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however , that neither of these is exactly the idea which can unravel the thread of argument pursued in this Epistle , although both of them are wrought into that argument as subservient to its main scope . What then is the ground on which the superiority of the Christian system is here vindicated ? It is briefly this : the Christian economy regards another world , and that an eternal one : the Mosaic institution was confined to the present
life , short and changeable . It is this point of comparison which runs through the whole argument , and affords the writer the sublime and holy triumph in which he is continually exulting . After those observations on the person and office of the Messiah which are contained in the two first chapters , and to which we shall presently return , the writer takes occasion to shew , that as God had spoken of a rest from the foundation of the world , into which a promise was left that some should
enter ; and as it appeared from this promise having been repeated by David that it could not be considered as having been fulfilled under Joshua , the rest must still remain : ** there remaineth , therefore , a rest for the people of God . " That rest is not in this world : it is the everlasting rest of heaven : it is the heavenly Canaan , the true spiritual temple in which all the faithful will at last worship together . The writer proceeds to encourage
our striving to enter into this rest by reference to the provision made for our entering into it . This he finds in the character of the apostle and high priest of our profession , Jesus . He had before observed that his partaking of our ownnature , with all its innocent infirmities , qualified him well for his office in all that is condescending and sympathizing ; but he now proceeds to point out that personal greatness and exaltation from which he derives a corresponding ability to save . Now let it be observed , that the greatness to which he adverts on this occasion , is not that with which he
was endued during his life on earth , much less is it that which some hypothetically ascribe to him in a pre-existent form . It is the greatness of the Man Christ Jesus , raised from the dead and exalted at God's right hand , to die no more . Under this notion it is that the writer speaks of him as a great high priest passed into the heavens ; under this same notion he speaks of him as a high priest for ever , after the order of Melchisedek : that is , not of Jesus of Nazareth , whose birth , age , and death , were well known , but of
Christ , the Son of God , by the resurrection : " without father , without mother , without beginning of days or end of life : " therefore , he observes , that " he abideth a priest for ever , ' and is therefore ** able to save to the end all that come to God by him . The same train of thought leads him afterwards to remark , that the true tabernacle or temple into which this one high priest is entered , is heaven itself , of which the former was but a
representation , there * " for ever to present himself in the si g ht of God for us . " My limits , however , will not allow me to pursue this interesting idea further : but I am convinced , that on an attentive perusal of the Epistle , every chapter will atford further illustration of what has been advanced . Having * thus adverted briefly to the design and leading argument of the work , let me turn to those difficult passages which occur at its commencement , on which I think the view which has been taken of the general scope of the writer is calculated to throw light .
In the second verse occurs tiie clause " &v ov koli tov < awva ^ exoi-QcrE , " translated in our vulgate , " by whom also he made the worlds . " Here , however , it is obvious that the English term " the worlds" is more definite in its meaning than the ori ginal to ^ a ^ v < xq which signifies literally , the ages . There are many more proofs than the passage before < us , that this
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Wustratiom of the Epistle to the Hebrews . 377
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VOL . II . 2 E
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1828, page 377, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2561/page/17/
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