The
American
Wisdom Series
Presents
pamphlet #2609
Hebrews chapter 9
Do
you realize that if it were not for the Old Testament, the New Testament
would be impossible to understand because so many of the words of Christ
and Paul and Peter, etc., which were directs quotes from the Old Testament,
would be gone!
Note: Having
said that; If you are having trouble understanding your Bible, maybe
you should consider spending more time reading "The Old Testament!"
Then too, Christ said in Matthew
24:15 and Mark 13:14 that if you want to understand about the "abomination
of desolation" go read the Book of Daniel, so you'll need to read that
book to come up to speed on what's happening, won't you? Yes, It is in the old testament!
Christ also
referred to Genesis and Isaiah and Jonah and David and Abraham, etc., etc.
The reason I mention this is because without the first covenant with its
worldly sanctuary and laws of divine service you would have great difficulty
coming to know and understand the true tabernacle. Yes, They are all found in the old testament!
To that end, in this ninth chapter of Hebrews Paul compares
the details of the earthly tabernacle, along with the ordinances of divine
service, to the true tabernacle, Jesus Christ,
and what He has done for us as our High Priest who entered into
the Holy of Holies once and for all time. By teaching
us in this manner, Paul shows us how perfectly the Old Covenant explains
the New by letting us "see" how those shadows represent the true tabernacle,
which is Jesus Christ. Col. 2:17 "Which are
a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ."
For you
see, the New Covenant is simply the fulfillment of, the reality of, the
Old Covenant, that schoolmaster which brings us to know and understand
Jesus Christ, the true tabernacle.
In chapter 8 Paul quoted the promise of the new covenant
from the Book of Jeremiah after explaining to us that the problem with
the first covenant was not the covenant itself, for God kept His promises
faithfully, but rather with the hearts and minds
of the people. Hebrews 8:8 "For
finding
fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house
of Judah."
Here's how the new covenant would work:
Jeremiah
31:33
But this
shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; (The Christian nations of this 21st. century)
After those days, saith the LORD, I
will put my law in their inward parts,
and write it in their hearts;
and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Paul then said in the last verse of
chapter eight that in as much as God promised there would be a "new covenant",
by the very fact of the declaration itself He made the old covenant obsolete
and ready to vanish.
Hebrews
8:8
For finding
fault with them, He saith, Behold,
the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
[9] Not
according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when
I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because
they
continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the
Lord.
[10]
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after
those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind,
and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God,
and they shall be to me a people:
Note
from the editor: Did you notice? In verse 8 both "The House of Israel"
and "The House of Judah" are promised a new covenant. Hebrews
8:8
For finding
fault with them, He saith, Behold,
the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with
the house of Judah: Then in verse 10 the new covenant with "The House
of Israel" is described with no mention of "The House of Judah". Hebrews
8:10
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after
those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind,
and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God,
and they shall be to me a people:
Also note: The Jews still don't believe our Lord is their God. Maybe "The House of Judah's" new covenant will start when they recognize who the Kenites are and seperate themselves from them! see Live Link to- Ezekiel 37 where Ezekiel tells us about the two houses (sticks) being joined back together.
Hebrews 8:11
And they shall
not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know
the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
Jeremiah
31:33
But this
shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel;
After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in
their inward
parts, and write it in their
hearts; and will be
their God, and they shall be my people.
Paul now continues his teaching by explaining the things
pertaining to the first covenant.
Hebrews
9:1
Then verily
the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service,
and a worldly sanctuary.
The ordinances of "divine service" and the "worldly sanctuary"
were only figures, visible likenesses, images
of the true tabernacle, Jesus Christ. In other words,
they were earthly things, things our flesh eyes could see, things
made and services performed to show us and teach us as a schoolmaster the
things which cannot be seen, even His eternal power and Godhead, that power
which can forgive sins and grant us "life" eternal.
Romans 1:20 "For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse."
And so it was that the worldly (earthly)
tabernacle was made by men's hands according to the "pattern" God gave
Moses, and the ordinances of divine service were ordained so
that we might be able to clearly "see" and "understand", and come to know
Jesus Christ, the true tabernacle and the one and only true sacrifice for
sins. He was
the "real thing", the reality, the One promised by the sworn oath of Almighty
God who would come and "open the way", fulfilling all things.
And once the reality came, all those representative "things" were completely
done away with (Col. 2:14-17).
To that end, Paul is now going to
give us a description of how the earthly tabernacle was set-up and what
the ordinances of divine service (vs. 1) entailed pertaining to the Holy
of Holies, the Holiest part of the sanctuary, and compare them to Christ.
He speaks first of that part of the sanctuary wherein all the priests could
go.
[2]
For
there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick,
and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary.
The candlestick or lampstand with the seven lamps, the detailed
description of which you can read in Ex. 25:31-40, was placed on the south
side of the first apartment of the tabernacle, opposite the table of shewbread
(Exodus 25:37) and it was lit permanently to give light inside the Holy
Place. Wise virgins might find it interesting to
know that the priests in the tabernacle were responsible, evening and morning,
for trimming the wicks and filling up the seven lamps with the purest of
olive oil sufficient to keep it burning throughout the night (see
Mat. 25:1-13).
Exodus
27:20-21
And thou shalt
command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten
for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always. [21]
In the tabernacle of the congregation without the veil, which is before
the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning
before the LORD: it shall be a statute for ever unto their generations
on the behalf of the children of Israel.
You will also find that the shewbread, consisting of "twelve"
loafs of "unleavened" bread, was placed on the "pure" table before the
LORD and set in two rows of six cakes each.
Leviticus
24:5-7
And thou shalt
take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth deals shall be
in one cake. [6]
And
thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before
the LORD. [7] And
thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, that it may be on the bread
for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
Space and time do not permit us to go into great detail about
all these things. However, one should take it upon himself or herself to
study and learn all he or she can about the tabernacle and the things contained
therein and the ordinances of service. Why? Because
they teach us all about the true tabernacle, Jesus Christ, and the things
of the spirit.1 Peter 2:5 "Ye also,
as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to
offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ."
Paul now moves to the ten cubit by ten cubit Holy of Holies
hidden behind "the veil".
Hebrews
9:3
And after the
second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;
This was the veil symbolizing the partition
that separated us from the Holy of Holies, which itself was symbolic of
God's throne! And it was this thick veil
that was rent from top to bottom the instant Jesus Christ died on
the cross. One can only imagine the expression on the face of Caiapas
the high priest who was in the temple at that moment and witnessed this
remarkable, symbolic, miraculous event. So from here
on out we won't be requiring the services of Caiapas or any other earthly
high priest anymore, will we? Looks like your out of a job, Caiapas!
Paul now recaps what was contained behind the veil in
the Holy of Holies.
Hebrews
9:4
Which had the
golden
censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with
gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and
Aaron's
rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;
Again, if you are not familiar with all these things then
by all means begin "To Day" to "dig in" and "stablish" yourself by reading
and studying and absorbing their significance. For
example, the sacred Ark of the Covenant contained the golden pot of "manna". Have
you read and studied how God fed our forefathers in the wilderness and
how they "labored" for six days that they might enter into "rest" on the
seventh? Our Father supplies that "manna"
for us "To Day" and we must also labor to gather it and eat it!
Do you "SEE" how wonderfully He teaches us? Like
we said in our opening paragraph to this study, if you are not familiar
with the "things" contained in the Old Testament you will not fully understand
what Christ speaks of in the New Testament, like in John 6 for example:
John
6:27-33
Labour not for
the meat which perisheth, but [labour]
for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man
shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
Christ
was speaking of the "meat" of His Word, the same "meat" Paul spoke of to
the "milk drinkers" in chapter five. Remember? By
the way, this verse ought to also give some insight to those with eyes
to see as to what the "sealing" of the 144,000 in Revelation chapter 7
means. To wit, if you are fortunate enough to have a Companion Bible,
read Dr. Bullinger's comments on "sealed" on page 1530.
[28]
Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the
works of God?
This is actually a common question
people ask concerning what God wants them to do.
And the answer is, as you will see in the next verse, to "believe" in Him
whom He sent, i.e. Jesus Christ. And "if
you can understand the things that are seen" that our Father had
made to teach us, then perhaps you can "see" that "believing" in Christ
doesn't mean to just believe that Jesus Christ is the Holy One of God,
for
James writes in 2:19, "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest
well:
the devils also believe, and tremble."
No,
to truly "believe" in Jesus Christ one must
labor and gather
the "manna" from heaven which was but a symbol of the real thing, the Bread
of Life, His Word!
Let Christ, the greatest teacher of all, explain it to
us:
[29]
Jesus answered and said unto them, This
is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom he
hath sent.
If you understand this, then you will also understand John
3:16.
[30]
They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that
we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work?
Do you want to know HOW to "see" (as
in come to KNOW) and "believe" in Jesus Christ?
Here's how:
[31]
Our fathers did
eat manna in the desert; as it is written,
He
gave them bread from heaven to eat.
We are in that spiritual desert of the tribulation (40 =
trial and tribulation) of these last days where there is a "famine" (Amos
8:11-3) for truth all around us.
[32]
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but
my
Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
The
manna Moses gave our fathers in the wilderness was a similitude of the
REAL THING, the REALITY,
which is Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life, the Word of God!
Jesus
Christ was the Word in the flesh and you have that Word, that precious
"manna", if you will only labor to gather it in!
With the help of the Holy Spirit, you'll find it in the little "black
book". Yes,
"But
take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things" (Mark
13:23). It's all there for us to find,
but we have prayerfully search and rightly divide His Word of truth.
[33]For
the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and
giveth
life unto the world.
The "Bread of Life" came down from
above and was born in Beth-lehem which is a Hebrew word meaning "House
(beth) of Bread (lehem)". Jesus Christ is that House of Bread,
the true tabernacle, which giveth life!
We could go on and on with the simplicity and beauty
of these things God has shown us for our understanding. For instance, the
tables of the covenant, the 10 Commandments, are also contained in the
Ark of the Covenant. Yes, both Truth and Justice are contained in Ark of
the Covenant for He is the King of kings and Lord of lords from which all
truth and justice flow!
Note: Occasionally we still read
articles and see movies about people trying to locate the Ark of the Covenant.
However, trying to find the Ark of Covenant is as futile as trying to find
the body of Moses, for God took them both away. To that end, if you read
the last verse of Rev. 11 you will find out where that Ark is located at
present.
Hebrews
9:5
And over it
the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now
speak particularly.
The phrase Paul uses, "of which we cannot now speak particularly",
means "it is not now convenient to speak about these things". In other
words, Paul is also saying there is much to be said concerning these things
but it is not within the scope of his teaching regarding the comparison
of the two tabernacles and two covenants to go into great detail and elaborate
upon the significance of each one. So
you will just have to labor on your own and gather in your own "manna"
and eat it! And
in doing your due diligence concerning the "cherubims of glory" shadowing
(which means overshadowing) the mercyseat, the seat of Christ, remember
to include one of the original cherubims given the awesome responsibility
by God Himself to protect and uphold the truth and justice which flows
from that mercyseat. You will find it written of in the 28th chapter of
Ezekiel.
Here's a quick overview:
Ezekiel
28:12-19
Son of man,
take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith
the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom,
and perfect in beauty.
This speaks of Satan as the following verses will document.
Then too, the name "Tyrus" means "rock" in Hebrew. However, this rock is
not our Rock (Deut. 32:31)!
[13]
Thou hast been in Eden the garden of
God; every precious stone was thy
covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and
the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the
workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the
day that thou wast created.
Satan is also a created son of God. However, he has been
"judged" to be the first son who will perish in the lake of fire. Thus
he is called the "son of perdition", the son who will perish. Also, if
you go to Exodus chapter 39 you will find that the "stones" spoken of in
this verse that Satan wore (which is what "covered with" means) match stone
for stone those worn on the breastplate of the Levite Priests. In
other words, Satan was once a great spiritual leader of our people.
Actually, he still is today... only that which he feeds our people is not
"manna" but bread cakes filled with "dung" (see Ezek. 4:9-17).
For more about bread cakes filed
with dung please read "Dung
Crisp", "Dung Toasties", and "Sugar Dung Pops"Pamphlet
#1152
[14]
Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth;
and I have set thee so:
thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in
the midst of the stones of fire.
There you have it! Satan was
once anointed, appointed by God, to cover the mercyseat and uphold truth
and justice and he walked not "to and fro" at this time but
rather walked "up and down" as in "straight up and down"
in the stones of fire with the truth from the altar of God.
[15]
Thou
wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity
was found in thee.
You can read what this iniquity found in him was in
Isa. 14. He wanted to elevate himself, to ascend on high and sit on the
mercyseat, i.e. ascend to the throne of God and be like God .So
he, Satan, started his own church and political party!
Take
a look around my friend, for there is nothing new under the sun, especially
at the close of this earth age in comparison to the close of the last.
(In fact, you will even find the "trumpets" "sounding the alarm" and warning
our people of the impending desolation to come, the "tohu va bohu" of Gen.
1:2.) See Jeremiah 4:21-22
"How long shall
I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet? [22] For my
people is foolish, they have not known me; they are
sottish
children, and they have none understanding: they are wise
to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge."
[16]
By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee
with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane
out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub,
from the midst of the stones of fire.
God is going to destroy Satan from the midst of His children,
who are those stones of fire represented by the 12 fiery stones of the
Levite breastplate. Of course, Satan has his own
stones (the kenites/descendants of Cain)
in this earth age which can be numerated, as in traced, as per Rev.
13:18. Do you know who they are (see Rev. 2:9
& 3:9)? Those who belong to the two churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia
know and teach who the kenites are and
those two churches are the only two with whom Christ found no fault.
That ought to tell you something!!!!!
Now here is what happened to pretty boy in the first earth
age:
[17]
Thine heart was lifted up because
of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of
thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before
kings, that they may behold thee.
[18] Thou
hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities,
by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring
forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and
I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that
behold thee.
We just read of Satan's judgment and his sentence
to die by fire and to be turned to ashes, which means to PERISH forever
and ever.
That is the same fate spoken of in John
3:16 for those who do not eventually "believe" in Jesus Christ. By
the way, you will find contained in these verses of Ezek. 28, which
describe the iniquities (wickedness) of Satan in the first earth age,the
same "Four Hidden Dynasties" he uses in this earth age, at this time, to
corrupt and lead astray God's children, e.g.
trafficking,
merchandise(economics), sanctuaries(religion),
wisdom (education),
violence,
i.e. corruption of justice (politics).
Revelation
6:1-8
The
Four Hidden Dynasties of the New World Order Revelation
6:1-8
"The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse"
[19]
All
they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou
shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou
be any more.
Good riddance!
The point is, however, that it is written that Satan, that cherubim who
once covered the mercyseat, shall come again as the spurious messiah before
Jesus Christ returns and take an earthly seat upon the ark, i.e. sit in
the temple of God claiming to be God (2 Thes. 2). And
you know what? It is written that the whole world including most Christians
shall believe him to be so!
Is
it not amazing therefore that many Christians claim a "physical temple"
must be built in Jerusalem before Messiah returns? And where did that idea come from?
You guess it! There church! Religion!
One of the "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse"
Let us now return to Paul's comparison of the Old and
New Covenants where he now gives us a summation of the ordinances of divine
service mentioned in verse one:
Hebrews
9:6 Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into
the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God.
All the priests were permitted to enter into the
first tabernacle, called the sanctuary, wherein was the candlestick, the
table and the shewbread (vs. 2).
However, only the high priest could enter
into the holiest place, the holy of holies, and then only once a year to
make atonement for his own sins and the sins of the people.
Thank God our Eternal High Priest
(Jesus the Christ) who is without sin is always in the Holy of Holies and we do not have to
wait a year to have our sins atoned for.
[7]
But into the second went the high priest alone once every year,
not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors
of the people:
We learned earlier that the earthy sanctuary which
is only symbolic of the heavenly was ministered to by sinful, fallible
man, meaning that the high priest was also a sinner who needed forgiveness
for his own sins and shortcomings.
That is one reason why it is so
important that we not put our trust and faith in men but rather in Him
who is perfect and without sin.
You see, man will eventually
let you down but Jesus Christ will never let you down.
And so it was according to the law that no one could enter
behind the veil into the Holy of Holies except the high priest, and then
only once a year.
And though the earthly high priest
was a mortal and sinful man like everyone else, he was nevertheless used
as a figure, a shadow, to teach us about the true High Priest who would
enter into the true Holy of Holies once and for all time.
Note: The Greek word for "errors"
in verse seven is "agnoema" which means "not (ag) to know
or understand (noema)". In other words it means ignorances (see
Lev. 4:2).
[8]
The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of
all was not yet made manifest, while
as the first tabernacle was yet standing:
Can you "see" how the Holy
Spirit made it plain (deloo), as in declared by this shadow (example),
that as long as the first tabernacle was yet standing, which also meant
the Old Covenant was still in effect, the way into the
true
tabernacle was not yet made available?
What does that mean?
It means that, before Christ, salvation
had not yet come!
It means that the eternal remission
and forgiveness of sins, i.e. eternal redemption (vs. 12), was not possible
until the eternal High Priest entered in with His blood, the One whom God
promised by His sworn oath to come after the order of Melchisedec.
So all that was done under the Old
Covenant was a figure (the Greek word is #3850 "parabole",
meaning similitude) until the appointed time when
Yeshua, the perfect Lamb of God full of grace and mercy, would come and
pay the price for the remission of our sins and iniquities that they may
be remembered no more!
Hebrews 8:12 "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness,
and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more."
[9]
Which was a figure for the time then present,
in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him
that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;
Again, these things were only
symbolic which they had to be because you "see", the offering
of gifts and the sacrifice of animals cannot purify the soul and cleanse
our conscience, our hearts and minds, whereby we can enter into His rest
and have true peace of mind!
Only
Jesus Christ is able to cleanse us and grant us "life"!
Therefore, all those laws contained
in ordinances requiring gifts and sacrifices and ritual cleansings were
only "temporary coverings" until the time of the New Covenant which we
have seen was promised time and again in the Old Testament!
That's right, the promise of the New Covenant was contained
in, as in was part of, the Old Covenant.
[10]
Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances,
imposed
on them until the time of reformation.
"Imposed on them" doesn't mean "crammed down their
necks"!
It simply means to "cover them"
as a "cloak" until the time of redemption, i.e. to cloth them temporarily
until Christ would come and we could put on those spiritual white linen
garments of His righteousness.
You may recall that the LORD took the skins of animals
and covered the "nakedness" of Adam and Eve who needed "covered" after
that they had sinned.
You see, sin causes spiritual nakedness!
[11]
But
Christ being come an high priest of good things to come,
by a greater and more perfect tabernacle,
not made with hands,
that is to say, not of this building;
How much plainer can it
be said that the true tabernacle is NOT
a building?
In
fact, the true tabernacle, the temple of God, is not even of this world,
i.e. this cosmos (Jn. 8:23).
Is it not amazing therefore that
many Christians claim a "physical temple" must be built in Jerusalem before
Messiah returns?
In verse 11, all the "good things to come" which our High
Priest (Jesus Christ) made possible by His shed blood begin with the attainment
of eternal redemption (next verse, vs. 12)!
How blessed we are indeed to be made free in Christ our
Lord and not have to be bound under the law of sacrifices and ordinances!
He completely did away with ALL of them when He shed His
blood on the cross.
Again, make sure to read and thoroughly
understand the second chapter of Colossians.
Col.
2:14-17 Blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us,
which was contrary to us, and took it
out of the way,
nailing it to His cross;
[15] And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them
openly, triumphing over them in it. [16] Let no man therefore judge you
in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon,
or of the sabbath days: [17] Which area
shadow of things to come; but the
body is of Christ.
Note: Verse 14 does
not say that the Law was done away with, i.e. nailed to the cross!
It says the "ordinances" were nailed to the cross, not the Laws!
So much for religion and the keeping
of certain days and the performing of ritual ceremonies, etc. etc.
Christianity
is not a religion of shadows!
Christianity is the reality of all
those things, which is Jesus Christ, the Word of God!
"Believe" in Him and you shall not
perish (Jn. 3:16) for the second death, the death of your soul in the lake
of fire, shall have no power over you!
So "harden not your heart", but
rather turn to Him... "To Day"... and be a partaker and inheritor of the
"good things to come (Heb. 9:11)"!
Rev. 20:6 "Blessed and holy is he
that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath
no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ,
and shall reign with him a thousand years."
And they shall "walk straight up
and down" in His ways and carry the authority of His rod with which He
shall rule all nations (Rev. 12:5)!
Hebrews
9:12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood
He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us.
Jesus Christ is our Passover!
Jesus Christ is our eternal High Priest! Jesus Christ is the Living Word
of God!
[13]
For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling
the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
[14]
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal
Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge
your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Neither the keeping of days,
nor the giving of gifts, nor the sacrificing of animals, nor the performing
of cleansing rituals, nor the services of any high priest of man, can purge
one's conscience or grant eternal redemption!
Only by His perfect sacrifice
and His eternal Spirit returning unto us can our sins be forgiven and our
souls be completely cleansed from all unrighteousness.
1 John
1:9 If we
confess our sins, He is faithful and just to
forgive
us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Next we will see how the death of Christ made it possible
for us to claim the promises of our Father's Will, which is His testament.
And when these
things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for
your redemption draweth nigh.
Are you a child of God? If
so, did you know that your heavenly Father left you a "will", a testament,
full of "goodly" promises and blessings, including the incredible promise
of eternal redemption and salvation, which is the promise of eternal life...
if?
In fact, "it is written" that many of those "goodly" things
He has included in His will, i.e. has in store for those who love and serve
Him, are beyond our wildest dreams and imaginations! 1 Cor. 2:9 "But as
it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into
the heart [mind] of man, the things which God hath prepared for
them that love Him." The thing is, even though you are an heir, even a
joint-heir with Christ under whose feet ALL THINGS have been put in subjection
(Heb. 2:8), you must still step forward and claim those promises.
Romans
8:17 And if
children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ;
if
so be that we suffer with Him, that
we may be also glorified together.
Paul explained to us that it is the shed blood
of Christ, the perfect and unblemished Lamb of God, who through His "eternal
Spirit" offered Himself to God, that our sins can be cleansed and purged
from our consciences forever and we can obtain the promise
of eternal life.
In today's study, Paul is going to explain that it is
because He did pay the price and became our High Priest,
that He is now the one and only mediator of the New Covenant, which means
the one and only mediator between us and God.
Hebrews
9:15 And for this cause [for this reason] He is the mediator of
the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions
that were under the first testament, they which are called
might receive
the promise of eternal inheritance.
It is by the power of His "eternal spirit"... you
know... after the order of Melchisedec, that Jesus Christ is the sole mediator,
the sole administrator of the New Covenant.
In other words, we no longer need
the sacrifice of animals nor the intercession of fallible earthly high
priests.
You see, it was by His death in becoming our Passover,
the
one and only sacrifice for our sins, that He made possible
the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant which neither
the blood of calves nor goats could permanently atone for.
We therefore need always remember
that those things and rituals pertaining to the earthly tabernacle were
but types and shadows of the real thing, which was Jesus Christ!
And when He entered into the Holy of Holies once and for
all time He became our High Priest who now sits at the right hand of God
as our advocate, making intercession for us!
Then too, it was also by His death that He made possible
the promise of eternal inheritance, even salvation which is the promise
of eternal life.
You see, our Father made out His
will, His testament, and included many blessings and promises in it to
be granted to His heirs, "those which are called" (vs. 15)!
Of course we all know that when someone makes a will,
the things contained in that will do not become effective until the testator,
the one who made the will, dies!
Therefore, the promises contained in God's testament to
His heirs, such as redemption and eternal life, were only made possible
by His death. That is one of the reasons why Jesus Christ died on the cross.
In other words, as Paul just said,
He died so that those which are called might receive the
promise
of eternal inheritance!
The wonderful news is, that IF
you are one of His, you can even step forward and claim some of those many
blessings and promises "To Day"!
Paul now explains to us about "wills".
[16]
For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of
the testator.
A will by its very nature, which is an account of
things promised to the inheritors upon the death of the one (the testator)
who makes the will and testament, is of none effect, meaning it has no
legal power, as long as the testator is alive.
He or she must first die, then the will goes into effect
and becomes legally binding.
[17]
For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength
at all while the testator liveth.
[18] Whereupon
neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.
Notice that the first testament was also inaugurated
by the shedding and sprinkling of blood.
Paul documents that for us.
[19]
For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people
according
to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water,
and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all
the people,
"See" that it was not only the book that was sprinkled
with blood, but also all the people!
Then Moses said the following when he instituted the Old
Covenant:
[20]
Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined
unto you.
Here is the verse in the Law from which Paul quoted:
Exodus
24:8 And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said,
Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning
all these words.
And so it came to pass that the New Testament was
also enjoined and placed in force with the shedding of blood, only this
time it was with the precious blood of the perfect unblemished Lamb of
God.
Here are the words Christ spoke when He inaugurated the
New Covenant:
Mark
14:24 And He said unto them, This is my blood of the new
testament, which
is shed for many.
It is important to understand that Moses also sprinkled
all the things of the tabernacle with blood, not just the book and all
the people.
Hebrew
9:21 Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the
vessels of the ministry.
You see, according to the Law, almost all things
are "cleansed" with blood.
However, it is only the blood
of the Lamb of God that can spiritually cleanse our souls and make our
garments white: Rev. 7:14 "And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest.
And he said to me, These are they which came out of great
tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made
them white
in the blood of the Lamb."
[22]
And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding
of blood is no remission.
So under the law, if there was no shedding of blood,
there could be no remission of sins.
Therefore, it was necessary that the "patterns" of things
in the heavens, those physical representations (shadows) of the things
that are spiritual, had to be purified (cleansed) with blood! But again,
those "earthly" sacrifices were not able to cleanse the heavenly (spiritual)
things.
It would take "better" sacrifices to accomplish that!
[23]
It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should
be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better
sacrifices than these.
Only the "better" sacrifice,
the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ, can purged sin once and for all,
leaving us with a clean slate and a clear conscience (Heb. 8:9)!
In other words, animals have no spirit; that can
return to us and "purge our consciences" for evermore.
Only His "eternal spirit" can do that and give us comfort!
That is why we read in the next verse that Christ Himself
never entered into the earthly Holy of Holies, but into heaven itself!
[24]
For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are
the
figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the
presence of God for us:
Jesus Christ is the real
thing, the true high priest, the true tabernacle!
He never entered into the symbolic, worldly, model sanctuary
made with flesh hands.
Again, He has entered into heaven
itself and now sits on the right hand of the throne of His Majesty on high
to make atonement and intercession
FOR US!
Therefore, there is no other high priest or sacrifice
we need and that is why Christ is the sole mediator of the New Covenant
and we are complete in Him.
Paul wrote it to Timothy like this:
1 Tim. 2:5 "For there is one God, and one mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus."
This means you can kiss all the
keeping of certain days and rituals and traditions of men's do's and don'ts
goodbye and good riddance!
[25]
Nor yet that He should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth
into the holy place every year with blood of others;
Christ shed His blood once and for all time
thereby completely fulfilling the law, i.e. all that was ever required
by the Old Covenant.
To that end, Paul wants us to be
sure we know and understand that it is because Christ was the perfect unblemished
Lamb of God
and our High Priest forever after
the order of Melchisedec, there are no more blood sacrifices required nor
services of any other high priest needed... period!
Again, it was through His "eternal power" that He offered
Himself to God and shed His blood one time and entered in
the Holy of Holies once and for all time.
The reason this is such an important point to understand
is because otherwise, without that "eternal power", Christ's sacrifice
would not have applied to those who have already lived and died in the
flesh, such as Adam and Eve, Noah, etc., who all lived and died in the
flesh before He came to this earth and paid the price!
But He did appear "in the end of the world" and paid the
price for all, even those all way back to the beginning of this earth age.
That is why it is written He went and preached unto the
spirits in prison and offered salvation to all those who waited until the
promise of His coming was fulfilled (1 Peter 3:19-20).
[26]
For then must He often have suffered since the foundation of the
world: but now once in the end of the world hath
He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
You see, the Plan of God was
ordained even before the "katabole", the casting down and overthrow of
the Satan, the great red dragon in the first earth age. (See
appendix 146 in the Companion Bible.)
[27]
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
One of requirements for salvation
is that each son of God come down from above (in his turn) and be born of flesh and die
the first death, the death of the flesh.
Actually, Christ explained this
in detail to Nicodemus in John chapter three.
The fact is, if a person is not
willing to come down from above ("anothen" in Greek) and be born
of woman, he or she cannot enter into the kingdom.
Such was the case with the fallen
angels of Genesis 6 who came to earth without entering in through the bag
of water and who then took the daughters of Adam to wife, the union of
which produced the mighty Gibor, i.e. giants! (The reason for Noah's flood)
John goes on to explain that even
Christ was willing to come down from above and be born of woman and tabernacle
in the flesh!
Remember we discussed this in an earlier study?
Our Father did not ask His children
to do anything He was not willing to do Himself, such as die once in the
flesh!
Note: Since it is written that it
is given unto all men ONCE to die, you can totally rule out the false doctrines
of reincarnation.
[28]
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many;
and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the
second time
without sin unto salvation.
Have you noticed? Things are happening fast in
this final generation as the events of prophecy unfold before our very
eyes.
We
do look for Him to appear the second time, knowing that the false messiah
shall come first and cause many to stumble and fall in the great apostasy.
So stay steadfast in His Word and look to those heavenly
things; for your redemption draweth nigh!
Luke
21:28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift
up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
THEY HAVE BEGUN!
Watch, watchmen, watch!
To study the Bible is the noblest of all
pursuits; to understand it, the highest of all goals.
We pray that with the guidance of the Holy
Spirit, you accomplish both.
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