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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.


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