14 How much more will the blood of Christ, who, being without sin, made an offering of himself to God through the Holy Spirit, make your hearts clean from dead works to be servants of the living God?
Because Christ once went through pain for sins, the upright one taking the place of sinners, so that through him we might come back to God; being put to death in the flesh, but given life in the Spirit;
Who, being the outshining of his glory, the true image of his substance, supporting all things by the word of his power, having given himself as an offering making clean from sins, took his seat at the right hand of God in heaven;
For this reason let us go on from the first things about Christ to full growth; not building again that on which it is based, that is, the turning of the heart from dead works, and faith in God,
Who gave himself for us, so that he might make us free from all wrongdoing, and make for himself a people clean in heart and on fire with good works.
But through holy blood, like that of a clean and unmarked lamb, even the blood of Christ:
For if this had been possible, would there not have been an end of those offerings, because the worshippers would have been made completely clean and would have been no longer conscious of sins?
But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God and an eternal king: when he is angry, the earth is shaking with fear, and the nations give way before his wrath.
And do not give your bodies to sin as the instruments of wrongdoing, but give yourselves to God, as those who are living from the dead, and your bodies as instruments of righteousness to God.
Good people, why are you doing these things? We are men with the same feelings as you, and we give you the good news so that you may be turned away from these foolish things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all things in them:
And be living in love, even as Christ had love for you, and gave himself up for us, an offering to God for a perfume of a sweet smell.
So that you may give the rest of your lives in the flesh, not to the desires of men, but to the purpose of God.
For from the first making of the world, those things of God which the eye is unable to see, that is, his eternal power and existence, are fully made clear, he having given the knowledge of them through the things which he has made, so that men have no reason for wrongdoing:
But now, being free from sin, and having been made servants to God, you have your fruit in that which is holy, and the end is eternal life.
For if you were cut out of a field olive-tree, and against the natural use were united to a good olive-tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be united again with the olive-tree which was theirs?
For him who had no knowledge of sin God made to be sin for us; so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
For I, through the law, have become dead to the law, so that I might be living to God.
Even when we were dead through our sins, gave us life together with Christ (by grace you have salvation),
Now to the King eternal, ever-living, unseen, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. So be it.
But if I am long in coming, this will make clear to you what behaviour is right for men in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of what is true.
And this is an image of the present time; when the offerings which are given are not able to make the heart of the worshipper completely clean,
By faith Jacob gave a blessing to the two sons of Joseph, when he was near to death; and gave God worship, supported by his stick.
He took our sins on himself, giving his body to be nailed on the tree, so that we, being dead to sin, might have a new life in righteousness, and by his wounds we have been made well.
And you have knowledge that he came to take away sin: and in him there is no sin.
And they put his body into the earth with sinners, and his last resting-place was with the evil-doers, though he had done no wrong, and no deceit was in his mouth.
But anything which has a mark you may not give; it will not make you pleasing to the Lord.
This is the rule of the law which the Lord has made, saying, Give orders to the children of Israel to give you a red cow without any mark on her, and on which the yoke has never been put: Give her to Eleazar the priest and let him take her outside the tent-circle and have her put to death before him. Then let Eleazar the priest take some of her blood on his finger, shaking the blood seven times in the direction of the front of the Tent of meeting: And the cow is to be burned before him, her skin and her flesh and her blood and her waste are to be burned: Then let the priest take cedar-wood and hyssop and red thread, and put them into the fire where the cow is burning. And the priest, after washing his clothing and bathing his body in water, may come back to the tent-circle, and will be unclean till evening. And he who does the burning is to have his clothing washed and his body bathed in water and be unclean till evening. Then let a man who is clean take the dust of the burned cow and put it outside the tent-circle in a clean place, where it is to be kept for the children of Israel and used in making the water which takes away what is unclean: it is a sin-offering. And he who takes up the dust of the burned cow is to have his clothing washed with water and be unclean till evening: this is to be a law for ever, for the children of Israel as well as for the man from another country who is living among them. Anyone touching a dead body will be unclean for seven days: On the third day and on the seventh day he is to make himself clean with the water, and so he will be clean: but if he does not do this on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean. Anyone touching the body of a dead man without making himself clean in this way, makes the House of the Lord unclean; and that man will be cut off from Israel: because the water was not put on him, he will be unclean; his unclean condition is unchanged. This is the law when death comes to a man in his tent: everyone who comes into the tent, and everyone who is in the tent, will be unclean for seven days. And every open vessel without a cover fixed on it will be unclean. And anyone touching one who has been put to death with the sword in the open country, or the body of one who has come to his end by a natural death, or a man's bone, or the resting-place of a dead body, will be unclean for seven days. And for the unclean, they are to take the dust of the burning of the sin-offering, and put flowing water on it in a vessel: And a clean person is to take hyssop and put it in the water, shaking it over the tent, and all the vessels, and the people who were there, and over him by whom the bone, or the body of one who has been put to death with the sword, or the body of one who has come to his end by a natural death, or the resting-place was touched. Let the clean person do this to the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he is to make him clean; and after washing his clothing and bathing himself in water, he will be clean in the evening. But the man who, being unclean, does not make himself clean in this way, will be cut off from the meeting of the people, because he has made the holy place of the Lord unclean: the water has not been put on him, he is unclean. This is to be a law for them for ever: he who puts the water on the unclean person is to have his clothing washed; and anyone touching the water will be unclean till evening.
Say to them, This is the offering made by fire which you are to give to the Lord; he-lambs of the first year without any mark, two every day as a regular burned offering.
And on the Sabbath day, two he-lambs of the first year, without any mark, and two tenth parts of the best meal for a meal offering mixed with oil, and its drink offering:
For what man is there in all the earth, who, hearing the voice of the living God as we have, out of the heart of the fire, has been kept from death?
But if it has any mark on it, if it is blind or has damaged legs, or if there is anything wrong with it, it may not be offered to the Lord your God.
For I have knowledge of your hard and uncontrolled hearts: even now, while I am still living, you will not be ruled by the Lord; how much less after my death?
The God of your fathers is your safe resting-place, and under you are his eternal arms: driving out the forces of your haters from before you, he said, Let destruction overtake them.
How much more, when evil men have put an upright person to death, in his house, sleeping on his bed, will I take payment from you for his blood, and have you cut off from the earth?
Let your ear be turned to us, O Lord, and let your eyes be open, O Lord, and see; take note of all the words of Sennacherib who has sent men to say evil against the living God.
See my servant, whom I am supporting, my loved one, in whom I take delight: I have put my spirit on him; he will give the knowledge of the true God to the nations.
But was marked out as Son of God in power by the Holy Spirit through the coming to life again of the dead; Jesus Christ our Lord,
For this is the word of him who is high and lifted up, whose resting-place is eternal, whose name is Holy: my resting-place is in the high and holy place, and with him who is crushed and poor in spirit, to give life to the spirit of the poor, and to make strong the heart of the crushed.
The spirit of the Lord is on me, because I am marked out by him to give good news to the poor; he has sent me to make the broken-hearted well, to say that the prisoners will be made free, and that those in chains will see the light again;
Then King Darius sent a letter to all the peoples, nations, and languages, living in all the earth: May your peace be increased.
Seventy weeks have been fixed for your people and your holy town, to let wrongdoing be complete and sin come to its full limit, and for the clearing away of evil-doing and the coming in of eternal righteousness: so that the vision and the word of the prophet may be stamped as true, and to put the holy oil on a most holy place. Have then the certain knowledge that from the going out of the word for the building again of Jerusalem till the coming of a prince, on whom the holy oil has been put, will be seven weeks: in sixty-two weeks its building will be complete, with square and earthwork. And at the end of the times, even after the sixty-two weeks, one on whom the holy oil has been put will be cut off and have no ...; and the town and the holy place will be made waste together with a prince; and the end will come with an overflowing of waters, and even to the end there will be war; the making waste which has been fixed.
If you, then, being evil, are able to give good things to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who make requests to him?
But if I by the Spirit of God send out evil spirits, then is the kingdom of God come on you.
That we, being made free from the fear of those who are against us, might give him worship,
The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because I am marked out by him to give good news to the poor; he has sent me to make well those who are broken-hearted; to say that the prisoners will be let go, and the blind will see, and to make the wounded free from their chains,
But if God gives such clothing to the grass in the field, which today is living, and tomorrow will be burned in the oven, how much more will he give clothing to you, O men of little faith?
For he whom God has sent says God's words; and God does not give him the Spirit by measure.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Hebrews 9
Commentary on Hebrews 9 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 9
The apostle, having declared the Old-Testament dispensation antiquated and vanishing away, proceeds to let the Hebrews see the correspondence there was between the Old Testament and the New; and that whatever was excellent in the Old was typical and representative of the New, which therefore must as far excel the Old as the substance does the shadow. The Old Testament was never intended to be rested in, but to prepare for the institutions of the gospel. And here he treats,
Hbr 9:1-7
Here,
Hbr 9:8-14
In these verses the apostle undertakes to deliver to us the mind and meaning of the Holy Ghost in all the ordinances of the tabernacle and legal economy, comprehending both place and worship. The scriptures of the Old Testament were given by inspiration of God; holy men of old spoke and wrote as the Holy Ghost directed them. And these Old-Testament records are of great use and significancy, not only to those who first received them, but even to Christians, who ought not to satisfy themselves with reading the institutes of the Levitical law, but should learn what the Holy Ghost signifies and suggests to them thereby. Now here are several things mentioned as the things that the Holy Ghost signified and certified to his people hereby.
Hbr 9:15-22
In these verses the apostle considers the gospel under the notion of a will or testament, the new or last will and testament of Christ, and shows the necessity and efficacy of the blood of Christ to make this testament valid and effectual.
Hbr 9:23-28
In this last part of the chapter, the apostle goes on to tell us what the Holy Ghost has signified to us by the legal purifications of the patterns of the things in heaven, inferring thence the necessity of better sacrifices to consecrate the heavenly things themselves.