Daily Meditations

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...

Hebrews 9:13 Ceremonial cleanliness As we have seen, there was more than one kind of blood offering that could be made to the Lord God under the Old Covenant. Burnt offerings and Fellowship offerings did not require the shedding of blood but Sin and Guilt offerings did. If a priest was seeking to make reparation for an unintentional sin he had committed, then he must offer a bull and its blood must be shed and sprinkled before the Lord. The same applied on the Day of Atonement when the sins of the whole congregation were cleansed by the shedding of blood. Leaders in the Camp were to offer male goats, and a common person could offer a female goat or a lamb. The poor could bring a dove or a pigeon to the priest to sacrifice, and if you were completely poverty-stricken, the Lord accepted a tenth of an ephah of finest flour. In the case of a guilt offering the worshiper must bring a ram to be sacrificed. All of these sacrificial offerings were made daily before the Lord at the Tabernacle, ...

Hebrews 9:12 Eternal redemption by His blood!! Let’s begin our meditations on this verse with some enlightening words from Leviticus 17: 1 , “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.”  This is not just a scientific discovery or a biological fact; the Lord God has decreed that His creative acts allowed for His creatures to live and breathe because they have pumping hearts and because there is a pulsating fluid that is circulated around their bodies. Without this we would all die! Blood not only helps us to breathe and act but it also nourishes the cells in our bodies with all the nutrients that we need for life. Thus, the ancient sacrificial system was a form of substitution, in order that one creature might live, another had to sacrifice its blood. This substitutionary system was instituted by God to pave the way for Yeshua who became the ultimate sacrif...

Hebrews 9:11 A more perfect Tabernacle This verse begins with the 3-letter word “But” and what a “But” it is!” The singular most transformative event that has change the entire world and our reason for living as human beings who inhabit it, follows on from this “but.”  Christ has come, He has come as the ultimate High Priest, He came in fulfilment of centuries of Jewish devotion to God and He came to open the way into a Tabernacle that far surpasses any structure made by men and that is sited on planet earth. The Tabernacle that God has instituted, of which the earthly tent was just an imperfect copy, is heavenly and spiritual and, like the Garden of Eden, has been closed to men from the beginning of time.  Christ the Messiah came as a High Priest, we’ve already established this, but He also came to fulfil that which already existed under the Old Covenant with the Jews, and to be established as High Priest of that which is to come. (many Bible versions and manuscripts use...

Hebrews 9:10 The time of the new order Look at how the author here dismisses the trappings and rituals of religion. After centuries of detailed attention to the Law and its practice, he writes to his Jewish contemporaries and scornfully rejects all that has passed before. These regulations were so engrained in Jewish thinking; they were such a huge part of their heritage and their national institutions that this scathing rejection must have hurt many of them. They were new believers, only just beginning to embrace the reality of the New Covenant and here is a fellow Jew trashing the whole system that identified them and their culture.! But wasn’t it the Lord God who instituted the practices in the first place? How could He now be jettisoning everything their ancestors had taught them? Yes, it was hurtful to some. That is why the writer must go on to stress the superiority of the New Covenant. Those ancient sacrificial practices were nothing by comparison, they were only food and drink,...

Hebrews 9:9 A clear conscience for worshippers Notice carefully the words used here by the author of this Epistle, he wants his readers to understand that whilst the Law and the tabernacle and religious systems are now defunct, they are provided to give us an illustration that is up to date. The Old Testament of our Bibles is not a historic collection of memories and regulations that have been superseded or overtaken by the New, they are God’s Word, they still have huge lessons to teach us, in fact every event and Scripture in the New Testament has its roots in the Old. The New Testament is the fulfilment of all that had been written by ancient writers from Genesis to Malachi.  There is one outstanding lesson to be learned from our Jewish ancestors, it is that to have a clear conscience before God we cannot rely on sacrifices and offerings made by men. Once again, this brings into focus every other religion that exists or has existed for they all encourage human efforts, obedience ...

Hebrews 9:8 Welcome, Holy Spirit! It has often been brought to my attention that the Old Testament speaks very little about the Holy Spirit! It was only after Pentecost that this extraordinary gift from God was poured out on His people and suddenly the whole basis of human relations with Him changed! In ancient times the relationship of men with God, or Israel with God, relied entirely on the Law, the Tabernacle or Temple, and the rites and ceremonies of the faith of these people. It was all outward and external, driven by religious men who tried desperately to apply the rigours of the commandments to their daily lives. To confine the Lord our God to a tiny space in a stuffy tent was both ridiculous and fruitless, and yet the Israelites were so convinced of His Being and His superiority that they tried to obey the Law and to pursue the rules of their faith down to the tiniest detail. That God was with them was beyond doubt, but He was a hard taskmaster to say the least, and the regulat...

Hebrews 9:7 Intentional or unintentional? As we have previously noted, the only man allowed into the Most Holy Place within the Tabernacle, was the High Priest, and he could only enter once per year, on the Day of Atonement or “Yom Kippur.” For a full description of events on that day, and the order in which they unfolded, it is helpful to read Leviticus 16 carefully. It is not hard to imagine the tension and anticipation that hung over the camp of the Israelites on those holy days.  The verse before us draws our attention to the significance of the blood which underlines the importance of v22, later in this chapter, which states,  “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness .” However, the author draws our attention to one misunderstood fact, that the blood offering was made for the High Priest himself and  for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.” The Day of Atonement was given to allow sins that the people had unintentionally committed or “co...

Hebrews 9:6 Our daily visit to the Holy Place This verse rather blandly summarises all of the daily routines of the priesthood of Israel as these god-fearing men came and went from the Tabernacle. Remember that this Tent was first constructed whilst the Israelites were nomads, and for many years it was taken down and re-erected as they moved from place to place. After a few hiccups, the sacred building only came to rest more permanently once the people had arrived in the Promised Land and they found a safe and secure home in Shiloh. Later, David would have it re-established on Zion in preparation for the construction of the Temple, under Solomon. Wherever the Ark of the Covenant went and all the furniture associated with it, the daily routines would take place, and the ordained priesthood would go daily in and out of the Holy Place. Fragrant incense was burned on the Golden Altar, and prayers were offered to the Lord God. At evening the seven lamps on the Menorah were maintained so tha...