Hebrews

The Old Testament priests, their sacrifices and that was done in the temple was just a shadow of the reality of Jesus Christ. This chapter begins to make the transition from doctrine and theology to the practical application of it.

Chapter Introduction

As we move through this chapter, you'll begin to see a transition.  For several chapters, we've seen theological arguments for the superiority of Christ.  However, theology is hard to hold onto when affliction and persecution strike.  We will see how this theology forms our thinking and how we draw from it in everyday life.  We will begin to see how theology and this spiritual truth can build real faith in us.  So, by the end of the chapter, we will transition to encouragement, edification, and building these believers up and strengthening them to stand fast no matter what.  And, of course, these words are very much for us.

Hebrews 10:1-4

The temple operated according to Mosaic law, yet it was a shadow of things to come. Think about this: As Jesus stood in the shadow of this amazing structure, it was nothing more than a flawed shadow of what He was about to do. With each lamb slain, the blood that flowed was representative of His blood. It was a picture of the work He would do, yet He wasn’t welcome there because religion had taken over.  Dead works were ruling.

Again, we see that the law was a shadow of things to come.  It was symbolic and emblematic of the work Jesus would do on the cross.  The whole law and the ministering of it was a framework that led to the coming of Jesus.  Paul said the law was a mirror.  When you looked into the mirror of the law, you saw something in yourself; you discovered sin, stained deep in your soul.  What was a person to do?  If you look in a mirror and see a dirty face, don't rub your face on the mirror to clean it.  No, you need something else, something that can cleanse you.  That's the mistake these Hebrews were about to make.  They already knew how to have their sin-stained souls cleansed.  They knew Jesus.  Yet they were considering going back to the law, back to the mirror that said they needed to be cleansed, and that mirror was useless for cleansing them.

The law was a shadow, dark, and hard to see as a substance.  Yet, every shadow is cast from a bright light.  Why embrace a shadow when the light is the thing of substance?  The shadow could do nothing to perfect those who approached it.  If so, then the sacrifices would have stopped.  If the shadow could cleanse sin, it would have purified those people, and the sacrifices would have ceased long before.  Because it couldn't purify them, the sacrifices went on and on, year after year; because they went on, it was apparent that there was a need for a savior.  What the shadow couldn't accomplish, the light of Jesus Christ came and accomplished once for all.

 

Hebrews 10:5-10

This quote is interesting because it says these are the words of Jesus.  Yet it is also considered a direct quotation from Psalm 40:6-8, except it's not quite the same.  The third line of verse five says, “But a body You have prepared for Me.”  That same line in Psalm 40 says, "My ears you have opened.”  The quote is from the Septuagint.  Most Hebrews at that time would have read the Greek scriptures.  In the Hebrew mindset, an ear that is opened is one that receives God's word, and His body is yielded to Him in obedience.  When this phrase went from Hebrew to Greek, it became "a body you have prepared for me." 

The quote is about the sacrifices of the law doing nothing, but a body was prepared to be the perfect sacrifice. The volume of the book in the context of Psalm 40 was the Law of Moses. The book was later finished. In the context of the Hebrew writer, Jesus finished the book in the New Covenant. The book is written about Jesus and His desire to do the will of God, which was the work on the cross.

God never found pleasure in burnt offerings. It was only in the broken and contrite heart of the one who sinned. God is pleased when we identify our sin, turn from it, look to Him, and say we are sorry. God loves the heart of the repentant who now hates sin. They still fall to sin, but they hate that they fall.  They identify sin and turn from it. 

Many Old Testament saints came to the temple with this attitude and to have their sacrifice offered on their behalf.  They grieved over their sin.  They confessed it and turned from it.  The animal sacrifice they offered did nothing to wash away their sin.  But it was offered in faith in obedience.   God saw the broken and contrite heart of that saint whose sacrifice was offered by faith.  And by Jesus, that sin would be paid for.

While God found no pleasure in the blood of animals, it was God's pleasure to offer His son for the sins of men.  Isaiah 53 says:

Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.

Jesus came to do the will of God.  God wanted holiness.  He desired changed hearts and a relationship with his creation.  Through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus, the relationship between God and His creation was restored.

Hebrews 10:11-18

The imperfect priests of the law performed their duties:

• Daily
• Offering repeatedly
• Same sacrifice
• Never took away sin.

Jesus became the perfect priest:

• Offering one sacrifice
• The perfect sacrifice

• Once for all sin
• Once for time
• Once for all people (who would trust in it)

 

It is effective in perfecting and completing those who are being sanctified. By his sacrifice, we are made holy. With the perfect sacrifice made, Jesus sat down, work completed. He remains seated at the right hand of God until His enemies are made His footstool, until the Father sends the Bridegroom to get His bride.

Once again, the writer quotes from Jeremiah 31:33-34.  This forms brackets around the conversation beginning with the quote of Jeremiah in Hebrews 8:7-12.  Between the brackets is the contrast of priesthoods and sanctuaries.  This verse is offered as proof that God didn't find anything sufficient in the blood of animals.  He always had but one plan, which was the supreme and sufficient offering of Jesus Christ.  In Christ, there is remission of sin.  Because of this, an offering of sin is no longer needed.  

Hebrews 10:19-21

This is the conclusion drawn from Psalm 40 and Jeremiah 31 scriptures.  It's the summation of 8:1 to 10:18: 

• Because God doesn't find pleasure in the blood of animals
• And because God brought a new covenant where His law is written on our hearts
• And because He provided the perfect sacrifice

We can be bold when entering it, but this boldness doesn’t come from us.  It is:

• By the blood of Jesus
• By the new and living way He consecrated for us
• Through the veil, His flesh
• Having a High Priest.

The nature of the boldness isn’t flippant or irreverent.  A great and precious price was paid.  It is through this that we can enter. 

“The Holiest” in verse 19 is that inner room behind the veil.  The Holy of Holies was the Temple's inner sanctum, which the High priest could only enter once a year.  It was unheard of for Joe average to enter into the Holiest.  For the Jew, it was just absurd and unheard of.  To enter in was to invite death.  Who could walk into the presence of God?  As far as Gentiles were concerned, they weren't even allowed past the court of the Gentiles.  This is where the non-Jews and women gathered.  And in these days, it was against Roman law for a Jew to even get near the temple.

Now, the writer is saying that because of Jesus's perfect work, we, as brethren, can enter in by the blood of Jesus.  This is a new and living way set apart for you.  This is very personal now.  This way was made for you and me.  We are now seen as cleansed in the eyes of God.  Where it was once unfathomable that we might go into God's presence, it is now possible.  We are made righteous by the blood of Jesus, and we can enter through that veil.

Look at the end of verse 20 - through the veil, that is, His flesh.  The veil separated God from the world.  When Jesus died, that veil was torn from top to bottom.  The writer likens this torn veil to the torn flesh of Jesus.  Suddenly, the intimacy of God was open and available to all men.  The veil was torn; the body of Jesus was torn for all men.  We now have admittance into the Holiest.  And that admittance is not just into a little room in the temple; that room was a shadow.  We can now go before God in the real Holiest place if we are in Christ.  And we can go boldly!!

As we boldly come, we receive three exhortations:

1. Draw near to God "with a true heart."  With:
   1. Hearts sprinkled
   2. Bodies washed

This true heart is real forgiveness.  It's having a renewed mind and a cleansed heart.  It's being perfected in Christ.  The person with a dark heart came to the temple with dead works to soothe their conscience.  No assurance comes from dead works.  A man could pretend to be self-righteous; a man could be very religious; a man might be very moral and upright in the world's eyes, but he would still have a dark heart until that heart is made true in Christ.   A heart that is sprinkled has been cleansed on the inside.  A body washed with pure water has been cleansed on the outside.  Just like the priest had to be cleansed to enter, those in Christ are now cleansed and able to enter.

Hebrews were tempted to pull away or run away from Christianity.  If they did, they would also walk away from whatever intimacy or closeness they had with the Lord.  They couldn't depart from Christ and maintain a relationship that was available because of Christ.  These Hebrews wore the label “Christian” but weren't drawing near the Lord.  There was no growth; they were, in fact, shying away from the Lord.  The writer is saying it is time for that to stop.  He is urging them to draw near; don't run away.  Come closer to the Lord.  It is open and available now.

This 'drawing near' and 'being cleansed' isn't a work of salvation.  This is what is to happen after salvation.  The Lord draws us near and cleans us up.  This is sanctification. It's growing in holiness.  We don't do the work. We just don't resist it or run from it.  We yield ourselves to God's direction and change in our lives.

2. Hold Fast the confession of our hope without wavering.

Again, this isn't about holding fast to our salvation as if we could accidentally let go of it. It's completely the opposite. God is faithful and can be counted on. We simply hold fast to our confession of faith. We can have confidence and boldness in it.

3. Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.

There is strength in numbers.   Discouragement can come to any of us at any time.  Our faith is a personal thing.  Our relationship with the Lord is personal.  The Holy Spirit is changing us on a personal level.  He is equipping us and calling us to good works.  Those things are essential.  But, know this: no man stands alone for long.  Any person separating themselves from the flock becomes a target for the wolves.  While our faith and walk are personal and all at different levels of maturity and sanctification, we are all on the road together.  We run alongside each other.  When one is injured, we carry them along.  When one is discouraged, we offer encouragement.  We urge them along until they are better.  You get the feeling this was missing from the lives of these Hebrews.

That's why it is important for us.  We don't want to end up discouraged, confused, and pulling away from Jesus like them.  One day, you will have doubts, feel lost, and wonder where God is and where you are.  If you are in fellowship with other believers, someone can put their arm around you and say, "Walk this way, brother. Come with me, sister.  We'll walk together. I'll show you the way.”

This stirs up the love and good works among us.  And it needs to, as the end of verse 25 says, so much more as you see the day approaching.  As the day of the second coming draws near, this assembly of the saints becomes more important.  The church will be a haven for those seeking Him in a dark world that is hostile to the believer.

Hebrews 10:26-27

This willful sin is the rejection of the gift of grace.  This is broken down in verse 29 to be:

1. Trampling the Son underfoot.
2. Counting the blood of the covenant as common.
3. Insulting the work of the Spirit of God.

If you receive the knowledge of the truth and reject it, there is no sacrifice for sin. Jesus is The Way; if He is rejected, there is no other option. To reject the gift of grace is to expose yourself to the expectation of standing alone before a God who is angry over sin on judgment day.

Here is what happened to those rejecting Moses' law.  This is Deuternomoy 17.

“If there is found among you, within any of your gates which the LORD your God gives you, a man or a woman who has been wicked in the sight of the LORD your God, in transgressing His covenant, ³ who has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, either the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded, ⁴ and it is told you, and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an abomination has been committed in Israel, ⁵ then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has committed that wicked thing, and shall stone to death that man or woman with stones. ⁶ Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness. ⁷ The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from among you.

Our world and culture would say that was very intolerant.  Yet, we say that not based on God's perfect standard but on our own.  We are tolerant of sin because we are sinners.  God is in no way tolerant of sin.  Sin must be judged.  For those who utterly rejected God, judgment was swift and just.  In the same way, those who reject the knowledge of Christ have no other hope for salvation.   If a person was killed mercilessly for trampling the law, how much more punishment is called for those who trample the blood of the Son that was offered by grace?  How much worse can you imagine the punishment should be to those who trample an eternal gift from a High and holy God?  God went to great lengths to pursue us and to make a way for us.  How offensive it must be when a person thumbs their nose at him.

To reject Jesus Christ is to expose yourself fully to the wrath of God that is stored up for you.  It would be like walking into the Holy of Holies without the blood of Christ.  God said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, The LORD will judge His people” (Deut 32:35-36).  It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Hebrews 10:32-34

These Hebrew Christians had already suffered.  They could find encouragement in the fact that they had lived through worse.  They were previously made a spectacle and reproach was brought on them.  Their goods were plundered, so there was even a financial impact on them coming to Christ.  And they suffered through all this before with their eyes on heaven, knowing they had something better coming someday.  They had already come so far down a hard road, so why turn back?  I wonder if they were weary of the long, hard road they traveled.  I wonder if they simply felt they couldn't persevere through those hard times again. The text suggests they had not drawn near to Christ, and they had not assembled as saints pressing each other onward.

The endurance they previously possessed was a testimony to their belief and strength of faith.  It also stood as an altar they needed to look back to.  As for where they stood at that time, the writer noted they needed some of that same endurance. 

We each have a need for endurance.  We must enter boldly in by Jesus Christ.  We should continually draw near to Him.  We are cleansed and sanctified.  And all along the way, we hold fast with an unwavering commitment.  A clear understanding of the superiority of Christ will build up and strengthen your commitment.  If we are weak from the affliction or persecution, the right response isn't to pull away from the Lord.  The response is to draw near and pursue that which is superior.  Chase the lord. Hold fast. Run with perseverance to Him.  Our commitment will be tested, and that's why we need endurance.  We have to continue to the end.  And we are to travel that road together.

Hebrews 10:37-39

The encouragement is to press on by faith, not pull back into apostasy.  The faith it takes to stand your ground and hold on will be richly rewarded.  He is coming!!  It's closer today than it was yesterday.  It might be today.  The just will live by faith, knowing that no matter how long it seems, it is just a short while.  In the end, there are only two types of people: the ones who shrink back and are destroyed and those who believe to the end, to the saving of their souls. 

© 2011 Doug Ford, Updated and revised 2019,2024