Third Quarter 2003 Adult Sabbath School Lessons:
"Sanctuary Themes"

Insights to Lesson 6:
Sanctuary Language in Hebrews
August 2-8, 2003

(Produced by the Editorial Board of the 1888 Message Study Committee)

NOTE: Following is a special study by Gerald L. Finneman on the “language in Hebrews.” This “Insights” is longer than usual, but we felt that the information would enhance your own study of the Sabbath School lessons. May the Lord bless and guide you as you study His Word.

The language used in the letter addressed to Jewish believers is a system of terms utilized by Hebrews who shared a culture permeated by temple talk previous to A.D. 70. For the most part, the manner of expression in the book of Hebrews is lost to modern man today. The way in which the words are selected and used is mostly foreign in this age. As a consequence many Christians avoid the study of this insightful epistle. Nevertheless, the letter is rich in features that relate to the plan of salvation especially in the lessons taught throughout both the symbolic and the real sanctuaries.

From New Testament times until the present it is in the heavenly sanctuary that the work of redemption is concentrated. This work was typified in the features of the earthly tabernacle and its services. The real value in those typical sacrifices was in the realization of the death of Christ. It is Christ’s death that gives worth to the types that pointed to him. The sacrifice of Christ is the basis of the salvation of all who are saved before the Cross and since.

Key concepts given in this letter (especially in chapters 8 and 9 which are central to this lesson) are: covenants, tabernacle, ark, priests, blood, sin, forgiveness, dedication/inauguration, and judgment.

In this Insight will be presented brief outlines for continuity of thought and context, first of Hebrews nine, then chapter eight, with comments following each outline on particular points. Two charts at the end show the use of the word hagia (“holy” or “sanctuary”) used in this letter.

An Outline of Hebrews 9

(Features that relate to both the earthly and the heavenly sanctuaries are discussed in this chapter.)

1. A REVIEW OF EACH SANCTUARY (9:1-15)
   1. The earthly sanctuary (9:1-10)

      1. The information (9:1-7).

         1. The objects in the Tabernacle (9:1-5): Paul describes the location of the gold lampstands, the altar of incense, the ark, the tables of the law, etc.

         2. The overseers of the Tabernacle (9:6-7): Duties of the Levitical priests along with those of the high priest are listed.

      2. The illustration (9:8-10): The Holy Spirit used the many regulations surrounding the use of the Tabernacle to illustrate the fatal weakness of the earthly Tabernacle—namely, its sacrifices could not cleanse the hearts of the people. This was not to call our attention to the weakness of the earthly system to denigrate it, but rather to magnify and intensify the better heavenly system by way of contrast.

   2. The heavenly sanctuary (9:11-15): This sanctuary is superior to the earthly tabernacle in four ways:

      1. The person offering the sacrifice (9:11): Jesus himself.

      2. The preciousness of the sacrifice (9:12 b): He offered his own blood.

      3. The permanence of the sacrifice (9:12 a): It was done only once and will last for all time and throughout eternity.¹

      4. The power of the sacrifice (9:12, c-15): It brings about eternal redemption.

2. THE INAGURATION OF EACH SANCTUARY (9:16-28): Both sanctuaries had to be initiated, inaugurated, dedicated and ratified by the blood of a sacrifice before their intended services commenced.²
   1. The earthly sanctuary (9:16-22)

      1. The sprinkler of the blood of dedication (9:16-19 a): Moses.

      2. The source of this blood (9:19 b, 12,13): Animals, namely bulls and goats.

      3. The summary of this blood (9:20-22): It could never take away sins.

   2. The heavenly sanctuary (9:23-28).

      1. The sprinkler of this blood of dedication (9:23): Jesus.

      2. The source of this blood (9:25-26 a): Himself.

      3. The summary of this blood (9:24, 26 b-28): Here Paul gives us a fourfold summary of the Savior's work:

         1. The dedication/inauguration of the heavenly sanctuary (9:23, 24).

         2. Jesus once appeared to die for us (9:26 b-28 a).

         3. He now appears to intercede for us (9:24): (In the first apartment for those at that time; in the second apartment since 1844).

         4. He will appear to rule over us (9:28 b).

1. This was typified by the sprinkling of the ashes of the red heifer. These ashes were sufficient for all the people for future needs of ritual purification. When a person or a family needed purification, a fresh heifer was not required to be sacrificed. One was sufficient for all, including sojourning strangers (Numbers 19:10). This typified the sacrifice of Christ as sufficient for everyone. It is everlastingly efficacious. There is enough virtue in His sacrifice for the sins of the world (1 John 2:2). As the ashes of the heifer were stored for future needs, so the sacrifice of Christ is laid up for us as an inexhaustible treasury of merit to which we have continual access for the purging of our consciences from dead works (Zechariah 13:1; Hebrews 9:13, 14).

   Usually heifers were not used as sacrificial animals. The red heifer was the exception. This animal was sacrificed and burned to ashes outside the court of the tabernacle (Numbers 19:1-9). These ashes were preserved for future use. They were used to remove defilement incurred from contact with the dead (Numbers 19:11-16). Hebrews 9:13 refers to this custom and applies it to sanctification through Christ (see also 13:12).

   The red heifer was totally consumed with nothing remaining but ashes. This typified the extent to which Jesus would go. For us He offered Himself both soul and body (Isaiah 53:12). When Jesus spoke of His death, He never called it a sleep as in the first (and temporal) death. He spoke of it as it really was/is—eternal in its quality, the equivalent of what the Bible calls the “second death.” Hell is where both soul and body are destroyed (Matthew 10:28). This was the prosecution to the fullest extent of the law to which Jesus voluntarily went in order to save the world. The burning to ashes represents the total destruction of sinners (Malachi 4:1, 3). This was the full sweep covered in the infinite sacrifice to which Christ gave Himself! Before going to the cross Jesus prayed to the Father, in deep agony, to be delivered from this death (Hebrews 5:7). He was heard. He is the only one to be brought back from the second death experience. [Return to Text]

2. That verses 18-23 are primarily inauguration/dedication language, and not Day of Atonement wording, is observable for several reasons, some of which are presented here:

   1. The contrast depicted in this chapter is not between the typical Day of Atonement and the cross, but rather it is between two systems, one symbolic and the other real. The Old Covenant services with its tabernacle, animal sacrifices and the work of the priests is compared and contrasted with the New Covenant temple in heaven with its services, sacrifice, and work of Jesus our High Priest.

   2. In the typical temple, this consecration/dedication work was accomplished after the tabernacle and its furnishings were constructed and before the services in that tabernacle commenced. The word for dedication/consecration is found twice in the letter to the Hebrews: 9:18 (for the type) and 10:20 (for the antitype). The word used is egkainizo [eng-kahee-nid'-zo] and it means to initiate, consecrate, dedicate as in opening a way not there before.

   3. The animal sacrifices mentioned were used for purposes other than for those offered on the Day of Atonement. This is especially true concerning the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer and of the goat sacrifices specified in Hebrews nine. The blood of the animals here mentioned was for the dedication of the tabernacle and of the priests preparatory to their entering the tabernacle with the blood of the sacrificial animals for the people. Hebrews 9:13, 19, 20 is made up from Exodus 24:6-8 and Numbers 7:88 (dedication passages) and Num. 19:6 (items used with the red heifer ritual), but not from Leviticus 16 (which is about the Day of Atonement ceremony).

   4. Three times the word “goat” is used in Hebrews 9 (verses 12, 13, 19). Verse 19 and its immediate context clearly refer to the consecration ceremony performed by Moses in dedicating to God’s service the tabernacle and its contents, its priests, and the people.

      1. More than this, the Greek word, here, for goat is tragos. In the Septuagint (a Greek translation of the Old Testament) the word tragos is never used to describe the goat offered on the Day of Atonement. The word used to specify the Day of Atonement goats, in the Septuagint, is ximaros (see Leviticus 16).

      2. From the book of Numbers, where Paul got his illustration about the ashes of the heifer, he also took the word tragos. (See Num. 7 where tragos is mentioned twelve specific times: 17, 23, 29, 35, 41, 47, 53, 59, 65, 71, 77, 83, and in verse 88 where sixty of these goats are referred to for the dedication of the altar. This chapter later became the Torah passage that was to be read on Hanukkah—the Feast of Dedication (see The Anchor Bible Dictionary). In Numbers 7, tragos is in distinction to the word used in reference to the sin offering goats (ximaros) which is used twelve times.

      3. Never is tragos used in the Septuagint in reference to goat sin offerings used throughout the ceremonial year, nor to the goats used on the Day of Atonement. (Stated again: in Lev. 16, Septuagint, the word used is ximaros for the goat offerings.)

   5. The distinction is the difference in detail between the kinds of offerings used, determinable only by close inspection between the goat offerings used for sin and those used for dedication/inauguration services. To repeat, the words tragos and ximaros are used for two very different kinds of offerings. Consequently, they refer to a lack of agreement between the Day of Atonement goats (ximaros) and the goats of dedication/inauguration (tragos). One for sin, the other for dedication.

      1. Tragos is used exclusively for peace offerings in connection with the dedication of the tabernacle and its furnishings in Numbers 7. As mentioned earlier, this is the word used in Hebrews 9 (vss. 12, 13, 19). It is used exclusively for the dedication, consecration, and inauguration of the tabernacle, its furniture, and its utensils, its priests and the people.

   6. It is also significant to note that all the quotations in the letter to the Hebrews from the Old Testament, with the exception of two (Heb. 10:30 and 13:5), are taken from the Septuagint (one of the most important texts for the Old Testament, as it is the earliest known translation of the Hebrew Bible. Because the Septuagint was translated well before the Masoretic text (the Hebrew text used today) was firmly established. The Septuagint was the version of the Old Testament most widely used in the early church). The uses of the Greek quotations, in the letter to the Hebrews, are not isolated proof-texts, but carry their contexts with them. The fact that the distinctive elements of the Septuagint are interwoven into Paul’s argument is evidence that the Greek Epistle to the Hebrews is an original, not a translation. If the original had been Hebrew, the quotations would have been from the Hebrew Old Testament.

   7. It is the dedication of both the earthly and the heavenly tabernacles that Paul is here writing about. He did not have to describe this in detail to his readers because they knew about the ceremonies of that service. Dedication and consecration granted full and uninterrupted access to both apartments, through the priesthood, of the typical tabernacle and for the two real rooms in the sanctuary in heaven through the mediation of Messiah (more on the reality of the heavenly temple will be presented later).

   8. The bulls as wells as the goats mentioned in Hebrews 9:12, 13, 19 were sacrificed for dedication ceremonies and not for the work of atonement within the tabernacle (see Numbers 7:88, where in the dedication/inauguration services for the altar after it was anointed there were offered:

9. The word used to make clear that the goat used was for dedication, and not for atonement, is tragos. This word always is used in connection with dedication/consecration/ inauguration, and never for atonement!

So, Christ was sacrificed not only for the sins of the fallen race; but that sacrifice was also necessary to set apart, to dedicate, to consecrate, to inaugurate the Heavenly Tabernacle. His death was also preparatory for His work of mediation and final atonement in the true sanctuary in heaven (see Hebrews 10: 20-39).

An Outline of Hebrews 8

(Chapter eight discusses the threefold superiority of the heavenly sanctuary and its services.)

1. I. THE NEW COVENANT SANCTUARY IS SUPERIOR (8:1-2).

   1. The place is real (8:2): The heavenly sanctuary is more real than its resemblance on earth.

   2. The place is better (8:1): It is located in heaven.

   3. The priest is better (8:2): Jesus himself ministers in this sanctuary.

2. THE NEW COVENANT SACRIFICE IS SUPERIOR (8:3-4).

   1. The Levitical priests offered animals in the earthly sanctuary (8:4).

   2. The Lamb of God offers Himself in the heavenly sanctuary (8:3).

3. THE NEW COVENANT SECURITY IS SUPERIOR (8:5-13).

   1. The old covenant experience was based on human promises (8:5-8 a).

      1. It was ruined by Israel's sin (8:7-8 a).

   2. The new covenant is God’s promise mediated by Christ (8:6, 8 b-13).

      1. It was ratified by Jesus' sacrifice of Himself (8:6, 8 b-9).

      2. God’s law is written on living hearts (8:10-13).

10. The heavenly sanctuary [“of the holy places” (t_n hagi_n)] is the “true” or “real” tabernacle. The phrase “even of the true tabernacle” is used to explain the meaning of t_n hagi_n (8:2). The tabernacle in heaven consists of two “holy places.” The original word for “true” is al_thinos and means something real, not imaginary. It is such that it has not only the name and resemblance, but the real nature corresponding to the name, in every respect equal to the idea signified by the name: real, true, genuine. It contrasts heavenly realities with their semblances. To deny and forsake the real tabernacle in heaven is to affirm earthly imitations.

The word al_thinos is used again in Hebrews 9:24, but in the plural, where it is written that “Christ has not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true or real ones (al_thinos—the holy places—made by God as in 8:2) in heaven itself (as in contrast with earth)  … ”

A literal translation will look like this: “For Christ is not entered into the man-made holy places [on earth] which are copies of the true ones [the real holy places in heaven]. He entered into heaven itself [where the real holy places are] right now at the present time to appear in the presence of God for us.”

The heavenly temple is true in that it is in accordance with fact—what really is. This is in the sense of “real” or “true” in contrast to the type or pattern, which of course was a real physical entity. The idea here is that the heavenly sanctuary is more real than the reality of the pattern. (Since the typical tabernacle was a real physical entity; and since the heavenly tabernacle is more real that the type, there is no reason to not believe there are two real physical apartments in the real heavenly temple.) It is by revelation both here and in other passages of Scripture that we know that the “real” physical temple is in heaven (see, for one example, Revelation 11:19).

If some persons desire to discard the physical reality of the heavenly sanctuary, and who prefer the term “phases” rather than apartments, let’s consider the function of these sanctuary phases. Just as certainly as Paul contrasts the functions of the earthly and heavenly tabernacles, so he contrasts the priest’s duties of each. The heavenly temple and priesthood of Christ are dependent on the earthly for our understanding its significance in the service of the high priestly ministry of Christ. The activities that were assigned to, required, and expected of Him were illustrated by the two phases of the earthly priesthood. A rule of correspondence between these two services reveals that there is a unique element in the heavenly that was assigned to the first as the copy and illustration of those heavenly realities in regard to both apartments or phases.

Jesus is seated on the throne in heaven at “the right hand” of the Father (Heb. 8:1). Paul picked up the wording from 1:3 and 13 where this great truth was introduced early in the letter. It is mentioned again in Hebrews 10:12 and 12:2. This enthronement was the fulfillment of the Father’s promise to the Son in the Everlasting Covenant: “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool” (Psalm 110:1). This was also in fulfillment of Zech. 6:13, that Jesus would sit on the Father’s throne as priest. This enthronement involved an inauguration in heaven, a dedication service. That ceremony took place after Jesus ascended to heaven. Following the type (see Exodus 29:35, 29, 21, 37), the dedication in heaven must have continued several days.

Psalm 133 elaborates on the consecration and dedication of Aaron with the anointing oil:

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is

for brethren to dwell together in unity!

It is like the precious ointment poured on the head,

that ran down on the beard,

even the beard of Aaron [the first high priest],

that came down upon the collar and skirts of his garments

[consecrating the whole body]. Amplified Version.

So it is written in Hebrews 1:9 that Jesus was anointed with the “oil of gladness.” Oil as well as blood was used in the dedication services. The time-frame for the consecration/enthronement of Christ as our High Priest and for the dedication of the sanctuary in heaven would have occurred without much delay following His ascension, shortly after He had purged our sins on the cross (Hebrews 1:3).

It appears that the ceremony in heaven continued ten days at the end of which time the Holy Spirit, the heavenly anointing oil, finished His work of consecrating Christ and the heavenly sanctuary, then cascaded down from heaven to the waiting disciples on earth (Acts 1 and 2). The wording in Hebrews chapter one is that spoken by the Father declaring to the universe the seating of Jesus upon His (the Father’s) throne when the ceremony was completed. This then is the thought taken up by Paul in chapter 8:1, 2 where he sums up his thoughts previously set down in his message to the Hebrews:

“Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest [as became us, from 7:26], who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens [from 1:3 and 13), a Minister of the sanctuary and [kai: even] of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.”

Chapter Summaries and Closing Thoughts

Chapter 8:

Priests ministered on earth, in a sanctuary that was a shadow, but the corresponding copy, of heavenly realities. Our High Priest, Jesus, ministers in the heavenly sanctuary (Hebrews 8:1-6). The superiority of Christ’s ministry is further reflected in the superiority of the Covenant that governs it. The Old Covenant was flawed. The Old Testament itself predicts its replacement by a New Covenant (8:7-9). Under the New (Everlasting) Covenant, God promises to put His “laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.” Under this New Covenant believers will truly come to know God, will be forgiven for all their sins, and will be transformed from within (8:10-13). The better promise of the Everlasting Covenant will be realized fully when the work of our heavenly High Priest is finished in the antitypical real Day of Atonement. This passage, then, encompasses the final message of the Fourth Angel of Revelation 18:1 and the final work of the real atonement in the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary (Daniel 8:14; Revelation 14:6, 7). The present time in which we live is the reality for this. It was not so in Paul’s day. He dealt with the inauguration, the dedication, and the mediatorial work of Christ in the first apartment of the real sanctuary in heaven.

Chapter 9:

Paul reminded his readers that every element of the Old Covenant tabernacle and services had special significance, for it reflected realities in heaven (9:1-5).

Our High Priest, Jesus, entered heaven itself, bearing His own blood. By His sacrifice He obtained eternal salvation for us (vss. 11-14). Christ was enthroned as Mediator of the ever New, but Everlasting, Covenant. This is in fact the significance of Old Testament sacrifices for dedicating, and cleansing earthly things, as they symbolized the dedicating of the heavenly sanctuary (vss. 15-22). Animal sacrifices were sufficient for earthly copies, but Christ alone could enter heaven and the real sanctuary therein with His own blood. There He was enthroned during the dedication/consecration service. The closing thoughts of chapter nine are that He put away our sin on the cross once for all time and for everyone by the one sufficient sacrifice of Himself. He will next return, apart from sin, for the eternal salvation of those who long for Him. (vss. 23-28).

In Hebrews 9:27, 28 Paul wrote not only of temporal death and the cross, but also of a future judgment and of the future eradication of sin before Christ returns.
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”

This does not say when this judgment takes place. It does not say that this judgment happens immediately after a person dies. It simply states that it follows death. The Bible tells us when this judgment occurs. It is at the end of the 1,000 years spoken of in Revelation 20.

To conclude, we have:

• The better promises of God
• The better priest
• The better covenant
• The better security
• The better sacrifice
• The better service
• The better sanctuary dedicated and inaugurated when Jesus ascended to heaven in A.D. 31.

CHART 1

Words Describing the “Sanctuary”

The English words: “sanctuary” (Hebrews 9: 1,2), “Holiest of All” (vss. 3, 8), “Most Holy Place” (vss. 12, 25), “Holy Places” (vs. 24) all come from the same Greek word. Six times the word is in the plural, but when used in the singular alone it refers to both apartments in the sanctuary. See chart below:

CHART 2

The Word “Hagia” in the Book of Hebrews

Read the study notes for lesson 7