...
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Through
the prayers of our holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and
save us. Amen. Glory to You, our God, Glory to You.
O Heavenly King,
the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, You are everywhere and fill all things, Treasury
of blessings, and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every
impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal,
have mercy on us (three times).
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it is now, was in the beginning, and ever
shall be, world without end. Amen.
All-holy Trinity, have mercy on us. Lord, cleanse us from our sins. Master, pardon our iniquities. Holy One, visit us and heal our infirmities for
Your Name’s sake. Lord have mercy (three times).
August
31, 2014 Sunday Sermon, Interpretation
The
Epistle
Hebrews
9:1-7 King James Version, Edited and Paraphrased
The first covenant also
had ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary: for there the first tabernacle
[room] was made; in which were the candlestick, and the table, with its showbread;
which is called Holy. Behind a second veil,
the [second] tabernacle [room]; which is called the Holiest of all;
which had the golden censer[1];
[which] also [housed] the ark of the covenant, covered all over with
gold leaf, in which was the golden pot of manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the
tables of the covenant. Over [the ark]
the cherubim of glory shadowed the mercy seat; which we cannot now describe
clearly.
Now when these things
were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle [room],
accomplishing the service of God. But into
the second [room] the high priest went alone once a year, with blood, which
he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people.[2]
The
Homily
This is a case of translation
leading nowhere, versus the translation that is now here. Where the emphasis is placed makes all the
difference in the world. Again,
translation hangs on a single word, this time it is the word “alone”.
Does this sentence say that “only
the high priest goes, and only once a year?
If that is the case, then we can easily prove a contradiction in
Scripture: for it is easy to show that whenever Yahweh decided to move the camp
in the wilderness, that Levites necessarily entered the Holiest to pick up the
ark and carry it off, and put it back inside whenever a new encampment was
made. Likewise, other Levites entered,
disassembled, and carried off each part of the tabernacle in a particular
order, reassembling it in the reverse order in the new camp. Even before they entered the holy land, Moses
gave instruction that the original Torah would be laid up inside the Holiest,
next to the ark.
After they entered the holy land
they brought the ark out of the Holiest so that Yahweh could lead them into
battle, which is how it ended up in the hands of the Philistines. Evidently, Yahweh was fed up with Israelite
unbelief and decided to teach the Israelites a lesson by going on vacation.
However, even before that, it
appears that Samuel, as a youth, slept in the Holiest under Yahweh’s
protection. Later the ark was brought
out to follow David as he fled from Absalom.
Moreover, the congregation needed to
hear the Word of God; the king had a copy; eventually, other copies were made
for synagogue and other use. If the
king’s copy were damaged, how could it be repaired, unless scribes went into
the Holiest to ensure that the copy was correct?
If this is not evidence enough,
Hebrews shows that the golden censer is located inside the Holiest. How did it get inside the Holiest, when Torah
says that it’s outside of the Holiest?
Scripture didn’t err, did it? An
obvious solution is that the priests had to move the golden censer inside the
Holiest to cense the ark. But wait, they
censed the ark twice a day at the morning and evening sacrifice.
All of this proves without any doubt
that the ark did a lot of traveling, and that priests and Levites were in and
out of the Holiest all the time as their daily duties required. Any translation that forces us to see a
contradiction in Scripture must be incorrect.
On the other hand, if the sentence
says that the high priest went into the Holiest by himself on the Day of
Atonement, with the blood of the covenant in order to sprinkle it, and purify
it for another year, so that others could freely enter without personal danger
to their lives, that would be a different matter, wouldn’t it? This is exactly what it means when it says, “the high priest went alone once a year,
with blood….” On the Day of Atonement it
was necessary for him to come with blood.
He entered many other times without blood.
We
expect that many of the prophets also spent time in the Holiest. On top of that, the Psalms indicate that
David spent much time there.
The
meaning of this is that Jesus entered the Holiest with His own blood, the blood
of sprinkling of the new covenant, and having made it holy for all time, opens
the way for us to come freely to the heavenly mercy seat in prayer.
All
this because some are too stubborn to admit that the word translated only, has
the more usual meaning of alone. These
would rather create a contradiction in their own minds, and rip the Scripture to
shreds than think about what the rest of Scripture has to say on the matter.[3]
[1]
Evidently the golden censer was a portable device. It was employed in both the evening and the
morning sacrifices to present the incense, which is our prayers in a pleasing
aroma to God. If the golden censer is
inside the veil, it requires the high priest or his representative to enter
within the veil at least twice a day, every day. Since the golden censer was carried on poles,
this requires that the serving priest have at least one assistant, or more
probably two assistants to help with the presentation of incense: this places
at least two people inside the Holiest at least twice daily. The morning and the evening prayers are to
continue, uninterrupted throughout eternity.
The failure to maintain regular daily services of Orthros (Matins) and
Vespers in our churches is a great loss.
God is the author of time.
[2]
Paul describes the special activities of the Day of Atonement, not the ordinary
everyday activities of priests. In the
argument of Hebrews, Paul is demonstrating and proving that Jesus in our better
and greater High Priest; Who brings us the heavenly and true Day of Atonement;
Who eliminates the need for the second veil; and Who brings us into the
welcoming Presence of God in prayer.
This Presence, the Shəkinah
is now so powerfully present that They, the Consubstantial and Undivided
Trinity now indwell our very hearts. It
is a colossal lie to say, or even suggest that the Day of Atonement obviates
all the other activities and iconography of the tabernacle: such is certainly
not Paul’s intent.
[3] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations,
please repost, share, or use any of them as you wish. No rights are reserved. They are designed and intended for your free
participation. They were freely
received, and are freely given. No other
permission is required for their use.
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