A word from J. Nathan Lawrence, the author

It is highly doubtful that you have before you a clearer and more succinct explanation of how the Old Testament Levitical priesthood and sacrificial systems prophetically pointed the way forward to Yeshua the Messiah and were fulfilled by him, or why the Old Covenant failed and why the new covenant was necessary for man’s ultimate redemption. Although this is a long article (about 12 pages), it is a short and comprehensive look and this often confusing and difficult subject including a complete overview of the Epistle to the Hebrews, which from its beginning to its end is a step-by-step explanation of the whole message of the Bible. Please read on…

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The journey from the Old Testament Book of Leviticus to the New Testament’s Epistle to the Hebrews is an epic one spanning several thousand years. The spiritual trek of the Christian church started, not on the day of Pentecost in chapter two of the Book of Acts as is commonly taught, but with the children of Israel leaving Egypt, and then their building of the Tabernacle of Moses with its Levitical priesthood and sacrificial system. This is the saga of a people—the children of Abraham—in search of their God (Yehovah Elohim), their struggles to draw near to him by obeying him, and then their failure to do so with the ensuing cataclysmic and horrific consequences as a result thereof. The Old Testament, which is the story of that ensuring struggle, will, however, have a glorious ending where the King and his children will live happily ever after—and this is no mythical fairy tale! This is the way, the truth and the life, and life more abundantly, to boot, where each recipient is more than a conqueror having defeated death itself as they pass through that thin veil between life and death into something much better in the world beyond. 

But there is a larger and deeper backstory to this ancient historical chronicle that has astounding ramifications for the present time, since the roots of the world’s greatest religion that has touched more lives than any other are anchored deeply in the soils of the land of Israel where our story begins. To understand this and its present day implications is to understand one’s own personal, spiritual journey in knowing oneself and, more importantly, in knowing one’s Creator. 

Under the lens of our present microscope is the leg of this journey that starts in the Book of Leviticus with the children of Israel building a sanctuary so that Yehovah (YHVH) might dwell among them (Exod 25:8). This journey then ends with the utter destruction of the third iteration of that same sanctuary some 1,500 years later. This seemingly left YHVH’s chosen people high and dry spiritually and without a locus around which to orbit their spiritual quest for the Creator. What then? Enter the Epistle to the Hebrews, written either just before are slightly after the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in a.d. 70. In this book of the Bible, the author lays out line-by-line how the Creator’s had not been caught unawares vis-à-vis his people by this calamitous event. Rather, all along he had been orchestrating a grand and elaborate plan to redeem his people from the spiritual sin pit into which man initially fell in the Garden of Eden. From then until now, every descendent of Adam and Eve has fallen into that same pit, trapped and unable to extricate himself. What was the initial step in heaven’s multi-millennial plan to redeem man from the wages of his sin? We discover it in the Book of Leviticus. 

The Old Testament Book of Leviticus with its sacrificial system as administered by the Levitical priests illustratively explains the divinely inspired progressive step-by-step plan to teach sinful man the gravity and high cost of sin, and then to show man the way back to his Creator. The first step in this supernatural process involved teaching man about the destructive, calamitous and eventual lethal consequences of sin. The next step involved transforming man’s heart away from being inclined toward sinful rebellion against YHVH’s commandments resulting in disobedience (Jer 17:9; Rom 8:6–7; 1 John 3:4), and becoming willingly inclined to obeying heaven’s laws of life, love and happiness. It was the failure to achieve heaven’s ultimate aim of transforming the human heart into compliance with the Creator’s commandments where this covenantal agreement (commonly referred to as the old or Mosaic covenant) with the chosen people—the children of Israel—missed the mark. The weakness of the old covenant was not with the terms of the covenant itself that required the people’s obedience to YHVH’s Torah-law resulting in divine favor and blessing, but with the people themselves who promised to obey YHVH, but then failed to do so. This is the message of the writer of the Book of Hebrews as he echoes the same complaint against YHVH’s hapless and rebellious people as had many of his biblical antecedents. It is this failure on the part of the YHVH’s people onto which the author assiduously shines the light of truth (Heb 8:7–13). This is why a new covenant between YHVH and his people was necessary. Why? Because the ancient Israelites had violated the terms of the first or former covenant thus nullifying the agreement between man and Elohim.

Eventually, the larger lesson of the sacrificial system that YHVH Elohim imposed on his children of Israel after their rebellion in the wilderness of Sinai was that man cannot achieve a spiritual transformation from sinner to saint sans outside help from above. Ultimately, this is where Yeshua the Messiah enters the picture. To be reconciled to the Creator—our Father in heaven—each of us needs a transformation of our heart (or a spiritual heart transplant) through the sin atoning and cleansing blood of Yeshua, the Lamb of Elohim, coupled with the subsequent help of the Holy Spirit to give each of person a new heart that willingly complies with YHVH’s will as expressed through his Written Torah. This is what the new covenant is all about.

But until YHVH actuated a new covenant with man through Yeshua the Messiah, man had a few lessons to learn to solidify in the collective conscience of his people the fact that the human heart is so defiled and bent toward sin that nothing can rectify the situation save the intervention of heaven’s mercy and grace itself. Because of man’s pride, arrogance and failure to recognize his own fallen and sinful state, the Levitical sacrificial system was a step-by-step process for YHVH’s people to become collectively aware of this reality. Like a loving father teaching his children how to walk, talk, read and to live life, YHVH began by teaching the children of Israel the ABCs of sin and redemption through the Levitical priesthood and sacrificial system. Shortly thereafter, it became clear to the more spiritually enlightened Israelites like Moses, David the psalmist and the Old Testament prophets that these systems were insufficient to accomplish in man what was necessary for him to come into a right relationship with his Creator. In reality and according to heaven’s ultimate plan, these systems were merely prophetic stepping stones pointing humans toward a permanent fix to the problem, and were part of a larger plan that the Almighty, the Holy One of Israel, was working out among his people including us as example and for our admonition and learning upon whom the ends of the earth are come (1 Cor 10:11; Rom 15:4).

Let’s now explore the transitional steps from Leviticus to Hebrews that paved the way for the formation of a new and better covenantal agreement between YHVH and his people that would achieve the desired results of reconciling man to his Creator and ensuring that he would have a forever family—glorified and immortalized children created in his own image. 

Overview of the Sacrificial System?

All the animals slaughtered in the old covenant or Mosaic sacrificial system were similar, in modern terms, to the minimum amount due on a credit card bill that is so huge that one cannot possible pay the balance; therefore, one can only afford to pay the minimum amount due until somehow, miraculously, someone will step in to pay the full amount. Yeshua the Messiah came to man’s rescue and paid that monstrously huge sin debt for each of us at the cross. All of the sacrifices in the Tabernacle of Moses were merely tiny down payments on the vast sin bill that each sinner owed for his sins, and which would ultimately be paid by Yeshua’s death on the cross. The penalty for sin is death, and this debt can only be paid by the death of the sinner. However, once he is dead, then what? This is why Yeshua had to pay the price for man, so that humans might live forever and not die forever. How could Yeshua’s death pay for all of humanity? After all he was only one man. This is possible only because the Bible reveals in numerous places that Yeshua was the Creator of man (John 1:3, 10; Heb 1:2, 10; Col 1:16) thus making his death life more valuable than all that he ever created, even as the builder of the house is more valuable than the house he constructs (Heb 3:6).

The following points give us a quick overview of the Levitical sacrificial system.

• The laws pertaining to the sacrificial system were added to the rest of YHVH’s Torah because of sin, and were in force until the time of Yeshua the promised Seed (Gal 3:19; Heb 9:10). When and why did YHVH add the sacrifices making this system incumbent upon the Israelites? This occurred after and because of Israel’s sin of idolatry when they built the golden calf. It was then that YHVH established the Levitical priesthood and subsequently gave Israel the sacrificial system not only to impress upon them the seriousness and grave consequences of sin, but to point them toward the One who would come to offer ultimate redemption and salvation from sin.
• The Levitical system foreshadowed and pointed to the Messiah’s ultimate sacrifice (Heb 9:11–12).
• The tabernacle offerings were specifically designed to draw the offerer near to Elohim through the sacrifice of a prescribed animal (Ps 51:16–17; 50:12–15 cp. 1 Pet 2:21).
• Elohim commanded offerings to assist the offerer to understand himself better; his attitude, and his personal relationship with Elohim (e.g., Gen 3:21; 4:3–5; 8:20; 22:1–2 cp. 1 Cor 11:28).
• As a historical precursor to the Levitical sacrificial system, the patriarchs erected altars in order to honor Elohim through sacrifice after having had direct contact with him (Gen 12:6–8; 13:18; 26:24–25; 35:1; 35:2–4; Exod 17:13–16; cp. Exod 20:12). This presaged the purpose of the Levitical sacrifices.
• Proper and regular sacrificial offerings kept the children of Israel in direct contact with the Elohim of the patriarchs (Exod 5:3; 10:25; cp. 1 Tim 2:5).
• To make the offerer holy (set-apart) so that he would be allowed to approach and commune with the Set-Apart Elohim of Israel (Isa 43:15; 57:15; Lev 19:2 cp. 2 Cor 6:16–18).
• The blood of the animal sacrifices served to cover the offerer’s sins, thereby allowing him to draw near to the holy Elohim of Israel. However, the offerer could only be forgiven for specific sins through full repentance and by returning to Elohim’s way of life as outlined in the Torah (Lev 1:4; 4:35; 23:27–28; Heb 10:3–4; cp. Rom 4:7–8).
• Under certain circumstances, blood, as used in the Levitical system, could serve as a sin purification agent for both people and objects (Heb 9:18–23 cp. Luke 2:22–24).
• The purpose of the animals sacrificially offered by the Levitical priesthood served as a prophetic shadow picture and antetype of the blood of Messiah, which covers or atones for the sins of the person who accepts Yeshua’s free gift of atonement for one’s sins (Heb 9:11–12, 24–28; 1 Pet 1:18–19; Eph 5:25–27; Lev 25:47–49; Rom 5:11; John 1:29 cp. Heb 13:10–13).

The Higher or Ultimate Sacrifice of Yeshua Messiah Prophesied

The Scriptures clearly teach that the sacrificial system that YHVH imposed upon Israel was temporary—it was never intended to be a permanent fixture in the spiritual economy of the people of Israel. Unlike the ten commandments that formed the cornerstone of the rest of YHVH’s Torah-law and from which the rest of the Torah emanates, the sacrificial system was temporary and was to last until “the time of reformation,” that is, until the time of Yeshua the Messiah (Heb 9:9–10).

The Holy Spirit this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. But Messiah being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building. (Heb 9:8–11)

Moreover, these verses reveal another truth that the mainstream Christian church system from the time of the early church fathers until now has overlooked. The church’s teaching that the Sabbath along with YHVH’s feasts were a subset of these rites and ceremonies is based on a false reading of Hebrew 9:10, for the former predates the latter—an inconvenient truth that church leaders prefer to overlook and, therefore, fail to teach. The Sabbath and feasts were never part of the Levitical priesthood or sacrificial systems! The context of these verses is clearly speaking of the Levitical priesthood and sacrificial systems, and YHVH’s entire Torah is not even remotely in view in the author’s mind. Again, this is because both the Sabbath and biblical feasts long predate YHVH’s commands to Israel concerning the Levitical and sacrificial systems (Gen 1:14; 2:1–3; Exod chapters 12 and 13; 16:23–30 and YHVH’s giving of his Torah-law on the Feast of Shavuot or Pentecost (Exod 19:1ff). Jeremiah confirms this fact:

For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices: but this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your Elohim, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward. Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them: yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers. (Jer 7:22–26)

Jeremiah informs us that YHVH had (and still does) little interest in animal sacrifices, and that his real interest was in the condition of the heart of his people toward him. Isaiah echoes this truth as well:

Thus saith YHVH, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith YHVH: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not. (Isa 66:1–4)

Again, the eyes of YHVH are on those whose hearts are inclined toward him, and who possess a contrite heart and tremble at his word, rather than on outward hypocritical religiosity and heartless performance. Hollywood is full of many excellent actors who can play a scripted role, but such acting is no indication of who the person really is in his or her heart 

Thus, we see that YHVH added the sacrificial and Levitical systems to the rest of his Torah law for a limited time until the arrival of the Messiah to which this added system pointed like a highway milage sign or map points a traveler to their final destination. After the advent of Yeshua, what need was there now of this system since the destination to which pointed had been reached? Paul understood this.

Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. (Gal 3:19)

But long before Paul arrived on the scene, and longer still before the advent of the Messiah, many Old Testament writers realized the ineffectiveness of the Levitical and sacrificial systems to transform the human heart. They had come to the realization that these systems never were the ultimate intent of YHVH, for they were temporary and only pointed to the higher form of worship that was most pleasing to the Father.

Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in YHVH. (Ps 4:5)

And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto YHVH. (Ps 27:6)

I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me. I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Offer unto Elohim thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. (Ps 50:8–15)

The sacrifices of Elohim are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O Elohim, thou wilt not despise. (Ps 51:17)

I will praise the name of Elohim with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. This also shall please YHVH better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs. The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek Elohim. (Ps 69:30–32)

And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing. (Ps 107:22)

From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same YHVH’s name is to be praised. (Ps 113:3)

I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of YHVH. (Ps 116:17)

Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O YHVH, and teach me thy judgments. (Ps 119:108)

Ps 141:2 Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

Prov 15:8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to YHVH: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.

To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to YHVH than sacrifice. (Prov 21:3)

And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house of YHVH. (Jer 17:26)

The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise YHVH of hosts: for YHVH is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of YHVH. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith YHVH. (Jer 33:11)

For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of Elohim more than burnt offerings. (Hos 6:6)

Take with you words, and turn to YHVH: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips. (Hos 14:2)

But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of YHVH. (Jon 2:9)

For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith YHVH of hosts. (Mal 1:11)

But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. (Matt 9:13)

But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. (Matt 12:7)

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of Elohim, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto Elohim, which is your reasonable service. (Rom 12:1)

And walk in love, as Messiah also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to Elohim for a sweetsmelling savour. (Eph 5:2)

But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to Elohim. (Phil 4:18)

For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Heb 9:26)

By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to Elohim continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. (Heb 13:15)

Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to Elohim by Yeshua the Messiah. (1 Pet 2:5)

And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. (Rev 5:8)

And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. (Rev 8:3)

The Epistle to the Hebrews and the New Covenant

The Israelite’s failure to live up to the terms of the covenant that YHVH made with them at the foot of Mount Sinai necessitated a solution to this human sin problem if YHVH was ever to have a nation that would be a spiritual light to the world. In their present condition, how could he use this rebellious and sin-bent people to bring the message of redemption to the rest of the world and in the process create an everlasting spiritual family? This necessitated a permanent solution to the age-old problem of sinful inclination of the human heart. YHVH began to reveal to his prophets the necessity of a new covenant that would address the stubborn, rebellious, disobedient faithless, sin-bent and hard heart of man. Perhaps no other scripture passage expresses this idea more than one found in the ancient writings of Jeremiah the prophet.

Behold, the days come, saith YHVH, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not 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 YHVH: but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith YHVH, 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. (Jer 31:31–33)

Along with Jeremiah, other men of Elohim also prophesied that YHVH would make a new covenant with his people with provisions that he would supernaturally help his people to live up to its terms.

For thus saith Adonai YHVH; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant. Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant. Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant. And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am YHVH: That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith Adonai YHVH. (Ezek 16:59–63)

And they shall be my people, and I will be their Elohim: and I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: and I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. (Jer 32:38–40)

For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith YHVH, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: 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 continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith YHVH. For 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 Elohim, and they shall be to me a people: and they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know YHVH: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. 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. (Heb 8:7–13)

This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. (Heb 10:16–17)

This new covenant concerns transforming the heart of man. The old covenant that YHVH entered into with the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai was never about heart transformation leading to salvation and eternal life. Such promises were never included in that covenant. Rather, its main purpose was to give men the opportunity to live up to its terms of that covenant on their own accord, and when they could not, this would reveal to prideful and stubborn humans that they would need to humble themselves and admit their need of heaven’s help in overcoming their innate rebellion to his laws resulting in sin. It would also serve to show a person that they are incapable of redeeming themselves from sin’s death penalty by their own good works of Torah obedience, and that they could not reconcile themselves to Elohim through their own human efforts. Thus, the failure of YHVH’s people to live up to the terms of the old covenant merely paved the way for the new covenant. How is this? The old covenant’s Levitical priesthood and sacrificial system like a mentor, tutor or pedagogical schoolmaster prophetically pointed the way to the ultimate sacrifice of Yeshua’s death on the cross to pay for man’s sins once and for all. This is what the new covenant is all about, as the Book of Hebrews clearly tells us. This is something the old covenant could never do, nor was it intended to do so. Rather, it revealed man’s weakness and his need to rely on his Maker’s merciful grace including his unmerited pardon of sin as well as his divine enablement to adhere to divine will.

On the other hand, in the new covenant that Yeshua initiated with his disciples and those who subsequently place their trusting faith in him to this day, makes promises that the old covenant never did. It replaced the Levitcal priesthood and sacrificial systems with Yeshua as heaven’s Great High Priest offering himself as the ultimate sin atoning sacrifice—something to which the old covenant pointed but could never accomplish.

The supreme beauty of the new covenant is that it promises to redeem men from the consequences of their sin including a guilt-ridden conscience (Heb 9:15 cp. 12:24), and to grant salvation leading to eternal life to all those love Yeshua the Messiah and remain faithful to him by keeping his commandments through the work of Yeshua heaven’s High Priests and his sacrifice on the cross on behalf of man. 

But thankfully, unlike the Israelites of old under the old covenant, man is not left to flail helplessly about relying on the weakness of his own innate abilities and self will in an attempt to obey the Creator’s Torah commandments. Rather, Yeshua promised to send a Supernatural Helper called the Holy Spirit to aid in a multiplicity of ways those who place their truth in him (John 14:16–18, 25–26; 15:26–27; 16:7–14). Moreover, YHVH promised to write his Torah laws on one’s heart (Jer 31:31–33; Heb 8:10), and then send his Holy Spirit as a supernatural inner dynamic force aiding man live out the Creator’s commandments which show us how to walk in love, that is, to love YHVH with all of our heart and our neighbor as ourself. 

The Epistle to Hebrews more than any other book of the Bible elucidates in detail the transition from the old to the new covenant. It delineates the deficiencies of the old covenant and how the new covenant has better promises. An essential element of transitioning from the old to the new is the transition from the Levitical priesthood and sacrificial systems that were central aspects of former system to the priesthood of Yeshua the Messiah as well as his atoning, sacrificial death on the cross. As already noted, the former was a temporary shadow picture that pointed to the ultimate priesthood and atoning sacrifice of Yeshua, even as a highway sign gives the mileage and points the way to a certain destination. 

Sadly, for too many Christians going back to the early church fathers, the Book of Hebrews has not only been seen correctly as showing how Yeshua fulfilled the Levitical priesthood and sacrificial systems of old been, but also as a referendum on YHVH’s Torah law. An objective reading of Hebrews reveals that the validity of YHVH’s Torah for Christians is neither under scrutiny nor on trial here, nor does the author even remotely question its immutability. To say that Hebrews does is a theological non sequitur—an argument based on a false premise, and a tradition of men by which the word of Elohim is made of none effect, which is something that Yeshua warned leaders against (Mark 7:9, 13). This is not the point of this book at all.

As simple as the biblical truth is relating to the true message of the Book of Hebrews as it relates to the purpose of the sacrificial system under the old covenant and how it pointed to Yeshua’s ultimate fulfillment under the new covenant, Christian leaders have twisted this truth into something bordering on blasphemy. This they have done by conflating the cessation of the Levitical priesthood and sacrificial systems with their false belief in the cessation of the Torah—or at least certain aspects of it, and the Book of Hebrews has become a star witness by the prosecution of this false assertion. As Berean Bible students, we categorically reject the lies that these false teachers have been peddling for nearly two millennia, and we will prove it below. 

Admittedly, the blasphemy assertion is a bold one for anyone to make, but the light of truth reveals that this statement is not overshooting the target in the least. It is time that the chicanery of the so-called early church fathers of the second century a.d. and onward be exposed, and the lies that they have passed on down through the Roman Catholic Church and to its spiritual daughters to the present time be exposed. Let’s now pull the lid off of this gilded theological garbage can to reveal the abominable filth contained therein as it relates to the Epistle to the Hebrews. 

Exhibit one is found in Hebrews chapter four. 

For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains therefore a rest for the people of Elohim. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as Elohim did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. (Heb 4:8–11)

Countless Christian Bible teachers have interpreted this scripture passage as a refutation of Christians having to observe the weekly seventh day Sabbath. This is not what this verse is saying! The validity of the Sabbath is not even in question here. In fact and to the contrary, verse nine informs us that “therefore a rest [the Greek word for rest is sabbatismos meaning “Sabbath”] for the people of God.” Yet we are told that since Jesus has given us his spiritual rest from having to earn our own salvation by our own “good” works (a true concept), we are no longer obligated to rest physically from our work at the end of each week (a false concept). Such an interpretation is reading into this verse something that is not there, yet millions of Christians have fallen for this lie. 

Exhibit two of a false teaching that the church still propagates is found in Hebrews chapter eight. Here the writer is juxtaposing the old and new covenants. From this passage, many Christians have erroneously been made to believe that since the old covenant was deficient and was passing away because it is inferior to the new covenant, with its passing also goes YHVH’s Torah—or at least the parts of it the early church fathers deemed as being too Jewish (e.g., the Sabbath, the biblical feasts, the biblical dietary laws among other things). What the promoters of this false assertion fail to recognize is that a covenantal agreement or contract is one thing, while the terms of that covenant or contact are another thing as any modern contractual agreement easily demonstrates. The agreement is between the two parties and is based on mutual trust that each party will follow the terms of the agreement. If one party fails to live up to the agreement, this annuls the contract, but this is no reflection on the terms to which the two parties agreed. Rather, this is the failure of one of the parties to live up to the terms, and not the fault of the terms themselves to which both parties had previously agreed. So, the children of Israel agreed to obey YHVH’s Torah laws, but failed to do so because of their proclivity to sin due to their lack of faith and the hardness of their hearts. This failure on the people’s part was neither YHVH’s nor his Torah’s fault, and this is exactly what the writer of Hebrews tells us. 

For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Because finding fault with them [not the Torah law], He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says YHVH, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. (Heb 8:7–8, emphasis added)

Exhibit three is also found in the above quoted verses. YHVH says that he will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and Judah and not the Gentiles! Nowhere in the Scriptures does YHVH make any salvation covenant with the Gentiles. Never. When a person becomes a true Christian, one is grafted into the spiritual olive tree of Israel (Rom 11:11–32) and ceases being a Gentile (Eph 2:11–19). They are now an Israelite (Eph 2:11–19) and a literal son of Abraham (Gal 3:29; Rom 4:16; 8:9, 11). There are not two churches in the kingdom of Elohim: a Jewish one and a Gentile one, only an Israelite one (Gal 3:28; Rom 10:12; Col 3:11). Yeshua is no returning to Earth to marry two brides—a Jewish one that obeys the Torah and a Christian Gentile one that says it was done away with. He is not a polygamist. Moreover and finally, there is no Gentile gate in the New Jerusalem—a picture of heaven on earth (Rev 21:12).

Exhibit four of another egregiously false teaching in the mainstream Christian church is found in Hebrews chapter nine. There we read,

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—concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation. But Messiah 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. (Heb 9:9–11, emphasis added)

Most Christians assume that the “foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation” mentioned here are referring to the Torah’s laws pertaining to clean and unclean meats, the Sabbath and the biblical feasts that would presumably pass away with the advent of the Messiah. But is this what the author is really saying? These words taken out of context might lead one to this erroneous conclusion, but, again as stated above, YHVH’s Torah laws are not in question here. This is not the point of the Book of Hebrews. Rather, at question is the continuation of the Levitical priesthood and sacrificial system. The whole point of Hebrews is to show how these old covenant systems prophetically pointed to Yeshua the Messiah. The validity of the Torah is never in questions in the entire book, and to say otherwise is to read into the author’s message something that is not there. This is dishonest biblical exegesis. Hebrews does contain a single clear passage to which one can point that confirms this false notion. Only by twisting verses and pluck or cherry-picking them out of context is such an interpretation remotely possible, and the honest Bible student cannot fail to wonder what YHVH Elohim thinks about those who handle his word so dishonestly and disingenuously?

So what is so borderline blasphemous if not outright so about these false teachings that Christian leaders have been foisting on the people going back to the early church fathers? They all have several things in common. First they twist the Scriptures to conform to their anti-Torah biases. This is akin to snowball which the early church fathers set into downhill motion and increased in size and momentum until it become normative Christian theology. Why is denying the validity of the Torah to one degree or another blasphemous? First, it accuses YHVH of lying when the Bible affirms from one end to the other that he has never changed his standards of righteousness. Second, it makes YHVH a respecter of persons, which not only goes against Scripture, but turns YHVH into a capricious Being with double standards for different people of different eras and ethnicities. Third, to teach that certain aspects of the Torah are not for today’s Christians is to succumb to the lies of the serpent that he proffered to the first humans at the tree of knowledge, when he questioned the Word of Elohim and deceived them into disobeying YHVH’s commands leading them into sin and rebellion against their Creator. For Christian leaders to take a pick-choose-approach to YHVH’s commandments is to idolatrously lift themselves up above Elohim and to convey the false notion that they know better and are wiser than him. In their demeaning and demoting his commandments they are blaspheming his authority, sovereignty, his holiness and righteous standards and his very character of which his Torah laws are a reflection and extension. In listening to the lies and deceit of Satan, humans who disannul aspects of YHVH’s word are, in reality, blaming him for that which Satan himself is guilty of including lying, deceiving, changing, hypocritically blaming others of those things for which you are guilty of yourself. This is shameful and may such false accusations never be laid at the feet of the Holy One of Israel, and woe be to anyone who promote such lies!

Moreover, when Christian leaders teach that the old covenant was against man if not outright evil and that YHVH gave the Israelites laws that they could not obey and then punished them for their disobedience, are they not in essence declaring that YHVH is an evil tyrant who imposes standards upon his people that were impossible to obey and then punished them for the disobedience? To believe this even in the slightest is in fact a calumnious and blasphemous lie against the character, person, holiness and righteousness of the Almighty! Yet these very concepts have become mainstream, to one degree or another, in normative and mainstream Christian theology.

The truth is—and the Scriptures are clear on this issue—that the problem was not with YHVH Elohim but with his people. The Bible clearly chronicles the sad history of ancient Israel and the endless cycles of obedience, then disobedience followed by divine judgment with this cycle to repeat itself time and again for centuries. The problem was not with the covenant that YHVH made with Israel at Mount Sinai, nor with his Torah-commandments, which showed man how to love Elohim and his neighbor as himself. Rather, as the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews points out echoing the unanimous message of the Old Testament prophets, the problem was with the people’s hard and rebellious hearts, their lack of faith, and their refusal to obey YHVH. The problem was with the people and not with YHVH (Heb 8:8). Yet this was not the general consensus of the early church fathers. Rather, their view was that the laws of Elohim were at fault—a de facto criticism of YHVH himself from whom those very laws originated. This view prevailed, was codified, institutionalized and has become normative Christian theology to this day. Let’s explore this sad truth a little further as we take a closer look as the Epistle to the Hebrews how and why Yeshua fulfilled the Levitical priesthood and sacrificial systems, and how and why the old covenant failed necessitating that YHVH make a new covenant with his people through Yeshua the Messiah.

Background of the Epistle to the Hebrews

A debate exists among scholars as to when the Epistle to the Hebrews was written. Some believe it was written just before the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in a.d. 70, while others maintain that it was written just after a.d. 70. This author favors the former position since the author of Hebrews speaks of the sacrificial system in the present tense as if it were still functioning (Heb 10:11;13:10, 11), and no reference is made to the destruction of the temple having yet occurred.

At the same time, the author of Hebrews seems to be addressing the concerns of early believers that without the temple standing and the sacrificial system functioning, there is no longer remission for sins. He assiduously points out how the patterns and prophecies of the Tanakh are pointing to the greater priesthood of Messiah Yeshua in the heavenly tabernacle. As such, the author seems to have in view the destruction of the temple, yet while the temple is still standing. Perhaps, the author was writing Hebrews in the four-year time period (between a.d. 67 to a.d. 70) when the Romans had first besieged Jerusalem, then pulled away for several years, before besieging and destroying the city once and for all in a.d. 70. Or, he may have had in mind the prophecies Yeshua’s gave in his Olivette Discourse about the siege of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple (Luke 21:20–21; Matt 24:2).

Epistle to the Hebrews: The New Covenant and the Ultimate Sacrifice of Yeshua Our Great High Priest

The writer of Hebrews in a logical and linear manner lays out the case for Yeshua becoming our Great High Priest and whose death on the cross atones for man’s sins. Thus in one Person, the Levitical priesthood and sacrificial systems were replaced once and for all. The timing this epistle’s authorship coincides either with the eminent or recent prophesied destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. For the current Hebrew readers of circa a.d. 70, this letter answered the most pressing question: now that the temple is gone or about to be gone, what do we do now with no priesthood or sacrificial system? Both of these systems played a crucial role in the spiritual and cultural life of the Jewish people of that day and without them, the people were left hanging confused as to how to approach Elohim much less be reconciled to him. This would be slightly akin to Americans questioning what to do should the U.S. Constitution suddenly cease being the law of the land. What do we do then? 

For modern Christians, the Book of Hebrews is the explanatory missing link between the old and new covenants. It explains line-by-line and point-by-point in a clear manner how the old covenant priesthood and sacrificial systems merely pointed to Yeshua, and when the Messiah came, they were now no longer necessary, since the object to which they prophetically pointed had come and the destination arrived at. But in reality, the sacrificial system was never done away with or abolished, but was merely fulfilled. But fulfilled in what sense? Fulfilled in that it was done away with? Not at all. Fulfilled in the sense that a rose bud becomes a flower. It is still the same flower, but it has filled out and expanded into its fullest expression. Thus, both the sacrificial and Levitical priesthood systems are more in force today than ever in times past but at their highest, ultimate, pre-ordained expression or level. Again, this is because the former was merely the road sign or prophetic shadow picture that pointed to its ultimate destination or fulfillment in Yeshua the Messiah. Hebrews lays this truth out clearly from beginning to end. The validity of YHVH’s Torah law was never in the author’s mind, but only the temporary nature of the Levitical and sacrificial systems that were a subset or parenthetical that was added to the rest of the Torah until the arrival of the Yeshua the Messiah, the Promised Seed (Gen 22:18;Gal 3:18). A quick overview of the Epistle to the Hebrews from its beginning to end reveals this to be the case as we are now about to see. 

An Overview of the Epistle to the Hebrews

Hebrews chapters 1–2.  The author opens this letter declaring and proving the deity and preeminence of Yeshua the Messiah.

Hebrews 2:14–18. Here we learn how Yeshua, the prophesied Seed of Abraham, defeated Satan and sin, atoned for sin and became heaven’s Great High Priest.

Hebrews 3:1–6. Yeshua is greater and more glorious than Moses (who, in his day, was the highest or great high priest of Israel) because he is the one who built “the house” as the YHVH the Son and the Creator of all things including Abraham, Moses, Israel and the whole world. Since the saints are Yeshua’s spiritual house, this makes him our Great and Glorious High Priest, not Moses or Aaron (and thus we no longer need a physical temple made with hands along with all the physical priests and animal sacrifices).

Hebrews 3:7–19. In resisting Moses, the Israelites were actually resisting the One to whom Moses prophetically pointed and was a spiritual archetypal forerunner, namely, YHVH Yeshua our Great High Priest. 

Hebrews 4:14–16. Yeshua is now man’s sinless Great High Priest who, because he became a human, understands our weaknesses and the temptation of sin, and who is now before the throne of Elohim to aid the saint in his and her spiritual ascent toward our Father in heaven. 

Hebrews 5:1–4. The role of a high priest is a divinely appointed one acting as an intermediary between man and Elohim. No man cannot himself and by his own choosing fulfill that role. (Sorry Catholic and Orthodox priests! You are all self-appointed, and not appointed by Elohim.)

Hebrews 5:5–6. Yeshua was not self-appointed, but pre-ordained to the role of High Priest by YHVH Elohim after the prophetic and prototypical role of Melchizedek the (high) priest of Abraham’s day.

Hebrews 5:7–10. Yeshua learned how to be a high priest while ministering on the earth in preparation for his role as our Heavenly High Priest.

Hebrews 6:13–20. YHVH made promises to Abraham about a Seed that would come from him by which all nations would be blessed (Gen 22:18; 26:4 ; Gal 3:16, 19). When the temple’s veil was ripped as Yeshua died on the cross, this symbolized that a way ha been opened for redeemed people to come into the presence of our Father in heaven, and that Yeshua himself had become our High Priest after the pattern of the original Melchizedek priesthood. Yeshua passed through heaven’s veil and opened the way for man to come into the presence of (i.e., be reconciled to) Elohim. The temple veil ripping in two from top to bottom at Yeshua’s death was an earthly symbol of this spiritual reality.

Hebrews 7:1–11. Abraham honored Melchizedek with his tithes and offerings. Levi, the grandson of Abraham, in effect, through Abraham tithed to Melchizedek, which is proof that the Melchizedek priesthood is the antecedent of the Levitical priesthood which came later. The point here is that Yeshua’s priesthood is superior to in that it both preceded and proceeds the Levitical priesthood. Thus, the Jerusalem temple of the first century along with the Levitical/Saduccean priesthood is now irrelevant being superseded by that of the priesthood of Yeshua. (Furthermore, this disproves the false notion that the Zadok/Enoch calendar proponents propose that Christians now need to look to the presumably priestly Dead Sea Scrolls as well as the supposedlyb priestly Qumran and or Essene community for spiritual direction and guidance, for Yeshua is greater than and supersedes all of this!)

Hebrews 7:11–19. For all of the above reasons, the Levitical priesthood is now passé having been superseded by the superior priesthood of Yeshua. Thus this necessitates a change of the Torah law concerning the Levitical priesthood with all of its rituals and physical or carnal ordinances. This change has nothing to do, however, with the rest of YHVH’s Torah. The Levitical priesthood and sacrificial system was weak and unprofitable since it did not atone for man’s sin once and for all (v. 18). It merely pointed to a better hope of the ultimate, once and for all redemption of Yeshua, like a road sign that points to the final destination (v. 19).

Hebrews 7:20–21. Even the psalmist had this higher, eternal priesthood in mind and prophesied of its coming in the Person of the Messiah (Ps 110:1–4). 

Hebrews 7:22–28. Thus, because Yeshua is superior in every way, he logically qualifies to replace the imperfect Levitical system the sole purpose of which was to point man to Yeshua as the perfect, ultimate Savior. Moreover, the daily sacrifices are no longer needed, since Yeshua offered up himself once and for all as the perfect sin offering. 

Hebrews 8:1–5. The point of the author’s previous discussion is to prove that Yeshua is presently seated at his Father’s right hand as our Great High Priest and that the Tabernacle of Moses (and by implication, the two temples that subsequently replaced it) only temporarily pointed to Yeshua. Presently, Yeshua is ministering in “the true tabernacle” in heaven (of which the Tabernacle of Moses was merely an earthly representation). 

Hebrews 8:6. Yeshua’s current ministry is a higher one than the tabernacle ministry with its Levitical system and physical sacrifices. The superior ministry of Yeshua the High Priest necessitates a superior and better covenantal agreement between Elohim and man to replace the previous covenant that he made with the children of Israel at Mount Sinai. This new covenant is a better one with better promises. Why? Because it offers forgiveness from all sin including cleansing of a guilty conscience, salvation, eternal life and inclusion in the family of Elohim, the aid of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, the new covenant is better because the flawed human element, which was the weakness of the former covenant, has been mitigated.

Hebrews 8:7–12. The former or “old” covenant was flawed because the people were flawed. They were rebellious, stiff necked and lacked faith although there was nothing wrong with the terms of the covenant, which was YHVH’s Torah. The Torah itself was not flawed because it is YHVH’s instructions to man on how to love Elohim and man, and YHVH promises to bless man when they obey the terms of the covenant if they obey those terms. What could be wrong with this? However, Israel refused to obey the terms and conditions of the former covenant, and thus the fault was with them, not with Elohim or his Torah (v. 7). Thus, YHVH through Jeremiah prophesied the time when he would make a new covenant with Israel by circumcising their hard and sin-inclined hearts by writing his Torah on their hearts by his Holy Spirit (Jer 31:31–33). This is the new covenant that Yeshua initiated with his disciples (and the disciples that would follow) at his last supper (Matt 26:28), and to which each Christian enters when they become a redeemed disciple of Yeshua.

Hebrews 8:13. Few Bible students understand an important fact as stated in this verse. While Yeshua initiated the New Covenant at his last supper, and while each new disciple of Yeshua from then until now is brought into the New Covenant agreement through their faith in Yeshua, the New Covenant will not be finalized until the second coming of Yeshua. The writer recognized that from the time of Yeshua until now, we are currently in the transition period between the former and new covenants with the former covenant currently becoming obsolete and passing away, and the more so with each new convert to Yeshua. The new covenant (also known biblically as “the eternal/everlasting/perpetual covenant” or “the covenant of peace,” see Heb 13:20; Ezek 34:22; 37:26; Isa 55:3; 54:10; 59:21; Jer 32:40; 50:5) will be finalized at Yeshua’s second coming.

Hebrews 9:1–10. The central focus of the first covenant was the Tabernacle of Moses with its Levitical service, rituals and ceremonies along with its sacrificial system. This was to last until “the time of reformation,” that is, “a making straight, restoring to its natural and normal condition something which in some way protrudes or has got out of line” (v. 10). The tabernacle system was temporary, and not YHVH’s original plan, but was operational only until Yeshua’s advent. Why was this system temporary and ultimately unsuccessful and needing to pass away? Because it “could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience.” That is, this system could not redeem man of each and every one of his sins once and for all, nor could it cleanse men of guilt or shame as a result of one’s sin.

Hebrews 9:10. Many false teachers and misguided saints claim that this verse is referring to the entirety of YHVH’s Torah-law. But this is not the subject of the author’s discussion in Hebrews. He is not even addressing the validity of YHVH’s Torah-instructions or laws. Rather, on trial is the present validity of the Levitical and sacrificial systems that were temporary spiritual road signs pointing the way to Yeshua the Messiah, and not the validity of YHVH’s Torah. This is an important point to keep in mind when reading the Book of Hebrews.

Hebrews 9:11–15. However, with the advent of Yeshua the Messiah, that to which the tabernacle with its Levitical and sacrificial pointed had come, and now atonement for men’s sins could be achieved once and for all. This was something which the tabernacle rituals and systems could never accomplish nor was that ever their purpose. It was “the blood of Messiah, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to Elohim, [and was able to] purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living Elohim” (v. 14). As the ultimate High Priest and Mediator between Elohim and man, it was “by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance” (v. 15). Everything in the first covenant pointed to Yeshua, and it the second covenant that not only redemption form sin came, but also the promise of eternal inheritance is given—something that was never offered under the first covenant. How could the first covenant offer this? It had no means to cleanse people fully of sin, and without sinlessness or holiness, no one can come into the presence of (i.e., be reconciled to) Elohim (Heb 12:14)!

Hebrews 9:22. Yeshua shed his blood for the remission of or payment for man’s sin according to the Torah (Lev 17:11). The death penalty for men’s sins had to be paid. Because Yeshua’s life as man’s Creator was worth more than the lives of all humans combined, he was able to offer himself to pay for the sins of many resulting in ultimate salvation (i.e., the redemption of our physical bodies resulting in glorification or eternal life; Heb 9:28).

Hebrews 10:1–10. The author of Hebrews tells that the law had a shadow of good things to come (Heb 10:1). But to which law is the author referring? All 613 commandments of YHVH’s Torah-law including the ten commandments? No! What is the context of what the writer has been discussing since Hebrews chapter seven? The author’s discussion centers around the Torah’s institution of the Levitical priesthood with its sacrificial system—not the entire Torah including the prohibitions against lying, murder, adultery, witchcraft, idolatry, sex with animals, theft, the command to love YHVH and Elohim,et al! The Levitical priesthood and sacrificial system form the contextual background of the author’s entire discussion. So when the author refers to “the law, having a shadow of good things to come” he is referring to the Levitical priesthood and sacrificial system that where prophetic shadow pictures pointing to Yeshua the Messiah, his atoning sacrifice on the cross and his becoming man’s Great High Priest in the heavenly tabernacle before the throne of Elohim. The Levitical and sacrificial systems could never “take away sins” (v. 4). That was never their purpose nor intention. It is impossible for them to do so. They merely pointed that way to Messiah who could cleanse man of sin once and for all and reconcile us to our Father in heaven (v. 10). That was YHVH’s intention all along as verses five through ten state.

Hebrews 10:11–18. This is the author’s summary conclusion for his epistle. Namely, Yeshua the Messiah offered himself as the atoning sacrifice for man’s sin, has replaced the Levitical priesthood and daily animal sacrifices, has defeated his enemies (i.e., death and Satan), and as man’s Heavenly High Priest who is currently at the right hand of Elohim in heaven, and through the process of sanctification is perfecting his saints forever.

Hebrews 10:19–25. Armed with this truth, the saint can now boldly come into heaven’s holy of holies by the blood of Yeshua having been cleansed from sin by Yeshua’s death based on one’s faith in the Messiah. In fact, as the author goes on to point out, when the saints assemble together, they are in a real sense coming into the holy of holies and into the very presence of YHVH Elohim (v. 25). After all, does not psalmist tell us that YHVH inhabits or is enthroned on the praises of his people (Ps 22:3)?

Hebrews 10:26–38. With full assurance that we have been redeemed by the Messiah, and with the hope of eternal salvation before us as we are now allowed into the Father’s presence, let us walk forward in faith not drawing back in faithlessness or fear, for the just(ified) shall walk by faith.

Hebrews 11 (the Faith Chapter). Many saints have gone before us walking in faith, not receiving the rewards of their faith and faithfulness in their life times. Like them and encouraged by their examples, may we also go forward in faith trusting in YHVH.

Hebrews 12. Like the saints who blazed a spiritual trail for us, let us press onward and upward putting off the weight or downward pull of sin, enduring the chastisements of our loving Heavenly Father as he is refining us and perfecting our walk of holiness. As we go forward, may we keep our eyes focused on Yeshua our heavenly Mediator as we press on toward our ultimate destiny which is the eternal kingdom of Elohim as pictured by heavenly New Jerusalem.

Hebrews 13. Finally, in our present spiritual journey, may we walk in brotherly love and maintain a high level of morality and holiness keeping our eyes on Yeshua by staying at the foot of his cross as we become living sacrifices suffering as he did, bearing his reproach, while offering the higher sacrifices of praise with our lips while doing good to those around us.