Hebrews 9:22 Commentary and Bible Study

Almost all things connected to the worship of God in the tabernacle and the temple were ceremonially sprinkled in order to purge them from uncleanness. The lesson was pressed home relentlessly because of its overwhelming importance. Men and women’s eternal destiny will depend on their understanding of this lesson, and on their reliance on the propitiation provided by God for the sins of the world. According to the law almost everything was to be purged with blood, and there was no remission without blood, even from ceremonial uncleanness.How could blood have such an effect? When Christ died for our sins, he did not simply lose his physical life. Psalm 22 tells us a little of the horror of his experience, and Isaiah 53 explains the reason for it. On the cross he had the guilt of our sins imputed to him, so that he became responsible for what we had done. The shedding of his blood is the proof of his death, and his death involved taking the eternal punishment in hell which was due to his people. This is why his blood is worth so much, and is so powerful to cleanse. It is the evidence of his atoning death, and it is accepted by the Father as a full payment for sins. Not surprisingly, the sprinkling of the blood of calves and of goats which symbolised Christ’s blood was the only means given under the law to remove uncleanness.