By this will [i.e. God=s will in Christ to take away the first covenant to establish the second - v. 9] we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, "THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THEM AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS UPON THEIR HEART, AND UPON THEIR MIND I WILL WRITE THEM," He then says, "AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE." Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin. (Hebrews 10:10-18)
This month we continue our overview of the first century imminence of our Lord
=s coming as seen in the book of Hebrews. As we have clearly seen in previous lessons, the time in which this book was written, the mid-sixties, was the last days of a transition period in which the final vestiges of the old covenant system were being removed and the elements of the new covenant were coming to fruition. One striking difference between the two is seen in the comparison of the two priesthoods. Under the old system, daily sacrifices were made but the new was satisfied with one sacrifice for all time. Of special note is the authors affirmation that Christ has Asat down at the right hand of God waiting . . . until His enemies be made a footstool. In this context, it is important to remember that Paul said the last enemy Abeing defeated@ was death when he wrote 1 Corinthians 15.The author
=s citation from Jeremiah 31 is most significant. Remember, when Jewish teachers quote a text they are not Acherry picking@, instead they are calling to mind the entire context. Consequently, we need to be very aware of the context, and that requires backing up to Jeremiah 30 where this Aword of the Lord@ begins. The context speaks of a time when God would restore Judah AND Israel to the Aland@ promised. We=ll see it clearly in Chapter 11, but let me emphasize that the Apromised land@ was an heavenly city. The old covenant indeed included the promise of a physical land, but that was but a sign (shadow, copy) of what God intended for His people: spiritual Israel.Jeremiah 30 speaks of a
@great day@ which is beyond comparison to anything else. God would punish the people for their disobedience but He would utterly destroy their enemies. The last verse of the chapter is compelling: AThe fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back, Until He has performed, and until He has accomplished The intent of His heart; In the latter days you will understand this.@ Jeremiah opens chapter 31with a picture of what would be accomplished then: "At that time," declares the LORD, "I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people."Jeremiah prophesied a time when the promise to Abraham would come to fruition. Had physical Israel been willing to keep the commandments of God, they would have enjoyed the promised physical blessings. In fact, they temporarily enjoyed many of those blessings in spite of their disobedience. Nevertheless, the physical blessings were only evidence of what God was doing on a larger scale in the spiritual realm. The birth of Jesus was the inauguration of the
Alatter days@ of which Jeremiah spoke, and which the author of Hebrews recognizes (1:1). The time for the gathering of the peoples (Gen. 49:10f) had arrived and, as the generation which walked with Christ in the flesh was coming to an end, the consummation of the ages was upon them.I can
=t leave this section of the text without noting the last verse, ANow where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.@ We=ll speak to this directly in the section on verses 26 to 31, but do note that once Jesus had been sacrificed, sacrifices ceased. To reject His sacrifice was to Areject so great a salvation@, or worse.Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near. (Heb. 10:19-25)
It is obvious here that first century believers were enjoying the positional benefits of being
Ain Christ@ prior to the end of Mosaic Age. As the author will reiterate again and again, their need was to remain faithful to the end (fulfillment). Such admonitions would have been deceptively empty if the end in view was thousands of years in the future. The people who heard these words were enduring hardship daily and they needed relief. They were instructed to meet together to encourage one another to greater faithfulness as the saw the coming day of the Lord approaching. How were they to see it coming? Jesus gave them the signs to observe, and they were witnessing those events as Hebrews was written!To strip verse 25 out of this context and turn it into a command to assemble weekly is a gross abuse of God
=s word. The day under consideration here is not Sunday as some teach, it was the day of the Lord=s appearing. Proper interpretation is required to yield appropriate application. Believers naturally desire to gather with other believers, and anyone lacking that desire gives evidence that they are not of the faith. Still, to use this passage to insist that believers follow some pattern of assembling is a disservice to the text. A[T]he day@ was at hand in their generation and history records that it came just as the prophets of old, and Jesus and disciples said it would.For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY." And again, "THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE." It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:26-31)
Verse 18 powerfully demonstrates the efficacy of Jesus
= sacrifice: when forgiveness came God no longer required any other sacrifice. Every Christian I know believes we have forgiveness in Christ. Emphatically then, God=s word tells us there is no other Aoffering for sin.@ Either one becomes a partaker of the forgiveness found in the Christ=s perfect sacrifice, or one remains in their sin. How then is it that those of a dispensational persuasion insist that the temple must be rebuilt and the old covenant sacrifices restored in order for modern Jews to come to salvation? It simply does not fit.Indeed, the sacrifices offered by first century Jews following the offering of Jesus on the cross, may well have been
Athe abomination which brings desolation.@ The continuation of the old covenant sacrifices was an open rejection of God=s grace extended in the blood of The Lamb. To reject such grace and depend upon the Ablood of bulls and goats@ was an affront to God=s mercy and His wrath was poured out on that generation in A.D. 70.That is what this section of the text addresses. The ultimate sacrifice had been made and those who willfully neglected the forgiveness offered in Christ continued in their error (sinning: harmartia - missing the mark) and were about to be judged. Those who nullified the blood of Christ by continuing to trust in the blood of animals experienced the greater judgment for setting aside the blood of the new covenant.
If these verses have troubled you as a believer, take comfort in the realization that they do not speak to those times when we selfishly, willfully and intentionally sin. Indeed, the Law of Moses only provided atonement for unintentional sins (see Lev. 4:2, 22, 27; 5:15, 18; 22:14, 24, 27-29);
ABut the person who does anything defiantly, whether he is native or an alien, that one is blaspheming the LORD; and that person shall be cut off from among his people. Because he has despised the word of the LORD and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt shall be on him.@ (Lev.22:30-31). However, the blood of God=s chosen Lamb cleanses us Afrom all unrighteousness@.While we may rightly question the faith of a professing believer whose life does not exhibit progress in controlling his thoughts and behavior by the power of the Spirit of God, willful sin is not an offense beyond the cleansing power of Christ
=s blood. Even extended periods of rebellion in the life a believer will submit to correction; that correction may be in the physical death of the believer but it will come. As people of faith, we can put our confidence in God=s keeping power. No one can Asnatch us out of His hand@ and we are included in Ano one.@ It was this kind of confidence which the author of Hebrews had in mind as he wrote.But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly, by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners, and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. FOR YET IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE, HE WHO IS COMING WILL COME, AND WILL NOT DELAY. BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul. (Hebrews 10:32-39)
The intended audience lived in a special period in time. It was a time in which it was possible to abandon one
=s profession and return to the old covenant. Many who made such a profession did just that: to their own destruction. However, the author is confident of Abetter things@ for his readers and he calls them to endurance realizing they are Aof those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.@The writer recounts their past faithfulness and emphasizes how near what they have longed for really is. It is imperative for readers beyond that first century generation to pay attention to these verses and the time statements found in them. THEY were told,
Ain a very little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay.@ In spite of this clear teaching of God=s word, most Christians today believe that Jesus did not come. That is just not acceptable.The phrase
Avery little while@ in the Greek is hoson hoson micron. We get the word Amicron@ from the Greek (meaning a little space, of time or degree) and most of us recognize it as a very small unit of measure (one millionth of a meter to be exact). The Greek hoson is an adjective which emphasizes the meaning of the word it modifies: in this case, little. Had the author used hoson only once, the construction would have been clear enough for the reader to realize they were on the cusp of receiving what had been prophesied. However, the author chose to be more emphatic by using hoson hoson which compounded the idea of imminency for the reader: Ahow very, very, little while@. The author is unmistakable in his meaning, AHe who is coming will come and will not delay.@!!! If thousands of years and counting do not constitute a delay, what does?There is absolutely no credibility for any interpretation which takes this language and moves it beyond its first century context. That generation was about to experience the final transition from the old covenant to the new and they needed encouragement fix their eyes on Jesus and stay the course. With that in mind, the author reminds them of faithful saints of the past. We
=ll pick up with that discussion next time.George Bush on the U. S. Constitution
Doug Thompson is a journalist for Capital Hill Blue: a news source which routinely breaks stories well before the mainstream media will admit they even exist. If you only believe what you hear in the mainstream media (i.e. the propaganda machine) you probably won=t be interested in what follows.
In a story dated December 9, 2005, Thompson reported that the President met with select Congressional leaders in the Oval Office to discuss the renewal of the so called PATRIOT Act. Reaction against the Act has come from both sides of the aisle and people like Phylis Schlafly and former Representative Bob Barr find themselves aligned with the likes of the ACLU.
During the meeting, one aide observed that AThere is a valid case that the provisions in this law undermine the Constitution.@ The President=s response should shock many of you. Mr. Bush Ascreamed back@, AStop throwing the Constitution in my face. It=s just a g__d___ed piece of paper!@
In case you
=ve forgotten, Mr. Bush took an oath before God to uphold the Constitution. I told you he was lying at the time and his behavior has proved my observations to be correct. Now, in the strongest language possible, this tyrant presumes to disregard his oath before God and the supreme law of this land.The action of the aide who dared to confront the President on his unlawful behavior is commendable. I pray our response to this tyranny will be equally commendable. Do not pretend there is no problem. Act as patriotic Americans who care about the government God entrusted to us. To ignore this serious evidence of a breach of trust with the American people is simply not acceptable.
Pessimillennialism
For Christmas, Sharon gave me a book I
=ve wanted for several years now, Days of Vengeance by David Chilton. It is a discussion of the symbolism in The Revelation and should be in your library (it=s out of print but can still be found). When it was introduced in 1986 it was well received by the non-dispensational community of believers, especially those of the post-millennial persuasion.In the preface written by Gary North of the Institute for Christian Economics, North refers to those who ignore the time statements of scripture regarding the
Asecond coming@ as pessimillenialists. Instead of accepting God=s mandate to Adam to take dominion and subdue the earth, pessimillennialists have accepted the idea that is an impossible task.If you
=ve read me for very long at all, you know that I am not optimistic about where this country is headed. On the other hand, I am extremely optimistic about the progress we will make in the next few centuries. It is a strange irony that at the time when so many Christians preach optimism, positive mental attitude, etc. They also subscribe to pessimillennialism! Their gloomy outlook to the contrary, the evidence is that things are continually improving when viewed from a global perspective. If you identify yourself in the ranks of the pessimillennialists, I pray you will seriously consider how much more glorious the kingdom of God would appear on earth if we each worked like it was up to us to make it spread, instead of acting like it was going to be destroyed at any moment.By the way, Gary North is decidedly not a preterist and neither was Chilton, when he wrote the book. Chilton died at age 45. Prior to his death, his study caused him to conclude full the preterist position was correct. He fell out of favor with many former supporters but his work stands as a crucial resource for all who are interested in gaining a better knowledge of the only book in the Bible which promises a blessing to those who read it. I highly recommend it for your personal study.
To Obey Is Better Than Sacrifice
I
=m blessed to have an excellent teacher on Sunday mornings. He=s a diligent student who is not afraid to ask the hard questions and seek truth. One recent Sunday morning, our discussion considered the superiority of Jesus= sacrifice. As God=s sinless Lamb, He was the fitting anti-type of the Passover Lamb: without spot or blemish. Just as the life of an innocent animal was required for sin, Jesus in His innocence became the perfect sacrifice that could do what the blood of bulls and goats could never do: take away the sins of the world.It was observed that Jesus real sacrifice was the subjection of His will to the Father
=s will. Certainly His death on the cross was required and efficacious but underlying that work was His commitment to being obeditent.I couldn
=t help but think of 1 Kings 15 where Samuel confronted Saul for not killing all the livestock after the victory over the Amalekites. You will remember Saul=s excuse that they decided to spare some of the animals to bring as a sacrifice to God. Samuel=s rebuke takes us to the heart of our relationship with God, ATo obey is better than to sacrifice and to harken than the fat of rams.@ At least two points can be made in this regard. First, what God requires is obedience. Only one Man ever rendered perfect obedience and those who demanded sacrifices were the instruments of His death.Second, sacrifice is only necessary because of disobedience. Those living under the old covenant were guilty and therefore brought daily sacrifices to atone.
The good news is that in Christ, God sees us as rendering perfect obedience. Because He does,
Athere is no more sacrifice for sin@ and AHe is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness.@God give us hearts to understand the glorious work He has done in reconciling us to the Father.
The Apprentice
=s JournalAnother year has come an gone and the prospects for the year ahead are already filling the 2006 calendar. As Granna Sharon filled up the trunk of the car with Christmas gifts for our three grandsons, she told Laura, our daughter, we would have to buy an SUV if she had any more children.
When we were opening gifts with Sharon
=s family, Sharon opened one from Laura to both of us. It contained a miniature SUV! Grandchild #4 is due around September 1 and we are delighted. I don=t think we=ll be buying an SUV however; I said it would be possible to buy fewer presents for each child but that wasn=t received too well. I suspect next Christmas we=ll just have the gifts sent directly to their house and save the trunk for other things. The benefit of that is Laura actually enjoys wrapping packages and Sharon may be spared some of that work. In any event, we=ll celebrate next Christmas with at least one new family member.The backyard report is still pretty abbreviated. The birds have been slowly reappearing and we even had a pair of Blue Birds checking out the house. It has been unseasonably warm and everything is beginning to think spring has arrived. We purchased firewood right before Christmas and now we are wondering if we
=ll have enough cool weather to use it. Since it is piled in front of a window, it would be nice to use most of it. One thing I haven=t been troubled with is a wet garden. We haven=t had any significant rain in months and everything is really dry. I=m sure you=ve heard a lot about the fires in Texas and Oklahoma and some of are closer to them than us.Actually, to be living in the middle of the Sam Houston National Forest, we have had surprisingly few fires and none of them have been really major. The dry conditions made for a quiet New Year
=s Eve. Given the lack of common sense exhibited by so many these days, it was a real surprise when we went to bed before midnight and were not awakened by the sound of fireworks. The bottom line is that the garden is dry and has been for some time. I=ve even managed to till it on occasion just to keep the weeds down. We raked leaves and hauled them all to the garden to be tilled in to compost, but I still need to get the tilling done.I
=ve managed to get a few weeds pulled but I still need to do a lot of pruning. However, nothing has really gone dormant. In fact, the Chinese Fringe plants are already blooming and other plants are showing signs of following suit. It has been so warm that on a few nights I=ve heard the bullfrogs hopping into the pond when I go out the back door.On another front, just this week, Sharon decided to go on a medical mission trip to Nicaragua in April. It was a rather sudden decision but there were no nurses signed up to go and she felt the need to pitch in and help make the trip possible for others. As you know, she didn
=t get to make the trip to Peru last fall. She really has a heart for this work but responsibilities at work then just made it impossible to make that trip. Now that this opportunity has arisen, she is really excited about going. Depending on upcoming elections in Peru, the door may be closing even more there. It has always been hard to get into Peru, but if the wrong faction wins, it will be even more difficult and dangerous to go to there. So, the prospects of Nicaragua open new doors of service as well as the opportunity to work with God=s people in a different country. We both continue to appreciate your interest in her work and the support you shown in the past. If you=d like to support her work in Nicaragua financially, your gift to Olive Branch Ministries in her name would be most appreciated. The address is 4404 10th Street, Lubbock, Texas 79416.We
=ve been granted another year to live for the kingdom of God while residing here in the earthly realm. It=s always good to reflect on how we=ve used that time and how God has worked in our lives to continue His work in us. I hope you can say you are farther along in that journey now that you were a year ago. I hope we all can reflect on the past year with satisfaction knowing the work God is doing in us equips us for His service and make us better stewards.It is a constant challenge for all of us to see each moment we have as an opportunity for the kingdom, but the better able we are to see things from a heavenly perspective, the more we are able to use each encounter in our daily lives to bring glory to God. In this new year, may we each share the objective the apostle Paul expressed in Philippians 3:14,
AI press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.@Whatever your calling, may God grant you the faith and courage to fulfill it. ~
Jim