Hebrews 10 and Ultimate Redemption — Part 2

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A friend asked me to reconcile Ultimate Redemption and the supposed unpardonable sin found in the Letter to the Hebrews. In Part 1, we established that the part of our Bibles labeled the “New Testament” is about the end of the Old Covenant Age and System and the anticipation of the fully established New Covenant Age. It’s about the overlapping of those two ages. For example, when we read passages like “[Christ] has now appeared once at the end of the ages to get rid of sin by sacrificing himself (Hebrews 9.26; CEB[1]; emphasis added), “the end” there is referring to the end of the Old Covenant Age and System.

In this Part 2, we’ll address the then current status of the Old Covenant Age and System (hereafter OCAS).


The Status of the Old Covenant Age and System 

In chapter 8, the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews makes it quite clear that the OCAS was still fully operational:

Hebrews 8.3-5 (CEB; adapted):
Every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices. So it’s necessary for this high priest (i.e., Jesus) also to have something to offer. 4If he was located on earth, he wouldn’t be a priest because there are already others who offer gifts based on the Law. 5They serve in a place that’s a copy and shadow of the heavenly meeting tent (emphasis added).

We see, then, that not only was the Temple still standing at the time this letter was written, but the Levitical priesthood was still “offering gifts based on the Law.” That is, they were following the rituals outlined in the OCAS.

Jesus, on the other hand, “received a superior priestly service just as he arranged a better covenant that’s enacted with better promises” (verse 6). However, this spotlighted a problem.

Hebrews 8.7-8a (CEB):
If the first covenant had been without fault, it wouldn’t have made sense to expect a second. 8But God did find fault… (emphasis added).

In other words, the mere fact that God “arranged a better covenant … enacted with better promises” shows that there was a problem with the OCAS.

What was the problem? 

Israel and the OCAS was meant to be a sign pointing to something else. This is emphasized in the following section in Hebrews 8. The writer quotes Jeremiah 31.31-34 showcasing that God had promised a new covenant even in Israel’s ancient past. The purpose of the new covenant was to — finally — take away sin. The first covenant wasn’t able to do that:

Hebrews 10.1-4 (CEV[2]):
The Law of Moses (i.e., the OCAS) is like a shadow of the good things to come. This shadow isn’t the good things themselves, because it cannot free people from sin by the sacrifices that are offered year after year. 2If there were worshipers who already have their sins washed away and their consciences made clear, there would not be any need to go on offering sacrifices. 3-4But the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins. It only reminds people of their sins from one year to the next.

As St Paul says in another place, “… don’t let anyone pass judgment on you in a question of food or drink, or in the matter of festivals, new moons or sabbaths. These things are a shadow cast by the coming reality — and the body that casts the shadow belongs to [Christ]” (Colossians 2.17; CEB; emphasis added).

That’s the limitation of the OCAS. That’s its fault. It’s like Bruce Lee told his student in Enter the Dragon — 

“It’s like a finger pointing away to the moon.” 

The student is focused on Bruce’s finger. 

Bruce wraps the student on the head and says, “Don’t concentrate on the finger or you’ll miss all that heavenly glory.”

The Jews were concentrating on the “finger” (i.e., the OACS) and missed the Glory of God as manifested in Jesus. That system, though, was on its way out. Finishing off chapter 8, the writer states, “By calling this covenant ‘new,’ he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear” (verse 13; NIV[3]; emphasis added).

We’ve established that the Old Covenant Age and System was only a “shadow” and not the reality it thought it was even though it was still fully operational by the time this letter was written. It was “obsolete and outdated” and would “soon disappear.” 

In our next post. we’ll turn our attention to Jesus as the high priest, his location at the time of this letter, and why that’s important.

Click here for the next post.



~~~
In the Love of the Three in One,

Br. Jack+, LC

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[1] Scripture quotations marked (CEB) are taken from The Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible.

[2] Scripture quotations marked (CEV) are taken from The Contemporary English Version. Copyright © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.

[3] Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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