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 onarch
Abdul-Hamid II, Sultan of Turkey (1876-1909)
lived in the Yildiz Palace in Constantinople under heavy guard.
The palace was very unusual since it had only one room in which
he would allow himself to be interviewed by outsiders. During
such a meeting, the visitor had to sit alone in the center of
the room and Abdul-Hamid would talk to him from behind a fine
grill-work that  concealed
the balcony. The Sultan was not only invisible, but he would
walk back and forth fearing the visitor might reveal a gun and
fire it in the direction of his voice. Abdul-Hamid’s private
room contained alarm systems, trap doors, and mirrors set at
angles, as well as life-sized models of himself - standing at
windows, sitting in chairs and reclining on lounges - which
he hoped would receive any knives or bullets intended for him.
Fear is a terrible, gripping feeling. It causes us to be confused
and to react in unusual ways.
Situation. The book of Hebrews was written to a group of people who were afraid they had made a mistake by leaving Judaism and turning to Jesus. We will see in the next section of Hebrews that they were being persecuted. They were suffering, and God did not rescue them. The Jews believed that all suffering was due to sin, so it is not surprising that they must have been afraid they had made a mistake. What is worse is that they were not growing as Christians (Heb. 5:11-14). They had stopped meeting together with other Christians. They were not attending church or were only going once in awhile because they had doubts about Jesus. This sounds like fearful people! So for ten chapters the Holy Spirit has shown them that they did not make a mistake and that Jesus was better than angels, better than Moses, and better than any Levitical priest. The Old Covenant - the Mosaic Law - was only a shadow. The system they loved was disappearing. The prophet Jeremiah had predicted it was going to disappear. Psalm 40:6-8 had predicted that Jesus would establish a new Covenant; and He did when He died and bled. Psalm 110:4 said that Jesus would be an eternal priest having died a perfect, sinless death to forgive our sins once forever! How do you think these fearful folks must have reacted by now after reading ten chapters of Hebrews? They must have been afraid to act! Confidence. Therefore the Holy Spirit encourages them to be bold, to have confidence and to enter the Holy of Holies.
The Greek word for “Holy Place” in the NASB is “Holies” or “Holy of Holies.” For a Jew, the thought of entering the Holy of Holies was a fearful thing. When the priest took the blood of the sacrifice into the Holy of Holies to obtain our forgiveness, he was fearful of being rejected. If he was rejected, the sacrifice was rejected, and their sins would not be forgiven. |
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