Hebrews 9:1-28

(Hebrews 9:1-28)

Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.  For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary. And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;  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;  And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.  Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God.  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:  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:  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;  Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. 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; 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.  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: 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?  And for this cause 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. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.  For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.  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,  Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.  Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.  And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.  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. 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:  Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; 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.  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:  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.

 

Jesus, the mediator of a better covenant, is a high priest from the perspective of the Old Testament rites. A better covenant means a new covenant, which means that it is relatively good compared to the old covenant. Chapter 9 describes Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, taking into account the Jewish recipients of the Hebrews in terms of the role of the Old Testament high priest. And the book of Hebrews compares Jesus to the high priesthood of the Old Testament and tells the similarities and differences.

Since Jesus was the mediator of the new covenant, it was necessary to compare the old and new covenants. As mentioned in Chapter 8, if the first covenant was flawless, a new covenant was not necessary. Had the first covenant been perfect, there would have been no need for a better covenant intercessor, Jesus. However, although the first covenant was not perfect, it was not necessary. The reason is that the first covenant served as a model (shadow) for the new covenant. In comparing Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, with the first covenant (the old covenant), it explains the tabernacle and rites of the Old Testament.

『Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. 』 The first tabernacle meant the sanctuary, and the first tabernacle was the place of the first gateway and passage for the Atonement, because the second tabernacle had to pass through the first tabernacle, the sanctuary. The sanctuary means a holy place. The Holy of Holies is a translation of the Greek word Hagios twice, and Hebrew also uses Kodesh twice. By using holiness twice and again, it is being translated into a holy place in the sense of a very holy place.

Inside the Holy of Holies, there is the Ark of the Covenant, which is expressed as the Atonement. There are winged cherubs on the cover of the Ark of the Covenant, which face each other and are a pair of angels. The Holy of Holies with the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament was a symbolic place of God's presence. In the Holy of Holies, the high priest could enter the Atonement Day just once a year.

『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: 』

 

The high priest needed animal blood for the atonement of himself and his people. However, this blood was not the blood of eternal atonement at once. It was only temporary blood that had to be given repeatedly every year. Jesus, the mediator of the better covenant and the high priest of the new covenant, shed the blood of the Atonement, which is valid at once and forever, not the blood of the beast, which is repeated every year.『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. 』

 

Unlike the Old Testament High Priest who sprayed the blood of the beasts into the Holy of Holies, Jesus, as the High Priest, sprinkled His blood into the Holy of Holies to fulfill the Atonement of God's people at once. As such, Jesus' atonement was very different from the Old Testament atonement. First, he shed his own blood, not the beast's blood. Second, he served as a high priest in the Holy of Holies and at the same time became a sacrifice. Third, he gave his own blood that is valid forever, not the blood of the beast. Fourth, because the blood of Jesus' Atonement was eternal and perfect, the atonement of the tabernacle was no longer needed, ending the ritual ritual of the Old Testament.

The Old Testament tabernacle is described as a parable, which was a symbol of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. As the chief priest, Jesus Himself hung on the cross and shed the blood of the sacrifice that atones for human sin, and no longer needed the blood of the beast to remove the Old Testament tabernacle. The Saints living in the New Testament age can receive the Atonement for the Saints' past, present, and future with the eternal validity of the blood that Jesus, the better mediator of the covenant, had already shed 2,000 years ago.

 

The first coming of Jesus was to shed blood of the Atonement at once, to tear the veil of the sanctuary, to abolish Aaron's descendant high priesthood, and to be the only mediator of the covenant, to save the many people ahead of the end of the world. In the New Testament era, the saints must live by observing the God of salvation and conscious of the end of the world. Personal apocalypse and judgment are inevitable.『And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 』 Those who think of death and judgment are those who desire the Lord's return. 『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. The second is the second coming of Jesus. Those who expect the second appearing of Jesus must be like the hearts of the people who expect the high priest who has entered the Most Holy Place for the Atonement to come forth without dying.

The hearts of the people who expect the high priest to enter the Holy of Holies and reappear are the expectation that God has forgiven their sins. If the Atonement was not fulfilled with the blood of the beast, the high priest would not die from the Most Holy. In this way, Jesus, the high priest, was resurrected and brought all the sins of the world to the God of the throne, and the second coming will end the salvation of this world. Therefore, those who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus in this day ought to long for the coming of the Lord and not forget that they must live with conscious judgment.