Hebrews 10:1 - Meaning and Application

Here the apostle, led by the Spirit of God, begins to show how the Levitical system, the priestly law of Moses, falls short. It was given by God and was useful in its proper time, but it was never meant to stand beside Christ as if it were equal to him. Once Christ came, it was necessary to show clearly how weak and incomplete that older system really was.

First, the law had only a shadow of the good things to come, not the real thing itself. Who would cling to a shadow, even a shadow of something good, once the substance has arrived? The blessings of Christ and the gospel are good things, the best things in themselves and for us. Under the Old Testament, those blessings were still ahead, not yet fully revealed or enjoyed. The Jews had only shadows and hints of them, while we under the gospel have the substance.

Second, the law was not even the full image of the good things to come. An image is a clear, exact picture of what it represents. The law did not go that far. It was more like a rough outline, much less exact than a person’s reflection in a mirror. Since it gave only a dim sketch of God’s grace, it should not be prized too highly.

Third, the repeated sacrifices offered year after year could never make those who came to them perfect, that is, fully cleansed and brought into complete peace with God (Heb 10:1, Heb 10:2). If those sacrifices had fully satisfied justice and truly dealt with guilt, they would have stopped. There would have been no need to keep offering them. But that was not the case. After one Day of Atonement was over, the sinner soon fell again into fresh guilt, and another atonement was needed the next year, along with the daily sacrifices. Under the gospel, by contrast, the atonement is complete and does not need to be repeated. The pardoned sinner is pardoned for good as to his standing before God, though he still must renew repentance and faith to enjoy the comfort of that pardon.

Fourth, the legal sacrifices did not take away sin, and in themselves they could not do it (Heb 10:4). There was an inward weakness in them. They were not of the same nature as the people who sinned. They also were not valuable enough to make up for the insult done to God’s justice and rule. Since they were not human, they could not suitably stand for human sinners. And since they were not equal to the One offended, they could never bring full satisfaction for the offense. Also, animals could not willingly place themselves in the sinner’s place. The sacrifice for sin had to be one who could choose to do so and willingly take the sinner’s place. Christ did exactly that.

Fifth, God had already fixed a time when these legal sacrifices would no longer be accepted or useful, and that time had now come. God never delighted in them for their own sake, and now he set them aside. So to keep clinging to them would be to resist God and reject what he was now doing. David had foretold this change (Psa 40:6, Psa 40:7), and the apostle says that the time had arrived. In this way, he carefully lowers the place of the Mosaic system so Christ may stand above it all.