THE DEATH OF THE TESTATOR – Hebrews 9:16-26

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on August 12, 2015 under PM Bible Study |

PM Home Bible Study Group; August 12, 2015

Hebrews 9:16-26

Theme: Just as the Old Covenant was dedicated by blood sacrifice, so the New Covenant is dedicated by the better sacrifice of our Mediator Jesus Christ.

All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated.

In our previous study, we considered the earthly symbol of the Old Covenant—that is, the tabernacle that Moses built. We saw that it was built to serve the needs of Old Covenant realities (Hebrews 9:1-5); but we also saw that the Old Covenant was shown to be limited in its effectiveness by the limitations of the earthly tabernacle (vv. 6-10). It could not make those people perfect in the sight of God who came to it to offer gifts and sacrifices; and even the priests who served in it had to make offerings for their own sins. But that simply underscored the greatness of the perfect tabernacle—the one in the heavens that was made without hands; and of the Lord Jesus Christ—who is both our High Priest for the service of that heavenly tabernacle, and Himself the very sacrifice by which we are made acceptable to God (vv. 11-15). How hopeless we would be if we could only approach God on the basis of those weak and frail Old Covenant realities! But how happy we should be that enjoy the perfection before God that can only come through our Lord Jesus! As it says in Hebrews 9:15;

And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance (Hebrews 9:15).

Jesus is our Mediator. He is the one who bridges the gap between ourselves and a holy God, and makes us accepted through His death on the cross on our behalf. As Paul wrote, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all . . .” (1 Timothy 2:5-6a). And this leads the writer of Hebrews to go on to talk further about the absolute necessity of that death.

The motif that the writer uses is that of a “testament”. The Greek word that is here translated “testament” (diathākā) might be helpful to think of as describing a legal contract or binding agreement—a covenant. In fact, the very same word is used that way in Galatians 3:15; where Paul, in seeking to explain the abiding promises of God through Christ, wrote, “Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man’s covenant [diathākā], yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it.” The standard New Testament Greek lexicon (BDAG) defines this particular use of the word as describing a “last will and testament”—a binding testament of promise that goes into effect after the death of “the testator” (diatithemai). The writer of Hebrews is making the argument to us that just as the Old Covenant was a binding agreement that was ratified by blood, so also is the New Covenant. And as the divine “Testator” of the New Covenant, it was absolutely necessary that Jesus ratified that covenant for us with His own blood.

And because He did so—and thus made it forever binding—we can now safely approach the holy God—whose holiness was so greatly exhibited in the Old Covenant law—with absolute confidence of complete reception and perfect love from Him.

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Note first . . .

I. THE PRINCIPLE (vv. 16-17): A TESTAMENT IS NOT IN FORCE UNTIL THE DEATH OF THE TESTATOR.

A. The writer of Hebrews expresses this fundamental principle in this way: “For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives” (vv. 16-17). We are all familiar with this reality in our own everyday lives. Most of us have a will, or are the beneficiaries of the will of another. It is by that will—legally drafted—that a promise is secured regarding the distribution of goods, capital or property upon the death of the testator. So long as the testator lives, none of the beneficiaries can lay active claim to his or her possessions as specified in the will. The “testament”, at that point, has no “power”. But once the testator dies, then the “testament” has “power” and becomes active.

B. What has this to do with Jesus? We simply go back to verse 15 and see:

And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance (Hebrews 9:15).

Two things become ours because Jesus—the Mediator of the New Covenant—has died for us. First, we receive “the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant”. Because of the breaking of God’s law in the Old Covenant, we stood before God as guilty debtors—with a debt so great we cannot possibly pay it. But Jesus, “by means of death”, buys us out of our debt to God. And second, we “receive the promise of the eternal inheritance”. The reward for perfect righteousness—a reward that could not be ours on the basis of the works of the Old Covenant law—is now made ours by the death of Jesus. That fundamental principle—that a testament is not in force until the death of the testator—is what stands behind the necessity that our Lord Jesus had to die for us as the Mediator of a New Covenant. Praise Him that He did! So much is now ours because of it!

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Now; the writer’s affirmation of that principle had to do with our Lord’s death for us with respect to the New Covenant. But he makes it clear to us that the principle itself was not new. Next we consider . . .

II. THE PRECIDENT (vv. 18-22): THE FIRST COVENANT WAS DEDICATED AND PURIFIED BY BLOOD.

A. This fundamental principle of the death of the testator was pictured for us in the initiation of the Old Covenant. The writer tells us, “Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood” (v. 18). The word translated “therefore” (hothen) means “from where” or “for which reason”. It is showing us that the principle described in verses 16-17 stand as the logical basis for the way that God initiated the Old Covenant. And how exactly was it initiated? With death—symbolized by the blood of sacrifice.

1. The writer tells us first, “For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, ‘This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.’” (vv. 19-20). We read about this in Exodus 24:3-8—back at the time after the law of God was given at Mount Sinai, and after the people of Israel submitted themselves to His covenant offer:

So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the Lord has said we will do.” And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.” And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words” (Exodus 24:3-8).

You can see that this was a very serious covenantal agreement—a contract that was ratified by the blood of a sacrifice that was sprinkled both on the written document from God and on the people who were entering into it.

2. Not only was blood sprinkled on the Book of the Covenant, and also on the people of that covenant, but it was also sprinkled on the tabernacle that represented and supported that covenant—the very symbol of that covenant on earth. The writer says; “Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry” (v. 21). This is described for us back in Exodus 29. Moses was told:

“You shall also have the bull brought before the tabernacle of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the bull. Then you shall kill the bull before the Lord, by the door of the tabernacle of meeting. You shall take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour all the blood beside the base of the altar” (Exodus 29:10-12).

This even applied to the priests themselves, who served the tabernacle:

“Thus you shall do to Aaron and his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. Seven days you shall consecrate them. And you shall offer a bull every day as a sin offering for atonement. You shall cleanse the altar when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it to sanctify it” (Exodus 29:35-36).

B. The writer sums the matter up this way: “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission” (v. 22). As God said in Leviticus 17:11, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.” This means that in requiring death to ratify the Old Covenant, God was being consistent with the principle that would later be used to put the New Covenant into effect.

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Now; as we have already seen, the Old Covenant was set aside because it could not make us holy in God’s sight. There was no imperfection in that covenant itself. Rather, the problem was with those with whom it was made. The fallen people of Israel could not keep their terms of the agreement; and not even the blood of bulls and goats could take their failures away. The same is true for us. That’s why the writer next speaks of . . .

III. THE PERFECTION (vv. 23-26): THE BETTER COVENANT IS DEDICATED AND PURIFIED BY THE SACRIFICE OF JESUS CHRIST.

A. Because of that abiding principle—that the covenant is not brought into effect until the death of the testator—the writer affirms, “Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these . . .” (v. 23a). This speaks of the earthly tabernacle as the symbol of the Old Covenant. The blood of animal sacrifices served as a sufficient cleansing of that old, temporary covenant, and a ratification for that earthly tabernacle which was only a copy of the heavenly one; “but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these” (v. 23b). The “better things” speaks of the blood of our Lord Jesus.

B. The writer goes on to explain how this was true in two ways:

1. This was true with respect to the greatness of the heavenly tabernacle. He writes, “For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us . . .” (v. 24). We were already told that if Jesus were on earth to serve in anything like a priestly capacity, He could not have served as a priest of the Old Covenant. And this as because He was not of the priestly tribe of Aaron (see 8:4). The sons of Aaron were the only ones who could serve a copy and a shadow of heavenly things (v. 5). But Jesus serves the heavenly realities. Therefore, the blood of bulls and goats would not do. Heavenly realities need to be ratified by heavenly things. Jesus, therefore, is the divine Purifier of a perfect tabernacle.

2. This was also true with respect to the permanence of the New Covenant. The writer goes on to write, “not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another—He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (vv. 25-26). Those Old Covenant priests had to offer blood sacrifices over and over. But there was no need for a repeated, annual ‘purification’ of the heavenly tabernacle. Jesus’ sacrifice was once for all time, by which the heavenly realities are truly perfect forever.

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In closing, let’s remember that the glories of this new “will and testament” weren’t established for us in the cold, clinical manner that would characterize a legal office. It was done in love. As Romans 5:8 has it, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Praise God for our perfect Mediator!