What oft-repeated word indicates the theme of Hebrews 9?
(Heb. 9:1-28; 10:1-14) Blog 20-26 Feb. 2022
Prepared by Richard A. Marin: Present Truth PO Box 700, Fallbrook CA 92088-0700 USA
REVIEW: Having been called of God to be our High Priest, Jesus, one equal with the Father in glory, substance, and power, by himself atoned for our sins and rose to heaven to begin his priestly ministry. There he ministers the New Covenant whose words are written on our hearts. In it believers are indwelt by God’s Holy Spirit and provision is made for both the forgiveness and final blotting out of sins. Our participation in this covenant is maintained by continually believing in Jesus’ life, death, and ministry for us.
Similarities and Contrasts
1. In Hebrews 8 what principle did Paul establish concerning the relationship between the heavenly sanctuary and the earthly? Paul established that the earthly sanctuary & its services were a pattern of the heavenly sanctuary & its services (Heb. 8:3-5).
2. What contrast does Paul make in Hebrews 8 between the heavenly sanctuary ministry and the earthly? Paul writes that the heavenly sanctuary ministry is more excellent than the earthly for Jesus is the mediator of a better covenant (Heb. 8:6).
3. What is better about the New Covenant that was faulty in the Old? The New Covenant is based on better promises for in it Jesus promised to do all the will of God, while in the Old the people who promised were incapable of keeping their promise (Heb. 8:7-9).
4. As Paul begins Hebrews 9 why does he take half the chapter to tell us about the earthly sanctuary and its services? Paul desires to make clear that not only is the earthly tabernacle & its services a pattern of the heavenly but that its two-part temple & its daily & yearly services are figures of Christ’s two-part heavenly ministry (Heb. 9:1-12).
5. What oft-repeated word in the last half of Hebrews 9 indicates the theme being emphasized there? The last half of Hebrews 9 repeats the word “blood” ten times, showing that this is Paul’s emphasis there (Heb. 9:12-26).
6. What two other words does Paul use interchangeably with “blood”? Paul uses “death” & “sacrifice” to refer to blood (Heb. 9:9, 15-16).
Sacrificial Blood
7. What does Paul contrast with the blood of Christ? Paul contrasts the blood of bulls & goats with the blood of Christ (Heb. 9:12).
8. What can the blood of Christ do that the blood of animals could not do? The blood of Christ can purify one’s conscience from dead works (Heb. 9:14).
9. What does Paul mean when he says that where a covenant is made there must be the death of the covenant-maker? Like in the covenant God made with Abraham death (represented by divided animals) is the option that one chooses if unfaithful to his covenant promise (Gen. 15:17-18; Jer. 34:18; Heb. 9:16-17).
10. According to Hebrews 9:18-22, at what great event was blood also used to purify? Blood was used to dedicate the people, the book. & all the sanctuary articles at the inauguration of the Sinai Covenant & at the inauguration of Christ’s ministry in the heavenly sanctuary (Ex. 24:6-8; Heb. 9:18-22).
11. As Paul closes chapter 9 of Hebrews, what special function does he assign to blood? Paul shows that in the sanctuary service blood was used for the forgiveness (transferal) of sins (Heb. 9:22-28).
12. How often must Christ’s sacrifice be repeated for the forgiveness of our sins? The one blood sacrifice that Jesus made on Calvary was sufficient for the sins of every human being & that blood sacrifice Jesus continually presents in heaven for the forgiveness of the sins confessed to him (Heb. 9:28; 10:11-13).
13. What does the blood of Christ accomplish when applied to our sins? The blood of Christ, like that of animals under the Old Covenant, accomplishes the transfer of the guilt of our sins from us to the sanctuary and to its high priest (Lev. 4:5-6; 6:25-26, 30; 10:17-18).
14. Will the sanctuary and high priest forever bear the guilt of our sins? No. In the Old Covenant there was an annual Day of Atonement during which the confessed sins of God’s people were transferred by blood from the sanctuary & high priest to the scapegoat that was led into the wilderness to die. So in the New Covenant the guilt of the confessed sins of God’s people is transferred by blood to Satan the originator of sin who bears the guilt of their sins into the lake of fire (Lev. 16:20-22).
A Perfect Offering
15. If “death” and “blood” are connected to “sacrifice” then to what must “offering” refer? “Offering” must refer to “life” & “body” (1 Cor. 10:16; 11:27; Heb. 8:3; 9:9).
16. In what chapter of Hebrews does Paul introduce the idea of “body” in reference to Christ’s life? Besides pointing to Christ’s humanity in Hebrews 2, Paul introduces “body” in reference to Christ’s life in Hebrews10 (Heb. 10:5-10).
17. What word does Paul also use to refer to “body”? Paul at times uses the word “flesh” to refer to body & life (Mark 14:22; Heb. 5:7-9; 10:20).
18. Why was it necessary that Jesus take a body? Jesus had to become human in order to live a perfect, substitutionary, human life in our place so that we might be justified before God (Psa. 40:6-8; 1 Cor. 10:17; Heb. 2:10-13; 5:7-9; 10:5-10).
19. According to Hebrews 10:14 what did Jesus accomplish by living a perfect, human life on earth? Jesus won a perfection for every believer in him by living a perfect, human life on earth (2 Cor. 5;21; Heb. 10:14).
20. What do the two elements used in celebrating the New Covenant teach us about what is required for our salvation? The bread & the wine teach us that we not only need Christ’s death but that we also need his substitutionary life in order to be saved (Mark 14:22-24; 1 Cor. 10:16-17; 11:24-25; Heb. 8:3).