NOW even the first covenant had also regulations of divine service, and an earthly sanctuary.” Please note that the word “covenant” in Hebrews 9:1 is in italics. Occasionally, when translating from one language to another, the translator will occasionally add a word in order to give better sense of what is being translated. The King James Version and some literal translations such as the New American Standard are kind enough to put such added words in italics so that the reader will know which words are added. Other translations do not italicize added words, and therefore are less than honest, in my opinion, unless they tell you that it is a paraphrase.

In Hebrews 9:1, as in chapter 8 of Hebrews, the word that should be added is “priesthood,” not “covenant.” As you may know, Biblically there have been several covenants, including the Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, and Davidic covenants. None of them replace the previous “older” covenants. This is true also with the New Covenant prophesied in Jeremiah 31:31-33 and repeated in Hebrews 8:8-10 and 10:16.

Under the New Covenant, the “old” Mosaic covenant is not weakened, but strengthened. The “old” Mosaic covenant was written on tablets of stone, with various promises of blessings for obedience to the mitzvot (commandments) and curses for disobedience. The Newer Covenant is engraved on our hearts. We don’t observe the mitzvot to “get” saved. The Torah[1] is God’s instructions to those who are already redeemed. We observe and, indeed celebrate, God’s mitzvot as an expression of our love for Him. The “old” Mosaic covenant is strengthened in the Newer Covenant, as we learn from the following quote from Jeremiah 31:33: “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel: After those days, saith YHWH, I will put my Torah (“Law” or “Instructions”) in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” The same promise is repeated in Hebrews 8:10.

In Hebrews chapter 9, verses 2 to 5, we read, “For there was a Mishkan (Tabernacle) prepared; the outer Holy Place, wherein was the menorah, and the table, and the show bread; which is called the sanctuary. 3 And behind the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies; 4 which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; 5 And over it the cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy seat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.”

The menorah (a 7-branched lamp stand) looked pretty much as is shown in the diagram above. Here we have a description of the Tabernacle, but it also applies to the Beit HaMikdash (Temple) that was later built in Jerusalem. This diagram shows the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies (as seen from above).

This diagram is not drawn to scale. The incense altar was moved into the Holy of Holies each year on Yom Kippur. It is a rendering of the Holy Place and Holy of Holies being described in Hebrews chapter 9. Only the cohenim (priests) could go into the Holy Place. This is where the table with the showbread was located, with 12 loaves of bread representing each of the 12 tribes of Israel. However, only the cohenim (priests) could eat of the showbread. Also on the table was the solid gold menorah. This is the same menorah which was taken to Rome by the Roman army after the Roman conquest of Jerusalem in 70 CE (AD). In an Arch of Triumph in Rome, you can still see an engraving the Temple menorah being carried to Rome. Today, the 7-branched Temple menorah remains one of the primary symbols of the Jewish people, along with the 6-pointed Star of David. The cohenim would also offer up incense representing the prayers of Israel at the incense altar behind the table.

However, in Hebrews chapter 9, the primary emphasis is on the Holy of Holies. Only the Cohen HaGadol (High Priest) could go into the Holy of Holies, and then only on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). The Aron Kodesh (Ark of the Covenant) was located in the Holy of Holies. It was basically a box made of acacia wood, and overlaid with gold. We know that the Aron Kodesh was located in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle, and also in the First Temple under Solomon. However, by the time of the Maccabees, the Ark of the Covenant had disappeared. When Antiochus Epiphanies illegally entered the Holy of Holies in 165 BCE, he was surprised to find that it was empty.

There are different legends as to where the Ark of the Covenant might be located. According to 2 Maccabees 2:4-7, it is located in what is modern-day Jordan, on the mountain where Moses surveyed the Land of Israel from a distance, having been smuggled there by Jeremiah. The Falasha Jews of Ethiopia claim it is located in Ethiopia, where it was taken by the son of the Queen of Sheba. According to many rabbis in Israel, it is buried under Har HaBayit (the Temple Mount). Some believe, according to Jeremiah 3:16, that the Ark of the Covenant will never be found again, whereas others feel that this prophecy relates only to a future time, and hope for the Ark to be found and placed into a rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem.

Inside the Ark (Exodus 25:10-30) was a gold jar containing some of the manna that was the food of the Israelites during the 40-year pilgrimage in the Wilderness. Also, Aaron’s rod that budded was located in the Ark. However, most important of the contents were the stone Tablets of the Covenant that Moses brought down from Mount Sinai, on which were inscribed the Eser D’varim (“Ten Commandments”) by God’s own finger.

The cover of the Ark of the Covenant was also called the “mercy seat.” This is the physical place where YHWH met with the Cohen HaGadol each year, and in His mercy forgave the sins of the Israelites.

Located on top of the mercy seat were the k’ruvim (cherubim), which were two winged angelic beings carved out of solid gold facing each other, facing downward toward the mercy seat. Each year on Yom Kippur, the High Priest would sprinkle the mercy seat with the blood of atonement as described in Leviticus 16. This represents “grace,” which has always been a biblical principle, long before the New Testament was written.

In Hebrews 9:6-10, we read, “Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the outer Holy Place, accomplishing the service of God. 7 But into the second (the Holy of Holies) the High Priest enters alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people. 8 The Holy Spirit is signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while the first tabernacle was yet standing, 9 which was a parable for the present time, in which are offered both gifts and sacrifices, that cannot make the worshipper perfect in conscience, 10 which relate only to food and drinks, and diverse washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.”

The High Priest was a fallen human being, as we all are. Therefore, as seen above, the High Priest had to first offer a bull as a sin sacrifice for himself (Lev. 16:6) before he could go into the Holy of Holies and offer the blood of atonement for the people of Israel. At the time the Book of Hebrews was written, the Temple was still standing, along with the sacrifices described above.

We read in Hebrews 9:11-14, we read:

“But Messiah appeared as a High Priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, 12 neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood He entered into the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption for us. 13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Messiah, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

Once again, we see the old priesthood being compared to Yeshua, the High Priest of the new priesthood. The old priesthood was passing away, as we learned in Hebrews 8:13. It effectively disappeared only a few years after the Book of Hebrews was written, when the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE. The old Temple priesthood was being replaced by a better priesthood, represented by Yeshua’s atoning sacrifice on Golgotha. However, Yeshua did not go into the earthly Holy of Holies that was attached to the Temple. Instead, as we learn in verse 11, Yeshua entered a greater and more perfect Tabernacle, “not of this creation.” As we will learn in the balance of this chapter, and as we learned in Hebrews 8:5, the earthly Holy of Holies was merely a copy of the Heavenly Holy of Holies, as is also alluded to in Exodus 25:40. Also, unlike the High Priests of Temple times, Yeshua did not have to first offer the blood of goats and bulls, because Yeshua was unblemished by sin.

“And for this reason, He is the mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. 16 For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 17 For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator lives.” [2]

The Greek word diatheke can be used for both covenant and testament. In this particular case, the word “testament” is more appropriate, as in “Last Will and Testament.” As you know, when you write your “Last Will and Testament,” it doesn’t take effect until you actually kick the bucket and leave this life. Likewise, in this case, this is Yeshua’s “Last Will and Testament.” He brings us into the New Covenant, but it was inaugurated at the time He died for us on the tree at Golgotha. Also, like all covenants, it was inaugurated with blood, in this case the blood of Messiah Yeshua, as we read in the next verse (18): “Therefore, even the First Covenant (Testament) was not inaugurated without blood.”

“For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, 20 saying, ‘This is the blood of the testament (covenant) which God has commanded you.’ 21 Moreover He sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.” [3] 

    Here the writer of Hebrews is referring to the fact that the Mosaic covenant was inaugurated with blood. In Exodus 24:8, we learn that Moses took the blood of bulls and sprinkled it on the people of Israel. In the New Covenant (Testament), if we have believed in Yeshua for our salvation, we are symbolically sprinkled by His blood, which was also sprinkled on the vessels in the Heavenly Holy of Holies.

In Hebrews 9:22, we read, “And almost all things are by the law cleansed with blood; and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (of sins).” This, unfortunately, is a misquote of Leviticus 17:11, which reads, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul.” Please note that “it is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul.” However, this Leviticus 17:11 does not say that blood is the only atonement accepted by the Almighty.

In Isaiah 43:22-25, we read that Israel had not brought to YHWH any sacrifices, but rather had burdened Him with their sins. Yet in an act of divine grace, verse 25 tells us that God chose to wipe out their transgressions and remember their sins no more. Also, during the 70 year Babylonian Captivity, there was no blood of atonement because there were no animal sacrifices being performed. In Hosea 14:2, YHWH says, “Take words with you, and return to YHWH. Say to Him, ‘Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously, that we may present the fruit of our lips.’ ” Once again, no blood of atonement was required. King Solomon, at the dedication of the Temple, in 1 Kings 8:46-51, said,

“When they sin against Thee, (for there is no man that does not sin) and Thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive unto the land of the enemy, far or near, 47 yet if they shall take thought in the land where they were taken captive, and repent, and make supplication unto Thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, ‘We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness,’ 48 and if they return unto Thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto Thee toward their Land, which Thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which Thou hast chosen, and the house (Temple) which I have built for thy name, 49 then hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven Thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause, 50 and forgive Thy people that have sinned against Thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them. 51 For they are Thy people, and Thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron.”

In other words, when the Jews would be in the Galut (Exile or Diaspora), they would merely pray in the direction of Jerusalem, request forgiveness for their sins, and they would be forgiven. In Proverbs 16:6, we read, “By mercy and truth iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of YHWH men depart from evil.”

In Psalm 78:37-39, we read, “For their heart was not right with Him, neither were they steadfast in His covenant. 38 But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned He his anger away, and did not stir up all His wrath. 39 For He remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passes away, and comes not again.” It should be obvious to all by now that there was also abundant grace in the “old” covenant. I am not in any way minimizing the blood atonement; it is the most important means of atonement in all of Scripture. However, it is not the only means of atonement. We read in Hebrews 9:23-26:

“It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Messiah entered not into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. 25 Nor was it that He should offer Himself often, as the High Priest enters into the Holy of Holies every year with blood of others; 26 for then must He often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now in the consummation of the world He has appeared once to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.”

Here again, we see that Yeshua cleansed the Holy of Holies in HaShamayim (the heavens) with His own blood. Even Heaven had been defiled, as a result of the rebellion of HaSatan and his angels. It is my opinion that nobody went to heaven prior to Yeshua’s atoning sacrifice and resurrection. Prior to the resurrection, the righteous went to a place called “Abraham’s bosom,” as in Luke 16, also called “Paradise,” as in Yeshua’s promise to the thief on the cross in Luke 23:43. Also, Yeshua “appeared once to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” The Roman Catholic concept of Jesus being sacrificed daily in masses throughout the world is totally unbiblical.

Lastly, in the concluding verses of chapter 9, we read, “27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment, 28 so Messiah was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” This is a strong indictment against reincarnation, one of the hallmarks of the New Age movement, as well as Hinduism, and (horror of horrors!), even Chassidic Judaism. Kabbalah is Jewish mysticism, and is very much an important part of Chassidic Judaism.

I like to call Kabbalah “Judaism with a kippa,” because Kabbalah takes Hindu concepts like reincarnation, soul travel, etc., and dresses these concepts up to look Jewish. Believers in reincarnation believe that your soul keeps coming back over and over again in new bodies until you finally “get it right,” and overcome the “bad karma.” It reduces the motivation for ethical behavior. People who believe in it often excuse their present sins to bad karma from previous lives. Those who are sick or poor must have been very wicked in previous lives, according to this belief, so why help them? They are only getting what they deserve! The doctrine of reincarnation has no place in Messianic Judaism. The last verse of chapter 9 refers to the Day of Judgment, referred to in Judaism as Yom HaDin, a concept found in both the Tanakh and NT.                                                t