AtACrossroads.net Weekly Bible Reading Devotional
Day 1 – Read Hebrews 8
Chapter 8 begins to really get specific about how insufficient and temporary the Old Testament / Jewish priestly system was. Notice how verse 5 calls the OT priestly system a “shadow” and “pattern” of the true one in Heaven. There is only one place that sin can be truly covered and it’s in Heaven where our Holy God resides, not in a tent or temple in the Middle East with a priest and an animal sacrifice. The rest of Chapter 8 describes the new covenant, which supersedes and is the fulfillment of the old covenant (the specific agreement God had between himself and the Old Testament people of ancient Israel). Jesus is what people had been waiting for for 1000’s of years! He is what the entire Old Testament system was pointing toward! Take time to thank him that your sins have been completely, once and for all, removed by him on the cross.
Day 2 – Read Hebrews 9 (bonus reading: Leviticus 16)
The Most Holy Place in the temple is where the High Priest would go once a year (on the Day of Atonement) to offer the sacrifice that would cover the sins of the people for the entire previous year. If the High Priest was not ceremonially clean, he would drop dead when entering this room! This room contained the tangible presence of God. This is all described in Leviticus 16 (this would have been going on annually for ~1500 years when Hebrews was written!) and recapped in Hebrews 9. Heb. 9 makes the very strong point that these sacrifices did not actually remove sin, but only the blood of Jesus, the perfect sacrifice of God in human flesh, could actually remove sins. In this, Jesus did not go through the shadow, pattern, or copy of the real “Most Holy Place”, he went into the actual supernatural Most Holy Place in Heaven and in this supernatural place of holiness, he made things right between sinful humanity and a holy God, forever, for those who will receive his substitution for their sins’ penalty.
Day 3 – Read Hebrews 10:1-14
Hebrews 10 does a good job of re-emphasizing the points of chapters 8 & 9 and going further to make the point that God is not interested in our religious rituals, but in our hearts. Confess to God today the “religious acts” you do that you feel earn his favor. Repent of these things and ask him to give you a pure heart that is 100% devoted to him in love and surrender.
Day 4 – Read Hebrews 10:15-39
Because of our full and ultimate forgiveness in Jesus, we can approach God with a confidence and boldness that would have been unheard of in the Old Testament. Use this amazing opportunity to grow deep in his love and the life that he brings through his commands, and encourage your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to do the same!
Day 5 – Read Zechariah 3
This was written around 500 years before Jesus came. It is exactly what Hebrews 8-10 describe: the insufficiency of the Old Testament priestly system, except this was written during the Old Testament while that system was in full force! This is a great chapter pointing to the day that Jesus would one day take away sins once and for all, just as Hebrews describes.
12.15.13 Hebrews: Jesus Our Ransom from Lansing Crossroads Church on Vimeo.
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