Sanctuary Typology in Hebrews

1
Sanctuary Typology in Hebrews

• Richard M. Davidson
• Andrews University
• Theological Seminary

2
The Book of HebrewsAuthorship

• No author mentioned in the Epistle
• Critical scholars deny Pauline authorship
• Evidence for Pauline authorship
• SDA Bible Commentary and John Lee
• Testimony of Albert VanHoye
• Perhaps Pauls scholarly Magnum Opus to the
  Jews
• (in contrast to his occasional letters dashed off
  spontaneously)

3
Target Audience of Hebrews

• Jewish Christians in the Diaspora (Greek
  speaking, who had LXX Septuagint, or Greek
  translation of the OT as their Bible)
• Problem
• They were tempted to forsake Christianity and
  return to Judaism

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Central Theme of Hebrews

• Dont Forsake Jesus!
• If they forsook Jesus, where could they go?
• The OT types pointing to Jesus have met their
  reality in Him
• He is the Better Joshua, Moses, blood, covenant,
  priest, sacrifice, sanctuary, etc.

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Basic Contours of Sanctuary Typology in Hebrews

• Christs Death the Antitypical Fulfillment of
  the entire OT sacrificial system
• The daily (tamid) (Heb 101-4,11-12)
• The red heifer (Heb 913)
• bulls and goats (913104) summary of entire
  sacrificial system in OT (Psalm 50 49 LXX13
  Isa 111)
• Even the Day of Atonement sacrifices (Heb
  925-26)
• All OT sacrifices coalesce into the One
  once-for-all sacrifice of Christ, BASED UPON
  Psalm 406-8

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Basic Contours of Sanctuary Typology in Hebrews

• II. Christs Ascension to Heaven (31 AD)
• Traditional SDA Position Christ Began His High
  Priestly Intercessory Ministry (in the Holy Place
  of the Heavenly Sanctuary)
• Albion Ballenger (1861-1921), evangelist in Great
  Britain, president of Welsh and Irish Missions
• Ballenger taught that Christ entered the Most
  Holy Place of the Heavenly Sanctuary in 31 AD and
  began the Day of Atonement ministry
• Ballengers key text was Heb 619-20

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Basic Contours of Sanctuary Typology in Hebrews

• When Christ Ascended to Heaven in 31 A.D.
• --Was it to start the Day of Atonement, as
  Albion Ballenger claimed (based upon Heb 619-20)
  or as Desmond Ford claims (based upon Heb 912)?
  
• --Or is there evidence within the text for a
  different typological background?

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Basic Contours of Sanctuary Typology in Hebrews

• Christs Ascension
• --Three main passages in Hebrews speaking of
  Jesus entering the sanctuary Heb 619-20
  912 and 1019-20
• --The literary structure of the central section
  of Hebrews shows the relationship of these
  passages to each other

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Chiastic Literary Structure of Heb 619-1020

• The Veil (619-20)
• The Priesthood (71-25)
• The Sacrifice (726-28)
• The Sanctuary (81-5)
• The Covenant (86-13
• F. The Sanctuary (91-10)
• F. The Sanctuary (911-14)
• The Covenant (915-22)
• D. The Sanctuary (923-28)
• C. The Sacrifice (101-10)
• B. The Priesthood (1011-18)
• A. The Veil (1019-20)

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Chiastic Literary Structure of Hebrews 619
1020

• This structure was adapted from an unpublished
  paper by William Shea
• Note how the two entrance passages of Heb 619-20
  and Heb 1019-20 match each other as parallel A
  members in the chiasm.
• Heb 619-20 Heb 1019-20
• Scholars generally recognize that these two
  passages refer to the same event
• But scholars almost always see this event as the
  antitype of the OT Day of Atonement, when Jesus
  entered within the veil of the Most Holy Place
• Is the majority opinion of scholars correct?

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Chiastic Literary Structure of Hebrews 619
1020

• What is the OT background event?
• Heb 619-20 does not tell us explicitly
• But Heb 1019-20 is the KEY!
• This passage identifies Christs work as He
  enters as egkaini,zw (enkainizo, v. 20) to
  inaugurate!
• This word group egkaini,zw enkainizo is used in
  a technical sense in the Septuagint (LXX) which
  was the version of the OT from which the author
  of Hebrews consistently quoted

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The Inauguration of the Sanctuary

• Egkainizw
• Throughout the Pentateuchal references to
  sacrifices (LXX), the word group Egkaini,zw
  enkainizo is found in only ONE chapter
• Numbers 7 (vv. 10, 11, 84, 88) which describes
  the INAUGURATION of the sanctuary, as its
  services started up.
• The word Egkaini,zw enkainizo NEVER refers to
  the Day of Atonement in the OT!

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The Inauguration of the Sanctuary

• The immediate context of Egkainizw enkainizo in
  Heb 1020 verifies this identification
• Heb 918 Egkaini,zw enkainizo clearly means
  inaugurate or dedicate and describes the
  setting up of the sanctuary services and NOT the
  Day of Atonement
• Thus Heb 1019-20 and its chiastic parallel
  passage (Heb 619-20) refer to INAUGURATION and
  not Day of Atonement

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The Inauguration of the Sanctuary

• This is a fulfillment of Dan 924 anoint the
  Most Holy Place
• It doesnt matter which veil Heb 619-20 and Heb
  1020 refer to (second or first), contra
  Ballenger and Ford, since at the inauguration of
  the sanctuary Moses (acting in his priestly
  function before the ordaining of Aaron) went into
  both the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place (Exod
  409-10 Num 71)

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The Inauguration of the Sanctuary

• Heb 912
• The Blood of goats and calves what does this
  refer to?
• A goat and (bull) calf were indeed sacrificed at
  the time of Day of Atonement (Lev 166, 15)
• Does Heb 912 therefore refer to the Day of
  Atonement?
• NO! Not if one looks at the original Greek

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The Inauguration of the Sanctuary

• Heb 912
• Goat tra,goj tragos
• Calf mo,scoj moschos
• In the LXX the word mo,scoj moschos is used for
  both the inauguration and the Day of Atonement (7
  times in Lev 16 and 17 times in Num 7 8)
• In the LXX there are TWO words for goat used in
  reference to the sacrificial system Tra,goj
  tragos and ci,maroj chimaros
• Which one is used for the Day of Atonement in Lev
  16?
• Ci,maroj chimaros! Not tra,goj tragos

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The Inauguration of the Sanctuary

• Tra,goj tragos(The Goat of Heb 912)
• In the LXX the word appears in only ONE chapter
  of the Pentateuchal material describing sanctuary
  rituals
• Numbers 7 (13 times)
• The setting of Num 7 Inauguration of the
  sanctuary!
• Heb 919 verifies this interpretation of Heb
  912, as it uses the same two words calves and
  goats, (mo,scoj moschos and tra,goj tragos)
  clearly in the context of the inauguration of the
  covenant (v. 18)

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The Inauguration of the Sanctuary

• Heb 912 and the Word ta agia (The Holies)
• The term ta hagia does not refer to the Most Holy
  Place by itself
• In LXX usage (also Pseudepigrapha, Philo, and
  Josephus) ta hagia NEVER refers to the Most Holy
  Place by itself
• It is the regular term for the entire sanctuary
  as a whole
• In the LXX ta hagia appears109 times referring to
  the sanctuary, and 106 times refers to the entire
  sanctuary, and 3 times refers to the Holy Place
  (1 Ki 88 2 Chr 59,11)
• See Carl Cosaert, A Study of ta agia in the
  LXX, Pseudepigrapha, Philo, and Josephus, and Its
  Implications in Hebrews, Nazarene Theological
  Seminary, 2000

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The Inauguration of the Sanctuary

• Summary
• When Christ entered the heavenly sanctuary, He
  entered to inaugurate it, to officially start up
  the services as Priest-King.
• He went into the entire sanctuary, as in the
  type (Num 71 Exod 40)

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The Inauguration of the Sanctuary

• He sat down at the right hand of the Father
  (Heb 13 81 1012 122)
• This is a description based upon Ps 1101Sit
  at My right hand until I make your enemies a
  footstool.
• This is clearly a FUNCTIONAL description and not
  primarily locational, since in v. 5, the Father
  is at the Sons right hand!

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The Inauguration of the Sanctuary

• To sit at the right hand or to sit on the
  throne is the biblical way of indicating royal
  STATUS
• See 1 Kgs 814-15, 20 The king is standing
  (blessing the people) but says, I sit on the
  throne of Israel
• Cf. 1 Kgs 135,46 2121 Chr 2923 Jer 1725
• Christs sitting at the right hand of the
  Father in the heavenly sanctuary is a statement
  of His kingly status, and does not box Him in the
  Most Holy Place
• Christ was installed as both King and Priest

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The Basic Contours of Sanctuary Typology in
Hebrews

• Christs Ongoing Priestly Work in the Heavenly
  Sanctuary in the First Century ( When the Epistle
  to the Hebrews Was Written)
• the antitypical equivalent of the tamid
• (regular/continual) Holy Place ministry
• Heb 725-27 Intercession (tamid)
• Heb 1011-14 daily (tamid)
• Heb 1310-12 daily (tamid)

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The Basic Contours of Sanctuary Typology in
Hebrews

• Christs Future Work (from the Perspective of the
  First Century A.D.)
• the work of Day of Atonement
• Heb 923-27 Judgment is still future
• Heb 1025-31
• Future
• Investigative followed by Executive judgment
• Gods professed people are judged
• Yoma The Day of Atonement (v. 25)! Cf. the
  tractate of the Jewish Mishnah on the Day of
  Atonement entitled Yoma

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The Basic Contours of Sanctuary Typology in
Hebrews

• Conclusions
• The basic contours of sanctuary typology in
  Hebrews are consistent with Leviticus, with
  Daniel, with Revelation, and with the SDA
  doctrine of the investigative judgment based on
  these passages
• The author of Hebrews does not indicate the exact
  time of the future Day of Atonement judgment
  for this we need to go to Daniel 8 9

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The Practical Message of Hebrews Sanctuary
Typology

• We can NOW enter by faith into the heavenly
  sanctuary!!
• Heb 416
• Heb 6 19
• Heb 1019-20
• Heb 1222-24
• Christ invites us to His house, and we may come
  with boldness!

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The Practical Message of Hebrews Sanctuary
Typology

• Not just sanctuary prayer
• Sanctuary Life!!!

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Resources

• Richard M. Davidson, Christs Entry Within the
  Veil in Hebrews 619-20 The Old Testament
  Background, Andrews University Seminary Studies
  39 (2001) 175-190.
• See also Inauguration or Day of Atonement? AUSS
  40 (2002) 69-88.
• Website www.andrews.edu/davidson
• E-mail address davidson_at_andrews.edu