Hebrews 9:1-14

Hebrews 8:5 – “They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, ‘See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.’”

Hebrews 8:13 – “In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”

Hebrews 9:1-2 – “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.”

I. The Lampstand (Ex. 25:31-40)

John 1:4-5 – “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

John 8:12 – “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

II. The Table of the Bread of Presence (Ex. 25:23-30; Lev. 24:5-8)

John 6:35 – “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

Hebrews 9:3-5 – “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.”

III. The Golden Altar of Incense (Ex. 30:1-10)

Psalm 141:2 – “Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!”

Revelation 5:8 – “…the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.”

Revelation 8:4 – “…and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose to God.”

IV. The Ark of the Covenant (Ex. 25:10-22)

Romans 3:25 – “…as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.”

1 John 2:2 – “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”

“tent,” Gk. σκηνή (skēnē), “a tent or Tabernacle”

John 1:14 – “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

“dwelt,” Gk. σκηνόω (skēnoō), “to pitch a tent, to tabernacle”

John 1:14: “And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.”

Hebrews 9:6-7 – “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.”

Hebrews 9:8-10 – “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 9:11-12 – “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.”

Hebrews 9:13-14 – “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.”

TAKEAWAYS

1. Your religious works can never do what Christ has already done.
2. Forgiveness means not only “freedom from,” but also “freedom to.”
3. The atoning work of Christ should change how you think of yourself.