Hebrews 9 and the unopened sanctuary

[Quatsch]

Hi all,

I’m doing a Bible study on Hebrews and I’m meeting soon to discuss chapter 9 with the group. We are supposed to respond to the question, “What is the importance of all the old testament souvenirs?” with respect to verses 1-10.

I am attempting to give my response in light of Heb. 8:5, “They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary; for when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, ‘See that you make everything according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.’” (RSV-CE)

My question for you is about how to interpret verses Heb. 9: 8-9. “By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the sanctuary is not yet opened as long as the outer tent is still standing (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper…”

With respect to Jesus as high priest, does the “present age” refer to now? And since he is the only one able to enter the true sanctuary and offer his blood, will there be a time when the sanctuary is opened and we all will enter? Also, what does this sanctuary represent?

I tried finding some resources that may touch on this, but came up empty handed. Any insights or resources you may have are very welcome

Blessings,

Kyle

 

[RodK]

Quatsch,

Do you have an valid email address? I tried to email you a reply but my email got bounced. Send a message via email to RodK

RodK

 

[davethecatholic]

Here’s what the Catechism has to say about some of the material in Hebrews 9:

433 The name of the Saviour God was invoked only once in the year by the high priest in atonement for the sins of Israel, after he had sprinkled the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies with the sacrificial blood. The mercy seat was the place of God’s presence. 25 When St. Paul speaks of Jesus whom “God put forward as an expiation by his blood”, he means that in Christ’s humanity “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself.” 26

Here’s Fr.Haydock in his biblical commentary on Hebrews 9:8:

“For finding fault with them. It is not said here, blaming the law, says St. Chystostom, which in itself was good, just and holy (see Romans 7:12), but blaming the breakers and transgressors of it; not but that men were saved in the time of the law, who by God’s grace believed in their Redeemer that was to come, and lived well. And, the mercies of God were so great, even towards sinners, that he made them a solemn promise, clearly expressed in the prophet Jeremiah 31 *(Behold the days shall come, saith the Lord, and I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Juda: 32 Not according to the covenant (or not such a one) which I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt) * with signs and prodigies: I then made choice of them to be my people, but they were always transgressing against this testament, this covenant, which I had made with them: and for their transgressions I neglected them, punished them from time to time, and, what was the greatest punishment of all, permitted such ungrateful and obstinante offenders to run on their own sinful ways to their own ruin.”

Here’s Haydock on Hebrews 8:5:

*“Who to serve unto”. * The priesthood of the law and its functions were a kind of an example, and shadow of what is done by Christ in his Church militant and triumphant, of which the tabernacle was a pattern.

Hope this is helpful.

 

[Verbum]

Hi Kyle,

One must remember that while this Epistle was being written, the old rite was still being celebrated in the Temple in Jerusalem. That why I think that “the present” refers to the old rite. You will find it easier to understand if you read verses 6-10 as referring to the old rite and verses 11 to 14 as referring to the new times.Verse 15 takes up from where the author left off starting chapter 9 and starts talking again about the alliances. You could look on 9, 1-11 as a sort of parenthesis. Read Chapter 10, skip 9, 1-14 and read on from verse 15. I think this will put the whole thing in context for you.

Verbum

 

[Traditional_Ang]

This is what it says in one of the Bible Study Websites some of the people here use

*Christ’s death on the cross replaced the sacrifices of the old covenant. It did not cancel them or destroy their significance, but it replaced them by fulfilling them. What the ceremonies of the old covenant sought — the forgiveness of sins and restoration of relationship with God — was achieved by Christ’s death and resurrection. Since the once sacrifice of Christ truly accomplished all that the many sacrifices of the old covenant sought and only partially reached, his sacrifice “fulfilled” those old covenant sacrifices.

The death of Christ is spoken about as a sacrifice in the New Testament more often than as a payment or a punishment. In First Corinthians 5:7 we read, “…Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed.” In Ephesians 5:2 we read, “Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God.” Hebrews 9:26 states that Christ “appeared at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.”

Christ’s death was directed to God and intended to affect God in some way. As Ephesians 5:2 states, “He gave himself as a sacrifice to God.” God was the object of the sacrificial death of Christ. What happened in his redemptive work was directed to God in worship and homage and was intended to affect him. To see Christ’s death as an expression of God’s love for us or as a good example for us to imitate misses the central aspect if his death if it was a sacrifice. A sacrifice is directed to God, not to us.

This understanding of sacrifice also tells us something about why death was necessary for Christ. A death, after all, is not a very good gift — especially not the bloody death of a beloved Son. But the death of Christ on the cross was not an offering of death to God. It was the way Christ gave his life in sacrifice to God.

Christ “offered himself without blemish to God” (Hebrews 9:14). He “put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Hebrews 9:26). He “gave himself as a sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:2). Christ made himself an offering, a sacrifice to God, a gift that was truly pleasing to his Father. We were saved by Christ’s blood because we were saved by his life made over to God through a killing which made it a true sacrificial offering.

Christ’s death on the cross fulfilled the sacrificial offering on the Day of Atonement. On this day atonement was made for all the sins and uncleanness of the people of Israel that had not been previously atoned for by specific sacrifices. As the same time the temple with the altar — the place of God’s presence — was purified from the defilement due to its contact with unclean people. In fulfilling the offerings on the Day of Atonement, Christ’s sacrifice on the cross purified God’s people from all of their sin and uncleanness so they could be the place of the presence of the holy God. Moreover, as Isaiah 53 indicates, Christ atoned not simply for Israelites but also for Gentiles, so that their hearts might be cleansed through faith in him and in what he did (see Acts 15:9).

The New Testament also describes Christ’s sacrifice as a sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 9:12). Atonement for sin was an integral part of the great ceremonies of old covenant. It made possible the establishment, restoration, and strengthening of relationship with God. Christ himself understood his death to be a sacrifice for sin. When at the last Supper he described his blood as “poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28), he was explaining his coming crucifixion as a sacrifice for sins. In alluding to Isaiah 53:10-12, Christ also seemed to be asserting he would offer a sacrifice that was not just for a specific sinful action or offense of some individual. It was a corporate sacrifice for sin, a sacrifice for a body of people (see Leviticus 4:13-21). It was, moreover, not just a sin offering for the people of Israel but for the whole human race.

“Lord Jesus Christ, by your death on a cross you have won pardon for our sins and you have opened the way for direct access to the throne of God. Help me to draw near with boldness and confidence that I may give you thanks and praise for your work of redemption.”*

rc.net/wcc/readings/heb9.htm

The case has been made that the Book of Hebrews was probably wriitten a couple of years before the Fall of Jerusalem and the Destruction of the Holy Temple (modern scholars will dispute that - but common sense would ask why such a cateclysm goes unmentioned if they were correct). That would support Verbum’s explainations about the use of the present tense in describing the Temple sacrifices.

Naturally, NO Temple sacrifices have been conducted in 19000 years as the Temple was destroyed in 69 AD. Thanks be to Jesus Christ they are no longer necessary.

In Christ, Michael

 

[Quatsch]

Verbum:

Hi Kyle,

One must remember that while this Epistle was being written, the old rite was still being celebrated in the Temple in Jerusalem. That why I think that “the present” refers to the old rite.

Read Chapter 10, skip 9, 1-14 and read on from verse 15. I think this will put the whole thing in context for you.

Thank you for the idea to read on in Heb. 10, that did help put the idea in context a lot more. I also have to give a big thanks to **RodK **because he sent me a wonderful response by email. One verse he pointed out from Revelations is very relavent to our discussion too:

And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. (Rev. 21:22, RSV)

The temple is gone, leaving only the inner sanctuary, the “Holy of Holies.”

I was kind of hung up on thinking that the “present age” must still be here since we are not yet in the “Holy of Holies,” but indeed that is not what the Scriptures say.

(Heb. 9:8)By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the sanctuary is not yet opened as long as the outer tent is still standing.
(Heb 10:19-20) Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, [20] by the new and living way which he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh…

We, on earth, are indeed not yet in the sanctuary, but Jesus, through his offering to the Father, has opened the curtain and thus we may now enter into His glory.

Amen to Christ our Lord and Redeemer!

Kyle