Friday: Further Study: Lessons from the sanctuary
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 the first requisites in preparing a dwelling place for the Most High.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 343.
Discussion Questions:
- Dwell more on the question of God’s justice. We see so little justice in this world now. Why, then, without the ultimate hope of God’s justice, would there be no hope of justice at all?
- Someone wrote: “The tabernacle is a piece of holy ground amid a world that has lost its way.” What does that mean to you?
- Read 1 Peter 1:14–16. In what way do you understand God’s holiness? For you, what does it mean to be holy yourself? How can we become holy?
- The sons of Eli are an example of people who were “close” to God but who lost their appreciation of His holiness (1 Sam. 2:12–17). How can you avoid losing a sense of God’s holiness? Why are prayer, study, and obedience crucial in helping us to preserve the awareness of His holiness?
- “The most important part of the daily ministration was the service performed in behalf of individuals. The repentant sinner brought his offering to the door of the tabernacle, and placing his hand upon the victim’s head, confessed his sins, thus in figure transferring them from himself to the innocent sacrifice. By his own hand the animal was then slain, and the blood was carried by the priest into the holy place and sprinkled before the veil, behind which was the ark containing the law that the sinner had transgressed. By this ceremony the sin was, through the blood, transferred in figure to the sanctuary.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 354. How does this quote help us to understand the ways in which “salvation by faith” was revealed in the sanctuary service?
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God appreciates givings that comes from the heart but not those given to please others
Been told that lets be holy for God himself was holy and had promised us to be his followers.
How amazing that Jesus took the world's sins on himself, and all sins were transferred onto him. What a relief it is to know that Jesus bears all the sin, shame, guilt and transgression of God's law. All that sinners have to do is to accept Jesus as their savior and God's pardoning grace through the sacrifice of Jesus at the cross.