THE SANCTUARY QUESTION FROM THE STAND-POINT OF THE BOOK OF HEBREWS.
By Stephen N. Haskell
Importance of the Subject.
We cannot overestimate the importance of the sanctuary question: “The subject of the sanctuary and the investigative judgment should be clearly understood by the people of God. All need a knowledge for themselves of the position and work of their great High Priest. Otherwise, it would be impossible for them to exercise that which is essential at this time, or to occupy the position God designs them to fill. . . . All who have received the light upon these subjects are to bear testimony of the great truths which God has committed to them. The sanctuary in heaven is the very center of Christ’s work in behalf of men. It concerns every soul living upon the earth. It opens to view the plan of redemption, bringing us down to the very close of time, and revealing the triumphant issue of the contest between righteousness and sin. It is of the utmost importance that all should thoroughly investigate these subjects, and be able to give an answer to every man that asketh them a reason of the hope that is in them.” It is by this subject that we obtain a clear insight into the mysteries of redemption. The salvation of men is at an infinite expense to heaven, and the sacrifice made is equal to the broadest demands of the broken law of God. The sanctuary question reveals this. There is no one book in the Bible, except the books of Moses, that can be studied with greater profit upon this subject than the book of Hebrews, which is a divine commentary upon the sanctuary and its services. It was the last general call the Spirit of God ever made to the Jewish people. It was written when the judgments of God were hanging over the city, six years before Titus came with his army. It to them was a special judgment warning. The Holy Spirit associates this event with the second coming of Christ. “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” Heb. 10:35-38. In the final overthrow of Jerusalem the destruction of the world was symbolized. This book therefore becomes a book written expressly for the time in which we live. It not only presents the manner of giving the sanctuary question, but also the spiritual application of the truths of the sanctuary, its ceremonies and offerings, with the history of the people connected with it. Every offering made in the Jewish economy, every ceremony connected with the sanctuary service, centered in Christ, and it is by an individual faith in its virtue that victory is gained over Satan’s power. “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony.” “Christ being come a high priest of the good things to come, through a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, . . . entered once into the holy places, having obtained eternal redemption by His own blood.” — Whiting’s Translation. In this lies the relation between His work in heaven and His people on earth. Upon His work rests the salvation of every human soul. “For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” It is His blood alone that can atone for sin. It is His work alone in heaven, made manifest in the lives of His people on earth, that connects any soul with God. He not only becomes the central figure in heaven and earth, but He connects heaven with earth, and earth with heaven. It is those whose hearts correspond with the heavenly work who are benefited thereby. None others can be saved in the kingdom of God. To understand this work is of great importance, and it cannot be understood unless thought be given to the subject, aided by the Holy Spirit. As the book of Hebrews was written while the destruction of Jerusalem was pending, it becomes a symbol of the world, hardened in sin, unbelief, and rebellion, hastening to meet the retributive judgments of God. The prophecy which Christ uttered concerning the destruction of Jerusalem had a twofold meaning. It foreshadowed the destruction of Jerusalem, and also prefigured the terrors of the last great day. The language of Christ in reference to the destruction of Jerusalem has an application to the people of God in the last days. The professed people of God in the present day are in the same condition as were the Jews before the destruction of Jerusalem. They rejected Christ, and because of their rejection of Christ, they were destroyed. The Lord said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee.” The knowledge which they lacked was the spiritual application of the sanctuary question, which centered in Christ. The sanctuary question was to reveal Christ, His work in the heavenly courts, and as it would be carried on in the hearts of His disciples. It is thus apparent that the work in the hearts of the people must correspond with that of Christ in heaven. There are three temples brought to view in the Bible, and all should be blended into one study. The first one was a typical sanctuary built by Moses in the wilderness, afterward rebuilt by Solomon, again rebuilt by Zerubbabel. This temple and its services shadowed forth the work of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary. The work of Christ in heaven is also to go forward in the living temple of His people on the earth; so while there was a sanctuary on the earth, and still one in heaven, the most important of the three is His people; for the object of the earthly sanctuary was to teach man how to know and believe the actual work done for him in the heavenly sanctuary. “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” 1 Cor. 3:16. All the work revealed by the typical temple shadowing the real work of Christ in heaven is for the purification of His Church on the earth, and consequently a neglect of a knowledge of these truths will leave men unprepared for the impending judgments of God, as really as the Jews were unprepared for the destruction that came upon them.