Hebrews 9:1 Commentary and Bible Study

In the first part of this chapter there is a review of some of the elements of the worship of Old Testament days. We don't need this argumentation as Jewish doubters needed it, or even Jewish converts in New Testament times, who were still very troubled because it was hard for them to accept that the Mosaic order of worship that prevailed in those times was over and finished, and had no enduring value. We may not need these arguments in quite the same way as the Jews, but we certainly glean tremendous help and understanding of the work of Christ by reviewing them. It shows just how much Old Testament people were taught about God, about man, about the fall, and particularly about God's holiness and his unapproachability by sinners, unless he makes special provision for them in his pardoning love. It was all given in the context of the expectation of a great descendant: that one who was promised in the Garden of Eden at the time of the fall, who was promised repeatedly to Abraham, through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed, who was spoken of throughout the pages of the Old Testament. ‘Then verily [truly] the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service.’ Why the word ‘verily’? The author is picking up on the Jewish doubts, and he makes a concession to them. ‘Yes, it is true that the ceremonial law had beautiful and very significant ceremonies. But these were prophecies, pictures. They prefigured Christ and spoke of the one who would come to do the work of redemption. So he begins by conceding the point: that is true. But soon the great ‘but’ is going to come along. The ‘but’ that stands against the ‘verily’ of verse 1 comes in verse 11, and there the comparison is applied. Modern versions often translate the word ‘ordinances’ as ‘ceremonies’, but ‘ceremonies of righteousness’ would be more correct, things that speak of righteousness. All the things that were done in Old Testament worship had to do with righteousness: that God is so perfect and holy and righteous that there have to be these numerous washings and cleansings in order even for a priest to dare approach him. You can't have a vague faith in God: ‘I believe God is there, but I can live as I please and turn to him if I'm in desperation or need.’ No, you can't do that. Look, says the Old Testament law, God is unapproachable because of his holiness and our sinfulness and great inadequacy, and so there are things that have to be done to make a way into the presence of God, and the ceremonial of ancient times portrayed those things that would be accomplished with the coming of Christ. The ceremonial law is now set aside; the symbols have all been fulfilled in Christ. The reality has come, his saving redemptive work has been accomplished. So why look at the symbols of worship in ancient times? Because as long as we take account of their limited, symbolic form, we can learn so much from them. They contain so much detail about the work of Christ, in some cases more detail than we have even in the New Testament. How much the Israelites ought to have understood, and many among them no doubt did understand. God intends that the Old Testament should continue to teach believers today, even though we certainly do not go back to its mode of worship. If we had symbols – a representative holy of holies, a special inner sanctuary which no one could enter except a high priest once a year – these things would be in danger of becoming objects of veneration and worship. They would compete with Christ and would take away from him. They are over, they are finished, and yet the record of them may still speak to us. The word ‘also' here refers to the priesthood, which the previous chapters have told us about. He represented Christ, but he was only a symbol. And there was not only a high priest, there were also ordinances of worship. The first covenant had, in addition to the high priest, ‘ordinances of divine service’, that is, rites or rules of worship, ‘and a worldly sanctuary’, a physical sanctuary, a special place. That simply means a material sanctuary, built by my hands, made of stone and material objects and timber, and lavish in its gold ornamentation. First of all the mobile tabernacle [tent] sanctuary of Moses, later replaced by Solomon’s temple, which incorporated all the features of the original tabernacle under the direction of God.