Hebrews X

Greetings from California, and a happy new year to you and your loved ones. 

I just returned from swimming  (I spent more time gazing at the sunlit, wispy cloud-streaked sky than I did swimming) and am looking forward to dinner with my family.  I hope you have enjoyed your new years just as much, and even more so, than I have enjoyed mine thus far.  I will spare you the details of my winter break, knowing that your lives are much more vivacious than any account I can give of mine. 

And so, onto Hebrews 10.  What follows is simply my thoughts/observations on the chapter, and as such they can woefully wrong.  If you disagree, God bless you and please do correct me.  I’m more than happy to hear others’ perspectives.  I will partition the chapter as my beloved NASB bible does.

vv. 1-18

• in verse 1, the Law is described as a foreshadowing of sorts for “good things to come”, and “not the very form of things.”  Its interesting how the word “and” is used to connect the two things, not “but” (even though I think in most circumstances, but is more appropriate).  The “and” is not found in the original, but is implied. 
• verse 1, what does “things” refer to?  Its awfully vague. 
• verse 1 exposes a shortcoming of the Law: it can never make perfect those who draw near
• verse 2, its interesting how Paul notes that “having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins?”.  That seems to imply that after being cleaned, we forget our past sins.  The phrase “losing consciousness of sins” bugs me, because to me it seems to indicate that though we lose recollection, the history/memory of the sin is still there as the past is immutable. 
• verse 3-4 reveals the purposes of those sacrifices, as a reminder, as they cannot take away sins.  
• verse 5-7 comes from Psalm 40, although “BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME” is a reference to something else (Hebrews 2:14, 5:17, and 1 Peter 2:24) 
• verse 9, Christ came to take away the first (sacrifices) and to establish the second (to do God’s will).
• verse 10, Christ’s sacrifice was enough to sanctify us 
• verses 11-14, Christ’s sacrifice can take away sins, while the offering time after time of sacrifices cannot take away sin.  Christ is Lord, as He has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God, and His enemies will be made a footstool. 
• verses 16-17 is a reference from Jeremiah 31:33-34
• verse 16-18, now here is the promise of grace, that because of Christ’s sacrifice, our sins will be wiped away, and God will no longer remember them no more.  v. 18 “Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.”

vv. 19-25

• verse 20, I don’t quite get the veil imagery.  There is something significant about it, and without it, I don’t understand the verse completely.  In other words, I only see a shadow, but not the actual image of the thing.  A veil is used to cover something, perhaps something holy or perhaps something that would otherwise be viewed as unclean/sinful (I’m thinking of veiled women at this point), but what need do we have of a veil?  His flesh is the veil. 
• verse 20, I like the reference to a “new and living way”; seems the old way was a dead way. 
• verse 22, “let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”  It can be said that Christ’s blood is so powerful, so potent that it only most be sprinkled to make something clean, whereas for a medium like water, the object has to be completely immersed with potentially the application of some physical exertion. :p
• verse 22, “let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” A sincere heart and full assurance of faith, something I think that is much more easily said than done.  It may even be considered idealistic, but nonetheless it is something that we should strive for, ask for. 
• verses 23-25 paints a beautiful portrait of one aspect of a community: stimulating one another towards love and good deeds, not forsaking one another, encouraging each other all the more as the end draws near. 

vv. 26-39

• verses 26-27, a truly terrifying prospect.  “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of  fire which will consume the adversaries.”  what may be considered sinning willfully? 
• verse 28, perhaps sinning willfully means setting aside the Law of Moses, for anyone who does such a thing dies. without mercy on the testimony of 2-3 witnesses.  Thus, the grace of God is not to be taken for granted, to be manipulated and used to one’s own benefit. 
• verse 31 sums it up: “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” 
• verse 34, "…accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one.”  I think it would be incredible if somebody could say the same about us today. 
• verse 35, our confidence will be greatly rewarded, though Paul does not explicitly state how. 
• verse 36, endurance, another necessity/good attribute.  Again, another promise in this verse, when we have done the will of God.  (Although, this brings to mind the question how we could not do the will of God.  Perhaps its a question of willingness).
• verse 37-39, a reference to Habakkuk 2:3-4.  We shall not shrink back, for those that do find no pleasure in God.

Side note, I met a girl at RYCE (a retreat) named Acacia.  Now I do think that that is a most beautiful and clever name. (: 

Have a happy new years.