Part One of
The Earthly Sanctuary & its Services
No consideration of the earthly sanctuary would be complete without first establishing the fact that it was mainly a picture of Jesus Christ and His work for the inhabitants of this world. From the building with all its individual parts, through the rituals and ceremonies, to the high priest and his clothing, we can learn, under the guidance of His Spirit, about our Redeemer and His plan of salvation. He had said,
Exodus 25:8-9
"And let [allow] them make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show you, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall you make it".
In this statement we are told that although He gave the Israelites permission to have a sanctuary, the idea was not His. Later, He spoke through Jeremiah and said,
Jeremiah 7:21-25
"Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat [the] flesh [yourselves]. For I spoke not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices: but this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people: and walk you in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward".
With this in mind we can read the following quote and begin to appreciate God’s dilemma. How to guide a self-willed and stiff-necked people?
Christ’s Object Lessons 126.002
The word of God includes the Scriptures of the Old Testament as well as of the New. One is not complete without the other. Christ declared that the truths of the Old Testament are as valuable as those of the New. Christ was as much man's Redeemer in the beginning of the world as He is today. Before He clothed His divinity with humanity and came to our world, the gospel message was given by Adam, Seth, Enoch, Methuselah, and Noah. Abraham in Canaan and Lot in Sodom bore the message, and from generation to generation faithful messengers proclaimed the Coming One. The rites of the Jewish economy were instituted by Christ Himself. He was the foundation of their system of sacrificial offerings, the great antitype of all their religious service. The blood shed as the sacrifices were offered pointed to the sacrifice of the Lamb of God. All the typical offerings were fulfilled in Him.
COL.126.003
Christ as manifested to the patriarchs, as symbolized in the sacrificial service, as portrayed in the law, and as revealed by the prophets, is the riches of the Old Testament.
Christ in His life, His death, and His resurrection, Christ as He is manifested by the Holy Spirit, is the treasure of the New Testament.
Our Saviour, the outshining of the Father's glory, is both the Old and the New.
In line with this truth, Christ is described as "The LAMB slain from the foundation of the world" in the last book of the Bible. Revelation 13:8.
Thus we can see that the sacrificial system as instituted in Eden was intended to illustrate the work of Jesus from the "fall" of Adam and Eve right through to the second coming, and after, therefore ALL those who accepted its teachings could be known as "Christians".
To this end it is written in Hebrews 4:1-2.
"Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us [the New Testament people] of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them [the Old Testament people]: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it."
It did not need to be expanded as far as Jesus was concerned but He was willing to go along with the desires of His people.
Testimonies Vol. 6, 392
The gospel is given in precept [picture form] in Leviticus. Implicit obedience is required now, as then. How essential it is that we understand the importance of this word!
Patriarchs & Prophets 367.003
Jesus was the light of His people - the Light of the world - before He came to earth in the form of humanity. The first gleam of light that pierced the gloom in which sin had wrapped the world, came from Christ. And from Him has come every ray of heaven's brightness that has fallen upon the inhabitants of the earth. In the plan of redemption Christ is the Alpha and the Omega - the First and the Last.
PP.367.004
Since the Saviour shed His blood for the remission of sins, and ascended to heaven "to appear in the presence of God for us" (Hebrews 9:24), light has been streaming from the cross of Calvary and from the holy places of the sanctuary above. But the clearer light granted us should not cause us to despise that which in earlier times was received through the types pointing to the coming Saviour. The gospel of Christ sheds light upon the Jewish economy and gives significance to the ceremonial law. As new truths are revealed, and that which has been known from the beginning is brought into clearer light, the character and purposes of God are made manifest in His dealings with His chosen people. Every additional ray of light that we receive gives us a clearer understanding of the plan of redemption, which is the working out of the divine will in the salvation of man. We see new beauty and force in the inspired word, and we study its pages with a deeper and more absorbing interest.
PP.368.001
The opinion is held by many that God placed a separating wall between the Hebrews and the outside world; that His care and love, withdrawn to a great extent from the rest of mankind, were centered upon Israel. But God did not design that His people should build up a wall of partition between themselves and their fellow men. The heart of Infinite Love was reaching out toward all the inhabitants of the earth. Though they had rejected Him, He was constantly seeking to reveal Himself to them and make them partakers of His love and grace. His blessing was granted to the chosen people, that they might bless others.
Signs of the Times March 14, 1878.012
Those who cherish the view that there was no Saviour in the old dispensation, have as dark a vail over their understanding as did the Jews who rejected Christ. The Jews acknowledged their faith in a Messiah to come in the offering of sacrifices which typified Christ.
Yet when Jesus appeared, fulfilling all the prophecies regarding the promised Messiah, and doing works that marked him as the divine son of God; they rejected him, and refused to accept the plainest evidence of his true character. The Christian church, on the other hand, who profess the utmost faith in Christ, in despising the Jewish system virtually deny Christ, who was the originator of the entire Jewish economy.
In the same way as the earthly sanctuary illustrates Christ's work as the Son of man, the heavenly sanctuary is a picture of the Son of God and His work in the universe. From that picture we can, and will, learn more of His everlasting concern for the peoples of eternity.
The sacrifices and priesthood
Two things are very evident from even a cursory look at the earthly system. The first is that a sacrifice (something other than the penitent) was needed, and the second that a priest (someone other than the offerer) handled the details. Both have been provided by Jesus Christ. He is the Victim, He is the Priest, and He can do for us that which we cannot do for ourselves. Faith, then, is that belief which accepts that He HAS done it, CAN do it, and that He WILL do it for an undeserving sinner.
Romans 5:1-10
"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation works [or produces] patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope makes not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."
"For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commends [or shows] His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us".
"Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life".
Because of this, He tells us how we should behave if we would be protected while approaching our Father, for only by strict obedience can we safely approach the holy area where God sits.
But all the sacrifices and protection will mean very little if they do not eventually produce a holy life in us. If there is sin it must be acknowledged, if there is impurity it must be cleansed, if there is a defect in spiritual understanding it must be rectified. Jesus asks us to approach Him and be like Him for He spoke to Moses, saying,
Leviticus 19:1-3.
"Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them, You shall be holy: for [or because] I the LORD your God am holy. You shall fear [or respect] every man his mother, and his father, and keep My Sabbaths [for family love and obedience to God’s word is the evidence of holiness]: I am the LORD your God".
Inside and out
It is not enough that God’s people have a place for public worship on earth or in heaven. It is important that they worship the right way inside, and live the right way outside of it, as Jesus told Abraham.
Genesis 17:1.
"And when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, ‘I am the Almighty God; walk before Me, and be you perfect".
Later, He repeated His words on the Mount of Blessing,
Matthew 5:48
"Be you therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect".
Therefore the earthly sanctuary service depicts a mixture of two aspects of humanity resulting in a picture of perfection. Some of the outward ceremonies took place at home in semi-privacy and others required a very definite public showing.
Because the earthly sanctuary is a "shadow" of the heavenly, (Hebrews 10:1) there are some differences in appearance, but the principles remain the same. In the heavenly sanctuary it is the self-sacrificing love of the Son of God which is on display. [See article "Christ Our High Priest"]. In the earthly, the central theme seen by the majority of men and women is the blood of the animals, although it was the offering of incense on the altar of intercession which was most appreciated by God and the heavenly creatures.
Revelation 8:3-4.
"And another Angel came and stood at the altar [of incense in the 1st apartment], having a golden censer; and there was given to Him much incense, that He should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the Angel's hand".
Representations of these heavenly beings were woven into the materials that formed the inside of the building, and in the veil to the 2nd apartment, to show their interest.
Exodus 26:1-6; 31.
"Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning [skilful] work shall you make them. The length of one curtain shall be eight and twenty cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits: and every one of the curtains shall have one measure".
"The five curtains shall be coupled together one to another; and other five curtains shall be coupled one to another. And you shall make loops of blue upon the edge of the one curtain from the selvedge in the coupling; and likewise shall you make in the uttermost edge of another curtain, in the coupling of the second. Fifty loops shall you make in the one curtain, and fifty loops shall you make in the edge of the curtain that is in the coupling of the second; that the loops may take hold one of another. And you shall make fifty taches [or pegs] of gold, and couple the curtains together with the taches: and it shall be one tabernacle...."
"And you shall make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made..."
The penitents
Another point we must take particular notice of is the fact that while the Bible refers mainly to the male of the species operating in the sanctuary, in every case it was expected that the reader would understand that females were also included as equals. Thus it is written:
Numbers 6:1-3.
"And the LORD spoke to Moses saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the LORD: he [and therefore she] shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried... [and she will also fulfill all the other conditions associated with the experience]".
And in another place,
Leviticus 12:6-7.
"And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to the priest: who shall offer it before the LORD, and make an atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law for her that has born a male or a female".
Leviticus 22:12-13.
"If the priest's daughter also be married to a stranger [a non-priestly family], she may not eat of an offering of the holy things [otherwise she could]. But if the priest's daughter be a widow, or divorced, and have no child, and is returned to her father's house, as in her youth, she shall eat of her father's meat: but there shall no stranger eat thereof."
Leviticus 12:1-8.
"And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean. And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. And she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying thirty-three days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled".
"But if she bear a maid child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her separation: and she shall continue in the blood of her purifying sixty-six days. And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to the priest: who shall offer it before the LORD, and make an atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law for her that has born a male or a female."
"And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons; the one for the burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering: and the priest shall make an atonement for her, and she shall be clean".
Let us never forget this most important fact!
Females and males are equal in God’s sight. Galatians 3:28.
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