Hebrews 9:11-22
August 18, 2024

…There Exists in the History of the God/Humanity Story an Accepted and Well-Established Practice of Sacrificing
Animals
The Main Ingredients” of “SACRIFICE”— … “Guilt” (Human “wrongness” before God) … “Favor” (the Seeking
of Help/Benefit from God) … “Appeasement” (Satisfying a Deity)

BLOODSHED, DEATH, & FORGIVENESS
… “Blood” is mentioned 21 times in Hebrews —10 Times in this passage!!

…This Passage Reaches Back to Existing Precedent and Reference Points!
…At Mt. Sinai there is Specific INSTRUCTION Given
Ex 20:24 An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you.
Lev 1:3-5 “If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the LORD. 4 He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. 5 Then he shall kill the bull before the LORD, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall bring the blood and throw the blood against the sides of the altar that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
Gen 9:4 4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.
Lev 17:11 11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.

…Instruction but Not “INVENTION”—ie, Mt. Sinai was not “Inventing” a New Means of Salvation!
THIS “LIFE” …is the Focal Point of Redemption from the Very Beginning!! …Their “Salvation” came Through
“ONE PARTICULAR DEATH”—the One Spoken of HERE (Heb 9) is the One Everyone’s Been Waiting for
Gen 3:15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
Gen 3:21 … “And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.”
Gen 8:20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.”
Gen 12:8 From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD.
Gen 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. (KJV)
Ex 12:21-24 Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. 23 For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. 24 You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever.

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

Heb 10:11-14, 18 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. …18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

THE LIFE-GIVING POWER OF FORGIVENESS
…This “Bloodshed” (Life-Giving Sacrifice) is a “Means-to-an-End”!! …Bloodshed is a “Means unto
Forgiveness” …BUT, Forgiveness is Presented in Scripture as a “Means-to-an-End” as well!!
Heb 9:14 “purifying our conscience from dead works => TO SERVE THE LIVING GOD
Heb 10:18-19, 22 “Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. 19 THEREFORE, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus [blood that cleanses & forgives]… 22 let us DRAW NEAR with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Forgiveness is a Means of NEARNESS!! …and of all the problems in our lives that we are seeking to solve—”FARNESS” from God is the most “disorienting” and problematic contributor to our
existence! …We who were made to “Dwell/Do-Life” in the Presence of God find ourselves living a Life of
Daily Alienation!!
…How big of a need is my need to find forgiveness?

During Christ’s early ministry, a group of four friends brought a paralyzed man to the house where Jesus was speaking in hopes of getting a healing for him. “Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above … by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on” (Mark 2:4). To everyone’s shock, Jesus did not at first heal his paralysis. Instead “when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven’ ” (verse 5). For a moment imagine yourself as the paralyzed man. You would have felt (and if you had a bold personality you might have said), “Uh, thanks—but isn’t it obvious I have a more urgent need here?” And if you had said that, Jesus would have answered, “No, you don’t.” It’s likely that the man had been feeling, “If I could just walk again—then I’d be happy. I’d never complain. I’d be content.” But Jesus, as it were, is saying: “Look around you at all these people—they can all walk. Are their hearts all filled with contentment? Are they all happy? If I only heal you, you will be overjoyed for a while, but then you will become like everyone else.” No. What the man needed was forgiveness. Forgiveness gets down to the bottom of things—to the alienation we feel from God and from ourselves because of our wrongdoing. Jesus was saying: “I want to show you that the deepest need of your nature is for me. Only I can bestow perfect love, new identity, endless comfort, hope, and glory. And the doorway into all of that is to know forgiveness.” It’s time to open that door and walk through it. —Keller, Timothy. Forgive: Why Should I and How Can I? (pp. xix-xxii). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

…”Forgiveness gets down to the bottom of things—to the alienation we feel from God and from ourselves because
of our wrongdoing.”
— “Have You Considered the REAL & RELEVANT Sense of “Separation/Alienation” from God??

Gen 3:6-10 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. 8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”
…THIS is “Patient 1”—the Source of the Viral Infection! …It is the Story of Deception, Decision,
Disorientation & Distance!

— How powerfully disorienting is this “ALIENATION” sense of feeling and existence that can be dwelling where God
no longer dwells!!??
Psalms 130
1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! 2 O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! 3 If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. 5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; 6 my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. 7 O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. 8 And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities. What is my anguished soul waiting for?

“The metaphor of “depths” pictures the speaker drowning or deep under the sea, or possibly deep in a pit. What sort of depths are these? Not until verse 3 are we told directly, but there is already a hint when the psalmist says that his cry is a cry for “mercy.” The average person trapped in a deep pit would not be calling out for mercy—but simply for rescue—so these are depths of guilt and shame. The psalm writer is asking for “forgiveness” (verse 4). The entire prayer teaches us several things about the Old Testament view of forgiveness. It teaches us about the universal need for forgiveness. The psalmist poses a rhetorical question: If the Lord should “mark iniquities”—i.e., keep a record of our sins and wrongdoings—“who could stand?” The answer is, obviously, no one. Compare this verse with Psalms 1:5 and 5:5. To “stand” spiritually means to be acceptable to God in general, or to stand “in the judgment.” So the teaching is not simply that everyone sins. That would be no news to anyone. Rather, the teaching is that everyone, therefore, is spiritually alienated from God. No one is good enough to enter the holy presence of God. …This verse in Psalm 130 was quoted effectively by Paul in Romans 3:10–18 to prove that the world is not divided into the “good” people who are going to heaven and the “bad” people who are not. Everyone is lost. No one will pass the test of basic goodness and decency on Judgment Day. Because of our sin—no one can “stand.” It teaches us about the problem of forgiveness. What makes forgiveness difficult is that sins create a “record”— a residue of liability or obligation. …Sins create a record; they do not just pass into the air and vanish. The psalmist, then, is saying that our sins create a record with God that will have to be “paid up” on Judgment Day. We will all be lost and condemned. We will all perish in the “payments due” of the record of our sins.” —Keller, Timothy. Forgive: Why Should I and How Can I? (pp. 58-59).

? - How many of us recognize that Our “INNER-NOISE” (Pressures …Confusion …Disturbances) will Generate
Something External!!??

Gen 4:3-7 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is
contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”

…”The Lord had Regard for Abel and his offering” — …”but for Cain and his offering he had no
regard”
…v. 5 “SO Cain was very angry, and his face fell…”
Gen 4:8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother
Abel and killed him.
…Eventually—Inner Turmoil Shows Up as “Outer Expressions”

o St. Augustine – “We were made for you, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee”

▪ Adam …the day you eat of the tree—you will DIE
▪ Abraham … I am your shield and your great reward!
▪ The Human Heart NEEDS to Know that “God is OK With Us!!”

This verse also teaches us something of the inward result of God’s forgiveness. In one of the most striking statements, the psalmist says that forgiveness, pardon, and grace lead to an increase in “fear” of the Lord. What does this mean? The “fear of the Lord” is one of the most basic concepts that the Old Testament uses to describe godly character. When God speaks well of Job, he says: “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him … a man who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8). The term is used repeatedly in the Bible, and when contemporary readers see it, they almost always think of someone who is trembling and afraid. It is basically read as a negative. But this verse sheds new light on what it means. There are other verses that indicate this—for example, Proverbs 28:14 (“Happy is the man that feareth always,” KJV) and Psalm 19:9 (“The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever,” ESV). But this verse gives us the clearest view of what the fear of the Lord really is. The term fear, certainly, must refer at least to a sense of being humbled and overwhelmed by something. But now we see that the fear of the Lord is not a matter of mere fright. “Servile fear would have been diminished, not increased, by forgiveness… . The true sense of the ‘fear of the Lord’ in the Old Testament … implies relationship.”[8] So this term would be best defined as “joyful awe and wonder before the transcendent greatness of who God is.” The fear of God means to be affected deeply by who God is and what he did.” —Keller, Timothy. Forgive: Why Should I and How Can I? (p. 60). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

…This experience of “forgiveness” creates a New Inner Awareness and Reality that is the OPPOSITE of the Feeling of
Alienation that Unforgiveness is Generating Everyday of Our Lives!