Hebrews 9

1 Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.

     The first covenant was primarily aligned with physical considerations (see note for Heb 8:6). It had an earthly priesthood, a worldly sanctuary with physical furniture, and ceremonial rites which assisted Mankind to approach God. The second covenant intends to affect and govern the inner parts of man – his heart, soul and mind (Heb 8:10-11) by way of communion with the true tabernacle in heaven (Heb 8:1-2). The present chapter continues to prove that the Old Covenant which God made with Israel has been upgraded and replaced by a New Covenant.

     While the New is a better covenant, the Apostle always speaks reverently of the Old in this book. Not once does he imply that the Old Covenant was invalid, fake, erroneous or even unnecessary. He says it had a divine service, for it came to Moses by the hand of God, every part being carefully signified beforehand by the Holy Spirit (Heb 8:5; 9:8). The change to a new covenant was foretold in the Jewish Scriptures, but most of the Jews preferred the old wine (Mat 9:17; Luke 5:36-39).      

     According to Clarke, worldly (kosmikos) means “elegant, ornate, splendid, embellished, adorned.” Others understand it to mean “pertaining to this earth.” The same Greek word is found in Titus 2:12, where it carries the sense of “corrupt.” Since Paul is comparing the Jewish tabernacle with the heavenly tabernacle, it would seem that he intends to indicate that it was earthly, temporary and belonging to this fallen world. The heavenly tabernacle, on the other hand, is celestial, eternal, unchangeable, spiritual and perfectly pure.

2 For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary. 3 And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;

     The Old Covenant types and shadows in the book of Hebrews are generally drawn from Moses’ tabernacle (skene) instead of Solomon’s temple. While the two buildings served the same function, the tabernacle came first and served as the construction model for the temple. It is therefore proper that the tabernacle serve as the typological model, for God designed the tabernacle Himself and gave careful instructions to Moses how to build it. The Temple, although patterned according to the Tabernacle, was much larger, more elaborate and made of solid materials. The books of Moses describe the designs of the tabernacle in great detail and also explain the building process and materials. There does not appear to be any significant typological differences between the tabernacle and the temple. 

     The Tabernacle of witness (see Acts 7:44) was rectangular shaped (10 cubits wide by 30 cubits long by 10 cubits high) and divided into two rooms, which are here called tabernacles. The twenty-cubits long first tabernacle (Heb 9:6) was known as the Holy Place, where the priests ministered daily – offering sacrifices and incense, and keeping the candlestick and shewbread. The second tabernacle (Heb 9:7), or Holy of Holies, was formed by the back ten cubits of the Tabernacle edifice. Only the High Priest was allowed to enter it, and only on the sacred Day of Atonement. The two tabernacles were separated by the second veil (see Ex 26:31-33). The first veil separated the Holy Place from the court and served as the only entrance into the Tabernacle building (Ex 26:36-37). The rending of the second veil at the death of Christ (Mat 27:51) made the two tabernacles suddenly one, and typologically brought the emblems of the first tabernacle into the presence of God within the second tabernacle. There were only three pieces of furniture in the first tabernacle: the candlestick, the table of shewbread and the altar of incense.

     The candlestick (luchnia) is mis-named, being in actuality an ornate lamp which burned a special oil that provided the only light in the window-less Holy Place. It was made from one solid piece of beaten gold which branched into seven individual flames. One of the important ministries of the priests was to tend this lamp at the beginning and end of each day (the Jewish day began at sundown). All night and all day, the lampstand was to burn continually without the vail (Lev 24:2-4; Ex 27:20-21). Typologically, the lampstand represents the presence and work of the Holy Spirit within the Church and the believer. Oil is a well-known symbol of the Holy Ghost. Solomon’s Temple was 20×60 cubits in size and had ten lampstands in the Holy Place which were lit in the evening and extinguished in the morning. The second temple returned to the Mosaic example of just one lampstand (2Chr 4:7).

     The second piece of furniture in the Holy Place was a golden table upon which were laid twelve loaves of shewbread, (prothesis ton arton) one for each Israelite tribe. Twelve is the number of God’s elect, and the bread is a type of the Word of God. Every week the priests were required to change the shewbread for twelve fresh loaves.

     The third and last piece of furniture in the Holy Place was the Golden Altar of Incense, which is not named in verse two, but is recognized in verse four as the golden censer. Each day the priests would offer up a special incense on the golden altar and its sweet-smelling savor would pass through the second veil into the Holy of Holies and unto the Ark of the Covenant. The incense represents the prayers of the saints ascending to the throne of God (Rev 8:3-4).

     The first tabernacle is called the sanctuary (agia) and the second tabernacle is called the Holiest of all (agia agion). The KJV does not take into account the context in translating these Greek words, nor their usage in the Septuagint. Read instead, “The first tabernacle is called the Holy Place and the second tabernacle is called the Holy of Holies.” See note for Heb 8:2.

4 Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; 5 And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.

     The Holy of Holies formed the back third of the Tabernacle, a perfect cube of 10 cubits in each dimension. It contained the most sacred piece of furniture in the history of Mankind – the Ark of the Covenant (see Ex 25:10-22; 37:1-9). An intricate type of the tri-une God, the Ark of the Covenant was made of three individual parts that fit together as one piece. The base was a wooden chest entirely overlaid with gold which symbolically typifies God the Son. The wood typifies His humanity, the gold His divinity. God told Moses to make the ark of shittim wood, which the Septuagint calls “incorruptible wood” because it would not rot. Placed upon the open chest was a golden lid called the Mercy Seat. It is a type of God the Father. Above the Mercy Seat and on both ends of it were two angelic cherubs with outspread wings – a type of the Holy Spirit (Ex 25:17-22). The Mercy Seat and the Cherubim were formed out of one piece of solid gold (no wood) and the whole of it was beaten into shape by expert craftsmen that God Himself empowered (Ex 31:1-5).

     During the period that the Tabernacle was in use, the chest of the Ark of the Covenant contained a golden pot of manna (Ex 16:33-34), Aaron’s rod (Num 17:10) and the two stone tables of the covenant (Ex 25:16; Deut 10:1-5). By the time Solomon built the Temple, it appears that only the stone tables remained (1Kings 8:9). Manna is a symbol of the Word of God, while Aaron’s budded rod is a symbol of Christ, who rules the nations with a rod of iron. The two stone tables represent the two covenants.

     Verse four says the Holy of Holies had the golden censer, yet according to the Old Testament it contained only the Ark of the Covenant. Apparently the Apostle is referring to the golden altar of incense in the Holy Place (see v2). The two Greek words are quite similar: censer – thumiasterion, and altar – thusiasterion (study Luke 1:9-11; 2Chr 26:16-19). The reality is that God told Moses to place the golden altar (thusiasterion; Ex 39:38; 2Chr 4:19; Rev 8:3) right in front of the Ark of the Covenant (Ex 40:5), but the two were physically separated by the second veil (Ex 30:6). The link is more than simple location; the golden altar was designed to serve the Ark of the Covenant. Daily the priests would burn incense upon it (Ex 30:7) and the sweet smell was intended to pass through the veil and enter the Holy of Holies. And on the yearly ritual of the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would take incense from the golden thusiasterion and carry it into the Holy of Holies using a golden thumiasterion. 

     So the Apostle is not contradicting the location of the golden altar, but affirming that its service belonged to the Holy of Holies (read 1Kings 6:22 in the YLT, NIV). The description of the Atonement Ceremony confirms this fact: And (the High Priest) shall take a censer (thumiasterion-LXX) full of burning coals of fire from off the altar (thusiasterion-LXX), and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail…that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the Testimony  (Lev 16:12-13). We are amazed at the profound symbolism of this yearly ceremony to the real Atonement of Christ for the sins of the world before the heavenly Father. For clearly, the topic of the present passage revolves around that most solemn of all Jewish rites: the Day of Atonement (see Heb 9:7). On this day, the Holy of Holies literally had the golden censer.

     The typological meaning of the golden altar and censer on the Day of Atonement relates to the intercessory prayer and work of Christ before God in atoning for our sins (Heb 5:7). Having now entered within the vail with both incense and blood, Christ our High Priest stands before the heavenly Altar ministering for the saints forever (Rev 8:3-4). Solomon’s Temple had doors (1Kings 6:31-35) instead of vails, but according to Josephus the second temple returned to the tabernacle’s pattern of vails.  

     The word for mercyseat is hilasterion, which is sometimes translated “propitiation” (see my notes for Rom 3:25). The Mercyseat is a type of God the Father, the righteous Judge of all the earth. The High Priest was commanded to sprinkle blood on the Mercyseat.

6 Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. 7 But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: 8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:

     The priests would enter the first tabernacle (the Holy Place) every day to minister the holy things commanded by the Law, but to enter the second tabernacle (the Holy of Holies) meant certain death. The type the Spirit is signifying is this: under the Old Covenant, the way into the Holy of Holies (God’s presence) was not available. There could be no intimate communion between God and Man as long as the first tabernacle was yet standing. On account of Sin, there was a terrible, uncrossable gulf between God and Man. However, when Christ died, the real blood that the Covenant required was finally sprinkled upon the Mercyseat and the way to full communion was suddenly opened up forever (Heb 10:19-22).

     The fulfillment of this prophetic type was dramatically confirmed when the hand of God rent the heavy second veil of the Temple from top to bottom at the very moment that Jesus cried out with a loud voice and yielded up the ghost (Mat 27:50-51). Suddenly the priests within the first tabernacle could gaze right into the Holy of Holies and see the things that were until then unlawful for any man to behold except the High Priest. At that moment the two tabernacles physically became one; spiritually, the Old Covenant ended and the New began. Yet, the full Scriptural picture shows that the New did not invalidate the Old but engulfed and fulfilled it (Mat 5:17). The words of the prophet suddenly came true: The Lord hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man (Jer 31:22). The New Covenant Church of Jesus Christ is often symbolized by a woman.

     The Day of Atonement was the most sacred within the Judaic Law, although the Feast of the Passover came close. In fact, the two ceremonies are typologically related even though they were separated by three months on the Jewish religious calendar. The Passover typifies the blood of Christ shed for the sins of the world from Man’s perspective, while the Day of Atonement typifies the same event from Heaven’s perspective. The Passover was a rough, simple ceremony that took place at home in each family; the Day of Atonement was an elaborate ceremony that the High Priest performed out of public sight in the Temple. The Passover exemplifies the shed blood of Christ appropriated by Man at salvation, but the Day of Atonement exemplifies the blood accepted by God in heaven which now allows the Christian to enter into everlasting life. Appropriately then, the Passover took place at the first of the three obligatory gatherings of people to the Temple and the Day of Atonement took place at the last gathering. It followed immediately after the Feast of Trumpets, which symbolizes the Second Coming of Christ.

     On the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would take off his priestly regalia and enter the Holy of Holies with blood from the brazen Altar in front of the tabernacle and incense from the golden Altar in the Holy Place. He would sprinkle the blood upon the Mercyseat and cause the cloud of incense to cover it. This corresponds typologically to Jesus Christ sprinkling His own blood upon the Mercyseat in the Holy of Holies, which the Father accepted as payment to redeem Man from his sins. The transaction took place immediately after Christ’s death and forty days later He ascended into the heavenly temple where He ministers on our behalf before God forever. A further detail makes this even more plain. Jesus’ flesh is like a veil (Heb 10:20); when it was broken the two tabernacles became one. The way into the presence of God was made manifest. Following are more details of the ceremony upon the Day of Atonement (Lev 16:1-34; 23:26-32).

9 Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; 10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.

     Types and shadows are not happy coincidences. They were carefully designed by God long centuries before the anti-types, or realities, came to be. In a variety of ways these figures (parabole) contain hidden details of the form and fiber of the New Covenant that God had planned before the World began. Accordingly, Jesus said He had come to fulfill the Law (Mat 5:17). Evidences of the Creation are found in nature, but evidences of the Atonement are found in the Old Testament. The priests and prophets dutifully recorded the words of God, but without fully understanding what they wrote (1Pet 1:10-12). Today, we are privileged with greater knowledge of the breadth, length, depth and height of God’s great plan.

     My grandfather, who taught types and shadows for many years, said that the Scriptures had multiple layers of meaning. Deeper study would reveal new types with beautiful detail and he would be so excited to see them. Like a man digging for treasure, each push of the spade brought new jewels to the surface. Jesus made a similar comparison: Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the Kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old (Mat 13:52). We hold in our hands a treasure book filled with great mines of gold and silver, but also hidden nuggets of precious stones of beautiful shapes and colors.

     In present-day Christianity “plain and simple” Scripture reading is preferred to treasure-seeking. Some barely acknowledge the existence of types and shadows in the Scriptures. Perhaps the notion that “literal” is superior to “figurative” has also contributed to the steep decline in Old Testament typology. Why, we ask them, did God command the hundreds of meticulous and difficult ceremonies and laws? Was there really no deeper purpose? I see the finger of God everywhere in the Old Testament, weaving into its histories and rules the doctrines and truths of God and salvation. These types and shadows are especially helpful to better comprehend spiritual realities which stretch the human mind. For that reason Jesus spoke in parables and highly figurative language. Man is able to more easily understand spiritual things by relating them to physical, concrete objects. Types and shadows do not stand on their own; they are fulfilled by New Testament truths. 

     The Law required its constituents to take to the Temple, from their own store, specific gifts (doron) and sacrifices (thusia) and give them over to the priests as free-will offerings in atonement for their sins. In reality though, these sacrifices did not make the offerant perfect (teleiosai) because they could not take away Mankind’s sin. In the final analysis, guilt is not a feeling but a condition. The feelings of guilt might be relieved by performing the services required by the Law while in truth the guilt of sin was not taken away. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins (Heb 10:4). Instead, those carnal ordinances were imposed as an interim arrangement – Man’s sins might be covered until the sacrifice of Christ was offered (Heb 9:15). In other words, the doers of the Law were indeed justified by keeping it (Rom 2:13), but not until the real Sacrifice was completed. To confirm the fulfillment of this truth, the graves of the Old Testament saints were opened at the time of Christ’s death (Mat 27:52-53).   

     Until the time of reformation. The Law required the people of Israel to come from every corner of the nation unto Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, for the lamb must be slain in the Temple. All of the important sacrifices and festivals were likewise under strict injunction to be observed only in the city of Jerusalem at Jehovah’s Temple. Thus, when the time of reformation came and the two tabernacles suddenly became one, the entire Old Covenant came to an end; it was fulfilled and completed, encompassed by the New Covenant. Since the sacrifices and festivals of the Old required the Temple, it was necessary that it be destroyed. The Law cannot lawfully continue without the Temple.

     In a memorable, history-defining stroke, God brought the Roman Empire to crush the unbelieving Jews and their then-void Temple. Herod’s tremendous renovation was scarcely completed when that beautiful symbol of God’s choice of the Jewish nation was burned to the ground and its rubble so scattered that not one stone was not left upon another (Mat 24:2). The last chapter of Daniel prophesies of this event which would scatter the power of the holy people (Dan 12:7).

     Perhaps even more striking is how God has kept the Jewish temple from being rebuilt. For two millennia the orthodox Jews have prayed for a new, third Temple to be built upon the sacred temple site, where tradition says that Abraham bound Isaac and which David later bought for fifty pieces of silver. In fact, only a few decades after it was destroyed in A.D. 70, the Roman emperor Hadrian authorized its reconstruction, but then changed his mind and forced the workers to stop. Two centuries later, Julian the Apostate again began to rebuild the Temple and apparently spent a good deal of money. However, the Roman historian Marcellinus says that he too had to give up, this time because “fearful balls of fire” kept breaking out at its foundation, and “the workmen, after repeated scorchings, could approach no more.” The untimely death of Julian conclusively ended the rebuilding project.

     A couple smaller attempts were made after Julian, but then in the seventh century a decisive blow ended all future reconstruction efforts. Mohammed, a false prophet of terrible consequence, built a huge, (un)holy shrine on the exact site of the Temple. It stands there to this day, defying all who would rebuild. The hand of God in this event could not be more evident. Today, Jews continue to pray for a new temple at the western wall, sometimes called “the wailing wall,” because they are not allowed to pray upon the temple mount itself.

11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

     Christ, the perfect High Priest (Heb 7:26), has a perfect tabernacle not made with hands. This is the true tabernacle (Heb 8:2), built by God in heaven, which is to say that it is not even of this building (ktisis). The Greek word is typically translated, “creation” or “creature” in reference to the present universe that God has created. The true, perfect heavenly Temple stands in contrast to the now-destroyed worldly sanctuary of Moses (Heb 9:1). Perhaps the tabernacle (skene) refers to the person of Jesus Christ. See 2Cor 5:1.

     Jesus has entered into the holy place of heaven with His own blood an will stay there forever, having obtained eternal redemption. In my judgment, the better translation of τα αγια is, “the Holy of Holies.” That is the meaning of the Greek word in Hebrews 9:24-25 (see note for Heb 8:2). The Apostle seems to stress that Jesus entered just once into the Holy of Holies for the sake of the Jews (Heb 7:27). What a powerful sign to them (and us) that the Jewish High Priest was only a type of the true, and the Tabernacle too was just a type of the true, as also the blood of goats and calves.   

13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

     We have been made to see that Christ’s priesthood is far superior to that of Aaron. We have come to know that the heavenly tabernacle is much greater than its earthly example under Moses. Now the Apostle shows that the sacrifices of the New reign supreme over the carnal commandments and blood offerings of the Old. Technically, there was no forgiveness for willful sin under the Law; the sacrifices and offerings were for sins committed in ignorance and for errors in judgment. To sin willfully against the Ten Commandments was unforgivable. The penalty for breaking the first commandment was death (Lev 24:16); for breaking the second, death (Deut 17:3-5); for murder, death (Ex 21:12), for breaking the Sabbath, death (Ex 31:15), for adultery, death (Lev 20:10). In practice, those penalties were often not enforced, but the overwhelming advantage of the New Covenant is that all sins are forgivable (Mat 12:31).

     Verse fourteen shows that the whole Godhead worked together in effecting the redemption of Mankind from his sins: by the eternal Spirit the blood of Christ was offered to God. This is power to the max! The old sacrifices could not make the conscience perfect (Heb 9:9), but the new ones can purge it spotlessly clean. Mankind may now approach God, for he is finally able to be absolutely justified, in other words, truly made holy. The blots of those sins that before were just covered have now been taken away. Now the way into the Holy of Holies is made evident and intimate communion can begin. This was God’s purpose for creating Man in the beginning. For our thoughts on dead works, see the note for Hebrews 6:1.

     The conscience (suneidesis) refers to Mankind’s unique mental capability of perceiving the difference between right and wrong. God has pre-installed in every human mind a set of “rules.” See my notes for Rom 2:15 and 1Cor 8:7.

15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. 16 For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 17 For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.

     The previous verse declared that the blood of Christ offered to God could purge a man’s conscience. For this cause, the Apostle says, Jesus is the mediator (mesites) of the New Covenant (diatheke). A mediator is someone or something that works to reconcile a schism between parties (see note Heb 8:6). And a key theme in Hebrews is that Jesus has made it possible for Man to draw nigh unto God (Heb 7:19). He has opened up the way into the Holy of Holies (v12). This He accomplished by means of death – His own – which put into force the new covenant.   

     Our understanding of this passage depends heavily upon the meaning and translation of the Greek word diatheke, rendered testament in the KJV/NIV and covenant in the YLT/NASB. A testament implies a legal will or testimony. However, that idea is completely foreign to the use of diatheke in the Greek Scriptures, where it is found hundreds of times in reference to a covenant or agreement. It is perplexing, therefore, that most English translations lead one to believe that the Apostle is speaking about a living will or last testament. A promise requires no action by the other party but a covenant does.

     There are crucial arguments against reading this passage as referring to a living will. First, the mediator of a will cannot be also the donor, for his job is to reconcile two parties (see my note for Gal 3:19-20). Second, a will is not executed until the death of the donor, upon which all his possessions and properties are transferred to the named recipient of the will. Yet, how can this be applied to the death of Jesus? What properties and possessions were transferred to Man? Third, Jesus did not remain in the grave, but rose from the dead and retains full possession of all that He ever had. The notion of Christ’s death acting as some kind of last will and testament does not fit the facts.

     On the other hand, if we read this passage using the normal meaning of diatheke, the picture is completely consistent with the rest of Hebrews. Many commentators have adopted this reading, such as Philip Mauro in “The Church, the churches, and the Kingdom” (see also Barnes for v16 and Clarke for v28). Here is how verses 16-17 should then read: “For where there is a covenant, it is necessary to exhibit the death of the appointed victim, because a covenant is confirmed over dead victims; the covenant is not valid while the covenant-victim is alive.”

     In other words, this passage relates to the ancient custom of confirming a covenant by the blood of an appointed covenant-victim. The covenants that God made in the Old Testament were often ratified with blood. Noah and Abraham, for instance, were commanded to kill a designated sacrifice-victim to formally ratify the covenant that God proposed (Gen 8:20; 15:9-10). Here the Apostle compares the ratification of the Mosaic covenant of blood to the ratification of Christ’s covenant. Both required the death and blood of a sacrifice-victim. In the case of the Old Covenant, it was the blood of bulls and goats (v13), but for the New Covenant, it was the blood of Christ (v14). The rest of these notes will expand upon this reading phrase by phrase.

     For this cause. Since Christ’s blood is able to actually cleanse the soul, it follows that He has mediated for us a new way into the presence of God. The gifts and sacrifices of the Old Covenant on the other hand, were provisional and could not resolve Mankind’s sin problem. Christ the Mediator has brought peace between God and Man by offering His blood for their cleansing. In effect, those of faith under the Old Covenant were not redeemed until the coming of Christ and the institution of the New Covenant (Heb 9:9; 10:1,4; 11:40; Rom 3:25). At the moment of His death, Jesus descended into Hades and carried the souls of the saved with Him to Paradise, where they await the resurrection of the body.

     He is the Mediator. The idea of Christ as our Mediator was introduced in the previous chapter (Heb 8:6; also Heb 7:22). He is shown to both the mediator of the New Testament and the Redeemer of those who lived under the First Testament. This fact is typologically presented by the two stone tables of testimony kept within the Ark of the Covenant (see Heb 9:4). By means of death, Jesus has made the promise of eternal inheritance a reality.  

     For the redemption. There were many laws for the redemption of property under the Old Covenant. To redeem was to formally liberate a particular possession or person from a debt by paying a set ransom price. One prominent example was the redemption of the firstborn, which is an intricate type of how Mankind was redeemed by Christ by means of death.

     They which are called, which refers to the saved under the New Covenant. The Holy Spirit calls all persons to repentance (Mat 9:13; 20:16; 2Pet 3:9), but those who respond affirmatively to His call are said to be called. This is the common meaning of kaleo / kletos  in the New Testament (Rom 1:6; 8:28; 1Cor 1:9; Eph 4:4; 1Tim 6:12; 2Th 2:14; 1Pet 5:10; Jude 1:1).

     For where a covenant (diatheke)is, there must also of necessity be the death of the covenant-victim (diathemenos). The underlined words come from the YLT. As we explained earlier, the covenants of blood that God proposed were confirmed upon the death of a duly appointed sacrifice victim. In the case of the New Covenant, God’s only Son was the appointed sacrifice that confirmed the covenant (Dan 9:27). The word diathemenos is not found elsewhere in the Greek Scriptures, but a closely related word, diatithemai, is translated “appointed” in Luke 22:29.            

     A covenant (diatheke) is of force over dead victims. The underlined words come from the YLT. The word “men,” was added by the KJV translators and does not appear in the Greek. The offering of a sacrifice put the covenant into force; it was of no strength at all while the covenant-victim liveth. The death of Christ put into effect the benefits and promises of the New Covenant.

18 Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. 19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,

     The Law, or first covenant, was established by the deaths of covenant-victims, oxen in this case, whose blood was collected in basons and sprinkled upon the altar and the people by halves after they had verbally agreed to keep the words of God (see Ex 24:4-8). It was a solemn “covenant of blood,” accepted and agreed to by both parties. This operation looked forward to the new covenant and the heavenly tabernacle being established by a more solemn death, the sacrifice of God’s only begotten Son (v23). The first covenant was confirmed by animal blood, but the everlasting covenant has been confirmed by the precious blood of Christ (1Pet 1:19; Rev 1:5; Col 1:14).

     The book of Exodus does not mention that Moses used water, and scarlet wool and hyssop when he read the words of God and sprinkled the people with blood (Ex 24:6-8). However, these three elements were employed in several of the most important ceremonies in the Law and particularly in the highly symbolic Red Heifer sacrifice mentioned in Heb 9:13. They are definitely appropriate in this picture, for they figured also in key events of the crucifixion. On that day, Jesus wore a scarlet robe (Mat 27:28) and they gave Him vinegar to drink using a branch of hyssop (John 19:29). And John testified that water flowed from Jesus’ dead body when the soldier pierced his side with a sword (John 19:34-35). These have profound typological meanings as I have shown in a separate article on the Red Heifer sacrifice.

     Here is the likely scene of Moses ratifying the covenant with the people at Sinai: After the young men of Israel had killed their sacrifice victims, Moses mingled the blood with water in basons. Then he made a sprinkling instrument out of a branch of hyssop wood and a piece of scarlet wool. With these he sprinkled the book of the covenant and all the people (Ex 24). Study the ceremonies for cleansing a leper (Lev 14) and purifying the unclean (Num 19).

     The parallel of sprinkling (rantizo) in the Old Covenant with baptism in the New Covenant is particularly evident in this passage. The two ceremonies not only have the same purpose, but the larger meanings and symbols are also similar. In the present passage, rantizo occurs 3 times in describing the Old Covenant, but later on it is used in allusion to baptism (Heb 10:22; 12:24, also 1Pet 1:2).

20 Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.

     This refers to Moses’ words in mediating the first covenant with the people at Mount Sinai, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words (Ex 24:8). And the night before His death, Jesus mediated the second covenant using similar words, This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins (Mat 26:28). The Apostle clearly has these words of Jesus in mind, for in the next couple of verses he speaks more of the blood and the remission of sins.

21 Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. 22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

     Many of the Law’s rituals and ceremonies required the shedding of blood (haima-tekchusias). This particular word construction does not appear elsewhere in the Greek Scriptures, which apparently makes a noun of the common word for “shed” (ekchuno). Usually the animal was killed and its blood collected at the brazen altar which stood before the first vail of the tabernacle. All of the bloodshed had one purpose – the remission (aphesis) of sins (see also Heb 10:17-18; Mat 26:28).

      Virtually all the articles of the tabernacle were sanctified for use by the ceremonial sprinkling of blood. For instance, Moses purified the brazen altar by killing a bullock and after dipping his finger in its blood, he touched the horns of the altar round about, and poured the blood at the bottom of the altar, and sanctified it, to make reconciliation upon it (Lev 8:14-15). Even Aaron, his sons and their holy garments had to be first sprinkled with blood (Lev 8:30). And every year upon the Day of Atonement, the Holy Place and the Tabernacle were sprinkled with blood to atone for the uncleanness and transgressions of the people (Lev 16:15-16).

23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

     The worldly sanctuary with its divine service (Heb 9:1) was designed by God as patterns of things in the heavens. Seeing that those patterns were purified (katharizo) by intricate ceremonies, blood-sheddings and ritual sprinklings, how much more should the true tabernacle in heaven have even better sacrifices. For Christ did not enter into the Holy of Holies in Jerusalem at His death, but into the true tabernacle, into heaven itself. This is a key part of the Apostle’s argument, which he has stated in various ways (see Heb 9:11).

     Figures of the true. Virtually everything in the OT covenant pre-figured a greater spiritual reality that would be revealed by the New Covenant. The priesthood, the sacrifices, the tabernacle, the feasts, the rituals, the materials used – all was minutely designed to a pattern that God had planned even before He created the world. These details can be studied to great benefit, increasing our knowledge and faith in God and His marvelous, everlasting Covenant.

25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; 26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

     Jesus does not enter into the Holy of Holies year after year, as the Jewish High Priest did, but entered once into the true Holy of Holies in heaven, there to stay forevermore. Unlike the OT High Priests, Christ did not present the blood of others for the sacrifice of sins, but by His own blood He entered in (Heb 9:12). Nor did He suffer often, as the sacrifice victims of the Old Covenant, but now once in the end of the world…to put away (athetasin) sin. This word means to annul, put away, reject (Heb 7:18; Gal 3:15).

     The Apostle says that Jesus came to be sacrificed in the end (sunteleia) of the world (aionon – the ages). Obviously, he does not refer to the end-time destruction of the universe, but to the final era of the world, sometimes called the Age of Grace because God’s favor has been abundantly poured out on all flesh (Acts 2:16-24). Notice that world is translated from two different Greek cognates, Since the foundation of the world (kosmos): but now once in the end of the world (aion), which compares well to Ephesians 1:10, That in the dispensation of the fulness of times (God) might gather together in one all things in Christ.

     The New Testament presents the Age of Grace as the final of three major dispensations in the plan of God for Mankind (see my note for Rev 1:3). Thus, in the introduction we read that God hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son (Heb 1:1-2). Since the time of the Apostles, we are living in the last era, for the new covenant is final and will never end. Likewise John, in his epistle, says, it is the last time (1John 2:18). And Peter, mirroring the words of verse 26, says that Jesus was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you (1Peter 1:20, see also Rom 9:28; Php 4:5).

27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

     The death of the body has been determined to end the human experience in the physical world. Spiritually speaking, every man also “dies” when he commits sin (Rom 7:9-11). God spoke of this death when He warned Adam about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die (Gen 2:17). While physical death also followed Adam’s sin, it resulted only because of his spiritual death by sin (see note Rev 20:6).

     But after this the Judgment. After the world has ended and every man has died, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad (2Cor 5:10). As Man dies once to await the Day of Judgment, so Christ died once to await the same Day. Yet, while Man must appear there in order to give account of himself to God (Rom 14:12; 1Pet 4:5), Jesus will appear to finalize the eternal salvation of all those who are faithfully waiting for Him (compare with 2Tim 4:8).

     The Apostle masterfully organizes these final verses into two parallels that demonstrate the divine authority and power of Jesus Christ. The first parallel contrasts the often entrances of the high priest in the Holy of Holies to the once appearing of Christ (also Heb 7:27). The second parallel compares the once to die appointment of Man with Christ being once offered – and after that, both will appear the second time at the Judgment.

     The last verse of this chapter is variously translated by English versions, but not so much as to change the general meaning. Here is a literal translation that better distinguishes the noun modifiers: “So also Christ once brought an offering for the many to bear sins; at a second, He without sin will show Himself to those waiting for salvation.” The verse is remarkably similar to Peter’s epistle, For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God (1Pet 3:18).

    The Greek word for offered (prosphero) is found 18 times in Hebrews, usually in the sense of bringing an offering to the Lord. Elsewhere in the New Testament it typically means to bring something or someone, with no connection to an offering. The Greek word for bear (anaphero) is found also in Isaiah’s famous prophecy of the Messiah: He shall bear their iniquities…He bare the sin of many (Is 53:11-12). Surprisingly though, it is used just once in this sense in the New Testament: Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree (1Pet 2:24). The Greek word for appear (ophthasomai) usually carries the idea of beholding something or someone with the eyes. The Greek word for look for Him (apekdechomai) is found only in the writings of Paul and often in this very connection with the Second Coming (Rom 8:19; 1Cor 1:7; Rom 8:23; Php 3:20; Rom 8:25; Gal 5:5). A closely related word (ekdechomai) is found in Heb 10:13).