In chapter ten of his Epistle to the Hebrews, Paul reminds his readers that the work of salvation has been completed, but they need to be patient before they receive the rewards. There is an element of immanency in this epistle that needs to be taken seriously, because “hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life (Proverbs 13:12). There was a very real danger of Paul’s readers losing their reward, because, as we shall discover in this study, Jesus foretold that many, some conclude the majority, of them (Matthew 24:10) would be in danger of falling away, giving it all up in the face of persecution. In this epistle Paul tried to stem the tide, if, perhaps, he could save some from doing what they knew in their heart of hearts was wrong (cp. 1Corinthians 9:20-22).
Paul’s argument in the tenth chapter of this epistle begins by showing that the Old Covenant sacrifices were mere shadows of the truth, and in being so, they were simply insufficient for the needs of men (Hebrews 10:1, 4). Thus, making it obvious that, if the blood of bulls and goats could actually take away sins, the sacrifices would have ceased long ago (Hebrews 10:2). In fact, the whole system had the opposite effect. That is, the sinners participation in those sacrifices made them ever more conscious of their sins (Hebrews 10:3).
Therefore the Old Covenant Temple system presented a gigantic problem as far as the Levitical priesthood was concerned. It was all about a ritual worship, and that kind of religious system was powerless to spiritually improve those who came to the Levites under the conviction of sin.
Paul claimed in Hebrews 10:5-9, and quoting from the Septuagint rather than the Hebrew Scriptures:
Sacrifice and offering thou would not; but a body hast thou prepared me: whole-burnt-offering and sacrifice for sin thou didst not require. Then I said, Behold, I come: in the volume of the book it is written concerning me, I desired to do thy will, O my God, and thy law in the midst of mine heart. I have preached righteousness in the great congregation; lo! I will not refrain my lips; O Lord, thou know my righteousness. I have not hid thy truth within my heart, and I have declared thy salvation; I have not hid thy mercy and thy truth from the great congregation. (Psalms 40:6-10 Septuagint translated by Brenton)
Here, Paul shows his readers how and why the New Covenant is better than and replaces the Old Covenant system. Since the Lord had no pleasure in animal sacrifices, he replaced them with the human body he fashioned for Christ, who came into this world from the Father (Hebrews 10:5-6). So, Jesus, pointing to the Psalmist, says that he had come to do the Lord’s will (John 5:30), or, in other words, whatever was written of him had to be fulfilled (cf. John 1:1, 14; 6:33, 51). Therefore, Paul argues that, since God had no pleasure in animal sacrifices, which was the Law’s prescription for sin (Hebrews 10:8), Jesus came to do that which God did respect. In doing so Jesus took away the Old Covenant, which gave God no pleasure, because it was powerless to improve man’s spiritual condition, and in its place Jesus brought in the New Covenant’s sacrifice of his own flesh (Hebrews 10:9).
I think we can understand this in the manner in which we are moved to act against evil. On the one hand, we could make a law against bigotry; we may even throw money at the problem, hiring additional enforcement officials and enacting strong deterrents like prison sentences and lawsuits granting compensation to the offended party etc., but these things don’t change the heart. On the other hand, some brave soul may surrender his safety by standing with the minority figure in an effort to protect him or her. In doing so, the protector may get seriously hurt or be killed. In the aftermath, folks who were bigoted against a minority would begin to question their own behavior out of respect for the good the protector tried to do. This sort of thing does change the heart, and it was the sacrifice of self, not animals that had the Lord’s respect. We can say he took pleasure in this quality of character. Therefore, we can say that the pleasure of God in the New Covenant is seen in that “we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10)
Smoodock's Blog 