Hebrews, Chapter 9
Originally posted Wednesday October 22, 2008
Hebrews, Chapter 9:1-14 The Earthly and Heavenly
Sanctuaries
The previous chapter
established the heavenly priesthood serving in a heavenly sanctuary.
A differentiation was made between the sacrifices offered in this
sanctuary versus those made in the earthly sanctuary. The latter were offered
under the mandate of the imperfect old covenant - the Law of Sinai, and the
former under the new covenant in Christ. In all ways the author
claims perfection and efficacy for the heavenly and imperfection and
futility for the earthly with regard to the path to righteousness. The fault of
the former covenant led to the need for the new. Having established
the new the old is made "obsolete...growing old and will soon
disappear." Lest we think this was mere rhetoric, within two decades
Christianity would consider itself to be the new Israel, God's elect. The Greek
Old Testament would be appropriated as having been written for Christians and
the exclusivity of Christ as the path to salvation would be in place. For an
extensive review of the entire desert Tabernacle see Exodus 25:1-31:11.
The author describes
a few of the contents of the Tabernacle and inner Sanctuary (Holy of Holies).
He wisely limits these details since the actual description is covered in
Exodus across more than six chapters and this does not include
chapters relating to its construction, setting up and use. Some details of vss. 1-5 differ from the Exodus
account, probably the result of changes made when the Tabernacle was
replaced by the fixed structures of the first and second Temples. The most
important feature is the separation of the main Tabernacle from the Sanctuary
by two curtains. Vss 1-3 imply
there were two tents. Actually these are areas of the one Tabernacle. The
inner section, Sanctuary, was itself separated by a curtain from the
Tabernacle. There were two parts of the Sanctuary - the outer and
the inner. The outer was the "Holy Place" which
contained the great Menorah (lamp stand), the "presentation of the
loaves," the golden altar of incense and other items. This outer section
was attended by Levitical priests who were "continually"
performing their daily, ritual duties. Beyond a second curtain was
the Holy of Holies to which only the High Priest had access once a year. (We
read of this curtain being ripped apart in MT. 27:51 when Jesus dies on the cross.) The once a year
ritual performed by the high Priest consisted of two sacrifices. First he
"offered a bull, sprinkling its blood on the Ark of the Covenant to
"atone" for the sins of his "house" (tribe of
Levi) and his own sins. Next he offered two male goats, one
for a sin offering and the other the proverbial "scapegoat"
to cover the "inadvertent sins of the people."
In all of this
ritual performed by the High Priest we can note the author's comparison
of the earthly to the heavenly High Priest. The earthly High
Priest enters the Holy of Holies once a year repeating the same ritual
"offering" the sacrifice for atonement, the forgiveness of sins.
The High Priest "offers" the sacrifice of blood for forgiveness of
his own sins. In the author's view, Jesus "offers" himself once
and for all for the forgiveness of sins and because he is sinless he
does not need to offer a sacrifice on his own behalf. The dramatic difference
between the two - the earthly and the heavenly, is not one of time or
replacement. It is one of effect. The regular offerings within the
earthly Tabernacle are of limited effect. They can only offer forgiveness
of known breaches of the holiness traditions related to the body - food,
drink, ablutions and other rules proscribed by the Law. While these offerings
were useful for cleansing the person of external violations of "human
regulations," they could not "perfect the conscience of the
worshipper." ("Conscience here is understood as the awareness of
one's inner self, particularly with regard to one's sin.) Even the High
Priest's offering in the Holy of Holies could not accomplish this. The key
point being made is that the one method does not perfect (purge) the
conscience and can offer no entry to the presence of God. As the author puts
it, the Holy Spirit (as teacher) shows that a valid way of entering into
the presence of God remains unknown and is closed to all "as
long as" the Tabernacle "still has standing" in the present time
(not "still is standing"). This dilemma will remain "until
the time comes to set things right." The time, of course, is the time of
Christ who ushers in the beginnings of the new age, the new time.
This new time, when
Christ came as a high priest, has now arrived with the "good things to
come" (access to God). In the author's vision of "setting things
right" Christ has passed through the perfect, heavenly Tabernacle and
entered the Holy of Holies into the presence of God. Unlike the imperfect
Tabernacle, Christ has not come with the blood of animals as an offering for
cleansing the body from violations of regulations. He came offering his
own blood of the new covenant as the effective gift which makes
"eternal redemption" possible (the perfecting of the conscience). The
author argues from the lesser to the greater. The blood and ashes of
unblemished, offered animals can bring bodily purification to those who
have broken the relevant laws of Moses. Therefore, "how much
more" will Christ's offering of himself as flesh and blood to God purify
our consciences of "dead works" of the Law and bring us into the
presence of God?
Hebrews, Chapter 9:15-22 Sacrifice and the New Covenant
Through Christ's
entry into the Holy of Holies of the heavenly Tabernacle and, therefore, into
the presence of God, he becomes the "mediator of a new
covenant." The promised eternal heritage with God now comes to those who
are called through faith not by works of the first covenant. The promise is
fulfilled by Christ's offering that redeems us from the transgressions
against the first covenant. Using the analogy of a will the author states that
a death is necessary in order that a covenant become effective. The terms of a
person's will are not in effect until the person dies. In terms of the first
and new covenants, a death was also necessary to make them effective. The
covenant of Sinai was inaugurated by the pouring of blood of sacrificed calves
and goats on the altar and the sprinkling of the blood on the people (Exod. 24.5-8). Adding examples of the
use of blood in purifying the Tabernacle and articles within it, he concludes
with the generality that shedding of blood is a common element in the
purification of all things. More particularly the forgiveness of sins is
impossible apart from the shedding of blood.
Hebrews, Chapter 9:23-28 Christ's Sacrifice Takes Away Sin
Again from the
lesser to the greater: if the earthly representations (Tabernacle, etc.) of
their heavenly and perfect models require purification by animal sacrifices
then the heavenly model needs a superior sacrifice. The Christ who
"appeared at the end of the age" is that superior sacrifice made once
for all time to remove sin and to perfect the conscience
of those who respond with faith. The author skips over any
mention of an interim period between the earthly appearing of Christ and his
return from heaven. His ending is in keeping with the New Testament in general
with respect to Christ's second appearing. What seems to be different is a
minimizing of Christ's role as the judge of the last days. Judgment is
mentioned as an event following death which is similar to John in that it
implies a judgment already settled by the time a person dies. Christ's return
is not "to deal with sin," but for the single purpose of
bringing the final salvation to the faithful who have faithfully waited.
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Note:
Hidden in the
sometimes mystifying language of "Hebrews" is what may be the
most important theme of the entire discourse: What is the most effective path
to access the presence of God? The author seeks an answer through a
comparison of the first covenant of the Law and the second or new covenant of
faith. One is an external path of works of piety; the other is an internal path
of the heart from which faith arises. To accomplish his premise he uses the
sacrificial system of the desert Tabernacle and compares it with its superior
model in heaven. The former is built with human hands, the latter by the Lord
in heaven. Using the act of presenting sacrifices the author compares the acts
of the earthly High Priest with Christ, the heavenly High Priest forever.
When all is said and done Christ is seen as the superior of the two because his
sacrifice is of himself and not an animal's blood. Of course there are other
details we have read to elaborate on the comparison. The conclusion reached by
the author - and every other New Testament writer, is that the only
path of access to God - the heritage of eternally sharing life with God,
is through Christ. It is Christ who, as was noted earlier, is the pioneer who
has led the way to God. He is the Son and therefore the best suited to know God
and the best advocate for God's highest wish for human life in the world.
Here we are in the
21st century, attempting to sort out the thoughts of an ancient mind expressed
in ancient categories. What is our Christian goal with respect to God? Some
have said and written that our only goal is to prepare ourselves for heaven,
that this life is our nursery school in which we learn to "get it
right." But there may be a higher road for the serious Christian. If our
faith informs us that what we can know of God is best found in Christ, then our
growing maturity as Disciples of Christ depends on listening to him through the
words of scripture. When we do so we quickly notice there is little of nursery
school in what he says of God. Instead we see a persistent call to a radical
life in the world, not apart
from it. We see a God in Christ who, in the words of Paul Simon is
"seeking out the poorer quarters where ragged people
go," places where the estranged, marginalized and hungry people go. To
use the language of faith, it is God in Christ who walks the paths, collects
the lost and offers them his own bed in the Tabernacle not made with hands. The
exalted Christ is not the whole image offered to us for it is what Christ did
in this fully human life that serves as our model and our call. His life
is God's life for all to see and to decide.
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