FOR EVERY HIGH PRIEST TAKEN FROM AMONG MEN: Pas gar archiereus ex anthropon lambanomenos (PPPMSN):
(Heb
10:11;
Exodus 28:1-14;
29:1-37;
Leviticus 8:2)
(Heb
8:3)
(Heb
2:17;
Numbers 16:46-48;
18:1-3
)
(Heb
8:3;
9:9;
10:11;
11:4;
Leviticus 9:7,15-21)
For every high priest - Each Levitical high priest had 3 essential
qualifications according to our writer:
(1) He was appointed on men’s behalf to deal with the things concerning God
and as such functioned as the link between God and man.
(2) The priest must be one with men and must have gone through men’s
experiences so that his sympathy would be with them.
(3) No man appoints himself to the priesthood but his appointment is of God.
The priesthood is not a coveted office to be taken but a glorious privilege
to which one is called. This latter point is applicable to all believers
today, for all have been made priests in Christ Jesus. It follows that their
specific ministry to and for God should not be one they chose, but one they
received from God.
High priest
(749)
(archiereus from arche = first in a series, the leader
or ruler + hiereus = priest) (Dictionary articles -
Easton's;
ISBE)
refers to the priest that was chief over all the other priests in
Israel. This office was established by God through Moses instructions
in the Pentateuch. The high priest functioned as the mediator between
Jehovah and Israel performing sacrifices and rituals like other
priests, but in addition acting to expiate the sins of the nation on
the annual Day of Atonement.
The irony is that the high
priest Caiaphas was residing over the Sanhedrin during trial of
Jesus, the trial which would lead to His death and pave the way for
His eternal High Priesthood!
Eerdman's
Bible Dictionary explains that...
The high priest descended from
Eleazar, the son of Aaron. The office was normally hereditary and was
conferred upon an individual for life (Nu 25:10-13). The candidate was
consecrated in a seven-day ceremony which included investiture with
the special clothing of his office as well as anointments and
sacrifices (Ex 29:1-37; Lev 8:5-35).
The high priest was bound to a higher degree of ritual purity than
ordinary Levitical priests. He could have no contact with dead bodies,
including those of his parents. Nor could he rend his clothing or
allow his hair to grow out as signs of mourning. He could not marry a
widow, divorced woman, or harlot, but only an Israelite virgin (Lev.
21:10-15). Any sin committed by the high priest brought guilt upon the
entire nation and had to be countered by special sacrifice (Lev
4:1-12). Upon a high priest’s death manslayers were released from the
cities of refuge (Nu 35:25, 28, 32). (Eerdman's
Bible Dictionary)
Archiereus
occurs only in the Gospels (Matthew
- 25 times,
Mark 21 times,
Luke 15 times,
John 20 times),
Acts 22 times
and Hebrews (see below). The
references to the high priests in the Gospels and Acts refers
primarily to their bitter opposition to Jesus Who the writer of
Hebrews identifies as our everlasting High Priest.
Clearly
archiereus is a key word in the book of Hebrews, and a review of
these 17 verses reveals various characteristics (see underlined
sections) of Jesus role as the great High Priest (some of the uses of
high priest obviously do not refer to Jesus but to the Jewish high
priests).
Hebrews 2:17 (note)
Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He
might become a merciful and faithful high priest in
things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins
of the people.
Hebrews 3:1 (note)
Therefore, holy
brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle
and High Priest of our confession.
Hebrews 4:14 (note)
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through
the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our
confession.
Hebrews 4:15 (note)
For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our
weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we
are, yet without sin.
Hebrews 5:1 (note)
For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of
men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and
sacrifices for sins;
Hebrews 5:5 (note)
So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a
high priest, but He who said to Him, "Thou art My Son, Today I
have begotten Thee";
Hebrews 5:10 (note)
being designated by God as a high priest according to the order
of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 6:20 (note)
where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a
high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 7:26 (note)
For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy,
innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the
heavens;
Hebrews 7:27 (note)
who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up
sacrifices, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the
people, because this He did once for all when He
offered up Himself.
Hebrews 7:28 (note)
For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of
the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect
forever.
Hebrews 8:1 (note)
Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high
priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of
the Majesty in the heavens,
Hebrews 8:3 (note)
For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices;
hence it is necessary that this high priest also have something to
offer.
Hebrews 9:7 (note)
but into the second only the high priest enters, once a year, not
without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of
the people committed in ignorance.
Hebrews 9:11 (note)
But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to
come, He entered through the greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this
creation;
Hebrews 9:25 (note)
nor was it that He should offer Himself often, as the high
priest enters the holy place year by year with blood not his own.
Hebrews 13:11 (note)
For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy
place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside
the camp.
Taken
(2983)
(lambano) means to take or grasp. It can indicate both benevolent and
hostile actions, and have as object either people or things; e.g. take a
wife, collect taxes, accept a verdict, take a road, and fig. take courage.
It is used with a material subject, as when, for example, fear or terror
seizes men.
The point is that the
High Priest must be a man, a partaker of our nature.
In the time of the Romans, the office of
High Priest had become corrupt and in fact was something that would go to
the highest bidder. The term of office was also no longer for life, and thus
there were often several persons living at one time who had borne the office
and still retained the title of "high priest". It was into this religious
morass that the writer explains to this Jewish readers the purity of the new
order of the priesthood.
IS APPOINTED
ON BEHALF OF MEN: huper
anthropon kathistatai (3SPPI):
(Heb
8:3)
(Heb
2:17;
Numbers 16:46-48;
18:1-3)
Appointed
(2525)
(kathistemi from kata = down + histemi = stand) means
literally to set down and then to assign to someone a position of authority
over others. The
passive voice
indicates the High Priest did not do this himself.
Nu 16:46-48,18:1-3, (same verb Heb 2:7) KJV = "ordained".
He appointed by the
Law according to Heb 7:28. Heb 5:1, 7:28, 8:3 Present is gnomic = that which
is always true.
On behalf of (5228)
(huper) means for the sake of = marker of a participant who is benefited by an
event or on whose behalf an event takes place. Priests formed a link/bridge
between God and man.
Under the old economy, even after the covenants w Abraham and Moses, God was
unapproachable. At the Fall, God drove Adam and Eve out of the garden and
man no longer had access to the Lord’s presence. (Ge 3:10,24). In the
wilderness, the people were warned not to come too near Sinai,
(Ex 19:16,21,22,23,24 Ex 20:18-26) where God chose to manifest Himself to
Moses when giving the covenant of the law. In the Tabernacle and in the
Temple God was behind a veil and could be approached only through the high
priest.
IN THINGS PERTAINING TO
GOD
IN ORDER TO OFFER BOTH GIFTS AND SACRIFICES FOR SINS: ta pros ton theon hina
prosphere (3SPAS) dora te
kai thusias huper hamartion:
(Heb
8:3;
9:9;
10:11;
11:4;
Leviticus 9:7,15-21)
Offer (4374)
(prosphero from prós = to, toward + phéro = bring)
means to carry or bring something into the presence of someone usually
implying a transfer of something to that person carry to, bring (to). Thus
prosphero describes an offering, whether of gifts, prayers, or
sacrifices.
Repeated exactly in Heb 8:3 (offer both gifts & sacrifices).
Prosphero occurs
19x/17v in Hebrews out of a total of 47 uses in NT and is never used in the
Pauline epistles! Prosphero has its source in the sacrificial vocabulary of
the LXX.
Gifts
(1435)
(doron from didomi = to give) means that which is given. The
"gifts" offered were for thanksgiving, and the sacrifices were for
repentance to seek forgiveness. Note that 5 of 18 NT uses of doron are in
Hebrews (click
uses)
Doron is also used to describe the offering box for
placing one's gifts or offerings, Luke recording Jesus words regarding a
poor widow compared the rich
for they (the rich) all out of their surplus put into the offering;
but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on." (Lu 21:4)
Tradition
taught there were 13 offering boxes in Temple and receptacles leading down
to the boxes were made in the form of trumpets, so that sound of coins
falling into boxes was conspicuous.
Sacrifices
(2378)
(thusia from thuo = to sacrifice) means that which is offered
as a sacrifice. Webster's = act of offering to a deity something precious!
Ponder that thought!
Lev 6:20 "This is the offering [LXX
= doron] which Aaron and his sons are to present to the LORD on the day when
he is anointed..." (Comment: The
Septuagint (LXX)
of Leviticus uses doron more than 40x's referring to offerings.)
Harry Ironside observes that...
The high priest was to present his brethren's gifts and sacrifices for sins.
Note the distinction between gifts and sacrifices. On the cross our Lord
presented the sacrifice for sins. In Heaven now, He offers our gifts of
worship and praise. (Ironside Expository Commentary on Hebrews)
The primary function of the OT priest was to offer sacrifices for the sins of the
people. Sin disturbs the relationship which should exist between man and God
and puts up a barrier between them and the sacrifice was meant to restore that
relationship and remove that barrier. As discussed later in Hebrews, the
Jewish priestly sacrifices only covered the transgressions of the people but
could never make the worshipper perfect in conscience because the blood of
bulls and goats could never take away sins and provide complete remission
and forgiveness. As Harry Ironside alludes to, this efficacious work was
carried out by a greater, perfect High Priest, our Lord Jesus Christ.
><>><>><>
Octavius Winslow Devotional on Hebrews 5:1-2 -- Overlook not the
fitness of the Lord Jesus to meet all the infirmities of His people. There
are two touching and expressive passages bearing on this point. "Himself
took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses." Wondrous view of the
Incarnate God! That very infirmity, Christian reader, which now bogs you to
the earth, by reason of which you can in no wise lift up yourself- your
Savior bore. Is it sin? Is it sorrow? Is it sickness? Is it want? It bowed
Him to the dust, and brought the crimson drops to His brow. And is this no
consolation? Does it not make your infirmity even pleasant, to remember that
Jesus once bore it, and in sympathy bears it still? The other passage is -
"We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our
infirmities." Touched with my infirmity! What a thought! I reveal my grief
to my friend; I discern the emotions of his soul. I mark the trembling lip,
the sympathizing look, the moistened eye-my friend is touched with my
sorrow. But what is this sympathy-tender, soothing, grateful as it is-to the
sympathy with which the great High Priest in heaven enters into my case, is
moved with my grief, is touched with the feeling of my infirmity?
Let us learn more tenderly to sympathize with the infirmities of our
brethren. "We that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and
not to please ourselves." Oh for more of this primitive Christianity! The
infirmity of a Christian brother should by a heartfelt sympathy become in a
measure our own. We ought to bear it. The rule of our conduct towards him
should be the rule of our conduct towards our own selves. Who would feel
bound or disposed to travel from house to house, proclaiming with trumpet
tongue, and with evident satisfaction, his own weaknesses, failings, and
infirmities? To God we may confess them, but no divine precept enjoins their
confession to man. We unveil them to His eye, and He kindly and graciously
veils them from all human eyes. Be this our spirit, and our conduct, towards
a weak and erring brother. Let us rather part with our right hand than
publish his infirmity to others, and thus wound the Head by an unkind and
unholy exposure of the faults and frailties of a member of His body; and by
so doing cause the enemies of Christ to blaspheme that worthy name by which
we are called.
Honor and glorify the Spirit, who thus so graciously and so kindly
sympathizes with our infirmities. Pay to Him divine worship, yield to Him
divine homage; and let your unreserved obedience to His commands, your
jealous regard for His honor, and your faithful hearkening to the gentle
accents of His "still, small voice," manifest how deeply sensible you are of
His love, His grace, and His faithfulness, in sympathizing with your
sorrows, in supplying your need, and in making your burdens and infirmities
all and entirely His own.
Nor let us forget that, so condescending is Jesus, He regards Himself as
honored by the confidence which reposes our sorrows upon His heart. The
infirmity which we bring to His grace, and the sin which we bring to His
atonement, and the trials which we bring to His sympathy, unfold Jesus as He
is-and so He is glorified. Consequently, the oftener we come, the more
welcome we are, and the more precious does Jesus become.
