This use of the word to dig for birth or nativity is parallel with the words of Isaiah 51:1,2:

`Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. Look unto Abraham your

father, and unto Sarah that bare you'.

This strange (to us) use of the word makes the meaning of Psalm 40 clearer. `The ear' being `digged' is by an

easy transition `the body' that was `prepared'. The ear standing as it does for obedience, as in Isaiah 50:5,6:

`The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave my back to the

smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spiting'.

Some expositors see in this expression `mine ears hast thou opened' a reference to Exodus 21:6, where the

willing servant is taken and his ear bored with an awl as a sign of obedience `for ever', an act largely the result of

love for wife and children who would otherwise be left behind had the man gone free. The word `bore' is entirely

different from the word `dig' or `open', nevertheless the type is too beautiful to ignore, and aptly sets forth that One

Who voluntarily laid aside His glory, `and took upon Him the form of a slave ... and became obedient unto death'

(Phil. 2:7,8). This body prepared for the Lord set aside all sacrifice and offering, gathering into one Offering the

varied phases and aspects of sacrifice and obedience, as it is written in the volume of the book:

`Lo, I come to do Thy Will, O God'.

The four kinds of sacrifices that were ordained by the law, and which were shadows of the one Offering of

Christ, are divided into two groups - burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin. The former are a sweet savour to God,

the latter for the sins of His people. Both aspects are combined in the one sacrifice of Christ.

It is important when seeking the Scriptural meaning of sacrifice that we bear in mind the teaching of this

passage. `Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God' is equivalent to `Lo, I come to do all that burnt offering and sacrifice

for sins typified'. By so doing the first Covenant was taken away and the second established (10:9):

`For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second' (8:7).

The first Covenant was faulty because it was a shadow, it was weak because of the flesh. It was impossible

because its sacrifices were of bulls and goats; it was a failure because it did not touch the conscience. All this has

found rectification in Christ. His blood has ratified the New Covenant, His Offering touches the conscience and

makes a way into the true holiest of all:

`By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all' (Heb. 10:10).

lt will help us if we carefully analyse the statements of this verse:

What is the will of God intended by - `The which will?'

What is the meaning of the consequence? - `We are sanctified'.

What means were used to accomplish this will? - `The offering of the body'.

What constitutes its eternal efficacy? - `Once for all'.

The strange expression `by the which will' must mean the `done will' accomplished by Christ. This will done by

Christ cannot be confined to the earthly life and perfect obedience of those sinless years, for the very

accomplishment of that will is found in `the offering of the body of Jesus Christ' and that as a sacrifice which

involved:

Suffering (Heb. 9:26; 13:12).

Crucifixion (Heb. 6:6; 12:2).

Shedding of blood (Heb. 9:14; 10:19).

Death (Heb. 2:9; 9:15).

An Altar (Heb. 13:10).

A Priest (Heb. 8:1; 9:11).