Hebrews

The True Sanctuary

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Conversations, Panels, and Sermons

Lesson: 18-33

Genre: Lecture

Track: 18

Dictation Name: RR198J18

Location/Venue:

Year:

Let us worship God. Serve the Lord with gladness, come before His presence with singing. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful unto Him and bless His name, for the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting and His truth endureth to all generations. Let us pray.

Almighty God our heavenly Father we give thanks unto Thee that day after day Thy mercies are new every morning. We pray our Father that Thou wouldst give us grateful hearts, so that our praise unto Thee may be new also every morning. That we might be ever mindful of how rich we are in Christ, how great is Thy mercy toward us, how sure Thy protecting care. Teach us therefore so to walk, that in all things our hearts are surely fixed, there where our true joys are to be found, even in Jesus Christ our Lord, in His name we pray, amen.

Our scripture is Hebrews 9:1-12. Our subject: The True Sanctuary. Hebrews 9:1-12

“1Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.

 2For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary.

 3And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;

 4Which 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;

 5And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.

 6Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God.

 7But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:

 8The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:

 9Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;

 10Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.

 11But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;

 12Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”

In This chapter also we have a great deal of misunderstanding because more recent interpretations we have given to a couple of words have tended to warp the attitude of peoples towards the text. In the first verse we have the word worldly. We think of it as a sinful person very much preoccupied with the world; all it means is that in the Greek Text, something pertaining to this life. So it has nothing to do with our idea of worldliness. Then, again we have in verse 10 the word Carnal. Again, that word is very much abused by modern interpretations because they think of it as something sinful. And all it means is, of human flesh. Pertaining to our human life.

Well, these verses give us a summary of the Holy place and the Holy of Holies. And it also touches on the main items contained in them. The description does not follow the placement given in the Mosaic account, but the practice of New Testament times, particularly with reference to the golden censer. The local and the instruments and the utensils used in the rituals of atonement are also cited. At this point it might be helpful, in fact important for what we will be dealing with next week, to distinguish between a liturgy and a ritual.

The words are close enough in their connotation to be confused. A liturgy is literally a public work or service, something open, something public. Religion was once a department of state, and that’s why the word liturgy was developed to describe the public worship of the church in its entirety. It was a service to gain the favor of the gods of the state, and the word in origin was Greek. The word was taken over by the church. A rite or a ritual is a little different than a liturgy, and it is a carefully prescribed form whereby a service is rendered, or a kind of activity is conducted. The Latin word which is the source of our word right is related to another Greek word, which we have today, Arithmetic. So rite, ritual, arithmetic, are cognate words.

And they come from the Greek and the Latin.

This helps us to understand why correct form is so important in rituals. The mathematical precision is necessary, to do things properly. As for example, in a marriage ritual among the required forms are the consenting vows of both the bride and the groom. One of the sad facts is that today in many, many marriage rituals, the couple get cute ideas, and maybe the minister has his own, and they alter the traditional forms, so that strictly speaking they wind up with a service that is not legally correct.

Well, here in Hebrews the specific concern is with the act of atonement and the High Priest. But a ritual is for repetition and commemoration, whereas Jesus Christ work of atonement cannot be repeated. So it is not a ritual, although it brings the rituals to their fulfillment. The ritual of the tabernacle and the atonement ended with His act of atonement. The ritual of communion celebrates Christ’s atonement, but it cannot repeat it.

A liturgy is related to a rite, but it is more akin to a public celebration. Now the rites of matrimony and communion can take place within the framework of a liturgy, so the term liturgy is a broader term. The liturgy can include a sermon, reserve last rites taken to the dying once common even among some protestants, and much more. The concern in Hebrews is with the rite of atonement, the framework is with the first covenant, the one going back to the patriarchs if not earlier, and formalized in the law given to Moses. The whole liturgy of the sanctuary included much more. Things like thank offerings for example. All these various rites were meaningless if the rite of atonement were left out.

The heart of the liturgy and of the sanctuary was the rite of atonement, and this was basic to the priestly calling. The sanctuary of, and in this world had ordinances of divine service as decreed by God. At this point some people are tempted to see the heavenly sanctuary to which reference is made in terms of Plato, as the pattern or idea for the earthly one. But this warps the meaning of Hebrews. The heavenly sanctuary is not simply a Platonic idea, but the governing reality. In some ways the earthly sanctuary is a dim reflection of the heavenly one. The sanctuary as it existed in Israel, had two key parts; the Holy place and the Holy of Holies, as verses 2-3 tell us. The key things within these two areas are then cited in verses 2-5. The holy place was constantly in use by the priests for the services of God, according to verse 6. But th Holy of Holies as verse 7 says was used once every year, by the high Priest, to make atonement for himself and for the people.

In verse 8 Hebrews tells us that the Holy Ghost himself was speaking through and in the text of the law. He was saying: “The way into the Holiest of all was not yet made manifest, as long as the sanctuary prescribed by the Law as still standing.” It was a liturgy and a rite that were repeated again and again and again. But, when the true way into the holiest was made manifest, then the old liturgy and the temple had to go. Now consider what a drastic thing this is, especially written to Hebrews to whom the temple was everything, and to say that liturgy, that right and that temple must go, for the reality to appear.

Instead of a once a year entrance into the Holy of Holies by the high priest of Aaron, in and through Jesus Christ we have continual access to the throne of grace. This is possible because of our high priest’s act of atonement. As long as the typical sanctuary sacrifices and priesthood remained, the access was a limited one. With Christ’s sacrifice the access became a perpetual

one. At any time and in any place we have access to the throne of grace, praying in the name of our high priest, in Jesus name.

This therefore as verse 10 tells us could be called the time of reformation. The first use of that term is for Christ’s coming. His atonement, the death of the old priesthood and of the temple. Until then the service or right was an imperfect one, but with the time of reformation, the coming of Christ, all these were swept away because the reality had come. Well now, having the true high priest, Jesus Christ, the old forms are abolished. We have the true High priest, the true sacrifice has been made by Jesus Christ. He is, we are told, a high priest of good things to come, and he is in our heavenly sanctuary, not made of hands; that is to say, not made of this building, or of this world or construction, or more accurately, not of this creation, but of the eternal new heavens and a new earth.

So, Christ’s atonement points ahead to the new creation. Paul tells us He is the first fruits of the new creation. Moreover Christ made this efficacious atonement not by means of animal sacrifices, but verse 12 tell us by his own blood He entered in once into the Holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. He is both sacrifice and priest, both the Son of God and the son of man. And his atoning work is not a ritual, but the reality of atonement. He is moreover not only the great High Priest, but the universal king, king over all kings.

B.F. Weskit called attention to the three aspects of Christ’s present work as our High Priest, as they are referred to in Hebrews. First, Jesus Christ is our intercessor in the Trinity, according to Hebrews 7:25, our intercessor to the uttermost. No limits. We cannot limit His intercessory power any more than we can prescribe its operation. He is our intercessor for our sins, and He is the presence of God for us, as Hebrews 9:24 makes clear.

Then, second, Christ carries our prayer and our praise to the throne of God. Hebrews 13:15 tells us that praise is a form of sacrifice. Praise is a form of sacrifice. In praise we turn our attention to Gods goodness to us, rather than to our demands of Him, and in this sense praise is a surrender of our concerns to a grateful rejoicing in God. We have changed very much. When I was young, among the old country people the elderly who were incapacitated, crippled bedridden or blind were taught and they felt they had a duty to praise God. And I can still hear some of those aged infirm people speaking aloud all day and citing Bible verses praising God. That was their duty now that they were older, to remember all His mercies and His goodness, all His promises, for the world and life to come, and to praise God. So it is that Hebrews singles this out as a form of sacrifice.

And then third, Jesus Christ secures us perpetual access to the heavenly sanctuary, because by His atoning blood He has made us a new creation and members of His new humanity, as Hebrews 4:16 tells us. We have access in full assurance of faith, because by His work we have a cleansed conscience, as Hebrews 10:19-22 tells us. We now rest not on a ritual of atonement, but on Christ’s actual atonement. The fallacy of Israel was that it gave to the temple a fixed and unending importance, whereas the temple signified the coming one. One of the charges against Jesus was that He had declared himself to be the true temple of God. But today too often the church sees itself as a new temple, as the goal of Christ’s work rather than as His instrument. This underscores the continuing urgency of the book of Hebrews. Christ alone is the true sanctuary, and redeemer.

Hebrews has a very urgent message for the church of our time. Let us pray.

Our Father we thank Thee for this Thy word. We thank Thee that now we have full access. Give us the spirit of the fullness of praise, that we may rejoice in Thee as we should, know that Thy purposes for us are altogether good, both for time and eternity. And what we cannot see, Thou knowest and it is Thy goodness for us, to us, and always in us. How great Thou art, and we praise Thee. In Christ’s name, amen.

Are there any questions now about our lesson? Yes.

[Audience Member] What is the reference in verse 5 referring to the cherubim, (glory which we cannot know particularly?)

[Rushdoony] Oh yes, he is saying that there is a great deal of meaning here, a great deal that can be said, but it is not our present concern. So basically he is saying: “I would like to go into the meaning of all these things, but this is not the place.” Yes?

[Audience Member] Was access to the true Holy of Holies just as real because of the covenant with Abraham and David just as real even though it was limited?

[Rushdoony] Was it as real for?

[Audience Member] As real as it is now through Christ, were they looking forward to it?

[Rushdoony] Oh yes, it was, they do not have the access we do, we have the great High Priest in heaven so that all our prayers have immediate access.

[Audience Member] But did they have any true access?

[Rushdoony] In a sense they had an access, yes, for the patriarchs like Abraham it was sometimes direct to God the Son, the angel of His presence. But in the sense of did they day by day have the immediate access--- not to the same degree. We don’t know because it hasn’t been told to us, why ours is greater and more immediate, but it is. Their prayers were heard, but ours because our high priest is the one who is there are immediately and totally in the presence of the triune God. It’s a mystery that is beyond us, but somehow our access is greater. Yes?

[Audience Member] In Corinthians Paul refers to us as the temple, that we are the temple of God? What is the difference then between the temple and the sanctuary?

[Rushdoony] Really there is none except the sanctuary usually refers, it sometimes refers to the whole temple or church or even its area, grounds, and it could refer to the crosses at cross roads, where crosses were erected so that people could flee to them for sanctuary, and then someone would come and escort them with safe conduct to the temple. But the term sanctuary could also apply to the Holy of Holies, so it could be a more restrictive term.

So it was used in two ways. Yes?

[Audience Member] Isn’t there somebody who has done pretty good work on talking on the signification of each of these things? Who is the writer that has written a couple books on the symbolism of these Old Testament instruments?

[Rushdoony] Oh, Ursinus. U R S I N U S. Yes. I’d forgotten what he said, it’s been some time, but I would rather use the word types rather than symbols, because symbols has some connotations I don’t care for. But they were types telling us the full meaning of Christ’s work and atonement. Now, one of the problems of course that Hebrews is addressing is that they wanted these symbols or types to continue. Here was something visible, you could go into the sanctuary, you knew that right there was the altar, inside there was the Holy of Holies, and all these symbols or types or untensils that signified atonement and peace with God and so on. So a great many people have preferred that, and very often in the history of the church like things have been created to be the focal point as it were. But what Hebrews is telling us is that rather than these visible things, which may have their place, I’m not saying that all these things are necessarily bad, but they tend to replace the reality, and the reality is that you and I have an immediate access to God through prayer. And nothing in the old form ever gave that.

Well, in the early years of the church, since the priests who converted were many, they continued some of the forms of temple and of synagogue worship, and the church inherited these over the centuries and generations. Yes?

[Audience Member] We have a difference in that, a difference in access for people before Christ and after Christ, was it seen in the way they prayed?

[Rushdoony] Well, we pray now in Jesus name, but that’s a difficult subject. We do know that God has always heard and answered prayers, but in this instance we have Jesus Christ who makes the atonement for us, we know that He is there to intercede for us. As (Washborns?) great sonnet so powerfully put it, as he surveyed the work on the cross: “He who so much for you did do, can do yet more and care for you.” In other words, as against dying on the cross, hearing and answering your prayers is a small thing to our Lord.

Yes?

[Audience Member] Was the main purpose of the priest going into the Holy of Holies, is that the type that we are?

[Rushdoony] Well, not really to talk to Him as much as to make the sacrifice of atonement, to offer that. So it was atonement that was his main work. That’s behind us. And every worshipper in the Old Testament before he could approach God had to make an atonement offering. We don’t have to do that, so we are a giant step ahead. The atonement is behind us, Christ has made it, so we are right there in the presence of God.

[Audience Member] You don’t have to because as you pointed out we have direct access to Jesus to talk to Him you see to emphasize that, and I was wondering if the type we were talking about the priest going into the Holy of Holies had anything..

[Rushdoony] The priest was trying to represent that, but he could not have access to God without the atonement, normally.

[Audience Member] Was it that close relationship with god that we are seeing a picture of?

[Rushdoony] It typifies that, and yet it’s a world away because we have the reality, not the type.

Well, I think our time is about up, let us conclude with prayer.

Our Father, we give thank unto thee that Jesus Christ has made atonement for us, that we have direct access to the throne of grace. Make us grateful, fill us with praise, so that we may indeed show unto Thee that we are Thy sons and daughters, that we know how great is Thy grace unto us.

And now go in peace, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, bless you and keep you, guide and protect you, this day and always, amen.