Hebrews 10 completes the great argument about Christ’s sacrifice and priesthood, and then turns it into an invitation. The old sacrifices were only “a shadow of good things to come”; they could never take away sins. Christ’s one offering has done what they never could. So now, through “a new and living way,” we may “draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.” The chapter closes with a warning against turning back, and a promise for the waiting church: “yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.”
A study in Hebrews 10 · Arthur Baldwin · StandUp4Jesus.Org · 20 min read
A Shadow Of Good Things To Come
“For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.”
Hebrews 10:1-4
“The law” in this verse is the law of sacrifices, the system that offered animals “year by year continually.” It was “a shadow of good things to come.” A shadow is real, and it has the outline of the thing that casts it, but it is not the thing itself. The sacrifices outlined Christ, but they could not do what He does.
The proof? They had to be repeated. If one sacrifice had truly cleansed the conscience, there would have been no need for another. Instead, every Day of Atonement brought “a remembrance again made of sins.” And the writer states the plain truth: “it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.” Animal blood could point to forgiveness; it could not provide it.
Lo, I Come To Do Thy Will
“Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
Hebrews 10:5-10
The writer quotes Psalm 40 and places the words on the lips of the Son as He enters the world. God never took pleasure in animal sacrifices for their own sake. What He wanted was a perfect, willing obedience, and a sacrifice that could truly take sin away. So the Father prepared a body for the Son, and the Son said, “Lo, I come… to do thy will, O God.”
“Nearly two thousand years ago, a voice of mysterious import was heard in heaven, from the throne of God, ‘Lo, I come.’ ‘Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not, but a body hast Thou prepared Me…. Lo, I come (in the volume of the Book it is written of Me,) to do Thy will, O God.’ Hebrews 10:5-7. In these words is announced the fulfillment of the purpose that had been hidden from eternal ages. Christ was about to visit our world, and to become incarnate.”
Ellen G. White · The Desire of Ages, p. 23
“He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.” The first is the system of animal sacrifices; the second is the doing of God’s will by Christ. And “by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
“And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.”
Hebrews 10:11-18
The earthly priests “standeth daily.” There were no chairs in the tabernacle; their work was never finished. Christ, “after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down.” And once more the writer quotes the new-covenant promise: God’s laws written in the heart, and sins remembered no more. Where sins are truly forgiven, “there is no more offering for sin.” Nothing needs to be added to Calvary.
A New And Living Way
“Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
Hebrews 10:19-25
“Having therefore.” Now the doctrine becomes an invitation. Under the old system only the high priest could enter God’s presence, once a year, and ordinary worshippers stood outside. Now every believer has “boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.” The way is “new,” because it did not exist before the cross, and “living,” because it leads through a living Saviour. It passes “through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.” When Christ’s body was broken on the cross, the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51).
“Type has met antitype in the death of God’s Son. The great sacrifice has been made. The way into the holiest is laid open. A new and living way is prepared for all. No longer need sinful, sorrowing humanity await the coming of the high priest. Henceforth the Saviour was to officiate as priest and advocate in the heaven of heavens.”
Ellen G. White · The Desire of Ages, p. 757
Three “let us” appeals follow. “Let us draw near” — come close to God, with a sincere heart, cleansed by Christ’s blood and marked by baptism. “Let us hold fast” — do not waver, because the One who promised is faithful. “Let us consider one another” — think about how to stir each other up to love and good works.
And the last appeal is very practical: “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is.” Some believers had already drifted away from meeting together. Faith is not meant to be lived alone. We need each other, and we need each other “so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” The nearer the return of Christ, the more important the fellowship of His people becomes.
If We Sin Wilfully
“For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
Hebrews 10:26-31
Like chapter 6, this is a solemn warning. “Sin wilfully” does not describe the believer who falls into sin and grieves over it. The verb describes a deliberate, continuing course: going on sinning with open eyes, after knowing the truth. Verse 29 shows what that finally amounts to: trampling the Son of God underfoot, treating His blood as worthless, and insulting “the Spirit of grace.” If a person rejects the only sacrifice there is, “there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins.”
“God works by the manifestation of His Spirit to reprove and convict the sinner; and if the Spirit’s work is finally rejected, there is no more that God can do for the soul. The last resource of divine mercy has been employed. The transgressor has cut himself off from God, and sin has no remedy to cure itself.”
Ellen G. White · Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 405
“The Lord shall judge his people.” Judgment begins with those who profess His name. And “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” — not because He is cruel, but because He is holy, and there is no escape from Him apart from His Son.
He That Shall Come Will Come
“But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions; Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used. For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance. Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.”
Hebrews 10:32-39
After the warning, encouragement. “Call to remembrance the former days.” These believers had once suffered public shame, stood by others who were persecuted, and even accepted the confiscation of their property “joyfully,” because they knew they had a better and lasting possession in heaven. Don’t throw that confidence away now, the writer says. You have come so far.
What they need is “patience” — endurance — because the promise has not yet been fulfilled. And the promise is sure: “For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” Christ’s coming may seem delayed, but it is not late. Meanwhile, “the just shall live by faith” (Habakkuk 2:4).
“That this admonition is addressed to the church in the last days is evident from the words pointing to the nearness of the Lord’s coming: ‘For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come and will not tarry.’ And it is plainly implied that there would be a seeming delay and that the Lord would appear to tarry.”
Ellen G. White · The Great Controversy, p. 408
“But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition.” The writer ends with confidence in his readers. And the same word is for us. Christ has offered one perfect sacrifice. He ministers for us in the heavenly sanctuary. The way into God’s presence is open. And the One who promised to return “will come, and will not tarry.” So let us draw near, hold fast, meet together, and wait in faith.
