Will the Shadow Do?
“For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to
come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same
sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw
near,” (Heb. 10:1, ESV).
Not long after the first covenant was taken away (Heb. 10:9), there were some
who were tempted to go back to it, with its’ priesthood and sacrifices. Jews who
came out of that old system and into Christ were under pressure to leave Christ
and go back.
But that law they wanted to go back to was only a shadow. It was only a faint
preliminary outline of the good things which came with Jesus Christ: Access to
God through Him by the activity of one’s faith.
So the message was coming across: “You are being tempted to go back to that
which is only a shadow!”
This statement in Hebrews 10:1 really ought to help people today the Old
Testament. Everybody understands what a shadow is - It only reflects the
substance, the real thing.
Some very simple observations can be made:
1] The shadow is inferior to the object.
2] The shadow depends upon the object.
3] The shadow is only temporary, the object is permanent.
Men, when you buy a truck, will you settle for a picture of the truck? Or what
if the salesman asks you to drive the shadow home! Now we’ve hit that great
button of understanding: a man and his truck. You want the truck, not the
shadow.
I want Christ, not the foreshadow of animal sacrifices. Read Heb. 10:1-4.
By Warren E. Berkley
The Front Page
From Expository Files 16.3; March 2009
