1943 Bible Studies - page 3

THE WAY OF THE HOLIES.

" The way into the holy place hath not yet been made manifest, while as the first tabernacle is yet standing " (Hebrews 9. 8). " Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by the way which He dedicated for us, a new and living way, though the veil, that is to say, His flesh ; and having a great Priest over the house of God ; let us draw n e a r . . . " (Hebrews 10. 19-22).

" The language of the Epistle to the Hebrews is largely sanctuary language, suited only to a collective people who know themselves together of God " (Needed Truth, Vol. 31, page 23. W. J. Lennox).

These weighty words merit due consideration if we would grasp the

special message of that Epistle. That message refers, we suggest, using again the words of a beloved departed leader, to " the house of God in its inner or devotional aspect " (N. T., Vol. 31, page 26). From the days of Abel men of faith learned how to come before God accept-ably as individuals, but not until there was a divine dwelling place on earth could the people of God approach Him collectively.

Later, when God forsook His earthly dwelling place, godly men

were able to approach Him in prayer and worship -- witness Nehemiah and Daniel in Babylon -- but there could be no collective approach of the people of God without the sanctuary and priesthood.

So in the present dispensation all God’s children can approach their heavenly Father at all times, wherever they may be, using the blessed offices of Him who is Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John 2. 1). But Hebrews 10. deals with the approach of a worshipping people into the Holies. There must be a people together constituting the house of God on earth, before there can be the "drawing n e a r " contemplated in Hebrews 10. 22: " L e t us draw n e a r . . . "

The people designated by US were clearly the same as those referred to in Hebrews 3. 4: " whose house are WE, i f . . . "

Chapter 9. of Hebrews tells us that the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry were copies of the things in the heavens (verse 23) and that its service was a parable for the time now present (verse 9). Not only was the tabernacle in the wilderness the place of the divine presence, but embodied in its construction was the way of approach for God’s people.  That " way " was by means of the gate of the court, the screen of the door and the veil.  Each of these hangings was a means of approach, and each foreshadowed the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Aaron the High Priest in type traversed the way of the holies.

Only once in the year was he permitted to pass within the veil into the holiest.  He went in ALONE, performed his lonely service and then withdrew.  The people saw that lone figure enter the door of the Tent, but no human eye saw him pass within the veil into the holiest.  His passage within the veil was hidden from the people by the boards and curtains of the first tabernacle (i. e., the holy place). Moreover his stay in the holiest was transient and needed repetition year by year. There was no resident priest ministering in the holiest.  In all this the Holy Spirit signified that while the first tabernacle had yet a standing, the " way of the holies " was not made manifest.

It is clear that in the present dispensation the house of God is on earth.  The priestly work of the Lord extends to both the house and

the sanctuary.

In regard to the one He is said to be, " great Priest OVER the house of God " (Hebrews 10. 21), and to the other, " Christ entered not INTO a holy place [holies] made with h a n d s , . . . but INTO heaven