Hebrews 6:16-20

Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument.  Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath.  God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.  We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.  It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.  He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 6:16-20 NIV).

   This morning I was reading a commentary on Hebrews for aid for this blog commentary, which was written by Dr. Neil Lightfoot and entitled Jesus Christ Today: A Commentary on the Book of Hebrews.  Dr. Lightfoot passed away less than two years ago at the age of 82, and he had an incredible career as a professor at Abilene Christian University, (a Churches of Christ university, which I only note to distinguish from my Alma mater which is interdenominational).  He also was a successful writer and a committed preacher.  The book was published in 1976, and in the preface of this book he states, "It has now been some years since I began.  The bulk of this work was done before 1970, but until now I have been unable to bring it to a close....To my friends who have encouraged me, I say, 'Thank you.'  May God bless all who read Hebrews and discover in it Jesus Christ Today." (1)
   The point I want to make is that a great book takes a long time to produce!  Gaining assistance from such works written by men who have been relying on the Holy Spirit in their study of Scripture is a blessing, and I give thanks for books such as Dr. Lightfoot's work.  I first read Hebrews in 1997 during a challenging period in my life, and reading Hebrews every morning was used by God to bless me during that time.  Yet commentaries should not be the end all, rather the Scripture itself should be the complete end.  I hope this unique commentary can serve to open the door to further learning about Hebrews and a desire to read the entire book yourself.
   So on with Hebrews, this awesome book where our inspired author leaps from the promises of God to Abraham to the identity and nature of a High Priest, because this High Priest has an eternal position.  Dr. Lightfoot states that the two "unchangeable things" are His promise and His oath. (2)  We are being encouraged here to trust God, just as Abraham did, since God is trustworthy.  And we learn that in God's promises to Abraham, God was doing more than promising temporal things to a man from Ur.  God was guiding people towards an eternal promise for all humankind; a promise which would involve a permanent sacrifice.  The Old Covenant, which many of you know that I like to call the Leading Covenant, was leading to a permanent sacrifice which would open up the availability of a personal relationship between God and people.
   What was that permanent sacrifice?  First, it involved Jesus.  Second, He did it on behalf of people, all of us.  Third, He went into the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.  Ah, the key!  Once a year, and only once a year, if obeying the Mosaic Law, a Hebrew high priest went into the Most Holy Place, which was behind the veil that separated the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place.  I add that in the Most Holy Place was the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the tablets with the ten commandments written on them (Deuteronomy 10:5).  After making a sacrifice for himself and for his family, which also involved putting incense on a fire (Leviticus 16:11-14), the high priest was supposed to do what God originally commanded Aaron to do: "He shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain and do with it as he did with the bull's blood: He shall sprinkle it on the atonement cover and in front of it" (Leviticus 16:15 NIV).  He was then supposed to send a second goat, the scapegoat, off into the wilderness to die, along with some other tasks, including burning the bodies of the bull and the goat which were sacrificed, outside the camp (Leviticus 16:18-34 NIV).
   Considering that animal sacrifice is not common in our culture, it is a natural question to ask; What is the purpose of killing animals and sprinkling their blood?  Moses stated the purpose: "...on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you.  Then, before the LORD, you will be clean from all your sins" (Leviticus 16:30 NIV).  How is it that killing animals and sprinkling their blood around can cleanse a person from sins?  As we know from Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death..." (NIV).  God was teaching that sins could be forgiven as there was a substitutional death for the Israelites, in this case, the death of goats and bulls.  Moses continued: "This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites" (Leviticus 16:34 NIV).  Israelites indeed carried out what is now called "Atonement Day" for many years right in the Temple in Jerusalem.
   The next big question is; "What was Jesus doing behind the curtain?  He was from the tribe of Judah!  The high priest must be from the tribe of Levi, and of the family tree of Aaron.  Jesus should not go behind that veil.  He will die, again!
   The resurrected Christ did not die again.  In fact, Jesus will not die again!  When incarnate on earth, meaning when Jesus was in flesh, Jesus was fully God and fully human.  So being fully God, He could have gone into the Most Holy Place any time He wanted.  Yet the plan of God, a plan for a permanent sacrifice, unlike the temporal and limited sacrifice of animals, was for the Messiah to be the Sacrifice.  Jesus was the Lamb of God.  Instead of the blood of a goat on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant, God had the blood of God the Son shed on the Cross.  This was the only sacrifice which could bring the forgiveness of all sins offered to all people.  This was the only sacrifice whereby sinful humanity could be eternally saved.  We are going to continue learning in this book that this is because Jesus was perfect, and that Jesus made not only a physical sacrifice yet also a spiritual sacrifice by His death on the cross.  When Jesus died on the cross, the curtain which separated the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place, "was torn in two from top to bottom" (Matthew 27:51).  People can now be in a personal relationship with God, who is Spirit, as Jesus revealed as recorded in the book of John.  Jesus, resurrected and alive in heaven today, has become the High Priest forever.  The Lamb of God made the Sacrifice, and now He is glorified as High Priest.
   In response, I feel compelled to pray: Holy Father, thank you for the sacrifice of Jesus, a sacrifice that brought more pain, despair, and agony to Jesus than we can imagine.  Thank You Jesus for doing that for us.  May we recognize You were God before all time, and that You are now glorified as the High Priest of heaven.  It is through the loving name of Jesus I pray.  Amen.
Hunter Irvine

(1)  Neil R. Lightfoot, Jesus Christ Today: A Commentary on the Book of Hebrews (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1976), 6-7.
(2) Neil R. Lightfoot, Jesus Christ Today: A Commentary on the Book of Hebrews (Grand Rapids:
Baker Book House, 1976), 131.