Heb 8.1-6 discusses the fact that we have the Messiah who is high priest and he is in the Olam Haba and as a result, he has a more excellent ministry in the “true tabernacle” (Olam Haba) that the Lord pitched, not man. As any other high priest, he has something to offer, which is his body and blood. And if he were on earth (in the Olam Ha Zeh) he would not be a priest at all (not from Levi), who serve a copy (in the Olam Ha Zeh) and shadow of the heavenly things (in the Olam Haba). As a result, Yeshua has obtained a more excellent ministry (because he is in the Olam Haba where there is no sin, aging sickness and death) and he is a mediator of a better covenant which has been enacted on better promises. This alludes to the Covenant in Moab (Deut 29.1-30.20). What the Lord will do in this covenant is confirm Israel as his people, restore all things, gather the exiles from other nations, circumcise their hearts, putting the Torah in their hearts and mouth by the Ruach Ha Kodesh. This covenant will be ratified in his blood (Heb 9.12-24, 13.20; Luke 22.20) and Yeshua is the “surety” of it (Heb 7.22) and the “mediator” (8.6, 12.24). The servant passages in Isaiah 40-66 embody the “new covenant” at Moab. The ultimate outcome of it does not depend on Israel’s obedience, but God and his faithfulness (Ezek 16.60).
Heb 8.7 says, “For if the first had been faultless (covenant is in italics) there would have been no occasion sought for a second.” Now, this verse has been used by translators to appear “anti-Torah” in order to promote Replacement Theology. It is mistranslated to convey the wrong idea. The word “covenant” is not in this passage, but added. The Torah was faultless and there was no need to have another covenant. So, let’s look at this verse in the context we have been looking at. It should say, “For if the first (the Olam Ha Zeh, the realm of sin, sickness, aging and death) had been faultless (showing that something had faults, and that can’t be Torah) there would have been no occasion sought for a second (Olam Haba).” The word “first” in Greek is “protos” and “second” is “deutros” and covenant is nowhere to be seen.
Heb 8.8 says that the fault was found with “them” (the people) and the Covenant of Moab in Deut 29.1-30.20 has been enacted “besides the covenant which he had made with them at Horeb (compare with Jer 31.31-34) It is “here now, but not yet” in its fullness. The fullness of it will not be seen until the end of the Atid Lavo and we enter the Olam Haba. The “renewed” covenant fulfills the promise of God that he made in the Olam Haba that the “seed” (Messiah) would bless all nations and the Ruach Ha Kodesh would be poured out, beginning in Acts 2.39. Heb 8.10 says “after those days” and this refers to the transition from the Olam Ha Zeh to the Olam Haba at the end of the 7000 years when the Torah will be placed on the minds and hearts (desires) of the people. What we are seeing is the Olam Haba is connected to this “renewed covenant.”
Heb 8.13 is another verse that is misunderstood. Most translations have this to say, “In that he said, a new covenant, he has made the first old. Now that which is decaying and waxes old is ready to vanish away (KJV).” Now, that gives the impression that the Torah is being done away with according to Replacement Theology. Again, the word “covenant” is added and not in the Greek, giving the impression that the Torah is being done away with. But, is that what it is saying? What this is saying is the Olam Ha Zeh is becoming obsolete by the Olam Haba. It is vanishing away as we move toward the Olam Haba when the Torah is written on the heart/mind in the fullness of the Olam Haba. Is the Torah obsolete or decaying? That would be against what Yeshua said in Matt 5.17-18. This is talking about the Olam He Zeh being made obsolete or “decaying” by the Olam Haba. There is a new heavens and a new earth coming! What is “growing old” and “vanishing away” is the Olam Ha Zeh chronologically.
This brings us to Heb 9.1-8. The Olam Ha Zeh (“the first”) had ordinances like in the Mishkan, the Menorah, the table and the sacred bread. This called the “sanctuary” or the Heichal. The Kodesh Ha Kodeshim (Holy of Holies) had incense in it on Yom Kippur and it had the Ark, Cherubim and so on. The Temple ceremonies could not make a person righteous in the Olam Ha Zeh (v 6= “continually”). Heb 9.9 has another translation problem in some versions (KJV). The word “was” should be “is a symbol for the present time” (the Olam Ha Zeh). Again, can the Temple ceremonies make a person righteous? We have already shown you that they cannot, but Constantine thought so. He “baptized” his army and called them “Christian.” In reality, they were just “wet pagans.” Also, the word “only” is not there either. These errors convey anti-Torah messages and they are “layered” through this book (and others) by false interpretation and translation. They have diverted the real message of Hebrews from the contrast between the Olam Haba and the Olam Ha Zeh. The Torah is not at “fault” in these passages and it gives instruction in righteousness, but it does not “promote” righteousness. What the Replacement Theology translators have done is diverted the message of the Olam Ha Zeh and the Olam Haba to “first covenant and second covenant.”
It is so ingrained, you can read this and never see it because this is never taught. You can go into just about any Bible School or Seminary and see exactly what we are talking about because they teach Replacement Theology Christianity, which they see as a “better covenant.” The “time of reformation” talked about in Heb 9.10 is the passing of the Olam Ha Zeh into the Olam Haba. In Heb 8.1-8 we learn that the high priest is the “agent” of God to do certain things. Kings and prophets were agents, too.
Now, Jer 31.31-34 will be saying the same thing as these verses we have looked into. The “renewed covenant” is “cut” and this covenant in Hebrew is called the Brit Chadasha, and it is associated with the Olam Haba. We experience the Olam Haba “in part” in the Olam Ha Zeh, but the “fullness” will be in the Olam Haba when death is swallowed up, the last enemy. In Jer 31.31 we have the phrase “Behold, days are coming” and this refers to the transition from the Olam Ha Zeh to the Olam Haba at the end of the 7000 years. We have entered into this covenant, but there is more coming. These verses in Jer 31.27-37 “seals” what is being said in Hebrews.
Let’s look at Heb 8.13 a little deeper now. The word “obsolete” (NASB) is when there is no need for the first covenant “in type” in the Olam Haba. Everything will not be a pattern, shadow or picture anymore, it will be the real thing, in its fullness. That is what makes it “better.” Everything is relative to the “Day of the Lord” and the coming of the Olam Haba at the end of the 7000 year plan of God. The Olam Ha Zeh is “vanishing” away as we move toward the Olam Haba when the Torah makes way for the Brit Chadasha in its fullness in the Olam Haba. That doesn’t mean that the Torah is “done away with” but that the Torah will be written on our hearts and minds (meaning the Torah will be our desire). It is “here now, but not yet” or in other words, we experience some of this in the Olam Ha Zeh, but we won’t have the fullness until the Olam Haba. That is what the Book of Hebrews is trying to point out, and that Yeshua is the high priest, or the agent, sent from God to bring all this about.
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