the Lord pitched, and Hands of Men; but one that is ex- A.D.63. alted into Heaven, the very Throne not man. and Habitation of God, there to intercede for us. 3 For every high prieft is ordained to offer gifts, and facrifi ces: wherefore it is of neceffity that this man have fomewhat alfo to offer. 3 & 4. Thus is He, in the moft effectual and happy Senfe, our High Prieft ftill. For as the Jewish Priests are daily and yearly repeating their imperfect Sacrifices in the Temple here below; fo does He there, continually and most prevailingly offer himself to God the Father for Us. A Service of infinitely greater Neceffity and Advantage than the offering of thofe Earthly Gifts and Sacrifices: A Service to be performed in Heaven, not upon Earth, like the Jewish Services; for Jewish Priests are fufficient enough for fuch kind of Performances, as are fo imperfect as to leave the Confcience of the Sinner ftill guilty and impure. 4 For if he were on earth, he fhould not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: 5. Thefe Jewish Priests minifter in a Tabernacle that was only an Imitation * and Shadow of what God fhewed to Mofes from Heaven, on the Mount. And as this Tabernacle was but a mere Copy of fomething fhown before; fo the Services performed in it can, at fartheft, be no more than a mere Shadow of fomething better to be hereafter. 6. Well then may this Priesthood of Christ be more excellent, and his Interceffion more effectual than the Mofaical, as He is the Mediator of a Covenant, and the Author of a Religion, fo much greater in its Promifes, Bleffings and Privileges. 7 For *Ver. 5. Unto the Example and Shadow, inodiiymate sy xi, To, or in the Copy or Shadow. A. D. 63. 7 For if that firft covenant had been faultlefs, then should no place have been fought for the fecond. 7. For, that the Mofaical Religion was an Imperfect and Temporary Difpenfation, is demonftrable from this, that if it had not been fo, there had been no Occafion for God to have fo exprefly promised to introduce Another and a Better. + Ver. 8. For finding fault with them he faith - Or, perhaps, more truly, and agreeable to the foregoing Verfe- su DOME yap. AUTOTS λIYs, Finding Fault (with that First Covenant) He faith to them [to the Jews] And I regarded them not. So the Septuagint, which the Apoftle follows. We tranflate the Hebrew- Though I was a Hufband unto them. The fame Word by being taken in both Senfes. Pocock Mifcal, Chap. i. and in Micah, pag. 3. 11 And they fhall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, faying, Know the Lord for all fhall know me from the leaft to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness,and their fins and their iniqui ties will I remember no more. 13 In that he faith, A new covenant, he hath made the first decayeth and waxeth old is * ready to vanish away. old. Now that which 11. A Religion, that should be nei- A.D.63. ther difficult to understand, nor in-w cumbred with fuch numerous Ceremonies as would render it hard, coftly, or tedious to practife; but by its Purity and Plainness, fhould be natural and agreeable to every Mind, and condefcending to Men of all Circumftances and Capacities. 12. In fine, a Religion, the Services whereof would not leave the ConGuilt, as the Jewish Sacrifices did; Sciences of its Worshippers uncleared of but would provide for the full and compleat Expiation for the Sins of all true penitent Believers. 13. Now 'tis most evident, that by promifing a New, and better Difpenfation, God must intend to abrogate the Old, and more imperfect one. And accordingly, the Ceremonial Religion of the Jews is now going to be quite laid afide, and the Chriftian to fucceed in its Room. *Ready to vanish away. Which was Perfectly fulfilled at the Deftruction of Jerufalem, and the Temple; about Seven Years after the Date of this Epistle. CHAP. CHA P. IX. The CONTENTS. The Argument of Chap. viii. 5, &c. continued, viz. Proving the Jewish Tabernacle and Temple, with the Services performed therein, to have been figurative of Chrift, his Sufferings and Religion. The Comparison between them enlarged upon, and the Excellence of one above the other further demonftrated. A.D.63. first covenant had THEN verily the 1. alfo ordinances of di B Mofaical Covenant and Religion, was only Typical, Temporary, and Introductory to Chrift, and his more perfect Difpenfation, is apparent from the Nature of the whole Service, and the Tabernacle wherein it was performed. UT to proceed. That the vine fervice, and a 2 For there was a nacle, which is called the holiest of all; ark of the covenant was 2. Which Tabernacle, (and fo the Temple afterward) confifted of two principal Parts; The first whereof had the Golden Candlestick, and the Table with the Shew-Bread on it And this was called the Holy Place, i. e. the common Place of (Exod. xxvi. Numb. vii.) 3, 4 & 5. In the fecond, which was parted from the former by a large Curtain, were placed the Golden Cenfer (made ufe of only upon the great Day of Expiation) and the Ark, plated over with Gold; in the Side Chefts whereof were put the two Tables of the * Some Copies read Ex), others Alýn, without any material Difference in the Sense. of the covenant; * was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables 5 And over it the cherubims of glory fhadowing the mercy feat of which we cannot now speak particularly. the Law, the Golden Pot of Man- A. D. 63. na, and Aaron's Rod that Budded (Numb. xvii. Exod. xxv.) Over which Ark were placed the Cherubims, that covered the Mercy-Seat with their Wings (from whence God was pleafed to make the feveral Manifeftations of himself in a Cloud and Light of Fire.) The Figurative Significations of all which Particulars, I have no time now to explain. And this Second Part of the Tabernacle was called the Holy of Holies, i. e. The Most Holy, or the Place of Extraordinary Worship. * Ver. 4. Wherein was the Golden Pot that had Manna. Note, By the Word Wherein, cannot be meant within the Body of the Ark it felf. For, befide other plain Reasons, the Copy of the Law must then have been closed up, and never taken out more; contrary to the very Defign of laying it there, as an authentick Original. It muft therefore mean the Side of the Ark, as the Word [Mitzzad] in Deut. xxxi. 26. fignifies, as appears by comparing it with 1 Sam. vi. 8; and Paraphrased by the Chaldee Paraphrafe, in that very Place of Deuteronomy See the Excellent Dr. Prideaux's Connexion of the Old and New Teftament, Book III. pag. 146, 147. 1ft Edit. But indeed the Word Wherein, may very well relate, not to xor, the Ark, but to the oxyon ayia before-mentioned, The Second Tabernacle, called the Moft Holy; in which all thefe facred Utenfils were; and whereby all Objections are obviated. |