HUMAN EXPERIENCE WHAT H E DOES FOR HUMANITY ETERNALLY . O UR FELLOWSHIP WITH G OD WILL GROW CLOSER , MORE PERFECT , MORE CONSCIOUS , BUT STILL OUR APPROACH TO G OD , OUR WORSHIP , OUR SPIRITUAL HARMONY , MUST ALWAYS BE IN H IM IN W HOM WE HAVE BEEN INCORPORATED .
T HE MODERN CONCEPTION OF C HRIST PLEADING IN HEAVEN H IS P ASSION , OFFERING H IS BLOOD , ON BEHALF OF MEN , HAS NO FOUNDATION IN THE E PISTLE . H IS GLORIFIED HUMANITY IS THE ETERNAL PLEDGE OF THE ABSOLUTE EFFICACY OF H IS ACCOMPLISHED WORK . H E PLEADS , AS OLDER WRITERS TRULY EXPRESSED THE THOUGHT , BY H IS P RESENCE ON THE F ATHER ' S T HRONE .
M EANWHILE MEN ON EARTH IN UNION WITH H IM ENJOY CONTINUALLY THROUGH H IS B LOOD WHAT WAS BEFORE THE PRIVILEGE OF ONE MAN ON ONE DAY IN THE YEAR .
S
O FAR THE THOUGHT OF THE PRIESTLY WORK OF THE
A
SCENDED
C
HRIST IS EXPRESSED UNDER THE IMAGES OF THE
L
EVITICAL COVENANT
,
AS
H
E WORKS FOR
THE PEOPLE
(
H EJKKLHSIVA
);
BUT
H
E HAS YET ANOTHER WORK
,
AS
PRIEST AFTER THE ORDER OF
M
ELCHIZEDEK
,
FOR HUMANITY
. H
E DOES NOT LAY ASIDE THIS WIDER RELATION IN COMPLETELY FULFILLING THE NARROWER
. R
ATHER IT IS THROUGH THE FULFILMENT OF
H
IS WORK FOR THE
C
HURCH
THE FIRSTFRUITS
THAT
H
E MOVES TOWARDS THE FULFILMENT OF
H
IS WORK FOR THE WORLD
. W
E HAVE NO POWERS TO PURSUE THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TRUTH
,
BUT IT IS NECESSARY TO REMEMBER IT
.
I
N ILLUSTRATION OF THIS CONCEPTION OF AN UNIVERSAL PRIESTHOOD IT IS INTERESTING TO COMPARE
P
HILO
'
S CONCEPTION OF THE PRIESTHOOD OF THE RIGHTEOUS MAN
:
L
EG
. A
LLEG
.
3.87 (1.135 M.);
DE POST
. C
AIN
.
54 (1.261 M.);
DE
M
ONARCH
.
1.8 (2.220 M.).
A DDITIONAL N OTE ON H EBREWS 8:2. O N THE WORDS LEITOURGEI '' N ,
,,
LATREUVEIN
&
C
.
T HE GROUPS OF WORDS CONNECTED WITH LEITOURGEIN AND LATREUVEIN ARE NATURALLY OF FREQUENT OCCURRENCE IN THIS E PISTLE . T HUS WE FIND LEITOURGOV " 1:7; LEITOURGEIN 10:11; LEITOURGIVA 8:6; 9:21; LEITOURGIKOV " 1:14; AND LATREIVA 9:1, 6; LATREUVEIN 8:5; 9:9, 14; 10:2; 12:28; 13:10. T HE FORMER GROUP OF WORDS IS FOUND ELSEWHERE IN THE N. T. ONLY IN THE WRITINGS OF S T L UKE AND S T P AUL : THE LATTER GROUP IS FOUND ALSO IN S T M ATTHEW (LXX.) and St John (Gosp. Apoc.). The ideas which they express require to be distinguished.
1. The group leitourgov", leitourgei'n, leitourgiva , is of common
occurrence in the LXX. Leitourgov" in every place represents trEv;m] , which is
less often rendered by diavkono" and qeravpwn . Leitourgei'n is the general
translation of tr"v; , H9250 (more than sixty times), and in a very limited range
it is used also for db'[; , H6268. Leitourgiva is nearly always a rendering of
hd:bo[} , H6275. The words are used habitually of the service of priests (Ex.
28:31, 39) and Levites (1 Chron. 16:4, 6). But they have also a wider application, of the service of Samuel to God (1 Sam. 2:18; 3:1); of service to the people (Ezek. 44:11 f.); of service to men (Num. 3:6; 18:2; 1 Kings 1:4, 15; Ecclus. 10:25).
There is however one common feature in the different applications of the words. The leitourgiva is the fulfilment of an office: it has a definite representative character, and corresponds with a function to be discharged.