Hebrews 9:11–10:18
To understand the letter to the Hebrews, we need some sense of what its recipients were going through. It was most likely written between the years 66 and 69 and sent to a small group of Jewish Christians living in Rome. These Christians were passing through a spiritual crisis. Their own countrymen were branding them as traitors and pressuring them to return to their old faith in the law of Moses, with its rituals and sacrifices. Judaism was the official, traditional religion of their people. So how could a patriot turn away from his national religion — and at a time when loyalty and devotion to the homeland were so badly needed? Perhaps they were being told: “What kind of religion is this of yours anyway? You have no high priest, you have no sanctuary, you offer no sacrifices… How do you imagine you are serving God?” The author of Hebrews, however, says to his friends: “That is not true. We not only have a high priest, but our high priest is superior to the Jewish one, because He is the Son of God, appointed to His ministry by God Himself. He serves not merely in a temple, but in the heavenly sanctuary itself, and He offered for us a sacrifice far more perfect than mere animals — a single self-sacrifice that truly cleanses our sins.” Perhaps we today are under the same pressure. Our own countrymen say to us: “What are you doing? What kind of church are you? You are of another faith, you have no patriarch, you have no domed churches with icons, you do not light candles, you do not give offerings for the dead, you do not make sacrificial feasts.” But I want to encourage you. We have a heavenly high priest who serves in the heavenly sanctuary. And because of the sacrifice He has made for us, He invites us to approach the presence of God with boldness.
As often happens, heresies, the opponents of God’s revelation, and persecutions — then as at other times — actually helped the church. For thanks to them the divine truth was explained and formulated even more clearly. And so today we have this letter to the Hebrews, which describes for us our true system of worship. Because of it we know who our high priest is, what our covenant is, where our sanctuary is, and what our sacrifice is.
In Hebrews 4:14; 8:1; 10:21 we are told that we “have a high priest.” And in Hebrews 10:19 we are told that we “have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus.” We have not only a perfect, supreme, and superior high priest. We also have a perfect, supreme, and superior sacrifice.
THE BLOOD OF CHRIST PERFECTLY CLEANSES OUR SINS (Hebrews 9:11-14)
In the time of the Old Testament, the high priest would offer the sacrifice on the bronze altar that stood in the courtyard of the tabernacle. Then he would fill a special vessel with some of the blood, carry it into the holy place, and sprinkle the blood on the golden altar of incense. In a similar way, Christ shed His blood at Golgotha. Golgotha is our bronze altar of atonement. And the resurrection and ascension of Christ prove that the blood shed at Golgotha was accepted by the Father, and that the sacrifice of the Son, offered on the cross, was sufficient for our redemption. In Hebrews 13:20 we are told that the God of peace raised from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus Christ, precisely “through the blood of the eternal covenant.”
Having obtained eternal redemption for us through His blood, Christ entered the heavenly sanctuary by the power, the right, and the worthiness of His blood shed at Golgotha (Hebrews 9:11-14).
11 But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. 13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! (Hebrews 9:11-14)
“THE ASHES OF A HEIFER”
Here the text speaks of “the ashes of a heifer,” which “sanctify for the cleansing of the body.” This practice was based on one of God’s laws given in Numbers 19:1-20. According to it, a red heifer would be slaughtered and then burned. The ashes of that heifer were mixed with water, and this water served to sprinkle the unclean and to cleanse them ritually:
1 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 2 “This is a requirement of the law that the Lord has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke. 3 Give it to Eleazar the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. 4 Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the tent of meeting. 5 While he watches, the heifer is to be burned—its hide, flesh, blood and intestines. 6 The priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer. 7 After that, the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water. He may then come into the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean till evening. 8 The man who burns it must also wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he too will be unclean till evening. 9 “A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They are to be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing; it is for purification from sin. 10 The man who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he too will be unclean till evening. This will be a lasting ordinance both for the Israelites and for the foreigners residing among them. (Numbers 19:1-10)
11 “Whoever touches a human corpse will be unclean for seven days. 12 They must purify themselves with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then they will be clean. But if they do not purify themselves on the third and seventh days, they will not be clean. 13 If they fail to purify themselves after touching a human corpse, they defile the Lord’s tabernacle. They must be cut off from Israel. Because the water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, they are unclean; their uncleanness remains on them. 14 “This is the law that applies when a person dies in a tent: Anyone who enters the tent and anyone who is in it will be unclean for seven days, 15 and every open container without a lid fastened on it will be unclean. 16 “Anyone out in the open who touches someone who has been killed with a sword or someone who has died a natural death, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days. 17 “For the unclean person, put some ashes from the burned purification offering into a jar and pour fresh water over them. 18 Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to take some hyssop, dip it in the water and sprinkle the tent and all the furnishings and the people who were there. He must also sprinkle anyone who has touched a human bone or a grave or anyone who has been killed or anyone who has died a natural death. 19 The man who is clean is to sprinkle those who are unclean on the third and seventh days, and on the seventh day he is to purify them. Those who are being cleansed must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and that evening they will be clean. 20 But if those who are unclean do not purify themselves, they must be cut off from the community, because they have defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. The water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, and they are unclean. (Numbers 19:11-20)
If, according to this law, the ashes of a heifer could serve to make holy water that cleansed from sin (Numbers 19:9) and from uncleanness (Numbers 19:13,19), then how much more will the blood of Jesus cleanse not only our body, but also our conscience from dead works? This is precisely the argument of the author of the letter to the Hebrews:
13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! (Hebrews 9:13-14)
“THROUGH THE ETERNAL SPIRIT OFFERED HIMSELF UNBLEMISHED TO GOD”
From this last verse we can see that the sacrifice of Christ is exceptionally valuable and unique, mainly for three reasons:
First, the sacrifice of Christ is unique because He offered Himself “through the eternal Spirit.” The Spirit in this context is set over against the things of the flesh. Fleshly things are external, temporary, material, and passing. But the Spirit is bodiless and imperishable. The eternal Spirit gives Christ’s offering eternal worth. Through the eternal Spirit Christ accomplishes for us eternal redemption. His sacrifice needs no repetition, since it possesses the absolute and eternal value of an act that is itself eternal.
Second, Christ’s sacrifice is unique because it is a conscious and voluntary self-offering. Our verse does not say that He “was offered up in sacrifice,” but that through the eternal Spirit He “offered Himself.” Christ’s sacrifice was not the slaughter of some unaware and resisting victim, but a reasoned and conscious self-offering.
Christ offered Himself as an act of the highest submission to God. In Philippians 2:8 we read that Christ, “being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!” This was His own choice. And He did it for us — not out of anything else, but moved by the deepest love for us, His chosen ones. In Romans 5:7-8 we read:
7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:7-8)
He was not forced. He chose to do it.
Third, Christ offered Himself “unblemished” — as a perfect sacrifice for us. In the Old Testament the sacrifices offered were required to be “without defect.” But Christ’s perfection is not external like that of the animals offered under the law; it is inward and ethical. In character Christ was perfect and blameless throughout His whole life. He fulfilled the Law. His “unblemished offering to God” is ideal and absolute — we could not even imagine anything greater than Him as a sacrifice for us.
The moment John the Baptist saw the Savior coming toward him, the truth of the significance of Christ’s sacrifice flashed in his mind, and he cried out: “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). In that instant of illumination John grasped the truth about sacrifices as a whole. The Old Testament sacrifices are only shadows that find their fulfillment in Christ. This cry of John — “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” — is an admission that animal sacrifices cannot remove the stains of sin from the conscience of the worshiper. In that moment of illumination John understood that Christ could do what the law could not. The superiority and significance of Christ’s sacrifice lie in the truth that His blood can perfectly cleanse the sinner and give him “holy boldness” with which to approach the living God.
This eternal, voluntary, and perfect sacrifice “cleanses our conscience from dead works, so that we may serve the living God.” The greatness of this sacrifice gives us the assurance that our sins, however gigantic they may be, are forgiven, cleansed, and removed. The greatness of this sacrifice gives us the boldness to approach God, to worship Him, to serve Him, and to have fellowship with Him without fear, shame, or a guilty conscience.
THE BLOOD OF CHRIST — THE FOUNDATION OF THE NEW COVENANT (Hebrews 9:15-22)
What is more, the blood of Christ cleanses us not only so that we can draw near to God and worship Him, but also so that we can enter into covenant with Him (Hebrews 9:15).
15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. (Hebrews 9:15)
“A RANSOM TO SET THEM FREE FROM THE SINS COMMITTED UNDER THE FIRST COVENANT”
The people of the Old Testament received forgiveness of their sins and the salvation of their souls not through the blood of the sacrifices they offered, but through faith in the Sacrifice of the Messiah which those sacrifices foreshadowed. They received God’s pardon through faith in His promise of salvation. When they came before God with repentant hearts, He gave them forgiveness and justification in advance (God is outside of time) — yet not because of their sacrifices, but because of the archetype which their sacrifices prefigured: the sacrifice of Christ. The Old Testament people were fully saved only when Christ died for them. Christ’s death is the ransom not only for the sins committed under the New Covenant, that is, after the crucifixion, but also for all the sins committed in the time of the Old Testament. Just as here, in Hebrews 9:15, Christ’s sacrifice is spoken of as the death that ransoms “the sins committed under the first covenant,” so also in Romans 3:25 it speaks of Jesus, “whom God presented as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished.” These two verses confirm that it is solely because of the blood shed at Golgotha that the Old Testament people of God can receive the redemption of their sins.
Christ stands at the center of history. Those who lived before His coming are saved through their faith in the future sacrifice. We who live after His coming receive forgiveness for our sins through faith in a sacrifice that is, from our vantage point, past — a sacrifice which, according to God’s perfect purpose, was offered for our sins even before we were born and before we had committed a single one of them. Christ’s sacrifice is perfect and all-sufficient. There is none better than it.
THE PRICE OF THE PROMISED ETERNAL INHERITANCE
Having established the truth of the supremacy of Christ’s sacrifice, the author of the letter now relates it to the New Covenant, which rests upon it. From the Old Testament he proves that there can be no covenant without the shedding of blood: “This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood” (Hebrews 9:18). Both the Old and the New Covenant were made on the basis of sacrifice, bloodshed, and death. Both the Old and the New Covenant contain a promise. The promises of the Old Covenant are found in Deuteronomy chapter 28. These covenant promises included material prosperity, victory over enemies, health, the blessing of one’s descendants, and so on. The condition for their fulfillment was Israel’s obedience to God and His commandments. The New Covenant also brings us blessing and promise. The chief difference between the promises of the Old Covenant and the New Covenant is that those of the New are eternal and spiritual. The blessings given to Israel were limited in time, while ours remain valid for eternity. But before we could receive “the promised eternal inheritance” (Hebrews 9:15), we had to be redeemed from our transgressions.
In verse 12 and verse 15 of our text, “redemption” is mentioned. The meaning of the word redemption, as it is used in the New Testament, is drawn by analogy from the marketplace. “Redemption” is the buying back of something that has been lost. A boy who lived by the ocean once made himself a little wooden boat. He carried it to the shore and set it out on the sea. Soon, however, the current carried it out, and the boy’s attempts to retrieve it failed. A few days later the boy was walking through the local market. Suddenly, in the window of one of the shops, he saw his little wooden boat. The shopkeeper had found it washed up on the shore, repaired it, and put it up for sale. The boy went home, gathered the needed sum with great effort, and the next day went into town to buy his own little boat. Taking it in his hands, weeping for joy, the boy said to his boat: “Now you are twice mine! Because first I made you, and then I bought you.” That is what redemption is — “the buying back of something that has been lost.”
Another thing that can help us understand redemption is the illustration of a slave who was bought at a set price in order to be set free. The redemption that Christ brought us is deliverance from slavery and from the power of sin. In John 8:36 we read the words of Jesus:
36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:36)
But the price at which the Son set us free was by no means small. He paid for our redemption with His own blood. His atoning sacrifice was the ransom paid for our deliverance. It is important to understand that redemption is far more than freedom from sin. It includes:
- Deliverance from the dominion of sin and from the sense of guilt (Romans 6; Ephesians 1:7)
- Justification and the restoration of our belonging to God (Romans 3:24; Isaiah 43:1)
- The resurrection of our bodies and freedom from the bondage to decay (Romans 8:18-23)
- An eternal inheritance (Hebrews 9:15; Revelation 21, 22)
In Romans 4:16 we are told:
16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. (Romans 4:16)
Here the apostle Paul tells us that through faith we are heirs of Abraham, and that the promise God gave to him applies also to us. I have always been astonished at the scale of this promise — a promise that belongs to us. Do you know what it is? That we will be heirs of the world. Not merely of some house or car, but “heirs of the world.” Read Romans 4:13 and notice what “the promise to Abraham and his offspring” is.
13 It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. (Romans 4:13)
The promise to Abraham is that he “would be heir of the world.” Whatever this means, it is something immense, something great and glorious. It is “the promised eternal inheritance” (Hebrews 9:15).
THE TESTAMENT OF CHRIST
Speaking of “covenant,” “promise,” and “inheritance,” the author of the letter binds them together in the word “testament.” In the translation of the Old Testament into Greek, the word “diatheke” — here rendered as “testament” — was used to translate the Hebrew word “covenant.” But in Hellenistic Greek this word carries a legal sense and means a last will and testament. In the following verses it is used precisely in this legal sense. A “diatheke” is an arrangement or agreement proposed by one party, which can be either accepted or rejected by the other party to the agreement, but which cannot be altered, and which, if accepted, binds and obligates both parties to its clauses (that is, a kind of ultimatum). A will, or last testament, is the best example of such a document — a person cannot alter a will or negotiate over it; he either accepts it or rejects it. It is the same with the gospel. It cannot be debated. It cannot be changed. It is a fact; it is God’s holy ultimatum to humanity. A covenant is an agreement between two partners, and to conclude it does not require the death of the partners, even though its breach may in some way be punished with death. Unlike a covenant, a testament comes into force only after the death of the one who made it (Hebrews 9:16-17).
16 In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, 17 because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. (Hebrews 9:16-17)
This universal truth demonstrates the necessity of Christ’s death for the establishment of the New Covenant. It was essential that Christ die, so that the “promised eternal inheritance” could be “transferred” to those who are “called.”
“WITHOUT THE SHEDDING OF BLOOD THERE IS NO FORGIVENESS”
18 This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. 19 When Moses had proclaimed every command of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. 20 He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.” 21 In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. (Hebrews 9:18-21)
In Exodus 24:3-7 we read that the Old Covenant was ratified by the slaughter of animals and the sprinkling of the book of the covenant and of the people themselves with “the blood of the calves and the goats.” In the same way, the New Covenant rests on the sacrifice of Christ. His death was necessary in order for the New Covenant testament to come into force. Some modern theologians try to remove blood from Christianity, thinking that to speak continually of blood is too barbaric and repugnant. But the central truth of Christianity is redemption through the blood of Christ, and as we see from our text in the letter to the Hebrews, this gospel truth is very well argued. “Blood” is one of the key words of the book. The author categorically declares that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22).
22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. (Hebrews 9:22)
The blood of Jesus lies at the foundation of the New Covenant (Hebrews 13:20). The blood of Jesus secures our redemption (Hebrews 9:12), cleanses our conscience (Hebrews 9:14), and gives us the boldness to enter the presence of God (Hebrews 10:19). If we remove the blood of Christ from Christianity, it would shrink into nothing more than a moral, philosophical system, because the redemption of our sins, the salvation of our souls, and our fellowship with God rest precisely upon “the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:19).
OFFERED ONCE FOR ALL (Hebrews 9:23-28)
23 It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. (Hebrews 9:23)
“HEAVENLY THINGS”
Notice that here the text speaks of “the copies of the heavenly things” and of “the heavenly things themselves” (epourania). When he speaks of “heavenly” things in this verse, the author does not mean heaven itself, but the spiritual sphere in which redemption becomes a reality for believers. In the letter to the Ephesians the apostle Paul uses the expression “in the heavenly realms” for these same spiritual realities. The “heavenly realms” are in fact the spiritual world. In the “heavenly realms” is our battle with the powers of Satan (Ephesians 6:12), yet in these same “heavenly realms” we are raised together with Christ and seated at His right hand as victors (Ephesians 2:6). In these same “heavenly realms” God has “blessed us with every spiritual blessing” (Ephesians 1:3).
OUR HIGH PRIEST IS IN HEAVEN ITSELF
24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. 25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Hebrews 9:24-26)
We have a representative before God. Just as on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16) Israel’s high priest entered the Most Holy Place as the representative of the people who waited outside, so our High Priest stood before the face of God on our behalf. In the case of Israel, the acceptance of their high priest meant that the people he represented were also accepted by God; and conversely, his rejection meant the rejection of those he represented as well. So it is with us: the acceptance of our high priest means that God accepts us also. Along the hem of the Old Testament high priest’s robe were sewn bells, which announced what was happening within the tabernacle. The people would strain to hear them, because the stopping of their ringing would mean that the high priest had been struck down by God because of their sin, and that they had been rejected by Him. But I want to tell you something: the spiritual bells along the hem of the robe of our high priest, risen to eternal life, ring out victoriously and proclaim: “You are redeemed! Your sins are forgiven! You are accepted!”
OUR HIGH PRIEST “WILL APPEAR A SECOND TIME”
27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:27-28)
In this last verse we can see an interesting comparison between Jesus Christ and the Old Testament high priest. After the high priest entered the Most Holy Place with the blood of the sacrifice, he would return to the people who waited for him in the courtyard of the tabernacle. His return assured the people of the effectiveness of the atonement made for their sins. In the same way, our High Priest, who is now in heaven, will return. He will appear “to those who are waiting for him.” His return is bound up with the future aspect of our salvation — the resurrection of our bodies. But when He comes “a second time,” Christ will no longer “bear sin,” will no longer be the humble Son, but the exalted King of Glory, who judges and reigns!
NOT SYMBOLIC, BUT REAL (Hebrews 10:1-3)
1 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. (Hebrews 10:1-3)
The law contains only “a shadow of the good things that are coming,” not “the realities themselves.” Here we see the connection between the Old and the New Covenant. The New Covenant is contained within the Old, and the Old Covenant gives meaning to the New. The tragedy of many people is that they look upon the Old Testament merely as a collection of historical narratives, biographical sketches, and descriptions of the customs and habits of the peoples of the ancient Orient. The Old Testament does indeed shed some light on the origin, development, conflicts, and victories of the Jewish nation, but its chief aim is to reveal to man God’s plan of salvation. There is a “scarlet thread” that runs through every book of the Bible, and this “scarlet thread” is redemption through blood.
ARCHETYPES AND TYPES
Many of the biblical truths are presented as a parallel between the material and the spiritual world. In Hebrews 8:4-5, for example, we are told that the earthly priests serve only “that which is a copy (‘hupodeigma’) and shadow (‘skia’) of the heavenly things.” In Hebrews 7:3 it is said of Melchizedek that he was “made like” the Son of God. In Hebrews 9:9 the author of the letter to the Hebrews says that the first part of the tabernacle is an “illustration” (Gr. ‘parabole’) for the present time. In Hebrews 9:24 it is said that a sanctuary made by human hands would be only a “copy” (Gr. ‘antitupos’) of the true one. “Image,” “model,” “likeness,” “copy,” “shadow,” “icon” — all of these are types of “the realities themselves” (Gr. ‘pragmaton’).
In the Old Testament many of the New Testament spiritual realities are foreshadowed through types (prefigurations). A type can be a person, an institution, or an event that foreshadows a particular New Testament reality. Persons who are types of Christ, for example, are Melchizedek, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, and others. Types that are institutions are the Passover, the priesthood, the tabernacle, the sacrifices, and others. Types that are events are, for example: when Moses struck the rock and water flowed out; the lifting up of the bronze serpent; the entry into the Promised Land, and others. All types are historical realities that point to things which will happen later. The New Testament persons or truths, which have types in the Old Testament, are called archetypes. The author of the letter to the Hebrews, who is deeply versed in the Old Testament writings, sees in them a multitude of types whose meaning can be explained only through Christ. His statements that Christ is better or more superior than they show that the archetypes are as much more superior to their types as a given reality or substance surpasses its shadow. What we must always remember when we deal with types is that the Old Testament types always point to their realization and fulfillment in the New Testament, and that the archetypes (the spiritual realities), which are foreshadowed by types, are always greater and more superior than their types.
THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST — FORETOLD IN A MESSIANIC PSALM (Hebrews 10:4-10)
In the following verses we see how the author of the letter shows that the sacrifice of Christ was foretold in Psalm 40.
4 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; 6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. 7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, my God.’” 8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:4-10)
The Old Testament sacrifices, “the blood of bulls and goats,” cannot take away sins, because they are not archetypes, but only types of the sacrifice of Christ, which is their archetype. As proof of this, the author of the letter to the Hebrews quotes Psalm 40:6-8 as it is translated in the Septuagint (LXX): “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me.” In our English Bibles Psalm 40:6 is translated: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire—but my ears you have opened.” But this last phrase, “my ears you have opened,” in the original Hebrew (the ancient Hebrew in which the Old Testament was written) is actually “you have pierced ears for me.” A person could not understand this expression without knowing the law of the freed slave. It is given in Exodus 21:2-6 and Deuteronomy 15:12-17:
2 “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. 3 If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free. 5 “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ 6 then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life. (Exodus 21:2-6)
For the Hebrews, the ear bored or pierced with an “awl” was a symbol of voluntary submission and obedience, of voluntary slavery. In Koine (New Testament Greek) the word “soma,” which means “body,” was often used also as a synonym for the word “slave.” In the Septuagint, which is the first translation of the Old Testament from Hebrew into Greek, probably so that the pagans would not be puzzled, the translators rendered the expression “you have pierced ears for me” as “you have prepared a ‘soma’ for me” — a body to obey you. The sense here is that instead of merely ritual sacrifices, God prefers the living sacrifice of voluntary obedience prompted by love. He does not delight in rituals, but in voluntary service. Psalm 40 is a messianic psalm — it contains prophecies about Christ. And indeed, the Lord Jesus Christ showed in practice what the attitude was that God was seeking in Israel. His desire to serve God voluntarily, by offering Himself as a sacrifice, makes the crucifixion a sacrifice more superior than the sacrifices of Israel.
To understand better the verses from Psalm 40 that the author of the letter to the Hebrews quotes, we must consider their structure. The structure of a text always sheds additional light on the understanding of its content. We must also know that Hebrew poetry is not so much characterized by the rhyming of words as by the “rhyming” of ideas. The literary device used here is called “parallelism.” Parallelism is the saying of the same thing twice in a different way, so that the repetition emphasizes or clarifies what was said before it. The first statement here is that formal sacrifices cannot please God (Amos 5:21-24; Isaiah 1:10-15), and the second is that the only thing that can please Him is the perfect obedience of the Messiah — the fulfillment of God’s will (1 Samuel 15:22).
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; 6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. (Hebrews 10:5-6)
(This corresponds to “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire.”)
7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, my God.’ (Hebrews 10:7)
(This explains the words “but a body you prepared for me.”)
Interpreting these words in the light of the Messiah, the author of the letter to the Hebrews says that the Messiah comes to fulfill God’s will, and this fulfillment replaces and abolishes the Old Testament offerings and sacrifices. The single sacrifice of Christ so satisfies God that He desires no more sacrifices. Thus the Old Testament sacrifices become obsolete and unnecessary.
8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:8-10)
EFFECTIVE AND FINAL (Hebrews 10:10-18)
10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. (Hebrews 10:10-14)
Here the author of the letter to the Hebrews makes a comparison between the Levitical priest and Jesus Christ. The Levitical priest offers many sacrifices which, however, cannot take away sin. Jesus Christ offered one sacrifice which is final and effective — it blots out sins and makes us holy forever. The contrast between the Levitical priest and Christ is further underscored by their postures. The Levitical priest stands. He stands because his work has no end. In contrast to him, Christ, our High Priest, sits. With a single sacrifice He finished His work and “sat down forever at the right hand of God.” Since then He waits for the “victory parade” at which His enemies will be put under His feet. Thus the author of the letter again emphasizes that Christ’s work, unlike that of the Old Testament priest, is finished and complete.
15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: 16 “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” 17 Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” 18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary. (Hebrews 10:15-18)
Taking into account the greatness of the sacrifice that Jesus became for us, the author of the letter to the Hebrews says that there is no longer any need for other offerings. Christ’s sacrifice is:
- Fully satisfactory
- Eternally effective — through it our sins are blotted out (v. 17)
- Last and final (vv. 12, 13, 18)
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL EXHORTATION IN THE WHOLE NEW TESTAMENT (Hebrews 10:19-25)
Why does the author of the letter explain all these things about the sacrifice of Christ to us? What is his aim? What does he want to move us to do? The answer is in the strongest exhortation in the whole New Testament — Hebrews 10:19-25. An exhortation to boldness in worship — “a sincere heart” and “full assurance of faith”; an exhortation to steadfastness in our hope and confession; an exhortation to care for one another — “love” and “good deeds”; and not least — an exhortation to constancy in service and to more frequent gatherings of the church.
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:19-25)
THE MOST TERRIFYING WARNING IN THE WHOLE NEW TESTAMENT (Hebrews 10:26-31)
After presenting to us the truth of the superiority of Christ’s sacrifice, the author of the letter sets us before a choice — whether we will choose life or death, whether we will take advantage of the privileges that Christ provides for us, or whether we will fall away from the faith in spite of the knowledge we have, and so deserve God’s just recompense.
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. (Hebrews 10:26-27)
28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:28-31)