Pastor Seyi Osanyinbi
[biblegateway passage=”Hebrews 8:7-13″ display=”Hebrews 8:7-13″]
God said that he found fault not with the covenant he made with the children of Israel, rather he actually found fault with them. When was this first covenant cut? We would want to think that the first covenant is the mosaic covenant. No, the covenant that Israel operated in was not at all cut with Moses, rather it was with their Father Abraham.
God was the first Hebrew, Abraham was the second and the descendants of Abraham joined. To join the Hebrew family, the male child needs to be circumcised. The Old Testament was between God and Abraham and it was sealed by circumcision of the flesh. We should even note that God did not even throw away Ishmael, he was also circumcised, but he was not the promised son.
God came to Moses on the basis of the covenant He had with Abraham; proclaiming that He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. On the basis of this God said that He has heard the cry of his people. Was Israel the only country that were oppressed at that time? No, but there was an existing covenant.
Moses was circumcised, but did not care to circumcised his sons. Then God wanted to kill Him for disobeying the covenant of circumcision, his wife had to step in and do the needed. Circumcision is the key that unlocks that testament, but God was actually using it as a shadow of things to come.
God’s intention for Israel was that they become a nation of all priests. That was the reason why they were separated from all the nations of the earth. That is why God kept protesting that they cannot become like other nations, but they listened not. In fact, He wanted other nations to be like them. That was why God was not pleased when they asked for a king. Each time we envy the prosperity of the wicked, we are saying to God that he is not well doing. The church ought to be the one defining trends and fashion for the world, but it is the other way around.
We should note that Goliath was not killed by David’s sling, it was the covenant of circumcision that fought against him.
God saw that the children of Israel were not a people. Thus, the essence of the wilderness experience. It was so that they would bond as a people. Moses was regarded as the mediator of that law and his job was to make them a people through the experiences of the wilderness.
God asked the children of Israel to all come to meet Him on mount sinai, but they refused, rather they said that Moses should go in their stead. They just cut short the purpose of God for them. So, a type of priesthood had to be raised because of the death penalty attached to the laws for the sacrifices for sins. The Levitical priesthood had to be raised.
The Levi did not partake in the pleasures of the sins when Moses went up to Mount Sinai. One thing we can learn here is that they were separate, and had passion for the Lord not being afraid to execute the judgements of the Lord. The same goes for Phineas.
[biblegateway passage=”Romans 2:1-6″ display=”Romans 2:1-6″]
Another thing a priest must have also is the ability to see an error and identify it by telling the truth. No blood of Jesus altered the laws, what changed was the sacrificial programmes. A new covenant on the hearts of men could not have been written if Jesus was not hung on he cross. The law mentioned here is the law given on Mount Sinai.
The law revealed the will of the Father. It is possible a person is in Christ could still be under condemnation. Those are Christians who walk after the flesh, and not after the Spirit. God gave the people of the Old a law with an intention, but Paul said that the law could not accomplish it, because of the weakness of the flesh.
If Eve alone had eaten that thing, nothing would have happened to Adam, until Adam ate it. The tree of knowledge of good and evil gave Adam and Eve self knowledge. The tree preached a kind of message to them. It was the one that even taught them that they were naked. A kind of knowledge sprouted in their heart. Their heart died. This is one major reason why Solomon said we should guard our hearts.
If it was about forgiveness of sins only, Jesus needeth not to have come.
[biblegateway passage=”Hebrews 7:11-19″ display=”Hebrews 7:11-19″]
The purpose of the Levitical priesthood is for perfection. Don’t we think that God is asking for too much or the impossible for us to become perfect like him? Jesus’ response to us is still this: “nothing shall be impossible with God”, even the program of perfection.
The primary role of the Holy Ghost is to help us overcome the power of sin, not primarily the gifts of the spirit. We cannot orchestrate the work of perfection through our own programmes and means.
[biblegateway passage=”Hebrews 7:12″ display=”Hebrews 7:12″]
The Old Testament laws based on the levitical priesthood, when the priesthood changed the laws also changed. There is no physical altar again, the law has changed. The law of the Spirit of Life governs this priesthood of ours. This law operates from the heart.