As I continue my attempt to "blog" my short thoughts through the Book of Hebrews, I begin the 10th chapter today, and its first two verses. In Hebrews 10:1-2 we read, "For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never by the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have consciousness of sins?"
This is not a new truth being spoken of by the Hebrew author in this 10th chapter. He has written of it already in the preceding chapters. But it seems clear that God has inspired him to write of this truth in different ways, with each proclaiming the supremacy of Christ. The contrast is evident. The Law, though ordained by God to be a "school master", could never bring about perfection for the person or the people through the observance of its sacrifices. The continuance of the "same sacrifices year by year" was itself a testimony to this truth. It was "only a shadow of the good things to come" and these would be found in Christ.
The question posed in the second verse makes the point again. If the sacrifices which had been offered under the Law could make the worshiper "perfect", no longer with "consciousness of sins", they simply would have ceased to be offered. They would have accomplished their purpose. But again, this was not their purpose. Their purpose was to point to a day in which the One who knew no sin would become sin for us. The day in which He would die once for all. Oh, to be thankful for the Lord Jesus!
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