- Heb 7:26-27 - High priest - daily - offers up sacrifices - on the altar
- Heb 9:28 "bear the sins of many" - on the cross
- Heb 10:10 - offering of the body of Christ - on the cross
- Heb 9:25-26, "offer often" = "suffer often" - on the cross
- Lev 1:9 - offer up in smoke
- Ex 29:13 - offer up in smoke
- Ex 29:25 - offer up in smoke
“offered” on the altar.
Bob is arguing against the idea that Hebrews 9:23-25 refers to the Day of Atonement, despite the various Adventist scholars that admit it.
He is attempting to illustrate that "offered" is a technical term, with a limited meaning. The reason he is doing this is to defend the SDA notion that Jesus did not start the Day of Atonement ministry until 1844.
As we see, the term is used in a variety of ways in the NT, and Hebrews.
It means to present or bear, or offer, etc. Here are just a few of the uses:
Mat 2:11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they
presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
Mat 19:13 Then children were
brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people,
Luk 23:36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and
offering him sour wine
Act 8:18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands,
he offered them money,
These are certainly not referring to the death of a sacrifice as a technical term.
The author of Hebrews has other uses clearly not indicating death:
Heb 12:7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is
treating/presenting you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
Heb 5:7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus
offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.
The "offering" in the passage in question, Hebrews 9:23-25 has to be examined in its own context to determine the meaning.
Verse 25 continues the thought of verse 24 where Jesus enters (past tense) to appear in the presence of God on our behalf, in heaven itself. This is the presentation of the completed sacrifice in heaven. The context is not earth:
Heb 9:24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but
into heaven itself,
now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.
Heb 9:25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own,
This entry was once for all. We saw that earlier in the chapter, all the entries were fulfilled in one:
Heb 9:11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation)
Heb 9:12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
The result of the once-for-all entry was eternal redemption. The entry was by means of blood. Blood was not required to enter the first compartment. But blood is said to be required to enter the second:
Heb 9:7 but
into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and
not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people.
in Hebrews 9:7 the word offer is used, and it is describing the blood being offered before God, in the sanctuary, on the Day of Atonement. This then lays the groundwork for Hebrews 9:23-25 in which the author argues that Jesus surpassed the earthly high priest, with a better cleansing of the heavenly things, with a once for all sacrifice, by entry and presentation before the Father, fulfilling the Day of Atonement.
This unusual use of the term offer was noted by Adventist scholar Felix Cortez in a footnote on page 25 of his dissertation
The Anchor of the Soul that Enters 'Within the Veil': The Ascension of the 'Son' in the Letter to the Hebrews:
Interestingly, Hebrews departs from the language of the LXX to describe the manipulation of blood by the High Priest on the Day of Atonement: the blood is not “sprinkled” on the sanctuary but “offered” (9:7).
This anticipates Hebrews 9:25, in which Jesus' entry is compared (favorably) to the entry with blood yearly, by the high priest, when Jesus offers Himself, the completed sacrifice.
We also see purification for sins represented in Hebrews 1:3:
Heb 1:3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.
After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high
Unlike the earthly high priest who had to leave from God's presence Jesus stays. He reigns as High Priest and King.
He now ministers on the basis of the completed blood work. We come to Him in real time to confess and receive the benefits of that already finished death, entry and presentation before God on our behalf.
That presentation of blood is what is pictured in Leviticus. It does not show review of books, but cleansing blood presented for the sins of all true believers.
Leviticus 16:15 15 “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. (NKJV)
We see this fulfilled in 9:23-25:
Hebrews 9:23-26
23 Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 25 not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holies every year with blood of another— 26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. (NKJV)
In this passage we see the following elements:
- It is a necessity that the heavenly things be cleansed
- Christ entered heaven itself (not the earthly sanctuary), now to appear in the presence of God for us.
- He did not enter to present Himself often, as the high priest has to do each year, with blood.
As the Adventist scholars earlier admitted, this yearly entry by with blood by the high priest points to the Day of Atonement.
The context is the cleansing of the heavenly things. The Day of Atonement included the cleansing of the sanctuary. Here the heavenly sanctuary is cleansed by better sacrifices. Adventists claim the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary starts in 1844. However, this text, verse 23, is the one New Testament passage that overtly discusses the cleansing of the heavenly things. And as we will see, the events described in this section happen long before 1843.
Richard Davidson, Adventist Old Testament scholar, spells out the lack of specified timing in 9:23:
Note that in Heb 9:23, the word anagkē "necessity" is a noun, and katharizesthai "to be cleansed" is an infinitive. Neither of these terms give an indication of time--past, present, or future.
(“Christ's Entry 'Within the Veil' in Hebrews 6:19-20: The Old Testament Background” Andrews University Seminary Studies, Autumn 2001, 186)
But while the verse itself has no timing, it is directly linked to verses, logically and grammatically, that do have a stated timing. Those verses we can place squarely in the past from the perspective of the author of the book of Hebrews.
In examining the argument of the author in this section, we need to pay careful attention to the connecting words used. They indicate the relation of one section to the next. We see, for instance, that in Hebrews 9:23 the verse is tied to the preceding verse by the term translated in English "thus". The word in Greek is ouv.
Heb 9:23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Heb 9:23 ᾿Ανάγκη οὖν τὰ μὲν ὑποδείγματα τῶν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς τούτοις καθαρίζεσθαι, αὐτὰ δὲ τὰ ἐπουράνια κρείττοσι θυσίαις παρὰ ταύτας.
This term shows that the statement of the necessity of the cleansing of the heavenly things in verse 23 flows from the thought of verse 22. What was the argument of verse 22?
Heb 9:22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
Verse 22 is the culmination of the argument of chapter 9 to this point. It states a principle which links together all the various cleansing rites with blood. Blood was necessary for forgiveness, and everything is purified with blood.
In the Daniel and Revelation Committee Series volume on Hebrews, Adventist scholar William Johnsson describes the importance of verse 22 in this way:
Many exegetes of Hebrews have seen in this verse the so-called "blood rule," a critical plank in the author's argument. It clearly looks far wider than inauguration, since it is dealing with aphesis, ("release," "pardon"). Verse 22, in fact, is summing up the role of blood in the OT. It is reaching back beyond verse 18 to embrace verses 1-21. ("Defilement/Purification and Hebrews 9:23," 96)
It is with this in mind that verse 23 says that the cleansing of the sanctuary is thus necessary. The cleansing of verse 23 is a cleansing to deal with sin and to provide for forgiveness.
Verse 23 is related not only to the discussion before it, but also to the arguments after it. Again we see another important connecting word showing that the fulfillment of the cleansing is now being spoken of:
Heb 9:23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Heb 9:24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.
The word rendered "for" here in verse 24 is γαρ and connects verse 23 to the argument of 24-25, which deals with Christ's entry into God's presence. It is a term used when drawing a conclusion from a preceding argument. Therefore, the necessity of the cleansing of the heavenly things, is directly tied to, and explained through, the statements in verse 24. Verse 24 shows Jesus' past-tense entry directly into God's presence.
Verse 24 spells out a couple of things about Jesus' entry:
1. Christ has entered not into the holy places made with hands. (The earthly tabernacle).
2. Christ has entered into the true--heaven itself--to appear in God's presence on our behalf.
Verse 25 continues speaking about this entry, which is part of the argument for the cleansing of the heavenly things.
Again we see an important connecting word, ουδε, which has the idea nor, or, nor yet.
Heb 9:25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own
Heb 9:25 οὐδ᾿ ἵνα πολλάκις προσφέρῃ ἑαυτόν, ὥσπερ ὁ ἀρχιερεὺς εἰσέρχεται εἰς τὰ ἅγια κατ᾿ ἐνιαυτὸν ἐν αἵματι ἀλλοτρίῳ
Verse 24 started with a negative statement: Christ entered not. . . .
Verse 25 continues with another negative statement regarding Christ's entry:
Nor yet . . .
In verse 25 we have not only the connecting word ουδε but also a clause that indicates purpose. It uses the word ινα, which means in order that. So we can translate the first part of verse 25 something like this:
Nor yet was it in order that. . . .
Nor yet refers to the entry into God's presence spoken of in verse 24. Jesus did not enter in the the earthly sanctuary made with hands. Nor yet did He enter in order that He might offer Himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own.
The words for nor yet and in order that, which begin the verse, can refer only back to the event of entry and presentation in God's presence of verse 24. So we see that verse 25 still describes aspects of Jesus' entry.
The following Bible versions recognize this connection to the entry in verse v. 24 and add the word enter to vs. 25 to clarify that it has reference to the entry of Christ in verse 24:
Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own.
(New International Version)
Nor did He [enter into the heavenly sanctuary to] offer Himself regularly again and again, as the high priest enters the [Holy of] Holies every year with blood not his own.
(Amplified Bible)
And he did not enter heaven to offer himself again and again, like the high priest here on earth who enters the Most Holy Place year after year with the blood of an animal.
(New Living Translation)
The following commentaries, which look particularly at the Greek text, recognize the significance of this combination of ουδε and ινα:
The New International Greek Testament Commentary recognizes that the author's phrase nor yet in order that is tied to the main clause in verse 24, for He has not entered:
The author writes ουδ ινα rather than ουχ ινα because the main clause (ου γαρ...εισηλθεν) is expressed negatively.
The Interpretation: The Epistle to the Hebrews
ου and now ουδε: Christ did "not...nor," etc. Christ did not enter into a mere earthly sanctuary; nor (did he enter heaven) in order to be offering himself often like as the high priest enters into the sanctuary year by year
Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, by Franz Delitsch
V. 25 Nor yet (is he entered in) that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy of holies year by year with alien blood.
Expositor’s Bible Commentary
“Nor” carries on the negative at the beginning of v.24: Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary…nor did he…offer himself again and again.” Where there is nothing in the Greek corresponding to NIV’s “did he enter heaven,” the words seem required.
The Expositor’s Greek Testament
“Nor yet [did he enter in] in order to offer Himself repeatedly,” that is, He did not enter in for a brief stay from which He was to return to renew His sacrifice.
Vincet's Word Studies
Nor yet that (οὐ δ' ἵνα)
Supply did he enter. “Nor yet did he enter that he might offer,” etc.
The entry, then, of verse 24 is still being spoken of in verse 25. And the argument, in regard to the necessity of the cleansing of the heavenly things, is still being explained.
From examining the argument of the author in vss. 23-25 we realize that the statement in vs. 23, regarding the necessity of the cleansing of the heavenly things, is not just an isolated, timeless, statement that is mentioned but not elaborated upon. Rather, verse 23 introduces the author’s description of the fulfillment of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary. This fulfillment involves Jesus’ entry into God’s presence, on our behalf. This entry is compared to the yearly entry of the high priest, every year, with blood not his own. This description is a clear reference to the Day of Atonement entry of the high priest to cleanse the earthly sanctuary.
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