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Divine service.
Before passing on to detailed descriptions, however, we must have some idea of the
typical meaning of the "holy place" in which this furniture stood:--
"There was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table,
and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary (margin, the holy, Gr. hagia). And
after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all" (Gr. hagia hagion)
(Heb. 9: 2, 3).
Here we have very clearly the subdivision set forth with the distinctive names of the
two parts, the division being made by the second veil:--
"Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first
tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. But into the second went the high priest
alone once every year, not without blood" (Heb. 9: 6, 7).
Without seeking to force a distinction beyond its limits, it appears from the usage of
the words "service" and "serve" that these do not so much describe the great atoning
work of Christ, as that they refer to the worship and service of the redeemed. Both the
Saviour and the saved were set forth in type in the tabernacle. The Saviour being typified
by the solitary act of the high priest "alone once", the saved being typified by the priests
who went "always" accomplishing the "service". Latreia (service) occurs in Heb. 9: 1
and 6, latreuo (to serve or worship), in Heb. 8: 5; 9: 9, 14; 10: 2; 12: 28; 13: 10.
It will be seen that the "service" is entirely connected with the Levitical priesthood, or its
N.T. counterpart. They that did the service were not perfected as pertaining to the
conscience by the daily ritual then imposed (Heb. 9: 9). It necessitated a greater high
priest than Aaron, and a better sacrifice than was offered on the day of atonement to
purge the conscience from dead works to serve the living God (Heb. 9: 14). The
shadows of the law with its typical sacrifices could not make the comers thereunto
perfect, for their consciences were not really purged from sin (Heb. 10: 1, 2). The gifts
and sacrifices that constituted the service of the typical tabernacle "stood only in meats
and drinks, and divers baptisms, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of
reformation" (Heb. 9: 10).
Latreuo and latreia, are not found in the Septuagint of Genesis, they appear for the
first time in Exodus. The Passover feast is called "this service" (Exod. 12: 25, 26).
Pharaoh understood "service" to involve the offering of sacrifice, for in Exod. 3: 12;
4: 23; 7: 16; 8: 1 & 20 the demand had been made that Israel should be liberated
to "serve" God, Pharaoh's words are, "Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land"
(Exod. 8: 25). Moses, moreover, when speaking once again to Pharaoh, uses another
expression of similar import. To Pharaoh's "Go, serve the Lord", Moses replies,
"We must hold a feast unto the Lord" (Exod. 10: 8, 9).
While latreuo seems to have special reference to "the service of a worshipper", and is
omitted from Genesis, douleuo is of frequent occurrence in that book. It is used of the
service rendered of kings (Gen. 14: 4); of Israel's bondage (15: 14); of the elder serving