10. Hebrews and the Old Covenant Shadows

JERRY RECTOR | Physician

Hebrews is the last scriptural area that I want to cover. It is directed to Jews, obviously, and uses familiar Old Covenant terminology to establish Jesus with the Gospel as the fulfillment of that worship system. Jesus is being verified as the Messiah. The author shows how Jesus has ushered in a better system of worship.

“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. For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said: ‘The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people’…By calling this covenant ‘new’ he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.” Hebrews 8:6-13.

It is clear to me that there is a dramatic change in how God is relating to His people, figuratively called the house of Israel. There is also a change in how these followers of God relate to God. In Chapter 9, the author describes the sacrificial system, then describes Jesus’ role as our high priest.

“When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption…For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance – now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.” Heb 9:11-15.

Notice incidentally that Jesus completed his work as our high priest in the Heavenly most holy place with His death. There is no indication that he continues to minister in the Most Holy Place in some on-going judgment starting in 1844, as the Adventist sanctuary doctrine teaches.

“But when this priest [Jesus] had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time, he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.”Heb 10:12-14.

So it appears that justification is accomplished. What then? The author describes the pillars of faith who lived Spirit-filled lives. Before launching the faith chapter, however, this statement is made,

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another…” Heb 10:24,25.

Regular religious meetings are encouraged, stating that the fellowship of meetings is important. What day to meet is not specified, though this would have been a good place to establish to these Jewish readers that the Sabbath was still critical to Christian experience, but instead, the specifics of Christian gatherings are not spelled out. This passage appears to leave it to the digression of the congregation itself. 

Some would proceed with verse 26,

“If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.” 

An important question is “what is sin under the New Covenant described in this book?” What is “the truth” that we have received knowledge of? Continuing on, again the Old and New covenants are contrasted,

“Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace…so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” Heb 10:28-36.

I think the answer to those important questions is alluded to here. Sin is insulting the Spirit of grace – disregarding the process of sanctification, which is certainly a key part of Spirit-filled living and evidence of true acceptance of the gift of Salvation. 

God’s will for Christians

The key question then becomes: What is the will of God for Christians? Adventists feel it is God’s will that we continue to worship on Sabbath, as described in the Ten Commandments. On the other hand, the “Will of God” is addressed over and over in the Gospels and in the Epistles, and always involves loving one another rather than adhering to certain points of doctrine. Required seventh day worship has to be seen as doctrinal, because the principle of regular worship can be fulfilled on any day of the week. The gift of the Holy Spirit was not promised only on Sabbath. The opportunity to establish continued seventh-day worship in the early Christian church is not taken in this book. However, the topic of Sabbath rest is addressed. 

Let’s go back to Chapter 4.

“Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. Now we who have believed enter that rest…For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: ‘And on the seventh day God rested from all his work.’ And again in the passage above he says, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.’ For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.” Hebrews 4:1-11.

Let’s examine 2 key words in this passage: Today and Sabbath rest. The Greek word for today is “semeron” which is a present tense term used throughout the Bible as a present tense term for the current day, as in “today (semeron) is Tuesday” or “let’s go skiing today (semeron).” So, what day is God referring to? If it was the seventh day Sabbath, the Greek word “sabbaton” could have been used and the meaning would have been clear. However, the author uses the word “Today” instead, as if the rest analogous to God’s rest after creation is now available to Christians in present tense each day. It appears to be an ongoing rest that occurs on a daily basis for those who are not only hearers, but internalizers of the gospel. They don’t have to work to earn salvation, and can therefore rest. 

Adventists will certainly notice the term “Sabbath rest” however. Is this referring to seventh day worship? Looking at the translation from Greek, it does not appear so. The Greek word translated “Sabbath rest” is the word “Sabbatismos.” This is the only place this word is used in the Bible, and in context appears to represent the actual rest from work and toil associated with the weekly Sabbath of the Old Covenant. The Hebrew readers of this book would be familiar with its application. In contrast, the word “Sabbaton” is the word used throughout the New Testament to refer to the weekly Sabbath day. An example of its use is in Matthew 12:1-8 where the disciples picked some grain on the Sabbath (Sabbaton), sparking a conversation between Jesus and the Pharisees on the subject of Sabbath law. Every usage of the word Sabbath in this passage is translated from the word “Sabbaton,” including this phrase, “For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” It is also used in Colossians 2:16 as was discussed above, “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day (Sabbaton).” Incidentally, the word Sabbaton/Sabbath is not used in the book of Hebrews, or in the rest of the New Testament following Colossians, including Revelation. (In Rev 1:9, the passage which refers to “the Lord’s Day,” the Greek words used are “kuriakos” (Lord’s) “hemera” (day)).

So, Sabbatismos/Sabbath-rest is clearly something very important for believers, but appears to be a separate concept from weekly Sabbath. Could it be referring to the fact that we don’t have to work to earn our own salvation? We can therefore rest from our work, secure in the amazing fact that Jesus has completed that work. Whichever the case, we are urged not to repeat the experience of the Sabbath-keeping Israelites who were never able to enter the rest God had planned for them. Clearly the principle behind the 4th commandment has eternal importance. But, if this rest is only available through seventh day worship, the author missed a golden opportunity to make this clear. Instead, the words used convey the importance of the principle of rest in a worship system separate from the traditional rituals of the Old Covenant. †