12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. 15 As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” (Hebrews 3:12-15)
Falling Away (12): The author repeats, for the second time, his concern that his readers would “fall away”. He is repeating David’s warning that their failure to believe what they had heard (the good news, 2:2-4) would deny them rest. Those who failed to believe that the Lord would meet their needs, were prone to unbelief even to the point of evil. The author was aware of the cycles of belief and unbelief in the history of of Israel.
Exhort (13-14): The writer then encouraged his audience to exhort one another to faith in Jesus the Messiah so they would receive rest. The were encouraged to join believers to strengthen their faith. Further, upon receiving God-given rest, they needed to spur each other to be steadfast in their faith.
Today (15): The author then repeated David’s warning accept salvation “today.” He makes it clear that the opportunity is available and must be accepted today because we are not guaranteed tomorrow. Otherwise, rest would elude them because of their rebellion (unbelief).
Challenge: Have you received God’s rest? Are you a part of his family? Do you encourage others in the faith? Are you being encouraged in the faith?
Religion says, “Attain”; the gospel says, “Obtain.” Religion says, “Attempt”; the gospel says, “Accept.” Religion says, “Try”; the gospel says, “Trust.” Religion says, “Do this;” the gospel says, “It is done.” John T. Seamands
26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:26-31) Judgement for Rejecting Salvation (26-27): The writer warns his readers who had heard and knew and understood the truth but engaged in intentional or presumptive and unrepentant sin. They were not only violating the law of Moses, but they were rejecting the reality of Christ’s once for all sacrifice for them. He was, in fact, questioning whether they were true believers. He was warning that their actions would lead to God’s fiery judgement. As archer points out (Bible Difficulties, Zondervan, 1982, p420), they had not lost their salvation but only had an intellectual grasp of the truth but had not surrendered their lives to the Lord. Angering God (28-29): He continues by describing their willful sin as, (1) putting down Christ’s right to govern as the Son of God, (2) nullifying the value of the blood shed for them, and (3) showing contempt for the power of the Holy Spirit’s to transform believer or make them holy. He describes these actions as angering the Spirit of God. These three statements can be rendered as apostasy for which the punishment is greater than that decreed under the law of Moses. The Vengeance of God (30-31): The author quotes Deuteronomy 32:35-36, as did Paul (Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11), and warns his readers that God wants their obedience, or he will bring judgement on enemies or those rejecting God’s offer of salvation. Challenge: Is your faith genuine? Have you surrendered your life to transforming power of the Holy Spirit? Are you living the new life? “The Lord knows right well that you cannot change your own heart, and cannot cleanse your own nature; but He also knows that He can do both.” Charles H. Spurgeon
Hebrews: No Longer a Need for Offerings for Sin 15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” 17 then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” 18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. (Hebrews 10:15-18) The Promised Indwelling Spirit (15-17): The writer concludes his message on the work of Christ by quoting Jeremiah 31:33-34. This passage promises that under the new covenant, the Holy Spirit will transform the lives of believers. That transformation is the result of the laws of God being placed in their hearts and minds. When believers personally accept Christ’s sacrifice for their sins, God will not remember them. It will be as if they never happened. No More Sacrifices (18) The author concludes these truths by reminding his readers that because of Christ’s sacrifice for all sins and the accompanying forgiveness, there is no need for further sacrifices. Challenge: Are you experiencing the reality of the working of the Spirit in you? Are you being transformed? Are you seeing God working through you? We take what we think are the tools of spiritual transformation into our own hands and try to sculpt ourselves into robust Christlike specimens. But spiritual transformation is primarily the work of the Holy Spirit. He is the Master Sculptor. Jerry Bridges
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8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. 10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:8-10) A New Order (8-10): The writer continued his explanation Psalm 40:6-8 by repeating the differences in the way the old and new covenants dealt with sin. He described Christ as completely replacing the old order of continuing rituals which did not satisfy God and replacing it with a new order (one sacrifice for all). God established the old system of sacrifices to constantly remind people of their sinful nature and the continuing need for forgiveness. His point is that the new order carries out the will of God and that the people sanctified or made holy. The Greek indicates that the result is a lasting state. Christ’s willful action was final and permanent as previously mentioned (7:27 and 9:12). Christ’s perfect offering was something the repeated sacrifices under the old covenant could not do. Challenge: Are you under the new order? Are you experiencing the new life granted through the shed blood of Jesus Christ? Do you understand that Christ’s willful offering of his life was for you personally? “Until you see the cross as that which is done by you, you will never appreciate that it is done for you.” John Stott
For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? 3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; 6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. 7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’” (Hebrews 10:1-7) A Constant reminder of Sin (1-4): The writer having described the Mosaic law which established the tabernacle, the priesthood, and repeated sacrifices (7:11-9:28), then laid out the need for a new covenant sacrifice, one found in Christ. The sacrifices under the old covenant were a shadow cast by what was to come, an imperfect representation of reality. Those sacrifices failed to resolve man’s sin issues because they had to be repeated as a continuing reminder of man’s sin nature. The temporary nature of the sacrifices, the blood of bulls and goats, did not remove sins once for all. A permanent, one-time sacrifice was needed. Christ the Perfect Sacrifice (5-7): The author uses Psalm 40:6-8 which Christ quoted (Matthew 9:13; 12:7) to show that God desires obedience and clean hearts and lives, rather than sacrificial rituals. The passage foretells the coming of Christ, who intentionally set out to be the complete and perfect sacrifice in obedience to the Fathers will. Challenge: Do you try to please God by a life of routine and ritual? Or do you allow the Spirit to guide and direct your life in service to the Lord? “God takes no delight in the routine performance of the ritual sacrifice” Leon Morris
23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:23-28) Authentic (23): The facilities and implements used for old covenant sacrifices, are imitations or representations of the presence of God and required the blood of animal sacrifices. But the genuine articles required a greater purification. It was necessary for the divine sanctuary to be purified by a greater sacrifice. The death and blood of Jesus was the fulfillment, in a single ultimate sacrifice, of all the preceding sacrifices. The Intercessor (24): On this basis, Christ entered the divine and perfect realm, not a sanctuary made by man, and offered himself as a sacrifice to the Father in our place. This was a complete and essential event with historic significance. By this he stands face-to-face with the Father and intercedes on our behalf. One Time (25-26): In further contrast to old covenant sacrifices, Christ sacrificed himself, shed his own blood, for everyone for all past, present and future sins. There is a continuity here; he did it once, not multiple times. In the past, there was an endless supply of sacrificial animals, but now only one sacrifice that cannot be repeated, Christ himself. Christ’s Return (27-28): The emphasis here is the inevitability of death and after it, judgment. In contrast, Christ chose to die and that by external means. He, being perfect and having taken our sins away, will come again to complete what he began on the cross; granting “those who are eagerly waiting for him” access to the holy presence of the Father. Hodges points out that the group waiting for him are much smaller than those for whom he died. Challenge: Have you brought your life under the shed blood of Christ? Is Christ alive in you? Are you experiencing his transforming power? Is Christ working through you? All God’s plans have the mark of the cross on them, and all His plans have death to self in them…. But men’s plans ignore the offense of the cross or despise it. Men’s plans have no profound, stern or self-immolating denial in them . E.M. Bounds
15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. 16 For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. 18 Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19 For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” 21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. (Hebrews 9:15-22) The Mediator (15): The author, having established that Jesus revealed the new covenant and offering himself as a sacrifice, identifies him as the arbitrator of the new relationship between man and God. And because of Jesus’ death, those who have responded to God’s call to salvation live under the new covenant, that is, have received forgiveness of their sins. A Last Will and Testament (16-17): The writer then pointed out that a last will and testament defines an inheritance. It was prepared by a person before death and then executed or put into effect on the death of that person. In this case, the inheritance is eternal life which is based on one’s accepting Jesus death as a sacrifice for their sins. The Shedding of Blood (18-22): Therefore, the covenant, or contract, begins after the death of the maker. Under the old covenant it was the death of lambs and bulls. But the new covenant was executed upon the death of Christ. Shedding blood was a means of purifying or covering the sins of the people under the law. By this the Lord laid the foundation for the new covenant and anticipated Christ’s blood being shed as a greater, perfect sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. Challenge: Have you accepted the shed blood of Christ as the covering or purification of your sins and the promise of eternal life. Be assured that there is no sin you have ever committed that the blood of Jesus Christ cannot cleanse . Billy Graham
6 These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, 7 but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. 8 By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing 9 (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, 10 but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation. (Hebrews 9:6-10) The Daily Routine (6): This description of the repeated actions of the Levitical priests in the outer court. According to passages in Exodus, Leviticus, and numbers, those duties included filling the lamps, tending the incense fire, changing the bread of the Presence, and making daily offerings. The Annual Ritual (7): On the annual Day of Atonement the high priest entered the Holy of Holies to sprinkle blood on the mercy seat as an offering for his and the people’s unintentional sins. Restricted Access (8-9): The point of the above verses is that access to the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies was restricted to the Levitical priests and the high priest. The outer and inner curtains represented the spiritual separation that sin creates between man and God. Although the tabernacle had been replaced, the rituals and symbols still provide valuable lessons for “the present age.” The Inadequacy of the Old Order (9-10): No gifts, sacrifices, or rituals are adequate to eliminate guilt or correct ones attitudes and behavior. Challenge: Are you carrying a burden of guilt? Are you going through the motions in your relationship with the Lord? Are you bound by a besetting sin? Does ritual fail to bring peace? Have you given your life to the Lord? Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (John 14:27)
11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. (Hebrews 9:11-14) The Perfect Tabernacle (11): Having outlined the old order of worship, the author stated that when Christ appeared as a high priest, he replaced the old tabernacle with a superior, perfect heavenly tabernacle. It was a spiritual tabernacle that was not constructed by man and is the heavenly presence of God. Once for All (12): The old order, while imperfect and temporary in nature, pointed to an order that was to come that would be infinitely greater and final. The new order was established by a high priest who, by shedding his own blood (sacrificing himself as a ransom or release from the penalty of sin), brings eternal reconciliation between man and God. And that high priest dwells permanently in a heavenly sanctuary. A Better Sacrifice (13-14): Ritual purifications and sacrifices of animals were totally inadequate to solve man’s sin. On the other hand, Christ’s sacrifice, one he himself offered and then became, is one that cleanses us of our guilt, relieves us of never-ending rituals and laws (dead works), and enables us to serve the living God. More importantly, the writer contrasts the flesh (man’s offerings) and the spiritual (God’s sacrifice that provides purification to the center of our being). Challenge: How do the sacrifices we make for friends, family, and ministry compare to Jesus’ perfect eternal sacrifice? Nothing that man can present to God by way of sacrifice can ever purchase the blessing of forgiveness. Charles Spurgeon
9 Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. 2 For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place. 3 Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place, 4 having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. 5 Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail. (Hebrews 9:1-5) The Introduction (1): The author continues to contrast the requirements of the old covenant worship, with which his readers were familiar, with the new. In the first ten verses he identifies two areas he will address: the physical layout and contents of the tabernacle and the worship that took place there. The Holy Place (2): the writer, by mentioning the tent, focuses on the tabernacle and not the Temple. The outer part contained the lampstand, table, and bread of the Presence, and the altar of incense. The altar of incense was actually outside of the Holy of Holies but was significant to the function of the Holy of Holies. The Holy Place represents both the children of Israel’s need for God and God’s acceptance of them as his people. The Most Holy Place (3-5): The manna and the rod of Aaron represent God’s provision and guidance of the people in their physical desert wanderings, while the tablets were the statement of God’s spiritual direction. The cherubim symbolized the presence of God and were guardians of his majesty. The Need to Move On (5): The authors purpose in these verses was to emphasize the glory of the tabernacle and the old order of worship. He concludes by stating that more can be said about the physical arrangement of the tabernacle, but he has other points he wants to make, namely the limitations of the old order. Challenge: The tabernacle outer court is a recognition of God and his people together. The Lord’s prayer outline begins with the recognition that he is our God and we are his people, members of his family. Are you a part of his family? Is he your God? Our Father in heaven … (Matthew 6:9)