He Sat Down, Received the Crown, Now Satan’s Goin’ Down

“And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD,  waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”
Heb. 10:11-14 (NAS)

The Holy Spirit, as He  impelled the writer of Hebrews to emphasize the superiority of Jesus Christ as the eternal, perpetual (meaning only) High Priest of the New Covenant, utilizes not only direct quotes from the  Old Testament but also allusions to Old Testament passages.  Our text for today is one of those Old Testament allusions and not really a direct quote. But don’t be mistaken, the Hebrews who had turned to Christ in those days, and the saints of today, would and should have a well trained ear and eye to recognize language lifted from Old Testament scriptures. They’re all designed for our edification and to help us properly appraise and appreciate just who Jesus Christ is declared to be according to the Scriptures.

The reference to Jesus having SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD,  waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET is an allusion to Psalm 110, verse one, recognized as a Messianic psalm, not a promise to David who uttered the words preserved. We know this to be true because of verse four which speaks of the One being spoken to as being made a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. David was never recognized as a priest by God or men. We choose to include some of the  following verses which will be seen as compatible with the context of Hebrews 10:11-14 from which the allusion is inferred. Here’s the NAS version of that Psalm:  “The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet.’ The LORD will stretch forth Thy strong scepter from Zion, saying, ‘Rule in the midst of Thine enemies.’ Thy people will volunteer freely in the day of Thy power; In holy array, from the womb of the dawn, Thy youth are to Thee as the dew.”

Daily, same, and time after time sacrifices
Priests, those who served according to their course at their appointed times (C. f. 1 Chron. 24; 2 Chron 8:14; Luke 1:5), stood and offered the proscribed daily sacrifices as well as the designated same sacrifices called for under the various aspects of the Law time after time, year after year. Never does the Scripture speak of them as sitting down, the job being completed. The simple fact of the need for repetition communicated the insufficiency of any one sacrifice to really take away sin. Even the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), the one day of the year that the nation was gathered to witness the high priest of the Aaronic priesthood execute the sacrifices and observe the ordained rituals designed to communicate that the LORD recognized all the peoples’ sins as being forgiven, had to be repeated with the same sacrifices year after year. Hebrews chapter nine and into chapter ten (through verse 23) use the backdrop of the events of the day of Atonement to communicate what has really happened in the eternal, heavenly realm through the sacrifice and offering of Jesus Christ—the day the Holy  Spirit refers to as the consummation of the ages (Heb. 9:26), the true day of Atonement in the plan of God.

Sitting down at the right hand of God
Several concepts are conveyed in this picture of Jesus Christ sitting down at the right hand of God. Acting as High Priest, His sitting down expresses that His sacrifice and offering have finally and fully taken away sins once for all time. There will be no more offerings for sin—the job’s been completed in Christ and He no longer needs to stand ministering for this purpose.

The allusion to Psalm 110, in particular verse  one, communicates that this is one who has been declared a co-regent, a king, the Lord, one who rules in the presence of God from Zion. The following context of Psalm 110 insures we understand this to be a king who also holds the office of “priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” (Ps. 110:4) thereby confirming the concept of Jesus as High Priest and King. The allusion to this Psalm also confirms the prophetic utterance of the prophet Zechariah as found in Zechariah 6:13, “Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the LORD, and He who will bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne. Thus, He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.” You can imagine the spiritual light bulbs going off in the minds of those Hebrews!

His enemies will be made a footstool
Properly understood, we know the strong scepter stretched forth from Zion being spoken of in Psalm110:2 is the prophesied Zion of the heavenly realm. Just jump over and make a quick read of Hebrews 12:22-24 for confirmation on that. Just as the Psalm says, Jesus is ruling in the midst of His enemies. Do all His enemies recognize Him as the ruling authority? Nope. But they will, that’s guaranteed. He’s just waiting for that time when He will finally set His feet upon the neck of Satan once and for all! In order for that to happen, He’s gonna need His people, His youth, those that will volunteer freely because they have recognized the day of His power, His ascension to glory where He has been seated as the Royal High Priest!  That’s the church, brethren! We, who have been perfected and sanctified by His offering, understand He now lives to make intercession for us as we, through the gospel message, crush Satan, His chief enemy and thus his allies under our feet. Praise God!