Wednesday: The New and Living Way Through the Veil
Read Hebrews 10:19-22. What invitation do we have in this passage?
The book of Hebrews argues that Jesus has entered into the heavenly sanctuary and invites us to follow His lead. This idea agrees with the conception introduced before that Jesus is the “captain” and forerunner of believers (Hebrews 2:10; Hebrews 6:19-20; Hebrews 12:2). The “new and living way” is the new covenant that Jesus inaugurated with His sacrifice and ascension.
Image © Kerri Guthrie at Goodsalt.com
The expression “new and living” contrasts with the description of the old covenant as “obsolete and growing old” (Hebrews 8:13, NKJV). It is the new covenant, which has provided forgiveness of sin and has put the law in our hearts, that makes it possible for us to approach God with confidence, not because of ourselves or anything we have done, but only because of what Jesus has done for us by fulfilling all the covenant obligations.
Hebrews noted that the inauguration of the old covenant involved the inauguration of the sanctuary and the consecration of the priests (Hebrews 9:18-21; compare with Exodus 40:1-38; Exodus 19:4-6; Leviticus 8:1-9:24). The purpose of the covenant was to create an intimate relationship between God and His people (Exodus 19:4-6). When Israel accepted this relationship, God immediately commanded that a sanctuary be built so that He could live among them. The inauguration of the sanctuary and God’s presence in the midst of His people was the moment when the covenant between God and Israel was completed.
The same is true of the new covenant. The new covenant also implies the inauguration of Jesus’ priestly ministry in our behalf (Hebrews 5:1-10, Hebrews 7:1-8:13).
Jesus’ ascension before God has inaugurated a new era for the people of God. Zechariah 3:1-10 mentions that Satan was in the presence of God to accuse God’s people, who were represented by the high priest Joshua. This accuser is the same that raised questions about Job’s loyalty to God (Job 1:1-2:13). With the sacrifice of Jesus, however, Satan has been cast out of heaven (Revelation 12:7-12, compare with John 12:31, John 16:11). Now it is Jesus who intercedes for us and through His sacrifice and faithfulness claims salvation for us!
| What accusations could Satan make against you before God, if He were allowed? Though he is a liar, how much would he have to lie about you in order to seek your condemnation? What’s your only hope? |
(24)
Thomas Kuhn was the man who introduced the term paradigm shift into the English language. He claimed that scientific knowledge (He was a science philosopher by trade) did not progress linearly and continuously but underwent a series of paradigm shifts that resulted when scientist think about ideas in new and different ways. Competing paradigms often give different and sometimes irreconcilable views and explanations of observations. I could go on at some length about this but seeing most of you are neither philosophers or scientists. I will give a short example. We have been through three paradigm shifts in our understanding of light. Light was considered to be particulate in nature. Then, we switched to the wave model. Nowadays we use the quantum model to describe the nature and behaviour of light. The switches between the models were not instantaneous and often the reason for the slow changes was nothing to do with science at all. Powerful personalities, like Isaac Newton had a lot of influence on what was acceptable even when they had been proven wrong.
The author of the book of Hebrews was handling the paradigm shift between the old and new covenants. The old Judaic view was held strongly and there were powerful people in the Apostolic church that maintained that Christians should become Jews. The progressives thought otherwise and wanted to leave the old for the new. There were factions and no doubt some name calling. The author of Hebrews wanted to show that while the old was superseded by the new, it was a essentially a prophecy of the new.
Follow the argument, A better sacrifice, a better priesthood, a high priest who is approachable, a sanctuary that had global significance. And now, added to all that a new and better way of living. Why was that?
Many years ago, I was friends with a senior executive of a regional airline. Even back then I was interested in computers and one day he asked me if I would like to see the airline's new computer. So he took me to his office high in a swank city building, past all the security arrangements, and into the inner sanctuary of the administration of the airline. And there was the computer, sitting in airconditioned comfort in a room behind his desk. What an amazing experience it was for me! Spoiler alert: most cell phones are many times more powerful than that computer - that just shows how old this story is. The point is, the fact that I was able to get in to see the computer at all was not my interest in computers, but because my friend knew of my interest and had the keys to get in.
Likewise, in the new covenant, Jesus is the one who had the keys to go through the veil, and it is because of his relationship with us that we can go though to the new land living way, not anything we do. The spiritual paradigm shift for us is the new relationship.
Dear brother Maurice. I’m always blessed when l read your thought provoking enlightening spiritual lessons buttressed by your real life practical and very interesting experiences in your life. I Thank GOD for using you as a willing vessel. Now my question, do you have these wonderful unique lessons written in a book?
Thank you for your kind words Marcia. Sorry, I have not written them in a book. Phew, that would be a lot of work wouldn't it? I have written one book, "Concurrency Control Using Directed Dependency Graphs for Transactions in Persistent Systems", and that took a long long time. And only about six people have read it. Seriously, though, I think of my comments as relevant for the moment rather than forming a connected narrative as in a book.
There are at least 2 persons we cannot lie about anything, God and ourselves.
I know that I have nothing good enough to achieve salvation on my own, and I cannot hide this from myself, neither from God. So this is not a case of runing away from, but I prefer to trust in Jesus to help me out. Jesus died exactly for this evil part that I cannot run from in myself. I have only to admit it, and trust that Grace can do what I cannot! Am I comfortable with that? No, this is a constant fight! And perhaps I don't really need another accuser but the conscience of the Spirit, which is very able to convince me of what I truly am! Satan won't have to lie about anything of my life, I know that I am short! But thank God for Jesus, and His super love, Who is able to work on me so I can try my very best to win this fight over! Thank God because He fought and won! And I can claim His victory as mine...
Praise Our Loving Way-Maker, the Word and Faithful Fulfilment of the New Covenant!
Praise the Holy and Most High Priest!
Praise the merciful and patient Consuming fire!
Praise the gracious Mediating Emmanuel!
All praise and worship be to Our On-Time Advocate and Our Saviour!
We were made to praise our Lord.
Praise God!
Jesus referred to Himself as being "The Temple," when He said "Destroy this temple and in three days He would raise it up." Then in Revelation 21:22 The Apostle John saw no temple in the New Earth because "...The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it." Heaven itself is "The Holiest." Via Jesus blood and His Physical Presence by His Father we have access and a place waiting for us there too even now!
Hi Pete, the New Jerusalem will have no temple but heaven clearly does. While Jesus is the temple there is still a temple in heaven, the same as while Jesus is our Sabbath rest, there is still a weekly Sabbath.
I believe we need to be careful not to go to either extreme. There is a literal physical sanctuary in heaven while the goal of the sanctuary is what Jesus is doing in the soul temple.
OK, William Earnhardt, give me "Scriptural evidence" that your statement that there is a structure in Heaven with a "Two Compartment" situation exists somewhere in "the Universe," and that Jesus ministered in the first compartment of it until 1844 before He moved into the Second Compartment to minister there until He returns in power and Great Glory soon? I see the whole idea of this as a "Transubstantiation" of the "symbolic" meaning of it like what the transubstatiation of the "bread and grape juice" of Jesus "Body and Blood" by what "Heathenistic Christianity" did with this in the past.
The heavenly sanctuary is real with Christ both the sacrifice and high priest. The architecture or physical representation pales into insignificance against the reality.
Psalm 012:19, 1Kings8:27, and 2Chronicles 6:18 are very clear that "The Universe" is God's Sanctuary and that what He had men build here for Him as a two compartment structure was just symbolic and for Men's benefit to help His faith about that very fact. Yes, Jesus is real and His Father is real but the second compartment here on earth was just symbolic of "The Universe Itself," and the "Day of Atonement (once a year feast) was just symbolic of that very fact that Jesus cleanses "The Universe" from all sin "Once fo all," 2,000 plus or minus years ago at Calvary and when He rose from death and ascended into the Realms of The Universe Itself then.
Well, Pete, you appear to be asking for "biblical proof" of a statement you made, not William. 😉 William wrote, that "there is still a temple in heaven" and "There is a literal physical sanctuary in heaven," and you seem to doubt that there is biblical support for that. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.)
It seems to me that those who believe in a real temple/sanctuary in this universe might have reasons, given the following references and many other less direct ones to the existence of a sanctuary after which the earthly sanctuary was patterned:
Exodus 25:8-9 indicates that Moses is to construct a tabernacle "after a pattern." The word implies an original after which the earthly temple is to be "patterned." (cf. Heb. 8:5)
Much of the Bible appears to presuppose the existence of a heavenly temple/sanctuary/dwelling place of God. For instance, Moses urged the Israelites to invite God to "look down from the habitation of Thy Sanctuary from heaven" (Deuteronomy 26:15, cf. Psalm 102:19, Isaiah 63:15).
Isaiah had a vision of the Lord in His temple. Isa 6:1 Revelation uses a lot of sanctuary/temple language, which doesn't make a lot of sense if there is no temple/sanctuary beyond this earth.
Israel's songs have many allusions to God's dwelling in is heavenly Tabernacle. His saints are urged to "praise the Lord in His Sanctuary ... in the firmament" (Psalm 150:1; Psalm 123:1.)
The book of The Revelation is written with a backdrop of sanctuary imagery. See, for instance Revelation 7:15, Rev. 11:19, Rev. 15:5)
The writer of Hebrews refers to "the sanctuary" and "true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man. Hebrews 8:2. He goes on to say that the temple/sanctuary and its services serves as a "shadow of heavenly things." (Hebrews 8:5 Hebrews 9:23, cf. Ex. 25:8-9) Now, while shadows are poor representations of the real, there has to be something real to cast a shadow. I believe God inspired the writers of the Bible to represent truth accurately within the language framework of their culture and time.
That said, the "throne" of God is represented in the earthly sanctuary as being above the mercy seat, the covering of the ark which contains the Ten Commandments. That, of course, has high symbolic significance. The Bible also often speaks of God's throne "in heaven." So it is left up to us to interpret just how the earthly sanctuary is patterned after the "true tabernacle."
As it happens the February 27, 2022 issue of Adventist World includes an article by Richard M. Davidson, called "Sanctuary 101" which deals with the sanctuary teaching. I highly recommend that you read it. Dr. Davidson has made it his life work to study and explain the Old Testament text, and he seems to have a particular love for teaching about the sanctuary. I remember his Camp Meeting series of many decades ago in which he did his best to help us experience what the Israelites experienced regarding the sanctuary, blowing a genuine ram's horn trumpet at the beginning of every meeting - a sound that could be heard to the outskirts of the B.C. camp ground that accommodated 7,000+ people.
We don't have a lot of details of the heavenly sanctuary beyond its "shadow" on this planet, and, as we all know, a shadow of something doesn't really give us a full picture.
In 1903 when J.H. Kellogg was wanting to publish his book, The Living Temple, Ellen White wrote him a number of letters, warning him that the theories in his book were all wrong. She reminded him of the small company of believers who had fasted and prayed and been guided by the Holy Spirit to arrive at the body of truth the organized body then held. She warned him against spiritualizing away heavenly realities. Then she wrote this interesting paragraph:
We might be wise to follow her example and and leave our lips closed regarding heavenly things beyond what the Bible explicitly says. We have enough to engage our thoughts in what God has clearly revealed, and we can keep quite busy doing what He has instructed us to do, without arguing about details that the Bible does not specify.
[By the way, I think Maurice's reply to you was really excellent!]
Inge, in your response to Pete you said, "So it is left up to us to interpret just how the earthly sanctuary is patterned after the "true tabernacle."". To be fair, you said many other things surrounding that and I don't want to take that sentence out of the context of your response, but I want to respond fairly and respectfully to your response.
It is sometimes hard to see how our flawed senses obstruct our relationship to reality. Sometimes my wife and I will have short conversations with each other from different locations inside our house and, depending on whether the stereo or tv is on, we might miss words from each other's statements and so have to change location or the listening condition. There are other times when we're right next to each other, and no words are missed but a statement's content is still misconstrued. Us flawed humans are in a constant struggle with our being--our hearing and/or our cognition not excepted. I believe that truth about ourselves remain constant whether we're relating to each other or to our Creator.
I believe God's word is directed to humanity to communicate His truth to us. Because communication generally involves another individual, the intent of a communicator isn't always achieved. In the case of God and us, no fault lies with the Communicator. The fault for all misconceptions consistently lie with us. Now, because you nor the readers know me, I wish to make clear that I acknowledge my own susceptibility to being, at times, both a flawed communicator and a flawed recipient of communication--and my wife will happily verify this statement!😊 I believe this is a universal human characteristic, which because it could seriously impact our relationship with our Creator, He has provided a countermeasure as a part of His Son's salvation package (Jn 1:1,9,16-18; Heb 8:10-11; Jn 16:12-14).
As the 1st paragraph of Tuesday's lesson pointed out, "These three veils were both entrances and boundaries that only some people could cross." The rending of the "veil" between the Holy and The Most Holy Place I understand to be symbolic of Christ's death (Heb 10:20) and the inauguration of His personal ministry on my/our behalf (Heb 9:14,23). His ministry provides me/us access to a previously forbidden experience (Heb 10:19-22). You might presently understand otherwise. However, I encourage you and the readership, more as a fellow convalescent than a judge, to keep in mind that the "veil" of Christ's flesh was rent to provide us victory over the "veil" of our flesh (2 Cor 3:14-18), as ministered solely by the Gift His death secured for us (Jn 14:16-18; 2 Pt 1:20-21; 1 Jn 2:27; Heb 9:8-11).
I hold that the “New and living Way” was offered by the Son of God as He chose to come in form of man - preaching, teaching, and living the ‘Will of the Father’; being His representation for us. The world at large was still in spiritual darkness and needed to know this ‘new and living (in the flesh) way’. His Coming to earth was the Father's last, as Maurice coined it, paradigm-shift, for man to be able to be lead into 'all Truth'.
Jesus' teachings points all to the Father who sent Him, admonishing all who believe to live according to the ways He preached here on earth, and then to be translated to live again having received a new body which is not made of flesh and blood – 1Cor.15:49-51.
It is my conviction that the reason why He came in the flesh(veil) is to assure us that it is possible for man to live the 'Will of God' when accepting it into our heart and mind. He demonstrated and testified to the spirit of the Old Testament, showing that the spirit of the law and of the sayings of the prophets declaring the 'Heart of God' can live in us, a living soul like He. Yes, He demonstrated what is 'right' and that we are able to love the Father and our fellow man whiles in our body of flesh.
He showed us the Way of LOVE - loving our fellow man through serving on another - the one and only Way against which there is no law. One cannot be faulted/judged, when deciding to love; this 'New and Living Way' is now offered to be written into everyone’s heart. Those who believe, the Holy Spirit will take by the hand and lead into all Truth.
Through Christ Jesus’ earthly ministry mankind has been made aware that we have a heavenly Father, that by His Son we know what is His Will and Way.
I hope and pray that we understand that all humanity are children of God created in His Image – those who already believe and those who not yet believe.
Christ Jesus' ministry on earth was offered so all can believe! Not only the Jews but all gentiles; to admonish all to live according to what has been revealed to us by His spirit to be the Will of the Father.
Now we know the spirit of the 'New and living Way through the vail' - do we believe and follow Him?
OK Brigitte Humphrey, and yet EGW says that "The closer we come to Christ the more faulty we will appear because we see clearer our imperfections in sharp contrast to His Perfect Nature." And in another place EGW very clearly states that God has to make up for an "Unavoidable deficiency in us." So from all this I would say that it will not be until we have "Glorified bodies" after Jesus comes again that we will reflect perfectly Jesus sinless character. Till then and in our daily living for Jesus His Father makes up for an unavoidable dificiency in us etc. and etc.
Yes, Pete - ‘the closer we come to Christ Jesus the more humble we become because of our increasing awareness of the many ‘human’ aspects which interfere with our resolve to love our God and our fellow man’. Therefore, we are working out our salvation “with fear and trembling”, though in the assurance that our Father is faithful to keep His promises to be with us always until the end – Deut.31:6; Ex.15:2.
Pete, in my understanding of Scripture, in Love is the hope and patience to keep us faithfully continuing to live the Will of God. The Son of Man, Jesus, revealed His Way and demonstrated it to us, the spirit of the Son of God lead the Way.
The Father knows that we are imperfect, that we will not be without fault when living by faith. Therefore, all who believe in Him are covered by the perfect Love of Christ Jesus who shelters us with the Righteousness imparted to us by His Faith. We receive the Father’s Mercy and Grace by Faith because the Love of Christ Jesus made it possible.
Living by faith, holding on to the Father’s Promises, is all we have as we humbly accept His Way of Righteousness. It is available to all who believe and live by faith the Testimony of His Son - the Father's Gospel for the life of mankind. The Son of God came in the form of man, removing the separation which existed because of the veil(flesh) so man can have life through faith, and live it more abundantly – Gal.2:16; Rom.4:5; Rom1:17.
EGW also made a statement that it is not until we lay down our armor at jesus' feet and He gives us glorified bodies that it will then be safe to say that "We are saved and sinless" but not until then. And 1John 1:8 and verse 10 are clear to me that until Jesus returns we will have sin to take to Jesus to forgive us for and to cleanse us from.
in 1:John 1:8 and 1:10 is quite clear to me that we need to be very careful that our "Theology" is neither "Perfectionistic" or "Legalistic" or "Liberalistic." These two verses of the Apostle John tell me that he was aware that we have "Sinful Natures" and that in Jesus we have Him to go to and spill our sins to Him each and every day and then the very middle verse there (verse 9) is the promise of Jesus cleansing power for us that is there for us in Him moment by moment hour by hour day by day etc. until He comes in the clouds of Glory. I call these three verses "A word of God sandwich."
The temple separated sinful man from God.It showed how Adam had lost fellowship with God in fellowship. His Walk With God !
CHRIST JESUS is the entry/Door of how we can access the Father's presence/Spirit.
Jesus is the foundation stone of the indwelling Temple, where God desired from eternity to be all IN All ..in his temple aka sons and daughters !
New Heavens !
Amen
Keep on trucking
👍🏻🙏