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Until the time of reformation.
Not only were these ordinances "carnal", they were temporary, they were "imposed
until the time of reformation" (Heb. 9: 10). The word "imposed" suggests a burden.
In Luke 5: 1 it is "to press upon" as a crowd, or "to lay on" as a stone on a grave
(John 11: 38).
Peter expresses this conception when he speaks of the law as "a yoke which neither
our forefathers nor we have been able to bear" (Acts 15: 10). This burden was but for a
time "until the time of reformation":
"The law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did" (Heb. 7: 19).
"The law was our schoolmaster (pedagogue) unto Christ" (Gal. 3: 24).
REFORMATION. This word bears two meanings:
(1)
The idea of getting back to some primitive simplicity that had become obscured, or
(2)
The idea of a radical change that reforms the subject.
The Greek word diorthosis (reformation) does not occur elsewhere in the Scriptures,
but diorthoo comes in Jer. 7: 3 in the command, "amend your ways". The time of
reformation dawned when "grace and truth" came by Jesus Christ, in contrast with the
"law that was given by Moses" (John 1: 17). This reformation introduced better promises,
a better hope, and had as its basis a better Covenant, ministered by Christ the Mediator of
the better Covenant. The argument is designed to lead the Hebrew believer to see the
temporary character of these laws, which according to the teaching of their Rabbis were
eternal and unchanging (see Acts 6: 13, 14). The abiding Priest, the once offered
Sacrifice, the unchanging Covenant, the sure and steadfast hope, these touched the
conscience, led on to perfection and were found only in Christ.
Hebrews 9: 7 - 12.
A | 7, 8. ONCE every year "not without blood".
B | 9-. The present season.
C | -9. | a | Gifts and sacrifices.
b | No perfection, not touch conscience.
C | 10-. | a | Meats, drinks, baptisms.
b | Carnal ordinances.
B | -10. The season of reformation.
A | 11, 12. ONCE into the holy place, "by His own blood."
Rom. 8: 3 supplies the true comment "weak because of the flesh". But what the
law could not do, God has done by sending His Son. This is equally the teaching of
Hebrews as it is of Romans. The law concerning the priesthood was weak because of the
flesh, and no perfection can come that way. God's answer is Christ, and Christ as the
Priest in the power of an endless life. The sacrifices, both in their nature and by their