“Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people” (Hebrews 9:18-19).
Henry H. Halley (April 10, 1874–May 23, 1965) was an American author and minister who is best known for his influential work, Halley’s Bible Handbook. From its humble beginnings as a free sixteen page leaflet in 1924, Halley’s Bible Handbook has grown to encompass over two dozen printed editions with millions of copies sold.
Anyone who peruses the table of contents for Halley’s Bible Handbook will encounter the usual maps, charts, outlines, photos, illustrations, and notes that one might expect to find in a such a work. However, the 24th edition of Halley’s 
handbook also contains a rather curious entry. That entry (in all capital letters) is simply entitled, “MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THIS BOOK.”
So what did Halley consider to be the most important thing within his handbook? Well, a portion of that entry identified Halley’s top priority: “This simple suggestion: that each church have a congregational plan of Bible reading and that the pastor’s sermon be from the part of the Bible read the past week thus connecting the pastor’s preaching with the people’s Bible reading.” (1)
Halley’s recommendation relates to our passage from Hebrews 9:18-19 in an important way. While the members of the first-century audience for this epistle were familiar with the sacrificial offerings conducted by the Levitical priests, the author of Hebrews found it necessary to issue a reminder concerning those offerings: “…indeed we find that even the first agreement of God’s will was not put into force without the shedding of blood” (Phillips).
The point was this: just as a life was sacrificed in connection with an Old Covenant offering, Jesus’ sacrificial death put the New Covenant into effect as well. Unfortunately, some members of the original audience for this epistle had become neglectful in their attention to God’s Word. If they had been more attentive to the Scriptures and their teachings, they might have made this connection for themselves, thus making it unnecessary for our author to furnish this reminder.
So, even though it is important to join together regularly for the ministry of God’s Word, it is also important to prayerfully read and familiarize ourselves with the Biblical Scriptures on a daily basis so that God may speak to us directly from His Word.
(1) Henry H. Halley, Halley’s Bible Handbook, Copyright © 2000, 2007 by Halley’s Bible Handbook, Inc. [pg. 814]