In these two passages lies practically the whole of the argument, and if we can keep this well in mind, the details,

instead of bewildering us, will lend point and force to the glorious conclusion.

Returning to chapter 9, we learn that the way into the holiest was not made manifest because of the character of

the sacrifice and the service connected with that period. It is stimulating to observe the sturdy faith of the apostle in

Holy Scripture - `The Holy Ghost this signifying'. How impossible it is for one who denies the inspiration of all

Scripture really to benefit by its study! However varied and strange `the sundry times and divers manners' may

have been, the teaching of Hebrews 1:1 is that `God spake'. So in Hebrews 3:7, where Psalm 95 is quoted, the

apostle says, `As the Holy Ghost saith'.

To come now to the peculiar character of the earlier dispensation. Before the coming of Christ all were `shut up

unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed' (Gal. 3:23). The service of the priests is called `the example and

shadow of heavenly things' (Heb. 8:5). The law is said to have `a shadow of good things to come, and not the very

image' (10:1). So here, the Tabernacle and its services are said to be `a figure' (9:9).

The word is literally a `parable'. A reference to Ezekiel 20:49; Psalm 49:4; 78:2; Matthew 13:10:13 and John

16:28,29 will show that an element of obscurity is connected with a parable. Hebrews 9:9 tells us that this particular

parable remained `unto the present time' (which we believe to be the true rendering of this passage). Now that

Christ has come, the shadows vanish. All the offerings, sacrifices and services of the Tabernacle, while most

wonderfully adapted to their purpose, could never lead to the goal of Hebrews:

`That could not make him that did the service PERFECT, as pertaining to the conscience' (Heb. 9:9).

The dispensational truth related to the use of the parable is too important to pass over without a fuller note. A

type sets forth with more or less clearness the reality which it foreshadows and demands an antitype elsewhere. A

parable veils truth. It will be remembered that the parables of Matthew 13 are closely associated with the Lord's

rejection (Matt. 11 and 12) and with the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens. We have shown elsewhere that

the word `mystery' is introduced as a result of the failure of some of the agents and must be kept distinct from the

original plan and will of God. When Israel came out of Egypt, they were led by Moses to Sinai. There they were

assembled to enter into solemn covenant with the Lord. Here are the terms of that covenant:

`Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me

above all people: for all the earth is Mine: And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation'

(Exod. 19:5,6).

When Moses descended from the smoking mountain he spake no word concerning Tabernacle, Ark or Mercy

Seat, but solemnly sprinkled the people with the blood of the covenant saying:

`Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words' (Exod. 24:8).

After this, Moses re-ascended the mountain in order to receive the tables of stone. During his absence the

people, headed by Aaron, broke the solemn Covenant into which they had entered by worshipping the golden calf,

for among the `words' which constituted the Covenant were `Thou shalt have no other gods before Me'. This

Covenant was broken, and Moses manifested it by breaking the tables of stone (Exod. 32:15-19). When the

duplicates were given, they were placed in the Ark of the covenant, which Ark was the nucleus and centre of the

whole Tabernacle ritual. Strictly speaking therefore, the ten commandments were never given to Israel. Israel's

destiny is to be a kingdom of priests. The attaining of that destined end is enshrined in the use of and the meaning of

`perfect' (teleios, which is allied with telos, `end'). Israel can never be a kingdom of priests under the Old Covenant

that was broken, neither can they reach their goal by the typical ritual of the Tabernacle. `The law made nothing

perfect'. Israel's `perfection', the attaining unto that for which they had been laid hold of by the Lord (see for

parallel thought Phil. 3:12), can only be accomplished under the New Covenant of which Christ, not Moses, is the

Mediator. This New Covenant, it will be observed, is immediately introduced after the comparison between the

priesthood of Christ and that of Levi has been made, and we are told that the Levitical priesthood and sacrifices: