This is important. The temptations referred to in the epistle to the Hebrews in which

Christ so fully shared, like the temptations of Abraham (Gen. 22:) and the children of

Israel in the wilderness, were trials of faith, not temptations to sin; thus the "all points"

are by no means universal.

The word homoioo "to be made like", gives us homoiotes. This comes in the parallel

verse (4: 15), where we read that Christ as the high Priest was "in all points tempted like

as we are". The actual wording is pepeirasmenon de KATA panta KATH' homoioteta,

"having been tempted according to all things according to a likeness".  Heb. 7: 15

contains the only other occurrence of the word in the New Testament. The fact that the

Saviour stooped not only to our humanity, but to endure its trials and its sorrows, is

emphasized as one of the chief of His high qualifications as the true, merciful and faithful

high Priest. His work here is twofold. In the things pertaining to God, expiation for sins

of the people; in the things pertaining to His people, succour for those who are tempted.

The hilaskomai ("reconciliation" in A.V.) gives us the hilasterion of Heb. 9: 5, "the

mercy seat" of which Paul said he could not then speak particularly. If we remember that

he makes a similar statement regarding the Melchisedec priesthood of Christ (5: 11), we

shall perceive that the subject before us is fuller and deeper than we at first might

In the doctrine of Romans, the mercy seat figures in 3: 25, "Whom God hath set

forth to be a propitiation", but the subject is not exhausted by justification. The mercy

seat bore the cherubim of GLORY, and was the very visible throne of God in the

There, the Lord said, He would meet with Moses and commune with him. The epistle

to the Romans, with its emphasis upon justification, sees the blood-sprinkled mercy seat

resting upon the ark which contained the unbroken tables of the law. The epistle to the

Hebrews sees the same blood-sprinkled mercy seat, but while it recognizes the teaching

of the preservation of the tables of the law, it finds the necessity of "finding fault" with

the old Covenant in a way which is parallel with, though different from the setting aside

of the law in Romans. Moreover, Hebrews takes account of the other articles which were

covered by that mercy seat, and indeed speaks of them before mentioning the tables of

the Covenant, viz., "the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded" (9: 4).

The manna speaks of wilderness provision. In Christ as High Priest the believer finds

all that the golden pot of manna means. The epistle to the Hebrews is essentially the

book of the wilderness and the pilgrim, and in pressing on to perfection, the wilderness

experience is repeated. The believer learns that man does not live by bread alone, but by

every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.  Faith, not sight, is his

characteristic. The rod that budded speaks of a living Priesthood. This too is emphasized

in Hebrews: