GOD HAS SPOKEN
Help!(Hebrews Twenty-Six)[The following outline is that of Kevin L. Anderson, Hebrews: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition, New Beacon Bible Commentary (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 2013), 5-6. As in the previous lessons we will document our quotations from Anderson by the page number in a parenthesis. Our dependence on his work, however, is not limited to quotations.
I. Hearing the Apostle and High Priest of Our Confession: Hebrews 1:1—4:13
II. Jesus’ Superior High Priesthood: Hebrews 4:14—10:18
- The Qualifications of the Great High Priest (4:14—5:10).
- Preparing for Advanced Teaching on Christ’s High Priesthood (5:11—6:20)
- The High Priest like Melchizedek: The Son Perfected Forever (7:1-28).
- The Superior Ministry of the Son’s High Priesthood (8:1—10:18)
- Introduction to Christ’s Superior Ministry (8:1-13).
- The Better and More Perfect Tabernacle (9:1-14).
- Christ’s Sacrificial Death Inaugurated the New Covenant (9:15-28).
- Christ’s One Obedient Offering Perfects Worshippers Forever (10:1-18).
III. Call to Persevering Faith and Acceptable Worship: Hebrews 10:19--13:25]
Hebrews 9:1 Now the first covenant had both regulations for worship and a Holy Place here on earth. 2 A tent was set up, the outer one, which was called the Holy Place; in it were the menorah, the table and the Bread of the Presence.3 Behind the second parokhet was a tent called the Holiest Place, 4 which had the golden altar for burning incense and the Ark of the Covenant, entirely covered with gold. In the Ark were the gold jar containing the man, Aharon’s rod that sprouted and the stone Tablets of the Covenant; 5 and above it were the k’ruvim representing the Sh’khinah, casting their shadow on the lid of the Ark — but now is not the time to discuss these things in detail.
6 With things so arranged, the cohanim go into the outer tent all the time to discharge their duties; 7 but only the cohen hagadol enters the inner one; and he goes in only once a year, and he must always bring blood, which he offers both for himself and for the sins committed in ignorance by the people. 8 By this arrangement, the Ruach HaKodesh showed that so long as the first Tent had standing, the way into the Holiest Place was still closed. 9 This symbolizes the present age and indicates that the conscience of the person performing the service cannot be brought to the goal by the gifts and sacrifices he offers. 10 For they involve only food and drink and various ceremonial washings — regulations concerning the outward life, imposed until the time for God to reshape the whole structure.
11 But when the Messiah appeared as cohen gadol of the good things that are happening already, then, through the greater and more perfect Tent which is not man-made (that is, it is not of this created world), 12 he entered the Holiest Place once and for all.
And he entered not by means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of his own blood, thus setting people free forever. 13 For if sprinkling ceremonially unclean persons with the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer restores their outward purity; 14 then how much more the blood of the Messiah, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself to God as a sacrifice without blemish, will purify our conscience from works that lead to death, so that we can serve the living God!
15 It is because of this death that he is mediator of a new covenant [or will].[Hebrews 9:15 Jeremiah 31:30(31)] Because a death has occurred which sets people free from the transgressions committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promised eternal inheritance. 16 For where there is a will, there must necessarily be produced evidence of its maker’s death, 17 since a will goes into effect only upon death; it never has force while its maker is still alive.
18 This is why the first covenant too was inaugurated with blood. 19 After Moshe had proclaimed every command of the Torah to all the people, he took the blood of the calves with some water and used scarlet wool and hyssop to sprinkle both the scroll itself and all the people; 20 and he said, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has ordained for you.”[Hebrews 9:20 Exodus 24:8] 21 Likewise, he sprinkled with the blood both the Tent and all the things used in its ceremonies.22 In fact, according to the Torah, almost everything is purified with blood; indeed, without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
23 Now this is how the copies of the heavenly things had to be purified, but the heavenly things themselves require better sacrifices than these. 24 For the Messiah has entered a Holiest Place which is not man-made and merely a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, in order to appear now on our behalf in the very presence of God.
25 Further, he did not enter heaven to offer himself over and over again, like the cohen hagadol who enters the Holiest Place year after year with blood that is not his own; 26 for then he would have had to suffer death many times — from the founding of the universe on. But as it is, he has appeared once at the end of the ages in order to do away with sin through the sacrifice of himself.27 Just as human beings have to die once, but after this comes judgment, 28 so also the Messiah, having been offered once to bear the sins of many,[Hebrews 9:28 Isaiah 53:12] will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to deliver those who are eagerly waiting for him.
10:1 For the Torah has in it a shadow of the good things to come, but not the actual manifestation of the originals. Therefore, it can never, by means of the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, bring to the goal those who approach the Holy Place to offer them. 2 Otherwise, wouldn’t the offering of those sacrifices have ceased? For if the people performing the service had been cleansed once and for all, they would no longer have sins on their conscience.3 No, it is quite the contrary — in these sacrifices is a reminder of sins, year after year. 4 For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins.
5 This is why, on coming into the world, he says,
“It has not been your will
to have an animal sacrifice and a meal offering;
rather, you have prepared for me a body.
6 No, you have not been pleased
with burnt offerings and sin offerings.
7 Then I said, ‘Look!
In the scroll of the book
it is written about me.
I have come to do your will.’”[Hebrews 10:7 Psalm 40:7–9(6–8)]
8 In saying first, “You neither willed nor were pleased with animal sacrifices, meal offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings,” things which are offered in accordance with the Torah; 9 and then, “Look, I have come to do your will”; he takes away the first system in order to set up the second. 10 It is in connection with this will that we have been separated for God and made holy, once and for all, through the offering of Yeshua the Messiah’s body.
11 Now every cohen stands every day doing his service, offering over and over the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But this one, after he had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 from then on to wait until his enemies be made a footstool for his feet.[Hebrews 10:13 Psalm 110:1] 14 For by a single offering he has brought to the goal for all time those who are being set apart for God and made holy.
15 And the Ruach HaKodesh too bears witness to us; for after saying,
16 “ ‘This is the covenant which I will make
with them after those days,’ says Adonai:
‘I will put my Torah on their hearts,
and write it on their minds . . . ,’ ”[Hebrews 10:16 Jeremiah 31:32(33)]
17 he then adds,
“ ‘And their sins and their wickednesses
I will remember no more.’ ”[Hebrews 10:17 Jeremiah 31:33(34)]
18 Now where there is forgiveness for these, an offering for sins is no longer needed.
Hebrews 9:24; 10:10: [A]s it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of
the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. . . . 10And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
A challenge from one whose vocation was prayer—Thomas Merton:
To those who read Scripture in an academic or aesthetic or merely devotional way the Bible indeed offers pleasant refreshment and profitable thoughts. But to learn the inner secrets of the Scriptures we must make them our true daily bread, find God in them when we are in greatest need—and usually when we can find Him nowhere else and have nowhere else to look![Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1956, 1958), 121. This book was a gift from the library of Avery and Winnie Stone.]
Introduction
It has been two months since I was last in Hebrews with you—November 23, 2014! For the most part we composed this study before we left on cruise January 3 lest we be caught in a panic mode on our return—and we would have been!
In the meantime, Herb has marched on in Hebrews far into chapter 10—and we are still at 9:1! Herb and I do not fear to work on a text that the other has covered or will cover, for we trust the efficiency of your short-term memory loss!
For today, I have planned simply to read with you Hebrews 9:1—10:18 as Scripture, observing it as one large chunk in its wholeness. As we noted earlier, and as Herb has reminded us, “all of 9:1—10:18 will lead us deeper into the great theme of Christ’s great sacrifice.”[November 9, 2014, and January 4, 2015.] In his lesson of January 11, Herb probed the heart of our passage—and of Hebrews--as he gave his attention to 9:23-28, the final paragraph of the chapter.
Now as we give our minds and hearts to the reading of the whole of Hebrews 9:1—10:18 in which 9:23-28 is central, may the spirit of Thomas Merton help us on our way “to learn the inner secrets of the Scriptures, . . .[to] find God in them when we are in greatest need—and usually when we can find Him nowhere else and have nowhere else to look![Merton, Thoughts in Solitude, 121. ]
Hebrews 9:1—10:18 functions as a kind of conclusion to the last phase of the writer’s witness-argument that takes up 7:1—10:18. As we read we seek to feel the impact of the whole—of its “what”-- before we explore the details of its “how.” We listen together, we share what we see and feel.
What speaks to us up front, what is immediately relevant to where we are; what still puzzles us? We ask our questions--What makes no sense? What appears to be far from relevant to our lives? We are on a journey as always deep into unknown territory; after all, did not our author himself say that he “has much to say that is hard to explain”![Hebrews 5:11.]
Within an outline that hopefully represents accurately the flow of the author’s presentation, we begin with
I.
The Ministry of the Old Covenant[Luke Timothy Johnson, Hebrews, A Commentary (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006), 215. We have changed slightly his heading for the passage from “The Worship of the Old Covenant.”]
9:1-10
From each of the following paragraphs we pick up a phrase as a heading that suggests its controlling thought.
“regulations for worship”
1Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary. 2For a tent was constructed, the first one, in which were the lampstand, the table, and the bread of the Presence; this is called the Holy Place. 3Behind the second curtain was a tent called the Holy of Holies. 4In it stood the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which there were a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; 5above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot speak now in detail.
“the priests go continually”
6Such preparations having been made, the priests go continually into the first tent to carry out their ritual duties; 7but only the high priest goes into the second, and he but once a year, and not without taking the blood that he offers for himself and for the sins committed unintentionally by the people. 8By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the sanctuary has not yet been disclosed as long as the first tent is still standing. 9This is a symbol of the present time, during which gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, 10but deal only with food and drink and various baptisms, regulations for the body imposed until the time comes to set things right.
Following this brief description of “The Ministry of the Old Covenant” our author arrives at where he is headed, to his presentation of
II.
The Ministry of the New Covenant
9:11-10:18
This final section of the author’s argument falls naturally into two parts dealing with the nature (9:11-28) and the effects (10:1-18) of Christ’s heavenly ministry. We begin with
A.
Christ’s Ministry in Heaven[Johnson, Hebrews, 232. We have again slightly changed his heading from “Christ’s Worship in Heaven.”]
9:11-28
“when Christ came”
11But when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), 12he entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. 13For if the blood of goats and bulls, with the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified, 14how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God!
“the mediator of a new covenant”
15For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, because a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant. 16Where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive.
18Hence not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19For when every commandment had been told to all the people by Moses in accordance with the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the scroll itself and all the people, 20saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God has ordained for you.” 21And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
“Christ . . . entered into heaven itself”
23Thus it was necessary for the sketches of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves need better sacrifices than these. 24For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.
25Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own; 26for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, 28so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
The Hebrews’ author, in his presentation of “The Ministry of the New Covenant” (9:11-10:18), follows “Christ’s Ministry in Heaven” (9:11-28) with his final and concluding paragraphs that we entitle as
B.
The Effectiveness of Christ’s Priestly Ministry
10:1-18
“sanctified . . . once for all”
1Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who approach. 2Otherwise, would they not have ceased being offered, since the worshipers, cleansed once for all, would no longer have any consciousness of sin? 3But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sin year after year. 4For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
5Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me; 6in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. 7Then I said, ‘See, God, I have come to do your will, O God’ (in the scroll of the book it is written of me).” 8When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9then he added, “See, I have come to do your will.” He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. 10And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
“perfected for all time”
11And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. 12But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, “he sat down at the right hand of God,” 13and since then has been waiting “until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet.” 14For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.
15And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying, 16“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds,” 17he also adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” 18Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
Conclusion
From here on, it is “Therefore, my friends, since we have, . . . let us . . .” How does the passage as a whole impact you? What is the response of your mind—and heart?
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