HEBREWS CHAPTERS 7-8

[Kevin Young]

This week we will be moving forward to Chapters 7 & 8 of Hebrews where we will learn more about what Christ means to the Believer. After reading the chapters, please post your thoughts, questions, and insights here in this thread. God bless you all.

[Ric]

What sticks out to me here is that the old covenant has become obsolete. Yet, we often resort back to the idea of laws and judgements and punishments for wrongdoing. Kinda like we straddle the fence between old and new. To really live out the new covenant, shouldn't we be quick to forgive, and rather work to restore those who have done wrong?

Kevin, I'm not sure if this fits here or not, but it kinda hit me when you mentiond what Christ means to the believer. To me, Christ is like that soldier who falls on an enemy grenade to save his team. The soldiers he dies saving are forever shaken to the core by it, and they honor his sacrifice for the rest of their lives, and live every day of thier lives in a manner that shows their honor and gratitude, because they know that on that day ever how many years ago, THEY could have been killed, had it not been for that one selfless act.

Only, in the case with Christ, our King was the one jumping on the grenade, so to speak. Worse yet, He endured extreme torture for our sakes, because on our own we only have the cold hard fact that we're going to hell forever. Jesus took that punishment from us with His own life. So, knowing He really did die for us, shouldn't our lives resemble those soldiers whose lives were saved by their one comrade taking the blast to save his fellow men?

[sassy1506]

I said something on here before, but I think I lost the internet before it was posted. So I'll do my best to repeat it.

18 The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless 19 (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.

This probably has next to nothing to do with it, but this verse reminds me of when I was obsessed with acting. I still love acting, but it used to be all about being the center of attention. It did nothing for my spirit or for God. With music, I can get my feelings out easily and it's a great way of communicating with God.

12 For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.

I wish it was that easy for us. It's so hard forgiving people, and it's impossible to forget what they did. God's way too amazing.

[bookshelver317]

While reading chapter 7 of Hebrews, verses 19 through 27 really stuck out to me.

19The law of Moses could not make anything perfect. But now a better hope has been given to us, and with this hope we can come near to God. 20It is important that God did this with an oath. Others became priests without an oath, 21but Christ became a priest with God's oath, God said: 'The Lord has made a promise and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever.'

The Lord made a promise to die on the cross for our sins . By doing that, he opened the gateway to Heaven for all by offering the ultimate gift of Salvation to those who are seeking a close relationship with Him. With the hope that we can be forgiven of our sins, we can then have that closer walk and relationship with Christ.

22This means that Jesus is the guarantee of a better agreement from God to His people. 23When one of the other priests died, he could not continue being a priest. So there were many priests. 24 But because Jesus lives forever, he will never stop serving as priest. 26Jesus is the kind of high priest we need. He is holy, sinless,pure, not influenced by sinners, and he is raised above the heavens. 27He is not like the other priests who had to offer sacrifices every day, first for their own sins, and then for the sins of the people. Christ offered his sacrifices only once and for all time when he offered himself.

This even signifies more that God IS the better hope. The new agreement is better because we receive the High Priest that lives forever. He gave his life for us so that we might be saved, and He only had to do it once and it's a gift that can be given forever. To me God is our BFF for life and wants to have a closer walk with us and gives us that chance by offering us the gift of Salvation.

[Kevin Young]

24But because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever. 25Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save* those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.

We learned last week that a priest's job is stand in between God and people and bring them together. In this verse we learn that Jesus lives forever, and He is "forever" interceding (or bringing us and God together).

  26He is the kind of high priest we need because he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and has been given the highest place of honor in heaven.* 27Unlike those other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the people's sins.

5They serve in a system of worship that is only a copy, a shadow of the real one in heaven.

I have heard many people teach that the Old Testament was a "shadow" of things to come in the New Testament. Hebrews confirms this. In the Old Covenant, priests would sacrifice animals as a penalty of their sins. But this was just a shadow of God's plan for us in the New Covenant. For in the New Covenant we no longer have priests making sacrifices everyday, but we have a Great High Priest Jesus, who sacrificed Himself ONCE AND FOR ALL for people's sins. Other examples of things (shadows) in the Old Testament that point to something in the New Testament would be:
1. Old= Abraham sacrificing his son Isaac. New= God sacrificing His Son Jesus
2. Old= Jonah spent three days in the belly of a great fish. New= Jesus spent 3 days in the belly of the earth.
3. Old= On the original day before Passover, people spread the blood of a lamb on the top and the sides of their doorposts; literally the shape of a cross. And the death angel would "passover" any house that had the blood on the doorposts. New= Jesus spread His blood on a cross (the day before the Passover feast began), and now the people of the world can have eternal life through His sacrifice on the cross.

  7If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it.

This is one of the most matter of fact statements in the Bible. The Old Testament is meant to be studied, and understood; and it is good that we have it. But it is not meant for us to follow the laws of the Old Testament. For we have been given a New Covenant and a New Testament, and it is in this New Covenant in which we live and follow.

God speaks of a "new" covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear.

[ontariobrother]

Hi, this is my first time here. I saw the show in Port Huron and I was really encouraged by Kevin's message. It sounds like some real ministry is going on in these discussions so I thought I would jump in.

I found chapter 7 to be a difficult read. I understood that Christ belongs to the priestly order of Melchizedek, which in contrast to the Levitical priesthood is an eternal priesthood. That is key when we try to understand that Christ has atoned for all of our sin, for all time! There will never be a time that Christ's priesthood runs out, therefore our sins will always be forgiven! Praise the Lord!

The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priest hood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who drawnear to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them v.23-36

I see people attacking the idea that Christ atoned for only the sins of those who believe in him. It is seen as too exclusive. But passages like the above dont make much sense if everyone is saved. Clearly a person must "draw near" to be saved. I'm glad God extends this salvation to all people, but lets not be fooled into thinking that those who do not "draw near" are saved. They are in peril and they need the Gospel.

On that note, chapter 8:8-12 reveals how freaking amazing the Gospel is! Those who come to Christ under the New Covenant recieve such an amazing gift! God writes his law on our hearts and minds v.10. He is now our God and we are His people! v.10 That is an amazing thing! We dont need people to tell us, "Hey, let me help you know God." We know Him personally! The poorest, weakest person to the strongest and most priviledged, all who come to Christ "they shall all know me." That blows me away everytime I pray! Who am I that God would come and speak to me privately? That He would spend time with me? That He would care to listen to my complaints and struggles? That He would use me for His glory and fill my life with His amazing goodness? I am a sinner! But He says, "I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more"v.12. Amen, thankyou Jesus! I hope that encourages everyone!

[Ric]

Hey, that's a really good explanation, eh?

It's kinda cool that Melchizedek was the king of Salem. Salem means "peace". So, he was the king of peace. A type of Christ, no doubt.

[sassy1506]

Hey, that's a really good explanation, eh?

It's kinda cool that Melchizedek was the king of Salem. Salem means "peace". So, he was the king of peace. A type of Christ, no doubt.

I just thought about the Salem witch trials. Does that mean that what that really means is the Peace Witch Trials? I get that that was the name of the place, but still . . . it's kinda weird. Sorry . . .

[Ric]

Sam, I think the people of that time/place went looking for the devil when they should've been looking for the LORD. But yeah, that is kinda ironic.

[ontariobrother]

lol thanks for that Canadian "eh" Ric!
That is pretty sweet that Christ is our peace. He is our forever peace. Man, as I continue to walk through life I am beginning to realize why Paul always wishes the church grace and peace from God. Life in this fallen world does not throw a lot of grace and peace our way. But Christ does!

[Steph]

Kevin, I'm not sure if this fits here or not, but it kinda hit me when you mentiond what Christ means to the believer. To me, Christ is like that soldier who falls on an enemy grenade to save his team. The soldiers he dies saving are forever shaken to the core by it, and they honor his sacrifice for the rest of their lives, and live every day of thier lives in a manner that shows their honor and gratitude, because they know that on that day ever how many years ago, THEY could have been killed, had it not been for that one selfless act.

Wow, I really loved that insight, Ric! This is what I love about studying the Bible with other believers...the chance to see things from another perspective and consider things in a different way that you may not have thought of.


And Kevin, I really liked your parallels between the Old and New Covenants. Also good insights that I had not thought about before, especially the second one about Jonah.


And OntarioBrother (welcome to the boards! ), I also really loved your insights!

There will never be a time that Christ's priesthood runs out, therefore our sins will always be forgiven! Praise the Lord!

On that note, chapter 8:8-12 reveals how freaking amazing the Gospel is! Those who come to Christ under the New Covenant recieve such an amazing gift! God writes his law on our hearts and minds v.10. He is now our God and we are His people! v.10 That is an amazing thing! We dont need people to tell us, "Hey, let me help you know God." We know Him personally! The poorest, weakest person to the strongest and most priviledged, all who come to Christ "they shall all know me." That blows me away everytime I pray! Who am I that God would come and speak to me privately? That He would spend time with me? That He would care to listen to my complaints and struggles? That He would use me for His glory and fill my life with His amazing goodness? I am a sinner! But He says, "I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more"v.12. Amen, thankyou Jesus! I hope that encourages everyone!

Amen! How awesome that God gives us that ability to know Him by writing His laws in our minds and on our hearts, and that we all have the opportunity to know Him if we accept His gift of grace!


I really liked these chapters of Hebrews (lots of underlining), but I also feel like I got a lot from reading everyone else's comments as well. Thanks guys!


One thing that really stuck out to me in these chapters is the idea of Christ's sacrifice. Last year I read through the entire Bible (in 90 days with a class I took at my church). A little while later I was talking with my sister-in-law about the class, and mentioned how overwhelming it was all the sacrificing they had to do in the Old Testament. Leviticus is filled with tons of detail about how exactly to prepare the sacrifices, and there were so many things that they had to make sacrifices for. I said something along the lines of "how did they have time to do anything else?" She said something like "That's the point. We could never make enough sacrifices to atone for our sins and gain salvation. That's what makes Christ's ultimate sacrifice so amazing." That comment has really stuck with me. It made me realize just how awesome it was what Christ did for us. There is no way we'd end up in Heaven if we had to earn our way. It makes me so grateful for what He did!

[Bob]

  7If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it.

This is one of the most matter of fact statements in the Bible. The Old Testament is meant to be studied, and understood; and it is good that we have it. But it is not meant for us to follow the laws of the Old Testament. For we have been given a New Covenant and a New Testament, and it is in this New Covenant in which we live and follow.

God speaks of a "new" covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear.

Amen Kevin, I often cite this verse when I have someone ask me why I'm not following some obscure verse in Leviticus (I like bacon).

[Ric]

(I like bacon).

Ahh, the joys of being a Christian.

I like bacon, too. And sausage. And porkchops. And catfish. And crab legs, shrimp, crawdads....