And the LORD spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the LORD, and died;
The Lord spoke these words after the death of Aaron's two sons, and the chapter they open establishes the Day of Atonement. The sanctuary whose cleansing that chapter describes is the earthly sanctuary made in the desert of Sinai that God might dwell among His people, with its holy and most holy place. Its vessels were afterward transferred to Solomon's temple when Israel possessed Canaan, and that temple was then the sanctuary, the dwelling-place of God's glory upon the earth. That sanctuary was not the earth itself or the land of Palestine, and not the church.
On the Day of Atonement the high priest ministered on behalf of the children of Israel as a defiled, sinful people. On that day he stood for the people while Satan pointed to their defilement and triumphed in their discomfiture. The attire of the Jewish high priest in his atonement work is the attire of Christ as the great High Priest in the heavenly Holy of Holies while finishing His work of atonement. When that work is finished He will lay off the priestly attire to put on kingly robes and crowns to stand up and reign as King of kings and Lord of lords.
That typical service points to Christ's actual ministry for His people, for He is the Sin-bearer and Substitute for the offender to whom all types point. He bears sin and takes away the sin of the repentant, believing transgressor, and cannot Himself be accused as a sinner. The chapter points to Christ's great antitypical Day of Atonement, a solemn work of judgment and preparation taking place in the heavenly sanctuary, in the most holy place in heaven. That work concerns every person and must not be treated lightly.
That antitypical work was pointed out by the message of the hour of judgment. It means entrance by faith within the second veil where the great High Priest has gone to blot out the sins of all His faithful ones from Abel to the present time. That open door no man can shut remains open until the work therein is fully done, with invitation to sinners continuing until probation is closed and the ministry of the gospel is ended. The Day of Atonement was fulfilled when Christ entered the heavenly sanctuary in 1844 to cleanse it from the people's sins by His own blood, following the prophetic period associated with 1844, and the sanctuary to be cleansed was in heaven, not the earth.
That antitypical day calls for special preparation so sins confessed and put away can go beforehand to judgment, and Christ can cleanse the sinner and write Pardon against the sinner's name. As the pattern of an antitypical day of solemn accountability with eternal results, it requires God's people to seek purification through repentance, humility, and deep heart-searching. They are to consider how they will stand in the judgment and be cleansed from defilement through Jesus' blood. It introduces a final day of confession and atonement before the books are opened and every person is judged by the record of deeds, calling for sincere confession rather than covering wrongs in view of the coming judgment.
The Lord spoke these words after the death of Aaron's two sons, and the chapter they open establishes the Day of Atonement. The sanctuary whose cleansing that chapter describes is the earthly sanctuary made in the desert of Sinai that God might dwell among His people, with its holy and most holy place. Its vessels were afterward transferred to Solomon's temple when Israel possessed Canaan, and that temple was then the sanctuary, the dwelling-place of God's glory upon the earth. That sanctuary was not the earth itself or the land of Palestine, and not the church.
On the Day of Atonement the high priest ministered on behalf of the children of Israel as a defiled, sinful people. On that day he stood for the people while Satan pointed to their defilement and triumphed in their discomfiture. The attire of the Jewish high priest in his atonement work is the attire of Christ as the great High Priest in the heavenly Holy of Holies while finishing His work of atonement. When that work is finished He will lay off the priestly attire to put on kingly robes and crowns to stand up and reign as King of kings and Lord of lords.
That typical service points to Christ's actual ministry for His people, for He is the Sin-bearer and Substitute for the offender to whom all types point. He bears sin and takes away the sin of the repentant, believing transgressor, and cannot Himself be accused as a sinner. The chapter points to Christ's great antitypical Day of Atonement, a solemn work of judgment and preparation taking place in the heavenly sanctuary, in the most holy place in heaven. That work concerns every person and must not be treated lightly.
That antitypical work was pointed out by the message of the hour of judgment. It means entrance by faith within the second veil where the great High Priest has gone to blot out the sins of all His faithful ones from Abel to the present time. That open door no man can shut remains open until the work therein is fully done, with invitation to sinners continuing until probation is closed and the ministry of the gospel is ended. The Day of Atonement was fulfilled when Christ entered the heavenly sanctuary in 1844 to cleanse it from the people's sins by His own blood, following the prophetic period associated with 1844, and the sanctuary to be cleansed was in heaven, not the earth.
That antitypical day calls for special preparation so sins confessed and put away can go beforehand to judgment, and Christ can cleanse the sinner and write Pardon against the sinner's name. As the pattern of an antitypical day of solemn accountability with eternal results, it requires God's people to seek purification through repentance, humility, and deep heart-searching. They are to consider how they will stand in the judgment and be cleansed from defilement through Jesus' blood. It introduces a final day of confession and atonement before the books are opened and every person is judged by the record of deeds, calling for sincere confession rather than covering wrongs in view of the coming judgment.