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New Covenant Torah

Ivrim (Hebrews) 8:1
Now in the things which we are saying the chief point is this; we have such a high priest, who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,

The one thing that we do not want to miss here in this passage of Scripture is the main point of what is being written.  The main point is that the high priest we have, namely, Mashiach Yeshua, has sat down at the right hand of the heavenly Father in the heavens.  This is a very important truth because the throne Yeshua sat upon is a particular throne. 

Luqa (Luke) 1:32 
He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of Elyon, and YHWH Elohim shall give to Him the throne of His father David;

When Mashiach Yeshua ascended into heaven, He sat down upon the throne at the right hand of YHWH Elohim, which is the throne of David.  When we realize this truth, then the fact that Yeshua is currently reigning as King over His kingdom is soon to be realized.  His reign is not at some distant future time, but rather, His reign began when He sat down at the right hand of Elohim.

Since the name David means “beloved one,” what this means is that Yeshua is sitting upon the throne of the beloved one.  This makes perfect sense and actually gives one great understanding as to why it is that He is sitting upon this throne in the first place, since Yeshua is the Beloved One.

Ivrim (Hebrews) 8:2
a minister of the Beit Qodesh, and of the true mishkan, which the Elohim pitched, not man.

Yeshua is a minister in the set-apart house or set-apart household.  This house consists of all those who have come to Mashiach and have asked for and sought forgiveness of their own personal sins, and have chosen to walk the straight and narrow path from that point on.  The mishkan being referred to in this verse, is not the mishkan Moshe and the children of Israel constructed in the wilderness, but rather, it is the mishkan that was pitched by YHWH Elohim in the heavens.  Man had no part in the construction of this mishkan.  It is this mishkan in which Yeshua is a minister.  It is this mishkan into which Yeshua brought His own Blood to atone for the sins of man.

Ivrim (Hebrews) 8:3
For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; wherefore it is necessary that He also have something to offer.

Before any high priest could enter into the inner sanctuary of the mishkan, he had to have something to offer.  In the case of the earthly high priest, he brought into the inner sanctuary, the blood of bulls for his own sins, and the blood of goats for the sins of the people.

However, in the heavenly mishkan our High Priest did not bring in the blood of bulls and goats, but rather, He brought in His own Blood.  This is what Mashiach applied to the altar in the heavenly mishkan.

Ivrim (Hebrews) 8:4
Now if He were on the earth, He would not be a priest at all, seeing there are those who offer the gifts according to the Torah;

One thing that should be understood is that as long as Yeshua is on earth, He is not, and cannot be, a high priest, because according to Torah which He gave, He is of the wrong tribe.  It is the tribe of Levi that is commanded to bring the gifts and offerings of the people of Israel before YHWH.  Since Yeshua is not of the tribe of Levi, but rather, He is of the tribe of Yehudah, He does not qualify to be a priest on earth.

Since Yeshua did not enter into the earthly mishkan with His Blood, but He entered into the mishkan in heaven, it is there that He performs His priestly duties.  It is in the heavenly mishkan that our salvation is purchased and made secure.  The earthly mishkan is temporary, being only a copy of the true mishkan, and is passing away.  However, the heavenly mishkan is the true one and it is not passing away; thereby making the offering of His Blood permanent and secure.

Ivrim (Hebrews) 8:5
who serve that which is a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, even as Moshe is warned when he is about to make the mishkan; for, “See,” says He, “that you make all things according to the pattern that was showed you in the mount.”

The earthly mishkan was only a copy of the mishkan in heaven.  As such, the priests also were only a foreshadowing of the one true Priest who was to come, namely, Mashiach Yeshua.

Ivrim (Hebrews) 8:6
But now Yeshua Mashiach has obtained a ministry more excellent, by so much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted upon better promises.

The covenant under which Mashiach Yeshua is ministering is the “new” covenant.  The new covenant is based upon the promise and the oath made to Avraham.

Ivrim (Hebrews) 6:17 
Wherein Elohim, being minded to show more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the immutability of His counsel, interposed with an oath;

It is this oath and this promise that YHWH gave to Avraham, which was clearly before the covenant at Mount Sinai, which is the basis of the new covenant given to the house of Israel and the house of Yehudah through Mashiach Yeshua.

It is interesting to note the way Dr. Stern translates this verse. 

Ivrim (Hebrews) 8:6
But now the work Yeshua has been given to do is far superior to theirs, just as the covenant he mediates is better.  For this covenant has been given as Torah on the basis of better promises.

Notice that this new covenant is given as Torah.  As one continues on in this chapter, he will see that this is actually quite accurate, as the writer of this letter quotes the prophet Yirmeyah (Jeremiah), in which YHWH states that He is going to write this new covenant Torah upon the hearts of His people.

So clearly, the work of Mashiach Yeshua in bringing the new covenant to His people is Torah for them.  The significance of this cannot be overstated.  Just as the Torah YHWH gave on Mount Sinai is still binding upon His people today, so too is this new covenant Torah binding upon anyone who diligently seeks to walk according to the pattern set before him in Yeshua Mashiach.

Ivrim (Hebrews) 8:7
For if that first covenant had been faultless, then would no place have been sought for a second.

What was the fault of the first covenant?  It made no provision for the giving of and the infilling of His Spirit in His people.  And because this was true, there was no way for the people to actually accomplish, keep, and guard His Torah and fulfill its commandments.

However, in the new covenant Torah, one not only has the promise of this infilling of His Spirit, but now he has the actual down payment; and when he follows this new covenant properly, he can, and will be, filled with His Spirit to keep, do, and guard His commandments, all of them.

The writer now quotes from Yirmeyah (Jeremiah) 31:31-34

Ivrim (Hebrews) 8:8-12
8 For finding fault with them, He says,
“Behold, the days come,” says YHWH,
“That I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Yehudah;
9              Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers
In the day that I took them by the hand to lead them forth out of the land of Egypt;
For they continued not in My covenant,
And I regarded them not,” says YHWH.
10           “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
After those days,” says YHWH; “I will put My Torah into their mind,
And on their heart also will I write them;
And I will be to them Elohim,
And they shall be to Me a people;
11           And they shall not teach every man his fellow-citizen,
And every man his brother, saying,
‘Know YHWH;’ For all shall know Me,
From the least to the greatest of them.
12           For I will be merciful to their iniquities,
And their sins will I remember no more.”

This new covenant is made with both houses, which will eventually be brought back together into one nation again.  But before that can happen, both houses have to be walking in the new covenant Torah.

This new covenant Torah is not according to the Torah of the past which was written upon tablets of stone.  Rather, this new covenant Torah will be written upon the flesh of the individual’s heart.  First, this will occur in the house of Israel.  Then later, it will occur in the house of Yehudah.  This writing of His new covenant Torah upon their hearts, will be what makes them His people.

Please take careful note that this new covenant Torah will be written upon each and every person’s heart and mind.  So much so, that no man will need to say to his neighbor, “Know YHWH,” for all will know Him personally.  Wow!  If there was ever an encouraging word in Scripture, this is one of them:  there is coming a day in which everyone in His nation, each and every person, will know YHWH, and no one will have to wonder if his neighbor is keeping Torah according to His specifications.  He will have put each person in the body of Mashiach just as He wills, and each and every one will function just as He desires for them to function.

All the past sins and iniquities have been forgiven, purged, cleansed, and forgotten by our heavenly Father.  We should do no less than to forget the past of our neighbors!

Ivrim (Hebrews) 8:13
In that He says, “A new covenant” He has made the first old.  But that which is becoming old and waxes aged is near to disappearing.

He sums up the previous verses by stating that the previous covenant has been superseded by the covenant YHWH has now made with the house of Israel, and soon with the house of Yehudah.  This is why the writer states that it is in the process of disappearing, rather than that it has already disappeared.  He seems to understand clearly that this new covenant is instituted in stages.  Stage one has begun, in which the house of Israel, or Ephrayim, is being brought back to our heavenly Father’s house to keep Torah, not the Torah of old, but the new covenant Torah, the Torah that He writes upon our hearts and minds.  This is the Torah Ya’aqov refers to as the Torah of liberty or freedom.  As Yeshua taught:

Yochanan (John) 8:36 
“If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.”

ABBA YHWH, seal us in Your new covenant Torah, and write it upon our hearts, and put it in our minds, that it would ever be before us to do, to keep, and to guard, from a heart filled with Your love; in the name of Yeshua our Mashiach.  Amein.

Shabbat Shalom
Zerubbabel ben Emunah
www.onetorahforall.com
zerubbabel@onetorahforall.com

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