Hebrews 10:1-4 (2)

Traveling Light

Why the Old Sacrifices were wholly inadequate to remove the burden of sin.

Transition: Backpacking

They are shadows of the reality.

A shadow is by its very nature has no substance, it is not a thing by itself, you cannot catch it or wrestle with it like Peter Pan did. The reason that the scriptures here call the law and by the law it is implying the sacrifices offer in connection with it, the reason is that they were never meant to be the thing itself, is because they to point us to the greater thing the greater reality.

The good things which refers to salvation, to reformation, to redemption, forgiveness of sins, unfettered, unhindered access to God can only come through Christ.

That is what perfection means

The author of Hebrews is using a play on words, shadow vs true form (image)

Colossians 1:15 ESV

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

Hebrews 1:3 (ESV)

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

The shadow cannot exist apart from the substance.

We have known that black holes exist for some time now, but did you know that we have never actually technically seen one. A black hole is known as a “stellar corpse” in others a star that has died. When it looses all of its hydrogen energy it explodes leaving behind an extremely dense object as much as 100,000 times the mass of our sun. We have one in our galaxy called Sagittarius A*. A black hole is has a gravitational pull so strong that not even light can penetrate. The event horizon is the point at which light can no longer escape its gravitational pull. We cannot technically see them but we know they exist because of how they affect matter around them, how they bend light and by the rings of molten matter around them called quasars.

So it is with Christ the only way that the OT saints knew that salvation was possible was because of what the shadow pointed them to. They did not know Him, they did not see Him, but they knew he existed because the shadow told them, the sacrifices told them. They were saved just like you and I are through faith not in the sacrifices, but in the once for all sacrifice of Christ, theirs was anticipatory, ours is has appeared. They looked forward we look back.

Hebrews 11:40 ESV

since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

Transition: rocket bee line

They are sacrifices repeated.

The repetitive nature of the sacrifices argues for the inadequacy. The focus of the sacrifices is still spotlighted on the day of Atonement where the culmination of the sins of Israel was focused once a year. For the Israelite there was no end in sight, (save the coming of the Messiah) but for them there was the perpetual offering of sacrifices and every time they came it was always the same. For those of you who attended the Seder meal do you remember the last words that we said before we left, words that end the meal? “ See you in Jerusalem next year.” Because their sins had been atoned for by the lamb slain on the altar and whose blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat by the high priest, but there were two problems

1. How could the blood of an animal truly deal with the problem of sin. They were wholly inadequate not up to the task. They were not willing participants, they would sooner run away than be slain on the altar, and they were not capable of the same suffering and temptations of man. This is why if you remember all the way back to chapter 2 our High Priest had to take on the form of man. Only the one who was perfectly sinless could bear the sins of the people. Only one who had been raised from the dead and forever lives could guarantee salvation.

A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews (Note on the Terminology of Hebrews 9:16 and 17)

Lacking both volition and rationality, it is passive and inarticulate and therefore incapable of the spontaneous declaration, “Lo, I have come to do thy will, O God” (v. 7 below). Only man, who is a rational, volitional, articulate, and responsible being, can serve as a proper equivalent and substitute for man: hence the incarnation, whereby the Son of God assumed our humanity, so that as man he might offer himself in the place of our fallen humanity. Heb Huges

2. Almost as soon as they had left Jerusalem and headed home they would incur upon themselves some sort of guilt by sinning.

lucy picking up rocks and shells

And they then bore their sin upon themselves until sacrifice could be made again the next year or there were sacrifices for certain types of personal sin.

I was looking at the yard the other day and I noticed that the leaves are falling early this year, its about time to start blowing leaves, but inevitably this time of year as soon as I have blown the leaves there are more falling to take their place. It takes 3 or 4 times, but if you let them all fall and them try to rake them they become unmanageable.

The cycle was never ending like being in a tunnel with no light at the end. But once the light appears hope is born. And so it is with Christ, though there was no salvation in the sacrifices of bulls and goats and lambs there was the hope of salvation in what they pointed to.

Transition:

In them sins are remembered.

Sin clings to our souls, our hearts, our conscience. It sticks with you. It has far reaching memories, and distant echoes, as far back as Eden.

When I was a kid in high school we used to have different fun events and things they had this bounce house where you put on a Velcro suit and ran and jumped on the trampoline and stuck to the wall. Sin clings to the heart it clings to the conscience even tighter. It digs it hooks deep and does not let go easily.

Time is not the healer of all things, we learned this from Frodo who was stabbed by the nasgul blade on weather top and it never healed.

But what is there to remember if God has removed our sin, we are no longer conscience of it. Its not there to be remembered, at least the guilt of it, and penalty of it. Vs 22 tells us that the evil conscience is the one that is aware of sin

The multitude of sacrifices was a reminder of sin but the once for all sacrifice is a reminder not of sin but the sin-bearer. Communion this do in remembrance of me.

reminder in the new covenant

The Epistle to the Hebrews (H. The Old Order a Shadow of the Reality (10:1–4))

There is a difference between the humble and contrite confession of sins to God and a morbid dwelling on sins already confessed and forgiven. FF Bruce

If we are forgiven we if God has chosen to no longer remember our sins then so should we. Why do we bind ourselves where God has set us free.

John 8:36 ESV

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

God has not set us free so that we can be paralyzed in our christian walk. An attitude that says I have to walk around in pity and and woe is me, does not fully grasp what it is that Christ has done for them. That’s not to say that we don’t grieve over our sin, but Satan want us to dwell and remember our sin.

Micah 7:19 ESV

He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.

The problem is that some of us have submarines that are constantly digging up dirt at the bottom of the sea. But without changing the text can we say that our sins has been sent to the nuclear wastelands, they aint coming back from there.

Application: What is our proper response to sin? Thankfulness, gratefulness. If we do not sacrifice animals on the altar today then what are the sacrifices that we offer.

Hebrews 13:15 ESV

Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

Psalm 51:17 ESV

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.