Hebrews 9:6-8  When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still functioning.

These verses describe the ministry of the high priest on the Day of Atonement. The priest was only able to enter the Holy of Holies one day a year. There is a Jewish tradition that there was a rope tied around the ankle of the priest so in case he died instantly from having any sin in the presence of the Holy God, the others could pull his body out without having to enter into the Holy of Holies. More significant theologically is that sin cannot be in the presence of God. Only that which is holy can be in the presence of the Holy God. The author will mention this later in Hebrews 12:14. The high priest needed to make atonement for his own sins in order that he might enter into the presence of God. Sin separates us from God. There is no way we can approach God in our sinfulness. We need a high priest who can enter the Holy of Holies to make atonement for us. Either this high priest needs to be sinless or his sins must be atoned for. If the high priest is human, he will also have sin, therefore, this ritual must be repeated every year. The point the author will make is that Jesus was sinless and therefore only needed to make atonement for humanity, and this he only had to do once. The Holy Spirit was working in the Old Testament to prepare for the coming of Jesus. The theology was all in place in the Levitical system of worship. Everything pointed ahead to the coming of Jesus.

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