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...

Hebrews 10:2 The plight of man The author makes a simple and valid point, if the endless rituals and offerings set out in the Law could make men perfect, if the rules and regulations could be obeyed to the letter, then there would be no need for the endless repetition of the daily sacrifices, and the procession of priests and Levites who served at the Tabernacle / Temple. One offering should do it, just once, after that the people could go free and get on with their lives. However, here we read one of the primary reasons for the Law, it awakens guilt and exposes sins. If there was no standard, no measuring stick, if there was no means of judging between right and wrong then none of us would feel guilty! The Law reveals God’s standards and then asks us to measure ourselves and immediately, we see that we fall far short. That is why the Law is so despised and why men prefer to make up their own system of rights and wrongs that waters down God’s original commandments.   All of us carr...

Hebrews 10:1 The shadow of the Law Men can castigate the Jews all they like but there is one tangible thing they had, or have, that no other nation has been given – the Law. For all its complexities and the obstacles it puts between us and God, it is still His Word and His will revealed. It may be  “a shadow of the good things that are coming”  but it is God revealing His heart to men and exposing the destructive power and deceitfulness of sin. No other nation has been given instructions from heaven like the Law, and it may only be a “shadow,” but it is still a glimpse of how the Godhead thinks and works. With the Law came the Levitical priesthood and all the rituals and ceremonies associated with this, every detail of which was, and is, a pointer to a greater heavenly reality. Without the Torah the world would have no clue as to how God thinks or the nature of the heavenly Tabernacle and the glorious work of our great High Priest, Jesus Christ Himself. The Jews can only see t...

Hebrews 9:28 The bringer of salvation There are two stand – out things that Christ Jesus has done that completely changes the course of history and the lives of everyone who genuinely believes in Him. Firstly, the sin problem that decides our destiny at death, has been resolved, literally, once and for all. the verse before us does not say that He covers our sin or hides them or heals them, it clearly states that he was  “sacrificed once to take away the sins of many.”  They are gone! Our sins have been taken away forever, if we believe. This is not for all, or even a few but for many! There are large numbers of human beings who have lived and died in the past who believed in the sacrificial offering of Yeshua and because of their faith, their sins have been taken away. As Paul points out in Romans 3,  “it’s just as if I never sinned.”   The death problem that we talked about in the previous verse is settled, we may leave this world in the certain knowledge that...

Hebrews 9:27 Death then judgement An awful lot of time and resources are spent today in trying to help us avoid or postpone death! Without wishing to sound ungrateful none of us can really avoid our destiny, for all must die, rich and poor, the great and the good, paupers and kings, famous and unknown. As the daily news reminds us, even the most accomplished and wealthy of earth’s citizens eventually die, that is our destiny and it is impossible to cheat it. Strangely, very few spend any length of time thinking about what happens next, and many who do make up their own versions of life after death or follow religions that promise much but that are unable to deliver.  The Bible is clear that we cannot avoid this terminal appointment, our graveyards are full of those who have passed before us and in truth, our time on earth is very short. The old phrase,  “Eat, drink and be merry”,  has not altered over the centuries and it is understandable that many adopt this attitude to...

Hebrews 9:26 Once for all! Thank God that the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus was once-for-all and need never be repeated. As the writer of Hebrews states,  “Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world.”  These words do not just show us the supremacy of His sacrifice but that it was also part of a divine plan that has always existed. If the sacrificial system is the only means of cleansing and forgiveness of sins, and if Christ’s offering fell short or was not acceptable by heaven’s standards, then He would have had to offer Himself annually just as all other High Priests had made regular sacrifices before Him. Thank God that was not necessary, in fact Yahweh had always known, from the creation of the world, that animal sacrifices would not suffice, and He  always had in mind to offer His Son as the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world, once for all. Some may ask, then why did the Jews have to relentlessly follow the rules an...

Hebrews 9:25 Away with repetition! The author is intent on his readers grasping the superiority of our heavenly High Priest by comparison with the earthly occupants of this role. Firstly, he draws attention to the monotonous rituals of the earthly priests who, year after year, fulfilled their roles in a repetitive series of ceremonies that had no apparent end or long-term solution to the problem of sins. In early autumn every Jewish worshipper marked their calendars and pondered a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to witness the Feast of Trumpets and the days of repentance that terminated in the rituals of Atonement and, if they could, they remained for the Feast of Tabernacles. Everyone knew what would happen on these holy days, for the routines never changed, but never-the-less, they watched, waited and celebrated their traditions and then went away to get on with life. It was, of course, an honour for the man who was High Priest to perform his duties on behalf of the nation, but everyone knew...

Hebrews 9:24 Christ has entered the heavenly sanctuary Copies, metaphors, allegories, substitutes – it seems harsh to reduce the Jewish religion to such levels after they had spent centuries trying to uphold the Law. After all, it was God who selected them, gave them their orders and oversaw their attempts to keep their side of the Covenant promises. Indeed, many of them still believe that their access to the Lord depends on their efforts and their allegiance to the rituals and regulations handed down by their ancestors. Thank God, that one day, their eyes will be opened. (read Romans 9-11).  It would not be fair to point the finger at the Jews when the church has been even more dismissive of God’s truth. How many churches teach the Old Testament; to help believers to understand what Jesus Christ really came to do? How many grasp the significance of the replica Tabernacle and its representation of the heavenly reality? How many believers understand the role of our High Priest and t...

Hebrews 9:23 The copies and the reality In chapter 8:5 the writer of this Epistle states that the Tabernacle and its furnishings and all the ceremonial and ritual practices associated with it, were just a copy – a metaphor! Hundreds of years of sacrifices and offerings were rigorously observed, the Jews thought that they were appeasing their God, that their religious devotion was all that the Lord ever asked from them, only to now be told that it was all just a substitute for something far more real and meaningful than Moses and the Law could ever give them. It must have felt like God was using them, that they had made themselves unpopular with the world – for nothing! That is not true, at their best they had been a shining light to the world, at their worst they had simply shown us all the futility of working for salvation and to appease the Lord God. Even better, they had allowed the world a glimpse behind the curtain that separates men from heaven, they had prepared the way for the ...

Hebrews  9:21-22 The cleansing with blood These verses continue the thought in verse 20, that the sacred Temple rituals were not put in place just to symbolise the cleansing from sin and a guilty conscience, but also to sanctify the people and the implements used to carry out the priestly duties. Even the Book of the Covenant was sprinkled with blood, the people were sprinkled with blood, the Tabernacle and all its sacred objects were sprinkled with blood. The Tent and its furniture had not sinned, they were ceremonially treated this way to show that they were dedicated to God and deemed fit for purpose. We need to understand this, that the blood of Christ does not just cover our past sins, but it also sets us apart for the holy service of God. Interestingly, once the Tabernacle and its artifacts had been ceremonially cleansed by the blood, they were also anointed with oil (See Leviticus 8), as was Aaron and his sons and the garments they wore. Let’s just get this straight, people ...

Hebrews 9:20 The blood of the Covenant Once again, the sprinkling of blood is being emphasized, this symbolic act was the start of a process that would characterise the faith of the Israelites forever. The sprinkling of blood was part of just about every ritual and ceremony that they celebrated, and blood was sprinkled over numerous items, people, buildings and artifacts, because it always spoke of purity, cleansing, dedication to God, and sprinkled items were deemed to be covered and protected from the stain of sin and thus sacred to the Lord. So, even the Covenant itself was covered by blood and thus sanctified and set apart for God and from God. Remember that this was not just some human tradition or religious regulation, this was all done in the name of the Lord and under His authority and instruction.  We turn to ourselves and of course, make a direct link with the blood of the sacrifice that was offered at Calvary. The blood that Yeshua offered when He was whipped and scourge...

Hebrews 9:19 Covered by the blood The events described here are a mirror of Exodus 24 where Moses and his sons were invited to approach the Lord on Mount Sinai, together with 70 elders from the tribes of Israel. This is a continuation of the giving of the sacred laws by the Lord, which are described in Exodus 20-21. The people in the camp were fully aware of what was taking place and had promised that  “Everything the Lord has said we will do.”  (A fragile commitment to the Lord, evidenced by the fact that just hours later, they were worshipping a golden calf!)  It was Moses who was entrusted with writing down the words of the Lord which, of course, included the 10 Commandments, although it was the Lord God who wrote these on the Tablets of Stone. The following day Moses built an altar at the foot of Mount Sinai and set up 12 stone pillars representing the 12 tribes of Israel. Young bulls were sacrificed and half of their blood was splashed on the altar and the rest on th...

Hebrews 9:18 There has to be blood! And here is the evidence that a death has taken place. Blood has been proved to have been shed. The Old Mosaic Covenant relied on the slaughter of endless animal sacrifices. We can only imagine the numbers processing towards the holy site, especially on Feast days when Jerusalem was full of pilgrims. We looked at the various offerings in verse 13 and in every case the creature had to be killed and its blood poured out, if it was to atone for the sins of the offeror.  “Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.”  Hebrews 9:22. Countless innocent animals were led to the slaughter over the centuries of Tabernacle / Temple rituals. The pilgrim would lay his hands on the beast and then kill it. The priests would collect the blood and apply it to the sides of the altar, then the animal would be butchered. Hundreds of thousands of animals must have been sacrificed in this way. These poor creatures were seen as substitutes for men and t...

Hebrews 9:16-17 Wills and death This is familiar ground, my wife worked in the law, managing Probate and Wills etc. and my work, before retirement, involved giving tax advice to solicitors and executors. One thing is absolutely sure, and it has not changed over the centuries; no beneficiary can make a claim on what is described in a Will until the testator dies. Beneficiaries may well know what has been promised to them and some greedily anticipate the death that guarantees their entitlement; however, their inheritance cannot kick-in, and the Will has no legal power until death has taken place. It seems that the legal rules being practiced when this Epistle was written were not much different to modern regulations in that a death must be proved, which today means that a formal Death Certificate must be completed. On seeing this, a lawyer will be able to read the Will and make the wishes of the deceased known. The context of this verse is very simple, v15 has already informed us that th...

Hebrews 9:15 The Mediator of a new Covenant Moses was a great mediator for Israel. How many times did that poor man have to approach the Lord God and plead on behalf of the people? Their wilfulness, blind disobedience and lack of faith must have given him many restless nights! In relation to the Covenant promises of God, it was Moses’ job to see that the terms and conditions were actually fulfilled by the Israelites, and that the resulting deliverance came about. A heavy responsibility!  Our Lord Jesus also bears a responsibility to ensure that we obtain all that has been promised under the New Covenant, namely an eternal inheritance. We cannot achieve this for ourselves, He is the mediator and He is the guarantor of the promises that God has made. Let there be no question that He means business! There was a dreadful penalty to be paid for His role in all of this, He must pay the ransom price and die our death for us. The penalty of death and the shedding of blood was, as we have s...

Hebrews 9:14 The blood of Christ, the eternal Spirit, the living God! And here is one of the most potent verses in the whole of Scripture, for in just a few words the author dismisses the effects of centuries of animal sacrifices and throws open a door of understanding to the supremacy of the offering of Christ Himself. It is His blood that changed history and His sacrifice that completely removed the need for any more ceremonial killing of animals as substitutes for men. There are four main principles set out for us in just a few words. Firstly, the offering of Jesus was  “through the eternal Spirit.”  That Spirit is God Himself. Individual Jews made their animal sacrifices through earthly priests who mediated for them at the altar and at the Mercy Seat. The Spirit of God acts as our mediator and thus God, in His mercy, took His Son and presented Him as a one-off, eternal sacrifice for the sins of men. This event needs never to be repeated, it was God who brought an end to an...