Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett and Fox News contributor Tammy Bruce join ‘Hannity’ to break down the extent of Cuomo’s harassments spree
— Read on video.foxnews.com/v/6266459394001
They use fearmongering to create a scared and broken population
It**Q**s time to take a sledgehammer to the mainstream media**Q**s lies and propaganda
‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ host calls out media covering for China. #FoxNews #TuckerSubscribe to Fox News! https://bit.ly/2vaBUvASWatch more Fox News Video:
— Read on www.youtube.com/watch
“The things we were worried would happen are happening.“—Angus Johnston, professor at the City University of New York
Imagine it: a national classification system that not only categorizes you according to your health status but also allows the government to sort you in a hundred other ways: by gender, orientation, wealth, medical condition, religious beliefs, political viewpoint, legal status, etc.
This is the slippery slope upon which we are embarking, one that begins with vaccine passports and ends with a national system of segregation.
It has already begun.
With every passing day, more and more private businesses and government agencies on both the state and federal level are requiring proof of a COVID-19 vaccination in order for individuals to work, travel, shop, attend school, and generally participate in the life of the country.
No matter what one’s views may be regarding the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, this is an unnerving proposition for a country that claims to prize the rights of the individual and whose Bill of Rights was written in such a way as to favor the rights of the minority.
By allowing government agents to establish a litmus test for individuals to be able to engage in commerce, movement and any other right that corresponds to life in a supposedly free society, it lays the groundwork for a “show me your papers” society in which you are required to identify yourself at any time to any government worker who demands it for any reason.
It would seem that United States Olympic wrestler Tamyra Mensah-Stock has no time or inclination to act cool or witty or snarky or sassy.
Nope. All she has time for these days is getting ready to hit the mat — and pin her next opponent. Then when she scores her next victory, Mensah-Stock’s emotions simply come flooding out.
And at no time was her unguarded, unaffected, pure joy — through tears and laughter — more apparent than when she won the women’s light heavyweight (68-kilogram) gold medal Tuesday at the Tokyo Olympics.
We need to protect this woman at all costs… An infectious beam of positivity, her spirit is undeniable. What an inc… https://t.co/aTCY8b7qSP
— The Wrestling Room (Pat Mineo) (@MrPatMineo) 1627995526.0
“I’m feeling very happy, and I keep trying not to cry, but it keeps happening!” she said, trying to catch her breath, at a news conference with an American flag wrapped around her shoulders following her victory.
Mensah-Stock, 28, became only the second U.S. woman — and the first black woman — to win Olympic wrestling gold, NPR said. She is from Katy, Texas.
A reporter noted to Mensah-Stock in a brief moment of composure that “you started wrestling in the 10th grade” — and BOOM! More tears.
“I knew I could do it when I first started wrestling,” she explained while continuing to cry. “I felt like I could be an Olympic champ, so I kept going.” With that, Mensah-Stock pounded her hand down and said, “I did it!”
The reporter then brought up her father who died when Mensah-Stock was in high school — in a car accident on the way home from one of her wrestling meets, Yahoo Sports said.
With that, harder tears from Mensah-Stock as she placed her head on top of arms on the podium as the reporter asked how her dad might be reacting to her victory.
She then stood, cried some more, and rubbed her eyes: “He would be so proud! He would be so happy!”
Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @MrPatMineo
Mensah-Stock then broke into a smile when she noted that her late father was from Ghana and that he was “like enemies with Nigeria,” which made her final match against Nigeria’s Blessing Oborududu “kind of like poetic.”
Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @MrPatMineo
She turned things up a notch when the reporter brought up that women’s wrestling has been an Olympic sport only for a couple of decades — and with that, Mensah-Stock began jumping up and down.
“Yeah!” she cried before explaining how proud she is that younger girls can look up to her and perhaps follow in her footsteps.
Mensah-Stock added later in the interview that “it’s by the grace of God I’m able to even move my feet. Like, I just leave it in His hands and I pray that all the practice … the hell that my freaking coaches put me through pays off, and every single time it does, and I get better and better, and it’s so weird that there is no cap to the limit that I can do. And I’m excited to see … what I have next.”
And when the reporter asked how it felt with the American flag around her shoulders, she had more than enough gas in her tank to give a shout out to her home country: “It feels amazing. I love representing the U.S. I freaking love living there. I love it. And I’m so happy I get to represent U-S-A!”
“I’m so happy I get to represent USA!” https://t.co/Y5CcjaPCbK
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) 1628016143.0
Yahoo Sports noted that when Mensah-Stock was asked what she would do with the money attached to gold medals, she had a very specific idea.
“I wanted to give my mom $30,000 so she can get a food truck, ’cause it’s her dream,” Mensah-Stock said, according to the outlet. “And I told her five years ago, ‘Alright mommy, I’ll get you your food truck, but you gotta be responsible. So my mom’s gettin’ her food truck!” Yahoo Sports noted, not surprisingly, that she danced from side to side, adding that her mom is “gonna have her little cooking business. She can cook really, really, really well. Barbecue!”
Victoria Petersen, a former foster child who is now a foster mom herself, was recently crowned Mrs. Universe.
— Read on www.christianpost.com/news/olympian-proclaims-the-glory-goes-to-god-after-silver-medal-win.html
Valerie Jarrett has some nerve begging for birthday donations for Obama. This is a disgusting attempt at fundraising for the multi-millionaire having a lavish birthday party at his $12M Martha’s Vineyard estate with 500 in attendance. These people have no shame.
Twitter is on fire with comments back to Jarrett:
My dear friend Barack Obama is turning 60 tomorrow. For his birthday gift, I’m asking you to chip in $6 or $60 to help us bring the Obama Presidential Center to life in Chicago.
“After we destroyed your businesses & are crashing the economy with mass inflation.. please consider giving the pennies you have left to Obama who will be throwing a party with 500 guests, 200 servants in his 16k square foot ocean front mansion ”
— Melissa Tate (@TheRightMelissa) August 3, 2021
And this tweet:
-I’m turning 35 tomorrow, I’m asking Obama to donate either 6k, or 60k to pay me back for my tripled health insurance premiums I’ve been paying since 2011.
-This woman is worth 2.4 million Dollar and ask us to donate for a even more rich man hahahahajjahahahhaha noooooo wtf
-He’s a multi-millionaire who owns a castle in Martha’s Vineyard, and you want US to donate money to HIM? During a pandemic and economic crisis?
A supporter of keeping Jackson Park in the South Side of Chicago instead of ripping it up to put Obama’s library there:
-Please do NOT donate to Obama’s neoliberal plan to gentrify the southside of Chicago and destroy a historic park! He can stay in Martha’s Vineyard!
-How out of touch does one have be to be asking regular working people for money to finance a birthday present for a wealthy man? But that’s how America rolls. The rich beg for money.
“We’re living in an era of history where it’s unpopular to call out the wolves and warn God’s people of error and danger. That work is often viewed as insensitive, mean-spirited, and rude. In order to be a popular pastor in our day, you must be engaging in your personality, willing to entertain people, and always be positive. Interestingly enough, that might work in the world of insurance sales, but it doesn’t pass muster when it comes to the calling of a pastor.”
(Josh Buice – Delivered By Grace) Paul loved the church of Jesus Christ. Undoubtedly he gave his time, energy, and life’s blood in order to preach the gospel of King Jesus, plant churches far and wide, and contend for the faith once delivered to the saints….
Therefore, when Paul speaks a warning about twisted teachers who would war against God’s people—we must pay close attention.
In Acts 20:28-30, we find Paul in the midst of a passionate address to a group of fellow elders who served the church at Ephesus. Paul had served alongside them and ministered with them. However, he’s preparing to depart and continue his work of pioneer missions as God had directed him, but before he began his journey, he addressed the men he loved regarding their responsibility as overseers of a local church he loved. View article →
Wolves! RUN!! – Naming names
Date: August 3, 2021
Host: Jim Schneider
Guest: Barbara Loe Fisher
MP3 | Order
https://embed.sermonaudio.com/player/a/8321204511770/
Materializing before our very eyes is a nationwide push for individuals to receive the Covid jab. It’s being advanced by a rising number of corporations, educational institutions, and even the government.
As a matter of fact, last Thursday President Biden said he would like to see states, companies and schools mandate the shot. And just hours ago today, the New York City Mayor, Bill de Blasio, announced that New York City residents and visitors will be required to show proof of vaccination for indoor dining, gyms and shows. He is calling this vaccine passport the “Key to NYC Pass.” It is being launched August 16th and will be enforced starting September 13th.
Why is there such a push for this shot when health officials in Los Angeles County said over 25% of new coronavirus cases are those who have been fully vaccinated? And last Friday, CNBC reported a study from the CDC that shows 74% of people infected in a Massachusetts Covid outbreak were fully vaccinated. What’s going on?
Barbara Loe Fisher, President of the National Vaccine Information Center, joined Crosstalk to passionately shed light on this nationwide push for the shot. She addressed several points, such as:
The report concluded “the reliance on loyal confidants regardless of their official role in State government” was one of several key factors in creating an environment “where the Governor’s sexually harassing conduct was allowed to flourish and persist.”
(David Rutz – Fox News) CNN anchor Chris Cuomo was part of a team of outside, loyal confidants to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D., that contributed to a culture allowing the governor’s “sexually harassing conduct” to “flourish,” a scathing state investigation revealed Tuesday.
Cuomo was one of several unpaid, trusted outside figures consulted by Gov. Cuomo and his Executive Chamber staff to grapple with the numerous sexual harassment allegations against him this year. He drafted a response for his brother to the allegations against him on Feb. 28, according to the report. View article →
Faith Comes Before Unity
John 17:11, 20–23; Ephesians 4:13
If ever we intend to take one step towards any agreement or unity, it must be by fixing this principle in the minds of all men—that it is of no advantage to any man whatever church or way in Christian religion he be of, unless he personally believe the promises, and live in obedience unto all the precepts of Christ; and that for him who does so, that it is a trampling of the whole gospel under foot to say that his salvation could be endangered by his not being of this or that church or way, especially considering how much of the world has mingled itself into all the known ways that are in it.
JOHN OWEN
Ritzema, E., & Vince, E. (Eds.). (2013). 300 Quotations for Preachers from the Puritans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
No Cross of Christ, No Glory of Christ
Matthew 10:38–39; 16:24–27; Mark 8:34–38; Luke 9:23–26; 14:27
He who seeks not the Cross of Christ, seeks not the glory of Christ.
JOHN OF THE CROSS
Ritzema, E. (2013). 300 Quotations for Preachers from the Reformation. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. (Proverbs 28:13)
Here is the way of mercy for a guilty and repenting sinner. He must cease from the habit of covering sin. This is attempted by falsehood, which denies sin; by hypocrisy, which conceals it; by boasting, which justifies it; and by loud profession, which tries to make amends for it.
The sinner’s business is to confess and forsake. The two must go together. Confession must be honestly made to the Lord Himself, and it must include within itself acknowledgment of the wrong, sense of its evil, and abhorrence of it. We must not throw the fault upon others, nor blame circumstances, nor plead natural weakness. We must make a clean breast of it and plead guilty to the indictment. There can be no mercy till this is done.
Furthermore, we must forsake the evil; having owned our fault, we must disown all present and future intent to abide in it. We cannot remain in rebellion and yet dwell with the King’s majesty. The habit of evil must be quitted, together with all places, companions, pursuits, and books which might lead us astray. Not for confession, nor for reformation, but in connection with them we find pardon by faith in the blood of Jesus.
7:27 The high priest did not make daily sacrifices for his sins, but when he did sacrifice on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16), it was necessary to offer first for himself. The meaning is clear: Christ always intercedes for His people but never offers sacrifice for Himself.[1]
7:27 The contrast between the Levitical priests’ repeated daily (and yearly) sacrifices and Jesus’ once-for-all offering of Himself is developed in 9:25–10:18.[2]
7:27 former high priests Refers to the priestly line associated with Aaron and the Levites.
once for all Refers not only to the singular occasion of Jesus’ sacrifice, but also to its unrepeatable nature (6:6). He was able to make an ultimate sacrifice, in the sense that no further sacrifices are necessary.
offered up himself Jesus did not need to make sacrifice in order to absolve His own sin (because He is without sin; 4:15; 7:26). Rather, He gave Himself for the sake of the world (compare Isa 53:10 and note).[3]
7:27 Multiple points of contrast are made between the Levitical high priests and Jesus as the one eternal high priest (see chart).[4]
7:27 daily. Whenever the Levitical High-Priest sinned, he was required to offer sacrifices for himself (Lv 4:3). Whenever the people sinned, he also had to offer a sacrifice for them (Lv 4:13). These occasions could be daily. Then, annually, on the Day of Atonement, he had to again offer sacrifices for himself and for the people (Lv 16:6, 11, 15). Christ had no sin and needed no sacrifice for Himself. And only one sacrifice (by Him) was needed—one time only, for all men, for all time. once for all. A key emphasis in Hebrews. The sacrificial work of Christ never needed to be repeated, unlike the OT priestly sacrifices. Cf. 9:12, 26, 28; 10:2, 10; 1Pe 3:18.[5]
7:27 Unlike the Levitical priests, our High Priest does not need to offer sacrifices daily; this He did once for all. He does not need to offer for His own sins because He is absolutely sinless. A third amazing way in which He differs from the former priests is that He offered up Himself for the sins of the people. The Priest gave Himself as the sacrifice. Wonderful, matchless grace of Jesus![6]
7:27. Jesus’ superiority also appeared in that he did not need daily sacrifices for himself. The Aaronic high priests offered sacrifices first for themselves and then for the people. Since he was sinless, Christ did not need to offer any sacrifice for himself. He needed only to offer a single sacrifice once for all (Heb. 10:10). He offered himself for sinful human beings, and he needed to offer no repetition.
It may have been shocking at this point to introduce the idea that Jesus offered himself. No high priest offered himself. He offered a substitute animal sacrifice. The total unselfishness and commitment of Jesus appeared in his offering up of himself. Jesus had said that he came to offer his life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). All who have come to Jesus for salvation have found him to be a powerful and sufficient Savior.[7]
7:27 This seems to relate to the Day of Atonement (cf. Lev. 16), but here it is used in the sense of the daily offerings (the OT continual). It is historically and rabbinically verifiable that the high priest was directly involved in daily sacrifices in later Judaism but possibly not during the days of the tabernacle.
© “He offered” This is the same term used in Isa. 53:11 in the Septuagint (LXX), “to bear.” Some see this as an allusion to the smoke of the sacrifices that rose up to God.
© “this He did once for all” Hebrews emphasizes the ultimacy of Jesus’ once-given sacrificial death. This once-done salvation and forgiveness are forever accomplished (cf. “once” [ephapax], 7:27; 9:12; 10:10 and “once for all” [hapax], 6:4; 9:7, 26, 27, 28; 10:2; 12:26, 27). This is the recurrent accomplished sacrificial affirmation.
© “offered up Himself” Jesus is the high priest (cf. Ps. 110:4) and victim (cf. Isa. 53:10) of the heavenly sanctuary (cf. 9:24). This is a pillar of the NT emphasis on substitutionary, vicarious atonement (cf. Mark 10:45; Rom. 8:3; 2 Cor. 5:21).[8]
27. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.
Sometimes we have to make a trite remark to convey a fundamental truth. Thus we say that verse 27 follows verse 26 in order to point out that 7:26 is introductory to the next verse. This simple fact is frequently overlooked, and explanations of 7:27a are varied.
For example, one explanation is that the phrase day after day means “year after year.” That is, once a year on the Day of Atonement the high priest enters the Most Holy Place. Therefore the phrase refers to the annual sacrifices on that particular day. However, the writer is fully acquainted with the Mosaic stipulations, for he indirectly mentions the Day of Atonement in 9:7, 25 and 10:1, 3. Why would he write “day after day” when in fact he meant once a year?
Another explanation relates the phrase day after day to the daily grain offering and burnt sacrifice offered by Aaron and his sons (Lev. 6:14–16; Exod. 29:38–42; Num. 28:3–8). Although the explanation has merit, difficulties surround this interpretation.
A third possibility is to interpret the phrase as a reference to the daily offerings in general and to the Day of Atonement in particular. This explanation is all-inclusive and, in a sense, moves from the lesser sacrifices to the greater sacrifice on the Day of Atonement.
The contrast in 7:27 is between Jesus and the Aaronic high priest, and because of the introductory verse (26) the emphasis falls on the negative: Jesus “does not need to offer sacrifices day after day.” Our heavenly high priest is completely different; he is sinless, blameless, spotless. He has no need to offer a sacrifice for himself either on a daily or an annual basis. He is set apart from sinners. He is holy.
High priests appointed to represent sinful people were themselves defiled by sin. Coming before God, they were fully conscious of their own sins which in effect nullified their efforts to serve God. To become efficient, they had to offer animal sacrifices that removed their own sins. Then they brought sacrifices to God for the sins of the people. God told them that the blood of an animal atoned for sin. They had to admit that the constant repetition of these offerings was a clear indication that these sacrifices could not cope with the enormity of sin. The Aaronic priesthood displayed the marks of temporality and basic ineffectiveness. It had to be replaced by a priest who is eternal and by an offering that is effective.
Jesus, the Savior of his people, “sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.” He offered himself because God asked him to make this supreme sacrifice and thus atone for the sins of his people. God told the Israelites to sacrifice animals as substitutes; he gave his Son as the substitute. God forbade the people of Israel the practice of offering human beings to idols (Lev. 18:21; 20:2–5; 2 Kings 17:17, 19; Ezek. 20:31); he himself offered his only Son (John 3:16).
Jesus voluntarily died on the cross and by his death presented himself as the once-for-all sacrifice. The expression once for all reveals that the Levitical system has come to an end. The author of Hebrews introduces this thought and explains the details in a subsequent chapter.[9]
27. His superiority over Aaron’s priests is further seen in the fact that no daily sacrifices are needed either for himself or for the people. A problem arises over the application of the word daily (kath hēmeran) to the Aaronic priests, for if the writer has the ritual of the Day of Atonement in mind this happened only once a year, not daily. Bruce thinks the occasional sin-offering may have been in our author’s mind when he used the expression ‘daily’. On the other hand, Davidson68 regards the Day of Atonement offering as summing up all the occasional offerings throughout the year. But the problem could be resolved by restricting the words to the ministry of Jesus, in which case the accompanying words like those priests would refer only to the need for the priests to offer sacrifices. The whole sentence may then be rendered ‘He has no need in his daily ministry to offer sacrifices for himself as those priests did …’ This understanding of the word daily would be in agreement with the previous statements already made in verse 25 about the continuous character of the intercession of Christ. The fact that the Aaronic high priest needed an offering both for himself and his people shows a marked distinction from the action of Christ, who offered up himself once for all. The offering in his case was not for himself for he had no sin. Moreover the offering was once for all, needing no repetition. It is important to note that the reason for the difference is found wholly in the character of the high priest rather than in his office.[10]
27. Who needeth not, &c. He pursues the contrast between Christ and the Levitical priests; and he points out especially two defects, so to speak, in the ancient priesthood, by which it appears that it was not perfect. And here, indeed, he only touches briefly on the subject; but he afterwards explains every particular more at large, and particularly that which refers to the daily sacrifices, as the main question was respecting these. It is briefly also that I will now touch on the several points. One of the defects of the ancient priesthood was, that the high priest offered sacrifices for his own sins; how then could he have pacified God for others, who had God justly displeased with himself? Then they were by no means equal to the work of expiating for sins. The other defect was, that they offered various sacrifices daily; it hence follows, that there was no real expiation; for sins remain when purgation is repeated. The case with Christ was wholly different; for he himself needed no sacrifice, as he was sprinkled with no spot of sin; and such was the sacrifice, that it was alone sufficient to the end of the world, for he offered himself.[11]
7:27 / The result is plain: Jesus has no need to offer sacrifices day after day … for his own sins, as do the priests (cf. 5:3). Over against the necessarily repetitive sacrifices of the levitical priests, which for our author represents a self-confessed inadequacy (cf. 10:11), Jesus sacrificed for their sins once for all (lit., “this he did once for all”). This he accomplished when he offered himself. This shocking fact—that this high priest offers himself in sacrifice—here mentioned directly for the first time (but cf. 2:9, 14; 5:8), becomes a central argument in 9:11–28. The definitive, once-and-for-all, character of the work of Christ is of course a hallmark of the Epistle to the Hebrews.[12]
27 The pastor continues to describe the High Priest who is eminently suitable for the needs of God’s people. This Priest’s triumph over sin and his exaltation, described in the last verse, provide the context for understanding the High Priest “who” has offered himself. At last the pastor explicitly introduces the self-offering of the Son. He has been preparing for this moment from the beginning of his sermon. With rising anticipation he has described the Son as making “purification for sins” (1:3), “tasting death” for all (2:9), and “offering loud cries and tears” (5:7–8). His hearers must grasp the eternity, sinlessness, and exaltation of this High Priest before they can comprehend the significance of his self-sacrifice. As with these other aspects of his priesthood, the significance of this self-sacrifice becomes clear only by contrast with the old. The pastor has already reminded his hearers of the Aaronic high priest’s double sacrifice (5:2–3) to facilitate this comparison. The significance of Christ’s sacrifice is the central theme in each of the three parts of the following section (8:1–13; 9:1–22; 9:23–10:18). The pastor continues to bring its significance into clearer focus.
The sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice is shown by explicit contrast with the double and perpetually repeated sacrifice of the old high priests. This new High Priest “does not have daily need, as those high priests, to offer sacrifice first for his own sins, then for the sins of the people.” Although the pastor is referring to the double offering of the old high priests on the Day of Atonement, the term we have translated “daily” (or “day by day”) is not a reference to that Day. It is an emphatic expression for “regularly” or “repeatedly” that the pastor uses to put strong emphasis on the old high priests’ need for repeated sacrifice in contrast to the Son’s “once-for-all” self-offering. The pastor was well aware that the high priest offered these double Day of Atonement sacrifices annually. Just as the multiplicity of priests exposes their insufficiency (7:23–25), so the multiplicity of their sacrifices reveals their ineffectiveness (9:25–10:4).
The pastor’s first intention is to deny Christ’s need for “daily” sacrifice. However, he is also denying Christ’s need to offer “for himself.” In 5:3 the grammatical structure emphasized the old high priest’s need to offer for himself. Here the structure puts emphasis on the fact that Christ had no need to make such an offering. Indeed, 5:3 has already argued that the Aaronic high priest’s necessity to offer for himself demonstrated his insufficiency. Thus when the pastor says, “For this he did,” he is referring to Christ’s sacrifice “for the people.”
The second half of this verse describes the sacrifice of Christ with an economy of words that draws the hearers’ attention to the essentials. “For this he did”—offer sacrifice for the people; “once for all”—not repeatedly but definitively and finally; “by offering himself”—not “for himself.” This verse ends with the self-offering of Christ so central to the following chapters.[13]
27 Aaron and his successors, before they presented a sin offering on behalf of the people, had to present one for themselves. This was preeminently true on the annual Day of Atonement: before the ritual of the two goats was enacted, to cleanse the nation from the accumulated sin of the past twelve months, the direction ran: “Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house” (Lev. 16:6). But there were other occasions on which a similar atonement had to be made: “if it is the anointed priest who sins, thus bringing guilt on the people, then let him offer for the sin which he has committed a young bull without blemish to Yahweh for a sin offering” (Lev. 4:3). This occasional sin offering may have been in our author’s mind when he used the expression “daily” in this connection. There is indeed no explicit command for a daily sin offering to be presented by the high priest on his own account; but inadvertent sinning, of the kind provided for in Lev. 4:1ff., could well have been a daily hazard. And the high priest occupied a special position; an inadvertent sin on his part brought guilt on the people. It was wise therefore to take precautions against the very possibility of his having committed an inadvertent sin. According to Philo, “the high priest … day by day offers prayers and sacrifices and asks for blessings … that every age and every part of the nation, as of a single body, may be joined harmoniously into one and same fellowship, having peace and good order as their aim.” But these daily or occasional sacrifices, whether offered for his own sins or for those of the people, were summed up and “raised, so to speak, to a higher power”92 by the special ceremonies of the Day of Atonement.
But Jesus has no need to present a daily sacrifice—or, for that matter, a yearly sacrifice—for his people’s sins. He presented a permanently valid sin offering on their behalf when he offered up his own life—an offering so perfect and efficacious that it needs no repetition. Still less has he any need to present such a sacrifice for himself; he is “holy, free from guile and defilement.” For all the completeness of his identification with his people and his sympathetic entering into their trials and sufferings, he is personally free from the guilt and tyranny of sin, and for that very reason is the more able to be their effective high priest. We have already been told that he “made purification for sins” (1:3), that he was appointed “to make atonement for the people’s sins” (2:17), since it is the function of every high priest to “offer gifts and sacrifices for sins” (5:1). But now we are told expressly the nature of the sacrifice which our Lord offered: “he offered up himself.” There is an Old Testament adumbration of such a self-offering in the portrayal of the Suffering Servant who “makes himself an offering for sin” (Isa. 53:10). The martyrs of Maccabaean days yielded up their lives with the confidence that they would be accepted as an atonement on their fellow-Israelites’ behalf (2 Macc. 7:37f.; 4 Macc. 6:27ff.; 17:22; 18:4); and it was similarly the belief of the Qumran sectaries that their piety and privations would make expiation for the land of Israel.95 But there is no need for our author to look for precedents to enable him to interpret the death of Jesus in terms of a voluntary sin offering; this was how Jesus himself envisaged his death. When he said that the Son of Man had come “to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45) and spoke of his covenant blood as “poured out for many” (Mark 14:24), he indicated clearly that he was presenting himself to God as a sacrifice for others. And when the hour came and he was stretched upon the cross, instead of having his heart filled with bitter resentment against his executioners or with feelings of reproach against God for allowing this to happen to him, he offered up his life to God as a sin offering in his people’s stead. How acceptable to God this sacrifice was, or how effective in the purifying of heart and life, let those bear witness who have found through faith in him that peace with God and release from sin which nothing else could have brought about.[14]
27 Because our high priest is perfect, his ministry can be on a different level from that of the fallible human priests appointed by the Law. First, his sacrifice is not, as it were, dissipated by the need to atone for his own sins, as well as for those of the people he represents (see 5:2–3 for a similar observation), since he has no sins of his own to atone for; his offering can therefore be entirely for their benefit. Second, whereas repeated sin on the part of both priest and people made it necessary for the OT sacrifices to be constantly repeated so that the job was never finished, the sacrifice of Christ is “once for all.” It is, moreover, a sacrifice not of an unwitting animal, however physically unblemished, but of “himself,” the morally sinless Son of God. Here for the first time our author indicates explicitly that the sacrifice Jesus offered was his own life; the point will be developed in 9:12–15, 25–28; 10:5–10. This, therefore, is priestly ministry on a new level altogether, a ministry that needs, indeed allows, no repetition.
The term ephapax, “once for all” (GK 2384), here occurs for the first time but will be a recurrent emphasis throughout the next few chapters as the efficacy of Christ’s sacrificial work is set out. There is no significant difference in Hebrews’ usage between the simple hapax, “once” (GK 562; 9:26, 28) and ephapax (7:27; 9:12; 10:10), though the latter is more emphatic in form. Whereas the OT high priest made the Day of Atonement sacrifice “once” each year (9:7), our high priest has made atonement “once” for all time. The OT system failed to provide for its worshipers cleansing “once for all” (10:2), but Jesus has now achieved this, and no further sacrifice can ever be needed again. In an interesting comparison in 9:27–28, our author will show how that single sacrifice correlates to the “once and once only” human experience of death and judgment. “Once for all” lies at the heart of our author’s theology of atonement and of salvation.[15]
[1] Criswell, W. A., Patterson, P., Clendenen, E. R., Akin, D. L., Chamberlin, M., Patterson, D. K., & Pogue, J. (Eds.). (1991). Believer’s Study Bible (electronic ed., Heb 7:27). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[2] Sproul, R. C. (Ed.). (2005). The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (p. 1787). Orlando, FL; Lake Mary, FL: Ligonier Ministries.
[3] Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Heb 7:27). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[4] Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 2372). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
[5] MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Heb 7:27). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
[6] MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. (A. Farstad, Ed.) (p. 2180). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[7] Lea, T. D. (1999). Hebrews, James (Vol. 10, pp. 137–138). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[8] Utley, R. J. (1999). The Superiority of the New Covenant: Hebrews (Vol. Volume 10, p. 77). Marshall, Texas: Bible Lessons International.
[9] Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953–2001). Exposition of Hebrews (Vol. 15, pp. 207–208). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.
[10] Guthrie, D. (1983). Hebrews: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 15, p. 171). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
[11] Calvin, J., & Owen, J. (2010). Commentary on the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews (p. 177). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
[12] Hagner, D. A. (2011). Hebrews (p. 111). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
[13] Cockerill, G. L. (2012). The Epistle to the Hebrews (pp. 342–343). Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
[14] Bruce, F. F. (1990). The Epistle to the Hebrews (Rev. ed., pp. 176–179). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
[15] France, R. T. (2006). Hebrews. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Hebrews–Revelation (Revised Edition) (Vol. 13, pp. 102–103). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Psalm 73:23-26
23 Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
Thought
In times of confusion, we can take comfort that while we may not understand everything while here on earth (read Psalm 73:1-22), God will be faithful. Everything we have and know here on earth is subject to decay, but our relationship with the LORD is our strength forever. He will not abandon, fail, or forget us.
Prayer
Almighty God, thank you for being with me always, especially in those moments when life is most confusing and my fears most troubling. Please give me faith to not only ask you honest questions, but to also trust you even when things don’t look like they are all that good for those who believe in you. Please help my faith hold firm as I wait for your mighty vindication of your people. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
By Phil Ware
Used by Permission
From: Phil’s daily devotionals on http://www.verseoftheday.com
• God’s Sufficiency Exceeds Our Need – by Sylvia Gunter
• God is Faithful
• Salvation Explained
In Times of Confusion — Daily Devotionals by Thoughts about God
It’s a beautiful story. Two sisters who knew Jesus and had seen Him heal on many occasions, sent for Him when their brother was sick. They knew Jesus could heal him. Their faith was strong. But Jesus delayed His arrival and the brother died. The sisters were grief stricken.
When Jesus arrived and asked them to take Him to where the brother was buried and to have the stone rolled away from the tomb, they objected. “Lord, he will stink by now!” But the stone was rolled away and Jesus called, “Lazarus, come forth!” The brother was raised from the dead!
The sisters, Mary and Martha, had faith that Jesus could heal their brother. But as time passed, and Jesus did not show up as they expected, the brother died. Their faith was crushed.
Yet Jesus waited…to show them Himself in a new way. Not only as they had known Him, as Healer, but now, also as The Resurrection and the Life!
When things look dead around us, and even within us, choosing to turn to Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life, will breath fresh hope and life into our own spirit. His Spirit brings life to the places that are dusty and cold and smelly. His Spirit brings life and hope into circumstances that seem hopeless.
In these upside down days we are living in, let’s allow Jesus to bring that fresh hope to our souls. He wants to reveal Himself in ways we have not yet experienced. He wants to empower our words and actions with life as we engage with those around us. There is more of Jesus’ resurrection power to experience both today and for eternity. Be expectant of Jesus’ power in your life today!
Lord Jesus, I need You. My faith does falter in these days of confusion. Lift my expectation and may I see and experience You in new and fresh ways today. I love You, Lord, and I lift my eyes above all that is going on around me and look to You, the Resurrection and The Life. Please help me to live in expectation today. I pray this in Your strong name, amen.
By Gail Rodgers
Used by Permission
• Beauty out of Brokenness
• A Struggle of Faith – my son first showed signs of mental illness in his 20’s
• Salvation Explained
Dislike the Notion of a Second Conversion
John 3:3–6; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 4:22–24
I thoroughly dislike the notion of a second conversion.
J. C. RYLE*
Ritzema, E. (Ed.). (2012). 300 Quotations for Preachers. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
Never Cease Preparation for Battle
Romans 13:12; Ephesians 6:11, 13; 1 Thessalonians 5:8; 1 Peter 5:8
The devil does not sleep, nor is the flesh yet dead; therefore, you must never cease your preparation for battle, because on the right and on the left are enemies who never rest.
THOMAS À KEMPIS*
Ritzema, E., & Brant, R. (Eds.). (2013). 300 quotations for preachers from the Medieval church. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
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