THE END OF SACRIFICES

With the death of Christ, did God Himself bring to an end

the system of animal sacrifices, performed under the exclusive Aaronic Priesthood?

compiled by Rachel Cory-Kuehl, March 2015

Last Edit: August 26, 2022

Scripture is from the NKJV unless otherwise noted.

Introduction                                            

 

Why is it necessary to answer this question? The end of animal sacrifice seems intuitively obvious to most Christian believers today. I believe it is necessary because a growing body of believers (some Hebrew Roots and Messianic congregations) are teaching that the LORD has never given a command specifically ending the system of animal sacrifices. “God never changes,” they say, “therefore we must follow every command given to Israel under the Sinai Covenant. There is no “new” covenant. Rather the Sinai Covenant is “renewed” with Judah and Israel. When a third Temple (with priests of the Aaronic order) is restored on the mount at Jerusalem, prior to the return of Yeshua the Messiah, they will travel there, to present sacrifices. I will not.

THE BOOK OF HEBREWS

 

By far the larger portion of the texts used in this study, are quoted from the Letter to the Hebrews. This first century writing has been disputed endlessly, because the author did not include his (or her) name. Some feel the Letter to the Hebrews does not belong with the other Apostolic Writings. We know it was written before the end of the first century, because Clement of Rome (AD60-100) quotes from Hebrews twice. Clement of Alexandria (AD155-220), was quoted by Eusebius as having said Paul wrote the letter in Hebrew, and that Luke translated it into Greek for a Hellenistic Jewish audience. Clement stated that it was this fact (Luke’s translation) that accounted for the stylistic similarities between Hebrews and Luke/Acts. He also thought that Paul did not sign the letter because he was seeking to win Jews, and he knew the Jewish authorities would use this writing against him (Reference: The New American Commentary, Vol. 35, Hebrews by David L. Allen). The phrasing, word choice, and the general polish of the Greek are NOT typical of Paul. Several candidates for authorship were posited during the 2^nd to the 4^th centuries, including Barnabas, Apollos, Luke and Clement of Rome.

 

There is also a very good little book, published in 1997 by Ruth Hoppin, titled “Prescilla’s Letter.” Hoppin proposes the Letter to the Hebrews was not signed because it was written by a woman. Prescilla and her husband Aquila were driven from Rome, when Emperor Claudius banished all Jews from that city. Paul stayed with this wealthy and educated couple at Corinth (Acts Cpt 18), and traveled with them when he returned to Antioch. After Paul left Antioch, the couple taught Apollos when he came to that city.

 

The oldest extant copy of the Letter to the Hebrews is found in document p46, dated AD 200. It follows Romans in a fourteen-letter Pauline collection. This strongly suggests the one who saved that collection believed that Paul or a student of Paul, wrote the Letter.

 

Up until Christianity was legalized within the Roman empire by Emperor Constantine, wave after wave of persecution included the confiscation and burning of Christian documents. It is only by Divine intervention that we today, have any copies of The Letter to the Hebrews.

Part One: The Case

             For the END of Animal Sacrifice

FROM THE GATES OF EDEN

 

Animal sacrifice is as old as the Gates of Eden. Abel - the second born to Eve, brought the “firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel’s offering” (Gen. 4:4). He did not respect Cain’s offering of fruits. The implication would be that the LORD had already given instruction concerning sacrifices.

 

Noah’s first recorded act upon leaving the ark, was to build an alter for “burnt offerings” (Gen. 8:20). Abraham built alters and offered sacrifice, and “called upon the name of the LORD (Gen. 12:7-8, Gen. 13:4, Gen. 13:13). Isaac did the same (Gen. 26:24-25).

 

Jacob built an alter after returning to “the land” of Canaan, from the house of Laban his uncle (Gen. 33:20). The LORD actually spoke to Jacob telling him to return to Bethel (where Jacob received the dream of the ladder to heaven) “and build an altar there to God” (Gen 35:1 NIV). In fact, Jacob built an alter at every new place of encampment.

 

After the LORD brought water from the rock, “Moses built an altar and called its name, The-LORD-Is-My-Banner” (Exo 17:15). Other alters were built at the direction of Moses, before the Alter of Brass was finished for the Courtyard of the Tabernacle. Once the Brass Alter was constructed and consecrated, the LORD commanded that sacrifice was to be offered ONLY within the Tabernacle courtyard, and ONLY by a priest of the Aaronic order (Deut. 12:11). To offer sacrifice at any other place, or without a consecrated priest, was an offence against Yahweh.

 

I trace this history to point out that animal sacrifice was something commanded by the LORD. It was not the invention of man, and we should not think to declare it “obsolete” without strong evidence from the Word of God.

 

During the entire Old Testament period, animal sacrifice was seen as the means to restoration of “righteousness” in the sight of God. The death of Christ brought “the end of the law FOR righteousness” - the end of the law as the means to righteousness, to justification, to forgiveness, and to reconciliation with Yehovah - for everyone who believes. Why then continue to offer animal sacrifices?

Romans 10:4 “For Christ is the END of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”

 

Acts 13:38 “Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. 39 Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.” (NIV)

TYPE AND SHADOW

     SYMBOLISM AND PROPHECY

 

Genesis 22:8 “And Abraham said, ‘My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.’”

 

John 1:29 “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’”

 

On the mountain, the “ram caught in a thicket” was substituted for Isaac. It was one for the other - not both. In Yeshua Messiah, God has provided “the Lamb.”

            What need remains for other lambs?

 

Galatians 3:24-25 “The Law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith [not by sacrifices]. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.”

 

“The law was our tutor.” What part of “the law” was a TYPE or prophecy of Christ? Was it not the law of priests and sacrifices and ceremonial washings?

IT WAS SYMBOLIC

 

Hebrews 9:9 “It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience--concerned only with foods [meat offerings] and drinks [drink offerings], various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.”

 

QUESTION: When is this “time of reformation?” Has it arrived? Did the death of Christ bring this “time of reformation?” In my opinion - IT DID.

 

Galatians 3:19 “What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to Whom the promise was made . . .”

 

The Seed is Jesus the Christ - the Son of God (Gal 3:16). He has come!

 

Every animal sacrifice was a symbolic prophecy of Jesus Christ - the One True Sacrifice. Every priest was a TYPE of Christ, the “priest forever” who would bear our sins before His Father (Psalms 11:4, Hebrews 5:6, 6:20, 7:17, 7:21).

 

NOTE: The moral law of God, condensed for Israel into Ten Commands, is eternal. Those Commands are repeated in the New Testament, showing that the moral law is continued under the “new covenant.”

            See our study “The Ten Commandments - Under the New Covenant.”

 

FULFILLED PROPHECY

 

The ancient Tabernacle was a copy of the Heavenly “pattern” (Exo. 25:40, Heb. 8:5). The “true Tabernacle” is “heaven itself” (Heb. 8:2). When Christ ascended into heaven, to minister as High Priest of the “true Tabernacle,” the earthly Tabernacle lost all standing as the place or means of reconciliation with God.

 

Hebrews 9:8 “By this arrangement, the Ruach HaKodesh [Holy Spirit] showed that so long as the first Tent had standing, the way into the Holiest Place was still closed” (CJB).

 

The Letter to the Hebrews was written before the destruction of the Temple in 70AD. The Temple at Jerusalem was still physically “standing.” Yet believers knew “the way” was open - “the way” into the Holiest Place of the “true Tabernacle” - “the way” into the Presence of God the Father.

 

Hebrews 10:19-20 “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest [place] by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh,”

 

Hebrews 9:12 “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once [for all], having obtained eternal redemption.”

 

Hebrews 9:24 “For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;”

          NOTE: The NIV and NRS translate “holy places” as “a Sanctuary.”

Israel was chosen of God

to act out the prophecy, and to preserve the writings:

of The Law,

of the Prophets,

of the History.

THE FIRSTBORN

 

Before the Mount Sinai rebellion, the man who presented the sacrifice to God was the designated “priest,” of family, clan, or tribal unit. He was also the head or leader, and he received the “double portion” of his father’s goods (Deut 21:17), with which he was to pay for sacrifices, for the care of widows and orphans, and for other circumstances that might threaten the family, clan, or tribe. From the gate of Eden, to the rebellion at Mount Sinai (aprox 2600 years), those designated as priests were “firstborn males.”

            NOTE: Yes. There were a few exceptions. Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of lentil soup.

Exodus 19:22&24 [Yehovah speaking to Moses - before the golden calf rebellion] “And also let the priests who come near to the LORD consecrate themselves, lest the LORD break out against them.” (NAS)

 

Here Yehovah directs Moses to communicate specifically with “the priests” - men who “come near to the LORD.” The context of this passage places this command before the Golden Calf rebellion - before the LORD chose Aaron and his male descendants, therefore these men were “the firstborn” from each tribal unit.

 

Exodus 13:2 [Yehovah speaking] “Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal” (NIV).

Exodus 22:29 [Yehovah speaking] “The firstborn of your sons you shall give to me” (NRS).

 

Every firstborn of Israel would have died in Egypt during the 10^th plague, if the LORD had not protected them, therefore the firstborn of Israel belonged to Him. Going forward, a “redemption price” to honor this deliverance, was to be paid at the Tabernacle, for every firstborn human male.

The rebellion of the Golden Calf at the foot of Sinai,

was staged by the “firstborn” leader/priests of Israel.

That is why the LORD replaced them.

 

These men had seen the plagues of Egypt. They walked through the Red Sea, drank water from the split rock, and ate manna from Heaven. They had listened to Moses read the Covenant. They all pledged, “All that the LORD has said, we will do” (Exo 24:3). They were sprinkled with blood, by Moses (Exo 24:6-8), signifying a BLOOD COVENANT with Yehovah. They climbed Mount Sinai. They “saw the God of Israel (Exo 24:9-11).” Less than six weeks later, they made a calf idol and rebelled against Him. No wonder the LORD commanded their deaths, and then replaced them as the “priests” of Israel.

A CHANGE OF THE PRIESTHOOD

 

            After the rebellion of the Golden Calf, the LORD changed the priesthood. In place of “the firstborn,” the LORD chose the tribe of Levi to serve the Tabernacle. They stood with Moses, against those who rebelled, in the worship of the golden calf idol (Exo 32:26).

 

Numbers 3:12 “Now behold, I Myself have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore the Levites shall be Mine . . .”

Numbers 8:18 “I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn

                                                                      of the children of Israel.”

 

In place of “the firstborn” priests, the LORD appointed Aaron with his male descendants to be the NEW priesthood.

Exodus 28:1 “Have Aaron your brother brought to you from among the Israelites, along with     his sons Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, so they may serve me as priests.” (NIV)

This was a change of the priesthood!

 

While Moses was on the Mountain, receiving “the Law,” Israel was in full blown rebellion at the foot of Sinai.

 

I see the LORD’s foreknowledge in His instruction to Moses. He knew the Levites would stand with Moses against the rebels. He commanded that Moses consecrate Aaron and his sons to the priesthood (Exodus 28:1-Chapter 29). He commanded this knowing that Nadab and Abihu would very soon be consumed by His fire, for their sin of presumption. He commanded this knowing that Aaron would participate in the making of the idol, but would later humbly repent.

 

Once the Tabernacle was completed and consecrated with blood, the LORD commanded that every sacrifice going forward, was to be offered in the Court of the Tabernacle, BY a priest of the Order of Aaron. No sacrifice was to be offered at any other place, or through any other priesthood (Deut 12:4-13).

A NEW COVENANT - A NEW PRIESTHOOD

 

The “first covenant” - the Sinai Covenant, was rendered “obsolete” by the death of Christ. The “first covenant” was not altered. It was rendered “obsolete.” It was a covenant of marriage, between the LORD and Israel. The “husband” of that marriage covenant died on a cross. When He died, the “first covenant” was rendered “obsolete.” Israel redeemed is now “betrothed” to the risen and glorified Christ, by a NEW Covenant (2Cor 11:2).

      See our study “Two Covenants.”

 

Hebrews 8:13 “By calling this covenant ‘new,’ He has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.”

Hebrews 7:18 “For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment     because of its weakness and unprofitableness.”

 

If you accept the Book of Hebrews as inspired writing, then something was “annulled,” something weaker than the New Covenant which replaced it. The “former commandment” was “weak and unprofitable” because the Aaronic priests were weak. They sinned. At times they were thoroughly corrupt.

 

The priests of the Sinai Covenant served only the shadow copy (Heb 8:5), and served only for the [ceremonial] “cleansing of the flesh” (Heb 9:13). Their work was a prophecy of “another priest” - a better priest, who would come with a better sacrifice. This sacrifice and this priest, would become the “surety” or guarantee (Heb 7:22) of eternal salvation. This priest would be the “Mediator” of a “better covenant” based upon “better promises” (Heb 8:6).

 

The author of the Letter to the Hebrews argued forcefully for Christ as the “better priest.” The Law under the Levitical priesthood was unable to bring about perfect cleansing of the heart or the conscience (7:11).

 

The Sinai commands concerning the priesthood came from Yehovah. They were part of “the Law.” If you “change” the priesthood, you are changing the Law. The two are bound together.

 

Hebrews 7:11-12 “If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood–and indeed the law given to the people established that priesthood–why was there still need for another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron?

        For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also.” (NIV)

 

The writer does NOT SAY, “the high priesthood” was “changed.” He says “the priesthood” - meaning the entire priesthood. The Aaronic priestly order was rendered “obsolete” (right along with the “first covenant”).

 

You cannot separate the priesthood from the Sinai Covenant. It functioned under that “first covenant,” to provide a remedy for infractions of that “first covenant.” Under the New Covenant we have a better Priest - Jesus Christ, who presents a better Sacrifice - His own death, for our sins against God.

 

The Law required that every sacrifice be brought to an Aaronic priest, at “the place” where the LORD “put His name.” That “place” was identified by God, as the Temple at Jerusalem. (See Deut. 12:11-14, I Ki. 14:21, 2 Chr. 12:13). It was a death penalty offense to sacrifice at any other place! If the Aaronic priesthood was rendered “obsolete,” then to whom could the sinner go with an animal for sacrifice? Answer: To no one.

 

Paul said the law was “weak” or “weakened through the flesh” (Rom. 8:3). Aaronic priests died. And more than that, they sinned. They had to offer sin offerings for their own sins, before they could “make atonement” for anyone else. Our NEW High Priest never sinned. And He lives forever!

 

Hebrews 7:27 [Our new High Priest] “who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all [once and for all] when He offered up Himself” (NASB).

 

God does not need animal sacrifices. Messiah does not need to offer up animal sacrifices. That’s the point. He did it once for all time. He now presents His own blood in Heaven itself, to cover the sins of those who pray for forgiveness in His name. Put this together with the vision of Ezekiel’s Temple. The “prince” provides every animal for sacrifice (Ezek 45:17). The priests of Zadok’s line then offer those sacrifices. If Jesus is “the prince” and the High Priest of Israel, what sacrifice would Jesus present? Yes! His own blood! Because He is the sin offering, and the peace offering, and the whole burnt offering.

Hebrews 9:26 “Now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put     away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (NASB).

         A New Covenant

               A New Circumcision

                       A New Priesthood

                                      A New City

                                          A New Alter

                                              A New Sacrifice

                                                 A New way into the Most Holy

A NEW PRIESTHOOD

 

Under the New Covenant, the priesthood is returned to “the firstborn.” The sins committed under the “first covenant” were washed away - including the sin of the golden calf rebellion. They were washed away by the blood of God’s provided Lamb, for all who humbly repented in heart. The honor of “the firstborn” is restored, and we are “firstborn” in Him.

 

Hebrews 9:15 “And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.”

 

Jesus Christ IS “the firstborn over all creation” (Col 1:15). He is therefore High Priest over the House of God.

 

Hebrews 3:1 “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.” (NAS)

 

Hebrews 4:14 “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.” (NAS)

 

All those in Christ are “firstborn,” who will become “priests of God and of Christ” (Rev 20:6, Rev 5: 8-10) in the coming Kingdom of Messiah on earth.

            All those “in Christ” have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly       Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and Church of the       firstborn, who are registered in heaven [in the Book of Life] . . .” (Heb 12:22-24).

 

Jesus was NOT born into the Tribe of Levi, and was NOT descended from Aaron. He could be king, but could NOT be a priest, much less High Priest of Israel, according to the Law of Sinai. The ONLY WAY for Jesus of Nazareth to become High Priest of Israel, was to “change” the Law.

Hebrews 7:12 “For the priesthood being changed,

                          of necessity there is also a change of the law.”

 

I contend the “first covenant” was not altered. The “first covenant” was rendered “obsolete” by the death of Christ. A “new covenant” has taken it’s place.

 

Hebrews 8:13 “By calling this covenant ‘new,’ he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear. (NIV)

A NEW CITY

Hebrews 13:13-14 “For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come.”

 

The Letter to the Hebrews was written before the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70AD. The priests of Aaron continued the daily sacrifices. Yet the writer says “we have no continuing city.” We have no appointed place to worship our God. This is the strongest evidence that most followers of Yeshua did not look to Jerusalem or to the Temple there, as the center of their worship. They could approach God the Father by a “new and living way,” and looked for the City to come - the New Jerusalem, wherein the Father and His Son are the Temple.

 

The writer of Hebrews says we have come to the heavenly Jerusalem, where Jesus serves as “mediator of the new covenant” (Heb 12:22-24). We direct our prayers to that place.

 

Hebrews 10:19-22 “. . . we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings . . .” (NIV).

A NEW ALTER

 

Hebrews 13:10 “We have an altar, from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat” (NAS).

 

Those who served the Temple (the Aaronic priesthood), who looked to animal sacrifice as the means to justification and reconciliation with God, had “no right to eat” from the NEW “alter” - the Cross of Jesus Christ.

 

The ancient Aaronic priests ate a portion of the sin offerings (Leviticus 6:26,29-30, Leviticus 7:6-9, 14, 31-35). We today - God’s new priesthood of “the firstborn,” partake of Christ, when we eat “the bread” and drink “the wine” of the Lord’s communion (Matt 26:26-28, 1Cor 11:26). Christ is the “sacrifice” and we His priests, partake of Him.

 

To partake of Christ as the “one sacrifice for sins forever” (Heb. 10:12) one must go “outside the camp” - outside of Jerusalem, and outside of the “first covenant” order. The Alter of the Temple was located inside “the camp” - right in the heart of Jerusalem. Make no mistake. We cannot serve both - both the Cross of Christ and the sacrificial system of the “first covenant.”

A NEW SACRIFICE

Hebrews 10:4-10 “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

5 Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, ‘Sacrifice and offering Thou hast not desired, But a body Thou hast prepared for Me; 6 In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin Thou hast taken no pleasure.’

7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come (In the roll of the book it is written of Me) To do Thy will, O God.’ (Psalm 40:6-8)

8 After saying above, ‘Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin Thou hast not desired, nor hast Thou taken pleasure in them’ (which are offered according to the Law), (Isaiah 1:11)

Hebrews 10:4-10 [continued] then He said, ‘Behold, I have come to do Thy will.’

    He takes away the first in order to establish the second.

        10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus     Christ once for all.” (NAS)

 

God has taken away “the first” means of reconciliation, in order to establish “the second” perfect, “once for all” means of reconciliation. The author leaves us with no doubt concerning His view that Jesus Christ crucified, under New Covenant, forever replaces “burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

IT WAS SYMBOLIC

 

Hebrews 9:9 “It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience--concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.”

 

QUESTION: When is this “time of reformation?” Has it arrived? Did the death of Christ bring this “time of reformation?” In my opinion - IT DID.

 

Galatians 3:19 “What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to Whom the promise was made . . .”

The Seed has come!

CHANGES

 

To those who say “God never changes,” I say that God’s great plan and purpose has never changed. The Father’s plan was for the prophecy of sacrifices to be fulfilled in the death of His Son. That prophecy was fulfilled, to the very hour. The Father’s plan was for the prophecy of the priesthood, to be fulfilled in His Son’s elevation to the role of High Priest in Heaven itself. The Father allowed the destruction of the physical Temple. He has not allowed its restoration for almost 2000 years.

 

When the Aaronic priesthood was installed, (“instead of the firstborn”) the law confined all sacrifice to the Court of the Tabernacle. That was a change for the people of Israel.

 

When the LORD took the Tribe of Levi and the descendants of Aaron for His priests, “instead of the firstborn,” that was a change. The “firstborn” male had served as priest of family, or clan, or tribe from the gate of Eden right up to that day (some 2600 years). Only after the golden calf rebellion was instigated by those “firstborn” priests, did the LORD command that the Tribe of Levi would serve “instead of the firstborn.”

            Those changes were necessary to the continuation of God’s one great plan.

 

The Tabernacle with its priesthood was a prophecy. Israel was called to act out that prophecy. The change of the priesthood was a necessary response to outright rebellion, but it did not derail the great plan, or the prophecies. In the “fullness of time” the LORD returned the priesthood to “the firstborn.”

 

We know that prophecies may cease or become idle, once fulfilled (1Cor 13:8). John saw “no Temple” in the New Jerusalem. God and the Lamb will be the Temple there forever (Rev. 21:22). That too, will mark a “change” from the Temple of Ezekiel’s vision, which is located outside of the City.

CONCLUSION

 

Under the New Covenant, the priesthood is changed. There is no longer an Aaronic priesthood to receive animal sacrifices. Priests of the New Covenant offer up spiritual sacrifices - NOT animal sacrifices. See our study “The Change of the Priesthood” for examples of “spiritual sacrifices.”

 

Under the “New Covenant” the Law is written on the heart - not on tablets of stone. The remedy is prayer for forgiveness, offered humbly to the Father in the Name of Jesus.

 

The author of Hebrews begins in 4:14-16, presenting Yeshua as our “great High Priest who has passed through the heavens.” He describes Yeshua as “the forerunner” and says that our hope “enters the Presence behind the veil” (Heb. 6:19-20) in the Person of Christ our representative. The glory of the LORD left the Temple, just ahead of the Babylonian destruction (Ezek. 10:4, 10:18, 11:23), and has never returned. To this day, the Ark of the Covenant is still hidden.

 

The Son of God is appointed as a better priest (Heb. 7:11-18). As High Priest of a “New Covenant” (Heb. 8:1-13; 9:11) He enters into Heaven itself - “the true Tabernacle (Heb. 9:12) with His own blood as the perfect offering.

 

Believers are to have “confidence” to enter in the person of Christ - the “New and living way.” We enter through our belief in “His flesh” - “the veil” which was “torn” for us (Heb 10:19-20).

 

Acts 13:38-39 “Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.”

 

Romans 3:28-30 “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law, [the sacrifices] since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.”

 

Romans 5:1 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ . . .”

 

Ephesians 1:7 “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace . . .”

 

Colossians 1:13-14 “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”

We pray this study will prove a blessing.

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