Repeated Offerings

Good morning, and welcome again. Our time together this year is growing short. This is now the second year I have journaled through the Bible, and it continues to be a transformative practice. Writing forces me to slow down, consider the meaning, and see connections I would otherwise miss. Today we reflect on Hebrews 8–10, which explain why Jesus’ sacrifice is greater than all the Old Testament offerings that came before it.

The Weight of Endless Sacrifices

When I used to read the Old Testament, I often stumbled over passages like 2 Chronicles 7:5, where Solomon sacrificed 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. I remember wondering: How could killing all those animals make anyone stop sinning?

I would even ask myself, “Did the priests eat these animals? Was this a massive barbecue feast? Leviticus 6–7 illustrates that priests ate some offerings, families ate some, and some offerings were burned completely. But the larger question remained: How could animal sacrifices save anyone?

It’s as plain as day; they didn’t.
After all these sacrifices, the people still sinned. The priests still returned day after day to offer more sacrifices. Nothing changed (Hebrews 10:1–4).

Why?
God never desired animal blood for its own sake. The sacrifices were shadows—illustrations pointing to a deeper reality (Hebrews 10:5–7; Psalm 40:6–8).

Sin was exposed, but not erased by them. The people were restrained, but not transformed. Although they cleansed the body, they couldn’t purify the conscience (Hebrews 9:9, 13–14).

The Earthly Shadow

Hebrews 8 tells us that the tabernacle and priesthood were copies of heavenly things.
God told Moses, “See that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain” (Hebrews 8:5; Exodus 25:40).

The earthly tent was not the real dwelling place of God—only a symbolic one.
The ark was not God Himself—only a sign of His covenant presence.

Everything from the curtains to the lampstand to the sacrificial system served one purpose:
To prepare us for the real covenant which God intended to give through Christ (Hebrews 8:6–7).

A New Covenant

God “found fault with the people,” not with His Law (Hebrews 8:8; Romans 7:12). We could not keep it. Like someone who refuses to follow instructions and ends up lost, Israel wandered off the path.

A humorous example comes to mind. Many of us know a person—often a stubborn husband—who refuses to read the directions or look at a map. Instead of admitting the mistake, he drives farther into confusion. The problem isn’t the map. The problem is the heart that won’t listen.

That was Israel.
And that is us.

So God promised a new covenant in which He would write His law on our hearts and minds (Jeremiah 31:31–34). This covenant can change us from the inside out, something the first covenant could never do.

The Problem With Repetition

All those animal sacrifices were like setting buckets out to catch water from a leaky roof. My wife and I once lived in a rental home with that problem. A leak formed directly above our bed—our waterbed, which we couldn’t move because it weighed a ton.

Because my wife was pregnant, we had no choice but to put buckets under the dripping ceiling and sleep on the couch. All night long the water would collect, and all day long we had to dump and replace those buckets.

It was exhausting.
It was temporary.
And it never solved the problem.

That is the Old Testament system.
The sacrifices caught the overflow of sin, but they never repaired the roof.

Jesus: The Once-For-All Sacrifice

That is why Hebrews says:

“He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood” (Hebrews 9:12).

He didn’t bring the blood of goats or calves. Rather than a copy built with hands, he entered the real Holy of Holies (Hebrews 9:24).

The first covenant taught us that:

• Sin demands blood (Hebrews 9:18, 22; Genesis 4:4).
• A substitute must die.
• A mediator is required.

But the blood of animals only covered sin temporarily.
The blood of Christ removes it permanently (John 1:29; Hebrews 9:26–28).

Therefore, animal sacrifices ceased after A.D. 70, when the Temple was destroyed. They are no longer needed. The genuine sacrifice has been offered. The new covenant has come.

A Will

Hebrews makes a profound point: A will activates only after the death of its maker (Hebrews 9:16–17).

So Christ died — so that the will of God, the new covenant, could go into effect.

Then Christ rose — so that the one who died to save us could also live to intercede for us (Hebrews 7:25; Romans 8:34).

Judgment and Assurance

Hebrews reminds us that “it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).

When you stand before the holy Judge, how will you plead?
We have all sinned (Romans 3:23).
But the decisive question is this:

Are you still carrying your sins, or did you give them to Jesus?

Those who trust Him have had their sins nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14).
They have been buried.
God forgives them.
He remembers them no more (Hebrews 10:17–18).

So hold unswervingly to the hope you profess (Hebrews 10:23).
Do not shrink back (Hebrews 10:38–39).
The One who promised is faithful.

Tomorrow, we will read Hebrews 11-13.