I hope you all had a nice weekend and are ready for some work this week! We will finish the letter to the Hebrews this week and then we move to Colossians! This is a long chapter divided into three sections. Its not too tough to understand...compared to the last several!!
The first set of verses (1- 5) discuss the physical aspects of the tabernacle: it was a tent 45 feet long, 15 feet wide and 15 feet high; divided into two rooms, the first room (called the Holy Place or sanctuary) was about 30 feet long, the remaining room (The "Holiest Of All") was the inner sanctum and where the Ark of the Covenant was kept (the living space of God).
The two rooms were divided by a curtain/veil. In the sanctuary was the lampstand, the table with 12 loaves of bread (for the 12 tribes) and the incense.
Inside the Holiest of All was the ark of the covenant; approximately 4 feet long, 2 feet wide and 2 feet high, covered in gold; the ark of the covenant had rings attached so that poles could be used to carry it since nobody could physically touch the ark for fear of dying. Inside the ark was a golden pot that had manna, Aaron's rod, and the tablets of the covenant. Once a year, during the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) the High Priest would go into this holiest of all and sprinkle blood of the sacrifice on the ark.
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| Image of replica Ark of the Covenant (from "Holy Land Gifts") |
Think about the tabernacle. Now think about your church. Are there design similarities that have been carried through the ages?
The author then goes on to talk of the role of a tabernacle priest. They are to worship every day in the first room (which included tending the lampstand and replacing the bread with fresh loaves), but only once a year go into the Holiest of All. When they went into the Holiest of All, they had a rope tied around their waist (so if they died in there, they could be pulled out), they had bells on (so people could hear them moving, if the bells stopped making noise it was assumed that they were dead) and they had blood to sprinkle on the Ark for the Atonement of Israel. Access to God was severely limited and it wasn't for fellowship- it was for the atonement of sin. There was usually a large celebration when the high priest came out of the holiest of holy place, as he had been in the presence of God and survived. What does that say about the feeling toward God?
"But..." (v 11); I like these transitions. It is saying what we just talked about might have been good, however, I have something different (translated as better) that we need to talk about! The "more perfect tent" (v 11a) was Christ's body and it replaced the tabernacle/temple. And it wasn't made by people- it was made by God- so tat made it better than the original! The sacrifice that Christ made on the cross was the day Christ entered the holiest of holy places and used Christ's blood (not lamb, or goat, or cow blood) to "pay" for our atonement (v 12). The blood of Christ does so much more for us than does the blood of animals or ashes (vv 13-14). How much better is our life knowing that we have eternal forgiveness, not just periodic and temporary (remember, the high priest had to go in every year and renew the forgiveness)?
People sometimes ask why died Jesus have to die. The author answers this question in vv 16-17. In order for a will to be enacted (some translations use the word "testament" as in last will and testament), the person who writes the will has to die; for God to give us eternal forgiveness and salvation, God had to die- through Jesus the Christ. If Jesus didn't die- there would have been no Gospels; no covenant, no life as we know it. Clearly, death was necessary to the Old Covenant (vv 18- 22). Virtually every part of the sacrificial system under the Law of Moses was touched by blood in some way or another. There needs to be shedding of blood for the remission of sins. Modern people think that sin is remitted (forgiven) by time, by our good works, by our decent lives, or by simply death. But there is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood, and there is no perfect forgiveness without a perfect sacrifice. The shedding of Jesus' blood was God's answer to human sin. The perfect sanctuary (Christ) received and provided a perfect sacrifice.
The closing verses solidify all that has been said in this section. The tabernacle was the "copy" of heaven and it was run by imperfect people with imperfect sacrifices...but that was appropriate since it was only a copy. Once the real "tabernacle" came (Jesus), there needed to be a "real" sacrifice- Jesus' death on the cross was needed to fulfill the realness of God's covenant with humans. The real sacrifice had to happen only once (not yearly as in the past).
The final promise (v 28b) that the author reminds of is that Christ will come again- not for sacrifice but for our rescue from this world. How does that feel to you?
Some tough concepts but I think easier then the others. Chapter 10 is a continuation of this argument that the author is making (with many things repeated). Again, remember the point of Hebrews- written to Jews that were following Christ that had become disillusioned and are returning to Judaism. The author is arguing that Jesus is a much better offer than their "old" religion.
Enjoy the day! Be at peace.
Shalom+
Pastor Paul
Thank you very much, Pastor, for the answers to the questions I had of Chapter 8 - it was VERY helpful. I honestly did not realize that there were so many covenants. I think that would make a VERY interesting Bible Study. This Chapter seems to say that the new covenant is a "one time deal" IF Jesus had to die in order to "seal" the new covenant then I am thinking that there will not be another covenant. I mean, how many people will God send to suffer and die? And the point the author makes in Hebrew is that the sacrifice of Jesus' blood was so that a sacrifice would not need to be made again and again. And everything we have read has indicated that the return of Christ is only to judge us and call us all home. So reading this chapter it seems like there will not be a new covenant. I love the description of the original Tabernacle. I find it very interesting. And thank you for the extra information about what happened when the High Priest entered the Holy of Holiest. Does this mean that all over Israel, this was the ONLY place that worship happened? What did the other Jews do on the Sabbath? The comment you make about a large celebration after the High Priest came out of the HOly of Holiest makes me think we have really missed the boat in our celebration and thinking of God. Most Protestants don't even have a church service on Christmas unless it is on a Sunday. And if it is on a Sunday, a lot of people don't attend. In this Chapter there is a lot of mention about Judgement and Judgement Day. Is it time that we go from "all is wonderful and forgiven" to "lets remember that we WILL be judged" and how we are living? Is our life better knowing that we have eternal forgiveness? Or does it make us more careless? I don't know. Maybe we should have yearly forgiveness (not, obviously with a sacrifice) but so that we are more conscience about what we have done - and are doing. And don't we have to ASK for forgiveness before we are forgiven? Vs 28b - does he come to "rescue" us? Or to judge us and then give us salvation? As in the lambs will be on His right and the goats on his Left? Enjoy the day!!
ReplyDeleteThere are many covenants in the Hebrew Bible- i forgot the Adamic one too. Some are one sided, some are two sided, some are conditional, some not. It wold be a good study!
DeleteFrom the words of the author- it does seem lie this is a one and done final covenant. We only have this chance people!
Re: Temple/Tabernacle...worship happened all over, but there was only one place where God resided and that was the Ark of the Covenant in the Holiest of Holies, and that was only in the tabernacle or temple (eventually).
I agree that Christians have definitely missed the boat on the celebrations and joy of God. It is sad the way some clergy are treated these days; they in no way are like the high priest, but we do organize worship and teach like they did!
The yearly forgiveness you mention is somewhat the purpose of lent/holy week...a way for us to look back at our life and repent and decide to make a better effort.
Forgiveness is always there- we do have to acknowledge that though through our asking and our true repentance.
Good thoughts Donna!
This morning I caught up with the readings and read all your wonderful and interesting comments. As I was reading these I kept thinking as Donna stated so well. Is it time we go from “all is wonderful and forgiven” to let’s remember that we will be judged. What I have to keep reminding myself is that my faith came after this was all written. I have to believe that most do not think it is okay to sin with the thought that all will be forgiven. When a reference is made to a time frame of waiting 600 years it’s just so hard to imagine. Our time here on earth is so short and how do we make an impact. When I watch the news I cannot help but think how disappointed god and Christ must be with us and then I will watch a human interest story that will make me think they are who we need to emulate.
ReplyDeleteWe had a wonderful weekend with our family. The love that my two and a half year old showed my parents her great grandparents brought me such joy. Thank goodness for FaceTime as that is how she has gotten to know them.
Glad that you had such a good time, Cindy! I like that you mentioned that there is always another side - a story that is uplifting and reminds of us how people can and should behave! I am not sure if you heard Pastor’s sermon on Sunday (if not it is on fb) - but it was a very good one about the Good Samaritan! I don’t know abut you, but when I visit my little ones, I need to recoup. 😃
DeleteWe don't like to look at the judgement side of things do we?!
DeleteIt is hard for us to read some of the texts as we are "new" to this faith thing and that all the Christianity material was developed and hammered out (?) long before we came here to it!
I am glad you had family time are were able to see grandkids...they are wonderful!!
Thanks for sharing Cindy
That is a great description of the temple in this chapter plus Pastor's added comments let's one see it so much clearer Thank you for that.
ReplyDeleteThis chapter explains the difference from the old covenant and the new covenant and the reason the new covenant was necessary. Jesus Ultimate Sacrifice makes it so no further changes are needed How could God make a new one now who could he use as he has already used His Son and the is none greater than Jesus the high Priest. We do have eternal life now but we must remember the will be a day of judgement. I hope Jesus is there when mine comes up because i will need his support when my list is called off It probably isn't going to look to pretty.
Just a quick comment- it was the Tabernacle that was described. The Tabernacle was a movable large tent that housed God and went with the people. The first Temple was built under Solomon around 950BC and it was the permanent structure we think of.
DeleteAgain-- the word judgement comes up! We don't like that word do we!
And I, like you Clara, are hoping for lots of grace and mercy that day!!
Nice commentary Clara!
This was a great chapter, the way it was explained, helped me. I wander where the ark is today? It looks beautiful, but sometimes pretty things are deadly, the priests must have been very afraid. But maybe some had the faith of Paul. Also I didn't know that Yom Kippur was a day of atonement. Thanks so much.
ReplyDeleteThere are always people searching for the Ark of the Covenant. Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark is one example!! But seriously, there are several expeditions looking for it!
DeleteYom Kippur (Sept 15-16, 2021) is about a week after Rosh Hashanah (Sept 6-8, 2021). Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year and a few days after that is Yom Kippur.
Good comments Rose Marie.
I really like this chapter too. Often I think about how so much of what we do is made up by man. Someone or some group feels inspired to make rules and others follow. Sometimes I’ve noticed that once a president is set eventually it becomes “law” because “we like it this way”. If you are Jewish you fast all day on Yom Kippur and think about the sins you’ve committed and ask for forgiveness. Catholics confess to a priest and he asks for forgiveness for them. We pray directly to God or Jesus. I do wonder what being judged means. If we are going to be forgiven does it really matter what we do? For instance, Some people believe that addiction comes from “wayward” living (having too much fun) and some people think it’s a biological or physical way to medicate yourself from pain. Or that it’s a disease that is very hard to control. Who makes the “real” determination?
ReplyDeleteI kind of like the idea of Yom Kipper. Not to make yourself feel bad but to remind yourself of your human weaknesses and that we need to be seeking forgiveness. Maybe I would be more mindful if my actions and even my thoughts.
Good commnetas and thoughts Cathy. Our period of Lent is somewhat similar to the Jewish feast of Yom Kippur. During Lent, our journey is to reflect on our past, repentance, seek forgiveness. Many people don't really observe the Lenten traditions anymore. Ash Wednesday, the day that begins Lent, we rub ashes on our forehead- symbolic of repentance in Jewish heritage. Many churches also adorn tables with burlap- symbolic of the "sackcloth" that Jewish people would wear when they are publicly acknowledging their sins and asking for forgiveness.
DeleteI do wonder what the day of judgement will bring too. The knowledge that we have a forgiving and merciful God helps with that question!
Good commentary Cathy!
In my mind Lent is focused on Jesus and how his death came about and of course, why he died. It doesn’t seem like the emphasis is on us and our part in the story; our personal sins, our sins as a society, etc.
DeleteReading the comments was very interesting. I am with Donna in that I agree that a Bible study in the covenants would be very worthwhile. After reading this chapter and your notes, I realized that I had missed the boat entirely on your question about a new covenant with God. Once again my ignorance rears its ugly head.
ReplyDeleteOnce again this chapter goes into the Old Testament. It is interesting how the author keeps doing this to make his point. Since this book is aimed at Jews who are disillusioned with Christianity, I can understand why he keeps doing this.
Cindy makes an excellent point about watching a human interest story and seeing the good in people. I spend much too much time watching the news and getting discouraged, There is much more to this world than the bad stuff that fills the airwaves.
When reading about the arc and the tabernacle, I thought that the whole thing was pagan. Nobody could touch the arc as it would result in instant death. Even when the high priest would go in to it once a year, he had to have a rope tied to him along with bells so that they could tell if he was still alive and pull him out if he wasn't. This whole thing to me sounds like a bunch of savages in the jungle having a rite. What am I missing here?
In the last verse, the author states the Jesus will return for the salvation of those who are waiting for Him (paraphrased). I don't know much about the Book of Revelations, but this seems so much tamer than what I have heard about that book.
Jack, in one of my comments I did ask if God would make a new covenant seeing as we are all going so far off the track. I thought that God might. Then Pastor asked us that question. I don’t think you were off the track in your answer - or, if you were, we both were (smile). But after reading this chapter, it doesn’t seem like God will. Although, if God sent Malchizedek as a High Priest to start a new order of High Priests - hmmmmm - maybe God would. Now you have got me thinking, Jack!
ReplyDeleteNot ignorance- just not edified...there is a difference! You're doing well Jack!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, we do need to continue to look for good. Like you say- our world is bombarded by bad and ugly- that is what sells!
The ark of the covenant is where God lived. People feared God and the idea that God was vengeful was something on their minds. There is a story of Moses conversing with God and God tells Moses, cover your face when I pass by or surely you will die (Exodus 33:20-22 ish). The tabernacle was the "church" (place of worship) for the Jews as they were travelling. Their rituals and liturgy was all prescribed (as is ours in the UMC). You're not missing anything Jack, just need some clarification. Blood and sacrifice was used often for sealing deals- not just covenants with God. Even our seating at a wedding had Jewish heritage in the sacrifice that was done at a wedding (or something like that- I forget now).
Yah- wait until we get to Revelation! That will blow your mind!!
Good thoughts and thanks for the honesty Jack.