We'll be turning to Hebrews chapter 9. Continuing our study in Hebrews. This is now message number 25, entitled, One Day, One Man. We're going to be looking at Hebrews chapter 9, verses 1 to 10. Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service and a worldly sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle made, the first, wherein was the candlestick and the table and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary. And after the second veil, the tabernacle, which is called the holiest of all, which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant. And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy seat, of which we cannot now speak particularly." Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests were always into the first tabernacle accomplishing the service of God. But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the errors of the people. The Holy Ghost thus signifying that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing, which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience, which stood only in meats and drinks and divers washings and carnal ordinances imposed on them until the time of reformation." Many years ago, and I'm kind of starting to lose track of some of these years, but many years ago, I think we were out some pretty long country roads at a conference, and I was talking to a man there, and he was quite proud of his vehicle. And I don't remember the numbers, but I remembered it seemed that it was a shocking number of miles that it had on it. And of course, he claimed it was reliable. It ran really well. And he always kept quarts of oil in his vehicle because it leaked and used oil so badly that he had to add oil to it regularly to keep it running. And he could tell at this point that I was starting to get a little suspicious of the greatness of this vehicle having to add oil and things like that. But he explained it to me. And he explained that the greatness of the thing was that adding oil like this meant he never had to change the oil. Just change the filter every now and then. And I suppose that was putting about as positive of a spin on it as can be on such a state of affairs. But the reality is that when a vehicle like that is requiring such repeated actions just to keep it running, it isn't long for this world. And maybe some of you have had some vehicles like that and, you know, I'm not throwing stones. But the writer of Hebrews, in various ways in this letter, refers to the fact that the Old Covenant required this sort of repeated maintenance, this sort of continual inputting in order to keep it going. which in and of itself was a sign that something better was needed. And I'll just leave that there with the vehicle situation. Now, the last part of chapter 8 expands on the statement that The better covenant was enacted with better promises. And the writer gives an extended quotation from Jeremiah 31-34, where God reveals the new covenant through the prophet Jeremiah. And those superior promises are new hearts, full salvation, total forgiveness of sins, true reconciliation with God, a permanent covenant, unconditional covenant, everlasting covenant. These are far superior to what the old covenant provided and the writers stress the contrasting natures of the old covenant and the new covenant and showing us that they are separate, they are distinct covenants and the new covenant was made in order to replace the old and for the old being done away and by God saying through the prophet Jeremiah that he would make a new covenant and that's the word of the Lord that's what he said he would make a new covenant and so the writer of Hebrews picks up on him saying he would make a new covenant made the first one old and what is old or obsolete is sort of aging into vanishment to which he referred in speaking that essentially they cannot coexist or cooperate in this necessary change in covenants because of a necessary change in priesthoods. Well, the writer has shown that there's a better priesthood. There is a far superior priesthood. He has shown that there is a better covenant than the old covenant provides in either of those. And he's proceeding here to show that there is a far, far better sacrifice than the sacrifices of the old covenant. That's sort of what we're transitioning to into chapter nine. And the opening of this chapter actually expands a little on the Old Covenant and why it had to pass away and be replaced by the New Covenant. So in looking at verses 1 to 10, we see that the writer focuses on the earthly tabernacle of the Old Covenant. So let's begin looking here again with verse number 1. Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service and a worldly sanctuary. So having just contrasted the first with the second, the old with the new, he proceeds to speak about the old and some of the faults with it, and he referred to the fact that it wasn't faultless, and if it had been faultless, then there'd be no need for another covenant, but it wasn't without some faults, not within the words or the covenant in and of itself, per se, but he's been talking about some of those faults, and he's going to expand somewhat on that. And he tells us here that the Old Covenant had certain commandments concerning worship, concerning the approach to God, concerning access to God, and it had an earthly holy place. And the writer uses words translated as worldly or earthly and even uses fleshly a little later on or fleshy in this section. And he's using these words not in terms of moral wrong. I mean, we generally, when we would call something worldly, we would see it as being opposed to biblical righteousness or something of that effect. But he's not using these in any terms of moral wrong or moral guilt or sin, but he's using them in a contrast with the heavenly. Remember the tabernacle he's already made very plain. It is a type. It's even what he's going to call a parable. It is something that was a resemblance. It was a likeness. It was something that was meant to show us something about the true and to anticipate and to look for the true and the better, the greater fulfillment. So he's contrasting the heavenly true reality with the earthly, which was just a shadow, just a copy, just an image. And he's continuing sort of in that vein with this. The tabernacle was an earthly holy place. And that word for sanctuary, that's essentially what it means, holy place. It was an earthly holy place because it was made by Israel. They actually constructed this tabernacle. What we studied through Exodus and the latter half of Exodus is mostly taken up with this tabernacle and the construction of it and all the furnishings of it and all the setting up and arrangement and all these sort of things with the tabernacle. And it can be quite repetitive, it can be some challenging reading in the book of Exodus, especially if you're not really attuned to what you're looking at, like the writer of Hebrews is. But this tabernacle was actually made by Israel with their hands. They took materials that they had gathered up and they had donated for this purpose and they took those materials and they melted them down or cut them or whatever it was they needed to do to work them and to fashion them into all the various items and articles and things that were needed for this tabernacle and they built it. And they built it, and it was an earthly, holy place. Now, God commanded Moses, and Moses commanded Israel to make this tabernacle and everything associated with it. So, what they were doing, they were obedient in doing it. It wasn't like Moses and the elders of Israel sat down and said, you know, I really think the best way for us to to honor God and to worship Him would be to make this tent, and let this tent have two rooms, and on and on. That wasn't how it came about at all. Moses, we are told, was shown a pattern of the true, and he was to make everything according to that pattern, and it was an earthly tabernacle. So they, not only did they build it, not only did they make it with their hands, and we know that we studied how that God gave them wisdom, gave them skilled, they were skilled craftsmen and women, and in being able to do those things, they had to go on maintaining it. They had to repair it. And certainly this shows the inferiority and the temporary nature of, not only did they build it, but they also had to upkeep, they had to maintain. Verse number two, for there was a tabernacle made, the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary. Now he begins here describing the tabernacle and the associated furnishings. In fact, he spends several verses just sort of rehearsing some of these things that, again, you're very familiar with from our recent study of Exodus and the many times, no doubt, that you've read and heard Exodus. He refers to the lamp, to the table, to the showbread, and the holy place. The holy place was the first room of the tent of the tabernacle and it was separated from the courtyard by the curtain or the veil. So in the tent of the tabernacle itself there was a curtain, in the entryway there was a veil there that separated the holy place from the courtyard. And that's what he's referring to. Now, the Levites served in the courtyard and only the priests could enter into the holy place. And there in the holy place, the priests lit the lamp and they tended to it so that it was kept burning. They baked the show bread. They laid the show bread on the table once a week. They ate the old bread that they removed. And there were also morning and evening sacrifices that kept them quite busy daily. In other words, the priests and the Levites and such, they had a lot of work to do daily pertaining to this tabernacle and all of its service. Jesus even remarked on the fact that the priests broke the Sabbath day. They broke the Sabbath day regularly because they were working for the tabernacle and then later the temple. But then he also added that they were blameless in doing so because what they were doing was mandated by the old covenant. The old covenant law mandated them to serve the tabernacle. This is where Jesus was talking about that in Matthew chapter 12 and verse number five in a larger discussion pertaining to the Sabbath. But he did comment on how these priests are breaking the Sabbath every week. Verse number three. and after the second veil, the tabernacle, which is called the holiest of all. So the holy place, the first room, was then separated from the second room of the tabernacle and it was called the holy of holies, the most holy place, and it was separated by a second veil or curtain. And the priests could not enter the most holy place. The priests could enter the holy place, but they couldn't enter the most holy place. Only the high priest and only once a year, which the writer of Hebrews will get to. Verse number four. which had the golden censer and the Ark of the Covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded in the tables of the covenant." So he's describing what belonged to the Most Holy Place like he did with the Holy Place. Now there's some debate about why he included the altar of incense here since it wasn't in the most holy place. If you recall, the altar of incense was actually in the holy place, but it was set right by the veil, right by the entering in of the most holy place. Now it stood there, and essentially incense was burned on it twice daily by the priests. But when you look at the function of the altar of incense, it was for the Most Holy Place. It's what the Altar of Incense was for. And so it isn't unreasonable that the writer references it here because it was for the Most Holy Place and it stood just right at the very entering of that second veil into the Most Holy Place. He refers to the Ark of the Covenant which was placed in the Most Holy Place, the wooden box that was covered with gold. And inside the box was a jar of manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant. Now the tables of the covenant were the stone tablets that Moses received on Sinai that contained the 10 words. But notice they are of the covenant. They're not separate from, they are the 10 words of the covenant. They are part of the old covenant. And they were inside of this ark of the covenant, but also, by the side of the Ark of the Covenant was laid the Book of the Covenant, or the Torah scroll, and you read about that in Deuteronomy chapter 31 and verse 26. So inside were the tablets with the 10 words that Moses received on Sinai, and then beside the Ark of the Covenant was actually the whole scroll of the Covenant, or of the Pentateuch, the Torah. Now by the time that the temple was built, The ark had already been through quite a journey and only the two tables or the two tablets of the 10 words remained inside of it. The manna, the Aaron's rod, those things were gone by that time. That's 1 Kings 8 and verse number nine that speaks to that. And the second temple, after they returned from the exile in Babylon, had no ark in it at all because by that time it had been lost and never recovered. Verse number five, and over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy seat of which we cannot now speak particularly. The prominent feature of the Ark of the Covenant was the lid or the mercy seat as it is referred to. The cherubim were on this lid facing each other with wings outstretched. And between the cherubim is where the Shekinah glory of God appeared. And this is where that God said he would meet with Israel and he would speak with Israel. That's Exodus chapter 25 and verse number 22. But notice that the writer says he's not going to go into extensive, intricate details concerning these items. Why would he say that? Well, one reason could certainly have been time and space. It perhaps could have taken a long time. a lot more parchment, I suppose, to go into all of the details of every little thing about the tabernacle. And doing so would also probably detract from his main message and sort of get bogged down in all of these little details. But the primary reason why he's not going to do that is actually given later in verse number nine. But what we see is that the significance of the tabernacle is more in the whole than what it is in the fine details of the small parts. The tabernacle was a shadow. It was a type of the better to come. And that much is clear. But the Bible never gives us fine details. Like, for instance, what did the pomegranate represent? What did the golden tatches represent? What did the sockets represent? What did the silver this represent? What did the silver that represent? The Bible never gives us anything like that. And I would say, reading Hebrews 9, we can see why that is really missing the point of understanding what the Bible does say to us about the tabernacle, trying to get in into all of these little things and try to tie everything to something in some way. And all that's just a complete fabrication. I've read and heard some of those things. You probably have too. And the point that I would make about that is that if any of that is actually right, it's right by accident because the Bible doesn't actually tell us that and there's no clear consequence or anything of that nature. So don't get distracted and think of the Old Testament in that way. There is a primary point and he's getting to it. So he's not going to get bogged down and try to deal with all these extensive little details of every little thing concerning the tabernacle. He proceeds, verse 6, now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle accomplishing the service of God. When these were set up and in force, is what he's talking about. When this tabernacle was made, it's set up, the priests have been anointed, they've been consecrated to their service and everything's functional and going. These are set up and in force. Then the priests went daily into the holy place to perform their duties. And he's giving emphasis here to the fact that they did this continually. or repeatedly because their work was never actually accomplished. There was really not a point in which a priest serving in the tabernacle and later the temple could say, it is finished. Because it wasn't finished. Even the Day of Atonement, as it only came around once a year, even after that was completed, they were still going to do it again the next year. But day after day after day after day, they were continuing all of these same activities and these same duties and these same services. Now this is going to be contrasted later than what we're looking at here in this passage with the new covenant and the one sacrifice and what it accomplished. Verse number seven, but into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the errors of the people. Now only the high priest, once a year, could enter into the most holy place, that back second room of the tabernacle, which really of the whole entire tabernacle compound was the innermost place of this tabernacle. And he could only enter, only the high priest could enter, not the regular priest that could go into the holy place, certainly not the Levites or anyone else of Israel, only the high priest could enter. And then he could only enter with certain sacrifices and rituals. I mean, there was a whole ceremony that had to be done. And this was actually on the day of atonement. And it's outlined particularly in Leviticus chapter 16. And that chapter very fittingly begins with reference to the deaths of Nadab and Abihu for offering strange fire. That's how the ritual, so to speak, of the Day of Atonement, that's how it begins, is with a reminder. Oh yeah. They offered strange fire. In other words, they did something to the Lord and maybe they had good motives for doing it. Maybe they thought, you know, we'll do something extra or whatever it was, but they offered something He had not commanded. They stepped outside of the guidelines of the Old Covenant and they died. as a result of it. And then he proceeds to say what is to be done on the Day of Atonement. So verses 3 to 28 in Leviticus 16 give an outline of observing this day. I'm just going to quickly run through it. Verses 3 and 4, Aaron, and would later be the high priest who followed after him and so on and so on. had to bring a young bullock and a ram for offerings for himself. First thing that he had to do, he had to put on the special clothes, which those clothes were extremely plain, had to lay aside his normal ornate garb. I mean, we look through Leviticus at the garment of the high priest, and it was rather an elaborate, you know, get up, but he put that aside on the day of atonement, wore something very, very plain that was only to be used for that particular day. He had to wash at the laver that was in the courtyard before he even put on the clothes. In verse 5, he was to bring two kids of the goats and one ram for Israel. In verse 6, he was to offer his bullock for himself and his family. In verses 7 to 10, he was to present the goats and then he would cast lots. Verses 11 to 14, he would kill the bullock for himself. He would sprinkle the blood. Verses 15 to 16, he would kill the goat of the sin offering for Israel and sprinkle the blood. Verse 17 specifies how that no other priest was to be in the tabernacle until all this was finished. Not even in the holy place. They were not to be in the tabernacle at all. on this Day of Atonement, all of this was finished. Verses 18 to 19, he would sprinkle the blood of the bullock and the goat on the brazen altar, that was the brazen altar that was in the courtyard that stood before the entering of the tabernacle. Verses 20 to 22 was the releasing of the scapegoat. Verses 23 to 25, the ram that's offered for himself and for Israel shall be burnt. In verse 26, the goat keeper had to be cleansed ceremonially. Verse 27 and 28, the remains of the bullock and the goat sin offerings were taken outside the camp of Israel and they were burned. And then the one who did that had to be cleansed ceremonially. Verses 29 to 34 essentially gives the ordinances for this Day of Atonement. It was a continuing observance on the tenth day of the seventh month every year. They were to afflict their souls, which was an appointed fast that was for the purpose of humbling them. There was a Sabbath of no work. Whenever that day fell, there was a Sabbath of no work. because no work of man could be added to God's work. The Day of Atonement was given to cover all sins of Israel. The high priest, of course, was to be succeeded in the Aaronic line by a new high priest who was to continue these observances exactly the same way. Now, the writer of Hebrews here emphasizes how that the high priest, he's the only one that can enter into the most holy place, and he had to make offerings for himself, for his own sins, first before he could make offering for the nation of Israel. Now this is something that will be picked up again later, but this also demonstrates the ineffective nature of the Aaronic priesthood under the Old Covenant. Verse number eight, the Holy Ghost, this signifying that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest while as the first tabernacle was yet standing. Now the writer is concerned, notice here, as he reads the Old Testament, The writer is concerned with what the Holy Spirit is telling us with all of this. And once again, just as we've seen earlier, I continue to paraphrase, the Holy Spirit is not wrong about what the tabernacle and the priestly services mean. He didn't miss anything and he's not wrong about what these mean. Now the word for signify, he says the Holy Spirit is signifying The word for signify means that He's making plain. In other words, this is another clear truth from the Old Testament that the writer has been referring to so many of them. The Holy Spirit is making clear through all of this, and again at Day of Atonement and all of those things that were taking place, the Holy Spirit is making clear that the way into the Most Holy Place, the way into the presence of God, is not open. as long as the first tabernacle was still standing. In other words, as long as the Old Covenant still stood, was still in place, was still operating, there's a tabernacle, later there's a temple, and there's priests, and all these things are going on, as long as that is going on, he says, the way into the presence of God is not open. In other words, As long as this old covenant was enforced, access to God's presence was not open. Now, the whole tabernacle site, and we talked about this when we went through Exodus recently, the whole tabernacle site spoke of restriction. The whole courtyard was enclosed by a seven and a half foot high wall or fence that enclosed the whole thing. That wall or fence, in fact, separated. There was none that were not of Israel that were supposed to enter into that courtyard. And then entering into that courtyard through the one entrance that there was, immediately you're facing the tabernacle and the entrance to the tabernacle, but there's a bronze altar that stands there. between you and it and between the bronze altar and the entering of the tabernacle was the bronze laver for washing that was there. The entrance to the tabernacle itself was covered with this curtain and only the priests could enter. The second room was further separated with a curtain and only the high priests could enter and only once a year with all that appropriate ceremony. So you think about it, there's a tabernacle on earth. There's a holy place on earth. There's a most holy place on earth with the Ark of the Covenant, with all of these things. And only one man of one family, of one clan, of one tribe, of one nation, of all the nations on the earth could enter there. and only on one day a year. That's not access. That's restriction. That is, you dare not come in here. That is what that is. And that is what the writer of Hebrews is saying. The Holy Spirit is making this plain that the access, the way to the presence of God is not yet open. And as long as this continues, it remains closed. Verse 9, which was a figure, talking about again the tabernacle and the holy place and all this, which was a figure for the time then present in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience. All of this was a parable. The word for figure is the word for parable. He says all this was a parable for the time of the Old Covenant. The word for figure again, it means parable and it explains how this tabernacle functioned as a type. It was a living parable. It was a real drama that unfolded day after day after day and year after year for as long as the Old Covenant was in place. And it was a parable of the fact that access to God didn't actually provide access to God in that tabernacle, but only pointed to the true access that would be provided, pointed to the fact that there needs to be a better way. There needs to be a new way. This way is in fact not a way. There needs to be a better way. And the writer points out, That the whole service, all the things, and we've gone through Genesis, we've gone through Exodus, and there's still other books of the Pentateuch, but I'm sure you're somewhat familiar with them, and all the laws, all the ordinances, and all the restrictions, and all the rituals, and all the various things involved. This whole thing, even though it's commanded in the Old Covenant, he says, it could not accomplish the cleansing of the conscience. What's he talking about? Now, this is something that's going to come up again and get a little more explanation. We should be used to that in Hebrews is that, again, sort of that circular structure that keeps coming up. All that ceremony and sacrifice could not accomplish any spiritual work within the priests or within the people. It couldn't accomplish anything inside here. And verse 10 explains, which stood only in meats and drinks and divers washings and carnal ordinances imposed on them until the time of reformation. These were all, as he describes carnal, and that word carnal means fleshy or of the flesh. And again, he's using it just like we saw worldly there earlier, not in a moral way, but in a way of saying these were all external. And he mentions washings and meats and drinks and he's talking there about the various food laws and all of these sort of things and the washings, ceremonial washings, carnal ordinances, fleshly ordinances, command. In other words, commands of external actions that could be carried out, so to speak. They could be performed. The rites, the sacrifices, the offerings, the observances, these were all external acts and they were all things that could be done and things that were done for a long time while the Old Covenant stood. They could be performed and they could be performed by even unbelieving priests. And they were in fact performed by unbelieving priests. And you read the prophets and you will see their condemnation spoken again and again and again. These were things that could be performed. A list of external things to be followed. This is what the Old Covenant contained. They could be done. Now that doesn't mean that they were bad or wrong. They were actually commanded and that means they were required by the Old Covenant for a time So the writer said, until the time, this word for reformation means making straight or setting straight, and could even indicate the time of a new order of things in reference to the new covenant. In context, it makes perfect sense. As long as the old covenant stood, They were required to do these things. It would have been wrong of them not to do them. They were required to do them. But also understand that the doing of them was only a living parable. It was not the actual cleansing. It was not the actual reconciling of people to God so that they could have what the writer of Hebrews has already referred to as bold access. I mean, even the high priest, one man, one day of the year could enter into the most holy place. He didn't do so boldly. He did so in fear and with much ceremony and ritual and offering and blood and all those things that took place. The Old Covenant could never provide people bold access to God. Could never provide that. And in fact, it was only a living parable. of the real, true, and the better that was to come. Well, God gave the Old Covenant. God commanded this tabernacle to be built, and the priests to be consecrated, and the services to be performed. And He commanded all of this. He explicitly stated that He might dwell in the midst of His nation. That's Exodus 25 and verse number 8. He commanded all this to be done, that He might dwell in their midst. But all of this only highlighted restriction, lack of access to the most holy place and the presence of God because ultimately his presence in the midst of his people was never to be fulfilled through the old covenant but will be fulfilled through the new covenant which we've already seen in the latter half of chapter number eight. He will go on, the writer of Hebrews will go on to show that the old covenant could actually accomplish certain external things, but could never accomplish the internal work that is required to save our souls, just like he talked about in the new covenant, new hearts. So the message continues throughout this letter, again, to persuade, and we don't want to lose sight of this fact, like why is the writer of Hebrews talking about all these things that he's talking about? This letter is written as a warning, as an exhortation, particularly to those first century Jewish believers. don't turn back to the old covenant. And he is thoroughly showing the emptiness of that route. You go there, there is no blood that can save. You go there, there is no remission of sin. You go there, there is no sacrifice that can make you right with God. Of course he's here in the beginning of chapter 9 setting up a contrast with Christ and the New Covenant and the better sacrifice and open access to God and all of those things are going to follow after.