First, as to the terminology. The book of Hebrews, expounding the person
and work of the Son, has a great deal to say about "the heavenly things." It
argues that the genuine, the real is in heaven (see 4:14; 7:26;
26 "Hebrews: An Overview," chap. 2.
27 С. Spicq, L'Epttre вих ШЬгеих, 2vols. (Paris, 1952).
Defilement/Purification and Hebrews 9:23
8:1-5; 9:8,11-12; 10:12,19; 12:18-24). We have given reasons elsewhere28 why we hold that the author of Hebrews believes in an actual heavenly sanctuary—that he is not using sanctuary language as metaphor.
To interpret "the heavenly things" at 9:23 as the suneidesis ("conscious- ness/conscience") does violence to the total conceptual framework of the book. Further, it collapses the author's terminology in a manner not warranted by the context. We hold that the vocabulary of Hebrews exhibits a precision of choice and use that forbids us to make such an equation. The purification of the consciousness or conscience (suneidesis) is a benefit to believers that flows from Christ's work—it is not that work itself.
The context is clearly against this interpretation as well. Hebrews 9:23 is a
transition between a discussion of the ОТ cultus (vss. 18-22) and a discussion of
the new, the heavenly (vss. 24-28). It takes the reader from "the copies" to "the heavenly things" themselves and to the "better sacrifices," Christ's own atoning death. Its point is, as throughout chapters 9-10, the "better blood" of Christ. Hence, verse 23 commences with "Thus (pun}...." And verse 24 follows with "For (gar) Christ has entered, not into a sanctuary made with hands, a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself...." To interpret "the heavenly things" in 9:23 as human consciousness/conscience (suneidesis) wrenches the context inadmissibly in view of the verses that follow immediately.
2. Another attempt to explain the purification of the heavenly things in 9:23 is to suggest that the concept carries the sense of "inauguration." This understanding has gained credence in some Adventist circles.29 Its chief support is drawn from the context. Verse 18 speaks of the inauguration of the first covenant, and verses 19-21 describe that inauguration. Thus, it is argued that verse 23 may be seen as paralleling verse 18: "Hence even the first covenant was not ratified without blood."
We may reject this interpretation, however, for three reasons:
First, the parallel is not convincing. Whereas verses 19-21 do describe the inauguration of a sanctuary, verses 24-28 do not. They center in Christ and His work, not on the sanctuary itself. Christ appears in the presence of God on our behalf (vs. 24); He has "put away sin by the sacrifice of himself" (vs. 26). That is, the scope of the argument is much wider than the inauguration of the heavenly sanctuary. The passage is dealing with mediation, not inauguration!
28 See n. 21.
29 Some non-Seventh-day Adventist expositors also have advanced this interpretation.
Second, verse 22 is to be seen as a contextual break. "Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins." When we give this verse its due weight, the supposed parallel is weakened. Many exegetes of Hebrews have seen in this verse the so- called "blood rule," a critical plank in the author's argument. It clearly looks far wider than inauguration, since it is dealing with aphesis ("release," "pardon").30 Verse 22, in fact, is summing up the role of blood in the ОТ. It is reaching back beyond verse 18 to embrace verses 1-21. Without the presence of this verse the suggested interpretation of inauguration would have strong contextual support; with it, the support collapses.
But the strongest argument against this view, in my Judgment, is the author's terminology. He useskathamein ("to purify") notegkainizein ("to inaugurate"). These terms are not equivalent; they are not to be collapsed together.
Our work on the book has shown the necessity of "listening" to the voice of Hebrews itself. We must avoid the mistake of importing or superimposing other categories on the language of the cult. In making this point we do not advocate a wooden literalness; we merely make a plea that the author be permitted to explain his meaning without our getting in his way. If taking his language at face value causes us a conceptual problem, we must be prepared to rework our concepts. Given the overall theological schema ofdefilement/blood/purification, such reworking will lead us to see a greater logical and theological unity in the overall development.
We hold, therefore, that Hebrews 9:23 is to be understood to mean what it appears to say—that the heavenly sanctuary itself requires purification. Just what such purification entails is not elaborated, either later in the chapter or elsewhere in the book.
The pioneers tied together the concepts of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary and the "investigative judgment" of God's people. The book of Hebrews does sound a judgment theme, mainly in its hortatory sections.3! But it does not pull together the concept of 9:23—the necessity of purifying the heavenly things—with this theme. The two ideas are referred to separately.
The minimal theological idea in such a view is this: Heaven and earth are interconnected. What happens on earth has cosmic ramifications.
30 Arndt and Gingrich. p. 124.
31 НеЬ 2:2-3; 3:12,17-19; 4:1,11-13; 6:7-8; 10:26-31; 12:25-29; 13:17.
Defilement/Purification and Hebrews 9:23
ramifications that touch even heaven itself. Gone is any Platonic separation of the realm of God from the realm of humanity. Rather, the working out of the sin problem—as God Himself undertakes the resolution of the human dilemma— extends to the very heart of the universe.
Such a conception is foreign to many Christians, but not to Adventists. With our understanding of the great controversy between Christ and Satan we all along have seen the salvation of humanity in a cosmic setting. Our pioneers saw in Hebrews 9:23 support for this view. We affirm that their basic insight was correct.