Sermon Tone Analysis

An Exposition of

Hebrews 9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christopher May

 

 

An Exposition of Hebrews 9

Ó2007 by Christopher S May

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holman Christian Standard BibleÒ, Copyright Ó 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers.

Used by permission.

Holman Christian Standard BibleÒ, Holman CSBÒ, and HCSBÒ, are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Used by permission.

Other versions sighted are NASB, the New American Standard BibleÓ, the Lockman Foundation, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995; used by permission.

NIV, the Holy Bible New International VersionÓ by International Bible Society, 1973, 1978, 1984.

Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.

All rights reserved.

KJV, the King James Version.

Hebrews 9:1-28

* *

*Introduction*: In chapter seven the writer of Hebrews began an argument for the superiority of the priesthood of Jesus.

He began by telling us that Jesus’ priesthood is superior because it is of a better order, the order of Melchizedek.

Then in chapter eight he tells us that it represents a better covenant.

Now in chapter nine he is going to expand on the argument from the last chapter by showing us that the new covenant is administered from a better sanctuary.

Again, we must keep in mind that this letter was written to a group of young Jewish Christians, and the things they are being told here go against everything that they have ever been taught; things that have been a part of their heritage for centuries.

They have just been told that their priesthood has been replaced, their covenant has been replaced, and now they are about to be told that their sanctuary has been replaced.

This chapter can be broken down into 2 sections:

 

1.

The inferiority of the sanctuary of the old covenant (verses 1-10)

2.     The superiority of the sanctuary of the new covenant (verses 11-28)

 

The writer expands on each of these, and so will we as we move through this chapter.

So with that as our introduction let’s look at Hebrews chapter nine.

*1.

The Inferiority of the Sanctuary of the Old Covenant.*

In this section the writer is going to give us five reasons why the sanctuary of the old covenant is inferior to the Sanctuary of the new covenant.

Before we look at these reasons in detail, let’s take a quick look at Hebrews 9:1-10 and get an overview of where we are headed.

Now the first covenant also had regulations for ministry and an earthly sanctuary.

For a tabernacle was set up; and in the first room, which is called “the holy place,” were the lampstand, the table, and the presentation loaves.

Behind the second curtain, the tabernacle was called “the holy of holies.”

It contained the gold altar of incense and the ark of the covenant, covered with gold on all sides, in which there was a gold jar containing the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant.

The cherubim of glory were above it overshadowing the mercy seat.

It is not possible to speak about these things in detail right now.

These things having been set up this way, the priests enter the first room repeatedly, performing their ministry.

But the high priest alone enters the second room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.

The Holy Spirit was making it clear that the way into the holy of holies had not yet been disclosed while the first tabernacle was still standing.

This is a symbol for the present time, during which gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the worshiper’s conscience.

They are physical regulations and only deal with food, drink, and various washings imposed until the time of restoration.

! Hebrews 9:1-10

 

He begins his argument by reminding them that the first covenant had regulations attached to its ministry; rules that had to be followed, and that there was a sanctuary set up for this purpose.

He then makes reference to the tabernacle of Moses letting us know that he is refereeing to that and not the temple in Jerusalem; the writer here “sees the temple as a continuation of the tabernacle”[1] and for this reason then looks in detail at the tabernacle to make his point.

He then takes the next four verses to give us a visual overview of the tabernacle, and in verses six and seven he talks about the role and duties of the high priest as they related to the tabernacle.

Then in verses eight through ten he tells us that this was all done so that we would know that the way to the holy of holies was not yet opened to us, and that this was all a symbol for the present time.

He goes on to say that the gifts and sacrifices offered in this tabernacle could not give us a clear conscience, because they were external in nature, and were imposed only until the time of restoration.

Now that we have a brief overview of the first ten verses let’s look at them in more detail.

As I mentioned above these verses give us five reasons why the sanctuary of the old covenant is inferior; these are:

 

#.

*It was on earth *(Verse 1)

 

Verse one says, “Now the first covenant also had regulations for ministry and an earthly sanctuary.”

As we already noted the earthy sanctuary that is being referred to here is the tabernacle of Moses.

To truly appreciate what is being taught here we need to go back to the Old Testament and look at its commission and construction.

In Exodus 25 Moses is given the blueprint for the construction of the tabernacle and its furnishings.

He is then told to make sure he follows that blueprint exactly in every detail.

“They are to make a sanctuary for Me so that I may dwell among them.

You must make it according to all that I show you—the design of the tabernacle as well as the design of all its furnishings.”

!! Exodus 25:8-9

“Be careful to make everything according to the model of them you have been shown on the mountain.”

!! Exodus 25:40

 

Here we see that the tabernacle was God’s idea, it was His plan to have a place to dwell among His people, and it was built according to His design.

But it was built by men, and built out of earthly materials.

For this reason there are limitations that cannot be overcome.

Warren Wiersbe says, “Being an earthly building, it had several weaknesses.

For one thing, it would need a certain amount of repair.

Also, it was limited geographically: if it was pitched in one place, it could not be in another place.

It had to be dismantled and the various parts carried from place to place.

Furthermore, it belonged to the nation of Israel and not to the whole world.”

[2]

 

The fact that this tabernacle was on earth will be contrasted later in the chapter with the sanctuary of the new covenant, which is in heaven, but for now this is the only point that the writer is making.

#.

*It only foreshadowed what was to come *(Verses 2-5)

* *

The next point that the writer makes concerning the tabernacle is that it was only a shadow of things to come.

Here we are given a list of the furnishings and layout of the tabernacle; things that would have been very familiar to the readers of this letter, but that are not so familiar to us today.

This is obvious by the way he ends this section in verse five where he says, “It is not possible to speak about these things in detail right now.”

Because this is not so familiar to us we need to take a few minutes and look at what is just glossed over here.

From the description given here we can see that the tabernacle was made up of two rooms; the first room was called the holy place and the second room was called the holy of holies.

Each of these rooms had a specific purpose, and each was furnished in a very specific way.

In the first room, called the holy place, there was the lampstand, the table, and the loaves.

The second room, called the holy of holies and separated from the first room by a curtain contained the golden alter of incense and the ark of the covenant.

I want to take a few minutes to look at each of these in more detail, but you may be asking yourself why is it important that we spend any time looking at all looking at this at all? John MacArthur answers that question by saying, “Only two chapters in the Bible are devoted to the creation story, whereas some fifty chapters focus on the Tabernacle (see especially Ex.

25–40).

The Tabernacle is important and demands attention in our study, because it is a giant portrait of Jesus Christ.

Everywhere you look in the Tabernacle you can see Him.”[3]

So for this important reason let’s look at each of these now in a little more detail.

Let’s begin by looking at the tabernacle itself.

The Tabernacle was actually a large tent that was located inside of a fence that was made out of curtains and covered with animal skins, and would have looked something like this.

The courtyard of the tabernacle was approximately 150 feet long and 75 feet wide.

There was only one door into the courtyard; a gate located on the eastern side, which was 35 feet wide and 7½ feet high.

We have not even entered the courtyard and we have already encountered our first picture of Christ.

Jesus said in John 10:9 “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.”

Just as there was only one way into the tabernacle there is also only one way to God, and that is to enter through the door of Jesus Christ.

As you can see from the illustration above there was a tent like structure in the back of the courtyard, which would be the west side.

This tent contained the holy place and the most holy place, or holy of holies that the writer is referring to here in Hebrews.

The first of these two rooms was called the holy place.

It contained a lampstand, and a table, which contained loves of bread called the presentation loaves.

Again, just as with the door, each of these objects is a picture of Christ.

The lampstand is the first object the writer mentions here; it was positioned on the south side of the holy place opposite the table of showbread.

We can see the instructions for its creation in Exodus 25

 

“You are to make a lampstand out of pure, hammered gold.

It is to be made of one piece: its base and shaft, its ornamental cups, and its calyxes and petals.

Six branches are to extend from its sides, three branches of the lampstand from one side and three branches of the lampstand from the other side.

There are to be three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with a calyx and petals, on the first branch, and three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with a calyx and petals, on the next branch.

It is to be this way for the six branches that extend from the lampstand.