Tag: copies

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Hebrews

What shadows and copies can and cannot do

Hebrews

For the last couple of days, we’ve been talking about shadows and copies.

Essentially what we’ve been saying is that all shadows and copies can do is show us pictures of reality.

A shadow can give us a general idea of what a person looks like. A toy train which is modeled after the real thing can show us what a train can do.

But ultimately, they can’t do all that the real thing does.

A shadow of a person cannot talk, listen, or touch anything. A toy train cannot transport live people from one place to another.

And so the writer of Hebrews tells us that while the tabernacle, gifts, and offerings were pictures of our relationship with God and what needed to happen in order for us to draw near to him, ultimately, they could not actually bring us into his presence.

In particular, the sacrifices and gifts offered to God could not clear our consciences before him. They were just temporary regulations that were put in place until the reality came (Hebrews 9:9-10).

What is the reality? Christ.

Christ came to this earth, and after dying on the cross for our sins, he entered the true tabernacle in heaven. But unlike the earthly priests, he didn’t offer the blood of goats and calves, but his own blood.

And while the blood of goats and bulls could make things ceremonially clean, Christ’s blood can actually cleanse our consciences themselves and set us free from the penalty of sin. (9:11-15)

And because his blood shed on the cross was sufficient to do this, he only had to do it once, and after that he sat down at the right hand of God, his work of salvation complete.

The earthly priests, on the other hand, never really  could rest from their work.

Rather, they had to bring sacrifices endlessly year after year because the sacrifices of bulls and goats they brought were not sufficient to clear our consciences.

All the sacrifices did was remind us of our sin and our need for forgiveness, the need for an ultimate sacrifice that would truly take away our sins (Hebrews 10:1-4)

But of Jesus’ sacrifice, the writer of Hebrews says,

He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. (Hebrews 10:14)

And so though all the Old Testament sacrifices were at one time required as a picture of Jesus and his work on the cross to come, once Jesus came, saying, “Here I am…I have come to do your will, O God” (10:7), the old, imperfect sacrifices were set aside to make room for the one perfect sacrifice that could truly make us holy.

Now because of what Jesus has done, we have hope. The writer of Hebrews tells us,

For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance–now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. (Hebrews 9:15)

And again,

Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. (9:27-28)

Shadows and copies cannot give us the hope of eternal life. But in Jesus we have that hope. More, we have the hope that he will indeed return someday and bring our salvation to completion.

No, our hope is not in shadows and copies. Our hope is grounded in the reality that is Christ.

So whenever we feel discouraged or without hope, let us always return our eyes to him, knowing that those who do will never be put to shame. (1 Peter 2:6)

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Hebrews

Shadows and copies (part 2)

Hebrews

Yesterday we read in chapter 8 that the tabernacle was a shadow and copy of the true tabernacle.

Here in chapter 9, we see in what way it was a mere shadow and copy of the real thing.

The ark of the covenant was a symbol of the presence of God. He was said to be enthroned on the cherubim that sat on the cover of the ark.

The ark itself was placed in the Most Holy Place, and therefore the Most Holy Place was considered to be the place where God dwelt in the tabernacle.

Because of this not just anyone could enter the holy places. Only the priests could enter the Holy Place, the section just outside the Most Holy Place.

And only the high priest could enter the Most Holy Place, and that only once a year on the Day of Atonement in which sacrifices were offered for the sins of the people.

And the writer of Hebrews tells us,

The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing. (Hebrews 9:8)

In other words, the first tabernacle was in a sense a barrier to a relationship with God. People were actually physically blocked off from his presence by the curtain that hung between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place.

For that matter, most people couldn’t even get as far as the Holy Place.

The same was true of Solomon’s temple, Ezra’s temple, and Herod’s temple which replaced the tabernacle. The physical barrier was a picture of the spiritual barrier that hung between us and God in heaven. Our sins separated us from him.

But as we will see in the next part, Jesus tore that barrier down.

All I’ll point out at this point are two things the writer of Hebrews brings up. That in order to enter the Most Holy Place, the priests had to pass two things: a lampstand whose light never went out, and the bread consecrated to God.

Is it any coincidence that Jesus called himself the light of the world and the bread of life? In order to go into the presence of God, you must go through Jesus.

And just as the high priest needed to bring blood when entering the Most Holy Place as an atonement for the Israelite’s sins, so Jesus entered the Most Holy Place in heaven with his own blood to atone for our sins.

Now because of what Jesus has done, we have free access to the Father.

It’s hard to fathom as a Christian not having that access. But for many years, people simply didn’t have it.

So as Paul wrote, and as I recall as Christmas season draws to a close:

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! (2 Corinthians 9:15)

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Hebrews

Shadows and copies

Hebrews

A lot of people wonder at the Old Testament and why we even have it. Especially the parts about the making of the tabernacle and all the laws, many of which are no longer applicable to us today.

The reason is found in these next three chapters, and is summed up in verse 8 of this chapter. They were all shadows and copies of spiritual realities.

The writer of Hebrews says specifically that the tabernacle was a shadow and copy of heaven itself.

Even though the tabernacle was obviously not even close to being as glorious as heaven, nevertheless, because it was a copy, Moses was warned to make everything exactly as he had been told.

But the tabernacle wasn’t the only thing that was a shadow and copy. Many of the laws that we don’t understand today were too.

The ideas of unclean and clean, for example, and the laws concerning food, leprosy, and even mildew were all pictures of sin and the need to stay pure as God’s people.

The sacrifices were shadows and copies as well. As we said yesterday, they were not sufficient to deal with our sins, but they looked forward to the perfect sacrifice Jesus made on the cross.

And finally, the covenant that God made with the Israelites at Mount Sinai was a mere shadow and copy of the the true relationship he wanted with us.

The laws he gave them were all external to themselves, and it was up to them to try to keep them all. And if they did, God said he would be their God and they would be his people. That they would be his priests and a holy nation for him.

But because these laws were not truly part of the Israelites, they were unable to keep them. And so God said,

“The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord.

This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.

I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.

For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (Hebrews 8:8-12)

In the old covenant, God gave the Israelites law. But in the new covenant, God promises to put the law into our hearts, changing us from the inside out.

Under the old covenant, the Israelites had priests and prophets to teach people to know God. And even then, there was a distance between God and the people. They didn’t really have a personal relationship with him.

But now, Jesus is our priest, and he brings us directly before his Father and we will know him personally.

So let us rejoice that we no longer need to deal with shadows and copies which were imperfect, but that through Jesus, we now have what is real. A real relationship with God with hearts purified through his sacrifice on the cross.

And let us draw near to him, not just now at Christmas time, but every day.