OUR FAITH AND HOPE; by James White

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 8, 1870

OUR FAITH AND HOPE;

By James White

Or, Reasons Why We Believe as We Do.

BY ELDER JAMES WHITE.

NUMBER FIFTEEN—THE HEAVENLY SANCTUARY.

“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.” Heb. 8:1, 2. “A glorious high throne from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary.” Jer. 17:12; Rev. 16:17; Ps. 11:4. “For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from Heaven did the Lord behold the earth.” Ps. 102:19.

The heavenly sanctuary has two holy places. The following testimony on this point is conclusive. We gather it from the Old and New Testaments, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established:

1. The tabernacle erected by Moses, after a forty-days’ inspection of the one showed to him in the mount, consisted of two holy places, Ex. 26:30–33, and is declared to be a correct pattern, or model, of that building. Ex. 25:8, 9, 40, compared with chap. 39:32–43. But if the earthly sanctuary consisted of two holy places, and the great original, from which it was copied, consisted of only one, instead of likeness, there would be perfect dissimilarity.

2. The temple was built in every respect according to the pattern which God gave to David by the Spirit. 1 Chron. 28:10–19. And Solomon in addressing God, says, “Thou hast commanded me to build a temple upon thy holy mount, and an altar in the city wherein thou dwellest, a resemblance of the holy tabernacle which thou hast prepared from the beginning.” Wis. Sol. 9:8. The temple was built on a larger and grander scale than the tabernacle; but its distinguishing feature, like the tabernacle, consisted in the fact that it was composed of two holy places. 1 Kings 6; 2 Chron. 3. This is clear proof that the heavenly tabernacle contains the same.

3. Paul plainly states, that “the holy places [plural] made with hands” “are the figures [plural] of the true,” and that the tabernacle and its vessels are “patterns of things in the Heavens.” Heb. 9:23, 24. This is direct evidence that, in the greater and more perfect tabernacle, there are two holy places, even as in the figure, example, or pattern.

4. The apostle actually uses the word holies (plural) in speaking of the heavenly sanctuary. The expression, “holiest of all,” in Heb. 9:8; 10:19, has been supposed by some to prove that Christ began to minister in the most holy place, at his ascension. But the expression is not “hagia hagion,” holy of holies, as in chapter 9:3; but is simply “hagion,” holies. It is the same word that is rendered sanctuary in Heb. 8:2. In each of these three texts, Heb. 8:2; 9:8; 10:19, Macknight renders the word, “holy places.” The Douay Bible renders it, “the holies.” And thus we learn that the heavenly sanctuary consists of two “holy places.”

We have noticed particularly the vessels of the earthly sanctuary, and have cited divine testimony to show that they were patterns of the true in Heaven. This is strikingly confirmed by the fact that in the heavenly sanctuary we find the like vessels:

1. The ark of God’s testament, and the cherubim. Rev. 11:19; Ps. 99:1.

2. The golden altar of incense. Rev. 8:3; 9:13.

3. The candlestick with the seven lamps. Rev. 4:5; Zech. 4:2.

4. The golden censer. Rev. 8:3. This heavenly sanctuary is called by David, Habakkuk, and John, “the temple of God in Heaven,” Ps. 11:4; Hab. 2:20; Rev. 11:19; “God’s holy habitation,” Zech. 2:13; Jer. 25:30; Rev. 16:17; “greater and more perfect tabernacle,” Heb. 9:11; “the sanctuary and true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and not man,” Heb. 8:2.

THE MINISTRATION AND CLEANSING OF THE EARTHLY SANCTUARY.

We have before shown that the earthly sanctuary consisted of two holy places, and that it was a pattern of the true tabernacle of God in Heaven. We shall now present in a brief manner, the work of ministration in both these holy places, and also the work of cleansing that sanctuary, at the end of that ministration every year, and shall prove that that ministration was the example and shadow of Christ’s more excellent ministry in the true tabernacle.

The ministration in the earthly sanctuary was performed by the Levitical order of priesthood. Ex. 28; 29; Lev. 8; 9; Heb. 7. The act preparatory to the commencement of the ministration in the earthly tabernacle, was the anointing of its two holy places and all its sacred vessels, Ex. 40:9; 30:26–29; Lev. 8:10. The entire work of the priests in the two holy places is summed up by the apostle, as follows: “Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God; but into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people.” Heb. 9:6, 7. The ministration in the earthly sanctuary is thus presented before us in two grand divisions. First, the daily service in the holy place, which consisted of the regular morning and evening burnt offering, Ex. 29:38–43; Num. 28:3–8, the burning of sweet incense upon the golden altar, when the high priest lighted the lamps every morning and evening, Ex. 30:7, 8, 34–36; 31:11, and the special work upon the Lord’s Sabbaths, and also upon the annual sabbaths, new moons, and feasts, Num. 28:11–31; 29; Lev. 23, and besides all this, the especial work for individuals as they should present their particular offerings during the year. Lev. 1–7. And, second, the yearly work in the most holy place, for the sins of the people, and for the cleansing of the sanctuary. Lev. 16.

Thus each of the two holy places had its appropriate work assigned. The glory of the God of Israel was manifested in both apartments. When he entered the tabernacle at the first, his glory filled both the holy places. Ex. 40:34, 35. See also 1 Kings 8:10, 11; 2 Chron. 5:13, 14; 7:1, 2. In the door of the first apartment, the Lord stood and talked with Moses. Ex. 33:9–11. In this place, God promised to meet with the children of Israel, and to sanctify the tabernacle with his glory. Ex. 29:42–44; 30:36. In the holiest, also, God manifested his glory in a special manner. Ex. 25:21, 22; Lev. 16:2.

In the first apartment stood the priests in a continual course of ministration for the people. He that had sinned, brought his victim to the door of this apartment to be offered up for himself. He laid his hand upon the head of the victim, to denote that his sin was transferred to it. Lev. 1:3. Then the victim was slain on account of that transgression, and his blood, bearing that sin and guilt, was carried into the sanctuary, and sprinkled upon it. Lev. 4. Thus, through the year this ministration went forward; the sins of the people being transferred from themselves to the victims offered in sacrifice, and through the blood of the sacrifices, transferred to the sanctuary itself.

On the tenth day of the seventh month, the ministration was changed from the holy place, where it had been continued through the year, to the most holy place. Lev. 16:2, 29–34. The high priest entered the holiest with the blood of a bullock, as a sin offering for himself. Verses 3, 6, 11–14. He then received of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering. Upon these goats he cast lots: one lot for the Lord, and the other for the scape-goat. Verses 5, 7, 8. He next proceeded to offer the goat upon which the Lord’s lot fell, as a sin offering for the people.

We shall now show that he offered this blood for two purposes:

1. “To make an atonement for the children of Israel, for all their sins.”

2. To cleanse or “make an atonement for the holy sanctuary.” Let us read a portion of Lev. 16: “Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy-seat, and before the mercy-seat; and he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins; and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness. And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel. And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the Lord, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about. And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon

it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat; and Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness; and the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited; and he shall let go the goat into the wilderness.” “And this shall be a statute forever unto you; that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country or a stranger that sojourneth among you; for on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.” “And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar; and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation. And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year.” Verses 15–22, 29, 30, 33, 34.

We have here read several important facts:

1. On the tenth day of the seventh month the ministration was changed from the holy place to the holiest of all. Verses 2, 29–34.

2. That in the most holy place, blood was offered for the sins of the people to make an atonement for them. Verses 5, 9, 15, 17, 30, 33, 34; Heb. 9:7.

3. That the two holy places of the sanctuary, and also the altar of incense, were on this day cleansed from the sins of the people, which, as we have seen, had been borne into the sanctuary by means of the blood of sin offering. Verses 16, 18–20, 33; Ex. 30:10.

4. That the high priest having by blood removed the sins of the people from the sanctuary, bears them to the door of the tabernacle, Num. 18:1; Ex. 28:38, where the scape-goat stands, and putting both his hands upon the head of the goat, and confessing over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel in all their sins, he puts them upon the head of the goat and sends him away, with all their iniquities, into a land not inhabited. Verses 5, 7–10, 20–22. The sanctuary was thus cleansed from the sins of the people, and those sins were borne by the scape-goat from the sanctuary.

The foregoing presents to our view a general outline of the ministration in the worldly sanctuary. The following scriptures show that that ministration was the example and shadow of Christ’s ministry in the tabernacle in Heaven: “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. For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices; wherefore, it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. For if he 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. But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.” Heb. 8:1–6; Col. 2:17; Heb. 10:1; 9:11, 12.

The facts stated in these texts are worthy of careful attention.

1. We have a High Priest in the Heavens.

2. This High Priest is a minister of the sanctuary or true tabernacle.

3. As the earthly high priests were ordained to offer sacrifice for sins, so it is of necessity that our High Priest should have something to offer for us in the heavenly sanctuary.

4. When upon earth he was not a priest.

5. The ministry of the priests in that tabernacle, made after the pattern of the true, was the example and shadow of Christ’s more excellent ministry in the true tabernacle itself.

6. The entire typical service was a shadow of good things to come.

7. In the greater and more perfect tabernacle, Christ is a minister of these good things thus shadowed forth. With these facts before us, in our next we will consider that more excellent ministry in the temple of God in Heaven.