Read Leviticus 6:25-26; 10:16–18. What crucial truth is revealed here?
By eating the offering at a holy place, the officiating priest would “bear away the guilt” of the offender. The meat of this offering was not just payment for the priests’ services (otherwise Moses would not have been so angry with Aaron’s sons for not eating of it), but it was a crucial part of the atonement.
How does the eating of the sacrifice contribute to the process of atonement? Eating was […]
“The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars.” (Jer. 17:1).
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After the laying on of hands and the death of the animal, the next ritual activity in the offering was the handling of the blood. The priest applied the sacrificial blood to the horns of the altar. Because blood […]
Read Leviticus 4:27–31. What ritual activities were performed along with the sacrifice?
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The goal of the offering was to remove sin and guilt from the sinner, to transfer responsibility to the sanctuary, and to let the sinner leave forgiven and cleansed. (In extremely rare cases one could bring a certain amount of fine flour as a purification offering, and although this purification offering was bloodless, it was understood that “without shedding of blood there is […]
As anyone who knows the Lord can testify, sin separates us from God.
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The good news is that the Lord has put in place a system to heal the breach caused by sin and to bring us back to Him. At the center of this system is, of course, the sacrifice.
There are basically three kinds of sin depicted in the Old Testament, each corresponding to the sinner’s level of awareness while he or she committed […]
Read for This Week’s Study: 2 Chron. 33:12-13; 2 Sam. 14:1–11; Lev. 4:27–31; Jer. 17:1; Lev. 10:16–18; Mic. 7:18–20.
Memory Text: “Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18, 19, NASB).
The sacrificial system is, probably, the best known part of the sanctuary service because it’s the part that […]
Further Study: Ellen G. White, “The Tabernacle and Its Services,” pp. 343–358, in Patriarchs and Prophets.
“For the building of the sanctuary great and expensive preparations were necessary; a large amount of the most precious and costly material was required; yet the Lord accepted only freewill offerings. ‘Of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take My offering’ was the divine command repeated by Moses to the congregation. Devotion to God and a spirit of sacrifice were […]
Time and again the Psalms show that the sanctuary plays a significant part in the relationship between believers and God.
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Well known is the firm conviction David expressed at the end of Psalm 23 that he “will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (vs. 6, NKJV). David’s foremost wish in Psalm 27 was to be in the presence of Yahweh, a presence which was best experienced in the sanctuary. In order to show […]
“Hang the heretics!” the angry mob shouted, shoving my neighbor and me toward a makeshift gallows.
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Rough hands slipped a noose over my head and shouted, “Now will you repent?”
“No!” I said, and the noose drew tighter around my neck.
Months earlier I noticed a man reading a Bible on a bus. He saw my interest and urged me to buy a Bible and discover God’s truths for myself. Then he invited me to visit the […]
Read 1 Kings 8:31–53. What more does this text teach us about the function of the sanctuary?
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At the dedication ceremony of the newly built temple, King Solomon offered seven cases of specific prayers that could be offered at the temple. The seven functions exemplify the extensive role of the temple in the lives of the Israelites. The temple was a place for seeking forgiveness (vs. 30); for oath swearing (vss. 31, 32); for supplication […]
Read Exodus 31:2–11. What do these verses teach us about the making of the objects in the earthly sanctuary? What link is there with Genesis 1:2? (See also Exod. 25:9.)
Of all the objects in the sanctuary, the ark of the testimony was the supreme symbol of God’s presence and holiness. The name derives from the two stone tablets of the law, called the “testimony” (Exod. 32:15-16), that were placed inside the ark (Exod. 25:16, 21).
On top of the ark was […]
