Daily Meditations

Hebrews 10:8 Animal sacrifices were never enough. Psalm 40 is still being quoted at us, before Yeshua offered Himself to God as was written in the scroll, He announced that He was fully aware that  “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire.” Jesus knew the heart and mind of God His Father, He had observed the endless rituals that took place daily in the Tabernacle / Temple and He knew that this was not the Father’s greatest desire. It may be that the growing frustration in His Father’s heart was the catalyst for Jesus to offer Himself as the ultimate sacrifice for men. God had anguished over the state of His world, the increasing attempts by His enemy to destroy and manipulate mankind. God saw the centuries of arrogance and blatant sin and that even His chosen people, Israel, had failed to carry out His will. The Law was good; the offerings were often well-meant and given in good faith, but they could never fully breach the chasm between God and men. Maybe the long years of pointl...

Hebrews 10:7 "Here I am!" Notice that these verses are a direct quote from Psalm 40 and are attributed to Jesus Christ Himself, as if it were He who wrote the Psalm! It was in fact, King David who wrote Psalm 40 but the beauty of God’s Word is that it is timeless, David could never have understood the full implications of his writings, but as the Holy Spirit guided His pen, so a detailed and unbreakable link was being made with Yeshua and events that would take place 1,000 years later!  One of the inarguable facts of history is that Jesus was born a Jew. His family tree was Jewish, on both parents’ sides. His coming was promised in the Torah, prophesied by the seers, anticipated by the priesthood and lauded in the Psalms. All the history of ancient Israel was a preparation for His coming. The Scriptures, given to men, set the scene and described the events, the entire nation of Israel was on tenterhooks for centuries as the people awaited their Messiah. Jesus had to be born a...

Hebrews 10:6 "Here I am, I have come to do Your will, my God." It is painful to be made aware that all those centuries of burnt offerings and sin offerings that were resolutely presented to the Lord had little effect. They did not completely cleanse those who made the offerings and neither did they bring pleasure to the God who reigns over His people in heaven. This must have been devastating news for young Jewish believers who were effectively being told that the religious devotion of their ancestors had been completely meaningless! All those animals, all the effort and time, the decorative trappings of the Tabernacle and Temple, the fastidious attempts by the priesthood to honour the Law’s demands, it all had little value or purpose. So why did they do it? Was it not the Lord God who initiated all of this and chose the nation who would be responsible for these endeavours? What was the point? The point was to show the world the weaknesses and sinfulness of the human race, th...

Hebrews 10:5 The old has gone, the new has come! Before we look at the next verses in detail, it is worth pointing out that the Greek words used in verse 5-8 actually describe four of the five main offerings made at the Tabernacle / Temple. These are fellowship, grain, burnt and sin offerings. The only one missing is the guilt offering. These are all described in detail in Leviticus 1-7.  The suggestion here is that when Christ came to our world and became fully cognizant of the roles that He must fulfil and His duties as High Priest for all mankind, He recognised the futility of the endless animal sacrifices and He saw that these were not the final solution for men’s sins. He fully understood the purpose of His Father in sending Him to the world and that He would be the ultimate sacrifice made, not by men, but by God. Not only that, but He also had the prophetic words of King David ringing in His ears which is why these words from Psalm 40 are quoted here. It will pay us to read t...

Hebrews 10:4 Animals cannot do it! It’s a strange thing that no one ever seemed to question the futility of animal sacrifices. God gave the Law; in it He designed a system of rituals and regulations that would appease His anger against sin and deliver men and women from the consequences of their iniquities. It was God who described what sin was, He was the One who clearly laid out the details of the way humans should behave towards Him and to one another. These are His standards, the ones by which He has decided we may live peaceful and fulfilled lives as human beings. He is our Creator; He alone knows what is best for us. He has also clearly set out the effects and costs of breaking His rules. That is the Law!  However, within all those rules and regulations God was merciful, He provided ways for sins to be atoned for, for wrongs to be righted. Instead of men paying for their disobedience and rebellion, the penalties could be transferred to other living beings, namely animals. Wha...

Hebrews 10:3 An annual reminder of sins At first sight it seems unlikely that we can add anything to the simple pronouncement contained in this verse. Those endless, daily processions of men queuing to bring their sacrifices before the Lord, the lines of bleating, bellowing animals awaiting their fate, were all pointless and frankly, quite useless. Why? Because no sooner had the sacrifices been made than they needed to be made again, they did not bring an end to sin, and they could never erase future transgressions either. The same could be said of the great Feast Days, particularly the Day of Atonement, no sooner had the High Priest emerged from the Most Holy Place as an end to a year of unintentional sinning, then someone in the camp started to break the Law and the penalty score was renewed! It was all so pointless, such a waste of time, endless in its inability to really make a difference and to solve the chasm between men and God.  The writer here in Hebrews sees another probl...