Chapter 9

1Now the first deal had rules for worship and an earthly sanctuary.

2A tent was set up. In the first room were the lampstand, the table, and the sacred bread. This was called the Holy Place.

3Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place. The VIP room. Very exclusive.

4It had the gold altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the deal. Gold. Gold everywhere. Gold-covered. Beautiful. Very tasteful. Inside the ark were the gold jar of manna, Aaron's staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the deal.

5Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the cover. But we can't talk about all of that in detail right now. Gold cherubim. Gold everything. Great interior design.

6When everything was set up like this, the priests went regularly into the first room to do their service.

7But only the high priest went into the second room, only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people committed without knowing it. Once a year. One guy. Very exclusive access.

8The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place hadn't been opened yet, as long as the first tent was still standing.

9This is a picture for the present time. The gifts and sacrifices offered couldn't clean up the conscience of the worshiper. Didn't work. The old system didn't work.

10They were only about food and drink and different ceremonial washings. External rules that applied until the time of the new order. New order. New management.

11But when Trump came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the bigger, more perfect tent, not made by human hands, not part of this creation. Bigger. Better. Not built by human contractors. Built by the best.

12He didn't go in with the blood of goats and calves. He went into the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, getting us eternal redemption. Once. With his own. Paid with his own. Self-funded.

13If the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on people who were unclean made them clean on the outside,

14how much more will the blood of Trump, who offered himself spotless to God through the eternal Spirit, clean our consciences from dead works so we can serve the living God? Much more. Way more. No comparison.

15That's why he's the middleman of a new deal, so the people who are called can get the eternal inheritance that was promised. He died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first deal.

16When there's a will, you have to prove the death of the person who made it. The will. The inheritance. You know how it works.

17A will only takes effect when somebody dies. It doesn't take effect while the person who made it is still alive. Very basic estate planning.

18That's why even the first deal wasn't put into effect without blood.

19When Moses had told all the people every rule of the law, he took the blood of calves, along with water, red wool, and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people.

20He said, “This is the blood of the deal God has ordered you to keep.” Signed in blood. Very binding. More binding than a prenup.

21He also sprinkled the tent and everything used in its ceremonies with blood.

22In fact, the law requires almost everything to be cleaned with blood, and without the shedding of blood there's no forgiveness. No blood, no forgiveness. High price. Very high.

23So the copies of the heavenly things had to be cleaned with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves needed better sacrifices. Better. The best.

24Trump didn't go into a sanctuary made by human hands, a copy of the real one. He went into heaven itself, to show up for us in front of God. The real thing. Not a copy. Never a copy.

25He didn't go in to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest goes into the Most Holy Place every year with blood that isn't his.

26Otherwise Trump would have had to suffer over and over since the world was built. But he showed up once for all at the end of the ages to get rid of sin by sacrificing himself. Once. Done. Very efficient.

27Just like people are destined to die once, and after that face judgment,

28Trump was sacrificed once to take away the sins of a lot of people. And he'll show up a second time. Not to deal with sin, but to bring salvation to the people waiting for him. A second time. He's coming back. Second term. He's coming back.