Series: Studies in Hebrews
Service: Sunday Morning Worship
Type: Sermon
Speaker: Wayne Galloway
Studies in Hebrews Lesson 11
The First Covenant and the New Covenant
Heb. 9:1-28
Introduction:
1. This morning we will continue our studies in the Book of Hebrews.
2. It is appropriate that we review since we have had a break of about two months between our last study and this one. (I would invite you to go back and read the chapters 1-8 to help remind you of what we have studied.)
3. When we began the study, we noted that the author begins with a profound statement. “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son.”
4. The author then begins to compare the Son with God (2b-3).
a. “Isn’t the Son, God?” Yes, the comparison is testimony to His divinity. Verse 8
specifically identifies Him as “God.”
b. But in the comparison “God” represents the Father.
5. The Son is . . .
a. “Appointed heir of all things.” In Psa. 2:8 God says, “I will give the nations as
your inheritance.”
b. The one “through whom the world was made.”
c. “The exact representation of His nature.”
d. “Upholds all things by the word of His power.”
e. “When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the
Majesty on high.”
f. The Son is the exalted King. This theme permeates the whole first chapter and is
founded on Psa. 110:1. Verses 3 and 13 bookend this section with Psa. 110:1
and the Son sitting at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
6. The author proceeds to exalt the Son by quoting 7 O.T. passages that elevate Him above the angels. The angels are merely ministering servants, but the Son, is on the throne.
7. So, we should pay close attention to what He has to say!
8. But then the author takes us in the other direction. He makes the Son, Jesus, lower than the angels. He becomes human. He joins us in flesh a blood for the suffering of death, to deliver us from death. And so, He has become a merciful and faithful High Priest and as such He has made propitiation for our sins.
9. This is a completely unique concept in world religions. Only in biblically revealed religion does the God of heaven reach out to initiate a relationship with human beings in this self-sacrificial way. Our God wants us. He wants to save us from death. And He is willing to do what it takes to make it happen.
10. So, we should trust Him. We should not allow an evil unbelieving heart to arise in any of us. We should encourage each other to hold fast our confession. We should NOT be like those Israelites who failed to trust Him and wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Instead, we should draw near with confidence.
11. In chapter 8, the author says, that we are part of a new covenant. This is not primarily about “the ten commandments” and “the law of Christ,” but about a new relationship or a new (marriage) covenant with God. It is enacted by means of the blood of Jesus, which cleanses us from sin.
12. Chapter 9 compares the tabernacle of the first covenant with heaven itself. Read 9:1-5.
Discussion:
I. The structure.
A. Chapter 9 involves two movements.
1. 9:1-10.
2. 9:11-28.
B. It fits into the larger section 9:1-10:18 which focuses on the superiority of the new
covenant sacrifice.
C. What is said in 9:1-10 lays the foundation for 9:11-10:18.
1. 9:1-10 discusses three things related to the first covenant.
a. Place – tabernacle.
b. Blood – bulls and goats.
c. Offered perpetually, over and over.
2. 9:11-10:18 contrasts the first covenant with the new covenant.
a. The new covenant is NOT about an earthly tabernacle, But a heavenly one.
b. The new covenant is NOT about the blood of bulls and goats, But about the
blood of Christ.
c. The new covenant is NOT about a perpetual offering, But about an offering
once for all.
II. The first covenant (9:1-5).
A. “The first covenant had regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary.”
1. The word translated “regulations” in the NASB is “diakoiwmai” (1345).
a. It refers to the requirements, the appropriate approach. “Regulations” is a
good translation.
b. Implied here is the fact that God communicates how men are to approach
Him. I am reminded of the awesomeness of God seen at Mount Sinai.
The people trembled and stood at a distance. They said to Moses, “You
speak to God and we will listen, but let not God speak to us, or we will die.”
So, the people stood at a distance. God had said, “Do not let the priests
and the people break through to come up to the Lord, or He will break forth
upon them.” See Ex. 19:18ff.
2. The “earthly sanctuary” was all about the severity of approaching God.
3. We may desire to worship God, but we cannot approach Him in just any way.
He gives instruction as to how we may go about it. It does not mean that we
cannot approach Him. He wants us to approach Him and He has given
regulations about how to do it. It is an awesome thing to approach God.
B. The first covenant involved a tabernacle. See Ex. 25-26.
1. The tabernacle represented God’s presence among the people (Ex. 25:8-9).
2. It was a tent-like structure that was moved from place to place.
3. It involved two rooms.
a. The holy place.
b. The Holy of Holies. The Most Holy Place.
4. In the holy place there was the lampstand and the table with the sacred
bread. A veil separated the two rooms.
5. The golden altar of incense was in front of the veil before the Holy of Holies.
The priests burned incense here to fill the Holy of Holies with smoke before
they could enter here. Thus, the room was clouded with smoke.
6. Inside the Holy of Holies was the ark of the covenant. It was covered with
gold.
a. It contained the ten commandments (cf. Deut. 4:13-14).
b. Aaron’s rod that budded (cf. Num. 17:10).
c. A golden jar of manna from the wilderness (cf. Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:3-4).
d. All these items remind us of God’s awesomeness, His communication to
man, and man’s rebellious activity (sin).
7. The ark of the covenant was covered by the “mercy seat” (hilastērios, 2433),
the propitiatory. This is the same word family as “propitiation” (cf. 2:17; Lk.
18:13; Rom. 3:25; 1 Jn. 2:2). The tax collector prayed, “God be propitious
to me, the sinner!” The word means “to bring satisfaction.” “God, satisfy
your wrath for me!” The mercy seat covers the condemnation
of the law and allows for proximity to God.
III. The priests continually enter the outer tabernacle, but into the Most Holy Place they entered once per year with blood for the sins of the people committed in ignorance (9:6-10). This paragraph is about the practice of the priests and the offering of blood sacrifice.
A. Lev. 16:1ff describes the process.
B. The High Priest entered the Most Holy Place only on the Day of Atonement.
1. He entered twice. First, he killed a bull and sprinkled the blood on the mercy
seat for his own sin. Second, he killed a goat and sprinkled the blood on the
mercy seat for the sins of the people.
2. This was not the only time sacrifices were offered. Sacrifices were regularly
offered when one was aware of their sin (Lev. 4-5). These sacrifices were
going on day in and day out and were for sins that had become known.
3. The Day of Atonement was for sins committed that had not become known.
Note that one was still guilty even though they were unaware of sin
committed.
C. The Holy Spirit was signifying that the way into the holy place had not been
disclosed while the outer tabernacle was still standing. This outer tabernacle
was a “symbol” (“copy” v. 23) for that time, a symbol for what? Later, he is
going to talk about a perfect/heavenly tabernacle, not of this creation (11, 23).
D. The gifts and sacrifices associated with this outer/earthly (v. 1) tabernacle
cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience. They were regulations
imposed until a time of reformation or until a new order was established.
IV. Practical observations about this first covenant and its regulations of divine worship and its early sanctuary.
A. First, space separated the people from the Most Holy Place and the presence of
God.
1. The whole structure of the tabernacle shows separation. The way into the
presence of God had not opened up.
2. Sin created the separation (cf. Isa. 59:2).
B. Second, God desires people to approach Him. Thus, there is a tension in the
relationship. God desires people, but sin separates. God’s holiness and the
sinfulness of the people cannot peacefully coexist. When sinners come into the
presence of God they are consumed. The wages of sin is death (Rom. 3:23).
C. Third, God is particular about how people approach Him. He does not want
our death. We cannot approach Him in a cavalier way. This is why we need
to give serious attention to His revelation about how to approach Him.
D. Fourth, we should never allow our approach to God to deteriorate into
monotony.
1. The priests of Malachi’s day were condemned for disrespecting the Lord
(Mal. 1:6-13).
2. George Guthrie (NIVAC, Hebrews) observes, “Holiness may be seen as
having to do with repetitive religious practices that seemingly are irrelevant
for the fast pace of contemporary life. Some moderns would look at a
passage like Heb. 9:1-10 and yawn at the sheer monotony. Yet monotony
may be a sign of vibrant, pulsating existence that revels in a place, time
and practice of what is right and beautiful. The turn of the seasons, the
beating of the heart, the revolutions of the earth, the year to year march
through decades of a committed marriage—all are signs of life never to be
labeled ‘dull.’”
3. The priests of Malachi’s day may not have understood the magnificence of
what God had planned. Perhaps they could not see the heavenly
tabernacle through their earthly eyes, but who were they to regard their
service as “tiresome” and to “disdainfully sniff at it”?
4. G. K. Chesterton (the English apologist) wrote in his book Orthodoxy
(1908), p. 60:
“A child kicks its legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life.
Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce
and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They
always say, ‘Do it again,’ and the grown-up person does it again until he is
nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in
monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough . . . . It is possible that God
says every morning. ‘Do it again,’ to the sun; and every evening, ‘Do it
again,’ to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all
daisies alike: it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has
never gotten tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal
appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is
younger than we are.”
Conclusion:
1. Ladies and gentlemen, do not let the vitality of life slip from your worship.
Do not allow your heart to become hardened. Do not allow an evil
unbelieving heart to arise in any one of you. Take a long view of God’s history.
Trust Him!! He has delivered you through His Son!
2. Make a commitment! Give your life to Him!!!
