Hebrews 9:24

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:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(24) For Christ is not entered.—Better, For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with hands. of like pattern to the true (or, real) holy place. In the second part of Hebrews 9:23 the two thoughts were the “heavenly things themselves” and “better sacrifices.” Of these the first is taken up here; the second in Hebrews 9:25-26. That verse was general: this sets forth the actual fact. “For the sanctuary into which Christ entered is not a copy or a token of the things in the heavens, but heaven itself.” “Of like pattern,” see Hebrews 8:5; “the true,” Hebrews 8:2; “into heaven itself,” Hebrews 8:1.

Now to appear in the presence of God for US.—Better, now to be made manifest before the face of God for us. We cannot doubt that these words continue the contrast between the true High Priest and the high priest on earth. On the Day of Atonement the high priest came before what was but a symbol of the Divine Presence; he caused the Holiest Place to be filled with the smoke of the incense before he entered with the blood of the offering. He did not dare to delay his return, even by prolonging his prayer, lest he should “excite terror in Israel.” In the heavenly sanctuary the High Priest is made manifest before the face of God. (Comp. Exodus 33:20.) Three different words in these verses (Hebrews 9:24; Hebrews 9:26; Hebrews 9:28) are in the Authorised version rendered by the same word “appear”: “to make manifest,” “to manifest,” “to appear,” may serve as renderings which shall keep in mind the difference of the words. The form of the Greek verb might seem to imply a single appearance only; by the added word “now the writer corrects, or rather enlarges, the thought, and shows that the true meaning is a manifestation which is both one and unceasing. With emphasis he places at the close the words which indicate “the people” whose High Priest He has become. As in Hebrews 8:1 his language was “we have such a High Priest,” and in Hebrews 9:14, “shall purge our conscience;” so here, it is on our behalf that Christ is manifested unto God.

Benson Commentary

Hebrews 9:24-26. For Christ is, or, hath, not entered — With the sacrifice of his crucified body; into the holy places made with hands — He never went into the holy of holies of the temple at Jerusalem; the figures of the true tabernacle in heaven; Greek, αντιτυπα, the antitypes. “In the mount Moses had τυπος, the type, or model of the tabernacles, and of the services to be performed in them, showed to him. Hence the tabernacles, with their services, which he formed according to that model, are called antitypes, or images of that model; consequently images of heaven itself, and of the services to be performed by Christ as the High-Priest of the heavenly holy places, of all which the model showed to Moses in the mount was a shadow or dark representation.” But unto heaven itself, now to appear — As our glorious High-Priest and powerful Intercessor; in the presence of God for us — That is, before the manifestation of the divine presence, to officiate on our account. Nor yet — Was it needful that he should offer himself often — The atonement made by Christ being founded on the sovereign pleasure of God, it was to be made according to the appointment of God. Wherefore Christ having made that atonement only once, it follows that no more atonement was required by God in order to his pardoning believers in all nations and ages. As the high-priest entereth into the earthly holy place every year — On the day of atonement; with the blood of others — Of another kind of creatures, that is, of bullocks and goats. For then must he (Christ) often have suffered since the foundation of the world — “This reasoning,” says Macknight, “merits the reader’s particular attention, because it supposes two facts which are of great importance. The first is, that from the fall of Adam to the end of the world, no man will be pardoned but through Christ’s offering himself to God a sacrifice for sin. The second is, that although Christ offered himself only once, that one offering is in itself so meritorious, and of such efficacy in procuring pardon for the penitent, that its influence reacheth backward to the beginning of the world, and forward to the end of time; on which account Christ is with great propriety termed, (Revelation 13:8,) the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world;” or from the time of man’s fall, for the necessity of Christ’s offering himself a sacrifice for sin did not take place immediately at the creation, but at the fall. But now once in the end of the world — At the conclusion of the Mosaic dispensation, and the entrance of gospel times, which are the last season of God’s grace to the church. The apostle’s expression, συντελεια των αιωνων, may be properly rendered, the consummation, or conclusion, of the ages, or divine dispensations, termed the dispensation of the fulness of times, Ephesians 1:10. See also Galatians 4:4. The sacrifice of Christ divides the whole age or duration of the world into two parts, and extends its virtue backward and forward. He hath appeared — Πεφανερωται, been manifested; to put away sin — Or, for the abolition of sin, as the original expression signifies; that is, to remove both its guilt and power, (and not merely, or chiefly, to abolish the Levitical sin-offerings, as Macknight strangely interprets the clauses) by the sacrifice of himself — Which at once purchases the pardon of it for us, and grace to subdue it, and effectually teaches us to mortify it, when we see such a ransom paid for our forfeited lives.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

9:23-28 It is evident that the sacrifices of Christ are infinitely better than those of the law, which could neither procure pardon for sin, nor impart power against it. Sin would still have been upon us, and have had dominion over us; but Jesus Christ, by one sacrifice, has destroyed the works of the devil, that believers may be made righteous, holy, and happy. As no wisdom, learning, virtue, wealth, or power, can keep one of the human race from death, so nothing can deliver a sinner from being condemned at the day of judgment, except the atoning sacrifice of Christ; nor will one be saved from eternal punishment who despises or neglects this great salvation. The believer knows that his Redeemer liveth, and that he shall see him. Here is the faith and patience of the church, of all sincere believers. Hence is their continual prayer as the fruit and expression of their faith, Even so come, Lord Jesus.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands - Into the temple or tabernacle. The Jewish high priest alone entered into the most holy place; and the other priests into the holy place. Jesus, being of the tribe of Judah, and not of Levi, never entered the temple proper. He had access only to the courts of the temple, in the same way as any other Jew had; see the notes on Matthew 21:12. He has entered into the true temple - heaven - of which the earthly tabernacle was the type.

Which are the figures of the true - Literally, "the antitypes" - ἀντίτυπα antitupa. The word properly means what is formed after a model, pattern, or type; and then what corresponds to something or answers to it. The idea here is, that the "type" or "fashion" - the "true" figure or form - was shown to Moses in the Mount, and then the tabernacle was made after that model, or corresponded to it. The "true original" figure is heaven itself; the tabernacle was an antitype of that - or was so formed as in some sense to correspond to it. That is, it corresponded in regard to the matters under consideration - the most holy place denoted heaven; the mercy-seat and the shekinah were symbols of the presence of God, and of the fact that he shows mercy in heaven; the entrance of the high priest was emblematical of the entrance of the Redeemer into heaven; the sprinkling of the blood there was a type of what the Redeemer would do in heaven.

Now to appear in the presence of God for us - As the Jewish high priest appeared before the shekinah, the symbol of the divine presence in the tabernacle, so Christ appears before God himself in our behalf in heaven. He has gone to plead for our salvation; to present the merits of his blood as a permanent reason why we should be saved; Romans 8:34 note; Hebrews 7:25 note.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

24. Resumption more fully of the thought, "He entered in once into the holy place," Heb 9:12. He has in Heb 9:13, 14, expanded the words "by his own blood," Heb 9:12; and in Heb 9:15-23, he has enlarged on "an High Priest of good things to come."

not … into … holy places made with hands—as was the Holy of Holies in the earthly tabernacle (see on [2569]Heb 9:11).

figures—copies "of the true" holiest place, heaven, the original archetype (Heb 8:5).

into heaven itself—the immediate presence of the invisible God beyond all the created heavens, through which latter Jesus passed (see on [2570]Heb 4:14; [2571]1Ti 6:16).

now—ever since His ascension in the present economy (compare Heb 9:26).

to appear—To PRESENT Himself; Greek, "to be made to appear." Mere man may have a vision through a medium, or veil, as Moses had (Ex 33:18, 20-23). Christ alone beholds the Father without a veil, and is His perfect image. Through seeing Him only can we see the Father.

in the presence of God—Greek, "to the face of God." The saints shall hereafter see God's face in Christ (Re 22:4): the earnest of which is now given (2Co 3:18). Aaron, the Levitical high priest for the people, stood before the ark and only saw the cloud, the symbol of God's glory (Ex 28:30).

for us—in our behalf as our Advocate and Intercessor (Heb 7:25; Ro 8:34; 1Jo 2:1). "It is enough that Jesus should show Himself for us to the Father: the sight of Jesus satisfied God in our behalf. He brings before the face of God no offering which has exhausted itself, and, as only sufficing for a time, needs renewal; but He himself is in person, by virtue of the eternal Spirit, that is, the imperishable life of His person, now and for ever freed from death, our eternally present offering before God" [Delitzsch in Alford].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands: for shows this to be a rational proof of the transcendency of Christ’s death and sacrifice; and this he demonstrates from the place of his ministry, far exceeding that of his type. The gospel High Priest did not, like Aaron, enter with his blood into the holy of holiest of an earthly tabernacle, frail and movable, and appear before the mercy-seat on the ark there, Hebrews 9:9.

Which are the figures of the true; all these were but like and correspondent figures and resemblances of the true, holy, and glorious place of God’s residence.

But into heaven itself; but he, as our High Priest, did enter with his atoning blood, after the sacrificing of himself on the cross, into the heaven of heavens, and approached the throne of justice, and propitiated it, making it a mercy-seat and true throne of grace unto penitent, believing sinners; and then perfected the work of propitiation and redemption: afterwards at his triumphant ascension, he entered in his whole person immortal, and laid open a way for our entering there.

Now to appear in the presence of God for us; where he now appears as our advocating Mediator, pleading his merit for the remission of our sins, and rendering of God’s face smiling on and favouring his clients, which was terrifying and affrighting to guilty Adam before: see Hebrews 7:25 10:19 Romans 8:34 1Jo 2:1,2 Kings 5:6. Here he represents our persons to God’s face, fitting in the mean while us beneath for our seeing him face to face, and being blessed in the enjoyment of that prospect for ever.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands,.... The most holy place in the tabernacle of Moses, or in the temple built by Solomon, and rebuilt by Zerubbabel, and repaired by Herod,

which are the figures of the true; that is, the most holy place in the tabernacle and temple, was a figure of the truth of that type; see Hebrews 9:9 as follows. Josephus (m) suggests the same, when speaking of the most holy place; he says, that it was inaccessible to the priests, that it might be as heaven to God.

But into heaven itself; not the visible heavens, the airy and starry ones, through which he passed, but the third heaven, the habitation of God, angels, and glorified saints: this shows that heaven is a place; that Christ, as man, was out of it when on earth; and that at his ascension he entered into it, having done the work he came about, and that with acceptance: the end of his entrance was

now to appear in the presence of God for us; Christ, as God, was always in his presence, from everlasting; as Mediator, he was with him in the council of peace; while he was here on earth his Father was with him, he was not alone; but now in his human nature he is at his right hand, where he appears before him, as a favourite before his Prince, on the behalf of another, or as an advocate on the behalf of his client: Christ appears in the court of heaven for his elect, by representing their persons; by presenting himself, his blood, sacrifice, and righteousness, before God on their account; by introducing them into the presence of God, and offering up their prayers with the incense of his mediation; by presenting them to himself, and to his Father, and obtaining every blessing for them. And this he does "now", since his entrance; not that he did not appear before God for the saints of the Old Testament, for he was the angel of God's presence then, though he did not appear then in the manner he does now, as the Lamb in the midst of the throne, as if it had been slain; but it denotes the continuance and perpetuity of his appearance for his people; he is ever interceding for them.

(m) Antiqu. l. 3. c. 5. sect. 4. & c. 7. sect. 8.

Geneva Study Bible

{13} 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:

(13) Another twofold comparison: the Levitical high priest entered into the sanctuary, which was made indeed by the commandment of God, but yet with men's hands, that it might be a pattern of another more excellent, that is, of the heavenly place, but Christ entered into heaven itself. Again he appeared before the ark, but Christ before God the Father himself.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Hebrews 9:24. Confirmatory justification of αὐτὰ τὰ ἐπουράνια, Hebrews 9:23, by the proof that in reality the heavenly sanctuary is that consecrated by the sacrifice of Christ. Wrongly is it assumed by Delitzsch, that at Hebrews 9:24 the indispensable requirement of better sacrifices for the heavenly world is proved from the actual nature of the one rendered and presented to God. For the argument passes over to the character of Christ’s sacrifice, as offered once for all, only at Hebrews 9:25.

οὐ γὰρ εἰς χειροποίητα ἅγια εἰσῆλθεν Χριστός] for Christ entered not into a holy place (i.e. most holy place, see at Hebrews 9:8) made with hands (Hebrews 9:11).

χειροποίητα] as the main idea emphatically preposed.

ἀντίτυπα τῶν ἀληθινῶν] a copy of the true (Hebrews 8:2), real one. ἀντίτυπα denotes neither the copy of a copy, as is supposed by Bleek, after the precedent of Michaelis, ad Peirc., Cramer, Chr. Fr. Schmid, upon the presupposition that the author already thought of the τύπος, Hebrews 8:5, as a mere copy of the original; nor is it to be taken as equivalent to the simple τύπος, as is done by Chrysostom, Theophylact, Jac. Cappellus, Schlichting, Grotius, Wolf, Carpzov, and others. What is meant is the corresponding image, i.e. the copy or imitation, formed after the proportions of the τύπος or pattern, which God had shown to Moses (comp. Hebrews 8:5). The expression, therefore, is of essentially the same import as ὑπόδειγμα, Hebrews 8:5, Hebrews 9:23.

ἀλλ ̓ εἰς αὐτὸν τὸν οὐρανόν] but into heaven itself, into the heavenly Holy of Holies, where the throne of God itself exists, in opposition to the earthly Most Holy Place, not to the heavenly fore-tabernacle, Hebrews 9:11.

υῦν ἐμφανισθῆναι τῷ προσώπῳ τοῦ θεοῦ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν] now to appear before the face of God on our behalf (as our advocate, and intent upon our salvation, comp. Hebrews 7:25).

νῦν] now, after He has obtained His abiding dwelling-place in heaven.

Before the face of God. In this respect, too, a pointing to the exaltedness of Christ, the heavenly high priest. For, according to Exodus 33:20, no man could continue to live who had seen the face of God; on which account also the earthly high priest might not even enter the earthly Holy of Holies until this had first been filled with the smoke of the altar of incense, and in this way the typical presence of God there existing had been veiled from his glance. Comp. Leviticus 16:12-13.

Expositor's Greek Testament

Hebrews 9:24. οὐ γὰρ εἰς χειροποίητα.… The connection, indicated by γὰρ, is “I say αὐτὰ τὰ ἐπουράνια, for it is not into a holy place constructed by man that Christ has entered, but into heaven itself”. Others prefer to connect this verse with κρείττοσιν θυσίαις. “Better sacrifices” were needed, for not into, etc. The humanly constructed tabernacle, being made after the divine pattern, Hebrews 8:5, is here called ἀντίτυπα τῶν ἀληθινῶν. According to Hebrews 8:5 a τύπος of the heavenly realities was shown to Moses, and what he constructed from that model was an ἀντίτυπον, answering to the type. But as here used with τῶν ἀληθ., ἀντίτυπα (in agreement with ἅγια) must mean what we usually speak of as a type, that which corresponds to and prefigures. In the only other instance of its occurrence, 1 Peter 3:21, it has the converse meaning, the reality of baptism which corresponds to or is the antitype of the deluge. The ἀντίτυπα are contrasted with αὐτὸν τὸν οὐρανόν, heaven itself [αὐτὸν in contrast to the mere likeness or copy] the ultimate reality, the presence of spiritual and eternal things. “Coelum in quod Christus ingressus est, non est ipsum coelum creatum quodcunque fuerit, sed est coelum in quo Deus est etiam quando coelum creatum nullum est, ipsa gloria divina” (Seb. Schmidt in Delitzsch). νῦν ἐμφανισθῆναι … “now to appear openly before the face of God in our behalf”, νῦν “now,” after His completed work on earth, and as his present continuous function; in contrast both to the past ministries, in which face to face communion was impossible, and to Christ’s reappearance to men, Hebrews 9:28. ἐμφανισθῆναι τ. προσώπῳ τ. θεοῦ. The meaning of ἐμφανίζω is most clearly seen from such passages as Exodus 33:18, John 14:21. In the passive it means “to be manifest,” “to appear openly” or “clearly,” “to show one’s self,” as in Matthew 27:53 of the bodies of the saints, ἐνεφανίσθησαν πολλοῖς. The infinitive is the infinitive of designed result common in N.T., as in classics, especially after verbs of motion, cf. Matthew 2:2; Matthew 11:8, etc. The aorist may here be used to denote that “the manifestation of Christ, in whom humanity is shown in its perfect ideal before the face of God is ‘one act at once’ ”; but this is doubtful. The force of ἐμφαν. is strengthened still more by the emphatic τ. προσώπῳ τ. θεοῦ. In the earthly sanctuary the law was τὸ πρόσωπόν μου οὐκ ὀφθήσεται (Exodus 33:23) but ἐν νεφέλῃ ὀφθήσομαι ἐπὶ τ. ἱλαστηρίου (Leviticus 16:2). In Psalm 42:2 we find indeed πότε ἥξω καὶ ὀφθήσομαι τ. προσώπῳ τ. θεοῦ; but this is the non-literal expression of a poet. In the present passage the words are not the loose expression of the ordinary worshipper but are meant to be taken literally. And the intentionally emphatic character of the whole phrase is best accounted for by the fact that the darkness and clouds of incense in the old sanctuary were meant as much to veil the unworthiness of the priest from God as the glory of God from the priest. Now Christ appears before God face to face with no intervening cloud. Perfect fellowship is attained by His perfect and stainless offering of Himself. All is clear between God and man. For it is ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν “for us” He enters this presence and fellowship; not that He alone may enjoy it, but that we may enter into the rest and blessedness that He has won for us.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

24. For Christ is not entered] “For not into any Material Sanctuary did Christ enter—a (mere) imitation of the Ideal,—but into Heaven itself, now to be visibly presented before the face of God for us.” The Ideal or genuine Tabernacle is the eternal uncreated Archetype as contrasted with its antitype (or “imitation”) made with hands. The Ideal in the Alexandrian philosophy, so far from being an antithesis of the real, meant that which alone is absolutely and eternally real; it is the antithesis of the material which is but a perishing imitation of the Archetype. The word “to be visibly presented” (ἐμφανισθῆναι) is not the same as that used in Hebrews 9:26 (πεφανέρωται “He hath been manifested,”) nor with that used in Hebrews 9:28 (ὀφθήσεται “He shall be seen,”) though all these are rendered in English by the verb “appear.”

Bengel's Gnomen

Hebrews 9:24. Οὐ, not) Jesus never went into the inmost recesses of the temple at Jerusalem; never caused a sacrifice to be offered for Himself, during the whole period that elapsed between His baptism and the offering up of Himself.—ἀντίτυπα τῶν ἀληθιονῶν, the figures of the true) The true were the more ancient: those made with hands were imitations of them; Hebrews 8:5.—εἰς αὐτὸν τὸν οὐρανὸν, into heaven itself) and there is nothing beyond it.—νῦν, now) So Hebrews 9:26.—ἐμφανισθῆναι, to present Himself, to appear) An appropriate word in respect to GOD: in respect to us, πεφανέρωαται, He hath been manifested, Hebrews 9:26, and ὀφθήσεται, He shall be seen, Hebrews 9:28 [The Engl. Vers. loses the distinction, translating all alike, appear].—τῷ προσώπῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ, before the face [in the presence] of God) More than Aaron in the tabernacle before the ark.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 24. - For not into holy places made with hands did Christ enter, which are figures (ἀντίτυπα, antitypes) of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of (literally, before the face of) God for us. This verse confirms the view that "the heavenly things" of ver. 23 denoted the heavenly regions into which Christ is entered. Ἅγια at the beginning of the verse may be better translated "holy place" (as at vers. 12 and 25) rather than "places," since here the heavenly counterpart of the holy of holies, as distinguished from the" first tabernacle," appears to be in view, viz. "heaven itself," the heaven of heavens, the immediate presence or "face" of God, the "throne of the Majesty on high," to which Christ passed through the intermediate heavens. There he now (the perpetual now of the new era of accomplished redemption), in his humanity, in behalf of and representing all humanity, beholds for ever the very face of the eternal God, which Moses could not see and live, and of which the typical high priest saw from year to year but the emblem, in transitory glimpses, through intervening clouds of incense. The word ἀντίπυπα, like ὑποδείγματα in ver. 23, expresses the idea of the earthly sanctuary being a visible representation answering to a heavenly reality. The original τύπος (type) was shown to Moses in the mount (Hebrews 8:5); what was constructed by him on the earth below was the antitype to it. The words τύπος and ἀντίτυπος are elsewhere used to express respectively a prophetic figure of a fulfillment to come and the fulfillment itself (as in Romans 5:14 and 1 Peter 3:21, baptism in the latter text being regarded as the ἀντίτυπον of the Deluge), but still with the same idea of the type being prior to the antitype, the latter answering to the former. Hebrews 9:24

Vincent's Word Studies

Under the old covenant, the bloodshedding was symbolical: the death of the institutor was by proxy. In the ratification of the new covenant, Christ himself was the covenant-victim, and a real cleansing power attaches to his blood as the offering of his eternal spirit.

The holy places made with hands (χειροποίητα ἅγια)

For holy places rend. a holy place, the plural being used of the sanctuary. Christ is not entered into a hand-made sanctuary.

Figures (ἀντίτυπα)

Or. figure. Only here and 1 Peter 3:21, see note. Answering to the patterns in the heavens, Hebrews 8:5. Rev. like in pattern.

Now to appear (νῦν ἐμφανισθῆναι)

Now, not only in contrast with the time of the old, typical economy, but also implying a continually-present manifestation, for us, now, as at his first entrance into the heavenly sanctuary. Ἐμφανισθῆναι, rend. to be manifested. Better than to appear, because it exhibits the manifestation of Christ as something brought about as the result of a new and better economy, and distinctly contemplated in the institution of that economy. Christ is made openly manifest before the face of God. The Levitical priest was compelled to shroud the ark and the shekinah with incense-smoke, that he might not look upon God face to face.