seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Hebrews 10:1 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. 4 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings
you were not pleased.
7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
I have come to do your will, my God.’”[a]
but a body you prepared for me;
6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings
you were not pleased.
7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
I have come to do your will, my God.’”[a]
8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:
16 “This is the covenant I will make with them
after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds.”[b]
after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds.”[b]
17 Then he adds:
“Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more.”[c]
I will remember no more.”[c]
18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[d] and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”[e] 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. 33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34 You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. 35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For,
38 And,
“But my righteous[g] one will live by faith.
And I take no pleasure
in the one who shrinks back.”[h]
And I take no pleasure
in the one who shrinks back.”[h]
39 But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.
a. Hebrews 10:7 Psalm 40:6-8 (see Septuagint)
b. Hebrews 10:16 Jer. 31:33
c. Hebrews 10:17 Jer. 31:34
d. Hebrews 10:30 Deut. 32:35
e. Hebrews 10:30 Deut. 32:36; Psalm 135:14
f. Hebrews 10:37 Isaiah 26:20; Hab. 2:3
g. Hebrews 10:38 Some early manuscripts But the righteous
h. Hebrews 10:38 Hab. 2:4 (see Septuagint)
This is from the easy English site.
The ‘law’ here means the whole of the old religion of the Jews. That was no more than a shadow of the real religion that was to come. This is not to say that the old religion was of no value. In all its parts it pointed to what was to come. By it the people could understand that God was holy. It told them that people could not come to a holy God with their sins. There were sacrifices offered for sins, but these could not take them away. They could not make people clean in the sight of God. People still could not come directly to God by means of the sacrifice of animals.
If a sacrificing of animals could have removed sins, no other sacrifice would have been necessary. The fact also that there were so many sacrifices shows that they were not sufficient. They could not remove sins or free the conscience from guilty feelings.
Sacrifices during the year were a constant reminder to people of their sins. The Bible often tell us to ‘remember’. The word means more than ‘call to mind’. It also means to take some action as a result. Sacrifices were to remind people not only to ask God to forgive their sins. They also reminded people to repent, that is, to turn away from sins and to turn back to God. But the blood of goats or young cows could never do these things. Animals are different from *humans. Only the blood of a person would be sufficient. That person must have no sin of his own. That is why Jesus came to die for us. He is the only person who has ever lived without *sin.
God did not want the offering of gifts and sacrifices of the law. It is true that they were part of the old agreement. But they did not please him. God made a new agreement. By it, Jesus came to be the one perfect sacrifice that would please God. When Jesus died, God put an end to the old law of sacrifices. He replaced the old agreement (the law of Moses) with the new agreement (trust in Jesus).
Jesus came to carry out God’s new plan to make us holy. When Jesus died, he had done all that God required. That one death is enough for all people and for all time. Jesus will never have to die again.
We can now come to God. The way in is by Jesus, for he is like the curtain in the special tent. We have to come with sincere hearts. The heart here means the real person as we are on the inside. We have to be right with God and be pure as we come to him. This can only be true of us as we put our trust in Jesus and in what he has done for us. We must know that Jesus has washed us clean from all our sins. The washing of the body with pure water on the outside is to be the sign that we are clean on the inside.
Some Christians had stopped coming together with the rest. This was not good for them. It is hard for us to be strong on our own without the help and support of other Christians. When we come to Jesus, we should join the church and meet with other Christians. We need to help each other in our Christian belief and in how we live as Christians. We should encourage each other all the more as the day approaches when Jesus comes back again (see verse 37).
There are people who once accepted what God had done for them in Jesus. They knew that it was true. But now they have decided to turn away from Jesus. They no longer accept what he did for them by his death. For them, there is no more a sacrifice for sin. They have refused the one way that God has given to us. They still have their sins. God will judge all sin. Those who have put their trust in Jesus know that he has taken away their sins. Sin makes God angry. His terrible anger should make us afraid, for it is awful. It is like a fierce fire that will destroy all his enemies. Those who have known the truth, but now refuse it, are his enemies.
If someone turns away from Jesus on purpose, they are guilty of three things:
· It is as if they walk upon the Son of God. It is to deny Jesus who is the same as God.
· It is to count as nothing the blood of Jesus. The death of Jesus is the foundation of the new agreement. This then is to show no respect for the love of God.
· It is to insult the Holy Spirit of God.
The writer is sure that his readers would not go back from their belief in Jesus. He asks them to remember the early days, when they had first come to Christ. The truth of God was to them like a light. It shone into their hearts and minds and changed them. Then they had to suffer a lot because they were Christians. It was a struggle between them and those who fought against them. They were strong in their faith and did not fail.
The writer now makes clear that those who really trust Jesus, do not turn back. People who turn back from Jesus will have to face the judgement of God. All who maintain a bold trust in Jesus will be safe from that judgement. They will gain God’s promised life.
For several chapters the author of this book has been explaining why the descendants of Jacob [Israel] should hang in there. Those men thought that Jesus was coming right back. They thought He was going to get a huge army and come back for them. They left their jobs, their girlfriends, they put off wedding plans... they sharpened their swords.... they were ready for war. When Jesus didn't come back in the "allotted" time... they got tired of waiting... they figured they made a big mistake.... they told themselves that Jesus wasn't the man. They started to go back to the Temple... sacrificing animals..... and the author of Hebrews is making it quite plain they are insulting the One True Living God. They were snubbing the mission that brought Jesus to earth as a human in the first place.
God originally wanted humans to be smart enough to carry on a conversation. God originally created humans so they could decide which side of an argument was proper to uphold..... and then those stupid humans chose to sin. They did the one thing God told them not to do.... they had to figure it out... and when they figured out that they were naked.... God knew they had already been up to no good.
Hubby and I watch the "Laff" channel some times. One of the funny videos they showed was when granddad gave two little boys a penthouse type magazine. The boys looked to be like 7 and 8.... you know... young kids but not toddlers..... the boys giggled innocently and then they decided to kiss the picture.... now who taught them that???? But they were quite innocent in manner.... and then mom walked in.... and they acted as though they knew they were wrong.... like they had been caught with their hand in a cookie jar.
So when humans figured out they were naked.... God had to clothe them so they could go about life not worrying over nakedness. God had to kill an animal to make something to cover their nakedness. And then.... many many many many generations later.... God still couldn't get over having to kill one of His animals so He taught them to give up their favorite most perfect animal... watch it be sacrificed.... to remind them that sin has consequence and God is still angry over having to kill all those animals so humans can avoid being naked. But God wasn't happy with that situation.... that stinky bloody altar was annoying... and humans had figured out how to turn the sacrifice to God into a money making venture.... so they could collect more coins to worship.... so.... as planned all along.... Jesus came to earth.... as a human... proved that humans can live without giving in to temptations and He became the last Sacrifice on the matter.
Here's how I figure the decision for Jesus to come to earth as a sacrifice went down.... God said... "In the future, when I ask these stupid humans why they had to do what they did.... they will say 'but Lord you don't understand temptation' or they will say 'but Lord you're the one that gave us unquenchable lust in the first place'.' Jesus answered.... "Well then I'll go to earth and show them they are dead wrong. We didn't create a temptation they cannot resist. I'll give myself as the final sacrifice and that will be that". To which God replied "you know they won't all understand". To which Jesus said "yeah we know.... some are just too stubborn to stick.... but we have time."
Some of those Hebrews gave up and went back to the Temple and the useless sacrifices. God knew they would. Jesus knew they would. God sent His son anyway.... and Jesus agreed to come to earth and go through the Cross and the Tomb for them. Jesus proved stupid humans can resist temptation. God knew they would "decide" they didn't want to behave. Then the blame for sin was shifted right back to those stupid humans. Jesus told them why He came. Jesus told them He would be back to finish up with Satan.
Those priests at the Temple must have been thrilled to see their money flow restored. After all, the priests at the Temple didn't work outside the Temple... the Temple was their bread and butter.... these priests were the first preaching to the paycheck and the free housing.... when they saw the people giving up and coming back... they were all to happy to let them back in.... their stock pots were full again..... they could go back to teaching exclusiveness.... choseness....
The author of this letter to the Christian Hebrews was telling them.... if you go back to the Temple and start sacrificing animals again... you are smacking Jesus the Messiah across the face... and God does not want anyone else beating on His Son.
This was not just backsliding.... this was just plain out deciding Jesus was lying. Stupid ignorant humans were snubbing Jesus the Messiah by calling Him and His Mission on earth a lie.
If you call Jesus a liar..... God will be the one that judges you..... just that simple....
