HEBREWS Chapters 9-10 at the Time the Book of Hebrews Was Written

HEBREWS

Chapters 9-10

At the time the Book of Hebrews was written, the Temple was standing and was functional. It was one of the most beautiful structures on earth; it was majestic and magnificent. In the Gospels, the disciples noticed its beauty while walking with Jesus and said “Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!" (Mark 13:1). Jesus also recognized that it was adorned with beautiful stones and offerings (Luke 21:5). This Temple was called “the temple of the great God,” (Ezra 5:8), a “house called by his name,” (Jeremiah 7:11). It was the glory and the joy of Israel.

Anyone walking around it or in it would be in awe and be surely filled with a sense of permanency and perhaps a feeling of security, when considering its size and its long history. How then could anyone easily detach himself from this imposing structure; how could the members of the congregation of Hebrews, easily believe that it has become non-essential overnight?

The writer of this letter had this difficult task to show that this structure, while physically standing, was spiritually void and empty by then. In Hebrews 9 and 10, while always stressing the superiority of the Messiah, the author encourages his flock by speaking about the other Temple in heaven, the real one, the permanent one. But it was difficult for the listeners to make the switch from what they saw to what is promised, to what is believed by faith.

He would tell them in Hebrews 10:1 “For the law, [which was housed in the Temple], having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things…”

He was telling them, what you see is not real anymore; it is now devoid of any spiritual worth. Again in chapter 9:11 he said that Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.

Not of this world, not of the things you see with your eyes, but He came for these things you see with the eyes of your heart, through your faith. In many ways, with words and illustrations, he tries to bring them from what is physical to what is spiritual, true and permanent.

The writer had the same task as Nahum the prophet. The whole book of Nahum was to show the futility of this great imposing, and at the time, fearful city of Nineveh; it was a city which stood for over 4000 years. It had history on its side; it represented an icon of power which threatened the existence of Israel. To the Assyrian, it appeared immovable and steadfast, but God told them through Nahum that it was simply a lie. As the prophet walked around its three miles wide and eight miles long walls, he prophesied and said "Your name shall be perpetuated no longer... For you are vile." (Nahum1:14); In Hebrew the word vile is ‘quatal’, that is cursed; this word also means small or little.

But, the writer of Hebrews had a much more difficult task in speaking of futility of the Temple, because previously God Himself had said that this place was His dwelling place; but He moved out of it, so He was not there anymore. This is his message in Hebrews. God is not confined into one place anymore, as

Isaiah says; now He lives in His temple in heaven and with him who is poor and contrite of spirit (Isaiah 66:2).

It is here where the modern reader can identify with the people of the congregation of the Book of Hebrews. Is it not true that everything we see will one day just disappear; is it not true that there is another world, a beautiful one, an everlasting one?

How can we know these things?

This is where the writer prepares us, and the answer is through faith. The writer of Hebrews speaks about faith beginning in Chapter 9. Slowly, the writer will lift up our spirit to see things above. It is in Chapter 11 where he names so many men and women of God, in the Bible, who succeeded in going from the physical to the spiritual, by journeying through faith. It is then my prayer that this whole section will bring us to see the other world of heaven, through the eyes of faith.

We have begun to look at the first verses of chapter 9. There, the writer goes back to the Tabernacle itself, the original movable structure in the wilderness and he describes for us what was in there. Let us go back there together, in the Holy of Holies, and see the significance of these items, as they each speak to us today. Let us remember that this description is not of the Temple that was standing, for these things were not in the Temple at the time of Jesus. The room was completely empty but the writer brings his flock to the past to consider the true significance of these things, as they also still speak to us today. Let us read verses 4-5, speaking of the Tabernacle; it had six items. Hebrews 9:4, 5 which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat...

We have already seen the golden censer, which represents our prayers. This was the altar of incense which originally was outside of the Holy of Holies, but for the writer it is no more outside but inside the Holy of Holies, past the veil. This was to stress the fact that we are in; we have access to the throne of God, all the time, as he said in Hebrews 10:19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,

When Yeshua died, the veil tore; the wall of partition broke down and now we, Jews and Gentiles, have free access to God by the Blood of the Messiah.

Then, we see the tablets of the covenant. These represented the stipulation of the contract on which the Mosaic covenant rested. They contained the Ten Commandments, which were engraved with the finger of God, through which flowed the other 603 commandments. The presence of these tablets reminded the Israelites of the conditional aspect of this covenant because their wellbeing, the enjoyment of their blessings, was dependent on the obedience of these 613 commandments - all of them. Of course, they could never enjoy these blessings as the writer showed in Hebrews 7. It was an impossible task, unattainable for any man. This is why Yeshua came to fulfill the Mosaic Law and save us from its judgments and dispense the great blessings of God.

Then we see Aaron’s rod. What was this rod doing in there?

In Numbers 16-17, we read of an incident where some questioned the authority of Aaron, and so God asked each the twelve tribes to send a representative, each holding a rod with his own name written on it.

He then asked them to place the rods in the tabernacle and the one rod whom He chooses will blossom; only Aaron’s rod blossomed. This was God’s choice and this put an end to the rebellion. Since then, Aaron’s rod was placed in the Holy of Holies and, even though it was a dark room, we read that it budded, always.

But it was not really Aaron’s authority whom the people questioned; it was really God’s authority and His own choice of priesthood. However, by the time of Hebrews, the rod was not there anymore, and the order of Aaron, which was temporary, was gone as well. It was replaced by an eternal priesthood, the one according to Melchizedek - the eternal priesthood of Yeshua. Aaron’s rod spoke of God’s choice, which is not negotiable.

Another item was the pot of manna. It symbolized God’s provision for His own, not only physical provision, but mainly spiritual nourishment, that we find in our Messiah. In John 6: 32, He testifies and says: "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. He was speaking of Himself, the True provider.

In sum, the tablets of the law spoke of the Word, Aaron's rod of the everlasting covenant and of the Manna, God's provision; all of these things are found in Yeshua.

One will find it interesting and sad to notice that each of these three items is connected with a rebellion. The tablets of the Law are connected with the making of the golden calf; this is recorded in Exodus 32. While God wrote the covenant, the people were already breaking the first commandment in making a likeness of God. Had not Moses graciously broken the covenant by breaking the tablets, God would have wiped out the nation according to the judgments contained in it.

Aaron’s rod, as we have seen, was connected with the rebellion, led by Korah in Numbers 16-17.

The Manna, was connected with Israel’s numerous complaints and rebellions; they complained and said “there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes” (Numbers11:6), yet it was a gift from God.

The other item is the Ark of the Covenant itself. We hear so much about this ark today and many are looking for it. At this present time, with the Temple in Jerusalem coming closer to its construction, many are the more fascinated with the Ark of the Covenant’s whereabouts. It really began in and around the time of Jesus, when people were expecting the Messianic Times. Where did they think the Ark was?

In the apocryphal book 2Baruch, it says that it was removed and hidden by an angel. According to the Talmud (Yoma 3:7), they say it is hidden somewhere in the Temple Compound. In 2Macabees (2:4-8) it says that Jeremiah hid it somewhere under the Temple. No one really knows, but what we know is that since the first destruction of the temple in 586 BC, we did not hear about it.

By the time of the writing of Hebrews, the Ark of the Covenant was not in the Temple and this is the very point of the writer; the room was completely empty and it is not in a physical structure but through faith that we see God.

But there is one more item, we find in his description - the cherubim. Who are these angels protecting the throne of God?

To see them at work, right at the Throne of God, one needs to look at the first chapter of Ezekiel; one of the most difficult and fascinating chapters in the Bible. Reading this chapter, there is not much we can

3 understand in the details, but the overall message is clear; all these cherubim are depicted to be so obedient to God. They were together always and they went where the Spirit led them. We read that their wings touch each other, as these angels of God always moved together, showing harmony and love between them. The most prominent feature of the first chapter of Ezekiel is their unity, their conformity in doing the work of God. This was missing in the Temple in Jerusalem at the time of Ezekiel and at the time of the Book of Hebrews; this is why, both these times, the temple was destroyed. Then, in Ezekiel, angels show us the great harmony which is in the world to come. This unity in the Temple in heaven is something that the writer is going to stress in a big way as we approach Hebrews 10.

This empty room does not only bring us to consider the Temple in heaven, there is another one which is not made with hands, that is, not of this creation (Hebrews 9:11). Which one is it?

It is the believer, the one who made Yeshua Lord of his life. As we read in 1Corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

Our bodies are the Temple of God. God moved out from the Holy of Holies to make His abode with us. We have become the keepers of the Law of Christ; and this is such a tremendous blessing and responsibility. More than the cherubim in Ezekiel, we have the Spirit of God in us, directing us, leading us, teaching us. This is where the time of reformation begins. These words are mentioned at the end of Hebrews 9:10. There he says that all these ordinances were … imposed until a time of reformation.

What is this time of reformation?

This is only mentioned here in Hebrews. The word reformation in Greek is diorthosis, where we have the word orthos, like orthopedic. The word orthos means to straighten, to make straight. The moment the Spirit comes in us, a reformation begins, where the believer will go from growth to greater growth, from victory to victory.

Outside the New Testament, it is Philo, the Jewish philosopher of the time, who describes the condition which flows from the word reformation. He enumerates words like holiness, truth, purity, honesty, justice, equality, and communion. We can say that all of these things are now workings in the believer by the presence of the Spirit of God.

It is in this section where the writer quotes a passage from the Psalms, stressing again that the final sacrifice was Yeshua and that the Temple was a temporary structure. It is beginning in Hebrews 10:7, where he quotes Psalm 40, but he changes a couple of words of the original citation. After all, all of this is inspired by the Spirit who is the real Author of the Scriptures; He can change what He desires, but we cannot do this. See Hebrews 10:5-7, here Jesus was speaking. Sacrifice and offering You have not desired, But a body You have prepared for Me; In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure. “Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come- In the volume of the book it is written of Me- To do Your will, O God.’ ”

This is the Messiah speaking who says about all of these sacrifices that God did not really take pleasure in them. So, He says that He is coming down, to dwell in a body, so he can fulfill the demands of the law. But see the original quote in Psalm 40; and here we will see something truly beautiful.

Psalm 40:6, 7 Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require. Then I said, "Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me.

Instead of a body you have prepared, here it is My ears you have opened. Why the change; how can we understand what is said?

The Hebrew word for opened is Karah. This same word is translated as pierced in Psalm 22:16…They pierced My hands and My feet

There is one passage in the Torah which speaks of a servant who, after serving for a period of seven years, he decides then to dedicate the rest of his life to his master, and, how is this done?

It is done, as we read in Exodus 21:6, then his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.

The piercing of the ear was used to stamp the servanthood for the life of the servant. Here the servant fully dedicates his life to serve, in the same way that Yeshua, who is the Servant of Jehovah, here speaks and says “behold I come, a body You have prepared for Me;” and here we see the incarnation.

The ultimate Servant of Jehovah is described in Isaiah 53:11 …My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.

Notice, the four sacrifices mentioned in Psalm 40:6 Sacrifice and offering … Burnt offering and sin offering. These are found in the Book of Leviticus; the four into which you can fit all the sacrifices. All found their fulfillment in Yeshua. This is why the Holy of Holies was empty; Yeshua becomes our Holy of Holies. He is all of this, the priest and the sacrifice. It was not easy for our Lord to come, to suffer and die an awful death.

There is one thing that the author says in Hebrews 9:23, something which tells us that it was not easy at all. Notice that the word sacrifice is plural. Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

Did not Yeshua die once only; so which sacrifices are these?

I believe these sacrifices began right at the beginning, even before time, when we read in John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

There was a sacrifice here, as the Son prepared Himself to come down to earth. At the end of the Book of Isaiah, when it says that “In all their affliction He was afflicted” (Isaiah 63:9), that was a continual sacrifice even after the cross.

We understand, as well from our text, that the whole Trinity is involved in the redemption of man. See Hebrews 9:14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

This is how important the salvation of any human being is for God; He is fully involved in it. In the same chapter, he again emphasizes the uniqueness and the exclusivity of the Messiah. Let us see this famous and often cited passage, Hebrews 9:27-28 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many…

There is certain finality about these words here; Yeshua stands at the end of all roads, there is nothing after Him and all decisions about Him must be made in this life. Afterwards, there is a judgment. It is in this life that a decision, a choice, a verdict about His person, must be made, and no decision is a refusal.

One of the most treacherous and unforgiving doctrine is that of purgatory, which annuls the works of Christ and tells you that you have time. Purgatory, which is taught in Judaism and in many factions of Christianity, speaks of a place of confinement which is neither Heaven nor Hell, but a place where one has to be refined before going into Heaven. With this teaching, you do not need the Lord Jesus; you will be saved anyway. Don’t worry; be happy, you will be refined. But this is not according to Hebrews 9:27 And it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment!

There is no intermediate state, nowhere in the Bible. This idea of purgatory was devised at about the same time as Yeshua was on earth. It was an idea found with the two schools of thought, which formed rabbinical Judaism. One is that of Shammai, which taught that those “whose virtues and sins counterbalance one another shall go down to Gehenna and float up and down until they rise purified.” This is a fallacy. The other school of thought is that of Hillel, which also guaranteed heaven freely without the Messiah. The Talmud even gives a time for the floating of the soul. They say that 'For the full twelve months after death, the body still endures, and the soul goes up and goes down. After twelve months, the body is null, [153A] and the soul goes up but doesn’t go down again. (Shabbat 23)

How did they come up with this?

The famous book of Enoch also taught this idea. There, it is written “All men will pass into the melted metal and become pure; to the righteous it will seem as though he walks through warm milk” (Enoch, lii. 6–7, lxvii. 6–7).

Who needs the Messiah after this?

Then the church fathers loved this idea and implemented the “ignis purgatories,” a cleansing state between the death and resurrection. This idea was developed by Origen, Ambrose, Tertullian, Jerome, and the famed Augustine. See how religion can be misleading when we leave the pure teaching of the Word of God?

This verse tells us that there is no such thing as a reincarnation. This idea is purely the fruit of the imagination; a fruit which numbs the mind. Reincarnation pries on the people’s fear of death. Both the purgatory and the reincarnation are the anesthesia doctrine. They tell you that you have all the time in the world, but the Bible says you don’t. It is now the day of your salvation, if you don’t have it yet.

We remember, in Luke 16:27, 28, the rich man who was on the other side of Hades. After death, he realized the finality of his state and asked Abraham, whom he saw beyond the great gulf, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, ‘for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’

But Abraham answered: "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’" (Luke 16:31)

The Word today says that… It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment! Here also we see the finality of the work of the Messiah.

It is in Hebrews 10, after all that was said, that the writer asks us a very pertinent question. The question is: now that you know all of this what are we going to do with all of this knowledge; how is this translating into our lives?

Let us read this conclusion found in Hebrews 10:19-25 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

The text begins with the word “Therefore,” meaning: so, consequently, accordingly, now that we know all these things. Now that we know that the access to the throne of God is opened, “let us” do something about it now. Salvation is by faith, but once you have the faith, this is when you can do something, and even do great things.

Notice the three times he says “Let us” from verses 22-25: The first one is let us draw near; this is constant drawing because there is not point where we can say I am close enough. The closer you get, the more amazed you are; like these angels who constantly say “Holy, Holy, Holy” as they constantly grow closer to Him. The writer adds the prerequisite for this spiritual evolution- “with a true heart in full assurance of faith;” a sincere heart. We have poured all our defects in prayer and in confession, which is the beginning of a clear conscience, as he says in the rest of the verse.

Then the second one: “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering.” Let our hope be immersed in faith. Hope is human, faith is divine; it is given by God. When we join our hope with the faith from God, we will not waiver and we become strong pillars in a congregation of God. “For,” he adds, “He who promised is faithful.” God’s promises and covenants are unbreakable.

The third one: “let us consider one another…” and he adds such an important advice for all of us “… not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together...” Our faith is a community, it is not isolation. Biblical Christianity or pure Biblical Judaism is a body, where each member is vital for the functioning of the whole. Here the writer links all the great truths about Christ, down to the very congregation of God. The sad thing is that some believers were already beginning to forsake the Assembly of God but this is the place where He empowers the believers.

How important is the congregation to Jesus?

It is so important, that He calls it His Body. It is through this entity, this organism, that He works and blesses the world around us. His Body is composed of people to whom He gives spiritual gifts, so that they can go and do what is humanly impossible - bring people to a saving knowledge of the Messiah. They are called to stir up love so much that they can also love their enemies.

The congregation of God is precious because He purchased it with His own blood (Acts 20:28) and He feeds it and He prepares it for eternity (Eph.5:25). The Bible says that “We, who are many, are one body” (1 Corinthians 10:17), “the body is one” and its members “form one body” (1 Corinthians 12:12), “we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body” (1 Corinthians 12:13).

However, they say that about 48% of church-goers attend at an average of once a month; but why?

But while many do not take the church of God seriously enough, others do, and I see them going, and I want to tell you that they are blessed. God is blessing them because they are faithful servants.

The word for church or congregation in the Greek is ecclesia, with a prefix ek meaning out of and the verb kaleo, to call. So it means that when you join a congregation, you come to the point to have been called out so you can be blessed and sanctified. You may be surprised to see that the word here for assembly is episynagogue, where we get our word synagogue. We often think of synagogue as a Jewish place of worship, but that is how it was at the beginning; churches were made of Jews, believing Jews and gentiles worshiping together.

To conclude, I just want to bring you the importance of being a member of a congregation. As we looked at the beginnings of the church in Acts, there are three words that are repeated five times, in the first five chapters. These speak of its birth. The three words are “With One Accord.” In Acts 1:14, they were in one accord in prayer and in supplication. This is what we do in a congregation, we pray.

Acts 2:1 says, “When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.” They had their own congregation and they were there all with one accord.

Acts 2:46 says, “So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,” They fellowshipped together, they grew together; they were of singleness of heart.

In Acts 4:24 we have the local church in prayer: “So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: "Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them,” They were in one accord in adoration, worshiping and praising God and praying.

In Acts 5:12 we read: “And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch.” They were in one accord in their association; no divisions, no backbiting, no criticizing.