Hebrews 9 - Introduction

Chapter 9 The Ordinances of the First Covenant Described and Compared with Those of The New Covenant.

The fact of ‘Jesus the Son' as our great High Priest having been established as the great reality, and the ministry of the old covenant having been established as copies and shadows, Jesus' ministry is now described in contrast with that ministry of the first covenant and the first Tabernacle. It is done with due reverence for what was of the past. The first is not diminished, it is rather demonstrated to have been a ministry of copies and shadows, a preparation for the greater glory that has now come.

The main emphasis of this chapter is a comparison of the great Jewish Day of Atonement which was such a solemn feature of the cult, and occurred year by year, a day which had burned its way into the consciousness of the people, and was for many the greatest and most solemn day of the year, for it was the day each year when the sins of the year past were finally seen as laid to rest, with the once-for-all heavenly Day of Atonement of the new heavenly High Priest which achieves its purpose once for all, and never needs to be repeated, making the other redundant.