BUT IN THOSE SACRIFICES THERE IS A REMINDER OF SINS YEAR BY YEAR: all en autais anamnesis hamartion kat eniauton: (He 9:7; Exodus 30:10; Leviticus 16:6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11,21,22,29,30,34; 23:27,28; Numbers 29:7, 8, 9, 10, 11; 1Kings 17:18; Matthew 26:28)

A reminder year by year - refers to the annual Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:1ff)

Vincent...

Each successive sacrifice was a fresh reminder of sins to be atoned for; so far were the sacrifices from satisfying the conscience of the worshipper. (Contrast the result of the better covenant - He 10:17) (cp reminder of iniquity in Nu 5:15)

Reminder (364) (anamnesis from ana = again + mimnesko = remember) means for causing someone to remember.  Each successive sacrifice was a fresh reminder of sins to be atoned for; so far were the sacrifices from satisfying the conscience of the worshipper.

Vine comments on anamnesis in this verse noting that it...

suggests more than the mere memory of having done wrong, it involves an awakening of mind, the consciousness of guilt in the sight of God, and the consequent realization, in seeking to draw near to God, of a hindrance to the unclouded enjoyment of His presence. Communion with God is impossible where guilt is upon the conscience. Where sins are not removed through acceptance of God’s means by the blood of Christ, sins and their consequences must remain both now and in the eternal state hereafter. (Vine, W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson or Logos)

Here are all the other uses of anamnesis in Scripture...

Leviticus 24:7 "And you shall put pure frankincense on each row, that it may be a memorial portion for the bread, even an offering by fire to the LORD.

Numbers 10:10 "Also in the day of your gladness and in your appointed feasts, and on the first days of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be as a reminder of you before your God. I am the LORD your God."

Psalm 38:1 A Psalm of David, for a memorial. O Lord, rebuke me not in Thy wrath; And chasten me not in Thy burning anger.

Psalm 70:1 For the choir director. A Psalm of David; for a memorial. O God, hasten to deliver me; O LORD, hasten to my help!

The most famous use of anamnesis is by our Lord Who on the night He was betrayed...

when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." (Luke 22:19) (Comment: The memory of the greatness of His sacrifice should cause the believer to abstain from sin.)

Paul reiterates this wish of our Lord...

and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me. In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." (1Cor 11:24, 25)

Daily, monthly, yearly (more than 300,000 lambs in Jerusalem on Passover to point that blood spilled down into the Kidron Valley). 

What a contrast the writer of Hebrews pictures...

OLD COVENANT - 
REMEMBER YOUR SINS

NEW COVENANT -
REMEMBER YOUR SAVIOR

Instead of pacifying the conscience, the Levitical system stabbed it awake each year when the High Priest confessed their sins. Oh, the wonder of grace, for the New Covenant reverses the pattern so that today we are called to remember not the sins but the sacrifice for those sins. (see above Lk 22:19; 1Cor 11:24) The contrasting promise of the New Covenant was that the sin would be removed and even God would “remember” their sins “no more” (He 8:12-note, He 10:17-note from Jer 31:34).

Although not using the word anamnesis, the following passage from Numbers conveys the same sense intended by the writer of Hebrews...

(In context of a wife being unfaithful) the man shall then bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring as an offering for her one-tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he shall not pour oil on it, nor put frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of memorial, a reminder of iniquity. (Nu 5:15)

Think of it this way. If someone is ill, medicine may be prescribed which effects a cure. Then every time he looks at the bottle after that, he will say: "That is what gave me back my health." On the other hand, if the medicine is ineffective, every time he looks at the bottle he will be reminded that he is still sick and that the recommended cure was useless. So it was with the Law and the Levitical system which could not cure the sin sickness.

Now how does this apply to believers today? Do we not all have a tendency to return to our own "little sacrificial systems", saying things like "My quiet time wasn't long enough this morning. Surely God won't bless me today". We have just returned to our "ritual".  Although there was no blood spilt, the jest of our action is the same as it was for Israel under the Old Covenant. But like Israel we learn that ritual and rules  only serve to remind us of our inability to keep even our own rules! We need to remember that we are not longer under the law and a sacrificial system but under grace. We need to walk by faith in the light of this new covenant truth. Then, our quiet time becomes a time of freedom and fellowship, not onerous legalism.

Jamieson writes that this reminder is...

a recalling to mind by the high priest’s confession, on the day of atonement, of the sins both of each past year and of all former years, proving that the expiatory sacrifices of former years were not felt by men’s consciences to have fully atoned for former sins; in fact, the expiation and remission were only legal and typical (Heb 10:4, He 10:11 - note). The Gospel remission, on the contrary, is so complete, that sins are “remembered no more” (He 10:17-note) by God. It is unbelief to “forget” this once-for-all purgation, and to fear on account of “former sins” (2Pe 1:9-note). The believer, once for all bathed, needs only to “wash” his hands and “feet” of soils, according as he daily contracts them, in Christ’s blood (Jn 13:10). (Hebrews 10)

Charles Simeon's sermon...

Season of Penitence Recommended
Hebrews 10:3

SIN the institutions of the Mosaic law, burthensome as they were, God consulted the best interests of his people. Repentance, faith, and obedience, were inculcated in them all. The daily sacrifices and frequent ablutions were intended to shew them, that they stood in need of mercy and of spiritual renovation: and the authority with which they were enjoined, taught them, that their whole happiness depended on an entire submission to the will of God. Those ordinances had also a further use; which was, to lead the minds of all to the contemplation of mysteries, which should in due season be more fully revealed. They did not themselves convey any solid or lasting benefit: they were mere shadows, which indicated indeed a substance; but which would vanish away, when that substance should appear. This is the view given of the law in the passage before us. The Apostle says, “The law, having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then, would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers, once purged, should have had no more conscience of sins.” Hence it appears, that the most solemn institutions of the law, not excepting the sacrifices offered ou the great day of annual expiation, were, in fact, no more than mere “remembrances of sins,” which could never be removed, but by that better Sacrifice which should in due time be offered.

But that we may have a fuller insight into this subject, I will endeavour more distinctly to shew,

I. For what end those annual remembrances of sins were enjoined—

Doubtless they were intended, as the whole of the Mosaic ritual also was, to separate the Jewish people more entirely from all the nations of the world. But they were more particularly designed,

1. To make them sensible of their need of a Saviour—

[Every offering had this tendency: no man could see his victim bleed, without seeing and acknowledging what was his own desert before God. But, if there had been no day of annual expiation appointed, the people would have been ready to imagine that every offering which they had presented to God had actually taken away the sin for which it had been offered. To guard against this fatal error, a day was appointed annually for a more especial remembrance of their sins, and for a deeper humiliation of their souls before God on account of them. Thus they were taught that neither their repentances nor their sacrifices had really availed to put away their sins: for, if they had, there had been no occasion for a repetition of them. Moreover, the same ordinances being still appointed annually, and annually observed, they were made to feel, that not even these more solemn rites had been able to prevail for the expiation of sin; so that, in fact, the guilt contracted throughout their whole lives still abode upon their souls; no offerings, which they had ever presented, having been able to remove it. In the view of this, they were particularly required to “afflict their souls.” And, in truth, this ordinance was well calculated to produce in them the deepest humiliation: for, having occasion every year to review their lives through the past year; and to add, as it were, the sum of their recent iniquities to the incalculable score that was against them in consequence of former transgressions; and being at the same time necessitated to see that nothing which they either had done, or could do, could cancel the smallest portion of their debt; they would, of necessity, be led to cry for mercy with the deepest contrition, and to acknowledge their need of that Saviour whom they were instructed to expect.]

2. To shew, then, the insufficiency of the legal sacrifices—

[Nothing could carry stronger conviction with it than this particular ordinance: for, if former sacrifices had prevailed, why should they be repeated? What occasion was there for the annual offerings, if the occasional ones had answered their full end? or why should the same sins be atoned for in a future year, which have been expiated in the present year, if the present expiation has been satisfactory and complete? Here, then, was the axe laid to the root of all self-righteous conceits. It was to no purpose that these ordinances were of Divine appointment; or that they were observed according to the strict letter of the law: they were never intended to serve as real expiations of sin; nor was the observance of them ever intended to form a justifying righteousness before God: they were intended only to shadow forth a Saviour, to whom all must look, and through whom all must be justified; and the very repetition of them was, in fact, not only a remembrance of the sins which rendered a Saviour necessary; but a pledge, that such a Saviour as they needed should in due time be sent them.]

3. To direct their eyes to that Great Sacrifice that should in due time be offered—

[In every sacrifice which was offered, they saw the Lord Jesus Christ exhibited before them: and were reminded, that in due time he should “come to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” They were informed, that there was to arise from the loins of Abraham, “a Seed, in whom all the nations of the earth should be blessed.” The Prophets Isaiah and Daniel had fully described the way in which the promised seed should effect the work assigned him: that he should “be cut off, but not for himself;” that he should be “wounded for our transgressions, and be bruised for our iniquities;” that he should “make his soul an offering for sin; and that in this way he should “finish transgression, and make an end of sin, and bring in an everlasting righteousness,” by which all the sinners of mankind, who should believe in him, should be “justified.” Now, all this was set before them; and was seen by them, with more or less distinctness, according to the faith they had in exercise: and in every sacrifice which, from year to year, was offered, they saw an herald sent, and heard his proclamation, “Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world!”]

That we may bring the matter more home to ourselves, let us consider,

II. What good may be expected from stated remembrances of sins amongst us—

It is granted, that nothing equivalent to the Mosaic ordinances is required of us. Yet, if we were to appoint stated seasons for ourselves — seasons for reviewing our past lives, and for special humiliation of our souls before God—I am persuaded we should find it highly conducive to our spiritual welfare. Such seasons would be useful,

1. For the deepening of our repentance—

[We are apt to lose, very speedily, the convictions which sin has fastened upon our mind. At first, perhaps, they are pungent, and cause considerable anguish; but in a little time the impression wears away, and we almost forget that we have sinned at all. But if we had stated seasons for calling our ways to remembrance, our past convictions would be revived, and our humiliation before God be greatly promoted. The sins of early life being thus from time to time set before us, and those of daily incursion being added to them, we should have juster views of our extreme unworthiness. The whole life would then appear to be, what in reality it is, one continued scene of iniquity. For want of such seasons of recollection, men view their sins as they do the heavens in a cloudy night, when they can see only here and there a star of greater magnitude, and at remote distances: whereas, if our self-examinations were strict, and our retrospect frequent, our lives would appear rather like the heavens in the clearest night, full of stars of a greater or lesser order, and so connected as scarcely to leave an interval between them. With such views of ourselves, our repentance would not be slight, partial, transient; but deep, universal, permanent.]

2. For the endearing of the Saviour to us—

[True is that saying, that “where much is forgiven, men will love much; and little, where little has been forgiven.” Now, if we be in the habit of bringing before our eyes the sins of our whole life, and of viewing them, even as God does, in the aggregate, how shall we adore that mercy of God that has been extended to us, and that love of Christ which he has evinced in giving himself for us! Verily, it will appear almost incredible that even God himself should be capable of such condescension and grace. This self-knowledge is at the root of the experience of the saints in heaven. Behold them all prostrate before the throne, and casting down their crowns at the Saviour’s feet; whilst they sing, “To Him that loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own blood.” This is the state of mind which self-knowledge has a tendency to generate: and if our seasons of humiliation were more deep and frequent, we should more resemble the glorified saints, both in the nature and in the expressions of our joy.]

3. For the augmenting of our vigilance against the recurrence of sin—

[It is a truth not generally considered, that the sins which more easily beset us in early life, continue, more or less, our besetting sins to the end of our days. Pride, envy, wrath, malice, lewdness, covetousness, rarely leave the soul of which they have once got an undisturbed possession. Now, if a person has been in the habit of self-examination from year to year, and of seeing by what temptations chiefly he has been overcome, he will know the better against what he needs more especially to watch: he will have seen, how, on many occasions, that, which, if resisted in the first moment, might have been easily overcome, has, by being harboured in the mind, acquired an ascendant over him, and defied his utmost efforts to subdue it. He will have seen, especially, how he has been betrayed, by unwatchfulness, into sins to which he had no natural propensity; and that there is not an evil in the human heart against which he has not reason to watch and pray. In a word, he will feel the need of committing himself wholly to the guidance of his God, and of crying continually, “Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe.”]

From this subject, then, we may learn,

1. What use to make of the present season—

[There are seasons which seem to claim somewhat more than an ordinary regard. The commencement of a new year, or the return of our natal day, may well lead us to a review of the past year, and consequently of our whole lives: and, were it so improved, how far more profitable should we find the season, than if it were spent in carnal mirth! I may add, too, how important is this suggestion in reference to eternity! Thousands go into the eternal world without having ever, in their whole lives, devoted one single day to the revision of their lives, and to humiliation for their sins. God forbid, my brethren, that you should be of that unhappy number! Let me recommend it to you all to begin, this day, to call your ways to remembrance; to enter minutely into the sins of your early youth, and of every succeeding year, even to the present hour. Let me recommend you to mark, not merely the sins of greater enormity, but those which the world accounts slight and venial. Let me recommend to you to notice the sins of omission, as well as of commission; and the sins of defect, as well as those of utter neglect. Could you be prevailed upon to take such a retrospect, it could not fail of being attended with the best consequences to your spiritual edification in this life, and to your eternal welfare in the life to come.]

2. What especially to aim at, in all the exercises of your souls—

[There is a frame of mind peculiarly characteristic of the advanced Christian: and which, I conceive, is suggested by the considerations of my text. You have seen that the most pious of God’s people, no less than others, were to observe a day in every year for the special purpose of remembering their past sins, and of afflicting their souls on account of them; whilst, at the same time, they were to renew their applications to God for mercy through the appointed sacrifices. A sense of sin was not to weaken their hope of God’s mercy, on the one hand; nor was their confidence in God’s mercy to weaken their sense of sin, on the other hand: both were to be retained in constant and united exercise; that so, whilst they “rejoiced with trembling,” they might tremble with rejoicing. Now, this is a state of mind by no means so common as might be wished. The generality of Christians, if they could feel towards God as a loving, obedient, and devoted spouse towards her husband, would conceive that they had attained the highest state of which they are capable. But, to make that image fully suited to our case, we must suppose the spouse to have been originally taken from the lowest and most degraded state by her husband; and, after her union with him, to have dishonoured him, and debased herself, by the grossest enormities. We must further suppose her husband to have followed her with the most affectionate entreaties to return to him; to have assured her of his most entire forgiveness; and, having prevailed on her to return, to be exercising towards her all imaginable kindness, without ever once uttering a single word of upbraiding. Now, suppose her to become faithful and obedient, and you will have a juster conception of the Christian’s state. Though her husband has forgiven her, can you imagine that she has forgiven herself? On the contrary, does not every act of love on her husband’s part fill her with deeper humility and self-abhorrence, for having ever acted so basely towards one of so exalted a character? Does not her whole intercourse with him, from day to day, augment her admiration of him, and her lothing of herself? Yes; though forgiven, she never for a moment forgets what she is, or what she deserves: and her whole soul is prostrate before God and man, even in the midst of her fondest endearments or her sublimest joys. Here is the Christian character: here is the character which I wish you all to attain. Do not mistake; you need not rush into gross sins in order to have a foundation for it: the adulteries of every one of you are manifest enough, without any fresh iniquities: you need only see how you have treated your divine Husband, and what base lusts you have harboured in your bosoms, from your youth up even until now, and you will see that you have need to “walk softly before God all your days,” and to “lothe yourselves before him in dust and ashes.” This is “walking humbly with God.” This will not abate either your confidence or your joy: but it will temper the one with fear, and the other with contrition.] (Horae Homileticae or, Discourses)

FOR IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE BLOOD OF BULLS AND GOATS TO TAKE AWAY SINS: adunaton gar haima tauron kai tragon aphairein (PAN) hamartias: (He 10:8; 9:9,13; Psalms 50:8, 9, 10, 11, 12; 51:16; Isaiah 1:11, 12, 13, 14, 15; 66:3; Je 6:20; 7:21,22; Ho 6:6; Amos 5:21,22; Micah 6:6, 7, 8; Mark 12:33) (He 10:11; Hosea 14:2; John 1:29; Romans 11:27; 1John 3:5)

Wuest...

The truth of this statement is so obvious that it hardly needs proof. There is no relation between the physical blood of animals and man’s moral offence.

Impossible (102) (adunatos from a = without + dunatós = possible, able, or powerful from dunamai = to be able or have power by virtue of inherent ability and resources. Note the stem duna- or dyna- conveying the basic sense of ability or capability, power, strength, might) means impossible, incapable of being or of occurring, incapable of being done.

Adunatos is used twice to convey the idea of one who is impotent, has no strength or lacks capability in functioning adequately, once in a literal sense (Acts 14:8 below  = powerless) and once in a spiritual sense (Ro 15:1-note = of those who do not "strongly" believe).

Note that adunatos is first in the Greek sentence for emphasis. It's as if the author wants to make it blazingly, blatantly clear...."Impossible it is..."! One can hardly miss his point. In regard to man’s moral offense, there is no "permanent cure" effected by the physical blood of animals.

Adunatos - 26 uses in the Septuagint (LXX) - Job 5:15,16; 20:19; 24:4, 6, 22; 29:16; 30:25; 31:16, 20, 34; 34:20; 36:15, 19; Pr 30:18; Joel 3:10)

Adunatos - 10 uses in the NT. NAS = impossible(6), no strength(1), things that are impossible(1), could not do(1), without strength(1).

One will note the obvious concentration of "impossibilities" in the book of Hebrews!

Matthew 19:26 And looking upon them Jesus said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Mark 10:27 Looking upon them, Jesus said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God."

Luke 18:27 But He said, "The things impossible with men are possible with God."

Acts 14:8 And at Lystra there was sitting a certain man, without strength in his feet, lame from his mother's womb, who had never walked.

Romans 8:3 For what the Law could not do (adunatos), weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh

Comment: The truth in Romans parallels that in Hebrews 10, Romans dealing with the Law per se and Hebrews addressing the Levitical sacrificial system. Neither source had the inherent ability to make man right before the Holy God and both point ultimately to the Son, the perfect Sacrifice and the fulfillment of the Law!

Romans 15:1 Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves.

Hebrews 6:4 (ESV) For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit,

Note:  the NASB places "impossible" in Heb 6:6-note) (Note also that commentators and some translators take adunatos to mean "difficult" but clearly from the other NT uses and specifically the uses in Hebrews this is inappropriate and leads to a thoroughly incorrect interpretation of this stern warning passage.

Hebrews 6:18  in order that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have strong encouragement, we who have fled for refuge in laying hold of the hope set before us.

Hebrews 10:4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

Blood (120) (haima) refers to literal blood as the basic oxygen carrying unit of the human body. It refers to blood as constituting the life of an individual (Lev 17:11).

Haima - 97x in 90v (~20% of blood in the NT is found in the book of Hebrews, a bloody book!) - Mt 16:17; 23:30, 35; 26:28; 27:4, 6, 8, 24, 25; Mk 5:25, 29; 14:24; Lk 8:43, 44; 11:50, 51; 13:1; 22:20, 44; John 1:13; 6:53, 54, 55; 19:34; Acts 1:19; 2:19, 20; 5:28; 15:20, 29; 18:6; 20:26, 28; 21:25; 22:20; Ro 3:15, 25; 5:9; 1Co 10:16; 11:25, 27; 15:50; Gal 1:16; Ep 1:7; 2:13; 6:12; Col 1:20; Heb 2:14; 9:7, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 25; 10:4, 19, 29; 11:28; 12:4, 24; 13:11, 12, 20; 1Pe 1:2, 19; 1Jn 1:7; 5:6, 8; Rev 1:5; 5:9; 6:10, 12; 7:14; 8:7, 8; 11:6; 12:11; 14:20; 16:3, 4, 6; 17:6; 18:24; 19:2, 13. NAS =  blood (94), hemorrhage (3).

Barnes comments that the writer is emphasizing that

there was no efficacy in the blood of a mere animal to wash away a moral offence. It could not repair the law; it could not do anything to maintain the justice of God; it had no efficacy to make the heart pure. The mere shedding of the blood of an animal never could make the soul pure. This the (writer) states as a truth which must be admitted at once as indisputable.

Max Alderman comments on the inadequacy of the blood of bulls and goats noting that...

We immediately understand that His blood is superior to animal blood. His blood is superior to all blood. Animal sacrifice under the Old Covenant could only cover sin. The Hebrew word for atonement is kophar, which literally means “to cover.” But animal sacrifice could never take away sins. Only Jesus, the Perfect Sacrifice of the New Covenant, takes sins away. The sacrifices of the old economy had a prophetic significance. They were offered not only to protect, but also to project an object lesson pertaining to the greater offering of Jesus. The greater offering was in every way superior to the lesser offering. Thank God that He is the altogether Lovely One. This is demonstrated in the fact that God found pleasure in Him. He was pleased with His Son as indicated at both the baptism of Jesus and also the transfiguration of Jesus. Notice these scriptures.

And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Mt 3:17).

This voice came at the baptism of Jesus and it was the voice of the Father declaring that His Son pleased Him. Then the same occurrence of the voice took place at the transfiguration giving the same declaration:

While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him (Mt 17:5)

These are two major public events that let something take place that had never happened before, when the Lord publicly placed His acceptance and satisfaction on His Son. Once again, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, Peter restated the fact that the Father was satisfied with His Son as they witnessed from the holy mount the voice of God.

For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount (2Pe 1:17,18-note)

These events took place indicating the superiority of the Son of God as being One uniquely set apart from all others in being able to please God. (Reference)

Take away (851) (aphaireo from apó = from + haireo = to take, seize, grasp, make a choice of one or more possible alternatives) means to put or take something away from its normal location, to put out of the way or to remove.

Luke 1:25 uses aphaireo to refer to taking away of one's reproach. (cf Ge 30:23)

All three synoptic gospels record the literal use in describing Peter's removing of an ear "away from" the slave's head!

Animal blood cannot take away sins. Here in Hebrews the use of the present tense points to a continual action and thus emphasizes what is always true.

Only God can take away sins which He will do for "all Israel" in the end times (Ro 11:27-note)

Aphaireo is used 132 times in the Septuagint (LXX) -- Ge 21:25; 30:23; 31:9, 16, 31(Jacob fearing that Laban would take away his daughters); Ge 40:19 (Joseph's prophecy of Pharaoh taking away the head of the baker); Ge 48:17; Ex 5:8, 11; 13:12; 29:27; 33:5, 23 ("Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen."); Ex 34:7 (God "Who forgives [takes away] iniquity"), Ex 34:9 ("Thou pardon our iniquity and our sin"); Ex 35:24; Lev. 1:16; 2:9; 4:10; 6:10, 15; 8:29; 9:21; 10:17; 22:15; Nu 11:17; 14:18; 15:19, 20; 18:19, 26, 28, 29, 30, 32; 21:7; 31:28, 52; 36:3, 4; Dt. 4:2; 12:32; Jos. 5:9; 1Sa 5:4; 7:14; 17:36, 39, 46, 51; 21:6; 24:4,5, 11; 30:18; 2Sa 4:7; 16:9; 20:22; 1Ki. 15:12; 20:41; 2Ki. 6:32; 1Chr 11:23; 19:4; Esther 4:4, 17; 8:2,3; Job 1:21; 9:21; 19:9; 22:6; 24:7, 10; 36:7; 38:15; Ps 76:12; Pr 1:19; 4:16; 11:30; 13:18; 14:35; 22:9; 26:7; 27:13; 30:7; Eccl 3:14; Is 1:16, 25; 3:1, 18; 4:1; 5:5, 8; 6:7; 7:17, 20; 8:8; 9:4, 14; 10:13, 27; 11:13; 14:25; 16:2; 18:5; 20:2; 22:17, 19, 25; 25:8; 27:9; 28:18; 30:11; 38:15; 40:27; 53:10; 58:9; Je 6:2; 11:15; 26:2; Ezek 21:26; 23:25; 26:16; 36:26; 45:9; 48:14; Da 4:1, 31; 5:20; 9:25; Ho 2:9; Mic 2:8; Zec 3:4; 10:11).

Here is a representative use of aphaireo in the LXX...

Genesis 30:23 So she (Jacob's wife Rachel was remembered by God and she) conceived and bore a son and said, "God has taken away (aphaireo) my reproach."

Leviticus 10:17 "Why did you not eat the sin offering at the holy place? For it is most holy, and He gave it to you to bear away (aphaireo) the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the LORD.

1 Samuel 17:51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off (aphaireo) his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.

Isaiah 6:7 And he touched my mouth with it and said, "Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away (aphaireo), and your sin is forgiven."

Zechariah 3:4 And he spoke and said to those who were standing before him saying, "Remove (aphaireo) the filthy garments from him." Again he said to him, "See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes."

Aphaireo is used 10 times in the NT...

Matthew 26:51 And behold, one of those who were with Jesus reached and drew out his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest, and cut off (took away) his ear.

Mark 14:47 But a certain one of those who stood by drew his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest, and cut off (took away) his ear.

Luke 1:25 "This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with favor upon me, to take away my disgrace among men."

Luke 10:42 but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her."

Luke 16:3 "And the steward said to himself, 'What shall I do, since my master is taking the stewardship away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg.

Luke 22:50 And a certain one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off (took away) his right ear. ( uses it

Romans 11:27 "And this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins."

Comment: He is referring of course to the New Covenant in His blood, the covenant even prophesied about in the OT in Je 31:31, 32, 33. This verse speaks of Israel's future forgiveness which was prophesied by Isaiah 27:9 "Therefore through this Jacob's iniquity will be forgiven" [LXX = aphaireo = taken away]...". When the Redeemer returns to Zion to triumph over the Antichrist and his cohorts at the end of the Great Tribulation, when He then sets up His Millennial Kingdom)  1Sa 17:51; Is 9:14; 18:5

Hebrews 10:4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Revelation 22:19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book. (Comment: This is a serious warning - sow a take away and reap the most horrible of all take away's - eternal destruction! The reader would be advised to consult Tony Garland's excellent comments on this verse in Re 22:19-note) (The LXX uses aphaireo in a similar way, Moses recording "You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you." Deuteronomy 4:2)

The Levitical system was not designed by God to remove or forgive sins. These external, visible sacrifices were always meant to be a reflection of the heart change of the one offering the sacrifice, even as external circumcision was to picture internal circumcision, of the heart, by the Spirit and not the letter (Ro 2:28, 29-note).

Levitical sacrifices foreshadowed the coming of the perfect sacrifice, the Lamb of God, the Messiah (Gal 3:24) in that it made the people expectant (1Pe 1:10-note). Paul explains...

Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith. (Galatians 3:24)

Sin (noun) (266)(hamartia [word study] literally conveys the sense of missing the mark as when hunting with a bow and arrow (in Homer some hundred times of a warrior hurling his spear but missing his foe). Later hamartia came to mean missing or falling short of any goal, standard, or purpose. Ryrie adds that "this is not only a negative idea but includes the positive idea of hitting some wrong mark."

Blood sacrifices necessitated a death and thus revealed God's utter hatred of and the the seriousness of sin. These sacrifices also spoke of the reality of God’s holiness and righteousness by indicating that sin had to be covered with the element that conveyed "life" (the life is in the blood). Finally, the blood sacrifices pointed to the necessity of full and complete forgiveness so that God could have desired fellowship with His people.

Under the Old Covenant, the priests were busy all day, from dawn to dusk, slaughtering and sacrificing animals. It is estimated that at Passover as many as 300,000 lambs would be slain within a week. The slaughter would be so massive that blood would run out of the Temple ground through specially prepared channels into the Brook Kidron, which seemed to be running red with blood. But no matter how many sacrifices were made, or how often, they were always ineffective for they could not bring access to God, could not remove sin and were only external.

The essential defects in the animal sacrifices were that they were not of the same nature with those who sinned, were not of sufficient value to make satisfaction for the affronts done to God and as mere beasts, the victims could not consent to put themselves in the sinner's place. The atoning sacrifice must be by One capable of and willing to consent to substitute Himself in the sinner's stead! Hallelujah, what a Savior. Hallelujah, what a Friend!

Ray Stedman observes that...

These animal deaths were unwilling, even unconscious, sacrifices of a lower and quite different nature and therefore inadequate substitutes for humans made in the image of God. It is impossible, says the author, for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Isaiah had quoted God long before saying, “I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats” (Is 1:11). Nevertheless, despite this limitation, through the deaths of many animals, one unchanging message was being pounded out. Every sacrifice declared it and every offering told the same story. It was burned in blood and smoke into every listening heart. The essential point for a God-approved dealing with sin in one’s life was that a life be laid down. Every dying animal meant a life brought to an end. Sin was serious; it forfeited life. Unless the sin could actually be removed, the sinner must die. To save the sinner from such a fate, an equal and willing substitute must be found. Such a substitute the author now finds described in the words of Psalm 40. (Hebrews 10:1-39 Let Us Go On!)

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From Our Daily Bread - Sacrifice