THE JEWISH LAW. The Jewish Law was a thing of pride, even to the point of fanaticism. Compare Acts 21:20-28 and notes. Is NOT. The Law did not display the _coming realities_ in a form that people could understand. The earthly tent and the priests who served in it were not the _reality_ of God's bles... [ Continue Reading ]
HAD BEEN MADE REALLY CLEAN. "The fact that they continued to feel both guilt and fear of punishment shows they were not really made clean from their sins. When guilt and fear are removed by the sacrifice, it has no need to be repeated.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SACRIFICES SERVE TO REMIND PEOPLE. "The sacrifices of the Law on the Day of Atonement and the ritual with the scapegoat only serve to remind people of their sin and guilt, and increase their fear of punishment." [Some Christian groups are guilty of doing this also.]... [ Continue Reading ]
CAN NEVER TAKE SINS AWAY. The animals killed on Jewish altars had a moral effect on the people, and pointed forward to the Messiah, but had no real effect on sins. Micah taught the same thing, and implied this was why the pagans used human sacrifices. _"Will the Lord be pleased if I bring him thousa... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THIS REASON. To show that the sacrifices of the Law were useless, and could not take sins away. HE SAID TO GOD. The quotation is from Psalms 40:6-8 Septuagint. This was a prophecy of how Christ would view the ritual of the Law and his own mission. The point is that the _Son's offering of himself... [ Continue Reading ]
YOU ARE NOT PLEASED. These were intended to be temporary. In time the people became superstitious toward them.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN I SAID. The Psalmist shows Christ as a volunteer who comes of his own free will to do what God wants him to do! Compare John 10:17-18. JUST AS IT IS WRITTEN. The Old Testament itself was full of prophecies about the coming Messiah who would die as _The Sin Offering_ for all time!!! See John 5:3... [ Continue Reading ]
FIRST HE SAID. "The Only Son, who came into the world to disclose The Father to mankind (John 1:18;Hebrews 1:2), said that God was not pleased with the ritual worship of the Law." EVEN THOUGH. "Yes, God did command them to be offered. But they were all to be terminated and superseded when the Messia... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN HE SAID. "He volunteered to do this mission for God." SO GOD DOES AWAY. "God himself terminates the old sacrifices of the first covenant! God himself puts the sacrifice of Christ in their place! It is God himself who supersedes the old covenant by the new covenant!... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE. What God wanted, that the sacrifices of the Law could not do, was to make men clean from their sin. Notice that the sacrifices were not to _appease an angry God,_ but to _change estranged children!_ Because Jesus did what God wanted him to do (fulfill the will of God), we (who are Christian... [ Continue Reading ]
EVERY JEWISH PRIEST. "You can plainly see the futility of the sacrifices of the Law!... [ Continue Reading ]
CHRIST, HOWEVER. "Notice the contrast!" OFFERED ONE SACRIFICE. "Not many times!" THAT IS GOOD FOREVER. "What Christ DID will never be terminated or superseded!" AND THEN SAT DOWN. "The Jewish priest stands and performs his service every day. Christ offered one sacrifice and sat down. The _completene... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE HE NOW WAITS. "Until God destroys his enemies!" See Hebrews 1:13 and note. This means: "Christ must rule the universe until God crushes all his enemies!" Compare Jude 1:14-15; 1 Corinthians 15:25.... [ Continue Reading ]
WITH ONE SACRIFICE. "This one act of God in Christ is the perfect antidote to the guilt of sin and the fear of punishment. It is available to everyone who will reach out through faith to seize it and make themselves part of it!!! He _has made_ perfect forever those who are clean from sin because the... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE HOLY SPIRIT. "The claim just made (Hebrews 10:14) is verified by the Holy Spirit himself.... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS IS THE COVENANT. See Hebrews 8:10-12 and notes.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEN HE SAYS. This is the Holy Spirit speaking through Jeremiah. This means: "When sins are _forgiven,_ no more sacrifices for sin are offered! When God forgives, he forgets!!! Every sin forgiven, is _canceled,_ and no longer exists!!!... [ Continue Reading ]
IS NO LONGER NEEDED. "This is why Christianity does not have the continuing sacrifices which the Law had. When sin is canceled and God forgets it, no more sacrifice is necessary!!!" [But notice Acts 8:20-24 and notes.]... [ Continue Reading ]
WE HAVE, THEN. "As our High Priest, Christ has opened the way for Christians to go into the Most Holy Place, by the sacrifice of his crucified body.... [ Continue Reading ]
THROUGH THE CURTAIN. "Only the Jewish High Priest could go through the curtain into the Most Holy Place in the inside tent. Christ has opened for both Jews and Gentiles a new way, a living-way, through the curtain which is his own body. For us, the _torn curtain_ (Matthew 27:51) which admits us to t... [ Continue Reading ]
WE HAVE. "Not only has our great priest opened the Most Holy Place to us; not only does he continue to serve as our High Priest in God's presence; but our great priest is also God's Son who serves over God's house!" [God's house = the true Temple and true Israel (Hebrews 3:6).]... [ Continue Reading ]
LET US COME NEAR TO GOD. Contrast this with Hebrews 12:18-21. "We have complete confidence that we can come near to God! We can worship the Pure and Undefiled One, because through Christ we are made to became pure and undefiled!!!" SINCERE HEART. "Not with empty formalism and endless rites, but _in... [ Continue Reading ]
LET US HOLD ON FIRMLY. _MacKnight_ says: _"And being washed in body with the clean water_ of baptism, whereby we professed our faith in Christ as our only High Priest, _let us hold fast_ [firmly] _the confession_ [profession] _of our hope_ of salvation through his ministrations [services for us], _u... [ Continue Reading ]
WITH ONE ANOTHER. See Hebrews 3:13 and note. Christians are not to quarrel and fight with each other, but rather to motivate each other to show love and to do good!... [ Continue Reading ]
LET US NOT GIVE UP THE HABIT. It was not God's plan for individual Christians to exist in isolation, but for them to form _communities._ To fulfill the command of Hebrews 10:24, Christians must meet together for worship and encouragement. Persecution may have seemed like a good excuse to quit meetin... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THERE IS NO LONGER. "Giving up the habit of meeting together" in Hebrews 10:25 is not indifference or neglect, but a deliberate act. Some would renounce the New Covenant and try to go back to the sacrifices of the Law. But since Christ has offered the sacrifice of himself, THERE IS NO OTHER SACR... [ Continue Reading ]
INSTEAD. "Since Christ is the only sacrifice for sin, if you leave him, all that is left for you is the Judgment and the fierce fire of destruction!... [ Continue Reading ]
ANYONE WHO DISOBEYS. "God's justice in refusing to forgive those who renounce the Good News should be clear to you. Those who rebelled against the Law of Moses were put to death without any mercy. The evidence of two or three witnesses was enough to convict them.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO DESPISES THE SON OF GOD? "You see how much harsher punishment will come on any who rebel against the Son of God and renounce the Good News!" THE BLOOD OF GOD'S COVENANT. See Hebrews 9:15-17; Hebrews 13:20. See note on Hebrews 6:6. WHO INSULTS THE SPIRIT. The Spirit of grace is the unique gift of... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR WE KNOW WHO SAID. Since God is the real source of the New Covenant, any who renounce it and despise it must expect Him to take vengeance on them. The quotations are from Deuteronomy 32:35-36.... [ Continue Reading ]
IT IS A TERRIBLE THING. Since God lives forever, he can punish forever!!! It is a terrible thing to insult the Son, the Spirit, and the Christians - and then fall into the hands of the God who revenges this!!! [The unbeliever is also insulting these things and in effect calling God a liar.]... [ Continue Reading ]
REMEMBER. The Letter suddenly turns from God's vengeance, to appeal to their good works in the past. Compare Galatians 3:3; 2 Corinthians 7:15. After they had converted to Christ, they had suffered many things, yet stood strong! [There were many persecutions in Judea, such as Acts 8:1; Acts 12:1.]... [ Continue Reading ]
YOU WERE AT TIMES. "Sometimes it was you who were publicly insulted, and other times it was your friends. You felt so strongly about it that you were ready to be a martyr with them!... [ Continue Reading ]
YOU SHARED. This shows how strong their faith had been in the past! _MacKnight_ thinks Paul was one of the prisoners they shared with, during his first imprisonment at Rome.... [ Continue Reading ]
DO NOT LOSE YOUR COURAGE, THEN. "Don't act like cowards, who drop their weapons and run." Evidently these Jewish Christians were undergoing some special time of persecution.... [ Continue Reading ]
YOU NEED TO BE PATIENT. "Patience, but like the farmer who, as he waits, does the things necessary to make it all come out the way he wants." See Romans 5:3-5 and notes.... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR, AS THE SCRIPTURE SAYS. The quotation is Habakkuk 2:3-4. "This persecution will not last long, because Christ will come (a spiritual coming, see notes on Matthew 24:29-31) to terminate the opposition of the Jewish leaders and destroy the Jewish state.... [ Continue Reading ]
WILL BELIEVE AND LIVE. See note on Matthew 24:21. No Christian Jews died in the siege of Jerusalem, because they believed and escaped before the Roman armies surrounded the city!... [ Continue Reading ]
WE ARE NOT. "We Jewish Christians are not going to turn back and be destroyed by God! We live by faith and are saved!!!... [ Continue Reading ]