Hebrews

A Critical & Exegetical Commentary

Gareth L Reese

• Publisher: Scripture Exposition Books LLC
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9780998451824
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Commentary

B. His Ministry is Superior Because It Occurs in a Better Sanctuary. 9:1-28

1. The old tabernacle and its imperfect services. 9:1-10

9:1 — Now ~ The general intent of this chapter is the same as in the two preceding, to show that the priesthood exercised by Jesus Messiah is superior to the Levitical priesthood. It is part of the overall presentation which is intended to discourage defection from Christianity back to Judaism; after all, you would be returning to something second best if you were to re-embrace Old Testament religion. In 8:13, the Hebrews writer had shown the first covenant was obsolete and ready to disappear. When one considers what it was replaced with, that disappearance was no calamity.

Even the first covenant — "Covenant" is in italics. Some English versions read "first tabernacle" because some of the first printed Greek texts had "tabernacle" in the text. All the ancient manuscripts, however, omit any noun after the adjective "first," so from the context we must supply some noun in agreement with "first." Like "covenant" was supplied at 8:7, so "covenant" is supplied at 9:1, since both the preceding and following context show the writer is still developing points suggested by the classic New Covenant prophecy.

Had regulations of divine worship ~ Note the past tense "had". The past tense is used since the new covenant has already been inaugurated. The method of worship, the priestly activities,¹ under the Mosaic Covenant was not left haphazard, but was divinely prescribed. God gave the regulations² about how this service was to be conducted; it didn't just evolve by human invention. Many of these regulations can be found in Exodus 25 and 26.

And the earthly sanctuary — God also gave the regulations or instructions how the entire tabernacle structure,³ in which the priestly services were carried out, should be built. It is called a tabernacle of this world⁴ to call attention to the fact that it was material, temporal, perishable, mundane. It was made by human hands, not pitched by the Lord (cp. 8:2); the "earthly tabernacle" was not at all the quality of the heavenly place where Jesus functions. The courtyard (the outer court in the diagram at 8:5) measured 150' long by 75' wide. It was surrounded by a movable cloth fence hung on posts about 7.5' high. The entrance to the courtyard, made of a curtain hung on four posts, was on the east side. Inside this courtyard, in the open eastern half, stood the altar of burnt offering and the laver. Inside the courtyard, in the western half, was where the smaller structure (45' long, 15' wide, 15' high) composed of two rooms (the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies), was pitched. The two points introduced, "worship" and "sanctuary," are discussed in inverse order in the following verses. Verses 2-5 will cover the sanctuary; verses 6-10 will cover the worship.

9:2 — For there was a tabernacle prepared ~ Whereas verse 1 spoke of the entire structure, verses 2 and 3 describe the two rooms (elsewhere called "the Holy Place" and "the Holy of Holies") of the tent⁵ that comprised the inner portion of the whole. God's original instructions for preparing or constructing⁶ this whole structure can be found in Exodus 25-40. It is noteworthy that Hebrews throughout refers to the "tabernacle," and not once to the temples (Solomon's, Zerubbabel's, or Herod's) that succeeded it.⁷ Though the temples were built on the same general model or floor plan, not everyone was happy with the changes their very design and construction necessitated. No one, however, faulted the original tabernacle, about which we read in detail in the Old Scriptures. The writer's argument could be drawn from it without the force of the argument being evaded by someone saying, 'I never approved of that temple (Herod's, or Zerubbabel's, for example) anyway!'

The outer one ... this is called the holy place ~ "Outer one" is literally the first, that is, the first room the priest entered as he went into the two-roomed tent. The dimensions of this first room, the Holy Place,⁸ were about 30' long, 15' wide, and 15' high.⁹ The outer walls of both rooms were made of boards, 20 for each side (north and south) and 6 for the west end.¹⁰ Each board was 15' long x about 2'3" wide. Each board had 2 tenons at one end, to be stood upright in 2 sockets of silver. Once the boards were stood upright, butting against each other side by side, they were held together with 5 bars or poles run through golden rings in the boards. The boards were overlaid with gold. Ten sheets of cloth, each 42' long x 6' wide, made of blue and white and purple and scarlet linen, with cherubs worked thereon of needlework, were spread over the erected boards, making a sort of ceiling for the rooms.¹¹ The outside of this structure was then covered by several layers of waterproof materials¹² to protect the furniture inside from the elements.

In which were the lampstand ~ Here begins a list of the furniture found in the Holy Place. The lampstand¹³ stood near the south wall of the Holy Place. It was made of pure gold and consisted of an upright shaft, about 6' high, and six branches, three on either side of the upright. Each branch consisted of bowls, knops, and flowers (we are not sure what each looked like). At the end of eac...

Table of contents

• TO THE HEBREWS
• The Table of Showbread