seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Hebrews 9:1 Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. 2 A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the lampstand and the table with its consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place. 3 Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, 4 which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. 5 Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover. But we cannot discuss these things in detail now.
6 When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. 7 But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. 8 The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still functioning. 9 This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. 10 They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order.
11 But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here,[a] he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining[b] eternal redemption. 13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death,[c] so that we may serve the living God!
15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
16 In the case of a will,[d] it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, 17 because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. 18 This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. 19 When Moses had proclaimed every command of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. 20 He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.”[e] 21 In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. 22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
23 It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. 25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
a. Hebrews 9:11 Some early manuscripts are to come
b. Hebrews 9:12 Or blood, having obtained
c. Hebrews 9:14 Or from useless rituals
d. Hebrews 9:16 Same Greek word as covenant; also in verse 17
e. Hebrews 9:20 Exodus 24:8
This is from bible-studys.org.
(Verses 1-5), describe the contents of the two chambers of the Mosaic tabernacle. A problem occurs (in verse 4), in that the “golden censer” (altar of incense), was physically located in the outer first chamber, whereas the “Holiest of all,” or Holy of Holies (verse 3), contained only the “ark of the covenant”.
The author’s careful choice of the word “had” (note, by contrast, his earlier word wherein in verse 2), provides the latitude needed to express the altar’s liturgical function with the Holy of Holies despite its location in the outer Holy Place.
This altar was physically located in the Holy Place so that incense could be placed upon fresh coals morning and evening, yet it was located immediately in front of the Holy of Holies so that its fragrant cloud might enter the holy of Holies and cover the Ark of the Covenant (see Exodus 30:6; 40:5; Leviticus 16:12-13:l).
The smoke that went up from this golden censer was symbolic of the prayers of the saints. It was refueled twice a day, which means to me that we should pray a minimum of twice a day.
The priests entered the Holy Place daily to perform their interminable tasks. Morning and evening the lamps were trimmed, and the coals with incense were placed upon the golden altar. The showbread was replaced weekly. But the Holy of Holies was a closed chamber into which the high priest alone ventured one day a year, on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:5-34).
The conscience is a divinely given warning device that reacts to sin and produces accusation and guilt. That cannot be relieved apart from the work of Christ . At the time of salvation, it is quieted from its convicting ravings, but it is not deactivated. Rather, it continues its work, warning the believer about sin. Believers should seek a clear conscience.
The very reason Jesus did not come in Spirit alone, was so He might relate better to our problems in the flesh. The high priest (to be a good one), must be able to know and understand the problems of his people. Jesus, not only relates to us, but has prepared for our time of separation from this old tabernacle of flesh that we will discard at our death.
We have touched on this before, but it bears repeating. The only thing the blood of the animal could do was cover the sin. The blood of the perfect Lamb (Jesus Christ), wiped all of our sins away as if they had never been there.
Sin for the true believer died on the cross. We have been washed in His precious blood and made every bit whole (white as snow). Though our sins had been crimson red, now we are white as snow.
The Old Testament sacrifices might be compared to the writing of a check. The paper on which it is written is practically worthless. Yet it is used and accepted in a place of money, since it is backed by what has been deposited in the bank.
Christ’s death was deposited from the foundation of the world as that which backed the Old Testament sacrifices. With Christ’s death on the cross, the deposit was released and all the past checks were honored and paid.
The New Testament is actually the last will and testament of Jesus Christ. We are the inheritors of the things He has promised us in the will. A will is not activated until the one that drew it up dies. Now we can lay claim to our inheritance in Jesus Christ if we live up to the requirements of the will.
This sprinkling of the blood of the Tabernacle and the vessels, set them aside for this use only. The blood cleanses them from their world use, and makes them acceptable to God. There is a great deal about this very thing in Exodus and Leviticus.
The very reason that Moses was not allowed to go into the Promised Land was because he struck the Rock in the wilderness the second time. This Rock symbolized Jesus. You see Christ did not have to be crucified but once. His sacrifice was enough for everyone for all time.
I really believe that the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed because the people (even those proclaiming to be Christians), could not be stopped from sacrificing. Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice. It was almost as if they thought Jesus' sacrifice was not enough, when they did this. Jesus was the perfect Lamb sacrifice for all time for everyone who would believe.
This is from the easy English site.
All of us must die one day. The death of the body is not the end. After death we must all give an account of our lives before God. He will judge us and decide our future.
It was the same for Jesus. He came to this earth as a human being and died. But his death was different from ours, because he did not have to die, for he was perfect. He died as the sacrifice for sin. God put on Jesus all of our sins, and Jesus accepted the punishment for them all. He does not wait for the judgement of God. When he rose from the dead that was proof that he had satisfied God. It proved that his death had dealt with our sins. Jesus will come back again one day. He will not have to do anything more about sin, for he has already done that. He will come for those who trust him and are waiting for him. Then their salvation will be complete and they will go to be with the Lord, for always.
I googled dried blood... and I found...."Once dried, blood is odorless. Before it dries, odor can vary greatly depending on any infections or toxins it contains, like alcohol. "
When I think of the early temple.... with all the blood sacrifices.... I think of a slaughter house. That place stinks of blood... and let's face it.... those descendants of Jacob [Israel] offered up bloody offerings six days a week.... from sun up to sun down... that place must have stunk like crazy.... of old dead carcass.... On top of that... the descendants of Jacob [Israel] would have kept the stockyard full for all the sins they had to cover. So there was the methane smell that must have been quite nice to work with. Twice a day... a priest would put a fresh censor right outside the door of the Holy of Holies.... that's the one place the priests only went into once a year..... and it was coated with blood once a year.... the incense in the censor would have kept the stench of the methane and running blood down. Being a priest was a stinky job.... and being the Chief Priest.... was a dangerous job. Once a year they had to go in and wash the Holy of Holies in blood.... stinking thick gooey blood.... and if he did it wrong.... well they couldn't go in and get him... they had to drag him out by the rope around his waist.... they had to grab the priest by the tail of the rope and drag him out.... then the next guy up in the family of Levi had to get ritually clean and finish the job..... I bet I would have gone in with teeth chattering and knees knocking if that was me.
I always thought of the temple sacrifices as a big daily barbeque. First they would slaughter an animal and then they would part it out and put it over fire.... a barbeque.... but the blood all over everything.... well that might get the health department called out today.
They had to cover their sins constantly. They were humans.... they don't know how to listen to their conscience. The conscience is the Holy Spirit.... it talks to us... warns us when we are getting off path.... it warns us when temptation is getting too big. I figure it's the "instinct" required to openly carrying a human that has decision making abilities. It helps us figure out which idea is safe to carry out and which one we tried before and got our hands slapped. It's an upgrade we got when Jesus came.
Humans do stupid things. They make covenants with God and then walk out on them. They've been doing it since the beginning. While Moses was up on the mountain getting the operating instructions from God... humans were down in the valley smelting a calf made of gold to bow down to.
God used a conscience to guide us.... the Roman government used the cross to warn off bad behavior. The descendants of Jacob [Israel] used a blood soaked stinking altar to warn off bad behavior.
The priest here on earth had to go in and spiff up the Holy of Holies... to make it look and smell good enough for God.... but Jesus didn't have to spiff up His Temple.... The blood of the Son of God doesn't have to have an annual expiration date.
The blood Jesus offered up is good for eternity.... it never stinks and it covers perfectly and it never expires.
