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Hebrews: A Better Covenant — The Blood That Redeems (Chapter 9) · Wetumpka Church of Christ Online

0:03
You know, Derek, I, I really appreciate you getting everybody
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awake before we get to class. You know, days like this, it is
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just, it's hard to get motivated on certain things.
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And, you know, you just, you wake up in the morning and you
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feel like you're ready to go back to sleep already.
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But we appreciate you being here.
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I know that we've got some in here this morning due to the
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situation with the Gallagher's that are not normally in class
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in here. So I'll try not to leave you all
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too far behind with things. But I hope that you'll open your
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Bibles with me this morning to Hebrews Chapter 9.
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We are continuing our study through the book of Hebrews
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today. Our, our goal is going to be to
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cover Chapter 9. We've concluded last week with
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the end of Chapter 7 and Chapter 8.
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And I'm going to bump back just a little bit in Chapter 8 to set
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the foundation for what we're going to talk about today.
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Because from the beginning of Chapter 3 through the 1st
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sections of Chapter 8, the the general topic of discussion has
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been Jesus as the high priest. He's going to spend a great deal
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of time looking at what Jesus is as our high priest, why he is
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our high priest, who made him our high priest.
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And remember, we're, as we've stated 100 times so far.
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We'll say it 100 more times before we're done.
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We're writing the Jewish Christians.
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We're writing to those that believe in Jesus.
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We're writing to those that that are already convinced that he is
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the Messiah, but now they're struggling with whether or not
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he's enough, whether or not we need to stick with Jesus, or
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whether we should go back to the things that our forefathers
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believed in and our forefathers practiced with the Old
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Testament. And so as you come to the
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second-half of chapter 8, we get a bit of a transition.
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And from the second-half of chapter 8 through chapter 12,
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you're really going to have this persistent discussion that takes
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place about the differences between the old law and the new
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law and what it is that Jesus brings us with the new law.
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That's specifically going to be chapters 9 and 10.
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And then why that means we can't run away from Christ, we can't
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quit, we can't give up. And that's going to be the end
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of chapter 10 and then chapters 11 and 12.
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And so as we come into Chapter 9 today, the the transition point
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is really found in chapter 8, verse 7.
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And, and I want to back up to there just to kind of get the
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context of where we're where we're discussing today.
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In verse 7, he says, for if that first covenant, first covenant
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is law, Moses, all right, the Old Testament law, If that first
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covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been
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sought for a second because finding fault with them, he
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says. And then he quotes Jeremiah
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chapter 31, verses 31 through 34.
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And then in verse 13, he says in that he says a new covenant, he
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has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete
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and growing old is ready to vanish away.
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The writer of the book of Hebrews says here at the end of
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chapter 8 that the old covenant is obsolete.
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And this is kind of where we closed our class last week.
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What does it mean for something to be obsolete?
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OK, it doesn't fulfill its purpose any longer.
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There's there's something better that has taken its place.
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Well, what was the purpose of the Old Testament?
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What was the purpose of the Law of Moses?
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OK, it set apart the children of Israel from the rest of the
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world. For what purpose?
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All right. Preparing the way for Christ.
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It was. How did Paul put it in
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Galatians? It was our schoolmaster to bring
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us to Christ. The purpose of the Old Testament
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was to pave the way for the Messiah to come into the world.
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Had it done what it was supposed to do?
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Yes, it fulfilled it in every respect.
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As a matter of fact, Jesus says there's not going to be 1 jot or
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one title of the law that is going to be removed until all of
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it has been fulfilled. Well, guess what?
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All of it had been fulfilled. It is obsolete.
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Its purpose has been completed and something new has taken its
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place. And so therefore He has made the
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1st obsolete, and what is becoming obsolete and growing
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old is ready to vanish away. We're under a new covenant.
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We have a new high priest. We have better promises through
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our mediator according to verse 6 of chapter 8.
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So that brings us into Chapter 9, and in Chapter 9 the emphasis
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is going to be Jesus as our mediator and as our sacrifice,
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but he's going to begin by making this comparison in the
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first half of Chapter 9. He says then indeed, even the
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first covenant had ordinances of divine service, and an earthly
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sanctuary for a Tabernacle was prepared.
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The first part in which was the lampstand, the table, and the
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showbread, which is called the sanctuary.
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And behind the second veil, the part of the Tabernacle which is
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called the holiest of all, which had the golden censor and the
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Ark of the Covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which
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were the gold pot that had the manna, Aaron's rod that budded,
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and the tablets of the covenant. And above it were the cherubim
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of glory, overshadowing the mercy seat.
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Of these things, we cannot now speak in detail.
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In these first 5 verses, he talks about that original
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Tabernacle that, that original house that God commanded to be
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constructed. As a matter of fact, he, he's
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going to go through all of the different things that God
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ordained through Moses that needed to be built in Exodus
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chapters 25 through 29. And so you've got all of these
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different pieces of furniture, for lack of a, a, a better term
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for them. You've got the Ark of the
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Covenant, you've got the table of the showbread, you've got the
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lampstand, you've got the various censors and the places
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for offering incense and all of those different things that
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made-up that Old Testament Tabernacle, the place where they
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would go to offer sacrifices and to offer worship before God.
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But I want to point out something here that honestly, I
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looked through several different commentaries over the last week
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or two, and almost every single one of them fails to place an
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emphasis here that I think is very important.
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So I'm going to place it even if it's not found in other places.
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But he makes the statement here in verse 5.
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He says of these things we cannot now speak in detail.
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Now, a lot of people take this particular phrase and they say,
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you know, he just saying we don't have time to talk about
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all of this in great depth. We're just going to hit the
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highlights and move on that. I don't think that's what he's
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talking about with this statement.
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When you look at what he's describing, he is describing all
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of those items and emblems of of the Old Testament worship system
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that God put in place with Moses.
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But did you know that nobody that is present at the time of
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the writing of Hebrews in the 1st century has ever seen any of
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them? They've made replicas of some of
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them by the time of the 1st century, but the Jews don't have
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them anymore. By the time that the book of
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Hebrews is written, they've never seen the Ark of the
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Covenant. Nobody has.
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But by the time the book of Hebrews has been written, they
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don't know what those original items look like anymore.
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Well, how do you know that? Turn back to a couple passages
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of Scripture. I want to emphasize this point
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because I believe this is central to understanding the
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argument that's being made by the writer of the book of
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Hebrews, that you can't go back to the Old Testament because
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even the things that God ordained in the Law of Moses for
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worship under the Old Testament, you don't have any more.
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We can't talk about these things in detail because we can't even
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see them any longer. They're obsolete.
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They're gone. They don't exist for you today,
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he says. But turn back to a couple of
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passages and I want to I want to illustrate the point.
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The first one is over. In Second Kings chapter 25,
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Nebuchadnezzar is taking the children of Israel into
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captivity. And these statements are made at
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the end of the book of Second Kings to show to us what has
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taken place with the fall of Jerusalem and all of these
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various things. And in Second Kings chapter 25
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and verse 8 it says, And in the 5th month, on the 7th day of the
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month, which was the 19th year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of
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Babylon, Nebu Zaraddin, the captain of the guard, a servant
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of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.
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He burned the House of the Lord and the King's house, all the
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houses of Jerusalem, that is, all the houses of the great, he
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burned with fire. And all the army of the
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Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard, broke down
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the walls of Jerusalem all around.
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Then Nebu Zaradin, the captain of the guard, carried away
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captive the rest of the people who remained in the city, and
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the defectors who had deserted to the king of Babylon with the
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rest of the multitude. But the captain of the guard
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left some of the poor of the land as vine dressers and
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farmers, The bronze pillars that were in the House of the Lord,
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and the carts and the bronze sea that were in the House of the
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Lord. The Chaldeans broke in pieces
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and carried their bronze to Babylon.
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They also took away the pots, the shovels, the trimmers, the
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spoons, and all the bronze utensils with which the priests
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ministered, the fire pans, the basins, the things of solid gold
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and solid silver. The captain of the guard took
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away the 2 pillars, 1 sea, and the carts which Solomon had made
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for the House of the Lord. The bronze of all the articles
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was beyond measure. The height of one pillar was 18
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cubits and the capital that was on it was of bronze.
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The height of the capital was 3 cubits.
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The network and pomegranates are all around.
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The capital were all of bronze. The second pillar was the same
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with a network. They took everything.
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Everything that they could lay their hands on in Solomon's
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temple they took and they tore the rest down to the foundation
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and burned it. You know what's not in that
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list? Any of the items that were used
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for worship in the Temple of Solomon that were originally
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required by God to be built. Well, you turn over to Jeremiah
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chapter 52, and in Jeremiah chapter 52, Jeremiah is going to
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give the very same instance, the very same incident, and he's
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going to give a similar discussion concerning this in
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chapter 52, verses 12 through 23.
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Now we're not going to go through and read all of this
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because it basically says the exact same thing almost word for
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word that Second Kings chapter 25 says.
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But it has the exact same list of what was taken and how much
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was taken and all of the different things that were done.
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But none of the items of the temple that were used for
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worship are listed. Well, maybe it was just an
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oversight, but now turn over to Ezra chapter one.
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In Ezra chapter 1, after at the end of the captivity, we're now
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70 years later, Nebuchadnezzar's not on the throne anymore.
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As a matter of fact, Cyrus the of the Medes and Persians is now
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on the throne and the the Babylonian Kingdom no longer
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exists in the sense in which it was.
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And in Ezra chapter 1 and in verse 7, it says King Cyrus also
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brought out the articles of the House of the Lord, which
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Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and put in the temple
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of his gods. And King Cyrus of Persia brought
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them out by the hand of Mithridath the treasurer, and
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counted them out to Sheshbazar the Prince of Judah.
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This is the number of them 30 gold platters, 1000 silver
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platters, 29 knives, 30 gold basins, 410 silver basins of a
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similar kind, and 1000 other articles.
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All the articles of gold and silver were 5400.
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All these Shesh Bazar took with the captives who were brought
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from Babylon to Jerusalem. So 70 years later, when Cyrus is
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going to allow the people to go back to Judah and to go back to
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Jerusalem, what does Cyrus do? All right, he gives back all of
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the things that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the House of God
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and, and, and from Jerusalem when he took the city and when
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he burned it to the ground. You know what's not in any of
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those lists of what was given back to the people, any of those
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items from of worship from the temple.
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As a matter of fact, history also tells us that at the time
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that Herod's temple was put in place, the the Most Holy Place
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was nothing but an empty room. When they went to offer the
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blood sacrifice on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would
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go in and he would pour the blood on the concrete where the
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Ark of the Covenant would have been had it been present.
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I want you to think back to being a Jewish Christian in the
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1st century because as the speaker here talks about all of
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these things that were found in the temple and in the Tabernacle
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as God commanded it to be built to start with.
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He then has to say in verse five of these things we not we don't
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have time to, but of these things, we cannot now speak in
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detail why we don't have them anymore.
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Where did the Ark of the Covenant go?
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I have absolutely no idea. And that's a rabbit hole we're
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not crawling down because I've seen Raiders of the Lost Ark
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too, a warehouse in Germany. That's right.
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We don't know. They don't know.
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And just like so many things of old from Scripture, I think by
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God's Providence, we'll never know.
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And there's a reason for that which we don't have time for
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today, Aaron. It's interesting and until you
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pointed out about Herod's temple and and the emptiness of the
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Most Holy Place, hadn't ever thought of that in view of the
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event when Jesus dies, we often think about the veil being read
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from top to bottom and the the symbolic nature of the veil
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representing, you know, resurrection, eternity and
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separation from God. But the other aspect of that,
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when you consider it is this event lays bare that there's
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nothing here. So as the veil is rent, as
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Christ dies, there is this visceral opening where God says
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this is done, this has been put to an end.
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There's not even anything here for you to come back to.
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And isn't that the point? That's what he's talking about
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here. You're talking about going back.
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There's nothing there to go back to.
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We can't talk about this in detail because it doesn't exist
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anymore. As far as in our presence now,
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verse 6, I'm sorry, Danny. Also, I, I in my studies through
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the years and also been informed that the House of records, Herod
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had burned the House of records. Well, not only that, but later
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Titus came in, he destroyed the whole temple.
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So they after the, you know, after so long a period of time,
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they had no confirmation of who is the Levites.
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So they could not continue because the priests weren't.
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Prepared. To continue.
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Now, from everything that we know, the book of Hebrews is
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written before 8070. So before the destruction of
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Jerusalem and before the destruction of of Titus comes
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through. But yes, you're absolutely
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right. There's there's nobody that can
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verify or validate their heritage as a part of a specific
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tribe. All those records are long gone
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and they were long gone by the time Jerusalem is burned in
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8070. They're no longer available.
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So verse 6 Now when these things had been thus prepared, the
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priests always went into the first part of the Tabernacle,
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performing the services, but into the second part the high
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priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he
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offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in
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ignorance. The Holy Spirit indicating this,
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that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest.
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While the first Tabernacle was still standing, it was now.
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Notice the phraseology here. It was symbolic for the present
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time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered, which
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cannot make Him who performed the service perfect in regard to
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the conscience, concerned only with foods and drinks, various
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washings and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of
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Reformation, What was the purpose?
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Of the Old Testament system. Under the Old Testament system,
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the priest went into the first part of the Tabernacle
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performing the services. The sacrifices are offered at
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the altar of burnt offering in the outer court of the
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Tabernacle and of the temple. You have all of these things
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that are being done and the High priest is going to go into the
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Most Holy Place once a year when he offers for himself people's
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sins. But the writer of Hebrews says
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the Holy Spirit indicates this, that the way into the holiest of
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all. Notice the last the past tense
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phrase was not made manifest yet during the time of the Old
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Testament, when these offerings were being made, when these
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things were laid out. The means of coming into the
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holiest of all. Where's the holiest of all?
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The presence of. God.
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The very place. Of God.
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That opportunity, that ability, was not yet made manifest while
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the first Tabernacle was still standing.
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You couldn't do it. This was as close as you could
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come. To the presence of.
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God to the place of God to bringing your offering directly
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before God. And it wasn't intended to be the
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final place. It was symbolic of what was to
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come. The things that were placed
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there, the things that God ordered to be there were to set
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the foundation for what was going to come later.
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It was symbolic for when. According to.
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Verse 9. It was symbolic for the present
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time. It was pointing.
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You forward to now, in the time of the writing of the book of
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Hebrews, to the time of Christ. It was symbolic to bring you to
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this time and this place. Because those.
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Things could not make him who performed the service perfect in
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regard to the conscience. All of those things.
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The writer of the book of Hebrews says we're meant to
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bring you to this place and to this time.
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Now you're talking about turning around and going back to that.
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Let me show you. Why you can't.
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Let me show you why you shouldn't even want to.
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That's the rest of. Chapter 9 because he continues
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in verse 11 and he says, but Christ came as high priest of
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the good things to come. These were symbolic of what was
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to come and of what was going to be here for the present time.
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So what has Jesus brought that is so different?
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Christ came as high priests of the good things to come with the
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greater and more perfect Tabernacle, not made with hands,
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that is, not of this creation, not with the blood of bulls or
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of goats and calves, but with His own blood.
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He entered the most holy place once for all, having obtained
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eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and
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goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean,
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sanctifies for the purifying of the fret of the flesh, how much
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more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit
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offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience
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from dead works to serve the living God.
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It's not just. Different, he says.
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It's better. And.
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There's a difference between different and better, right?
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There are a lot of. Things that are different, that
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doesn't necessarily make them better.
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You see it on the. Packaging in the stores all the
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time, right? Brand new, never before seen.
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We've reengineered everything. All of the things that you like
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in this particular product, we threw them out and we put new
24:53
stuff in. Is it better?
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It's new, but is it? Better.
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The emphasis of the writer of Hebrews here is that this is not
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just something that's different, this is something better.
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And I think I saw a hand over here just a moment ago.
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Adam I. Was going to ask if it's not
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sidetracking too much comment on the synagogue.
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You know, there's not much any discussion this here, but you go
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to action and in the in the. Personal Ministry of.
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Pride you have the synagogue how does that fit in with what we're
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talking about here so so when you.
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Come to the synagogues during the time of of the captivity and
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during the time in which the the Israelites are then scattered
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around the world in the time after the captivity.
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They had to have. Places to worship.
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They were no longer in one centralized location, southern.
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So the idea of the synagogue was developed and they would have
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places of worship in every city where, if memory serves me
26:09
correctly, there were there were 10 heads of household or ten
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families of, of the Israelite people that were present within
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the city. They would have a synagogue and
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they would create a place of worship.
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But even then, they didn't replicate the Tabernacle or the
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temple or, or any of those things.
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They simply had a place to gather together to to read and
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to study and to pray and to worship God together.
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But it doesn't. Replicate this and it can't
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replace this in any way, shape or form.
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It was the best they could do given the circumstances in which
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they were. You think part of that?
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Was the lack of prophecy the. Messiah coming?
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Emphasizing that you know when Jesus would go in and read from
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the world. I think it was.
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Also a part of the Providence of God in preparing the way for the
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gospel of Christ because when when the the apostles went out
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throughout their ministry, you know and and the apostle Paul,
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we have the most information about where was the 1st place he
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went in any city that he came to why God fearing God.
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Believing all right, it's. The first place to find the
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people that say they believe in God.
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In areas. Where the majority of the rest
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of the city, if not the entirety of the rest of the city, are
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steeped in idolatry and don't know anything about God.
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God. Providentially created a way by
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means of the synagogue system to have an open place where you
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could walk into in any of the major cities of the world at the
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time of the 1st century and proclaim the gospel of Jesus to
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people who already claimed to believe in God.
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Isn't it funny how that? Works.
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And so you have. These offerings that are going
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to be made. Everett, did you have something?
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You have these offerings that are being made, but in Christ we
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have a better system, we have better offerings.
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It says verse 13 For if the blood of bulls and goats in the
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ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean sanctifies for the
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purifying of the flesh, how much more does the blood of Christ,
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who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to
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God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the
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living God. If the if the Old Testament
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system could cleanse the physical.
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How much better is? Christ for cleansing the
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spiritual. He continues in verse. 15 And
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for this reason, because of the sacrifice and the power of it,
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for this reason he is the mediator of the new covenant by
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means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions
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under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive
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the promise of the eternal inheritance.
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Let. Me ask you a question when did
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full redemption come for those who were under the law of Moses?
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When did it? Come.
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When did it come? When did full redemption arrive?
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I guess you could say on. The day of Pentecost, when the
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blood. Of Christ was shed, that's true
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too. But then.
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The church was only established right?
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The church was not established officially until the day of
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Pentecost, but the Redemptive. Peace, that was.
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Missing. Was the blood of Christ?
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Were they redeemed by God in the course of their life, as though
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the blood of Christ had already been offered?
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Yes, they were. They weren't sitting there in
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limbo, hoping that maybe Christ would come along one day.
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God knew exactly. What was going to transpire?
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And he redeemed them as though it already had.
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But the actual price hadn't been paid until Jesus shed his blood
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on the cross. The statement of verse. 15 is
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extremely powerful because it says he shed his blood by means
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of death. He is the mediator of the New
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Covenant for the Redemption of the transgressions under the
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first covenant. It's not just about us.
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It's not just about those that came after the time of Jesus.
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His redemption was just as much for those who had lived under
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that first covenant. Because the blood.
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Of bulls and goats does not have the ability to take away sin.
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OK. Adam I I.
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Think that when you mentioned the blood of Christ that you
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want to go. I thought that there's always
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been a lot of me if God the Godhead was in control.
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And Jesus was hanging. On the cross and shedding his
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blood. That's God was in trouble.
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Those wrong soldiers and the Jews, yeah, they they crucified.
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God was the one. You know when you.
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Go through and you read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
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One of the things that should stand out.
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Over and over. Again, is the fact that as much
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as the the scribes and the Pharisees and the Sadducees and
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the priests and even the the Roman leaders thought that they
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were in control, they thought that they were in charge?
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Our Lord wasn't. Crucified until our Lord felt
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that it was the time that everything was right for him to
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be crucified. There are times where they're
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coming after him and he just looks at the disciples and he
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says my time is not yet here. And then there's the time when
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he looks at the disciples and he says the time of my departure is
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at hand. And then they're trying to say,
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Oh no, no, no, no, it's not yet. Oh yes, it is.
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Who was? The one who was in charge,
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actually, Jesus, died at exactly the time and in exactly the
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place and under the exact circumstances he intended to,
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that you weren't actually doing anything other than fulfilling
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His purpose when we talk. About the blood of Christ
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cleansing the Old Testament people, I think we need to look
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at the fact that Scripture tells us that time is meaningless to
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God. We also have a passage in there
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where it says 1000 years is like a day, and that's highly
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misinterpreted by many people. But if if you relate that to
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this passage 9:15 in Hebrew, it makes perfect sense, yes.
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And and again. There's another passage that
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does say that Christ gave himself.
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Nobody took his life. That's proof again that the time
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was just the right time. All the little mini phrases that
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that we hang our hat on, sometimes they all tie together,
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yes. All right, I'm.
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A. Very literal person and when I
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hear this. Conversation.
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I see how somebody. Could misconstrue God was in
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control to mean. God.
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Calls or or made happen rather than the God allowed yes, and
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those are very important to speak they are they.
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Are and then thank you for bringing that up because that's
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absolutely the case. You know God is in control.
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But he. Utilizes the intentions and the
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thoughts and the purposes of man to bring about those things that
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are in His will and that He has been preparing for for all of
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this time. And that's what you see coming
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to fruition with Christ, verse 16.
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For where there is a. Testament.
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We talk about the old. And the New Testament all the
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time. What is a testament?
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We would call it a. Will it is it is that which goes
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into account when? The time of death for.
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Where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be
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the death of the testator. Verse 16 For a testament is in
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force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the
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testator lives. Therefore not even with the
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first covenant, or not even the first covenant was dedicated
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without blood. For when Moses had spoken every
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precept to all the people according to the law, he took
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the blood of calves and goats with water, scarlet wool, and
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hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,
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saying, This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded
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you. Then likewise he sprinkled with
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blood both the Tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry.
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And according to the law almost all things are purified with
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blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.
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For most of my experience with people's studies of the Book of
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Hebrews, this is one of the most well known sections of the Book
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of Hebrews. And rightfully so.
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Because of the level of emphasis that it places on the sacrifice
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of Jesus. But I want to pull out just a
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couple of things as we go here before we get into this last
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section of Chapter 9. The first one.
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Is. The emphasis.
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That the writer of the book of Hebrews has on the fact that the
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New Testament could not come into effect without the death of
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Jesus. It is his covenant.
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It could not come until after his death, which by the way
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point of contact we. Had a lot of people.
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Who argue about the thief on the cross when it comes to his
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salvation and whether that is emblematic of our salvation
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today. Guess what?
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The thief on the. Cross was on that side of the
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death of Christ. The New Testament was not yet in
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place yet because the blood had not been shed.
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The covenant had not been bought.
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These things are not in place yet.
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They're still living under the Old Covenant.
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It was not yet finished. The emphasis here the testament
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cannot come into effect before the death of the testator.
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But I want you to. Notice something else he's going
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to emphasize in verses 19 and 20, the blood that was going to
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be utilized to sanctify the the law and the items of the law and
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the the ability of the workings of the law under the law of
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Moses. And the statement is going to be
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made in verse 20. This is the blood of the
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covenant which God has commanded you.
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It's quoting Exodus chapter 24, verse 8.
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But it sounds really similar to something else, doesn't it?
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When you read that. Phrase.
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Maybe it's just me, but when you read that phrase, what does that
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immediately take you to when Jesus institutes the Lord's
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Supper, right? He took the cup when he had Sup
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saying this blood. Or this cup is?
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The New Testament in my blood. This do as.
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Much as you drink it in remembrance of me.
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This is a blood of. The covenant which God has
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commanded you. In like.
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Form Jesus is going to institute the Lord's Supper as the same
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representation of the blood that redeems mankind, so likewise the
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blood was sprinkled on the Tabernacle and all the vessels
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of the ministry, and according to the law, the Old Testament
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law, almost all things are purified with blood.
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And without the shedding. Of blood there is no remission
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now. Verse 23.
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Therefore. Because.
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Of the things of the old law. And because the old law was
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symbolic for the present time, therefore it was necessary that
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the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with
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these. But the heavenly.
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Things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
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For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands
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which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, into the
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holiest of all, as He called it earlier in Chapter 9, but into
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heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God.
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For who? For us.
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His death was. Just as much about those under
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the first testament to redeem them, to bring full redemption
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to them. But he now is.
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In the presence of God in heaven itself for us.
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Not that he should. Offer Himself often, as the high
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priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of
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another, because he then would have had to suffer often since
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the foundation of the world. But now once at the end of the
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ages, he has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
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himself. And as it is appointed for men
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to die once, but after this the judgement, so Christ was offered
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once to bear the sins of many. To those who.
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Eagerly wait for him. He will appear a second time
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apart from sin for salvation. If you're thinking about trying
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to go back and hold on to the Old Testament law, Hebrews
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Chapter 9 is devastating. And if you can read.
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Hebrews Chapter 9 and understand Hebrews Chapter 9 and not be
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emotionally affected by what Jesus did for you.
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We need to have. Some reading comprehension
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classes. Because the.
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Emphasis at the end of Chapter 9.
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Not of what? Jesus did for everybody else.
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And I don't care whether. You're a 1st century Jewish
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Christian who is trying to decide whether or not everything
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that you're enduring for Jesus is worth it, or whether you're a
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21st century Christian who is trying to determine whether or
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not giving up on all of the things that it costs us in this
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world in order to serve Christ is worth it.
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If we. Truly understand Hebrews Chapter
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9. It should cause us to stand so
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firm on our convictions that nothing will ever move us.
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Neil. I think kind.
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Of the underlying. Message that I take from all
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that is kind. Of we're not.
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In the place of God we are not, we can.
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We want us to try to understand the best that we can.
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But I can't say with. Authority.
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What God's judgment is of anyone, including myself, I
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can't say with authority. And you have.
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Romans 2 verse 14 And when the Gentiles, who do not have the
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law by nature do what the law requires, they are a law of
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themselves, even though they do not have the law, they show that
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the work work of the law is written on their hearts, while
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their conscience also bears witness in their conflicting
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thoughts. Accuse or even excuse them.
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And he goes on to say. You have the law.
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And you teach the law, which is what we do.
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We have the law, but we have the word of God.
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And we teach the word of God, but we're not in judgment of
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others. Because he says.
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Don't you also sin? Don't you also you say don't
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commit adultery, Don't you Do you commit adultery?
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You do this, you do that. And I think he's just pointing
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out that church is a place for sinners to come.
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To God to try to do His. Will, and the way that we know
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His will is through the truth, and the way that we know the
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truth is through His word. That's as far as.
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I can take it because when I have the verses that say they
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were a law of themselves, it's like, OK, what happened to the?
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How? How are the Jews?
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Forgiven. They were completed through the
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the covenant that Jesus came, and he completed what bulls and
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goats couldn't do. What about Gentiles?
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He just spoke to the. Gentiles, he said.
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They became a law to themselves. That gets correct for me.
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To be able to. Say with I don't like again, I I
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don't disagree with anything you say, but I don't have the
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authority to say it's always God's authority.
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And there's a lot he doesn't tell us.
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And that that's just just my thought on it just to kind of
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complete the circle because we spoke to the Old Testament.
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What happened to the Jews? How were they forgotten?
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I. Don't believe we have a?
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God, that damned everyone. That wasn't a Jew.
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Before the time of Christ. And I think this verse in Romans
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supports that idea. But I I can't say with authority
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God's God is God, so. Bell's about to ring.
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I'm not going to have much time to go into it, and that may be a
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discussion for another time. Let me just place an emphasis on
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the fact that when you're talking about Romans chapter 2,
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he is talking about the law from the Old Testament side of
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things. He's talking about the Law of
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Moses. The Gentiles were not under the
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law of Moses. They were still under the laws
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of patriarchy and the things that God had put in place.
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One of the amazing things to me about the Old Testament is it
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tells us that God didn't just care about the Israelites, He
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cared about all mankind even under the days of the Old
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Testament. Why is Jonah sent to Nineveh?
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Nineveh is not an Israelite city.
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Nineveh is not a city of people that believe in God.
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They are a city of people that actually do turn to God for a
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period of time. They turn back away a generation
45:44
later, but they do turn to God and repent.
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There's actually a period that is kind of the lost period of
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Assyrian history when all of these things for a very short
45:53
period of time, right around the time of Jonah, all of the
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different things that you used to find with the Assyrians.
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You've got this gap in here. Kind of funny how that works.
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The reality is God had a means for Gentiles to be saved even
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outside of the Law of Moses. In the days of the Law of Moses,
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they didn't have to become Jews in order to be righteous in his
46:14
sight. And there's a lot of material in
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the Old Testament that supports that particular idea.
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And there's a lot of material in the New Testament that supports
46:22
that. But in our day and time, final
46:25
thought before we close, in our day and time, there is only one
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way to get to heaven, and that is by means of the blood of
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Christ. And there is no Gray area in
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that particular arena because God has made it definitive here
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in the Scriptures. Thank you so much.