Thoughts on the Book of Daniel.
CHAPTER VIII. (VERSE 14, CONTINUED.)
Having now learned what constitutes the sanctuary the question of its cleansing and how it is accomplished, is soon decided. It has been noticed that whatever constitutes the sanctuary of the Bible, must have some service connected with it which is called its cleansing. There is no account in the Bible of any such work as pertaining to this earth, the land of Canaan, or the church; which is good evidence that neither of these objects constitutes the sanctuary; there is such a service connected with the object which we have shown to be the sanctuary, and which, in reference to both the earthly building, and the heavenly temple, is called its cleansing. Does the reader object to the idea of there being anything in Heaven which is to be cleansed? Is this a barrier in the way of his receiving the view here presented? Then his controversy is with Paul who positively affirms this fact. But before he decides against the apostle, we ask the objector to examine carefully in reference to the nature of this cleansing, as he is here undoubtedly laboring under an entire misapprehension. The following are the plain terms in which Paul affirms the cleansing of both the earthly and the heavenly sanctuary: “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood there is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the Heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.” In the light of foregoing arguments, this may be paraphrased thus: It was therefore necessary that the tabernacle, as erected by Moses, with its sacred vessels, which were patterns of the true sanctuary in Heaven, should be purified, or cleansed, with the blood of calves and goats; but the heavenly things themselves, the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man, must be cleansed with better sacrifices than calves and goats, even with the blood of Christ. We now inquire, What is the nature of this cleansing, and how is it to be accomplished? According to the language of Paul, just quoted, it is performed by means of blood. The cleansing is not, therefore, a cleansing from physical uncleanness or impurity; for blood is not the agent used in such a work. And this consideration should satisfy the objector’s mind in regard to the cleansing of the heavenly things. The fact that Paul speaks of heavenly things to be cleansed, does not prove that there is any physical impurity in Heaven; for that is not the kind of cleansing of which he speaks. The reason Paul assigns why this cleansing is performed with blood, is because without the shedding of blood there is no remission. Remission, then, that is, the putting away of sin, is the work to be done. The cleansing, therefore, is a spiritual cleansing, a cleansing from sin. But how came these sins attached to the sanctuary, either the earthly or the heavenly? This can easily be ascertained from the ministration connected with the type, to which we now turn. The closing chapters of Exodus give an account of the construction of the earthly sanctuary, and the arrangement of the service connected therewith. Leviticus opens with an account of the ministration, which was there to be performed. All that it is to our purpose to notice here, was one particular branch of the service, which was performed as follows: The person who had committed sin, brought his victim to the door of the tabernacle. Upon the head of this victim, for a moment in solemn silence, he placed his hand. By this expressive act, he signified that he had sinned and was worthy of death, but that in his stead he consecrated his victim, and transferred his guilt to it. With his own hand (and what must have been his emotions?) he then took the life of his victim on account of that guilt. The law demanded the life of the transgressor for his disobedience; the life is in the blood; Lev. 17: 11, 14; hence, without the shedding of blood there is no remission; with the shedding of blood remission is possible; for the law demanded life, and its demand is satisfied. The blood of the victim, representative of a forfeited life, and the vehicle of its guilt, was then taken by the priest and sprinkled before the veil in the sanctuary. The sin of the individual was thus transferred from himself to the sanctuary. Victim after victim was offered by the people; day by day the work went forward; and thus the sanctuary continually became the receptacle of the sins of the congregation. But was this the final disposition of these sins? It was not. This accumulation of guilt was removed by a special service which was called the cleansing of the sanctuary. This service in the type occupied one day in the year; and the tenth day of the seventh month on which it was performed, was called the day of atonement. On this day, while all Israel refrained from work, and afflicted their souls, the priest brought two goats and presented them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. On these goats he cast lots; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scape-goat. The one upon which the Lord’s lot fell, was then slain, and his blood was carried by the priest into the most holy place of the sanctuary, this being the only day on which he was permitted to enter into that apartment, and sprinkled upon the mercy-seat. Coming forth, he was then to lay both his hands upon the head of the scape-goat, confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, and thus putting them upon his head, was to send him away by the hand of a fit man into a land not inhabited, a land of separation or forgetfulness; the goat never again to appear in the camp of Israel, and the sins of the people to be remembered against them no more. This service was for the purpose of cleansing the people from their sins, and the sanctuary and its sacred vessels. Lev. 16: 30, 33. By this process sin was removed, but only in figure; for all that work was typical. The reader to whom these views are new, will be ready here to inquire, perhaps with some astonishment, what this strange work could possibly be designed to typify; what there is in this dispensation, which it was designed to prefigure. We answer, A work in the ministration of Christ, as Paul clearly teaches. After stating in Hebrews 8, that Christ is the minister of the true tabernacle, the sanctuary in Heaven, he states that the priests on earth served unto the example and shadow of heavenly things. In other words, the work of the earthly priests was a shadow, an example, a correct representation, so far as it could be carried out by mortals, of the ministration of Christ above. These priests ministered in both apartments of the earthly tabernacle; Christ therefore ministers in both apartments of the heavenly temple; for that temple has two apartments, or it was not correctly represented by the earthly, and our Lord officiates in both, or the service of the priests on earth was not a correct shadow of his work. But Paul directly states that he ministers in both apartments; for he says that he has entered into the holy place (Greek, plural, holy places) by his own blood. Heb. 9: 12. There is, therefore, a work performed by Christ in his ministry in the heavenly temple, corresponding to that performed by the priests in both apartments of the earthly building. But the work in the second apartment, or most holy place, was a special work, to close the yearly round of service, and cleanse the sanctuary. Therefore Christ’s ministration in the second apartment of the heavenly sanctuary must be a work of like nature, and constitute the cleansing of that sanctuary. As through the sacrifices of the former dispensation, the sins of the people were transferred in figure by the priests to the earthly sanctuary, where these priests ministered; so, ever since Christ ascended to be our intercessor in the presence of his Father, the sins of all those who legitimately seek pardon through him, are transferred, in fact, to the heavenly sanctuary where he ministers. Whether Christ ministers for us in the heavenly holy places with his own blood literally or only by virtue of its merits, we need not stop to inquire. Suffice it to say, that his blood has been shed, and through that blood we have remission of sins in fact which was obtained only in figure through the blood of calves and goats. But those sacrifices had real virtue in this respect: they signified faith in a real sacrifice to come; and thus those who employed them have an equal interest in the work of Christ, with those who come to him by faith in this dispensation. This continual transfer of sins to the heavenly sanctuary, and if they are not thus transferred, will any one in the light of the types, and in view of the language of Paul, explain the nature of the work of Christ in our behalf;—this continual transfer, we say, of sins to the heavenly sanctuary makes its cleansing necessary on the same ground that a like work was required in the earthly. An important distinction between the two ministrations must here be noticed: In the earthly tabernacle a complete round of service was accomplished every year. For three hundred and sixty-four days the ministration went forward in the first apartment. One day’s work in the most holy, completed the yearly round. The work then commenced again in the holy place, and went forward till another day of atonement completed the year’s work. And so on year by year. This continual repetition of the work was necessary on account of the short lives of mortal priests. But no such necessity exists in the case of our divine Lord, who ever liveth to make intercession for us. See Heb. 7: 23-25. Hence the work of the heavenly sanctuary, instead of being a yearly work, is but once completed. Instead of being repeated year by year, one grand cycle is allotted to it, in which it is carried forward, and completed once for all. One year’s round of service, in the earthly sanctuary, represented the entire work of the sanctuary above. In the type the cleansing of the sanctuary was the brief and closing work of the year’s service. In the antitype the cleansing of the sanctuary must be the closing work of Christ our great high priest, in the tabernacle on high. In the type, to cleanse the sanctuary the high priest entered into the most holy place to minister in the presence of God before the ark of his testament. In the antitype, when the time comes for the cleansing of the sanctuary, our High Priest, in like manner enters into the most holy place to make a final end of his intercessory work in behalf of mankind. We confidently affirm that no other conclusion can be arrived at on this subject, without doing despite to the holy word of God. Reader, do you see the importance of this subject? Do you begin to perceive what an object of interest for all the world is the sanctuary of God? Do you see that the whole work of salvation centers there; and that when the work is done, probation is ended and the cases of the saved and lost are eternally decided? Do you see that the cleansing of the sanctuary is a brief and special work by which the great scheme is forever finished? Do you see that if it can be made known when this work of cleansing commences, it is a solemn announcement to the world, that salvation’s last hour is reached, and is fast hastening to its close? And this is what the prophecy is designed to show. It is to make known the commencement of this momentous work: “Unto two thousand three hundred days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” In advance of any argument on the nature and application of these days, the position may be safely taken that they reach to the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, for the earthly was to be cleansed each year; and we make the prophet utter nonsense, if we understand him as saying that at the end of 2300 days, over six years, even if we take them literally, an event should take place, which was to occur regularly every year. It is the heavenly sanctuary in which the decision of all cases is to be rendered. The progress of the work there, is what especially concerns mankind to know. If people understood the bearing of these subjects on their eternal interests, with what earnestness and anxiety would they give them their most careful and prayerful study.