Hebrews 9
DODDHebrews 9:1-14
The apostle illustrates the doctrine of the priesthood and intercession of Christ, by comparing it to what the Jewish high priest did on the great day of atonement. Heb. IX. 1—14.
HEBREWS IX. 1.
HOW reasonable it is to expect, that the former covenant of which I have been speaking, should give way to another and a nobler, you may easily apprehend from surveying it, and considering in comparison with it, the great things which the gospel teaches us concerning Christ, and to which I would now call your contemplations. The first tabernacle,² you will therefore recollect, had certain ceremonial ordinances of Divine service, and a worldly sanctuary : a sanctuary made of such materials as this earth of ours could furnish out, and the centre of a ritual which contained many institutions comparatively low and carnal. For the first part of the tabernacle was prepared of boards and curtains, pillars and coverings, which constituted a little apartment as a kind of antichamber to the oracle ; in which there [was] the candlestick of pure gold with its seven lamps, and the table of shew bread as it was called, and the setting on the twelve loaves upon it, which were always to stand before the Lord ; and this apartment is called the Holy place, in which also the golden altar of incense stood. And beyond the second vail was that
² The first tabernacle.] Mr. Peirce thinks this is to be considered as connected with chap. viii. 6, and that all which intervenes is a digression, though a very pertinent and useful one, relating to the ameliority of the covenant established under that better Priest. But I can see no necessity for this, since it may well be connected with the words immediately preceding : as if he had said, and because that covenant was intended but for a little
while, therefore there was a great deal of external ceremony in it, fit for the puerile disposition of the persons to whom it was given. Our translators strangely supply the word covenant instead of tabernacle, whereas most copies read σκην, tabernacle, and that undoubtedly suits the connection best. The word we render ordinances is δικαιωματα, justifications, or ways of becoming righteous.
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And after the second vail the holy o o
apartment of the tabernacle which was called the Holy of Hohes, or the most holy of all, where God was pleased to keep his special residence, and which was as his presence chamber. Having the golden censer, in which the high priest used to burn incense on the great day of atonement, and the ark of the covenant so covered over on every side with gold, that it appeared as if it had been one mass of that precious metal: in which apartment, in or very near the ark, [was] the golden pot, containing the manna that remained incorruptible through so many ages, and the rod of Aaron that blossomed, and the two tables of the covenant on which the ten commandments were inscribed by the finger of God, And over it were the cherubs of glory, shadowing with their wings that golden cover of the ark which was called the mercy seat, or propitiatory, as to it propitiations were referred, and where God was pleased to appear in a visible symbol of his propitious and gracious presence. These were all important things in the Mosaic tabernacle, concerning which there is not now [room] to speak particularly. And these things being thus prepared and adjusted, both in the holy and most holy place, the ordinary priests went continually into the first apartment of the tabernacle, performing [their] daily services, by trimming the lamps, and burning incense upon the holy altar, changing the loaves on the sacred table every sabbath, and sprinkling the blood of the victims before the vail. But into the second apartment only the high priest [went] once a year, and that not without the blood of the sin offering, which he offered first for himself, and then [for] the sins of ignorance com-
b The golden censer.] It hath been queried, why the golden altar was not mentioned; and some are of opinion that it may be comprehended in the word Ἰωμικῆσαι which we render censer.
c In which: [in.] I say, in or near which, as many good commentators think the words [in] may be taken in that latitude, to reconcile it with 1 Kings viii. 9, where it is said, that there was nothing in
the ark save the two tables of stone. Or perhaps, [in], in which, may refer to [in], the tabernacle, rather than to [in], the ark, as probably Aaron’s rod, which is here said to be in the same place, could not lie in the ark.
d Cherubs of glory.] That is, the cherub that waited upon the Shechinah, or sensible glory of the Deity.
h was a figure for the time then present :
mitted by the people, to which sort of offences alone, and not to those presumptuously committed, the efficacy of the atonements extended.
Such was the ritual of Moses, the Holy Spirit, by whom it was prescribed, signifying, by this difficulty of entrance, and the necessity of the incense cloud, and the atoning blood, that the way into the holiest place, that is, into God’s immediate presence, was not yet made manifest, while the first tabernacle had its continuance, and retained its station and use, or in other words, while the Jewish economy lasted; Which, far from being the grand and ultimate scheme, [is] only a kind of allegorical figure and parable referring to the glorious displays of the present time; in which, nevertheless, there is hitherto a continuance of the temple service; so that gifts and sacrifices are still offered, which yet in the nature of things, are not able to make the person who performs the service perfect with respect to the conscience; as they refer not to the real expiation of guilt, but only to averting some temporal evils, which the law denounced on transgressors. For this the Mosaic dispensation was insufficient, which in the peculiarities of it related, not to the views of another life, nor the sublimest means of preparing the soul for it; [but consisted] only in
Referring to the present time.] We render it, for the time then present. But the words με τον καιρον τον νυκτικοῖα may certainly bear the rendering which I have given them; and I would understand it, not merely as if he had said that this similitude of comparison may be properly used in this present time, as to the temple at Jerusalem, which has its holy of holies as the Mosaic tabernacle had; but that the constitution before described was a figurative representation of the Christian dispensation, which at the time when the apostle wrote, was displayed in all its glory.
Averting some temporal evils.] This in a few words expresses what I take to be of the greatest importance for understanding the Mosaic sacrifices; which is, that they were never intended to expiate offences to such a degree, as to deliver the sinner from the final judgment of God in another world; but merely to make his
peace with the government under which he then was, and to furnish him with a pardon, pleadable against any prosecution which might be commenced against him in their courts of justice, or any exclusion from the privilege of drawing near to God, as one externally at peace with him, in the solemnities of his temple worship. And must desire the reader to examine, and digest this explication, that I may not be under the necessity of repeating it for the illustration of what is to follow.
§ [Consisted] only.] The construction of the Greek is perplexed: I have given the version that seemed to me most natural; but Mr. Peirce would connect the two verses thus, He who worshipped, with meats and drinks; and reads δικαιωμαῖον, instead of δικαιωμαίον, in conformity with the Alexandrian and other manuscripts; supplying αἴνα πν: which were corporeal ordinances, imposed till the time of reformation; that is, the appearance of the Messiah.
But Christ entered into Heaven with his o ECT. the distinction between different kinds of meats, xi. clean or unclean; and drinks, some of which Ieb. were allowed, and others denied to priests in . 10 some circumstances, and to Nazarites in others; and in different baptisms, or washings either of the whole body, or a part of it in water, as different occasions demanded; and in a variety of other ordinances relating to the purification of the flesh, which were to continue in force only till the time of reformation, when things should be put into a better situation by the appearance 11 of the Messiah himself in his church. But Christ having now appeared, and being become an high priest of those good things which were then future, and which the church through preceding ages expected as to come, the obligation of these things would of course soon be superseded. Accordingly he performed his ministry in a greater and more perfect tabernacle above, not made with human hands, that is, not making 12 any part of this lower creation. Neither doth he expiate the guilt of his people by presenting before God the blood of goats, and of calves, and of young bullocks, which were the noblest sacrifices the high priest presented in the day of atonement; but it is by the efficacy of his own blood, which he continually pleads before the Father, that he hath entered once for all into the holy place above, having obtained [for us] by his perfect sacrifice, that eternal redemption and salvation, of which all the remissions and all the benefits procured by the ministration of the Aaronical priesthood, were but very imperfect figures. 13 And certainly a little reflection may convince us of this; for if the blood of bulls and of goats, of which I have just been speaking, when presented to God with the appointed circumstances on the day of general expiation; and in cases of personal pollution, the ashes of the red heifer, burnt with hyssop, scarlet wool, and other ingredients, being mingled with water, and Entered once.] Hence Bishop Pearson as the Socinians prefers, that Christ ascended only once for the Creed, p. 109. into heaven, and not a ain and again.
lood cleanses our conscience from dead works.
sprinkled on the persons who were ceremonially unclean, sanctifieth to the cleansing of the flesh, and hath so much efficacy in consequence of the Divine institution, as to reconcile God to the whole Jewish people in the former instance, and in the other, to introduce persons to the liberty of approaching him in his sanctuary, which would otherwise have been denied them: How much more efficacious shall the blood of Christ be, even of that Divine Saviour, who by the aids of the eternal Spirit, supporting the infirmities of his human nature, and animating him to the exercise of all those virtues and graces which shed such a lustre around all the infamy of his cross, offered himself, as a most spotless and acceptable sacrifice to God? How much more, I say, shall that blood of his avail to cleanse your conscience from the pollutions ye have contracted by your dead, unprofitable, and sinful works, that ye may freely approach, and serve the living God with acceptance? How surely shall it appease that consciousness of guilt, which might otherwise be so painful to us, and introduce us to present our homage in the Divine presence, with the hope of the most favourable regard?
IMPROVEMENT.
THE whole progress of the apostle’s argument will lead us to reflect on the reason we have for thankfulness, whose eyes are
i How much more shall the blood of Christ.] The argument in these words seems to consist in this: it was merely by an arbitrary appointment, that blood and ashes, which in themselves are rather defiling, should be the methods of purification; but a death like that of our blessed Lord, has in itself a proper and mighty energy to promote the purification of the soul.
k Eternal Spirit.] Many have understood this of the Deity in general, or the Divine nature of Christ. But since the words may in a very good and consistent sense be referred to the Spirit, I could not acquiesce in any other interpretation. Bishop Fell considers them in the same light, and pertinently mentions Christ’s being conceived, proclaimed, anointed for working miracles, and at last voluntarily laying down, and taking up, his life
by this Spirit. And I have the pleasure to find Dr. Owen (on the Spirit, p. 143. See also his Exposition on the place,) expressing himself to the same purpose; mentioning also, agreeable to the paraphrase, that by this Spirit Christ was strengthened in the exercise of that admirable faith, submission, charity and zeal, which he shewed in his dying moments. But when this Spirit is called eternal, I can never think with Dr. Patrick, (o Numb. xix. 4,) that it refers to the durable nature of the ashes used for purification under the law; nor with Mr. Hallet, (Notes and Discourses, Vol. I. p. 36,) that it is opposed to the spirit of brutes, or relates to the eternal redemption purchased by Christ. It seems a plain testimony to the eternity, and consequently the Deity of the Holy Spirit.
Reflections on the Jewish sacrifices, and that of Christ.
sert. directed, not to an earthly sanctuary and its furniture, splendid xi. indeed, yet comparatively dark, mutable, and perishing; but to verse the holiest of all, the way to which is now clearly manifested. 1, 2 What matter of solid and everlasting joy! that whereas those 9 gifts and sacrifices were incapable of making those perfect who 10 presented them, or attended upon them, and the ordinances of that sanctuary consisted only in meats and drinks, and corporeal 11 purifications and ceremonies; we by faith behold an High Priest of a better and more perfect tabernacle, an High Priest who hath wrought out eternal redemption, and entered once for all into heav- 12 en for us! Eternal redemption! who hath duly considered its glorious import? To him, and only to him, who hath attentively considered it is the name of the Redeemer sufficiently dear. But O, what short of the possession of it, can teach us the true value! What, but to view that temple of God above, where through his intercession we hope to be made pillars, and from thence, to look down upon that abyss of misery and destruction from which nothing but his blood was sufficient to ransom us! 13 Let that blood which is our redemption be our confidence. We know there was no real efficacy in that of bulls, or of goats, or in the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean. All that these things could do was to purify the flesh, and to restore men to 14 an external communion with God in the Jewish sanctuary. But the blood of Christ can purify the conscience, and restore its peace when troubled, when tortured with a sense of guilt, contracted by dead works, which render us unfit for, and incapable of Divine converse. To that blood therefore let us look: let the death of Christ be remembered, as the great spotless sacrifice by which we draw nigh unto God; and let those virtues and graces which were displayed in it, under the influences of that eternal Spirit, which was given unto him without measure, concur with that benevolence which subjected him to it for our sakes, to recommend him to our humblest veneration, and our warmest affection. To conclude, since it is so expressly said, that the Holy Ghost 8 signified in some degree the great and important doctrines of the gospel by the constitution of the Jewish ritual; let us think of that ritual, whatever obscurity may attend it in part, with a becoming esteem; and peruse it with a view to that great antitype, who is in every sense the end of the law for righteousness to every one who believeth; to him, who by fulfilling it hath given it a glory, much brighter than that which was reflected upon it from the face of Moses, or the most splendid magnificence of Solomon’s temple.
He is the Mediator of the new covenant:
Hebrews 9:15
The apostle discourses, by way of digression, on the necessity of shedding Christ’s blood, and the sufficiency of the atonement made by it. Heb. IX. 15, to the end.
HEBREWS IX. 15. AND for this cause he is the Mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
HEBREWS IX. 15.
I HAVE just mentioned the offering which Christ made of himself to God by the eternal Spirit; and it is a subject so delightful and so important, that I must dilate upon it a little more largely. Attend to it therefore, that he is in this respect, and for this purpose, the Mediator of a new and better covenant,ᵃ far preferable to that of Moses; that death being undergone, for the redemption and expiation of transgressions against the former covenant, and which could not be removed by it, they who are called to the engagements and benefits of this, might receive the promise of an eternal inheritance, to which that of Sinai had no immediate reference;ᵇ its promises only relating to an inheritance in Canaan, and to those temporal enjoyments which were there conferred upon those who were obedient to the Divine law: I say, it is in consequence of his undergoing death, that he effectually secures these blessings to us by his covenant; for where a covenant [is] answerable to that which typified this of what I now speak, it necessarily imports the death of that by which the covenant is confirmed:ᶜ
xii. Heb. ix. 15
ᵃ Mediator of a new covenant.] This is the only place in the New Testament, where διαβηκεσθαι can be supposed to signify a testament or will, rather than a covenant. But the mediator of a testament is a very improper expression; and one cannot suppose the apostle would play on the ambiguity of the word; I therefore think with Mr Peirce, that it is better here to retain the usual translation of it. Redemption in the next clause plainly signifies purchasing the pardon.
ᵇ Immediate reference.] For the proof of this I must refer my readers to what my learned friend, Dr. Warburton has written, I think, irrefragably on this subject, in his elaborate and ingenious volumes on the Divine Legation of Moses.
ᶜ By which the covenant is confirmed.] Mr. Peirce would render it, of that sacrifice which is appointed by God to pacify; and he brings a remarkable instance from Appian where διαβημενου signifies pacifier. He saith the scope of the writer requires that it should be so translated here; and accordingly in the next verse he renders it, The pacifier can do nothing, as long as he liveth. But I think if διαβημενου be rendered, he by whom it is confirmed, the argument will be clearer. Yet I confess considerable difficulties attend both these interpretations; though the connection with what follows appears easier upon that which I have given. The reader will do well, if he consult Dr. Whitby upon this passage, who assigns and vindicates an
Which implies the death of that, which confi
For you know that sacrificial rites have ever attended the most celebrated covenants which God hath made with men; so that I may say, a covenant [is] confirmed over the dead, so that it does not avail, nor has any force at all, while he by whom it is confirmed liveth. From whence, and on which principle we may observe, neither was the first [covenant] of which we have been speaking, I mean that of Moses, originally transacted without the blood of an appointed sacrifice. For when every command was spoken and delivered according to the law by Moses to all the people, it is expressly said, that taking the blood of calves and goats mingled with water, and dipping into it a piece of scarlet wool, and a bunch of hyssop, the sprinkled the book itself, which contained the covenant, and all the people who were to enter into it; Saying at the same time, This [is] the blood of the covenant which God hath commanded with respect to you, appointing you to declare your consent to the terms of it, as you desire Divine favour and acceptance. And the tabernacle, and all the vessels of Divine service with which it was furnished, he also sprinkled with the same blood of the sacrifices. And indeed almost all things were under the law purified by blood in their first consecration; and it was by blood that they were cleansed from pollution, whether general or special. And if any transgression had been committed through ignorance or surprise, yet so solicitous was the blessed God to maintain the honour of his law, and the decorum of his administration, that in
interpretation much the same with that which is proposed in this version and paraphrase. The phrase ἀναλύω φιγάσθαι, which have rendered, necessarily imports, is very strong; the death must be produced, it must not only be effected, but also made apparent. Elmer hath shewn, (Observ. Vol. II. p. 361,) that the word φιγάσθαι is used in a forensic sense, for what is produced, and proved, or made apparent in a court of judicature.
Scarlet wool, and hyssop.] It is certain that Moses, in his account of this transaction, (Lev. xvi.) does not mention all these circumstances. Probably St. Paul received them from tradition. Ceremonies
of a similar kind are prescribed, Lev. xiv. 4-6; 49-52, as in cleansing the leper. And it is highly probable, that the sprinkling the blood of the sin offering might be done in this method. The blood was mixed with water, to preserve it from coagulating; and perhaps to this the mixture of sacramental wine with water, which pretty soon prevailed in the primitive church, might have some intended reference. It is the opinion of Dr. Owen, that the ceremony here referred to, was constantly performed on the day of atonement. But it is certain it is not expressly prescribed in the account given us of the ritual of that day.
is not necessary Christ should suffer often :
ase of such offences, without shedding of blood, where an animal sacrifice could be procured, here was no forgiveness of sin.⁶
[It was] therefore necessary, according to the Divine appointment, that the tabernacle, and those instruments and utensils belonging to it, which were the copies or imitations of things in the heavens, should be purified by the blood of these animal victims; but the celestial things themselves, with more excellent sacrifices than they,⁷ even with the sacred blood of Christ himself, which these offerings were designed to typify. And the expedience of this appears from the method which God hath in fact taken; or it is plain, that Christ is not entered into an earthly tabernacle, or holy places made with hands, though adorned with ever so much art and expense; [which] at best [were] but the figures, or imperfect copies, of the true: but he is entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us, as our great High Priest, and ever glorious and powerful intercessor. Not that it was necessary he should offer himself frequently, as the High Priest entered into the most holy place yearly on the day of atonement, with the blood of others, that is, of bullocks and goats: For then, as the Jewish sacrifice was often repeated, so it would have been necessary for him often to have suffered in many successive periods, from the foundation of the world, in order to the salvation of good men in their several ages and generations; which we know he did not. But now once for all at the conclusion of the ages,⁸ he hath been made manifest for the abolishing of sin, and wiping
⁶ No forgiveness.] I look upon this as a certain proof, that the sin offerings were not merely tokens of friendship restored between God and the offender; but that the blood was looked upon as the consideration on which the pardon was granted, being an acknowledgment on the part of the offerer that he had deserved death if God had been strict to mark offences.
⁷ The celestial things themselves with more excellent sacrifices.] It may perhaps seem strange, that celestial things should be spoken of as needing to be purified and cleansed. But it is to be considered, that as the sacred dwelling and the vessels were
esteemed to be polluted by the Israelites, who in various degrees had access to them; so heaven would have been, as it were, polluted by the entrance of such sinners as went into it, had not the blood of Christ intervened. This I think much more natural, than with Bishop Fell, to explain it of some pollutions contracted by the sin of the angels.
⁸ Conclusion of the ages.] So ever since it is most exactly rendered; meaning the last of the dispensations God ever intended to give mankind. See Vol. II sect. 160, note⁹.
VOL. 6.
For he was once offered to bear the sins of
ECT. out its dreadful score; by the sacrifice of himself, xii. that he might purchase the pardon of it, and Heb. effectually teach men to subdue it,ʰ when they ix. 26 see such a ransom paid for their forfeited lives. 27 And just as with respect to the common lot of mankind, it is appointed to all men once to die, and after that the judgment is ordained, which fixes them in an unalterable state, without 28 any farther revolution of life and death: So Christ passed through one death, no more to be subject to the possibility of it, and having once been offered, as the scape goat on the great day of expiation, to bear the punishment due to the sins of many, even of all his believing people, and to carry away, as it were, the guilt of them into the land of oblivion, he shall the second time appear to preside in that judgment which men are to undergo. And then he shall come like the high priest,ⁱ in his richest dress, when the grand act of expiation was over, without any thing that wears the marks of humiliation or abasement, or resembles the form in which he came to make an atonement for sin.ᵏ And while he brings with him everlasting terror to all that despise and reject him, he shall manifest himself to those who have waited for him, to complete their eternal salvation,ˡ and conduct them in their entire persons, to those regions of glory which he hath prepared for them.
ʰ Purchase the pardon of it, and teach men to subdue it.] Dr. Harris (in his Discourses on the principal Representations of the Messiah, p. 252) explains the abirance of the abelish of sin, of wiping out a score, so that it should be no longer actionable. But I think it extends to every method of abolishing sin, or putting it away, and may include, besides the satisfaction made to the Divine justice, the subduing it also in our own hearts.
ⁱ Like the High Priest.] I doubt not but there is indeed, as Limborch supposes, an allusion here to the high priest coming out to bless the people who were waiting for him in the temple when the great day of atonement was over. And as he then appeared in his golden garments, whereas before he had officiated in the plain dress of a common priest; and as the trumpet of the jubilee, on that year sounded to proclaim the commencement of that happy period; there is not perhaps an image
that can enter into the mind of man more suitable to convey the grand idea which the apostle intended to convey by it, than this would be to a Jew, who well knew the grand solemnity to which it referred.
ᵏ Without sin.] Mr. Fleming supposes this refers to Christ’s having, in that great day, the glory of the Shechinah upon him, of which the splendor of the richest habits Aaron and his sons wore, was but a faint shadow; and that it farther alludes to the stripping Adam of that glory which he contracted from his first interview with the Shechinah, as soon as he had sinned. In consequence of which, Christ appearing in the days of his flesh like one of us, without this glory, might be said to come as with sin, or, as it is expressed, Rom. viii. 3, in the likeness of sinful flesh, Flem. Christology, Vol. II, p. 301.
ˡ To salvation: the catholic.] Wolfus is of opinion, that these words should be
Reflections on our obligations to Jesus Christ.
IMPROVEMENT.
WE are heirs of an eternal inheritance, and we owe all our expectations of it to the Mediator of that better covenant, who at the expense of his own blood procured redemption from the guilt and condemnation of those transgressions which have been committed under the first covenant: what praise do we owe to that voluntary victim, who made his blood the seal of that better covenant? O, that as all the vessels of the sanctuary, and all the people were sprinkled with the blood of the sacrifices, on that day when Moses entered them into solemn covenant with God; so our souls and all our services might be under the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus! By the efficacy of that were the heavenly places sanctified and prepared for us; by that our way into them is opened: let us be daily looking up to the Lord Jesus Christ, as gone to appear in the presence of God for us, and entered into heaven with his own blood. May his death be as efficacious to subdue the power of sin in our hearts, as it is to expiate our guilt before God. Then may we look forward with pleasure to the great solemnities of death and judgment, and expect that faithful Redeemer, who though he is to come no more as a sacrifice for sin, will then appear for the complete salvation of all, who have obediently received him under that character, and waited for him according to his word.
In the mean time, that we may be engaged thus to apply to him, and improve our knowledge of him to the great purposes intended; may we live in the continual views of death, as what is indispensably appointed to men; and remember that it is our certain inevitable doom. May we also consider it, as standing in a most certain connection with judgment; assuring ourselves, that whatever the period of time between the one and the other may be, there is no room for a change in our character or state. Let therefore the thoughts of judgment, and its awful eternal consequences, stir us up to a diligent preparation for death. Let it engage us to make an immediate application to Christ as the great Saviour, with entire submission to his princely authority; for if that be disregarded, how shall we meet him as our Judge! For when he appears the second time for the salvation of his peo-
connected with those immediately preceding, as expressing the view with which they waited for the returning Saviour, namely, that they might obtain complete salvation. But, with Grotius, I think it preferable to connect them in this manner, οφθησεται—ως σωτηριαν, he shall ap-pear—to salvation. And certainly this is much more natural, than with Beza and Erasmus Schmidius, to refer it to so remote a clause as ως το σύλλων αγινήκειν αμαξίας to bear the sins of many, in order to their salvation. See Wolfi Curæ Philologic. in loc.
The legal sacrifices could not make them perfect:
ple, he will execute righteous vengeance on his enemies; and xii. that vengeance can never appear so terrible, as when considered as coming from the mouth of him who was once manifested to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself.