Thematic Bible
Thematic Bible
Covenant » The second covenant
May the God of peace who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, with the blood of the eternal covenant,
Were he on earth, he would not be a priest at all, for there are priests already to offer the gifts prescribed by Law (men who serve a mere outline and shadow of the heavenly ??as Moses was instructed, when he was about to execute the building of the tabernacle: see, God said, that you make everything on the pattern shown you upon the mountain). As it is, however, the divine service he has obtained is superior, owing to the fact that he mediates a superior covenant, enacted with superior promises. read more.
For if the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second. Whereas God does find fault with the people of that covenant, when he says: The day is coming, saith the Lord, when I will conclude a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be on the lines of the covenant I made with their fathers, on the day I took them by the hand to lead out of Egypt's land; for they would not hold to my covenant, so I let them alone, saith the Lord. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel when that day comes, saith the Lord; I will set my laws within their mind, inscribing them upon their hearts; I will be a God to them, and they shall be a People to me; one citizen will no longer teach his fellow, one man will no longer teach his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for all will know me, low and high together. I will be merciful to their iniquities, and remember their sins no more. By saying 'a new covenant,' he antiquates the first. And whatever is antiquated and aged is on the verge of vanishing.
For if the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second. Whereas God does find fault with the people of that covenant, when he says: The day is coming, saith the Lord, when I will conclude a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be on the lines of the covenant I made with their fathers, on the day I took them by the hand to lead out of Egypt's land; for they would not hold to my covenant, so I let them alone, saith the Lord. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel when that day comes, saith the Lord; I will set my laws within their mind, inscribing them upon their hearts; I will be a God to them, and they shall be a People to me; one citizen will no longer teach his fellow, one man will no longer teach his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for all will know me, low and high together. I will be merciful to their iniquities, and remember their sins no more. By saying 'a new covenant,' he antiquates the first. And whatever is antiquated and aged is on the verge of vanishing.
You have not come to what you can touch, to flames of fire, to mist and gloom and stormy blasts, to the blare of a trumpet and to a Voice whose words made those who heard it refuse to hear another syllable (for they could not bear the command, If even a beast touches the mountain, it must be stoned) ??21 indeed, so awful was the sight that Moses said, I am terrified and aghast. read more.
You have come to mount Sion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to myriads of angels in festal gathering, to the assembly of the first-born registered in heaven, to the God of all as judge, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus who mediates the new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood whose message is nobler than Abel's.
You have come to mount Sion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to myriads of angels in festal gathering, to the assembly of the first-born registered in heaven, to the God of all as judge, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus who mediates the new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood whose message is nobler than Abel's.
The Covenant » Blessings connected with
This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel when that day comes, saith the Lord; I will set my laws within their mind, inscribing them upon their hearts; I will be a God to them, and they shall be a People to me; one citizen will no longer teach his fellow, one man will no longer teach his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for all will know me, low and high together. I will be merciful to their iniquities, and remember their sins no more.
Forgetting » What the lord will forget
This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel when that day comes, saith the Lord; I will set my laws within their mind, inscribing them upon their hearts; I will be a God to them, and they shall be a People to me; one citizen will no longer teach his fellow, one man will no longer teach his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for all will know me, low and high together. I will be merciful to their iniquities, and remember their sins no more.
This is the covenant I will make with them when that day comes, saith the Lord, I will set my laws upon their hearts, inscribing them upon their minds, he adds, And their sins and breaches of the law I will remember no more. Now where these are remitted, an offering for sin exists no longer.
Gospel » Called the new covenant
he then adds, Here I come to do thy will. He does away with the first in order to establish the second.
You have come to mount Sion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to myriads of angels in festal gathering, to the assembly of the first-born registered in heaven, to the God of all as judge, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus who mediates the new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood whose message is nobler than Abel's.
As it is, however, the divine service he has obtained is superior, owing to the fact that he mediates a superior covenant, enacted with superior promises. For if the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second. Whereas God does find fault with the people of that covenant, when he says: The day is coming, saith the Lord, when I will conclude a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be on the lines of the covenant I made with their fathers, read more.
on the day I took them by the hand to lead out of Egypt's land; for they would not hold to my covenant, so I let them alone, saith the Lord. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel when that day comes, saith the Lord; I will set my laws within their mind, inscribing them upon their hearts; I will be a God to them, and they shall be a People to me; one citizen will no longer teach his fellow, one man will no longer teach his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for all will know me, low and high together. I will be merciful to their iniquities, and remember their sins no more. By saying 'a new covenant,' he antiquates the first. And whatever is antiquated and aged is on the verge of vanishing.
on the day I took them by the hand to lead out of Egypt's land; for they would not hold to my covenant, so I let them alone, saith the Lord. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel when that day comes, saith the Lord; I will set my laws within their mind, inscribing them upon their hearts; I will be a God to them, and they shall be a People to me; one citizen will no longer teach his fellow, one man will no longer teach his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for all will know me, low and high together. I will be merciful to their iniquities, and remember their sins no more. By saying 'a new covenant,' he antiquates the first. And whatever is antiquated and aged is on the verge of vanishing.
By this the holy Spirit means that the way into the Holiest Presence was not disclosed so long as the first tent (which foreshadowed the present age) was still standing, with its offerings of gifts and sacrifices which cannot possibly make the conscience of the worshipper perfect, since they relate merely to food and drink and a variety of ablutions ??outward regulations for the body, that only hold till the period of the New Order. read more.
But when Christ arrived as the high priest of the bliss that was to be, he passed through the greater and more perfect tent which no hands had made (no part, that is to say, of the present order), not taking any blood of goats and oxen but his own blood, and entered once for all into the Holy place. He secured an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkled on defiled persons, give them a holiness that bears on bodily purity, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who in the spirit of the eternal offered himself as an unblemished sacrifice to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve a living God? He mediates a new covenant for this reason, that those who have been called may obtain the eternal inheritance they have been promised, now that a death has occurred which redeems them from the transgressions involved in the first covenant.
But when Christ arrived as the high priest of the bliss that was to be, he passed through the greater and more perfect tent which no hands had made (no part, that is to say, of the present order), not taking any blood of goats and oxen but his own blood, and entered once for all into the Holy place. He secured an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkled on defiled persons, give them a holiness that bears on bodily purity, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who in the spirit of the eternal offered himself as an unblemished sacrifice to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve a living God? He mediates a new covenant for this reason, that those who have been called may obtain the eternal inheritance they have been promised, now that a death has occurred which redeems them from the transgressions involved in the first covenant.
Offerings » Insufficiency of
For if the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second. Whereas God does find fault with the people of that covenant, when he says: The day is coming, saith the Lord, when I will conclude a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be on the lines of the covenant I made with their fathers, on the day I took them by the hand to lead out of Egypt's land; for they would not hold to my covenant, so I let them alone, saith the Lord. read more.
This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel when that day comes, saith the Lord; I will set my laws within their mind, inscribing them upon their hearts; I will be a God to them, and they shall be a People to me; one citizen will no longer teach his fellow, one man will no longer teach his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for all will know me, low and high together. I will be merciful to their iniquities, and remember their sins no more. By saying 'a new covenant,' he antiquates the first. And whatever is antiquated and aged is on the verge of vanishing.
This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel when that day comes, saith the Lord; I will set my laws within their mind, inscribing them upon their hearts; I will be a God to them, and they shall be a People to me; one citizen will no longer teach his fellow, one man will no longer teach his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for all will know me, low and high together. I will be merciful to their iniquities, and remember their sins no more. By saying 'a new covenant,' he antiquates the first. And whatever is antiquated and aged is on the verge of vanishing.
The first covenant had indeed its regulations for worship, and a material sanctuary. A tent was set up, the outer tent, containing the lampstand, the table, and the loaves of the Presence; this is called the Holy place. But behind the second veil was the tent called the Holy of Holies, read more.
containing the golden altar of incense, and also the ark of the covenant covered all over with gold, which held the golden pot of manna, the rod of Aaron that once blossomed, and the tablets of the covenant; above this were the cherubims of the Glory, overshadowing the mercy seat ??matters which it is impossible for me to discuss at present in detail. Such were the arrangements for worship. The priests constantly enter the first tent, in the discharge of their ritual duties, but the second tent is entered only once a year by the high priest alone ??and it must not be without blood, which he presents on behalf of himself and the errors of the People. By this the holy Spirit means that the way into the Holiest Presence was not disclosed so long as the first tent (which foreshadowed the present age) was still standing, with its offerings of gifts and sacrifices which cannot possibly make the conscience of the worshipper perfect, since they relate merely to food and drink and a variety of ablutions ??outward regulations for the body, that only hold till the period of the New Order. But when Christ arrived as the high priest of the bliss that was to be, he passed through the greater and more perfect tent which no hands had made (no part, that is to say, of the present order), not taking any blood of goats and oxen but his own blood, and entered once for all into the Holy place. He secured an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkled on defiled persons, give them a holiness that bears on bodily purity, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who in the spirit of the eternal offered himself as an unblemished sacrifice to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve a living God? He mediates a new covenant for this reason, that those who have been called may obtain the eternal inheritance they have been promised, now that a death has occurred which redeems them from the transgressions involved in the first covenant.
containing the golden altar of incense, and also the ark of the covenant covered all over with gold, which held the golden pot of manna, the rod of Aaron that once blossomed, and the tablets of the covenant; above this were the cherubims of the Glory, overshadowing the mercy seat ??matters which it is impossible for me to discuss at present in detail. Such were the arrangements for worship. The priests constantly enter the first tent, in the discharge of their ritual duties, but the second tent is entered only once a year by the high priest alone ??and it must not be without blood, which he presents on behalf of himself and the errors of the People. By this the holy Spirit means that the way into the Holiest Presence was not disclosed so long as the first tent (which foreshadowed the present age) was still standing, with its offerings of gifts and sacrifices which cannot possibly make the conscience of the worshipper perfect, since they relate merely to food and drink and a variety of ablutions ??outward regulations for the body, that only hold till the period of the New Order. But when Christ arrived as the high priest of the bliss that was to be, he passed through the greater and more perfect tent which no hands had made (no part, that is to say, of the present order), not taking any blood of goats and oxen but his own blood, and entered once for all into the Holy place. He secured an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkled on defiled persons, give them a holiness that bears on bodily purity, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who in the spirit of the eternal offered himself as an unblemished sacrifice to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve a living God? He mediates a new covenant for this reason, that those who have been called may obtain the eternal inheritance they have been promised, now that a death has occurred which redeems them from the transgressions involved in the first covenant.
For as the Law has a mere shadow of the bliss that is to be, instead of representing the reality of that bliss, it never can perfect those who draw near with the same annual sacrifices that are perpetually offered. Otherwise, they would surely have ceased to be offered; for the worshippers, once cleansed, would no longer be conscious of sins! As it is, they are an annual reminder of sins read more.
(for the blood of bulls and goats cannot possibly remove sins!). Hence, on entering the world he says, Thou hast no desire for sacrifice or offering; it is a body thou hast prepared for me ??6 in holocausts and sin-offerings thou takest no delight. So I said, 'Here I come ??in the roll of the book this is written of me ??I come to do thy will, O God.' He begins by saying, thou hast no desire for, thou takest no delight in, sacrifices and offerings and holocausts and sin-offerings (and these are what are offered in terms of the Law); he then adds, Here I come to do thy will. He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And it is by this will that we are consecrated, because Jesus Christ once for all has offered up his body. Again, while every priest stands daily at his service, offering the same sacrifices repeatedly, sacrifices which never can take sins away ??12 He offered a single sacrifice for sins and then seated himself for all time at the right hand of God,
(for the blood of bulls and goats cannot possibly remove sins!). Hence, on entering the world he says, Thou hast no desire for sacrifice or offering; it is a body thou hast prepared for me ??6 in holocausts and sin-offerings thou takest no delight. So I said, 'Here I come ??in the roll of the book this is written of me ??I come to do thy will, O God.' He begins by saying, thou hast no desire for, thou takest no delight in, sacrifices and offerings and holocausts and sin-offerings (and these are what are offered in terms of the Law); he then adds, Here I come to do thy will. He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And it is by this will that we are consecrated, because Jesus Christ once for all has offered up his body. Again, while every priest stands daily at his service, offering the same sacrifices repeatedly, sacrifices which never can take sins away ??12 He offered a single sacrifice for sins and then seated himself for all time at the right hand of God,
Now where these are remitted, an offering for sin exists no longer. Brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy Presence in virtue of the blood of Jesus, by the fresh, living way which he has inaugurated for us through the veil (that is, through his flesh),