[This is the sixth section of a paper I wrote for the Great Plains Pastors' Conference (of Circuits 7, 8, & 9) which is titled Notes on Reading the Letter to the Hebrews With a Focus on Chapter 9. It was delivered at Bethany Lutheran College on Wednesday, May 25th
τὸν τῆς πίστεως ἀρχηγὸν καὶ τελειωτὴν Ἰησοῦν]
The Explicit Use of Old Covenant Liturgical Texts and Themes.
Another way in which
the use of Old Testament quotations is significant in the Letter to
the Hebrews is that the texts quoted mainly consist of either
liturgical texts or texts that describe a liturgical practice.
Psalms
The Psalms are
liturgical texts. The Psalms were an integral part of worship. The
frequency and number of uses of Psalms in Hebrews (21 uses) is second
only to Paul's use in the Letter to the Romans (23 uses).
The Author uses the
Psalms. They are part of the Divine Service as it was performed under
the Old Covenant. He uses these texts to highlight what that the
readers should have been hearing during the Divine Service. The Old
Covenant Divine Service was already proclaiming clearly: Who the
Christ is and what the Christ would become; and the Work He would
perform. But the Author's exposition also teaches the readers how we
now benefit from His Work in the Divine Service under the New
Covenant.
Passage
in Hebrews
|
Psalm
|
Author
|
Other
NT Citations
|
Use
in Hebrews
|
1:5a
|
Ps
2:7
Christmas
Vigil
|
Acts
13:33, He 5:5
|
Proclaimed:
Jesus is God, begotten by the Father
|
|
1:7
|
Ps
104:4
Pentecost
1st Service
|
Proclaimed:
Jesus is God, The Son of the Father
|
||
1:8-9
|
Ps
45:6-7
Last
Sunday of the Church Year
|
sons
of Korah.
|
Proclaimed:
Angels worship Jesus as God, the Savior:
Korah,
the great grandson of Aaron was destroyed by God after the
rebellion he fomented (Num 16). But his descendants were the
caretakers of the articles for the Sanctuary (Num 4:15). It is
these liturgical articles in particular that are the focus of He
9.
|
|
1:10-12
|
Ps
102:25-27
Epiphany
4
Trinity 16 |
Proclaimed:
Jesus is God, the Eternal Creator and Ruler
|
||
1:13
|
Ps
110:1
Christmas
Day Gradual
Old Vespers |
David
|
Mt
22:44, 26:44; Mk 12:36; 14:62; 16:19; Lk 20:42f; Ac 2:24f; Col
3:1;
|
Proclaimed:
Jesus is the LORD above the angels, ruler of all at the Right Hand
of the Father.
|
2:6-8
|
Ps
8:4-6 LXX
Name of Jesus |
David
|
1Corinthians
15:25-28
|
Proclaimed:
The Son would become fully Human. Humbled and Exalted.
|
2:12
|
Ps
22:22
Palm Sunday |
David
|
Proclaimed:
The Son, as also fully Human would suffer the punishment sinners
deserved.
|
|
3:7-11
|
Ps
95:7-11 Venite
|
He
4:7
|
[The
Venite] Proclaimed: The Sabbath as promise, and Listening to the
Divine-Human Son of God, the warning of not listening shown by the
Trial in the Wilderness.
|
|
3:15
|
Ps
95:7-8 Venite
|
Proclaimed:
The Christ as the true Sabbath: Exhorting, proclaiming Christ
daily.
|
||
4:3
|
Ps
95:11 Venite
|
Proclaimed:
The Christ as the true Sabbath
|
||
4:5
|
Ps
95:11 Venite
|
Proclaimed:
The Christ as the true Sabbath
|
||
4:7
|
Ps
95:7-8 Venite
|
He
3:7-11
|
Proclaimed:
The Christ as the true Sabbath
|
|
5:5
|
Ps
2:7
Christmas
Vigil
|
Acts
13:33, He 1:5
|
Proclaimed:
The Christ is Divine-Human High Priest of the New Covenant, not a
sinner under the Old Covenant.
|
|
5:6,10
|
Ps
110:4
Vespers
Collect
|
of
David
|
Melchizedek's
priesthood was a proclamation to recognize the Christ.
|
|
7:17,21
|
Ps
110:4
Vespers
Collect
|
of
David
|
Melchizedek's
priesthood was a proclamation to recognize the Christ.
|
|
10:5-7
|
Ps
40:6-8
Annunciation
|
of
David
|
Proclaimed:
The incarnation of the Son of God the fulfillment of the Written
Word, the fulfillment of the Promise and of the First Covenant
|
|
13:6
|
Ps
118:6
Easter
Day 1st Service
|
Proclaimed:
Exhortation to listen to the Word through the Preachers because
they preach the Christ.
|
We can note that
(except for chapters 8 and 9) exegesis of Psalms which were used in
the Divine Service permeates the Letter to the Hebrews. Chapters 8
and 9 are also explicitly liturgical in focus. But they focus on the
persons, structures, articles and details in liturgical function of
the Old Covenant Divine Service and its relationship to the New
Covenant. And it is the heart of the Epistle.
Davidic Covenant
There is ample
evidence from the Psalms above that the Davidic Covenant is one of
the Promises wrapped together in properly hearing the Word of God to
recognize the Christ. But in case we are too dull of hearing, early
in Hebrews the Davidic Covenant is explicitly quoted as a
demonstration that Jesus is the eternal Son of God.
Hebrews 1.5b [“To
which of the angels did He say:”]
The words are
from 2 Sm 7:14 [Parallel text: 1 Chr 17:13] where the word of the
Lord came to Nathan the Prophet to declare to David. David was
directed to begin planning a permanent temple for the Lord, to
replace the mobile Tent of Meeting. The topic of the context is
explicitly liturgical, related directly to the Divine Service both
ritually and materially. This ties together the Epistle to the
Hebrews with the promise in Jeremiah 33:14-21 [Advent 1]. That is to
say, the use of 2 Sm 7:14 was deliberately chosen because it is a
liturgical text: about the Divine Service and for
the Divine Service.
The
kingship of David's son, Solomon, is proclaimed a picture
of David's greater son, Jesus Christ, through the liturgy. And the
promise is to be heard:
“When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.”’” [2 Sm 7:12-16]
The promise made
there is repeated elsewhere. Indeed the passage from Jeremiah 33
would be evoked in the memory of the reader so that the
reader learns to listen to the Liturgy properly. This promise of the
Davidic Covenant states:
‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘that I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah:
‘In those days and at that time
I will cause to grow up to David
A Branch of righteousness;
He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
In those days Judah will be saved,
And Jerusalem will dwell safely.
And this is the name by which she will be called:
THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.’
“For thus says the Lord: ‘David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; nor shall the priests, the Levites, lack a man to offer burnt offerings before Me, to kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually.’” [Jeremiah 33:14-21 Advent 1]
Jeremiah 33 is
also very close in content as well as historical context to the
passage chosen for exposition in Hebrews 8-9: Jeremiah
31:31-34 [Trinity 7]. This we will discuss later.
