James 4

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James 4:1

The Old and the New Covenant

Hebrews 8:6. This section is about “a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises”. The “ministry” of the high priesthood of the Lord Jesus is related to that. His ministry is “more excellent” than that of the high priests under the old covenant. That took place on earth and was temporary, while the ministry of the Lord Jesus takes place in heaven and is everlasting. His ministry as a High Priest is that of a Mediator. A mediator is someone who mediates between two parties that have made an agreement or covenant.

A covenant is a contract between two parties with obligations for each of the parties. The two parties are God on the one hand and His people on the other hand. This covenant originates from God. He determines the obligations, both which He should fulfill and which His people should fulfill. He freely takes His own obligations, while He imposed them on man in the form of commandments. God’s commandments are the conditions of how man is able to deal with God. On that ground God fulfills His promises.

What is now meant by “a better covenant” and by “better promises”? If something is ‘better’, it means that it is better in comparison to something else. You read further about ‘a new covenant’ in comparison to a covenant that God made with His people when they departed from Egypt. The better covenant is better, compared to the old covenant. That was made by God with His people at mount Sinai. Thereby God determined the conditions that the people had to fulfill in order to receive His promises. That promise was the blessing in the land of promise. But the people didn’t fulfill their obligations and therefore the promised blessing could not be given.

Now there is ‘a better covenant’ with ‘better promises’. This better covenant is also accompanied by obligations that are to be complied and also by promises of blessings that the believer receives when he complies with the obligations.

And now the role of the mediator becomes clear. He acts on behalf of both the parties. As “mediator” the Lord Jesus has all features that are fitting to the Being of God. So He knows exactly which holy conditions He has to fulfill. He also has the nature of those on whose behalf He is acting (of course with the exception of sin, Hebrews 4:15). Therefore He can also perfectly meet with the need of man.

Under the new covenant all holy conditions of God are fulfilled by the Mediator. Based on Who the Mediator is and what He has done, God is able to freely give His blessing to everyone who is connected to that Mediator. Therefore the big difference between the old and the new covenant is that under the first or old covenant the blessing was dependent on man’s doing, while under the second or new covenant everything is exclusively dependent on God.

Hebrews 8:7. That a second or a new covenant was needed meant that the first one had not delivered the result that was desired. The first covenant was not “faultless”. That was not due to the first covenant, the law, but it was due to man. The second one is indeed faultless, for it is totally outside of man’s responsibility. There was found what was searched for to enable man to yet partake of God’s blessing. This is found in and through the atoning work of Christ.

Hebrews 8:8. The Lord already announced this new covenant through Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31-34). The announcement of that was on the one hand a tremendous promise, but on the other hand it was an admonition to Israel. After all, if they had complied with the obligations of the old covenant they would have received that which was promised and a new covenant was not necessary.

It is important now that you notice with whom the old covenant was made and with whom the new covenant will be made. The old covenant was made with Israel at mount Sinai. That becomes evident from Hebrews 8:9. According to Hebrews 8:8 the new covenant will also be made with Israel. It is not made with the church, unlike what you probably hear or read sometimes. The church surely enjoys all privileges that belong to the new covenant, because its foundation is the blood of Christ. Though the church enjoys all the privileges in the spirit, in a spiritual way and not in the letter, like Israel soon will literally and tangibly enjoy that blessing on earth.

The new covenant will be formally made with Israel in the millennial kingdom of peace. Then the house of Israel, the ten tribes, and the house of Judah, the two tribes, will be united as one nation. If you read through Jeremiah 30-31, from which the writer quotes here, you will see that those chapters are filled with information about the return of Israel to the land where the promises of God will be fulfilled. In the quotation here it appears who will do that. You read seven times: ‘I will.’ That is the adequate guarantee for the fulfillment of the new covenant.

Hebrews 8:9. That sounds and is totally different than the old covenant at mount Sinai. There all the people of Israel said three times that they would do all that the Lord had spoken (Exodus 19:8; Exodus 24:3; 7). But even before they received God’s conditions in the law they already had broken them by making the golden calf (Exodus 32:1-5).

Then God “took them by the hand”, for they couldn’t live up to the obedience that they had threefold committed themselves to. He led them through the wilderness to the land. But because they continuously broke His covenant, God couldn’t care for them anymore to bless them. He had to set them aside.

But He didn’t do that for ever, for God Himself comes with a new covenant. And that new covenant is “not like” the old covenant. A new one but according to the old covenant would have the same miserable result.

Hebrews 8:10. This new covenant is different because it is not dependent on the responsibility of man, but on the grace of God. In that grace the Son of God fulfilled all conditions through His work on the cross.

This new covenant is made with Israel “after those days”, those are the days after the dispersion and distress of Israel. ‘After those days’ the days of the millennial kingdom of joy and righteousness will come under the Messiah. They will be able to enjoy the outward blessing because inwardly also a great change has happened to them. The law was imposed on the people of Israel under the old covenant as a heavy yoke that they could not bear (Acts 15:10). In the new covenant Israel has been inwardly purified and reconciled and has received a new nature that desires to do God’s will.

As a result of God’s work God will put His ”laws into their minds”, which means that their whole mind will be determined by that. God will also work that His laws will be written “on their hearts”, which means that they will obey them with love and that all their actions will be characterized by it.

The law will not then be a yoke anymore, but they will cherish it in their heart as it was with Christ (Psalms 40:8) and they will be able to fulfill the law. They will obey, not out of fear for punishment, but out of love to God. Then the relationship between the people and God will be restored. God will be the God of His people and they will be His people.

Hebrews 8:11. The new covenant, the law in their mind and heart, will mark all the relations of the people. It will be the principle of both the social and the religious life of Israel in the millennial kingdom. Under the new covenant there is no middle class of lawyers anymore who will have to present the law to their countrymen to know the Lord, which is to involve Him in everything of their lives. In the millennial kingdom that will not be necessary at all.

Everyone will act from a personal relationship with God and not through mediators. In civil relationships everyone, in his dealing as “fellow citizen”, will be guided by the knowledge of God and from the fellowship with Him and not by selfishness. Everyone will deal with others as “brother” in the religious life to honor God together according to the knowledge he has of God and from the fellowship with Him. A self-willed religion will not occur.

Hebrews 8:12. In that marvelous situation there is nothing that can bring a separation between God and His people. God has cast all their sins in the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19) and will never come back on it again. The fact that He will remember their sins no more is something else than that He forgets them. It means that He will not pay attention to those sins anymore because they are removed through the work of the Lord Jesus. That is the basis of His graceful dealings in future. What will be true for the people in future you’re already allowed to acknowledge now: the assurance of the forgiveness of your sins.

Hebrews 8:13. After the extensive and instructive quotation, the writer concludes this chapter by repeating to say what he also said before this quotation in Hebrews 8:7. There he spoke about a ‘first’ and a ‘second’ (covenant); here he speaks about a ‘new’ and an ‘old’ (covenant). If you speak about ‘a new’ you declare the previous one to be ‘old’. Something that is old, has had its time. It is visible from its look that something is out of date; it is “obsolete”. That’s what was the matter with the first covenant.

It is also said additionally that it is “ready to disappear”. The best way to interpret this, is to see it as an allusion to the coming devastation of Jerusalem in the time this letter was written. That devastation was going to happen in the year 70, which made it completely impossible to maintain something from the Old Testament.

Now read Hebrews 8:6-13 again.

Reflection: What are the differences between the old and the new covenant?

James 4:3

The Earthly Sanctuary

In chapter 8 you saw how the new covenant was placed opposite the old one. In chapter 9 you will see how the true heavenly sanctuary is placed opposite the allegorical, earthly sanctuary. In Hebrews 9:1-5 first a description of the preparation of the earthly sanctuary is given after which, till Hebrews 9:10, the service in the earthly sanctuary is described. From Hebrews 9:11 you look into the heavenly sanctuary, where Christ has entered once for all and what are the wonderful results of it.

Another striking thing is that there is mention of the tabernacle and not of the temple. The reason is that the description of the tabernacle and the service therein better fits the way Christians are seen in this letter. They are seen here as a people of pilgrims on earth who are on their way to the promised land. That doesn’t mean that there is a certain difference between the preparation of the tabernacle and the service that took place therein on the one hand and the temple and its preparation and service on the other hand. According to their character the services in the tabernacle and in the temple were the same. While the description given is essentially that of the actual state of affairs in the temple, the writer always speaks of the tabernacle.

Hebrews 9:1. He starts with demonstrating the connection between the first, old covenant and the regulations for the service in the earthly sanctuary where that service took place. He speaks about “the earthly sanctuary” and not about a ‘worldly sanctuary’. A worldly sanctuary would mean that it happened in a worldly way and that it is adapted to the taste of the world. What he wants to say, is that it is a sanctuary that belongs to the tangible, visible world.

Hebrews 9:2. In the description the writer takes his readers to the tabernacle and leads them in mind along the several objects. First he stands still at “the outer” tabernacle, which means the first part of the tabernacle. This part is called “the holy place” (Exodus 26:1-30). In that part the priests were allowed to come daily to perform their services. In the holy place were the lampstand (Exodus 25:31-40) and the table with the bread of the Presence on it (Exodus 25:23-30).

Hebrews 9:3. After the first part behind the first veil there is another part “behind” what is called here “the second veil“. That part is called “the Holy of Holies” and was the actual dwelling place of God. It was only accessible for the high priest only once a year.

Hebrews 9:4. In the Holy of Holies there were also some objects, namely the altar for burning incense (Exodus 30:1-6) and the ark (Exodus 25:10-16). The ark is called here “the ark of the covenant” to indicate once more that it is about an old and a new covenant. The ark was the meeting place between God and the people under the old covenant. Opposite this center of the old covenant Christ stands as the center, the heart of the new covenant.

The glory of the ark is indicated by mentioning that it was “covered on all sides with gold”. There were still more glorious things connected to the ark. In the ark there were a golden jar holding the manna (Exodus 16:33) and Aaron’s rod (Numbers 17:8-10).

When you read the quoted verses it will strike you that of both the jar and the rod is said that they were placed before the ark. Here it is said that they were in the ark. That can only mean that they ended up in the ark later. How that has happened we do not know.

The contents of the ark is completed by the two tables of stone, here called “the tables of the covenant” (cf. ‘the ark of the covenant’). The tables were in the ark from the beginning, because God had said so (Deuteronomy 10:5; 1 Kings 8:9).

Hebrews 9:5. In his ‘guided tour’ in the earthly sanctuary the writer finally contemplates “the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat” (Exodus 25:18-22). The two impressive angel images formed one whole with the mercy seat. Between the two cherubim that formed the throne of God was the place where God dwelt. They looked down on the mercy seat and the tables of the law and they were the symbolic representatives of God’s judgment power to judge everything that was not in accordance with God’s holiness.

The writer would have wanted to speak in detail about the meaning of the interior or the exterior of the tabernacle, but that was not possible. Of course it is also wonderful to be able to understand the spiritual meaning of those objects. That is certainly allowed and that is even the purpose of it if you read and study the book of Exodus, but that is not the point of the writer here. His purpose is rather to separate his Jewish readers from this whole earthly routine, because that whole temple service, including all its objects, has lost its meaning to God.

For them however, the temple with all its objects and the service connected with it still exerted a potential attraction. That is the reason why the writer demonstrates the emptiness of the earthly sanctuary and the uselessness to still ascribe any value to it. Though the teachings about the symbols are indeed very useful, the point of the writer is the sharp contrast between the symbols and Christendom. Again and again he shows the contrast: symbols – reality, earthly – heavenly, temporary – eternal; imperfect – perfect, and says that a mixture is not possible.

Hebrews 9:6. After the writer has shown how everything was prepared, he then speaks about the service of the priests. Their service in the holy place, ‘the outer tabernacle’, consisted of taking care of the lamps and the offerings of the incense on the altar twice a day and the changing of the bread of the Presence once a week. This service happened on a regular basis, which is indicated by the word “always”.

Hebrews 9:7. That is a contrast with the service of the high priest of whom you read that he was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies, “the second”, just “once a year”. This ‘once a year’ was on the tenth day of the seventh month, that is the day of atonement (Leviticus 16:29-30). And when he entered it, it was “not without [taking] blood”. First he entered with the blood of the bull to offer that “for himself” (Leviticus 16:6; 14). After that he entered with the blood of the first goat to offer that “for sins of the people committed in ignorance [that means: the sins that were committed unintentionally]” (Leviticus 16:15).

Hebrews 9:8. The description of the tabernacle is not made up by the writer. He is simply following the instructions that the Holy Spirit has made known about it in the Old Testament. He also learns from the description of the tabernacle the teachings of the Holy Spirit that, as long as the first tabernacle with its closed veil is still maintained, there is no free access to God. His readers had to be fully aware that a return to the earthly service meant that they were closing again the way to God for themselves.

Had the veil not been rent and had the way to the sanctuary not been opened through the work of the Lord Jesus (Matthew 27:51)? Each believer is allowed to come into God’s presence on the basis of what the Lord Jesus has done. You too have a permanent access to God, a direct access to the place where He is, in the light. Would you want to exchange that privilege for a service that may be appealing to eye and ear, but takes you outside God’s presence?

Hebrews 9:9. The whole earthly tabernacle or temple service was “a symbol for the present time” to compare all the parts of that service with the heavenly tabernacle. The word ‘symbol’ literally means ‘throw next to’ with the meaning of throwing an object next to another object to compare these objects with each other. The purpose is that you compare both the building and the service that takes place in it, with the heavenly sanctuary and the service that takes place there. As was fitting for an earthly sanctuary, tangible literal gifts and sacrifices – also at the time this letter was written – were offered.

The readers had to become fully aware that no sacrifice in the first part of the tabernacle had ever been able to make the worshiper perfect in conscience. He who returned to the old service would lose his perfect conscience and be continually accused again by his conscience. Someone who is perfect in conscience knows God and knows to be accepted by Him. He who has a perfect conscience, knows that he has been purified from all evil once for all by the work and the blood of Christ.

Hebrews 9:10. The whole service according to the law with its offerings and regulations can and could never ever have that effect. They were all regulations for the outward man, the flesh, the body, and not for the inward man or the conscience or the spirit. In that way “food” had to do with the difference between clean and unclean animals (Leviticus 11:2) and “drink” for example refer to the prohibition for the priest to drink alcohol (Leviticus 10:9). Also the “various washings” have nothing to do with the inward man, but only with the outward man. In that way washings were necessary at births (Leviticus 12) and after leprosy (Leviticus 13-14).

Christ, High Priest and Mediator

Hebrews 9:11. The first word “but” indicates that what now follows is a contrast with what is written in the previous part. The word “Christ” presents the Person by Whom the whole earthly service, which is described in the previous verses, has lost its right to exist. The earthly service has not made any man perfect in conscience (Hebrews 9:9) and also hasn’t brought a perfect situation (Hebrews 7:19). The only One Who is able and Who will indeed do that is Christ.

He has appeared as High Priest to guide His people into the rest of the promised millennial kingdom of peace. In that kingdom of peace, which is the future world, He will reign and bless His people with the “good things”. These good things “to come” exist in everything that will please the Messiah when He reigns. You recognize these good things in the bread and the wine with which Melchizedek met Abraham (Genesis 14:18).

We have now already received the good things that are still to come for Israel: the eternal salvation, redemption, inheritance, covenant, a perfect conscience, free access to the heavenly sanctuary, fellowship with God. For the believing Hebrews and for you Christ has already appeared as High Priest. To us His service is not connected to an earthly sanctuary characterized by weakness and imperfection, but to the heavenly sanctuary.

The heavenly sanctuary is greater and more perfect than the earthly one. That heavenly sanctuary and the service He performs there, is not the result of men’s work. In no way it is connected to the first creation. Therefore that sanctuary and the service that takes place there is guaranteed inviolable from any form of corruption, thus securing the blessing. With that blessing Christ as the true Melchizedek will soon come out of the heavenly sanctuary to His people on earth.

Hebrews 9:12. The writer uses again the most powerful words in order to absolutely exclude any possible chance of the slightest doubt concerning Christ and His work. The assurance of the blessing is in the “own blood” of Christ with which He entered the holy place. That also stands opposite the earthly service with its animal sacrifices of which the blood could not take away sins (Hebrews 10:4). How could the blood of animals ever possibly take away the sins from men?

Christ entered the holy place to be there forever. His blood that was shed once for all eternally keeps its value and power. The work is finished and its value can never change. Because He always remains there, the access has been opened once for all and therefore we always have access to God in the light. We can enter, because Christ entered and we are able to enter because we are perfect in conscience.

He has obtained “eternal redemption”. That redemption concerns the believers of all times. Even the whole universe will partake of it. It is about the rights that He as the Son of Man, Who will soon rule over the world to come, has obtained. Through His sacrificial death He has laid the foundation for the redemption of all believers and of all things (Colossians 1:19-22). The blood that forms the foundation is now in the sanctuary.

The blood has eternal value and therefore the redemption is also an eternal redemption. Redemption goes further than forgiveness. Forgiveness deals with our sins and it means that God doesn’t impute our sins to us anymore because they have been removed by the Lord Jesus. Redemption deals with our own selves. It removes us from our former situation and brings us into a whole new position, connected to Christ.

Hebrews 9:13. The writer wants to present the contrast between the cleansing rituals in the Old Testament and the cleansing by the blood of Christ with more emphasis. The blood of goats and bulls is connected with the day of atonement (Leviticus 16:3; 14-15). The ashes, mixed with the water of purification, came from the red heifer (Numbers 19:9). These means were literally applied on the body of a person who had become unclean by a sinful manifestation or contact. By the sprinkling with the prescribed means that person became clean again. That cleansing concerned only his body, but on that basis he was allowed to be among God’s people again. It did not say anything about his innermost being. These means also had to be used again when the person committed a sin again. The cleansing was only temporary.

Hebrews 9:14. The blood of Christ and its functioning and the result of it are completely different. As far as heaven is above the earth, as far is the distance of what Christ has done and the value of His blood beyond the earthly cleansing rituals. In that way the Holy Spirit was present in each aspect of the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross and of His whole preceded life. The Lord Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35); He was anointed by Him (Acts 10:38); He was led by Him (Luke 4:1) and He acted through Him (Acts 10:38). Here we read that He “through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God”.

The value of the blood of Christ is that great because this blood is from Christ Who has offered Himself to God and that through the Holy Spirit. He is seen here as Man, Who, for the sake of all people who would believe in Him, offers up the sacrifice to a holy and righteous God in the power of the Holy Spirit. Christ was an Offeror Who was able to offer a spotless sacrifice to God, because He was perfectly clean, righteous and without sin. He was the Offeror and the Sacrifice, Whose blood was brought into the sanctuary. And that’s the point here.

The result is that the conscience of the believer is cleansed from “dead works”, through which he is now able “to serve the living God”. Dead works are all works that are not done in fellowship with the living God, but from one’s own idea about serving God. Therefore, serving the living God is opposite to dead works.

‘Serving’ here has the meaning of serving as a priest. On the basis of the sacrifice that the Lord Jesus offered to God in Himself, all believers are now able to bring offerings to God. They serve God by honoring Him. The believers bring worship in spirit and truth (John 4:24) by telling God what they have seen in the sacrifice of His Son.

All things will be judged by the question: ‘What does God, the Living One, think about it?’ The living God has no interest in ‘church attendances’ as such, but sees if there is any interest in His Person. Imagine that someone visits you, but only pays attention to the way your house is decorated and doesn’t look at you at all. That’s the way many people deal with God and His service. They do not realize that the Lord Jesus offered Himself to form a company of worshipers who would be able to draw near to God in the sanctuary with a fully cleansed conscience.

Hebrews 9:15. This drawing near to God was impossible under the old covenant. To make that possible a new covenant was necessary. This new covenant concerns Israel and Judah and still has to be made with them, but God has already appointed and revealed the Mediator. This One has accomplished the work on which the fulfillment of the promises could be based. The sacrificial death of Christ delivers us from the transgressions of the old covenant and is the foundation for receiving the blessings of the new covenant: “the eternal inheritance”.

The transgressions under the first covenant could not be removed by the sacrifices under the first covenant. But the blood of the new covenant that was shed through the death of Christ, has completely blotted them out. They don’t press like a burden on the believer anymore, which is the case with those who remain connected to the old covenant. He who is connected to the Mediator of the new covenant, is redeemed from the transgressions. They are “those who have been called” and are able to receive the eternal inheritance on the basis of that redemption.

It is a great privilege to belong to the called ones, which also includes the receiving of the eternal inheritance. There can be mention of an eternal inheritance because the atonement is perfect. Sin has been removed and will be completely removed from the sight of God in accordance with the nature and the nature of God Himself. Christ, the Mediator (Hebrews 12:24), mediates between a holy God and the defiled man. Moses was also a mediator, but then of the old covenant. But he didn’t die for the people. As a sinful man, neither could he. What Christ did, He did not do in connection with the old covenant, for within that system there was no room for true cleansing and service. The service of Christ is connected with a new covenant. That makes everything totally different and perfectly certain.

Now read Hebrews 9:11-15 again.