It’s always a
pleasure to have you back again to share more Daily Bread. If you’ve ever
read the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, you know that a major part of
the “law” was offerings and sacrifices. In the first part of this chapter,
Paul again shows how these offerings and sacrifices were “shadows” of the
sacrifice of Jesus, and that His sacrifice of Himself permanently replaces
the old law.
The law, being a
shadow of heavenly
things to come,
and not being the exact reality of the things,
can never make the people perfect
with those sacrifices which they offered year by year
continually.
If those sacrifices did purify them,
wouldn’t they have stopped offering them?
Because once the worshippers were cleansed,
they should have no more awareness of sins.
But in those sacrifices there is a reminder again made of
sins every year.
Because it isn’t possible for the blood of bulls and of goats to take away
sins.
Here’s a great passage from the book of
Micah that explains.
Micah 6:7-8
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
or with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good;
and what doth the LORD require of thee,
but to do justly, and to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with thy God?
There are several more places written in
the scriptures of the Old Testament that plainly say that sacrifices and
offerings aren’t what God wants.
1 Samuel 15:22,
Psalms 51:16,
Jeremiah 6:20,
7:22-23,
Isaiah 1:11,
and this one that Paul quotes next, comes from
Psalms 40:6:
Concerning when Jesus was to come into the world, He said,
Sacrifice and offering you did not want,
but a body you have prepared me:
In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin
you have had no pleasure.
Then I said,
Look, I come to do your will, O God
(in scripture it is written of me).
Even though this prophecy was written by
David it was the words of Jesus speaking to God. Paul explains what the Lord
was revealing below. . . In so many words, He was saying, God didn’t want
those sacrifices, so He made Jesus into flesh and blood so that He could
perform the will of God, (Matthew
26:39 and John
4:34) and be the one and only sacrifice that would cleanse the sins of
man. Now, Paul’s explanation:
Above when he said,
Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings
and offering for sin thou wouldest not,
neither hadst pleasure therein;
which are offered by the law;
Then said he,
Lo, I come to do thy will, O God.
He takes away the first (Old Covenant),
so that He may establish the second (New Covenant).
By God’s will,
we are made holy
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ
once for all.
Another thing to
know about the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant
is that in the old way, people had to wait until they made sacrifice in
order to reconcile themselves to God, but in the new way, God’s
Grace is at hand
immediately through repentance.
Now, you may think
that Paul is a bit redundant about this High Priest business, but consider
how important this subject really is. The patterns of the Old Testament,
representing the New Testament that was to replace it, was a fact that was
totally missed by the unbelieving Jewish people who crucified our Lord.
Something so clear to see, yet misunderstood, deserves repetition. If Paul
couldn’t make his point clear in one way, he would try again in another way,
and again in another, and again and again and again. His persistence is
admirable, really, and as you’ll see in verse 36 of this chapter, he
encourages patience, or persistence in the Hebrews as well.
And every priest stands daily
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices,
which can never take away sins:
But Christ Jesus,
after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever,
sat down at the right hand of God;
And from that time on,
awaits until His enemies be made His footstool.
By one offering He has cleansed for ever
them that are sanctified
(called, chosen, set apart, made holy).
Paul doesn’t stop there either. If that’s not
enough to convince the Hebrews, he adds how the
Holy Spirit
told them beforehand through scripture all about this change of covenants.
The Holy Ghost also is a witness to us:
Because of what He had said before
(through the prophet Jeremiah),
This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,
saith the Lord,
I will put my laws into their hearts,
and in their minds will I write them;
And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
Jeremiah
31:33-34
Now where there is forgiveness of sins and iniquities,
there is no more offering for sin.
Now Paul changes hats from teacher, to
motivator, encouraging the Hebrews to be strong, and keep on going, not to
give up, but to be persistent until the end.
Therefore brethren, having confidence
to enter into the holiest (the presence of God)
by the blood of Jesus,
by a new and living way,
which He has prepared for us,
through the veil, that is to say, His flesh;
and having an High Priest over the house of God;
let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of Faith,
having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience,
and our bodies washed with pure water.
Let us stand firm in our faith without wavering
(for He is faithful that promised);
And let us think of one another
and stir up love and good works:
Not neglecting the gathering of ourselves together, as some do;
but encouraging one another: and so much more,
as you see the
day (of the Lord)
approaching.
For if we sin willfully after receiving the knowledge of
the Truth,
there remains no more sacrifice for sins,
But a certain fearful waiting
for judgment and fiery indignation,
which shall devour the unbelievers.
Those who disregarded Moses' law
died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
How much worse punishment do you suppose those people deserve
who have trodden under foot the Son of God,
and have considered the blood of the Covenant,
with which He was sanctified, an unholy thing,
and have insulted the Spirit of grace?
Matthew 12:31
For we know Him that has said,
Vengeance belongs unto me,
I will repay, says the Lord.
And also, The Lord shall judge His people.
Deuteronomy
32:35-36
And you’ve just seen again, Paul likes to
use the scripture of the Old Testament to prove the validity of the New
Testament, because the Hebrews held the Old Testament so dearly, but the Old
Covenant, written in stone, cannot compare to the New Covenant written in
our hearts.
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
But remember the days past,
in which, after you saw the light,
you endured a great fight of afflictions;
Partly, while you were made a spectacle
both by reproaches and afflictions;
and partly, while you became companions
of other believers who went through the same afflictions.
Here, Paul is talking about when these
Jewish Christians first accepted Jesus as their Savior.
For you had compassion of me in my bonds,
and rejoiced in the spoiling of your property,
knowing in yourselves that you have in Heaven,
better and permanent treasures.
Don’t throw away your confidence,
which has great promise.
For you have need of patience,
so that, after you have done the will of God,
you might receive the promise.
It will still be a little while, and Jesus will come,
and will not delay.
Now the just shall live by Faith:
but if any man draw back,
(slips back into unbelief)
my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
But we are not of them who draw back unto destruction;
but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.
In the next
chapter, Paul talks to the Hebrews about faith, sighting several people of
the Old Testament and showing how their faith profited them. You don’t want
to miss it, right here at Daily Bread.
