Haikus through Hebrews, chapter 9

Glimpses of Chapter 9...

Cherubim above

Glory overshadowing

Mercy seat below

But when Christ appeared,

High Priest of good things come, he

Entered once for all

A will cannot take

Effect while he who willed it

Still lives, so he died

By means of his blood

He secured an eternal

Redemption for us

He will appear a
Second time, for those who wait
Eagerly for him

*Important Note: Please read through the whole of Hebrews (I recommend the English Standard Version or New American Standard Bible) for contextual significance (and significant context!). There is a lot of Scriptural meat found outside these 17 syllables.  I pray that the Spirit will cover over any errors made on my part, and most importantly, that He will speak truth to your heart.  To God alone be the glory!

9:1

That first covenant

Between God and Israel

Had regulations

9:1-2

For worship and an

Earthly place of holiness

A tabernacle

9:2

Prepared in its first

Room were the lampstand, table,

Consecrated bread

9:2-3

Called the Holy Place.

Behind the second curtain

A second section

9:3-4

Called the Holy of 

Holies, which had the golden

Altar of incense

9:4

And the ark of the

Covenant covered on all

Sides with gold, in which

9:4 (continued)

Was a golden urn

Holding the manna, Aaron's

Staff that had budded,

9:4-5

And the tablets of

The covenant.  Above the
Ark were cherubim

9:5
Of glory over-
Shadowing the mercy seat
But speak not of this

9:6

These preparations

Having thus been made, the priests

Go regularly

9:6 (continued)

Into the outer

Tabernacle, performing

The divine worship.

9:7

But only the high

Priest enters the inner room

Once a year, and not

9:7 (continued)

Without blood, which he
Offers for himself and for

Unintentional

9:7-8
Sins of the people.

By this the Holy Spirit
Indicates that the

9:8

Way into the Most

Holy Place had not yet been
Disclosed while the first

9:8-9

Tabernacle was
Still standing, this a symbol

For the present age.

9:9 
Sacrifices and

Gifts cannot cleanse the

Worshiper's conscience.

9:10

They are physical

Regulations and only

Deal with food, drink, and

9:10 (continued)

Various washings

Imposed on them till the time
Of restoration.

9:11

But when Christ appeared,

As a high priest of the good

Things that have come, then

9:11 (continued)

Through the greater and

More perfect tabernacle,

Not made with hands, and

9:11-12

Not a part of this

Creation, he entered the

Most holy place once

9:12

For all, not by the

Blood of goats and calves, but by
His own blood, having

9:12-13
Obtained eternal

Redemption. For if the blood of

Goats and bulls and the

9:13

Ashes of a young

Cow, sprinkling those who have been

Defiled sanctify

9:13-14

For the cleansing of
The flesh, how much more will the
Blood of Christ cleanse our

9:14

Consciences from dead
Works to serve the living God?
For through the power

9:14 (continued)
Of the eternal

Spirit he offered himself

Unblemished to God.

9:15

For this reason he
Is the mediator of

A new covenant

9:15 (continued)

So that those who are
Called may receive the promise

Of the eternal

9:15 (continued)

Inheritance, since

A death has taken place for
Redemption from sins

9:15-16

Committed under

The first covenant.  For where
A will exists, the

9:16-17
Death of the one who

Made it must be established

For a will only

9:17

Takes effect at death,
Since it is not in force as
Long as the one who

9:17-18
Made it is alive.
That is why even the first 
Covenant was not

9:18-19
Inaugurated
Without blood.  For when Moses
Had spoken every

9:19

Commandment of the
Law to all the people, he
Took the blood of the

9:19
Calves and the goats, with

Water and scarlet wool and
Hyssop, and sprinkled

9:19-20

Both the book itself

And all the people, saying,
"This is the blood of

9:20-21

The covenant which

God commanded you."  In the

Same way he sprinkled

9:21
The tabernacle
And all the articles of
Worship with the blood.

9:22

Everything is

Purified with blood.  Without

The shedding of blood

9:22-23

There's no forgiveness.

Thus it was necessary

For the copies of

9:23

The heavenly things

To be purified with these

Sacrifices, but

9:23 (continued)

The heavenly things

Themselves to be purified

With sacrifices

9:23-24

Better than these.  For

Christ has entered, not into

Holy places made

9:24

With human hands, which

Are copies of the true things,

But into heaven

9:24 (continued)

Itself, so that he

Might now appear for us in 

The presence of God.

9:25

Nor was it that he

Would offer himself often,

The way the high priest

9:25 (continued)

Enters the holy

Place year after year with blood

That is not his own.

9:26

Then Christ would have had

To suffer many times since
Creating the world.

9:26 (continued)

But now at the end

Of the ages, he's appeared
Once for all for the

9:26-27

Removal of sin
By sacrificing himself.
And just as it is

9:27

Appointed for man
To die once, and after that
Judgment, so also

9:28

Christ, having been
Offered to bear the sins of
Many, will appear

9:28 (continued)

A second time, not
To deal with sin but to save
Those who wait for him.

Thought of the Day: Joy to the World

More and more often, I am shocked at how mindlessly I sing hymns, carols, and other songs written to glorify the name of our great God.  How many of us remember this third, and oh-so-important, verse of  "Joy to the World" (lyrics below)?  I sure didn't.  This, among many reasons, is why church, and being a member of a body of believers, is so important.  Other Christians (including, but not limited to, our preachers) are often the mouthpiece of God into our lives.

So why is this third verse of this song so important?  Jesus broke the curse!  ...Actually multiple curses: "For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, 'Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.'  Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for 'The righteous shall live by faith.'  But the law is not of faith, rather 'The one who does them shall live by them.^'  Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree'—so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith." (Galatians 3:10-14) 

Therefore, the ground no longer bears thorns for us, as it has since the fall of man: "And to Adam he said, 'Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.'"  To dust we will return, but in Christ we will live again and forever!  Now that is Christmas!  To God alone be the glory!

Joy to the World , the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the World, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

Merry Christmas!

Thought of the Day: Heavy Hearted, But Hopeful

"Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them."  (Deuteronomy 11:16)  "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?"  (Jeremiah 17:16)  Also, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death."  Proverbs 14:12 AND Proverbs 16:25, in case I didn't catch it the first time.  "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."  (Proverbs 16:18)  Lord, help!

So what is the remedy provided to the first instruction "take care lest your heart be deceived"?  It is found in the same chapter of Deuteronomy 11, verse 13: "Obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul."  And the antidote to pride and haughtiness that leads me to death?  "Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord." (Proverbs 16:20)  Lord, increase my obedience, increase my faith, and increase my love for you.  I am unable, and my mind and heart deceive me to death, literally.  Create in me a new heart, O God, and give me grace and wisdom to understand your Word.  In you alone, Jesus, do I have any hope in this life or the one to come.  Thank you for this promise in the midst of despair: "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules."  (Ezekiel 36:26-27 AND Ezekiel 11:19, in case I didn't catch it the first time.)

Why does God do this?  "It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord God; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel."  (Ezekiel 36:32)  No, it is not ultimately for us that God heals us or our land.  It is so that "Then the nations that are left all around you shall know that I am the Lord... I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.  ...Then they will know that I am the Lord.” (Ezekiel 36:36, 38b)  Again, why has God blessed us or chosen us at all?  "...to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved (Christ)."  To God alone be the glory.  Therein, and there alone, does (and always should) my hope rest.

Haikus through Hebrews, chapter 8

Jesus Christ, High Priest of a New Covenant:
"They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things.  ...But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.  For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. ...In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete.  And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away." Hebrews 8:5a,6,7,13

*Important Note: Please read through the whole of Hebrews (I recommend the English Standard Version or New American Standard Bible) for contextual significance (and significant context!).  There is a lot of Scriptural meat found outside these 17 syllables.  I pray that the Spirit will cover over any errors made on my part, and most importantly, that He will speak truth to your heart.  To God alone be the glory!

8:1
Now the main point in
What we are saying is this:
We have this kind of

8:1 (continued)
High priest, who sat down
At the right hand of the throne
Of the Majesty

8:1-2
In heaven, and who
Serves in the sanctuary,
The true tent set up

8:2-3
By the Lord and not
Man, for every high priest
Is appointed to

8:3
Offer both gifts and
Sacrifices; therefore it
Was necessary

8:3-4
For this priest also
To have something to offer.
If he were on earth,

8:4
He would not be a
Priest at all, since there are those
Who offer the gifts

8:4-5
According to Law.
They serve as a copy and
Shadow of what is

8:5
In heaven, just as
Moses was warned by God when
About to build the

8:5 (continued)
Tabernacle: "See
To it that you make ev'ry-
Thing according to

8:5-6
"The pattern shown you
On the mountain."  But Jesus
Has now obtained a

8:6
More superior
Ministry, by as much as
He is also the

8:6 (continued)
Mediator of
A better covenant, which
Has been legally

8:6-7
Enacted upon
Better promises.  For if
That first covenant

8:7
Had been faultless, there
Would have been no occasion
For a second one.

8:7-8
For finding fault with
The people he said: "Behold,
The days are coming

8:8
"Declares the Lord, when
I will establish a new
Covenant with the

8:8-9
"House of Israel
And with the house of Judah.
It will not be like

8:9
"The covenant I
Made with their fathers on the
Day when I took them

8:9 (continued)
"By the hand to bring
Them out of Egypt.  They did
Not remain faithful

8:9 (continued)
"To my covenant
And so I showed no concern
For them, declares the Lord.

8:10
"But this is the new
Covenant that I will make with
House of Israel

8:10 (continued)
"After those days, says
The Lord: I will put my laws
Into their minds and

8:10 (continued)
"I will write them on
Their hearts, and I will be their
God, and they shall be

8:10-11
"My people.  And they
Shall not teach everyone his
Fellow citizen

8:11
"And everyone
His brother, saying, 'Know the
Lord,' for all will know

8:11-12
"Me, from the least to
The greatest of them.  For I
Will be merciful

8:12
"To their wrongdoing,
And I will never again
Remember their sins."

8:13
In speaking of a
New covenant, he makes the
First one obsolete.

8:13 (continued)
What is obsolete
And growing old is ready
To vanish away.

Haikus through Hebrews, chapter 7

Chapter 7 Summary:

Melchizedek blessed
The one with the promises, 

That is Abraham;

Jesus blesses us,
We who now have promises,
As children of God

The law imperfect
For reconciliation
Necessitates Christ

We rely not on
Works that perpetuate death
But on him who saves

By the power of
An indestructible life
Not basis of law

God's oath makes Jesus
Guarantor of a better covenant,
Eternal priesthood

Perfect sacrifice 
Made once for all makes all who
Follow him perfect

Our High Priest always
Lives to make intercession
For us, drawing near

*Important Note: Please read through the whole of Hebrews (I recommend the English Standard Version or New American Standard Bible) for contextual significance (and significant context!).  There is a lot of Scriptural meat found outside these 17 syllables.  I pray that the Spirit will cover over any errors made on my part, and most importantly, that He will speak truth to your heart.  To God alone be the glory!

7:1

For Melchizedek

Was king of Salem and priest

Of the Most High God

7:2

To him Abraham

Gave a tenth of all he had

Captured in battle

7:2 (continued)

He is first by name

King of righteousness and then

Also king of peace

7:3

He has no father

Mother, genealogy,

Without beginning

7:3 (continued)

Days or end of life 
But made like the Son of God

A priest forever

7:4

See how great this man

To whom Abraham gave a
Tenth of choicest spoils

7:5

Now the law requires

Sons of Levi who receive

The priestly office

7:5 (continued)
To take tithes from the
People, their brethren, even
Though they too descend

7:5-6
From Abraham, but
Melchizedek does not have
His descent from them

7:6 (continued)
Yet he received tithes
From Abraham and blessed him
Who had the promise

7:7
And without dispute
He who is lesser is blessed
By him who's greater

7:8
In one case tithes are
Received by mortal men, but
In the other case,

7:8-9
By one of whom it
Is testified that he lives.
One may even say

7:9
That Levi himself
Who collects the tithes, paid the
Tithes though Abraham

7:10
For he was still in
Abraham's loins when he met
Melchizedek, so

7:11
If perfection had
Been attainable through the
Priesthood of Levi,

7:11 (continued)
On which the law was
Based, what further need was there
For another priest

7:11 (continued further)
To arise in the 
Order of Melchizedek
Rather than Aaron?

7:12
For when the priesthood
Changes, there must also be
A change of the Law

7:13
He of whom these things
Are said belonged to a tribe
From which no one has

7:13-14
Served at the altar
For it is clear that our Lord
Descended from the

7:14 (continued)
Tribe of Judah, and
Moses spoke nothing of them
Concerning priesthood

7:15
This becomes even
More clear if another priest
In the likeness of

7:15-16
Melchizedek has
Appeared, one who has become
A priest according

7:16
To the power of
An indestructible life
Not on law's basis

7:17
For it is declared
About him, "You are The Priest
For eternity

7:17-18
"After the order
Of Melchizedek."  The old
Command is annulled

7:18-19
Because it was weak
And unprofitable, for
The law never made

7:19
Anything perfect
But now we have confidence
In a better hope

7:19-20
Through which we draw near
To God, and not without oath.
Others became priests

7:20-21
Without any oath
But Jesus was made a priest
With an oath by God:

7:21
"The Lord has sworn and
Will not change his mind, 'You are
A priest forever.' "

7:22
By this oath Jesus
Was made guarantor of a
Better covenant

7:22-23
The former priests were
Many in number because
Death prevented them

7:23-24
From continuing
In office, but since Jesus
Remains forever,

7:24-25
He holds his priesthood
Permanently.  Therefore he
Is able to save

7:25
Forever those who
Draw near to God through him, since
He always lives to

7:25-26
Make intercession
For them.  For this is the kind
Of high priest we need:

7:26
Holy, innocent,
Undefiled, separated
From sinners, and then

7:26-27
Exalted above
The heavens.  He does not need
To offer daily

7:27
Sacrifices, like
Those high priests, first for his own
Sin and the people's,

7:27 (continued)
Because this he did
Once for all when he offered
Up himself for us,

7:28
For the law appoints
Men who are weak as high priests,
But the word of oath,

7:28 (continued)
Which came after Law,
Appoints a Son who's been made
Perfect forever

Haikus through Hebrews, chapter 6

Chapter 6 Summary:

God's promises sure

By promise and oath, fulfilled

In Jesus, High Priest

So press on, brothers,

With assurance of hope in

Jesus our anchor

*Important Note: Please read through the whole of Hebrews (I recommend the English Standard Version or New American Standard Bible) for contextual significance (and significant context!).  There is a lot of Scriptural meat found outside these 17 syllables.  I pray that the Spirit will cover over any errors made, and most importantly, speak truth to your heart.  To God alone be the glory!

6:1

Leave basic teachings

Go on to maturity

Not laying again

6:1 (continued)

A foundation of
Repentance from dead works and

Of faith toward God,

6:2

Instruction about

Baptisms, laying on of

Hands, resurrection

6:2-3

Of the dead, and of

Eternal judgment.  And God

Permitting, we will.

6:4 

It's impossible

For those who once have tasted

The heavenly gift,

6:4 (continued)

Those who have once been

Enlightened, and have shared in

The Holy Spirit,

6:5

Who have tasted the

Goodness of the word of God

And powers to come

6:6

If they fall away

To bring back to repentance

They reject the Son

6:6 (continued)

Crucifying him

All over again, holding

Him up to contempt.

6:7

Land that drinks the rain

Produces useful crops

Receives God's blessing

6:8

But if it bears thorns

It's worthless and near cursing

Its end is burning

6:9

But we are convinced

Of better things for you that

Point to salvation

6:10

God is not unjust

To forget your works and love

You have shown his name

6:10 (continued)

As you have helped his

People and continue to

Minister to them

6:11

We want each of you

To show this same diligence

To the very end

6:11-12

So as to realize

The full assurance of hope

Do not be slothful

6:12

But follow those who

Inherit the promises

Through faith and patience

6:13

For when God made his

Promise to Abraham, since

There is none greater,

6:13-14

God swore by himself,

Saying, "I will surely bless

And multiply you."

6:15

And so Abraham

Obtained the promise since he

Waited patiently

6:16

For men swear by one

Grater than themselves, with their

Oath confirmation

6:17

When God desired to

Show more convincingly to

Heirs of promise

6:17 (continued)

The unchangeable

Character of his purpose

He guaranteed it

6:18

With an oath, so that

By two unchangeable things,

His promise and oath,

6:19

In these which it is 

Impossible that God lie,

We who've fled to him

6:19 (continued)

For refuge can have

Strong encouragement to hold

The hope before us

6:19 (continued)

This hope our anchor

Both sure and steadfast enters

Behind the curtain

6:20

Where Jesus has gone

As forerunner for us, our

High priest forever

Haikus through Hebrews, chapter 5

Verse 8 of this chapter is such an amazing mystery to me, that though Jesus is the Son of God, he learned obedience through what he suffered while in the flesh.  Now shouldn't that give us a new perspective on suffering!  Christ, in turn, promises that we would suffer as well: "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake." (Matthew 24:9)  But also, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)  And from the disciple, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness." (James 1:2-3)  Suffering is sorrowful, horrible, and utterly heart-rending, and that's just the spiritual implications.  ("My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me.  Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me." Psalm 55:4-5)  However, this suffering is not forever, and it is overcome in Christ.  So suffering is meant for our refinement and purification, transforming us ever more into the image of Christ.  And it is this Christ, our amazing High Priest, who was "made to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21).  To God be the glory!

**Important Note: Please read through the whole of Hebrews (I recommend the English Standard Version or New American Standard Bible) for contextual significance (and significant context!).  There is a lot of Scriptural meat found outside these 17 syllables.

5:1

For ev'ry high priest

Chosen from among men is

Appointed to act

5:1 (continued)

On behalf of men

In things pertaining to God,

That he may offer

5:1 (continued again)

Both sacrifices

For the sake of sin, and to

Present gifts to God

5:2

He can deal gently

With the ignorant, and those

Easily deceived

5:2 (continued)

Because he himself

Also is clothed with weakness

And infirmity

5:3

That is why he must

Offer sacrifices for

His own sin and theirs

5:4

And no one takes this

Honor for himself; God calls,

As he called Aaron

5:4 (again)

No one can become

A high priest because he wants

He is called by God

5:5

So also Christ did

Not glorify himself to

Become a high priest

5:5 (continued)

But God said to him,

"You are my Son, today I

Become your Father."

5:6

"You are a priest for-

Ever after the order

Of Melchizedek."

5:7

In his days of flesh

Jesus offered up both prayers

And supplications

5:7 (continued)

With loud cries and tears

To the one who is able

To save him from death

5:7

And God heard his prayers

Because of his reverent 

Submission and fear

5:8

Though he was a son

He learned obedience from

The things he suffered

5:9

He became the source

Of eternal life to all

Those who obey him

5:10

God appointed him

High Priest after the order

Of Melchizedek

5:11

Of whom there's much more

To say, yet hard to explain

Since your hearing's dull

5:12

Though by this time you

Ought to be teachers, you need

Someone to teach you

5:13 (continued)

Elementary

Principles again, you need

Milk not solid food

5:13 (continued)

Anyone who lives

On milk is unskilled in the

Word of righteousness

5:14

Solid food is for

The mature, who distinguish

Both good and evil