Hebrews 9:6-10: A Figure for the Time then Present
2023-03-04
Hebrews 9:6
What is meant by the first tabernacle here is the holy place, of the first portion of the tabernacle, as opposed to the most holy place. From the outset of the erecting of the tabernacle, when it was sanctified and the priests were ordained, the priests went in and out of the holy place. They had daily services to accomplish. There were lights to light and shewbread to replace every so often. There was incense to offer on the incense altar.
Hebrews 9:7
The second tabernacle mentioned in this verse is the most holy place. The high priest went in there once a year, which is another reference to the Day of Atonement. Nobody else could go in there; the high priest went in there alone. Blood must be shed to go in there, first of the bullock, then of the goat. These are sacrifices that were for both him and for the people. Consider this sequence in Leviticus 16:13-16.
Also, there was much peril in going into the holiest place. Incense had to be offered to protect Aaron from death. Multiple sacrifices had to be offered. His robe had bells on it that He would not die. “And it shall be upon Aaron to minister: and his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the LORD, and when he cometh out, that he die not” (Exodus 28:35). There was a prescribed order that could not be ignored. One false move and your end was like Nadab and Abihu. “And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD” (Leviticus 10:2). This should force us to show much caution when ordering our lives around the Lord, because God has not changed.
Hebrews 9:8
The Holy Spirit was instrumental in the building of the tabernacle. He led the artisans to build it exactly as the blueprints stated. Though He led them in such a way, He did not specify how people other than Aaron on days other than the Day of Atonement could go into the holiest to directly commune with the Lord. No further information was given while that tabernacle was standing.
There were time periods where the ark was not even with the tabernacle. The ark often went out to battle with the soldiers. There was a time when it was lost to the Philistines, and when it was recovered, it was in random places. David eventually brought it to Jerusalem, but the tabernacle was not brought there. “So Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for there was the tabernacle of the congregation of God, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness. But the ark of God had David brought up from Kirjathjearim to the place which David had prepared for it: for he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem” (2 Chronicles 1:3-4). Until the Temple was set up, you get the feeling that the annual service into the holiest was not properly followed for generations.
During all this time, no revelation took place as to how to meet with God in the holiest.
Hebrews 9:9
The word for “figure” is the same word for “parable.” The picture of the tabernacle taught the people in those days that it could not accomplish the taking away of sin. The work was never complete. All the sacrifices did not make anyone “perfect,” or complete “as pertaining to the conscience.”
Consider either the common man bringing his sacrifice to the Temple or even the high priest on the Day of Atonement. Year after year, they realize that they must keep bringing the offerings. The sin and the guilt are still there. If we are honest, you would not get very far from the tabernacle before you would have to turn around again and offer another sacrifice. The world would be void of bulls and goats, and we would still be in our sins. We discussed this before.
In the next chapter, we will see how our conscience has been cleansed in more detail. With the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, He completed what the worldly sanctuary system could not accomplish for us. Now, our conscience is clean, knowing that our sins have been forgiven because of Jesus Christ on the cross, and He is our advocate if we sin again.
Hebrews 9:10
Holiness does not come about by following rules, abstaining from certain worldly things, or taking a part of ceremonies in and of themselves. The Old Testament had many “carnal ordinances” that were to be followed by the priests and the people. Eating or not eating certain foods does not do anything to make anyone clean or not clean. The dietary laws, as we discussed before, were written to “To make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten” (Leviticus 11:47). These were object lessons to teach the separation between clean and unclean. “Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations: And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean” (Leviticus 10:9-10). The strong drink did affect one’s judgment on judging what was clean and holy; this is the reason the ordinance existed and a principle we follow today. These ordinances were required to be followed, but the core reason for them was to teach the people that the unclean must be separate from the clean. “For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving” (1 Timothy 4:4). No beast is unclean in and of itself, since God made them; at the time, they were “unclean unto you.”
Aaron and his sons cleansed themselves in a laver that was set before the tabernacle. “For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat: When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the LORD” (Exodus 30:19-20). Did Aaron and his sons really become spiritually clean by the washing with water? These rather were pictures of the spiritual cleansing that had to happen to come before the Lord. If they violated this command, they would surely reap the consequences, because the Lord commanded it. But Aaron and his family could surely go through the motions and not be spiritually clean one iota.
The “time of reformation” most certainly refers to the coming of our Lord, though the word for reformation is hapax legomenon. The Lord Jesus came and superseded those carnal ordinances, fulfilling them.