Sin is messy business. Most importantly, sin separates us from God. Not only does our sin get us into trouble with consequences, when sin goes unchecked/undiscovered, it eats away at us from the inside. It creates a depraved state that can potentially run amuck and grow to catastrophic proportions! In the Old Testament, we read about the sacrificial system, where people acknowledged their sin and brought forth sacrifices to atone for their sins. On a busy day, the priest’s hands would be pruned from washing blood from them. There would be a metallic smell in the air from the blood that would eventually affect the animals waiting to be sacrificed. So they would become restless and fearful. You could taste the stress and fear. Sin is messy. Emotionally. Physically. Mentally. Spiritually.
Today, we’re looking at Hebrews 9. These 28 verses are about atonement. Christ’s once-for-all, perfect,
atonement. We are going to see in the
Scriptures today, that The first
covenant pointed to Christ’s perfect, eternal new covenant.
When we walk away from our time together today, I want
you to know God used the old covenant to
point to His perfect “Plan A”: Jesus!
Holy Father, open
our hearts and minds today to receive the Truth from Your Word. Reveal to us what we need to know to right
our thinking and cleanse our hearts. In
Jesus’ priceless name. Amen.
We have two divisions:
1.The Earthly Sanctuary and Priests Ministry (9:1-10)
2.The Heavenly Sanctuary and Christ’s Ministry (9:11-28)
Let’s dive right in to this amazing chapter of Scripture.
Read Hebrews 9:1-5.
In the first five verses of chapter 9, the author
explains that the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly
sanctuary. Then he goes on to describe
the tabernacle. The tabernacle has two
rooms: the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place.
In the first room, the Holy Place, there is the lampstand and the table
of consecrated bread. In the second
room, the Most Holy Place, there is the golden altar of incense and the ark
containing the jar of manna, the budded staff and the stone tablets of the
covenant. The atonement cover is the lid
for the ark.
I am both irritated and glad that the author says we
cannot discuss these things in detail now.
These five verses could be a lesson all by themselves! In fact, because I’ve studied the tabernacle
in depth, these verses effectively stopped me in my tracks this week! I don’t want to take too much time on this,
but I do want to address it for those of you who feel the same way I did when I
first read this passage.
Why does the author of Hebrews place the altar of incense
INSIDE THE MOST HOLY PLACE when Exodus 30:6-8 and 40:26 places it in THE HOLY
PLACE? Only the High Priest could enter
the Holy of Holies once per year on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), so, if
the altar of incense were in the Holy of Holies, how could the priest offer
incense EVERY DAY??? This may not bother
you like it did me, so I will be brief.
There are several scholarly opinions on this
question. The explanation I find most
plausible is that the actual location
of the altar of incense is within the Holy Place, but it belongs to the Most Holy Place.
This is evident in the Greek language used in Hebrews 9:2, 4. In verse 2, the text says the table and
lampstand are “in” (the Greek is “en
he”, as in location) the first part of the tabernacle. In verse 4, the text says, “…the Holy of
Holies having the golden incense
altar…” (the Greek is “echousa”, meaning to have, possess [in the technical
sense of having control over the use of]).
This gives me chills because, throughout Scripture, incense is symbolic
of prayer. So, I see the altar of
incense as being the altar of the prayers of God’s people. God initiates prayer, so He, technically has
control over the use of prayer. Wow!!! And now that Jesus has come and opened the
Holy of Holies with His own blood and tore the curtain from top to bottom, all our
prayers go straight to God the Father.
Jesus opened the passage! This
connects to the next part of the passage.
Read Hebrews 9:6-10.
Here, the author reminds us that the priests perform
their ministry regularly in the outer room, aka the Holy Place. They maintained the lampstand. They replaced the showbread. They offered the incense.
He also reminds us that only the High Priest would enter
the inner room, aka the Holy of Holies, ONCE A YEAR, and never without
blood. The blood was an offering for
himself and for the sins the people had committed IN IGNORANCE. This blood came from animals.
The author states that the Holy Spirit was showing by
this that the way into the Holy of Holies hadn’t been disclosed while the tabernacle
was still functioning. This is an
illustration for the temporal. Such gifts
and sacrifices were/are unable to cleanse the conscience. Actual guilt remained. These were ceremonies pointing to the better
way: Jesus! This leads us to our first
principle:
The earthly
sanctuary and the ministry of the priests point to Christ’s more perfect
ministry.
How has earthly ministry prepared you to engage Christ’s
plan and will for your life? If you are
a Christian, how is your ministry helping to point others to Christ? How is your life pointing to Jesus Christ if
you are not involved in formal ministry?
Now let’s look at Christ’s ministry in the true tabernacle.
Read Hebrews 9:11.
The first thing the author discloses is that Christ went
through the greater, more perfect tabernacle: heaven. Not the created tabernacle made by human
hands. Christ entered and opened the
true tabernacle that the one made with human hands was based on. Christ entered the tabernacle that God used
as a pattern and warned Moses to duplicate just as he was shown.
Read Hebrews
9:11-14.
Let’s talk a little about the blood. Jesus didn’t enter this perfect tabernacle
with the blood of animals. Jesus entered
with His own blood. God’s blood. Sinless blood. Perfect blood. Blood that is powerful enough to redeem every
person who would ever be born. One
sacrifice. For everyone. Forever.
Blood that was freely given.
Blood that covers every sin.
Blood that offers eternal redemption.
Blood that cleanses completely.
Blood that frees from guilt and cleanses every conscience. Blood that enables us to serve! Savor that word for a few minutes. Are you serving? If not, where CAN you serve?
Read Hebrews
9:15-18.
How much do you know about wills? A will is a document that spells out the
desires of a person. It bequeaths
property after the death of the person who created and signed it. So, for a will to be in effect, the person
who made it must be dead. Jesus is the
Mediator of the new covenant, the Executor of the will, the Inheritance, the
One Who died to put the will into effect.
And the first covenant pointed to Christ in the form of innocent
sacrifice. Let’s take a look at how
Moses presented the sacrificial system to the people.
Read Hebrews
9:19-23.
Moses proclaimed the law to the people. He sprinkled blood on the scroll and the
people. He proclaimed the blood of the
covenant. He sprinkled the blood on the
instruments to be used in the worship practices, consecrating those utensils. He explained that the law required this
cleansing, and that there is no forgiveness without bloodshed. The copies had to be purified with blood. And then, verse 23 ends by pointing back to Jesus
as the better sacrifice: the heavenly things, the true tabernacle, had to be
cleansed with better sacrifices. With
THE BEST SACRIFICE: JESUS.
Read Hebrews
9:24-28.
Christ entered heaven with His blood, not the shadow –
the copy – of the true tabernacle. He
entered the real thing. He entered the
very presence of God the Father! Not a
manifestation of God’s glory in the Holy of Holies once a year. Christ offered Himself ONCE. Not again and again like the Old Testament
sacrificial system. Jesus is the High
Priest Who entered God’s presence with His own blood! He did away with sin once-for-all by the
sacrifice of Himself! Victory over sin
and death and Satan is won!!!
And we who are destined to die once and face judgment now
face a choice: accept that Jesus paid
the penalty for our sins and receive His free gift of eternal redemption, or
not. Which do you choose? If you would like to accept His free gift of
salvation, pray with me:
Heavenly Father, I
come to You as a sinner in need of a Savior.
And I believe Jesus is that Savior Who was crucified to pay the price
for my sins. Who died so I can spend
eternity in heaven. Who rose to reveal
victory over the death and promise me the same.
I receive the salvation Jesus purchased for me with His blood. In His mighty name. Amen.
If you prayed that prayer, welcome to the family of
God. Contact me or a Christian friend
who can put you in touch with a Bible preaching pastor to help you through your
next steps of discipleship.
And here is our final principle:
Christ’s more
perfect ministry saves souls for eternity.
In what area(s) are you challenged to accept Christ’s
once-for-all free gift of salvation? How
have you been trying to earn your salvation or repay Christ for His free gift?
God has made a way to deal with the mess of sin! Once for all.
No more sacrifices. Jesus is the
once-for-all sacrifice Who makes all men right with God if they accept His free
gift of salvation. The author of Hebrews
indicates that sacrifices are still being made at the temple at the time of the
writing of this letter, so scholars place the writing of this book prior to 70
AD, which is when the temple was destroyed.
The destruction of the temple changed everything for the Jewish people
because there haven’t been sacrifices for almost 2000 years! Why is this important? To them, it means that there is NO ATONEMENT
FROM SIN! They cannot come before
God! They cannot worship! They cannot be cleansed. They do not recognize Jesus Christ as the
Messiah, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world. Do you?
Let us pray.
Holy Father, in the
name of Your Son, Jesus, I ask that you would open the hearts and minds of all
people to see the Truth and accept it as fact.
I pray that they would humbly embrace Jesus Christ as Savior and receive
redemption and peace. Amen.
Comments