Hebrews 9:1
(See notes
Hebrews 9:1)
John MacArthur previews Hebrews
9:1-5 with the comment that...
God never asks anyone to give up
anything without His offering something far better in return. The chief
obstacle in the way of the Hebrews’ faith was their failure to see that
everything connected with the ceremonial law (covenant, sacrifices,
priesthood, and ritual) was preparatory and transient. So the writer
painstakingly and definitively pursues a clear revelation of the better
character of the New. (MacArthur,
John: Hebrews. Moody Press
or
Logos) (Bolding added)
Hebrews
9:2
(See notes
Hebrews 9:2)
"There was a
tabernacle prepared" Note that the writer does not mention the Temple
(it was probably still standing at the time this letter was written) but
instead his emphasis is on the tabernacle, the first sanctuary which was
obviously the most temporary, which well illustrated the transient nature
of the Old Covenant. The Tabernacle was composed largely of skins and was
designed to be portable, emphasizing its impermanence. Note also that
while there are only two chapters Scripture dealing with the Creation
story, there are some fifty chapters dealing with the Tabernacle
(especially Ex 25-40)! The Tabernacle was important and demanded one's
attention because it represented a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ (See
Shadows of the Messiah).
Hebrews
9:4
(See notes
Hebrews 9:4)
How does one resolve the writer's notation that the "golden altar
of incense" is within the Holy of holies when the OT clearly
states it is within the Holy Place? First, note that several versions translate
the phrase "golden altar of incense" more literally as the "golden censer"
and not as the actual altar. The Greek word in question is thumiasterion
which in secular usage described a utensil or container for
burning incense. The Jewish historian Josephus does use
thumiasterion as a metonymy to describe the altar of incense in the
Jewish Temple. A metonymy is a figure of speech in which one uses the name of one thing (utensil
for burning incense) for the name of another thing (altar of
incense)
of which it is an attribute or with which it is associated. In the
Septuagint (LXX)
thumiasterion is used only
twice (2Chr 26:19, Ezekiel 8:11) and
both times describes a censer or utensil of incense and not the
altar of incense. The point is that what the writer of Hebrews appears to
be using the thumiasterion to describe the taking of coals of fire from
the altar of incense in the Holy Place and transporting them through the
veil into the Holy of holies, an event which occurred once each year on
the Day of Atonement (see Lev 16:12,13).
This explanation would present no contradiction with the location of the
altar of incense in front of the "second veil". (Ex 40:26,
Ex 40:1, 2, 3, 4, 5). It is amazing that some commentaries go
so far as to suggest that the writer must not have been familiar with the
Old Testament Tabernacle and simply "slipped up"! This is a highly
unlikely explanation.
Hebrews
9:6
(See notes
Hebrews 9:6)
The writer now shifts his focus from the Tabernacle to the priestly
rituals. The fact that the priests were "continually
entering...performing" (both
present tense)
emphasizes that their work was never finished. And despite
their ceaseless religious activity, they still failed to gain entry into
the presence of Jehovah in the Holy of holies. Are you so busy doing
"religious work" that you don't have (or don't take) time to commune with
the Lord of glory?
J Vernon McGee
writes that...
“Accomplishing the service of God”
should be “accomplishing the worship of God.” This was the ultimate goal
of it all, that God’s people might worship Him. This is speaking of real
worship, not just a church service where an order of service is followed.
When real worship takes place it is a worship that draws us into the
presence of Christ where we can adore Him. The word worship comes from the
same Anglo-Saxon root word as worth. To worship is to give someone
something of which they are worthy. The Lord Jesus Christ is worthy to
receive our praise and our adoration. That is worship, and from that
follows service. Real worship will always lead to service. (McGee,
J V: Thru the Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson
or
Logos)
(Listen
to Mp3 )
Hebrews 9:7
(See notes
Hebrews 9:7)
In this verse the focus is on the
activities associated with the
Day of Atonement,
emphasizing the limitations associated with the high priest's entry into
the Holy of holies (in this chapter called "Holy Place"):
(1)
Only once per year (Note that "once" means "on one day," because
the high priest made more than one entrance into the room beyond the
curtain, certainly entering at least twice, Lev 16:12, 15, and
possibly a third time for the sprinkling of the blood of the bull Lev
16:14). Access into the Holy Place was thus severely restricted, and even
when the high priest could enter, it wasn't for real fellowship with God,
but was only symbolic of that possibility which became a reality under the
New Covenant.
(2)
Only by taking sacrificial blood for himself. The ancient Jewish
Rabbis wrote of how the high priest would not prolong his prayer in the
Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement, because it might make the people
think he had been killed. When he came out, he threw a party for all his
friends, because he had emerged safely from the presence of God.
Both points
emphasize the inferiority of the Levitical system compared with the
"Better Covenant".
J Vernon McGee
adds that...
"The way to God in the tabernacle was
actually blocked by the three entrances and compartments. In other words,
the people could come only to that outer entrance and bring their
sacrifice. If a man brought a little lamb, he would put his hand on it in
an act of identification since it would die in his place, and then the
priest would take it from there. It would be slain and offered upon the
brazen altar. The individual who brought the lamb could go no farther than
the entrance." (McGee, J. V. Thru the Bible Commentary. Vol. 5, Page 565.
Nashville: Thomas Nelson)
What was the
significance of the "Day
of Atonement"? How was
it different from the daily gifts and sacrifices? The answer is that
whenever an Israelite sinned, his communion with God was broken and in
spite of continually offering sacrifices, many sins were either forgotten
(or not recognized as sins) and thus they would accumulate throughout the
year with no sacrifice being made for these sins. The Day of Atonement was
intended to remedy this problem and to make sacrifice for all those sins
that had not yet been covered.
John MacArthur
comments that the Day of Atonement was...
"A great day for liberation of the
conscience. (Ed note: the writer of Hebrews emphasizes however that
the sacrifices could never "make the worshiper perfect in
conscience" see Hebrews 9:9-note) The Israelite knew that whatever sins may have
been missed in the daily sacrifices would now be taken care of. The slate
would be completely clean, at least symbolically for a while. Yom Kippur
was a time of release and relief. The devout Jew longed for the Day of
Atonement. He could not himself go into God’s presence, but the high
priest would go in for him and he would be delivered. (MacArthur,
John: Hebrews. Moody Press
or
Logos) (Bolding added)
The necessity of the
annual visit established the fact that what took place was ultimately
symbolic rather than efficacious. The offering of the blood of the goat
and the carrying away of the scapegoat provided forgiveness only in that
they typified the final sacrifice of Christ. As the writer explains later
it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins (see
note
Hebrews 10:4)
Sins committed in
ignorance: The point is that there were only offerings and sacrifices
for unintentional sins! Under the Old Covenant there was no offering for
deliberate sins. Individuals who committed deliberate sins were cut off
from the people of God. Jesus' work on the Cross is sufficient to atone
for both the sins we do in ignorance and sins that we know.
On the other had
note that the sins "committed in ignorance" point to the truth that
there is ignorance which is culpable. Sins of this kind do matter, and we
should not minimize their seriousness.
Notice that even in
the priestly activity (cf Heb 9:9 "a symbol") there was a shadow
pointing to the work of the Messiah. For example, in the sentence "blood
which he offers for... the sins of the people" note that the
Greek word “for” is huper, a preposition which means “for
the sake of, in behalf of" and thus speaks of substitution. In this verse
it clearly points to the necessity for the people to have a priest who was
able to function as their substitute in the process of the
atonement. For instance, Caiaphas without realizing what he was doing
voiced a simple prophecy about the substitutionary atonement of Christ on
the cross when he declared
"nor do you take into account that it
is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the
whole nation should not perish." (John 11:50)
John provides the
commentary on Caiaphas' statement recording that
"Now this he did not say on his own
initiative; but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was
going to die for the nation" (John 11:51)
Thus not only in
John but here in Hebrews 9:7, the blood is offered as a type pointing to
the substitutionary atonement of our Lord.
Hebrews
9:8
(See notes
Hebrews 9:8)
Amplified
Version
By this the Holy Spirit points out that
the way into the [true Holy of] Holies is not yet thrown open as long as
the former [the outer portion of the] tabernacle remains a recognized
institution and is still standing,
MacArthur
explains that...
While the Tabernacle still stood, there
was no way into God’s presence. There was no access. The people could not
even get into the holy place, much less into the Holy of Holies. The whole
thing was meant to prove that without a Redeemer, without a Messiah,
without a Savior, there is no access to God. The Holy Spirit was teaching
the impossibility of access to God without a perfect priest, a perfect
sacrifice, and a perfect covenant. By allowing the people to go no farther
than the outer court, He was illustrating that through Judaism there was
no access to Him, only a symbol of access. (MacArthur,
John: Hebrews. Moody Press
or
Logos)
Stedman has an interesting note
on the phrase "while the outer tabernacle is still standing"
writing that
"Unfortunately, the verse is almost
always badly translated. Most versions, like the NIV (and the NASB), take
the last phrase as suggesting that while the tabernacle/temple was still
existing, the way into the true sanctuary was not yet revealed. But that
would be tantamount to saying that until AD70, when the temple would be
destroyed, there was no way of understanding how the death of Jesus had
opened a new and living way into the true sanctuary, the presence of God.
If taken in this way, it would give no meaning at all to the rent veil at
the time of the crucifixion and no hope that anyone, before AD70, had
found salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus! A better translation makes
it all clear. The Greek phrase...should not be rendered, “while the first
tabernacle is still standing,” but “while the first tabernacle still
has any standing!” That indicates the writer is saying that the
repeated sacrifices of the old covenant were meant by the Holy Spirit to
predict a perfect sacrifice that was yet to come, but it could not be
apprehended while still relying on the old way of access to God! In other
words, the truth of the reality could not be grasped while one was yet
clinging to the shadows. The first tabernacle had to lose its standing
before the reality it prefigured could be apprehended. (Stedman,
Ray: Hebrews IVP New Testament Commentary Series
or
Logos)
Wuest agrees with Stedman
translating Hebrews 9:8 as...
"the Holy Spirit all the while making
this plain, that not yet was made actual the road into the Holiest while
still the first tent had standing [i.e., remained a
recognized institution]"
(Wuest,
K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans
or
Logos)
Hebrews
9:9
(See notes
Hebrews 9:9)
Amplified Version
"Seeing that that first [outer portion of the] tabernacle was a parable
(a visible symbol or type or picture of the present age). In it gifts and
sacrifices are offered, and yet are incapable of perfecting the conscience
or of cleansing and renewing the inner man of the worshiper."
(Amplified
Bible - Lockman)
"A symbol"
The Holy Spirit uses the pattern of the tabernacle to teach important
truths. Here the writer states that the tabernacle was a
symbol which is the interesting Greek word parabole (from para
= beside + ballo = throw) which literally means that which is
thrown alongside of something else. Figuratively as used in this verse it refers to
setting side-by-side the old versus the new for the purpose of comparison.
Parabole also gives us our English
parable and thus the old was only a parable, an object lesson, for Israel.
The limited access into the Most Holy Place was meant to bring home the
fact that ordinary men had no direct access to the presence of God. The
old covenant sacrifices were never meant to cleanse from sin, but only to
symbolize cleansing from sin. The conscience of the person
sacrificing was never freed from the feeling of guilt because the guilt
itself was never removed because the cleansing was entirely external.
As a result the worshiper could never have a clear conscience with
a deep, abiding sense of forgiveness.
Wuest adds
that symbol as it referred to...
“the tabernacle (Ed note: as
well as the "gifts and sacrifices...various washings, regulations for
the body") was an object lesson used to explain spiritual truth. As
long as it remained an object lesson, thus a recognized institution, it
was clear that the actual tabernacle to which it pointed was not yet in
use. The tabernacle in Israel, and later, the temple, remained that object
lesson during the history of Israel, until the veil of the temple was
rent (symbolizing the opening of the way into the presence of God).
(Wuest,
K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans
or
Logos) (Bolding added)
Gifts
and
sacrifices...cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience: (Click
word study on
conscience = suneidesis) If complete
remission of sins had been procured, then the offerer’s conscience would
have been free from the guilt of sin. But this never happened.
The Holy Spirit was teaching that sacrifices and even blood applied to the
mercy seat could never change the heart or the conscience of the
worshiper, because all of the ritual dealt with ceremonial purity, not
moral purity, pertaining to the outer man but unable to change the heart,
the inner man. This inability to achieve a completely clear conscience
could not be relieved and for the honest Israelite would have been a
constant reminder of their separation from God.
Wuest adds
that...
These gifts and sacrifices could not
make the worshipper perfect so far as his conscience was concerned. The
word “perfect” is teleios which does not mean sinless, but
complete, finished. The word described that which needed nothing to make
it what it should be, complete. The Levitical ritual as such did not touch
the conscience. No ritual in itself ever does. There was nothing in
it that could deal with conscience. Only the working of the Holy
Spirit through the Word of God and the efficacy of the blood of the
Messiah could do that. The Holy Spirit did in Old Testament times deal as
He does today with the consciences of men, but the salvation which He
applied under the Levitical system found its source in the New Testament
Sacrifice, the Lord Jesus. Therefore, while operating under the
jurisdiction of the First Testament, God was giving salvation to the First
Testament believer by virtue of that which was accomplished through the
New Testament (Ed note: see related comments on Hebrews 9:15-note).
Since the First Testament could not do that which the New Testament did,
it was set aside in favor of the New Testament. And this is the argument
of the Book of Hebrews.
(Wuest,
K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans
or
Logos)
Hebrews
9:10
(See notes
Hebrews 9:10)
"Regulations for
the body until a time of reformation" or literally "until the
time of setting things right"
The NLT
renders this verse
"For that old system deals only with
food and drink and ritual washing—external regulations that are in effect
only until their limitations can be corrected."
The Amplified Version (which
often can be utilized almost as a "mini" commentary) reads...
For [the ceremonies] deal only
with clean and unclean meats and drinks and different washings, [mere]
external rules and regulations for the body imposed to tide the worshipers
over until the time of setting things straight [of reformation, of the
complete new order when Christ, the Messiah, shall establish the reality
of what these things foreshadow—a better covenant].
Reformation
means to make straight, to make right and so to reform, an effect that
in the spiritual arena only the New Covenant in Christ could accomplish. The Old Covenant
regulations (such as "various washings") were symbolic,
picturing or pointing to Christ, but unable to bring about the internal
change that only Christ's perfect sacrifice could accomplish. The
regulations of the Old Covenant served their purpose only until
the New Covenant came, for it alone was capable of setting things right
between God and man.
Ray Stedman
comments on the reformation that had come when Christ rent the veil
from top to bottom, setting things right, making the way fully open and
doing away with the need for shadows, copies and symbols of Messiah...
This has been the argument of Hebrews
all along. To cling to the shadows of the past and not to move on to the
clear light of the great reality in Christ is to put our whole eternal
destiny at stake and, in fact, to be in danger of drifting into a total
apostasy. Let the tabernacle and its ritual lose its standing in our eyes.
Go on to the reality to which the Holy Spirit is pointing—the full
forgiveness of sins of the new covenant and the resulting intimacy with
God. Those who today try to earn a sense of being pleasing to God by
good behavior need to hear this lesson. Never knowing when they have
done enough, they feel troubled and restive without any heart-peace and
thus are often driven to extreme measures of self-punishment and despair.
They need to cease from their efforts and trust in Christ’s completed
work. (Stedman,
Ray: Hebrews IVP New Testament Commentary Series
or
Logos) (Bolding added)
Hebrews
9:11
(See notes
Hebrews 9:11)
"But when"
marks a major contrast as the writer shifts from discussion of
the deficiencies of the old system to the new and better covenant. In
keeping with the prior verse one could paraphrase it as...
"But when the appointed time of
reformation came...".
Thomas Kelly
puts the truths in this section in the form of a poem...
No temple made with hands,
His place of service is;
In heaven itself He serves,
A heavenly priesthood His:
In Him the shadows of the law
Are all fulfilled, and now withdraw.
Hebrews
9:12
(See notes
Hebrews 9:12)
Christ "through His
own blood...entered the Holy Place once for all". Beloved let us
rejoice in that glorious phrase "once for all"!
Warren Wiersbe
asks...
How can the blood of animals ever
solve the problem of humans’ sins? Jesus Christ became a Man that He
might be able to die for people’s sins. His death was voluntary; it is
doubtful that any Old Testament sacrifice volunteered for the job! An
animal’s blood was carried by the high priest into the holy of holies, but
Jesus Christ presented Himself in the presence of God as the final and
complete sacrifice for sins. Of course, the animal sacrifices were
repeated, while Jesus Christ offered Himself but once. Finally, no animal
sacrifices ever purchased “eternal redemption.” Their blood could only
“cover” sin until the time when Christ’s blood would “take away sin” (John
1:29). We have “eternal redemption.” It is not conditioned on our merit or
good works; it is secured once and for all by the finished work of Jesus
Christ. (Wiersbe,
W: Bible Exposition Commentary. 1989. Victor
or
Logos)
How Does One
Explain Redemption to a person not familiar with this word?
A missionary in West Africa was trying to convey the meaning of the word
redeem in the Bambara language. So he asked his African
assistant to express it in his native tongue.
"We say," the assistant replied, "that God took our heads out."
"But how does that explain redemption?" the perplexed missionary asked.
The man told him
that many years ago some of his ancestors had been captured by
slave-traders, chained together, and driven to the seacoast. Each of the
prisoners had a heavy iron collar around his neck. As the slaves passed
through a village, a chief might notice a friend of his among the captives
and offer to pay the slave-traders in gold, ivory, silver, or brass. The
prisoner would be redeemed by the payment. His head then would be taken
out of his iron collar. What an unusual and graphic illustration of the
word redeem! Let Him take your head out of the enslaving collar of sin and
set you free. Christ our Great High Priest was lifted up on the cross that
we might be lifted out of our sin. He is now sitting in the true Holy of
holies at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven interceding with His
Father on your behalf. Next time before you give in to that sin which so
easily entangles you, meditate on what it cost to redeem you from
enslavement to the old Master, Sin.
Wuest explains
redemption writing that it is...
the Greek word...lutrosis. The
verbal form of this word means “to release on receipt of ransom, to redeem
or liberate by payment of a ransom.” The word “ransom,” lutron, was
used of the ransom-money that was paid in freeing a slave. Sinners are
slaves of sin and Satan. Messiah by His sacrifice on the Cross, paid for
their liberation, the ransom-money, His blood, for the wages of sin is
death, and death means outpoured blood. Thus, the primal necessity of the
Cross was in satisfying the claims of outraged justice, of paying the
penalty of man’s sin. The sinner, having placed his faith in Messiah as
his High Priest, is liberated forever from sin’s penalty. This is given us
in the word “eternal.” The believing sinner saved by the blood of
Jesus, is saved for time and for eternity. He can never be lost.
The Lord Jesus by His outpoured blood, procured for man, not a probation
but a salvation.
(Wuest,
K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans
or
Logos) (Bolding added)
Hebrews
9:13 (See
notes
Hebrews 9:13)
Hebrews
9:14
(See notes
Hebrews 9:14)
Cleanse your conscience
Isaac Watts
wrote...
Not all the blood of beasts on Jewish
altars slain,
Could give the guilty conscience peace or wash away the stain.
Christ the heavenly Lamb takes all our sins away,
A sacrifice of nobler name and richer big than they.
(Play
Not All the Blood of Beasts)
Ray Stedman
sums up this section writing that...
The point our author makes in 9:11-14
is that if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer offered
in the tabernacle of old sufficed to cleanse the sins of those
ceremonially unclean and to forgive (see Warren Wiersbe's note below on
Hebrews 10:4 regarding the character of this forgiveness) the rebellions of the past so that the
people were temporarily acceptable to God, how much more does the blood of
Christ cleanse our consciences from sin’s defilement today? They had only
animals to offer in sacrifice, and it was necessary to repeat them again
and again. But Christ offered only one sacrifice, not an animal but
Himself, and He did it once for all. This indicated its continuing,
unbroken efficacy, which obtained not merely a temporary and outward
cleansing, but eternal redemption. As we have seen, it is the conscience
within which acts as a barrier to God’s presence. Like Adam after the
Fall, we tend to hide ourselves from God, fearing his judgment. Conscience
cannot be rendered inactive by our will, though its voice can be muffled.
It is only silenced when we see that God is not unhappy or angry with us.
But since Jesus offered himself unblemished to God in our place, God’s
justice no longer makes demands upon us. We may, therefore, set aside
useless rituals and so feel ourselves free in his presence to serve the
Living God. (Stedman,
Ray: Hebrews IVP New Testament Commentary Series
or
Logos) (Bolding added)
Hebrews
9:15
(See notes
Hebrews 9:15)
In this verse and through verse 17, the word "covenant" is used
somewhat differently than in the rest of the book, for now the writer
treats the covenant more like a will. In other words Christ is seen both
as the One Who makes the will and Who dies so that the "will" can come
into effect, but He also functions as the executor so to speak, the One
Who administers the will.
"And for this
reason" begs the question "what reason"? the context explaining
that the readers can now obtain a clean conscience and serve the living
God because they have obtained an "eternal inheritance". As explained in
the next two verses, they could not have received this "inheritance"
unless the one who made the will had actually died. But He has died and so
now the "inheritance" is eternally theirs!
"A death has taken
place for the redemption of transgressions...under the first covenant":
This passage refers to the fact that Jesus’ death not only was
efficacious for believers who were alive but for all those believers who
had lived under the Old Covenant. The point is that when Christ died,
these Old Testament believers realized what heretofore had only been a
promise. Stated another way, Christ's atoning death was "retroactive".
This same truth is
taught by Paul in Romans, where he writes that
all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace
through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus 25 whom God displayed
publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to
demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed
over the sins previously committed (NIV "in his forbearance he had
left the sins committed beforehand unpunished") (see notes
Romans 3:23;
24;
25)
For example think of
King David who was confronted by the prophet Nathan for committing
adultery with Bathsheba and then having Uriah her husband murdered. Nathan
says, "Why have you despised the word of the Lord?" (2Sa 12:9). David feels
the rebuke of Nathan, and in (2Sa 12:13) he says, "I have sinned against
the Lord" to which, Nathan responds, "The Lord also has put away your sin;
you shall not die." Here we see bountiful mercy as David's adultery and
murder are "passed over"! Nathan goes on to add that "The Lord has put
away your sin; you shall not die." Christ's death hundreds of years
later paid the penalty, the price of redemption, for David's
transgression! This concept is difficult to grasp, but the gracious, all
wise God clearly teaches it and that settles it!
This same truth is
foreshadowed in Micah's prophecy...
Who is a God like Thee, who pardons
iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His
possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in
unchanging love. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our
iniquities under foot. Yes, Thou wilt cast all their sins Into the depths
of the sea. (Micah
7:18-19)
MacDonald
adds that...
There is a sense in which God saved
OT people “on credit.” (Ed note: someone else has written
that "Every sacrifice for sin made in faith under the Mosaic command was
an IOU cashed in at the cross") They were justified by faith, just as we
are. But Christ had not died as yet. Then how could God save them? The
answer is that He saved them on the basis of what He knew Christ would
accomplish. They knew little or nothing of what Christ would do at
Calvary. But God knew, and He reckoned the value of that work to their
account when they believed whatever revelation He gave them of Himself.
In a sense a great debt of transgression had accumulated under the Old
Covenant. By His death, Christ redeemed believers of the former
dispensation from these transgressions. (MacDonald,
W & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson or
Logos) (Bolding added)
The promise of
the eternal inheritance
Peter
explains our eternal inheritance writing...
Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be
born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from
the dead, 4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable
and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in
heaven for you (see note on
1 Peter 1:3-4)
Hebrews
9:16
(See notes
Hebrews 9:16)
NLT helps understand the author's intent...
Now when someone dies and leaves a will, no one gets anything until it is
proved that the person who wrote the will is dead.
Morris
comments that...
Although not all covenants require the death of one or both of the
covenanters, but the particular covenants discussed in this section of
Hebrews do involve death. The men with whom God was making the covenants
all were under the judgment of death because of sin, but God Himself
covenanted to die in their place, although they may not have understood
its full implications at the time. In prophetic symbolism, both man's
merited death and God's future substitutionary death were pictured by the
animal sacrifices of the earlier covenants, and then finally fulfilled by
the once-for-all death of God in Christ. All of these were sealed, as it
were, by "the shedding of blood" (Hebrews 9:22), and their terms
appropriated and effectuated by the faith of the men who received them in
the covenant promises of God. (Morris,
Henry: Defenders Study Bible. World Publishing)
Ryrie adds
that this verse
"strong proof that it is the death
of Christ, not His life, that put into effect the New Covenant
with all its blessings. His sinless life qualified Him to be the suitable
sacrifice for sin, but it was His death that made the payment for sin."
(The
Ryrie Study Bible: New American Standard Translation: 1995. Moody
Publishers) (Bolding added)
Hebrews
9:17
(See notes
Hebrews 9:17)
Hebrews
9:18
(See notes
Hebrews 9:18)
Hebrews
9:19
(See notes
Hebrews 9:19)
Hebrews
9:20
(See notes
Hebrews 9:20)
Hebrews
9:21
(See notes
Hebrews 9:21)
MacArthur
comments that..
Since the Tabernacle was not yet built when Moses ratified the covenant,
his sprinkling the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the
blood is obviously meant to be anticipatory. The blood he sprinkled at the
initiation of the covenant continued, in a sense, to be sprinkled by the
priests in the Tabernacle and Temple as long as that covenant stood. (MacArthur,
John: Hebrews. Moody Press
or
Logos)
Hebrews
9:22
(See notes
Hebrews 9:22)
What does the phrase
"almost all things are cleansed with blood" mean? John MacArthur
helps us understand writing that...
we need to keep in mind that the blood
was a symbol. If Christ’s own physical blood, in itself, does not cleanse
from sin, how much less did the physical blood of animals. It is not
surprising, then, that the Old Covenant allowed a symbol for a
symbol. A Jew who was too poor to bring even a small animal for a
sacrifice was allowed to bring one-tenth of an ephah (about two quarts)
of
fine flour instead (Lev 5:11). His sins were covered just as surely
as those of the person who could afford to offer a lamb or goat or
turtledove or pigeon (Lev. 5:6-7). This exception is
clear proof that the old cleansing was symbolic. Just as the
animal blood symbolized Christ’s true atoning blood, so the
ephah of flour symbolized and represented the animal blood. This
non-blood offering for sin was acceptable because the old sacrifice was
entirely symbolic anyway. Yet this was the only exception. And even
the exception represented a blood sacrifice...Since the penalty for sin is
death, nothing but death, symbolized by shedding of blood, can atone for
sin...Because they (OT blood sacrifices) were symbols, God provided a
limited and strictly qualified exception (flour) to the old sacrifices.
But there can be no exception for the real sacrifice (Christ crucified),
because it (He) is the only way to God...We cannot enter into God’s
presence by self-effort to be righteous. If we, on our own, could be good,
we would not need atonement. Nor can we enter His presence by being model
citizens or even by being religious. We cannot enter His presence by
reading the Bible, by going to church, by giving generously to the Lord’s
work, or even by praying. We cannot enter His presence by thinking good
thoughts about Him. The only way we can enter into God’s presence, the
only way we can participate in the New Covenant, is through the atoning
death of Jesus Christ, made effective for us when we trust in Him as
saving Lord. (MacArthur,
John: Hebrews. Moody Press
or
Logos) (Bolding
added)
What does the phrase
"without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness" mean?
There is no
forgiveness without the shedding of blood, and there is no perfect
forgiveness without a perfect sacrifice. We in the Church
Age need to understand that under the Old Covenant
sacrifices merely covered over sin, but they could never remove
it. The Old Covenant sacrifices were never meant to cleanse from sin, but
only to symbolize such cleansing. The cleansing, like the Old Covenant as
a whole, not only was limited and imperfect and also temporary.
The
conscience of the person sacrificing was never freed from the feeling of
guilt because the guilt itself was never really removed. The cleansing was
entirely external. Consequently, the person could never have a clear conscience, a
deep, abiding sense of forgiveness. There was a degree of
forgiveness, but it was never
comprehensive. Permanent forgiveness, and therefore
permanent access to God, came only through Jesus Christ, the Mediator
of the New
Covenant and of a new permanent priesthood. Had the Old Covenant sacrifices been able
to bring a person into God’s presence, the sacrifices would have ceased
for they would
have fulfilled their purpose. The Old Testament saints (an OT saint was not all or even
most of Israel but only the "remnant" who like Abraham had believed in the Lord
and had been credited with righteousness) lacked the total
sense of freedom from the consciousness of their sin. They came short
of that full privilege, because the sacrifices of that covenant could
not completely remove their sin and bring them to God. Because their
sins were not finally cleansed, their consciences could not be wholly
cleansed, could not be freed. The New Covenant gives greater understanding
of full forgiveness, freedom from guilt, and a cleansed conscience. The
writer sums this up the finality of the New Covenant in Hebrews 10 writing...
Now where there is forgiveness of these
things, there is no longer any offering for sin. (see note
Hebrews 10:18)
To reiterate, no one
through the Old Covenant had complete access to God. There was only a
temporary covering over of sin, not a removal of sin or of the guilt that
sin
brings. When Jesus Christ offered His sacrifice, however, He sat down at
the right hand of His Father in the Holy of holies in Heaven
because His work was done. Among His last words on the Cross were, “It
is finished.” (John 19:30) Jesus accomplished in one glorious act what
all the priests of the Old Covenant had not accomplished and could never
have accomplished -- forgiveness of men’s sins and thereby
their reconciliation with a Holy God. What a marvelous and wonderful truth
this is.
Jesus did it all in one sacrifice, the sacrifice of Himself.
The glory of the New
Covenant is not only that sins are now truly forgiven, but that
they are also completely forgotten. Under the Old Covenant, sins
could never really be forgotten, because they were never really forgiven.
As discussed above they were only covered, foreshadowing and anticipating
true forgiveness in the Perfect Sacrifice, Jesus Christ. Now, for those
who belong to His dear Son, whether they believed under the Old Covenant
or under the New, God forgives and forgets every sin. Beloved, do you
really understand this great truth, the capstone of the New Covenant, the
Better Covenant? This truth can set you free from self-imposed guilt and
condemnation over past sins assuming that they have been "put under the
blood" rather than being "swept under the rug"! And when the Son sets you
free with His perfect forgiveness, you are free indeed! Free to
confidently worship and serve in the presence of the Living God. How much
more meaningful will it be for you the next time you celebrate the Lord's
Supper, and you remember His words given to His disciples the night He
instituted the New Covenant declaring...
"This is My blood of the covenant,
which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins" (Mt
26:28)
MacArthur adds that...
God does not forgive sin by looking
down and saying, “It’s all right. Since I love you so much, I’ll
overlook your sin.” God’s righteousness and holiness will not allow Him
to overlook sin. Sin demands payment by death. And the only death great
enough to pay for all of mankind’s sins is the death of His Son. God’s
great love for us will not lead Him to overlook our sin, but it has led
Him to provide the payment for our sin, as John 3:16 so beautifully
reminds us. God cannot ignore our sin; but He will forgive our sin if we
trust in the death of His Son for that forgiveness. (MacArthur,
John: Hebrews. Moody Press
or
Logos)
Hebrews
9:23
(See notes
Hebrews 9:23)
Ray Stedman
commenting on the phrase "the heavenly things (to be cleansed)
with better sacrifices (than those that cleansed the earthly
copies of the heavenly things) writes that...
Though the imagery here is drawn from
the Day of Atonement, we must not think of Jesus as bearing a basin of his
own blood into heaven to present it before the throne of God at his
ascension, as some commentators have concluded. The rending of the curtain
in the temple at the time of the crucifixion is ample evidence to indicate
that the blood shed in the death of Jesus was the moment when full
atonement for sin was accomplished. (Stedman,
Ray: Hebrews IVP New Testament Commentary Series
or
Logos)
Hebrews
9:24
(See notes
Hebrews 9:24)
Hebrews
9:25
(See notes
Hebrews 9:25)
Hebrews
9:26
(See notes
Hebrews 9:26)
Stedman notes
that...
The phrase the end of the ages (NASB "at
the consummation of the ages") designates the present age as the last
of a series. It marks the end of human history as we now know it and will
terminate in the events which Jesus foretold would occur “at the end of
the age” (Mt
24–25). (Stedman,
Ray: Hebrews IVP New Testament Commentary Series
or
Logos)
Guzik has an
interesting comment on Jesus' perfect sacrifice writing that...
If the sacrifice of Jesus were not
perfect, then it would have to be continual and constant - even since the
foundation of the world. Imperfect sacrifices must be repeated continually
but a perfect sacrifice can be made once for all time, and genuinely
put away sin (not just cover sin, as with sacrifice
under the Old Covenant). The message is clear: He has appeared to put away
sin by the sacrifice of Himself. This principle of sacrifice explains why
the suffering of hell must be eternal for those who reject the atoning
work of Jesus. They are in hell to pay the penalty of their sin, but as
imperfect beings they are unable to make a perfect payment. If the payment
is not perfect, then it has to be continual and constant - indeed, for all
eternity. A soul could be released from hell the moment its debt of sin
was completely paid - which is another way of saying never. (Commentary
on Heb 9:26)
Hebrews
9:27
(See notes
Hebrews 9:27)
"It is appointed for men to die once" Just as any fallen human
being is destined to die once for all time, with judgment awaiting beyond
death, so Christ also died once for all time to deal with sin.
Hebrews
9:28
(See notes
Hebrews 9:28)
Christ...shall
appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin"
Stedman
writes that
This salvation points to the
resurrection of the body. For them, the spirit has been regenerated
already and the soul is being saved as Christ likeness is formed in that
believer (2 Cor 3:18). What yet awaits is the raising of the body so that
the whole person becomes a dwelling place of God forever. This is the only
place in the New Testament where the return of Christ is called a second
coming. During his first coming, he dealt with the problem of human sin on
the cross; at his second coming the full effect of that sacrifice will be
manifested in the resurrection (or “transformation”—1 Cor 15:51,52) of the
bodies of those who wait for him. (Stedman,
Ray: Hebrews IVP New Testament Commentary Series
or
Logos)
Those who eagerly
await (present
tense) Him
This brings to mind the picture of the Israelites who patiently waited for
the high priest to emerge from the Most Holy Place on the Day of
Atonement. What are NT believers eagerly awaiting? Their "future tense
salvation", known theologically as glorification. Peter alluded to it
after explaining to his readers that they had been born again to a living
hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, writing that now...
(we) are (present
tense continually
being) protected by the power of God through faith for a SALVATION ready
to be revealed in the last time (when Christ appears for a second time)
(see note on
1 Peter 1:5)
Paul also encouraged
the Roman saints with the assurance that...
And not only this, but also we
ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit (a foretaste of future
glory), even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly (present
tense = continually,
habitually, as our lifestyle assiduously and patiently waiting = same verb
as in Hebrews 9:28) for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body
(that day when God will give us our full rights as His children, including
the new bodies He has promised us). (see note
Ro
8:23)
Hebrews
10:1
(See notes
Hebrews 10:1)
Same sacrifices
year after year: the OC sacrificial system was temporary, and
therefore could accomplish nothing permanent. The very repetition of the
sacrifices day after day, and year after year, pointed out the weakness of
the OC system.
Make perfect
does not refer to sinless perfection but speaks to the removal of guilt
which makes free access to God possible for worshipers who trust in the
sufficiency of the Cross. See comment on Hebrews 10:14 below.
Guzik
Shadow isn't a bad thing. Sometimes a
shadow can tell you a lot. But the shadow is not the substance. The Old
Covenant and its law were not themselves bad or evil, they are only
incomplete and insufficient to bring total cleansing from sin, and to
save. The shadow . . . can never . . . make those who approach perfect. (Commentary
on Hebrews 10:1
)
MacDonald
comments that...
The law was only a shadow of the good
things that were to come. It pointed forward to the Person and work of
Christ but it was a poor substitute for reality. To prefer the law to
Christ is like preferring a picture to the person represented. It is an
insult to His majesty! The weakness of the legal system is seen in
the fact that its sacrifices had to be constantly repeated. This
repetition proved their total inability to meet the claims of a holy God.
Notice the expressions used to capture this idea of repetitiveness: the
same sacrifices; offer continually; year by year. The sacrifices
were utterly unable to perfect the worshipers, that is, they never gave
the people a perfect conscience as far as sin was concerned. The
Israelites never enjoyed the consciousness of being cleared forever from
the guilt of sin. They never had complete rest of conscience. (MacDonald,
W & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson or
Logos)
Hebrews
10:2
(See notes
Hebrews 10:2)
Guzik
repetition of sacrifice shows its
inherent weakness. If animal sacrifice had "fixed" the sin problem, then
they could have ceased to be offered. (Commentary
on Hebrews 10:2)
Hebrews
10:3
(See notes
Hebrews 10:3)
Hebrews
10:4
(See notes
Hebrews 10:4)
Warren Wiersbe comments on this section writing that...
Animal sacrifices could never
completely deal with human guilt. God did promise forgiveness to
believing worshipers (Lev. 4:20, 26, 31, 35), but this
was a judicial forgiveness and not the removal of guilt from
people’s hearts. People lacked that inward witness of full and
final forgiveness. They could not claim, “I have no more consciousness
of sins.” If those worshipers had been “once purged [from guilt of sin]”
they would never again have had to offer another sacrifice. So the
annual Day of Atonement did not accomplish “remission of sin” but
only “reminder of sin.” The annual repetition of the ceremony was
evidence that the previous year’s sacrifices had not done the job. True,
the nation’s sins were covered; but they were not cleansed.
Nor did the people have God’s inward witness of forgiveness and
acceptance. Yes, there was a desperate need for a better
sacrifice because the blood of bulls and of goats could not take away
sins. It could cover sin and postpone judgment; but it could
never effect a once-and-for-all redemption. Only the better
sacrifice of the Son of God could do that. (Wiersbe,
W: Bible Exposition Commentary. 1989. Victor
or
Logos) (Bolding added)
MacArthur
comments that
The Levitical system was not designed
by God to remove or forgive sins. It was preparatory for the coming of the
Messiah (Gal.
3:24) in that it made the
people expectant (cf. see 1 Peter 1:10, 11, 12 - see notes on
1Pet 1:10-12). It revealed the
seriousness of their sinful condition, in that even temporary covering
required the death of an animal. It revealed the reality of God’s holiness
and righteousness by indicating that sin had to be covered. Finally, it
revealed the necessity of full and complete forgiveness so that God could
have desired fellowship with His people. (MacArthur,
J.: The MacArthur Study Bible Nashville: Word
or
Logos)
Hebrews
10:6
(See notes
Hebrews 10:6)
God was not pleased with sacrifices given by a person who did not give
them out of a sincere heart. To sacrifice only as a ritual, without
obedience, was a mockery and worse than no sacrifice at all. David in
Psalm 51, a psalm that deals with David's confession and repentance of his
sin of adultery with Bathsheba and murder of her husband Uriah writes...
For Thou dost not delight in sacrifice,
otherwise I would give it;
Thou art not pleased with burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise. (Psalm
51:16-17)
God does not delight
in the external acts and the ritual of worship. God always inspects the
giver, before he inspects the gift, offering or praise. How can one who is
unclean offer a clean sacrifice? The constant urging is that God’s
servants give their hearts and their lives in deep contrition and
brokenness of spirit before they observe feasts, fasts, sabbaths or
sacrifices. Rote religion can never substitute for purity of heart.
Ray Stedman
reminds us that...
Wholehearted obedience is the quality
which God desires in sacrifices. He makes the point many times in the Old
Testament, notably, in 1 Samuel 15:22; Isaiah 1:11, 12, 13, 14; and Amos 5:21,22.
As Morris rightly says, “God takes no delight in the routine performance
of the ritual of sacrifice”. Undoubtedly, he feels the same way about
routine worship services today! (Stedman,
Ray: Hebrews IVP New Testament Commentary Series
or
Logos)
MacDonald
adds that the writer quotes form Psalm 40 specifically noting...
Quoting from Psalm 40, He noted
God’s dissatisfaction with the sacrifices and offerings of the Old
Covenant. God had instituted these sacrifices, yet they were never His
ultimate intention. They were never designed to put away sins but rather
to point forward to the Lamb of God who would bear away the sin of the
world. Could God be pleased with rivers of animal blood or with heaps of
animal carcasses? Another reason for God’s dissatisfaction is
that the people thought they were pleasing Him by going through ceremonies
while their inward lives were sinful and corrupt. Many of them went
through the dreary round of sacrifices with no repentance or contrition.
They thought that God could be appeased with their animal sacrifices
whereas He was looking for the sacrifice of a broken heart. They did not
realize that God is not a ritualist! (MacDonald,
W & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson or
Logos)
Wiersbe adds
that ...
Twice in this paragraph, the writer
stated that God “had no pleasure” in the Old Covenant sacrifices (see Heb.
10:6, 8). This does not suggest that the old sacrifices were wrong, or
that sincere worshipers received no benefit from obeying God’s Law. It
only means that God had no delight in sacrifices as such, apart from the
obedient hearts of the worshipers. No amount of sacrifices could
substitute for obedience (Wiersbe,
W: Bible Exposition Commentary. 1989. Victor
or
Logos)
Hebrews
10:7
(See notes
Hebrews 10:7)
MacDonald notes that...
What did bring pleasure to God was the
Messiah’s willingness to do the will of God, no matter what the cost might
be. He proved His willing obedience by offering Himself on the altar of
sacrifice. As our Lord uttered those words, He was reminded that from the
beginning to the end of the OT, it is witnessed of Him that He took
wholehearted delight in accomplishing God’s will. (MacDonald,
W & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson or
Logos)
Hebrews
10:11
(See notes
Hebrews 10:11)
The Levitical
priests always stood before God for there were no seats in the sanctuary,
indicating that the priests’ job was never done.
Hebrews
10:12
(See notes
Hebrews 10:12)
Christ sat down
after offering Himself as a sacrifice indicating that His work of
atonement is finished. This truth parallels Christ's final words on the
Cross “It is finished” (John
19:30).
Hebrews
10:14
(See notes
Hebrews 10:14)
Perfected is
the Greek word teleioo (see study of related word
teleo) and is used in the
perfect tense meaning that
this perfection began at a point in time in the past and has continuing or
ongoing effects or benefits. The idea of the verb teleioo is that one has
finally reached their goal and in the context of the book of Hebrews
refers to believers as now once and for all fully cleansed from sin in
contrast to the temporary, ineffective external cleansing that resulted
from the sacrifices under the Old Covenant. The New Covenant is a Better
Covenant with a Better Sacrifice which does once and for all what the Old
could never accomplish. So from a positional view, that is in the presence
of God's holiness, because we are in Christ and His perfect righteousness,
God sees us now as perfectly righteous. In that sense, we will never be
any more righteous then we are now, because we could never add anything to
the righteousness found in Christ. On the other hand, we still live in
these bodies of sin and have to contend with the flesh and thus our
practice (as contrasted with our "position") before God is that we are "those
who are sanctified". The verb for sanctified is hagiazo which
means to be made holy in the sense of being set apart from the common,
profane and mundane things of this world and unto God. Hagiazo is the same
verb used in Hebrews 10:10, with a very important distinction -- in verse
10, the tense is
perfect
(past completed action with present ongoing result or effect) whereas here
in verse 14 the tense is
present
which conveys the idea of a continual
action. In other words we as believers are perfected as far as our
eternal standing before God is concerned but we in another very real sense
"works in progress", daily, even moment by moment being set apart by the
"sanctifying work of the Spirit" (passive
voice), "being
transformed into His likeness" (2
Cor 3:18) and ultimately
"conformed to the image of His Son' (Ro
8:29)
Kistemaker
explains that "perfected" refers to the fact that...
The sacrifice of Christ, unique in
itself, brought about holiness for the believer. That is, every
believer receives these benefits of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross: his
sins are forgiven; his conscience is cleansed; he has peace with God,
assurance of salvation, and the gift of life eternal. Christ has perfected
the believer forever. But even though the author writes that Christ “has
made perfect forever those who are being made holy,” he shows in other
passages the work of perfection is not yet complete in the recipients of
his epistle. They are encouraged to resist sin, endure hardship, and
submit to discipline (Heb 12:4, 7, 9). Perfection, in a sense, is here already
and is also not yet here. We have this certainty, however, that we are
perfected in Christ, who removed our sin by his sacrifice.
(Kistemaker,
S. J., & Hendriksen, W. Vol. 15: New Testament commentary : Exposition of
Hebrews. Page 282. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House
or
Logos)() (Bolding
added)
Hebrews
10:15
(See notes
Hebrews 10:15)
Wiersbe adds that ...
How do we know personally that we have
this perfect standing before God? Because of the witness of the Holy
Spirit through the Word (Heb. 10:15, 16, 17, 18). The witness of the Spirit is
based on the work of the Son and is given through the words of Scripture.
The writer (Heb. 10:16,17) quoted Jeremiah 31:33,34, part of a passage
he’d also quoted in Hebrews 8:7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. The Old Covenant worshiper could not
say that he had “no more consciousness of sins” (Heb 10:2). But the New
Covenant believer can say that his sins and iniquities are remembered no
more. There is “no more offering for sin” (Heb. 10:18) and no more
remembrance of sin!
I once shared a conference with a fine
Christian psychiatrist whose lectures were very true to the Word. “The
trouble with psychiatry,” he told me, “is that it can only deal with
symptoms. A psychiatrist can remove a patient’s feelings of guilt, but he
cannot remove the guilt. It’s like a trucker loosening a fender on his
truck so he won’t hear the motor knock. A patient can end up feeling
better, but have two problems instead of one!” When a sinner trusts
Christ, his sins are all forgiven, the guilt is gone, and the matter is
completely settled forever. (Wiersbe,
W: Bible Exposition Commentary. 1989. Victor
or
Logos)
Hebrews
10:25
(See notes
Hebrews 10:25)
"The day drawing near" refers to the return of Christ
(see
Table comparing Rapture vs Second
Coming) as in Heb
9:28 which records that...
Christ also, having been offered once
to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time for salvation without
reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.
