Detailed commentary on Hebrews 7-9
Introduction
Perhaps I need to explain why I have compiled these notes. Hebrews 7-9 contains a detailed explanation as to the greatness of Jesus as our great High Priest and the superiority of the New Covenant over the Old Covenant. I will not be able to go into such great detail in the YouTube sermons, as much of the material does not easily lend itself to the sermon series we have embarked upon.
However, for those who want more, I thought I should provide something that goes into more depth, which you can read and chew on. I have started with Hebrews 7 but hopefully there will be more to come on Chapters 8-9
Hebrews 7:1-3 (NKJV)
For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,” 3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.
Chapter 7 is a critical section in the Book of Hebrews because it concerns the introduction of a better priesthood. No sacrifices were possible without a priest and therefore the priesthood was greatly revered by the Jews.
We should remember that in Hebrews 5:5-10 the writer began to speak of Melchizedek but then began a lengthy parenthetical section from Hebrews 5:11 through Hebrews 6:20. This parenthesis was to prepare his “dull of hearing” readers so that they might better understand this important Chapter.
There is a point of application we in the modern church need to consider and it is this – the solid food and sound doctrine of Scripture is not revealed by the Holy Spirit to those who are spiritually lazy or apathetic. In Hebrews 7:4 we encounter the only command in this entire chapter and it is to give careful consideration (as contrasted with a superficial reading) to this teaching about Melchizedek because he is a type of Jesus Christ, the one whose beauty and glory we desire to see.
The background is that of Jewish readers who had professed belief in Jesus Christ and were being tempted to abandon their faith in the Messiah and return to Judaism under threat of persecution as described in Chapter 10.
So the writer is writing to convince them to break with the familiar system and rituals that their forefathers had followed for centuries. He is saying that the religious system of sacrifices, rituals, and rules that had been practiced for some 1,400 years had now been replaced by a better way. So he focuses on the supremacy of Christ Jesus the great High Priest, who is the fulfilment of all that was written by Moses and the prophets.
He picks up his thoughts on Melchizedek from Hebrews 5 because he wants to explain that Jesus is not a priest like the familiar Levitical priests, but is of a different order of Melchizedek and because of that, He is a better priest than any of the priests in the old system. Ironically the old system was never intended to be the end but the means, a means which was always and in all ways intended to point to the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ.
John Piper helps us understand why all of this focus on Melchizedek and the priesthood, things which seem so foreign and even may seem unnecessary to us in the modern western culture. The writer is saying we are in desperate need of a High Priest for as Piper explains:
“The reason for all this talk about Christ’s relation to Melchizedek in verses 1–24 is because the eternal, superior priesthood of Jesus is our only hope of eternal salvation. God’s wrath never changes. There is only one hope for sinners like us. We must have a faithful High Priest, who will intercede for us forever. We need a King of righteousness (verse 2). We need a King of peace (verse 2). We need someone without beginning and ending (verse 3). Someone Who has an indestructible life (verse 16) and will never die and need to be replaced (verses 23-24). We need someone greater than Abraham and greater than Levi —something like Melchizedek, who blessed Abraham, (verses 6-7) and who received tithes from Abraham and, in a sense, from Levi in Abraham (verses 7-10). We need a new and greater Priest — so much greater that verse 11 says that there was no perfection through the Levitical priesthood. All the Old Testament priesthood could do was point toward the One superior Priest after the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4), whose sacrifice of Himself and whose eternal intercession would guarantee eternal salvation for all God’s people.
So the first implication is that all this truth about priesthood is because what we need saving from is the wrath of God. God’s way of solving that problem is priesthood. This is not ours to figure out or solve. God has to do it for us. And He has done it. He ordains a Priest, His Son.
And don’t make a mistake here. It’s not as though Jesus the Priest loves us and God the Father doesn’t. God the Father ordains the priesthood for our salvation. It is His idea. He sends the Priest. It is His own Son Whom He sends. And He loves Him infinitely. All this is the love of God rescuing us from the wrath of God, in such a way that the justice of God is vindicated and the glory of God is exalted.”
Thus Hebrews 7 is an important chapter for in it the writer establishes the following points:
1) Melchizedek’s historic identity
2) Melchizedek’s precedence and superiority to the Levitical priesthood
a) Abraham paid him tithes (so then did Levi)
b) Melchizedek blessed Abraham
3) The need for a replacement of the Law because it
a) Could not make perfect
b) Jesus was from another tribe not specified in Mosaic Law
4) The advantages of the Melchizedekian order…
a) A better hope = access to God (draw near)
b) A guarantee of a better covenant
c) A permanent priesthood
d) Salvation forever… and a priest who ever intercedes
5) A dramatic contrast between Jesus’ priesthood and the Levitical priesthood
a) Jesus is holy, innocent, undefiled, separated, exalted
b) Jesus offered up one sacrifice of Himself for all time.
MELCHIZEDEK
Various Interpretations of his Identity:
John Calvin – And it was doubtless necessary that in him who was to be a type of the Son of God all things excellent should be found: and that Christ was shadowed forth by this type is evident from Psalm 110
Alfred Edersheim – That Melchizedek was not Christ Himself is evident from the statement that he was “made like unto the Son of God” (or “likened unto” Him (verse 3); while it equally appears from these words, and from the whole tenor of Scripture, that he was a type of Christ.
Matthew Henry – The most general opinion is that he was a Canaanite king, who reigned in Salem, and kept up religion and the worship of the true God; that he was raised to be a type of Christ and was honoured by Abraham as such.
Kent Hughes – In the writer’s opening statement he concisely states the significance of the historical Melchizedek as a type of the ultimate priesthood of Christ: Melchizedek was “without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, [and] like the Son of God he remains a priest forever” (v. 3). Some have inferred from these words that Melchizedek must have been an angel who took on human form for Abraham, or even a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Himself. But such interpretations are unnecessary, because the writer is simply using a rabbinical method of interpretation from silence. His point is that the Genesis account does not mention Melchizedek’s parents or genealogy or when he was born or died, thereby providing a fitting type of what would be fleshed out in the qualifications of Christ.
Hebrews 7:4-5
4 Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. 5 And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham;
Wuest offers an excellent summation of the exceptional significance of this section of Hebrews observing that:
The writer now proceeds to show that Melchizedek was better than Abraham, in order that he might show that he was better than Levi, and thus better than Aaron. It follows therefore that if Melchizedek is superior to Aaron, his priesthood must be better than that of Aaron. Since that is the case, Messiah’s priesthood, being in the order of the priesthood of Melchizedek, must be better. That makes Messiah better than Aaron and, therefore, the New Testament He instituted, better than the First Testament, which Aaron was instrumental in bringing in. And that is the argument of the Book of Hebrews, namely, that the New Testament in Jesus’ blood is superior to and takes the place of the First Testament in animal blood.
Hebrews 7:6-7
6 but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better.
Leon Morris makes the point that:
In the ancient world, it was generally recognized that there was an obligation to pay tithes to important religious functionaries. This implies a certain subjection on the part of those paying to those to whom the tithe was paid.
Wuest adds:
The Greeks after a victory, gathered up the spoils in a heap, and the top, or best part of the heap, was presented to the gods. The fact that Abraham gave a tenth of the pick of the spoils to Melchizedek, magnifies the latter’s greatness in the eyes of the readers of this letter. But it was not any ordinary man called Abraham who paid tithes to Melchizedek. It was Abraham, the patriarch. The writer is careful to identify him, lest his Jewish readers think it might be some other man of the same name.
Abraham voluntarily gave his best to a “shadow” of Messiah without being asked. Do we give the Lord who is the Substance our best in finances, time and talent or just throw Him our leftovers?
Hebrews 7:8-11
8 Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives. 9 Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, 10 for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. 11 Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron?
A. W. Pink draws an application of these great truths to the lives of believers all of whom are in Christ in a way similar (but more profound and eternal because of who the Lord Jesus Christ is) to Levi’s being in Abraham at the time of his transaction with Melchizedek in Genesis 14.
The all-important and inexpressibly blessed truth for us to lay hold of is that here we have an illustration of the most soul-satisfying truth revealed in the word of God. Just as Levi was “in Abraham”, not only seminally but representatively, so every one of God’s children was “in Christ” when He wrought out that glorious work which has honoured and pleased God high above everything else. When the death-sentence of the law fell upon Christ, it fell upon the believer, so that he can unhesitatingly say:
I have been crucified with Christ. (Galatians 2:20).
So too when Christ arose in triumph from the tomb, all His people shared His victory. When He ascended on high, they ascended too. Let all Christian readers pray earnestly that God may be pleased to reveal to them the meaning, blessedness, and fullness of those words “In Christ.”
Hebrews 7:12-19
12 For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law. 13 For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar.
14 For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood. 15 And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest 16 who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. 17 For He testifies:
“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”
18 For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, 19 for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.
Verse 12. John MacArthur – What the old economy could not do, Christ did. The old priesthood had its place in God’s plan. But it was inferior and ineffective. It only pictured perfection. Similarly, the law had its place in God’s plan. It represented God’s truth and righteousness. It demanded perfection. But neither the sacrifice that pictured it nor the law that demanded it could provide perfection. Perfection is provided only in Jesus Christ.
Verse 13. Wuest – Since the Mosaic law required that the priests should come from the tribe of Levi, a new priesthood, not of the order of Aaron, must set aside that law. The Messiah comes from another tribe, and not merely from another tribe, but from a tribe which was not specially set apart for priestly service, a tribe of a different nature in that respect from the tribe of Levi.
It was no small thing to state that a priest could come from any other tribe than Levi. King Uzziah pridefully and rebelliously played the fool and in a moment of vanity he attempted to usurp the Levitical role but was confronted by the priests for it. And while Uzziah was raging at the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead, and he remained a leper until his death! Sin costs! Sin has consequences! And we do not get to choose the consequences! Let us take heed to these OT examples of foolish rebellion lest we be struck with an outbreak of “leprosy” (whatever that might look like in our life!) Woe!
Verse 14. Wuest – The facts concerning the birth and ancestry of Jesus of Nazareth were well known from the records in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. The fact of this origin would naturally militate against His claims as High Priest, among Jews who knew nothing in the history of their nation except the Aaronic order of priests.
So, the insistence that Jesus, from the tribe of Judah, was a priest was shocking to the Hebrew ear. Indeed, it was illegal. As the law prescribed that the priesthood should be of the order of Aaron, thus a new priesthood, not of that order, must set aside the law.
Verse 15. Wuest – The statement of the writer here does not refer to that which is declared to be “evident” in Hebrews 7:14, namely, that Messiah sprang out of Judah, but to the general proposition which the writer is putting forth in the context, to the effect that the Levitical priesthood did not measure up to the purpose for which a priesthood is instituted, namely, to offer a sacrifice that would pay for sin and make a way for sinful man to be saved. The writer says that it is perfectly obvious that after the likeness of Melchizedek a different kind of a priest should arise.
Verse 16. Wuest – The Levitical priests were constituted such by a law of a carnal commandment. The High Priest after the order of Melchizedek was constituted a high priest according to the power of an endless life. Here we have two most important statements that present an important contrast.
In the case of the Levitical priest, no matter how ill-suited he was and reluctant to take the office, the law made him a priest because of his pedigree. He did what he did so far as official duties were concerned by reason of an outside compulsion. In the case of the High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, He performed His duties as High Priest, not by reason of the fact that any official necessity was laid upon Him, but by virtue of a power in His own nature compelling and enabling Him, the power of a life that even death could not dissolve, for He raised Himself from the dead. The life of the new priest is indissoluble or indestructible, not as eternally existing in the pre-incarnate Son, but as existing in Him incarnate and while fulfilling priestly duties.
It is here that the term “indestructible” is applicable, for He died on the Cross as the High Priest offering atonement, but it was necessary for the continuance and completion of His priestly duties, that He raise Himself from the dead, thus manifesting the power and the nature of that indissoluble life that is His. Jesus was high priest in virtue of the energy of indissoluble life which dwelt in him, unlike the priests who die and because of this Jesus Christ can do what Aaron could not do. He takes us into the presence of God, and He anchors us there eternally.
Verse 17. Spurgeon. This proves that the priests of the order of Levi were not sufficient: there was need of a still greater priesthood. This is the inspired testimony of David in Psalm 110, where he speaks of the Lord Jesus as his Lord and salutes Him as king and priest. The Lord Jesus Christ was ordained to the priesthood, according to Psalm 110, in a manner distinct from all others. His ordination was unique, for neither Aaron, nor his sons, nor any of the priests of the tribe of Levi were ever ordained by an oath. Ceremonies most important, imposing, instructive, and impressive were performed, but there was no oath. God gave promises to the house of Levi, but He expressly stopped short of anything like an oath to them, not because His promise can be broken, but because that promise was conditional, and must not be confirmed by an oath, as though it constituted a perpetual engagement. But our Saviour is made a priest by an oath. And it is written, as if to make it exceeding sure, that the Lord “has sworn and will not change his mind” (Psalm 110:4); not because God ever can or does repent, or run back from His oath in any case, but for the confirmation of our faith in the immutability of His word it is expressly added, He will not change his mind. By an oath that stands fast forevermore Christ is made a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Verses 18-19. Wuest – These two verses take up the idea of verse 16. They speak of the negative and positive result of the superseding of the fleshly ordinance by the power of an indestructible life. On the one hand there is a setting aside of the previous enactment. On the other, there is the bringing in of a better hope. The word “disannulling” is the translation of athetosis, the fundamental idea of which is the doing away of something established. The words, “the commandment going before” could better be phrased “a foregoing commandment.” The word “foregoing” does not emphasize mere precedence in time, but rather the preliminary character of the commandment as destined to be done away by a later ordinance. It was set aside because of its weakness and unprofitableness. The Levitical economy was perfect for the purpose for which it was instituted, that of being an index-finger pointing to the High Priest, Messiah. But when it came to the place where a sacrifice would be demanded of it that would pay for sin, it was found to be weak and unprofitable. This is explained in the words, “for the law made nothing perfect.” The words “made perfect” are the translation of teleioo which means “to carry through completely, to make complete, to finish, bring to an end.” The Mosaic economy brought nothing to a conclusion. It could not offer a sacrifice which would pay for sin. Therefore, it could not save anyone. Therefore, it was set aside. In place of it, there was brought in a better hope. The Greek text has it “a bringing in upon;” that is, the better hope was brought in upon the ground formerly occupied by the commandment. The reason why the new order is better is that through it, men are enabled to draw nigh to God. The old priesthood could not effect this.
Hebrews 7:20-28
20 And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath 21 (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him:
“The Lord has sworn
And will not relent,
‘You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek’ ”),
22 by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant.
23 Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. 24 But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. 25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; 27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.
Verse 20. When the Levitical priests were inducted into office, God took no oath. God did not swear to Aaron that his priesthood would be forever. In fact God never suggested, to Aaron or to anyone else, that that priesthood would be anything but temporary. However, many Israelites no doubt thought that it would be permanent, but their belief had no basis in Scripture. Neither when the old priesthood was first established nor when any priest or group of priests were consecrated had God made an oath-or any sort of promise, conditional or unconditional-that this priesthood would be eternal. But with Christ He swore an eternal priesthood, as David had written in Psalm 110:4, to which the writer here refers for the fourth time in the letter (Hebrews 5:6; 6:20; 7:17).
Verse 21. Wuest – when Messiah was made a high priest, God took an oath guaranteeing the unending character of His priesthood. This shows the inferiority of the Aaronic priesthood to that of Melchizedek.
Verse 22. Wuest – In this verse, the writer states the proposition which he wishes to prove, namely, that the New Testament in Jesus’ blood is better than and takes the place of the First Testament in animal blood. His argument here is that Jesus is the surety of a better covenant because God took an oath that His priesthood would be an everlasting one. Jesus is the guarantee or pledge of a better covenant or testament.
Verses 23-24. Spurgeon – A common priest served from thirty to fifty years of age, and then his work was done. Priests of the house of Aaron, who became high priests, held their office through life. Sometimes a high priest would continue in his office, therefore, for a considerable length of time, but in many cases he was cut off as other men are by premature death; hence there was priest after priest of the order of Aaron to go within the veil for the people. Our Lord Jesus is not as Aaron, who had to be stripped of his garments on the top of Mount Hor, and to die in the mount; neither is He like to any of the sons of Aaron who in due time suffered the infirmities of age, and at last bowed their heads to inevitable death. He died once, but death has no more dominion over Him; it is witnessed of Him that He lives.
Here is our comfort: We have only one priest, and He ever lives. He had no predecessor and He will have no successor, because He ever lives personally to exercise the office of high priest on our behalf. My soul reposes in the faith of His one sacrifice, offered once and no more. There is but one presenter of that one sacrifice, and never can there be another, since the One is all-sufficient, and He never dies. Jesus reads my heart, and has always read it since it began to beat: He knows my griefs and has carried my sorrows from of old, and He will bear both them and me when old age shall shrivel up my strength. When I myself shall fall asleep in death He will not die, but will be ready to receive me into His own undying blessedness.
Verse 25. The evangelist Billy Sunday had a great sermon, where he talked about how God saved him from the gutter-most because he was a gutter-drunk when God saved him.
The emphasis is on the fact that Jesus saves completely, forever, all who put their faith in Him, because He is our High Priest forever.
Verses 26-28. Wuest The Messiah as High Priest was as to His character, one who was fitting to us. There was an essential fitness in the provision God made in Him as High Priest of the believer. That essential fitness consisted of the qualities mentioned in Hebrews 7:26–28. That is, we sinners being sinful and dependent upon the mediation of a priest, needed a sinless one. What a contrast this is to the Aaronic priests who were themselves sinners and who needed in the last analysis, a High Priest to mediate salvation for them.
Hebrews 8:1-3
Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices.
Beginning in Hebrews 7:1 and through to Hebrews 10:18 the writer makes a number of contrasts between the old and the new covenant – 13 out of 17 uses of the Greek word for “covenant” in Hebrews occur in this section so it is clearly a key word.
As we look at Hebrews 8 we must keep the context in mind. We should remember that the initial readers of this epistle were primarily Hebrews who had professed faith in Jesus Christ but who, under threat of persecution, were being tempted to abandon the truth about the Messiah and return to the bondage of Judaism. It is difficult for most of us today to understand the mindset of these people.
The writer’s solution to this spiritual challenge is to present the supremacy of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was in every way better – better than angels, better than Moses, a better priest than Aaron, and the Mediator of a New Covenant,.
In Hebrews 8:1-6a the writer explains that Jesus is the better priest who ministers in the true tabernacle.
Then in Hebrews 8:6b-13 the writer presents Jesus as the Mediator of a better covenant, one which had been predicted in the writings of their own prophets over 400 years earlier.
Hebrews 8:4-6
For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; 5 who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” 6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.
Spurgeon – In the tabernacle everything was done according to the pattern seen in the holy mount by Moses; in the temple no sacrifice was presented but according to divine command. The whole Aaronic ritual was very impressive. The priests in their holy robes, pure white linen garments, the golden altar, candlestick, and table, the fire, the smoke, the incense. The whole thing was calculated very much to impress the mind.
The first covenant provided a very magnificent service, such as never will be excelled, but for all that, costly, divinely arranged, impressive, yet it could not put away sin; and the evidence of this is found in the fact that after one day of atonement they needed another atonement next year.
God set aside that first covenant. He put it away as an outworn and useless thing; and He brought in a new covenant — the covenant of grace; and in our text we see what is the tenor of it: “I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33).
This is one of the most glorious promises that ever fell from the lips of infinite love. God said not:
I will come again, as I came on Sinai, and thunder at them.
No, but, I will come in gentleness and mercy, and find a way into their hearts.
He said not:
I will take two great tables of stone, and with my finger write out my law before their eyes.
No, but, I will put my finger upon their hearts, and there will I write my law.
He said not:
I will give promises and threatenings that shall be the safeguard of this new covenant.
But, I will with my Spirit graciously operate upon their minds and their hearts, and so I will sweetly influence them to serve me — not for reward, nor from any servile motive, but because they know me, and they love me, and they feel it to be their delight to walk in the way of my commandments.
Hebrews 8:7-12
For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. 8 Because finding fault with them, He says: Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah — 9 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 11 None of them shall teach his neighbour, and none his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. 13 In that He says, A new covenant, He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
Gromacki – The first covenant, the Mosaic Law with its attendant Levitical priestly system, was not “faultless.” Since God gave the legal covenant, it was good and perfect in itself (James 1:17). It was truth and achieved its divine purpose. It was never intended to produce justification within the Israelite (Galatians 3:21). The law possessed fault only in that it depended upon man for its fulfilment, and therein was the problem. Paul commented:
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh …” (Romans 8:3). If the first covenant could have imparted eternal life to that person who obeyed it, then why did God promise to give Israel a new covenant? The prediction of the second demonstrates the temporary nature of the first and the replacement of the first by the second.
Spurgeon – When God gave to Israel His law — the law of the first covenant — it was such a holy law that it ought to have been kept by the people. It was a just and righteous law, concerning which God said:
You must carry out my regulations, and you must observe my statutes by following them; I am Yahweh your God. And you shall observe my statutes and my regulations by which the person doing them shall live; I am Yahweh. (Leviticus 18:4-5). The law of the Ten Commandments is strictly just; it is such a law as a man might make for himself if he studied his own best interests and had wisdom enough to frame it aright. It is a perfect law, in which the interests of God and man are both studied. It is not a partial law, but impartial, complete, and covering all the circumstances of life. You could not take away one command out of the ten without spoiling both tables of the law, and you could not add another command without being guilty of making a superfluity. The law is holy, and just, and good; it is like the God who made it, it is a perfect law. Then, surely, it ought to have been kept. In the economy of grace of which our Lord is the surety no fault can be found, and in it there is no fuel for decay to feed upon. There is nothing about it that is weak and unprofitable, for it is “ordered in all things and sure” (2 Samuel 23:5). “He takes away the first” (Hebrews 10:9), not that He may set up another that shall be removed in its turn, but “in order to establish the second.” In this second we have covenant purposes from eternity unalterable, love infinite and changeless, promises sure and inviolable, and pledges given that can never be withdrawn, for the Lord has sworn and will not repent.
Lane – The treatment of the two covenants in verses 7–8a exhibits the eschatological outlook of the writer. At the level of historical events, the covenant mediated by Moses had developed faults on the human side and has been replaced by a better arrangement. The super session of the old covenant was not due simply to the unfaithfulness of the people to the stipulations of the covenant. It occurred because a new unfolding of God’s redemptive purpose had taken place, which called for new covenant action on the part of God. That God took the initiative in announcing his intention to establish a new covenant with Israel (verse 8a) indicates that He fully intended the first covenant to be provisional.
The Old Covenant consisted primarily of external laws and obedience to these laws was motivated primarily by fear of punishment and fear of loss of divine blessing. The New Covenant is a covenant of grace, where in this context grace signifies God’s provision of supernatural power, or what is called “enabling” grace. In the New Covenant the Spirit has poured out the love of God in our hearts (Romans 5:5), and now our love for God (birthed in us and enabled in us by the Spirit) is our motivation for obedience. Under the New Covenant the Spirit births a desire in us to walk worthy of the calling of the Lord.
Hebrews 9:1-2
Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary. 2 For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary;
In this Chapter the writer proceeds to discuss the offering of Jesus our great High Priest and contrasts it with the Old Testament offerings. In introducing this subject he gives a review of the Old Testament tabernacle and the regulations for worship. In so doing, he is building his case based upon his Jewish readers’ knowledge of this institution in order that he might begin to unfold the surpassing advantages of the more excellent ministry of the Messiah.
He first introduces two subjects, the regulations for worship and the earthly tabernacle, discussing the tabernacle in Hebrews 9:2, 3, 4, 5, the regulations of worship in Hebrews 9:6, 7 and the significance of the tabernacle and regulations in Hebrews 9:8, 9, 10.
John Phillips – In this section the writer of Hebrews compares the earthly sanctuary, given to the Hebrew people, with the true, heavenly sanctuary now opened up for the people of God. Because of the provisions of Calvary, we have a better sanctuary. Israel’s earthly sanctuaries, both the Tabernacle and the Temple, were indeed ordained of God but were rudimentary, illustrative, temporary, and suited only for those still in their spiritual infancy. These earthly shrines were given by God only until such time as a higher and more spiritual revelation could be given.
Hebrews 9:3-5
And behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, 4 which had the golden censer 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; 5 and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.
Everything about the tabernacle and its furnishings was meant to be a teaching tool in that ultimately every aspect of the tabernacle pointed to and was fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ:
- Tabernacle – And the Word became flesh and dwelt (tabernacled) among us
- Lampstand – Light of the world
- Showbread – I am the bread of life
- Veil – which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh
- Mercy seat – Redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation
- Manna – I am the bread of life
- Aaron’s rod – Jesus the High Priest
- Tablets/stone – the Law perfectly fulfilled
Hebrews 9:6-10
6 Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. 7 But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance; 8 the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. 9 It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience— 10 concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.
Spurgeon – But the high priest could not go within the veil, because he was not perfect. He had to be sprinkled with the blood, and that made him officially perfect. It would not make him perfect merely to put on the breastplate, or to wear the ephod; he was not perfect till the blood had been sprinkled upon him, and then he went within the veil. But when next year came around he was not fit to go within the veil till blood was sprinkled on him again. And the next year, though he was always a sanctified man, he was not always, officially, a perfect man. He had to be sprinkled with blood again. And so, year after year, the high priest who went within the veil needed afresh to be made perfect in order that he might obtain access to God. We who are the priests of God have a right as priests to go to God’s mercy seat that is within the veil, but it would be to our death to go there unless we were perfect. But we are perfect, for the blood of Christ has been sprinkled on us, and, therefore, our standing before God is the standing of perfection. Our standing, in our own conscience, is imperfection, just as the character of the priest might be imperfect. But that has nothing to do with it. Our standing in the sight of God is a standing of perfection. When He sees the blood, as of old the destroying angel passed over Israel, so this day, when He sees the blood, God passes over our sins and accepts us at the throne of His mercy as if we were perfect.
Hebrews 9:11-15
11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for 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, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
Spurgeon – When Aaron went in with the blood of bulls and goats, he had not obtained “eternal redemption”; he had only obtained a symbolic and temporary purification for the people, and that was all.
Redemption is deliverance through payment: in this case, ransom through one standing in another’s stead and discharging that other’s obligations. When the Lord Jesus Christ died, He paid our redemption price. And when He entered within the veil, He entered as one who not only desired to give us redemption, but as one who had “obtained eternal redemption.” He has won for us redemption both by price and by power. And now think of the nature of that redemption; for here is a grand point. He has obtained “eternal” redemption. If you carefully study the verses around the text, you will find the word “eternal” three times: there is “eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12), the “eternal Spirit” (Hebrews 9:14), and an “eternal inheritance” (Hebrews 9:15). Why is redemption said to be eternal? It is a long word, that word “eternal.” Notwithstanding all the squeezing and cutting that men give to it nowadays, they cannot make it into a limited period, do what they may. He has obtained eternal redemption — a redemption that entered into eternal consideration. I speak of the Lord God with great reverence when I say that redemption was from eternity in His thoughts. When our Lord entered in, He had by His sacrifice also dealt with eternal things, and not with matters of merely passing importance. He offered Himself by the Eternal Spirit, and by that offering He took off the mortgage from the eternal inheritance and bade us freely enter upon the predestinated possession. Sin, death, hell — these are not temporary things. The atonement deals with these, and hence it is an eternal redemption. Now, look forward into eternity. Behold the vista that has no end!
Hebrews 9:16-22
16 For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 17 For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives. 18 Therefore not even the first covenant 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 goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.” 21 Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. 22 And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.
Spurgeon – Until the blood of Jesus had been shed, the covenant was not signed, and sealed, and ratified. It was like a will that could only become valid by the death of the testator. It is true that there was such perfect unity of heart between the Father and the Son, and such mutual foreknowledge that the covenant would be ratified in due time, that multitudes of the chosen ones were welcomed to heaven in anticipation of the redemption that would actually be accomplished by Christ upon the cross. But when Jesus took upon Himself the likeness of men, and in our human nature suffered and died upon the accursed tree, He did, as it were, write His name in crimson characters upon the eternal covenant, and thus sealed it with His blood. It is because the blood of Jesus is the seal of this covenant that it has such power to bless us, and is the means of lifting us up out of the prison pit where there is no water.
Andrew Murray – The life is in the blood. The blood shed is the token of death, life taken away. Death is always and everywhere God’s judgment on sin: The sting of death is sin. The shed blood sprinkled upon the altar, or the person, is the proof that death has been endured, that the penalty of the transgressions, for which atonement is being made, has been borne. In some cases the hands were laid upon the head of the sacrifice, confessing over it, and laying upon it, the sin to be atoned for. The shed blood upon the altar was the pledge that God accepted the death of the substitute: the sins were covered by the blood, and the guilty one restored to God’s favour. Apart from blood-shedding there is no remission; in the blood-shedding there is remission, full and everlasting.
Spurgeon – There is no truth more plain than this in the whole of the Old Testament, and it must have within it a very weighty lesson to our souls. There are some who cannot endure the doctrine of a substitutionary atonement. Let them beware lest they be casting away the very soul and essence of the gospel. It is evident that the sacrifice of Christ was intended to give ease to the conscience, for we read that the blood of bulls and of goats could not do that. I fail to see how any doctrine of atonement except the doctrine of the vicarious sacrifice of Christ can give ease to the guilty conscience. Christ in my stead suffering the penalty of my sin — that pacifies my conscience, but nothing else does.
All the repentance in the world cannot blot out the smallest sin. If you had only one sinful thought cross your mind, and you should grieve over that all the days of your life, yet the stain of that sin could not be removed even by the anguish it cost you. Where repentance is the work of the Spirit of God, it is a very precious gift, and is a sign of grace; but there is no atoning power in repentance. In a sea full of penitential tears, there is not the power or the virtue to wash out one spot of this hideous uncleanness. Without the blood-shedding, there is no remission.
Jesus Christ Himself cannot save us apart from His blood. It is a supposition that only folly has ever made, but I must refute even the hypothesis of folly when it affirms that the example of Christ can put away human sin, that the holy life of Jesus Christ has put the race on such a good footing with God that now He can forgive its faults and its transgression. Not so — not the holiness of Jesus, not the life of Jesus, not the death of Jesus, but the blood of Jesus only, for “apart from the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”
Hebrews 9:23-28
23 Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 25 not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another— 26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.
David J. MacLeod – At His ascension Christ was formally installed as High Priest and began His present high priestly work. In the heavenly tabernacle today He represents His people (i.e., He secures their acceptance with God) (1Timothy 2:5, Ephesians 1:6); obtains free access for them into God’s presence (Romans 5:2); intercedes in prayer for them (Romans 8:34, Hebrews 7:25) and grants them help (Hebrews 2:18); mediates their prayers to God and God’s strength to them (2 Timothy 2:1); anticipates His return to earth to reign; and, at the end of the present session, will bless His people by bringing them deliverance into the kingdom.
Spurgeon – For Christ once to die a shameful death upon the cross on Calvary has made an indelible mark upon our heart, as though it had been burned with a hot iron. I have sometimes half said to myself, “God forbid that His dear Son should ever have died!” The price seemed too great even for our redemption. Should He die, the Holy One and the Just, the glorious, and blessed Son of God? The answer to that question is that He has died. Thank God, He can never die again! It would be horrible to us to think that it should be possible that He should ever be called upon to bear our sins a second time. Every man’s death day is his doomsday; all is settled then. So Jesus, when He died, finished His atoning work, and nothing remains for Him but to come a second time, no more to die, to take His great reward.
Spurgeon – This is our hope. He to whom we have already looked as coming once to bear the sins of many will have another manifestation to the sons of men; this is a happy prospect in itself. But that second appearing has certain peculiar marks which glorify it exceedingly.
Our Lord will have ended the business of sin. He has so taken it away from His people and so effectually borne its penalty that He will have nothing to do with it at His Second Coming. He will present no sin offering, for He will have utterly put sin away.
Our Lord will then complete the salvation of His people. They will be finally and perfectly saved and will in every respect enjoy the fullness of that salvation. He comes not to bear the result of our transgressions but to bring the result of His obedience; not to remove our condemnation but to perfect our salvation.
Our Lord thus appears only to those who look for Him. He will not be seen in this character by men whose eyes are blinded with self and sin. To them He will be a terrible Judge and nothing more. We must first look to Him and then look for Him; and in both cases our look shall be life.
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