The True Center and Sacrifice of Acceptable Worship.
THE work of the little horn of Daniel 8 is specially directed against the people of God and their service to Him. His aim is to "destroy the mighty and holy people" by craft, subtlety, and violence. From the Prince of Princes to His humblest subject, all come within the scope of Rome's attack; for it is Rome that the little horn symbolizes. Its special effort is to give both the sanctuary and the host to life-union between God and His children. One holy being inquires, for the benefit of Daniel and God's people, "How long shall be the vision concerning the continual, and the transgression that maketh desolate, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden underfoot?" The little horn "took away from Him"—"the Prince of the host," Christ—the continual, and cast down the place of His sanctuary and His truth. How long should that continue? The answer is, "Unto two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."
What Is the Sanctuary?
Go back to Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage. God had redeemed them with a mighty hand. Their hundreds of years of slavery had unfitted them to comprehend God's great salvation and the character He required. They must have a great, multiple object-lesson which by various forms and rites would comprehend in its teaching the great plan of salvation. Therefore God instructs Moses to ask of the children of Israel free-will offerings of all that would be used in building, and "let them make Me [God] a sanctuary that I may dwell among them." Ex. 25:1-9.
Then follows the directions for building and the description of the marvelously beautiful structure (see Exodus 25-40), to build which He specially endowed His workmen. Ex. 31:1-11. The pattern was divine, given of God to Moses in the mount. Ex. 25:25-40; Heb. 8:5.
What It Was Like.
In brief, the sanctuary was of rectangular shape, thirty cubits long by ten wide and ten high, made of acacia wood boards set in sockets of silver, and overlaid with beaten gold. Ex. 26:15-30. Over it were spread four sets of curtains—fine linen, goats' hair, ram skins dyed red, and seal skins. The fine linen was embroidered with figures of cherubim in gold. The building was divided into two parts in the proportion of two-thirds and one-third. Ex. 26:1-14. The first apartment, always facing the east, was the larger, 10x20 cubits.
On the right, as one entered, was the table of presence- or show-bread, placed there fresh every Sabbath, typical of God's bread of life, His Word. Ex. 25:23-30. On the left was the seven-branched candlestick, beaten out of one piece of solid gold, in which were lamps kept constantly burning, a symbol of the seven-fold Spirit of God. Ex. 25:31-39; Rev. 4:5. In the end opposite the entrance was the altar, upon which incense was daily offered, mingling with the prayers of God's priests and people, typical of God's grace and love, which made the prayers of the humblest acceptable. Ex. 30:1-10; Rev. 8:3. This apartment was known as the holy place.
Dividing between the two apartments was a heavy embroidered veil, similar to the ceiling overhead. Ex. 26:31-35. Beyond the veil was the most holy place, in dimensions a perfect cube of ten cubits. In the most holy place was one article of furniture, the ark of God, made of acacia wood and inlaid and overlaid with gold. Ex. 25:10-15. In this ark was the holy law of God, the standard of all human character, the detector of sin, the approver of righteousness; and over it was the mercy-seat, between the cherubims, where constantly abode the shekinah of God's presence. Ex. 25:16-22; 31:18; Heb. 9:1-10.
Surrounding the sanctuary was a court, within the court on the east was the laver and the altar of burnt-offering, by which was shed the blood of the victims, representing the sinner and the sinner's sacrifice, "the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world." John 1:29.
The center of all this service was the ark and law of God. That law man had transgressed, and hence was shut away from God's glory. To reconcile him to God, God gave His Son, the "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." He took the sinner's place, the Innocent for the Guilty, the Just for the Unjust, that He might bring us to God. The Father "made Him [the Son] to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Cor. 5:21. "All we like sheep have gone astray; . . . and the Lord hath laid [made to light] on Him the iniquity of us all." Isa. 53:6.
When the sinner came to the door of the sanctuary, he brought his offering of a lamb or goat, placed his hand upon its head and confessed his sin, devoting it to death, and thereby saying that he was guilty of5death; but he embraced God's Substitute for himself, of which that offering was the type. The blood of that offering, representing the life, was borne by the priest into the sanctuary, before the veil. In other words, the sin was transferred from the repentant sinner to the sanctuary on high. This went on for every day in the year till the last. All the sins of the repentant among God's people had been in type transferred to the sanctuary and there forgiven. The last day of the year was a judgment day in which the sins of the faithful were forever removed, and the sins of the unfaithful were retained by themselves.
The Day of Atonement.
The record of this is found in the sixteenth chapter of Leviticus. Two goats were on that day brought to the sanctuary. Upon them lots were cast, one lot for Jehovah; one for Azazel. Verse 8. The goat for Jehovah was slain, its blood taken into the sanctuary by the high priest, even into the most holy place, and sprinkled before and upon the mercy-seat; "and he shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, even all their sins." For all the furniture and sacred vessels of the sanctuary he made atonement. "And when he hath made an end of atoning for the holy place, and the tent of meeting, and the altar, he shall present 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, even all their sins; and he shall put them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a man that is in readiness [appointed] into the wilderness; and the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a solitary land; and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness." Verses 15-22.
Patterns of Things in the Heavens.
All this—the sanctuary and its holy service—was that of "a copy and shadow of the heavenly things." Heb. 8:5. The holy places below were copies of holy places above. Heb. 9:9, 24. The cleansing, or justification of the earthly sanctuary from sin was a type of the cleansing or justification of the heavenly sanctuary from the sin recorded there. "It was necessary therefore that the copies of the things in the heavens should be cleansed with these [that is, the blood of beasts]; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these." Heb. 9:23.
The Divine Summary.
"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 he hath obtained a more excellent ministry." Heb. 8:1-6. "For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son [a priest], who is consecrated forevermore." All the types of the sanctuary of old pointed to the complete antitype of the priesthood of Jesus Christ.
The true spiritual service of the past was not dependent on the ceremonials and forms, save as it used them in expression for that time. The vital part of the service suffered no breach on the part of faithful souls. The center of worship moved from the sanctuary below to the sanctuary above. The onward-looking sacrifice of the lamb gave place to the Lord's Supper, which is both a remembrance of His death and a closing call to the hope of His second coming. But the continual service abides in simple faith in divine redemption through the God-ordained means, and obedience to all of God's requirements. On God's part, this was complete and continuous. On man's part, it rested in his faith.
When John was permitted to look into heaven, he saw there the heavenly sanctuary where Christ ministers. Revelation, chapters 4, 5, 8. Later on in a vision of the closing of earth's scenes, the judgment scene appears, and through the open door the prophet sees the ark of God's testament, the receptacle of His holy law. Rev. 11:18. Daniel's vision of the sanctuary, therefore, took in the whole sweep of human redemption till our Lord closes His work. The time of the vision—the 2,300 days—will be considered in our next.