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| The foundation of the "theocratic Israel" world at the foot of Mount Sinai. |
The foundation, and the
end of the world
Heb 9
23 ¶ It was therefore necessary that the
patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the
heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
24 For Christ is not entered into the holy
places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven
itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often,
as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of
others;
26 For then must he often have suffered since
the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he
appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
Verse 26 speaks of "the foundation of the world" as well as "the end of the world."
Please tell, what is
the world spoken of in both cases... the foundation of WHAT/WHICH world, and
the end of what WHAT/WHICH world?
Thank you most
kindly in advance for your help.
Your student.
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| The end of the "theocratic Israel" world. |
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Comments
PJ Walters
Would this be from
the beginning of the dispensation of the Law to its abrogation?
Sing F Lau
Kindly elaborate, please.
Thanks!
PJ Walters
He was not to be
offered repeatedly as were those sacrifices in the Old Testament dispensation,
for then it must needs be that He be offered in such manner since its
institution; but He came and was offered once unto God (therein signifying that
He Himself is anti-typical of those sacrifices) in the abrogation of the Old
Testament, or end of the world.
Julius Stewart
The foundation of
the world here has to be since the institution of tabernacle blood sacrifices
according to the law. The end of the world has to deal with the sacrifice and
offering of Jesus upon the cross. From that moment on, the destruction of the
temple at Jerusalem grew closer and would be finally the last phase in that
world's end.
Sing F Lau
Samuel, my question
is quite specific:
Please tell, what is
the world spoken of in both cases... the foundation of WHAT/WHICH world, and
the end of what WHAT/WHICH world?
If you can stick to
the questions, comment on.
[Samuel deleted his comments!]
Julius Stewart
The word world
refers here to the law world. Here, it refers to an age. Contextually, it refers
to the time of tabernacle or temple worship under the law. Unless you have a
more specific thought than this. If you do bring it to our attention Sing.
Sing F Lau
I posed the same
question on a forum, and got this good reply from Elder Chase Harrison, and got
his permission to paste it here for our learning.
=========
Hello Brother Sing,
Hope you are doing
well!
I have typically
viewed the two "worlds" in verse 26 as referring to the old covenant
age, i.e. that Old Testament way of worship. As I'm sure you already know, the
word "world" can have many different meanings and usages in the new
testament. One meaning of the word "world" is an "age or
era". I believe this is the meaning here in verse 26, especially since the
book of Hebrews is one big compare and contrast of the Old Covenant to the New
Covenant, i.e. the Old Testament to the New Testament.
In my understanding,
in verse 26 he is contrasting the MANY insufficient sacrifices of the old
testament to the ONE sufficient sacrifice of Christ in the new testament.
When it says,
"the end of the world", I take that to mean the end of the old
testament/old covenant "age" and way of worship. Christ's ONE
sacrifice for the sins of His people on the cross was the ultimate fulfillment
of what all the old testament animal sacrifices pointed to and typified. In
Matthew 27:51, right after Jesus gave up the ghost on the cross, it is said
that the earth quaked and the rocks rent and the veil of the temple was rent in
twain, I believe symbolizing the total fulfillment and abolishment of the old
testament way of worship that was according to Levitical law and animal
sacrifices. Furthermore, consider the last verse of Hebrews 8:
"In that he
saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and
waxeth old is ready to vanish away."
When it says,
"the foundation of the world", I believe this could mean one of two
things, and I wouldn't have a problem with a person believing either one:
1) the foundation of
the old covenant world (age) and way of worship. I lean towards this one
because of the overall context of Hebrews, comparing and contrasting the two
covenants. Plus, the phrase "foundation of the world" is directly
related and contrasted to the repetition of the animal sacrifices by the old
testament high priests (verse 25). The contrasting point in verses 25 and 26 is
that Christ did not have to offer Himself OFTEN like the high priests in the
old testament did when they went into the holy place every year with the blood
of others (animals), but rather Christ offered Himself ONE time (not often) at
the end of the world, or old covenant age. So, I lean towards the view that
both "worlds" and phrases should be similar and stay in context, but
I'm not dogmatic on this part. Like I said, I lean. 🙂
OR,
2) the foundation of
the created world (the creation). In Revelation, it speaks of "the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world" (Revelation 13:8). So, I could see
where one could easily interpret it this way and I would be perfectly fine with
it.
I think either one
finds reasonable Biblical basis, and neither one does any harm to any
foundational doctrinal principle, so I wouldn't debate anyone too hard over it,
even though I prefer #1 over #2 personally. 🙂
When it comes to the
context of Hebrews 9, I would say that I am firm on my interpretation of what
the first phrase that I addressed means (the end of the world), and slightly
less firm on what the second phrase that I addressed means (the foundation of
the world).
These are my
thoughts on the passage and on your question. Hope this has made some sense and
been of some help.
God bless you,
Chase Harrison
Sing F Lau
Hi Brother Chase,
I want to thank you
for your excellent reply... excellent because you answered the questions
directly, and not because your answers are agreeable my understanding. Thank
you VERY MUCH. You are a sharp-shooter like Elder Martin Smith (the one with
aeronautics).
I left the same
question on Facebook.
I would humbly
request your permission to paste the reply below as a comment there.
Or please leave the
comment there yourself. Thanks...
It is a good example
of rightly dividing the word of truth!
already blessed
through you,
sing
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Brother Sing,
Yes, if you would
like to post my answer in Facebook, then that is fine with me...
So, feel free to
post my thoughts on Facebook if you desire.
Thanks and God
bless,
Chase Harrison.
