(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)
“‘Call to me, and I will answer you, and will show you great and difficult things, which you don’t know.’ For Yahweh, the God of Israel, says concerning the houses of this city and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are broken down to make a defense against the mounds and against the sword: ‘While men come to fight with the Chaldeans, and to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have killed in my anger and in my wrath, and for all whose wickedness I have hidden my face from this city, behold, I will bring it health and healing, and I will cure them; and I will reveal to them abundance of peace and truth. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and Israel, and will build them as at the first. I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against me. I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned against me and by which they have transgressed against me. This city will be to me for a name of joy, for praise, and for glory, before all the nations of the earth, which will hear all the good that I do to them, and will fear and tremble for all the good and for all the peace that I provide to it.’” Yahweh says: “Yet again there will be heard in this place, about which you say, ‘It is waste, without man and without animal, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without animal,’ the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, ‘Give thanks to Yahweh of Armies, for Yahweh is good, for his loving kindness endures forever;’ who bring thanksgiving into Yahweh’s house. For I will cause the captivity of the land to be reversed as at the first,” says Yahweh.”
(Jeremiah 33:3-11)
“Now indeed even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and an earthly sanctuary. For a tabernacle was prepared. In the first part were the lamp stand, the table, and the show bread, which is called the Holy Place. After the second veil was the tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies, having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which was a golden pot holding the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; and above it cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat, of which things we can’t speak now in detail. Now these things having been thus prepared, the priests go in continually into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the services, but into the second the high priest alone, once in the year, not without blood, which he offers for himself and for the errors of the people. The Holy Spirit is indicating this, that the way into the Holy Place wasn’t yet revealed while the first tabernacle was still standing. This is a symbol of the present age, where gifts and sacrifices are offered that are incapable, concerning the conscience, of making the worshiper perfect, being only (with foods and drinks and various washings) fleshly ordinances, imposed until a time of reformation. But Christ having come as a high priest of the coming good things, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in once for all into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify to the cleanness of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without defect to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, since a death has occurred for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, that those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.”
(Hebrews 9:1-15)
God was coming against the city and all the places in the city where the people had chosen idols. He was coming against the people who had chosen idols, refused repeatedly to repent, and then refused to leave the city to go into exile. God was judging them and going to bring them all down. But He wasn’t going to abandon the place. He would restore it. He would bring the exiled people back. He would establish proper worship. He would provide an everlasting king, and everlasting restoration, and an everlasting sacrifice. God was judging unrepentant and stubborn sin, but He was promising a Messiah who would turn it all around.
The problem wasn’t the system. The problem was that the system of sacrifice, because it was symbolic, was only good for cleansing physical things. For covering the spiritual side of things, having been purified through blood physically. Blood was important. Vital. That’s why there were rules about it and our interactions with it – so we would realize how important it was. Jesus provided the spiritual sacrifice. The perfect blood sacrifice that covered everything. That washed things CLEAN, instead of covering. He put that blood on the mercy seat in the Heavenly Temple. The true Temple. Jesus provided restoration and in Jesus all the promises of God will come true. Israel as a nation will be restored. The people will worship God properly. They will be His people and He will be their God – in a way that hasn’t been for thousands of years. These promises are partially fulfilled now, but a total and complete fulfillment is coming. And as adopted children, the Gentiles in Jesus will both witness it and rejoice for their brothers and sisters in Jesus. God’s promises are ALWAYS fulfilled. He’s given us Messiah and Messiah will restore everything.
Summary
The realest things we have in life are spiritual things. And they need spiritual sacrifice made for them. Jesus did that. He accomplished that. He finished that. We accept it or not. We walk in Him or not. We rely and rest in Him or not. But Jesus did it. The ball is in our court. We can accept the truth and live as if we trusted and believed – or not. It is up to us. The work has been done. The promise is being fulfilled and will come to pass in fullness. We will either cooperate with Him or not. We must cooperate with God in God’s plan, God’s way, or we are left out. That is how salvation works. It is a journey, not a ticket.
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