06 Jun Hebrews 13 – The better tabernacle

Hebrews 9:1-14

Hebrews 9:8-14 – ⁸ By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing ⁹ (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, ¹⁰ but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation. ¹¹ But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) ¹² he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. ¹³ For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, ¹⁴ how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

Do we have any fans of Indiana Jones in here? If you have no idea what Indiana Jones is, you are missing out. Watch it when you get home. My favourite Indiana Jones is “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” That movie taught me about the ark of the covenant more than years of Sunday School lessons. Of course, the movie is filled with Hollywood speculation about what the ark would be like. But what the movie does get right is that we cannot approach the holy God however we like. God is far more holy than we can possibly imagine. Tonight, we are going to talk about the tabernacle. Let me be the first to admit that there are many occasions in my study of the book of Hebrews where I have wondered to myself, “What do all these Old Testament concepts have to do with my life in 2021?” Does anyone wonder the same question? In the last few weeks, we have looked at some ancient guy named Melchizedek. We have looked at the old covenant and the Levitical priesthood. And today, we are looking at the tabernacle. All these Old Testament concepts are foreign to us, and we feel like it has nothing to do with us. It makes us wonder whether there is a practical benefit for us to study this book. Let me confess. When I chose to do the book of Hebrews as RSI’s first series in 2018, I had no idea what I was getting into. I knew that this book has a lot of Old Testament concepts, but I did not know that the book of Hebrews is considered as the hardest book to preach in the New Testament. I only found out once I started studying the book in-depth, especially chapters 7 to 10. By then, it was already too late. So, if studying this book makes your head spins around, you are not alone. I feel the same way. But the good news is that if we can make it through the book of Hebrews as a church, we can tackle all other books in the Bible with ease, including Revelation. It’s been said that preaching the book of Hebrews is a lot harder than preaching the book of Revelation. Will we do a series on Revelation? Yes. When? When Edrick is ready.

But here is what I want you to understand. A good understanding of the Old Testament concepts helps us see more of the beauty of the New Testament. And that is the main argument of the book of Hebrews. The author of the book of Hebrews goes to such length in explaining the Old Testament concepts to show his audiences that what they have in Jesus is so much better. The context of the book of Hebrews is that there are many Jews who questioned whether it is worth it to follow Jesus or not. Because following Jesus is costly. Following Jesus cost them their lives, reputations, properties, families and communities. And many Jewish Christians consider turning their back on Jesus and return to their old religion of Judaism. And to these people, the author of Hebrews is saying, “Don’t do it. Don’t go back to the Old Testament. Everything in the Old Testament is only a shadow. All the ancient rituals and symbols and religious activities were designed by God to prepare you for the coming of Jesus. And now that Jesus has come, you can have the real thing. Why go back to the shadow when you already have the substance?” This is his main argument in the book. Jesus is better.

What does it mean for us? It means the same thing to us as it is to them. Today, we might not be tempted to go back to Judaism. But every day we are tempted to look to other things but Jesus to be the answer to our most fundamental problem. Every day we are bombarded with news, social media, advertisement, that Christianity is no longer relevant. Christianity is out of date. Our society has advanced so much that the truth of Christianity no longer holds any value in our lives. But I would like to argue that for all the advancement of technology and modern life, it cannot solve the most fundamental problem of the human heart: the problem of dirty conscience. Let me explain what I mean by conscience. Conscience is what makes us feel guilty when we do wrong and joy when we do right. God created us with a conscience. It is good. The problem is that all of us have a dirty conscience. It does not matter how hard we try, we cannot get rid of the feeling that there is something wrong with us. Deep inside, we know that we are not good enough. And if we can be honest with ourselves, we find that our hearts are so capable of evil, so capable of cruelty, so capable of selfishness that we would trample on anybody to get what we want. Our hearts are far darker than we would like to admit. Does anyone know what I am talking about? And this dirty conscience makes us feel guilty.

And there are two ways that guilt expressed itself. The first one is open guilt. Open guilt is when we know we have done something wrong, and we feel guilty about it. For example, you sleep with someone else’s spouse, or you cheated on your exam. You know have done something wrong and you can’t get rid of that guilty feeling. This is very straightforward. But there is another sense of guilt that haunted us. It is the hidden guilt. This is the sense that all of us have that there is something wrong deep within us and we have to do something about it. The problem is no matter how hard we try, we can’t get rid of it. We are never good enough. We must always constantly prove ourselves. Let me read you a quote by Madonna. “My drive in life comes from a fear of being mediocre. That is always pushing me. I push past one spell of it and discover myself as a special human being but then I feel I am still mediocre and uninteresting unless I do something else. Because even though I have become somebody, I still have to prove that I am somebody. My struggle has never ended and I guess it never will.” This is very insightful. Madonna recognizes that no matter how hard she tries, it is never enough. Why? Because there is an internal sense that something is wrong. And all of us are affected by the same problem. Let me prove it to you.

Why is it that many of us find it hard to say no to people? Why do we exhaust ourselves trying to help others and can’t set up boundaries? Why do we find it hard to confront others? Because we don’t want people to be disappointed in us. We want them to think well of us. Or let’s look at the opposite. Why do we love to confront others even we should not? It is because we need to prove that we are right. But why? Why this constant need to prove ourselves? Why is it that some of us are so concerned with our looks that even gaining a few kilograms makes us feel ugly? Here is why. Because deep inside of us, we know there is something wrong with us. There is a sense of condemnation that we can’t shake. We have a dirty conscience. We have an internal sense that we have fallen short of God’s standard, and it resulted in a condemning conscience. Our conscience condemns us and makes us feel unacceptable before God. It tells us that we are not worthy. It drives us away from God rather than closer to God. And what we need is a clean conscience to draw near to God. The question is, how can we have a clean conscience? That’s what our text is going to answer for us.

I separated this text into three parts: The tabernacle; The limitation of the tabernacle; The better tabernacle. And I will give you two implications at the end.

The tabernacle

Hebrews 9:1-7 – Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. ² For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place. ³ Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place, ⁴ having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. ⁵ Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail. ⁶ These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, ⁷ but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people.

Let me explain to you what the tabernacle is. The tabernacle is the system that God has set so that he can dwell among the Israelites and for the Israelites to worship him. Remember that God is a holy God and Israel is a sinful people. They cannot approach God however they like. So, God tells them exactly what he wants from them. He gives them clear direction on how to worship him. God does not like to play the guessing game. Many years ago, an old Mexican woman I worked with gave me this insight on women. She said, “Yosi, women are mysterious beings. They want you to know what they want without telling you what they want. And if they have to tell you what they want, they don’t want it anymore.” Is that true, ladies? But God is not like that. God tells the people of Israel exactly what he wants from them and how he wants it to be done. He tells Moses to make the tabernacle and the tabernacle is the centre of worship for the Israelites.

Look at this picture. At the centre of the tabernacle system is the ark of the covenant. So, the ark of the covenant is the centrepiece of the Jewish religious system. It consists of a chest with the law of God, manna bread and Aaron’s staff inside of it. Then there is a cover on the top of the chest and on either side of the cover are Cherubim angels. The ark symbolizes the very presence of the holy God in the midst of Israel. It is extremely sacred. However, there is a problem. How can a holy God dwell amid sinful people? That’s why God designed the tabernacle system. Look at the next picture. The tabernacle system is separated into three different parts: the outer court, the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. The ark is located in the Most Holy Place. The closer you are to the ark, the more restriction it has. Next picture. Everyone is welcome to the outer court. This is where the Israelites gather to offer their sacrifices. And then there is a Holy Place that only priests can enter. In the Holy Place, there is a golden lampstand and the table of the bread of the Presence. In between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place, there is a golden altar of incense. And the most sacred part is the Most Holy Place or the holy of holies. There is a thick veil that separates the Most Holy Place from the Holy Place. This place is off-limits to everyone but the high priest. And the high priest can only enter it once a year to offer sacrifice on behalf of the whole nation of Israel. And blood must be spilled for the high priest’s own sin and then also for the sins of the people. Did you get that? It’s like this room. So, if this church is the tent of the tabernacle, you will be outside the main entrance right now. That’s the outer court. And then in the voyeur, there will be me and Ps Sem. That’s the Holy Place. And then only once a year, I or Ps Sem, depending on who is the high priest, can enter this room to meet with God through the ark of the covenant. I’ll be doing my high priest duty while you are outside the building. So, I’ll sing, play the guitar, do an offering, preach, take communion, all on my own on your behalf while you are outside waiting for me to finish. “That doesn’t sound too bad. Can we try that?” No. Let’s move on.

The limitation of the tabernacle

Hebrews 9:8-10 – ⁸ By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing ⁹ (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, ¹⁰ but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.

What can we learn from the tabernacle system? Three truths. First, the tabernacle is a declaration of God’s glory. The intricate design and the exquisite construction of the tabernacle reflect the glory of God. That is why most of the vessels are covered with gold because gold is the symbol of the most precious item. Everything in the tabernacle points to the glory and the majesty of God. Second, the tabernacle is a reminder of God’s holiness. Every day, the priests have to wash and clean themselves before they can enter the Holy Place. It is a constant reminder that God is a holy God, and he cannot stand even a hint of impurity. And even though the priests come into the Holy Place to serve God, they have no direct access to God’s presence. There is a thick veil that separates them from God’s presence. So, they are reminded every day that there is a barrier between God and his people. As long as the barrier remains there, they cannot have direct access to the presence of God. And third, the tabernacle is a demonstration of God’s mercy. Even with those barriers, God still desires to dwell among his people. That is why God sets up all the sacrificial system so that he can extend forgiveness to his people through the blood of the sacrifices. And this is very interesting. It means that there is tension in the tabernacle system. On the one hand, God calls his people to draw near and worship him, while on the other hand, God doesn’t want them too close. On the one hand, God calls his people to build him a house, while on the other hand, God forbids them to enter his presence. So, the barrier is not only from the human’s side but also from God’s side. The problem is not only that we feel guilty, but the problem is that God also judges us to be guilty. It is not just us who need to be reconciled to God, but God also needs to be reconciled to us. Can you feel that tension?

Timothy Keller gives a good illustration that describes the tension of the tabernacle system. Imagine a woman who is a judge. She is a good and righteous judge. And she has one and only one child, a son. But her son has had a terrible life. He murdered someone intentionally and he became a fugitive. Then one night, the son shows up in his mother’s house and says, “Mother, please save me. Please hide me from the police.” How is the mother going to feel? On the one hand, because she loves her son more than anything in this world, she wants to protect her son and help her son. On the other hand, because she loves her son, she also wants her son to be good and right. She knows that her son must pay for his crime and acknowledge his wrongdoing. There is an emotional barrier between her and her son. But that’s not all there is to it. There is also a legal barrier between her and her son. As a judge, she is obligated to uphold the law. As much as she loves her son, she is not able to take him in. The law demands her son to pay for his crime. This is the limitation of the tabernacle system.

Look at verse 9. Hebrews 9:9b-10 – According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, ¹⁰ but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation. It means that all the sacrifices in the tabernacle system cannot give us a clean conscience. All the sacrifices only deal with the external problem but not the internal problem. Our main problem is we have a wounded conscience. And nothing in the tabernacle system helps us to clean our conscience. Despite all those continuous sacrifices, we still do not have access to enter God’s presence. Why? Because those sacrifices only give us partial cleansing. It cleanses us on the outside but not on the inside. It is like this. I am not sure if you know but just right outside of our church, there is no trespassing territory. There is a dangerous zone. That zone is filled with dog’s mine. One time, I accidentally stepped into one of those mines without realizing it. And I went inside the church and thought, “Who just farted? What a smell.” Then I went to the restroom and thought, “Ow, someone just released a massive bomb in here. I better hold my breath.” Then I washed my hand with lots of soap so that I could get rid of the smell. And I went to my seat, and the smell remained. Why? Because I had a dog’s bomb under my shoes. It did not matter where I went and what I did, the smell would be there unless my shoes were cleaned. Do you see what happened? Even if we make ourselves as clean as we possibly can externally, even if we pray 4 hours per day, even if we come to church when there is a covid outbreak, even if we make ourselves the best Christians in RSI, no matter how hard we work, God still sees how dirty we are on the inside. God smells the dog’s bomb on us. That’s the limitation of the tabernacle system. But praise God that is not the end.

The point of the tabernacle system is that the tabernacle system is not the point. The tabernacle system simply points to something greater. And that something greater is the time of reformation where Jesus comes into the world. The coming of Jesus into the world changes everything. In other words, the author of Hebrews is telling us that the tabernacle is given so that we would see the deeper realities. The tabernacle is not the answer. The tabernacle points us to the real answer. For us who do not grow up with the tabernacle system, it is easy to say amen to it. But for the Jews, this is shocking. They grew up believing that the tabernacle system is the centre of their worship. And now the author of Hebrews tells them that the tabernacle is not the point.

Let me put it this way. It is like a girl who wanted a big wedding but not a spouse. So, she saved up her money since she was twelve. And on her 30^th birthday, she arranged a big wedding. She prepared the best food possible from Michelin 3 stars, king prawns, lobsters, to KFC and Lestari fried rice. She hired BTS and Blackpink to perform at her wedding. She got the most gorgeous wedding dress by Alexander McQueen designed by Sarah Burton. Yes, I did my research. And she booked the Opera House for her wedding venue. And most importantly, she asked RSI lead pastor to bless her wedding. It was going to be the wedding of the century. So, she poured out all resources, energy and wealth to have the best wedding ever. But she did not care who she would marry. She would just find some random dude who would stand next to her on her wedding day. All she cared about was the wedding day. She did not care about marriage. This is insane. Because we know that a wedding is not the point; marriage is. And that’s the point the author of Hebrews is making to his audience. As amazing as the tabernacle system is, it is not the point. It does not deal with our most fundamental problem.

The better tabernacle

Hebrews 9:11-14 – ¹¹ But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) ¹² he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. ¹³ For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, ¹⁴ how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

This is the good news of the gospel. The tabernacle system cannot deal with our dirty conscience. It can cleanse us externally but not internally. But when Jesus came and became our great High Priest, he did what no other priest in the tabernacle system could. Jesus did not enter the earthly tabernacle, but he entered the true tabernacle that is not of this world. Jesus as our great High Priest entered once for all into the presence of God. And he did not enter the Most Holy Place by means of the blood of goats and bulls. But he entered the presence of God by means of his own blood. Jesus offered himself as the sacrifice of sins once for all. This is important. Because under the earthly tabernacle system, the sacrifices had to be repeated constantly. There was always more bulls and goats to be sacrificed because there was always more sin to forgive. But Jesus only needed to offer himself once. And in doing so, Jesus purchased for us eternal redemption. Eternal redemption means that once we are redeemed, we are eternally redeemed. Once we are redeemed, we cannot be un-redeemed. The redemption that Jesus purchased for us is eternal. The forgiveness that Jesus purchased for us is final and full. There is no need for further sacrifice. Why?

Listen to the author’s argument in verse 13 and 14. He is arguing from lesser to greater. If the blood of goats and bulls can clean people externally, how much more will the blood of Christ. I love that phrase. “How much more will the blood of Christ.” Think about it. First, Jesus offers the better sacrifice. Jesus is without blemish. He lived a perfect life. He has no sin. He has a clean record. Jesus is perfect. In the earthly tabernacle system, the priest had to offer spotless animals. But Jesus offered himself. The sacrifice that Jesus brings to God is none other than the perfect spotless Son of God himself. And second, Jesus offers the better blood. The blood of Jesus is the blood of God. His blood is of infinite value. Let’s use our reasoning. Can we agree that the blood of a man worth more than the blood of animals? And can we also agree that the blood of a king is of more value than thousands of soldiers? If that is true, how much more is the blood of the Son of God? No expression can describe the infinite value of Jesus’s blood.

And here is the author’s argument. If the blood of bulls and goats can purify us externally, how much more will the precious blood of Christ do for us? The precious blood of Jesus is not only able to cleanse us from our sins, but it also cleanses our dirty consciences once and for all. It tells us that the debt has been paid. Jesus has paid the price of our forgiveness and now we do not owe anything to God. Our consciences are clean. Because of Jesus, we have peace with God, and we have peace from God. This is why when Jesus died, the thick veil in the tabernacle that separated God’s presence from his people was torn into two. It means that now we have access to enter God’s presence. There is nothing that stops us from drawing near to God. Jesus had destroyed the barrier between God and us. That is why John says in 1 John 3:20 – For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Our heart may condemn us, but Jesus Christ, our High Priest, is greater than our heart. He reminds us that therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. It doesn’t matter how sinful we are, the blood of Jesus speaks better words than our guilty conscience. The blood of Jesus shouts out, “It is finished.” Because of the finished work of Jesus, our sins no longer keep us away from the holy God. We no longer need to live with open guilt nor hidden guilt. We no longer have to prove anything. The blood of Jesus is not only the best solution to our dirty consciences, it is the only solution. It is the infinite solution.

Implications

Let me show you how personally powerful this is if we grasp it. Let me give you two implications from the text. First, we are free from dead works. It means that we are free from trying to prove ourselves. If you love to watch YouTube, then you might have heard of the name Jordan Peterson. He is probably the number one self-help guru in the world right now. He is extremely brilliant. He released a book titled, “12 rules for life” that immediately became a best-seller. And he recently released another book, “Beyond Order” that gives 12 more rules for life. So, there are 24 rules altogether. I love listening to the man. I found him very fascinating. It was fascinating enough that I actually bought his book. And I don’t even believe in self-help. But here is why I find him very intriguing. Peterson gets it so right and so wrong at the same time. In his books, he gives us rules that we should apply to make our lives better. Who does not want that? And his rules make a lot of sense. For example, rule 4: Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today. Rule 8: Tell the truth – or at least, don’t lie. The only rule that does not make sense to me is rule 12: Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street. But other than that, it is the basic principle of life. And the assumption is that if we just follow these 24 rules then our lives will be better. We will no longer have to deal with that sense that we are not good enough. So, we have this imaginary future version of us that once we get there, that frustration and nagging feeling of dirtiness will simply disappear. Really? Isn’t that what we told ourselves 5 years ago? How are we doing today? Has it gotten any better? “Well, no. I only read the first book and only have the first 12 steps. I need to buy the new book and do the other 12 then maybe my life will be better. I need more time! I need to leave my parent’s house. I need to go to the gym more. I need to study more. I need to work more. I need eight packs since six is not enough. I need a new haircut. I need make-up. I need to go to South Korea for plastic surgery.” Listen. We can try all of the above and I’m sure we’ll still be disappointed. The truth is we are our own worst enemy. We will not find anyone who betrays us, lie to us and disappointed us more than we have. We are the problem. Us version 7.0 will not solve the problem. No matter what we do, we can’t get rid of the sense of dirtiness on our own. No matter how hard we try, we will never be good enough in front of God. We cannot have clean conscience by our own works. But the good news of the gospel is that we don’t have to try anymore. We can breathe. We no longer have to perform to be accepted by God. The blood of Jesus has cleansed our consciences and freed us from dead works.

How do we know if we are free from dead works? When we blow it. What do we do when we blow it? Do we run to God, or do we run from God? If our response is like a kid who knows that he disobeys his parents and tries to hide from his parents because of it, we are still relying on dead works. If our natural response is to stay away from God because we have sinned against God, then we miss the point. If we think that somehow because we fail God today that we have to do better tomorrow to please God, that’s dead works. That’s the tabernacle. The blood of Jesus tells us that we can come dirty into the presence of God. Because it is precisely why Jesus shed his blood for us. We don’t have to clean ourselves before we come to him. His blood has cleansed us once for all. So, when we blow it, rather than try to prove ourselves, we come clean. So, when those voices of condemnations start to whisper to us, “You are not good enough. You are miserable. You are a fake. I can’t believe you called yourself a Christian and you do that,” at that moment we go, “You are right. I am not good enough. But praise God for the blood of Jesus. He forgives me of all my sins and now I am accepted before God not because of me but because of Jesus’ sacrifice for me.” When we do that, the enemy self-explode. He does not know what to do with us. Our consciences are clean not by our own works but by what Jesus has done. The enemy tells us to look at ourselves, but the gospel tells us to look at what Jesus’s blood has accomplished for us. And what happens is that when we blow it, we become even more overwhelmed by the fact that Jesus loves us, and it compels us to live a godly life. Which lead me to the second implication.

Second, we are free to serve the living God. The purpose of the blood of Jesus is not only to cleanse our consciences but also to begin a new life of servanthood. When we know what Jesus has done for us, the only appropriate response is to surrender our lives fully to him. And this act of surrender is not a must to but a want to. This is what happened with the apostle Paul. Think about it. He was a terrorist. He killed many Christians. If anyone should have a guilty conscience before God, it is Paul. But do you know what he says in Romans 8? “Who shall bring any charge against me? It is God who justifies. Who shall condemn me? Jesus died for me and not only that, but he has risen, and he is at the right hand of God interceding for me. Who shall separate me from the love of Christ? Nothing can separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus.” Paul is absolutely free. But he does not use his freedom to live for himself. He uses that freedom to serve the one who has set him free. He says that the life that he lives in the flesh, he lives by faith in the Son of God who loved him and gave himself for him. Only the gospel can give us the freedom that makes us want to serve the living God.

Let me close with a Scottish fairy tale called “The Black Bull of Norroway.” There was a prince, and he went into battle, and he killed somebody that he regretted killing. And he felt extremely guilty. And when he came back, he noticed that his shirt was stained with blood. He tried to remove the blood off the shirt, but the bloodstain wouldn’t come out. And the shirt represented his conscience. He wounded himself by what he had done wrong. So, he made a proclamation and he said to everyone in the kingdom, “Any young woman who can get this stain out of my shirt must be my true love. I will marry her, and we will reign over the kingdom together.” The prince knew that if there was any girl that could get the stain out, that girl would be his true love. And that was what he needed. Only true love would be able to heal him of that self-hate and cleanse his conscience. So, if the girl could get the stain out of his shirt, she could get the stain out of his conscience. And what ended up happening was every young woman in the kingdom tried and failed. But then there was this one poor girl. She was new in town. She had no idea about the offer. She saw this whole bunch of laundry and she saw this shirt with this stain on it and she just washed it. And she got the stain out of the shirt and ended up marrying the prince. Here is the point. Jesus is our true love. Jesus can get the stain out. He is the only one who can. He can cleanse our dirty consciences. We no longer have to live with our guilts. Jesus is our perfect sacrifice. Saturate that truth into our lives and let it change us from the inside out. Let’s pray.

Discussion questions:

1. Explain the importance and the problem of human conscience. Give some examples of how this problem manifests itself in our daily life.
2. What is the purpose of the tabernacle system? Why is it insufficient?
3. Read Hebrews 9:12. What does it mean for Jesus to secure eternal redemption? What implications does it have in our lives as Christians?
4. How does the blood of Christ purify our conscience?
5. Explain the difference between relating to God based on the tabernacle system and relating to God through the blood of Jesus. Give specific examples.
6. How does the gospel enable us to serve the living God?