In this post, R C Sproul will be talking about the New Covenant (NC) from the epistle of Hebrews mostly. Because he will be citing scripture that compares the NC with the Old Covenant, this post contains a 5-minute video about the Tabernacle which ought to be viewed before hearing about part 2 of the NC, because the epistle of Hebrews talks about Christ via words that the following video about the tabernacle explains. If you know those definitions, then you will get much more from RC’s teaching on the NC.
The Tabernacle and What It Reveals to Us
From the YouTube site, Chosen People Ministries
Video-page link: https://www.youtube.com/@ChosenPeopleUSA/videos
The New Covenant Part 2 by RC Sproul [highlights are provided below the following video]:
[Definitions inserted from last post:
- In the ceremonial law, we saw glorious anticipation of the redemption in Christ
- What is the significance of the rituals / ceremonies?
- Within the ceremonies were 1) symbols, and 2) types
- Symbol: a symbol represents something other than itself; it points beyond itself to a present reality
- For example: the tabernacle symbolized the presence of God in the midst of the people
- The tabernacle, however, was NOT the presence of God, it WAS the tent of meeting that called attention to God’s promise to be in the midst of His people
- Type: a second dimension of the symbol, referring to something future that reaches a greater fulfillment later on…
- THE TABERNACLE: symbol of the presence of God; type of the future presence of God as seen in the incarnation]
Bullet Points for R C Sproul’s lecture on the New Covenant part 2 [bracketed statements, underscoring and emboldening are mine]:
Readers can use the points below to follow along with R C’s lecture.
- The New Covenant (NC) as it is set forth in the epistle of Hebrews
- In Hebrews we have a contrast and comparison between the NC in the blood of Christ and the Old Testament (OT) counterparts: animal sacrifices; mediation of Moses and priests…
- Superiority of the NC over the OC
- [All the verses R C read from Hebrews will be pasted in below]
- Hebrews 8:3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer. 4 For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; 5 who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “SEE THAT YOU MAKE ALL THINGS ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN SHOWN YOU ON THE MOUNTAIN.” 6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. [NKJV – it seems that RC was using this version]
- Per RC, the Mediator and the NC are more excellent than the Old Covenant and mediators
- Heb 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. 8 Because finding fault with them, He says: [From Jeremiah 31]
- “BEHOLD, THE DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL MAKE A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH—
- Heb 8:9 NOT 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 DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DISREGARDED THEM, SAYS THE LORD. 10 FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS IN THEIR MIND AND WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. 11 NONE OF THEM SHALL TEACH HIS NEIGHBOR, AND NONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, ‘KNOW THE LORD,’ FOR ALL SHALL KNOW ME, FROM THE LEAST OF THEM TO THE GREATEST OF THEM. 12 FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR UNRIGHTEOUSNESS, AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.” 13 In that He says, “A NEW COVENANT,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
- The words, ‘copy’ and ‘shadow’ were used to describe the OC
- RC referred to previously defined terms of ‘types’ and ‘symbols’
- Heb 9:1 Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary. 2 For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary; 3 and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, 4 which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; 5 and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail
- Heb 9:6 Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. 7 But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance; 8 the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. 9 It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience— 10 concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation
- RC noted that the above text was a reminder of the elaborate ceremonies and rituals at the times of atonement in the Old Testament [such as the Day of Atonement in Lev. 16], one day a year. Such things were a shadow or symbol of the ultimate atonement that would be offered by Christ, ONCE for all
- That point is often emphasized in Hebrews, that the one sacrifice of Christ is perfect:
- Perfect: without blemish or marring
- Additionally, perfect means to be fully completed
- This sacrifice by Christ is so complete, that to repeat it would be equivalent to denying it
- That is why all the ceremonies were discontinued by the first century church: because they were shadows of the realities found in Christ, and therefore a rejection of His completed work
- Heb 9:11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance
- Points RC made about the above passage:
- In the OT, the atonement took place in the earthly tabernacle
- In the NT, atonement is offered by the One who is the divine tabernacle, who pitched His tent among us
- [John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth]
- The offering Christ made by His blood was not in the temple at Jerusalem but into the heavenly temple, the ultimate holy of holies
- But the sacrifice Christ made is not just figuratively sprinkling His blood, as in the earthly tabernacle when the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled on the mercy seat on the throne of God
- But it is an offering to God in His immediate presence in heaven; it has eternal value, significance
- Sproul explained a play on words, regarding the Hebrew word, barit, used to refer to ‘covenant’ or ‘testament.’ He review his explanation given in discussion of the creation covenant [lessons 3-5 of this series]
- The word is almost always used to signify ‘covenant,’ but here in Hebrews, it signifies, ‘testament,’ as in verse 16
- Heb 9:16 For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 17 For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives. 18 Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood.
- Heb 9:19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,
- Heb 9:20 saying, “THIS IS THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT WHICH GOD HAS COMMANDED YOU.”
- In discussing the above passage, RC referred to the covenant that God ‘cut’ with Abraham, wherein animals were cut in half
- Such covenants were ratified by blood rites
- Heb 9:21 Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. 22 And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission
- Explanation: remission o f sins requires a blood sacrifice. To understand that we must understand that the significance of the blood of the sacrifice IS that life was in the blood
- So the significance of the blood = the giving of a life
- Back to the covenant of works, or the covenant of Adam [or the creation covenant as RC called it in earlier parts of this series]
- Therein, the penalty for sin was death:
- Gen 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
- So the only way that penalty for sin could be fulfilled, would be if life were taken
- RC gave an example to clarify “the blood of Jesus” which so many say without understanding the significance he is herein making: a sermon example of one of his friends, wherein he asked his congregation – if Jesus scraped his finger on a nail and blood flowed from that wound, would that blood be saving blood?
- Jesus had to die, and in that way spill His blood. Only such a sacrifice is acceptable for sin
- Heb 9:23 Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 25 not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another—
- Heb 9:26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.
- RC commented on what happened in the Old Cov and how it was fulfilled in the NC
- Blood offerings, such a daily sacrifice and the Day of Atonement WERE CEREMONIES
- The ceremonies used types and symbols
- Did the forgiveness of sins really take place in those ceremonies? Yes
- Because those ceremonies were types, they looked forward to their fulfillment in the ultimate sacrifice that Christ would make, giving His life
- RC very briefly reminded listeners of what the book of Hebrews had stated earlier regarding the superiority of Jesus over angels…
- Heb 1:4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they
- Those saved in the OT were redeemed by the blood of Christ, and justified by faith, looking forward to Christ’s final sacrifice
- There were many types of mediators in the OT: Moses, kings, priests, prophets
- Our Mediator is better than all of those
- Why does the apostle Paul say there was only one mediator?
- Jesus is unique in that He has a divine and a human nature. He is the only One who qualifies to mediate for us
*****Regarding the above and what it put forward; and teaching from the other recent covenant posts: please consider the following:
- Doesn’t the Roman Catholic Mass sacrifice Christ over and over again? If so, that amounts to heresy.
- Does the RCC idea of mediators square with the Bible? No. They call Mary and the saints mediators too. Christ was both divine and human; that is one thing that qualified Him to be mediator. He can hear the prayers of all people at any given time. Mary was a human and cannot do any such thing, much less hear one person’s prayer
- In case you did not know, Brian McLaren calls the cross, cosmic child abuse. In doing so, he basically says that what the Bible states, as was communicated by RC above, is foolishness. Who is really foolish? McLaren and any that are seduced by that Pied Piper, I say adamantly. He and other false teachers critiqued in this blog do not want you to read or believe the Bible, they would have you believe their words instead. For the sake of your soul, do what the Bereans did in Acts 17, they checked Paul’s words against scripture.
Paul’s words below, apply to false teachers like McLaren:
Galatians 1:6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. 10 For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.
In our day, such false teachers add: CRT; LGBTQ; psychological concepts; occult and New Age concepts… to scripture. You must know scripture to catch such errors. In Acts 17, the Bereans even checked the apostle Paul’s words against the scriptures.
Resolve to read through the Bible in the New Year.
Links and narrative that accompanied Promise Keeper video at YouTube:
The Promise Keeper series is on sale presently at Ligonier, from $28 to $5: https://store.ligonier.org/the-promise-keeper-god-of-the-covenants-download-and-stream
From the YouTube site, ISI27:17 [Iron Sharpens Iron, Proverbs 27:17]
Promise keeper Playlist at ISI27:17 – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6Px2b63vzIENjEGaPZOAMmTTc_s566Cw
#jesuschrist #rcsproul #bible #covenants #jesus #reformed #gospel #biblestudy #doctrine
Link to post from this blog on the tabernacle:
http://The Tabernacle and What It Reveals to Us – Chosen People Ministries – Part 2 – sheeplywolves
The Tabernacle and What It Reveals to Us – Chosen People Ministries – Part 2 – sheeplywolves