p. 544 | THOUGHTS ON DANIEL by Uriah Smith

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Dec 8, 1881

THOUGHTS ON DANIEL.

By Uriah Smith

BY ELD. U. SMITH.

CHAPTER VIII.—THE RAM, HE-GOAT, AND LITTLE HORN.

THE three texts, Ex. 15:17; Ps. 78:54, 69, are the ones chiefly relied on to prove that the land of Canaan is the sanctuary; but, singularly enough, the two latter in plain language clear away the ambiguity of the first, and utterly disprove the claim that is based thereon.

Having disposed of the main proof on this point, it would hardly seem worth while to spend time with those texts from which only inferences can be drawn. As there is, however, only one even of this class, we will refer to it, that no point may be left unnoticed. Isa. 63:18: "The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while; our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary." This language is as applicable to the temple as to the land; for when the land was overrun with the enemies of Israel, their temple was laid in ruins. This is plainly stated in verse 11 of the next chapter: "Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire." The text therefore proves nothing for this view.

Respecting the earth, or the land of Canaan, as the sanctuary, we offer one thought more. If they constitute the sanctuary, they should not only be somewhere described as such, but the same idea should be carried through to the end, and the purification of the earth, or of Palestine, should be called the cleansing of the sanctuary. The earth is indeed defiled, and it is to be purified by fire; but fire, as we shall see, is not the agent which is used in the cleansing of the sanctuary; and this purification of the earth, or any part of it, is nowhere in the Bible called the cleansing of the sanctuary.

3. Is the church the sanctuary? The evident mistrust with which this idea is suggested is a virtual surrender of the argument, before it is presented. One solitary text is adduced in its support: Ps. 114:1, 2: "When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language, Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion." Should we take this text in its most literal sense, what would it prove respecting the sanctuary? It would prove that the sanctuary was confined to one of the twelve tribes; and hence that a portion of the church only, not the whole of it, constitutes the sanctuary. But this, proving too little for the theory under consideration, proves nothing. Why Judah is called the sanctuary in the text quoted, need not be a matter of perplexity when we remember that God chose Jerusalem, which was in Judah, as the place of his sanctuary. "But chose," says David, "the tribe of Judah, the Mount Zion which he loved. And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established forever." This clearly shows the connection which existed between Judah and the sanctuary. That tribe itself was not the sanctuary; but it is once spoken of as such when Israel came forth from Egypt, because God purposed that in the midst of the territory of that tribe, his sanctuary should be located. But even if it could be shown that the church is anywhere called the sanctuary, it would be of no consequence to our present purpose, which is to determine what constitutes the sanctuary of Dan. 8:13, 14; for the church is there spoken of as another object: "To give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot." That by the term host, the church is here meant, none will dispute; the sanctuary is therefore another and a different object.

4. There remains but one more position to be examined; namely, That the sanctuary mentioned in the text is what Paul calls in Hebrews, the "true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man," to which he expressly gives the name of "the sanctuary," and which he locates in "the Heavens;" we have, under the former dispensation, first in the tabernacle built by Moses, and afterward in the temple built at Jerusalem, a pattern, type, or figure. And let it be particularly noticed, that on the view here suggested rests our only hope of ever understanding this question; for we have seen that all other positions are untenable. No other object which has ever been supposed by any one to be the sanctuary, neither the earth, the land of Canaan, nor the church, can for a moment support such a claim. If, therefore, we do not find it in the object before us, we may abandon the search in utter despair; we may discard so much of revelation as still unrevealed, and may cut out from the sacred page, as so much useless reading, the numerous passages which speak on this subject. All those, therefore, who, rather than that so important a subject should go by default, are willing to lay aside all preconceived opinions and cherished views, will approach the position before us with intense anxiety and unbounded interest. They will lay hold of any evidence that may here be given us, as a man bewildered in a labyrinth of darkness would lay hold on the thread which was his only guide to lead him forth again to light, or as the perishing man would leap for the last life-boat that could rescue him from destruction.

It will be safe for us to put ourselves, in imagination, in the place of Daniel, and view the subject from his stand-point. What would he understand by the term sanctuary as addressed to him? If we can ascertain this, it will not be difficult to arrive at correct conclusions on this subject. His mind would inevitably turn, on the mention of that word, to the sanctuary of that dispensation; and certainly he well knew what that was. His mind did turn to Jerusalem, the city of his fathers, which was then in ruins, and to their "beautiful house," which, as Isaiah laments, was burned with fire. And so, as was his wont, with his face turned toward the place of their once venerated temple, he prayed God to cause his face to shine upon his sanctuary, which was desolate. By the word sanctuary, Daniel evidently understood their temple at Jerusalem.

But Paul bears testimony which is most explicit on this point. Heb. 9:1: "Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary." This is the very point which at present we are concerned to determine: What was the sanctuary of the first covenant? Paul proceeds to tell us. Hear him. Verses 2-5: "For there was a tabernacle made; the first [or first apartment], wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary [margin, the holy]. And after the second vail, the tabernacle which is called the holiest of all; which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; and over it the cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy-seat; of which we cannot now speak particularly."

There is no mistaking the object to which Paul here has reference. It is the tabernacle erected by Moses according to the direction of the Lord, with a holy and a most holy place, and various vessels of service, as here set forth. A full description of this building, with its various vessels and their uses, will be found in Exodus, chapter 25, and onward. If the reader is not familiar with this subject, he is requested to turn and carefully examine the description of this building. This, Paul plainly says, was the sanctuary of the first covenant. And we wish the reader to carefully mark the logical value of this declaration. By telling us what did positively for a time constitute the sanctuary, Paul sets us on the right track of inquiry. He gives us a basis on which to work. For a time the field is cleared of all doubt and all obstacles. During the time covered by the first covenant, which reached from Sinai to Christ, we have before us a distinct and plainly-defined object, minutely described by Moses, and declared by Paul to be the sanctuary during that time.

But Paul's language has greater significance even than this. It forever annihilates the claims which are put forth in behalf of the earth, the land of Canaan, or the church, as the sanctuary. For the arguments which would prove them to be the sanctuary at any time would prove them to be such under the old dispensation. If Canaan was at any time the sanctuary, it was such when Israel was planted in it. If the church was ever the sanctuary, it was such when Israel was led forth from Egypt. If the sanctuary was such during the period of which we speak, the arguments urged in their favor apply as fully to any other period; and if they were not the sanctuary during this time, then all the arguments are destroyed which would show that they ever were, or ever could be, the sanctuary. But were they the sanctuary during that time? This is a final question for these theories; and Paul decides it in the negative by describing to us the tabernacle of Moses, and telling us that, not the earth, nor Canaan, nor the church, was the sanctuary of that dispensation.

And this building meets all the requirements of the true sanctuary. 1. It was the earthly dwelling-place of God. "Let them make me a sanctuary," said he to Moses, "that I may dwell among them." Ex. 25:8. In this tabernacle which he erected according to his instructions, he manifested his presence. 2. It was a holy or sacred place. "The holy sanctuary." Lev. 16:33. 3. It is over and over again called the sanctuary, in the word of God. Of the one hundred and forty instances in which the word is used in the Old Testament, it refers in almost every case to this building.

The tabernacle was at first constructed in such a manner as to be adapted to the condition of the children of Israel at that time. They were just entering upon their forty years' wandering in the wilderness, when this building was set up in their midst as the habitation of God, and the center of their religious worship. Journeying was a necessity, and removals were frequent. It would be necessary that the tabernacle should often be moved from place to place. It was, therefore, so fashioned of movable parts, the sides being composed of upright boards, and the covering consisting, of curtains of linen and dyed skins, that it could be readily taken down, conveniently transported, and easily erected at each successive stage of their journey. After entering the promised land, this temporary structure in time gave place to the magnificent temple of Solomon. In this more permanent form it existed, saving only the time it lay in ruins in Daniel's day, till its final destruction by the Romans, in A. D. 70.

This is the only sanctuary connected with the earth, about which the Bible gives us any instruction, or history any record. But is there nowhere any other? This was the sanctuary of the first covenant; with that covenant it came to an end; is there no sanctuary which pertains to the second or new covenant? There must be; otherwise there is no analogy between these covenants; and in this case, the first covenant had a system of worship, which, though minutely described, is unintelligible, and the second covenant has a system of worship which is indefinite and obscure. And Paul virtually asserts that the new covenant, in force since the death of Christ the testator, has a sanctuary; for when, in contrasting the two covenants, as he does in the book of Hebrews, he says in chapter 9:1, that the first covenant "had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary," it is the same as saying that the new covenant has likewise its services and its sanctuary. Furthermore, in verse 8 of this chapter, he speaks of the worldly sanctuary as the first tabernacle. If that was the first, there must be a second; and as the first tabernacle existed so long as the first covenant was in force, when that covenant came to an end, the second tabernacle must have taken the place of the first, as the sanctuary of the new covenant. There can be no evading this conclusion.

Where, then, shall we look for the sanctuary of the new covenant? Paul, by the use of the word also, in verse 1 of Hebrews 9, intimates that he had before spoken of this sanctuary. We turn back to the beginning of the previous chapter and find him summing up his foregoing arguments as follows: "Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an High Priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the Heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man." Can there be any doubt that we here have the sanctuary of the new covenant? A plain allusion is here made to the sanctuary of the first covenant. That was pitched by man, erected by Moses; this was pitched by the Lord, not by man. That was the place where the earthly priests performed their ministry; this is the place where Christ, the High Priest of the new covenant, performs his ministry. That was on earth; this is in Heaven. That was very properly therefore called by Paul a worldly sanctuary; this is a heavenly.

This view is further sustained by the fact that the sanctuary built by Moses, was not an original structure, but was built after a pattern. The great original existed somewhere else; what Moses constructed was but a type or model. Listen to the directions the Lord gave him on this point: "According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it." Ex. 25:9. "And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was showed thee in the mount." Verse 40. To the same end see Ex. 26:30; 27:8; Acts 7:44.

Now of what was the earthly sanctuary a type or figure? Answer. Of the sanctuary of the new covenant, the "true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and not man." The relation which the first covenant sustains to the second throughout, is that of type to antitype. Its sacrifices were types of the greater sacrifice of this dispensation; its priests were types of our Lord, in his more perfect priesthood; their ministry was performed unto the shadow and example of the ministry of our High Priest above; and the sanctuary where they ministered, was a type or figure of the true sanctuary in Heaven where our Lord performs his ministry.

All these facts are plainly stated by Paul in a few verses to the Hebrews. Chapter 8:4, 5: "For if he [Christ] were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law; 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 showed to thee in the mount." This testimony shows that the ministry of the earthly priests was a shadow of Christ's priesthood, and the evidence Paul brings forward to prove it, is the direction which God gave to Moses to make the tabernacle according to the pattern showed him in the mount. This clearly identifies the pattern showed to Moses in the mount, with the sanctuary or true tabernacle in Heaven, where our Lord ministers, mentioned three verses before.

In chapter 9:8, 9, Paul further says: "The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all [Greek, holy places, plural] was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing; which was a figure for the time then present," etc. While the first tabernacle stood, and the first covenant was in force, the ministration of the more perfect tabernacle, and the work of the new covenant, was not of course carried forward. But when Christ came, an high priest of good things to come, when the first tabernacle had served its purpose, and the first covenant had ceased, then Christ, raised to the throne of the Majesty in the Heavens as a minister of the true sanctuary, entered by his own blood, says verse 12, "into the Holy place [where also the Greek has the plural, the holy places], having obtained eternal redemption for us." Of these heavenly holy places, therefore, the first tabernacle was a figure for the time then present. If any further testimony is needed, he speaks, in verse 22, of the earthly tabernacle, with its apartments and instruments, as patterns of things in the Heavens; and in verse 23, he calls the holy places made with hands, that is, the earthly tabernacle erected by Moses, figures of the true.

This view is still further corroborated by the testimony of John. Among the things which he was permitted to behold in Heaven, he saw seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, Rev. 4:5; he saw an altar of incense, and a golden censer, chapter 8:3; he saw the ark of God's testament, chapter 11:19; and all this in connection with a temple in Heaven; chapter 11:19; 15:8. These objects every Bible reader must at once recognize as implements of the sanctuary. They owed their existence to the sanctuary, and were confined to it, to be employed in the ministration connected therewith. As without the sanctuary they had not existed, so wherever we find these, we may know that there is the sanctuary; and hence the fact that John saw these things in Heaven in this dispensation, is proof that there is a sanctuary there, and that he was permitted to behold it.