“We have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven…” (v. 1)

The author contrasts the earthly copy (the Levitical system) with the heavenly reality (Christ’s eternal priesthood). The argument is vertical (earthly → heavenly), not temporal (old → future organization).

In other words:

• The copy was the old tabernacle.
• The reality is Christ in heaven now.
• There is no further stage where another physical structure is needed.
  

SCJ reverses the direction of Hebrews by dragging heaven back down to earth — precisely what the text says God has already surpassed.

“…who ministers in the sanctuary and true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man.”

The contrast is explicit:

• “Set up by the Lord” → heavenly, divine, not humanly constructed.
• “Not by man” → disqualifies any man-made replication or church organization.

To claim that a Korean organization is the “true tabernacle” built by God but managed by Lee Manhee directly contradicts the text’s plain meaning: the “true tabernacle” is not established by human hands at all.

Hebrews 9:11–12 confirms this:

• “Christ entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.”

So the “true tabernacle” is Christ’s heavenly ministry, not an earthly institution.

“For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer”

In the Old Covenant, priests continually offered animal sacrifices to atone for sin. But the author of Hebrews points to Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice. His “something to offer” was not grain or blood from animals, but His own blood (see Hebrews 9:12). This offering has already been presented in the true heavenly tabernacle. Therefore, the priestly work of Christ is spiritual and complete, not awaiting repetition or replication through another human system.

If SCJ claims that a new “priesthood” or “tabernacle organization” must appear on earth to fulfill this, it effectively denies the sufficiency of Christ’s offering. Hebrews 10:14 reinforces this point:

“By one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.”

No further earthly structure or human mediator can improve or continue what Christ has already finished.

“Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law.”

This verse underscores a crucial theological point: Christ’s priesthood is not earthly. If He were still ministering within an earthly temple, He would be disqualified according to the Mosaic law, because He was not from the tribe of Levi (cf. Hebrews 7:13-14). His priesthood therefore transcends the Old Testament order entirely.

This reveals the larger framework of Hebrews — Christ surpasses and replaces the old covenant system. His ministry is not a continuation of the Levitical pattern on earth but its divine fulfillment in heaven. The author contrasts:

Old Covenant: earthly priests, repeated sacrifices, physical sanctuary.

New Covenant: Christ as eternal high priest, one perfect sacrifice, heavenly sanctuary.

Shincheonji’s teaching reverses this movement. By insisting that heaven must be reproduced on earth through their organizational structure, they re-establish the very kind of earthly priesthood and law-based system that Hebrews declares obsolete (see Hebrews 8:13).

In short, verse 4 demolishes the notion that God’s dwelling or priestly activity must take place through a humanly organized “heaven on earth.” Christ’s priesthood already operates in the true tabernacle — the heavenly one — and believers participate in it spiritually, not organizationally.

“Copy and Shadow” = Past Levitical System not a Blueprint for SCJ

“They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven.”

The author uses this to explain why the old covenant was inferior and has now been replaced (v. 13: “What is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear”).

SCJ’s use of this verse as a “pattern” to rebuild heaven on earth flips the argument upside down.

Hebrews’ entire point is that copies and shadows have ended because the truth has come in Christ.

To rebuild a new “shadow” is to return to the very system Hebrews says is obsolete.

The Pattern is Fulfilled in Christ

SCJ’s logic goes –

• Moses built the tabernacle after a heavenly pattern; therefore, the “one who overcomes” must also build a tabernacle after the heavenly pattern today.

But biblically speaking – The pattern shown to Moses was fulfilled when Christ Himself came as God’s dwelling (John 1:14): “The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.” Jesus is the reality of God’s dwelling, not the model for an administrative chart. Hebrews 9:24 clarifies that Christ “entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence.”

So the pattern points to Jesus, not to a future church hierarchy.

“But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant He mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.”

This verse establishes the finality and superiority of Christ’s work. The author is not describing a temporary or partial mediation, but the completion of God’s redemptive plan through Jesus. His ministry is “more excellent” precisely because it fulfills what the old covenant only foreshadowed.

Under the old covenant, priests served as temporary mediators between God and His people through repeated sacrifices. Under the new covenant, Christ Himself is the permanent Mediator — the one who accomplished what the old system could never do (Hebrews 7:25). There is no further covenant, mediator, or stage of revelation to come.

To claim that another mediator is needed to “complete” Christ’s work — such as Shincheonji’s “promised pastor” — directly contradicts Hebrews 8:6. The text makes clear that the new covenant is already enacted and founded on better promises, not waiting for a future human representative to fulfill it.

This also harmonizes with passages like 1 Timothy 2:5:

“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.”

Shincheonji’s teaching that Lee Manhee serves as a new mediator for the completion of God’s covenant distorts the very essence of the gospel — that Christ alone bridges heaven and earth. Hebrews 8:6 is not an open invitation for future “completers,” but a declaration that God’s covenantal work is already finished in Christ.

“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.”

Shincheonji’s teaching that Lee Manhee serves as a new mediator for the completion of God’s covenant distorts the very essence of the gospel — that Christ alone bridges heaven and earth. Hebrews 8:6 is not an open invitation for future “completers,” but a declaration that God’s covenantal work is already finished in Christ.

“For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.” (v. 7)

The author begins by emphasizing that the old covenant was temporary and imperfect, not because God failed, but because it was preparatory — a shadow pointing to Christ. The need for a “second” covenant arose from the weakness of human obedience under the law (v. 8: “they did not continue in My covenant”). This shows that the New Covenant was God’s plan from the start, not a later contingency or something waiting for a 20th-century “fulfillment.”

“Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah…” (v. 8)

This quotation from Jeremiah 31:31–34 is not describing a covenant that will come thousands of years after Christ — it is announcing what Christ Himself accomplished. Jesus explicitly identified His blood as “the blood of the new covenant” (Luke 22:20). The author of Hebrews, writing decades after the resurrection, refers to this covenant as already established.

So when Shincheonji teaches that a “new covenant” is being made now through Lee Manhee and a physical “kingdom of heaven on earth,” it denies what Scripture plainly declares: the New Covenant has already begun through Christ’s death and resurrection.

“I will put My laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” (v. 10)

This describes the internal transformation brought by the Holy Spirit. The law is no longer written on tablets of stone but on human hearts (2 Cor 3:3). This is the spiritual reality that began at Pentecost — God dwelling within His people through the Spirit. It does not refer to a future physical organization where God will “tabernacle” among an elite group.

In the New Covenant, God’s dwelling place is His people, not a temple or a human structure (Eph 2:19–22). This means heaven’s presence on earth is already experienced wherever Christ reigns in the hearts of believers — not in a Korean headquarters or a church “replica” of heaven.

“For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” (v. 12)

This verse declares the heart of the gospel: forgiveness has already been accomplished. The cleansing that the old covenant could not achieve is now a completed reality in Christ’s sacrifice (Heb 9:26). Therefore, the New Covenant is not awaiting future fulfillment but is already effective for all who believe.

“In speaking of a new covenant, He makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.” (v. 13)

Here the author makes a definitive statement: the Old Covenant has been replaced. The contrast is between what was fading (the old) and what has come (the new). There is no third covenant, no “completion” era, and no new human mediator. The New Covenant is final and eternal because it is founded on the eternal priesthood of Christ (Heb 7:24).

Shincheonji’s claim that they are the “fulfillment” of the New Covenant fundamentally misunderstands this. The covenant was not left incomplete or awaiting modern revelation — it was sealed, enacted, and fulfilled 2000 years ago when Jesus declared on the cross, “It is finished.” (John 19:30)

In the Gospels, the “kingdom of God” (or “kingdom of heaven”) is not described as a man-made structure, but as the reign of God manifested through Christ and His people.

When Jesus began His ministry, He said:

• “The kingdom of God has come near” (Mark 1:15).

The kingdom’s arrival was already in motion through Christ’s presence and authority. When believers pray, “Your kingdom come,” they are not asking for a human organization to build heaven, but for God’s reign to continue expanding — both in the hearts of people and in the final consummation when Christ returns.

Shincheonji redefines this as a physical establishment of “heaven” on earth through their 12-tribe system, but Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36). It is spiritual, rooted in the gospel transforming lives, not in constructing a human hierarchy.

This is also why Christianity can be referred to as “Spiritual Israel”, something that even Shincheonji agrees with.

The phrase “on earth as it is in heaven” is about obedience and alignment, not replication.
In heaven, God’s will is perfectly obeyed. Jesus teaches His disciples to pray that God’s will be obeyed on earth in the same way — through hearts that submit to Him.

This is a prayer of surrender, not of architectural fulfillment.
It is about the ethical and spiritual transformation of believers, not the creation of an institutional structure that claims to “fulfill” heaven’s pattern.

By claiming that they must “build heaven on earth” so God can descend, Shincheonji flips the meaning: instead of humans submitting to God’s will, they claim God’s will depends on their organization’s construction. This makes their system the mediator of God’s presence — a role Scripture reserves only for Christ (Hebrews 8:6; 1 Timothy 2:5).

The rest of the prayer reinforces the spiritual focus:

• “Give us this day our daily bread” – this is a focus on the dependence on God, not self-suficiency through an organization and the correct understanding of parables.
• “Forgive us our debts” – repentance and forgiveness, not purification through a new physical location and unlocking the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven.
• “Lead us not into temptation” – moral perseverance, not membership of a church.Every line centers on the relationship with the Father, not replication of a Heaven here on earth in a physical sense.

The New Testament teaches that God’s dwelling among humanity is fulfilled in Christ and His Church:

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:14)

“You are… being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.” (Eph. 2:22)

So “heaven on earth” is not a blueprint waiting to be completed by Shincheonji; it’s already reality wherever the Spirit of God dwells in believers.

When Jesus ascended, He didn’t leave heaven’s work unfinished – He poured out the Holy Spirit, uniting heaven and earth in Himself (John 14:23, Eph. 1:9–10).

“All the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy.”

When Jacob’s family entered Egypt, they numbered 70 — representing the complete family of Israel. The 12 sons formed the foundation, but the 70 reflected the full community that would grow into a nation. Even at this early stage, God’s design pointed beyond the patriarchs to a people who would multiply and fill the earth (Genesis 35:11).

“When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance… He fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.”

After Babel, humanity was divided into 70 nations (see Genesis 10). In Jewish tradition, this number symbolized the totality of the world’s peoples. God’s redemptive plan, therefore, always included all nations, not just Israel. The 12 tribes were chosen to be a light to the 70 nations (Isaiah 49:6).

In other words, the covenant people were never meant to form an inward, exclusive structure, but to reflect God’s heart for all humanity.

When Moses appointed 70 elders, the Spirit of God came upon them to share in the prophetic burden of leadership. This shows that God’s presence was not limited to Moses alone, nor to the tabernacle system, but was meant to be distributed among His people.
This is a direct foreshadowing of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out on all believers (Acts 2).

In contrast, Shincheonji’s doctrine centralizes divine authority into a single man and his hierarchy, instead of recognizing that God’s Spirit now dwells within all who believe.

Here, Jesus expands His ministry outward. The 12 apostles were the foundation of spiritual governance, but the 70 disciples represented the kingdom’s mission to the nations. Their sending echoes both the 70 elders under Moses and the 70 nations from Genesis — showing that Christ’s mission is for the whole world, not one nation or organization.

This perfectly embodies the prayer, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” The kingdom is manifested not through a fixed structure but through the spread of the gospel to all peoples.

In their obsession with the 12 tribes as proof of divine order, they overlook the 70 — the symbol of mission, universality, and the outpouring of God’s Spirit beyond a single nation or organization. By focusing only on structure, they neglect the substance of heaven’s reality: God’s kingdom expanding through redeemed people of every tribe and tongue.

The biblical pattern reveals that heaven is not replicated through hierarchy, but reflected through hearts transformed by the Spirit. The 12 provide the foundation, but the 70 reveal the fullness — the complete picture of God’s redemptive design.

Shincheonji’s “heaven on earth” may boast organization, but it lacks the very element that defines heaven’s character: the presence of God among all His people, not confined to an institution but dwelling within believers who bear His Spirit.

Fun fact – The Tabernacle Temple and the Latter Day Saints got this right; and of course, both groups have their own set of doctrinal issues.

In the true tabernacle, God’s presence rested above the mercy seat, and the priests served around it.

In SCJ’s version, the “throne” — represented by their leader — is central, and everyone else revolves around him.

That inverts the entire pattern. Heaven’s true center is the Lamb on the throne (Revelation 5:6), not a human “representative.”

This is instead the fulfillment of 2 Thess 2:1-4, which you can read more about here:

• https://closerlookinitiative.com/archives/12726

The tabernacle’s design was fulfilled, not replicated, by Christ.

Hebrews 9:24 says plainly:

• “Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands, a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself.”

By attempting to rebuild a physical “heavenly” system, SCJ drags what is heavenly and complete back down to earthly and temporary. This repeats the same misunderstanding as the Israelites who wanted to worship through visible forms rather than faith in the invisible God.

In the Old Testament, the items of the tabernacle represented aspects of God’s holiness and grace.

SCJ takes these symbols and turns them into roles and ranks in their human organization — treating hierarchy as holiness.

But Scripture makes clear that the true temple now is the body of Christ, not an institution (1 Corinthians 3:16–17).

Under the New Covenant, all believers are called “a royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9).

In SCJ, access to God is filtered through leadership tiers.

This stands in direct contrast to the open access granted by Christ’s torn veil (Hebrews 10:19–22).

The tabernacle’s symbolism was meant to end with that veil torn — not be rebuilt in a hierarchy.

Hebrews 9:11–12 — “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands)… he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”

The Levitical high priest entered the Holy of Holies once a year to offer animal blood for atonement.

Christ entered once for all into heaven itself, offering His own blood. There is no need for another mediator, priest, or “promised pastor.”

1 Timothy 2:5 — “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

Hebrews 10:11–12 — “Every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.”

The animal sacrifices foreshadowed Christ’s perfect offering.

The cross completed what those sacrifices could never accomplish — full forgiveness and reconciliation with God.

John 1:29 — “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

Exodus 25:31–40 — God commands Moses to make a golden lampstand to continually give light in the tabernacle.

John 8:12 — “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world.’”

Christ is the true light that the lampstand symbolized. After His ascension, the Church becomes His lampstands on earth:

Revelation 1:20 — “The seven lampstands are the seven churches.”

Thus, the Church shines Christ’s light into the world, not through hierarchy or structure, but through the indwelling Spirit and faithful witness.

Matthew 5:14–16 — “You are the light of the world… let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Exodus 25:8 — “And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.”

The tabernacle was always about God’s presence among His people — a shadow of His ultimate plan to dwell in His people through the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 2:21–22 — “In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

1 Corinthians 3:16 — “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?”

Revelation 21:3 — “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people.”

This is the true fulfillment of the tabernacle — not an earthly structure, but God’s eternal presence among His redeemed people through Christ.