..To Ancient SDA's ............ To "What's New?"
The Everlasting Gospel
The cleansing of the sanctuary
Then comes the annual day of cleansing as reported in Leviticus 16:1-34.
Appendix C, page 41.The DAILY routine continues as usual at the beginning of the Day of Atonement (the dark part of the day after sunset), but the queue decreases as many anxious Christians are cleansed in the daily ritual, and eventually it comes to an end sometime in the early daylight hours. All know that this is their last chance. Some have even been fully cleansed BEFORE the Day, because they were not willing to wait until the last minute. (Consider Enoch and Elijah.)
Eventually a time is reached when there is not a single sinful Christian wishing to be forgiven and cleansed. That hour depends on the Christians and their desire to stop sinning to ease Christ’s suffering, or their deaths. "My little children, these things write I to you, that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and He is the propitiation
[forgiver] for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world". 1 John 2:1-2. But it can be sooner rather than later if there are more ordinary priests available to explain and assist the confessors in understanding what they are doing. 2 Peter 3:11-12.The number of "sinful" priests needing to be cleansed of their burdens also diminishes until just one is left and he turns to the high priest who has been patiently waiting for this moment. When that "sinful" priest confesses that sin onto the head of his bullock, the high priest takes its blood into the tabernacle of the congregation (the first apartment) and sprinkles it on the earth floor, and the golden altar as is done in the daily.
THERE ARE NO MORE SINS TO COME IN TO THE SANCTUARY!
THE CLEANSING CAN BEGIN.
What the ordinary priests have done all year is on behalf of the high priest who could not be there 24/7 because of his humanity. So in the Father’s eyes all this has been done by the high priest, who represents Jesus our Saviour. It is written of Him, "Christ glorified not Himself to be made a High Priest; but He that said to Him, ‘You are My Son, today have I begotten You’ as He says also in another place, ‘You are a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec’". Hebrews 5:5-6.
It is He who has "transferred" all the forgiven Christian sins into Himself, for the building also represents Him. "Sanctify the LORD of hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread. And He shall be for
[you] a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin [trap] and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem [the apostates]". Isaiah 8:13-14.IT IS HE WHO NEEDS CLEANSING. (See Daniel 8:14.)
The high priest is then presented with two young male goats to be used for the congregation, and a bull and a grown ram for himself. Leviticus 16:3, 5,
Appendix C, page 41, paragraphs 3, 7. (There is another ram to be used later for the people’s consecration which we need not notice at this point.)He first offers the bullock as a sin offering for himself and his family (Christ and the Christians), but this time he personally takes the blood into the second apartment and sprinkles it on the top of the ark of God, on the flat part of the Mercy Seat where the Shekinah glory sits.
See also note 6, page 27.
To accomplish this safely he had previously gone into the second room to retrieve a portable incense burner that was stored there. After filling it with coals from the golden altar he had returned to the second room with much incense in it, creating a great smoke screen of prayers, and placing it on the Mercy Seat, which represented the throne of God.
He now sprinkles the bull’s blood seven times (this number symbolises completeness) onto the earth in front of the Mercy Seat (there is no floor in the sanctuary). Then he moves back into the first room and sprinkles some on the horns of the golden altar. There are three sprinklings in total.
THE BLOOD IS NOT RECORDING A PUNISHMENT, OR THE SIN ITSELF, BUT THE INEVITABLE RESULT OF SIN – A DEATH – CHRIST’S DEATH ON BEHALF OF THE SINFUL CHRISTIANS.
THERE IS NO FORGIVENESS RECORDED DURING THIS ACTION EITHER, FOR THIS DEATH CANNOT BE FORGIVEN.
See Leviticus 16:11-14.
Appendix C, page 42, paragraph 4.ALL THE RECORDS OF DEATH IN THE BUILDING ARE THE HIGH PRIEST’S, i.e. Jesus.
Those placed by the daily priests and those by the high priest are all treated as his. The difference this time is that they are now recorded in the SECOND apartment as a picture of them being revealed in the presence of God the Father who had moved there at the beginning of the real Day of Atonement.
This could not be done in the daily by the ordinary priests for they could not enter into the presence of this bright light which symbolised God’s presence. Only the Son of God, our great High Priest can do this.
That scene is described:
***************
(Begin quote)Daniel 7:
9
I beheld till the thrones were cast down [placed], and the Ancient of days [God the Father] did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like the pure wool: His throne was like the fiery flame [pulsating with energy], and His wheels as burning fire. 10 A fiery [living] stream issued and came forth from before Him: thousand thousands ministered to Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened . . .13
I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven [some angels], and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought Him near before Him. 14 And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.***************
(End quote)Here we are shown that our Mediator, acting as the High Priest in heaven, takes THE RESULT of our confessed sins (death) upon Himself and presents them to His Father for inspection as if they were His own. "For He
[the Father] has made Him [the Son] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him". 2 Corinthians 5:21.Back on earth the high priest then changes out of his coloured and embroidered clothes into a set of white ones which have been stored in the first apartment since the year before, to symbolise his changed state. Leviticus 16:23.
In this plain uniform he supervises the casting of the lot for the LORD’s goat, for only God knows which is which. By this ceremony the two young goats are distinguished and separated in the peoples’ eyes.
See note 7 on page 27. The LORD’s goat is killed as an offering for sin (without any sins being confessed on its head for they have all been transferred by the bullock’s blood), and the other animal, the scapegoat, is held captive in the courtyard by a "fit" man.The high priest re-enters the sanctuary building with the
blood of the sanctified goat and uses this blood (death) to "pick up" the sins
(deaths) placed in the second apartment by the bullock’s blood. In this way,
he "cleans" the building, the floor, and the golden altar of their pollution.
This clean, sinless blood does not pollute, it cleanses by absorbing the
sins/deaths into it/him.
When he has finished this ritual, he comes to the door of the first apartment (the point between heaven and earth), puts his hands out through the curtain and waits for the "fit" man to bring him the other goat, which represents Satan. This is the transfer point between heaven and earth just before the second coming.
Then he places his hands on the scapegoat’s head and transfers his sins/deaths, which are the results of ALL the sins of ALL his people for ALL the time, onto it. Leviticus 16:21.
See Appendix C, page 43, paragraph 7.Now he has given the "deaths" associated with the Christians’ confessed sins to their original author – Satan, the scapegoat, the originator of death. "Forasmuch then as the children
[of God] are partakers of flesh and blood, He [Jesus] also Himself likewise took part of the same [flesh and blood];The "fit" man leads the sinful goat away into the wilderness of the earth, AND LETS HIM GO TO DO WHAT HE WILL. Revelation 20:1-3.
It is no part of God’s plan to kill any of His creatures. Sin will do that from within despite His efforts to stop it. Romans 6:23; Ezekiel 28:18.
All this is written to show us what the Son of God is doing
now, and will do,
in heaven when the time is right for the final cleansing of the sanctuary.
It depends on the Christians confessing their sins (or dying), because the LORD
will never move while there is hope for anyone. (The earthly high priest had to
wait until the line of penitents ran out.)
We should notice that the Passover lamb’s death (blood) is NOT part of this ceremony.
It was sprinkled on the door posts of the houses. Exodus 12:7. The "death" of our "old man" (in the Passover) by which we become Christian is NOT PASSED ON TO Satan, it is exchanged with Christ. Christ is our Saviour, and only He can bear this, and He will continue to do so forever. He still has the wounds of that sacrifice on His hands and sides and will carry them for eternity. John 20:27.
See note 8 on page 28.Satan is given only that which he is responsible for, the "deaths" associated with the confessed sins of Christians. Those sins (known and unknown) which Christians fail to confess will cause their own physical deaths (because they have not discerned the power of the LORD’s body) and this will require a resurrection from the grave. In some cases failure to confess and forsake a sin because it is cherished will result in eternal death.
It is because the last generation of Christians have confessed ALL their sins (known, and unknown as they sought for them) that they can be translated without seeing death, for they are "clean" at the time of the second coming. Psalm 24:1-6. "For the LORD Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the LORD in the air: and so shall we ever be with the LORD". 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.
While the "fit" man is leading the scapegoat away, there is still time left in the day, so now the high priest removes his special white clothes, leaves them in the first apartment, and comes forth in all his glory to the waiting people (this is a picture of the 2nd advent). Leviticus 16:23-25.
There is no ritual to cleanse the courtyard or its altar for this will be done by the lake of fire. Revelation 20:14-15.
As the final ceremony for the day, the high priest’s other ram is now offered as a burnt offering of consecration for eternity (it is not a sin offering for it represents the sinlessness of the redeemed Christian family).
It is completely burnt and its blood poured out at the foot of the brass altar.
See Appendix C, page 44, paragraph 1. As the skin is the priest’s (Leviticus 7:8), so the Son of God will retain His humanity forever.There are three types of "blood = death" used in the ceremonies.
The lamb’s when we become Christians, on the door posts.
The goat’s when Christians need forgiveness, beside the brass altar.
The bullock’s for transfer into the sanctuary, on the golden altar.
There are many other ceremonies which are the "small print" of the Son of God’s agreement with us, but they do not alter the basics of this "nutshell". They illuminate many other significant details and will reward the diligent seeker after truth. Some of these are:
The red cow sacrifice.
The "wave" and "heave" offerings.
The offering and restitution for a wilful sin.
The burning of the fat and the kidneys on the altar.
The "trespass" offering for unwittingly breaking the law.
The five cleansings of the leper to illustrate the total
cleansing
of the Christian.
And many more:
e. g. Some of them told Jesus what to do and when.
Some of them tell the story of the pilgrim’s progress.
Some of them describe the history and future of the church.
All make the gospel just that much clearer.
This is why the LORD said these words to us in the Old Testament,
***************
(Begin quote)Malachi 4:
4
Remember you the law [the sanctuary services] of Moses My servant, which I commanded to him in Horeb [Sinai] for all Israel, with the statutes [various principles] and judgments [His daily advices on how to keep those principles in our earthly lives].***************
(End quote)Now that you have commenced the circle of understanding (from the gospel to the ceremonies and back) don’t forget to keep doing it! In this way, the LORD will be able to show you many more wondrous things out of His word.
On to next section Back to Contents
For further information, write:
THE GOSPEL INFORMATION SERVICE
P. O. Box 146, Waihi. 3641.
NEW ZEALAND.
or
For a weekly Bible reading, send an Email to:
NonConformist-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
For a monthly query and answer page:
http:/www.oocities.org/SoHo/Atrium/9204/
For in-depth studies on many Bible topics:
try http://www.oocities.org/Athens/Oracle/1388/
To Ancient SDA's ............ To "What's New?"
This page hosted by 
Get your own Free Home Page