Глава IX

The transformative significance of the structure of the tabernacle and the Old Testament Divine Service (1–10). Fulfillment of types in the high priestly ministry of Jesus Christ (11–15). The necessity of the death of victims in the Old Testament (16–22). Once and for all, the Sacrifice made by Christ for all people (24–28). In chapter 9 the apostle continues (Heb. 8:5) to show how the Old Testament sanctuary with its sacred accessories and services pales in comparison to the much merciful and majestic ministry of the New Testament High Priest and His Sanctuary. At the same time, he wisely turns his attention to the tabernacle and Divine services of a more ancient time, both because many of the details of the tabernacle and Divine services were no longer in the modern Jerusalem temple, and because such an indication of the old liturgical setting could most of all interest the Jews in view of their boundless respect for everything coming from the time of Moses. Heb.9:1. And the first covenant had a decree regarding worship and the earthly sanctuary: The decree of worship and the earthly sanctuary are in contrast to the “heavenly sanctuary not made with hands” (Heb. 9:11 and Heb. 9:24). Hebrews 9:2. For the first tabernacle was built, in which was the lamp, and the table, and the offering of bread, and which is called “holy.” Hebrews 9:3. Behind the second veil was the tabernacle, called the Holy of Holies, Hebrews 9:4. having a golden censer and an ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, where there was a golden vessel with manna, Aaron's rod that blossomed and the tablets of the covenant, Heb.9:5. and above him are the cherubim of glory, overshadowing the purification; which does not need to be discussed in detail now. Description of the furnishings of the tabernacle, in accordance with the Biblical data about it, cf. Exodus 25:37, 9:4; Lev.24:6; Numbers 4:12; about the Veil Exodus 26:33; about the other items of the tabernacle - Ex 30:1-3, 25:10-11; Numbers 17:10; Deuteronomy 10:1; 1 Samuel 4:22; Eze 9:3; Exodus 40:26 and Exodus 40:34; Lev.16:14–15. All this, in the words of the apostle, “there is no need to speak in detail now,” because all of this is assumed to be well known to the reader, as dear and close to his heart. Heb.9:6. With this arrangement, the priests always enter the first tabernacle to perform Divine services; Heb.9:7. and in the second, once a year the high priest alone, not without blood, which he brings for himself and for the sins of ignorance of the people. Having described the structure and furnishings of the tabernacle, the apostle draws the readers' attention to the inaccessibility of its main part to ordinary mortals, except for the high priest, who also had access to this part under certain conditions only (once a year, with blood for the sins of himself and the people). This feature of the tabernacle had, according to the apostle, a deep symbolic meaning, indicating the inaccessibility for people of the path to the true heavenly sanctuary and the insufficiency of the Old Testament institutions (tabernacle and Divine services) to open the way to this sanctuary. The apostle justifies the correctness of this interpretation (Heb. 9:8) by citing the fact that it has as its inspirer the same Holy Spirit who spoke all revelation (cf. Heb. 3:7). Heb.9:8. By this the Holy Spirit shows that the way into the sanctuary has not yet been opened as long as the former tabernacle stands. Heb.9:9. She is an image of the present time, in which gifts and sacrifices are offered, which cannot make the offerer perfect in conscience, Heb.9:10. and which, with food and drink, and various washings and rites pertaining to the flesh, were established only until the time of correction. The inaccessibility, or imperfection, insufficiency of the path to the heavenly sanctuary - at the present time, while the former tabernacle stands (the former Old Testament institutions) - is explained by the nature of the Old Testament ritual, which only symbolized the future, but did not give anything for the improvement of conscience and the revitalization of the corrupted forces of man, and at its very establishment was doomed to be abolished by another better dispensation, greater and more perfect. the tabernacle not made with hands (i.e., the Kingdom of Heaven), the path to which, paved by Christ the High Priest with His Blood, became accessible and salvific, serviceable and perfect for everyone (Heb. 9:11–12). Hebrews 9:11. But Christ, the High Priest of future good things, having come with a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is, not of such a structure, Hebrews 9:12. and not with the blood of goats and bulls, but with His own blood, He once entered into the sanctuary and obtained eternal redemption. Hebrews 9:13. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling, sanctify the defiled, so that the body may be clean, Heb.9:14. How much more so will the Blood of Christ, Who through the Holy Spirit offered Himself blameless to God, cleanse our conscience from dead works to serve the living and true God! A simple comparison of the Blood of Christ with the blood of the Old Testament goats and calves gives the apostle a new opportunity to deduce the most significant and highest advantage of the New Testament over the Old. If there the sprinkling of the blood of bulls and goats was considered sanctification for defiled bodies and restored the lost ability of the defiled to serve God, then how much more is the Blood of Christ capable of cleansing our conscience from dead works to serve the living and true God! – The expression that Christ “by the Holy Spirit offered Himself blameless to God” means to indicate the gracious participation of the Holy Spirit as a mediating Divine power that assisted the God-Man - Christ to accomplish His great work of sacrificing Himself for the sins of people and at the same time making them capable of serving the living and true God. Heb.9:15. And therefore He is the mediator of the new covenant, so that through His death, which was for redemption from the crimes committed in the first covenant, those who are called to an eternal inheritance may receive the promise. Hebrews 9:16. For where there is a will, it is necessary that the death of the testator follow, Heb.9:17. because a will is valid after the dead: it is not valid when the testator is alive. The connection of this difficult-to-understand passage with the previous one and its meaning are quite well captured by Chrysostom, who says: “since there were probably many faint-hearted people who, especially because Christ died, did not believe His promises, Paul, wanting to decisively refute such an opinion, presents an example borrowed from general custom. What kind of custom is this? That’s why, he says, you need to be confident. Why? Because wills are valid and gain force not during the lifetime of the testators, but after their death. That’s why he begins his speech like this: “There is a New Testament,” he says, “There is an Intercessor”... But, they will say, no one died there: how was that covenant confirmed? Exactly the same. How? And there is blood, just as there is blood here. Don’t be surprised that it’s not Christ’s blood; there was a prototype there; That’s why he says: “In the same way, not the first without shelter is renewed...” In the same way, that is, therefore, he says, a prototype of both the covenant and death was needed” (Golden demon. XVI on the last, to Heb.). Heb.9:18. This is why the first covenant was not confirmed without blood. Heb.9:19. For Moses, having spoken all the commandments according to the law before all the people, took the blood of bulls and goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, Hebrews 9:20. saying, This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you. Hebrews 9:21. He also sprinkled blood on the tabernacle and all the liturgical vessels. It describes in more detail how exactly the Old Testament was confirmed by Blood. St. Chrysostom accompanies this description with the following interpretations: “Why is the book of the covenant and the people sprinkled? Because that blood and everything else was a prototype of the most honest blood, which was represented from ancient times. Why with hyssop? Because it, as a dense and soft substance, held back blood. What is water for? It was used as a sign of purification with water. What is the wave (wool) for? And it was used to hold back the blood.” The Apostle shows that there were both blood and water here together, because baptism is an image of the suffering of Christ. Hebrews 9:22. And almost everything according to the law is purified by blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. “Yes, and almost everything” - και σχεδόν πάντα, glav.: “and almost all.” “Why such a restriction? (Zlat.). Because there was no perfect cleansing and perfect remission of sins, but there was half-perfect and even much less, but here - “this is the blood,” he says, “of the New Testament, which is shed for you for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:28).” Heb.9:23. So the images of heavenly things had to be purified with these, and the heavenly things themselves with the best of these sacrifices. If the “images of the heavenly” (everything of the Old Testament, listed above) required cleansing by Blood, which then could only be served by the blood of sacrificial animals, which symbolically pointed to the Blood of Christ, then the “heavenly itself” (everything of the New Testament, typified by the Old Testament) demanded a more, so to speak, heavenly, more corresponding cleansing by the Blood of Christ. St. Chrysostom gives the following remarkable reasoning on this matter: “How are they (i.e., the Old Testament institutions) images of the heavenly? And what does he now call heavenly? Isn't it the sky? Isn't it Angels? No, but our sacred rites. Our (sacred rites) are in heaven and heavenly, although they are performed on earth. Likewise, Angels are on earth, but are called heavenly; and cherubim appeared on earth, but they are heavenly. What am I saying: did you show up? They are on earth, as if in paradise, and, however, for all that they are heavenly. And “our life is in heaven” (Phil 3:20), although we live here. "The best of these victims." The best is called the best in relation to something good. Consequently, the images of the heavenly were also good. They were not bad, like the images; otherwise it would be bad for what they serve as images.” Hebrews 9:24. For Christ did not enter into a sanctuary made with hands, built in the image of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God for us, “What (the apostle) did regarding the sacrifices, he does the same here. Just as he contrasted the death of Christ with them, so here he contrasts the whole sky with the church. But it is not only this that shows the difference, but also the fact that our priest is closer to God, “that he may appear,” he adds, “to the face of God for us.” It is obvious that all this is said about His flesh” (Zlat.). Hebrews 9:25. and not in order to offer Himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the sanctuary every year with someone else’s blood; “Do you see how many opposites there are? Repeatedly - once, with someone else's blood - with one's own. Great difference! Christ Himself is both sacrifice and priest” (Zlat.). Hebrews 9:26. otherwise He would have had to suffer many times since the beginning of the world; He once, towards the end of the centuries, appeared to destroy sin through His sacrifice. “Here the apostle reveals a certain dogma: if, he says, He had to offer sacrifices many times, then He would have to be crucified many times. “Now one at the end of the ages.” Why “at the end of centuries”? After many sins; if all this had happened at the beginning and no one had believed, then the work of building the economy would have remained useless... When, over time, a multitude of sins appeared, then He appeared at the right time...” (Zlat.). Hebrews 9:27. And just as it is appointed for men to die once, and then the judgment, “Having proved that it was not necessary to die many times, the apostle now shows why He died once. “He lies,” he says, “to die alone as a man.” So, He died once for all people” - (Zlat.). True, we still die the same death, but when we die, we do not remain in it (death), and this does not mean dying. The power of death and true death is that when the deceased no longer has the opportunity to return to life; if after death he comes to life, and with a better life, then this is not death, but dormition. Death could keep everyone; That is why Christ died to free us. Hebrews 9:28. so Christ, having once sacrificed Himself to take away the sins of many, will appear a second time not for the cleansing of sin, but for salvation for those who are waiting for Him. "To take away the sins of many". Why many and not all? Because not everyone believed. He died for everyone in order to save everyone, as much as depended on Him - His death was powerful to save everyone from destruction - but He did not bear the sins of everyone, because they themselves did not want to. - “Not for the cleansing of sin”, Greek. χωρίς αμαρτίας - glory. more precisely: “without sin.” That is, according to Chrysostom’s interpretation, “not in order to take away sins, and not for sins he will come another time to die again; He did not die once because he had to die. Why will he appear? To punish, he says; however, he does not express this (directly), but with joy: “without sin he will appear to those who are waiting for him for salvation,” since there is no longer a need for sacrifice to save them, but for this we need deeds!” ... You might be interested in: