2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.

The Majesty of the Heavens

When Jesus ascended to heaven,

"he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in high places" - Heb. 1:3,

which, in Heb. 10: 12, is styled "the right hand of the Deity;" and in Heb. 8: 1, the phrase is extended to, "he sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens."

Treating of this subject in Eph. 1:20, Paul says that the Deity raised up the Christ from among the dead, and "set him at His right hand in the heavenlies." Thus He hath highly exalted him indeed, having placed him there above all terrestrial governments, or, in the words of the apostle,

"far above every principality, and authority, and power, and lordship, and every name that is named, not only in this AION (or course of things), but in the future. And puts all things (panta hupetaxen - 1. Aorist) under his feet."

And again in Col. 3: 1,

"Seek the things above, where the Anointed is, sitting at the right hand of the Deity"

- the life, the honour, the power, the glory, the salvation, the grace, to be brought you at the apocalypse of Jesus Anointed - 1 Pet. 1: 13; all of which is in harmony with Psa. 110:1, "Sit thou at My right hand," said Yahweh to Davids Lord, "until I shall make thy foes a stool for thy feet," or until I conquer them for thee; and then thou shalt sit upon My throne. For it is so written in the next verse, in these words,

"The sceptre of thy strength shall Yahweh send out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies,"

and in the second psalm,

"I have anointed My King upon Zion, the mountain of My holiness."

Eureka, vol 1, pp.417-418.

Being in Jesus and the Father, they must be, in a certain sense, where Jesus and the Father are. Alluding to this fact, Paul says in Heb. 12:23,

"We are come to the Deity the Judge of all, and to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant",

and so forth. But Paul says that Jesus is at the Father's own Right Hand. True; but he also says, that

"being justified by faith, we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand."

In other words, we have admission to the Father in heaven by faith; and when a person is permitted access to a place, and avails himself of the permission, he is in some sense certainly there; and when there in this certain sense, he is "dwelling in the heaven" in the presence of "the Judge of all."

Now the two places of the Mosaic tabernacle were the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place, which were divided the one from the other by the Vail. Even so it is with "the holies", the true tabernacle which the Lord pitches, and not man (Heb. 8:2).

There are the Holy Heavenly State and the Most Holy Heavenly State, divided by the Flesh. The Holy must be entered before the Most Holy can be reached; and to pass corporeally from one into the other, the individual must put on incorruptibility and become immortal; for, so long as he is in mortal flesh he is outside, or rather, an element of the Vail which must be rent; though by faith and constitution in Christ, he is within it.

How, then, does a sinner come to "dwell in the heaven?" By being

"transformed in the renewing of his mind" "by knowledge" (Rom. 12:2; Col. 3:10);

that he may discern and do

"that good and acceptable and Perfect will of the Deity."

In other words, by believing the gospel of the Kingdom and Name; and being immersed into and upon that Name. In so doing, he enters into the Holy Heavenly State. By faith in "the truth as it is in Jesus," and obedience, he puts on Christ, and is therefore, "in Him;" and being in him, he is constitutionally holy or a saint; and sitting together with him in the Most Holy, not personally, or corporeally rather; but by faith.

This is his present adoption through Jesus Christ, by which he becomes a son of Deity, of Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac, and a brother of Christ himself (Gal. 3:26-29); and a "dweller in the heaven."

Eureka 13.20.

In Hebrews viii. 5, Paul tells us that the priests of the law served for an ocular representation and shadow of the heavenlies; that is, that Aaron and his priests, in their service, vestments, and relations to the Deity and Israel, submitted to the eyes of observers a shadowy representation of things pertaining to Jesus and his Brethren, the saints -- Christ personal and Christ mystical.

These constitute "the heavenlies," "in the heavens" en tois ouranois, not in "the heaven," ton ouranon [Col ii: 17], where Jesus now is, but in the heavens in which they enjoy their great reward, when he shall sit upon the throne of his glory in Jerusalem, and they shall "reign with him upon the earth" over Israel and the nations, as the kings and priests of the Deity (Apoc. v. 10; xx. 4).

The law, in all its details, was a pattern -- a system of figurative righteousness, which represented a system of real righteousness, termed "the righteousness of the Deity." The figurative was prophetic of the real; so that, until the real was developed, no one could fulfil the righteousness of the law.

When Jesus was about to be immersed by John he said: "Thus it is becoming for us to fulfil all righteousness;" and what was becoming for him is deemed so by the Spirit for all who would become constituents of the Holy Square of Twelve.

The Deity condemned sin in the flesh of his Son, says Paul, "that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit," or the truth (Rom. viii. 4). This was a most remarkable development, that the prophets and priests under the law could not fulfil its righteousness.

The High Priest might put on the ephod decorated with its sparkling jewels [Ex 34: 10] , and thus be invested with a holiness and brightness and perfection which, when put off and suspended in the wardrobe, left him in all the unholiness, dulness, and imperfection of a natural man.

A man whose righteousness is in his dress fulfils not the righteousness of the Deity represented by the dress. This can only be fulfilled by those "who walk after the Spirit;" and they only so walk, who, whether Jews or Gentiles, it matters not, understand the gospel of the kingdom and the truth as it is in Jesus; who believe heartily what they understand, and obey the truth by immersion into the Christ, and a patient continuance in well doing.

These, who were never under the Mosaic law, do what the priests and prophets could not do. By their intelligent obedience to the law of faith, they show the work of the Mosaic law written in their hearts, whereby they do the things contained in the law, and so fulfil its righteousness.

Eureka 7.6.

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

The New, or Abrahamic, Covenant having been brought into force by the death of Jesus, Gentiles are invited to avail themselves of it, though for the time being Israelites reject it. The last eighteen hundred years has been a period of individual acceptance of the Abrahamic Covenant, and of national rejection of it.

Multitudes of individuals have embraced it joyfully, and at the hazard of property, liberty, and life; but not a single nation has received it.

It offers to individuals remission of sins, and inheritance among the sanctified through faith that leads unto Jesus Christ. In other words, it confers the right of life for ever and of dominion over the nations in Messiah's Aion, commonly called "The Millennium."

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Jan 1858

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

Speaking apart from its ratification by the blood of Christ, what is called the new covenant is more ancient than the old covenant; and, upon the same principle, what is called the second covenant existed before the first. The explanation is that the date of confirmation has to do with determining the one new and the other old.

The covenant made last (the Mosaic) was purged first, by the blood of calves and goats, for which reason it is called the "first testament" (Heb. 9:18]; while the covenant made first (the Abrahamic) was brought into force last, by the death of Christ, for which reason it becomes the new covenant; and when this first made, but last confirmed testament, is the law of the kingdom of God, it will then be the second covenant made with the house of Israel.

Bro Shuttleworth

The Christadelphian, June 1873

If the Mosaic Covenant of the kingdom had been found faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. The priesthood of the Mosaic was changeable, passing from father to son. This was deemed by the Lord a very important defect, which must therefore be amended.

He determined therefore that the priesthood should be changed—that it should no longer "be left to other people;" but should be unchangeable in the hands of Messiah and the saints, or Zadok and his sons.

But this purpose could not be carried into effect so long as the Mosaic constitution of the kingdom continued in force; for this restricted the priesthood to the tribe of Levi, and made no provision for a priest of the tribe of Judah.

Now Yahweh purposed that the High Priesthood of the nation should be changed from the tribe of Levi and the family of Aaron, to the tribe of Judah and the family of David. Hence this change of the priesthood being determined, there was decreed of necessity a change also of the law.

As Christ's priesthood was not authorized by the Mosaic Covenant, something was necessary on which to found it. This necessity was provided for in the Word of the Oath which runs thus—

"I have sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the Order of Melchizedec."

This oath was uttered by Yahweh upwards of 500 years after the Law was given from Sinai; and constitutes the right of David's son to the priesthood of the kingdom; as the oath sworn to David also entitles his son to its throne for ever.

The grand peculiarity, then, of the New Constitution of the kingdom over the Old is, the union of the High priesthood and kingly office in one person, of the tribe of Judah and family of David unchangeably, or for ever.

Under the Mosaic, the priesthood and royalty of the kingdom were separate, and restricted to two distinct families and tribes—the priesthood, to Levi and Aaron; the royalty, to Judah and David. But this will be amended, and the Lord Jesus, in whose veins once flowed the blood of Levi, Aaron, Judah and David, will unite in himself the kingly and priestly offices, when he sits and rules upon his throne and bears the glory.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Aug 1851

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

God did not intend the Hebrew commonwealth to exist perpetually under the Sinaitic constitution. Israel was not always to be in bondage to the law of Moses. A great revolution was predetermined of God which should result in the abolition of the Arabian covenant, and the dispersion of Israel among the nations.

This is allegorically styled, "casting out the bondwoman and her son;" which was necessary for the good and all-sufficient reason, that the Sinaitic constitution was not adapted for the people and state when Christ should sit upon the throne of His father David, and the saints should possess the kingdom.

The law of Moses enjoined ordinances concerning the flesh, such as " the water of separation" (Numb. 19; Heb. 9:3), which would be quite incompatible with the realities of the age to come. Under the law there was "a remembrance again of sins every year" (Heb.10:3); but under the new constitution from heaven,

"the sins and iniquities of the people will be remembered no more" (Jer 31:31-34).

The Sinaitic constitution was faulty; it was therefore necessary that it should give place to a better, which shall be established on better promises (Heb. 8:2,7). Hence, the bondwoman was to be cast out, to make room for a more perfect arrangement of the commonwealth.

Since the expulsion of Israel by the Romans, Jerusalem and her children are in the situation of Hagar and her son, while wandering in the wilderness of Beersheba. She is divorced from the Lord as Hagar was from Abraham, and "being desolate, she sits upon the ground" (Gen. 21:1), and bewails her widowhood (Isaiah 3:26).

But, there is to be "a restitution of all things." Jerusalem is to become a free woman as Sarah was; and to take her stand in the midst of the earth, as

"the city whose architect and builder is God."

She will then

"remember the reproach of her widowhood no more. For her Maker will be her Husband; the Lord of Hosts is His name; and her Redeemer the Holy One of Israel (even Jesus) the God of the whole earth shall He be called".

She will then be the metropolis of the world, and her citizens, or children, will be more numerous than those she rejoiced in under the law, as a married wife. The period of her glory will have arrived; the twelve tribes be again the united, peaceful, and joyous, inhabitants of the land; the "greater than Solomon," their King; and His city,

"the heavenly Jerusalem," which "is free, and the mother of us all."

Elpis Israel 2.2.

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

Paul quotes the prophecy, not to show that it was fulfilled, but to prove that the Mosaic being imperfect, a new covenant was to supersede it; and secondly, to demonstrate that the new one "perfected for ever them that are sanctified" by the blood of it, so that there was no occasion for a repetition of offerings for sin as under the old.

It is strange that men in the face of glaring facts to the contrary can venture to affirm that this prophecy is fulfilled. How could the New Covenant be made with the House of Israel on Pentecost, when instead of being in Palestine, it was beyond Parthia in a scattered condition?

There were Israelites there from the Caspian countries; but to admit individuals of a nation to the privileges of a covenant afterwards to be made with a whole body politic, is not making it with that nation. Though many Jews submitted to the faith, and had the laws of God written on their hearts by the Holy Spirit received, the House of Judah positively rejected the covenant, because it was offered to them in the name of Jesus, with whose blood it was testified it had been purged.

Then again, the apostolic age was not the time proposed in the prophecy for its national acceptance. "After those days" I will put my laws in them, &c., are the words. After what days? "The days come," says God that I will do so and so. But when will these coming days in which he is doing the things promised be? After the "those days" alluded to in the twenty-ninth verse. Let us produce the testimony.

"Behold, the days come, saith Yahweh, that I will sow the House of Israel and the House of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. And it shall come to pass that like as I have watched over them to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them to build, and to plant, saith Yahweh. In those days they shall say no more, "The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge. But every man shall die for his own iniquity."

After those days of building and planting the New Covenant is to be made with the two houses; when, as Ezekiel testifies, "they shall be two kingdoms no more at all," but one united nation under the second David, who shall be their King and Prince forever.

...But, granting that the New Covenant was made with the two houses on the aforesaid Pentecost, we inquire, do those who contend for this mean to say, that Yahweh then put his laws in their inward parts, and wrote it in their hearts? If they say "yes," then we demand the proof, for we have neither experience nor testimony of the fact; and can have none, we add, so long as the twelve tribes reject the claims of Jesus. If, on the other hand, they say, "God hath not placed his law there yet;" then we object that he has not yet made the covenant with them, because when he does, this will be the result according to the word.

Mystery of the Covenant of the Holy Land explained

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

Such, however, was not the case in the Mosaic Age. The offerings were neither perfect, pure, nor pleasant to Yahweh. They were imperfect, not having been perfected by the expiation they typified; but keeping up a remembrance of unpardoned offences every year. This will not be the case with the perfect offerings of the Age to Come. These will not be remembrancers of transgressions unforgiven; but memorials of pardon through the sacrifice of Messiah the Prince.

There is no day of annual atonement in the future age. Israel's offences are blotted out once for all as a thick cloud when the New Covenant is made with them on their re-settlement in the Holy Land when that age begins; a forgiveness of national offences which lasts for ever.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Dec 1854

13 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.

The kingdom could not be restored again to Israel under the Mosaic code. This had "decayed, and waxed old, and was ready to vanish away" (Heb. 8:13). It was to be "cast down to the ground," the daily sacrifice was to be taken away, and the temple and city to be demolished, by the Little Horn of the Goat, or Roman power" (Dan. 8:9, 12, 24 ; 9:26).

Elpis Israel 1.2.

"How do we Gentiles get under the New Covenant?"

àIndividually? Yes. The answer to this question is, "By taking hold of it." But what does taking hold of the covenant consist in? In believing the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ: and then being immersed into the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.—Acts 8:12; Mat. 28:20.

In other words, believe the exceeding great and precious promises covenanted to the fathers Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David; and confirmed by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ; and having this faith, put on Christ by baptism into him—for in Hebrews, Paul says,

"By the New, or Second, Will (covenant or testament) we are sanctified through the offering of Jesus Christ once."

We are sanctified by the Abrahamic Covenant, which is made sanctifying by Jesus, the seed of Abraham, its mediatorial testator, having dedicated it by his blood. Ignorance of the promises covenanted to the fathers, excludes from this covenant—sanctification, without which there is no salvation.

"Alienated from God's life," says Paul, "through the ignorance that is in them."—Heb. 10:9, 10.

Let those who cannot get beyond the faith and trembling of the demons, who as well as they believed that Jesus was the Christ the Son of God, think on these things. Read James 2:19; Mark 1:24, 34.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Jan 1858