Now indeed even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and an earthly sanctuary.
Parallel Translations
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Now indeed even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and an earthly sanctuary.
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That fyrst tabernacle verely had ordinaunces and servynges of god and wordly holynes.
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Then the first Testament had also ordinances of religion, and a worldly Sanctuarie.
Cross-references (12)
Passages linked to Hebrews 9:1 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Exodus 25:8 Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.
- Hebrews 9:10-11 being only (with meats and drinks and various washings) fleshly ordinances, imposed until a time of reformation. But Christ having come as a high priest of the coming good things, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation,
- Leviticus 18:30 Therefore you shall keep my requirements, that you do not practice any of these abominable customs which were practiced before you, and that you do not defile yourselves with them. I am Yahweh your God.’ ”
- Hebrews 8:2 a servant of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.
- Leviticus 18:3-4 You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived. You shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. You shall not follow their statutes. You shall do my ordinances. You shall keep my statutes and walk in them. I am Yahweh your God.
- Leviticus 22:9 “ ‘They shall therefore follow my commandment, lest they bear sin for it and die in it, if they profane it. I am Yahweh who sanctifies them.
- Numbers 9:12 They shall leave none of it until the morning, nor break a bone of it. According to all the statute of the Passover they shall keep it.
- Ezekiel 43:11 If they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the form of the house, and its fashion, and its exits, and its entrances, and all its forms, and all its ordinances, and all its forms, and all its laws; and write it in their sight; that they may keep the whole form of it, and all its ordinances, and do them.
- Colossians 2:8 Be careful that you don’t let anyone rob you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the elements of the world, and not after Christ.
- Hebrews 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.
- Luke 1:6 They were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.
- Hebrews 8:13 In that he says, “A new covenant”, he has made the first old. But that which is becoming old and grows aged is near to vanishing away.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (29 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 1 Then verily the first, etc After having spoken…
1 Then verily the first, etc After having spoken generally of the abrogation of the old covenant, he now refers specially to the ceremonies. His object is to show that there was nothing practiced then to which Christ’s coming has not put an end. He says first, that under the old covenant there was a specific form of divine worship, and that it was peculiarly adapted to that time. It will hereafter appear by the comparison what kind of things were those rituals prescribed under the Law.
Some copies read, πρώτη σκηνὴ the first tabernacle; but I suspect that there is a mistake as to the word “tabernacle;” nor do I doubt but that some unlearned reader, not finding a noun to the adjective, and in his ignorance applying to the tabernacle what had been said of the covenant, unwisely added the word σκηνὴ tabernacle. I indeed greatly wonder that the mistake had so prevailed, that it is found in the Greek copies almost universally. But necessity constrains me to follow the ancient reading. For the Apostle, as I have said, had been speaking of the old covenant; he now comes to ceremonies, which were additions, as it were, to it. He then intimates that all the rites of the Mosaic Law were a part of the old covenant, and that they partook of the same ancientness, and were therefore to perish.
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Many take the word λατρείας as an accusative plural. I agree with those who connect the two words together, δικαιώματα λατρείας for institutes or rites, which the Hebrews call חוקים, and the Greeks have rendered by the word δικαιώματα ordinances. The sense is, that the whole form or manner of worshipping God was annexed to the old covenant, and that it consisted of sacrifices, ablutions, and other symbols, together with the sanctuary. And he calls it a worldly sanctuary, because there was no heavenly truth or reality in those rites; for though the sanctuary was the effigy of the original pattern which had been shown to Moses; yet an effigy or image is a different thing from the reality, and especially when they are compared, as here, as things opposed to each other. Hence the sanctuary in itself was indeed earthly, and is rightly classed among the elements of the world, it was yet heavenly as to what it signified.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain A division of the first Tabernacle which he calleth…
A division of the first Tabernacle which he calleth worldly, that is to say, transitory and earthly into two parts, to wit, into the holy places and the Holiest of all.
An earthy and a flitting.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 1 Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances…
1 Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.
Ver. 1. Then verily the first covenant] Here the apostle proveth what he had propounded, Heb 8:5, that this assertion might be sound, such as cannot be condemned, Tit 2:8.
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Ordinances] Gr. δικαιωματαρα justifications, viz. ceremonial, ritual, typical.
A worldly sanctuary] i.e. earthly and shadowy, opposed to true and heavenly.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The Holy Spirit, Heb 9:1-10:18, is illustrating his two…
The Holy Spirit, Heb 9:1-10:18, is illustrating his two last arguments taken from the tabernacle and covenant administrations, about which both the Aaronical priests and the gospel High Priest did minister; in both which Christ hath beyond all comparison the pre-eminence, which the Spirit proves by an argument drawn a comparatis, of the tabernacle and service of the Aaronical priests, and the tabernacle and work of Christ. He beginneth with a proposition of the adjuncts of the first covenant from Heb 9:1-10; The three particles introducing it, μεν, ουν, and και, agree, the one in connecting, the other demonstrating, and the last in asserting, that which followeth to depend on what went before, as: And then truly the first.
The first covenant: η πρωτη is an ellipsis, nothing is in the Greek text joined with it, though some Greek copies add σκηνη, the first tabernacle; but this is to make the same thing a property of itself, and it is absurd to read, the first tabernacle had a tabernacle; it is therefore better supplied from that which first relates to in Heb 8:7,13, viz. the Mosaical covenant administration, which had or possessed, as its proper adjuncts, even those three distinct ones following.
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Had also ordinances; δικαιωματα, we read ordinances; others, ceremonies or rites. It is derived from a passive verb, and may signify, a righteous sentence or ordinance of God, or a righteous event that answers that law or decree, as Rom 8:4. In the plural it notes jura, the laws of God, but especially here the ceremonial laws, these just constitutions for ministry which God gave by Moses to the Aaronical priesthood.
Of divine service; λατρειας, which our translators make of the genitive case singular; but this is repugnant to the next words connected to it, which should strictly be of the same case; it is therefore best rendered in the accusative case plural, and by apposition to ordinances, and so is read services or worship, which because it refers to God, our translators have added to it the word Divine. How various this worship was in the ministry of the high priest and ordinary priests, the apostle showeth afterward, and therefore most properly to be rendered services.
And a worldy sanctuary: το αγιον was the sanctuary where these services were performed, called the holy, from its relation to God and his service. It consisted of two tabernacles, as is described, Heb 9:2,3. It is styled κοσμικον, being externally decent, beautiful, and glorious, as is evident by its description, Exo 26:1-37. Made it was after God’s own model, a mystical structure, and a type of a better; yet though that were so pleasing to the eye of the world, its materials were, like it, frail, brittle, and passing away, as things made with hands make way for better, Heb 9:24.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain In this, and the following verses, the Apostle gives…
In this, and the following verses, the Apostle gives us a particular and distinct view of the typical ordinances in the old covenant under the Mosaic dispensation, and also of their accomplishment in Jesus Christ:
And here in general he acquaints us, that the first covenant had an outward legal service, with sundry rites and ordinances of divine worship, and a wordlly sanctuary, raised by men, of earthly materials; a temporary tabernacle; verily the first covenant had ordinances of divine service, &c.
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Observe here, That there never was any covenant between God and man, but it had some ordinances and institutions of divine worship annexed unto it; the original covenant of works had the ordinances of the tree of life, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The covenant of Sinai, whereof the apostle here speaks, had a multitude of them, and the gospel covenant is not destitute of them; witness our sacraments and public worship.
Observe, 2. That all ordinances for worship must be resolved into divine ordination or institution, as that which renders them acceptable and well pleasing unto God: A worship not ordained by God is not acceptable to God: it had ordinances of worship.
Observe lastly, How God can animate outward carnal things with an hidden invisible spring of glory and efficacy. So he did their sanctuary with its relation unto Christ, which was an object of faith, which no eye of flesh could behold.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Here, I. The apostle gives an account of the…
Here, I. The apostle gives an account of the tabernacle, that place of worship which God appointed to be pitched on earth; it is called a worldly sanctuary, wholly of this world, as to the materials of which it was built, and a building that must be taken down; it is called a worldly sanctuary, because it was the court and palace of the King of Israel. God was their King, and, as other kings, had his court or place of residence, and attendants, furniture, and provision, suitable thereto. This tabernacle (of which we have the model, Ex. 25-27) was a moving temple, shadowing forth the unsettled state of the church militant, and the human nature of the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily. Now of this tabernacle it is said that it was divided into two parts, called a first and a second tabernacle, an inner and an outer part, representing the two states of the church militant and triumphant, and the two natures of Christ, human and divine. We are also told what was placed in each part of the tabernacle.
1. In the outer part: and there were several things, of which you have here a sort of schedule. (1.) The candlestick; doubtless not an empty and unlighted one, but where the lamps were always burning. And there was need of it, for there were no windows in the sanctuary; and this was to convince the Jews of the darkness and the mysterious nature of that dispensation. Their light was only candle-light, in comparison of the fullness of light which Christ, the Sun of righteousness, would bring along with him, and communicate to his people; for all our light is derived from him the fountain of light. (2.) The table and the show-bread set upon it. This table was set directly opposite to the candlestick, which shows that by light from Christ we must have communion with him and with one another. We must not come in the dark to his table, but by light from Christ must discern the Lord's body. On this table were placed twelve loaves for the twelve tribes of Israel, a loaf for a tribe, which stood from sabbath to sabbath, and on that day were renewed. This show-bread may be considered either as the provision of the palace (though the King of Israel needed it not, yet, in resemblance of the palaces of earthly kings, there must be this provision laid in weekly), or the provision made in Christ for the souls of his people, suitable to the wants and to the relief of their souls. He is the bread of life; in our Father's house there is bread enough and to spare; we may have fresh supplies from Christ, especially every Lord's day. This outer part is called the sanctuary or holy, because erected to the worship of a holy God, to represent a holy Jesus, and to entertain a holy people, for their further improvement in holiness.
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2. We have an account of what was in the inner part of the sanctuary, which was within the second veil, and is called the holiest of all. This second veil, which divided between the holy and the most holy place, was a type of the body of Christ, by the rending whereof not only a view, but a way, was opened for us into the holiest of all, the type of heaven itself. Now in this part were, (1.) The golden censer, which was to hold the incense, or the golden altar set up to burn the incense upon; both the one and the other were typical of Christ, of his pleasing and prevailing intercession which he makes in heaven, grounded upon the merits and satisfaction of his sacrifice, upon which we are to depend for acceptance and the blessing from God. (2.) The ark of the covenant overlaid round about with pure gold, Heb 9:4. This typified Christ, his perfect obedience to the law and his fulfilling of all righteousness for us. Now here we are told both what was in this ark and what was over it. [1.] What was in it. First, The golden pot that had manna, which, when preserved by the Israelites in their own houses, contrary to the command of God, presently putrefied; but now, being by God's appointment deposited here in this house, was kept from putrefaction, always pure and sweet; and this to teach us that it is only in Christ that our persons, our graces, our performances are kept pure. It was also a type of the bread of life we have in Christ, the true ambrosia that gives immortality. This was also a memorial of God's miraculously feeding his people in the wilderness, that they might never forget such signal favour, nor distrust God for the time to come. Secondly, Aaron's rod that budded, and thereby showed that God had chosen him of the tribe of Levi to minister before him of all the tribes of Israel, and so an end was put to the murmuring of the people, and to their attempt to invade the priest's office, Num 17:1-13. This was that rod of God with which Moses and Aaron wrought such wonders; and this was a type of Christ, who is styled the man, the branch (Zac 6:12), by whom God has wrought wonders for the spiritual deliverance, defence, and supply of his people, and for the destruction of their enemies. It was a type of divine justice, by which Christ the Rock was smitten, and from whom the cool refreshing waters of life flow into our souls. Thirdly, The tables of the covenant, in which the moral law was written, signifying the regard God has to the preservation of his holy law, and the care we all ought to have that we keep the law of God - that this we can only do in and through Christ, by strength from him nor can our obedience by accepted but through him. [2.] What was over the ark (Heb 9:5): Over it the cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy-seat. First, The mercy-seat, which was the covering of the ark; it was called the propitiatory, and it was of pure gold, as long and as broad as the ark in which the tables of the law were laid. It was an eminent type of Christ, and of his perfect righteousness, ever adequate to the dimensions of the law of God, and covering all our transgressions, interposing between the Shechinah, or symbol of God's presence, and our sinful failures, and covering them. Secondly, The cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy-seat, representing the holy angels of God, who take pleasure in looking into the great work of our redemption by Christ, and are ready to perform every good office, under the Redeemer, for those who are the heirs of salvation. The angels attended Christ at his birth, in his temptation, under his agonies, at his resurrection, and in his ascension, and will attend his second coming. God manifest in the flesh was seen, observed, visited, by the angels.
II. From the description of the place of worship in the Old Testament dispensation, the apostle proceeds to speak of the duties and services performed in those places, Heb 9:6. When the several parts and furniture of the tabernacle were thus settled, then what was to be done there?
1. The ordinary priests went always into the first tabernacle, to accomplish the service of God. Observe, (1.) None but priests were to enter into the first part of the tabernacle, and this to teach us all that persons not qualified, not called of God, must not intrude into the office and work of the ministry. (2.) The ordinary priests were only to enter into the first part of the tabernacle, it would have been fatal presumption in them to have gone into the holiest of all; and this teaches us that even ministers themselves must know and keep in their proper stations, and not presume to usurp the prerogative of Christ, by offering up incense of their own, or adding their own inventions to the ordinances of Christ, or lording it over men's consciences. (3.) These ordinary priests were to enter into the first tabernacle always; that is, they were to devote themselves and all their time to the work of their office, and not alienate themselves at any time from it; they were to be in an habitual readiness for the discharge of their office, and at all stated appointed times were actually to attend to their work. (4.) The ordinary priests must enter into the first tabernacle, that they might there accomplish the service of God. They must not do the work of God partially or by halves, but stand complete in the whole of his will and counsel; not only beginning well, but proceeding well, and persevering to the end, fulfilling the ministry they had received.
2. Into the second, the interior part, went the high priest along, Heb 9:7. This part was an emblem of heaven, and Christ's ascension thither. Here observe, (1.) None but the high priest must go into the holiest; so none but Christ could enter into heaven in his own name, by his own right, and by his own merits. (2.) In entering into the holiest, the high priest must first go through the outer sanctuary, and through the veil, signifying that Christ went to heaven through a holy life and a violent death; the veil of his flesh was rent asunder. (3.) The high priest entered but once a year into the holiest, and in this the antitype excels the type (as in every thing else), for he has entered once for all, during the whole dispensation of the gospel. (4.) The high priest must not enter without blood, signifying that Christ, having undertaken to be our high priest, could not have been admitted into heaven without shedding his blood for us, and that none of us can enter either into God's gracious presence here or his glorious presence hereafter, but by the blood of Jesus. (5.) The high priest, under the law, entering into the holiest, offered up that blood for himself and his own errors first, and then for the errors of the people, Heb 9:7. This teaches us that Christ is a more excellent person and high priest than any under the law, for he has no errors of his own to offer for. And it teaches us that ministers, when in the name of Christ they intercede for others, must first apply the blood of Christ to themselves for their pardon. (6.) When the legal high priest had offered for himself, he must not stop there, but must also offer for the errors of the people. Our high priest, though he needs not to offer for himself, yet forgets not to offer for his people; he pleads the merit of his sufferings for the benefit of his people on earth. Observe, [1.] Sins are errors, and great errors, both in judgment and practice. We greatly err when we sin against God; and who can understand all his errors? [2.] They are such errors as leave guilt upon the conscience, not to be washed away but by the blood of Christ; and the sinful errors of priests and people must be all done away by the same means, the application of the blood of Christ; we must plead this blood on earth, while he is pleading it in heaven for us.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Then verily the first covenant had ordinances of divine…
Then verily the first covenant had ordinances of divine service,.... The design of the apostle in this chapter, as it stands in connection with what goes before, is to show the pre-eminence of Christ, from the tabernacle, and the things in it; as well as from the priesthood and covenant; and as also the abrogation of the Levitical ceremonies in particular, as well as the first covenant in general; and that they were all types and figures of Christ, and had their fulfilment in him: the word "first", here used, designs not the tabernacle, but the covenant; therefore it is rightly thus supplied in our version, as it is in the Arabic and Ethiopic versions: which is said to have "ordinances of divine service"; belonging to the service of God, which was performed both by the priests, and by the people; and these ordinances were no other than the carnal ordinances, or rites of the ceremonial law: the word used signifies "righteousnesses"; and they are so called, because they were appointed by a righteous God; and were imposed on the people of the Jews in a righteous way; and by them men became externally and typically righteous; for they were figures and types of justification by the righteousness of Christ, though no complete, perfect, real righteousness, came by them.
And a worldly sanctuary. Philo the Jew says (l), it was a type of the world, and of the various things in it; though it was rather either a type of the church, or of heaven, or of Christ's human nature: the better reason of its being so called is, because it consisted of earthly matter, and worldly things; it was in the world, and only had its use in the world, and so is opposed to the heavenly sanctuary; for the Jews often speak of , "a sanctuary above", and , "a sanctuary below" (m), and of , "a tabernacle above", and , "a tabernacle below" (n); which answered to one another: the words may be rendered "a beautiful sanctuary", a well adorned one; and such especially was the temple, or sanctuary built by Solomon, rebuilt by Zerubbabel, and repaired and adorned by Herod, Luk 21:5. And the Jews say, that he that never saw Herod's building, meaning the temple, never saw a beautiful building; see Luk 21:5.
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(l) De Vita Mosis, p. 667. (m) Jarchi in Gen. xxviii. 17. (n) Zohar in Exod. fol. 65. 4. & 94. 4. & 96. 2. & in Lev. fol. 1. 3.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The first covenant had ordinances of outward worship, and…
The first covenant had ordinances of outward worship, and a worldly - a visible, material sanctuary, or tabernacle. Of this sanctuary he treats, ver. 2-5. Of those ordinances, ver. 6-10.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Of the first covenant, and its ordinances, 1.
CHAPTER IX.
Of the first covenant, and its ordinances, 1.
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The tabernacle, candlestick, table, show-bread, veil, holy of
holies, censer, ark, pot of manna, Aaron's rod, tables of the
covenant, cherubim of glory, and mercy seat, 2-5.
How the priests served, 6, 7.
What was signified by the service, 8-10.
The superior excellency of Christ's ministry and sacrifice, and
the efficacy of his blood, 11-26.
As men must once die and be judged, so Christ was once offered
to bear the sins of many, and shall come without a
sin-offering, a second time, to them that expect him, 27, 28.
NOTES ON CHAP. IX.
Verse 1. The first covenant had also ordinances] Our translators have introduced the word covenant, as if διαθηκη had been, if not originally in the text, yet in the apostle's mind. Several MSS., but not of good note, as well as printed editions, with the Coptic version, have σκηνη tabernacle; but this is omitted by ABDE, several others, both the Syriac, AEthiopic, Armenian, Vulgate, some copies of the Itala, and several of the Greek fathers; it is in all probability a spurious reading, the whole context showing that covenant is that to which the apostle refers, as that was the subject in the preceding chapter, and this is a continuation of the same discourse.
Ordinances] δικαιωματα. Rites and ceremonies.
A worldly sanctuary.] αγιον κοσμικον. It is supposed that the term worldly, here, is opposed to the term heavenly, Heb 8:5; and that the whole should be referred to the carnality or secular nature of the tabernacle service. But I think there is nothing plainer than that the apostle is speaking here in praise of this sublimely emblematic service, and hence he proceeds to enumerate the various things contained in the first tabernacle, which added vastly to its splendour and importance; such as the table of the show-bread, the golden candlestick, the golden censer, the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, in which was the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the two tables which God had written with his own finger: hence I am led to believe that κοσμικος is here taken in its proper, natural meaning, and signifies adorned, embellished, splendid; and hence κοσμος, the world: Tota hujus universi machina, coelum et terram complectens et quicquid utroque contineter, κοσμος dicitur, quod nihil ea est mundius, pulchrius, et ornatius. "The whole machine of this universe, comprehending the heavens and the earth, and whatsoever is contained in both, is called κοσμος, because nothing is more beautiful, more fair, and more elegant." So Pliny, Hist. Nat., l. ii. c. 5: Nam quem κοσμον Graeci nomine ornamenti appellaverunt, eum nos a perfecta absolutaque elegantia, MUNDUM. "That which the Greeks call κοσμος, ornament, we, (the Latins,) from its perfect and absolute elegance call mundum, world." See on "Ge 2:1".
The Jews believe that the tabernacle was an epitome of the world; and it is remarkable, when speaking of their city, that they express this sentiment by the same Greek word, in Hebrew letters, which the apostle uses here: so in Bereshith Rabba, s. 19, fol. 19: כל קוזמיקון שלו שם הוא col kozmikon (κοσμικον) shelo sham hu. "All his world is placed there." Philo says much to the same purpose.
If my exposition be not admitted, the next most likely is, that God has a worldly tabernacle as well as a heavenly one; that he as truly dwelt in the Jewish tabernacle as he did in the heaven of heavens; the one being his worldly house, the other his heavenly house.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Heb 9:1. To show that the old covenant was…
Heb 9:1. To show that the old covenant was justly laid aside, the apostle judged it necessary to enter into a particular examination of the religious services which it enjoined, and to prove that these were designed not for cleansing the consciences of the worshippers, but to prefigure the services and blessings of the new or gospel covenant: so that the latter being come, there was no longer occasion for continuing the former to prefigure them. This chapter, therefore, is an illustration of chap. Heb 8:5, where the apostle affirms that the priests worshipped God in the tabernacles unto the example or pattern and shadow of heavenly things. And it was proper to explain this matter copiously, because it must have had a great influence in weaning the Hebrews from the Levitical services, and in reconciling them to the abrogation of a form of worship which, though of divine appointment, was now become useless, having accomplished its end.
Then verily the first covenant — Many copies read here πρωτη σκηνη, the first tabernacle; but as that reading does not agree with Heb 9:2, Beza and Mill prefer the reading of the Alexandrian and other MSS. of good authority, which have πρωτη, leaving the reader to supply διαθηκη, covenant, from the preceding verse. This reading our translators likewise have adopted. Had ceremonial ordinances of outward worship, and a worldly, that is, a visible, material sanctuary, or tabernacle. The meaning of the apostle is, that the Sinai covenant had these things annexed to it when it was first made, as its privileges and glory. For in the whole discourse he has continual respect to the first making of the covenant, and the first institution of its administrations; and this was that part of divine worship about which God had so many controversies with the people of Israel, under the Old Testament. The law of this worship was a hedge that God had set about them to keep them from superstition and idolatry. And, if at any time they brake over it, or neglected it, they failed not to rush into the most abominable idolatries. On the other hand, oftentimes they placed all their trust and confidence for their acceptance with God, and reception of blessings from him, on the external observance of its institutions. And hereby they countenanced themselves, not only in a neglect of moral duties and spiritual obedience, but in a course of flagitious sins, and various wickednesses. To repress these exorbitances, with respect to both extremes, the ministry of the prophets was, in an especial manner, directed.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Then verily - Or, moreover. The object is to…
Then verily - Or, moreover. The object is to describe the tabernacle in which the service of God was celebrated under the former dispensation, and to show that it had a reference to what was future, and was only an imperfect representation of the reality. It was important to show this, as the Jews regarded the ordinances of the tabernacle and of the whole Levitical service as of divine appointment, and of perpetual obligation. The object of Paul is to prove that they were to give place to a more perfect system, and hence, it was necessary to discuss their real nature.
The first covenant - The word “covenant” is not in the Greek, but is not improperly supplied. The meaning is, that the former arrangement or dispensation had religious rites and services connected with it.
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Had also ordinances - Margin, “Ceremonies.” The Greek word means “laws, precepts, ordinances;” and the idea is, that there were laws regulating the worship of God. The Jewish institutions abounded with such laws.
And a worldly sanctuary - The word “sanctuary” means a holy place, and is applied to a house of worship, or a temple. Here it may refer either to the temple or to the tabernacle. As the temple was constructed after the same form as the tabernacle, and had the same furniture, the description of the apostle may be regarded as applicable to either of them, and it is difficult to determine which he had in his eye. The term “worldly,” applied to “sanctuary,” here means that it pertained to this world; it was contradistinguished from the heavenly sanctuary not made with hands where Christ was now gone; compare Heb 9:11-24. It does not mean that it was “worldly” in the sense in which that word is now used as denoting the opposite of spiritual, serious, religious; but worldly in the sense that it belonged to the earth rather than to heaven; it was made by human hands, not directly by the hands of God.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain The former.[1] In the ordinary Greek copies is expressed…
The former.[1] In the ordinary Greek copies is expressed the former tabernacle; but even the Protestant translators have abandoned that reading, and understand the former testament or covenant, which they have put in a different character. --- Worldly sanctuary, or a temporal sanctuary, to last only for a time, like the things of this world. (Witham) -- The word ordinances (Greek: dikaiomata) is frequently used for the laws and ordinances of God, because the observance of the laws is the justification of man; see particularly in the 118th Psalm, the legal rites justified in regard to the outward policy of the Jews.
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
Habuit & prius, Greek: eiche e prote. Though almost all Greek copies have Greek: skene, tabernacle: yet even the Protestant translators add in a different print, covenant, as if Greek: diatheke was understood. Ibid. [Ver. 1.] Sanctum sæculare, Greek: kosmikon. This Greek word is only found in one other place in the New Testament, Titus ii. 12. sæcularia desideria.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
John Nelson Darby 1862 · Public Domain Hebrews Chapter 9
Hebrews Chapter 9
The epistle, recounting some particular circumstances which characterised the first covenant shews that neither were sins put away, nor was the conscience purged by its means, nor the entrance into the holiest granted to the worshipers. The veil concealed God. The high priest went in once a year to make reconciliation-no one else. The way to God in holiness was barred. Perfect, as pertaining to the conscience, they could not be through the blood of bulls and of goats. These were but previsionary and figurative ordinances, until God took up the real work itself, in order to accomplish it fully and for ever.
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But this brings us to the focus of the light which God gives us by the Holy Ghost in this epistle. Before proving by the scriptures of the Old Testament the doctrine that he announced and the discontinuance of the actual sacrifices-of all sacrifice for sin, the writer, with a heart full of the truth and of the importance of that truth, teaches the value and the extent of the sacrifice of Christ (still in contrast with the former offerings, but a contrast that rests on the intrinsic value of the offering of Christ). These three results are presented:-first, the opened way into the sanctuary was manifested, that is , access to God Himself, where He is, second, the purification of the conscience; third, and eternal redemption (I may add the promise of an eternal inheritance).
One feels the immense importance, the inestimable value, of the first. ‘The believer is admitted into God’s own presence by a new and living way which he has consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, His flesh; has constant access to God, immediate access to the place where He is, in the light. What complete salvation, what blessedness, what security! For how could we have access to God in the light, if everything that would separate us from Him, were not entirely taken away through Him who was once offered to bear the sins of many? But here it is the precious and perfect result, in this respect, which is revealed to us, and formally proved in chapter 10, as a right that we possess, that access to God Himself is entirely and freely open to us. We are not indeed told in this passage that we are seated there, for it is not our union with Christ that is the subject of this epistle, but our access to God in the sanctuary. And it is important to note this last, and it is as precious in its p]ace as the other. We are viewed as on earth and being on earth we have free and full access to God in the sanctuary. We go in perfect liberty to God, where His holiness dwells, and where nothing that is contrary to Him can be admitted. What happiness! What perfect grace! What a glorious result, supreme and complete! Could anything better be desired, remembering too that it is our dwelling-place? This is our position in the presence of God through the entrance of Christ into the sanctuary.
The second result shews us the personal state we are brought into, in order to the enjoyment of our position; that we may, on our part, enter in freely. It is that our Saviour has rendered our conscience perfect, so that we can go into the sanctuary without an idea of fear, without one question as to sin arising in our minds. A perfect conscience is not an innocent conscience which, happy in its unconsciousness, does not know evil, and does not know God revealed in holiness. A perfect conscience knows God; it is cleansed, and, having the knowledge of good and evil according to the light of God Himself, it knows that it is purified from all evil according to His purity. Now the blood of bulls and goats, and the washing repeated under the law, could never make the conscience perfect. They could sanctify carnally, so as to enable the worshiper to approach God outwardly, yet only afar off, with the veil still unrent. But a real purification from sin and sins, so that the soul can be in the presence of God Himself in the light without spot, with the consciousness of being so the offerings under the law could never produce. They were but figures. but, thanks be to God, Christ has accomplished the work; and, present for us now in the heavenly and eternal sanctuary, He is the witness there that our sins are put away; so that all conscience of sin before God is destroyed, because we know that He who bore our sins is in the presence of God, after having accomplished the work of expiation. Thus we have the consciousness of being in the light without spot. We have the purification not only of sins but of the conscience, so that we can use this access to God in full liberty and joy, presenting ourselves before Him who has so loved us.
The third result, which seals and characterises the two others, is that Christ, having once entered in abides in heaven. He has gone into the heavenly sanctuary to remain there by virtue of an eternal redemption, of blood that has everlasting validity. The work is completely done, and can never change in value. If our sins are effectually put away, God glorified, and righteousness complete, that which once availed to effect this can never not avail. The blood shed once for all is ever efficacious.
Our High Priest is in the sanctuary, not with the blood of sacrifices, which are but figures of the true. The work has been done which puts sin away. This redemption is neither temporal not transitory. It is the redemption of the soul, and for eternity, according to the moral efficacy of that which has been done.
Here then are the three aspects of the result of the work of Christ: immediate access to God; a purged conscience; and eternal redemption.
Three points remain to be noticed before entering on the subject of the covenants, which is here resumed.
First, Christ is a High Priest of good things to come. In saying “things to come”,the starting-point is Israel under the law before the advent of our Lord. Nevertheless, if these good things were now acquired, if it could be said, “we have them,” because Christianity was their fulfillment, it could hardly be still said-when Christianity was established-”good things to come.” They are yet to come. These “good things” consist of all that the Messiah will enjoy when He reigns. This also is the reason that the earthly things have their place. But our present relationship with Him is only and altogether heavenly. He acts as Priest in a tabernacle which is not of this creation: it is heavenly, in the presence of God, not made with hands. Our place is in heaven.
In the second place, “Christ offered himself, by the eternal Spirit [16], without spot, to God.” Here the precious offering up of Christ is viewed as an act that He performed as man, though in the perfection and Value of His Person. He offered Himself to God-but as moved by the power, and according to the perfection of the Eternal Spirit. All the motives that governed this action, and the accomplishment of the fact according to those motives, were purely and perfectly those of the Holy Ghost; that is, absolutely divine in their perfection, but of the Holy Ghost acting in a man (a man without sin who, born and living ever by the power of the Holy Ghost, had never known sin; who, being exempt from it by birth, never allowed it to enter into Him); so that it is the Man Christ who offers Himself. This was requisite.
Thus the offering was in itself perfect and pure, with out defilement; and the act of offering was perfect, whether in love or in obedience, or in the desire to glorify God, or to accomplish the purpose of God. Nothing mingled itself with the perfection of His intent in offering Himself. Moreover, it was not a temporary offering, which applied to one sin with which the conscience was burdened and which went no farther than that one an offering which could not, by its nature, have the perfection spoken of, because it was not the Person offering up Himself, nor was it absolutely for God, because there was in it neither the perfection of will nor of obedience. But the offering of Christ was one which, being perfect in its moral nature, being in itself perfect in the eyes of God, was necessarily eternal in its value. For this value was as enduring as the nature of God who was glorified in it.
It was made, not of necessity, but of free will, and in obedience. It was made by a man for the glory of God, but through the Eternal Spirit, ever the same in its nature and value.
All being, thus perfectly fulfilled for the glory of God, the conscience of every one that comes to Him by this offering is purged; dead works are blotted out and set aside; we stand before God on the ground of that which Christ has done.
And here the third point comes in. Being perfectly cleansed in conscience from all that man in his sinful nature produces, and having to do with God in light and in love, there being no question of conscience with Him, we are in a position to serve the living God. Precious liberty! in which, happy and without question before God according to His nature in light, we can serve Him according to the activity of His nature in love. Judaism knew no more of this than it did of perfection in conscience. Obligation towards God that system indeed maintained; and it offered a certain provision for that which was needed for outward failure. But to have a perfect conscience, and then to serve God in love, according to His will-of this it knew nothing.
This is Christian position: the conscience perfect by Christ, [17] according to the nature of God Himself; the service of God in liberty, according to His nature of love acting towards others.
For the Jewish system, in its utmost advantages, was characterised by the holy place. There were duties and obligations to be fulfilled in order to draw near, sacrifices to cleanse outwardly him who drew near outwardly. Meanwhile God was always concealed. No one entered into “the holy place:” it is implied that the “most holy” was inaccessible. No sacrifice had yet been offered which gave free access, and at all times. God was concealed: that He was so characterised the position. They could not stand before Him. Neither did He manifest Himself. They served Him out of His presence without going in.
It is important to notice this truth, that the whole system in its highest and nearest access to God was characterised by the holy place, in order to understand the passage before us.
Now the first tabernacle-Judaism as a system-is identified with the first part of the tabernacle, and that open only to the priestly part of the nation, the second part (that is, the sanctuary) only shewing, by the circumstances connected with it, that there was no access to God. When the author of the epistle goes on to the present position of Christ, he leaves the earthly tabernacle-it is heaven itself he then speaks of, a tabernacle not made with hands, nor of this creation, into which he introduces us.
The first tent or part of the tabernacle gave the character of the relationship of the people with God, and that only by a priesthood. They could not reach God. When we approach God Himself, it is in heaven; and the entire first system disappears. Everything was offered as a figure in the first system, and even as a figure shewed that the conscience was not yet set free, nor the presence of God accessible to man. The remembrance of sins was continual]y renewed (the annual sacrifice was a memorial of sins and God was not manifested, nor the way to Him opened).
Christ comes, accomplishes the sacrifice, makes the conscience perfect, goes into heaven itself; and we draw nigh to God in the light. To mingle the service of the first tabernacle or holy place with Christian service is to deny the latter; for the meaning of the first was that the way to God was not yet open; the meaning of the second, that it is open.
God may have patience with the weakness of man. Till the destruction of Jerusalem He bore with the Jews; but the two systems can never really go on together, namely, a system which said that one cannot draw nigh to God, and another system which gives access to Him.
Christ is come, the High Priest of a new system, of “good things,” which, under the old system, were yet “to come ;” but He did not enter into the earthly most holy place, leaving the holy place to subsist without a true meaning. He is come by the (not a) more excellent and more perfect tabernacle. I repeat it, for it is essential here: the holy place, or the first tent, is the figure of the relationship of men with God under the first tabernacle (taken as a whole); so that we may say, “the first tabernacle,” applying it to the first part of the tabernacle, and pass on to the first tabernacle as a whole, and as a recognised period having the same meaning. This the epistle does here. To come out of this position, we must leave typical things and pass into heaven, the true sanctuary where Christ ever lives, and where no veil bars our entrance.
Now it is not said, that we have “the good things to come.” Christ has gone into heaven itself, the High Priest of those good things, securing their possession to them that trust in Him. But we have access to [18] God in the light by virtue of Christ’s presence there. That presence is the proof of righteousness fully established; the blood, an evidence that our sins are put away for ever; and our conscience is made perfect. Christ in heaven is the guarantee for the fulfillment of every promise. He has opened an access for us, even now, to God in the light, having cleansed our consciences once for all-for He dwells on high continuously-that we may enter in, and that we may serve God here below.
All this is already established and secured; but there is more. The new covenant,of which He is Mediator, is founded on His blood.
The way in which the apostle always avoids the direct application of the new covenant is very striking.
The transgressions that were imputed under the first covenant, and which the sacrifices it offered could not expiate, are by the blood of the new covenant entirely blotted out. Thus they which are called -observe the expression (ver. 15)-can receive the promise of the eternal inheritance; that is to say, the foundation is laid for the accomplishment of the blessings of the covenant. He says, “the eternal inheritance,” because, as we have seen, the reconciliation was complete, our sins borne and canceled, and the work by which sin is finally put away out of God’s sight accomplished, according to the nature and character of God Himself. This is the main point of all this part of the epistle.
It is because of the necessity there was for this sacrifice-the necessity that sins, and finally sin, should be entirely put away, [19] in order to the enjoyment of the eternal promises (for God could not bless, as an eternal principle and definitively, while sin was before His eyes), that Christ, the Son of God, Man on earth, became the Mediator of the new covenant, in order that by death He might make a way for the permanent enjoyment of that which had been promised. The new covenant, in itself, did not speak of a Mediator. God would write His laws on the hearts of His people, and would remember sins no more.
The covenant is not yet made with Israel and Judah. But meanwhile God has established and revealed the Mediator, who has accomplished the work on which the fulfillment of the promises can be founded in a way that is durable in principle, eternal, because connected with the nature of God Himself. This is done by means of death, the wages of sin and by which sin is left behind; and expiation for sins being made according to the righteousness of God, an altogether new position is taken outside and beyond sin. The Mediator has paid the ransom. Sin has no more right over us.
Verses 16, 17 are a parenthesis, in which the idea of a “testament “(it is the same word as “covenant “in the Greek, a disposition on the part of one who has the right of disposal) is introduced, to make us understand that death must have taken place before the rights acquired under the testament can enjoyed. [20] This necessity of the covenant being founded on the blood of a victim was not forgotten in the case of the first covenant. Everything was sprinkled with blood. Only in this case it was the solemn sanction of death attached to the obligation of the covenant. The types always spoke of the necessity of death intervening before men could be in relationship with God. Sin had brought in death and judgment. We must either undergo the judgment ourselves or see our sins blotted out through it having been undergone by another for us.
Three applications of the blood are presented here. The covenant is founded on the blood. Defilement is washed away by its means. Guilt is removed by the remission obtained through the blood that has been shed.
These are in fact the three things necessary. First the ways of God in bestowing blessing according to His promise are connected with His righteousness, the sins of those blessed being, atoned for, the requisite foundation of the covenant, Christ having withal glorified God in respect of sin when made sin on the cross.
Second the purification of the sin by which we were defiled (by which all things that could not be guilty were nevertheless defiled) is accomplished. Here there were cases in which water was typically used: this is moral and practical cleansing. It flows from death, the water that purifies proceeded from the side of the holy Victim already dead. It is the application of the word-which
judges all evil and reveals all good-to the conscience and the heart.
Third, as regards remission. In no case can this be obtained without the shedding of blood. Observe that it does not here say “application.” It is the accomplishment of the work of true propitiation, which is here spoken of. Without shedding of blood there is no remission. All-important truth! For a work of remission, death and blood-shedding must take place.
Two consequences flow from these views of atonement and reconciliation to God.
First, it was necessary that there should be a better sacrifice, a more excellent victim, than those which were offered under the old covenant, because it was the heavenly things themselves, and not their figures, that were to be purified. For it is into the presence of God in heaven itself that Christ has entered.
Secondly, Christ was not to offer Himself often, as the high priest went in every year with the blood of others. For He offered up Himself. Hence, if all that was available in the sacrifice was not brought to perfection by a single offering once made, He must have suffered often since the foundation of the world. [21] This remark leads to the clear and simple declaration of the ways of God on this point- a declaration of priceless value. God allowed ages to pass (the different distinct periods in which man has in divers ways been put to the test, and in which he has had time to shew what he is) without yet accomplishing His work of grace. This trial of man has served to shew that he is bad in nature and in will. The multiplication of means only made it more evident that he was essentially bad at heart, for he availed himself of none of them to draw near to God. On the contrary, his enmity against God was fully manifested.
When God had made this plain, before the law, under the law, by promises, by the coming and presence of His Son, then the work of God takes the place, for our salvation and God’s glory, of man’s responsibility-on the ground of which faith knows man is entirely lost. This explains the expression (ver. 26) “in the consummation of the ages.”
Now this work is perfect, and perfectly accomplished. Sin had dishonoured God, and separated man from Him. All that God had done to give him the means of return only ended in affording him opportunity to fill up the measure of his sin by the rejection of Jesus. But in this the eternal counsels of God were fulfilled, at least the moral basis laid, and that in infinite perfection, for their actual accomplishment in their results. All now in fact, as in purpose always, rested on the second Adam, and on what God had done, not on man’s responsibility, while that was fully met for God’s glory. (Compare 2Ti 1:9-10; Tit 1:1 Tit 2:1-2.) The Christ, whom man rejected, had appeared in order to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Thus it was morally the consummation of the ages.
The result of the work and power of God are not yet manifested. A new creation will develop them. But man, as the child of Adam, has run his whole career in his relationship with God: he is enmity against God. Christ, fulfilling the will of God, has come in the consummation of ages, to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, and His work to this end is accomplished. This is the moral power of His act, [22] of His sacrifice before God; in result, sin will be entirely blotted out of the heavens and the earth. To faith this result, namely, the putting away of sin, is already realised in the conscience, [23] because Christ who was made sin for us has died and died to sin, and now is risen and glorified, sin (even as made it for us) left behind.
Moreover, this result is announced to the believer- to those who are looking for the Lord’s return. Death and judgment are the lot of men as children of Adam. Christ has been opened once to bear the sins of many; and “unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation,” not to judgment.
For them, as to their standing before God, sin is even now put away: as Christ is, so are they; their own sins are all blotted out. Christ appeared the first time in order to be made sin for us, and to bear our sins; they were laid upon Him on the cross. And, with regard to those who wait for Him, those sins are entirely put away. When He returns, Christ has nothing, to do with sin, as far as they are concerned. It was fully dealt with at His first coming. He appears the second time to deliver them from all the results of sin, from all bondage. He will appear, not for judgment, but unto salvation. The putting away of sin on their behalf before God has been so complete, the sins of believers so entirely blotted out, that, when He appears the second time, He has, as to them nothing to do with sin. He appears apart from sin, not only without sin in His blessed Person-this was the case at His first coming-but (as to those who look for Him) outside all question of sin, for their final deliverance.
“Without sin” is in contrast with “to bear the sins of many.” [24] But it will be remarked, that the taking up of the assembly is not mentioned here. It is well to notice the language. The character of His second coming is the subject. He has been manifested once. Now He is seen by those who look for Him. The expression may apply to the deliverance of the Jews who wait for Him in the last days. He will appear for their deliverance. But we expect the Lord for this deliverance, and we shall see Him when He accomplishes it even for us. The apostle does not touch the question of the difference between this and our being caught up, and does not use the word which serves to announce His public manifestation. He will appear to those who expect Him. He is not seen by all the world, nor is it consequently the judgment, although that may follow. The Holy Ghost speaks only of them that look for the Lord. To them He will appear. By them He will be seen, and it will be the time of their deliverance; so that it is true for us, and also applicable to the Jewish remnant in the last days.
Thus the Christian position, and the hope of the world to come, founded on the blood and on the Mediator of the new covenant, are both given here. The one is the present portion of the believer, the other is secured as the hope of Israel.
How wonderful is the grace which we are now considering!
There are two things that present themselves to us in Christ-the attraction to our heart of His grace and goodness, and His work which brings our souls into the presence of God. It is with the latter that the Holy Ghost here occupies us. There is not only the piety which grace produces; there is the efficacy of the work itself. What is this efficacy? What is the result for us of His work? Access to God in the light without a veil, ourselves entirely clear of all sin before Him, as white as snow in the light which only shews it. Marvelous position for us! We have not to wait for a day of judgment (assuredly coming as it is), nor to seek for means of approach to God. We are in His presence. Christ appears in the presence of God for us. And not only this: He remains there ever; our position therefore never changes. It is true that we are called to walk according to that position. But this does not touch the fact that such is the position. And how came we into it ? and in what condition ? Our sins entirely put away, perfectly put away, and once for all, and the whole question of sin settled for ever before God, we are there because Christ has finished the work which abolished it, and without it in God’s sight. So that there are the two things- this work accomplished, and this position ours in the presence of God.
We see the force of the contrast between this and Judaism. According to the latter, divine service, as we have seen, was performed outside the veil. The worshipers did not reach the presence of God. Thus they had always to begin again. The propitiatory sacrifice was renewed from year to year-a continually repeated testimony that sin still was there. Individually they obtained a temporary pardon for particular acts. It had constantly to be renewed. The conscience was never made perfect, the soul was not in the presence of God, this great question was never settled. (How many souls are even now in this condition!) The entrance of the high priest once a year did but furnish a proof that the way was still barred that God could not be approached, but that sin was still remembered.
But now the guilt of believers is gone, their sins washed away by a work done once for all; the conscience is made perfect; nor is there any condemnation for them. Sin in the flesh has been condemned in Christ when a sacrifice for sin, and Christ appears ever in the presence of God for us. The High Priest remains there. Thus, instead of having a memorial of sin reiterated from year to year, perfect righteousness subsists ever for us in the presence of God. The position is entirely changed.
The lot of man (for this perfect work takes us out of Judaism) is death and judgment. But now our lot depends on Christ, not on Adam. Christ was offered to bear the sins of many [25] -the work is complete, the sins blotted out, and to those who look for Him He will appear without having anything, to do with sin that question having been entirely settled at His first, coming. In the death of Jesus, God dealt with the sins of those who look for Him; and He will appear, not to judge, but unto salvation-to deliver them finally from the position into which sin had brought them. This will have its application to the Jewish remnant according to the circumstances of their position; but in an absolute way it applies to the Christian, who has heaven for his portion.
The essential point established in the doctrine of the death of Christ is, that He offered Himself once for all. We must bear this in mind, to understand the full import of all that is here said. The tenth chapter is the development and application of this. In it the author recapitulates his doctrine on this point, and applies it to souls, confirming it by scripture and by considerations which are evident to every enlightened conscience.
1. The law, with its sacrifices, did not make the worshipers perfect; for, if they had been brought to perfection, the sacrifices would not have been offered afresh. If they were offered again, it was because the worshipers were not perfect. On the contrary the repetition of the sacrifice was a memorial of sins; it reminded the people that sin was still there, and that it was still before God. In effect the law, although it was the shadow of things to come, was not their true image. There were sacrifices; but they were repeated instead of there being one only sacrifice of eternal efficacy. There was a high priest, but he was mortal, and the priesthood transmissible. He went into the holiest, but only once a year, the veil which concealed God being unrent, and the high priest unable to remain in His presence, the work being not perfect. Thus there were indeed elements which plainly indicated the constituent parts, so to speak, of the priesthood of the good things to come; but the state of the worshipers was in the one case quite the opposite of that which it was in the other. In the first, every act shewed that the work of reconciliation was not done; in the second, the position of the high priest and of the worshiper is a testimony that this work has been accomplished, and that the latter are perfected for ever in the presence of God.
Footnotes for Hebrews Chapter 9
16: The reader will remark how anxiously, so to speak, the Epistle here attaches the epithet “eternal” to everything. It was not a temporary or earthly ground of relationship with God, but an eternal one; so of redemption; so of inheritance. Corresponding to this, as to the work on earth, it is once for all. It is not unimportant to notice this as to the nature of the work. Hence the epithet attached even to the Spirit.
17: For in Christ we are the righteousness of God. His blood cleanses us on God’s part. Jesus wrought out the purification of sins by Himself, and glorified God in so doing.
18: It is all-important thoroughly to understand, that it is into the presence of God that we enter; and that, at all times, and by virtue of a sacrifice and of blood which never lose their value. The worshiper, under the former tabernacle, did not come into the presence of God; he stayed outside the unrent veil. He sinned-a sacrifice was offered: he sinned again-a sacrifice was offered. Now the veil is rent. We are always in the presence of God without a veil. Happen what may, He always sees us-sees us in His presence-according t the efficacy of Christ’s perfect sacrifice. We are there now, by virtue of a perfect sacrifice, offered for the putting away of sin, according to the divine glory, and which has perfectly accomplished the purification of sins. I should not be in the presence of God in the sanctuary, if I had not been purified according to the purity of God, and by God. It was this which brought me there. And this sacrifice and this blood can never lose their value. Through them I am therefore perfect for ever in the presence of God; I was brought into it by them.
19: The work in virtue of which all sin is finally put away out of God’s sight-abolished-is accomplished, the question of good and evil is come to a final issue on the cross, and God perfectly glorified when sin was before Him; the result will not be finally accomplished till the new heavens and the new earth. But our sins having been borne by Christ on the cross, He rises, atonement being made, an eternal testimony that they are gone for ever, and that by faith we are now justified and have peace. We must not confound these two things, our sins being put away, and the perfectly glorifying God in respect of sin, when Christ was made sin, the results of which are not yet accomplished. As regards the sinful nature, it is still in us; but Christ having died, its condemnation took place then, but, that being in death, we reckon ourselves dead to it, and no condemnation for us.
20: Some think that these two verses are not a parenthesis speaking of a testament, but a continuation of the argument on the covenant, taking the word “diatithemai” to mean, not the testator, but the sacrifice, which put a seal, more solemn than an oath, on the obligation of observing the covenant. It is a very delicate Greek question, on which I do not here enter. But I cannot say they have convinced me.
21: And He must have repeatedly suffered, for there must be reality in putting away sin.
22: The more we examine the cross from God’s side of it, the more we shall see this: man’s enmity against God, and against God come in goodness, was absolutely displayed; Satan’s power in evil over man too; man’s perfectness in love to the Father and obedience to Him; God’s majesty and righteousness against sin, and love to sinners, all He is; all good and evil perfectly brought to an issue, and that in the place of sin, that is, in Christ made sin for us. When sin was as such before His face in the sinless One where it was needed and God perfectly glorified, and indeed the Son of man too, morally the whole thing was settled, and we know it: the actual results are not yet produced.
23: The judgment, which will fall upon the wicked, is not sin. Much more also is involved in the work and position of Christ, even heavenly glory with God: but it is not our subject here.
24: It is of moment to see the difference between Heb 9:26 and Heb 9:28. Sin had to be put away abstractedly out of God’s sight, and hence He had to be perfectly glorified in respect of it, in that place where sin was before Him. Christ was made sin, appeared to abolish it out of God’s sight, “eis athetesis (?) hamartia”. Besides this, our sins (guilt) were in question, and Christ bore them in His own body on the tree. The sins are borne, and Christ has them no more. They are gone as guilt before God for ever. The work for the abolition of sin in God’s sight is done, and God owns it as done, having glorified Jesus who has glorified Him as to it when made sin. So that for God the thing is settled, and faith recognises this, but the result is not produced. The work is before God in all its value, but the sin still exists in the believer and in the world. Faith owns both, knows that in God’s sight it is done, and rests as God does in it but the believer knows that sin is still, de facto, there and in him: only he has a title to reckon himself deadto it-that sin in the flesh is condemned, but in the sacrifice for sin, so that there is none for him. The athetesis (?) is not accomplished, but what does It is; so that God recognises it, and so does faith, and stands perfectly clear before God as to sin and sins. He that is dead (and we are, as having died with Christ) is justified from sin. Our sins have all been borne. The difficulty partly arises from “sin “being, used for a particular act, and also abstractedly. In the word “sins” there is no such ambiguity. A sacrifice for sin may apply to a particular fault. Sin entered into the world is another idea. This ambiguity has produced the confusion.
25: The word “many” has a double bearing here, negative and positive. It could not be said “all,” or all would be saved. On the other hand the word many generalises the work, so that it is not the Jews only who are its object.
John Nelson Darby — Synopsis of the Books of the Bible: the New Testament (c. 1857–1862) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain Superiority of the New Covenant mediated by Jesus Christ
PART THIRD
Superiority of the New Covenant mediated by Jesus Christ
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FIRST SECTION
THE NEW COVENANT PRODUCES FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD, WHICH THE OLD ONLY FIGURATIVELY REPRESENTS AND PROMISES
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I
The typical and symbolical character of the Mosaic sanctuary points in itself to but an imperfect communion with God
Heb_9:1-10
1Then verily [There belonged indeed now even to εἶχε μὲν οὖν καί] the first1 covenant had also [om. had also] ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary [its sanctuary as one belonging to this world]. 2For there was a tabernacle made [κατεσκευάσθη, constructed and fitted out, Heb_3:4]; the first [foremost], wherein was the candlestick, and the table, 3and the shewbread; which is called the [om. the] sanctuary. And after [μετά, after =behind] the second vail, the tabernacle which is called the holiest of all; 4Which had the golden censer [a golden altar of incense, θυμιατήριον], and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; 5And over it the cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy seat; of which [things] we cannot now speak particularly. 6Now when these things were thus ordained [And these things having been thus arranged], the priests went [enter indeed] always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God [their ministrations, λατρείας,]; 7But into the second went [enters] the high priest alone once every year [in, the year], not without blood, which he offered [offers] for himself, and for the errors of the people: 8The Holy Ghost this signifying [signifying this], that the way into the holiest of all [the sanctuary, τῶν ἁγίων] was not [has not been] yet made manifest, while as [om. 9as] the first [foremost] tabernacle was [is] yet standing: Which was [is] a figure for the time then [om. then] present, in which [according to which, viz., figure]2 were [are] offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not [cannot] make him that did the service [him that renders the service, τὸν λατρεύοντα] perfect, as pertaining to the 10conscience; Which stood only in [standing merely in connection with] meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances,3 imposed on them until the time of reformation.
[Εἶχε μὲν οὖν, had indeed, to be sure, now. Οὖν, as usual, links the coming discussion with, what precedes; the concessive μέν intimates that the prerogatives here conceded to the Old Covenant, are to find by and by their limitations, as at Heb_9:6, or at Heb_9:11. The “then verily” of the Eng. ver. has no warrant either in the original or in the context. Alford’s rendering “now accordingly,” is very little better.—τὸ ἅγιον κοσμικόν not, and a worldly sanctuary, but and its sanctuary, as one belonging to the world. It is difficult to take the words as=τὸ ἅγ τὸ κοσ., the, or its, worldly sanctuary. It is also hard here to take κοσμικόν as purely predicative, via., its sanctuary a worldly one=the sanctuary which it had belonged to the world. Better, perhaps, to regard it as quasi predicative, as a sort of after thought=and its sanctuary, to wit, one belonging to the world.
Heb_9:2.—Κατεσκευάσθη, was constructed, reared, established, not exactly, made—ἅγια, holy place, sanctuary, not, the sanctuary.
Heb_9:3.—θυμιατήριον, probably not censer, but altar of incense. (See below).
Heb_9:6.—τούτων δε οὕτως κατεσ., and these things having been thus arranged,—the priests enter, etc. This construction is scarcely a solecism, as Alford calls it, but is, I think, perfectly good English, although “being thus arranged,” would here express nearly the same idea, and would give the sense with sufficient exactness.—εἰσίασιν, not went, but enter, as Heb_9:7.—προσφέρει, not offered, but offers, and so of other verbs in this passage. And the explanation is not that the author “conceives of the whole system and arrangement as still subsisting,” but simply employs the historical present, transporting himself back into the past, and indicating that the priestly and high-priestly entrances which he describes, followed upon the previously described arrangements. It seems extraordinary that this simple and obvious, and only natural explanation of the passage, should have been so generally lost sight of, and the author charged with ignorance and mistakes which in such a writer, to say nothing of his inspiration, are utterly inconceivable, and which are in fact purely factitious, being chargeable only on the failure of his critics to recognize a natural and elegant rhetorical usage. The idea that the author fancied that the sacred articles above described were found either in the then existing temple, or even in the temple of Solomon, is countenanced by nothing in the text. There is no good reason for supposing that his mind past beyond the Mosaic tabernacle, the original and proper symbol of the Old Covenant, whose grand leading features indeed were reproduced in the temple, of which, however, the author makes no mention.
Heb_9:7.—ὃ προσφέρει, which he offers—ὑπὲρ ἑαυτοῦ, on behalf of himself.
Heb_9:8.—πεφανερῶσθαι, has been (not “was”) made manifest, the Perf. in keeping with the Pres. εἰσίασι, and προσφέρει, and προσφέρονται (Heb_9:9).—τῆς πρώτης σκηνῆς,the foremost tabernacle.—ἐχούσης στάσιν, holding or retaining its standing, place, position.
Heb_9:9.—ἥτις, as usual characteristic; as one which=quippe quæ.—παραβολή (έστιν, understood), is a likeness, similitude, figure: supply is, not was (ἦν), because the whole construction is in the historical present.—εἰς τὸν καιρὸν τὸν ἐνεστηκότα, for the present, or existing season, viz., not that of the time of the writer (as supposed by some), but that of the Old Economy of which and for which the outer tabernacle was a παραβολή; and the Part, ἐνεστηκότα keeps up the figure of the present time, as in the verb εἰσίασιν, etc. To make this ἐνεστ. καιρόν refer to the Messianic period, even with Alford’s explanation, that it is not a figure of, but for the present time, is still to deprive it of nearly all its significance, and, when taken in connection with the following καθ’ ἣν δῶρα προσφέρονται, is inextricably to confuse the whole passage.—καθ’ ἥν, according to which, scil. παραβολήν, figure, or emblem.—προσφέρονται, are being offered in this present ante-Christian time into which the author has thrown himself back.
Heb_9:10.—μόνον ἐπί, only conditioned upon, or, as Moll, standing in connection with; hardly, with Alf. and Eng. ver., consisting in, or standing in, which could scarcely be affirmed of the gifts and sacrifices. They stood connected with them, or as it were conditioned upon them.—μέχρι καιροῦ διορθώσεως, until the season of rectification.—ἐπικείμενα, lying upon, as burdens.—K.].
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Heb_9:1. There belonged, indeed, now also to the first, etc.—The καί, also or even, points to a parallel instituted between the Old and the New Covenant. Μἐν οὖν intimates that, in accordance with the preceding representation, this actual result is to be recognized, that the concession here made of the excellencies of the Old Covenant [εἶχε μέν, had to be sure, had, I grant] is to be followed by its limitations, which reduce these arrangements of the Old Covenant to their true value, and at Heb_9:6 ff. bring out the contrasted features of the New Covenant. The preterites εἶχε and κατεσκευάσθη prove not that the destruction of the temple has as yet actually taken place, but refer, the former to the covenant which God Himself has made antiquated (πεπαλαίωκεν, Heb_8:13), the other to that Mosaic sanctuary which stood connected with it, and was copied after the heavenly pattern. As the language has to do with arrangements for worship, the word δικαιώματα, ordinances, needs a more precise limitation. Hence we are not, with Luth., Grot., etc., to take λατρείας as Acc. plur., but as Gen. sing. The δικ. are thus characterized as ordinances of divine worship, and are, by the particle τε, closely attached to ἅγιον. This word should not, therefore, with Luth., Carpz., and others, be taken in an ethical sense; but designates the sanctuary whose constituent parts are immediately recounted. Previously, however, it is more exactly characterized by the adj. κασμικόν, which either, according to later usage, is connected with the noun without the article (Bernhardy Synt., p. 323), or, since it is common to connect ἔχειν with a definite object, and a predicative adj. without the article (Madvig § 12), and since this construction is also familiar to our author (Heb_5:14; Heb_7:23), gives predicatively the characteristic quality of the sanctuary in question. A comparison with Heb_9:11; Heb_9:24, shows that it stands in contrast with ἐπουράνιον, and hence can mean only sæculare (Vulg.), belonging to this world; not, “accessible to the whole world, and thus even to the heathen” (Chrys., Erasm., and others)—which, in fact, was true of only a part of the sanctuary, the court of the Gentiles—nor “celebrated throughout the whole world” (Kypke); nor “adorned, decorated, well-furnished and arranged” (Homberg); nor “symbolizing the universe” (as Theodor. Mops., Theodoret, Grot., and others).
Heb_9:2. For a tabernacle, etc.—The author designates the two parts of the tabernacle, separated by a veil, the holy place, and the Holy of holies, as two tabernacles (Heb_9:2-3); hence ἡ πρώτη, added to define the preceding general word σκηνή, is here not temporal, but local, and the neut. plur. ἅγια stands contrasted with the ἅγια ἁγίων. It is erroneously taken by Erasm., Luth., and others, as fem. sing. ἁγία. In the temple of Solomon there were ten candlesticks, 1Ki_7:49; 2Ch_4:7; in that of Herod, on the contrary (after Exo_25:31 ff; Exo_37:17 ff.), only one (Joseph. Bell. Jud., Heb_9:5; Heb_9:5; VII. 5, 5) of fine gold with seven branches, standing on the south side. On the north side stood the table of cedar-wood, overlaid with gold plates, two cubits long, one broad, one cubit and a-half high, with golden rings at its feet for two poles by which it was carried. On this table were the censers and the “loaves of the presence” (shew bread), i.e., twelve cakes of finest meal, each six palms long, five broad, and a finger in thickness, which lay supported on golden forks and cross-pieces, and were each week eaten by the priests. Our author appears to name, not the things themselves, but their sacred use, viz., πρόθεσις τῶν ἄρτων, the setting forth of the loaves. Since the LXX., however, use this expression, 2Ch_13:11, for the translation of מַעַרֶכֶת הַלֶּחֶם, the keeping up of the bread, we need not, with Bl., De W., and Lün., maintain against Thol., that the passive meaning is, perhaps, possible in Heb. and Lat. (strues), but not in Greek. Nor may we, with Grot., Beng., and others, assume a hypallage, nor a hendyadis with Valckenaer.
Heb_9:3. And behind the second veil.—In this verse the author appears to commit an archæological error in transferring to the inner sanctuary the altar of incense. For Joseph. (Bell. Jud., Heb_9:5; Heb_9:5) and Philo (Ed. Mang., I. 504) place the altar of incense (two cubits high, a cubit in length, and a cubit in breadth, and overlaid with gold), consisting of acacia wood (in the temple of Solomon of cedar wood, 1Ki_6:20), in the holy place between the candlestick and the table. The great importance of this springs from the fact that Exo_30:10, this, as well as at Exo_40:10, the altar of burnt offering, is designated by the name ἅγιον τῶν ἁγίων, and that, on the annual great day of atonement, this was purified by the high-priest with the same blood which he bore into the Holiest of all, Lev_16:18. Also it is called, Exo_40:5; Exo_40:24; Num_4:11, τὸ θυσιαστήριον τὸ χρυσοῦν. It is hence inadmissible to suppose that our author has entirely omitted to mention this altar, and that θυμιατήριον may denote the censer (Pesh., Vulg., Theoph., Luth., Grot., Wets., Beng., Stier, Bisp., etc.). These expositors (including some profoundly versed in Heb. antiquities, as Reland, De Dieu, Braun, Deyling, J. D. Michael.) appeal, indeed, to the fact that the altar of incense is commonly called τὸ θυσιαστήριον θυμιάματος, while the censer on the other hand is called (Eze_8:11; 2Ch_26:19; Joseph. Antt. IHebrews Heb_9:2; Heb_9:4) θυμιατήριον. From this, however, we can draw no certain inference, as we can point out no constant and uniform mode of designating these utensils. The word θυμιατήριον appears in Joseph., Philo, Clem. Alex., Orig., as the common term for the altar of incense, and is even found several times as a various reading in the Sept. Besides, the golden censer is only mentioned in the ritual of the second temple, under the name of כַּף, but not in the Law, to which alone our author refers. There is only a shovel-formed basin mentioned Lev_16:12, with which the high-priest brought the coals from the altar of burnt offering, and this is called מַחְתָּה, πυρεῖον, and is not spoken of as gold. Nor need we attach any weight to the fact that Joseph. (Bell. Jud. I. 7, 6; Antt. XIHebrews Heb_9:4; Heb_9:4), in enumerating the objects which Pompey saw in the sanctuary, mentions only the golden table and candlestick, the abundance of incense and the sacred presents, but not the altar; and (Bell. Jud., Heb_9:5; Heb_9:5) speaks only of the carrying away of the candlestick and table. For, however surprising it may be, that even on the triumphal arch of Titus are sculptured only the golden table, the candlesticks, and the vessels of incense, still all this proves nothing for our passage, in which the author is speaking of the divinely instituted arrangements of the tabernacle, not describing the later temple; for in this temple were found no longer, even in the time of Solomon (1Ki_8:6), the here mentioned pot of manna, the budding rod of Aaron, and, after the loss of the ark of the Covenant, its place was indicated in the temple of Herod only by a stone. Bleek, Lün., and others, therefore, assume, in explanation of the error which they charge upon our author regarding the position of the altar of incense, that, a stranger to Jerusalem, he has drawn his knowledge of the sanctuary of Israel only from the writings of the Old Testament, and has been led astray, 1, by Exo_26:35, where only table and candlestick are mentioned as furniture of the sanctuary; 2, by the indefinite and easily misunderstood statement regarding the position of the altar, Exo_30:6; Exo_40:5; Exo_40:26; Lev_4:7; Lev_16:12; Lev_16:18; Leviticus , 3, by the special distinguishing of the altar of incense at the great day of atonement. But it is scarcely conceivable, that in matters so generally known, and in a communication to the Hebrews so carefully elaborated, and so intrinsically important, the author should have allowed himself in so gross an error as that of placing the altar of incense behind the second veil (which was called καταπέτασμα in distinction from the first, the κατάλυμμα). Add to this that the author would then have involved himself in contradiction with another well-known fact, and even with himself. For at Heb_9:7 he notices the fact that the high-priest went but once a year into the holiest of all. Must he, then, not have known that on the altar of incense the incense offering was daily made as symbol of prayer (Rev_8:3), not merely by the priests on whom the lot fell (Luk_1:9), but frequently by the high-priest himself? Most unquestionably, since Heb_9:6 he himself refers to this service of the priests. We are, therefore, justified in assuming that the author does not refer here to local position (for which he uses ἐν) but that the part. ἔχουσα, having, may probably denote the idea of belonging to, which in Heb. is denoted by לְ. This explanation is, in fact, adopted by many of those interpreters, who, referring it, indeed, to the censer, yet suppose that this latter had its permanent place not in the Most Holy place, but in the utensil chamber (Theophyl., Grot., Beng., Menken, Stier, etc.), since, according to Lev_16:13, the precise purpose of the incense was to prevent the high-priest from beholding the Capporeth, and it seemed unnatural to suppose that the high-priest had let the incense-vessel remain over the whole year in the inner sanctuary, and then on the day of atonement should have exchanged it with the one recently brought from the utensil chamber of the temple; or that the high-priest should have brought in incense and coals in a golden vessel, and shaken these upon a special incense-vessel, which had its fixed place in the inner sanctuary (Peirce). Surrendering the local sense of ἔχειν (as we certainly must, Heb_9:1), it is assuredly more natural to refer the term to the far more important altar of incense; and we may point in confirmation to the fact, that not only Isa_6:6 introduces an altar belonging to the heavenly sanctuary, but that at 1Ki_6:22, the connection between the altar of incense and the holy of holies is expressed by the form הַמִּזְבֵּחַ אֲשֶׁר לַדְּבִיר = the altar belonging to the inner shrine, the adytum (Keil against Thenius: so also Ebr., Del., Riehm); so also according to Exo_30:6; Deut. 40:5, it would seem to have been placed over against the ark of the Covenant, and on the day of atonement to have been, like the Capporeth, sprinkled with the blood of the sacrifice (Lev_16:18). The only ground of doubt would lie in the circumstance that the mention of the ark of the Covenant immediately follows (connected by καί), and that this most unquestionably had its place (Exo_26:34) in the holiest of all. But we must not forget that though the ark of the Covenant was, indeed, brought (1 Kings 8) into the temple of Solomon, yet it perished in the destruction of that temple by the Chaldeans, so that the second temple had, in its most holy place, absolutely none of these articles, as Joseph. (Bell. Jud. Heb_9:5; Heb_9:5) expressly testifies (ἔκειτο δὲ οὐδὲν ὄλως ἐν αὐτῷ). This also confirms our belief that the purpose of the author is not to describe the holy localities and furniture of the second temple, but that these things are mentioned only in order to exhibit that which mirrored forth the peculiar nature and dignity, and especially the symbolical and typical character, of the Mosaic sanctuary. The assumption of Wieseler, that the temple at Leontopolis had precisely the arrangement here mentioned, and possessed sacred objects and utensils, modelled after the pattern of those here enumerated, is a hypothesis quite destitute of any historical proof.
In which was a golden pot, etc.—Ἐν ᾗ refers not to σκηνή (Justiniani, Pyle, Peirce), but to κιβωτός, and stands in contrast with ὑπεράνω. The same idea that the pot of manna and the rod of Aaron were kept in the ark of the Covenant itself, is found with later writers, who appeal to the authority of tradition (see Wetst.); and the expressions of Scripture make rather for than against it. The locality is indeed, Exo_16:33, left undetermined by the mere regulation that the pot shall be kept for a memorial “before Jehovah.” But it is said of it, Exo_9:34, and, Numb. 17:25, of the rod of Aaron, that they were placed לִפְנֵי הָעֵדוּת before the testimony. This term, however, never denotes the ark, but often designates the law. Besides the tables of the law, such objects might perhaps well have their most fitting place in the sacred ark, as being essentially memorials and symbols of the miraculous interpositions of Divine grace (Ebr.), and not mere contrasts to those fruits and products of the earth which were daily or weekly presented in the sanctuary. In the sojourn of the ark among the Philistines, these objects, fraught indeed with religious significance, yet not belonging to the rites of worship, might have disappeared, since we are told, 1Ki_8:9, that on the removal of the ark into the temple of Solomon, it contained nothing but the two tables of the law.
Heb_9:5. The cherubim of glory.—The article before δόξης, in Griesb. and Schultz, is, according to all the uncial MSS., to be expunged The Gen., however, serves here not to designate the glorious or splendid quality of the two symbolical figures, wrought massively out of fine gold, which occupied the two extremities of the cover of the ark of the Covenant, upon which, with faces turned toward each other, they looked down, and which they covered with their outspread wings. We must rather refer it to the δόξα θεοῡ, which also stands at 1Sa_4:22; Sir_49:8, without an article, because regarded as a proper name, and which was throned above the cherubim, 1Sa_4:4; 2Sa_6:2; 2Ki_19:15; Isa_37:16. But the throne of God is called, Eze_9:3; Eze_10:4; Eze_10:18-19, a throne of glory, כִםֵּא הַכָּבוֹד. But from this throne of the sacred service God was pleased also to speak to Moses, Exo_25:22; Num_7:89. For the massive golden cover of the ark of the Covenant (which ark itself was overlaid within and without with plates of gold) had essentially the significance of a mediation between the ark of the Covenant and the God who was enthroned above it, 1Ch_28:2; Psa_99:5; Psa_132:7; Isa_66:1; Lam. Jer_2:1. Primarily it was the footstool of the throne, whose bearers or symbols are the cherubim, and which rests upon the covenant of the law. For equity and righteousness, as revealed in the law of God, form the pillars of this throne, Psa_89:15; Psa_97:2; whence also the sanctuary, and particularly the ark of the Covenant itself, is the throne of Jehovah, Exo_15:17; 1Ki_8:13. By the sprinkling of the blood of the sin-offering, however, the Capporeth becomes not so much the cover to that law which worketh the wrath of God (Hofm. after Hengst.), as a ἰλαστήριον ἐπίθεμα, propitiatory covering, Exo_25:16, and then a ἱλαστήριον in general, according to Lev_16:15 ff. The idea of covering has transformed itself into that of expiation, i.e., covering of sin, whence also, 1Ch_28:11, the most holy place is called בֵּית הַכַּפֹּרֶת. While Josephus writes οἱ and αἱ χερουβεῖς, and Philo always τὰ χερουβίμ, the LXX. fluctuate between the ordinary form of the neut. and the rarer one of the masc. The closing syllable also varies between βείμ, βείν, βίμ, and βίν. The neut. springs from the fact of their being regarded as ζῶα, Eze_10:15. The περὶ ὦν, concerning which things, refers not (as Ebr.) merely to the cherubim.
Heb_9:6. Once in the year, etc.—Since the high-priest, on the tenth day of the seventh month, Tisri, the day of atonement (יוֹם הַכִּפֻּרִּים), was obliged to go at least twice into the inner sanctuary, Lev_16:12 ff.; according to the Mishna tract., Joma Heb_9:1; vii. 4, four times,—ἄπαξ, once, is best understood of what took place once in a year, although consisting of several separate acts,—a sense belonging to the words at 3 Macc. 11:1; Joseph. Bell. Jud. Heb_9:5; Heb_9:7. To this view we are also led by the following verses. For with the blood of the heifer the high-priest made expiation for his own sin; with the blood of the goat expiation for the sins of the congregation; and this distinction is here made, and this rightly so, that the sins are called ἀγνοήματα; see at Heb_5:2. The accomplishment of this twofold expiation required, however, a twofold entrance into the inner sanctuary, both of which principal acts were preceded by an entrance with a dish of coals and a censer of incense, and followed by a fourth after the evening sacrifice for the bringing out of these utensils. In accordance with his hypothesis, Wieseler connects the words “not without blood,” etc., closely with the leading clause; which produces, however, an entirely false contrast with Heb_9:6. Nor are we necessarily to infer from the Perf. Part. κατεσκευασμένων—to be referred, at all events, to Heb_9:2—that the author regards the two grand divisions of the Mosaic sanctuary, together with their contents, as also still existing in the Jewish temple of his time (Lün.), nor do the present tenses, εἰσίασιν and προσφερει, of themselves lead necessarily to the conclusion that the author wrote before the destruction of the temple. We need only suppose that this form of expression in its connection with the context implies that the legal worship was still in existence, and that on the basis of the old Mosaic arrangements, reaching down into the time of the author, while the preservation or loss of certain vessels or utensils of the service is a matter of as profound indifference as the replacing of the tabernacle by the temple of Solomon, and the differences in this before and after the exile.
Blood which he offers, etc.—The expression, προσφέρειν τὸ αἶμα, Lev_1:5; Lev_7:33; Eze_44:7; Eze_44:15, points to the sprinkling (הַזָּאָה), which was made once upwards, and seven times downwards, towards the Capporeth. This was followed by the נְתִינָה, besmearing of the horns of the altar of incense with the mingled blood of the heifer and goat, with which the altar itself was seven times sprinkled; then the (שְׁפִיכָה, Pouring out on the altar of burnt offering. The slaughter (שְׁחִיטָה) connected with the laying on of the hand (םְמִיכִה) merely rendered possible the offering of the blood; but this, in that it was the means of expiation, rendered possible that presentation of the gift upon the altar, or offering (הַקְּטָרָה), which was acceptable to God. On the strength of this blood-accomplished expiation, the priests could, throughout the year, present in the sanctuary the daily and weekly offerings. The absence of the article before ἑαυτοῦ proves that this word is not (with the Vulg., Luth., Calv., Grot., and others) to be made dependent on ἀγνοημάτων.
Heb_9:8. The Holy Spirit showing this, etc.—The τοῦτο refers to the following Acc. with Inf., and δηλοῦν is used here of prophecy by act or symbol, while at Heb_12:27; 1Pe_1:11, it is used of prophetic foreshowing by word (Heb_9:12). The τῶν ἁγίων, too, refers not to persons (Peshito, Schultz), but to the true sanctuary (Heb_10:19). The Gen. stands, as Jer_2:18, τῇ ὁδῷ Αἰγύπτου, and Mat_10:5, ὁδὸς ἐθνῶν, of the end or goal of the way. Πρώτη designates here not the first Jewish sanctuary—first in time (as Grot., Carpz., Beng., Böhme, etc.), but the first or forward tabernacle, in contrast with that behind it (the second, Heb_9:7).
Heb_9:9. Which is an image for the time, etc.—Erasm., Beng., etc., refer ἤτις in the sense of ὅτι to the entire preceding clause, and explain the fem. by the attraction of παραβολή: the ὁ καιρὸς ὁ ἐνεστηκώς thus becomes the time in which the author wrote; and the circumstance that the outer and the inner sanctuary stood separated beside and distinct from each other, is regarded as an image of that time in which the yet undestroyed Theocracy of Israel forms, as it were, the outer space and locality for the Christianity which has sprung up within its bosom. The same view is shared by Boehme and Klee, yet with the difference that they connect ἥτις with παραβολή, and make it, as such, the subject of the clause=which figure or symbol applies to the present time. De W. adheres to the latter construction, but=with most intpp., explains the ὁ καιρ. ὁ ἐνεσ. of the antechristian period extending down into the present, thus=ὁ αἰὼν ὁ ἐνεστώς, Gal_1:4. Granting the possibility of this meaning of the phrase (which Del. on insufficient grounds controverts), it is still more natural to refer ἥτις to σκηνή, not to στάσιν (Chr. F. Schmid), nor by any means to ὁδόν (Cramer). For if the author has previously designated the Holy of holies as παραβολή, likeness, emblem (Luth., erroneously, type), of the Christian economy, why should not he now designate the “holy place” as an emblem of the Jewish economy, especially as it is his precise purpose to state in how far Judaism, as a merely intermediate system, appeared precisely represented by the sanctuary? (Thol. against De Wette). In still closer correspondence with the mere words, indeed, we might (with Del. and Alf., after John Damasc. and Primas.) refer the καιρὸς ὁ ἐνεστ. to the present time, as commencing with the inauguration of the New Covenant, and interpret it of the καιρὸς διορθώσεως, and either with Carpz., Hermann and others, translate “clear down to the present time” [or, with Alf., render for, in reference to, the present time].4 But this is forbidden by the context (Riehm, Reiche, Lün.), inasmuch as the καιρὸς διορθώσεως, Heb_9:10, or the time of restoration and rectification appointed of God, is here evidently the Christian period of the world’s history, and with it stands contrasted the ὁ καιρὸς ὁ ἐνεστηκώς, whose emblem is the outer sanctuary, separated from the All-holy by a veil, and in accordance with which figure or παραβολή there exist, of course, only external and merely ceremonial institutions for securing perfection. Lönemann less fittingly refers the καθ’ ἥν to πρώτη σκηνή. [There can be no doubt that in the first place, ἡ πρώτη σκηνή is here, as at Heb_9:2, the first in place, the foremost, tabernacle, as distinguished from the second one, the Holy of holies. In the second place, ἥτις, with the author, refers properly to σκηνή, and marks the σκηνή as a proper symbol and emblem of Judaism, which it precisely was. The foremost tabernacle or sanctuary was cut off from the second by a veil, which none could pass but the high-priest alone, and he only once a year, and for but the briefest stay within. The first tabernacle, therefore, stood there confronting, and indeed formed by, that awful veil, and the dread Holy Presence behind it, as a standing reminder to priests and people of their separation from God; that the way into the most holy place was not yet made manifest, and of course that the Jewish ritual, in connection with which they stood, was utterly unable to secure true forgiveness, and bring in the needed perfection. That foremost tabernacle, then, was the emblem and figure of Judaism. In the third place, the εἰς τὸν καιρὸν τὸν ἐνεστηκότα refers decidedly (as against Del. and Alf.) not to the now present time of the writer, the time of fulfilment and completion, but to the antechristian period, the era of Judaism, in reference to which and for which this outer tabernacle stood as an emblem. Nor need we, with many, and apparently Moll, suppose this time to be represented as extending down to the present, and thus explain the ἐνεστηκώς. Like all the tenses of the passage in this connection, it stands of the past conceived as present, the author throwing himself back in the whole representation into the past, although I would not deny the justice of the view that perhaps the author the more readily adopted this figure because the Jewish sacrifices had even yet a lingering existence: though I see no necessity for this. Thus this outer tabernacle is a παραβολή, an emblem of the imperfect character of Judaism for the existing time, etc.—K.].
To render perfect as to the conscience, etc.—The idea of συνείδησις (E. V., conscience), is more comprehensive on the one hand than that of conscience, on the other than that of internal consciousness. The word designates the inmost conviction of our moral self-consciousness, so that Heb_10:2, we can have the words συνείδησις ἁμαρτιῶν, and 1Pe_2:19, συνείδησις θεοῦ. The words thus refer not merely to the quieting of an accusing conscience (Theodoret, Calov, etc.), and not merely to the moral perfection of the consciousness (Schultz, Bl., De W.), but to the fact that the worshipper could not by the presentation of his offerings, attain his end in a way that met the demands of his moral and religious self-consciousness, could not, that is to say, attain to ἁγιότης.
Heb_9:10. Purely in connection with meats, etc.—Ἐπί designates not the objects for the sake of which the offerings are to be brought (Schlicht., Limb., etc.), or in respect of which a Levitical perfection actually takes place, as an outward and provisional means of justification. For μόνον ἐπί is to be connected neither with τελειῶσαι (Schlicht., Ebr.), nor with λατρευοντα (Luth., Este, etc.), but with ἐπικείμενα, which stands parallel with δυνάμεναι, and as, along with this participle, it refers to δῶρά τε καὶ θυσίαι, might on account of the intervening clauses, be easily changed to the neuter. It is by no means to be referred, with the Vulg., to δικαιώμασιν, being thus taken=ἐπικειμένοις. Nor with the amended text is it either necessary or proper to take ἐπικείμενα as apposition to δικαιώματα, and refer μόνον to this latter word (Lün.). Ἐπί can, to be sure, express the adding or accession of something to something else, or outward neighborhood or proximity. But “meats and drinks” are not—as neither are ordinances regarding food—equivalent to forbidden meats. Quite as little does the term refer to sacrificial feasts (Peirce, Storr, Heinr., etc.), or to the Paschal supper (Bl., De W.). For δικαιώματα are not means of justification, but ordinances, and precisely such, and referring to the flesh, are the δικαιώματα λατρείας of the Old Testament. Ἐπί with the dat. signifies commonly the foundation on which, and at the same time, the circumstances connected with which, any thing is done. The Gen. σαρκός may also denote that the things bear in themselves the nature of the trap σάρξ. We should here refer the term to the historical superficiality and perishableness of these legal institutions (Heb_7:16), but that the connection indicates the Gen. as referring here not to the quality, but to that which is the object of the ordinances, as 1Sa_8:9; 1Sa_8:11; 1Sa_10:25, τὸ δικαίωμα τοῡ βασιλέως denotes the Divine ordinance regarding the king.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. From the fact that God Himself has declared the Old Covenant incapable of attaining its purpose of salvation, and doomed it to abrogation, it still does not follow that its peculiar ordinances of Divine worship were therefore valueless. Nor, on the other hand, does the fact that they owe their origin to Divine revelation, and hence have an authority transcending that of any mere human arrangements, prove that they are binding upon the subjects of the New Covenant, or put them on the same level with its institutions of grace. They have rather, in accordance with the character of the Old Covenant, partly a typical and symbolical nature, partly a pedagogical and disciplinary significance, and as such possessed a high value.
2. With all the glory evinced in the furnishing of the Holy place and the Holy of holies, and with all the sacredness and majesty of the acts of religious service which transpired within them, still the entire arrangement of the vessels of the service, the separation of the outer from the inner sanctuary by the veil which concealed the latter, the distinction of people, priests and high-priests, the nature of the sacred acts which each separate class was characteristically to perform, their ritual and ceremonial character, incontrovertibly show that reconciliation with God and the dwelling of God with His people, here existed only in mere representation, promise, and symbolical expression.
3. This relation of the Old Testament sanctuary and worship as a type and emblem, to the actual communion of redeemed men with the holy God in the time of the real and actual reëstablishment of right relations, is no arbitrary one, but is prophetically announced and made known by the Holy Spirit Himself. In this lies the Scriptural ground and justification of a historical treatment which seeks the typical reference in the symbols of the Old Covenant itself. Still the principle must be judiciously and cautiously applied.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
We need no longer seek the way to the heavenly sanctuary as if it were unknown, and may not complain, as if it were closed to us; rather we can and should walk on the way which has been opened to us.—What the Holy Spirit has instituted and produced, can only through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, be rightly understood and treated.—No outward splendor of religious worship can make good the absence of true communion with God.—By its employment in the service of God even the earthly and the outward comes into relation to the eternal, and stands connected with the inner life of man.—Nature, value, and use of the means supplied by Divine worship for our spiritual well being.
Starke:—No service of God can be without ceremonies; but that is the most excellent which has cast off external parade and has the most of the power of the Spirit.—If the Lord’s house on earth has been glorious, much more is that above in heaven.—If every Christian is under obligation to serve God publicly in His temple, much more must preachers be always at hand when the public worship of God is celebrated.—Heaven stands open; but the place is holy; nothing common and impure will be admitted, Rev_21:27.—Preachers bear their treasure in earthen vessels; they too are sinners, and must, like others, seek the cleansing away of their sins.—The outward worship of God is nothing without the inward; it then becomes only sin to him who renders the service, and ministers condemnation rather than salvation.—Under the New Covenant we may, without violating the conscience, eat and drink that which contributes to our enjoyment; only with moderation and thanksgiving, Col_2:16; 1Ti_4:3.—Outward and bodily washing and cleansing stand in no proper relation to Divine worship. But as neatness and cleanliness are always becoming and attractive, it behooves us also to appear before and serve God in outward purity, 1Ti_2:9.—The outward chastening of the body is but a miserable service of God; but to crucify the flesh with its lusts and desires, is pleasing to God, 1Co_4:8; Gal_5:24.
Rieger:—The higher blessing bestowed on our age is to be sought not in doing away but in fulfilling the commandments.
Heubner:—A survey of the institutions of the Old Testament is not without utility to the Christian; it shows him the prerogatives which he possesses, viz., no longer merely the shadow, but real, essential blessings.—The whole ancient world is crying out after a Reconciler; the modern world will not have Him.—In Christianity lies the germ of the general improvement and perfection of the entire condition of humanity.—The tranquillizing of the conscience is the end of all sacrifices. The more the conscience was awakened, the less could sacrifices appease and satisfy it.
Footnotes:
[1]Heb_9:1.—The word σκηνή of the lect. rec. is, according to all authorities, to be stricken out, and is not, with Peirce, Wetst., Seml., to be understood. The capital thought is διαθήκη, covenant [and this as, in Eng. ver., is clearly to be supplied in thought with ἡ πρώτη].
[2]Heb_9:9.—For the Rec. καθ’ ὅν, we are, with Sin. A. B. D*., 17, 23*, 27, to read καθ’ ἥν [referring to παραβολή].
[3]Heb_9:10.—For the Rec. καὶ δικαιώμασι σαρκός, the reading δικαιώματα σαρκός was approved by Grot., Mill and Beng., recommended by Griesb., and by all recent editors is received into the text. The καί is wanting in Sin. A. D*., 6, 17, 27, 31, and δικαιώματα, is found in Sin. A. B. and ten minusc., the sing. δικαίωμα in D*.
[4][So I fill out the apparently imperfect sentence of the original.—K.].
[5]Heb_9:11.—Lachmann’s reading γενομἐνωνinstead of μελλόντων is not sufficiently vouched for by B. D*., although followed by Chrys., cum., Ital. Pesh. Philox.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain a. The (twofold) tabernacle, with its gorgeous furniture, and…
a. The (twofold) tabernacle, with its gorgeous furniture, and its priestly and high priestly ritual, was without worth but as a type, Heb_9:1-10.
1. Then verily the first covenant—The word covenant, as the Italics show, is not in the Greek, but is rightly supplied by our translators from the last chapter.
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Had—As the tabernacle was first constituted by Moses.
Ordinances—Literally, (Greek,) justifications; that is, arrangements justified by the divine will.
Worldly sanctuary—That is, an earthly, in contrast with the true and heavenly sanctuary of which this was type; namely, the greater and more perfect tabernacle of Heb_9:11, the holy place of Heb_9:12, and the heaven itself into which Christ is entered of Heb_9:24. Indeed, in this last verse both sides of the antithesis are given, namely, the holy places made with hands, and the heaven itself. See note on Heb_8:5.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 1. Then verily the first tabernacle had also ordinances]…
1. Then verily the first tabernacle had also ordinances] Rather, “To resume then, even the first (covenant) had its ordinances.” No substantive is expressed with “first,” but the train of reasoning in the last chapter sufficiently shews that “Covenant,” not “Tabernacle,” is the word to be supplied.
had] Although he often refers to the Levitic ordinances as still continuing, he here contemplates them as obsolete and practically annulled.
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and a worldly sanctuary] Rather, “and its sanctuary—a material one.” The word kosmikon, rendered “worldly,” means that the Jewish Sanctuary was visible and temporary—a mundane structure in contrast to the Heavenly, Eternal Sanctuary. The adjective “worldly” only occurs here and in Tit_2:12.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (1) The subject commenced in the last chapter (Heb_9:1-6)…
IX.
(1) The subject commenced in the last chapter (Heb_9:1-6) is continued here. The mention of the “more excellent ministry” led to the description of the new covenant with which it is united (Heb_9:6-13). This verse, then, attaches itself to the fifth and sixth verses of Hebrews 8 (Heb_8:5-6): “Even the first (covenant), then, had ordinances of divine service and its sanctuary, of this world.” The “service” is spoken of again in Heb_9:6; the “ordinances” in Heb_9:10, where they are called “carnal.” Very similar is the language here, for the words so emphatically standing at the close of the verse are probably descriptive not of the “sanctuary” only, but also of the “ordinances.” Both place and ministrations belonged to this world, and thus stand in contrast with “the heavenly things,” of which the Tabernacle was a token and shadow. (See Note on Heb_8:5.) The ordinary Greek text (here following the first printed Greek Testament) has “the first Tabernacle,” and this reading was followed by Tyndale and Coverdale. All ancient MSS. omit the word; and, as in a long succession of verses “covenant” has been the leading thought, the rendering of the Authorised version is certainly correct.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The sphere of Christ"s "more excellent ministry," as the…
The sphere of Christ"s "more excellent ministry," as the "Mediator of a better covenant," having been shown to be elsewhere than in the earthly tabernacle, the ministry itself is now contrasted with that of the superseded priesthood. With this view the latter is described, and shown to express in itself its own insufficiency and to point to a more availing one to come.
Then verily (or, now indeed) the first covenant also (or, even the first covenant) had ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary (rather its sanctuary of this world (to agion kosmekon). The definite article points to the well-known one of the Mosaic dispensation, which, unlike the true one, was in its bearings, as well as locally and materially, of this world only). This sanctuary itself is now first described in necessary preparation for an account of priestly ministrations in it.
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Vers. 1-10. Arrangements of the first covenant.
The Epistle to the Hebrews is the New Testament Leviticus. In itself, the book of the Jewish ritual is rather dry reading. "Nothing can well be duller or more dingy than the appearance of a stained-glass cathedral window to one who is looking on it from the outside of the building; but, when you enter and gaze at it from within, the whole is aglow with beauty" (Dr. W.M.Taylor). Now, from this Epistle we learn to read Leviticus with the bright gospel sunlight for a background, and we thus discover how rich that ancient Scripture is, in instruction regarding the way of access to God, and the means of fellowship with him.
I THE HEBREW SANCTUARY. (Vers. 1-5) The tabernacle was the Divine palace, the symbol of Jehovah"s residence among his ancient people. There was a gracious presence of God in Israel which other nations did not enjoy. Mention is made here of the two chambers of the sacred tent, each of which had a "veil" covering the entrance, and of the principal articles of furniture in these two chambers respectively.
1. The holy place. (Ver. 2) This anterior apartment was oblong in shape, being thirty feet in length, fifteen in width, and fifteen in height. Three articles are named as belonging to it.
(1) The lamp-stand: symbol of the spiritual light which Christ imparts to his Church.
(2) The table, with
(3) the shewbread: symbol of the spiritual meat provided by God to strengthen for his service.
2. The holy of holies. (Vers. 3-5) This innermost recess of the sanctuary, separated from the outer chamber by a richly wrought curtain, was the dwelling-place of Jehovah. It was a smaller apartment than the other, measuring fifteen feet in length, breadth, and height, and thus forming a perfect square. Seven things are named as belonging to it.
(1) The golden censer. Whether we understand by this the altar of incense itself, which stood in the holy place close to "the second veil," or the actual censer which was carried from the altar into the holy of holies on the Day of Atonement in either case the symbol is that of the heart"s devotion.
(2) The ark. This was the most sacred piece of furniture in the tabernacle; indeed, the purpose of the whole structure was just to accommodate the ark, as the central symbol of the presence and majesty of the covenant God of Israel.
(3) The loot of manna: emblem of the true Bread from heaven, which feeds the mind with truth, the conscience with righteousness, and the heart with love.
(4) Aaron"s staff: a type of the intransferable priesthood of Christ, and a symbol of the spiritual priesthood of believers.
(5) The two tables of the Law: the revelation to the Jews of Jehovah"s righteous will, which should be written on the hearts of men.
(6) The cherubim: representing the angels, and surrounding the luminous cloud of "glory" which appeared above the ark.
(7) The mercy-seat: the footstool of God, and the propitiatory lid of the ark; which, sprinkled with atoning blood, covered the sins of the people, by concealing from the Divine eye the Law which they had violated. The Hebrew sanctuary in its innermost symbolism thus represented the wondrous scheme of redemption. It shows us God"s throne of grace standing upon his righteousness. (Psa_85:10)
II ITS SERVICES. (Vers. 6, 7) While the outer court of the tabernacle was open to the whole congregation of Israel, except to such as might at any time be ceremonially unclean, only the sons of Aaron were allowed to minister at the altar, or within the sanctuary proper.
1. The holy place was for the daily ministration of the ordinary priests. (Ver. 6) Their duties were such as these: They sprinkled the blood of the sin offerings before the "second veil;" they lighted and fed and trimmed the seven lamps of the candelabrum; they offered incense upon the golden altar; they changed the shewbread every sabbath day.
2. The holy of holies was for the annual ministration of the high priest alone. (Ver. 7) None of the ordinary priests ever dared to enter the inner sanctuary, or even to look into it. And even the high priest could only do so on one day in the year on the great annual fast day, the Day of Atonement. In the course of that day, however, he went into the holy of holies at least three times: first, with the censer and incense; secondly, with the blood of the bullock, for his own and the priests" sins; and, thirdly, with the blood of the goat, for the people"s sins. He went in "not without blood," the presentation of the blood being necessary to the completion of the sacrifice.
III THE SIGNIFICANCE OF BOTH. (Vers. 8-10) These verses remind us that the institutions of Judaism were established by the Holy Spirit himself as a symbol of Old Testament facts, and as a prefiguration of the privileges of the new covenant spoken of in Heb_8:8-12. It was not Moses who ordained the Levitical ceremonial; it was the Holy Ghost. And by this means the Spirit taught the great truth that on the ground of nature access to God is barred for all sinful men; and that even under the "first covenant" of grace this blessing was only most imperfectly realized. The division of the sacred tent into two apartments, and the exclusion of the ordinary priests from the holy of holies, illustrated the great defect of the old covenant. The nature of the services, too, reflected its imperfections. The rites of Judaism cleansed the body from ceremonial defilement; but they could not wash the soul from sin. They involved, indeed, a continual remembrance of sins, rather than a putting away of sins forever. And yet, notwithstanding this, the tabernacle-worship was a bright promise and prophecy of the "opening of the kingdom of heaven to all believers" at the time of rectification foretold by Jeremiah. (Jer_31:31-34)
HOMILIES BY C. NEW Vers. 1-5. Passing reference to the symbolism of the Jewish tabernacle.
The third deduction from the fact that Christ, infinitely greater than Aaron, is High Priest at the right hand of God: The abolition of the Jewish types by their fulfillment in the Redeemer. This occupies Heb_9:1-28; Heb_10:1-18. Subject Passing reference to the symbolism of the Jewish tabernacle.
The importance of the tabernacle is obvious, since thirty-seven chapters are devoted to describe it and its services, and seven times it is said to have been made according to the heavenly pattern; so much so that when the writer of this Epistle has to refer to what was typical in the old economy, he does not speak of the temple, but of the original sanctuary. Moreover, but for the tabernacle and its services, much of what is most important in the New Testament would be unintelligible the veil, mercy-seat, priest, atonement, Lamb of God, etc. The tabernacle standing in its sacred enclosure in the midst of the vast encampment, with the cloudy pillar resting upon it, was the dwelling-place of Israel"s King. At Sinai God and Israel entered into solemn covenant. He was to be their King, and they a people peculiarly his own, and from that time he made his visible abode among them. But what was the purpose of the particular form this abode assumed? They were ignorant of him, and in so low a condition that abstract truth was insufficient for their teaching; they needed heavenly things in pictures. The tabernacle, therefore, was doubtless designed in its construction to meet this need. It would convey to them very plainly that God is real, one, theirs, holy, only approachable to man by sacrifice. But the New Testament throws additional light on this ancient sanctuary, by which its details are seen to be profoundly symbolic of New Testament truth, and Christians may better understand, because of it, their position in Christ. The Jewish tabernacle is the type of the Christian Church. (1Co_3:16, 17 2Co_6:16 Eph_2:20-22) The Church, founded on the atonement money" (Scripture name for the hundred silver sockets which were the foundation of the tabernacle); the Church, habitation of God through the Spirit; the Church, witness to the world of the reality, character, and grace of God.
I THE SYMBOLISM. IN THE JEWISH TABERNACLE. The tabernacle consisted of two apartments separated by the veil, the inner one called "the holy of holies.
1. The relation of Jehovah to the Church, as seen in the holy of holies. Described in vers. 3-5. A symbol of heaven, as in Apocalypse: The city lieth four square, and the length," etc.; "And the city had no need of the sun, for the," etc. Most glorious place, seat and throne of the King, where celestial beings bow in his presence! Most holy place, hidden from human gaze, inaccessible save through the atonement, inaccessible yet so near; only a veil between, which a breath might almost waft aside, and which the incense of prayer can penetrate! Most blessed place, for there our great High Priest ever carries on his work on our behalf! How well is the tabernacle a type of this! There was the ark of the covenant, and nothing more, save that the walls and ceiling were draped with curtains embroidered with cherubic figures. What did this typify? That
(1) God"s dealings with his people are based on Law. The tables of stone, tables of the covenant," were the essential contents of the ark (the pot of manna and the rod were not there originally, nor were they found there when the ark was placed in the temple). God"s relation to man is that of Sovereign; from his throne issue the commands concerning what man should be and do; and at his feet lie ever the requirements he makes of man.
(2) Provision has been made for covering over the broken Law from the sight of the King. The mercy-scat on the ark, the golden slab on which was sprinkled the sacrificial blood on the Day of Atonement. "Mercy-seat;" literally, "an expiatory covering." Looking down on his Law, the King sees the Sacrifice, and where he used to hear a testimony of guilt, he now hears a plea for mercy.
(3) The result of this provision is the perfection of his people in his presence. The cherubim bowing before his glory with no fear but that of reverence. The cherubim set forth the highest creature perfection head of man, body of lion, wings of eagle, feet of ox; representing perfect intelligence, strength, flight, obedience; picture of man perfected, fallen humanity in its restored condition, eternal fellowship with God with completed powers. "We have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" that is the broken Law. "Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;" that is the mercy-seat. "Whom he justified, them he also glorified;" that is the cherubim.
2. The relation of the Church to Jehovah, as seen in the holy place. (Ver. 2.) The golden altar, candlestick, shewbread-table, occupied this apartment. (Note, no mention of the golden altar in the text, but in the fourth verse the word "censer" signifies anything that holds incense, and probably should be rendered "altar," as we read of no censer belonging to the holy of holies. It is not said in ver. 4 that this was within the holy of holies, but only that it belonged to it; it stood close to the veil, its incense passed through the veil, its work was within whilst its form was without.) These are also part of the type of the Church; the Church below, as the former the Church above. What do they teach about the Church on earth? Righteous mercy raising us to perfection with him. That is God"s part of the covenant. What is ours?
(1) The altar, that is, the worship of the Church. Incense in Scripture a type of prayer. The altar sprinkled with atoning blood before incense could be offered; the incense rekindled daily by the holy fire; the fragrant odor passing to the mercy-seat, a sacrifice acceptable. What a type of prayer smoldering in the heart all through the day, kindled morning and evening, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
(2) The candlestick, that is, the work of the Church. "Ye are the light of the world." It is the world"s night. God lights his lamps, that thereby the world may see what it would see of spiritual realities if it were not night. Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord.
(3) The shewbread, that is, the consecration of the Church. Bread represents life. These twelve loaves, one for each tribe, set forth the Divine demand for the dedication to him of all his people. He redeems us that we may be his. "For to this end Christ both died, and rose," etc. "Truly our fellowship is with the Father;" that is the attar. "Ye were sometime darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord;" that is the candlestick. "I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye," etc.; that is the shewbread.
II THE CHRISTIAN LESSONS IN THE SYMBOLISM.
1. That the Church is the dwelling-place of God. The symbolism is abolished; what is left? The Christian Church, the spiritual temple, which is to be in the world what the tabernacle was in Israel. As once God dwelt in a consecrated temple, now he dwells in consecrated lives; no more worshipped by sacred forms, but by devout hearts. Symbolism has given place to spirituality.
2. That the true Church is that which embodies the teaching of the holy and most holy places. Or, in other words, the true Christian. You believe in what is done for you within the veil, the Godward aspect of Christian life; but to that do you add the manward worship, service, consecration?
3. That the way into the Church is symbolized in the types of the old sanctuary. Between the entrance to the tabernacle and the gate of the court, stood the brazen altar on which rite sacrifices were offered, and the brazen laver. No entrance to the Church but by Christ"s work and the Spirit"s the atoning blood and the laver of regeneration. C.N.
HOMILIES BY J.S. BRIGHT Vers. 1-5. Symbolism of the tabernacle.
It is remarkable that in the Epistle to the Hebrews there is a constant reference to the tabernacle, while the glory of the temple is not noticed and explained. This may arise from several causes, of which the following may be named as the most probable. It was the original form of Divine worship. It had the attraction of antiquity. It was connected with the personal history of Moses and Aaron. It was unpolluted by idolatry. Here the writer mentions the nature and furniture of the tabernacle, which expressed Divine ideas alone. Moses was, to use a modern phrase, "master of the works;" but the plan was Divine, and supplied by him who sees the end from the beginning. The principal thoughts which this passage supplies are:
1. The covenant had a material or worldly tabernacle which denotes approachableness. The ever-blessed God placed his tent in the midst of the tents of Israel that they might come to him, and use the ordinances of Divine service for their forgiveness, peace, and intercourse with the Father of spirits. It proclaims the truth which our Lord announced to the woman of Samaria, that God seeketh men to worship him. "He is not," said Paul," far from every one of us." This is plainly taught by the incarnation of our Lord, who is Immanuel God with us.
2. The next thought is that of mystery, for God dwelt in the thick darkness, and once a year the solemn service of the high priest was performed with sacred awe. Within the second veil Jehovah dwelt, and taught men that, how gracious soever he was to come near, he must be had in reverence by all them that are round about him.
3. The appointment of the candlestick signifies illumination for service. It must be confessed that while there are vast and inscrutable mysteries, those things which are requisite for our salvation and growth in grace are very plainly revealed. The mystery of the inner holy place is not for us to understand; but the things that are revealed belong unto us and our children, that we may do all the words of this Law. Our Lord said to a man, probably of a serious temper, who desired to know if few were saved, "Strive to enter in at the strait gate." The light of the lamp was for the service of the priest, and Scripture is given that the man of God may be throughly furnished unto all good works.
4. Then appears the thought of spiritual supply. The tables of shewbread were furnished every week, and the priests ate of the loaves which had stood seven days before God in his tabernacle. God blessed the provision of his house; but the arrangement foreshadowed that supply which Christ claimed to be when he called himself "the Bread of life." "My God," said Paul, "shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus". (Php_4:19)
5. The pot of manna and Aaron"s rod presented memorials of Divine power. The one reminded worshippers of that all-sufficiency which supplied the wants of myriads with daily bread, and the other was a miraculous act which terminated all disputes about the priesthood. Believers now can look up to the throne and see more illustrious proofs of power in the glory of the Redeemer, who was proved to be the Son of God with power by his resurrection from the dead, and by the sight of the number of "spirits of just men made perfect," who have come out of tribulation, and are in the joy and felicity of heaven.
6. Then follows the acceptableness of prayer, which is denoted by the golden censer; and the odors represent the prayers of the saints. Prayers are pleasant to God from the sense of our need, and therefore humility of soul; our faith in his interest in us, and our desire to glorify his Name. The angel said to Cornelius, "Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.
7. And, lastly, this furniture signifies mercy and adoration. There was the mercy-seat, under which, in the most sacred place, was the Divine Law. Between the Law and God came the cover of the ark, which was sprinkled with sacrificial blood, and through faith in the arrangement sins were forgiven. This is realized in the Redeemer, who is our Propitiation; through whom we have redemption, even the forgiveness of sins. Then the cherubim overshadowed the mercy-seat; for the angels desire to look into these things, and bow with reverence and love in the presence of God. The object of all revelation, all sacrifice, all the work of the Son of God, and all the sacred power of the Spirit, is to prepare believers by the experiences of earth for the adoration of heaven. B.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG Ver. 1. The orderly arrangements of the new covenant.
Evidently a double meaning is possible to the adjective kosmikon . The sanctuary sheltered within the tabernacle was a sanctuary of this world; but is that all the writer means by the word he uses here? Surely we must remember the antithesis between cosmos and chaos. The furniture of the sanctuary was not a collection of objects placed anywhere and anyhow. There was as much symbolism in the order and relation of these objects as in the objects themselves. All worship and holy service had to be according to Divine regulations. And as all was kosmiko in the visible, symbolic, temporary sanctuary, so all must also be kosmikov in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle.
I WE MUST RECOGNIZE CHRIST"S PLACE IN THIS SANCTUARY. The new covenant has its sanctuary, even as the old, and that sanctuary is to be found wherever Christ is manifesting himself to take away sin. It is the presence of Christ that makes the holiest place we know, and there is no making of a truly holy place without him. In the old covenant, everything was gathered round the tables of the Law as a center. They expressed the will of God. And so now the center of our religious life, around which all is to be gathered in orderly relations, is to be found in Christ at once a High Priest to enter into the true holy of holies, and One to show the Law of God in actual working, as something not too high for human attainment. We are to worship and serve God through Christ, and there is no other way whereby we may become faultless in the presence of his glory.
II WE MUST RECOGNIZE OUR OWN PLACE IN THE SANCTUARY. What are we doing in the way of orderly, well-considered daily service? Is the lamp of our life shining forth every day? Do we help to spread a table for the varied necessities of men, remembering that whatsoever we do for them is done for Christ, and whatsoever is done for Christ is done for God? There is to be a measure of order in our own personal religious life repentance leading to faith, and faith opening up the way to all that is holy, pure, and Christ-like. Y.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain The first covenant had also ordinances
Heb_9:1-10
The first covenant had also ordinances
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The ancient tabernacle
The writer now proceeds to compare the old and the new covenants with reference to their respective provisions for religious communion between man and God, his purpose being to show the superiority of the priestly ministry of Christ over that of the Levitical priesthood.
In the first five verses he gives an inventory of the furniture of the tabernacle pitched in the wilderness; in the next five he describes the religious services there carried on. Now [our leading back to Heb_8:5] the first [covenant] had ordinances of Divine service and its mundane sanctuary. The epithet κοσμικόν here applied to the tabernacle evidently signifies belonging to this material world, in opposition to the heavenly sanctuary (Heb_8:11) not made with hands out of things visible and tangible. The purpose of the writer is to point out that the tabernacle belonged to this earth, and therefore possessed the attributes of all things earthly, materiality and perishableness. The materials might be fine and costly; still they were material, and as such were liable to wax old and vanish away. In Heb_8:2-5 is given a detailed description of the arrangements and furniture of this cosmic sanctuary. No valuator could be more careful to make an inventory of household furniture perfectly accurate than our author is to give an exhaustive list of the articles to be found in the Jewish tabernacle, whether in the holy place or in the most holy. Indeed, so careful is he to make the list complete, not only in his own judgment, but in the judgment of his readers, that he includes things which had no connection with religious worship, bat were merely put into the tabernacle for safe custody, as valuable mementos of incidents in Israels history--e.g., the golden pot of manna, and Aarons rod that budded. It is further to be noted in regard to these articles, that they are: represented as being within the ark of the covenant, though it is nowhere in the Old Testament said that they were, the direction given being merely that they should be placed before the testimony, and it being expressly stated in regard to the ark in Solomons temple that there was nothing in it save the two tables on which the ten commandments were inscribed. Whether these things ever had been in the ark we do not know. The fact that they are here represented to have been does not settle the point. While his doctrine is that the ancient tabernacle was at best but a poor, shadowy affair, he takes pains to show that in his judgment it was as good as it was possible for a cosmic sanctuary to be. Its articles of furniture were of the best material; the ark of fine wood covered all over with gold, the altar of incense of similar materials, the pot with manna of pure gold. He feels he can afford to describe in generous terms the furniture of the tabernacle, because, after all, he will have no difficulty in showing the immeasurable superiority of the true tabernacle wherein Christ ministers. One single phrase settles the point χειροποίητος (Heb_8:11). The old tabernacle and all its furniture were made by the hands of men out of perishable materials. The gold, and silver, and brass, &c., were all liable to destruction by the devouring tooth of time, that spares nothing visible and tangible. This eulogistic style of describing the furniture of the cosmic tabernacle was not only generous, but politic. The more the furniture ,was praised, the more the religious service carried on in the tent so furnished was in effect depreciated by the contrast inevitably suggested. The emphasis laid on the excellent quality of these really signifies the inferiority of the whole Levitical system. Looking now at the inventory distributively, let us note what articles are placed in either compartment of the tabernacle respectively. In the first are located the candlestick, the table, and the shewbread, which was arranged in two rows on the table; to the second are assigned what is called the θυμιατήριον, and the ark of the covenant, containing, as is said, the manna pot, Aarons rod, and the tables of the covenant, and surmounted by the Cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy-seat, or lid of the ark. The only article of which there is any need to speak particularly is the θυμιατήριον, concerning which there are two questions to be considered: What is it? and with what propriety is it assigned to the most holy place? As to the former, the word θυμιατήριον may mean either the altar of incense, as I have rendered it, or the golden censer, as translated in the Authorised and Revised Versions. I do not suppose there would be any hesitation on the subject, were it not for the consideration, that by deciding that the altar of incense is intended we seem to make the writer guilty of an inaccuracy in assigning it to the inner shrine of the tabernacle. I have little doubt that this consideration had its own weight with our Revisers in leading them to retain the old rendering, the golden censer; and the fact detracts from the value of their judgment, as based, not on the merits of the question, but on the ground of theological prudence. A clearer insight into the mind of the writer would have shown them that this well-meant solicitude for his infallibility was uncalled for. This brings us to the question as to the propriety of placing the altar of incense among the things belonging to the most holy place. The fact is, that the altar of incense was a puzzle to one who was called on to state to which part of the tabernacle it belonged. Hence the peculiar manner in which the writer expresses himself in reference to the things assigned to the most holy place. He does not say, as in connection with the first division, in which were (ἐν η), but represents it as having (ἔχουσα) certain things. The phrase is chosen with special reference to the altar of incense. Of all the other articles it might have been said in which were, but not of it. Nothing more could be said than that it belonged to the second division. The question is, whether even so much could be said, and why the writer preferred to say this rather than to say that the altar of incense stood outside the veil in the first division. Now as to the former part of the question, in so putting the matter cur author was only following an Old Testament precedent, the altar of incense being in 1Ki_6:22 called the altar that was by the oracle, or more correctly, as in the Revised Version, the altar that belonged to the oracle. Then the directions given for fixing its position, as recorded in Exo_30:6, are very significant. The purport of this directory seems to be: outside the veil for daily use (for within it could not be used save once a year), but tending inwards, indicating by its very situation a wish to get in, standing there, so to speak, at the door of the most holy place, petitioning for admission. So the eloquent eulogist of the better ministry of the new covenant appears to have understood it. He thinks of the altar of incense as praying for admission into the inner shrine, and waiting for the removal of the envious veil which forbad entrance. And he so far sympathises with its silent prayer as to admit it within the veil before the time, or at least to acknowledge that, while materially without, it belonged in spirit and function to the most holy place. In stating the case as he does our author was not only following usage, but utilising the double relations of the altar of incense for the purpose of his apologetic. He wanted to make it felt that the position of that altar was difficult to define, that it was both without and within the veil, that you could not place it exclusively in either position without leaving out something that should be added to make the account complete. And he wished to press home the question, What was the cause of the difficulty? The radical evil, he would suggest, was the existence of the veil. It was the symbol of an imperfect religion, which denied men free access to God, and so was the parent of this anomaly, that the altar of incense had to be in two places at the same time: within the veil, as there were the mercy-seat and the Hearer of prayer; without the veil, because the incense of prayer must be offered daily, and yet no one might go within save the high priest, and he only once a year. How thankful, then, should we be that the veil is done away, so that the distinction of without and within no longer exists, and we may come daily to offer the incense of our prayers in the presence of God, without fear of evil, with perfect assurance to be heard! After the inventory of its furniture comes an account of the ministry carried on in the Jewish sanctuary (verses 6-10); the description of which, coming after the former, has all the effect of an anticlimax. One can hardly fail to say to himself, What a fall is here! The furniture was precious, but the worship how poor f Every one capable of reflection feels that a religious system in which the vessels of the sanctuary are so much superior to the service cannot be the final and permanent form of mans communion with God, but only a type or parable for the time of better things to come, that could last only till the era of reformation arrived. This truth, however, the writer does not leave to be inferred, but expressly points out and proves. On two things he insists, as tending to show the insufficiency and therefore the transitiveness of the Levitical system, and all that pertained to it. First, he asserts that the mere division of the tabernacle into an accessible holy place and an inaccessible most holy place proved the imperfection of the worship there carried on; and, secondly, he points out the disproportion between the great end of religion and the means employed for reaching it under the Levitical system. (A. B. Bruce, D. D.)
The earthly sanctuary
I. EVERY COVENANT OF GOD HAD ITS PROPER PRIVILEGES AND ADVANTAGES. Even the first covenant had so, and those such as were excellent in themselves, though not comparable with them of the new. For to make any covenant with men is an eminent fruit of grace and condescension in God, whereon He will annex such privileges thereunto as may evince it so to be.
II. THERE WAS NEVER ANY COVENANT BETWEEN GOD AND MAN BUT IT HAD SOME ORDINANCES, OR ARBITRARY INSTITUTIONS OF EXTERNAL DIVINE WORSHIP ANNEXED UNTO IT. The original covenant of works had the ordinances of the tree of life, and of the knowledge of good and evil, the laws whereof belonged not unto that of natural light and reason. The covenant of Sinai, whereof the apostle speaks, had a multiplication of them. Nor is the new covenant destitute of them or of their necessary observance. All public worship and the sacraments of the Church are of this nature.
III. IT IS A HARD AND RARE THING TO HAVE THE MINDS OF MEN KEPT UPRIGHT WITH GOD IN THE OBSERVANCE OF THE INSTITUTIONS OF DIVINE WORSHIP. By some they are neglected, by some corrupted, and by some they are exalted above their proper place and use, and are turning into an occasion of neglecting more important duties. And the reason of this difficulty is, because faith hath not that assistance from innate principles of reason, and sensible experience of this kind of obedience, as it hath in that which is moral, internal, and spiritual.
IV. THAT THESE ORDINANCES OF DIVINE WORSHIP MIGHT BE DULY OBSERVED AND RIGHTLY PERFORMED UNDER THE FIRST COVENANT, THERE WAS A PLACE APPOINTED OF GOD FOR THEIR SOLEMNISATION.
1. This tabernacle with what belonged thereunto was a visible pledge of the presence of God among the people, owning, blessing, and protecting them. And it was a pledge of Gods own institution, in imitation whereof the superstitious heathens invented ways of obliging their idol-gods, to be present among them for the same ends.
2. It was the pledge and means of Gods dwelling among them, which expresseth the peculiar manner of His presence mentioned in general before.
3. It was a fixed seat of all Divine worship, wherein the truth and purity of it was to be preserved.
4. It was principally the privilege and glory of the Church of Israel, in that it was a continual representation of the incarnation of the Son of God; a type of His coming in the flesh to dwell among us, and by the one sacrifice of Himself to make reconciliation with God, and atonement for sins. It was such an expression of the idea of the mind of God, concerning the person and meditation of Christ, as in His wisdom and grace He thought meet to intrust the Church withal. Hence was that severe injunction, that all things concerning it should be made according unto the pattern shown in the Mount. For what could the wisdom of men do in the prefiguration of that mystery, of which they had no comprehension? But yet the sanctuary the apostle calls κοσμικον, worldly.
(1) The place of it was on the earth in this world, in opposition whereunto the sanctuary of the new covenant is in heaven (Heb_8:2).
(2) Although the materials of it were as durable as anything in that kind could be procured, as gold and Shittim wood, yet were they worldly; that is, perishing things, as are all things of the world, God intimating thereby that they were not to have an everlasting continuance. Gold, and wood, and silk, and hair, however curiously wrought and carefully preserved, are but for a time.
(3) All the services of it, all its sacrifices in themselves, separated from their typical representative use, were all worldly; and their efficacy extended only unto worldly things, as the apostle proves in this chapter.
(4) On these accounts the apostle calls it worldly; yet not absolutely so, but in opposition unto that which is heavenly. All things in the ministration of the new covenant are heavenly. So is the priest, his sacrifice, tabernacle, and altar, as we shall see in the process of the apostles discourse. And we may observe from the whole
V. THAT DIVINE INSTITUTION ALONE IS THAT WHICH RENDERS ANYTHING ACCEPTABLE UNTO GOD. Although the things that belonged unto the sanctuary, and the sanctuary itself, were in themselves but worldly, yet being Divine ordinances, they had a glory in them, and were in their season accepted with God.
VI. GOD CAN ANIMATE OUTWARD CARNAL THINGS WITH A HIDDEN INVISIBLE SPRING OF GLORY AND EFFICACY. SO He did their sanctuary with its relation unto Christ; which was an object of faith which no eye of flesh could behold. (John Owens, D. D.)
The simplicity of Christian ritual
The language of sign or symbol enters very largely into all the affairs of life. The human spirit craves and finds embodiment for its impalpable, evanescent ideas and emotions, not merely in sounds that die away upon the ear, but in acts and observances that arrest the eye, and stamp themselves upon the memory, or in shapes and forms and symbols that possess a material and palpable continuity. The superiority of sign or symbol as a vehicle of thought is in some sort implied in the very fact that it is the language of nature, the first which man learns, or rather which, with instinctive and universal intelligence, he employs. There is something, again, in a visible and tangible sign, or in a significant or symbolic act, which, by its very nature, appeals more impressively to the mind than mere vocables that vibrate for a moment on the organ of hearing and then pass away. Embody thought in a material representation or memorial, and it stands before you with a distinct and palpable continuity; it can become the object of prolonged contemplation; it is permanently embalmed to the senses. Moreover, it deserves to be considered that the language of symbol lies nearer to thought than that of verbal expression. As no man can look into anothers mind and have direct cognisance of anothers thoughts, we can only convey to others what is passing in our own minds, by selecting and pointing out some object or phenomenon of the outward world that bears an analogy to the thought or feeling within our breasts. And if further proof of the utility and importance of symbol were wanting, it might he found in the fact that all nature is but one grand symbol by which God shadows forth His own invisible Being and character. The principle on which symbolic language depends being thus deeply seated in mans nature, it might be anticipated that its influence would be apparent in that religion which is so marvellously adapted to his sympathies and wants. But when we turn to that religious economy under which we live, by nothing are we so much struck as by the simplicity of its external worship--the scantiness, unobtrusiveness, and seeming poverty of its ritual observances. And this absence of symbol in the Christian worship becomes all the more singular when contrasted with the sensuous beauty and splendour of the heathen religions amidst which Christianity was developed, and with the imposing ceremonial, the elaborate symbolism, of that earlier dispensation from which it took its rise.
I. The simplicity of worship in the Christian Church is a sign of spiritual advancement, inasmuch as it arises, in some measure, from the fact THAT THE GOSPEL RITES ARE COMMEMORATIVE, WHILST THOSE OF THE FORMER DISPENSATION WERE ANTICIPATIVE. TO THE Hebrew in ancient times Christ was a Being of whose person and character and work he had but the most vague and undefined conceptions; to the Christian worshipper He is no shadowy dream of the future, no vague and visionary personage of a distant age, but the best beloved of friends, whose beautiful life stands forth before the mind with all the distinctness of history--whose glorious person and mission is the treasured and familiar contemplation of his secret thoughts. The former, accordingly, needed all the elaborate formality of type and ceremony, of temple and altar and sacrifice--of symbolic persons and objects and actions, to help out his idea of the Messiah and of His mighty work and mission. But to enable the latter to recall his Lord, no more is required than a few drops of water, a bit of broken bread, or a cup of wine. Around these simplest outward memorials, a host of thoughts, reflections, remembrances, are ready to gather. Deity incarnate, infinite self-sacrifice, reconciliation with God, pardon, purity, peace, eternal life through the blood of Jesus, union with Christ, and in Him with all good and holy beings,--these are some of the great Christian ideas already lodged in each devout worshippers mind, and which awake at the suggestive touch of the sacramental symbols to invest them with a value altogether incommensurate with their outward worth. The very simplicity of these material symbols implies that the senses have less and the mind far more to do in the process of spiritual conception than in a system of more imposing and obtrusive materialism.
II. The simple and unimposing character of the Christian ritual is an indication of spiritual advancement again, inasmuch as it arises from the fact, THAT WHILST THE RIGHTS OF JUDAISM WERE MAINLY DISCIPLINARY, THOSE OF CHRISTIANITY ARE SPONTANEOUS AND EXPRESSIVE. The Jew could not eat or drink, or dress, or sow or reap, or buy or sell, arrange his household, hold intercourse with neighbour or friend, perform any one function of individual or social life, without being met by restrictions, forms, observances, which forced religious impression upon him, and, in combination with the more solemn ceremonial of the temple, left a constant deposit of spiritual thought upon the mind, and drilled the worshipper into religious habits. In a more spiritual and reflective age, on the other hand, in which the spiritual perceptions have become developed, and the mind has become receptive of direct religious instruction, such sensible helps to the formation of thought are no longer necessary. The mind in which truth has become an intuition needs no longer to spell out its conviction by the aid of a picture-book. The avenue of spirit thrown open to the worshipper, he no more requires to climb slowly up to the presence-chamber of the king by the circuitous route of sense. But if ritual may in such an age be dispensed with in great measure as a means of instruction, it still performs an important function as a means of expression. No longer necessary as a mould for the shaping of thought, it has still its use as a form in which religious thought and feeling may find vent. If the necessity for a visible temple and sanctuary to symbolise Gods residence with man has ceased, now that He who is the brightness of the Fathers glory and the express image of His person has dwelt amongst us-if to prompt our minds in conceiving of sin and sacrifice, no scenic show of victims slain and lifes blood drenching earthly altars be needed, now that the stainless, sinless, all-holy One hath once for all offered up the sacrifice of a perfect life to God--still there is in the Christian heart the demand for outward forms andrites to embody the reverence, the gratitude, the devotion, the love of which it is inwardly conscious. The soul, in its relation to an unseen Father, still craves for some outer medium of expression that shall give form to feeling--that shall tell forth its devotion to the heavenly Friend as the smile, the look, the grasp of the hand, the meeting at the festive board, the gifts and tokens of affection, externalise and express our sentiments towards those we love on earth. And the conclusion to which, from this argument, we are led is obviously this, that the glory of our Christian ritual lies in its very simplicity. For the manifestation of our common life in God, and of our common faith in Christ, the mind craves some outward badge or symbol; and so, in gracious condescension to our needs, our Lord has instituted the two sacramental rites; but even these He has prescribed but in outline, leaving all accessories to be filled in, as the varied needs of His people, in different times and places and circumstances, should dictate. And in this lies the very grandeur of its worship, that in the chartered freedom of our Christian ritual, each nation and community, each separate society and church and individual, lifting up its own note of adoration, all axe found to blend in the one accordant anthem, the one manifold yet harmonious tribute of the universal Churchs praise. I conclude with the remark, that the simplicity of the Christian rites serves as a safeguard against those obvious dangers which are incident to all ritual worship.
1. The chief of these is the tendency in the unspiritual mind to stop short at the symbol--in other words, to transfer to the visible sign feelings appropriate only to the things signified, or to rest content with the performance of outward ceremonial acts, apart from the exercise of those devout feelings which lend to such acts any real value. A religion in which ritual holds a prominent place is notoriously liable to degenerate into formalism. The true way to avoid this error is, obviously, to remove as much as possible its cause. Let there be no arbitrary and needless intervention between the soul of the worshipper and the Divine object of its homage. Let the eye of faith gaze on the Invisible through the simplest and purest medium-Deprive it of all excuse to trifle curiously with the telescope, instead of using it in order to see. And forasmuch as, to earthly worship, formal aids are indispensable, let it ever be remembered that that form is the best which least diverts attention to itself, and best helps the soul to hold fellowship with God.
2. Moreover, the danger thus incident to an elaborate ceremonial, of substituting ritual for religion, is increased by the too common tendency to mistake aesthetic emotion for religious feeling. Awe, reverence, rapt contemplation, the kindling of heart and swelling of soul, which the grand objects of faith are adapted to excite, may, in a man of sensitive mind or delicate organisation, find a close imitation in the feelings called forth by a tasteful and splendid ceremonial. The soul that is devoid of true reverence towards God may be rapt into a spurious elation, while in rich and solemn tones the loud-voiced organ peals forth His praise. The heart that never felt one throb of love to Christ may thrill with an ecstasy of sentimental tenderness, whilst soft voices, now blending, now dividing, in combined or responsive strains, celebrate the glories of redeeming love. It is easy to admire the sheen of the sapphire throne, while we leave its glorious Occupant unreverenced and unrecognised. Banish from the service of God all coarseness and rudeness--all that would distract by offending the taste of the worshipper, just as much as all that would disturb by subjecting him to bodily discomfort, and you leave the spirit free for its own pure and glorious exercise. But too studiously adorn the sanctuary and its services; obtrude an artificial beauty on the eye and sense of the worshipper, and you will surely lead to formalism and self-deception. (J. Caird, D. D.)
Christian sanctuaries material, but not worldly:
I. THE ERECTION OF THE WORLDLY SANCTUARY. In contemplating the character of their worldly sanctuary whether in the wilderness or on Mount Zion--we behold God dealing with men in a manner accordant with the character of the covenant under which He saw fit to place them. For whether we review the history of our world at large, or the history of Gods dealings with His Church, we find it to be a law of the Divine Procedure, that, in civilisation and scientific discovery, and in the attainments of knowledge and of arts, no less than in matters directly spiritual, He allows period of lengthened infancy and childhood. In no respect does He allow men to attain at once to maturity. Thus, in mere secular things, how old was our world ere printing was invented, ere the powers of steam were discovered! Railways and electric telegraphs are but of yesterday, it is with the world at large and with individual nations, intellectually and socially, as with the individual man physically. We are born, not men and women, but babes; we speak, and think, and understand as children; we attain manhood slowly. It has been so with human society: it has been so with our own favoured land, where once savages swarmed, and Druids offered their bloody rites. The history of man in every country had been different had not this principle pervaded Gods designs and government--intellectual and social infancy--growth from infancy to childhood--from childhood to manhood--the manhood of intellect, and science and art, and civilisation; from the Rome of Romulus and Numa to the Rome of Augustus from the Gauls of Caesars day to the French of the nineteenth century; from the England of Roman conquest and Saxon rule and Norman triumph to the England of our birth. Apply this principle to the subject before us. Israel, long familiarised with material temples and carnal rites in Egypt, was spiritually a nation of children: their worship was wisely and mercifully adapted to their spiritual age and attainment. For the simple worship of the more spiritual dispensation they were wholly unprepared. Form and ceremony--material and sensuous splendour--were needful. To have elevated and simplified their minds and tastes for our simpler worship would have been, in fact, to have forstalled the progress of ages, and changed the whole course of Gods procedure with His Church and with our world.
II. THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE WORLDLY SANCTUARY AND THE SPIRITUAL WORSHIP OF THE GOSPEL DISPENSATION. The blessed truth, that He who was at once the sacrificial Victim and the sacrificing Priest, by His one offering of Himself, hath made an end of sacrifice, and for ever perfected His people, as touching their justification--these truths discerned, experienced, bring with them true spirituality of mind and heart and life. The believer, while he rejoices in Christ Jesus, and has no confidence in the flesh, exhibits also the other feature of the apostles portraiture--he worships God in the Spirit. The temple with which his eye and heart are filled is the spiritual temple, in which himself is a lively stone--the Chinch of the Fathers election, of the Spirits sanctifying. The glory of Christianity is not in tabernacles or temples, in carnal ordinances. The glory of Christianity is Christ; the glory of the gospel, its message, God is love! And in accordance with the spirit of simplicity which characterises its doctrines should be the spirit of its worship. (J. C. Miller, M. A.)
The candlestick
The gospel of the golden candlestick:
I. A type of the CHURCH (Rev_1:20).
1. The end and use of the Church is to give light, and to hold forth the Php_2:15; 1Ti_3:15).
2. The matter of the Church. As the candlestick was of gold, so the matter of the Church is saints.
3. The discipline of the Church as the golden snuffers (Exo_25:38) did cut off the snuff of the candle, so discipline and censures cut off corruption and corrupt members.
4. The union and distinction of Churches. Several branches and seven lamps--therefore distinct; but all growing on one shaft--therefore one.
II. A type of the MINISTRY. As the candlestick supports the lamp and the light., so does the Church the ministry; and as the lamp or candle shines in the candlestick, so does the ministry in the Church.
III. A type of the WORD (Psa_119:105; Psa_19:10; 2Pe_1:19).
IV. A type of the SPIRIT (Rev_4:5).
1. The lamps of the candlestick did shine and give light. So the Holy Spirit is a Spirit of light and illumination (Eph_1:19).
2. The lamps were fed with off (Exo_27:20). Now this oil is the Spirit (Isa_61:1; Act_10:38). Of a softening and healing nature.
3. The sacred lamps were ever burning, and never went out (Ex Lev_24:3). So it is with the Spirit of God in the hearts of His people. The true believer cannot fall away totally and finally.
4. The dressing and trimming of the lamps signified the revivings of the work of the Spirit, in the hearts of His people, when it begins, or is in danger to decline. This teaches us both the Lords goodness and our duty Mat_12:20; 2Ti_1:6). Also Church discipline and mortification are taught us hereby (Mat_25:7).
Lessons:
1. Learn to prize and see the worth and excellency of Church society.
2. Prize the ministry.
3. Prize the Word.
4. Labour to find the Spirit burning and working in your hearts.
(1) Get fresh supplies of oil (Psa_92:10). Jesus Christ is the Fountain, and the Holy Ghost the immediate Dispenser of it Zec_4:12).
(2) Stir up that which you have (2Ti_1:6; Rev_3:2).
(3) Snuff the wick (Jam_1:23). (S. Mather.)
The candlestick:
If the priests had had any duties to discharge at night in the holy place, I should have felt no necessity to make any inquiry at all about the significance of the seven lights; the impossibility of performing the sacred functions in total darkness would have been an adequate explanation. But there was no midnight ritual; why then, when the curtain, which was thrown aside during the day to admit the light of heaven, was closed for the night, was not the holy place left in darkness? There seems to me to be a perfectly obvious and natural answer. The holy place was in the thoughts of every devout Jew when he longed for the mercy of God to forgive his sin, or cried to Him for consolation in time of trouble. It was there that, day by day, the priest offered the incense, which was the visible symbol of all supplication and worship. That was the chamber in which the Lord received the prayers and homage of the nation, as the most holy place was His secret shine. And would not the lamps that burnt there during the darkness, and filled it with light, seem to say to every troubled soul, that God never slumbered nor slept; that the darkness and light are both alike to Him, and that at all times He is waiting to listen to the prayers of His people? (R. W. Dale, LL. D.)
The tabernacle.
The tabernacle, and its three antitypes
The tabernacle, of course, was a type. What did it typify? Some say that it typified Christ, and, particularly, that it typified His incarnation (Joh_1:14). Others hold that the tabernacle represented the Christian Church. Yet a third opinion is that the tabernacle signified heaven. Which of these opinions shall we choose? We shall not choose any one of them to the exclusion of the others. We incline to adopt all three, and to hold that the tabernacle was a type of Christ, and of the Church, and of heaven. The Man Christ Jesus is Gods tabernacle; so is the Church; so is heaven. God dwells most wondrously in Christ: He dwells most graciously in the Church; and He dwells most gloriously in heaven. Christ is Gods tabernacle to the eye of the Church; the Church is Gods tabernacle before the world; heaven is, and, with the gathered company of the redeemed set round the throne for ever will be Gods tabernacle before the universe. (Andrew Gray.)
The golden censer
The golden censer:
You will have noticed the peculiarity of the expression at the commencement of the Heb_9:4; which--i.e., the Holiest of all, had the golden censer, or rather, the golden altar of incense. Of the holy place it is said, in Heb_9:2, Wherein was the candlestick and the table, &c. The change of expression is significant. The writer does not mean to say that the altar of incense was within the holy of holies, but that the altar of incense belonged to it. The altar actually stood in the holy place, but more truly belonged to the holy of holies itself. It is very wonderful that any man who had read this Epistle intelligently could imagine for a moment that it was possible for the writer to have been so ill-informed as to have believed that the altar was actually within the most sacred inclosure. Apart altogether from inspiration, the intimate and profound knowledge of the Jewish system which the whole of the Epistle indicates, renders it absurd to suppose that on such a simple matter as the.position of the altar of incense the writer could have blundered. It would, to my mind, be just as reasonable to infer from some peculiarity of expression in Lord Macaulay, that the great historian had erroneously imagined that the Spanish Armada came against this country in the reign of Charles I., or to infer on similar grounds that Dr. Livingstone was under the impression that the island of Madagascar formed part of the African continent. (R. W. Dale, LL. D.)
The ark of the covenant
Christ typified by the ark of the covenant
I. THE ARK TYPIFIED THE DIGNITY AND PURITY OF CHRISTS PERSON. It was made of incorruptible wood; was overlaid with pure gold; and had crowns of gold wrought round about it. Here is distinctly pointed out to us
1. The holiness and incorruptibility of Christs human nature.
2. The divinity of Jesus.
3. The regal glory of Jesus.
II. THE CONTENTS OF THE ARK TYPIFIED THE FULNESS AND WORK OF CHRIST.
1. In it were the two tables of the law. In Jesus these laws were embodied. He had them in His heart. He exemplified them in their fullest extent.
2. In it was the golden pot of manna. So in Jesus is the bread of life. His flesh is meat indeed. He is the souls satisfying portion.
3. In it was Aarons rod that budded. Typifying Christs exalted and abiding priesthood.
III. THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE ARK TYPIFIED THE VICTORIES OF CHRIST.
1. The ark opened a passage through Jordan to the promised land. So by Christ a way has been opened through the grave to the heavenly Canaan.
2. By the arks compassing the walls of Jericho they were thrown down. So Jesus by His Divine power spoiled the powers of darkness, and He shall finally overthrow all the bulwarks of Satans empire.
3. The presence of the ark broke the idol Dagon to pieces. So shall the Saviour cast down all the idols of the heathen.
IV. THE MOVEMENTS OF THE ARK TYPIFIED THE PROGRESS AND CONSUMMATION OF CHRISTS KINGDOM. The ark was possessed by the Israelites, then it was in the hands of the Philistines, and finally it was laid up in Solomons temple. Thus Christ was first preached to the Jews, the gospel kingdom was first set up among them, afterwards it was extended to the Gentiles; and when consummated, it shall consist of all nations in the heavenly temple, there to be permanently glourious for ever and ever. Application: Learn
1. The privilege you possess in having Christ the true ark with you. In it you have treasured up a fulness of all spiritual blessings.
2. With believing reverence draw near to it, and receive mercy, enjoy fellowship with God, and obtain grace to help you in every time of need.
3. Despisers of Christ must inevitably perish. (J. Burns, D. D.)
The holy chest:
What was the lesson taught by this wonderful article of tabernacle furniture? Are we not to look upon it as a picture of Jesus?
I. Let us consider the OUTSIDE. What do we see? a chest most likely about three feet long, by eighteen inches wide, and eighteen inches deep. It is a box made of common wood, but covered with fine gold; and is not our Jesus both human and Divine? Both are there, and you cannot separate them; just as the ark was not perfect, though the right shape and size, till it was covered with fine gold, so Christ could not be Jesus without the gold of divinity. Still we do not overlook the wood, though it is covered with gold. It is sweet to know that Christ shares our nature. He passed over the cedar of angelic life, and took the common shittim, the tree of the wilderness. When we think of our sins, we are thankful that our Saviour was Divine, and therefore able to save to the uttermost; but when we think of our future, we are glad that we are to spend our eternity with the Man Christ Jesus. He is one of ourselves. Do you notice that at each corner there is a ring of gold? What are these rings for? To receive the staves which are passed through the rings. By these gold-covered staves the Levites carried the ark on their shoulders. The holy thing was portable; it went before, and led the people on their march. They were sure to be safe if they went where the ark led them. It would be a blessed thing if the Church of God would be persuaded to go only where Christ would have gone. But what are these figures which stand at each end of the ark--winged creatures, whose faces are looking with such earnestness at the gold oh the top of the ark? These are the cherubim, the representatives of the angelic world. They gaze with interest upon the mercy-seat. Is it not Jesus who links heaven to earth? Upon what are the cherubim gazing so intently? Follow the direction of their eyes, and what see you? There is a spot of blood! Blood? Yes, blood. Blood on the pure gold? Yes, this ark is the meeting-place between God and man--the only place where the Holy God can be approached by Him who represents sinners.
II. We will now lift the lid of the ark and look INSIDE. What do we see? The golden pot. A vessel of gold filled with manna! Does not this teach that in Christ we have spiritual food? Just as the manna fell all the time the children of Israel were in the wilderness, so Jesus is the bread of life to us, all the time we are on this side Jordan. Have another peep inside, and what meets your gaze? The rod that budded (Num_17:1-13.). What does this teach us? That in Christ is the true, God-chosen, God-honoured, God-prevalent priesthood. Look again. What see you now? The tables of the covenant. The stones upon which God wrote the law. Not the first tables: they were broken. Moses did not pick up the fragments and patch them together and put them in the ark. No, it was the new, unbroken tables which were put in the ark. And is not Christ Jesus our righteousness? Do we not glory in the fact that our Substitute was sinless? We have no righteousness to plead, but we have a perfect Saviour. Our efforts at reformation are but a clumsy piecing of the broken tables, but in Christ we have a perfect law. (T. Champness.)
The golden pot
The pot of manna
I. THE MANNA (Exo_16:11).
II. THE GOLDEN POT IN WHICH IT WAS CONTAINED may be applied
1. To the Divine Word; which is more precious than gold, and which is the Word of Christ, every part of which is full of Him.
2. To the holy ordinances; where He is so strikingly exhibited.
3. To the preached gospel; where Christ is the Alpha and Omega.
4. To the believers heart.
5. To the holiest place; where He ever dwells in all His glory, as the infinite source of all the blessedness of the heavenly world. Application:
(1) Be thankful for this heavenly bread.
(2) Receive it with all cordiality and joy.
(3) Constantly seek it in those means where His presence and blessing are promised.
(4) Despisers of Christ must starve and die. (J. Burns, D. D.)
The cherubims of glory.--The cherubim and the mercy-seat
I. We are taught by this sacred symbol, an ark thus constructed and accompanied, that THERE IS NOW, UNDER THE EVANGELICAL DISPENSATION, A RELATION BETWIXT LAW AND GRACE.
1. The law was there because it is eternal, and must therefore harmonise with every dispensation of religion to man.
2. The tables of the law are there in the ark, and connected with evangelical symbols representing the dispensation of mercy to mankind, because it was the violation of the law by which the dispensation of mercy was rendered necessary.
3. But we see the tables of the law thus connected with evangelical symbols, to intimate to us another truth, that the grand end of the administration of grace to man is the re-establishment of the laws dominion over him.
4. This connection between the law and the mercy-seat indicates, finally, that the administration of grace is in every part consistent with law.
II. There was not only a connection between the tables of the law and the mercy-seat, but over this mercy-seat the cherubims of glory were placed. We are therefore instructed in the fact, that THERE IS AN HARMONIOUS RELATION BETWIXT THE DISPENSATION OF GRACE TO MAN AND THE HEAVENLY WORLD.
1. We may, therefore, observe, with respect to the angelic powers, of whom the cherubim were the emblems, that they have an intellectual interest in this great subject.
2. We may go farther, and say, that we have evidence from Scripture that the connection of the angelic world with the Christian system is not one of mere intellectual curiosity and gratification, but likewise of large and important moral benefit.
3. There is another view in which we may regard the connection between the angelic world and the Church: they are angels and ministers; ministers to the Church, and ministers to individuals.
III. THERE WAS THE PRESENCE OF GOD CROWNING THE WHOLE. In the sanctuary you have not only the ark of the covenant, the tables of the law, the mercy-seat, and the cherubim shadowing it, but the visible symbol of the Divine presence. God was there. And thus are we shown that all things are of Him, and by Him, and for Him. The tables of the law declared His will; the covenant sprang from His everlasting wisdom and love; the mercy-seat was His throne; the cherubim were His servants; the holiest of all was His resting-place (2Ch_6:41). The people came to worship Him, and were dismissed with His blessing. As creation itself is from the will of God, so is redemption. All is the result of His benevolence. The whole plan of mercy sprang from the depths of His eternal love, and all its arrangements were fixed according to the treasures of His own knowledge and wisdom. This indicates, too, the necessity of Divine agency. As He originated the whole scheme of redemption, so must He be present with it to give it power and efficacy. (R. Watson.)
Of which we cannot now speak particularly
The inexpediency of dwelling on curious questions:
Sundry other things there were about the tabernacle, the narration whereof might have delighted the reader. But St. Paul here is a moderator to himself: you are desirous to hear more, but it is expedient to cut them off. Wherein he may be a precedent to all teachers. Though the discussing of curious and intricate questions would more delight the auditory, yet we must not feed their humour that way. Let us give them but a taste of them, and a whole mouthful of sound and wholesome food. Some, peradventure, in this place would have said, Oh, Paul, why dost thou so slightly handle the things belonging to the tabernacle? Repeat, I pray thee, every particular to us; it doth us good to hear of them. Yet he doth not satisfy their itching ears in that. St. Paul hath more necessary matter. Let us especially be desirous to hear of Christ our High Priest and Bishop of our souls, of repentance, of faith in Him, of making our calling sure by good works, of the true sanctuary of heaven, than of those earthly things: these are more profitable for us. The Spirit of God passeth over sundry other things about the tabernacle, because He had more substantial points in hand tending to our salvation by Christ. (W. Jones, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 1–5. The first covenant had also ordinances of divine…
1–5. The first covenant had also ordinances of divine service. The two covenants, the Mosaic and the Christian, have been named in chapter 8. Here they are contrasted. The first, or Mosaic, had its ordinances, and a sanctuary, or tabernacle of worship, in this world.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain THE writer proceeds to compare, or rather contrast, the…
CHRIST IS THE END OF THE LAW
CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES
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THE writer proceeds to compare, or rather contrast, the ordinances of ministration under the two priesthoods.
1. The older ceremonial indicated that the way into the holiest was not made plain. In Christ it is made plain.
2. The whole service of Judaism was outward and ceremonial. That of Christ is spiritual.
3. The older sacrifices were of unwilling beasts. That of Christ was the sacrifice of His own will, “His own consenting personality.”
4. Salvation and pardon were associated with blood or yielded life. This is, in the deepest, the most spiritual sense, true of Christ’s salvation.
5. The older sacrifices were numerous. Christ’s was a single sacrifice, and offered once for all.
6. The old sacrifices had their spiritual power only as typical of Christ’s sacrifice. Christ’s sacrifice is the antitype.
7. The cleansing efficacy of the old sacrifice was only partial and temporary. In Christ is perfect and final cleansing.
8. The old priests were ever at the altar. Christ, having offered, is seated on His throne. Heb_9:1-10 contain descriptions of the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies; but it should be noticed that only a brief, not a complete, recapitulation of the furniture and service of the Temple is attempted.
Heb_9:1. Then verily.—Or, “to resume our comparison then.” The first.—Some would supply the word “tent,” “tabernacle,” but the word “covenant” is preferable. See Heb_8:6-7; Heb_8:13. Ordinances of Divine service.—Or, “a service conducted by definite rules.” λατρεία signifies the public service of the tabernacle; δικαιώματα the formal rules which regulated it. Worldly.—Or material, as opposed to “heavenly,” or spiritual. A rhetorical description of the enclosed sacred area, with its tent, in which the daily Divine service was carried on. κοσμικόν means, “of a terrestrial nature.” If the meaning had been “ornate,” “elegant,” the adjectival form would have been κόσμιος.
Heb_9:2. Tabernacle.—This was made after the pattern showed to Moses in the mount; the later Temples were but enlarged copies of it. It is to the point, therefore, that the writer should take his illustrations from the original work. It was an oblong tent divided, by thick veils, into two chambers. The first.—Not the most important one, but the one that presents itself first to a visitor. For the furniture of the σκηνή, see Exo_25:23-29; Exo_25:31-39; Exo_37:17-24; Lev_24:4-9; 1 Kings 6. The altar of incense is omitted, and the altar of burnt-offering. This was in front of the tent, not within it. Candlestick.—Exo_25:31-39; Exo_37:17-24. Table.—Exo_25:23-29; bread consecrated to Jehovah was regularly placed upon it. For exhibition of the bread, see Exo_25:30; Lev_24:5-9. The earlier Hebrew name was “presence-bread.” Sanctuary.—ἅγια, Holy Place. Distinguished from ἅγια ἁγίων of Heb_9:3.
Heb_9:3. Second veil.—One was at the outer door of the Holy Place; the second, which was a double one, divided the Holy Place from the Most Holy. The Hebrew name of the inner veil is given in Exo_26:31-33; Lev_16:2. The Hebrew name of the outer veil is given, Exo_26:31-33; Exo_36:35-36. Holiest of all.—R.V. “Holy of Holies”; ἅγια ἁγίων. “A common form of expression in Hebrew, in order to denote intensity.” This apartment was regarded as the earthly dwelling-place of Jehovah. In Solomon’s Temple the inner chamber was called the “Oracle.”
Heb_9:4. Golden censer.—No such utensil is mentioned by Moses. Moulton renders “having a golden altar of incense,” but the altar of incense was in the Holy Place, not in the Holy of Holies. The Rabbins say that a golden censer was used by the high priest on the Day of Atonement. Alford suggests reading “having belonging to it,” rather than “having in it.” Farrar suggests some sort of stand on which the priest placed the incense-pot, or censer. Or the altar of incense may be referred to, and treated as “belonging to” the special ceremonies of the Holy of Holies. See 1Ki_6:22. Ark of the covenant.—κιβωτός a chest made of wood, and covered with laminæ of gold (Exo_25:10-16; Exo_37:1-5). Within it were placed the two tables of the covenant, and the lid was regarded as the mercy-seat. Golden pot.—See Exo_16:32-34. It is not spoken of as “golden” in the Hebrew, but the LXX. render στάμνον χρυσοῦν. Other ancient religions represent their supreme mystery by a closed box. The idea may have been Egyptian. It is disputable whether the pot and the rod were within the box, or placed beside it—but this writer distinctly understands the original arrangement to have included all within the box. Aaron’s rod.—See Num_17:1-10. The manna and the rod were Divine covenant seals. Tables.—Stone tablets; best represented by modern slates.
Heb_9:5. Cherubims of glory.—Stuart, “splendid cherubim.” Barker, “not splendid cherubim, but cherubim that were recipients of the glory, i.e. of the Divine manifestation, the Shekinah.” Farrar, “cherubim of the Shekinah.” (Exo_25:18-22; Exo_29:43; Num_7:89; Eze_10:19-20.) The glory-cloud was the visible symbol of God’s presence, and was regarded as resting, protected by the outspread wings of these representative figures. The cherubim were “emblems of all that was highest and best in animated nature—the grandest products of creation combined in one living angelic symbol.” Mercy-seat.—The lid or covering of the ark, which was of pure gold (Exo_25:17; Exo_25:21). The place of propitiation whence mercy was dispensed. “Over this mercy-seat the Divine glory was seen, i.e. a supernatural, excessive brightness, and hence God was supposed to be seated on it, as His throne, and from it to dispense His mercy, when atonement was made for the sins of the people, by sprinkling it with blood.” Particularly.—In minute detail. The writer does not propose to deal with all the Mosaic service; he can illustrate his point from the greatest day of the ritual—the Day of Atonement.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Heb_9:1-5
The Mission of the Symbolical.—It must have been a cause of much pain to the pious Jews that it had been found impossible fully to restore the old tabernacle conditions in the Temple built after the Captivity. “When Pompey profanely forced his way into the Holy of Holies, he found, to his great astonishment, nothing whatever (vacua omnia)” This writer does not therefore refer to any of the Temples—not even to Solomon’s—but deals only with the original tabernacle of Moses, that was fully fashioned and furnished “according to the pattern shewn him in the mount.” There only could the symbolic system be seen in its completeness. In making comparison between the old material and the new spiritual dispensations, it was quite possible for the writer to leave the impression that he underrated the old, and this impression might cause offence, and hinder men from receiving his teachings and persuasions. Christian teachers need to be anxious not only concerning the precision with which they state the truth, but also concerning the impressions that are received, and the ideas that are taken up, by those who hear them. They should watchfully avoid all occasions of offence, while keeping absolutely loyal to God’s truth. This fear influences the writer here, and leads him to give, in a very reverent and sympathetic way, his estimate of the real value and significance, as religious teaching, of the old symbolic system. True, it was temporary, educative, and preparatory, but it was the precisely fitting thing for its time and place; and it enshrined the great primary truths connected with God’s actual and possible relations with men, that could be liberated, illustrated, glorified, and made the universal heritage of men, when the spiritual High Priest had come, and had taken His place in the spiritual and eternal temple. This paragraph brings before us the furniture of the two chambers of the first tabernacle, and reminds us that each article carried a spiritual suggestion.
I. The symbolical meanings of the things in the first chamber, or Holy Place.—It is singular that the writer does not mention the “altar of incense,” which stood in the centre of the Holy Place, immediately before the veil, but brings in the golden censer, which carried fire from this altar into the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement, and so was thought of as properly belonging to the “Most Holy Place.” There were three principal articles of furniture in the first chamber, or Holy Place.
1. The altar of incense. A double cube, with horns, made of shittim-wood, overlaid with gold. No burnt-offering, meat-offering, or drink-offering was to be laid upon it; but the blood of the sin-offering of atonement was sprinkled upon its horns once a year. Incense, a sacred composition of spices, was offered by burning every morning and evening, as a symbol of the daily thanksgiving and prayer of the people.
2. The table of shewbread. This was placed on the right, or north side of the chamber. The table was oblong, and stood on legs. It was of shittim-wood, and was furnished with dishes, spoons, covers, and bowls, of pure gold. Upon this table were placed, every Sabbath Day, twelve cakes of fine flour, in two rows of six each, with frankincense upon each row. This constant offering of a representative of the people’s food before the Lord sanctified their common eating and drinking. Man’s time was consecrated to God by the separation of the Sabbath for His entire service. Man’s body was consecrated to God by the devotion of his possessions as sacrifices. Man’s food was sanctified by the presentation of this shewbread, this representative bread, before the Lord.
“How can I, Lord, withhold
Life’s brightest hour
From Thee; or gathered gold,
Or any power?
Why should I keep one precious thing from Thee,
When Thou hast given Thine own dear Self for me?”
C. E. Mudie.
3. The golden candlestick. Placed on the left or south side of the altar of incense. Made of pure beaten gold, having a straight centre rising from the stand, and three curved branches on either side. The lamps were lighted at the time of the evening oblation. The Rabbins say that only the central lamp was kept alight during the daytime. The famous figure of the candlestick on the Arch of Titus cannot be an exact representation, seeing that it has marine monsters carved upon its pediment, which would have been a direct violation of the second commandment. “As in a house light is as necessary as food, and the lampstand with its lighted lamp was a piece of furniture as necessary as the bread-vessel, so in the house of Jehovah the candlestick symbolised the spiritual light of life, which He gives to His servants with the words by which they live.” The candlestick symbolised the people, who were thus represented as always in the presence of Jehovah, and as always alight, with the light of their faith, and love, and obedience.
II. The symbolical meanings of the things in the second chamber, the Holy of Holies.—That chamber itself represented the truth that, while man’s sin had not so broken relations with God that he might not offer worship, or the service of his life, it had made impossible those close relations of personal friendship which God gave His creatures in Eden. Man’s sin had made the “veil” necessary, which could be passed only on well-defined conditions, and only representatively by the priest. The chamber was without windows, or ventilators, and absolutely dark, save for the glory of the Shekinah-cloud. The ark was the chief thing in it. It symbolised Jehovah’s throne; the cover was the seat, or mercy-seat; the cherubims represented the attendants on the throne; and the tables of the law inside the ark declared the foundation principles on which He who sat on the throne ruled His people and dispensed His mercy. “Justice and judgment are the habitation of His throne.” The golden pot with the manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, may have been placed beside the ark, rather than within it, and were representative of the history of God’s people, and of His special dealings with them. They, as it were, kept God reminded of the people’s needs and the people’s frailties. Perhaps the golden censer is mentioned with a special purpose. The writer wants to make clear how limited access to God was under the old system, and how free it is under the new; so he reminds us that even the old high priest could not go into the Holy of Holies without the shading of the glory of God with the smoke of incense. He must take the censer, and put incense on the coals just as he took the veil aside, so that he might not see undimmed the glory over the mercy-seat. The old symbols dealt with the primary truths that are now fully brought to light by Jesus Christ.
SUGGESTIVE NOTES AND SERMON SKETCHES
Heb_9:2. Types in the Holy Place.—“The candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread.” The furniture of the court was connected with sacrifice, that of the sanctuary itself with the deeper mysteries of mediation and access to God. The first sanctuary contained three objects: the altar of incense in the centre, so as to be directly in front of the ark of the covenant; the table of shewbread on its right or north side; and the golden candlestick on the left or south side. These objects were all considered as being placed before the presence of Jehovah, who dwelt in the “Holiest of all,” though with the veil between. The daily rite for the altar of incense was as follows: The priest took some of the sacred fire off the altar of burnt-offering in his censer, and threw the incense upon it; then, entering the Holy Place, he emptied the censer upon the altar, prayed, and performed the other duties of his office. Meanwhile the people prayed outside; and thus was typified the intercession of Christ in heaven, making His people’s prayers on earth acceptable. The shewbread (and, connected with it, the drink-offering of wine placed in the covered bowls upon the table) represented under the old covenant the same truths which are set forth by the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper under the new.—From “Student’s Scripture History.”
Ministry in the Holy Place.—The Holy Place was used for the more delicate sacrifices which the priests alone offered, and the rest of the people, including the Levites, never saw with their own eyes. The Holy Place was a dark chamber, and a lamp was necessary to enable the priests to discharge their functions. The golden altar became an altar for the priests alone, at which nothing but the most delicate substances might be offered—namely, incense. It is significant that the shewbread was called “bread of the face,” “bread of the Divine presence,” “loaves of the setting-forth.”
Heb_9:3. The Typology of the Veils.—Inside, the Holy of Holies was separated off only by a drop-curtain. This was made of byssus, and was fastened by golden hooks to four pillars of acacia-wood, which, like the planks, were covered with gold-leaf, and carefully secured in the ground with silver sockets. The drop-curtain was undoubtedly fixed behind them, so that the pillars would stand outside the ten ells, while a trifle farther to the front hung the ornamental junction of the curtains of byssus. In front of the whole tabernacle an outer drop-curtain of greater strength, probably twofold, was hung on to five pillars of acacia wood, which were set up across the entire breadth of the tabernacle. It displayed the same colours as the internal curtain, but no embroidered cherubs; the pillars were in other respects adorned like the four internal ones, but had only brazen sockets.—Ewald.
The Use of Veils.—Curtains, or veils, must be studied in view of their use, and of the sentiments concerning them in tent life. They were in effect as our shut and locked doors. They represent—
1. Claim to privacy
2. Hindrance to admittance, which can be only on conditions.
3. And they suggest mystery, something purposely hidden from view.
Heb_9:4. Types in the Holy of Holies.—There was but one object, the ark of the covenant, a sacred chest, containing the two tables of the law, the cover of it being called the “mercy-seat,” and the cherub figures making a sort of canopy over it. The cover was a plate of pure gold. This was the very throne of Jehovah, who was therefore said to “dwell between the cherubim.” It was also called the “mercy-seat,” or “propitiatory,” because Jehovah there revealed Himself, especially on the great Day of Atonement, as “God pardoning iniquity, transgression, and sin.” Nor was it without the profoundest allusion to the coming dispensation of the gospel that God’s throne of mercy covered and hid the tables of the law. The attitude of the cherubim was significant of the desire of angels to learn the gospel mysteries that were hidden in the law.
Contents of the Ark.—“Nothing is more characteristic of the earliest Jahveism, nor yet of greater historical truth and certainty, than that in place of the idols in which common heathenism took delight, and of certain artificial symbols which served the same purpose for a heathenism which was aiming at something higher, it was only the documents of these purest truths, and of these contracts, concluded as it were for all eternity, which acquired the most precious value, and the highest sanctity,” by being placed in the sacred chest.—Ewald.
Heb_9:5. The Suggestion of the Cherubim.—No actual knowledge of the forms of the figures which shadowed the mercy-seat can be obtained. The common Jewish tradition is, that they were human figures, each having two wings. They must have been of small size, proportioned to the area of the mercy-seat. Comparing the different references to form, in this verse, in 2Sa_22:11 (Psa_18:10); Ezekiel 1, 10; Revelation 4, it would appear that the name “cherub” was applied to various combinations of animal forms. Similar combinations were made by most ancient peoples in order to represent conceivable combinations of powers, such as are denied to man in his earthly state of existence. It is remarkable that amongst the Egyptians, the Assyrians, and the Greeks, as well as the Hebrews, the creatures by very far most frequently introduced into these composite figures were man, the ox, the lion, and the eagle. These are evidently types of the most important of familiarly known classes of living material beings. The Rabbinists recognised this in the cherubim as described by Ezekiel, which they regarded as representing the whole creation engaged in the worship and service of God (Rev_4:9-11; Rev_5:13). It would be in harmony with this view to suppose that the more strictly human shape of the cherubim of the mercy-seat represented the highest form of created intelligence engaged in the devout contemplation of the Divine law of love and justice (1Pe_1:12). They were thus symbols of worship rendered by the creature in the most exalted condition. It is worthy of notice that the golden cherubim, from between which Jehovah spoke to His people, bore witness, by their place on the mercy-seat, to His redeeming mercy; while the cherubim that took their stand with the flaming sword at the gate of Eden, to keep the way of the tree of life, witnessed to His condemnation of sin in man. The most perfect finite intelligence seems thus to be yielding assent to the Divine law in its twofold manifestation.—Speaker’s Commentary.
The Offices of Cherubim.—The special offices of the cherubic figures in the tabernacle appear to have been, first, the watching and guarding of the ark, and the sacred law deposited within the ark, towards which they are represented as looking, and over which they spread their outstretched wings; and, secondly, to attend and bear up that mystic presence of God which appeared in the cloud of glory over the mercy-seat. When the tabernacle is set up, the law is deposited in the ark, the cloud is promised to rest upon the covering of the ark, and, as the cherubim guard the law, and the testimony of God, so they may be supposed reverently to surround the throne of His glory, perhaps they were supposed to bear up the throne of God upon their wings, and to carry Him when He appeared in His glory.—Ibid.
Cherubim as Guardians.—As this chest was to have contents so precious, two cherubim were fixed over it, to symbolise the fact that Jahveh had, as it were, descended upon it, and eternally protected what was contained in the chest. For the cherub signified in the first instance the descent of the Deity, and consequently the spot whither it had descended and would again descend perpetually, and there manifest itself. In this symbolical application the cherub was also much utilised elsewhere—in the sacred tent and in the Temple. But its primary and most significant position was over the ark of the covenant, where, for artistic reasons, two were placed face to face, and in this application they indicate, in the first instance, how strict is Jahveh’s watch and guard over the sacred words contained therein. So far, no doubt, the sphynxes lying facing one another over a sacred shrine or sepulchre, etc., are very similar. There is a remarkable representation of Garuda (i.e. a cherub) as the altar for the ancient Indian horse-sacrifice, Râmâyana. But the greatest resemblance of all is found in some lately discovered Assyrian pictures. See Layard.—Ewald.
Cherubim as Representative Worshippers.—The cherubim were representatives of the angelic hierarchy worshipping the Divine Majesty, and adoring His love to man in Christ, and devoutly looking down into the mysteries of the gospel. Josephus says that they were not like any creatures ever seen on earth by human eyes, but that Moses had seen their prototypes near the throne of God.—Bishop Wordsworth.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain Apollos had been gloriously converted under the preaching of…
ARGUMENT 7
THE TWO SANCTUARIES
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Apollos had been gloriously converted under the preaching of John the Baptist and powerfully sanctified through the ministry of Priscilla and Aquila. Having been educated at Alexandria, Egypt, the greatest literary emporium in the world, he was thoroughly versed in all Judaic institutions. Hence he takes up every ramification of the Mosaic religion and uses it as a substratum on which to build the triumphant doctrine of Christian perfection, which constitutes the crowning glory of the Gospel dispensation. He here builds a majestic and irrefragable argument on the great, notable and prominent institution of the Jewish tabernacle and temple.
1. “The first tabernacle has ordinances of worship and a worldly sanctuary.” Before the Jew could enter the sanctuary, he must offer a burnt offering on the brazen altar, which stood without. This emblematized his justification from the guilt of his actual sins. Then he must go to the laver and receive a watery ablution, typifying the regeneration of his heart by the Holy Ghost. Having passed the altar and the laver, he enters the sanctuary of the Lord, which emblematizes the kingdom of grace. This is called a worldly sanctuary, because worldly elements could get into it. The Greek ecclesia, church, means the called out of the world. Hagiazo, sanctify, means to take the world out of you. This is precisely corroborated by the two temples. The outer is called a worldly sanctuary because the regenerated people who enter it still have worldly elements in their hearts. The world could not enter the sanctum sanctorum, into which the high priest alone went once a yea. Hence you see the perfect synonymy of the two temples with the two experiences. The first was called worldly because the elements of the world were in it. The second was called the holy of holies because none but the high priest, who emblematized Christ, and the wholly sanctified could enter it. While regeneration brings us out of the world, we carry much of the world with us in our hearts into the kingdom of grace. Sanctify means to take the world out of you, and thus bring you into the holy of holies.
2. The first sanctuary had to be lighted by human agency, like the churches of the present day. It also contained the shew bread for the past to eat, which must be frequently renewed or it will get stale and mold. How strikingly all this illustrates the unsanctified experience! Though you have the candlestick, i.e., your experience of conversion, yet much of the time you are under a cloud, walking in darkness, hoping some man of God or sanctified woman will come along and light your lamp again. Though you generally have some bread on the table, frequently it is so old and hard that you can’t chew it and so moldy as to nauseate you. How you wish for some holiness crank to come along and bring you a fresh loaf!
3-5. While the first temple has the brazen altar, the second has the golden. Justification is an inferior state, represented by brass, which also vividly emblematizes the egotism and pomposity always characterizing carnality. Meanwhile the golden altar of the sanctum sanctorum emblematizes the pure and undefiled religion of the sanctified experience, — the most valuable possession this side of heaven, fitly illustrated by the gold in contradistinction to the brass. Not only is the altar gold, but the ark of the covenant is covered with gold and the manna pot is pure gold. Hence we see entire sanctification is significantly and pre-eminently a pure gold experience. The sanctum sanctorum was lined internally with coal black badger skins throughout, having neither doors nor windows. Hence every ray of solar light was excluded, so midday was as dark as midnight. Neither were they permitted ever to introduce an artificial light. Hence the sanctum sanctorum was dependent entirely upon the light of the shekinah, which was the ineffable glory of the divine presence. While the outer temple is dependent on human agency to come and light the candles to drive away the darkness, the inner court is not only independent of all human agency, but independent of the sun, moon and stars. Pursuant to this forcible analogy, the justified Christian is dependent on his pastor to come round and give him light, while the sanctified are independent, not only of all human agency but of all natural resources. He has the glorious Sun of Righteousness shining in his soul night and day. He is no longer dependent on the nightly fall of manna in the wilderness which bred worms in twenty-four hours, so he could not eat it; but he has an ample supply in the golden pot, always sweet, delicious and pre-eminently nutritious, just ready ad libitum to take a mess. Besides, Aaron’s rod, evergreen, flourishing, budding, blooming and laden with fruits, growing, mature, delicious and fragrant, is constantly before his eyes, inviting him to eat and be filled. Reader, are you in the sanctum sanctorum, illuminated by the glorious heavenly light of the shekinah, giving you perennial noonday in your soul, feasting on the delicious manna in the golden pot, always sweet and fresh, eating the luscious, ripe fruits and beholding the blooming flowers of Aaron ‘ budding rod, cheered by the angelic presence of the glorified cherubim and blessed with the perpetual presence of the mercy- seat? If you lived in the former dispensation, encumbered by the Levitical law, you might apologize. But since God, with His own hand, rent the vail from top to bottom when its great Antitype was lacerated by the Roman spear, so you have nothing to do but shove it aside with the hand of faith, walk in, and forever abide amid the unearthly glories of the sanctum sanctorum, you certainly are left without excuse.
6, 7. The Greek says the high priest offered sacrifice for the sins of ignorance, i.e., the infirmities of the people. There are three kinds of sins, i.e. actual, original and sins of ignorance, or in Wesleyan theology infirmities. Justification saves us from actual sins; sanctification, from original sins, and glorification, from infirmities or sins of ignorance. When our Savior was interviewed in reference to the woman who survived her seventh husband, as to whose wife she should be in the resurrection, he responded: “In the resurrection there is neither marrying nor giving in marriage, but all are as the angels of God.” The Greek is isoi anggeloi, i.e., like the angels, or equal to the angels. Hence we have from this utterance of the Savior the clear revelation that glorification confers angelic perfection. Sanctification imparts Christian perfection, which is the normal status of Gospel salvation. The man who does not enjoy Christian perfection in his own experience is still under the law, living in the dispensation of Moses. Christian perfection, i.e., entire sanctification, prepares us to live a holy life, glorify God in the salvation of others, and enjoy a heavenly prelibation in this world. Glorification which the Holy Ghost confers the moment the soul evacuates the body, sweeps away all the infirmities incident to the soul through the media of the mortal body and fallen mind, conferring on us angelic perfection, with which we leave this world and enter heaven, to live among the angels, like them forever free from the mistakes, blunders, infirmities and failures incident to probation.
8-10. In these verses Apollos certifies the typical character of these Judaic institutions and their consequent incompetency “to make the worshiper perfect as to his conscience.” We are all ready to bear witness to the testimony of Apollos and the Holy Ghost here given. I preached fifteen years in the typical dispensation, all the time striving and aspiring to perfection of conscience, but never reaching it. I exhausted the types, shadows, ordinances, humanisms and legalisms, finally to give up in utter desperation. When, twenty-eight years ago, I bade adieu to all human, ritualistic and legislative agencies, and turned over the momentous problem of perfection of conscience to the Omnipotent Savior, victory came to stay. Early in this legalistic period of my Christian experience, I came to the conclusion that baby sprinkling was not water enough. Consequently I prevailed on a Methodist preacher, who has long been playing on his golden harp, to immerse me deep in Pitman’s Creek. I did not receive it for the remission of sins, for I had been gloriously converted and at that time enjoyed the witness of the Spirit to my acceptance with God. I was in a terrible conflict with inbred sin, on which, in the silence of the pulpit, I was groping in darkness. Hence I ignorantly received immersion as a sanctifier. To my unutterable disappointment I found the change only physical, i.e., from dry to wet. I found the devil amphibious, like his symbol the snake, competent to live in water as well as on the land. So I am a living witness, along with Apollos, to the utter incompetency of all humanism and all legalism “to make perfect the worshiper as to his conscience.” Millions of people are wearing themselves out in church work of all sorts, vainly aspiring to a perfect conscience, which they will never receive on that line, as Paul well says, “Though I give all my goods to feed the poor, and give my body to be burned, without perfect love I am nothing.” It is lamentable to contemplate the wholesale delusion this day enslaving the popular churches with the vain aspiration, by good works, noble enterprises, fine church edifices, big organs and eloquent sermons, “to make the worshiper perfect as to his conscience.” It is nonsense in the extreme. Perfection can not possibly come in that way. It is the work of the Omnipotent Perfector, through faith. “Washings,” in the tenth verse, is baptisms in the Greek. Amid the multitudinous typical institutions of the Levitical economy, the watery ablutions and bloody sacrifices stood pre-eminent, the former representing the Holy Ghost and the latter the Christ, and both almost infinitesimal in quantity and quality. In ways innumerable the Jews contracted ceremonial defilement incidentally, accidentally and necessarily, which could only be removed by the application of the catharistic ablutions, which were prepared by dropping the blood of the red heifer into water, or more generally as a matter of convenience some of the ashes of the red heifer which had been slaughtered, burned and carefully kept convenient for all demands. “Ordinance of the flesh appointed till the time of restitution.” These innumerable watery catharisms expurgatory of ceremonial defilement, along with the innumerable bloody sacrifices being fulfilled on the cross of Calvary and in the upper room on Mt. Zion, forever became effete, the simple institution of Christian baptism surviving the one, and the eucharist the other, neither of which is essential to salvation, from the simple fact that they are both carnal ordinances, whereas we are living in the spiritual dispensation.
11, 12. Whereas the high priest under the symbolic dispensation must enter the sanctum sanctorum every year, repeating the atonement over and over, because his work at best was only typical and transitory, Christ, our great and infallible High Priest, having offered His own body on the cross, the great Antitype, adumbrated by all the bleeding birds and beasts slain during the annals of four thousand years, ascended into the heavenly sanctuary, “having found eternal redemption.” Euramenos is the aorist participle from euriskoo. Hence it means that our Savior instantaneously found this eternal redemption when he expired on the cross. So complete and perfect is that redemption, as forever to preclude the slightest necessity for any human soul to be lost. Hence the wretched millions in hell have gone hither gratuitously, without the most remote legal necessity, the sad reminiscence of which will doubtless prove the blackest ghost to haunt and torment them through all eternity.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain The Simplicity of Christian Ritual.
Heb 9:1
The Simplicity of Christian Ritual.
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The simplicity of worship in the Christian Church is a sign of spiritual advancement—
I. Inasmuch as it arises, in some measure, from the fact that the Gospel rites are commemorative, whilst those of the former dispensation were anticipative.
II. Inasmuch as it arises from the fact that, whilst the rites of Judaism were mainly disciplinary, those of Christianity are spontaneous and expressive.
III. The simplicity of the Christian rites affords a safeguard against those obvious dangers which are incident to all ritual worship. (1) The first of these is the tendency of the unspiritual mind to stop short at the symbol; (2) the next is the too common tendency to mistake aesthetic emotion for religious feeling.
J. Caird, Sermons, p. 272.
Heb 9:1-5
Worship in Spirit and Truth.
I. Apart from revelation men have not the idea of God as Lord, Spirit, Father; and even after the light of Scripture has appeared, God is to many only an abstract word, by which they designate a complex of perfections rather than a real, living, loving, ever-present Lord, to whom we speak and of whom we ask the blessings that we need. Without revelation prayer is regarded not so much as asking God in order to receive from Him, but as an exercise of mind which elevates, ennobles, and comforts. It is a monologue.
II. Unto the Gentiles God never gave an Aaronic priesthood, an earthly tabernacle, a symbolical service. From the very commencement He taught them, as Jesus taught the woman of Samaria, that now all places are alike sacred; that the element in which God is worshipped is spirit and truth; that believers are children who call God Father; that they are a royal priesthood who through Jesus are brought nigh unto God, who enter into the holy of holies which is above. How difficult it is to rise from the spirit of paganism to the clear and bright atmosphere of the gospel! Priesthood, vestments, consecrated buildings, symbols, and observances all place Christ at a great distance, and cover the true, sinful, and guilty state of the heart which has not been brought nigh by the blood of Christ. The sinner believes, and as a child he is brought by Jesus unto the Father. High above all space, high above all created heavens, before the very throne of God, is the sanctuary in which we worship. Jesus presents us to the Father. We are beloved children, clothed in white robes, the garments of salvation, and the robes of righteousness. We are priests unto God.
A. Saphir, Lectures on Hebrews, vol. ii., p. 76.
Reference: Heb 9:1-12.—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 469.
Heb 9:4
The Holy Chest.
"Of which we cannot now speak particularly," said the author of the epistle. If he had gone into particulars further exposition would have been needless. What was the lesson taught by this wonderful article of tabernacle furniture? Are we not to look upon it as a picture of Christ?
I. Let us consider the outside. What do we see? A chest most likely about three feet long, by eighteen inches wide, and eighteen inches deep. It is a box made of common wood, but covered with fine gold. And is not our Jesus both human and Divine? Both are there, and you cannot separate them; just as the ark was not perfect, though the right shape and size, till it was covered with fine gold, so Christ could not be Jesus without the gold of divinity. The Jews stumbled here; they were ready to receive a human Messiah, but they would not have anything to do with the Divine element. Still we do not overlook the wood, though it is covered with gold. It is sweet to know that Jesus shares our nature. He passed over the cedar of angelic life, and took the common shittim, the tree of the wilderness. (1) At each corner there is a ring of gold to receive the staves by which the Levites carried the ark on their shoulders. The people were safe if they went where the ark went. It would be a blessed thing if the Church of God would be persuaded to go where Christ would have gone. (2) At each end of the ark are the cherubim, the representatives of the angelic world. They gaze with interest upon the mercy-seat. Is it not Jesus who links heaven to earth? As the cherubim gazed on the blood on the mercy-seat, so in heaven the Saviour is the centre of attraction, "a Lamb as it had been slain."
II. We will now look inside the ark, and what do we see? (1) "The golden pot" filled with manna. Does not this teach that in Christ we have spiritual food? (2) The rod that budded convinced the people that Aaron was chosen priest. So Christ has the true, God-chosen, God-honoured, God-prevalent priesthood. (3) The tables of the covenant, the new, unbroken tables, remind us that in Christ we have a perfect law. He is our righteousness. (4) Wherever the ark went it meant destruction to the foes of the Almighty; so if Jesus be with us we shall win the day. And in the last struggle, when we cross the bridgeless river, we shall need Christ as the Israelites needed the ark when they crossed over Jordan.
T. Champness, New Coins from Old Gold, p. 45.
References: Heb 9:4.—Expositor, 1st series, vol. vi., p. 469. Heb 9:6-9.—R. W. Dale, The Jewish Temple and the Christian Church, p. 186.
Heb 9:7-14
Christ entered in by His own blood.
We who believe that Christ has entered by His own blood into the holy of holies have thereby received a fourfold assurance.
I. The redemption which Christ has obtained is eternal. Christ’s precious blood can never lose its power till all the chosen saints of God are gathered into glory. It is a real redemption from the guilt and power of sin, from the curse of the law, from the wrath of God, from the bondage of Satan, and from the second death; an eternal redemption, because sin is forgiven; Satan, death, and hell are vanquished; everlasting righteousness is brought in; we are saved for evermore.
II. We have now access to God; we are brought into the very presence of God; we enter into the Holy of Holies. The veil no longer conceals the counsel of God’s wonderful love; sin in the flesh no longer separates us from the presence of the Most High. Very awful, and yet most blessed and sweet, is this assurance. God is very near to each one of us. Though we see Him not, yet is He nearer to us than the very air we breathe; for our very being, and living, and moving are in Him.
III. Our consciences are purged by the blood of Christ to serve the living God. To us has been given what the old covenant saints did not possess—perfection, the absolution and remission of sins.
IV. The things to come are secured to us by Him who is the heir, and in whom even now all spiritual blessings in heavenly places are ours.
A. Saphir, Lectures on Hebrews, vol. ii., p. 123.
Heb 9:9
Love in the Ordinance of Sacrifice.
I. In order to be acceptable to God, self-sacrifice must be unreserved and complete. It must be the perfect rendering up of the will to His will, of the being to His disposal, of the energies to His obedience. No reserve can be for an instant thought of. Accordingly, all that was dedicated to Him under the law was fully and unreservedly His; not to be recalled for ordinary cases, not to be divided from His service.
II. Now it must be obvious to us that such full and entire rendering up to God is impossible on the part of a man whose will is corrupted by sin. Every victim was to be without blemish. If each man would not for himself fulfil the spiritual meaning of the sacrifice, the sacrifice itself taught him something of a substitute for himself who in his stead might be offered to God. And the law working on this continually familiarised the people to the idea of one such substitute for all.
III. Again, in the substitution indicated by the sacrifice there must be represented a transference of guilt from the offerer to the substitute. For this the law also took special care (the scapegoat).
IV. The next point which we require is, that some method of communication of the virtue of the sacrifice and its acceptableness to the offerer must be indicated. The offerers partook of the sacrifice. The law was not only a negative preparation for Christ in pulling down the stronghold of human pride and bringing men in guilty before God, but it was a positive preparation for Him, in indicating, as it did, His complete atoning sacrifice, and in announcing Him by repeated prophetic intimations. They who as yet knew not Him could not then perceive the full significance of them; but we, looking back from the foot of the cross and the light of God’s Spirit, can gather strong confirmation for our most holy faith from all this preparation and typical foreshadowing of Christ.
H. Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. iv., p. 115.
References: Heb 9:10.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ii., p. 421. Heb 9:11-12.—Homilist, vol. i., p. 184.
Heb 9:13-14
Self-oblation the true idea of Obedience.
I. St. Paul here tells us that Christ "offered up Himself," from which we may learn (1) that the act of offering was His own act, and (2) that the oblation was Himself. He was both Priest and Sacrifice; or, in a word, the atoning oblation was His perfect obedience, both in life and in death, to the will of His Father. His whole life was a part of the one sacrifice which, through the eternal Spirit, He offered to His Father; namely, the reasonable and spiritual sacrifice of a crucified will. We learn from this—(1) into what relation towards God the Church has been brought by the atonement of Christ. The whole mystical body is offered up to the Father as a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. The Church is gathered out of the world and offered up to God; it is made partaker of the atonement of Christ, of the self-oblation of the Word made flesh. (2) The nature of the sacraments. Under one aspect they are gifts of spiritual grace from God to us; under another they are acts of self-oblation on our part to God. He of His sovereign will bestows on us gifts which we, trusting in His promises, offer ourselves passively to receive.
II. We may learn from this view of the great act of atonement what is the nature of the faith by which we become partakers of it, or, in other words, by which we are justified. Plainly it is not a faith which indolently terminates in a belief that Christ died for us; or which intrusively assumes to itself the office of applying to its own needs the justifying grace of the atonement. Justifying grace is the trust of a willing heart, offered up in obedience to God; it is His will working in us, knitting us to Himself. Our faith, if we would endure unto the end, must be stern, unyielding, and severe. It must bear the impress of His passion, and make us seek the signs of our justification in the sharper tokens of His cross.
III. We learn what is the true point of sight from which to look at all the trials of life. We are not our own, but His; all that we call ours is His; and when He takes it from us—first one loved treasure and then another, till He makes us poor and naked and solitary—let us not sorrow that we are stripped of all we love, but rather rejoice for that God accepts us; let us not think that we are left here, as it were, unseasonably alone; but remember that, by our bereavements, we are in part translated to the world unseen. He is calling us away and sending on our treasures. The great law of sacrifice is embracing us, and must have its perfect work. Like Him, we must be made, "perfect through suffering."
H. E. Manning, Sermons, vol. i., p. 242.
References: Heb 9:13, Heb 9:14.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxv., No. 1481; vol. xxxi., No. 1846; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 469; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iv., pp. 88, 89, 224; vol. vi., pp. 147, 333.
Heb 9:14
These words refer to, perhaps, the most remarkable of all the typical ordinances of the Old Testament. One of the chief defilements contracted under the law was that caused by contact with a dead body. So rigid was the law that the priests were forbidden to take part in funeral rites, except for the nearest relations, lest they should, by possible contact with the dead, be incapacitated for the ministerial office. It was a perpetual testimony to the truth that God made not death—that death is the strange thing superinduced by sin upon the rational creation. As Christ’s one death cleanses all sin even to the end, so the ashes of a single heifer served to the purifying of many generations. Now to this remarkable ordinance St. Paul alludes: If the sprinkling of the water containing a portion of the ashes of this slaughtered bull avail to remove the ceremonial defilement of death, and that not for one but for many generations, how much more shall the blood of Christ, shed once for all, purge the innermost conscience!
I. What are the dead works which, like the touch of a corpse, pollute the conscience of man, and disqualify him from standing up as a servant of the living God? They are twofold. First, you are to understand by the term all acts of false worship,—the homage paid by the heathen to their idols; secondly, all acts of low or unsound morality,—all acts are themselves vicious, or of semi-virtue. These are comprehended in the phrase "dead works." They are works having, you see, a semblance of life, just as the soulless flesh will preserve awhile the hues of health, misleading some even as to the fact of death, and being nevertheless to the more experienced eye wholly devoid of the breath of existence. The conscience of the old world before Christ was defiled and weakened. Wherever the Christian Church was implanted, and the name of Christ adored, the conscience was, as it were, awakened from the dead.
II. There are two or three short lessons which grow out of the subject. (1) The first concerns the true character of the work which the Church of Christ has to do in a nation. Now, there are two ways of dealing with men in spiritual things. The one is that of accustoming them to lean entirely upon others; the second is that of teaching them with God’s help to walk by themselves. The surest sign of vigorous Church life is in the quickened and enlightened conscience of the people. (2) The whole argument brings out in undissoluble union the connection that exists between the doctrines of the gospel and the morality of the gospel. That which this modern world of ours wants is the public honesty, the domestic purity of Christian life, without mystery, and God manifest in the flesh. It may not be. The conscience of mankind has not been purged by a system of morals, but by the life and death of the incarnate God. (3) What a warning there is here against allowing ourselves in anything which has the least tendency to pollute the conscience.
J. R. Woodford, Penny Pulpit, new series, No. 496.
References: Heb 9:15-22.—Expositor, 1st series, vol. vii., p. 73. Heb 9:15-23.—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 470. Heb 9:16, Heb 9:17.—Homilist, 2nd series, vol. i., p. 489. Heb 9:20.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxvi., No. 1567. Heb 9:22.—Ibid., vol. iii., No. 118; Ibid., Morning by Morning, p. 33; H. J. Wilmot Buxton, Sunday Sermonettes for a Year, p. 134; E. Cooper, Practical Sermons, vol. ii., p. 16; Bishop Crowther, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xi., p. 385; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iv., p. 527.
Heb 9:24
I. and II. The sacrifice and intercession of Christ are, of course, distinct in idea; but, in fact, are so united that it is more convenient to consider them together. Sacrifice is intercession, not in word, but in act. It makes atonement for man with God, that is, sets God and man at one. It comes between: that is, in the literal sense of the word, intercedes, mediates between the two, reconciles them; all which terms apply with equal propriety to the one office as to the other, sacrifice and intercession. Every description of Christ’s High Priesthood establishes the truth that it is exercised now continually in heaven. The effect which the continued intercession of Christ must exercise over our destiny cannot be measured by any estimate of ours. His prayers are uttered night and day, hour by hour, whether men pray or whether they sleep. And then think how great a motive it is for men to pray, that their prayers may vibrate along the chords of His. We may take our prayers and have them moulded after His, and stamped with His name, and authorised by His image and superscription, as men carry to the royal mint the ingots of gold which their hands have dug out of the earth, and have them coined into money that shall pass current in the land.
III. Consider what comfort exists in the possession of the sympathy of Christ, and in the knowledge that He exists in the body of man, alive to all the human wants and natural infirmities of the heart. In heaven is the presence of One who has raised our nature to Himself to glory. And so long as He retains that nature (which is for ever) we believe that "there is no other thing which He will not effect for us." For our souls He represents His all-sufficient sacrifice; our prayers He sustains by his intercession; our troubles He soothes by the comfort of His sympathy, and our whole body He will change that it may be like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able to subdue all things unto Himself.
C. W. Furse, Sermons at Richmond, p. 63.
Presence of Christ Incarnate in Heaven.
I. Consider first the question of a body possibly existing in heaven. If Adam had kept His state of innocence, he would not have died, nor would he, we imagine, have continued for ever in Paradise, among the trees and the beasts of the earth. We believe that he would have been translated in his body, glorified, to heaven. Enoch was thus removed, and afterwards Elijah. Again, Moses, though his body had been hidden in the earth, appeared after a thousand years, above a hill of Paradise, and was heard to talk. Whence did his body, and that of Elijah, come? None can say. It is enough for our purpose to admit that their presence at the Transfiguration is a proof that bodies can exist somewhere above the range of this lower earth.
II. "The Word was made flesh," the manhood of Christ was perfect. He took not on Him the form of angels, but the seed of Abraham. It is a characteristic of human nature, that once man is man for ever. If, then, Christ is a perfect man, He is man for ever. The eternal Son, marrying Himself to our nature, became with it our flesh. Therefore in heaven, far above Paradise, the world of spirits, the Head of our race already lives in the form and fashion of man.
III. Consider the influence which the presence of Christ incarnate in heaven has upon man below, and the practical difference which this doctrine causes in our estimate of His work for us. (1) According to this doctrine, it is nothing strange, disparaging to the love of God in Christ, if we find that a special promise of grace is pledged to particular modes of seeking Him. If Christ be not really and spiritually present in the ordinances which He has instituted, in a sense of more close and intimate communion than can be applied to the generally diffused mercy and power of God, then the idea of any church is a fiction. Our acts of worship are not fictions, our sacraments are not representations. There is an electric current ever circulating from Christ incarnate through the members of His body, which is the Church.
C. W. Furse, Sermons at Richmond, p. 51.
Ascension Day.
I. What ought to be our feelings who know that our Lord and God, who reigns in heaven, is man too,—that He is man now, and will be for ever in the fulness of glorified human nature. Different feelings possess us as we contemplate this glorified human nature in Christ, our judge or our intercessor. Our judge is one who appeared as man upon earth, and who is man now, "with all things appertaining to the perfection of man’s nature in heaven." He knew the secret motives upon which the Scribes and Pharisees acted, although these were covered by the most pious exterior. Their hidden thoughts were discovered to Him. Well, then, He who knew what was in man in the days of His flesh, He who judged man then, knows and weighs man now in heaven—even the Man Christ Jesus. He judges us now, though not openly; He looks into our hearts, He knows what is true and what is false there, what is sound and what is corrupt. Our hearts are open to one who is man; we are searched and tested by His infallible insight. If we fear the face of mere man, shall we not dread the face of Him who is both God and Man?
II. We celebrate, then, this day the Ascension of our great Judge into heaven, where He sits upon His throne and has all the world before Him; every human soul, with its desires and aims, its thoughts, words, and works, whether they be good or bad. Every man who is running now his mortal race is from first to last before the eye of Him who as on this day ascended with His human nature into heaven. But we also celebrate the entrance of Christ into heaven to sit there in another character, viz., as our Mediator, Intercessor, and Advocate. He sits there as High Priest, to present to the Father His own atonement and sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. It is our Lord’s supreme place in the universe now, and His reign over all the worlds, visible and invisible, which we commemorate in His Ascension. We are especially told in Scripture never to think of our Lord as having gone away and left His Church; but always to think of Him as now reigning, now occupying His throne in heaven, and from thence ruling over all. He rules in His invisible dominions, among the spirits of just men made perfect; He rules in the Church here below, still in the flesh. There He receives a perfect obedience, here an imperfect one; but He still rules over all; and though we may, many of us, resist His will here, He overrules even that resistance to the good of the Church, and conducts all things and events by His spiritual providence to their great final issue. Let us worship our Lord Jesus Christ, then, both with fear and love; but also remembering that in those in whose heart He dwells, perfect love casteth out fear.
J. B. Mozley, University Sermons, p. 244.
References: Heb 9:24.—J. J. S. Perowne, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxi., p. 216; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. i., p. 145; vol. iii., p. 44.
Heb 9:24-28
The Threefold Manifestation of the Redeemer.
I. The Redeemer’s first appearance in the world was His Incarnation in the fulness of time as a member of the human race, to endure the death appointed to sinners, and to obtain for us eternal redemption.
II. The Ascension entrance into the presence of God was the glorious end and consummation of the Redeemer’s atoning appearance on earth. There is a certain change in the word now employed by the writer that suggests a boundless difference between the humbled and the exalted state of our Lord Himself. He appears boldly and gloriously before God. His manifestation in time was throughout marked, not only by self-abasement, but also by visitation from above. But now is Christ risen and ascended back to His Father’s bosom. He has returned from the far country whither His love carried Him to seek and to find the lost. It was a prelude of this eternal complacency that glorified Him on the Mount of Transfiguration. But though He received honour and glory there, He saw in the distance that other mount, and descended again into the valley of humiliation to reach it. He goes up to be glorified eternally. He "appears in the presence of God to go out no more." The emphasis rests on the words "for us." Our Lord is in heaven the accepted propitiation for human sin. He pleads the virtue of His atonement, which is the virtue of His Divine-human self, as the glorious Anti-type of the typical High Priest entering the holiest on the day of atonement. For all who are His He receives the heavens. His presence there is the security that they shall be there also.
III. The Redeemer will appear a second time, without sin unto salvation. Here it must be remembered that a long chapter of the Church’s expectation is omitted. The millennial history that precedes His advent, the glorious circumstances of His coming, and many and wonderful events that derive their glory from it, are all passed by. The atonement is consummated, and that is all; it ends, for He comes without the cross: it is perfected in the salvation of His saints. Our Lord will appear, to those who have no other desire in heaven or earth but Himself, not for judgment, but for salvation. They died with Him, and they shall live with Him; they suffered with Him, and they shall reign with Him. Here, we are saved by hope. In this life, salvation is of the spirit; and that salvation is perfect, save as the spirit is the soul, encompassed about by the infirmities of the bodily organ. Many penalties of sin remain untaken away while we live below. In Paradise these are gone, but there remains the widowhood of the disembodied spirit. Not that the salvation is incomplete, but it is perfect only in part. When we receive Jesus, and are made partakers of Him for ever, then will salvation be full, "complete in Him."
W. B. Pope, Sermons and Charges, p. 84.
References: Heb 9:26.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xiii., No. 759; vol. xvi., Nos. 911, 962; L. Mann, Life Problems, p. 55; Homilist, 4th series, vol. i., p. 39; R. Thomas, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xii., p. 330; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. x., p. 147.
Heb 9:27
I. It is appointed unto man once to die, but after that they are still men. No affection, no principle of human nature, is lost. The form of man is not lost. Before death, men are covered with the opaque earth-form, and therefore they cannot be judged. Death removes the earthly mask, and then they can be truly judged.
II. These two appearances of man correspond with the two appearances of Christ, the representative Man of the race. As Christ inherits to eternity what He acquired in His earthly humanity, so shall we. Our brief planetary existence is quite long enough for the inner and essential man to take the stamp, spirit, and general character of His endless after life. The progressive law of our being requires the opening of the books. Our lives make a nature in us, and as is the nature made, such will be the sphere of our existence, and such our associates.
III. A man is under no absolute necessity of considering the bearings of his present life, on his future standing in the eternal world. If he prefer he can allow himself to be fully absorbed, by desiring and minding the things that pertain to his ephemeral flesh. And if he does he will simply find himself, after death, made and formed according to this world, and wholly unfitted for association with kingdom of heaven men. There is no fear of his being judged unjustly. He will appear what he is. The dominant affections that are in him will manifest themselves whether we are made out of heaven, for heaven; or made out of more dusky elements, for the dusky world and its dusky associates. We shall have to keep the appointment that is made for us. All the laws without us and all the laws within us will urge us on to our own place.
IV. It is every way wise and friendly that time should close with us and eternity open. Time is the reign of appearances, eternity is the reign of truth. Death opens a new door, and we pass from behind our curtains and disguises into the great sunlight. God is the eternal sunlight. God is truth. If, with the unveiled face of our heart, we form the habit of beholding His face in Jesus, the glory of His face will change us into the same image, and our glorious Lord will be glorified in us.
J. Pulsford, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xv., p. 401.
I. There is no undoing the past altogether. When the books are opened, we shall be judged out of the things which are written in the books, notwithstanding the book of life. The days of swine-keeping leave their mark. The woman of the city, to whom much was forgiven, loved much. But who that knows what repentance is can doubt that in the deepest depths of her love dwelt ever an earnest longing, which nothing in the present or the future could satisfy,—a longing for the innocence that had been lost, and for a memory unscathed by sin?
II. There has set in of late a strange foolhardiness, as if in the present age it were an agreed point among all people of discernment that judgment to come is an idle tale. Very seductive this must be to the young. Even if there be a judgment after death, death to them seems a long way off; and they have heard that divines themselves do not nowadays paint the judgment so terribly as they used to do. God is good. May they not leave Him to bring goodness out of all things in the end?
III. Our Judge is human, not a piece of mechanism. But His judgment is even more exquisitely true than that of man’s most exquisite workmanship. Let us look to Him now, that we may fear Him then. Let us seek to be one with His righteousness now, that we may then be one with His sentence.
J. Foxley, Oxford and Cambridge Pulpit, Dec. 6th., 1883.
References: Heb 9:27.—W. Pulsford, Trinity Church Sermons, p. 182; Saturday Evening, p. 276; W. R. Thomas, Christian World. Pulpit, vol. xxxv., p. 37; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. x., p. 342. Heb 9:27, Heb 9:28.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. viii., No. 430; H. P. Liddon, Advent Sermons, vol. i., p. 69; Ibid., Christian World Pulpit, vol. ii., p. 369; J. Pulsford, Ibid., vol. xv., p. 401; Ibid., vol. xxvii., p. 374; Homiletic Magazine, vol. ix., p. 44. Heb 9:28.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. x., p. 100; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. ix., p. 278.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain Subdivision 3. (Heb 9:1-28; Heb 10:1-39.)
Subdivision 3. (Heb 9:1-28; Heb 10:1-39.)
The Way into the Holiest made Manifest.
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Thus we have had before us the Priest, and the covenant with which He is connected. The Priest is the Son of God, the One who as such is over the house of God, that is the whole universe, which was created by Him, and which He upholds by the word of His power. Sin having come in, it is He who necessarily comes forth in order to deliver His creation from it, and at the same time to glorify God by the declaration of His holiness and righteousness and love in regard to it. For this He has been down in the lowest depths, under the penalty of sin itself, to justify that penalty, and to bring in the love and light which God is into the midst of its darkest shadows. He has gone up, "passed through the heavens," into the supreme place above all, with the power thus strangely acquired to bring in blessing according to the whole character of God Himself, justifying all God’s thoughts in the creation of man, and displaying in manhood itself a depth of wisdom in those thoughts by which He is glorified forever. The way is opened thus for redeemed and saved man into heaven itself, presently to be there in actual fact, but in the meanwhile, that he may enter there in spirit, in the way in which we have it shown here, into the holiest of all: a sanctuary which, while on earth, is the anticipation of the heavenly one. That which is before us now is just the manifestation of this way into the Holiest. The work is accomplished, but we have to see the application of it to man, the purging of his conscience by the offering made for him, and the setting him free so that he may draw near to God as fully manifested by "a new and living way" which is opened to him.
There are four sections here, and the fourth of these is an exhortation in view of all that is involved. The first three give the subject itself: the first speaking of the first tabernacle of the first covenant, and which shows the character of this, the way into the holiest not being made manifest. The second shows the removal of the hindrance to manifestation. The third, the sanctification of the worshiper for the opened sanctuary.
1. The first section carries us back to the tabernacle of old, to show briefly the disposition of things there; and here stress is laid upon the division into two parts, (virtually two tabernacles,) divided from each other by the interior veil. The outermost one was practically open as the place of continuous priestly service. The inner was, with the exception of the brief visit of the high priest on the Day of Atonement, as constantly closed. The things which had their place in each are mentioned, but without any purpose to speak particularly of them. The great point here is this strict separation of the two; the one shut off being the place in which, when things were right in Israel, the glory of God abode, so that no access to God was what the unrent veil proclaimed. This first tabernacle was characteristic, therefore, of the law; when even to Moses, the mediator, it was said: "Thou canst not see My face; for there shall no man see Me and live." It was an image for the time then present, when gifts and sacrifices of such sort were being offered as could not perfect the conscience of the worshiper. In their very nature they could not. They were but "meats and drinks and divers baptisms," "the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean," sanctifying only to the purification of the flesh. Such a system plainly could not satisfy God, could not bring man near to God. No one, one would say, were not the facts so plainly against us in this, could even imagine it. It must therefore pass away.
This first covenant, then, had "ordinances of divine service and a world-sanctuary." There has been a difficulty made of this last expression, but it seems, evidently, to have reference to what it was as a typical presentation of heavenly things which yet accompanied the people all the way through the wilderness. This is what is before us also, when we look at what it typified. We have such a world-sanctuary, that is to say, a place in which we can meet God and enter in faith, therefore, into heavenly things, while conscious that we are but passing through a world in which we are pilgrims and strangers. This is the sweetest grace, that such a sanctuary is open to us even here.
We must not, of course, attach the idea to any structure made with hands, nor, indeed, to anything which would imply any kind of ritualistic entrance into the presence of God. It is our joy to know that without mediation of any kind, except that of the heavenly High Priest Himself, we have ability to draw near to God, apart from all circumstances, all question even of the gatherings of His people; although here certainly we are privileged to realize to the full this heavenly worship. But we may remark that we are not here in the line of the first of Corinthians, and that Scripture itself has severed this thought of entrance into the Holiest from any idea of even our common remembrance of the Lord in His death, and of the fellowship which we enjoy as thus come together. Corinthians does not enter upon the topic of worship, even though it speaks of the Church as the temple of God; but this in regard to its holiness as such, and not to its being even a special sphere of worship. The epistle to the Hebrews is precisely that which does away with all connection of ritualistic service as necessary to the worship of God. The Jewish system pressed this very thing; but the Christian antitype to its shadows is here revealed as in absolute contrast to Judaism altogether. The holy place, with its candlestick, and table, and showbread, as to which the apostle has little to say in this connection, was Israel’s practical holy place. As such it is for us not abolished, except as to its being a "first" tabernacle, in contrast with the second one. For us, as we shall see, the two tabernacles are now one, the veil not having passed away, but being rent, so that Christ is now for us a Minister of "the holy places," -both of them, -of "the true tabernacle, which the Lord hath pitched and not man." It is important to remember this, which will find more development as we go on. The point here is simply that, while the first tabernacle had its standing, (had its place, therefore, as first,) the way into the holiest was not manifest. This characterized the law, and has come to an end for us forever.
2. The second section shows us the coming in of redemption, the putting away of sin from before God, that sin which hindered God’s manifestation of Himself as He desired. The things to which the Levitical system pointed are now fulfilled, the true Day of Atonement, the Great High Priest of a better tabernacle, who has entered the sanctuary, "not by the blood of bulls and goats, but by His own blood," having found, not an atonement which would last a year, but "eternal redemption." Thus the worshiper has at last his conscience purified from dead works, from that which had in it no savor of life; would not satisfy, therefore, the living God. The legalism of the old covenant has been replaced by the grace of the new. The eternal inheritance is secured to those who are called by the grace of the gospel. Christ is thus the High Priest of those good things which were typified in Judaism, things still to come, which its shadows pointed to, but nothing more. The tabernacle is a better and more perfect one, "not made with hands," not belonging to the old creation. The blood of goats and bulls has been replaced by the value of His own blood, in virtue of which He has entered in once for all into the holy places, having found an "eternal redemption." He entered in in the triumph of having done this.
There may be need of some additional clearing of the old types which are here interpreted for us, as well as of their application to the things of which they speak. The mercy-seat in the holiest, as being the "propitiatory," or place of propitiation, propitiation or atonement (for the word is the same in the Hebrew of the Old Testament and in its translation in the Septuagint Greek) being made upon it once a year, the question cannot but be raised, How does this affect the question of propitiation for us being really made in heaven, in some sense at least, when our High Priest entered in? It is evident that for Israel the blood upon the mercy-seat was the fundamental condition of all their blessing. Atonement, or propitiation, was then made "for the holy sanctuary, and for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation" (Lev 16:33). Insomuch that this and this alone was the "day of atonement," apart from which no other sacrifice could legally have been offered, or God have remained in their midst at all. Is there nothing, then, in the substance that answers to these shadows, that answers just to this putting of the blood upon the mercy-seat, equally fundamental, that the throne may be for us that "throne of grace" which we know it to be? Or, can this speak simply of the Cross, and what was done there? and was not the blood, in any sense, carried in so as to be presented for acceptance before God in heaven?
Now, there is another question that may be asked in return, which, simple as it is, deserves yet serious consideration. Does any one conceive of our blessed. Lord carrying in literally His blood into heaven? That will, of course, be denied at once, and wonder expressed even at the suggestion of it. These are figures, it will be rightly said, and must be figuratively conceived; and we may add, as the apostle declares of them, that they are not even "the very image" of what they represent. This must not be taken as license for any avoidance of honest, consistent observance of the very terms in which it has pleased God to reveal things to us, as has many times been said, yet it has to be considered and reckoned with none the less. What could the application of the blood to the various objects to which it was applied in the Levitical ritual mean with reference to us now? When the high priest had completed his work in the tabernacle, he went out to the altar (of burnt-offering) to apply the blood similarly there. Are we to conceive of this as some further presentation of it for acceptance in relation to what the altar typifies? It is plain that this cannot be. The altar was that from which the daily sacrifices went up for Israel, and the blood put upon it for propitiation simply set forth the righteousness of God in accepting what was done there. Just so by that upon the mercy-seat God’s righteousness was set forth in continuing to dwell among a sinful people. In each case it was the blood that made the propitiation (Lev 17:11); and the application of it gave it no new efficacy, but simply revealed its efficacy in particular relations. It was one of those object-lessons of which the ritualistic service consisted, and which may be easily strained in the endeavor to find in them a kind of exactness which does not belong to them. Thus, because the burning upon the altar followed the slaying of the victim, it was made by many to speak of atoning sufferings on the Lord’s part after death. It has been forgotten in all such cases that "no parable can teach doctrine." We must find elsewhere the doctrine which the type illustrates, before we can find the ground for a just application.
Now it is here that the doctrine thought to be found in Scripture as to this fails so absolutely. Where shall we expect to find it if not in Hebrews, where confessedly the Day of Atonement is the text upon which the apostle is dwelling in all this part? And where is it to be found in Hebrews, or anywhere else in the New Testament, that Christ went into heaven to make propitiation there? to present His work to God for its acceptance, or in any sense to sprinkle the blood upon the Eternal Throne?
Quite another thing is, in fact, taught there, -namely, that Christ entered in once into the holy places, having obtained eternal redemption. As risen from the dead, raised up by the glory of the Father, He entered once, not the second time, propitiation therefore already accomplished, the resurrection the evidence of the ransom accepted, nothing remaining in this way to be done. The virtue of the blood revealed itself all the way, even as the typical veil of the sanctuary had been rent at the Cross already, before a step had been taken on the triumphant journey. All is as consistent as possible, and as plain as need be. And if it be said, Have we, then, nothing that answers more closely to this priestly action at the Throne? the answer is abundant, that the reality far transcends the type; for not only has the Throne been acting in power thus all along the road, but the Great High Priest, "having made by Himself purification of sins, He seated Himself" upon the Throne, "at the right hand of the Majesty on high." No blood is needed further to assure us that the Throne whereon He sits who shed it is a Throne of triumphant, glorious grace. Christ there is, as we are told in the epistle to the Romans (Rom 3:25), "set forth a propitiatory" (or mercy-seat) "through faith, by His blood." Christ is HIMSELF, in heaven, the blood-sprinkled mercy-seat. The New Testament, while confirming and interpreting the Old, goes yet far beyond it; and this is an important principle for its interpretation. Where should we find this more than in the light which thus streams out through these opened heavens?
There is a parenthesis added here, in which the covenant of which Christ is Mediator is identified with a testament of which Christ is the Testator. The word in the Greek means both of these, "covenant" and "testament;" and the covenant has, in fact, come to us in the shape of a testament which His death has made good. We have been so accustomed to this view of it that it has almost obscured the thought of the covenant itself which is, however, what the apostle dwells upon most earnestly throughout, and here he returns immediately to the thought of it.
The first covenant was not inaugurated without blood. The book and all the people were sprinkled with the blood of sacrifice. This seems strange, because the covenant was the legal one, and we can only view it in this character as affirming, as the blood of atonement did in fact affirm, the righteous penalty of the law for those under it. Christ affirmed this decisively when, to redeem us, He took the curse of the law, magnified it, and made it honorable; but this blood of sacrifice showed therefore in itself what must be the necessary issue of that first covenant. But not only so, the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry were in like manner sprinkled with blood; and here the typical meaning is evident. Almost all things according to the law were purified with blood. For remission of sins there was no other way. Thus the mere figurative representations bore witness; but the heavenly things needed a better Sacrifice than anything the law could furnish.
3. Christ has entered into heaven itself, and with a Sacrifice which never needs to be repeated. If He were to offer again, notice, He would have to suffer again; but neither is possible. It is clear that here the Romish notion of an unbloody offering is absolutely set aside. "Once for all," at the completion of the ages of probation, when man’s ungodliness and hopelessness of self-recovery had been perfectly demonstrated, He was manifested for the putting away of sin by the sacrifice of Himself. The consequence for faith is a complete deliverance by His work from the common portion of men in death and judgment. Death itself is for man judgment in this sense, that it is the sentence of God upon a fallen condition; and thus the law used it as the "ministration of death," as the second of Corinthians teaches us that it was. But while it was thus in itself the judgment of a fallen condition, there is for man as such a judgment afterwards which every awakened conscience prophesies to itself.
The necessary issue of this, also, is condemnation, if we personally enter into it, -that is, if we are to be judged according to such judgment as we find at the Great White Throne, every one receiving according to his works. The psalmist has already shown us that as to those even who are true servants of the Lord, they could not endure this. "Enter not into judgment with Thy servant, O Lord, for in Thy sight shall no flesh living be justified." From this personal judgment Christ has entirely delivered us. His own words are that "He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death unto life." The appraisal of our works, when we give account of ourselves at the judgment-seat of Christ, is a wholly different matter. We are not delivered from this, because it would not be true blessing for us to be delivered from it; and grace will, after all, be most signally manifested with regard to this very judgment. From personally coming into judgment we are, by our Lord’s explicit assurance, forever exempt. Our condition is already pronounced upon, the Word of Life has come to us, as it were, by the very sentence of the One who will be the Judge in that day; and He cannot repent of it. There is no confusion of the world with His people, such confusion as people often make. There is no picking out by judgment of those that are His own from the world around. We are, in fact, taken up from the world which lies under judgment, to Christ Himself, when He appears, taken up in one special company, and already changed into His likeness before even we see Him.
Thus judgment, in the sense in which the apostle speaks of it here, there can be none. Death there may be, but it does not come now as penalty, as before it did. Here the Lord’s words again conic in to assure us that while he that believed on Him in the past, though he were dead, yet would live, he that now liveth and believeth in Him shall never die. Jordan is thus, for the Lord’s people, dried to the bottom. Thus, out of the whole condition of man as under penalty, the Christian is delivered; and, in place of death and judgment, the Christ who "once was offered to bear the sins of many shall appear to those that look for Him the second time, apart from sin, for salvation." He comes apart from sin for our deliverance. He has nothing to do with sin then. He takes up no question of this kind when He comes for His people. His coming is simply deliverance: the full, realized salvation of the whole man, when we are delivered from the last remnant of evil and all that it implies, and changed into His own blessed likeness, to be with Him as the companions of His heart forever.
Our entrance already, in spirit, into all this is that which shows our perfect sanctification for worship in the holiest as the fruit of His glorious work. This, we are reminded, was impossible under the law. That was not even the image, the exact representation, of the good things it typified; and the repetition yearly of the day of atonement showed the inefficacy of these multiplied sacrifices: "For then," asks the apostle, "would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins."
We must remember, in order to realize the completeness of this, that even in Israel no sacrifice was offered twice for the same sins, and that in Christendom the putting away of sins as they arise is the common thought. For this, not, indeed, a fresh sacrifice, but a fresh application of the blood is thought a necessity; but that is just what the apostle would call having "conscience of sins," instead of the conscience being "once purged," purged once for all. One who needs a fresh offering or a fresh application of the blood to cleanse him is not purged once for all; but nothing else would satisfy God’s heart for us or the need which, in fact, we have. How dreadful the presence of God would be for one who fully, accepted the thought of being left there an unpurged sinner, if only for a moment! No doubt, for the Christian, the thought of God’s grace, however contradictory to his system, prevents him from clearly realizing what this would mean; but the apostle plainly says here that to need a repetition of such purging would mean never having been purged according to God; for He could not leave so great a need less than perfectly met. The blood of bulls and goats could not take away sins at all; and that was what the repetition, the taking away of sin again and again, meant. It was not true purging that was accomplished in this way at all.
Christ therefore comes to substitute for these inefficacious sacrifices His own perfect one. This was what these typical ones foreshadowed. "In the volume of the book" they were written of Him. This does not refer to eternal counsels, but to the book of the law. Coming into the world He says this, not in eternity; and it is properly "Lo, I am come," not "I come." He sees the offerings going on, but with no divine satisfaction in them, and He brings them to an end by the accomplishment of His own work. This is our need, then, as worshipers, and thus it is met. The heart is free from everything that would cloud it in the presence of God, everything that would prevent the free pouring forth of praise and thanksgiving. We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."
"A body hast Thou prepared Me," which in this connection the apostle quotes from the Septuagint, shows how perfectly the offering had been cared for by God. The Hebrew original has, as is well known, "Ears hast Thou digged for Me;" which, no doubt, is, on the whole, equivalent in meaning. It does not, apparently, as it might seem at first, refer to the bored ear of the Hebrew servant, though it approaches so nearly to it as to make the distinguishing between them no great necessity. The bored ear was the token of perpetual service voluntarily assumed; the ears digged, of capacity and readiness for receiving the word of another. A body prepared implies the "form of a servant," a nature assumed which is not, in fact, to be given up again. It is the link with the lowest rank of intelligent creaturehood, though with what possibilities of future development He alone who created them could make manifest as to them. They are the advance rank of a system with which the thought of development (though in quite another than the evolutionist sense) seems connected throughout. But in this advance the lower links do not drop off, but are raised and incorporated with the higher -a prophetic witness to that Highest which has now been revealed to us.
But the "body prepared" intimates something besides creative advance. The Fall had taken place, and the body of man, in the seeds of mortality and various derangement now inherent in it, is the manifest evidence of this. The Son of Man must be true man in all that constitutes manhood; deriving it, also, from a human mother, one of the fallen race. Who, then, can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? The power of God must come in here, as in our Lord’s case is expressly declared it did, and the very body of the blessed Doer of His Father’s will must be prepared Him. Thus we can see why the version of the Septuagint is accepted by the inspired writer; the body that was to be offered being thus shown to have the character of a perfect offering: "By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."
This is the sanctification of the epistle to the Hebrews. It is not practical sanctification by the Spirit, but by sacrifice. It is not the anointing of the priest with oil, but with the blood. The oil can be only upon the blood, which is the foundation of everything; and thus the priestly family is set apart to God. The offering is offered, never to be repeated. Christ is, therefore, not busy in offering continual sacrifices, as the legal priesthood. He has sat down at the right hand of God. Blessed thing for us to realize, love is at rest! He needs not to rise any more on this account. He sits perpetually there, until the time comes for His enemies to be put under His feet. There is no more to be done as regards offering. "By one offering He has perfected in perpetuity" (as the word is) "those that are sanctified;" that is, there is never a moment in which they are not in the full value of that work before God. For this the apostle can appeal again to the inspired writings in the hands of the Jews themselves, and thus brings the testimony of the Holy Spirit to confirm what he is saying.
What is said as to this is not a reference to the coming out of the Spirit after the ascent of Christ to the right hand of God, as some have made it, but, as should be evident, an appeal to what the Spirit had uttered long before. The words of the new covenant itself show fully the cessation of sacrifices for the putting away of sin, for God says in it: "Their sins and iniquities I will remember no more." But repetition of sacrifice for putting them away would be still a remembrance.
Now the point is reached to which the apostle has been so long in coming, and for which he has so carefully prepared the way. We have, therefore, now "boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, His flesh."
There are things here which we need to consider attentively. First of all, let us notice that the word for "the holiest of all" is really "the holies," or "holy places." In our common translation it is "the holiest," supposing the need of supplying "holy of" before "holies." This has been done, also, in Heb 9:8-12, Heb 13:11, but "the holy of holies," or "holiest," is found once, and only once, in Heb 9:3. In Heb 9:24-25, it is "holy places," though the Revised Version translates here, as elsewhere, "holy place" without any marginal indication of the change that has been made. There is absolutely no necessity for any such alterations. Scripture is perfect as it is. In Heb 9:3, where there is need to distinguish between "the holy place" and "the holy of holies," the apostle uses the correct term for the latter; and where he has not done so, we may be sure that he had design in not distinguishing. Scripture is accurate here, as always.
In fact, to read here, as we should, that we have "boldness to enter into the holy places by the blood of Jesus," destroys at once two statements that have been made, to the confusion of the interpretation of the epistle: -the first, that there is no rending of the veil in Hebrews; the second, that the first tabernacle, the outer holy place, is now entirely removed in Christianity, and only the holiest of all remains. As a consequence of the latter, neither the lamp of the sanctuary, nor the table of showbread, nor the incense altar, has anything to do with us. These are wholly Jewish, and to apply them to Christianity, it is said, is a grave mistake. Notice how this is set aside by simply taking Scripture as it is undeniably given us. We have boldness, it says, "to enter into the holy places (both of them, though now made one) by the blood of Jesus;" and thus it is established that the outer sanctuary abides for us as well as the inner, not as outer, no doubt. The two become one.
It will be asked how this consists with Heb 9:8, in which it is stated that the way into the holy places was not yet manifested as long as the first tabernacle had its standing: but this only leads us to the true statement as to the veil being rent; for the rending of the veil it is which makes both tabernacles one; so that, in fact, the first tabernacle has no standing, no existence as such. If we have come into the true tabernacle at all, we have come into the holiest. If the veil be not rent, then indeed we could go, on the contrary, into the outer sanctuary first, and worship afar off until we found our way, or were admitted into the holiest; but Hebrews knows nothing of this. There is but one entrance, "by the blood of Jesus," into the united sanctuaries; and this is the access which is given us in the grace of Christianity. The veil is not removed, -that is never said, -and the mistake has resulted from the confusion, as has been already stated, with another and different veil which we have in the second of Corinthians, the veil over Moses’ face. That has been removed for us as Christians, and there is no veil over Christ’s face. That is true; but in the way things are stated here in Hebrews, we go through the veil, which is the flesh of Jesus. We go through, because it is rent for us to go through. "The new and living way" made through it is the thing which enables us to go through. This brings it sufficiently near to what we have in the Gospels; where, as soon as the Lord Jesus died, the veil of the sanctuary was rent in the midst. And the reference to this is more complete, in fact, than perhaps any translation can easily convey; for the word "new" in this expression, though one used in the sense of "recent," has a fuller signification, which is its primary one. In the sense of "new" we should expect the word used in "new covenant"
(kainos), scarcely "recent," a word used but once beside, adverbially, in the New Testament.* For what connection would there be between "recent" and "living"! and what force would there be in it if taken by itself? On the other hand, its full meaning of "newly slain" (prosphaton)** harmonizes contrastively with "and living," which completes the thought. By death and resurrection has the way been made for us into the heavenly sanctuary, through the flesh, the human nature, of Jesus; and here the doctrine of the epistle is plainly interpretative of the fact in the Gospels.
{*Act 18:2, "lately arrived."
**This is by no means an original thought. Moll, in Lange’s Commentary, says: "This entrance, which forms the gateway to the holiest of all, is in its nature an hodos prosphatos kai zosa, and as such has been consecrated for our use by Jesus. The epithet newly slaughtered ’ points to the fact that, previously non-existent, it has been originated by the sacrificial death of Jesus (Theodoret with most) and not to its perpetual freshness (Ebrard)."}
The veil, therefore, is rent in Hebrews, and that is why, as has been said, it is not really having boldness to enter into the holiest, "but into the holy places;" because the two are thus united. Yet that does not mean, as it seems often to be taken to mean, that the veil is removed. It is by Jesus always that we draw near to God, and the veil has always its place. This very veil was in the type broidered with the emblems of the glory which is His as the result of His work accomplished. This is not removed, nor do we want it removed. Rent and removed are different things. By Him we draw near to God; but He had to die that it might be so. Look at the beautiful veil, and see what it implies.*
{*See Notes on Exodus.}
The drawing near has, of course, to be, with us, a spiritual realization. The ability to draw near is our privilege at all times. The conditions are given by the apostle. "Let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." We have the way secured, and the living Person of the Great Priest over the house of God, Himself on the throne of God, One who in the tenderness of divine grace ministers to our infirmities, and lifts us up above ourselves. On our part, therefore, we are to approach "with a true heart, in full assurance of faith," -that is the proper answer to the grace that has thus provided for us; with the "heart sprinkled from an evil conscience," which is the Christian purification of the conscience previously insisted on as necessary for the practical opening of the sanctuary. The "body washed with pure water" refers to what was done at the consecration of the priests (Exo 29:4), and which answers to "the washing of regeneration" (Tit 3:5), the word of God bringing us out from a world in rampant insubjection to God, into whole-hearted allegiance to the Son of His love. This is the spiritual reality of which baptism is the expression outwardly; but "the washing of regeneration" is not baptism, which is the mere shadow, and not the substance.
Immediately, as we are brought to the question of responsibilities here, we recognize our weakness and the general need. We must hold fast unwaveringly the confession of our hope. We must "consider one another, to provoke to love and to good works." We must "not forsake the assembling of ourselves together." We must "encourage one another, and so much the more as we see the day approaching." Ah, is it not just the drawing near to God that exposes our essential weakness? The presence of God is the only refuge from ourselves, from the power of things around; it is the very sanctuary, the place of holiness. But how feeble are we in the enjoyment of it! And our feebleness, instead of making us draw together for mutual help, tends to disorganize and make us drift asunder; and, instead of awakening pity and longing over one another, makes us, even to each other, the subject of unsparing criticism. We need the ability to "provoke to love and to good works." If souls have got away from God, nothing but the power of the love of Christ can break down and restore.
It may seem strange to us at this time to think of Christians then seeing the day of Christ approaching; but the signs of the end, to observant eyes, soon began to show themselves. "The mystery of iniquity" was already at work; and when John writes his first epistle, many antichrists show it already to be the last time. Disheartening things these, but the apostle would tell us that we have not received the spirit of cowardice, but of power (2Ti 1:7), and we are not to be disheartened. Nothing more effectually cuts the nerve of activity than the loss of hope. The devil knows this well. Love itself will be reduced to idleness if assured there is no good in working. God is the God of all encouragement; and the moment we get to His side of things, we are on the winning side. Divine love invites us to draw on it without stint.
4. The warning which follows is one of those which in Hebrews are so frequent. The "wilful sin" here spoken of supposes, as in the sixth chapter, the knowledge of the truth, with the will in error. Sin is here, in the root-meaning of the word (hamartia), "missing the mark," "going astray." Here is a class whom he has to warn, as those before, against treading under foot the Son of God, going back to a Judaism all the impotence of which has been exposed, and which now, therefore, has manifestly "no more sacrifice for sins." The sacrifices were still going on at Jerusalem, but there was no reality any more in anything there. They are not failing saints, but adversaries, who, as such, must expect sorer judgment than under Moses’ law, so much more as what they despised was greater. The blood of the covenant could not avail for one who had given it up as common, or having no virtue; and grace itself must fail those who insult the Spirit of grace. "Wherewith he was sanctified" is naturally a difficulty, though the reference to the day of atonement helps us to realize what is intended. The blood put before God then was the blood of the covenant as being that in virtue of which the relation between God and Israel was maintained: in God’s sight, the type of what truly sanctifies. Thus it sanctified the people, every one among them abiding in the value of it. The Christian assembly now abides under the blood of a better covenant, and of this assembly the person spoken of had formed a part. If his profession had not been true, he still had the responsibility of it in giving it up, as all the blessing of it had been open to him to enjoy. He is thus credited with that which on God’s part was never hindered being made good to him, and which he had claimed to be his own.
But again the apostle comforts those he is addressing with remembrance of what they had endured, and how the Lord’s grace had upheld them under it, and wrought experience, in which what had been trial becomes in result abiding blessing. Still, they had need of endurance, and would in due time find the recompense; for He who cometh will at last come. Meanwhile, "the just shall live by faith;" and he who draws back God can have no pleasure in him. The principle always remains true, but these are marked out by the apostle here as being really distinct classes. "We are not of those," he says, "who draw back to perdition." We are not of that class of people at all, "but of those who believe to the saving of the soul."
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain The New Covenant and the Sacrifice of Christ
The New Covenant and the Sacrifice of Christ
Heb_9:1 to Heb_10:39. The writer now proceeds to elaborate in greater detail the contrast between the old covenant and the new. The old covenant had its tabernacle with furniture and elaborate ceremonial and continual series of sacrifices, culminating in the annual visit of the high priest to the inner chamber of the tabernacle with sacrificial blood. But these very ceremonies implied the impossibility of communion with God, and were unable to make the worshipper 'perfect,' i.e. fit to participate in the mysteries (Heb_9:1-10). But now, what these mere animal sacrifices, the ineffectiveness of which was signified by the necessity of their repetition, failed to do, Jesus accomplished when He entered the heavenly tabernacle with His own blood, i.e. when He presented Himself in the presence of God after His crucifixion, having obtained eternal redemption. As Mediator of a new covenant He does this by His death. For a covenant, or will, only comes into effect through the death of the testator. Similarly, the new covenant becomes valid through the death of Christ, which, being a voluntary surrender of His life, as a free act of His Spirit, is of real value in the sight of God (Heb_9:11-22). It is enough for such a sacrifice to be offered once for all (Heb_9:23-28). Thus over against the failure of the old, proved by the necessity of repetition, is the success of the new. This is illustrated by a passage from Psalms 40, which shows that the essence of sacrifice is obedience to the will of God (Heb_10:1-18). On the ground of the cleansing thus accomplished by Christ follow exhortations (Heb_10:19-25), admonitions (Heb_10:26-31), and encouragements (Heb_10:32-39).
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1-10. The Tabernacle Ministry.
1. A worldly sanctuary] RV 'its sanctuary, a sanctuary of this world,' and therefore inferior to the 'true' tabernacle in the heavens (Heb_8:2), of which it was but a copy.
2. A tabernacle] This term is applied to each of the two chambers into which the whole tent was divided; the outer chamber being the Holy Place, the inner being the Holy of Holies: see Exodus 26. Candlestick] or lampstand: see Exo_25:31-40. The table] see Exo_25:23-30. The shewbread] see Exo_25:30; Lev_24:5-9.
3. The second veil] so called because a veil hung also before the Holy Place, Elsewhere the second veil is called simply 'the veil': see Heb_10:20, and cp. Exo_26:31-33. Holiest of all] i.e. according to a Hebrew idiom, the Most Holy Place.
4. Censer] The word may mean 'altar of incense' (Exo_30:1-10). This, however, stood in the Holy Place, though the writer did not mention it among the furniture in Heb_9:2. But as the Most Holy Place was never entered without incense (Lev_16:12) it might be described as 'having the altar of incense.' Ark of the covenant] the chest containing the tables of the Law: Exo_25:10-22. Pot.. manna] see Exo_16:32-34. On Aaron's rod, see Num_17:1-10.
5. Cherubims] RV 'cherubim,' the Heb. plural of 'cherub': see Exo_25:17-22; Exo_37:6-9. The mercyseat, or propitiatory, was the golden lid of the ark (Exo_25:17, Exo_25:21) on which the blood was sprinkled on the Day of Atonement: Lev_16:14, Lev_16:15. Particularly] RV 'severally.'
7, 8. The point is, that entrance into the presence of God was restricted to the high priest alone, and that only once a year, and that it was altogether denied to the people and even to the ordinary priests. The argument of this whole section is that the Levitical system did not and could not provide real access to God. Holiest of all] RV 'the holy place,' meaning here, probably, the real presence of God, the heavenly sanctuary, as in Heb_9:12.
9. Which (i.e. the Holy Place) was a figure for the time then present] meaning that it pointed the worshippers of that time forward to the dawning of a better time to come.
Figure] RV 'parable.' In which] RV 'According to which,' sc. parable. Him that did the service] RV 'the worshipper.'
11-14. The superiority of Christ's Ministry, which does cleanse the conscience, being discharged in a heavenly tabernacle (Heb_9:11) and mediated through the sacrifice of Himself (Heb_9:12-14).
11. Not of this building] RV 'not of this creation,' i.e. of this material creation, but a heavenly sanctuary.
12. Once] i.e. once for all, unlike the high priest in the earthly tabernacle who entered once a year (Heb_9:7). Repetition is unnecessary, seeing the redemption he obtained is an 'eternal redemption,' being effectual for ever. The word obtained implies the expenditure of effort.
13. Bulls and goats] refer to the sacrifices offered on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16), heifer to the ceremonial described in Numbers 19.
Purifying of the flesh] i.e. the removal of ceremonial defilement, so as to permit the worshipper to take part again in the services of the tabernacle. It is admitted that a limited efficacy is possessed by the Levitical sacrifices, and therefore Christ's offering, being immeasurably nobler and being voluntary, has immeasurably greater efficacy.
14. Through the eternal Spirit] So AV and RV, suggesting that the Third Person of the Trinity is referred to. In the original the article is wanting, which emphasises the operation rather than the personal being of the Spirit. The spirit is Christ's own spirit, or the Holy Spirit in Christ, and the closest parallels to the expression used here are in Heb_7:16 and 1Pe_4:6; (see note there). The word 'spirit' is employed to contrast the nature and sphere of the operation of Christ's offering with those of the Levitical sacrifices. The latter operate in the region of the flesh (cp. Heb_9:13), and are temporary in their effect (see on Heb_9:12); the former belongs to the sphere of the spirit and will, effects an inner cleansing of the conscience, and is eternal. Offered himself] 'Himself' is emphatic, being one of the points of contrast. What He offered was His own body on the Cross: see on Heb_10:10. Dead works] see on Heb_6:1. To cleanse from dead works is to cleanse from the defilement (and the consequences of it) caused by such works, and so to enable the sinner to engage in the service of God.
15. 'By offering Himself Christ has become the Mediator of a new covenant, in order that those who have been called may receive the eternal inheritance that is promised, and the necessary condition of this was the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant by means of a death.' Christ's sacrifice is here represented as having a retrospective efficacy, operating not merely on the past sins of the Hebrew Christians, but on the sins of the OT. saints who lived under the first covenant, and who could not inherit the promises because the first covenant could not remove their transgressions.
16. Testament] The Gk. word (diathekç) means either covenant or testament (i.e. will), and in this v. the writer passes from the former to the latter sense. For the operation of the terms of a testament the death of the testator is undoubtedly necessary. Is it also necessary in the case of a covenant? So the writer asserts in Heb_9:18-20, where he reverts to the former sense of diathekç as covenant. He says that any diathekç involves death, and cites the Mosaic covenant as an instance. This must be on the supposition that the covenanter is represented by the victim which died in the sacrifice which usually accompanied any serious covenant. The death of the victim represented the inability of the covenanter to retract. It was the solemn ratification of the terms of the covenant.
17. After men are dead] RV 'where there hath been a death.' The Gk. is lit. 'over dead.'
18. Whereupon] RV 'wherefore.' Neither the first] RV 'even the first.. not,' imperfect and temporary though it was.
19, 20. See Exo_24:3-8.
20. Testament] RV 'covenant': see on Exo_24:16.
21. This is not recorded m Exodus, but is mentioned by Josephus. It rested probably on some Jewish tradition.
23. Patterns] RV 'copies,' i.e. the earthly things which were made according to the pattern of the heavenly: see Heb_8:5. In the view of the writer, the heavenly original needed purifying just as the earthly copies, only with better sacrifices. It is not necessary to supply a different predicate in the second clause, such as 'should be dedicated.' To enable men to draw near to God, however imperfectly, on earth, it was necessary that both they and the tabernacle be sprinkled with the blood of sacrifice; and the inference is that in order to enable men perfectly to hold communion with God above, both they and the heavenly places must in like manner be sprinkled with the blood of a better sacrifice, viz. that of Christ.
24. To appear] lit. 'to be manifested before the face of God,' i.e. to show Himself to God: cp. Heb_7:25. The earthly 'copy' of this act is that of the high priest who once a year presented himself before God in the Holy of Holies on behalf of the people. In the OT. to 'appear before God' means to go into the Temple to worship Him: cp. Exo_23:17; Psa_42:2; Psa_84:7.
26. End of the world] The Second Coming is regarded as imminent: cp. Heb_10:37. Appeared] lit. 'been manifested,' i.e. in the flesh to men: cp. Heb_10:24, where the verb, though different, is from the same root.
27. In the case of men, death is a single event, the definite close of a stage in their career. So Christ's death is one final achievement. And as in the former case death is followed by judgment, so Christ's death is followed by His reappearing for the salvation of His people. Moreover, as death and judgment are connected as cause and effect, so Christ's death and His people's salvation are similarly connected: cp. Rom_5:18
28. Apart from sin] So RV. His First Coming was in connexion with sin; He came because of sin, and bearing sin to put it away (Heb_9:26); but His Second Coming will be 'apart from sin,' since in dying He did put away sin, actually for Himself, for men by anticipation in faith.
Them that look for him] RV 'that wait for him.' The reappearing of the high priest from out the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement would be waited for with anxious expectancy by the people as the sign that all that was needful for their reconciliation with God had been done, and that the offering had been accepted by Him: cp. Luk_1:21, and see Rom_8:19, Rom_8:23; 1Co_1:7; 1Th_1:10; 2Ti_4:8.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain 1. The first tabernacle and its worship (Heb 9:1-10)
CHAPTER 9
1. The first tabernacle and its worship (Heb 9:1-10)
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2. The blood and the perfect work accomplished (Heb 9:11-23)
3. The Priest in heaven (Heb 9:24-28)
Heb 9:1-10
The Spirit of God now brings forth the greatest and most blessed facts concerning Christ, the offering He brought, and what has been accomplished by that offering. First the worldly sanctuary, the tabernacle, which was connected with the old covenant is briefly mentioned. It was erected by divine command, exhibiting divine wisdom and foreshadowed, like the levitical priesthood, the better things to come. Yet it was a “worldly sanctuary,” that is, it was tangible according to this present world and built of materials of the earth. The antithesis to worldly is heavenly, uncreated, eternal. Everything in this tabernacle had a spiritual meaning. But it is not the purpose here to explain these things, the shadows of spiritual realities, for the apostle writes “of which we cannot now speak particularly” He does not give a complete description of the tabernacle at all. Nothing is said of the outer court, nor of the brazen altar, the golden altar of incense and other details. His object is not to explain the tabernacle but to demonstrate one great fact. He speaks of the two principal parts of the tabernacle, divided by the interior veil. Into the second the high priest entered in only once every year, not without blood--”the Holy Spirit signifying this, that the way into the holiest was not yet made manifest, while the first tabernacle had yet its standing.” This is the truth he demonstrates. the way into the holiest, into God’s presence was barred; the veil was in the way and concealed Him. All the gifts and sacrifices brought in that tabernacle could not give perfection as to the conscience--they could not lead the people into the holiest and give peace to the conscience.
Heb 9:11-23
With verse eleven begins the setting forth of the perfection which now has come. From here to the close of the tenth chapter we have the heart of this great epistle. The most blessed truth of the great work of Christ accomplished for His people is now gloriously displayed. The greatest contrast between the old things and the new is reached. Two little words of deep significance stand at the beginning of this section--”But Christ.” The gifts and offerings, the meats and drinks, the divine washings, the carnal ordinances, all and everything could not do anything for sinful man-- but Christ. It is well for the understanding of what follows to give a summary of what is here taught. “But Christ having come, a high priest of the good things that are come, by the better and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building (creation)--neither by the blood of goats and bulls, but by His own blood, He hath entered in once for all into the holy places, having found an eternal redemption.” Christ having come, perfection has come through His own precious blood. The blood of Jesus; has opened the way into the Holiest and the believer is admitted into the presence of God by that new and living way which He has consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, His flesh. The next chapter brings this out more fully, that believers on earth have a free, a full, a perfect access to God. The believer can now go in perfect liberty, not into an earthly tabernacle, but into heaven where His holiness dwells and be perfectly at home there in virtue of the work of Christ and His own presence there. Such is the believer’s position in the presence of God through the entrance of our high priest into the heavenly sanctuary.
And the believer can go in without doubt and fear, for he has no more conscience of sin, his conscience is made perfect before God through Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God. The question of sin is settled forever. “A perfect conscience is not an innocent conscience which, happy in its unconsciousness, does not know evil, and does not know God revealed in holiness. A perfect conscience knows God; it is cleansed, and, having the knowledge of good and evil according to light of God Himself, it knows that it is purified from all evil according to His purity.
Now the blood of bulls and goats, and the washing repeated under the law, could never make the conscience perfect. They could sanctify carnally, so as to enable the worshipper to approach God outwardly, yet only afar off, with the veil still unrent. But a real purification from sin and sins, so that the soul can be in the presence of God Himself in the light without spot, with the consciousness of being so, the offerings under the law could never produce. They were but figures. But, thanks be to God, Christ has accomplished the work; and is present for us now in the heavenly and eternal sanctuary, He is the witness there that our sins are put away; so that all conscience of sin before God is destroyed, because we know that He who bore our sins is in the presence of God, after having accomplished the work of expiation. Thus we have the consciousness of being in the light without spot. We have the purification not only of sins but of the conscience, so that we can use this access to God in full liberty and joy, presenting ourselves before Him who has so loved us (Synopsis of the Bible).
And thus these Hebrews (as well as we) know that the true high priest is in the sanctuary above, not with the blood of sacrifices, but He has put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself As man on earth, in the perfection and value of His person, He offered Himself, by the eternal Spirit, without spot, to God. And therefore every sinner who comes to God through Him is purged from dead works to serve the living God. Being therefore perfectly cleansed, perfectly brought into God’s presence, in possession of an eternal (in contrast with earthly) redemption and an eternal inheritance, the believer can serve the living God. All this was unknown in the legal covenant. It is then that through the death of Christ and the subsequent bestowal of the Holy Spirit believers are constituted true worshippers in the heavenly sanctuary, a holy priesthood. Christ is the perfect mediator. And therefore no earthly priesthood is needed. The attempt to introduce priestly mediation of sinful men between Christ and His people, whom He is not ashamed to call brethren is anti-Christian, the offspring of Satan. Adolph Saphir, the author of an able exposition of Hebrews has exposed the Romish blasphemy in aping the defunct Judaism in words, which are worthy to be quoted.
“What a marvellous confusion of Jewish, pagan, and Christian elements do we see here! Jewish things which have waxed old, and vanished away; preparatory and imperfect elements which the apostle does not scruple to call beggarly now that the fulness has come--revived without divine authority, and changed and perverted to suit circumstances for which they were never intended. Pagan things, appealing to the deep-seated and time-confirmed love of idolatry, and of sensuous and mere outward performances; the Babylonian worship of the Queen of Heaven; the intercession of saints and angels, the mechanical repetition of formulas, the superstitious regard of places, seasons, and relics. Buried among these elements are some relics of Christian truth, without which this ingenious fabric could not have existed so long, and influenced so many minds--a truth which in the merciful condescension of God is blessed to sustain the life of His chosen ones in the mystical Babylon .
“This so-called church, vast and imposing, opens its door wide, except to those who honor the Scriptures, and who magnify the Lord Jesus. It can forgive sins, and grant pardons and indulgences, extending the astounding assumption of jurisdiction even beyond the grave; yet it cannot bring peace to the wounded conscience, and renewal to the aching heart, because it never fully and simply declares the efficacy of the blood of Jesus, by which we obtain perfect remission, and the power of the Holy Ghost, who joins us to Christ. This community speaks of sacrifice, of altars, of priesthood, and stands between the people and the sanctuary above, the only High Priest, who by His sacrifice has entered for us into the holy of holies. And in our day this great apostasy has reached a point which we would fain regard as its culminating point, when it places the Virgin Mary by the side of the Lord Jesus as sinless and pure, and when it arrogates for man infallible authority over the heritage of God.”
(Dr. M. Luther describes the Romish harlot in these excellent words: “The Church of Rome is not built upon the rock of the divine word, but on the sand of human reasoning.” It is a rationalistic church. And Lutheranism, Episcopalianism and other sects are turning back to it and support the Satanic counterfeit of a man made priesthood.)
Heb 9:15-23
These verses introduce once more the question of covenant. The covenant of which the Lord Jesus Christ is the mediator is now identified with a testament of which He is the testator. When there is a testament there must also of necessity be the death of the testator, before the rights and possessions acquired in the testament can be possessed and enjoyed. The first covenant was inaugurated by blood. “For when Moses had spoken every commandment to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of bulls and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop (Lev 14:4, Num 19:6) and sprinkled both the book and the people, saying, this is the blood of the covenant which God hath enjoined unto you.” So also the tabernacle and the vessels were sprinkled with blood. Yea, almost all things are according to the law purified with blood “and without shedding of blood is no remission.” The blood was used in a threefold manner. The covenant itself is founded on the blood. Defilement is washed away by the blood and the guilt is taken away through the blood that hath been shed. And all this is only fully realized through the blood shed by the Lord Jesus Christ, He died and all the blessings of the new and better covenant are righteously willed to the believer.
Heb 9:24-28
“For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” After His great sacrifice He entered heaven itself, where He now is, appearing in the presence of God for His people. “Nor yet that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters into the holy place every year with blood of others; for then must He often have suffered since the foundation of the world, but now once in the consummation of the ages hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” The sacrifice He brought needs not to be repeated, it is all-sufficient for all eternity. If He were to offer again it would be necessary also to suffer again. Both are impossible. (The Romish assumption of the Lord’s Supper being a sacrifice and that the blasphemous mass is an unbloody sacrifice are completely refuted by Heb 9:26, by this entire chapter and by the teaching of the New Testament.) At the completion of the ages of probation (the age before the law and the age under the law), when man’s utter ruin and hopeless condition had been fully demonstrated, He appeared in the fullness of time (the completion of the ages) and put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And here let us remember that the full and complete results of this work are not yet manifested. Sin will ultimately be blotted out of God’s creation. The blessed words which came from His gracious lips, when He gave Himself on the cross--”It is finished”-- will find their fullest meaning when all things are made new, when the first heaven and earth are passed away and a new heaven and new earth are come, when all things are made new. Then His voice will declare once more “it is done” (Rev 21:1-6).
But now for those who believe sin is put away. It is appointed unto men--natural men-- once to die and after this the judgment. From the latter the believer is exempt. His own words “He that heareth my words, and believeth in Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life and shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death unto life” (Joh 5:24) assure us of this. And when the believer dies, it is no longer as penalty. A day will come at last when it will be fulfilled “Behold I show you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, but shall be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” And He who was once offered to bear the sins of many (those who believe in Him) shall appear the second time. “Unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time, apart from sin, for salvation.” It is His second coming. When He comes again He has nothing to do with sin, as far as His people are concerned. This was settled forever in His first coming. But He comes for their salvation their complete deliverance from all the results of sin, and His own will be changed into His image.
(“Without sin” is in contrast with “to bear the sins of many.” But it will be remarked, that the taking up of the Church is not mentioned here. It is well to notice the language. The character of His second coming is the subject. He has been manifested once. Now He is seen by those who look for Him. The expression may apply to the deliverance of the Jews who wait for Him in the last days. He will appear for their deliverance. But we expect the Lord for this deliverance, and we shall see Him when He accomplishes it even for us. The apostle does not touch the question of the difference between this and our being caught up, and does not use the word which serves to announce His public manifestation. He will appear to those who expect Him. He is not seen by all the world, nor is it consequently the judgment, although that may follow. The Holy Ghost speaks only of them that look for the Lord. To them He will appear. By them He will be seen, and it will be the time of their deliverance; so that it is true for us, and also applicable to the Jewish remnant in the last days” Synopsis of the Bible.)
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The Old Testament Cult inferior to the Perfection of…
The Old Testament Cult inferior to the Perfection of Christ’s Sacrifice.
Description of the Tabernacle and its appointments:
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v. 1. Then, verily, the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service and a worldly sanctuary.
v. 2. For there was a Tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick and the table and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary.
v. 3. And after the second veil the Tabernacle, which is called the Holiest of all;
v. 4. which had the golden censer, and the Ark of the Covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;
v. 5. and over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy-seat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.
In this chapter the points which had been discussed but briefly in the foregoing paragraphs are taken up in greater detail, the first half of the chapter bringing the proof of the superiority of Christ’s office over the ministry of the Old Testament priests. This the author proceeds to prove by referring, first of all, to the place of worship and its appointments: Even the first covenant, indeed, had ordinances of worship and a worldly sanctuary. With these words a concession is made to the excellencies of the Old Testament covenant, such as they were, for the purpose of bringing out all the more strongly the beauties of the new covenant. There were regulations, ordinances respecting the worship, governing the public services in all its parts. The Jews also had a sanctuary, a place of worship, but, as the author immediately says, one pertaining to this world, suited for an external worship only, a tabernacle erected by man, constructed by human hands, with material of this earth.
He describes this sanctuary: For a tent was constructed, the fore-tent, in which were the candlestick and the table and the setting forth of the loaves, which is called the Holy Place. See Exo 25:23-39; Exo 26:35; Lev 24:5-9. The Tabernacle, which was erected at the command of God, consisted of two parts. The first part of the tent, that into which a person stepped from the Court of the Priests was called the Holy Place. In this eastern part of the Tabernacle were various articles of furniture, a lamp stand, or candlestick, made of gold, very beautiful, a table, which stood near the south wall. On the opposite side of the room stood the table of acacia wood, overlaid with gold, which served as a stand for the showbread or the dozen bread cakes, the bread of the countenance of the Lord, which were renewed every Sabbath.
The other part of the Tabernacle is also described: And after the second veil the tent, which is called Holy of Holies, having the golden altar of incense and the Ark of the Covenant, covered all over with gold, in which was a golden jar containing manna, and the rod of Aaron which had budded, and the tables of the covenant; and over it cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy-seat, concerning which I need not now speak in detail. The second, or inner, tent was separated from the Holy Place by a second veil, the first one being that which hung before the Holy Place. This section of the Tabernacle was a shrine, the Most Holy Place, guarded with the greatest care against every profanation. At its entrance, at the place which was in the closest connection with the service of the Day of Atonement, in the center of the splendid curtain on the east side, stood the golden altar of incense with its golden censer, Exo 30:1-10; Exo 37:25-28. Here the priest designated for this special work was required to burn incense at both the morning and the evening sacrifice. Inside the curtain was the Ark of the Covenant, the only piece of furniture really inside of the Most Holy Place, Exo 25:10-16. This large chest of acacia wood was overlaid both inside and outside with gold. It served as a depository for several articles. There was a golden pot, or jar, in which three quarts of manna were preserved, Exo 16:33; there was the rod of Aaron which had budded at the time when some of the elders of the people had expressed their dissatisfaction with the Lord’s order ranking him a prince in Israel, Num 17:8-10; there were, above all, the two stone tables on which the Lord had written the words of the Law for the second time, with His own finger, Deu 31:25-26. The cover of the ark, or chest, was called the mercy-seat. It was made of gold and contained as its most prominent ornament two cherubim having their wings extended and facing each other over the center. They are called the cherubim of glory, because it was between them that the Lord appeared to Moses and communed with him, Exo 25:22. All these things the author mentions, not with the purpose of discussing them in detail, but simply for the purpose of showing that the old covenant also possessed a measure of glory. His readers were familiar with these articles of equipment, having been told of them since their youth.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
The writer makes clear to these Jewish believers that the laws and the tabernacle of the old covenant were only pictures of the better, new covenant.
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Now
This word marks a new part of the teaching.
first covenant
See how you translated this in Hebrews 8:7.
had regulations
"had detailed instructions" or "had rules"
For
The author is continuing the discussion from Hebrews 8:7.
a tabernacle was prepared
A tabernacle was constructed and made ready for use. This idea can be stated in active form. AT: "the Israelites prepared a tabernacle" (See: Active or Passive)
the lampstand, the table, and the bread of the presence
These objects are all accompanied by the definite article "the," because the author assumes that his readers already know about these things.
bread of the presence
This can be reworded so that the abstract noun "presence" is expressed as the verb "display" or "present." AT: "bread on display before God" or "bread the priests presented to God" (See: Abstract Nouns)
translationWords
covenant
worship
earth
sanctuary
tabernacle
lampstand
bread
holy place
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 9:1–10:18 This section argues that Christ’s death, the sacrifice…
9:1–10:18 This section argues that Christ’s death, the sacrifice in the new covenant, is superior to the sacrifices in the old covenant. In 9:1-10, the author describes aspects of worship under the regulations of the old covenant (see Exod 28–29; Lev 1–10; 16:1–17:16). In Heb 9:11–10:18, these regulations are contrasted with Christ’s superior offering.
9:1-5 These verses describe the Tabernacle, Israel’s place of worship before the Temple was constructed.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.