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A seated priest in a heavenly sanctuary.
It will be well to prepare the reader for the necessity of a certain amount of close
attention. The arguments of this central part of Hebrews are involved, and there are, as
the apostle has said, some things "hard to be understood" concerning this heavenly
priesthood. There is a wealth of detail and a formidable series of sub-divisions to
exercise our patience, but at the beginning the apostle would have us look away from
these and let our hearts dwell upon "the principal thing". We have a seated priest; that
tells of a finished work; this seated priest is the minister of no earthly tabernacle, He has
entered "heaven itself". The consideration of this finished work and this heavenly
tabernacle occupies the bulk of chapters 9: and 10:
Just as all the tabernacle and its services revolve around the ark and the mercy seat, so
all that the apostle has said concerning the excellence of Christ is concentrated upon His
once offered sacrifice. This is the theme that is immediately introduced in 8: 3:--
"For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices; wherefore it is of
necessity that this man should have somewhat to offer."
The "somewhat" suggests something different from the offerings of the law, and
verse 4 puts forward the argument that the Lord could have no priesthood on earth, as the
prescribed offerings were already ministered by an earthly and an exclusive priesthood.
Their service however was typical of a higher and a greater.
"Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things" (8: 5).
The Levitical economy was one of type and shadow:--
"As Moses was admonished (or `warned") of God when he was about to make the
tabernacle; for see, saith He, that thou make all things according to the pattern shown
thee in the mount" (8: 5).
The fact that Moses was "warned" (see same word in Matt. 2: 22; and Heb. 11: 7),
suggests the importance of this typical representation, whilst the parallel in
I Chron. 28: 11-19, concerning the pattern of the temple, confirms it. The typical
teaching of the tabernacle is enlarged upon in Heb. 9: For the moment we are occupied
with the "principal thing", a seated priest in a heavenly sanctuary.
The Mediator of a better covenant.
The excellency of the ministry of this seated priest is further enforced by the
superiority of the covenant which forms the sphere of His activities. The degree of this
superiority is gauged "by how much" the new covenant is superior to the old. This forms
a fruitful line of teaching in II Cor. 3: We have, with the re-introduction of the subject
of the covenant, returned to the argument of Heb. 7: 18, but we have returned with
fuller knowledge. There, in 7: 18, we learned that the commandment which appointed
the Levitical priesthood was "disannulled" because of its "weakness" and