A) INTRODUCTION.

B) FIVE NAMES.

C) THE SANCTUARY NAME.

D) JOHN IN VISION.

 

 

A) INTRODUCTION

 

 

What does “sin” do?  It “defile[s] My [God’s]Sanctuary, and tp profane[s] My [God’s] Holy Name [character].”  Leviticus 20:3.  See Psalm 51:4; 138:2; Ezekiel 36:20-23; Romans 3:4.

 

John 1:29:  “Behold the Lamb of God.”  John could have introduced Jesus as “Mighty God; Son of God; King of kings; Lord of lords; Prince of Peace; Everlasting Father.”  Instead, he identifies Jesus’ ministry as taking upon the duties of the Sanctuary; the fulfilment of the sacrificial system.

 

THE PURPOSE and reason for the Sanctuary at all and its functions, was to show us and teach us how Jesus was going to deal with our sins.  “Light was to be given, directing their minds to the Temple of God in Heaven; and as they should by faith follow their High Priest in His ministration there, new duties would be revealed.”  SW January 24, 1905, paragraph 5.

 

My purpose in writing this was to bring out more clearly the attributes of Christ as illustrated in the Sanctuary.  Although at times it appears I am bogged down in the details (and please forgive me), they are necessary (and are of extreme interest to some) in order to better understand the application to Christ and His ministry.  This is why so much groundwork is laid before I actually am ready to bring the reader into the Sanctuary Proper (Holy Place and Most Holy Place; later I’ll call It the “Tabernacle”) and its corresponding articles.

 

In Addition, I have kept my focus on the purpose of the Sanctuary.  I have focused upon the very first earthly Sanctuary, staying away from Solomon’s Temple, who oversized things, and Ezekiel’s Temple, which was never built.  Also, I felt Solomon’s Temple was not perfectly reflective of “all things according to the pattern shewed to thee [Moses] in the mount,” Hebrews 8:5.  My purpose has been to find in the original earthy Sanctuary applications to the “Heavenly,” Hebrews 8:5, Sanctuary (see also Heb. 9:23-24; where “holy places” should be translated as “holy Place.”).

 

Why is there a “Heavenly Sanctuary?  Because “sin” originated in Heaven with Satan (John 8:44).  Apparently, Heaven needs to be cleansed also.  From GC:420 we learn:  “. . . what was done in type in the ministration of the earthly Sanctuary is done in reality in the ministration of the Heavenly Sanctuary.”

 

It must be understood that the Heavenly Temple is not an incidental detail in Biblical Theology, or an unnecessary part of the Bible that is in the past, and therefore irrelevant for today’s readers.  In reality, it is affirmed by the Biblical fact that the Sanctuary is at the universal center of worship for innumerable intelligent beings besides just mere humans (see Psa. 89:5-6; Dan. 7:9-10; Rev. 4:2-6).  It is also the center of God’s cosmic kingdom (Psa. 11:4; 103:19; Heb. 8:1; 1Pe. 3:22).  From there, God reveals His Will to His creatures (Psa. 103:20-21); From there He comes down and delivers His people from the oppression of the enemy (Psa. 18:6-9 & 16-17); From there God works in the resolution of the cosmic conflict through judgment (Psa. 11:4-6; 33:13-15); From there God grants forgiveness of sin (1Ki. 8:30 & 38-39); From there God blesses and justifies His people (Deu. 26:15; 1Ki. 8:32); and, From there Christ ministers on behalf of us before the Father (Heb. 7:25).  Finally:  If there were no Heavenly Sanctuary, then why does God tell us to (go there) “come boldly to the throne of grace,” in Hebrews 4:16?

 

In a side note, ten months cover the time from the arrival at Sinai (Exo. 19:1), to the erection of the sacred dwelling-place of God (Exo. 40:17).  Since exactly three months of this time are employed in preparation for the building of the Sanctuary, Exodus 19:10-11 & 16; 24:16 (ten days of it; 3 plus 7); Exodus 24:18 (40 days); Exodus 34:28 (40 days), there remained for the building of the tabernacle exactly seven months.  According to PP:349 we have this remark:  “A period of about half a year was occupied in the building of the tabernacle.”

 

The Sanctuary services began at the “third hour,” which is our 9:00 A.M.  And they went until the “ninth hour,” which is our 3:00 P.M.  Thus, you would present your innocent lamb anywhere between those hours of operation.  In addition, you would sacrifice your lamb north of the “Brazen Alter.”  Our Lord was taken out of the city of Jerusalem and crucified north of the city, “And it was the third hour,” Mark 15:25.  And it was at the “ninth hour,” Matthew 27:45-50; Mark 15:33-37; Luke 23:44-46, that our Lord died.  Thus, our Lord was taken out of the city of Jerusalem and crucified north of the city at, “the third hour;” and it was at the “ninth hour,” that our Lord died.

 

 

B) FIVE NAMES

 

 

Five names are given in Scripture to describe the Earthly Sanctuary.

(1) It was called “a Sanctuary,” in Exodus 25:8, to denote that it was set apart for a Holy God Who wants to “dwell” with His people; which is better understood with our next word.

(2) It was called a “Tabernacle,” in Exodus 25:9, revealing that it was the dwelling place of God among His people; He wants to “tabernacle” with us.

(3) It was called a “Tent,” in Exodus 26:36, in order to designate it as a temporary dwelling place of God.

(4) It was called “the tabernacle of the congregation,” in Exodus 29:42, because it was there where God met with His people.

(5) And the final expression used to Its application was to call it “the tabernacle of testimony,” in Exodus 38:21, “testimony” being a description of the place where the Law of God was housed in the Most Holy Place.

 

In order to simplify things, and not necessarily be correct, I have called the Sanctuary in these following studies, simply, “The Sanctuary,” which would comprise all of It, courtyard and all.  Whereas I will call It the “Tabernacle,” or “Sanctuary Proper,” in designation of the “Tent” that housed the “Holy Place” and “Most Holy Place.”

 

The Sanctuary functions as a meeting place between God and His people.  In fact, according to Exodus 25:8, “And let them make Me a Sanctuary; that I may dwell among them,” gives us the indication that the Sanctuary had but “one distinct purpose:”  That God might dwell among His people.  The fact that 50 Chapters are devoted to its description and ministries, places It as one of the main themes in God’s Word.  We know that our God is Omnipresent, and since we are not, therefore our God has chosen His Sanctuary as the place of meeting with His beings.  Keep that in mind when studying God’s Sanctuary.

 

 

C) THE SANCTUARY NAME

 

 

The name of the Sanctuary Itself means, the “tent of meeting” (often translated as “tent of the congregation”), and carries with It this idea or concept.  The prototype for us to understand and dwell upon in this, our day, is that in the same way that God “tabernacled” with Israel of old, He dwelt with man physically again in the form of Jesus’ humanity.  From FLB:203 we read:  “The intercession of Christ in man’s behalf in the Sanctuary above is as essential to the plan of salvation as was His death upon the cross.  By His death He began that work which after His resurrection He ascended to complete in Heaven.  We must by faith enter within the veil, ‘whither the forerunner is for us entered.’  Hebrews 6:20.”

 

In the margin of Psalm 29:9 it states:  “Every whit of the Temple speaks of His Glory.”  And this may very well be a more literal translation of the text.  Also, since Hebrews 8:5, is a direct reference to Exodus, Chapter 25, verses 9 and 40, where we can establish that the “figure,” “pattern,” “model,” or however you want to translate it as, is clearly representative of the Heavenly Sanctuary.  In other words, THAT THERE IS A SANCTUARY IN HEAVEN!  From RH, May 25, 1905, we read:  “The enemy will bring in false theories that there is no [Heavenly] Sanctuary.  This is one of the points on which there will be a departure from the faith.”

 

Eighteen times in Exodus, Chapters 39 and 40, it is stated that Moses was to build -- in every minute detail -- the Sanctuary, “as the Lord Commanded Moses” (see also Exo. 27:8; Num. 8:4; Acts 7:44).  Here is Hebrews 8:5:  “Who serve unto the example and shadow of Heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the Tabernacle:  for, See, saith He, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.”  And Hebrews 9:24 states:  “For Christ is not entered into the Holy Places [= Holy Place] made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into Heaven Itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.”  And Hebrews 8:2 reads thus:  “A minister of the Sanctuary, and of the true Tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.”

 

From PP:351 (one could start on page 347) we read:  “Not only the Sanctuary Itself, but the ministration of the priests, was to ‘serve unto the example and shadow of Heavenly things.’  Hebrews 8:5.”  And in DA:161 we read, “God designed that the Temple at Jerusalem should be a continual witness to the high destiny open to every soul.”  However, in PK:49 we read:  “Well would it be for old and young to ponder those Words of Scripture that show how the place marked by God’s special presence should be regarded.”

 

In the Bible we find many verses which show that God’s dwelling place is in Heaven (see 1Ki. 8:30 & 43 & 49 as starting examples).  However, the Bible is very clear that this Heavenly dwelling place is inside of the Sanctuary:  “The Lord is in His Holy Temple:  let all the earth keep silence before Him.”  Habakkuk 2:20.  And here is Psalm 102:19:  “For He hath looked down from the height of His Sanctuary; from Heaven did the LORD behold the earth.”  Hence, let it not be said of us as it was with Israel of old, that “[58] they provoked Him to anger. . . [59] and [He] greatly abhorred Israel: [60] So that He forsook the Tabernacle of Shiloh, the Tent which He placed among men,” Psalm 78:58-60.

 

 

D) JOHN IN VISION

 

 

John the Revelator, in vision, saw the Ark of the Covenant (Rev. 11:19; 15:5), the Altar of Incense (Rev. 8:3), the Golden Censer (Rev. 8:3), and the Seven-Branched Candlestick (Rev. 4:5).  It pushes too hard at the text to try to prove that these articles where seen by John as being upon the earth.  As we have already seen, everything connected with the earthly Sanctuary was an object lesson to illustrate the Heavenly.

 

From SpTB9:10 and DA:78 we read:  “At the age of twelve, Jesus accompanied Joseph and Mary to Jerusalem to attend the Passover.  Here, for the first time during His child-life, He looked upon the Temple.  He saw the white-robed priests performing their solemn ministry, and witnessed the impressive rites of the paschal service.  Day by day He saw their meaning more clearly.  Every act seemed to be bound up with His Own life.  New impulses were awakening within Him.  Silent and absorbed, He seemed to be studying out a great problem.  The mystery of His mission was opening to the Saviour.  The work that He was to accomplish for the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the appointed heirs of the promises of the covenant, began to dawn upon His mind.”  Notice that it was not until Christ viewed the Sanctuary service in type that “The mystery of His mission” began to open to Him, and “New impulses” awakened and “began to dawn upon His mind.”

 

Consider very deeply this next statement in GC:488 (4SP:312-313):  “The subject of the Sanctuary and the Investigative Judgment should be clearly understood by the people of God.  All need a knowledge for themselves of the position and work of their great High Priest.  Otherwise, it will be impossible for them to exercise the faith which is essential at this time, or to occupy the position which God designs them to fill. . .[Did you catch that?] The Sanctuary. . . concerns every soul living upon the earth.  It opens to view the plan of redemption, bringing us down to the very close of time, and revealing the triumphant issue of the contest between righteousness and sin.  It is of the utmost importance that all should thoroughly investigate these subjects and be able to give an answer to everyone that asketh them a reason of the hope that is in them.”

 

Lastly, from MR:760; RY:78 we learn:  “The correct understanding of the ministration in the Heavenly Sanctuary is the foundation of our faith.”  And from RH, January 28, 1890, we learn:  “Christ is in the Heavenly Sanctuary, and He is there to make an atonement for the people.  He is there to present His wounded side and pierced hands to His Father.  He is there to plead for His Church that is upon the earth.  He is cleansing the Sanctuary from sins of the people.”

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