A Study Of The Apostle Paul’s Letter To The Hebrews

1. Don’t fall away! Don’t Depart! Don’t neglect your salvation! Don’t cast away your confidence! Don’t harden your heart! Don’t drift away! AStudyOf TheApostlePaul’s LetterTo The Hebrews How can we neglect so greata salvation? ~ Hebrews 2:3

2. Hebrews: Christ Is Superior! Superior Person (1:1—4:13) Superior to Prophets (1:1-3) Superior to Angels (1:4—2:18) Superior to Moses (3:1-19) Superior to Joshua (4:1-13) Superior Priest (4:14—7:28) Superior to Aaron (4:14—6:12) Superior to Melchizedek (6:13—7:10) Superior to Levi (7:11-28)

3. Hebrews: Christ Is Superior! Superior Pact to Moses’ (8:1—10:18) Superior Promises (8:1-13) Superior Sanctuary (9:1-15) but… We’ll only get to verses 1-10 today. Superior Sacrifice (9:16-28) Superior Results (10:1-18) Superior Principle (Faith) to Moses’ (10:19—13:25) Superior Things (10:19-39) Superior Actions (11:1-40) Superior Relationship (12:1-29) Superior Way of Life (13:1-25)

4. After writing about Christ being a su-perior person and a superior priest in chapters 1—7, Paul began chapter 8 writing about Christ having a superior pact or covenant, a study that extends through 10:18.

5. Now, since Paul has shown in chapter 8 that Christ’s covenant is founded upon better promises than that of Moses, he proceeded in chapter 9 to show that Christ’s covenant also includes a better sanctuary than that of Aaron and his priestly lineage. So… Let’s begin today’s study with…  

6. Hebrews 9:1 Then indeed even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanc-tuary.

7. This refers to the rules and rites of worship tailored for divine service; some of these are talked about in verses 6-10. Then indeed even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanc-tuary.

8. This is from the Greek word kosmos andlikelyhasrefer- ence to another of its accepted mean-ings besides world and earth: here it probably refers to that which is orna-mental or beautiful due to its arrange-ment & orderliness. So…    Then indeed even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanc-tuary.

9. Here it could refer to the sanctuary as being decked out with the furniture used in worship to Yahweh. After all, Paul did go on in verses 2-5 to de-scribe the inside of this God-designed tabernacle (8:5). So…    Then indeed even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanc-tuary.

10. Keeping in mind that Paul was writing to Jewish Christians who still had some affinity to the Law, 9:1 fits perfectly between 8:13 and 9:11 when read as follows:Yes,you’reright:the firstcove-nant had rules of worship and a beauti-ful place of worship…. But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more per-fect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.

11. Hebrews 9:2 For a tabernacle was prepared: the firstpart,inwhich was the lamp-stand, the table, and the show-bread, which is called the sanc-tuary…

12. Paulbrought to mind the original tabernacle referred to in 8:5. (As we get into this, I must say with Paul [v. 5] that I won’t have time to deal with what every-thing symbolized for the New Testament times.) For a tabernacle was prepared: the firstpart,inwhich was the lamp-stand, the table, and the show-bread, which is called the sanc-tuary…

13. This was made up of seven oil-lamps; they were kept lighted all night, every night, from evening until morn-ing (Lev. 24:2-4). For a tabernacle was prepared: the firstpart,inwhich was the lamp-stand, the table, and the show-bread, which is called the sanc-tuary…

15. The bread was called this because the original terminology for it referred to… thebreadof thepre-sence, the presence of God, that is.   For a tabernacle was prepared: the firstpart,inwhich was the lamp-stand, the table, and the show-bread, which is called the sanc-tuary…

16. There were 12 un-leavened loaves of this bread—one for each tribe (like we have one for each con-gregation), and they were eaten by the priests every sab- bath day(Lev.24:5ff), just like we (priests today) eat our loaf of bread every Sunday. For a tabernacle was prepared: the firstpart,inwhich was the lamp-stand, the table, and the show-bread, which is called the sanc-tuary…

18. Sanctuary is from the term for holy, which is why we often hear the first room of the taber-nacle calledthe holyplace as opposed to the second part of the tabernacle calledthe most holy place. For a tabernacle was prepared: the firstpart,inwhich was the lamp-stand, the table, and the show-bread, which is called thesanc-tuary…

19. Hebrews 9:3 …and behind the second veil, the part of the taber-nacle which is called the holiest of all…

20. There were actually two veils (or doors, if you will): one on the east side exterior of the tabernacle to separate the outer court from the in-terior of the taber-nacle (Exo. 26:36-37)and one in the in-terior near the west side to separate the most holy place from the holy place(Exo.26:31-33). …and behind the second veil, the part of the taber-nacle which is called the holiest of all…

21. Exterior Veil

22. Interior Veil

23. There’s one impor-tant thing I need to point out concern-ing the holiest of all here: Unlike the holy place that was rectangular, the holy of holies was square. Now…  …and behind the second veil, the part of the taber-nacle which is called the holiest of all…

24. Notice what John said about the New Jerusalem: The city is laid out as a square…. Its length, breadth, & height are equal (Rev. 21:16); i.e., it’s also a perfect cube. Besides that… John further said, I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God…. And I heard a loud voice … saying, “Behold,the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His peo-ple, and God Himself will be with them and be their God” (Rev. 21:2-3). So… 

25. Since Paul associated the Old Covenant with Old Jerusalem and the New Cove-nant with New Jerusalem (Gal. 4:22-26), then we can conclude that in AD 70 (when Old Jerusalem was annihilated once and for all, taking all its leftovers with it) the coming of New Jerusalem arrived with the fullness of the New Covenant, bringing with it the restora-tionofGod’spresence(v.10&Acts3:19ff).

26. Hebrews 9:4 …which had the golden altar of in-cense 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… Exo. 16:32-33 Num. 17:1-10 Exo. 25:16

27. Actually, this altar was in the holy place (Exo. 30:6-8), not the most holy place. So why did Paul seemingly place it in the most holy place here? Because, although upon this altar in-cense was burned twice a day (Exo. 30: 7-8), that wasn’t its primary purpose.    …which had the golden altar of in-cense 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…

28. Its primary purpose was to provide burn-ing coals for the high priest to take into theholiestplaceand put on the mercy seat of the ark with incense on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:12f); this is why it was positioned immediately in front of the interior veil to the holiest of all. …which had the golden altar of in-cense 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…

30. Hebrews 9:5 …and above it were the cheru-bim of glory over-shadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

31. Cherubim is plural for cherub, a heav-enly or angelic crea-ture, depicted to us as a being made up of differing parts of various animals of Earth, even humans (cf. Eze. 1 w/ 10). …and above it were the cheru-bim of glory over-shadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

32. They’re of glory pro-bably because of their position by the place of God’s pre-sence or glory, then and now (cf. 1 Sam. 4:21-22). By the way …   …and above it were the cheru-bim of glory over-shadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

33. Aside from the fact that they’re describ- ed as looking slightly different (cf. Isa. 6 w/ Eze. 10), the only difference between cherubim and sera-phim seems to be primarilyintheiran-gelic rank. …and above it were the cheru-bim of glory over-shadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

34. The original word here is translated propitiation in Rom. 3:25 and refers to reconciliation by means of covering. …and above it were the cheru-bim of glory over-shadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

35. This ark-covering symbolized God’s throne where mercy is offered on the basis of satisfied justice. God once said to Moses about this ark & mercy seat, There I will meet you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony (Exo. 25:22), and this He did (Num. 7:89).

37. Another Rendition

38. An interesting side-point here is that when the high priest placed the blood on the mercy seat (Lev. 16:14), it por-trayed God as seeing only the blood sacrifice, not the broken covenant covered by the mercy seat; thisimplied that man wouldn’t andcouldn’t be saved by law.

39. Remember the time when God struck 50,000+ men dead for looking into the ark of the covenant (1 Sam. 6:19-20)? And remember in the Indiana Jones movie how everyone who looked into the ark there died as well? Why? Be-cause they had to remove the mercy seat in order to look in at the Law. So… The point seems very clear that God was saying, Apart from My mercy, the Law is death.

40. Hebrews 9:6 Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the taber-nacle, performing the services.

41. After Paul had dealt sufficiently with the tabernacle, he pro-ceeded in verses 6-10 to talk about some of the services performed in it and how that the new system is superior to the old. His main point here seems to have been to empha- size their inacces-sibility to the holy of holies. Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the taber-nacle, performing the services.

42. Since Paul was speaking about the first part of the tab-ernacle—theholy place, then the priests here were obviously the ordi-nary priests, not the high priests men-tioned in the next verse. Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the taber-nacle, performing the services.

43. This is a contrast word, meaning that while the high priest went into the most holy place twice one day a year, priests went into the holy place at least twice every day a year. Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the taber-nacle, performing the services.

45. Hebrews 9:7 But into the se-cond part the high priest went alone once a year, notwithoutblood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance…

46. Unlike the ordinary priests, it seems that the high priest could only enter the tabernacle one dayoftheyear—the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:2 & 34), the 10th of Tishri (Lev. 16:29, falling around our Oct. 1st); we may better recognize this day as Yom Kippur. But into the se-cond part the high priest went alone once a year, notwithoutblood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance…

47. On that day he en-tered the holiest placetwice: firstly with incense and bull’s blood for his sins (that which ourHigh Priest didn’t needtodo,7:26),then secondly with goat’s blood for the sins of the people. But into the se-cond part the high priest went alone once a year, notwithoutblood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance…

48. Holiest of All

49. There are three dif-ferent Greek terms translated as for: one that meant in order to (Acts 2:38), one that meant in placeof(1Cor.11:15), and this one that meant on behalf of. But into the se-cond part the high priest went alone once a year, notwithoutblood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance…

50. Although this is an accurate translation,I believe with others that these Jewish readers knew Paul was referring to all sin (except maybe the high-handed sins of Num. 15:30-31), in-cluding those com-mitted in ignorance. Why? Because…  But into the se-cond part the high priest went alone once a year, notwithoutblood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance…