Heavenly Things, Chapter 1.10 (9:1-10)
THE IMPERFECTION OF AARON'S WORK
(Suggested Reading Heb. 9:1-10)
Paul opens the ninth chapter with a brief comment about the first covenant having ordinances of service and a sanctuary. He expands his opening statement with an overview of this sanctuary, the tabernacle. He follows this up with a description of one of those services the Day of Atonement which illustrates the point he wants to make the inadequacy of the law and everything associated with it to meet man's needs.
This chapter then is an attempt to give the reader a general understanding of the tabernacle, and a specific understanding of the ritual performed there annually on the Day of Atonement.
The Tabernacle Preliminary Remarks
In Hebrews the subject of the tabernacle emerges at 8:2 and ends at 13:10. The word tabernacle means tent, suggesting an ever moving dwelling place, which it was. However since there was a separate tent inside the fenced off space also called "the tabernacle," descriptive confusion arises unless we separate the terms. Accordingly in this chapter "the tabernacle" is to be understood as meaning the enclosed space fenced off from the outside world and "the tent" as the separate structure within the enclosed space.
Before we can approach the study of the tabernacle intelligently we must have a basic understanding of what both it and its furniture represented to the mind of God conceptually that is, by-passing much detail. The tabernacle the House of God was a structure surrounded by the camp of God the tents of the children of Israel. They are at rest around this tabernacle. Three tribes have pitched their tents to the east, three to the south, three to the west, and three to the north. The only reason God can dwell among them, a sinful people, is that they are provisionally redeemed by the Passover lamb's bloodshed in Egypt, which looked forward to the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, which cleanses us from all sin. They are provisionally redeemed yes, and so God is pleased to dwell among them but what about the sins they have committed this past year? Obviously they need a sin offering. The setting for that is the tabernacle.
The Tabernacle—a Simplified View
A few general impressions of the tabernacle emerge from the artist's drawing. First we see that the rectangular area which constituted the Court the whole interior of the tabernacle was created by a fenced enclosure high enough to prevent anyone outside observing the inside. There were three objects in the Court. The first two were the Brazen Altar of sacrifice and the Laver filled with water where the priests washed *1. The third object was a tent 10 cubits high twice the height of the fenced enclosure. It was rectangular, partitioned into two rooms the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies and overlaid with four curtains which hid the interior from view.
The whole structure had three gates. Entering from the outside, the first gate led into the Court, where the Brazen Altar and Laver were located. Walking past these objects one comes to the tent, which is entered by the second gate. The third gate called "the veil" was the entrance to the Holy of Holies which contained God's throne the Mercy Seat, resting on the Ark of the Covenant. A simple but unique formula ties together the Mercy Seat and the Brazen Altar the furniture farthest separated from one another.*2
Suppose a man who did not know God were riding past the tabernacle on his horse. What would he think of it? Not very much. He would see the tent projecting above the tabernacle enclosure. He would dislike its appearance, noting that it was covered on top with badger skins see Ex. 26:14. That was because the tent spoke of Christ, who is despised and rejected by men Isa. 53:3. Closer up, the fence prevented the curious from viewing the inside. There was no flooring anywhere. Everything rested on the desert terrain on which the tabernacle was pitched. This tells us that if we look down at the desert sand or rock i.e. if we occupy our minds with earthly things, we will lose interest in heavenly things. In spirit we will become like the man of the world outside, who was offended by the badger skins the external appearance of the tabernacle. But if we look around and up, we see patterns of divine things ablaze with imperishable glory.
This brings us to an overview of what the tabernacle represented to God's mind God, His creation of heaven and earth, and the question of how to deal with sin, which had defiled the universe and challenged His throne. The holy places made with hands what were they but figures of the true? 9:23, 24. The Holiest of All is a pattern of God dwelling in unapproachable light, and the Holy Place is a pattern of the heavens. The Court is the earth. This explains why there are three gates. The third gate called the Veil barred man who was a sinner, from God's presence in the Holy of Holies. The second gate spoke of the separation of heaven and earth due to sin. But the first gate, which admitted man to the Court, led to the Brazen Altar. This piece of furniture was located in the Court because Christ died in this world of which the Court is a figure, putting away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. "I am the door," He said, "by Me if any man enter in he shall be saved" John 10:9.
If man were designing the tabernacle he would have made the Court small and the Tent enormous, to correspond to the earth's relative insignificance in size in the universe. Not so with God who looks at the earth as the place where His Son glorified Him in life and death. So He reverses the natural order. The new creation is the inverse of the old creation. God can be happy with His people clustered around His throne in the tabernacle, secure in the knowledge that His Son will shed His blood for them at the appointed time. The people saw two things which confirmed this, although they did not understand them at the time. They saw the smoke of the sacrifices from the Brazen Altar rising up to God, and the glory of God descending in the pillar of cloud over the Holy of Holies. Today we understand the meaning of these things. The Brazen Altar was located far away from God as sin must be but God was pleased with the sacrifice and showed His approval with the cloud of His glory, speaking of His presence among His people.
The Tabernacle Furniture Paul Mentions
A man's house needs furniture to give it character. It tells us much of what occupies his mind. So does God's house. But in Hebrews Paul is selective, and only writes about the tabernacle furniture which is pertinent to his theme. What then was before God's mind in His House? We believe the answer is the two ways in which He has made Himself known creation and redemption. The vacant House of God i.e. the house in its skeletal features without its furniture, is a figure of creation in its various spheres. The furniture of the house, however, represents the other and greater work of God redemption. In our chapter Paul ignores the Court except for a hint of it in the expression "ordinances of divine service" and starts with the heavenly figures, grouping them into those which are seen and those which are not seen:.. The visible things in the Holy Place In the Holy Place Paul singles out the Golden Lampstand and Table of Showbread for our consideration. The Golden Lampstand represents the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ *3. Connect it with the Brazen Altar outside His death in the world and here in the heavens, the Holy Place you have not only His death but His resurrection. Figuratively the heavens are illuminated by the light of the man who died outside but who was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father. The Golden Lampstand was placed opposite the Table of Showbread to illuminate it specially. The table had twelve loaves on it, representing the twelve tribes of Israel whose tents were pitched outside. Of the Golden Altar of Incense nothing is said. To the spiritually minded Jewish reader of Hebrews this way of presenting the furniture in the Holy Place would be convincing proof of the futility of the Jewish system. Since the nation had rejected Christ, what further need was there for an altar of incense? How could those who had crucified God's Son offer praise and worship to Him? The opposite side of this truth is God's faithfulness to them in spite of that. This is shown in the figure of Aaron lighting the lamps at evening, only to go out in the morning. Consequently, during the night of Israel's darkness the light of the lampstand shines on an Israel God has not forgotten. They are still before Him represented in the twelve loaves. So Paul says "our twelve tribes, instantly serving God night and day" although the outward evidence contradicted the statement. The light of the lamp-stand will shine until the night ends for Israel, and they are brought into the morning of a new day... The hidden things in the Holiest of All Here we have the Golden Censer *5 whose function when full of incense was to hide man from God, and the Ark of the Covenant whose contents were hidden from man but seen by God. The Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies is a figure of Christ in Manhood. But lest man in any way challenge His divinity it is also a figure of Christ as the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. It was the beginning for it was to be built before the tabernacle itself Ex. 25:10. It was the end for it went over the Jordan and came to rest in the Temple.
The contents of the Ark the golden pot containing manna, Aaron's rod which budded, and the tables of the Covenant were hidden from man's eye intentionally by a veil. The veil was a figure of Christ's flesh 10:20 He being Himself both the Holy of Holies John 2:19-21 and the Ark of the Covenant. But they were constantly before God's eye in the figures of the cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy seat. The cherubim looked inward and downward telling us of God finding perfection in His blessed Son as Man.
The golden pot containing manna spoke of God treasuring up the remembrance of Christ as the bread of God come down from heaven to feed His people. Christ as the manna, the true bread of God which came down from heaven that man might eat it and not die, is the subject of John 6. Only God's real people, entering into God's thoughts of Christ, feed upon this bread. To those who know Him not, the bread is hidden from their sight.
If the golden pot which had manna speaks of Christ's life, the tables of the covenant speak of death (as the penalty of a broken law) and Aaron's rod which budded (in this setting) of priesthood in resurrection. Christ alone kept the law and made it honorable, but bore in His own body on the tree the full penalty of God's judgment against sin "cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree" Gal. 3:13. We find Aaron's rod which budded in Num. 17. It "brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds." As already mentioned the almond tree in Scripture is a figure of resurrection since it buds so early in springtime. Thus in these three figures we have the life, death and resurrection of Christ constantly before God's eye, as well as the priestly office He should assume in resurrection after a new order of priesthood.
The Day of Atonement—Introductory Thoughts
Paul ended his digest of the tabernacle and its furniture with "the cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy seat." Why? Because the cherubim symbolically guarded the throne of God. When man sinned they drove him away from God's presence. Here in the Holy of Holies they are a mute witness in pure gold that man cannot re-enter God's presence in the Holy of Holies because he is a sinner. He can, and does go into the Holy Place as Paul points out in the persons of God's appointed priests. But into the Holy of Holies where God was, dwelling between the cherubim? No. However there was one exception. The High Priest was permitted to go into the Holy of Holies once a year, on the Day of Atonement.
The Day of Atonement and its ceremonies is in the Book of Leviticus. This book is the Old Testament counterpart of the epistle to the Hebrews, for both deal with the same subject approach to God. The approximate center of each book is the Day of Atonement in Lev. 16 on one hand, and in the descriptive contrast to the Day of Atonement in Heb. 9:1-14 on the other.
The High Priest's Preparation for the Work of the Day of Atonement
Apart from the Day of Atonement, which fell only once a year, the High Priest went about his duties in the Holy Place wearing his garments of glory and beauty see Ex. 28. These were garments of representation, for he represented the people before God in the Holy Place. However he was not allowed to wear these garments when he entered the Holy of Holies once a year on the Day of Atonement. On that day he must take off his garments of glory and beauty, and wash himself with water an admission of his imperfection and uncleanness. Then he was to put on the holy linen garments which spoke of righteousness and sacrifice. The underlying thought behind all this was the sinfulness of the people including the High Priest and his sons. The High Priest, his sons, and all the people needed a sin offering. They had even defiled the sanctuary with their sins. This is the background to what follows.
In addition to his holy linen garments Aaron needed incense, and animals for sacrifice. The latter consisted of a young bullock, two kids of the goats, and two rams. Once inside the tabernacle Aaron was alone with God. No man could be present while the ceremonies of the Day of Atonement were going on. The question of sins before God and the High Priest required the tabernacle to be vacated. The meaning of true atonement is expiation of sins, propitiating a God offended at sinful man, pardon of the guilty righteously through the shed blood of Christ so that the sinner is reconciled to God. Since Christ had not yet come, atonement in Aaron's day could only be provisional. The ritual acknowledged that.
Aaron Enters God's Presence With Blood for His Own Sins and the Sins of the People
The High Priest had a double duty to perform. He had to sacrifice a bullock for his own sins and those of his family, and he also had to sacrifice one of the goats for the people's sins.
Aaron sacrifices the bullock for his own sins and those of his family Aaron takes the bullock's blood and a censer full of burning coals of fire from the Brazen Altar, into the Holy of Holies. When he enters he puts the sweet incense he was holding in his hands on the coals in the censer. Immediately the incense rises up in a cloud. It is not only fragrant, filling the Holy of Holies, but it hides his sinful presence from a Holy God. But that is not enough, for God requires blood i.e. life given and accepted in atonement for sin. The principle is established in Lev. 17:11 "for the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make an atonement for your souls, for it is the blood which makes an atonement for the soul." So with his finger Aaron sprinkles part of the bullock's blood seven times on the mercy seat and part before it.
.. Aaron sacrifices one of the goats for the sins of the people Aaron goes outside and casts lots to see which of the two goats shall be sacrificed. The goat on which the Lord's lot falls is killed. Aaron takes its blood into the Holy of Holies. With his finger he sprinkles the goat's blood seven times on the Mercy Seat and before it, just as he did with the bullock's blood.
Aaron Cleanses the Defilement of the Holy Things From the Uncleanness of the Children of Israel
The people had broken the law. They had worshipped a golden calf, but Aaron had his share in that too. His two sons Nadab and Abihu had been destroyed for offering strange fire before the Lord a great offense to God. *6 In short the people had defiled God's sanctuary with their sins. It must be cleansed.
.. Cleansing the Holy Place Aaron was to make an atonement also "for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation that remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness.”
.. Cleansing the Brazen Altar of Sacrifice Aaron now goes into the Court. He takes with him the blood of the two sacrifices. He puts part of the blood of the bullock and part of the blood of the goat on the horns of the altar. Then with his finger he sprinkles the blood on the altar seven times.*7 In this way the altar is cleansed from the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and hallowed.
The Release of the Living Goat
Up to this point one bullock, for Aaron and his sons and one of the two goats for the children of Israel had been sacrificed. They were both sin offerings, so that the sins of both the priestly family and the people had been dealt with. One of the two goats had not been sacrificed however. Aaron now puts his hands on the head of this live goat and confesses all the sins of the people over it. By this act he transfers their sins to the live goat in a figure. Then he has a capable man release the goat into the desert. The two goats taken together give us the meaning of atonement. It is one work looked at in two ways. The sacrificed goat is the death of Christ for our sins the live goat is God remembering them no more, in the figure of the goat lost out of sight in the desert.
The release of the live goat completes our understanding of the dual character of Christ's work for God and man. The blood sprinkled on the Mercy Seat was to propitiate God in His holy nature and character. Sin had entered and must be put away. The scapegoat is substitution for our sins. These are carried away by Christ and remembered no more. He has confessed them as His own and borne their judgment.
The Phasing Out of the Ritual
Sin having been dealt with, Aaron returns to the Holy Place. He takes off the linen garments of sacrifice and leaves them in the Holy Place indicating that this character of work is over. He washes himself and puts on his garments of glory and beauty. *8 He comes out to the people in these garments and sacrifices the two rams one for his house and the other for the people. The rams had been reserved for this moment. All the previous sacrifices had been sin offerings the rams were burnt offerings. *9 Sin has been dealt with, and the High Priest, a distinct figure of Christ as Melchizedec—Priest in His coming earthly glory, comes out at the end of the Church period to offer burnt offerings.
The Meaning of the Ritual
God delivered His people from the lash of their masters in the iron furnace of Egypt. Sheltered by the blood of the Passover Lamb they were a redeemed people. He took them through the Red Sea and into the desert because He loved them. They were clustered around His house the tabernacle. But until His Son came and shed His blood for their sins, He had to restrain the fullness of His love. They were near and yet distant. The nature of His relationship to His people comes out in the ceremonies of the Day of Atonement in several ways:.. Under the law man could not enter God's Presence. The great overall teaching is that Israel had no access to the presence of God at all not the people not the priests and most surprising of all, not even the High Priest on the Day of Atonement. We know of course that the people had to remain outside the tabernacle even though their tents were pitched around it and they could see the glory of the God of Israel rising in cloud form from the Holiest of All. What about their priests then could they not enter? Not at all. They could perform sacrificial duties at the Brazen Altar and priestly duties in the Holy Place. But always, when in the Holy Place, they saw the veil which prevented them from going into the Holy of Holies where God dwelt. How about Aaron, their High Priest then? To dramatize it let us put it this way for 364 days in the year he was just like the other priests. He could look at the veil but not enter. Well, you say, he did enter once a year, on the Day of Atonement, didn't he? Paul admits that he entered but in such a way that he acknowledged he had no right there "but 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. The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was yet standing" 9:7,8. So Aaron had to sacrifice for himself and his house as well as for the errors of the people. He had to bathe his flesh in water signifying his personal unfitness for God's presence the way he was. Then he had to clothe his flesh with the special linen garments of righteousness and sacrifice. He had to enter with incense to hide his flesh, figuratively speaking, from the eyes of a Holy God. He had to enter with blood, for nothing less could propitiate God. This is mentioned three times in Hebrews 9:7 9:25 13:11. Finally the Holy Place and the Brazen Altar the two places to which alone there was access had to be purified because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel Lev. 16:16, 19.
Flowing from this overall teaching that under the old system of things Israel had no real access to the presence of God, is the revelation of the grace of God which bore patiently with them until the death of Christ, which these forms all spoke of, was accomplished. "For the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God" Rom. 3:25 describes the old order. Israel accumulated their sins for a whole year until the Day of Atonement, when they were added up and totaled, so to speak, and the people provisionally cleansed. Then they began sinning again and had to wait another year, when once more they were provisionally purified. And so the provisional sacrifices and outward cleansings continued on year after year until the death of Christ ended the need of them, for
.. The ritual looked forward to Christ our High Priest entering God's presence for us. This was unknown until God was revealed in Christ. Now we can understand Aaron's entrance into the Holy of Holies with incense as a figure of Christ in Manhood entering the presence of God in all the fragrance of His Person represented by the incense. Unlike Aaron He needed no blood sacrifice for Himself to enter, for the Divine Presence is His by right. But sin has entered God's universe and offends Him. It can only be answered for by the blood of a spotless sacrifice the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son. Three spheres are involved in each of which the question of sin must be taken up. These three spheres correspond to the threefold division of the tabernacle and the order of service on the Day of Atonement.
Aaron goes into the holiest of all first with the blood of the bullock and then with the blood of the goat. Here it is a question of meeting God's throne itself in the heavens beyond creation "Thus saith the Lord, the heavens are My throne and the earth is My footstool." Paul was caught up to the third heaven 1 Cor. 12:2 The other two heavens being respectively what we call outer space and the atmospheric heavens. While it is impossible to confine an infinite God physically, the general thought is approach to God in the Highest above and beyond the universe He has created. The majesty of God's throne is in question because sin has to be answered for. He has found full satisfaction in the blood of Christ. Aaron now leaves the holiest of all with blood and cleanses the Holy Place. Then he goes out to the Brazen Altar and makes atonement for it with blood. This speaks of heaven and earth the creation as the Holy of Holies spoke of God above and beyond His creation. Thus God, in the intrinsic holiness of His Person and the majesty of His throne, has been satisfied with the death of Jesus. The question of sin entering the universe has been dealt with. There remains only man, the crown of creation. Aaron takes up this question confessing all the iniquities of the children of Israel and all their transgressions in all their sins on the head of the live goat, just as Christ confessed His people's sins as His own when He bore them on the cross.
And so the live goat secures his freedom. He goes away into the wilderness out of sight. It is a beautiful figure of how God has been pleased not only to forgive us our sins and the judgment they deserved, but not even to remember them. "Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." The two goats are really one being two ways of looking at one work. In one way we look at His death and blood shedding in the other way the carrying our sins away from God's presence never to be remembered any more.
The typical teaching outlined above is confirmed in the three reconciliations in Col. 1:19-22 The things on the earth, the things in the heavens, and believing man. Are you a believer? Then God has forgiven your sins, because one goat was slain. He has also forgotten them because the other goat has gone far away from where God was away into the desert. That is why it is written "as far as the East is from the West so far hath He removed our transgressions from us" Psa. 103:12. You can't measure the distance between the East and the West and measurement is a figure of judgment. But suppose you are not reconciled to God through the death of His Son? Well, God can measure that distance "if the tree falls toward the South or toward the North, in the place where the tree falls there shall it be" Eccl. 11:3. Think about that. The distance between the North and South poles can be measured, but not the distance between the East and the West. The tree falls when it dies just as the sinner's state is frozen by death. The goat however is free. Such is the salvation which is in Christ Jesus a bright picture if accepted somber in the extreme if rejected.
The Church and Israel our common salvation. This is readily understood once we see that there are two classes of sacrifices one for Aaron and his house (figures of Christ and the Church as a company of heavenly worshippers) and another and distinct class for the children of Israel. Aaron has to bring the blood of each class of sacrifice in separately to God but when he goes out to the Brazen Altar the blood of both classes of sacrifice is applied to it. The separation of the blood in the holiest of all speaks of relative intelligence as to the work of Christ. As worshipping priests in the holiest of all (the veil having been rent in Christianity) the Church, being in the presence of God, is supremely intelligent as to the value of Christ's work. This is the bullock. So our song will forever be "to Him who loves us, and has washed us from our sins in His blood, and made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father to Him be the glory and the might to the ages of ages. Amen" Rev. 1:5, 6. With Israel there is much public confession of guilt outside. This is the goat. While we learned the value of Christ's sacrifice in the Holy of Holies, they will have to learn it in the world. The prophet Zechariah tells us that they will gaze both on the spear wounded side of Christ and the nail prints in His hands "And they shall look upon Me whom they pierced" Zech. 12:10. "What are those wounds in Thy hands? And He will say 'Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.'" Zech. 13:6. Then, with Christ fully made known to them as their Messiah, Israel comes into the blessedness of what we already have. The High Priest changes from His linen garments to His garments of glory and beauty Lev. 16:23, 24. That means that the character of Christ's Priesthood which is for help now will be changed to worldly power then. Christ will be Melchizedec—Priest on His throne.