Hebrews

The Atonement

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Conversations, Panels, and Sermons

Lesson: 17-33

Genre: Lecture

Track: 17

Dictation Name: RR198J17

Location/Venue:

Year:

Let us worship God. Oh Lord, open thy my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Thy praise. For Thou desirest not sacrifice else would I give it, Thou delightest not in burnt offering; the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart oh God, Thou wilt not despise. Let us pray.

Our Father, we give thanks unto Thee that during this past week Thy hand has been upon us for good, in ways unseen and unknown to us Thou hast guided, led and blest us. Give us grace to know our Father, that Thou art ever closer to us than we are to ourselves, and more caring for us than we can ever be. Give us grateful hearts to praise Thee as we ought, teach us the way that we should go, and guide and bless us in Thy service, in Christ’s name, amen.

Our scripture is Hebrews 8:6-13. Our subject: The Atonement. Hebrews 8:6-13.

“6But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

 7For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.

 8For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:

 9Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.

 10For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

 11And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

 12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

 13In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.”

In verse 6 the premises are bold and clearly startling ones for any devout Hebrew. Jesus Christ, the mediator, represents a more excellent ministry, a better covenant, and one established upon better promises. This seemed to undermine everything that they had been brought up to believe; clearly if this were true, the covenant made by Moses was in some sense imperfect because it was not the final one. The proof for this statement is then cited, from the Old Testament. Jeremiah 31:31-34 which states plainly that a better covenant would in due time be made. But what changed? Gods law does not change. Nor did God suddenly annul anything that He declared to be Law as He gave it by Moses.

The change was that the mediator was now God the Son, Jesus Christ not Moses, and the atonement made by God the Son was not a typical on but the sacrifice of Himself. Now Hebrews at times uses the word covenant, and at other times testament. The reason for this is that familiarity with the word covenant had come in time to obscure the unilateral nature, that it was totally the work of God, given to men whose only part in it was to receive it. Every man’s reception of the covenant was by the grace of God. The use of the word testament strengthened this fact. A testament is a kind of covenant also. But, in a testament it’s so obvious that there is no agreement made. I a last will and testament you decree something which on your death becomes valid.

The person who receives from it has no say-so in it. And so, the word is used frequently in Hebrews to strengthen this fact: “Don’t think of the covenant as a mutual agreement. One receives it on the death of the other.” And this is what the New Covenant is about. The Greek word means, Testament means will as in last will and testament. In a Greek will the conditions of inheritance were in the first place at the sole discretion of the testator, which we have still.

But it was publically and solemnly executed, and thereupon became at once absolute, irrevocable and unalterable. Now, we’ve changed even the idea of a last will and testament, because it can now be contested in a court. But a valid will in New Testament times was beyond contesting. The use of the word Testament thus gave a finality to the covenant. The covenant made of old fully set forth through Moses now had its finality through the great mediator, Jesus Christ, whose atoning death ratifies and validates the ancient covenant, and puts it into effect.

The true mediator has come. He has made the sacrifice, himself. And the covenant now has its final form. In the making of a covenant, in addition to the two parties involved there must be a law and there must be the shedding of blood. The law had already been given by God from heaven to Moses, now the sacrifice the lamb of God, Jesus Christ, had come from heaven to make atonement for the sins of His people. The new human race, born again in Him.

Hebrews then cites Jeremiah 31:31-34, which tells us:

“31Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

 32Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:

 33But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

 34And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Now in verse 8 of Hebrews 8 God has spoken as finding fault with them, that is, Israel. The covenant was good, but Israel was not. Therefore a new covenant must be made, new in that another people will replace Israel. Therefore, the twelve apostle’s replaced the twelve patriarchs, the sons of Jacob, or Israel, to indicate that while there was continuity, new peoples would be grafted into Abrahams stocks. God’s covenant is the same made with the patriarchs, but new in that another people now replaced most of Israel.

There is however a marked difference verse 9 tells us, between the covenant made by Moses and that made by Jesus Christ. With the covenant at Sinai God demonstrated in a very remarkable and miraculous way His redeeming power towards Israel. But they were faithless, they were rebellious. With this new covenant, God now writes His covenant and the covenant law in the hearts of His people. God gives the law to their minds and writes it on their hearts, it is now not only God’s law but the very personal law of His people.

The law was then graved on tablets of stone, now in the life blood and in the flesh of His people. Paul speaks of this in 2 Corinthians 3:7-18. The Holy Spirit indwells Christ’s new human race, in a way surpassing His presence in the Old Testament era. Because Gods law now indwells His people, He is fully their God and they are His new human race.

When the fullness of this change triumphs, then in the words of Isaiah 11:2, “They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” In that time of victory all men shall know the Lord, from the least to the greatest. Why will there be greater knowledge, victory and power? It arises out of God’s grace and mercy, whereby through Christ their sins are forgiven and forgotten, and they are thereby freed from the curse and from its power.

The foundation for a renewed mankind and a cleansed world is the atonement by Jesus Christ. The Hebrews are told that the great victory and renewed earth foreseen by the prophets is totally dependent on Jesus Christ’s high priestly work. His atonement allows the regenerating power of the triune God to complete Gods creative purpose, to reject Jesus Christ as our High Priest is to reject His atonement and to abandon His victory. The old covenant verse 13 tells us is ready to vanish away forever. The Jewish Roman war, 56-70 A.D. destroyed Israel and the Temple, so to cling to the High Priesthood of Aaron was to insist on dying with that order. In the new order God’s covenant law would not be merely external, but fully internal.

Clearly in Psalm 119, the Psalmist demonstrates how intensely internalized the law was before Christ. The difference now was the atonement, and the radical forgiveness of sins. The nagging handicap of sin and the lingering problem of a troubled conscience give way to freedom in Christ.

Anti-nomians see the law rather than the burden and penalty of sin, as the disappearing element. And they thereby warp the meaning of the atonement. They are really more radical than the Hebrews who wanted to go back to the temple and synagogue. It is not the Law that disappears, but the old sacrificial system, and its priesthood. Christ’s atonement gives freedom and power.

Let us pray. Our Lord and our God we give thanks unto Thee for this Thy word. We thank Thee that Jesus Christ is our great High Priest, that He has made atonement for us and made us a new creation in Him. Grant that day by day we serve Thee with all our heart, mind, and being. Bless us in Thy service, bless our loved ones, make them Thine to the end of time, and watch over all Thy flock in these evil times; to make them stronger in Thee, and more effectual iin Thy service, in Christ’s name, amen.

Are there any questions now about our lesson?

We can see from the thesis that is developing in Hebrews that antinomianism is untenable, that the true priest hood is that of Jesus Christ, and therefore it is not a passing away of what is in the law and the prophets, but now their fullness seen more clearly because the king whom they are to serve has come, and as High Priest has made atonement for them. The neglect of Hebrews has been because of the rise of antinomianism. It has been turned into an alien book by some commentators. I know I have read a number of them that are very interesting, they are beautiful devotional books, but they have next to nothing to say about what Paul and the other men of the apostolic fellowship were trying to say. So it is important for us to appreciate the fact that antinomianism warps the whole of the Bible, and it warps any man’s outlook so dramatically that the Bible becomes to a large extent a forgotten book. Whole sections of it drop out of their thinking.

Well if there are no comments or questions let us conclude with prayer.

Our Father, we give thank unto Thee for our great High Priest Jesus Christ, who is also king of kings, Lord of Lords, thy prophet unto us. Make us joyful in the freedom that is ours in Christ. Joyful in the freedom of Thy law word, the freedom from sin, and the freedom from the power of death. For we are now Thy people, the people of life and righteousness. How great Thou art, and we praise Thee.

And now go in peace, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost bless you and keep you, guide and protect you, this day and always, amen