Discovering the Overall Theme of the Book of Hebrews, Part 4—The Fourth & Fifth Major Subjects
Introduction
So far, I have shown how the book of Hebrews is arranged as a parallelism. Also, we have determined how the first three thematic sections of the book are organized.
Again, since this project makes extensive use of chiastic structures and parallelisms, here is a quick review of these two important patterns often found in the Biblical text. Chiastic structures and parallelisms are simply thematic presentations of a story, where themes (similar words, phrases, situations, circumstances, events, topics, etc.) in the first half of the story are repeated in the second half. In a parallel structure, the themes in the first half of the story are repeated in the second half in the same order as follows:
In a chiastic structure, the themes in the first half of the story are repeated in the second half in reverse order as follows:
Determining the Boundaries for Element D/D’
Our next task it to determine the boundaries for element D/D’. Using our developing chiasm as a guide, the beginning boundary for element D should be near Hebrews 8:1 and our ending boundary for element D’ should be near Hebrews 9:28. But where will element D end and where will element D’ begin?
As I began to read between Hebrews 8:1 and 9:28 I noticed the following phrase: “And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant,” Hebrews 9:15a, which looked familiar, as if I’d just read it. I began to scan through Hebrews 8:1–9:15 and immediately I realized why Hebrews 9:15a looked so familiar. Hebrews 8:6b reads as follows: “inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.” As you can see, this is a classic thematic connection, a similar phrase with similar words. At this point, it got me thinking: perhaps there is a chiasm or parallelism hidden within the text between Hebrews 8:1 and 9:28. So, I began reading a few verses before and after Hebrews 8:6b and a few verses before and after Hebrews 9:15a to see if I could find more connections. Here is another connection I saw between Hebrews 8:1-4 and Hebrews 9:11-13!
These connections confirmed my suspicion that a chiasm or parallelism was secreted in the text. I began to search for other connections and eventually I discovered Hebrews 8:1-13 is written in parallel with Hebrews 9:11-28 as follows:
Let’s dig into some of the connections and prove to ourselves that this passage is written as a classic parallelism. Elements A/A' have three connections that are fairly self-evident.
Hebrews 8:1 mentions, “We have such a High Priest,” whereas Hebrews 9:1 mentions, “But Christ came as High Priest.” Thus, both passages convey how Yeshua is our High Priest.
Hebrews 8:1-2 states, “who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man,” whereas Hebrews 9:11 states, “with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.” Both passages contrast the earthly and heavenly tabernacles.
Finally, in our third connection Hebrews 8:3-4 mentions, “3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer. 4 For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law,” whereas Hebrews 9:12-13 says, “12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh.” Both passages contrast sacrifices of the Torah versus the sacrifice of Yeshua.
In elements B/B' our author explains how Yeshua’s ministry accomplishes more than that accomplished by the ministry of the Aaronic priesthood in the tabernacle. Compare, “But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry,” Hebrews 8:6 with, “how much more shall the blood of Christ” Hebrews 9:14.
Elements C/C' have three clear connections.
Hebrews 8:6 states, “inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant,” whereas Hebrews 9:15 states, “And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant.”
Hebrews 8:8 mentions, “Because finding fault with them,” whereas Hebrews 9:15 mentions, “the transgressions under the first covenant.” Thus, both passages make mention of the sins of the people of Israel.
Lastly, Hebrews 8:8 states, “Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,” while Hebrews 9:15 says, “that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.” The clear connection here is that the promise of an eternal inheritance is made possible through the new covenant.
These two passages connect in another very important way, which I will discuss in a follow up article, and it pertains to the insertion of the word covenant in Hebrews 8:7: “For if that first covenant had been fault . . .” As you can see, the NKJV puts the word covenant in italics. This is because the translators added the word covenant.
As you can clearly see, the first three themes of this parallelism (A/A', B/B', C/C') have strong connections and unmistakably establish a pattern of connections resembling a parallel structure. Hebrews 8:9 and 9:16-17, elements D/D', both contain an identical Greek word, diatheke. Diatheke is used twice in Hebrews 8:9 and twice in Hebrews 9:16-17. In Hebrews 8:9 the Greek word diatheke is translated twice as covenant. But in Hebrews 9:16-17 it’s translated twice as testament.
Two themes establish a connection between Hebrews 8:10-11 and Hebrews 9:18-22, elements E/E'. First, Hebrews 8:10 mentions, “this is the covenant,” while Hebrews 9:18 mentions, “the first covenant.” The second connection is more subtle. Hebrews 8:10 uses the phrase, “I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts.” Essentially, Adonai is stating that He will totally immerse his people in His laws. This is thematically connected to Hebrews 9:19-21, where we’re informed that the first covenant was characterized by covering many items with blood. The connection is that in both passages there is a reference to the law, “I will put My laws in their mind,” in Hebrew 8:10 versus, “For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law,” in Hebrews 9:19. Secondly, both passages refer to the covering, anointing/immersion of something. In element E, the people will have Adonai’s Torah put within their minds and written upon their hearts by Adonai, whereas in element E' the blood was sprinkled over everything by Moses.
The two connections between elements F/F' are also straight forward. Hebrews 8:12 says, “their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more,” whereas Hebrews 9:26-28, “but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many,” mentions the basis for Adonai no longer remembering Israel’s lawless deeds and sins. Thus both passages combine to show how Israel’s lawless deeds have been forgiven. Secondly, Hebrews 8:13 states, “He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away,” whereas Hebrews 9:23-26a, “23 Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 25 not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another— 26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world,” demonstrates that Yeshua’s priesthood and sacrifice has superseded the priesthood and sacrifices of the Mosaic Law/Aaronic priesthood because His priesthood and sacrifice accomplishes the goal of complete forgiveness of sin, something the Mosaic Law could not accomplish. I’ll also have something to say about this connection in a separate article.
Having firmly established Hebrews 8:1-13 and 9:11-28 as a genuine parallelism, it’s now time to determine the overall subject of this parallelism. Both passages in this parallelism seem to be broken into two major sections. Hebrews 8:1-6 and Hebrews 9:11-14 focus on Yeshua as the High Priest of the heavenly tabernacle, whereas Hebrews 8:7-13 and Hebrews 9:15-28 focus on His mediatorial role in the New Covenant. Therefore I’m proposing the following subject for element D/D' in our overall parallel structure for the book of Hebrews—Yeshua is High Priest of the Heavenly Tabernacle and Minister of the New Covenant. This would make our overall parallel structure for the book of Hebrews look like this:
As I thought about this structure, I was drawn to reconsider element C/C’. While it is certainly true that Hebrews 7:11-28 and Hebrews 10:1-18 established how Yeshua’s priesthood and self-sacrifice attained perfection and superseded the Levitical priesthood and sacrifices, I now think the main emphasis of both of these passages pertains to the weakness of the Levitical priesthood and its sacrifices as well as its inability to bring perfection. If you read Hebrews 7:11-28 and Hebrews 10:1-18, I think you will also agree that our author’s spent most of his words demonstrating the various weaknesses of the Levitical priesthood and sacrifices rather than the fact that Yeshua was able to bring perfection. Therefore, I’m changing the subject of elements C/C’ as follows:
The Central Axis
At this time we are finally able to reveal the central axis of the entire book of Hebrews. It’s Hebrews 9:1-10! First, our author reviews the various furnishings found in the earthly tabernacle, Hebrews 9:1-5. Then, in Hebrews 9:6-8, he argues that full access into the Holy of Holies is not available while the first tabernacle is still standing. Finally, he gets to the heart of the matter concerning the purpose of the first tabernacle.
The first tabernacle was symbolic for the present time.
The sacrifices of the first tabernacle could not make people perfect in regard to their conscience.
It consisted of various ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.
Therefore, it is in Hebrews 9:1-10, the central axis of the entire book of Hebrews, where our homilist gives us the most important points of his sermon, i.e., the highlight of his homily. In summary, because the sacrifices of the first tabernacle were not effective at bringing perfection, they were only symbolic for the present time. At a future time, called the time of reformation, they will be replaced.
I can now present the entire parallel structure for the book Hebrews. It consists of five subjects as follows:
Amazingly, the individual subjects of this parallelism combine to tell the complete story of the book of Hebrews. In this next paragraph, I will step through each parallel pair sequentially (A/A’, B/B’, C/C’, D/D’, X), and use them as a basis for telling the story of the book of Hebrews.
Yeshua’s words are more important than the words originally spoken by God at Mount Sinai because 1) as pertaining to His divine nature, He is the all-powerful eternal Son of God who is one with the Father, and 2) as pertaining to His human nature, His suffering as a sinless human being, qualifies him to be a merciful and faithful high priest. Therefore, we must give more earnest heed to His message. Because He is the pattern for perfection of all of Adonai’s sons and daughters, we too must walk in His faithfulness, not walking in the unbelief of the wilderness generation, but walking in the faithfulness of those saints of the past who cannot be perfected apart from our obedience. Although the Aaronic priesthood and Levitical sacrifices were ineffective and could not bring perfection through the ministry of the first tabernacle of the Mosaic covenant, Yeshua’s priesthood (of the order of Melchizedek) and the sacrifice of His body administered through the New Covenant and heavenly tabernacle, meets the divine demands for eternal redemption, bringing perfection to all who call out upon Adonai for salvation. This present time of ministry through the earthly tabernacle is symbolic and temporary until the time of reformation. Gradually, the ineffective ministry of the first tabernacle, the Aaronic priesthood and the Levitical sacrifices will be superseded by the perfecting ministry of the heavenly tabernacle, Yeshua’s Melchizedekian priesthood and the sacrifice of Yeshua's body until their full realization during the time of reformation.
I began my Hebrews journey back in May of this year, not knowing exactly where it would lead me. But here we are at the end of our journey, in the sense that we have discovered the thematic structure of the book of Hebrews. It is arranged in a perfect parallelism. However, in a real sense, this has brought us to a point where another journey can begin. The goal of thematic study is not simply to determine the thematic structure of a book. The goal is to understand the thematic structure of the book so that it can serve as a tool for interpretation and further learning! As I’ve noted before, sometimes the thematic structure of the text helps you with interpretation, translation, etc. So, our new journey has just begun. We now have the proper thematic context to investigate many aspects of the book of Hebrews. For example, in my next article I will examine Hebrews 8:7 and Hebrews 8:13:
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.
13 In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
These two verses have traditionally represented a significant problem for those of us who have chosen a messianic lifestyle because we assert that the Torah has not been done away with. For example, some messianic followers of Yeshua take issue with the word covenant added by the translators in Hebrews 8:7, thinking it should be translated with a different word, such as priesthood, ministry, tabernacle, etc. Furthermore, Hebrews 8:13 seems to imply that it’s the Torah, the Law of Moses, that is obsolete, growing old and ready to vanish away in light of the inauguration of the New Covenant. Before discovering the thematic structure of the book of Hebrews, I did not know how to address these two verses to my satisfaction. However, now that Adonai has graciously helped me understand the parallel nature of the book of Hebrews, He has shed light on the proper interpretation of these two difficult passages. That will be the topic of the next article.