Something Better

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. Hebrews 11:39-40

"These:" the elders in vss 4-38.

Better than what? Better than the old sacrificial system, whereby the Levitical priest was required to bring an offering for the atonement of his own sins before he could bring an offering for the sins of the people. Better than the system that kept God separated in the Holy of Holies from the people, by a heavy veil which could only be entered into once each year by the High Priest, carrying a blood offering to represent the people. Better than the annual animal sacrifice that represented the once-for-all time atonement that would be accomplished by the One Perfect Savior. Better than a religious system whereby rituals and sacrifices had to be repeated over and over, year by year, generation by generation; to teach the people about the need for continual cleansing of their sins. Better than the promise of real estate and progeny to continue the line of God’s people in the earth.

Those things were necessary for a time, to teach the people about their problem with sin and to demonstrate God’s solution for sin. However, that system did not provide the solution, because it operated in and through sinful human beings. They were elementary teaching tools, practiced by imperfect teachers who were in their priestly positions by physical birth, not by spiritual anointing. Those human priests would also physically die and had to be replaced by new generations of human priests. There was coming an eternal Priest, Who not only would personally atone for the sins, He would also live forever to make intercession for His redeemed people. They, Israel, have had to wait for us, the Church, because in their age the promise had not been fulfilled.

All those ancient patriarchs and historical characters saw the promise of a Savior afar off, but didn’t live to realize His coming. We, the Church, have realized His coming, and His perfect fulfillment of the plan of God. We now rest our faith on that completed one-time atonement, finished by the sinless Son of God. We now have instant, constant access to God through the indwelling Holy Spirit. No veil stands in our way. Jesus purchased our salvation once and for all time by the offering of His own blood, obtained by the crushing weight of all our sins on the cross.

Now they and we await a second coming of our Lord for His own. There will be real estate for Abraham’s offspring, and it will be far greater in scope and in grandeur than Canaan, but it is yet future. The promise of spiritual completion (made perfect), though, has been realized by us and by them, who waited and watched faithfully all those many generations. They believed what they had been taught about their sin and believed in God’s solution. We believe what we are taught about our sin and have experienced God’s solution. It is finished. The eternal rewards are still future for all of God’s people, but He has them in storage for us and for the faithful who have gone before. We and they will receive them at God’s perfect time.