Letter to the Hebrews Volume 79

 Jesus Christ is now Seated @ the Right Hand of Majesty Part 9

Hebrews 8:13 In that He saith, A new covenant, He hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away. KJV

We discovered in the last couple of studies/commentaries that the old covenant of the Hebrew/Jewish Levitical priesthood and Mosaic Law were declared antiquated by God the Father, that is, belonging to an earlier time and period and now rendered old and no longer necessary, for example, those of us who use a computer are often alerted by the system that new updates are ready to be downloaded to your system, likewise, God the Father has now updated His covenant with mankind or humanity by sending His Son our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ to be the propitiation, the placation, or the payment for all of our sins committed by us against Him knowingly or unknowingly, giving every sinful human being the opportunity to have their iniquity, immorality, and injustice pardoned forever before the Throne of God by the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ only, as it is written for us with these words by the Apostle Paul and the Apostle John, First Paul, "But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." (Galatians 4:4-5) (KJV), and now John, "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:9-10) (KJV). Therefore, having said these things regarding the more excellency of the new covenant, the writer of Hebrews now concludes by bearing witness to the complete and final end of the old covenant with these words, "In that He saith, A new covenant, He hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." (Hebrews 8:13) (KJV). Wanting to make sure then that the new Hebrew converts to Christ would not be tempted to go back to its observance or try to assimilate it into the now new era of the grace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ alone he was emphatic by using the words vanish away, for it was as if he were again reminding them and we converts to Christ today of what he declared to them and to us at the very beginning of this epistle of Hebrews.

As it is written, "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the Prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed Heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds; Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on High." (Hebrews 1:1-3) (KJV). The old covenant held to many observances of certain feast days and festivals and other celebrations so that the Hebrew people would be reminded that God was the source of all their victories in warfare when enemies came against them and attacked them trying to take away their things and destroy them. However, in this new covenant Christ is our source for everything and we need not to observe certain or specific days, but we are to abide in His Body as a baby abides in the Mother's womb attached to all the nourishment that comes to the baby from the Mother through the umbilical cord. Our umbilical cord to Christ Body is the Holy Spirit, Prayer, and the Word of God the Bible, therefore, any and everything else short of this is just a shadow, that is, something existing in perception only and this is what the Apostle Paul so wanted the believers in the Colossian Church to understand when he wrote these words to them and to us, "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God. Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh." (Colossians 2:16-23) (KJV). The old covenant pointed to Jesus Christ and now the new covenant is Jesus Christ our Lord.

Here is what Dr. John Gill had to say of Hebrews 8:13, "In the above prophecy, Hebrews 8:8; this naturally follows from hence; if the second is new, the first must be old; which is called so, not on account of its date and duration; for the covenant of grace itself is older than this mode of administration of it, and the manifestation of that to the patriarchs was before this covenant, and so was the covenant of works before it; but on the account of its faultiness and deficiency, its weakness, and unprofitableness, and especially its being antiquated, and made to give way to another. The apostle argues from the first covenant, being old, to its being near to dissolution, or a disappearance; and the dissolution or disappearance of this covenant was gradual; it began when the Chaldeans seized the land of Canaan; and the ark, an eminent type of Christ, being wanting in the second temple, gave a hint of its waxing old; and both the civil and ecclesiastical government of the Jews were in great confusion under the second temple, at least towards the close of it; and even before the times of Christ, John the Baptist came, and proclaimed the near approach of the Messiah, and his kingdom: this covenant was of right abolished at the time of Christ's death; upon his ascension the Spirit was given, and the Gospel published among all nations, by which it more and more disappeared; and in fact it quite vanished away, when the city and temple of Jerusalem were destroyed, which was in a little time after the writing of this epistle; so that the apostle, with great propriety, says, it is 'ready to vanish away'."

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…