward and backward from Psalm 110, where previously Paul established the legitimacy of
the Lord being appointed High Priest at the right hand
of God, and that being after the order of Melchizedek. He now brings our
attention to Genesis 14: 17-20... “And the king of
The
differences between Melchizedek and the Law of Moses are to be
derived from these verses in the Old Covenant. Paul now sets forth the
strong assertion based upon Scripture, of how great a man Melchizedek; King and
priest of Salem (Jerusalem) was, “Without father, without
mother, without descent,
having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made
like unto the Son of God, abideth a priest
continually.” [Hebrews 7: 3.] It is as much as what is not said in Scripture as
what is said, when properly interpreted, as Paul shows that all understanding
of Christ’s comparison to Melchizedek is understood from the Holy Spirit’s
perfect limited portrayal of Melchizedek’s biography. He is so
spoken of that he might be a perfect example of Jesus Christ, of whom
the entry of the Old Covenant was a reflection. So Melchizedek, having mother
and father, and having lived and died, but on the pages of Scripture he in all
points reflects the Son of God eternal. How great was he? So great an anointed
man, that Abraham was blessed
by him, “And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the
better.” Even to him,
Abraham tithed a tenth part of all the spoils from the battle of the Kings.
Additionally, Levi being in the loins of Abraham, then effectively paid tithes
also to him. The point being, in Chapter 7 of Hebrews, that Paul is establishing the superiority of Melchizedek’s person and
priesthood over Abraham, and by extension to Levi and his sons, the heirs of
Abraham and the appointed priests of the Mosaic Covenant.
And further,
Paul on the legitimacy of the 110th
Psalm written by David, long after
the establishment of the Law of Moses, which is reliant upon the priesthood
perpetuated after the order of Aaron, interprets the prophecy as being
fulfilled by the appointment of Jesus Christ as King & High Priest of the
Most High after the order of Melchizedek. Paul concludes as Old Covenant
Scripture attests, to the superiority of Christ over the Levitical priesthood
and the redundancy then of the Mosaic Law.
(The
entire sequence of events in Genesis 14 & 15 speak of an event in the future that is foreshadowed
in Psalm 2, a confirming
sister Scripture. When the Kings of the earth set themselves against the Lord
and his anointed High Priest and victorious King; this greater than Melchizedek
returns and shall break those 10 confederated kings
along with all those of the earth gathered against Him with a rod of iron ... and dash them to pieces like a potter’s
vessel (Revelation 19: 15-21). He shall also bless, after the intercession and
mediation is done, when the “today”
of grace is over, after the invitation to enter into the Redemption Rest with
its cleansing has past. The time of recompense will have arrived, His
courageous, humble servants will be blessed with millennial glory for their complete trusting in Him, and the refreshing wine and bread will be served by the Master at the
victor’s table. Again, note the type in the Old Covenant of the bread
and the wine being brought in after the
slaughter of kings, for it relates to the antitype of how Christ (the
King/Priest to whom Melchizedek points) blesses His faithful servants after the slaughter of the kings
gathered against Him. Also note: There is no mention of rescued Lot among the
blessed He seems to be regarded as property of
So it is
that the days of Abraham is given to us as a type of an eternal unchangeable
Priesthood, superior to the Priesthood of the Mosaic Law.
VERSE 11 Paul, having shown them from Scripture what was
foreseen, that of a change in the Mosaic Priesthood,
shows that there must then, by necessity,
be a change from the Mosaic Law. It was God’s intent, that at the right time,
to set aside the Law of Moses, which does not adversely affect the promises
given to Abraham, (Galations 3: 7)
through the introduction of a New Order of Priesthood. For the old was / is
insufficient in its atonement, and therefore in its ability to cleanse and
perfect relationship to God. Paul stresses simply: If the Old Priesthood had
been able to accomplish the Most High’s purposes, then there would have been no
need to establish the New Order. The Priesthood and the Law of Moses being so
intertwines = imperfection.
How
did the Covenant of Moses come about? Was it not based
upon the Israelites’ failure in that having been redeemed, they then afterwards
formed the image of the Golden Calf? And was it not a
new covenant, after the breaking of the first, a result of Moses’s intercession
on their part? Otherwise God would have wiped them
entirely out and started afresh with Moses. So it was
in the 2nd Covenant that the establishing of the priesthood out of necessity was instituted. That
being by continual blood sacrifices to be offered only
by the Levites that would atone for their continual sinning. Aaron and the sons
of Levi were set apart to administer the sacrifices. And thus
was Moses instructed to write the handbook for the priests that they might
offer sacrifices unto God for the sins of the people, and also to make the
judges of the Law and the executioners of its penalties. Thus, we have the book
of Leviticus, which was instituted after the construction and
setting up of the Tabernacle (Exodus 40).
It was then the Priesthood that had the responsibility
of administrating the Law of Moses, in the cleansing rites, the festivals, in
worship, and the yearly atonement rites, that the Nation of
Jesus
Christ’s Priesthood sets aside the Covenant of the Law of Moses. This is the blunt and hard reality that Paul was calling the Hebrew
Christians to face. For many of these were recorded in Scripture to be zealous for the Law of Moses (Acts
21: 20). For this, his doctrine, he was
hated, and this led to his arrest and merciless persecution.
Christ
is not the new administrator of the Law of Moses. He is not
the High Priest of the Old Covenant.
For Christians to cleave to Moses’ Law is to make Christ the administrator of
the Law having to do with the flesh. “Are you so foolish? Having
begun in the Spirit (no
article, pneuma / gift of the divine
nature), are ye now made perfect by the
flesh?” (Galations 3: 3.)
God’s Priesthood, on which the whole Law of Moses rests, has
been changed. Christians are to follow Christ’s Priesthood in the
principle of the imparted gift of the divine nature restored to communion with
God through Jesus Christ. “... the law of
the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death...” The Law of Moses
has been gutted, and none, neither Christians or Jews
should have any obligation to it, for it was a Law unto the flesh.
The
exhortation is that Jesus Christ is the High Priest and Sacrifice of a New Covenant, and to part from relationship completely with
Moses’ Law, in its principle of works of the flesh, with power to cleanse the
flesh only, with all its ritual. (Read Galations 5: 4-14. Christ’s Priesthood annuls the Law of Moses.)
At
their own peril do Christians attempt to take their shelter under the laws of
Moses, to separate different parts and mix the Covenants, that of Sinai with
The
Mosaic Law’s sacrifices and observances are blotted out
and are no longer acceptable unto God. (Read Colossians 2: 8-23.) They are superseded
by spiritual sacrifices and observances offered before God by the New High
Priest. (Read Hebrews 10: 8-9, 13, 15-16; 1st Peter 2:
5). Don’t think that your outward
observances win you His approval. Leave behind you the old worship service
given in Moses’s ordnances, festivals and rites. Leave behind you the Old
Covenant Ordnances, that which only had the power to affect the flesh and none
to the soul (Hebrews 9: 13).
Leave behind the Laws of Moses that have to do with the “shadow”,
such as the observance of foods... “which have not
profited them that have been occupied therein. We have an altar, whereof
they have no right
(access) to eat which serve the tabernacle (of Moses).” [Hebrews 13: 9-10.]
HEBREWSW 7: 13-14 is closely aligned
with Psalm 110. In
that it is there that the argument of Paul on the
doing away with the Law of Moses is based: “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand...” (the position of Priesthood
which could only be attained by death and resurrection; facilitated by Christ’s
enemies). This verse is also being the basis for the question posed by Christ
to the gathered Pharisees: “What think ye of Christ? Whose son
is he? They say unto him,
the son of David. He saith
unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The LORD said unto
my Lord, Sit thou on my right
hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord,
how is he his son?” It is the appointment of the Priest Who was the seed
of David, that is confirmed in the historical linage of Christ, who was not of
the tribe of Levi but of the tribe of Judah; in Whom
then now the Levitical Law of Moses is set aside. So it is that Moses said
nothing about the tribe of Judah as it relates to the Priesthood, in that God,
from the lips and pens of later prophets prophesied of the setting aside of the
Mosaic Law and its Priesthood through the Messiah. He, Whom the Hebrew
Christians once confessed as their Lord, the Son of David, is the High Priest
of the New Covenant and sits now at the Father’s right hand.
HEBREWS 7: 15-17. What is becoming abundantly clear is the change of
Priesthood... “Thou art a priest forever (eternal in the power of an endless life, beyond age
or ages of ages, indissoluble) after
the order of Melchizedek” changes
the Law from Law of Moses (which deals with the flesh, the surface of man, as
seen in the circumcision rite of the body, forgiveness for the sins of the
body, food ordinances, the designations of the flesh; male and female, slave
and freemen, Jew and Gentile) to the Law of Christ. It is not about changing the Priesthood from one
tribe to another, but to establish a High Priest, based upon
higher laws, those being spiritual, that could reach beyond the flesh to the
soul. This is reflected in baptism into Christ where all those
distinguishing of the flesh are put away.
HEBREWS 7: 18-19 (again closely aligned with Psalm
110) ... “For there is (indeed
on the one hand) a
disannulling (set aside) of the (forgoing) commandment (law of Moses and Levitical
Priesthood) for (because of) its weakness and unprofitableness thereof. For
the law made nothing perfect (as
the law perfects nothing as seen in Exodus 19: 5-6), but (on the other hand) the bringing in (the
introduction) of
a better hope (by better Covenant
and Priesthood) did (the hope of perfection); BY WHICH WE DRAW NIGH UNTO GOD.” 1st Peter 2:
8-9 speaks what God did in Exodus when He called out the children of
The
Law of Moses stands holy (Romans 7)...
It
discovers unto us our lost holiness, but because of man’s evil nature, the Law
of Moses fences men off from God.
It
discovers to us the need for a perfecting Priest and Sacrifices.
And
points us towards Jesus Christ.
So
it is, that the 110th Psalm introduces the conditions of the better and greater
hope; a greater hope than the promises resting on the
obedience of the Israelites and the fulfilment of the Mosaic Law. Setting aside
the Aaronic Priesthood in the understanding of God’s
establishing the King and Priest union of Jesus Christ in end-less life, typed
in Melchizedek. It is the better and sure hope of the fulfilment of God’s
glorious Millennial promise to Abraham.
*
* *
[2]
HEBREWS CHAPTER 7: 20-28
Melchizedek, the ancient king of
Christ,
having been before incarnation the Royal (King) Priest of Heaven, is
after which Melchizedek’s, more ancient and royal order than Aaron’s,
was permitted. Genesis 14: 18 also
declares Melchizedek as priest of the Most High
God, not High Priest, as the pre-incarnate Son of God then occupied that
place / position in Heaven. From this it can be seen
that Melchizedek is a type of the royal priesthood in the millennium who are
priests under the HIGH Priest,
Christ. It should be understood that God had always
intended to re-appoint the victorious Son of Man back to Royal
High Priest, and that it would then be forever. This is that which was obscured in Scripture from
man and fallen spirits, that which had the “princes of this world knew ... they would not have crucified
the Lord of glory.” And therefore this
exalting to the Right Hand of the Father was accomplished in His
unwarranted violent murderous death in the Wisdom of God (1st Corinthians 2: 8) and was instituted in His resurrection out from among
the dead. Hebrews
7: 23-24; Acts 2:
22-36) This is that Wisdom of suffering in loving service which the heavenly
calling of ‘saved’ men is patterned after. (Hebrews 3: 1 with 1st Peter 2: 9, Revelation 1: 6.) Yes, we are
required to suffer in order to inherit. But thankfully, we have the opportunity to daily approach the Throne of the High
Priest to dispense to us mercy and grace in time of need.
Thus the
Scriptural facts of Melchizedek should introduce to our hearts the wonder of
God’s Salvation Plan to “...go on unto perfection” / complete fullness predetermined in Jesus the Son of
Man. In that there was / is from ancient times a far superior spiritual economy
with its greater royal priesthood, unto which redeemed
Unto
this great typical priesthood Abram gave homage. (Hebrews
7: 4) The chief part of this argument in chapter 7 being; Jesus is not a high priest but the only High Priest, (and as the Levitical priesthood has
been disannulled, the only priest at this time, on which we will have more to
say later). As there is no other, nor will there ever be. And
hinges on this Scriptural fact and
understanding; that he who would draw near to God, unto
the perfection He desires and requires (korban), must do so through this
Royal High Priest or he cannot do so at all. (Korban being
sacrifice unto the Lord. A sweet savour unto the Lord is us laying down our flesh upon the altar as a spiritual
sacrifice unto Him.)
“For the law made nothing* perfect,
but the bringing in of a ** better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God” (Hebrews 7:
19)
(* As the Mosaic economy of Law with the Levitical priesthood
was inevitably to prove temporary because it could not bring God’s desired
goal; that of bringing a worshiping soul into a perfect state {verses 11, 19} perfect
G5046 meaning complete, mature. To complete, make perfect by reaching
the intended goal of God. The whole Mosaic ritual law
of Moses; its priesthood,
We
as Christians, neither kings or priests of any earthly
order, are “called” unto ruling worthiness in the heavens at
resurrection and are therefore in the process of being made fit to rule as a
royal priesthood in the Millennial Kingdom of Christ. We are to be faithful
witnesses and ambassadors of Christ, neither reigning or
lording over others in this life, but being servants to all. Those who desire
to offer worship fully acceptable to God, and be found
worthy, should abandon such priest-ruled systems.
(** Better hope is
established upon a superior High Priest... Who is better than Angels chapter 1, better than Moses chapter 3, better
than Joshua chapter
4, better than Aaron chapter 7,
better than
the law chapter
10 with better Covenant 7: 22, with better promises 8: 6,
with better
sacrifices 9:
23,
with better substance 10: 34, with better country 11: 16, with better
resurrection 11: 35, with better
thing 11:
40.)
Hebrews 7: 20: “And inasmuch as not
without an oath he was made priest: (For those priests were made without an oath;
but this with an oath by him that said unto him,
The Lord sware and will noy repent, Thou art a priest
for ever after the order of Melchizedek;) By
so much was Jesus made a surety
(unfailing security) of
a better testament (Covenant).” This appointment by God the Father of Jesus to High
Priest is superior to that of Aaron inasmuch as Christ’s was
confirmed by an oath. “The Lord
(the Father) sware, and
will not change his mind, Thou art (no
“a”) priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek.) By so much was Jesus made a
surety of a better testament
(Covenant).” (Hebrews 7: 20-22; Psalm 110: 4) This appointment with an Oath
by God the Father of Jesus as High Priest at His right hand, now some 2000
years ago, has given Christ’s faithful followers unfailing security. In that He never by oath secured the priesthood of Aaron, as
some 83 high priests lived and died before Titus destroyed the
Hebrews 7: 25: “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the
uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” This expression to the uttermost (Greek eis to panteles; means completely, wholly,
entirely) is found in another place in the New Covenant Scripture: Luke 13:
10-16, -
“And he was teaching
in one of the synagogues on the sabbath.
And, behold,
there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen
years, (this being one of the “signs” of the Messiah unto the wayward Nation of
Israel and “types” for Christendom {1st Corinthians 10:
6} The significance of the long time has to do with the
long standing of the infirm condition) and was bound
together, and could in no wise
lift up herself (to the uttermost eis to panteles.
... Not “saved” unto the furthest extent, the
condition of ancient
And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, (as the High Priest mercifully calls unto His own
bent over: “...as
He ever liveth to make intercession for them”) and
said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine
infirmity (the promise of God in
Christ Jesus with the gift of the divine nature, as the Royal Priest can “save” to the uttermost them that draw near unto God in communion with His High Priest’s Divine ability. Those who have separated themselves unto seeking and
obeying Him habitually, in all tests, trials, sufferings will find that through
Him, God will finish the work He began to the uttermost
Hebrews 7: 25). And he
laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. Set completely, wholly, entirely
upright in the first resurrection power, forever glorifying God in
grateful wonder! That which Aaron or any of his successors,
nor the law and the ceremonies could do. For they pointed to the need
and the way, but could not bring them or us there, and by
reason of their own infirmities, could not raise others to a state
higher than their own (verse 23, & 28). They, nor their sacrifices
they offered were not adequate for the eternal uttermost standing with God, as
their repeated frequency of offering is testimony of this (verse
27 with 10: 4).
Hebrews 7: 26: “...for such a high
priest became us...” (He is exactly and completely suited to afford “saved” sinners power to be saved overcomers to the uttermost; for He is) “holy, guileless, undefiled,
separate from sinners, and made
higher than the heavens
(in nature, character, conduct, and position He is all that the Most Holy God requires and all that
sinful man needs for perfection) “which (is) since
the law (since supposes the
annulling of the law of Moses... God in the oath makes the Son perfected “forevermore” the) “the
author and finisher of our faith...”
(verse
28).
Only
saved sinners need a High Priest. What is now required of the saved that we
might benefit to the fullest from the Atonement afforded in the Royal Priest?
Paul has noted that Abram received the blessing from the royal priest
Melchizedek after he returned from the slaughter of the kings. (Hebrews
7: 1 with Genesis 14: 17.) And that no doubt being with the aid of God. So it is in like manner that we war, aided with unseen
power. That is in the power of the Spirit / spirit, and our warfare is in the
spirit realm: as we wrestle not with flesh and blood but against wicked spirits
in the heavens associated with this World. Abram’s war was unto death against
those, his enemies who stood for unrighteousness. So likewise must we battle
unceasingly against Satan, the World and the carnality within our soul that
resists the righteousness of God unto the end of the battle.
Then we shall experience the blessings of the High Priest at the victory table
with the resurrection refreshing of the bread and wine.
*
* *
[3]
HEBREWS CHAPTER 8 -
THE HEAVENLY TABERNACLE
There
can be no understanding of the heavenly tabernacle without the understanding of
the earthly tabernacle. (This epistle in particular should inspire all to study
the Old Covenant. The earthly copy, which is highlighted
by the Holy Spirit in chapters 7-11, is the pattern presented for the purpose of drawing
and attracting our attention to the original in
Heaven.
The
16th
chapter
of Leviticus
and the Day of Atonement with its blood offering presented in the Holiest Place is brought into view in the opening
verses of chapter
8. The realities reflected in the ancient rituals are
brought to the forefront in Paul’s revealing argument of the heavenly tabernacle. He now begins to pull back the curtain of revelation
as to the deeper meanings of the Mosaic priesthood and the tabernacle’s
tri-part construction which is the shadowing of the
High-Priesthood of Jesus Christ in Heaven’s tabernacle. Christ is presently in
the Heavenly tabernacle, where He, once and for all, He has put away sin’s curse inherent to all mankind, being Adam’s seed, by the one-time atonement
cleansing application of His Own Blood upon the heavenly things (Hebrews 9: 23) that
now He may mediate and intercede in the power of that Atonement.
The
essential principle to a Christian that is being presented here is to know
Jesus Christ, where He is now, at the right hand of the throne of His Majesty
and in what great capacity, and that in the greater depth of our understanding,
that we might open our hearts unto Him. That is to say as an example, a man
does not “trust” another man naturally, but over time in close
relationship he learns that he may trust that man. So it is, in simple terms, Christ ever liveth, tirelessly,
passionately giving Himself freely to maintain communion relationship with you.
On the one hand, wooing you and on the other hand, defending you, that you may
finally truly know Him. That is to say open
your heart fully to Him. This is the trust / faith that allows
Him to finish the defining work on your sin nature, that He began in you with
the atonement gift of the divine nature.
Hebrews 8: 1-2 opens
with the introducing of the heavenly character or nature of the Priesthood as
contrasted with the type, the more familiar earthly priesthood of Moses. “We (Christians now) have
such a high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty....” (Some who scoff at the reality of a literal throne in
heaven with a literal right and left side, have forgotten that Jesus is resurrected
in a body, albeit spiritual [and
immortal], yet tangibly real and visible in time and space, And He is returning in
like manner as He ascended (Acts 1: 9) in the Son of Man’s body. (Matthew
26: 64) Who is now in the
heavens; (a) minister (He being now wholly engaged, in this the
Age of grace and mercy, with the putting away of sin nature
in those who would inherit glory in His coming kingdom) of the sanctuary (the Holiest place; that
which is represented on Moses’ most inner place of the tabernacle as the Holy
of Holies) of the true
(the original as opposed to Moses’ tabernacle copy) which the Lord pitched (*pitched with a view or it
being portable) and not man
(Moses in particular who pitched the moveable tent in the wilderness).
That Heavenly Tabernacle was created by God and was necessary for Created
beings that they night congregate together, in time and space with their
Creator.
* It is not hard to see that the original Tabernacle,
like its copy, was made portable by God, as seen in Ezekiel 1: 4-28 & chapter 10
where when compared to what John saw in Revelation chapters 4 & 5, when
he was caught up into the heavens associated with this World to see the
prophetic happenings there in the end times, it then becomes evident that this place, its throne
and its prayers are the same in these passages. And they are within the
moveable Tabernacle wherein judgments are determined and pronounced. It is also what Job 1: 6 may also reflect. This heavenly
The
High Priest of the Law, being the only one who could enter into the Holies, is
the person for “Heaven’s tabernacle” therein
only the Son of Man / Son of God; the appointed minister of the Holiest Place
(see Hebrews 9: 24), as the High Priest, may enter. And none else may
occupy Him (as it must be, yet, even unto today, for propitiation for the sin nature
for those followers of Christ is yet being ministered) in that not only has He
entered; but in consecrated glory sits at the right hand of the Father in ever inceasing and loving intercession for us. And in that
Ministry, He faithfully remains until the Heavenly Tabernacle descends into the
heavens associated with this World, when the Age of Mercy and Grace will then
be ending, when the fullness of the Gentiles come in, where He will then
receive His investiture from the Father as King in His Kingdom. And He will then shortly thereafter be joined in that
HEBREWS
VERSE 6. Jesus is the Mediator of a better Covenant, with
better promises. It is the fullness of salvation to man. Jesus unites in
Himself that which the Old Covenant was divided
between Moses and Aaron; the mediator and the priesthood. As also
the Melchizedek and Aaronic priesthood mediator-ship are all now united in
Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The New Covenant is not the Gospel, but that
which follows thereafter. When we make the statement that the New Covenant is
not the Gospel, we are saying that they are both new relationships with God and
part and parcel but “independent”
one from another. As the New Covenant, to the most part here
referred to, is with
The
Mosaic “covenant” made at Mount Sinai, that is being referred to in Hebrews 8: 13, is
by God’s definition, that which parties had bound themselves together according
to certain requirements. And
We
who have been brought into relationship with God
through Christ are not in “covenant” with God. That is to say, an agreement where we are
responsible and liable to owe up to perform lest we break that covenant and our
relationship is subject to be discarded / annulled.
For the Good News is that we are in Covenant with God in Christ with no
possibility of annulment. “For ye are dead... (water-baptized which is typical of that
death, and risen in newness of resurrection life, typical of our reckoning
ourselves dead unto sin. Romans 5 & 6) and your life is
hid with Christ in God.” (Read Colossians
3: 3 with 1st Corinthians 3:
21-23) This is
the substance of the Gospel relationship as contrasted with the “Covenant”.
The
vital need of understanding for Christians is:
1)
that the Gospel of Jesus Christ stands clear from a personal or corporate
“covenant”, that of either the Old Mosaic Covenant or the New Covenant with
Israel.
2)
that there are great and significant differences
between the Old and New Covenants with
The
“New Covenant” is where the pre-payment of Christ the Messiah for
the Jewish contingent is now realized as seen in HEBREWS 8:
12...
“For I will be merciful (the Greek word here meaning more than mercy but
propitiated) to their unrighteousness, and
their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” This now being the means by which
the New Covenant with a fuller salvation may be extended (the
better covenant which was established upon better promises ...
an eternal earthly inheritance and pre-eminence in the new Earth is in view Hebrews
9: 15, and as opposed to the
unattainable Old Covenant promises), and it is doable, as “I WILL
put my laws into their mind and write the Laws (of the “New Covenant” on the earth) upon their hearts...”
This is the deeper internal experience afforded in their Messiah’ Atonement, as
the Old was limited to the external and the Law alone could perfect nothing. But yet with all the blessings of the “New Covenant” extended to united
The
Gospel
salvation stands alone in the
building (a spiritual society) of a structure for Himself, wherein neither can
there be a Jew or Gentile. Though they are Abraham’s SEED ... they belong to Jesus Christ (see Matthew
16: 18; 1st Peter 2:
4-5; Ephesians 2:
20-22)
(*
It should be briefly mentioned here that this fullness of Salvation, this
spiritual building to which we are joined by loving faith, and this heavenly
inheritance, was obtainable by Old Testament saints, both Jew and Gentile, in
the looking forward patiently and expectantly to the Atonement work of Jesus Christ ... such are
accounted by faith the seed of Abraham.)
Ezekiel 36: 26-27
appears to be the same cleansing; the same new spirit (divine nature) and
indwelling power as that of the Gospel, but obtained differently, yet by the
same means. Christ, the ground on which the penalty is met
is the same in both cases, their liabilities both discharged, in the merciful
propitiatory application of Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice; God’s justice
has been served - “every
transgression and disobedience receives a just recompense of reward” (Hebrews 2:
2). *but the applications are different and are
separated into two different Ages, the two different but Just
ends.
(* It is for the Gospel
Believer to approach the Holy Place in Heaven for mercy (propitiatory),
that is typed in the Old Covenant, in the Tabernacle, at the Ark, sprinkled
with blood, that has in view the heavenly Tabernacle, where Christ is the
personal propitiation for our sins as
Christians, and whereas the blood stains on the Ark’s Mercy Cover where
testimony of the atonement of sin, so
the scars of Christ’s Crucifixion upon His hands and feet are our assurance of
forgiving acceptance within the heavenly Temple. And that as it relates to
both the saving gift of grace, and then the ongoing sanctifying power unto
the reward of suffering and enduring in loving faithfulness. “Their sins I will remember no more” (verse 12 and Isaiah 44: 22 have
both the future application to
Israel’s
propitiatory appropriation is future and activated by seeing Him (Zechariah 12) “...whom they
have pierced, and they shall mourn
for him, as one mourneth for
his only son, and shall be in bitterness for his (lost)
firstborn.” The Lord said: “because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed
are they that have not seen, and yet
have believed.”
As
the tax collector saw while in the
Yet this stands in contrast to the Gospel believer who has believed
without seeing, who patiently enduted in loving
faith, which then warrants the greater blessing; the heavenly inheritance,
which the Gospel promises as a worthy overcomer (Revelation chapters 1-3) “...over all things ” Not
just an earthly inheritance, not just an eternal new earthly inheritance, but
both an earthly and heavenly inheritance, as one who was dead and hidden in
Christ with God. The difference
again can be understood from comparing the statements of Hebrews 8: 10 and
Jeremiah’s words and Ezekiel’s... “and I will
be to them a God, and
... they shall be to me a people...” See John’s revelatory words of the future new heavens
and new earth and new Jerusalem ... “Behold, the tabernacle of
God is with men, and he will dwell
with them, and they shall be a
people, and God himself
shall be with them, and they shall be
his people, and God himself
shall be with them, and be their God.” He is referring to those who have an earthly
inheritance ... but to the Gospel
overcomers He says: “He that
overcometh shall inherit ALL things (both earthly and
heavenly): and I will be his God, and he shall be my
son”
*
* *
[4]
HEBREWS 9: 1-10
Keep
in mind the differences we have spoken about in lessons past. One being that
the instructive words of the Book of
Hebrews defines for us the differences between Jesus Christ’s Great
Atonement as the “Gospel” or Good news for
Christian believers, while also holding out the realities of His all-inclusive
Redemption reformation / correction as they apply to the annulling of the Old
Covenant. BUT we also spoke about
the future establishing of that “New Covenant”
with the house of Israel, with its promises to be fulfilled only “…after
those days…” (of
Jacob’s trouble / the great tribulation. See Jeremiah 31 with Hebrews 8: 7-12). That is to say after their repentance,
(when
Paul
has been shedding intense light on the
mysteries of the Gospel’s higher calling unto
the heavenlies (Hebrews
3: 1), and that by revealing the Scriptural mysteries of Jesus Christ in
Heaven’s Tabernacle as the High Priest in Ministry there at the right hand of
God. Those truths being shadowed, specifically in
Abraham’s ancient Covenant and His blessing by the royal priest Melchizedek.
Now
in the 9th Chapter VERSE 1, Paul continues to discover unto those Hebrew
Christians the typical meanings of those two veiled tabernacles (compartments);
the holy place and the holiest
place, and their furnishings
ordained in the service of God as it relates to this earth. To what Paul refers
to as a Worldly sanctuary, as they were made of this earthly material, made by
the hands of man, and located in this realm, being temporarily suitable to this
worldly earthly system. But they are just copies of
that which is needed in the spiritual realm, and are therefore worthless in the
augmenting of the spiritual system and therefore are no longer acceptable to
God and thus were shortly to vanish away. (These earthly gifts and offerings before God had
ceased with Christ’s Atonement, essentially having been annulled
as they had no benefit in them any longer.
VERSE 2 Paul briefly reviews the Tabernacle of Moses and its furnishings (as these with their practical application would be
well known to the Hebrew Christians, little is understood of them from either
the earthly or the spiritual application) before revealing their deeper spiritual and prophetic meanings, in
that it had two tabernacles (besides the
enclosed surrounding court yard).
That is to say, two veiled compartments, wherein, “… the first
(veiled compartment) was the candlestick,
and the table, and the
shewbread; which is called the
holy sanctuary (place).” First, there is the more basic understanding
that these two pieces of furniture both typify Jesus Christ, in that He is the
illuminating Light of the World Who is to bring us out from the darkness of the World
(John 8: 12) in that He is also the heavenly substance to
strengthen the heart in service to God.
Our
going beyond that understanding, we can see that this first tabernacle, the holy place, may also be seen as the typing of two bodies of people set before the
Lord; Peoples with two different destinies. The Lampstand
/Menorah with its 7 branches are representative of 7 churches of Gospel
participants in the heavenly calling; Christ the High Priest having trimmed and
kindled them by the Holy Spirit (Exodus 37) is seen as He is
in the midst of the 7 Lampstands, the 7 Churches of Revelation 1: 12, 13, 20 with Revelation 1: 4 and 5:
6
and “…the 7 spirits
(specific ministering Angels under the authority of Jesus Christ) which are before his throne…”
With “And I beheld,
and, lo, in the midst of the throne and the four beasts,
and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all
the earth” (to minister to
His Churches of the heavenly calling according to His will). Who, in Moses’ typing were yet nonexistent in that the Holy Ghost this signifying, the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was keeping its standing” VERSE 8.
Now
that which is represented in the holy place is a future people, those who will
come into and walk in the Light of the
Son of God with the loss of the standing before God of the other people (Jews / the 12 Tribes signified in the 12 loaves of
showbread). “As
concerning the Gospel they are enemies for your sakes…” (Romans 11:
28.) But Scripture predicts that
this other body of believers will be eternally leavened. (Those predicted by the
Menorah; Christians. See Matthew 13: 33 with
Matthew 5: 13. These are they which came
into light and then go into darkness… “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost its savour,
wherewith shall it be salted? it is
henceforth good for nothing, but to be
cast out, and to be trodden
under foot of men.” Now in
its Babylonian state and nature, this prophecy of being
trodden under foot is fulfilled in the 17th chapter of Revelation, and once set aside, it is not revived again. (In the
same way
While
the
table of shewbread is not
seen by John, it is surely there,
but further in the background, being set aside for 2000 years (the Jewish
contingent). The golden and crowned table reveals the eternal aspects of its 12
loaves of bread, typical of the 12 tribes who are representative of God’s earthly calling, who are a scattered people who now have lost their
standing because of unbelief, and are now in darkness. But
though now set aside, they shall be restored in the Light of the
Millennial New Covenant.
These two peoples, represented in the Menorah and the
Table of Shewbread have never worked together, Israel was set aside as the
Gospel of Jesus Christ was instituted, but in the Millennium, that which is
shadowed in Moses’ Tabernacle, the Holy Place, the outer place for redemption’s
work upon the earth, is fulfilled in that they are united in the power of the
Holy Spirit. And
that which was shadowed in the Law is filled with meaning when
these two peoples and priesthoods then work together in the heavenly and
earthly callings, as light and food unto the nations. “Till heaven and
earth pass away, one jot or one
tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all
be fulfilled” That is
before all passes away in the perfection of the new spiritual economies in the
New Heavens and New Earth. When New Jerusalem reflects the
perfection of the callings, in that its Gates welcome the 12 tribes of
VERSE 4 “And after the second
veil, the tabernacle which
is called the Holiest of all; Which had (only on the Day of Atonement), the golden censer (altar of incense typing Christ.” “And walk in love,
as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us a sacrifice to God for a sweet
smelling savour.” Ephesians 5: 2 with Revelation
8: 3-5), 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; And over it the Cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy seat;
of which we cannot now speak particularly.”
At
the rending of the curtain / veil at Christ’s atonement, the old system was
abolished, The veils in the Tabernacle were indicative
of the inabilities of the Law to bring people into the presence of God. The
veils represented that the purposes of God were hidden.
Those purposes going beyond the earthly promises of blessings of inheritance to
be gained by obedience to the Mosaic Law, for those of the greater
and heavenly and eternal purposes could only be apprehended outside the
Law. That is to say, when the veil is removed and the
eyes are enlightened “By a new and living way, which he
hath consecrated for us, through the veil,
that is to say, his flesh…”
(Hebrews 10:
20). “But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the
reading of the Old Testament, because
the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when
Moses is read, a veil
lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken
away.”
The
That
which was in the
VERSE 5 And over the
VERSE 8 All these things, typical of Christ, being
legitimately observed and performed under the Law of Moses, stood only as long
as the way into the
VERSE 9 “Which was a figure
(parable) for the time then (up to the) present, in which were (all these things) offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make them that did the service (or those for the benefit he offered them) perfect, (that is to say those things much more meaningful) as (those things) pertaining to the conscience…” (The
tabernacle rituals rise no higher than the Mosaic Covenant. It could not perfectly
cleanse man even in his most perfect observance. It can not make God’s purposes nor Himself known in close
intimacy. It was limited to a cleansing of the flesh,
or outward body only and in bringing it near to God. A clear enough picture of difference between Old
Testament rebirth and New Testament rebirth, is that it is not
different as it relates to the gift of eternal life; but it is different in approach and
closeness unto God. The rebirth accompanying the Old Testament
was limited as a result of its inferior blood efficacy, but
in Christ, there is perfect intimacy of oneness in the efficacy of His offering. For
in it, the Justice and Mercy of God are fully extended
unto the cleansing and purging of the sinful nature through the believer’s
conscious, to be realized to one degree or another in accordance to the effective
work of the Spirit / spirit upon the carnal soul.)
VERSE 10 “Which stood only in
meats and drinks, and divers washings, and
cardinal ordinances, imposed on them
until the time of reformation…” (correction or rectification in Christ. He has
come as the corrector of the Old Covenant that had to do with the flesh; the
dead deeds of the Law. Deuteronomy 17).
They could make ceremonially clean the outside of man, but could not affect the
inward enmity of the flesh (Romans 7 & 8). With the
rendering of the vail of the Holiest, came the setting aside of the Law of the
flesh system (that which began with Abraham’s circumcision after his failure to
perpetuate God’s promises through his seed from a slave woman. Galatians
4: 21-31). The believer’s heart is now the spiritual battleground
and is to be established by Gospel Grace (the Divine influence upon the
carnally influenced soul, through the spirit’s conscience) and not by
keeping the generally dead works of the Law of Moses.
*
* *
[5]
HEBREWS 9: 11-15
VERSES
11 & 12 “But
Christ being come a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is
to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood
of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption for us.”
The
eleventh and twelfth verses lay the ground work of the
subjects and the 13th through the end of the chapter the 28th verse, expand on them.
1)
Jesus had become the High Priest; the
Anointed One, not by the pouring over His head of the holy oil of the Mosaic
Tabernacle, but by being submerged in the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and that
without measure, (Leviticus
8: 12, John 3: 34.)
2)
A High Priest of good
things to come in contrast to
high priest of those blessings in the present time and of an earthly type;
those good things of Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26. This High Priest ministers on behalf of those who
are to receive the fullness
of Salvation through faith in
Him, in the heavenly realm in the future
3)
Jesus passes through the heavens (typed by the holy place) into Heaven (the holiest
place) into the far superior Tabernacle, into the Holy presence of the Father. This is typed by the high priest who once a year passed through the
holy place to the holiest place in the earthly Tabernacle. (Leviticus
16: 17.)
4)
And in that it was the law to enter into that Holy Presence alone, and not by
the means of blood, so He entered alone, and remains alone while in the Holy
place, not with the blood of animals, but by the means and merit of His own far
superior Blood.
5)
And He has went in ONCE (as opposed to many times of the high priest of the
earthly tabernacle) and for ALL (not
just for the Jews, but for all mankind). In the
superiority of His own Blood, He is the acceptable Sacrifice, and in His presentation of that Blood, He is the High
Priest. In this entrance and means over 2000 years ago into the Heavenly Holy
of Holies, He obtained eternal redemption for our souls. (Leviticus 17: 11.)
VERSES
13 & 14 “For if
the blood of bulls and of goats, (a reference to Leviticus 16) and
the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, (a reference to the Red Heifer of Numbers
19) sanctified to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall
the blood of Christ, who through (no article the) eternal (no article
the) spirit offered himself without
spot to God, purge
your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? So the effects of the two different offerings are compared.
The argument hinges, for us, on the assumption of the
validity of certain power granted in the offering of blood of bulls and goats,
and the ashes of a heifer had a real effective power to cleanse or purify the
flesh / the “outer” man (that is to say the
sensual body and carnal soul) that he might be thereby made fit then to draw
near to God. That is to say, nearer to His Presence
which was then on the Earth. This given, how much more does the Blood of
Jesus Christ cleanse the Inward Man (the subservient
soul with renewed mind) made so through the conscience / spirit? The one blood
has to do with cleansing and purifying the flesh unto more dead works
of service under the Law ... as the carnal soul remains unaffected. While the
other Blood affords the power to reach beyond the outer man to the purging and
empowering of the inward man through the conscience within the spirit unto true
service in living works unto a living God. The desired result of God, in the
first and in the 2nd case, is nearness,
closeness, intimacy unto unity, sonship. To go from people of
God to sons of God. In
the comparison, both applications must bring eternal life with rebirth of
spirit, but what is being declared by Paul is that the
blood of animals could not bring the Power of the Holy Spirit to bear upon the
soul through yielded conscience.
THE MILLENNIAL EFFECT of the blood
sacrifices....
Scripture
reveals the blood sacrifices shall be restored in the
But
these were not like those Hebrew Christians to whom Paul wrote much later, in 63A.D., to those vacillating Christians who under the
pressure of persecution sought to forsake Christ and join themselves again to
the observance of the Law of Moses. These earlier (Hebrew) Christians from
Christ’s ascension until the destruction of the
Christ’s
Blood = the basis off which the spirit of man cleanses, through the conscience,
for those who would draw near to God in Heaven, in the heavenly calling.
Appointed
Animal blood - the cleansing of the flesh for those who are to draw
near to God on Earth; and that also in the New
Covenant with
“for the
child to die an hundred years old...” (Isaiah 65: 20) This long lifespan answers to the Millennial state
upon the earth, in that their new hearts, with
the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the New Covenant, in connection with the animal blood sacrifices
again sanctioned; the effects then being, just as Hebrews 9: 13
intimates, the blessings upon the
earthly flesh. (Was the Tree of Life in the Garden equivalent of the
animals’ blood offerings sanctifying power? It was much more effective; the Tree of Life having a much more long lasting effect on
body and soul. The concern being that fallen man might eat of it and ... “to live forever” in that state. But
this Hebrew word forever isolam, which does not mean eternally.
It has the limited meaning of being a very long time - Genesis
3: 22-24.
If
this is the case, Adam and Eve could have partaken of the Tree of Life before
the fall. If that was the case, that would possibly explain why, after the
prohibition and securing them from eating any longer from that Tree of Life,
their bodies yet continued to live on its residual effects, predicted by God in
that they continued to live in their bodies for just short of 1000 years. This
fulfilling God’s Word that in the Day (1000 years is like a Day to the
Lord) “thou
eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
Seeing then, that the Tree of life’s effects wore off and their
bodies finally died. This “life” from the Tree not only affected their bodies, but had a residual effect on the bodies of their off-spring
in that their lives only gradually became shorter and shorter as the effects of
the Tree of Life finally wore off, and until generations later man was
allotted 70 or 80 years. This possible dynamic sheds light on the eternal state
of things when the new heavens and earth are created,
without
THE RED HEIFER Numbers 19
The
Blood of Christ answers to the blood of animals, whereas the “ashes” answer to Christ’s fuller
Sacrifice; to which the living waters (the Holy Spirit) was
granted by the Father. After the Blood, comes the need of occasional
cleansing. It is on the basis of the Blood that we may
receive the fuller cleansing. Once sealed or consecrated by
the Blood, no further application of the Blood is warranted or needed, only the
sprinkling of the water mixed with the Ashes of the offering, This symbolizes
the Holy Spirit’s work of necessary ongoing cleansing of the
defiled soul in constant contact with the World, and the further ongoing revelation
of sin pointed out by the conscience on self. This essential on-going
Work, based upon the perfect Work of the Blood Atonement of Christ, that of
further awareness, repentance, confession of sin and cleansing, is through the
born again spirit / divine nature of the believer in communion with the Holy
Spirit. In activation or presentation (korban /
sacrificial offering) of their soul unto God, they are
thereby restored from broken fellowship. Spiritual growth in the soul is
to be realized in the cleansing of the Holy Spirit,
cleansed from that which inhibits and obstructs it from the fullness of
salvation, and is now restored once again in the race for the prize. (1st Corinthians 9:
23). This process is typed in the sprinkling of the living
water mixed with the ashes, “... the
water of separation...” that
cleanses from defilement.
This
cleansing through the conscious is far superior to the cleansing of the “flesh”,
for the cleansing of the flesh allowed for the Works of the Flesh - what He
called “dead works”. They then being accepted
by God, though the soul is left in the fullness of enmity with God brings
continuing death. But the cleansing of the Holy
Spirit, founded upon the Blood offering of Christ, brings life and allows for “Living Works” from the heart of the believer, for they
are purged as they listen to the Holy Spirit upon their consciences. This
offering and its results being far more acceptable to God, as they warrant a “life” beyond that granted to the “flesh” under the blood
offerings of the Old Testament. It warrants a future glorious Life to
be imparted to the faithful
overcoming soul. This is the eternal inheritance; the
salvation of the soul. Eternal life with eternal
inheritance as opposed to just eternal life.)
“Life” to the flesh equates to the material realm, with long lasting
physical living on the earth.
Eternal
“Life” is a gift with the rebirth of the spirit / the
receipt of His Divine Nature based upon acceptance of Christ’s Blood offering,
He then being your Saviour.
Glorious
“life” to the soul can and should follow, from the purging
and cleansing, through the conscience in
willing communion and loving obedience to Christ’s Words, where He goes
beyond being Saviour to becoming Lord (Master). This, Jesus equates
to “overcoming” the flesh / sensual body and carnal soul. This
glorious “Life” is granted exclusively unto these; this being quality
of Life granted beyond that of longevity or eternal life.
This being the fullness of God’s Salvation Plan for Man, and the greater
meaning behind Christ’s Words “I am come that they might have life (eternal) and
that they might have it (life) more abundantly (gloriously)...”
The
First Resurrection in Soul-filled Glory is in view, the
first resurrection in the power of the quickening spirit ... for in His
Resurrection He became the “life
giving pneuma”, not the life-giving
Blood ... that we should have that which is corruptible, “blood”.
For flesh and blood cannot inherit in
the heavenly
The
word / “shall...” cleanse in the 14th verse
speaks to the process of sanctifying
the soul, where the final assessment of each person is realized before the
Judgment Seat of Christ. “...Though
the body is perishing...” this is
the state of Christ’s Atonement Blood leaves the body -- whereas the blood of
animals worketh a purifying effect on the body of flesh, that one may approach
God in earthly Tabernacle or Temple, without which purifying he would die.
(This might to some degree explain Paul’s and other Christians’ necessity of
blood if they were going to approach Him in the flesh / body. There being
entirely two different priesthoods and offerings at that time, as there shall
be again in the Millennium. One blood for the body and one Blood for the soul
on the earth, when His Presence was not entirely removed
from the Mosaic Covenant, and when under the New Covenant His Glory fills the
So it is
that Paul argues the Old Testament system just revealed God partially, He being
hid behind the Veil, and only affecting the outer man. The Gospel System
in-veils God and gives us access by the spirit into Heaven’s Holiest place, and
purifies the inward man / the renewed soul, becoming
spiritual or spirit-led by conscience in communion with the Holy Spirit. That
which was lost in the Garden of Eden is granted again,
and more, through the Atonement of Christ, Who reveals God as “Abba”
Father.
To
cleanse the soul through the conscience is to repent and reckon oneself dead
unto sin, and alive uncritically unto God (Romans 6). This is the presenting of oneself
before God in Christ for removal of obstructive spiritual defilement, as
opposed to the outward defilement from which the blood of animals is limited
to.
Christ’s
Atonement consists of two parts 1)
to redeem out of the
The
14th
Verse also says Christ offered /gave HIMSELF without spot (an allusion to the Red Heifer having to
be without spot) to God. What does the offering of HIMSELF here mean? The Greek
says He gave Himself up to God “through spirit eternal”; there
is no article “the”. Most have supposed by the
means of “the” Holy Spirit--- but Jesus’ spirit
with divine nature, is in perfect agreement with His sinless soul, so to speak,
through His soul is Him, to make the perfect offering. This should be
comprehended in Jesus’ statement, “not my will, but thine,
be done”. [Luke 22: 42.] Together, the Living Soul / the Son of Man willingly
cooperated with His spirit of the Divine nature / the Son of God in His
offering “Himself” to God, Truly this should be
comprehended in the giving of “Himself” to God. And that He alone stood “independent”
in “Will” in that He, being un-created, was not thereby
obligated to Will with His Creator. He was the only one who truly could give “Himself”
to God.
VERSE
15 RECEIVING THE ETERNAL INHERITANCE...
Note
the contrast of the words eternal redemption (to release on
the receipt of ransom) of the 12th verse with the words of the 15th
“eternal inheritance”. Eternal inheritance, a part of Christ’s heavenly
kingdom (Revelation 20: 4-6) as apart and separate from the gift afforded in
Blood alone. Again, these speak to the two parts of the Atonement: the Blood
and the Water mixed together; the work of the High Priest upon the saved soul
in the Power of the Holy Spirit, after His presentation of His Blood wherein is found the finished work of Redemption.
God’s
Promises in Christ are ... ‘better two in the bush,
than one in the hand’. In other words, only having eternal redemption /
life is contrasted with having the eternal life AND eternal inheritance.
*
* *
[6]
Hebrews Chapter 9 Verses 16-28
CERTAIN PRINCIPLES THAT ARE BEING ESTABLISHED
IN THE 9th
CHAPTER OF HEBREWS
1.) “Covenant”
is far different from “Testament”
... effectively as far apart as Law is
from mercy and Grace.
2.)
The High Priest Office looks to the Forgiveness of sin and Redemption, Whereas
the Mediator Office looks on the Rest
and the Inheritance.
3.) What is
the Necessity of the Sacrifice? God did not institute the Blood Offering /
sacrifice (or death for death offering) so that man might live (per se) but
that man might once again have a presence with God.
4.) The “eternal inheritance” is God’s gift to believers, through the Testament / Will of our Lord Jesus Christ.
5.)
It must be understood that the ‘Gospel Covenant’ is apart from the New Covenant with
HEBREWS
9 VERSE 15 has just brought the idea
of a new inheritance into view through Jesus Christ’s Blood, Whose
inheritance?
(Note
verse 15 that Paul interchanged
the word “death” for blood. Being that the death of
the testator being required is more readily understood)
VERSES 16-17 “For where a
testament is, there must also of
necessity be the death of the testator.”
A Testament may be one person or a party, but a Covenant takes more than one
person. A Covenant does not require blood; but a Testament must
have the death of the testator and the proof of it. That is in other words,
their blood, in order that the
Will may be adjudicated. VERSES
18-21 “Whereupon neither
the first testament was dedicated without blood.” THE FIRST
TESTAMENT is a reference to that
ratifying with blood of Exodus 24: 6-7, where
the first testament was established upon the
death / blood of bulls and of goats, thereby held forth as the “testator”.
The Just idea being “... without
shedding of blood is no remission (cancellation of a debt).”
[HEBREWS 9: 22b.]
From whence came that idea? At the Creation of Man, the implied Covenant in the
Garden between God and Adam is that all will be well unless Adam disobeys God’s
Command of not eating from the Tree of knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis
2: 17) And when Adam and Eve rebelliously broke the
Covenant Law, they suffered the accompanying Curse pronounced in the Covenant, “In the sweat of your
face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return
unto the ground; for out of it
east thou taken; for dust
thou art, and unto dust shall
thou return,” [Genesis 3: 19] Adam’s sin broke the Covenant and brought the curse
of “death” from God and man, as proclaimed, in dual manifestation form.
Spiritual
death (in that day {24 hours})
Physical
death (in that day {24 hours})
Physical
death (in that day {1000 years - see 2 Peter 3: 8}, as Adam lived to be almost 1000.)
It
is the 21st verse of
Genesis 3 where we comprehend that the blood of animals was introduced to Covenant with Adam and his seed in order
to extend mercy and to “partially” redeem. “Unto Adam also and
to his wife did the Lord God
make coats of skins, and clothed them.” That principle regarding blood was instructive, in
that Abel’s offering of the animals was accepted... “And Abel,
he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat
thereof. AND the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering...”
[Genesis 4:
4.] These discover unto us the substitutionary law of
God; in that “without
shedding of blood is no remission”
(cancelling debt) of sin.
Furthermore,
He said to Cain, Abel’s brother,
“... if thou doest well, (that is present the blood and fat of animals for
remission of sins) shall
thou not be accepted (an allusion
to be accepted into God’s Holiness and Presence)? And if thou doest not well (propitiate for your sins), sin (our sin nature) lieth
at the door (opened for lack of
remission). And unto thee shall be his
desire (to rule over you), and thou shalt rule over him (in the redeeming power of the testimony of the
blood).” (Genesis
4: 5-7)
Whereas before, life was automatically without effort perpetuated by the
Holy Presence of God and the tree of life, but when that life
force was removed, man dies. (That ‘life’
force was removed because the Holiness of God cannot
be around unholiness, without which no one will see God.) Once God removed
that life force from Adam, his / our sustenance, physical and spiritual life,
is now reliant upon his labour; watching and praying,
and by the sweat of howing to keep out the thorns and thistles, conjoined
with the reliance upon sacrificial blood atoning offerings. (The need for
Adam to physically toil and remove the thorns and thistles relates to us having
to hope the spiritual thorns and thistles which,
according to Mark 4, symbolize the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches that
choke the word, thus making us unfruitful. Adam’s fight against all predators
that would take from his vegetation / fruit relates to us having to war against
the spiritual powers that would keep us from bearing any fruit.)
So without sacrificial death / blood, the law of the curse, death (that is; separation from God, which answers
to His being Holy, realized in mankind from the Garden of Eden, and finally perfected and
understood in the Law of Moses Romans 7) has no means for satisfaction whatsoever, as there was
no warrant for the remission / removal of the debt / death penalty. (Death followed the curse for covenant breaking, “... you will return to
the ground, since from it you
were taken; for dust you are and
to dust you will return.” Genesis 3: 19.)
Offering of animal blood; that is to say its life, satisfies the Curse of the Law of God to a certain
extent; in order that one’s sin / debt may
be covered or atoned for, and for them to be
accepted. (Albeit limited acceptance, seen in that although Adam and his
seed realized a certain acceptance by God through repentance and sacrificial
offerings, there was no restoration back into the Garden in intimacy lost).
“...
For the life of the flesh -- is in the blood: and I
have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement
for your souls: for it is the blood
that maketh an atonement for the soul.” [Leviticus 17: 10-16.]
Exodus 24: 2-8 “And Moses alone
shall come near to the Lord: but they
shall not come nigh, neither shall the
people go up with him. And Moses came and told the people -- all the words of the Lord, and -- all the judgments:
and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words
which the Lord hath said we will do. And Moses wrote
-- all the words of the Lord and rose up early in the morning,
and built an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according
to the twelve tribes of
What
is being argued is that the present Gospel “Covenant”
and the future New Covenant with united
Paul
has shown Moses as a type of Jesus Christ, as “High Priest” and
Mediator, in the redemption of
Although
it was not entirely necessary to have blood shed, much less sprinkled upon them,
to have Covenant, this is what God had Moses do, and
that but once, occurring before
*
God having in view Christ’s Blood, He was establishing the principles in this
the shadow.
*(The
Lamb of God, after having been set apart 4 days (Exodus
12: 3-6)
“... the end of the of the Ages,
as a thousand years is a day unto the Lord when
“... he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” at the end of 4000 years.)
Moses,
after
Moses,
new Covenant offerings done on a continuing basis was effective in the
extending of mercy and bearing with the sins of
Now
the blood of animals only propitiated for bearing with the sins and the extending of mercy of
those under the Mosaic Law. (Exodus 34: 7) And that of the pursuit of a temporary earthly
inheritance; whereas the Blood of Jesus Christ has the power of forgiving sins (as opposed to bearing sins) and extending “Grace” (as opposed to mercy) presently to His Gospel Covenant
followers in the pursuit of an eternal
inheritance, as well as in the Millennium to the Jews in their New Covenant in
pursuit of eternal inheritance.
Now
one must Scripturally and spiritually comprehended the
difference between mercy and grace. Mercy does not reach as deep as Grace.
Mercy bears with the sinner, but leaves no internal power to change the
sinner’s character, thus the failure of
So Exodus
24: 6-8 is
alluded to as a type to bring out the inti type in
the Book
of Hebrews
Chapter 9 VERSES 12-22;
where the acceptable Testament principle of blood in proof of substitutionary
sacrificial death is exercised and displayed for the purpose of remission. It
is Christ’s Testament in view, with His Blood as proof of death, and
through its far greater acceptability, a much greater power of remission is extended in His Will on those whom His Blood is sprinkled. And that to be the first unto those who receive the Gospel
of the New Man, and secondly that a New Covenant unto Jews with greater
inheritance is further bequeathed.
And in
the power of His Resurrection, He has become double surety, in that not only
His Blood, but He being the Mediator or Executor of His Own Testament Will.
That is in the extending the heavenly kingdom call to “... the Gentiles to take
out of them a people for his name.” (Acts 15: 14-18, Ephesians 2) And NOT UNTIL ... “after this I will
return, and will build again
the tabernacle of David...”
on Earth. This is to be the New Covenant with the Jews that will be in answer
to the irrevocable Covenant with Abraham (Genesis 22: 16-17) that when fully extended, holds
forth both eternal redemption and eternal -[i.e. “aionios”] - inheritance.
(Genesis 17: 7, 13, 19 and Ezekiel 37: 28 with Revelation
21: 3). The realization of that inheritance is far beyond the promised
temporal earthly blessings that accompanied the First Testament and the Mosaic
Covenant. The receipt of those earthly promises of inheritance was strictly based upon keeping the Law. (Deuteronomy
28: 15-68).
All
this leads us to the recognition of the fact that the plan of salvation, and
restitution of ALL things, was first and foremost
in the Creator’s plan. And the Covenant, its laws,
rules and regulations were conceived and fixed according to the Plan of
Salvation before the 7 days of Re-Creation. This is
seen clearly enough in Scripture... “the Lamb was
slain from the foundation of the World”. (Revelation 17: 8, Ephesians 1:
4). That is Christ’s Blood and Death was
foreseen in the slain blood of those animals in the Garden, and the Covering skins of clothing typed Christ’s robes of righteousness granted to those
sanctified. (Revelation 3: 16-18, 19: 8.)
THE NEW TESTAMENT BLOOD ANSWERS TO
CHRIST’S HOLY LIFE. Now the just principle under which God established
and proceeded was in order to extend a New Covenant with Israel, so He must
first release / rescue them from the Mosaic Covenant’s curses. (Read Leviticus
26: 18-39.) Now the Law is impersonal, in that it was once and the same, be it
the offender or someone who takes responsibility for the offender’s actions, as
surety, who answers to the debt, as long as the debt is satisfied. In His
appointed time, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, born a Jew, circumcised according
to the Law, fulfilled the Mosaic Law in that He did not transgress it in any
way. Yet He was falsely accused of being a
transgressor of the Law of Moses; was condemned under the Law of Moses, and was
executed without just cause. In this; Jesus Christ’s willing offering of Himself;
He satisfied the demands of the Mosaic Covenant as the substitutionary
sacrifice for the sins of Israel under the Mosaic Covenant, and thereby they,
on receipt of that Blood sprinkling, are rescued from its Curse.
He,
having filled up with meaning its blood offering, and established the legal
ground, in that Christ became the willing surety for the debt owed God (Hebrews
9: 14, John 10: 17-18), and the Law once being satisfied, be it by an innocent man or the
guilty, no further pursuit of the guilty is warranted. This
is the legal and just basis off which God rescues the guilty sinner and intends
a New Covenant with
Now the Surety of the New Testament answered the debt in such great abundance
(that is to say provision beyond the
necessity of redeeming justification
unto eternal life) in that He prayed unto the Father for the power
of the Holy Spirit to be poured out upon His followers that they might be
brought beyond the borders of mere eternal redemption
in His righteousness, that is to say in imputed righteousness; unto a worked-out personal
partial righteousness worthy of
eternal inheritance, as first born sons. (John 14: 15, 7: 39, Acts 1,
Hebrews 2:
10). Now this answers to HEBREWS 19 “... he (Moses) took the blood of calves and of goats, with water...”
where the Blood mixed with
the water shows the indispensable means of sanctification unto holiness
sonship, that is the association of the Holy Spirit with the Blood of Christ. Wherein, the scarlet wool is made white as snow, in the humility of the hyssop...
These answer to man’s part in the sanctifying process; the willing response of
the willing soul in the increasing light of his growing awareness by the Spirit
/ spirit in the enlivened conscious, with the practical applying of Christ’s
Atonement death to the carnal nature.
The
Blood assures the Believer of relief of eternal debt and access for sins afterwards,
whereas daily minding the things of the Holy Spirit assures fellowship and
marks the way in faithful service unto worthiness of inheritance in the future [millennial]
HEBREWS 9 VERSE 23. This animal blood offering and presentation by the
High Priest and Mediator, Moses, in the pursuit of an earthly kingdom
inheritance, laid further groundwork in the hidden purposes of God since before
the foundations of the earth. That is to be realized in the fullness of Jesus
Christ’s Atonement as High Priest and Mediator, presenting His Own Blood
in reference to the eternal redemption and eternal inheritance promises in both
the heavenly realms and earthly realm, as His Atonement reaches into the very
Presence of God in Heaven itself.
Here
is the antitype to the act of the blood being divided,
as mentioned before. “And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins; and half
of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.” (Exodus 19: 6-8). So in the type, half of the blood of the animals
was set apart for the Altar, (for God) and the other half for the sprinkling of
the people. So it was in the patterns that we see the
realities of the spiritual realm. Here it is revealed
that Heaven’s Sanctuary had been defiled by an unholy presence, and was in need
of purifying. That is to say, the necessity is seen in
that God being Holy, He could not
then be Holy if He were to have any alliance or tolerance with the
presence of any unholiness. Verse 23 thus alludes to Lucifer’s defiant and defiling unholy
behaviour in Heaven’s Throne-room itself. And it followed him into the realm he
has been cast into (Job 4: 17-18, 15: 15, Ezekiel 28,
Isaiah 14) which greatly broadens the scope of Jesus Christ’s
Blood Atonement to reach beyond man, to include the spirit realm, the sealing
of Satan’s fate, and Heaven itself. Thus as foreseen
in the pattern; half the Blood went heavenwards and half went earthwards.
VERSES
27-28... “And as it is
reserved unto men once to die, but after
that judgment; so the Christ having
been once offered to bear the sins of many, the
second time without sin
(or apart from sin) shall
be seen by those who are expecting Him to save them.”
The
Greek text reads as follows: “And
for as much as it is determined to men once to die...” the word “all”,
not being a part of the text, is but a general statement, as not “all” men will die as Scripture reveals in 1st Corinthians 15:
51, and 1st
Thessalonians
4: 17. That fallen man should
die; God’s Holy Justice has determined
it, and His mercy has reasoned it. (Genesis 3: 22-23) That
His Judgment is right, has been proved out over and
over in man’s history. (Genesis 6: 6.)
That
man should be judged, is the reality put forth so
strongly throughout Scripture, and in particular here in Hebrews
9: 27. Which answers obviously to the continued portrayal here in Hebrews of Christ’s current ministry as advocate and intercessor.
For what else would His and our object be? After having been
established upon the Rock in eternal redemption, all now revolves upon
what we build upon that foundation stone, that is to say all our works while on
the earth are to be judged and recompensed after we die. “... let each
(disciple) take heed how he buildeth
thereon. ... Every
man’s work shall be manifest, for the
day shall declare it...” (1st
Corinthians
3: 10-17.)
It follows that there is to be someone who will grant an inheritance and
someone to receive it.
Christ,
like Moses upon the mountain, was removed from our view. We can see what brought Moses
down from his conversation and presence with God ... “get thee down.” It was for judgment. And only
Joshua, who was faithfully waiting and watching for him, accompanied him. Exodus
32: 17). So as Christ bore the sins of many at His First Coming, He shall not make
further atonement, nor bear the sins of any
upon His Return. For it is now past those days where God
showing His patience in the Age of Mercy and Grace in the calling out of a holy
overcoming people, made up primarily from the Gentiles. But when the
fullness of the Gentiles come it, and the times of the Gentiles finished, When
Babylon’s cup of Abominations is full, He will come back, apart from sin. That is to say, far from expiating, but in Judgment. (Revelation
1: 7) Yes, all will see Him and all who pierced Him shall wail. It is here
that, from one view that the enemies of Christ are spoken of; the Nations and
unbelieving
The
price of this - [yet
future
(1 Peter 1:
5)]
- salvation
has been paid in the New Testament, the power of this salvation is realizes in
those who are in faithful service, who are then looking, for whom He shall
appear, the Second time. (Philippians 3: 8-21.)
*
* *
[7]
CHRIST’S DIALOGUE WITH NICODEMUS
JOHN CHAPTER 3 VERSES 1-21
HELP ME OUT! This is the cry of the Holy Spirit. We have the gift
of the power of the Holy Spirit to equip us to have victory over sin, but we
have to yield our wills first to the Holy Spirit. He won’t
run the evil out of us. We have to take up the whip ourselves and cast out
whatever is defiling in our soul as Christ did the moneychangers from the
Whereas
Christians, being the one new man in the Body of Christ (Ephesians 2), are neither ‘wife’
nor ‘first born’ sons. They who believed in
Christ’s Atonement are born from
above in spirit, and are thereby removed out from the authority of
Satan over Gentiles, and placed positionally in His Dear Son. They are,
spiritually speaking, a New Nation raised up in heavenly places, and are forever more ‘children’ of God.
These are then instructed to be ‘buried’
emblematically in Baptism / immersion into water, wherein the new inward man
then emerges to walk in this World, but not of it, in a spiritual ‘resurrection’ leaving the old man in ‘death’ beneath. And typically
being redeemed and raised up; no longer to be a man of the Earthly type, to walk
in Christ’s Resurrection newness of
life (Romans 6) as a heavenly type citizen. That is to say, to
follow diligently and to be tutored (as a child) by the spirit / Holy Spirit
through the Word of God and disciplined by the Father unto a worthy Christ-likeness.
(Romans 8, Hebrews 12) And this further work that
goes beyond justification is characterised by Paul as a ‘race’.
If found worthy at the end of one’s race, one would attain
the Prize of the First Resurrection (1st Corinthians 9, Philippians 3);
and the inheritance of Brideship / being wed to
Christ, and in type; being declared a ‘first born’ son of God. (Revelation 19, Hebrews 2, Revelation 21: 7)
So it is
that both these inheritances (that of marriage and first-born sons) are future
events determined at the Judgment Seat
of Christ. Both have to do with
inheritance of a royal and glorious life (Romans 8, 2 Corinthians 4), glorious life beyond mere eternal life. For the justified (those
that are ‘saved’ but never progress to a state of being
sanctified) retain the threat of future punishment for their disobedience and unfaithfulness.
(Modern Christianity has essentially taken a black marker and crossed out all
scriptures pertaining to accountability. Or they misrepresent these scriptures of punishment as
being intended for the Jew or for the ‘Lost’.)
But an individual Christian has the conditional
promise of wedding,
in that all Christians are espoused to Christ. (2nd, Corinthians 11:
2.) Only those who are found worthy are seen wedding Christ
in the heavens above the Earth after they are caught up to be His Bride (Luke
20: 35, Revelation
12: 5) in the First-fruits Harvest
and in the First Resurrection Harvest (Revelation 14: 12-16), they being together then
also are manifested as adopted first-born sons of God. (Romans
8: 14-23, Hebrews 12)
Verse 11 “Verily,
verily, I say unto thee,
We speak
that we do know, and testify that we
have seen; and ye receive not
our witness. (From an earthly perspective, it is John the Baptist to whom Christ
refers to in the ‘we’ as one of the two witnesses,
Himself of course being the other. Deuteronomy 19: 15
declare that by the mouth of two or three witnesses, a matter
is established.) This lack of believing the good
report of the Witnesses being Christ’s indictment against Nicodemus and the
Jewish rulers of
In
the anti-type before us, the bounty of
fruit (Huge grape clusters) that
ancient Israel saw answers to the marvellous ‘signs’ and testimony
that Jesus and John were exhibiting among
Verse
12 “If I (note Jesus has went from ‘we’
to ‘I’, in
preparation of His speaking from a heavenly perspective of which John the
Baptist would not have) have
told you earthly things (giving
you earthly type examples in Torah of the requirements of entering the Kingdom
of earthly inheritance; such as not only the necessity of regeneration, which
is reflected in the cleansing of the purifying water, but in addition the
necessity of a further work reflected in the purging /refining of the Holy
Spirit), and ye believe not, how shall ye believe,
if I tell you of heavenly things?” (such as the inheritance of a heavenly kingdom in the spirit
realm and the spiritual things associated with it.)
Moses
having died, in the time of Joshua ruling almost 40 years later, there was a
second advance initiated by God on the Promised Land inheritance. But this time only 2 spies were sent... “And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of
Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view
-- the Land, even Jerico ... So the two men returned, and descended from the mountain,
and passed over (the Jordan
River) ... and told him all things that
befell them: Truly
the Lord hath delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country
do faint before us.” The Old Testament events of not only
the 12 spies, but Joshua’s two spies / witnesses is being alluded to in
Christ’s Words to Nicodemus, which would have resonated with him... “Verily,
verily, I say unto thee,
We speak
that we do know, and testify that we
have seen; and ye receive not
our witness.” But the
necessary Two witnesses of the heavenly things cannot be men spies testifying about an earthly
kingdom that they got a glimpse of, but rather Two Beings speaking about a
spiritual heavenly Kingdom they were naturally connected with, These Two (the
Son and the Father) have come from the ‘mountain top’ where no
man has been. But these Two gave testimony of a Land, a Land full of milk and honey of a heavenly type, a Kingdom located in the unseen
heavens of this Earth, that they had established themselves and was Theirs by
right of creation, but ‘lost’ by God’s grant to fallen Man.
Theirs
being a revelation of a heavenly
Kingdom and accompanying disclosure of heavenly things; an enigma to hard-hearted Israel, being held now in
reserve for the Nation made up of the one new man in Christ who bring forth the fruits worthy (of the inheritance) thereof. (Matthew 21:
43). So the Father and Jesus refrain at this time to
openly testify to these heavenly
things for which things Nicodemus
and those who sit in the seat of Moses were not only unprepared for, but as a
whole had not the hearts to receive. They were unwilling to yield to the
earthly Kingdom requirements for inheritance, much less the connotation of the
heavenly Kingdom. (Though outward works are performed,
God sees the heart. This is why Jesus called the Scribes and
Pharisees whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but are full of
dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. - Matthew 23: 27) The requirements tp attain unto the Kingdom inheritance were set before the
‘saved’; both ‘earthly’ and ‘heavenly things’ Christ would always be alluding to in the Gospels.
The
Kingdom itself, and the entering into it, was something other than what
Nicodemus and
* Note: Paul in the Epistles of Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians
and John
in his Epistles and the Book of Revelation later, reveal these “heavenly things” in greater detail, Such things
shadowed in the Old Testament Wilderness experience will be the reality of the
End-Time World reflected in both the Earthly seen realm in Israel and the
unseen realm of the first heavens.
That is to say, there shall be another advance on the Promised Land, wherein is
the kingdom of darkness, that End-Time
Nation of ‘Amorites’ but this time in not only
in the earthly realm of Israel, but also in the unseen heavenly realm
associated with this World. (Isaiah 24:
21...
“And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are
on high, and the kings of the
earth that are upon the earth.”)
In
its fullest and final interpretation the ‘Two Witnesses’ and their
testimony, we look to the time yet future; the
Scriptural reality of a great impending invasion of an Army into the heavens
just above this Earth, in the unseen
Here at the conclusion of the 12th verse, it should be understood that John, after having
given his first-hand account of what was said at that meeting, concludes Jesus’
discourse with Nicodemus (see Companion Bible for 7 convincing reasons why it
is no longer Jesus speaking in verses
13-21 despite the fact that many Bibles show it as Christ
still speaking. In the Greek, this
is clearer). All things here and later taken in to consideration as it relates to Nicodemus, there was a ‘transforming’
effect going on as a result of this secret meeting with Jesus. Although he was
with those who are not with Him but against Him (Luke 11: 23), yet
there is a paradigm shift in the making in Nicodemus (for we see him later
defending Jesus in the Sanhedrin in John 7: 50 and again when he brings a mixture of Myrrh and aloes
for His burial in John 19: 39).
John,
prompted by the Holy Spirit follows up with these related and inspired Words
for further understanding of heavenly things.
Verse
13: “And (not being used in a conjunction here, but a Hebraism
/ a form of expression which connects it to the previous verse
12 which spoke of heavenly things) no man hath ascended up to heaven (in terms of a ‘spy’ to be a witness), but he that came down from heaven (Son of God incarnate), even the Son of man which
(was Crucified on a Cross) is (now Resurrected and) in heaven.” See also Ephesians 4: 9-10.
So
it is that the Cross and Resurrection was the end of earthly things and the
opening up of heavenly
things:
Verse 13 “And as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so
must the Son of man be lifted up: That
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
The
raised brazen snake spoke of two being Cursed; Satan
and Christ. The brazen Serpent being representative of Satan being
hung on that stake. He, being found guilty of
his murderous ways, has been set under the Law of Moses by way of a decreed
monument to endure forever; doubly cursed. For under the Law ‘the murderous
sinner’ must be dealt with before the Kingdom
of glorious life can come. (Deuteronomy 21: 22-23 says that “And if a man hath committed a sin worthy of death, and he to be put to
death, and thou hang him on
a tree: His body shall not
remain all night upon the tree, but thou
shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is
hanged is accursed of God;) that
thy hand be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.” So
it is foretold in this Old Covenant type that in the Day God fulfils the double
Curse of the Garden and the brazen snake hung on the stake, he shall eat the
dust of the Earth, having been cast down from the first heavens of this Earth,
and then being chained and cast into the Pit located in ‘Hades’
in the centre of the Earth, unable to tempt or deceive man. Then the
Jesus
the Son of Man was to be raised up on a stake. His
mode of death here predicted that the Curse of the Law might come on Him. It
speaks to the Garden Word of Man, Who must be perfect, without spot or blemish of
any kind, needed to die in propitiation to reach the depths of darkness into
which man fell. (God’s hand can be seen in that He used the Romans to crucify
Him under their law for treason, otherwise Christ
would have been stoned to death according to Jewish Law for the crime of
supposed Blasphemy, which was not a hangable offence.) And so
it was, that the Lamb of God’s heels were nailed to the Cross. And new life will flow forth to all who look upon Him to
overcome death (Genesis 3: 15).
(This initial looking up to Him represents regeneration / redemption. The
continuing of the looking up to Him as Saviour, Master, and King represents
sanctification.
The Cross spoke of several fronts; first to the ‘saved’
Jew of the first century to their need that exceeds ‘teaching’
and observances of Passover’s propitiatory blood of a lamb ‘from below’ in order
to be ‘born from above’; a further work beyond that of rebirth in their
spirit represented in the cleansing of ‘water’ - to that refining
work of the ‘wind’
/ ‘pneuma’ and fire to the saving of the ‘soul’,
in order to be found worthy and receive entrance into the coming glorious
Kingdom of God. So
it was and is, that
And
additionally, the Cross speaks to all men; they all being under the Wrath of God and being
full of the serpent’s venom of death; in spirit, soul, and body. That Death and
Wrath passed on from Adam, men then being terminal, look up to Jesus with the eye of
faith. Who being the Son of God born of a woman, a Jew
under the Law of Moses, and having walked blamelessly as the Son of Man, was
unjustly Crucified under it and thereby Cursed. Because He was Cursed for man’s sake, being the
spotless Lamb of God from above;
the granting of ‘life’ to man of an eternal spiritual kind begins. (Galations
3: 10-13) the offering then immediately following His Resurrection begins to
the Jew first, and then also to all mankind who would receive vicariously His
Blood offering unto God.
The
lifting up of Jesus, the Person, was then the same as the lifting up of Satan’s image
figuratively. It was the placing of them both under the judical
Curse of God by way of the Law given to Moses. This thereby discovers unto us
on the one hand God’s loving mercy and on the other hand the severity and
seriousness of His Holiness and Justice. Together, they are God’s Wisdom being accomplished in purposes before the foundation of the World. (Ephesians 1:
4,
1st
Peter 1:
20,
Revelation
13: 8.)
Verse 15 “That whosoever
believeth in him should not perish (die without hope under Divine Judgment Curse) but have eternal (everlasting) life.”
Verse 16 “For so” ... begins to draw our attention back to verses
14 and 15. In the Greek, it is written “For so”, meaning ‘in the same
way’ or ‘therefore’.
See Numbers 21: 4-9
where God was angry with
Verse 17 “For God sent (by the Father’s design) not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but (to complete the work of salvation) that the world through him might be saved.”
Verse 18 “He that believeth on
him is not condemned: but he that believeth
not is condemned already, because he hath not
believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John declares to
Verse 19 “And this is the
condemnation, that light has come
into the world (acknowledged by Nicodemus in John 3:
2), and
men (Jew and Gentile) loved darkness rather than light (give us Barabbas!), because their deeds were evil.” Thus, it should be seen that there is, within this statement,
naturally the reason for the indictment upon the hard hearted
‘lost’ of the World. There is the pointing out by the Holy
Spirit that the condemnation which overcame ‘saved’
Verse 20 “For every one that
doeth evil hateth the light, neither
cometh to the light, lest his deeds
should be reproved.” This
is the condemning reason that was being assigned to Nicodemus and
Verse
21 “But he
that doeth truth (not just
believing Who He is) cometh
to the light (receiving the
tutorship of the Holy Spirit and keeping the Lord’s commands), that his deeds (reflective of a deeper work on his soul by the Holy
Spirit) may be made manifest (both here and in the hereafter at the Judgment Seat
of Christ in the Kingdom inheritance), that they are wrought
(in labour) in (the Power of) God.” Nicodemus, being ‘saved’, comes to Jesus under
the cloak of night. He was willing to partly come
to the light, that is to say, to learn intellectually, but he fell short in
doing truth, in that he did not act or do that which was needed. He was not
to mentally assent to Who Jesus was, but to be baptized by John the Baptist
unto repentance, according to his belief / conviction, and stand up out of
darkness into the full daylight and proclaim and do, obediently and openly in
the Power of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit what he had come and would come
into knowledge of. To do so would have qualified him for the [coming]
*
* *
[8]
YOU WILL BE HATED
John Chapter 15 Verses 18-27
The
Lord is speaking on relationships ... with Him, the Father, the Holy Spirit,
and the disciples’ relationships with their brethren, and their relation with
the ‘World’. Jesus turns from the verb (state of
action) of love to that of hate.
VERSE 18 “If the world hate you, ye know
that it hateth me before it hated you.” Thus we have 2 ‘signs’
of the disciples’ abiding in “the
Vine”; loving obedience and the World’s
enmity against them because of it. Examining the hatred of Satan, we see that
God is the target of Satan’s hatred. God being the originator of a special ‘body’
called out by Him to be like His Son. Satan hated the Father, and by extension he then hates the Son of Man. Now Satan will hate
His ‘body’ of disciples, and that being with a special and more
intense hatred beyond just the condescending enmity he has for all mankind.
It
was an entirely new development, the signal of a new
Dispensation was dawning, wherein the enemy’s cross-hairs moved from
Under
God’s protection and guidance, under the
The
two people of God are now hated. Israel, though now
deaf and blind, was and still is called to an earthly kingdom free of Satan to
exercise God-given power over the Gentiles and rule over them as God’s
appointed Theocratic Government. This period of time
being suspended in this Age, will occur at Jesus’ Return /
VERSE 19 “If ye were of this
world, the world would love
his own: but because ye are
not of the world, but I have chosen
you out of the world, therefore the world
hateth you.” By the World,
Jesus means: the Godless unseen spirits / fallen angles in their high places
along with the society of men in their earthly abode, whom Satan rules over
from the unseen heaven associated with this earth, primarily through his two
designed systems; those being the Secular and Religious systems. Satan’s first system is Secular
and consists of politics, entertainment, science, sport, media, medical,
educational, philanthropical, business, philosophy etc... Then there is the Religious system: the satanic inspired and humanly organized church systems
and ‘priesthoods’ of idolatry, pagan or
nominally Christian, pantheism, reincarnation, spiritualism, demonism, atheism,
etc. The greatest antagonism against His disciples will come from the World’s
religious system. The world religious system is not only pagans or those who do
not know God. In Jesus’ day the Romans were pretty
much indifferent towards Him, but Jesus, in this Passage, includes
John,
in the Book of Revelation, gives us a spiritual view of the contrasting systems
(God’s and Satan’s) in this World, by employing the
term “Woman” (using “Woman” as a
symbol of a religious system)
1.) The “Woman” of Chapter 12 represents the entire true
2.) As a part of the first “Woman,” there is the
additional representative picture of Jesus’ Bride who is to rule with Him for ever
and ever. (See Revelation
19: 7; 21: 9; 22: 5.)
3.)
The ‘woman’ Jezebel (Revelation 2: 20) with
seducing spirit who gains control of God’s Church as her namesake had gained
control of
4.) The religious system depicted as the morally
corrupting ‘woman’ of Revelation 17 who rides the World’s secular political system of the
Last Days, whose idolatrous beginnings, as generally described in the Book of Romans Chapter 1,
are traced back to Babylon 2300 years or so before Jesus’ incarnation, and was
the basis of the World’s religious system now for 4300 years. She (Religious Babylon), after having helped secure a
meaningful place for the Anti-Christ to launch his Worldwide
campaign, will then meet her / its judgment end. By these designed systems from
ancient times, the plans of Satan were and are to establish men under and in
his authority over his earthly kingdom (an adaptation of Mimicking / copying of
God’s Theocratic plan for man to rule over His Kingdom in this His province).
To this end, he has always copied God’s systems for his own, and has offered
religious men (created by God with an instinct to worship and rule) alternative
religious service to replace the true worship of God, more to their fallen
flesh’s liking. Blurring truth by commingling (mixing
together) error through his servants; wilfully deceived men (wilfully meaning “Jesus you will not
convince me, though you have convinced me, or
shut up, you are about to convince me”).
‘Roman’
paganism was just part of the system which originated
with Nimrod’s
Both
Christianity
was most likely leavened in the first measure by
Satan’s king / priest emissary; Constantine
the first ‘christian’ emperor, and the first ‘christian’
high priest (pope). That deceiving amalgamation was not the last, as the church
has refused God’s emissaries down through the last 1700 years, until His Christian
church has become like that of Israel’s; fully leavened. Being now fully
corrupted in the World’s systems with Ichabod (without glory) hanging over its
head, with God’s sure fearful judgments on the corrupted ‘saved’
christians... no less for sure than the judgments that idolatrous Israel has
experienced and yet the worst still facing them, to be prophetically manifest on
both His religious peoples very soon. (Hebrews 10: 28-29)
“The friendship of the world (refusal to mature and to be found fruitful in the
Vine) is enmity with God.” It’s easy to point the finger at religious ‘Worldly’
VERSE 20 “Remember (an attitude of abiding in the Vine) the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord (Matthew 10: 24). If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you, if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.”
“If they” ... Jesus was describing for His disciples that their
mission was again unto
It is not a persecution that He personally no longer
experiences: “Why persecutest thou me?” He asked religiously darkened Saul.
These
11 plus one (the disciples) were particularly
appointed of Jesus to witness to
We,
now as His One New Man witness to the lost Gentiles in Satan’s kingdom, and are commissioned to carry His Written Word in the power of
the Holy Spirit. We are to preach the word of testimony of their condemning sinfulness
and God’s saving goodness in sending Jesus as Saviour Sacrifice and Lord
/ King and High Priest, in Whom they might be redeemed out of Satan’s kingdom /
the World and then obey the Words of Jesus unto worthiness to receive the
heavenly kingdom glory that Israel refused.
VERSE 21 “But all these things
will they (the religious leaders of
Scripturally,
this end-time call today is to the religious christian...
‘Come out of
Babylon my people, that you have no fellowship with their sins, and you receive not of her plagues.’ It is like that of the ancient call to Abraham, Being
‘saved’ he was then called out from among his idolatrous
friends and family in
The
Christianized world does not understand loving faithful suffering for Christ,
in that it is God’s means of capacitating character of Jesus into His willing disciples, that they should be found worthy of a certain
Here
are 4 ways for the people of God to avoid hatred and
persecution of the World ... but we need to know this; that all are just
different forms of being absorbed into the Harlot religious system. (Revelation
17: 1, 5) We are in the World’s system if we chose any of these...
1.)
Retaliation (throughout history, we have seen Christianity return evil for evil
instead of loving their enemies.)
2.)
Isolation (withdrawing, keeping your Christianity to yourself, either in your
private life or going so far as to become a monk)
3.) Adaptation (when you are with the worldly you then
act like them and then act like a Christian when you are around Christians.)
4.)
De-Christianization (a thinly painted Christian veneer ... like today’s Church,
there is no depth.)
VERSE
22 “If I (the Son of God personally, no inferior messenger) had not come (and tabernacled with them) and spoken unto them (face to face with the Word of cleansing
sanctification with the promise of a heavenly Kingdom), they had not had (this degree of religious unbelief and hatred in
disqualifying...) sin: but now they have no
cloak (pretext of excuses)
for (refusing to see the exceedingly sinfulness of sin
and the great provision of the New Covenant and the severe ramifications of
...) their sin: (and its inevitable judgements to be administered
under the Curse of the Law of Moses, culminating in the Last Days, Moses’ Law
being whom they insisted that they adhered to).
VERSE 23 “He that hateth me
hateth my Father also.”
The Jews professed to ‘love’ God and because
Jesus blasphemously claimed equality with God, they hated Him. Although He
substantiated His claim, they refused His evidence of signs, miracles, and
wonders and superior knowledge of the Torah and because they could not refute
Him, they hated Him the more. To hate Him Who offered
them complete reconciliation to God is unexplainable unless one is aware of the
supernatural power Satan wields over the nature and mind of the Worldly
religious.
God
has shown redeemed religious man the exceedingly sinfulness of sin, that is to
say the sin nature in the saved man. (Romans 7) Redeemed man, without willingly
cooperating in the Father’s future work of the Atonement provision in Jesus’
selfless agape love, obediently obeying Jesus’ Words in loving holy lives, in
the power of the Holy Spirit, can not be a part of His entourage, in the
promised glorious first resurrection inheritance. In which is
the realization of a key component of the Father’s plan for the restoration of
all things, that of replacing Satan and his rulers of darkness in heavenly
places, that is, ruling over from the heavens of this Earth. (Romans 8,
Ephesians 6,
Revelation
20: 4-6)
Our spurning the further work of the divine influence upon the heart of the
redeemed into loving obedience ends in religious unbelief and hatred (contrasted
with obedience and love) of Jesus and His disciples, both then and now. (
Anything
other is the vain attempt for fleeting happiness in this World that ends in a
remorseful catastrophe. Many ‘Christians’ are happy with heir religious ideas of Jesus and the
Father. They are pleased with His Creation, they delight in their religious
view of His goodness and unconditional love, and their supposed future promised
home in Heaven. But confront them with the holiness of God and His demands for
their loving obedience to Jesus in the mission to crucify the carnality of the
soul within, in order to attain unto His promises and avoid the severe
punishments, of fire, outer darkness, thrashings and cutting asunder upon them
the disobedient servants, and see their strong animosity spring forth.
VERSE 24 “If I had not done
among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now
have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.” In Verse
22, Jesus references the non-heeding
of His WORDS by religious
Throughout
Scripture (that is to say up to and throughout the Book of Acts) miracles, signs, and wonders were works used to validate God’s
spoke-persons to the Jews. (See Exodus 4: 5-8 where God told Moses that
John
witnesses that those in the World, either Jewish or Gentile believers, inexplicably hate
the One Who would bring God’s revelation of Truth to them that would be
complete wholeness. The great offence is that they must repent of their evil
and be obedient to His Words. Here is the reason the true Gospel among
believers has so many haters and few takers. And because of this wilfulness to
sin against the Lord, God is giving them up to great delusion that they may
believe ‘a lying spirit’ that is anti-Christ that leads all into perdition
judgment, (2 Thessalonians 2, 1st. John 2.)
VERSE 25 “But this cometh to
pass, that the word might
be fulfilled that is written in their (for it is no longer
applicable to His disciples) law, They hated me without a cause.” Jesus affirms to His disciples that all the religious
Jews’ unwarranted animosity was foreseen and recorded in the
very Scriptures they proclaimed as their own (see Psalms 35 &
69). Confirming their great sin and confirming
Christ’s chosen path that His disciples were to
maintain as part of the revelatory truth of Scripture post-Crucifixion. The
rejection and the great persecution of Jesus by the religious Leaders of Israel
was foretold in the Prophets and Psalms, which Stephen so eloquently preached in their ears. His
words should have pierced their hearts, but they stoned him to death immediately,
doing the exact same thing their forefathers did to
the prophets before him. Anyone who preaches an accountability message today
receives the same reception from those with religious minds though theirs is a
spiritual stoning, such as being called an idiot, or a
heretic, etc... (It’s the wrath of God’s enemies that
brings the praise and glory of God, and when it has finished its work, He will
restrain its activity. There’s no way God suffers loss of His Glory because
either way, whether from those who listen to Him, or from the fate of the sons
of disobedience, whose punishment is in the Lake of Fire, both will serve to
give glory to God.)
The crux of the
entire matter is the great depths of sinfulness of the fallen nature of
man, even in his most zealous religious state, are sounded and openly exposed
completely in the hatred towards Jesus the Messiah of God’s redeemed people,
Who un the true character of God, in His merciful wisdom, exposes it unto those
who will receive the truth and receive the provision to overcome it. Nevertheless, the ‘World’ in its wilful wickedness
will not escape giving God His Glory, albeit unknowingly to their hatred they
fulfil His Sovereign Will, as they manifest what was Written in His prophet’s
prophecies. The horrible realization, found in Jesus’
sufferings at the hand of the saved man shows that what ails the new redeemed
man in his soul is beyond what he imagined, beyond reforming, and he in himself
alone cannot get free from its grip, and therefore it is anticipated he turns
humbly to the Father in yielded loving faith and receives His empowerment for
the salvation of his soul in answer to Jesus’ complete Atonement. The
Lord is not referring to sin issues related to eternal life for the lost, but
issues against union with Him unto eternal glory. For all those who are redeemed out of the World are now required to overcome
the ‘World’ within them to bring glory to the Father. Jesus is preparing
them for both the need of the “Helper” and for understanding that they should then also not be surprised or deterred by the hatred of the
‘worldly’ saved will show them. They / we are told to marvel not and bear it aright and be fruitful. (Luke
6: 26.)
VERSES 26-27 “But when the
Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of
truth, which proceedeth
from the Father, he shall testify of me:
And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.”
“But
when the Comforter (what is in
view when calling the Holy Spirit the Comforter here is the disciples are about
to be greatly persecuted as a consequence of their being disciples in loving
obedience to Jesus, who are directed again to carry His Message and comforting
truth to Israel’s Leaders, but now equipped with Joel’s predicted outpouring of
the Holy Spirit) is
come, whom I
will send unto you from the Father (apparently the personal presence of the Holy Spirit was heretofore in
the 3rd Heaven with the Father), even the Spirit of truth,
which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me (Divinely, not of His own powers or greatness but of
Mine): And ye also shall bear witness (humanly in the power of the Holy Spirit to Israel,
of My Resurrection, My Words, and Works), because ye have been with me from the beginning.”
The
spirit of Satan permeates the World unto disobedience. The Spirit of truth is sent by the
Father and the Son to permeate the willing disciples of Jesus unto obedience as loving sons and take the
truth as a Nation to the Gentiles. The Holy Spirit is in union with the
Father and the Son, and brings forth no guarantee of every believing
individual’s success, but to Jesus’ disciples He brings comfort and help. The
Spirit of truth is a contrast with the spirit of lies and deceit of this World
to now be aimed predominantly towards the disciples of
Jesus. He brings power to those who have knowledge of the
truth, and to those who have hearts open to it, wisdom on how to live in His
empowerment and bear witness of Him, And
also to reveal the full requirements of the Gospel of Jesus’ Atonement beyond
redemption unto sanctification of the soul in the overcoming the World, and
being found fruitful and worthy of His promised Kingdom’s inheritance.
Peter
begins the humbly instructed re-offering to
Acts 5: 29-33 “Then Peter and the
other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God
rather than men. The God of our
fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and
hanged on a tree. Him hath
God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to
Christians
just want God’s blessings, assurances, and promises, but resist drawing near in
obedient loving intimacy with him. They definitely do not want to be hated because of their faith in Him, nor do they want to
suffer. Accountability in loving obedience is traded
for fleeting happiness in this world. It will be a remorseful catastrophe when
they come face to face with Christ at the Judgment Seat. There will be no replay
button to push. We need to get serious now. Christians listen to this lying
spirit because they refuse obedience to Christ, just like what happened to
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