Obsolete and Aging

Hebrews 3:1–6 ESV

Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.

Hebrews 8:1–13 ESV

Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. For he finds fault with them when he says: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

Scripture Lesson: Hebrews 3:1-6; 8:1-13

Belgic Confession Article 25

Sermon Title: Obsolete and Aging

           Often times these articles are lengthy, and can cause us struggle to try and find the main points. In that sense, the brevity of Article 25 is helpful. There are 3 key things it tells us to do. First, the practice of the old ceremonies and symbols of the law must be abolished. Second, while we do that, we still hold onto the truth and substance of those things because they point to Jesus. He’s the true fulfillment of the law and ceremonies. Third, the testimonies of old confirm for us the doctrine of the gospel and help regulate our lives to how we live for the glory of God. In large part, this article is telling us how much of the Old Testament continues to serve us—we shouldn’t just rip it out of our Bibles and avoid sermons on it. No, it has a place even if we don’t do these things. The book of Hebrews as a whole tries to connect those dots for us. Hopefully our reading from Hebrews 3 and 8 later and the message will aid in our understanding.

           Brothers and sisters in Christ, given how much I preach from it, it likely isn’t surprising that I enjoy the Old Testament. I enjoy it in large part because throughout its pages we get to see God in definite ways relating to, speaking to, and working with his people. Through the record of Scripture, we find out that when certain things happened, God was the cause of them.

           The other part of my enjoyment or fascination, though, is imagining what life must have been like back then. Reading through Exodus and Leviticus, in particular, we come across all of these laws that governed Israel’s society. We read about what they could and could not eat. We encounter rules that set up what people would do during the week and every so many years. We see the plans for the tabernacle, the place of worship, and its furnishings and decorations, and how worship and sacrifice was to place. One of my good memories from a grade school Bible class was a group project making a model of the tabernacle. I remember my group worked so hard to try and make the different parts properly to scale, and to try and do justice in beauty and accuracy to this place of worship.

           I think if we’re students of God’s word, especially over long periods of our lives, the ancient God-ordained practices of Israel can become not just fascinating, but actually attractive to carry out. We may even possibly wish that they were still around today. At least from my perspective, what being a good Israelite entailed and what was widely accepted among the Israelites seems rational. I’m not saying it was necessarily easy to live out, but it seems straightforward. You do these things, at these times, at these places. You bring these offerings for these purposes. If this happens to you or someone does this against you, this is what should happen. These are your feast days, when special acts of God are remembered. These are your days of rest, you and everyone else will treat them the same way. On the one hand, it is restrictive, but on the other, it gets rid of ambiguities and differences of interpretation. All the uniformity doesn’t strike me as such a negative thing.

           But then we come to our confession tonight, and the very beginning puts an end to this kind of thinking. “The ceremonies and symbols of the law have ended with the coming of Christ [along with] all foreshadowings…so that the use of them ought to be abolished among Christians.” As fascinating and regimented as the Old Testament laws and ceremonies and sacrifice may seem, we as Christians don’t and shouldn’t do these things any more. Why not? Simply put, because Jesus has come, and he fulfills them. He provides the truth and substance that all these practices, events, and structures pointed to. He is better, and better for us, than the old ways.

           We’re going to spend time tonight focusing on three ways that Jesus and things associated with the Messiah in Hebrews 3 and 8 are better than the old ways that we find in the worship and life of Israel. Then we’ll conclude by hopefully looking at the question of why even have the old ways at all? Why are they there, why should they witness to confirm and help regulate our lives?

           First, in what way or form is Jesus better? He is greater than Moses. We find this being set out in Hebrews 3, “Fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle,” which means “sent one,” “and high priest whom we confess…Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses…Moses was a faithful servant in all God’s house, testifying to what would be said in the future. But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house.” 

           There are several things the author of Hebrews is working through here. One of them is the roles or the positions that these two men held. We have to understand that Moses was a dominant figure in Israelite or Jewish history. If the Israelites had formed a Mt. Rushmore, we’d probably find the face of Moses alongside of Abraham and King David and a few others like them. It makes sense. He was saved at birth from death. He was chosen by God as the leader of his people in the exodus. No matter how inadequate he felt and knowing he would not go into the Promised Land, he led them through the wilderness. He received the honor that was terrifying to everyone else to speak with God at multiple times. He was a big deal, and he served well and faithfully most of the time. 

           But considering his call and leading and recognition, he is not given the titles that Jesus is given. The author of Hebrews calls Jesus an apostle and high priest. Those titles or positions remind us of how Jesus was sent directly by God, even being God himself. Not only that, but he carried out the ultimate sacrifice, providing real atonement for the sins of all at one time. Moses in instructing the Israelites about a great number of sacrifices never provided them with or was expected to provide them with that. Even though Jesus’ life and ministry was shorter than Moses’ and in his time, seems to have impacted fewer people, the eternal magnitude is so much greater. 

           Jesus has a greater honor in respect to position, and he is also greater when described as a son over God’s house. Moses was a servant. He served the purposes of God for Israel in his time. He instituted what God presented to him, and with his ability, he led the people as he was able, even with adversity. Moses was never the answer though. He was not the one actually saving them. Now, Jesus was and is a servant too, but he truly saves people. Consider the difference that Hebrews makes between Moses just being a servant and Christ being a son in God’s house. The servant does not know the ways of the master like the son may know in the true bonds and confidence of a family. We might also apply inheritance here, that the son receives all that the Father, the homeowner, possesses, not the servant. Jesus is greater than Moses.  

           The second comparison that we look at tonight is that we find the sanctuary of God in heaven is greater than the tabernacle or the temple on earth. We might look at Hebrews chapter 9 with the next article of the Belgic Confession, but if you have a Bible open, you can see that chapter 9 draws many comparisons between the worship, sanctuary, and offerings in the Old Testament to what Jesus came to satisfy as high priest. Just looking at the opening verses reminds us of what the tabernacle, the moving sanctuary before they built a temple, what that looked like. There were rooms, as you went farther in, there was an increasing understanding of holiness. There were lampstands, consecrated bread, altars—all of which needed to be maintained. There was the ark of the covenant with cherubim. There was the daily work of the priests. There was gold and beautiful fabrics. The temple, when it was built under Solomon, was even more ornate. 

           If you have a Bible with pictures or have a chance to look up visual of what these sanctuaries may have looked like on the internet—they are quite impressive. There are some historic and modern-day cathedrals that might seem to rival them in cost and beauty, but likely they can’t compare. What structures like these tend to make us do is that you can’t help but think about matters bigger than yourself when in them. 

That being said, what chapter 8 verse 5 is pointing to, is that these places fall short in comparison to the “true tabernacle set up by the Lord,” a heavenly sanctuary. Verse 5 says, “[On earth, priests] serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: ‘See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.’” God wanted the place where his people worshiped him to follow the blueprint that he set before them. These places of worship were intended to be marvelous in directing the peoples’ attention to him, but again, they cannot come close to the sanctuary that God himself has made, and hopefully one day, we all might worship in.

I believe that there are arguments that can be made for having buildings that are ornate and costly, full of gold and artistic expression, with beautiful wood and stonework for our church buildings. I think there are valid and just as reasonable of arguments to have plain buildings for churches, or to not have a set structure at all—to meet like the church that Pastor Gary and I have had classical appointments at in Sioux Center—they are currently worshiping in a middle school gym. You can still worship God with your whole heart, and it frees up funding to support other ministry that might otherwise not be possible due to building expenses. But the point to be taken away here is that which was and for some people still meant so much in the tabernacle and the temple in this time, know that God is in a much greater sanctuary. It’s a sanctuary that you did not put money or effort or possessions into, and yet he serves there and invites us to worship him.

Jesus is greater, his heavenly sanctuary is greater, and now a third comparison, the new covenant is greater than the old covenant. Chapter 8 verse 9, “But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises.” The verse that follow indicate that there is something wrong with the old covenant, namely that God finds fault with his people under it, and therefore it need be replaced. Verse 13, the new covenant makes the “first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.”

What is being referred to here as the old covenant is all of the laws that led the life of the Israelites. It’s all of the laws that they were to follow, and if they disobeyed them, then there was guilt that must be atoned for through sacrifice and offering. When they broke them, when they sinned again, then they had to perform more sacrifices—what they were able to do was never enough to bring an end to that. All of that came under this national charter, that the Israelites alone were the chosen people, the holy nation, the royal priesthood, the circumcised lineage. 

God was in covenant relationship with them, and that was good. God promised himself as their God, and he would bless them when they walked in his ways, and he would curse or punish them when they went astray. But then God sent Jesus, thanks be to him that he did, because it changed everything. All of a sudden, there was an end to the atonement necessary for sin. All of a sudden the blessings and the curses under the law that were conditional on the peoples’ behavior was removed, because Jesus had been obedient. That’s not to say God cannot curse or bless according to our following or going astray, but under the covenant of Jesus, it is not necessitated.

The new covenant also brings us hope for the future. The old covenant seemed to focus on the preservation of Israel, which was important and wonderful for them—but even they had tossed that out when they followed other gods. The new covenant, however, gives us hope for eternity, hope to enter that new sanctuary, hope to see and live and feast with Jesus our Savior. When you consider the benefits of living under the new covenant, I think we can agree that there should be no problem with the old one being obsolete, aging, worn out, and no longer useful.

As much a fascination and trial as I might want to give the old way of doing things, substituting it for what we now have in Christ, doesn’t deserve a thought. Why would we try to make it on our own? Why would we try to merit salvation in the midst of guilt? There is nothing greater than having Jesus give himself for and promise us that he will bring his people to himself! The new covenant of grace and infinite, eternal grace is so much better than the old covenant. 

Considering all this, we might wonder, why? Why would God even waste time with the old way of doing things? If it was never meant to stand for all of time, but even more, if it the whole of it would never accomplish salvation, why implement it? Here’s what people much wiser than I have proposed, “God’s purposes in the old covenant (among others) were to inform his people of the moral law, to convict them of sin, and to establish the pattern of sacrifice, priesthood, and promise of salvation that is fulfilled in Christ.”

The Old Testament and old covenant does accomplish that, doesn’t it? God’s desire isn’t just to perform an act that transmits grace without changing us in an unawareness of sin. God’s desire wasn’t to just to have Jesus crucified with no discernible purpose.  But we do understand the reality of sin and redemption—the need for the true gospel in our lives. Thus, knowing the old covenant and the ways that are obsolete for salvation—we find the magnitude of salvation in Jesus. Amen.