Hebrews 9

Is vicarious atonement a biblical concept? Was Jesus really a sacrifice? After all, he was not a lamb, nor a goat, nor a bull. How can he be considered to be a sacrifice for sin?

Reasons fourteen and fifteen of Twenty-Six Reasons Jewish Don't Believe in Jesus state that the Messiah is not supposed to die before fulfilling his mission and that Jesus' blood cannot atone for the sins of another.

Anyone can pray, and God knows the thoughts of every creature. The difference between this world and the world of the divine is artificial, and God pervades all things, and all things are in him, so why would anyone need a mediator?
In the New Covenant, Yeshua acts as priest, sacrifice, and mediator.
Installment 36 in the Beth Immanuel Hebrews series finishes Hebrews chapter 9 with a discussion on Hebrews 9:15-28 and the Messiah's role as a mediator between Israel and God.

Hebrews 10:10-18 presents the death of Yeshua of Nazareth as the single sacrifice for sin, but does that make Yeshua a sin offering like those once offered in the Temple? In what sense is Yeshua a sacrifice? How can he be a sacrifice when his death does not accord with the Levitical laws for the sacrificial services whatsoever? This teaching, based on the final chapter of Pastor Lancaster's booklet What about the Sacrifices? answers the difficult question of how the death of the Messiah provides atonement for sin.

What were the sacrifices supposed to accomplish? The writer of the book of Hebrews maintains that the animal sacrifices offered in the Temple cannot grant forgiveness for the world to come or the reward of eternal life. If so, why did God command the Israelites to offer sacrifices?

The contents of this discussion contributed to the First Fruits of Zion audio-teaching What About the Sacrifices?.

Bible teachers often use Hebrews 9 as proof that the disciples of Yeshua abandoned the Old Testament rituals of Temple worship and sacrifices as vestiges of an old covenant that had been replaced by a new covenant. A closer look reveals an entirely different message. Hebrews 9 uses the layout of the Temple to present  a mystical illustration of the passage from this world to the World to Come.

For more on sacrifices and the New Testament, see the First Fruits of Zion audio-teaching What About the New Covenant?.