Psa 141:2, Rom 8:34, Heb 8:1-2, 9:24, Rev 8:3-4 | Clarke | e4.org | Verse 2. As incense ] Incense was offered every morning and evening before the Lord, on the golden altar, before the veil of the sanctuary. , and . As the evening sacrifice. ] This was a burnt-offering, accompanied with flour and salt. But it does not appear that David refers to any sacrifice , for he uses not zebach , which is almost universally used for a slaughtered animal ; but minchah , which is generally taken for a gratitude-offering or unbloody sacrifice. The literal translation of the passage is, "Let my prayer be established for incense before thy faces; and the lifting up of my hands for the evening oblation." The psalmist appears to have been at this time at a distance from the sanctuary, and therefore could not perform the Divine worship in the way prescribed by the law. What could he do? Why, as he could not worship according to the letter of the law, he will worship God according to the spirit ; then prayer is accepted in the place of incense ; and the lifting up of his hands, in gratitude and self-dedication to God, is accepted in the place of the evening minchah or oblation . Who can deplore the necessity that obliged the psalmist to worship God in this way?

‏ Psalms 141:2

Verse 2. As incense] Incense was offered every morning and evening before the Lord, on the golden altar, before the veil of the sanctuary. Ex 29:39, and Nu 28:4.

As the evening sacrifice.] This was a burnt-offering, accompanied with flour and salt. But it does not appear that David refers to any sacrifice, for he uses not zebach, which is almost universally used for a slaughtered animal; but minchah, which is generally taken for a gratitude-offering or unbloody sacrifice. The literal translation of the passage is, "Let my prayer be established for incense before thy faces; and the lifting up of my hands for the evening oblation." The psalmist appears to have been at this time at a distance from the sanctuary, and therefore could not perform the Divine worship in the way prescribed by the law. What could he do? Why, as he could not worship according to the letter of the law, he will worship God according to the spirit; then prayer is accepted in the place of incense; and the lifting up of his hands, in gratitude and self-dedication to God, is accepted in the place of the evening minchah or oblation. Who can deplore the necessity that obliged the psalmist to worship God in this way?

‏ Romans 8:34

Verse 34. Who is even at the right hand of God] To which he has exalted our human nature, which he took in conjunction with his Divinity; and there he maketh intercession for us-manages all the concerns of his own kingdom in general, and of every member of his Church in particular.

‏ Hebrews 8:1-2

CHAPTER VIII.

The sum, or chief articles, of what the apostle has spoken,

concerning the eternal priesthood of Christ, 1-5:

The excellency of the new covenant beyond that of the old, 6-9.

The nature and perfection of the new covenant stated from the predictions of the prophets, 10-12.

By this new covenant the old is abolished, 13.

NOTES ON CHAP. VIII.

Verse 1. Of the things which we have spoken this is the sum] The word κεφαλαιον, which we translate sum, signifies the chief, the principal, or head; or, as St. Chrysostom explains it, κεφαλαιοναειτομεγιστονλεγεται, "that which is greatest is always called kephalaion," i.e. the head, or chief.

Who is set on the right hand of the throne] This is what the apostle states to be the chief or most important point of all that he had yet discussed. His sitting down at the right hand of the throne of God, proves, 1. That he is higher than all the high priests that ever existed. 2. That the sacrifice which he offered for the sins of the world was sufficient and effectual, and as such accepted by God. 3. That he has all power in the heavens and in the earth, and is able to save and defend to the uttermost all that come to God through him. 4. That he did not, like the Jewish high priest, depart out of the holy of holies, after having offered the atonement; but abides there at the throne of God, as a continual priest, in the permanent act of offering his crucified body unto God, in behalf of all the succeeding generations of mankind. It is no wonder the apostle should call this sitting down at the right hand of the throne of the Divine Majesty, the chief or head of all that he had before spoken.

Verse 2. A minister of the sanctuary] τωναγιωνλειτουργος. A public minister of the holy things or places. The word λειτουργος, from λειτος, public, and εργον, a work or office, means a person who officiated for the public, a public officer; in whom, and his work, all the people had a common right: hence our word liturgy, the public work of prayer and praise, designed for the people at large; all having a right to attend it, and each having an equal interest in it. Properly speaking, the Jewish priest was the servant of the public; he transacted the business of the people with God. Jesus Christ is also the same kind of public officer; both as Priest and Mediator he transacts the business of the whole human race with God. He performs the holy things or acts in the true tabernacle, HEAVEN, of which the Jewish tabernacle was the type. The tabernacle was the place among the Jews where God, by the symbol of his presence, dwelt. This could only typify heaven, where God, in his essential glory, dwells, and is manifest to angels and glorified saints; and hence heaven is called here the true tabernacle, to distinguish it from the type.

Which the Lord pitched] The Jewish tabernacle was man's work, though made by God's direction; the heavens, this true tabernacle, the work of God alone, and infinitely more glorious than that of the Jews. The tabernacle was also a type of the human nature of Christ, Joh 1:14: And the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, καιεσκηνωσενεν ημιν and tabernacled among us; for, as the Divine presence dwelt in the tabernacle, so the fulness of the Godhead, bodily, dwelt in the man Christ Jesus. And this human body was the peculiar work of God, as it came not in the way of natural generation.

‏ Hebrews 9:24

Verse 24. Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands] He is not gone into the holy of holies of the tabernacle or temple, as the Jewish high priest does once in the year with the blood of the victim, to sprinkle it before the mercy-seat there; but into heaven itself, which he has thus opened to all believers, having made the propitiatory offering by which both he and those whom he represents are entitled to enter and enjoy eternal blessedness. And hence we may consider that Christ, appearing in his crucified body before the throne, is a real offering of himself to the Divine justice in behalf of man; and that there he continues in the constant act of being offered, so that every penitent and believer, coming unto God through him, find him their ever ready and available sacrifice, officiating as the High Priest of mankind in the presence of God.

‏ Revelation of John 8:3-4

Verse 3. Another angel] About to perform the office of priest.

Having a golden censer] This was a preparation peculiar to the day of expiation. "On other days it was the custom of the priest to take fire from the great altar in a silver censer, but on the day of expiation the high priest took the fire from the great altar in a golden censer; and when he was come down from the great altar, he took incense from one of the priests, who brought it to him, and went with it to the golden altar; and while he offered the incense the people prayed without in silence, which is the silence in heaven for half an hour." See Sir Isaac Newton.

Much incense, that he should offer it] Judgments of God are now about to be executed; the saints-the genuine Christians, pray much to God for protection. The angelic priest comes with much incense, standing between the living and those consigned to death, and offers his incense to God WITH the prayers of the saints.

Verse 4. The smoke of the incense-with the prayers] Though incense itself be an emblem of the prayers of the saints, Ps 141:2; yet here they are said to ascend before God, as well as the incense. It is not said that the angel presents these prayers. He presents the incense, and the prayers ascend WITH it. The ascending of the incense shows that the prayers and offering were accepted.