Heb 8 introduced the basic contrasts between the old covenant and the new.
Now Heb 9 shows that the old tabernacle and sacrifices were just an earthly copy,
image, or facsimile of the heavenly realities contained in the new. No one
having seen a mere picture, of gold for example, would ever prefer that picture
over the actual treasure itself. By highlighting the substance – the heavenly
sanctuary and the ultimate sacrifice – the text exhorts the reader never to
fall back. To do so would be to settle for less.
As we have said, Heb 9-10 will next detail the “WHAT” of the greater
priesthood, revealing Jesus’ role in making atonement and appearing in heaven
on our behalf. Once again the main idea is clear. Jesus is the true high
priest, exalted to the Majesty’s right hand, and serving in the real
tabernacle.
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These are lesson
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9:1-10 Shadow:
the Old Sanctuary and Sacrifices
See Ex 25-30.
A tent with two sections: Holy Place, Most Holy Place
In the first (outer):
lampstand (Ex 25:31-39)
table (Ex 25:23–29)
bread of the Presence (Ex
25:30; Lev 24:5–8)
In the second (inner) (“Holy of Holies”):
golden altar of incense (Ex
30:1-10; Lev 16:12-13, 18)
ark of the covenant (Ex 25:10;
26:33; 40:3, 21)
Further description of the ark:
Covering: gold
Contents: golden urn with
manna (Ex 16:33-34)
Contents: Aaron’s staff that
budded (Num 17:10)
Contents: tablets of covenant
(Ex 25:16; 40:20)
Above: cherubim (Ex 25:18–22),
overshadowing the mercy seat (“propitiatory”) (Lev 16:2)
To go into further detail would have detracted from the main point being
made.
We may have further questions, such as …
Where is the Ark?
Theories abound!
In Jer 3:12-18, the LORD faithless Israel to repent and promises then to
restore his people in the land. He says in verse 16, “And when you have
multiplied and been fruitful in the land, in those days, declares the Lord,
they shall no more say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ It shall not
come to mind or be remembered or missed; it shall not be made again.”
So was the ark taken by Babylon? If so, then what?
Was it taken by Pharaoh Shishak of Egypt to Tanis? (This is the theory on which the movie Raiders
of the Lost Ark is based.)
Is it now in Axum, Ethiopia, guarded?
Is it under the Temple Mount in Jerusalem?
Is it in the Mount Nebo area, or the Dead Sea area?
Scripture does not reveal a current earthly location for the ark.
However, note this in Rev 11:19:
Re 11:19 Then God’s
temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his
temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an
earthquake, and heavy hail.
So the ark of his covenant, or the heavenly reality which it represented,
is now in the heavenly temple that John saw in Revelation! How fitting. That
truth squares perfectly with the message of Hebrews, especially chapter 9.
The Priestly Procedures
Priests go repeatedly into first section of tent.
Only the high priest, once a year, into second section.
Day of Atonement, Yom
Kippur
Never without blood
For himself first, then the
people
Gifts and sacrifices
Of course, those procedures were not able to accomplish what only Christ
could do. They were preliminary and anticipatory of his perfect sacrifice.
Heb 9:9 … According
to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the
conscience of the worshiper, 10 but deal only with food and
drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of
reformation.
Provided the average person no direct access to God.
Provided no clear conscience for the worshiper, because …
Provided only dietary, external, bodily, temporary measures.
UNTIL … God would provide “reformation,” that is, the establishment of a
new order or system.
9:11-28 Substance:
the True Sanctuary and Sacrifice
High priest of the good things having come
Greater and more perfect tent
His own blood; offered himself
Ashes of heifer Num 19:1–22, esp. vss. 9, 17–19
Purify our conscience … to serve
The Day of Atonement
Compare and contrast the procedure described in Lev 16, the Day of
Atonement or Yom Kippur, with its
fulfillment, the day Jesus gave his life on the cross. The old is the “type” that
prefigures and prepares for the corresponding “antitype” that fulfills it. Placing
these specifics side by side helps us appreciate the fact that Jesus is “God’s
Better Way.” Why would these first-century readers – or why would we – ever consider
drifting away and settling for less?
OT Type: NT Antitype:
Sinful High Priest Sinless
High Priest
Once a Year Once for All
Physical Holy of Holies Heaven Itself
Copy, Shadow, or Image Reality or Substance
Sacrifice for Self Sacrifice
of Self
Brings the Victim Becomes
the Victim
Reminder of Sin Redemption
of Sin
Blood of Cattle Blood
of Christ
Cleansing the Flesh Cleansing the Conscience
Forgiveness Impossible Forgiveness Guaranteed
High Priest Repeats High Priest Reigns
Veil: the Curtain Veil:
the Christ
Priest Enters Holy Place People Enter Holy Place
The True Sacrifice
Note Heb 9:15. Redemption from first-covenant sins; see Rom 3:25.
God forgave sins during the OT era. This is stated clearly and repeatedly.
Le 4:26 And all its
fat he shall burn on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of peace
offerings. So the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin, and he shall
be forgiven.
Ps 32:5 I
acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will
confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.
Ps 103:12 as far as
the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
However, the price for that forgiveness
was not paid during the OT era. The price was paid when Jesus went to the
cross. This is the point of Heb 9:15.
We might say, using a financial analogy, that forgiveness was truly
credited to those who followed God’s OT instructions at that very time, based
on the fact that the payment would be made when Jesus’ blood was shed.
One more note. Many have heard that sins were “rolled forward” each year.
The Bible never uses this expression, and it may leave one with the mistaken
belief that no one was actually forgiven in the OT. Rather than saying that the
sacrifices “rolled forward” the people’s sins, Hebrews says that in those
sacrifices there was a “reminder
of sins every year” (Heb 10:3).
Just as a human “last will and testament” takes effect at (not before)
the death of the one who made it, so God’s “new testament” or “new covenant” could
not begin until Jesus died.
Not in force until the blood is shed
New covenant was begun with Jesus’ death.
Old covenant begun also with blood: Ex 24:3-8
Ex 24:5 And [Moses]
sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and
sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. 6 And Moses
took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw
against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the
Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the
Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8 And Moses
took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the
covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
The “sprinkling” mentioned in Heb 9:21 has no reference to the mode of NT
baptism, but rather to the way Moses physically applied the animal blood to
inaugurate the OT covenant.
“Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”
Note the summary of the truth emphasized in Heb 9.
Heb 9:24 For Christ
did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but
into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 25 nor was it
that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place
year by year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise,
He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now
once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by
the sacrifice of Himself.
Four Great Certainties:
Now the chapter closes by stating succinctly these rock-solid facts.
[1] Death
[2] Judgment
[3] Sacrifice: Jesus’ First
Coming
[4] Salvation: Jesus’ Second
Coming
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