16.1 Words and Symbols
© 2015 Christ Revealed Bible Institute
Words and Symbols
Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water (Hebrews 10:19-22).
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful (Hebrews 10:23). Verse 23 completes the thought of the preceding four verses, all one sentence. However, it is a primary supporting verse for the seventh most important verse in the Bible, and thus we will leave it for those lessons.
Increase Forever
Part of the nature of Christ as the Word God speaks is that He is infinite. That means that every word God speaks contains truths in it far beyond what we could possibly see today. A billion years from now, the Lord Jesus will open to us ways in which He connects us together with the Father as one Pperson through these same words, ways that no one in heaven or earth can see right now. Of the increase of His kingdom there shall be no end.
The writer of Hebrews states clearly that there are truths of Christ in the symbols being examined far beyond what is being shared.
A Grace and a Salvation
Peter stated that there is coming into our lives now, at this end of the age of human folly, a GRACE and a SALVATION that none of the New Testament writers could see or know. You who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. – Rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:5 & 13).
By this Grace, never before known, we look through Hebrews 10:19-22 to see that Salvation in which we now live. This Grace is the Father in Person in us. And this Salvation is Jesus going forth through us, His body, setting all creation free.
The Tabernacle of Moses
First, we must know that Hebrews is based entirely on the symbols of the layout and furniture of the tabernacle of Moses in the wilderness. Without knowing exactly how the tabernacle of Moses applies to our present Christian life, we cannot know what these words mean. As part of your work in this Session, you will investigate the rooms and furniture of Moses’ tabernacle, seeing how those things are applied in the New Testament. These rooms and furnishings speak to us of how God first leads us into all the fullness of Christ and then moves through us as grace and salvation towards all.
The New Covenant
Hebrews 10:19-22 is a very contextual verse as well. That is, it is connected directly with all that precedes it in Hebrews. The word “therefore” connects directly to the New Covenant. This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them (Hebrews 10:16).
And thus we must bring in another most critical supporting verse before we even look at the text. Clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart (2 Corinthians 3:3).
Christ Written upon Our Hearts
I find that there is just too much inside of Hebrews 10:19-22 for us even to scratch the surface inside these limited slides. This is only an introductory course. At the same time, while we will look at the Greek words for most of the English of this long sentence, much of the text refers back to the symbols of the tabernacle of Moses.
We begin with therefore. Therefore – because of the Covenant, because Christ is written upon our hearts, Christ who is every Word God speaks, Christ who is the fulfillment of every Word God speaks. Because our hearts are filled with Christ – then here is what follows.
We Possess All Speech
Echontes – parresian – eisodon – hagion.
Having – boldness – to enter – the Holiest.
We possess. What do we possess?
- Parresian: freedom of speech, confidence. Freedom, openness, especially in speech; boldness, confidence.
- Parrhēsía (from pás, "all" and rhēsis, "a proverb or statement quoted with resolve,") – properly, confidence (bold resolve), leaving a witness that something deserves to be remembered (taken seriously).
- Eisodon: an entrance, i.e. both the place or way leading into a place (as, a gate), and the act of entering.
- Hagion: the Holiest; that is, the Holy of Holies.
- Hagios: set apart by (or for) God, holy, sacred.
- Hágios – properly, different (unlike), other ("otherness"), holy; for the believer, (hágios) means "likeness of nature with the Lord" because "different from the world." The fundamental (core) meaning of (hágios) is "different" – In the NT, hágios ("holy") has the "technical" meaning "different from the world" because "like the Lord.“ Hágios implies something "set apart" and therefore "different (distinguished/ distinct)" – i.e. "other," because special to the Lord. (Adapted from www.biblehub.com)
It is clear from the context that the Hagion in this verse refers directly to the Holy of Holies in Moses’ tabernacle. And yet, this form of hagios is used 39 times in the New Testament, with the majority of uses being translated “saints.” Although it is beyond the scope of this introductory course, we can see that the Holiest and the gathering together of the elect of God are the same thing.
What is the Holiest? Biblehub.com wants to claim that it means we will be received into heaven. They do not find that meaning anywhere in the Bible. Yet everything they imagine is confined to “heaven” is found for us right now inside this word “Holiest.”
The Holiest
The Holiest is anywhere that the Ark of the Covenant with the Mercy Seat upon it is found. The Mercy Seat is where the Blood is sprinkled. The Ark is the vessel of wood, representing flesh, that contains the Covenant, the epistle of Christ. Clearly you are an epistle of Christ written by the Spirit of the living God on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.
Salvation is Christ. – In Moses’ tabernacle, the Holiest was the third room, cut-off and completely separate from the world by a thick veil, a place where no natural light or seeing could ever penetrate.
Consecrated by Blood
By the blood of Jesus –
Remember that the Blood began in Gethsemane.
– Enekainisen – (ego) – prophaton – zosan – hodon.
– consecrating – for us – a new and – living – way.
The second “by” is not in the Greek. It is the blood that consecrates this WAY for us. – As Jesus said: I am the Way.
- Egkainizo: I consecrate, dedicate, renovate.
- Egkainízō (from en, "in" and kainizō, "make fresh, new") – properly, make qualitatively new (like consecrating or dedicating something); to renew (inaugurate), advancing to a new sphere (dimension) of reality.
- Prosphatos: freshly slain, generally new. (Originally: newly slaughtered, freshly killed), recent, new. (biblehub.com)
- Prósphatos (an adjective, derived from prós, "towards, with" and phenō, "to kill, slaughter") – properly, purposefully kill ("slaughter"). Prósphatos ("freshly-killed") is used only in Hebrews 10:20, describing "the new road" Christ has successfully inaugurated by the sacrifice of Himself.
- Zaó: to live. I am alive.
- Hodos: a way, road, journey, path.
Through!
Dia – katapetesma.
Through the veil, that is, His flesh.
- Dia: through, on account of, because of. (a) through, throughout, by the instrumentality of, (b) through, on account of, by reason of, for the sake of, because of.
- Diá (a preposition) – properly, across (to the other side), back-and-forth to go all the way through, "successfully across" ("thoroughly"). (Diá) is also commonly used as a prefix and lends the same idea ("thoroughly," literally, "successfully" across to the other side). (Diá) is a root of the English term diameter ("across to the other side, through").
The Veil – His Flesh
- Katapetesma: a curtain (the inner veil of the temple). (Literally: that which is spread out downwards, that which hangs down), a curtain, veil, of that which separated the Holy of Holies from the outer parts of the temple at Jerusalem. (adapted from www.biblehub.com)
– That is, His flesh. The entirety of Session 18: The Flesh is devoted to knowing His flesh/our flesh as found in Hebrews 10:20 and Galatians 2:20. Flesh of His flesh, one flesh with Him (Ephesians 5).
Let Us Draw Near
And having a High Priest over the house of God. Here is where we are coming to know Jesus dwelling in us.
Proserchomai – alethinos kardia – en plerophoria – pisteos.
Let us draw near – with a true heart – in full assurance – of faith.
- Proserchomai: to approach, to draw near. I come up to, I come to, I come near (to), I approach, I consent (to).
- En: we have seen this word before – in the sphere of.
- Plesophoria: full assurance, conviction, confidence. Plērophoría – properly, full carry-through ("fully come to bear").
- Pisteos: faith, belief, trust, confidence; fidelity, faithfulness.
- Alethinos: true (literally made of truth), real, genuine.
- Alēthinós (an adjective, derived from … "true to fact") – properly, true (real), emphasizing the organic connection (authentic unity) between what is true and its source or origin.
- Alēthinós ("substantially true") refers to what is essentially true – connecting (visible) fact to its underlying reality. Alēthinós then emphasizes the integrity of what is true, down to its inner make-up (reality, "true inside and out").
- Kardia – heart: "the affective center of our being" and the capacity of moral preference (volitional desire, choice); "desire-producer that makes us tick," i.e. our "desire-decisions" that establish who we really are.
Rherantismenoi tas kardias – apo syneideseos poneras.
Having our hearts sprinkled – from an evil conscience.
- Rhantizó: to sprinkle. I sprinkle, I cleanse ceremonially by sprinkling. The verb form used is perfect and passive participle. That means an action we are continuously receiving.
- Apo: from, away from.
- Suneidésis: consciousness. (From sýn, "together with" and eídō "to know, see") – properly, joint-knowing.
Sprinkled from an Evil Consciousness
- Ponéros: toilsome, evil, bad, wicked, malicious, slothful.
- Ponērós: (an adjective, derived from pónos, "pain, laborious trouble") – properly, pain-ridden, emphasizing the inevitable agonies (misery) that always go with evil.
Washed
Lelousmenoi to soma – hydati katharo.
And our bodies washed – with pure water.
This line also can be understood only in the context of the tabernacle of Moses and the consecration of the priests who would minister in that tabernacle.
- Louó: to bathe, to wash. (literally or ceremonially), I wash, bathe (the body); of washing, bathing one's self; metaphorically: I cleanse from sin. [Again, an action we continually receive.]
- Loúō – properly, to wash (cleanse), especially the entire person (bathing the whole body). Loúō implies "fully-washing" (literally and metaphorically) – i.e. a complete bathing to cleanse the entire person (body). (adapted from biblehub.com)
- Katharos: clean, pure, unstained, either literally or ceremonially or spiritually; guiltless, innocent, upright.
- Katharós: – properly, "without admixture"; what is separated (purged), hence "clean" (pure) because unmixed (without undesirable elements); (figuratively) spiritually clean because purged (purified by God), i.e. free from the contaminating (soiling) influences of sin.
Seated upon the Chair
As you can see, the topics raised in this verse, things of great value we could explore, are many. Before continuing in this study of the sixth most important verse in the Bible, I would recommend that you read an article from The Feast of Tabernacles, “The Order of Journey.”
This new and living way in which we walk is our present “journey.” Yet for us, it is not our “going into God.” For we find, as we enter into the Holiest, a chair there in front of us, the Mercy Seat upon which we are already seated. And because we are seated, we have TURNED AROUND.
Our journey from here on out is something entirely different!