THE SON—THE BETTER WORSHIP
"For Christ entered not into a holy place made with hands, like in pattern to the true: but into heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God for us."—HEBREWS 9:24.
Having considered the superiority of the new covenant, the writer now turned to the subject of the superiority of the worship that is made possible to men through the Son. Once in this chapter we find the word "worshipper" (9:9). It is found again in the plural number in the second verse of chapter ten. These are the only places where the word occurs, but the cognate verb occurs in this chapter nine, at verse fourteen, where it is rendered "serve." This is an arresting fact, showing the relationship between worship and service. It will be remembered that in the hour of our Lord's temptation, He said to the enemy:
"It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve."
Worship in the last analysis, is the secret of service, and service is an expression of worship.
The first thought of worship is that of rendering homage and adoration in the presence of God, whether by an individual soul or by a company of men and women united in the sacred activity. The outcome of such worship is always that of service. At this point, however, we are principally concerned with worship as adoration.
In our examination of this letter we have seen that the background has always been that of the Hebrew people, their history and their ritual. This is still so, and in order to bring into clear relief the beauty of worship as made possible through Jesus Christ, the writer goes back to the worship of the Hebrew people; and it is good for us, therefore, to recall the background of the ritual of the Tabernacle, its worship and its service, in order to see the more clearly the foreground of the heavenly Tabernacle, its worship and its service.
In looking at the background, it is important to remember that the writer did not go to the Temple, but to the Tabernacle itself. This is in itself significant. Writing as he certainly did, before Jerusalem had been surrounded by enemies, and the Temple had been razed, the actual background was that of Herod's Temple which took sixty Years to build. His references, however, were not to that Temple, neither were they to Solomon's Temple, the full description of which is found in the Old Testament. There is no doubt that the Tabernacle was the true pattern received from God, and the Temple was an accommodation to human weakness, just as the priesthood had been, and also kingship. We glance back, therefore, to the Tabernacle in relation to the encampment of Israel. The tribes are seen ranged round the central place of worship. Between them and the actual Tabernacle were the outer courts. To these the writer made no reference. Centering observation upon the Tabernacle itself, he points out that there were two parts to it, the outer, and known as the Holy Place, and the inner as the Holy of Holies. In the outer place, which is the vestibule of the actual center of worship, he draws attention to a candlestick, or lampstand, having opposite to it a table with the shewbread upon it. This was according to the pattern given in the mount. Here the word "the pattern" refers to the model of something already in existence. He says, therefore, that this Tabernacle was a representation in the material realm of spiritual facts. Under that dispensation God was teaching through pictures. In the Holy Place was the lampstand, symbolizing the office of the nation; and opposite to it the table of shewbread, symbolizing man's fellowship with God.
Before the veil was found an altar of incense. The reading of this passage may suggest that this altar was inside the veil; but let it be carefully noticed that the writer says, "having an altar of incense," which emphasizes that as the way of approach. A reference to Exodus will show its true place. There were senses in which it belonged to the inner realm, but it was the last thing outside. Actually behind the veil there was nothing but the ark, which was a chest of acacia wood, covered by what is described as "a mercy seat," literally, "a propitiatory," this being overshadowed by two cherubim, the highest symbolism of created life. In the old economy, shining there on the mercy-seat, under the outspread wings, and beneath the watching eyes of the cherubim, a mystic light was shining, which was called the Shekinah, and was the symbol of the presence of God. It was to this Tabernacle that the writer went for his illustration. Had he gone to Herod's Temple, he would have found no ark. When Pompey sacked the Temple, looking into the Holiest place, he declared there was nothing there.
We have seen what was there in the Tabernacle. Thus the whole picture is that of a nation surrounding a place of worship, which is the very heart and center of its life, the place of its highest activity, worship in the presence of God. As we look back at the old Tabernacle, none is found within that Holy of Holies for 364 days in every year. The people were camped outside, and were represented by priests, who continually, every day, passed into the Holy Place, attending to the lamps, which symbolized witness, and to the shewbread, which was the symbol of communion. Once in the year, on the great Day of Atonement, one man entered the Holy of Holies. He passed in alone, carrying with him fire and blood. First he took the blood that spoke of his own necessity for cleansing, and then that which represented those who were outside. At sunset he left the Holy Place, and there it remained in splendid and awful isolation for another 364 days. As we look at the picture we see the masses of the people outside as they are represented by this one man. Not one of these people had a conscience that had been cleansed. The need for the cleansing of the conscience had been emphasized, and the fact that man can only enter the presence of God and render Him acceptable worship by some mystery of sacrifice, which provided for cleansing.
Now against that background comes the great declaration:
"Christ entered not into a holy place made with hands, like . . . to the true," He "entered into heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God for us."
That "now" has eternal value, and not a transient one. The true place of worship is heaven itself. To say that is to recognize a difficulty in any conception we have at present of location. To think of the universe is to make it necessary to believe in some region where there is the ultimate manifestation of God. I do not say where God is, for He is in all heavens. The center of all worship is therefore in the presence of God, in that place, however we may conceive of it, which is the place of His ultimate manifestation. Now the writer says that the Son entered "heaven itself." We remember how, in the account of His ascension, it is said that Jesus led His disciples out, and lifting up His hands in blessing, was parted from them, and they saw Him pass out of sight into the heavens. The heavens received Him. In the declaration of the writer here the word is used in the singular number. He passed "into heaven itself." That is the true place of worship. If when we gather in any building we do not find our way into that spiritual region, our worship fails.
Moreover, when the Son entered into heaven itself, He entered to remain there. Before entering He had "offered Himself," the reference being to the mystery of Calvary, as the tenth chapter shows, when it refers to "the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."
He Who thus had offered Himself, passed into heaven, "to appear before the face of God for us." This, in itself, is an arresting declaration, especially when compared with the story we have in Exodus 33. Moses desired to see God, and was told:
"Thou canst not see My face, for man shall not see Me and live."
He was allowed only to look upon His back. Now the Son passed into heaven to appear before the face of God, and that on our behalf. Thus the ultimate in worship is made possible through the Son's offering of Himself, and consequent appearing before the face of God.
Thus we may gather up the values of the teaching of the letter at this point. The true place of the worship of man is not in an earthly building. Such buildings are indeed sacred, but they are vestibules, conveniences on the material level, built for the gathering together of men and women; in order that such may transcend their locality, and find their way into heaven itself.
In the last analysis, the Tabernacle, with all its symbolic construction, spoke of exclusion. Men were not allowed to enter into the place where the Shekinah glory shone. Only one could enter, and he might not tarry there. The veil spoke forever more of exclusion. When Jesus died, the veil of the Temple' was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, a symbolic and supernatural action, revealing the fact that the way was now open into the very presence of God for all those who come through the One Who has entered in all the authority of His final priesthood. The foreshadowing of this possibility was given by our Lord Himself, not to a Jew, and not to a priest, but to a Samaritan, and to a woman withal. To her He had said:
"The hour cometh, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall ye worship the Father. . . .The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth."
It was the realization of this tremendous spiritual fact which inspired the writer of the hymn, which says:
"Heaven comes down our souls to greet, While glory crowns the mercy-seat."
Thus we can worship in the home, in the Church building, or wherever we are. These earthly localities are not final places of worship, but they are places where we may enter into the presence of God, and, doing so, find the Son of God appearing "before the face of God for us."
The highest, holiest worship, then, is the worship offered through Him in that immediate Presence.
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