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The Insufficiency of the Former Priestly Service
9: 6-7

The insufficiency of the former priestly service DIG: On what basis does God have fellowship with His children? What did the priest’s daily work in the Holy Place picture with regard to Christ? What was the annual event in Isra’el that served as the greatest picture of Messiah? What priestly procedure was not typical of Yeshua? What did the two goats represent? When did the cohen hagadol enter the Most Holy Place? For what purpose? What happened if he entered with unconfessed sin? What is the significance of the high priest offering the sacrifice of blood for himself?

REFLECT: The mercy seat reminded the Israelites of the blood shed to cover their sins on Yom Kippur. What experiences or items in your life remind you of the mercy you were shown through Christ’s blood?

The tabernacle was not accessible to the people: We must net get the idea that the Israelites assembled in the Tabernacle for worship. The priests were permitted into the Tabernacle, but not the people from the other tribes. Furthermore, though the priest ministered in the Holy Place day after day, only the high priest could enter the Most Holy Place, and that once a year. When he did, he had to offer a sacrifice for his own sins as well as for the sins of the people. In contrast to this, the heavenly Tabernacle (to see link click Bn – The Superiority of the New Covenant) is open to all the people of God, and at all times (see Ch – Let Us Draw Near to God).219

The author starts with a general description of the Holy Place. The emphasis is on the continual, daily work of the Levitical priest who was to do the same thing every day. With the Tabernacle so arranged (see Br – The Insufficiency of the Former Sanctuary), the priests (Hebrew: cohanim) enter the Holy Place all the time to perform their duties (9:6 CJB). These duties included attending to the Lampstand twice a day, adding oil, trimming the wicks, and making sure the flame continued to burn (Exodus 27:20-22; Leviticus 24:1-4), each week placing fresh loaves of bread on the table of the bread of the Presence (Leviticus 24:5-9), and burning incense on the Altar of Incense (Exodus 30:7-9), as did Zechariah (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ak – The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold). The emphasis here is upon the repetition. Every day, over and over again, the same thing took place. The Levitical priest’s work was never finished. In this they picture Jesus Christ, who does not cease ministering on our behalf. His ministry is perpetual, continual, and unceasing. How wonderful that our Lord never stops His priestly work on our behalf.

But only the high priest (Hebrew: cohen hagadol) enters the Most Holy Place, and he goes in only once a year, and he must always bring the blood of a slaughtered animal as a reminder that death is the penalty for in, which he offers both for himself and for the sins committed in ignorance by the people (9:7 CJB). The Greek word for is the transliteration of huper, a preposition that speaks of substitution. It means for the sake of, or in behalf of. It points to the substitutionary character of the atonement. For instance: It is more to your advantage to have one man die for all the people than for the whole nation to perish (John 11:50 NET), or, He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin (Titus 2:14 NLT). Here the blood is offered as a type pointing to the atonement.220

Nothing, however, illustrates Messiah so perfectly as the work of the high priest in the Most Holy Place on the Day of Atonement (see the commentary on Exodus Go – The Day of Atonement). Whenever an Israelite sinned, his communion with YHVH was broken. As a result, the sacrifices for sin were never finished and the priest’s work was never done. However, in spite of the continual sacrificing, the many sins committed in ignorance would accumulate, for which no sacrifice had been made. The Day of Atonement was intended to make sacrifice for all those sins that had not yet been covered.

The Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, was a great day for liberation of conscience. The Israelite knew that whatever sins may have been missed in the daily sacrifices would then be taken care of. The slate would be completely clean, at least symbolically for a while. Yom Kippur was a time of release and relief. The devout Jews longed for that Day. They could not go into the Most Holy Place themselves, but the high priest would go in for them and they would be delivered.

As John MacArthur relates in his commentary on Hebrews, very early on Yom Kippur, the high priest cleansed himself ritually and put on his elaborate robes, with the breastplate (near his heart, signifying that he carried the people in his heart) and ephod (on the shoulder, signifying that he had power on their behalf) representing the twelve tribes. Then he began his daily sacrificing. Unlike Messiah, he had to sacrifice for his own sin. Very likely he would have already slaughtered twenty-two animals by the time he reached the Most Holy Place: for the daily burnt offering – a lamb; for the new moon burnt offering – two young bulls, a ram, and seven male lambs; for the Day of Atonement burnt offerings – a young bull, a ram, and seven male lambs (Numbers 28:11-15, 29:7-10) and for his own sin offering – a young bull and a ram for the burnt offering (Leviticus 16:3, also see the commentary on Exodus Go – The Day of Atonement).

After finishing all these sacrifices, he took off the robes of glory and beauty and went and bathed himself again completely. He then put on a white linen garment, with no decoration or ornament at all, and performed the sacrifice of atonement.

Wearing his white linen, the high priest took coals off the bronze altar (see the commentary on Exodus Fa – Build an Altar of Acacia Wood Overlaid with Bronze), where the sacrifice was going to be made. Then he put them in a gold censer with incense and carried it into the Most Holy Place. Here again is a beautiful picture of Messiah, interceding for His own people before the presence of YHVH. Then the high priest went out and took a bull purchased with his own money, because it was to be offered for his own sin. After slaughtering the bull and offering the sacrifice, he had another priest assist him in catching the blood as it drained off. He swirled some of it in a small bowl and carried it into the Most Holy Place, and sprinkled it on the mercy seat. The people could hear the bells on his robe as moved about. When he hurried out, the people breathed a sigh of relief when the saw him. Had he entered the Most Holy Place ceremonially unclean, he would have been stuck dead.

When he came out, two goats were waiting for him by the bronze altar. In a small urn were two lots to determine which goat would be used for which purpose. One lot was marked for ADONAI and the other for Azael, the scapegoat, which personified impurity. As each lot was drawn, it was tied to the horn of one of the goats. The goat designated for Ha’Shem was then killed on the bronze altar. Its blood was caught in the same way as the bull and was swirled in the bowl as it was carried into the Most Holy Place. This blood was also sprinkled on the mercy seat, but this time for the sins of the people. Again he hurried out. Only on the basis of the blood of a goat would YHVH have fellowship with Isra’el, and only on the basis of the blood of Yeshua Messiah will the LORD have fellowship with us. Christ’s blood on the mercy seat, is the place where God meets us.

Then the high priest placed his hands on the goat that remained, Azael, the scapegoat, symbolically placing the sins of the people onto the goats head. This goat was released into the desert to die, symbolically sending the sins of the people away for another year. The rabbis teach that far from involving the recognition of Azazel as a deity, the sending of the goat was a symbolic idea that the people’s sins and their evil consequences were to be sent back to the spirit of desolation and ruin, the source of all impurity.

When the high priest was done with the sacrifice of atonement, he put the robes of glory and beauty back on, picturing still further the work of our Lord. In His high priestly prayer (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Kx – The High Priestly Prayer), anticipating what would happen after His crucifixion and resurrection, Yeshua said: And now, Father, glorify Me in your presence with the glory I had with You before the world began (Yochanan 17:5). It was if He was saying, “Give Me back My robes. I’ve done the job of atonement. My work of humility is finished.”

Only one man, out of one family, out of one clan, out of one tribe, out of one nation, out of one race, out of all of humanity ever had access to the Most Holy Place. And, even then, this one man could enter on only one day of the year on Yom Kippur (see the commentary on Exodus Go – The Day of Atonement) because there was only one annual observance. He could not ever enter the Most Holy Place without bringing blood. That was his ticket, so to speak. The earthly high priest, who was making the offering in an earthly Tabernacle, needed the same protection of blood as did everyone else. The Greek word used here for blood is aimatos, which means a basin of blood. First, the high priest had to go into the Most Holy Place to offer the blood for his own sins. Only then, could he go in to offer blood for the sins of the people committed in ignorance (these requirements are seen in Leviticus 16). Although the Most Holy Place offering was once a year, there was still repetition, year in and year out. The Holy Spirit is emphasizing that the former priestly service had very limited access to God: only the high priest could enter the Most Holy Place, only once a year, and only with blood.221

How wonderful that we now have twenty-four/seven access to God, for Yeshua paid the eternal sacrifice for our sins. God’s opening the door of fellowship with Him to all who choose to love and follow Messiah as Lord, is amazing! Though life gets busy, we need to make time for the most important relationship we will ever have-with our Savior and Lord. Let us make time for the joy that comes from spending time with the God who loves us with an extravagant love!