“It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Heb. 10:4 NIV). This affirmation about the Old Covenant is true because only the blood of Jesus Christ in the New Covenant can take away sins (see Heb. 9:12, 14-15, 26, 28; 10:10, 12, 14, 17-22). The book of Hebrews addresses people who already valued and appreciated the old covenant. So, the ancient audience of Hebrews needed to hear a message about the value of Jesus and the new covenant. But we are not the ancient audience of the book of Hebrews, and most of us have the opposite problem today.

Contemporary Christians who already appreciate Jesus and the new covenant may need to hear a message explaining the value of the old covenant. The good purposes of the old covenant were understood by the ancient audience of Hebrews, but they are poorly understood or misunderstood by Christians today. So, I want to explain a few things about the how and the why of the old covenant system and explain how it compares to the new covenant.

The Old Covenant System: The covenant is a contract that God initiated with creation/creatures. God makes himself known through his covenant-program so that he can enjoy a relationship with his creatures and be present in his creation. The old covenant system was based on a political treaty between God and Israel. Because treaty-relationships were meaningful in the ancient near eastern context, God accommodated Israel. In the old covenant system, God is revealed as the Great King (Suzerain) and Israel is chosen as the vassal nation who pays tribute in the form of service/worship and offerings/sacrifices.

Offerings/Sacrifices: The offerings/sacrifices were gifts that Israel offered to God in the treaty-relationship. The burnt offerings, peace offerings, sin (purification) offerings, guilt (reparation) offerings, etc. were presented by vassal-Israel to their (Suzerain) King of kings as a form of tribute to thank God for dwelling among them, providing for them, and protecting them. Offerings/sacrifices were given to God as tribute “to glorify the emperor and enhance his reputation, not to meet his personal needs.”[1]

Priesthood: The priests (Levitical descendants of Aaron) were tasked with maintaining the presence of God in the Israelite community. They were like our contemporary security personnel who have technical training to guard special people and premises.[2] The priests were responsible for preserving God’s presence by distinguishing clean from unclean, guarding the purity of the sanctuary, performing ritual protocols, teaching the people, and maintaining a hospitable environment where a holy God could dwell. Basically, the priests were tasked with making sure the right people were in the right places at the right times. If the priests failed to maintain holiness, then God would leave the sanctuary and Israel would be exposed to danger and death.

Atonement: Once per year on the day of atonement (yom kippur), the high priest would purge or purify the sanctuary, removing sin and impurities, so that God could remain among the Israelites. Animal blood served as a ritual “detergent” to wipe away the impurities that accumulated in the sanctuary all year long.[3] Sin and impurity were like physical graffiti that built up in the sanctuary and pushed out God’s relational presence. We might even compare sin and impurity to a malignant tumor that takes over our living spaces and threatens our lives. The day of atonement is more accurately described as the day of purgation. It is the one day per year when the sanctuary (tabernacle/temple) is purged by the high priest so that Israel could continue benefiting from God’s holy presence. But as an annual ritual, the purgation was temporary. The day of purgation provided a temporary fix for the corporate sin-problem — the perpetual problem of Israel’s impurity or separation from God’s relational presence.

Now let me be clear about “atonement” in the Old Testament. The old covenant system was a wonderful gift for Israel. Through the priesthood, offerings/sacrifices, and purgation rituals, God made a way for corporate Israel to continue in relationship with him. The holy God accommodated impure Israel by staying with them despite their intractable sin-problem. But it’s important to understand that the object of atonement/purgation was the sanctuary. Spaces and things were the direct objects of the ritual actions. Sancta were purified and decontaminated, but people were not the direct object of the rituals. People were the indirect object of atonement/purgation in the Old Testament.[4] While people were not directly purified, they indirectly benefited from the sanctuary’s purification. The people were blessed by the ongoing presence of God in their community. This is why the statement is true that animal blood does not take away our personal sins in the old covenant system (see Heb. 10:4). The old covenant offerings/sacrifices were never intended as a pathway to procure personal salvation.

Allow me to use a medical analogy here. God’s remedy for sin in the old covenant system was sort of like our use of painkillers today. We enjoy the wonderful privilege of taking ibuprofen or acetaminophen when we experience the problems of pain, fever or disease. We take these drugs because they offer us a modicum of relief. Tylenol® and Motrin® are gifts because they help us to function despite our problems. These drugs can treat our symptoms with temporary relief. And that’s how the old covenant system worked for ancient Israel. God graciously gave Israel a temporary remedy for their sin-problem.

But the priesthood, sacrifice, and atonement of Jesus Christ/new covenant is qualitatively better than the priesthood, sacrifice, and atonement of the old covenant. This is because Christ’s act of atonement has people as the direct object. People are purged or purified because God’s people become the sanctuary (sancta). We the church are the sacred space where God dwells, and Christ’s blood is the detergent that makes us a hospitable place for God to dwell. So, the priesthood, sacrifice and atonement of the New Covenant are “once for all” (Heb. 9:12, 26; 10:10 NIV). They are permanent, not temporary. Now we have one high priest, one sacrifice and one atonement that offer a permanent remedy for our disease.

If I return to my medical analogy, I suggest that the remedy for sin in the new covenant system is sort of like our use of antibiotics today. It is now well known that antibiotics remove the bacterial causes of our infections. Antibiotics route out our problems, and we flush them down the toilet — literally sending our pollution to the wilderness! Christ’s work in the new covenant is like an antibiotic for our deadly infection. It’s a one-time remedy that does not need to be repeated. The old covenant system is like our use of NSAIDs and acetaminophen in that they offer only a temporary remedy that must be repeated – again and again and again. But the new covenant is far superior because it offers a permanent cure for our sin-problem through Jesus Christ.

Notes

[1] J. Harvey Walton, “The Theological Implications of Covenant as Vassal Treaty in Israel” in For Us, but Not to Us: Essays on Creation, Covenant, and Context in Honor of John H. Walton, eds. Adam E. Miglio, Caryn A. Reeder, Joshua T. Walton, and Kenneth C. Way (Eugene: Pickwick, 2020) 183; cf. John H. Walton and J. Harvey Walton, The Lost World of the Torah: Law as Covenant and Wisdom in Ancient Context (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2019) 72-73. For the idea of God having no needs (like food or housing), see 2 Sam 7:6-7; Ps 40:6; 50:9-13; 51:16; Hos 6:6; Isa 1:11; Heb 10:5-6, 8.

[2] See Walton and Walton, The Lost World of the Torah, 78.

[3] For “detergent,” see Walton and Walton, The Lost World of the Torah, 71, 76. For a comparison of animal blood in the Old Testament to Jesus’ blood in the New Testament, see Richard E. Averbeck, The Old Testament Law for the Life of the Church: Reading the Torah in the Light of Christ (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2022) 202.

[4] For the verb kipper (“to purge/purify”) and its (in)direct objects, see John H. Walton “Equilibrium and the Sacred Compass: The Structure of Leviticus” Bulletin for Biblical Research 11/2 (2001): 298; Walton and Walton, The Lost World of the Torah, 76; and New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis (ed. W. A. VanGemeren; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997), vol. 1 (pp. 166-167 [Walton’s “Principles”]), vol. 2 (pp. 689-710; #4105/4106 [Averbeck]).