In 7:11–28 the writer drew attention to certain deficiencies in the Levitical arrangement. Among these were the mortality of the ministering priests (7:23) and the necessity of repeating sacrifices for sins, both of the priests and the people (7:27). Two further weaknesses of the Levitical arrangement are demonstrated on the basis of Scripture in 8:1–13. First, the contrast between the heavenly and earthly tabernacle is introduced to supplement the distinction between the new and the old. Levitical priests serve only a shadowy suggestion of the heavenly sanctuary in which Christ exercises his ministry. To the degree that the earthly sanctuary with its ministry only imperfectly corresponds to the ministry conducted in the presence of God, it is marked by deficiency. Secondly, the covenant under which the Levitical arrangement was instituted has been treated by God as obsolete. The mediation of the new covenant demonstrates the eschatological superiority of Christ’s ministry and the divine intention to replace the old arrangement with another that is eschatologically new.”[257]
In this section the writer first stated (vv. 1–2) and then explained (vv. 3–5) Jesus Christ’s better ministry. It is superior in three respects. He serves as a seated priest having finished His work of offering a final sacrifice for sins (v. 1). He is an enthroned priest having taken His place at the right hand of God the Father (v. 1), and He is a heavenly priest having entered the true sanctuary where He now ministers (vv. 1–2).
8:1–2 “What has been said” (v. 1) refers to chapter 7.
The writer again referred to the heavens where God abides and where Jesus Christ now serves as the real tabernacle, the only one that does not imitate something better than itself. In particular, the holy of holies is in view. These verses summarize what follows in chapter 8.[259]
8:3–5 Verse 4 sounds as though the Jewish priests were presenting offerings in Herod’s Temple when the writer wrote. This understanding of the text has led some students of the book to date its writing before the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
God had explained the fact that the tabernacle was a prototype of another temple, the heavenly one, to Moses when God gave him the directions for the construction of the tabernacle (Exod. 25:40; cf. Rev. 4:5–6; 6:9–11; 8:3–5; 11:19; 21:22). Moses may have received a vision of God’s heavenly dwelling place then (cf. 1 Chron. 28:19).
“The contrast developed is not simply between an earthly copy and a heavenly archetype but between a historical situation in the past and one that succeeded it in time. During the former situation, marked by the ministry of the Levitical priests, there was no entrance into the real, heavenly presence of God; full entrance into the eternal presence of God was made possible only with the life and redemptive accomplishment of Jesus.”[265]
The writer proceeded to explain the superiority of the New Covenant that Jesus Christ ratified with His blood (death) that is better than the Old Mosaic Covenant that He terminated when He died. He first explained the reason for the change in covenants (vv. 6–9), then he quoted the four superior promises of the New Covenant (vv. 10–12), and finally he underlined the certainty of the change (v. 13).
8:6 The superiority of Jesus’ ministry as our High Priest rests also on the superiority of the covenant that forms the basis of that ministry. That covenant in turn rests on superior promises compared with the Mosaic Covenant promises and on a superior mediator, namely, Jesus Christ, compared with the angels and Moses (Gal. 3:19).
8:7 As with the priesthood (7:11–12), so it is with the covenant and its promises. Had the first been adequate God would not have promised a second. Add “and its promises” after “covenant,” which the translators have supplied, in this verse since “them” in verse 8 is plural.
8:8–12 God gave the promise of a new covenant because the people of Israel had failed Him. He also did so because the Old Mosaic Covenant did not have the power to enable them to remain faithful to God. The New Covenant has the power whereby God’s people may remain faithful, namely, the presence of God living within the believer. This is one way in which it differs from the Old Covenant (v. 9).[267]
God promised that the New Covenant would enable the Israelites to do four things. They would know and desire to do God’s will (v. 10b), enjoy a privileged, unique relationship with God (v. 10c), know God directly (v. 11), and experience permanent forgiveness of their sins (v. 12). These are the “better [i.e., unconditional] promises” the writer referred to earlier (v. 6).
8:13 The writer contrasted the New Covenant with the Old Covenant, namely, the Mosaic Covenant. The Mosaic Covenant is now “obsolete” and even as the writer wrote the Book of Hebrews it was also “growing old.” It virtually disappeared in A.D. 70 when the Romans destroyed the temple, terminated its ritual and officiants, and scattered the Jews throughout the world (cf. Matt. 24:1–2).