Heritage Reformed Baptist Mission
HEBREWS
Chapter 9
Hebrews 9:1-28
The Old covenant Sanctuary was inferior because:
v. 1 - It was an earthly sanctuary, made by man, pitched by man, needing repairs, limited geographically, belonging only to Israel, not to the world.
vv. 2-5 - It was a type of something greater, its furnishings being patterns of things in heaven; it had two divisions, the holy place and the holy of holies; each had its own furnishings;
- in the holy place were: (1) seven-branched lampstand which provided light in the windowless tabernacle, a symbol of Christ, the Light of the world; (2) table of showbread, “bread of presence”, a symbol of God's presence with Israel, and of Christ, the bread of life; (3) the golden altar, “altar of incense”, a symbol of prayer ascending to God;
- in the holy of holies was: the ark of the covenant with the mercy seat, the throne of God in the Tabernacle, where the blood was sprinkled once a year to cover the sins of the priests and people a symbol of Christ, our “mercy seat”, whose blood takes away sin.
-ALL OF THIS WAS ONLY SYMBOLIC, NOT SPIRITUAL REALITY.
vv. 6-7 - It was inaccessible to the people, the priests and Levites being the only ones who could enter and minister there, and the high priest alone just once a year could enter the holy of holies.
v. 8 - It was temporary.
vv. 9-10 - Its ministry was external, not internal, the sacrifices being made only for outward purification and could do nothing to change the heart or purify the conscience of those who made them.
The New Covenant is superior because:
vv. 12-15 - (1) Its ministry is effective to deal with sin, the blood of Christ being able to completely cleanse sin which animal blood could never do; (2) its emphasis is on internal cleansing, not external, cermonial cleansing; (3) its blessings are eternal, not temporal (that is not to say temporal blessings are no longer given).
vv. 16-23 - Its ministry is based on a costly sacrifice, being a last will and testament requiring the death of the Will-Maker to bring it into force
v. 24 - Its ministry represents fulfillment, Christ having made a once-for-all sacrifice and entered once-for-all into the heavenly holy of holies where He continuously and forever represents us to God as our Great High Priest.
vv. 25-28 - Its ministry is final and complete, the work of Christ being a completed work, final and eternal.
NOTE: He has appeared to put away sin (v. 26), He is appearing now in heaven for us (v. 24), He shall appear to take us home (v. 28), the three tenses of salvation = have been saved, are being saved, will be saved, a package gift.
NOTE: The believer's sanctuary is in heaven, his Father is in heaven, his Savior is in heaven, his citizenship is in heaven, his hope is in heaven, and his treasures should be in heaven.