The Book of Hebrews

Part 25: God’s Last Will and Testament (Heb. 9:15-22)

I. God’s Dream and the Prodigal Journey…

Since the seventh chapter, the author of Hebrews has been illuminating his Jewish readers to the full meaning of their long history; a history filled with priests, sacrifices, covenants, and the all-important temple. His message is that Christ has come as the fulfillment of these things. This fulfillment means he has us free from the law and sin in order to restore us—redeem us—as sons and daughters of God.

As the ninth chapter winds down, the author ties together everything that has been revealed. With this, he introduces a stunning revelation.

There is something absolutely beautiful hidden behind the complicated Old Testament language being used for the 1st century Jewish audience here. To grasp this, we need to pull back and look at the larger story of creation itself. We will also bring in Luke 15 and the parable of the prodigal son. Afterward, we will investigate the meaning of this passage.

15 For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. 16 For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it. —Hebrews 9:15-16

When the Trinity—Father, Son, and Spirit—knew they wanted to have children who would look just like them and share in their fellowship, they understood it would require a painful journey. They could have easily created robots but that wouldn’t have satisfied the great dream of their heart to truly share the divine life with others.

They knew that beings given the sheer power of the free divine image would open the door to great suffering.

They decided to go forward with it anyway. They decided to have children with whom they would share the gift of life itself. When we say life, we mean the dynamic life within God himself—“eternal life.” This is not just about quantity (as in an “unending” amount) of life, but quality of life. This was a life of unimaginable joy, creativity, passion, and friendship. This is eternal life.

They went ahead with this plan, knowing we would take that gift of life and squander it. We would take our inheritance and burn it to the ground.

But knowing this, the Trinity made a promise amongst themselves—a covenant. The very end of Hebrews calls it the “eternal covenant,” meaning it was an agreement made outside of time and space (13:20). It was planned and settled before we messed the whole thing up.

They agreed that even if and when we squandered the gift of life, they would not only forgive us, but also restore us to experience even more of the eternal life we were made for. So, in the face of our rebellion, they planned to showcase their unfathomable grace and love for us.

But this meant they knew they would end up giving their life for us. It would involve getting into the mud of our mess and taking on the evil we embraced, and eventually dying for us.

But they made a promise that upon that death, the shedding of blood, forgiveness would be revealed and eternal life would be released again.

In this way, God in eternity wrote a “Last Will and Testament,” where there are promised gifts that are to be given upon a person’s death. These gifts are typically called an “inheritance.”

God in heaven laid up an inheritance for his children. An inheritance of unlimited forgiveness and the gift of eternal life which is found in the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the very life of God and God promised to pour out his Spirit on all flesh.

Therefore, because of the death of Jesus, this inheritance belongs to every person. Every human being, no matter how lost, has an inheritance right now. This inheritance was released not on the basis of our works, but on the basis of a promise God already planned eternally, which was enacted upon the death of his Son.

We don’t earn this inheritance. It is already ours. Faith is simply having one’s eyes opened to it and receiving it with gratitude.

Jesus shared a story with illuminating implications about this. The story of the prodigal son is one of his most famous parables. In that story, a son takes his inheritance from his father early. He wants his money so he can get out of his father’s house and go off and do his own thing.This was basically spitting in his father’s face. By asking for it early, he was telling his dad, I wish you were dead. As it would be today—even more so in the ancient world—this was an absolute offense.

But the father lets him go. He gives him the inheritance and releases him to his own desires… Just like God let us take our initial inheritance of breath (the “spirit” and life inside of us) and use it to worship false gods … to take our inheritance of strength and use it to destroy one another … or our inheritance of intelligence and creativity and use it to devise perverse things.

In the story, the son never stops being a son. But he goes and wastes his inheritance on worthless things. He ends up empty and alone, just as everyone does who squanders their life by pursuing union and satisfaction and peace in their own ways—outside of our true Father’s “house” or way of life. Sin is using the gift of life we’ve been given for wrong purposes—and it leads to nothing but death.

In the next part of the story, the son finds himself in a famine with nowhere to go and is eating pig slop to survive. In that place, he has this moment of awakening. He suddenly realizes his need and where he came from and how much better it was, and he decides to “repent”—to return home and apologize. He rehearses a big repentance speech and makes his way back to his father’s house, worrying about being completely rejected, expecting to be made a slave in the house for what he’s done (if he’s received back at all).

When he comes back, it turns out his father was there waiting on the porch, watching for the return of his son … and when he sees his son, he runs and embraces him, falls on his neck and weeps over him. The prodigal son is astonished to find out his father was not angry … The whole time, his father was simply desiring to have his son back.

II. Three Glorious Gifts Deeded to Your Name

When he comes back home, the father doesn’t even let him finish his repentance speech. After he embraces him, he immediately restores him to his place in the home. He does this by giving his son three highly symbolic gifts—a robe, a ring, and sandals for his feet.

This is an unbelievable display of kindness and generosity—what we might call extravagant grace. It points to the inheritance of grace God planned for us even knowing we would use our freedom for the wrong things.

These three items meant that this lost son was not only welcomed back, but he was being given full authority as a leader in the estate… The father tells the servants of the house to give his son “the best robe.” This was most likely the father’s own special robe which was worn only on special occasions. So, the father was restoring his status to honor by covering him (literally)—covering his mistakes with this glorious robe.

The ring was most likely a signet ring which acted like a power of attorney, giving the son full power to sign documents and make transactions in his father’s name. In this way, he is now once again a co-heir of the property. He has the same authority as the father. He shares the whole estate now.

Regarding the sandals—in those days, servants worked in their bare feet while members of the household had footwear. The sandals meant he is not a servant in the house (the very thing he feared), but a beloved son. “Despite what you’ve done, this is the truth of who you are.”

In all of this, the son’s rebellion is completely forgiven and not to be even remembered by anyone in the house. And more than forgiven, he is given access to the entire estate. He comes into an even greater inheritance than the portion he took early and wasted.

On top of all of this, the father had another surprise. He had a very special meal prepared for his son. There was a calf on the property, an animal of sacrifice and celebration, that had been “fattened.” Fattening a calf takes months. This meant while the son was stilling sinning against his father, still squandering his wealth, the father was preparing a calf for a sacrifice—a meal—in hopes that his child would return so they could have a huge welcome home party.

Now, during the famine, the son had been malnourished and wasting away. When he ate that calf, it was the finest meal he had in a very long time. It would have strengthened him and further affirmed his place at the table. They ate this meal together and it says at the end of the story there was “music and dancing” in the house.

Before the foundation of the world, Jesus prepared to shed his blood for us. Like a calf that is “fattened” over time for a celebratory meal, God prepared for the moment of humanity’s redemption. He shed his blood to reveal the Father’s love and to welcome us home. This was “settled” on God’s end. All we have to do is wake up and come to our senses, so that we would come back to where we belong. When we do come back, the table is already set. The meal—the communion meal—is waiting.

Now, whenever someone comes back to God, they are given everything the robe, ring, and sandals represent. They are robed in God’s own glory as his beloved child and their sins are never again to be brought up or held against them. They are given a ring of authority and power. They are also given peace as God confirms their identity as his children by establishing their feet in the good news of his love.

Every person has an initial inheritance of life given by the Spirit of God (which has been squandered in all kinds of ways), but something greater happens when they return to God. There is a fresh and powerful release of the Holy Spirit upon their lives. They are restored to the eternal life they were made for, which also involves peace, authority, and a firm confirmation of our identity (see Romans 8:15-16).

On that note, in the father’s house there was also “music and dancing.” There is celebration and joy involved in all of this as well. Our inheritance today is a joyful relationship with the Father, Son, and Spirit as secure members of their household. This is what God dreamed of and planned to release through the redemptive death of his Son.

• The Same Story in Ephesians 1

• Everything we’ve discussed is found articulated beautifully in the first chapter of Ephesians. There we find God’s dream before the universe was made. His plan was to eventually bring his children into a greater state than they were at the beginning. This is described by the Greek term “huiothesia.” This word usually gets translated as “adoption,” but it really involves a child becoming an adult. They enter their rightful position as a co-heir in the household and can now use the family signet ring. This is what is released through the Holy Spirit when a person receives the free gift of Jesus’s redemption (Ephesians 1:13).

III. Covenant vs. Testament

With all of this in mind, let’s return to the second half of Hebrew 9:

15 For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. 16 For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it.

- *For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant… *

We have already explored ancient covenants. These were promises between two parties that were typically sealed with threats of violence if one party broke their vow. The Mosaic Covenant was an example of this—but we have learned how God entered into our broken system in order to destroy it from the inside out. He engaged in our violent covenantal systems in order to replace it with his eternal covenant.

The eternal covenant is not like our covenants on earth. It is a kainos covenant—which we’ve learned means something totally different and better than anything else before it.

In reality, God did not require blood. We required blood for the weight on our broken souls. God entered into this drowning sea of guilt and took our self-inflicted punishment on his own body. He sacrificed himself to reveal the forgiveness he already decided to give us in eternity.

• (His) death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant…

Jesus’s death brought a redemption of the transgressions—all the ways we squandered life while under our systems of law. He took the punishment of our own guilt on himself. Jesus humbled himself to our fallen state and died for us. Now…

• …those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance…

“Those who are called” means everyone. Everyone is called to receive the gift of eternal life (John 3:16). This is the eternal inheritance promised to the world.

From here, we get to these revolutionary words…

• For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it.

This a huge statement that people would have argued with. The author of Hebrews is suddenly combining the idea of a “covenant” with that of a testament or will. This very line is why the Bible is called the Old and New Testament instead of the Old and New Covenant.

The Hebrew word for “covenant” was not connected to the idea of a will or testament. These were two totally different concepts. A covenant did not require a death of someone.
However, as the Greek language took over the world, the Greek word for “covenant” and “testament” were made the same.

The writer of Hebrews is using what would have been a “modern” concept to make his point. He is tapping into a new revelation which Jewish people would have argued against (and told him to get a degree in the Hebrew language). This would have been highly offensive to conservative Bible scholars of the day.

Nonetheless, the author of Hebrews is unveiling more truth about this kainos covenant… He is saying that this was indeed God’s last will and testament all along. His plan from the beginning was to give us forgiveness and eternal life, knowing it would require his death at the hands of his own deceived creation.

As it says in the book of Revelation, Jesus is the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). The promise was eternal. When Jesus died within time and space, the promised inheritance of the Holy Spirit was released—an inheritance of mercy, love, and blessing.

The author goes on with this new understanding of a covenant as a last will and testament by explaining that this was indeed present, yet hidden, even in the Old Covenant.

17 For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives. 18 Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood. 19 For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.” 21 And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood. 22 And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. —Hebrews 9:17-22

Perhaps anticipating that his readers would not agree with the Greek definition of covenant as a will/testament, he alludes to all the bloodshed involved in Moses’s covenant. Everything that has been talked about and discussed from the priests to the temple involved blood.

He is an unveiling a wild, scandalous, and marvelous mystery here. He is saying this was not about God requiring blood for payment through animals. This was about his promise to unveil his love and forgiveness, and to pour out the gift of fresh eternal life through his sacrifice.

In this passage, the author quotes Exodus 24 where Moses enacts the Old Covenant.

6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7 Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!” 8 So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” —Exodus 24:6-7

This is where we see how the people wanted to fulfill their own end of the deal. They were going to earn God’s blessing. They said, All God has spoken we will do. This was the destructive path of self-effort and law.

In this covenant, the blood was split in half. This is similar to the story of Abraham in Genesis 15 where animals were torn into two aisles which both parties would walk down. However, in that case, God walked through the line twice, revealing his eternal plan to absorb our side of the problem.

This time with Moses is different. One half of the blood is put in a basin and the other half on the altar. The word for basin is used in scripture to describe the human body (such as Song of Songs 7:2). The altar is a holy place that speaks of God himself. In this case, both parties are going in equally. This gets confirmed by the blood being sprinkled on the people themselves.

But again, God was only entering into this mess to break down the whole system. His plan was to reveal his love by one day shedding his own blood to free us from guilt and to give us the full inheritance of his very life—his Holy Spirit… The robe, the ring, and the sandals are now ours…

Follow-up Encounter:

As you prepare to take communion, begin to recall the many gifts you have been given through Jesus’s sacrifice. Remember, these gifts are not earned. They were already planned to be given to you by the Father before you were born. Before you ever sinned or did anything wrong, God chose to pour out his life, peace, and authority upon you.

Ask the Holy Spirit for a deeper revelation of the robe, the ring, and the sandals. Receive each one as you celebrate communion. Declare that you are receiving these gifts and that you will use them with joyful confidence!