Exegetica

Shadow of the Good Things
Hebrews 10:1-10

Jim Nance

he epistle to the Hebrews is a glorious declaration of the superiority of Jesus Christ and the New Covenant, of which He is Mediator, over the shadows of the Old Covenant which was fading away. We have seen the superiority of Jesus as Lord and Messiah over the angels (Heb. 1:4), as God's Son over Moses His servant (3:3-6), and as High Priest of the order of Melchizedek over the Levitical priests (7:11). We have also seen the greatness of the New Covenant over the old, having better promises (8:6), a better tabernacle (9:11), and a better sacrifice (9:23), which is Christ Himself. The author now continues his discourse comparing the sacrifice of Christ to the sacrifices of the Old Covenant.

"For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purged, would have had no more consciousness of sins" (Heb. 10:1-2). The primary weakness of the Old Covenant animal sacrifices is that they could not make anyone perfect . They could not remove guilt, nor could they remove sins, "for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins" (Heb. 10:4). If they could, they would have been offered but once, after which the people, knowing their guilt was removed, would have had no need to sacrifice again. The fact that this did not happen, and that indeed God required the atonement sacrifice to be repeated each year (Lev. 16:34), was a message which should have been understood by all. What was that message, and whatif not to remove sinwere the purposes of the Old Covenant sacrifices?

First, they were "a shadow of the good things to come." The killing of a spotless and innocent sacrifice on the altar, and the presentation by the high priest of the blood of that sacrifice before God in the Most Holy Place, was a gloriously accurate foreshadowing of the saving work of the Messiah to come. But being only a visual aid, they by design could not accomplish the work which only Jesus, the very image of God, could.

Second, as a foreshadow, the blood of bulls and goats did sanctify "for the purifying of the flesh" (Heb. 9:13). They cleansed the worshipper outwardly as a picture of what the blood of Jesus would do inwardly. They were part of the law, which "was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor" (Gal. 3:24-25). When the reality appears, the picture is no longer needed.

Third, "in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year" (Heb. 10:3). When their sacrifice was offered, their sins were recounted. On the Day of Atonement, the high priest was to "lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning their sins, putting them on the head of the goat" (Lev. 16:21). In this confession the people would be reminded of their sins, year by year, even as Paul wrote, "for by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Rom. 3:20).

Having proven the insufficiency of the Old Covenant sacrifices to purge sins, the author now looks to a psalm of David as a prophetic declaration of the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice: "Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: 'Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, "Behold, I have comein the volume of the book it is written of Meto do Your will, O God" ' " (Heb. 10:5-7). Christ, speaking through David, declared that God did not desire the Old Covenant animal sacrifices, even though they "are offered according to the law" (Heb. 10:8). God did not desire the very thing He commanded the Israelites to do when their sacrifice was void of faith . God made this clear to the saints of old all through their history. For example, He said through Isaiah, "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me? . . . I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs or goats. When you come to appear before Me, who has required this from your hand, to trample My courts?" (Is. 1:11-12, cf. Amos 5:21-24, Hos. 6:6, 1 Sam. 15:22, Ps. 50:12; 51:16-19, Prov. 21:3). When offered thoughtlessly, as an end in themselves, they accomplished nothing and were despised by God. But when offered in faith, looking forward to the sacrifice of the One for whom God had prepared a body, they were a "sweet aroma to the Lord" (Lev. 4:31).

The saints of old clearly recognized the greater Sacrifice to come, "not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them" (Heb. 11:13). Abraham looked for God to provide a Sacrifice on His mountain (Gen. 22:14), Moses before his death declared to the Gentiles that God would provide atonement for His people (Deut. 32:43), David looked for the One to come, Who was written of in the scroll of the Book (Ps. 40:7), and the prophet Isaiah declared the coming of the suffering Servant, who would justify many as an offering for sin (Is. 53:10-11).

"Then He said, 'Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.' He takes away the first that He may establish the second" (Heb. 10:9). Having accomplished what God intended for them, the old sacrifices were taken away, and the new Sacrifice was made, fulfilling God's will. "By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Heb. 10:10). What they could not do, by God's design and will, Jesus Christ has now done.