Hebrews 9:4 Commentary and Bible Study

You can imagine a hebrew boy or girl asking their father or mother, ‘What is in that mysterious place, into which only the high priest may go once a year?’ ‘Ah,’ the parent would say, ‘in there is the presence of God, we cannot go in. We cannot make a direct approach.’ The second veil or curtain was not like the first one that brought you into the main chamber of the tabernacle; this one was a barrier. No one was allowed to look or proceed past this one. It was a barrier that represented the protection of the holiness of God, a barrier to his presence. The presence of God was beyond this second veil. ‘But father, why can we not go in? I would like to see those special articles.’ ‘We cannot go in because we are being taught about the holiness of God. You can only approach him in the person of a high priest. Our high priest goes in once a year and that is only a symbolic act. The Messiah is coming, and what he will do will obtain an entrance into heaven for us. We cannot enter into the presence of God, because of our sin, except by God's mercy, and we have to repent of our sin and only then can we have access to him.’ In the holiest of all was the golden censer or firepan, and once a year and the high priest would use it to carry hot coals from the altar outside into the holiest place of all (Leviticus 16:12). He would have with him in his hand choice sweet incense, and once in the holy place he would place the golden censer on the mercy seat which was the cover to the ark of the covenant, and he would take this finely ground sweet incense and toss it onto the burning coals, and its aroma would fill the holy of holies. It depicted the presence of God. Inside the ark of the covenant were the tables or tablets of stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed by the finger of God. God’s law was below the mercy seat which covered the ark, because mercy cannot operate except in a way that is consistent with the law of God. Paul says, ‘Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law’ (Romans 3:31). There too was the golden pot containing manna. The manna represented to the ancients God's provision – he had sustained them with manna day by day in the wilderness. Christ said, ‘I am the bread of life’. ‘It is through me alone that the spiritual life comes that it can be given to you, I had to atone for your sin,’ he says, ‘I had to offer up my righteousness on your behalf to deserve the blessing of God and Communion with him. I give you these things when you seek me alone.’ Any spiritual life and strength must come from God. We need spiritual life, pardon, and forgiveness of sin. We need life to be imparted to us so that we can relate to God, because we are spiritually dead without it. We need a new character, a new nature, and spiritual faculties within us.And then there was Aaron’s rod that budded. Why this rod? It had been turned into a serpent through Moses. It had been used by Moses, the very same rod, to strike the Red Sea and the waters parted. It had been used to strike the rock at horeb so that the water poured in the wilderness. Not once but twice Aaron’s rod budded, and not only budded but flowered and gave almonds. This rod represented instrumentality. There is power in the hands of those who walk with God. They may be instrumental; they may bring others to the Lord. Aaron’s rod that budded also spoke about resurrection: that which was dead, coming to life. Christ's resurrection promises our resurrection in due course. But what a blessing to have new life, pardon, and forgiveness, and to have as it were the rod of God, to be possessed with power to be useful to God in this world.