Obs. VII. The sacrifice of Christ is the one, only, everlasting foun- tain and spring of all sanctification and sacred dedication; whereby the whole new creation is purified and dedicated unto God.
VERSE 24,
The opposition between the high priests of the law and their sacrifices, with their efficacy, and the Lord Christ with his sacrifice and its efficacy, is further carried on in this verse. And this is done in an- instance of a dissimilitude between them, as it was showed in general before in how many things they did agree. And this dis- similitude consists in the place and manner of the discharge of their office, after the great expiatory sacrifice which each of them did offer, ,
The causal connection of the words doth also intimate that a — further evidence is given unto what was before laid down, namely, that heavenly things were purified by the blood of Christ: ‘ For, as an assurance thereof, upon the dedication of the new covenant he entered into heaven itself.’ Had he purified the things only on the earth, he could have entered only into an earthly sanctuary, as did the high priest of old. But he is entered, as the apostle now de- clares, into heaven itself; which, in the gracious presence of God therein, is the spring and centre of all the things purified by his sacrifice.
Ver. 24.— Od yap cis yerporoinra dyin eiojrbev 6 Xpiorde, durirume ray GAnbiviiv, GAN sig adrdv viv odpavdy, viv Eupawodjvar TG mpocwaw Tov Ozov baep nwoy.
Eis dyia. Syr., SOP? ma, “into the house of the sanctuary.” ‘ Sancta;” “sacrarium;” “ sanctuarium;? “sancta sanctorum;” “the most holy place.” Xeiporoinra, “ Manufacta;” “manibus exstructa;” “ built with hands.” ” Avri- Ture Tov drnbivaov, Syr., NY WT NNT TINT, « which is the similitude of that which is true.” Vulg., “ ‘exemplari ia veror um 5 pe exemplar respondens yeris illis ; ” “an example answering unto the true,” a. “ Posse biaeeae of the true.” 78 xpecan@. Syr., MES DIP, “before the face;”’ “ faciei,” “vultui,” “ conspectui;” “in the presence.”
VER. 24.] EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 379
Ver. 24.—For Christ is not entered into the holy places [the sanctuary | made with hands, the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence
of God for us.
There is in the words a dissimilitude between the Lord Christ and the priests of the law, or an opposition between what was done by the one and the other. And one branch of the antithesis, as unto affirmation on the one hand, is included in the negation on the other; for in that he says, “ He is not entered into the holy places made with hands,” it is affirmed that the high priest did so of old, and no more.
In the words there is, 1. The subject spoken of ; that is “Christ.” 2. A double proposition concerning him: (1.) Negative ; that “he is not entered into the holy places made with hands.” (2.) Affirmative ; _ that he is so “into heaven itself.” 3. The end of what is so affirma- tively ascribed unto him; “to appear in the presence of God for us.”
First, The subject spoken of is “ Christ.” “Jesus,” saith the Vul- gar Latin; but all Greek copies, with the Syriac, have “Christ.” From the 15th verse he had spoken inde- finitely of the mediator of the new covenant, what he was to be, and what he had to do, whoever he were. This mediator and the high priest of the church are one and the same. He makes application of all he had said unto one singular person,—Christ, our high priest.
Secondly, That which in general is ascribed unto him, or spoken of him, both negatively and affirmatively, is an entrance. That which was the peculiar dignity of the high priest of old, wherein the principal discharge of his duty did consist, and whereon the efficacy of his whole ministration did depend, was, that he, and he alone, did enter into the holy place, the typical represen- tation of the presence of God. Wherefore such an entrance must our high priest have, after he had offered himself once for all.
This entrance of our high priest, as unto the place whereinto he entered, is expressed first negatively: “Not into the ho rea “holy places made with hands.” The place intended is .xeporoinea d- the sanctuary, or most holy place in the tabernacle. It 7” fe is here expressed in the plural number, to answer the Hebrew JP nw1PN; for so the LXX. render their reduplications wherewith they supply their want of superlatives. These holy places Christ entered not into, :
A double description is here given of this place; 1. As unto its nature; 2. As unto its use :—
1. As unto its nature, it was “made with hands,” built by the hands of men. The manner of this building was part of its glory; for it relates unto the framing and erection of the tabernacle in the wilderness. And as this was wholly directed
ae) Xpiores.
Eionaéey.
Keiporoinra,
380 . AN EXPOSITION OF THE [CHAP. Ix.
by God himself, so he endowed them in an extraordinary manner with singular skill-and wisdom by whom the work was wrought. But as unto the thing itself, it is a diminution from its glory, not absolutely, but comparatively ;—yet was still made by the hands of men, and so had no glory in comparison of that which doth excel, namely, “heaven itself”