The Sanctuary by Mrs. Dora Nester

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · May 7, 1912

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 39, No. 19.

The Sanctuary

By Mrs. Dora Nester

III—The Third Yearly Feast in Type and Antitype

HIS was the feast of the “ingathering,” or feast of “tabernacles,” in the end of the year, after crops were harvested. The commandment establishing it is found in Ex. 23:14, 17; Ex. 34:23; Deut. 16:13, 16; Lev. 23:24-36.

This third feast of the year was preceded by a fast on the Day of Atonement, or the day when the sanctuary was cleansed from the sins of the people. And this season, first of atonement and cleansing, and then the feast of ingathering, as we shall later see, typified the true work of Christ in the heavenly tabernacle, when once for all, in the end of the world, the sanctuary is cleansed, or judgment takes place, followed by the ingathering of the harvest of the righteous, the fruits of Christ’s love and labor.

A brief summary of the sixteenth chapter of Leviticus will set forth the following points: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, a fast was proclaimed to the children of Israel, a day of affliction and atonement. The high priest took from the congregation two young goats for a sin-offering, and presented them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle. He then cast lots upon the goats, one for the Lord, and the other to be the scapegoat; the goat upon which the Lord’s lot fell to be a sin-offering, the other to bear the sins of the people and to be led away into the wilderness.

The ministration in the first apartment having ceased, the high priest, clothed in the holy robes of linen, entered the most holy place alone.

There he first offered a bullock for a sin-offering for his own sins and the sins of his house. Having thus been cleansed from his own sins, he next offered the blood of the goat for a sin-offering for all the people. From a reading of the sixteenth verse, we understand that the high priest was also to cleanse the sanctuary itself and the altar from their uncleanness because of the sins of the people. Throughout the year, the children of Israel had transferred their own sins, through the blood of their offerings, to the tabernacle. And now, in the end of the year, the high priest cleansed the tabernacle and altar of the accumulation of sins.

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. Lev. 16:16-19.

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. Lev. 16:33, 34.

Leviticus 23, verses 27-29, reads as follows:

Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord. And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God. For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.

This was a special time of test, or trial,

or judgment, to determine who were and who were not God’s faithful children, or true Israelites. Each person that ceased from his own labors on that day, and afflicted his soul, or repented of his sins, and offered a sin-offering, the same was accounted worthy of being one of God’s chosen, faithful people, and as such enjoyed all the privileges of a citizen of the great commonwealth of Israel. And that person who did not comply with these divine requirements, who did not repent of his sins, and avail himself of the atoning blood of a sacrifice, was cut off forever from among the children of Israel.

Will this third annual fast and feast which God enjoined the Israelites in the service of the earthly sanctuary meet its grand fulfilment in the temple service in heaven? Surely God did not give in vain this great, explicit object-lesson, to be carried out with such faithful precision through the centuries intervening between Moses and Christ.

We read in 1 Cor. 10:11 that “all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.”

Hence with all confidence, we search for evidence that this day of fasting and atonement and cleansing of the earthly sanctuary but typified the day of atonement and cleansing of the sanctuary in heaven. We turn again to Heb. 9:24-26, and read:

For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: nor yet that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; for then must He often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

And the nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that Thou shouldest give reward unto Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear Thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail. Rev. 11:18, 19.

Here is presented a vision of judgment in heaven, in that part of the sanctuary where was seen the ark of God’s testament, when Christ “once in the end of the world” has “appeared, to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” Note further that the lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and earthquake, and great hail occur in the time of the seventh plague, the last to fall upon this sin-laden world before the personal appearing of the Lord. Read Rev. 16:17-21.

To Daniel in ancient Babylon was given a vision of this judgment work, the day of atonement and cleansing in antitype; for we read in Dan. 8:14, “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” At a subsequent time, as recorded in the ninth chapter, Daniel made earnest supplication for more definite light on this time period of his vision. When he was praying, the angel Gabriel, who had been commissioned to explain the vision to him, came and touched him, and said:

O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to show thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city. . . . Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks. . . . And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for Himself. . . . And He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.

Daniel was then given to understand that from the time when the commandment should be given to the captive Jews in Babylon to return and rebuild Jerusalem, and restore the national life of Israel, seventy weeks, or four hundred ninety literal years, were to be cut off from the two thousand three hundred prophetic days, or literal years. These four hundred ninety years were allotted to the children of Israel as the special, chosen people of God. The anointing of the Most Holy, the reconciliation for iniquity, and the cutting off of the Messiah, were to mark the closing week of this period; and the faithful fulfilment of all these specifications was to seal up, or make sure, the truth of the prophecy of that longer period of two thousand three hundred days.

The record of this decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, by the Persian king Artaxerxes, is found in Ezra 1:1-4. It is agreed by all historians that Artaxerxes began his reign on the Persian throne in the year 464 B.C. And the seventh year of his reign, in which was given this decree, would therefore be 457 B.C.

The sixty-nine weeks, or four hundred eighty-three literal years, reached to A.D. 27, at which time Christ was anointed, or baptized with water and the Spirit. See Luke 3:21, 22. And in the midst of the seventieth week, or A.D. 31, the Messiah was cut off, or crucified; and the sacrifice and oblation in the earthly tabernacle ceased to bear significance in the plan of salvation, as evidenced by the rending in twain of the veil in the temple.

At the end of the seventieth week, three and one half years after Christ’s crucifixion, the Jews finally rejected Jesus, by stoning Stephen, and they were no longer God’s special chosen treasure. From that time the Gospel has gone to all the world.

Four hundred ninety years from 2,300 years leaves 1,810 years, which, added to A.D. 34, brings us to A.D. 1844. Then began the cleansing of the sanctuary in heaven, the closing work of Christ as our great High Priest; a time of investigative judgment to determine who have availed themselves of the atoning blood of the Lamb of God; a time when names will be blotted out of the Book of Life, unless sin is forsaken.

In 1844 the time had come when was due to the world that message found in Rev. 14:7, “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come.” At no time in the previous history of the world was this message applicable, neither had there been any world-wide movement proclaiming such a message. But when the time of judgment in heaven had come, God in His merciful providence raised up men in different parts of the world, who had no knowledge of each other, to proclaim this solemn truth.

Nor yet again could such a message have been heralded to the remotest corners of the earth in one generation previous to the year 1844, with such primitive methods of travel and communication as existed until that date. And once again we may discern the wonderful providences of God in imparting to men that degree of light and intelligence concerning the laws of nature which enabled them to apply steam and electricity to modes of travel and interchange of thought. Within a few short years, compared to all the centuries which had gone before, it has been made possible for men to cover in a few hours a distance that had required weeks, or even months and years; while thought may be conveyed with the rapidity of lightning around the world. And all this that God’s last message of mercy and warning might be given to every nation and kindred and tongue and people.

Truly has the prophecy of Dan. 12:4 been fulfilled, that “many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”

For nearly sixty-five years this solemn message has been given to the world; dear reader, is even now given to you.

Soon must “this generation” have reached the allotted age of man, and the intermedial work of Christ in heaven in behalf of a fallen race be finished.

To our loving heavenly Father are we indebted for the lessons He has given us through the history of His ancient Israel, and the service of the earthly sanctuary established with them.

Thus with faithful clearness has He taught us of His divine, eternal purpose concerning men; and it is our privilege to give to the world this “everlasting Gospel” (Rev. 14:6-12), the basic truths of which are these: man’s need, and God’s gift of a Saviour, because of the immutability and perpetuity of God’s holy law of ten commandments, before which the whole world stands condemned for its transgression.

And the proclamation of this Gospel develops a people of whom it is said, “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”

The Feast of Tabernacles

The reader is referred to Ex. 23:14-16; Lev. 23:34-44; Num. 29:12; Deut. 16:13-16; which, for economy of space, will not be quoted here. From a reading of these passages will be learned the time and nature of this third annual feast, which followed the Day of Atonement. It began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, and continued seven days. The children of Israel congregated about the tabernacle, or later in their national life, journeyed to Jerusalem, where they dwelt, during the festival season, in booths made of boughs and branches of trees. It was a time of general rejoicing in commemoration of their deliverance from thralldom in Egypt, the land of darkness and sin and oppression.

This feast of tabernacles was a fit type of the feast of tabernacles at the New Jerusalem when God’s children commemorate their final deliverance from the bondage of sin and death in spiritual Egypt, as foretold in the prophecy of Zech. 14:16-21.

It is then that the purpose of God for the redemption of the fallen human race is fulfilled, the hope of God’s children on earth in all ages is realized, and Christ and His ransomed ones celebrate this grand consummation of all things in the great antitypical feast of tabernacles.