Lesson 8
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*August 18 - 24 |
Light and Shadows: The Earthly Sanctuary
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A SHADOW OF THINGS TO COME. The services of the Old Testament sanctuary symbolize Christ's redemptive mission; it reveals the whole plan of redemption, in pictorial form. These services stood as both a shadow of things to come and a copy of greater, heavenly realities. Understanding them helps us understand salvation.
When God told Moses to build a sanctuary patterned after the heavenly one, He was not thinking of providing only a worship center for Israel. The sanctuary was to be a teaching model of the sacrifice and ministry of Jesus, which would begin with His first advent. It also pointed upward to the greater sanctuary in heaven—the grand center of Jesus' heavenly ministry from where the final activities of redemption's drama will be played out. This week we will study how the role and function of the earthly sanctuary instructs us about how God deals with the problem of sin. As you study, discover the complete cycle of redemption and the central issues of the cosmic conflict between Jesus and Satan.
THE WEEK AT A GLANCE: Where did the model and even the idea of the earthly sanctuary come from? Was salvation to be found in its rituals? What did the sanctuary service symbolize? What was the meaning of the daily ritual? The yearly? What was the purpose of the scapegoat? What lessons were to be taught by the feasts, such as the Passover, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles? By the end of the week, you might not become an Old Testament scholar, but you will have a better understanding of salvation.
MEMORY TEXT: "And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them" (Exodus 25:8).
*(Please study this week's lesson to prepare for Sabbath, August 25).
The earthly sanctuary, though made with human hands, had, literally, a heavenly blueprint. It wasn't something Moses and the Israelites copied from the pagans around them; it was given to them directly by God Himself.
According to the Bible, God revealed to Moses a "pattern" to follow in the construction of the tabernacle. The word used for "pattern" is the Hebrew word tabnith, a word that means "pattern," "plan," "a form," "a construction," "a figure," "a structure," and "an image."
Hebrews 8:5 teaches that God designed the earthly sanctuary to be a "copy," "shadow," "pattern," or "type" of the heavenly sanctuary. The Greek word translated as "shadow" refers to a shadow that is cast by an object and that represents the form of that object. The earthly sanctuary represents, however faintly, the heavenly sanctuary.
The earthly sanctuary, though only a shadow of the real, was instituted by God as a means to teach the Israelites, and hence the world, the truth about salvation. Yet there was no salvation in the sanctuary ritual itself. The problem with sin was too great for it to be solved by slicing the throat of a dove or a goat and spilling its blood before some altar. "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins" (Heb. 10:4).
Why would God institute such an elaborate and complicated structure such
as the Hebrew sacrificial system if in the end there was no salvation to
be found in it? What was the purpose of the sanctuary if in fact it was not
able to bring about salvation?
Try to understand the work of Christ apart from the Hebrew sanctuary service. It's difficult. Peter's words that we were "redeemed through the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Pet. 1:19, NKJV) are meaningless unless understood in the context of the Hebrew sanctuary service. How does one understand Paul's statement, "Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us" (1 Cor. 5:7, NKJV) apart from the Hebrew sacrificial service? Our whole concept of atonement, redemption, and salvation is rooted in the earthly sanctuary service and the lessons it was designed to teach. It is impossible to have a complete understanding of the gospel apart from the sanctuary background.
Considering the truths taught in the earthly sanctuary service, why is
it important for us to have a personal understanding of the sanctuary?
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As a type, the earthly sanctuary pointed to Christ's redemptive ministry. Generally, a type is a person, event, or thing in the Old Testament that foreshadows something in the New Testament. Types often meet their fulfillment (or antitype) in the person and ministry of Jesus, but they sometimes relate to God the Father, His people, or some other reality.
Give the antitypes, or the realities, to which the following sanctuary types pointed:
the altar of incense (Rev. 8:3) _________________________________________________________
the golden lamp stands (John 8:12; Rev. 1:12, 13, 20) ______________________________________
the sacrificial lamb (John 1:36; 1 Cor. 5:7) ________________________________________________
the shewbread (John 6:32, 33 ,41, 48, 51) ________________________________________________
the mercy seat (Exod. 25:22; Lev. 16:2) _________________________________________________
the blood of the sacrificial animals
(Lev.
17:11,
Lev.
5:9;
1
Pet. 1:19) ___________________________
As one studies the earthly sanctuary service, one point clearly stands out. However fundamental and crucial the sacrifice of the animal was, the sanctuary ritual did not end with its death. Often there was something else that had to be done, not by the sinner but by the officiating priest. In other words, if we understand the sanctuary service as a model of the plan of salvation, then the model teaches that the plan of salvation does not end with the sacrifice. The ministry of the priest almost always followed. What this should tell us is that however crucial and fundamental Christ's death on the cross was (symbolized by the animal sacrifices in the earthly sanctuary), His work for us did not end at the Cross.
After the sacrifice was brought to the priest, the sinner's work was
essentially done. What lessons can we draw (or not draw) from that
aspect of the sanctuary ritual regarding the role of the sinner in the plan
of salvation?
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What activities were part of the daily service of the sanctuary? What
was their significance for the worshiper?
Exod.
29:38-42;
30:1,
6-8.
As the priests morning and evening entered the holy place at the time of incense, the daily sacrifice was ready to be offered upon the altar in the court without. This was a time of intense interest to the worshipers who assembled at the tabernacle. Before entering into the presence of God through the ministration of the priest, they were to engage in earnest searching of heart and confession of sin. They united in silent prayer, with their faces toward the holy place. Thus their petitions ascended with the cloud of incense, while faith laid hold upon the merits of the promised Saviour prefigured by the atoning sacrifice. The hours appointed for the morning and the evening sacrifice were regarded as sacred, and they came to be observed as the set time for worship throughout the Jewish nation."—Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 353, 354.
The sanctuary services were divided into two main parts: (1) the daily service and (2) the yearly service. The yearly service was performed both in the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place, while the daily service was conducted in the Holy Place alone.
What was the fundamental requirement for dealing with the sin problem?
See
Lev.
17:11.
Through the ministration of blood in the daily service, sin was transferred to the sanctuary. First, the person confessed his or her sins over the lamb, thus symbolically transferring it to the animal (Lev. 1:4; 4:4, 15, 24, 29; 16:21). Then as the blood of the slain lamb was sprinkled before the veil or poured out on the altar, sin was transferred to the sanctuary. Thus at the end of the transaction, the sinner was clean, and the sin was brought into the sanctuary. In cases in which blood was not used, the priest eating the flesh of the sacrificial animal accomplished the same thing, the transfer of sin (Lev. 10:16-20).
| Imagine being an Israelite during the temple ministration prior to
Christ's first advent. How do you think that person would have understood
what the ritual means? What lessons about salvation should have been
drawn from it? What can we learn as well?
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In the daily service a person's sins were atoned for by the blood of the lamb and were transferred to the sanctuary. The yearly service, the Day of Atonement, demonstrated God's way of removing sin from the camp of His people.
What is the significance of sending away Azazel's goat? (In Hebrew, the
word for scapegoat is "azazel"
[Lev.
16:5-10, 20-22.])
This goat indicates God's final removal of sin from the universe. Not until the goat had been banished to the wilderness could the people regard themselves as free from the burden of their sins. All Israelites were to spend the Day of Atonement in prayer, fasting, and self-examination.
What parallels exist between Azazel's goat and Satan at the end of time?
Rev.
20:1-3, 7-10.
| Why doesn't the scapegoat symbolize the sacrifice of Christ on
the cross along with the Lord's goat in Leviticus 16, especially when it
says the scapegoat
(Lev.
16:10) will make "an atonement"? The answers are as follows: (1) No blood
was shed from Azazel's goat; therefore, it was not a sacrifice for sin
(Heb.
9:22). (2) The sins transferred to it had already been atoned for by
other bloody sacrifices
(Leviticus
4).
(3) The transfer of sins to it occurred after all of the sins recorded in the sanctuary had been atoned for by the blood of the Lord's goat (Lev. 16:16-1 9). (4) Because one goat was selected for the Lord (Yahweh), Azazel, for whom the other goat was chosen, should represent a personal being who stands in opposition to the Lord. That would be Satan. |
Here, then, on the Day of Atonement, the great controversy between Christ and Satan was represented in miniature—sin and Christ as its remedy, Satan as the cause of.
| What does God's act of removing sin from the camp reveal about the
ultimate fate of sin? Without pushing the type too far, what does it
tell us about our personal need to have sin removed from our lives?
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The seven religious feasts celebrated by the Hebrew people formed a yearly cycle that also taught the Hebrews a great deal The seven religious feasts celebrated by the Hebrew people formed a yearly cycle that also taught the Hebrews a great deal about salvation. Below are snippets of three of these feasts- the Passover, the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles. Notice their chronological progression.
1. Passover: Read about the Passover (Pesach in Hebrew) in
Exodus
12 and
Leviticus
23:4, 5. What event in the plan of salvation did this feast point forward
to?
1
Cor. 5:7;
1
Pet. 1:19, 20.
No wonder that in this cycle the Passover comes first. Considering what it represents, that makes perfect sense, because without the sacrifice of Christ, the other feasts (or at least what they represent) would not be able to happen. Passover had to precede them.
2. Day of Atonement: The Day of Atonement cleansing of the earthly
sanctuary
(Lev.
16;
23:27-32)
was fulfilled in the pre-Advent judgment, the opening phase of the final
judgment
(Dan.
7:9, 10;
8:14;
Rev.
11:18, 19). This began in October 22, 1844. The Day of Atonement fell
on the tenth day of the seventh month in the Jewish calendar. The end of
the 2300 symbolic evening/mornings or historical years in
Daniel
8:14 came to a close in the autumn of A.D. 1844. In that year the Day
of Atonement fell on October 22, according to the most accurate reckoning
used by the Karaite sect of the Jews. That was the time for the antitypical
cleansing of the sanctuary to begin with the judgment in heaven.
3. Feast of Tabernacles: The Feast of Tabernacles or Booths is recorded
in
Numbers
29:12-34. What event in salvation does this feast point forward to?
Rev.
14:14-16;
19:6-9..
Following the autumn harvest, the Feast of Tabernacles came after the Day of Atonement and was the last feast of the year. It was a joyous event, not only because it celebrated the bounties of the season but because the Israelites had settled all discord and confessed all their sins on the Day of Atonement.
| How could one apply the spiritual lessons taught from these feasts
to one's own spiritual life? What does each feast teach, and how does
that teaching impact how we live today?
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FURTHER STUDY: Read about the ceremony of the wave sheaf in Leviticus 23:10-14 and the event it prefigured in Matthew 28.
Read the chapter entitled "Calvary" in The Desire of the Ages,
pp. 741-757.
Christ arose from the dead as the first fruits of those that slept. He was the antitype of the wave sheaf, and His resurrection took place on the very day when the wave sheaf was to be presented before the Lord. For more than a thousand years this symbolic ceremony had been performed. From the harvest fields the first heads of ripened grain were gathered, and when the people went up to Jerusalem to the Passover, the sheaf of first fruits was waved as a thank offering before the Lord. Not until this was presented could the sickle be put to the grain, and it be gathered into sheaves. The sheaf dedicated to God represented the harvest. So Christ the first fruits represented the great spiritual harvest to be gathered for the kingdom of God. His resurrection is the type and pledge of the resurrection of all the righteous dead. 'For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.' 1 Thess. 4:14."—The Desire of the Ages, pp. 785, 786.
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SUMMARY: The earthly sanctuary
was a model of the one in heaven. Though salvation was not found in it, the
sanctuary pointed to the Cross and to Christ's high-priestly ministry. The
daily service, the yearly service, and the feasts all symbolized various
phases in the process of redemption. Truly we can say with the psalmist:
"Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary"
(Ps.
77:13).
Rendy Sebilo
Nearly all the members of Lapangon village have been baptized. They meet together in our front yard to worship each evening, hungry to learn more about God.
Although the worship starts well before sunset, the villagers are so intent to study deeper into God's Word that often darkness falls before we finish. We decided to buy a kerosene lamp to light these evening worships. The villagers enjoy sitting in the light of the lamp listening to Bible stories. When the villagers learned that the light from the lamp can be seen in villages quite a distance away, they compared their lamp with the light of salvation that has come to their village.
One night we discovered that we were out of kerosene. Villagers scampered home to bring what kerosene they had to fill the lamp. We pooled the kerosene and poured it into the lamp. It was not enough to keep the lamp burning for long, so we decided to shorten the evening worship. But during the lively worship we all forgot about the limited supply of kerosene. When worship ended we checked the lamp's fuel tank and found it was empty. It was too far to walk to the nearest trader who had kerosene to sell, so we knew that we would have no kerosene for the next night's worship.
The next evening as we prepared for worship my partner checked the lamp and found the tank was full! He asked me if I had found some kerosene, but I had not. We lighted the lamp and began worship. We told the villagers that our God had worked a miracle and provided kerosene to light our worship. We told the story of the widow who borrowed vessels to fill with oil, and the oil failed not until all the vessels were filled. We explained that this miracle occurred because of the widow's faith and compared the story with the kerosene in our lamp. We had a wonderful worship, lighted by faith and kerosene. The following evening we again inspected the lamp and found the tank full! This continued for three nights before we could purchase more kerosene.
The village chief summed up our miracle when, during one of our worships, he said, "With our own eyes we have seen the miracle given to us by the God in heaven. We need to be faithful to Him every day!"
"We will be faithful!" the villagers responded.
Rendy Sebilo was a student missionary in Lapangon in southern Philippines. He is again studying at Mountain View College.
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