Where God and I Meet - Martin Probstle

VVhereGod
andiMeet
. THE SANCTUARY
'
MARTIN PR0BSTLE
il
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Martin T.
Where God and 1 nieet: the sanctuary 1 Martin
pages cm
1. Sanctuary doctrine (Seventh-Day
Adventists) 2. Seventh-Day Adventists-Doctrines. 3.
Adventists- Doctrines. 1. Title.
BX6154.P75 2013
230:6732- dc23
ISBN 978-0-8280-2704-5
2012049329
Dedication
To rny wife, Marianne,
the best wife of all.
Your abundant patience and your unreserved support
allowed rne always to linger a little longer in the sanctuary.
To our sons, Max and Jonathan,
rny two "rnost favorite" sons,
for being a source of continuing joy-and occasional challenge.
To rny parents, Josef and Edith,
because I cannot thank you enough;
and
to the Lord of the sanctuary.
Let's all rneet at His awesorne place.
*******
S.D.G.
3
Contents
Introduction:
Chapter 1:
Chapter 2:
Chapter 3:
Chapter 4:
Chapter 5:
Chapter 6:
Chapter 7:
Chapter 8:
Chapter 9:
Chapter 10:
Chapter 11:
Chapter 12:
Chapter 13:
The Pic ture of Salvation o 0000 o o .. o .. 00 00 o 00 .. o o 00 o o .. 00 o 000 00 .. o .. o o 00 o O o o .... 7
The Heavenly Sanctuaryooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 11
Heaven on Earth o o o o o o 00 o o o o o o o o o o o 00 o 00 o 000 o o o o o o o o 00 o o o o 00 o 00 o o 00 o o o o 00 000 o o o o 21
Sacrifices ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooo ooooo oooooooo oooo ooooooo o 35
The Israelite Sanctuaryoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 44
Atonement Phase One: Purification Offering 000000000000000 53
Atonement Phase Two: Day of Atonement 0000000000000000000 62
Christ, Our Sacrifice o o o o o o o 00 o o o o o o o 00 00 o 00 o o o o o o o 00 o 00 o 00 o o 00 000 o o o 0 0 o o o o 00 o 7 4
Christ, Our Priest 0000000000 oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo .. 87
The Pre-Advent Judgment..oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 95
The Eschatological Day of Atonement 0000000000000000000000000 104
Our Prophetic Message ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 117
The Cosmic Conflict Over God's Character 0000000 0 00000000 126
E:xhortations From the Sanctuaryoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 135
The Picture of Salvation
T
hink about the time heaven will meet earth. Finally. But it gets
even better: heaven will come down on the earth itself. The New
Jerusalem will descend from the heaven to rest on our planet. The Lord
of all kings plans to live among us again, but this time it will be forever.
In fact, He has chosen us to be with Him and dwell in His palace. This
is the moment that humans will, for the first time, see the sanctuary:
"Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men" (Rev. 21:3). Jesus Christ
then invites us to enter the Holy City. And it's not just for a visit. We are
there to stay.
One does not need much imagination to understand that the heavenly
sanctuary will be extremely special for us. It is the very place in which Jesus
secured our eterna! salvation. The heavenly sanctuary ( or will we then call
it the "earthly sanctuary"?) will have a lot in store for us. But it's a treasure
trove even now.
Unquestionably, the greatest revelation of the love and character of God
took place at the cross, where the Lord offered Himself in the person ofJesus
Christ as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. The sanctuary enhances this
truth.
In the Scriptures we quickly learn that the sanctuary is definitely not a
human invention, but a concept of heavenly origin. The earthly sanctuary
only modeled the heavenly one, which is the true center of God's presence
and ofHis activity in the universe. It is the place He maintains relationship
with His creation. From there He governs the universe in love. In devising
a sanctuary on earth, God gave us a pictorial representation of the plan
of salvation. Equipped with a thorough knowledge of the sanctuary,
its sacrifices and services, we will understand better the meaning and
significance of Christ's great sacrifice and His high-priestly ministry. We
7
8 Where God and I Meet
will appreciate more readily what Christ has accomplished for us, and what
He is stiU doing for us today.
God intended to use the sanctuary as a teaching tool. It displayed
important truths about redemption and salvation, about His character and
presence, about our relationship with Him and the mission we have, about
understanding the messages of apocalyptic prophecies and proclaiming it,
and about the final disposition of sin.
1
The sanctuary provides us with images and symbols that allow us to
grasp abstract concepts more easily. Think for a moment. Without the
sanctuary we would be virtually helpless to comprehend that Jesus is our
sacrifice and our high priest. The fundamental New Testament vocabulary
of salvation-words such as "sacrifice;' "high priest;' "holy;' "blood;' "Iamb;'
"sin bearing;' "the Lord's Supper;' "propitiation;' "atonement;' "Pentecost;'
or "temple" -illustrates that sanctuary terminology permeates Christian
thought and theology. When John the Baptist told his disciples that Jesus
is the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29, 36),
they understood what John meant because of their familiarity with the
sanctuary and its rituals of sacrifice. The book of Hebrews presupposed a
good knowledge about the ancient Israelite priesthood in order that the
original recipients of the letter could comprehend what Jesus was doing for
them in heaven. And this is still true for today's readers of the epistle. The
book ofRevelation is sanctuary based and progresses through the Israelite
festive calendar until the celebration of the "Feast of the One Tabernacle"
on the new earth. Biblical writers also used sanctuary terminology to
teach profound truths about Christian living. For example, we believers
are God's temple and should offer ourselves as living sacrifices.
In short, knowledge of the sanctuary system became a foundation of
the new message of salvation in Christ. The sanctuary formed the tem plate
to help believers grasp the work of Christ. It functions as a paradigm to
understand salvation.
However, Christians as a whole have largely forgotten the sanctuary
concept. Not until the middle of the nineteenth century, when Adventists
began to appreciate God's paradigm of salvation anew, including the
message of the pre-Advent judgment, did the sanctuary concept receive a
fresh emphasis. From then on the sanctuary message became a treasured
beacon of Adventist theology and message.
2
"The subject of the sanctuary was the key which unlocked the mystery
of the disappointment of 1844. It opened to view a complete system of
Where God and I Meet 9
truth, connected and harmonious, showing that God's hand had directed
the great advent movement and revealing present duty as it brought to light
the position and work of His people:'
3
As the key for a complete system of truth, the sanctuary and Christ's
priestly ministry became the basis for the Seventh-day Adventist faith-
and stiU is.
4
In fact, the sanctuary message is Adventists' unique doctrine.
At the same time no other doctrine of the Adventist Church, with the
possible exception of the Sabbath, has faced so many challenges. The main
criticism raised against the teaching of the investigative judgment is that
it threatens our assurance of salvation. Others ask: Doesn't the antitypical
day of atonement start in the first century A.D. instead of 1844? Does
Daniel 8 refer to something other than the Day of Atonement? Wasn't the
atonement fully completed at the cross?
It's easy to see that any attack against the sanctuary doctrine strikes at
the heart of the Adventist message. Fortunately, not only has Adventism,
through the years, withstood such challenges, but such attacks have led
to an increased insight into this crucial teaching and have made us, as a
people, stronger in our understanding of salvation.
Some feel an antipathy toward the sanctuary message, because, as they
say, it is "much too complicated:' But such an argument is simply naive.
Yes, the sanctuary message is complex (a far more appropriate word than
complicated), and yes, it is exactly for this reason that it deserves our
attention. There is a richness to it that delights and rewards everyone who
savors studying the sanctuary and its multilayered connections to virtually
all other major biblical ideas. Lingering in the sanctuary is pure excitement.
Complex biblical themes are no less true than those quickly com-
prehended. They ha ve a lot to offer us. Even everything involved in the death
of Christ at the cross is highly intricate with countless facets to study. We
should not forget that "in eternity we shalllearn that which, had we received
the enlightenment it was possible to obtain here, would have opened our
understanding. The themes of redemption will employ the hearts and
minds and tongues of the redeemed through the everlasting ages. They will
understand the truths which Christ longed to open to His disciples, but
which they did not have faith to grasp. Forever and forever new views of
the perfection and glory of Christ will appear. Through endless ages will the
faithful Householder bring forth from His treasure things new and old:'
5
1
guess this would qualify "redemption'' as an extremely complex issue.
Ellen White recommended focusing our highest attention on the
sanctuary because "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 ali should thoroughly investigate these
subjects:'
6
In the heavenly sanctuary "we may gain a clearer insight into the
mysteries of redemption:'
7
Thus we can "exercise the faith which is essential
at this time" and "occupy the position which God designs [ us] to flll:'
8
The sanctuary discloses the heart of God. Studying it will bring us
close to the presence of the Supreme and to the personality of our Savior,
and draw us into a deeper personal relationship with Him. At the same
time, the theology of the sanctuary will provide us with our mission for
our world's final days.
What Ellen White declared 130 years ago is still the appeal for us:
"God's people are now to have their eyes fixed on the heavenly sanctuary,
where the final ministration of our great High Priest in the work of the
judgment is going forward-where He is interceding for His people:'
9
May
this book help you to focus on the heavenly sanctuary so that you will
indeed see it with your own eyes. And you will see Him, too.
1
Ellen White put it this way: "Important truths concerning the heavenly sanctuary
and the great work there carried forward for man's redemption were taught by the earthly
sanctuary and its services" (Ihe Great Controversy [Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press
Pub. Assn., 1911], p. 414).
2
For a brief overview of the priesthood of Christ throughout church history and in
Adventist understanding, see Angel Manuel Rodrguez, "The Sanctuary," in Handbook
of Seventh-day Adventist Iheology, ed. R. Dederen (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and
Herald Pub. Assn., 2000), pp. 403-406. For the development of the Adventist under-
standing of the sanctuary message in the initial years, 1844-1863, see Alberto R. Timm,
Ihe Sanctuary and the Ihree Angels' Messages: Integrating Factors in the Development
of Seventh-day Adventist Doctrines, Adventist Theological Society Dissertation Series
(Berrien Springs, Mich.: Adventist Theological Society, 1995), voi. 5.
3
E. G. White, Ihe Great Controversy, p. 423.
4
"The correct understanding of the ministration in the heavenly sanctuary is the
foun.dation of our faith" (Ellen G. White, Evangelism [Washington, D.C.: Review and
Herald Pub. Assn., 1946], p. 221).
5
Ellen G. White, Christ's Object Lessons (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub.
Assn., 1900), p. 134.
6
E. G. White, Ihe Great Controversy, p. 488.
7
Ibid., p. 489.
8
Ibid., p. 488.
9
E. G. White, Evangelism, p. 223 (originally published in Review and Herald, Nov. 27,
1883).
The Heavenly Sanctuary
W
here does God live?" I am always amazed about the innocent questions
a 6-year-old can ask. Simple question, simple answer, we might think.
But let us pause for a moment and consider honestly the implications of our
response. What seems to be a simple question turns out to be quite complex.
Of course, you immediately recognize that "Where does God live?" could
easily lead to a series of follow-up questions, such as "If God lives in one
place, how is it possible that He is everywhere?" Or "Does God even need a
dwelling place?" Or "If He doesn't require o ne, why does He choose to have
one?" Or "If He does, why does He need it?" Or "If God does ha ve a home,
does He ever invite people to His place?" That's another typical kid's question
of which the answer might have far-reaching consequences.
Good questions, and, given the little we know (and the lot we don't), they
are not so easy to answer. Naturally they seem to draw God very much into
our human realm. And yet He revealed Himself to us so that we might get to
know Him. Thus we can answer with what we do know. And we know from
the Bible that God dwells in heaven, that He is actively working in our behalf
"up" there, and that the center of His work is in the heavenly sanctuary.
We need to start our study of the sanctuary with the original one,
which is the heavenly sanctuary. Scripture is clear: the heavenly sanctuary
is a real place and the center of the universe, and from it we can learn truths
about the character and work of our God.
In this chapter we contemplate especially the question What is the
heavenly sanctuary? with its two corollary questions: Where does God
live? and What is He doing there?
God's Residence
In regard to God's presence, two ideas seem to collide. On the one hand,
11
we often say that "God is everywhere:' Or that He is "omnipresent;' which
means that He is present throughout His entire creation. O ne of the classic
texts for God's omnipresence is His self-declaration in Jeremiah 23:23, 24:
"'Am I a God near at hand; says the Lord, 'and not a God afar off?' Can
anyone hide himself in secret places, soI shall not see him?' says the Lord;
'DoI not fill heaven and earth?' says the Lord" (NKJV). David understood,
too, that nobody can flee physically from God (Ps. 139). Indeed, as Paul
argues, God is close to everyone, at least in a spiritual sense (Acts 17:27,
28). His eternal existence, which pertains to His infinity regarding time,
complements His attribute of omnipresence, which deals with His infinity
regarding space. God has neither beginning nor end (Ps. 90:2). He has ever
been and will always be (Jude 25). So God is larger than both space and time.
On the other hand, He has a dwelling place. Many texts of the Bible
testify to the fact that He resides in heaven in a real sanctuary.
1
When the
people prayed toward the earthly Temple, God announced that He would
hear in heaven, His dwelling place (1 Kings 8:30, 39, 43, 49; Ps. 20:6). God
is enthroned in heaven (Ps. 2:4; 33:13, 14; 123:1). There in His sanctuary,
from where He supervises the cosmos, He looks down to earth (Ps. 102:19),
and oversees all humanity (Ps. 33:13, 14; cf. 14:2). Does this mean that
God is more present in heaven than anywhere else? Obviously He dwells in
heaven in a special way. It is the place His presence most manifests itself.
Some might be tempted to attribute the different concepts of the
omnipresence of God and the residency of God to two different persons of
the Godhead-while the Father resides in heaven, the Spirit goes about His
business everywhere else. However, such a view is too limited.
Rather, there is a difference between God's "general presence" and
His "special presence:' God is generally present everywhere, and yet He
chooses to reveal Himself in a special way in heaven, and, as we will see, in
the heavenly sanctuary. Of course, we have to admit our limitations when it
comes to our understanding ofHis physical nature. He is spirit (John 4:24)
and cannot be contained in any structure or dimension (Isa. 66: 1; 1 Kings
8:27). Even so, the Bible presents heaven and the heavenly sanctuary not
as a spiritual but as a real place (John 14:1-3; Heb. 8:2), where God can be
seen (Acts 7:55, 56; Rev. 4:2, 3). Thus we have to conclude that even heaven
and the heavenly sanctuary is a place where God condescends to meet His
creation.
We find the concept of God's general and special presence not only in
regard to location but also in regard to time. God is always with us, each
and every day.
2
Still, at the climax of Creation week He instituted a special
day, the Sabbath, for the purpose of having close relationship with us. He
"blessed the seventh day and sanctified it" (Gen. 2:3), meaning that He
would be present on this day so that we could come "into the presence
of God" on the Sabbath.
3
As God is present in time in a special way on
the Sabbath, so He is present in space in a special way in His sanctuary.
While we can call the Sabbath a sanctuary in time,
4
we might refer to the
sanctuary as a Sabbath in space.
God is beyond any human concept. We can therefore never completely
understand Him. However, what He has chosen to reveal to us so far is
more than enough for us to desire to be with Him. One day we will stand
literally in the presence of God and see Him face to face in His residence, in
His sanctuary. But for the time being, we come spiritually "to Mount Zion
and to the city of the living God, the heavenly J erusalem, and to myriads of
angels" and to "God, the Judge;' and "Jesus, the mediator" (Heb. 12:22-24).
ThroneRoom
God's residence in heaven is a palace, a fact already indicated by the
Hebrew language. The word used for God's residence is hekal, which we
can translate as "palace" or "temple;' because it is used for both.
5
The Bible contains severa! visions of the heavenly throne room (e.g.,
1 Kings 22:19-23; Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6; Ps. 82; Isa. 6:1-13; Dan. 7; and a few
in Revelation). Most of them depict an assembly (the heavenly council)
with God as king, but all of them are somehow concerned with human
affairs, always presenting Him as acting or speaking for the righteous and
administering justice to all people.
Scripture portrays God as sovereign. The kingship of the Lord is a
recurring theme in the Psalms. God is not only king in heaven but also
"King of all the earth" (Ps. 47:7), and not only in the future but already
here and now, for His throne "is established from of old" (Ps. 93:2). Our
God reigns, no matter what our experiences are, or what happens on earth.
"The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty
rules over all" (Ps. 103:19). That has severa! ramifications. One ofthem is
that God is independent of and superior to the rest of the universe.
Another is that God's royal authority rests on a moral foundation. The
book of Psalms elaborates on the moral qualities of His kingship. God's
rule encompasses righteousness and justice, as well as loving commitment
and truthfulness (Ps. 89:14; 97:2). He is always faithful to these moral
qualities. Describing how He acts in the human world and underscoring
His position in the entire universe, they lend stability to His rule. They
are the principles by which the entire universe should function. Of course,
God wants His people on earth to manifest the same qualities in their
lives, and it is our sacred privilege to do so. That is why He summons His
people time and again to be righteous and just in their dealings, and to
show mercy, kindness, and love to o ne another (Micah 6:8; cf. Isa. 59: 14;
Zech. 7:9, 10; 8:16, 17). IfHis followers on earth dwell in their thoughts in
the heavenly throne room, they are changed according to what they focus
upon. They will manifest kindness, compassion, and true justice, even if
evil, oppression, and injustice fill the world around them.
Worship Place
What if we could take just one peek into heaven itself to catch sight of
our God on His majestic throne, to perceive His brilliance and splendor, to
take in the adoration of the celestial beings? Would it not turn out tobe the
experience of our lives? It was so for Isaiah, the prophet (Isa. 6), for John,
the beloved disciple (Rev. 4 and 5), and for Ellen White, the messenger of
the Lord.
6
Reading the breathtaking vision in Revelation 4 and 5 is an experience
by itself. In one of my classes I require the students to memorize the two
chapters and to envision a 3-D image ofthe divine throne room, imagining
that they would take part in the heavenly worship service. After completing
their assignment, several of them let me know that worshipping God here
on earth has taken on a whole new meaning.
That the vision of the heavenly throne room is also that of the
heavenly sanctuary is evident from the connection between throne and
temple and the language referring to the Hebrew cult. For instance, the
book of Revelation closely relates throne and temple elsewhere (Rev. 7: 15;
16:17). It connects lightning, sounds, and thunder both to the temple and
to the throne (Rev. 4:5; 11:19). The words for "door" and for "trumpet"
appearing in Revelation 4:1 of the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the
Hebrew Bible, are employed in reference to the sanctuary (e.g., Ex. 29:4;
Num. 10:8-10). The three precious stones are part of the high priest's
breastplate (Rev. 4:3; cf. Ex. 28:17-21). The seven lamps/torches offire are
reminiscent of the lamps on a lampstand (Rev. 4:5). The 24 elders recall
the 24 courses of Temple priests that serve throughout the year (Rev. 4:4;
cf. 1 Chron. 24:4-19) and their prayer offering in the "golden bowls full of
incense" (Rev 5:8; cf. Ps. 141:2). The Trisagion, the call "holy, holy, holy;'
finds its background in the temple vision in Isaiah 6 (Rev. 4:8; cf. Isa. 6:3).
In such context "something like the sea of glass" may reflect the water basin
at Solomon's Temple that is called "sea'' (Rev. 4:6; cf. 1 Kings 7:23-26). All
of these verses point back to the Old Testament worship service, which
centered on the earthly sanctuary. Most explicit of all, the slain Lamb and
the redemptive blood of the Lamb in Revelation 5 are an allusion to the
sacrifices that represent Christ's sacrificial and redemptive death. In a
nutshell, the unique throne vision in Revelation 4 and 5 is a temple scene,
and as such the ideal setting for the heavenly liturgy.
The heavenly sanctuary is a place of worship par excellence, and the
center of its worship is God and nobody else. True worship has always God
as the focus. The vastness of the throne room itself and its magnificence,
as described by John the revelator, are astonishing and awe-inspiring. The
atmosphere of reverence and glory is a perfect environment for continuous
adoration. The following table shows the interconnection of the five hymns
in Revelation 4 and 5. Observe the dramatic crescendo as we progress from
one hymn to the next. Follow John's gaze as it wanders from one group of
participants to the next, ever increasing in number.
Table 1. The Hymns in Revelation 4 and 5
Text 4:8 4:11 5:9,10 5:12 5:13
Style
"He" "You" "You" "He"
ceHe"
Singer
four living
24 elders
four living
multitue of angels creatures every creature
creatures
and 24 elders
God (the one on God (the one on Lambwho Lamb who
God (the one on
Addressee
the throne) the throne) was slain was slain
the throne) and
the Lamb
holiness and
worthiness of
worthiness of the
worthiness
equal worthiness
Contents God (three ofthe Lamb
eternity of God
attributes)
Lamb
(seven attributes)
(four attributes)
Reason creation
sacrifice and
salvation
What isthe
Question
Who is God?
WhatdidGod Whatdid the
Who is the Lamb?
relationship
Answered do? Lambdo? between God and
the Lamb?
The hymns reach their climax when the Lamb joins the Father on
the throne. Their main themes are God's act of creation (Rev. 4) and the
16 Where Gad and I Meet
Lamb's act of salvation (Rev. 5). Biblical thought inextricably links creation
and salvation together. To have the one without the other is impossible.
Similarly joined are God the Father and Jesus Christ. Both God and the
Lamb receive the same praise (Rev. 5:13). Christ, the Lamb, is the only
mediator of divine salvation and is accounted worthy to do so because of
His triumph (verse 5), His incarnation (verse 6), His sacrifice (verses 9, 12),
and His divinity (verse 13). Christ set aside all the glories of the heavenly
sanctuary (beauty, throne, palace of justice, seat of government, worship)
and left them to become human (Phil. 2:5-8). Why would anybody in the
universe trade such things for wandering a few decades on our planet?
The only answer is love. A love that saves. Just for His love alone, Christ is
worthy to be praised.
Other hymns spread throughout Revelation reveal more reasons that
God and Christ deserve worship: the beginning of God's visible eternal
reign (Rev. 11:15-18), the divine judgment (Rev. 15:3-7), and the final
realization of salvation (Rev. 19:6-8). Each hymn refers to a specific point
in salvation history, showing that God can always be praised for who He is
and what He does. Revelation 4 and 5 depict His work for the salvation of
humanity. We can see, too, that it has unfolded before the other intelligent
beings in heaven, a key theme in the great controversy motif. All the created
beings are drawn irresistibly into worship of God. The all-powerful God is
the Creator and sustainer, while the Son is the sacrifice and the Redeemer.
Together They sit on the heavenly throne, at the center of accolade and
worship.
7
With regard to the heavenly worship scene, at least two practical
questions come to mind. First: How can our worship on earth reflect the
heavenly worship and adoration ?
8
We need to worship with God at its
center. Our preaching, studying, praying, and singing should first of all not
uplift us, but God. Worship is never human-centered, but always about the
Lord and the Lamb, about Their character and Their activities. Of course,
a welcome side effect is that, in concentrating on God, we find ourselves
changed into His image. It is true: "By beholding we become changed:'
9
The second question is What motivates our personal worship of God?
Praise comes in two types: praise for "being" and praise for "doing:' Both
are important in our relationships. Praise for "being" lets us know that we
are worthwhile no matter what, and that we are loved no matter what. On
the other hand, praise for "doing" assures us that others are pleased with
our behavior and efforts. So do we praise God for who He is, or for what
He does for us? If we are honest, we have to say that it seems easier to praise
God for His doings. Many prayers focus on His actions for our sake. At
times, it may not be easy to distinguish the two (in Revelation 4 and 5 God
receives praise for being the Creator as well as for creating and sustaining
all things). However, we need to take time to consider how we can praise
God more for who He is. For who doesn't like to get honored for who she
or he is, instead of only hearing praise for having done well? Who does not
want to know that he or she is worthwhile no matter what?
Courtroom
Many psalms demonstrate that the psalmists did believe that God is
not indifferent to the needs of the righteous and to the injustices that they
often experience. He will react to the issues that cry out to high heaven
for immediate and urgent action, and He will "justify the righteous and
condemn the wicked;' just as a good judge in Israel would do (Deut. 25:1).
When God judges, the throne room becomes a courtroom, and the
heavenly throne a judgment seat. The O ne enthroned is the o ne who judges
(see Ps. 9:4-8; 29:10; cf. Prov. 20:8), a concept widespread among ancient
Near Eastern cultures. The king was simultaneously considered to be the
highest judge, whose duty was to maintain law and order. His throne room
was the final court of appeal in any kind of dispute. Furthermore, he was
the guarantor of justice, especially for the marginalized, such as widows,
orphans, and the poor. His court decisions set the standard for the entire
land. That is o ne of the reasons Scripture reports the account of the famous
Solomonic decision at the beginning ofhis reign (1 Kings 3).
Psalm 11 depicts God both as a king, who is surveying the human
affairs, and as a divine judge, who is examining all people carefully (verses
4, 5). Throughout the Bible divine judgment involves both the righteous
and the wicked. While the upright "will behold His face;' the latter receive
a punishment similar to that of Sodom and Gomorrah (verses 6, 7). The
classic combination of throne room and judgment is of course found in
Daniel 7:9-14.
10
There again the judgment consists of two strands, a verdict
of vindication for the saints and a sentence of condemnation for God's
enemies.
After Habakkuk asked God why He was silent about the injustice done
on earth (Hab. 1), God's answer was that He will certainly judge (Hab. 2:1-
5). While idols have no "breath" or "spirit" at all in them (verse 19), the
Creator-God is enthroned in His temple, the heavenly sanctuary, ready
to judge. The prophetic appeal is "Let all the earth be silent before Him"
(verse 20). Elsewhere the call to hush before God occurs in anticipation of
the impending judgment (Zeph. 1:7; Zech. 2:13). The appropriate attitude
toward God ruling and judging in heaven is awed silence and hushed
reverence.
The place where God reveals His special presence and where the
heavenly beings worship Him is the same where He is rendering righteous
judgment for all humans. God is just, and all our questions about justice
will be solved in the heavenly sanctuary in His time, not in ours. So we are
back at the psalms. O ne of their recurrent goals is to induce hope and trust
in a God who is a faithful judge. Our hearts cry out for justice, but we so
often don't see it now. Thus our only hope is that "God is good:' No matter
what. How did Asaph put it? "Until I carne into the sanctuary of God; then
I perceived their end" (Ps. 73:17). The sanctuary provides the answer for
those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, because the Deity of the
sanctuary is the God of justice.
Place of Salvation
Already in the Old Testament we find the saving power of God
connected to the heavenly sanctuary: "The Lord saves His anointed; He
will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving strength ofHis right
hand" (Ps. 20:6).
The book of Hebrews teaches that Christ is ministering in the heavenly
sanctuary, at the throne of God, as our high priest. His work there is focused
on our salvation, for He appears "in the presence of God for us" (Heb. 9:24).
He sympathizes with us, giving us assurance that we will not be rejected but,
instead, receive mercy and grace because of what Jesus has done for us (Heb.
4:15, 16). As in the earthly sanctuary, the heavenly is the location where
atonement, or reconciliation, takes place for the sins of the believers (Heb.
2:17). The same Jesus who died "for us" is now ministering in heaven "for
us" as well. Imagine that the most perfect being in the universe is working in
the best-suited environment to finalize our salvation. Indeed, the heavenly
. sanctuary is also the place of salvation par excellence.
The last book of the Bible is renowned for its sanctuary imagery.
Major sections in Revelation often begin with a sanctuary scene. The first
introductory scene shows Christ, clothed as high priest, walking among
the seven lampstands (Rev. 1:12-20). The second shifts from earth to the
heavenly throne room, utilizing a wide variety of sanctuary imagery (Rev.
4; 5: throne, lamps, slain Lamb, blood, golden bowls of incense). The third
refers to the continuai service of intercession in the context of the first
apartment of the heavenly sanctuary (Rev. 8:2-6). The fourth and central
scene gives us a glance at the ark of the covenant in the Second Apartment
(Rev. 11: 19). The fifth scene brings the entire tabernacle in heaven in view
in order to reveal the cessation of the heavenly ministry (Rev. 15:5-8). The
sixth scene is unique in that it does not contain any explicit references to
the sanctuary, perhaps to illustrate that Christ's work there bas concluded
(Rev. 19:1-10). The final scene is all about the glorious Holy City on earth,
portrayed as the tabernacle "coming down out ofheaven" (Rev. 21:1-8).
A careful study of the various sanctuary scenes reveals that they
are interconnected, showing an internal progression in the salvation
accomplished by God-from Christ on earth, to His heavenly ministry in
the first and second apartments, to its end, and finally to the new earth
tabernacle.
Furthermore, each sanctuary scene is closely associated with God's
dealings with the world as described in the sections that follow. The book of
Revelation thus provides a fascinating view of God's ministry of salvation,
anchoring all His deeds in the sanctuary.
11
Conclusion
The heavenly sanctuary is reality. It is God's chosen residence, the seat
of His government, where He supervises the cosmos. A multifunctional
place, it reveals deeper insights into God's character as almighty King
( throne ro om, venue for the heavenly council), a God worth adoring (place
of worship ), a merciful Savior (location of salvation), and a righteous
judge (cosmic courtroom). God does not compartmentalize. The different
functions of the divine residence do not mutually exclude each other. In
fact, they are all interconnected.
God created His residence so that He could relate with His creation,
and all created beings with Him. The heavenly sanctuary is, as it were,
the interface between God and His creation. God and the sanctuary thus
belong together, and therefore the sanctuary will exist forever.
1
After studying 45 Old Testament passages dealing with the heavenly sanctuary/
temple motif, De Souza concludes that there exists a heavenly sanctuary as a spatio-
temporal reality, functioning in a close relationship to the earthly counterparts. See Elias
Brasil de Souza, The Heavenly Sanctuary! Temple Motif in the Hebrew Bible: Function and
Relationship to Earthly Counterparts, Adventist Theological Society Dissertation Series
(Berrien Springs, Mich.: Adventist Theological Society, 2005), voi. 7, pp. 496, 497.
2
Psalm 139 celebrates God's presence with us in space (verses 7-12) and in time
(verses 13-18).
3
God makes something or someone holy by His presence (see Ex. 3:5; 29:43; Lev.
19:2), and by designating or setting it (or, a person) aside, because it is sacred by virtue
of its relationship to God, who is holy. The source of holiness is God alone. Hence the
holiness of the Sabbath stems not from human observance but from an act of God. When
Scripture commands us to keep the Sabbath holy (Ex. 20:8; Deut. 5:12)-not to make it
holy-it asks us to respect the divine presence.
4
See Abraham Heschel, The Sabbath (New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1951).
Heschel describes the Sabbath as "a sanctuary in time" (p. 29), as a "great cathedral" (p.
8), and as a "palace in time" (p. 15).
5
See the text references in Ludwig Koehler, Walter Baumgartner, and Johann Jakob
Stamm, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, Study Edition, trans.
M.E.J, Richardson (Leiden: Brill, 2001), voi. 1, pp. 244, 245. The royal connotation of the
Hebrew hekal is taken over from earlier languages, because hekal is a loanword from
Sumerian e.gal, "big house," through Akkadian ekallu, "royal palace, property." In the
Old Testament, however, hekal designates primarily the Temple. It also designates the
ma in hali of the Jerusalem Temple (see 1 Kings 6:3, 5).
6
After her first vision in December 1844 (the vision of the "narrow path"), in which
Ellen White saw the New Jerusalem, the throne of God, and the exalted Christ, she was
changed forever. "I wept when I found myself here, and felt homesick. I had seen a better
world, and it had spoiled this for me .... While under the power of the Lord, I was filled
with joy, seeming tobe surrounded by holy angels in the glorious courts ofheaven, where
ali is peace and gladness; and it was a sad and bitter change to wake up to the realities
of mortallife" (Ellen G. White, Life Sketches of Ellen G. White [Mountain View, Calif.:
Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1915), pp. 67, 68).
7
For more on Revelation's worship scenes, see C. Raymond Holmes, "Worship in the
Book of Revelation," Journal of the Adventist Theological Society 8 (1997): 1-18.
8
With regard to worship, Fernando Canale, "Principles of Worship and Liturgy,"
Journal of the Adventist Theological Society 20 (2009): 89-111, provides for highly interest-
ing reading.
9
O ne of Ellen White's most favored phrases, she uses it in different contexts (most
often applying it to Christ as the abject of our beholding), always with a profound spiri-
tual sense. "It is a law both of the intellectual and the spiritual nature that by beholding
we become changed. The mind gradually adapts itself to the subjects upon which it is
allowed to dwell. It becomes assimilated to that which it is accustomed to love and rever-
ence" (E. G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 555).
1
Chapter 9 of this book focuses on the vision in Daniel 7.
11
See Richard M. Davidson, "Sanctuary Typology in the Literary Arrangement,"
in Symposium on Revelation: Book 1, Daniel and Revelation Committee Series (Silver
Spring, Md. : Biblica! Research Institute, 1992), voi. 6, pp. 111-126; and Jon Paulien, "The
Role of the Hebrew Cu !tus, Sanctuary, and Temple in the Plot and Structure of the Book
of Revelation," Andrews University Seminary Studies 33 (1995): 245-264.
Heaven on Earth
G
od has chosen to manifest Himself the fullest in the sanctuary
in heaven. Certainly He designed and constructed the heavenly
sanctuary according to His purposes. In the previous chapter we saw that
it is the perfect place for government, worship, judgment, and salvation.
It should not carne as a surprise to anyone that God, who always
wants to be in clase relationship with His creation, brings the concept of
the sanctuary down to earth. Throughout human history we find different
temple "incarnations" on earth. The perceptive reader can already detect
one right in the beginning, when God created the Garden of Eden as an
archetypal temple. The heavenly sanctuary and its salvific function had its
closest representation in the earthly tabernacle and the larger structure of
the Israelite Temple. However, the sanctuary concept is not restricted to
material buildings. The Bible applies it, to some extent, to beings as well.
In Jesus we encounter the temple in person. Scripture compares the New
Testament church to the temple. And finally, the heavenly temple will carne
down to the new earth.
Thus time and again God draws near to His creation and tries to teach
and establish heavenly temple principles on earth. The Lord has always
used concepts relating to the heavenly sanctuary to reveal truth. In this
regard, o ne is greatly tempted to say that God "thinks" sanctuary.
The First "Sanctuary" on Earth
Bible students have noted quite a number of terminological, thematic,
and structural connections between the Garden of Eden and later
-anctuaries in Israel, indicating that God intended and understood
the garden as the first "temple" on earth, as an archetype for the later
-anctuaries.
1
Here are the most intriguing ones:
21
1. At the end of both the Creati an account and the construction report
of the tabernacle we find the same three elements of approval,
completion, and blessing expressed with the exact same key verbs: "see
aH:' "finish:' "bless" (compare Gen. 1:31-2:3 with Ex. 39:32, 43; 40:33).
2. Just as Creation took six days-each day introduced by "God said"-
followed by the Sabbath, so there are six "the Lord spoke to Moses"
sections concerning the tabernacle (Ex. 25:1; 30:11, 17, 22, 34; 31:1)
followed by a seventh section about the Sabbath (Ex. 31:12-17).
3. After Creation there existed at least three different areas of graded
holiness on earth: outside of Eden, Eden or the garden in Eden,
and the middle of the garden.
2
Similarly, we find three are as of
increasing holiness at the sanctuary in Israel ( courtyard, holy
place, Most Holy Place) and another three beyond the sanctuary
(Israelite camp, outside the camp, desert). After the Fall humans
had a limited access to God at the entrance to the garden, just as
the Israelites could only carne to the entrance to the sanctuary, but
no farther.
4. Just as the "Spirit of God" descended on earth before Creati an week
(Gen. 1:2), so He carne to rest upon Bezalel before the construction
ofthe tabernacle (Ex. 31:3-5).
5. Garden-like imageryappears all through the sanctuaryand the Temple:
the menorah was a stylized almond tree, perhaps representing the tree
oflife (Ex. 25:31-36); the insi de of the Temple included ornamentation
with palm trees, gourds, open flowers, and cherubim (1 Kings 6:18,29,
32); pomegranates and lilies decorated the two Temple pillars (1 Kings
7:18-20); and the water basin and its stands were made in the shapes
oflions, oxen, and cherubim (verses 25, 29).
6. Scripture designates the light in Eden (sun and moon) by the same
Hebrew word (maor) used for the light of the sanctuary menorah
(Gen. 1:14-16; Ex. 25:6; 27:20).
7. Life-giving water proceeded from Eden (Gen. 2:10-14), as also from
the eschatological temple (Eze. 4 7:1-12) and the throne of God (Rev.
22:1, 2). Eden, like the Temple, apparently resided on a hill, or some
sort of elevati an, the source of the four rivers flowing from it.
8. Eden contained gold and the onyx stane (Gen. 2:12), typical
materials of the Temple and the priestly garments (Ex. 28:6-27;
1 Kings 6:20-22). Ezekiel 28:13 mentions Eden in connection with
various precious stones also found on the high-priestly ephod.
9. Eden was east-oriented (Gen. 2:8; 3:24), as was the sanctuary (Ex.
27:13-16; Eze. 47:1).
10. Just as God's special presence was "walking" around in the garden
(Gen. 3:8), so He was in the midst of His people in the sanctuary
(Deut. 23:14; 2 Sam. 7:6, 7).
11. Adam was to "cultivate" and "keep" the garden (Gen. 2:15). Scripture
next uses the same two Hebrew verbs for the service of the Levites in
the tabernacle (Num. 3:7, 8).
12. God clothed (Hebrew labash) Adam and Eve with garments of skin
(Hebrew kutonet), the same terms employed when Moses dresses
Aaron and his sons as priests (Gen. 3:21; Lev. 8:7, 13).
13. Two cherubim guarded the garden (Gen. 3:24); two cherubim were
stationed in the Most Holy Place (Ex. 25:18-22).
14. The sanctuary was finished on the first day of the first month (Ex.
40:17), the Hebrew New Year's Day, which recalls the completion of
the world at Creation.
15. Conceptually, just as God dwells in the heavenly sanctuary, so
humanity, the image of God, should reside in Eden, the image of the
heavenly sanctuary. Humanity in Eden was a type for Godin heaven.
( Certainly it is o ne of the meanings ofhumanity being created in the
image ofGod.) A further comparison shows that God always wanted
to bring heaven on earth:
God
! "image" (tselem)
Humanity
made ('as ah) in the ''image"
of God (Gen. 1:26-28)
Heavenly Sanctuary
! "pattern" (tabnit)
Sanctuary on earth
made ('as ah) according to the
"pattern" (Ex. 25:9, 40)
The ancient audience, too, perceived that Eden was actually a sanctuary.
For example, a Jewish writing of the second century B.C. claims that "the
garden of Eden is the holy of holies and the dwelling of the Lord" (Jubilees
8:19; cf. Jubilees 4:26).
Thus God planned the garden in Eden as a sanctuary. He designated
it to be the place of His special presence on earth. As such, it was a satellite
sanctuary to the one in heaven. "Eden .. . was heaven in miniature:'
3
Thus Eden was God's gift to humanity. With it He provided all life-
giving and life-sustaining forces that humanity needed. The gift even
contained the Giver. Scripture calls the Garden of Eden the "garden of
God" (Isa. 51:3; Eze. 28:13; 31:9). It was God's dwelling on earth, the place
where our first parents were to worship and commune with Him, and to
rejoice in His presence. Therefore the greatest loss of the Fall was not their
expulsion from the garden but from the immediate presence of God.
Eden remained on earth for many centuries, until just before the
Flood "the hand that had planted Eden withdrew it from the earth. But
in the final restitution, when there shall be 'a new heaven and a new earth'
(Revelation 21:1, KJV), it is tobe restored more gloriously adorned than
at the beginning:'
4
When Christ opens the gates of the New Jerusalem, the
redeemed will enter and Christ, the Second Adam, will reinstate the first
Adam in Eden. Adam recognizes the trees, vines, and flowers he once loved
to care for.
5
"His mind grasps the reality of the scene; he comprehends that
this is indeed Eden restored, more lovely now than when he was banished
from it. The Savior leads him to the tree of life and plucks the glorious
fruit and bids him eat. He looks about him and beholds a multitude of
his family redeemed, standing in the Paradise of God. Then he casts his
glittering crown at the feet of Jesus and, falling upon His breast, embraces
the Redeemer:'
6
That is the moment we are all waiting for.
Copy of the Pattern
The Scriptures clearly teach that Moses did not invent the tabernacle,
but built it according to divine instructions he had received on Mount Sinai
(Ex. 26:30; 27:8; Num. 8:4). The final third of the book of Exodus (Exodus
25-40) deals almost exclusively with the sanctuary. God directed Moses how
to construct the sanctuary and equip the priests (Ex. 25-31). At the end of
His instructions, God promised to send His Spirit to Bezalel so that he, his
coworker Oholiab, and their crew could manufacture everything according
to God's will and to the pattern (Ex. 31:1-11). And that is exactly what
they did. The description of the construction therefore essentially repeats
the content of the instructions (Ex. 35-40). Sandwiched between the two
sections is the attempt of the Israelites to set up an alternate cultic system (Ex.
32-34). The framing of the golden calf incident with two Sabbath passages
in Exodus 31:12-18 and Exodus 35:1-3 seems tobe a device to connect the
creation of the tabernacle with the creation of the world, as if to say that the
"building of the tabernacle ... is an act of re-creation, culminating in the
Sabbath command- a new seventh day, as it were:'
7
Moses had seen a "pattern" on the mountain, and the earthlY anctuary
was to be constructed after the "pattern" (Ex. 25:9, 40). The question is
What did God show Moses? Three possibilities deserve consideration.
Either Moses had observed the heavenly sanctuary itself, which then
served as a blueprint for the desert tabernacle; he had seen a model of
the heavenly sanctuary and should use it as pattern for the tabernacle; or
God had revealed something that served as an architectural model for the
desert tabernacle but was unrelated to the heavenly sanctuary.
8
The text is clear that Moses had seen a visible reality, revealed to him by
the Lord (Ex. 25:9). The menorah was made according to "the appearance
which [Yahweh] shewed Moses" (Num. 8:4, YLT). Whatever Moses
observed, it must have been three-dimensional. Furthermore, the Hebrew
word for "pattern" (tabnit) expresses the idea of a model or copy, so one
can conclude that Moses saw some kind of miniature representation that
depicted, in a way that we cannot clearly define, the heavenly sanctuary,
and that this model served as a pattern for the earthly sanctuary.
9
Therefore the heavenly temple is the original, the prototype for the
Israelite sanctuaries. What is also obvious is that we cannot equate the
heavenly sanctuary with heaven itself, for the heavenly temple is "in
heaven" (Rev. 11:19; 14:17; 15:5). Because heaven contains it, the two are
not synonymous.
The ancient Israelites could easily comprehend the concept of a
heaven-earth counterpart. Ancient Near Eastern thought regarded an
earthly temple as a shadow, a symbol of the heavenly residence. It provided
a link to heaven, as indicated by some of the ancient temple names. For
example, the temple Eduranki at Nippur means "bond between heaven and
earth;' and the Etemenanki at Babylon translates as "platform of heaven
and earth:'
The book ofHebrews explains in unmistakable terms that the heavenly
original is reality. It calls the sanctuary in heaven the "true tabernacle"
(Heb. 8:2) as well as the "greater and more perfect tabernacle" (Heb. 9:11),
while the one on earth is a "copy and shadow" (Heb. 8:5). This conception
continues the line of thought that originated most clearly in Exodus 25:9,
40. In fact, Hebrews 8:1-5, which introduces the correspondence between
the sanctuary in heaven and that on earth, quotes the key text of Exodus
25:40 as its Old Testament hasis.
The shadow image prevents us from two extreme positions. On the
one hand, we cannot claim that the earthly sanctuary is exactly like the
heavenly. And on the other hand, we need to avoid the position that we
cannot say anything intelligent about the heavenly because it is far beyond
our comprehension. A shadow (Greek skia, Heb. 8:5) indicates something
real, but it does not show exactly how the real thing looks. As the shadow
is always a mere representation of something real, often imperfect and
faint, so is the earthly sanctuary of the heavenly. Whatever its limitations,
however, the earthly sanctuary still reflects the reality of the heavenly in
important ways.
We find a basic continuity throughout the earthly sanctuaries. All
earthly sanctuaries have two parts, the same basic furniture (altar ofburnt
offering, laver, menorah, table of showbread, altar of incense, ark of the
covenant), and the same sacrificial system carried out there. Interestingly,
Hebrews 9:1-7 notes exactly those things. If the heavenly sanctuary serves
via a miniature model as a type for the earthly sanctuary, one might very
well expect such a basic continuity between the heavenly and the earthly
sanctuary, and that we can detect it best in regard to those repeating
elements.
Of course, the heavenly is larger, more spectacular and impressive, and
more everything than the earthly. The tabernacle/temple on earth was "but
a faint reflection of its vastness and glorY:'
10
The dimensions of the Israelite
tabernacle-the court measures 100 x 50 cubits and the tabernacle proper
is 30 x 1 O cubits-do not fit in any way the description of the heavenly
temple John saw in Revelation 4. This makes it undoubtedly clear that the
earthly is nota one-to-one copy of the heavenly.
Furthermore, surprisingly for some, the tabernacle is not the only
earthly sanctuary built according to God's plan. First Chronicles 28:11-21
mentions that, before his death, David gave his son Solomon a detailed
building plan (Hebrew tabnit) of the entire Temple and its precincts. The
multiple occurrences of the Hebrew tabnit (verses 11, 12, 18, 19), which
frame this section and appear only here in the books of Chronicles, are
an intentiona! reference to the construction of the tabernacle according to
the tabnit in Exodus 25:9, 40. Various scholars discuss whether David had
this plan "in mind" (so NASB, NRSV), or whether the Spirit inspired it (so
NKJV, NIV). 'fhe Hebrew is ambiguous. But in either case, at the end of the
passage David declared unmistakably that "all this he made clear to me in
writing from the hand of the Lord, ali the work to be done according to the
plan [tabnit]" (1 Chron. 28:19, ESV). The Temple plan had come to David
by divine revelation.
Therefore, like Moses, who conveyed what he had seen to the Israelites
to build the tabernacle, David presented what he had received to Solomon.
As the Israelites erected the tabernacle and the Lord showed His final
acceptance by a visible "cloud" that covered the tent of meeting and "the
glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle" so that Moses could not enter (Ex.
40:34, 35), in like manner God's people constructed the Temple and the
Lord indicated His final acceptance by a visible "cloud" and "the glory of
the Lord filled the house of the Lord;' preventing anyone from going into it
(1 Kings 8:10, 11). Both the desert tabernacle and Solomon's Temple reflect
a plan provided by Yahweh Himself, the one being a mobile sanctuary and
the other a stationary Temple. The difference in their structures shows
that we should not equate the heavenly original with either one of them.
However, their similarities in structure and especially in the cultic systems
administrated at both places, should shed light on the salvific function of
the heavenly sanctuary and the priestly ministry there, and, perhaps, on its
structure as well.
What, then, is the exact relationship between the earthly and heavenly
sanctuaries? We can best describe it as "typologY:'
11
For a start, typology
is a thoroughly biblical concept. It describes the relationship between a
"type" ( Greek tupos, which means "pattern;' "example;' or "model") and its
corresponding item called "antitype" (Greek antitupos). The Greek term
tupos and its cognates occur six times in the New Testament, each clearly
using it to portray the New Testament author's interpretation of the Old
Testament: Adam is a type ofChrist (Rom. 5:14); the Exodus event is a type
for the experience ofthe New Testament church (1 Cor. 10:6, 11); the Flood
is a type of Christian baptism (1 Peter 3:21); and the heavenly sanctuary is
a type ofthe earthly sanctuary (Heb. 8:5; 9:24).
12
The relationship between
type and antitype cannot be only antithetical (for example, between Adam
and Christ in Romans 5), but is most notably in the sense of the type pointing
to the antitype. A study of these passages proves that typology is a devoir-
etre ("must-needs-be"), that is, the Old Testament pre-presentation has to
be fulfilled in the New Testament. In short, typology is a divinely designed,
prophetic prefiguration that involves two corresponding historical realities,
called type an-d antitype. Their correspondence could be quite detailed,
or could function just between general though similar situations, but it
usually involves intensification, in which the New Testament antitype is
greater than the Old Testament type.
13
Since the correspondence runs from the type (historically first) to
the antitype (historically later), it is interesting to note that the book of
Hebrews refers to the heavenly model that Moses had seen as "type" or
"pattern" (Heb. 8:5) and the earthly sanctuary as "antitype" or "copy" (Heb.
9:24). The parts of the earthly sanctuary are also called the "copies of the
things in the heavens" (verse 23). This might surprise a few, because one
expects that the earthly sanctuary foreshadows the heavenly. However, the
data of the book of Hebrews corresponds exactly to historical reality. After
all, the heavenly existed prior to the earthly. There is a heavenly original
(tupos), and there is an earthly copy of it (antitupos), which refers to the
original heavenly reality.
14
Thus, as Seventh -day Adventists, we are on solid
biblical ground in emphasizing the originality and physical reality of the
heavenly sanctuary.
The link between the heavenly sanctuary and the earthly sanctuary is
not only typological, but it is also perceived as existing in actuality. They
are so closely connected that the activities in the earthly sanctuary could
reverberate in the heavenly sanctuary and vice versa.
15
Jesus
Jesus Christ fulfilled the promises and predictions of the Messiah
found in the Old Testament. Whereas we often focus on the messianic
prophecies, Jesus is also the actualization of the sanctuary symbolism.
One of the theological themes in the Gospel of John is that with Jesus
the better temple has come. Tabernacle imagery appears as early as John
1:14. Jesus is the Word who "dwelt" among humanity, and they saw His
"glorY:' The Greek used for "to dwell" ( s k e n o ) is the verbal form of the
Greek noun for "tabernacle" (skene) so that one could translate verse 14
literally as "The Word tabernacled among us:' In this context the word
"glory" recalls the glory of God that filled the wilderness tabernacle (Ex.
40:34, 35) as well as Solomon's Temple (2 Chron. 7:1-3) at their respective
inaugurations. So when Christ carne to earth as a human, He fulfilled God's
temple promise to dwell among His people.
Jesus is also the new Bethel, the new house of God. He replaces Jacob's
ladder with Himself, as He is the connection between the open heaven
and earth (John 1:51). At the cleansing of the Temple Jesus replaced it with
Himself, prefiguring already the end of the earthly Temple's importance
after His death and resurrection (John 2:19-21). Temple worship in
Jerusalem will give way to worship in spirit (John 4:21-24).
When Jesus said that He is the bread oflife (John 6:35) and the light of
the world (John 8:12; 9:5), He might have been pointing beyond the manna
to the table of the bread of the Presence and to the lampstand, objects in
the earthly sanctuary. Of course, the bread of life also signifies that Jesus
gives His flesh and His blood for the life of the world, thus referring again
to Him as the substitutionary sacrifice (John 6:51-56).
Another definite reference to the sanctuary is the designation of Jesus
as the sacrificial "Lamb of God" who will bear the sin of the world (John
1:29). John the Baptist might have had Isaiah 53:7 in mind, or he was saying
that Jesus fulfills the symbolism of the Passover Iamb, a point made later in
the Gospel by quoting, "Not one ofhis bones will be broken" (John 19:36,
NIV; cf. Ex. 12:46).
It is quite evident that through the sanctuary God prepared the world
to appreciate what He did in Christ, and is still doing. Jesus as the new
temple depicts a new era in salvation history. Everything associated with
the sanctuary was now available in Him.
Matthew 27:50, 51 provides an important clue for the transition in
understanding the importance of the sanctuary at the death ofJesus. When
the Temple veil was torn apart from the top to the bottom-an obvious
indication that God did the ripping-exposing the Most Holy Place, it was
a sign that the theological function of the earthly Temple had ended. It
was a plain fulfillment of the prophecy in Daniel 9:27 that in the middle
of the last week of the 70 weeks "sacrifice and offering" shall cease.
16
The
sacrificial system lost its meaning, because the true sacrifice, Jesus, had
been offered.
Although Jesus died, the sacrifices at the earthly Temple, now
worthless, continued for a few decades. It is surprising how we can hold
fast to things now worthless. Comprehending that Jesus died for us will
certainly eliminate many detrimental thoughts and practices in each one
of us. Still, we often find ourselves tempted to retain a few things in our
lives that might be worthless, or even destructive. In such cases it might be
helpful to contemplate on a regular basis Jesus' sacrifice. His death compels
the breaking of harmful habits.
Church
We have seen that after Christ's ascension and His inauguration as
heavenly high priest, the Temple structure on earth had no longer a valid
function or purpose in the plan of salvation. However, God still seeks to
dwell among His people on earth, which was now possible through the Spirit.
The apostle Paul applied important temple themes to the church and
to the individual believers. Now the location of God's presence and His
holiness, they belong under His ownership. They connect through the
Spirit to the heavenly temple. In four texts Paul pointed out some of the
implications of this idea.
1 Corinthians 3:16, 17. Paul refers to the church as a corporate unity
and presents to them the temple themes of ownership (verse 16) and of
holiness (verse 17). Because God owns the congregation, it needs to reflect
His holiness in their lives.
1 Corinthians 6:19, 20. The same principles apply to the individual
believer. Being a temple, the believer is holy terrain and thus under the
obligation to live in holiness. Paul uses temple imagery to emphasize his
call for a pure and holy ethics, which in this context he identifies as sexual
purity as against immorality (verses 15-18).
2 Corinthians 6:14-18. There is no common ground between believers
and unbelievers, for the church is in a covenant relationship with God and
thus exclusively His (verse 18).
Ephesians 2:20-22. The church does not exist as a temple of its own. Its
first and main foundation is Christ, who always remains in its center (see
1 Peter 2:4-8).
The church, however, is not only God's temple but also a holy priesthood
(1 Peter 2:5, 9; cf. Ex. 19:6). Just as the earthly Temple and its priesthood
illustrated divine principles in the past, so they are also to be seen in the
church in the present. Christians should exhibit holiness and purity, because
they are in union with the holy God. As recipients of divine favor, they
should reveal the "manifold wisdom ofGod" (Eph. 3:10) and "proclaim the
excellencies ofHim;' that is, God's marvelous deeds (1 Peter 2:9).
It is evident that the theme of the sanctuary as applied to the Christian
community calls for a committed and faithful living. The believers are
God's own, and they facilitate the world to enter the presence of God. No
doubt, with such a privilege, important responsibilities follow. How crucial
that we surrender our lives in faith and obedience to the Lord, who has
given us so much and who, therefore, asks much of us in return. O ne of the
"spiritual sacrifices" (1 Peter 2:5) we can bring is a Christian life lived with
integrity (more on this in the next chapter).
New Creation
Tobe certain, applying sanctuary terminology to Jesus and the church
does not call into question the existence of the heavenly sanctuary. In fact,
the heavenly sanctuary existed before the creation of the world, and it will
continue after the new creation.
There are at least three reasons that we must assume the reality of the
heavenly temple before any earthly sanctuary. First, Exodus 25:9, 40 and
Hebrews 8:1-5 show that the heavenly original existed before the building
of any copy on earth. Second, the sanctuary symbolism of the garden in
Eden points to the fact that God created the garden as a sanctuary with
many similarities to the later earthly ones. He probably was using the
heavenly sanctuary as an inspiration for the garden, as it did for the other
sanctuaries.
Third, Jeremiah 17:12 indicates that the heavenly sanctuary existed
from the beginning. The text reads literally: "Throne of glory, on high from
the beginning, place of our sanctuarY:' Biblica! parallelism indicates that the
"place of our sanctuary" is synonymous with "throne of glory" and thus is
"exalted from the beginning:' The throne of glory is God's throne (Jer. 14:21;
cf. Isa. 6:1-3) in the heavens (Ps. 11:4). Yahweh declares, "Heaven is My
throne and the earth is My footstool" (Isa. 66:1). The Hebrew word marom
("on high") designates God's dwelling place in the heavens (Jer. 25:30; cf.
Isa. 33:5; 57:15). The "sanctuary" cannot refer to any earthly sanctuary on
the Temple Mount, but only to the heavenly temple. As Yahweh's heavenly
throne has always been (Ps. 93:2), so has the heavenly sanctuary (Ps. 78:69).
The message is that even though the Temple in Jerusalem was about tobe
destroyed-Jeremiah prophesied just before the final Babylonian conquest
of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.-Yahweh will continually reside on His throne in
the ever-existing heavenly temple.
17
The heavenly sanctuary will continue
as long as God seeks to grow and maintain close relationships with His
creation, that is, from eternity into all eternity.
Will there really be a heavenly temple after sin will have been
eradicated and salvation is complete? The book ofRevelation answers in the
affirmative. The victory scene in Revelation 7:9-17 contains a description
ofthe redeemed who serve in God's temple (verse 15). In fact, the redeemed
ha ve been ma de priests (Rev. 1 :6; 5:1 O) and "they will be priests of God and
of Christ" in the world to come (Rev. 20:6), so the temple is the perfect place
for them to reside. The promise that "He who sits on the throne will spread
His tabernacle [Greek verb k e n o ] over them" (Rev. 7:15) alludes to God's
presence in the wilderness sanctuary ( Greek noun skene) where He dwelt
among ancient Israel as its leader. On the new earth the sanctuary becomes
again the perfect place of relationship, where God and the redeemed meet.
32
Where God and I Meet
It guarantees shelter, protection, and the ultimate fulfillment of a life in the
presence of God and His Christ. The One who once "tabernacled" among
humanity (John 1:14) now spreads the tabernacle over His saints so that
they may "tabernacle" in His place.
The tabernacle tent is the heavenly temple (Rev. 15:5), and God will
relocate His heavenly sanctuary to the new earth (Rev. 21:3). That John
does not see a temple in the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:22) does not mean
that there is none anymore. Rather, the New Jerusalem itself is the temple
and the "tabernacle ofGod" (verse 3).
18
Sanctuary references permeate the description of the New Jerusalem in
Revelation 21:1-22:5. The New Jerusalem is "holy" and ofheavenly origin
(Rev. 21:2, 10); it is of pure gold (verses 18, 21) and has the same cubical
form as did the Most Holy Place (verse 16; 1 Kings 6:20); the foundation
stones resemble the semiprecious stones of the high-priestly breastplate
(Rev. 21:18-20; Ex. 28:17-20); as was the case with the temple precincts
"nothing unclean" is allowed in the city (Rev. 21:27; 22:15); it shows Eden-
like conditions (Rev. 22:1-3); and, most important of all, God is present.
In the sanctuary of God we can live with Him in the closest relationship
possible (Rev. 21:3, 7). The covenant formula in verse 7 is worded quite
unusually in the singular for the most personal effect: "I will be his God
and he will be My son:' This is the goal of salvation.
The new earth is not just a re-created Eden. The end expands the
beginning, for God's special presence now envelops the whole earth.
19
God
chose our planet to be the place of His greatest manifestation. It has been
so in the past through Creation, Christ, and the church, and it will be even
more so in the future when heaven comes to earth forever.
This gives us at least one significant reason that it is important to
believe that Yahweh's heavenly temple is a real place and should not be
understood in a purely symbolic sense- it is expanded by Christ, who
prepares dwelling places in it for His followers (John 14:1-3). We willlive
there! The "house of my Father" (YLT) is clearly a reference to the heavenly
temple. The phrase occurs only one more time in the Gospel of John, in
John 2:16, in which it again refers to the earthly Temple.
Christ's deepest desire is for His disciples to live with Him at His place.
In the Gospel of John Jesus does not make His final request from His
Father in Gethsemane. In fact, the book does not have any Gethsemane
prayer of Jesus such as we find in the other Gospels (Matt. 26; Mark 14;
Luke 22). Instead, John substituted the agonizing struggle in Gethsemane
with the high-priestly prayer (John 17). What was his intention in doing
so? Probably, he would like us to know that Jesus went through the valley of
death because one thought was propelling Him. We see it in His final plea
in the Gospel: "Father, 1 desire that they also whom You gave Me may be
with Me where 1 am, that they may behold My glory which You have given
Me" (John 17:24, NKJV). That's His heart's desire, His only dream. To be
with you in His dwelling place-in the heavenly sanctuary come down to
earth.
Condusion
God's intention always has been to draw near to His creation and to
bring His realm close to the human race so that we can learn about Him,
know Him, and love Him. His plan has been and will be to bring heaven
down on earth. The sanctuary is a major element in God's plan, not only
that in heaven and the ones on earth, but the Bible employs sanctuary
references throughout human history in many theological areas such as
with Christ, the church, and the kingdom to come. Truly, God "thinks"
sanctuary.
1
See, e.g., Jon D. Levenson, "The Temple and the World," The fournal of Religion
64 (1984): 275-298; Gordon J. Wenham, "Sanctuary Symbolism in the Garden of Eden
Story," Proceedings of the Ninth World Congress of fewish Studies, Division A: The Period
of the Bible (Jerusalem: World Union ofJewish Studies, 1986), pp. 19-25; Joshua Berman,
The Temple (Northvale, N.J.: Aronson, 1995), pp. 21-34; Richard M. Davidson, "Cosmic
Metanarrative for the Coming Millennium," fournal of the Adventist Theological Society
11 (2000): 102-119; Angel M. Rodriguez, "Genesis 1 and the Building of the Israelite
Sanctuary," Ministry 75 (February 2002): 9-11; idem, "Eden and the Israelite Sanctuary,"
Ministry 75 (April 2002): 11-13, 30; G. K. Beale, The Temple and the Church's Mission,
New Studies in Biblica! Theology (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 2004), voi. 18, pp.
66-80; L. Michael Morales, The Tabernacle Pre-Figured: Cosmic Mountain Ideology in
Genesis and Exodus (Leuven: Peeters, 2012).
2
The first occurrence of the garden describes it as being located "in Eden" (Gen. 2:8),
which gives the impression that the garden was a specially prepared park in a geographic
region called "Eden." This would explain why Genesis 4:16 notes that Cain "dwelt in the
land of Nod, east of Eden" (KJV), implying that Eden was larger than just the garden,
from which u m n s were already expelled. Except for Genesis 2:8, Scripture refers to the
garden simply as the "garden of Eden" (Gen. 2:15; 3:23, 24; Eze. 36:35; Joel2:3). Prophetic
literature parallels Eden with the "garden of God," showing that the two have become
synonymous (Isa. 51:3; Eze. 28:13; 31:9).
3
The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Ellen G. White Comments
(Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1953-1957), voi. 1, p. 1082.
4
Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub.
Assn., 1890), p. 62; cf. p. 83.
WGM-2
5
E. G. White, Ihe Creat Controversy, pp. 646-648. See also Ellen G. White, Ihe
Adventist Home (Nashville: Southern Pub. Assn., 1952), pp. 539-545.
6
E. G. White, Ihe Creat Controversy, p. 648.
7
Peter Enns, Exodus, NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan,
2000), p. 507.
8
For further details on the meaning of the Hebrew tabnit, "pattern," see Richard M.
Davidson, "Typology in the Book of Hebrews," in Issues in the Book of Hebrews, Daniel
and Revelation Committee Series (Silver Spring, Md.: Biblica! Research Institute, 1989),
vol. 4, pp. 156-169.
9
Without having access to the original Hebrew, Ellen White comes to a similar con-
clusion: "He presented before Moses a minia ture model of the heavenly sanctuary, and
commanded him to make all things according to the pattern showed him in the mount"
(Ellen G. White Spiritual Cifts [Battle Creek, Mich.: Seventh-day Adventist Pub. Assn.,
1864], vol. 4a, p. 5). Later she ca lis it a "miniature representation of the heavenly temple"
(E. G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 343).
10
E. G. White, Ihe Creat Controversy, p. 414.
u For a detailed study of typology, see Richard M. Davidson, Typology in Scripture,
Andrews University Seminary Doctoral Dissertation Series (Berrien Springs, Mich.:
Andrews University Press, 1981), voi. 2; and Davidson, "Typology in the Book of
Hebrews," pp. 121-186.
12
The Greek terms used are tupos in Romans 5:14 (for Adam), 1 Corinthians 10:6
(for the Red Sea crossing and the wilderness experience), Hebrews 8:5 (for the sanctuary
model seen by Moses); antitupos in Hebrews 9:24 (for the earthly sanctuary), 1 Peter 3:21
(for the baptism); and t u p i k s in 1 Corinthians 10:11 (for the wilderness experience).
13
Davidson, "Typology in the Book of Hebrews," p. 122.
14
In general, biblica! scholars support the idea that the Bible presents the heavenly
sanctuary as an original. See, for example, Leonhard Goppelt, "tupos, antitypos, tupikos,
hupotuposis," in G. Kittel and G. Friedrich, eds., Iheological Dictionary of the New
Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1972), voi. 8, pp. 256-259.
15
See, e.g., Solomon's prayer in 1 Kings 8, or the many references to the heavenly
sanctuary in the Psalms.
16
Chapter 10 briefly explains the chronology of the prophecy in Daniel 9:24-27.
17
On the meaning ofJeremiah 17:12, see Jack R. Lundbom, Jeremiah 1-20, Ihe Anchor
Bible (New York: Doubleday, 1999), voi. 21A, p. 793.
18
Ellen White expresses, at the beginning of her writing, the conviction that the
heavenly sanctuary is the New Jerusalem: "1 believe the Sanctuary, tobe cleansed at the
end of the 2300 days, is the New Jerusalem Temple, of which Christ is a minister" (Ellen
G. White, A Word to the "Little Flock" [n.p.: James White, 1847], p. 12).
19
Convincingly argued by Beale, p. 368.
Sacrifices
N
obody likes to be the proverbial sacrificiallamb. To bring a sacrifice
is usually not our first option. Today we use the word "sacrifice"
often with negative overtones. We sacrifice time and money. Or we forfeit
marriage and other relationships for our jobs and social status. Whatever
it involves, we give up something valuable, Iose something great. And yet it
is deeply moving when humans volunteer in order to bring a sacrifice for a
common good or for another person.
The concept of sacrifice is firmly planted in biblical thought, for God
and believers always connect through it. In the biblical languages the
words for "sacrifice" indicate in their basic meaning the act of drawing
near and bringing something to God. The Hebrew for "offering" or
"sacrifice" (qorban, a word made familiar by Mark 7:11) depicts the act of
approaching and bringing near something that is then handed over into
the realm of God. The Greek equivalent (doron) means "gift;' particularly
the presentation of sacrificial gifts. Similarly, the English "offering" comes
from the Latin offerre ( to offer) and refers to the presentation of a gift, while
"sacrifice" is a combination of the Latin sacer (holy, sacred) and facere (to
make) and involves the act of making something sacred-consecration.
God has always been calling for true sacrifices, and He is still doing so today.
In this chapter we focus on the sacrifices that believers offer to God. Perhaps
most surprisingly, it is God Himself who provides the sacrifice-even the
ultima te sacrifice, -that of Himself in the person of Jesus Christ ( see chapter 7).
First Sacrifices
Adam and Eve lived in a perfectly created world, in a sanctuary-
like garden, and they had face-to-face communion with their Creator,
which they enjoyed on a regular hasis. Their first sin opened a nearly
35
insurmountable severing of their relationship to God. However, the Lord
did not want to lose any of us to sin. He had already planned how to counter
such a breach of trust and how to save humans who would be under the
sentence of eternal death (Gen. 2:17; Rom. 6:23).
Even before instituting the first sacrifice on earth, God had already
vowed to offer His own sacrifice. He promised Adam and Eve a savior.
Genesis 3:15 has rightly been labeled as protoevangelium, the "first good
news:' It is God's pledge that He will engage in spiritual war against the
serpent, God's enemy. This life-and-death conflict willlead to the ultimate
defeat of Satan ("crush your head" [NIV]). But the divine victory comes
with a great cost: the Savior's heel will also be crushed. The use of the
same Hebrew verb points to the fact that one action entails the other. By
crushing the head with the heel, the heel, too, will be crushed. Here is a
fitting symbolic image of what happened at the cross. The death of Christ
crushed Satan. Thus Genesis 3:15 is God's guarantee of sacrificing Himself
for the sake of humanity.
Adam and Eve seemed to have believed God's promise. At least two
verses provide some support for this speculation, both having to do with
naming and progeny. In Genesis 3:20 Adam named his wife Eve, because
he believed that she would give birth and procreate offspring through
whom the Promised Seed would come, fulfilling part of God's promise.
Then in Genesis 4: 1 Eve named her son Cain, uttering something that is
quite ambiguous in Hebrew. Either she said "I have acquired a man with
Yahweh;' or "I have acquired a man, Yahweh;' which would indicate that
Eve might have hoped that her firstborn was the Promised One.
In any case, the divine promise was based on sacrifice. Immediately after
His threefold judgment speech (Gen. 3:14-19), God made garments of skin
for Adam and Eve to cover their nakedness and shame. Although unstated,
it is safe to assume that an innocent animal had to die to provide the skin-
even that it was understood as a kind of sacrifice (verse 21). The language
used here anticipates tabernacle imagery, for "garments" and "to clothe" again
appear in the description of the priestly garments (Ex. 29:5, 8; Lev. 16:4).
God providing clothes for the culprits thus became a symbolic act. As
the sacrifices in the desert sanctuary guaranteed the special relationship
between God and His people, so the clothing in the garden assured the
guilty of God's unchanging goodwill toward them. Furthermore, it is the
first creative act of God after sin entered the world He had made. God
again became active, this time to save.
God must have undoubtedly explained to Adam and Eve the significance
of this sacrifice, since Cain and Abel were supposed to know how to bring
an offering to God. Genesis 4 indicates that offerings were an essential
part of worship after the Fali even though the Bible does not report any
transgressions of the two brothers previous to the ceremony. The separati an
from God still existed, therefore requiring a sacrifice that involved blood.
It is clear that God established the ritual of the sacrifice among humans.
Ali pre-Israelite believers (e.g., Abel, Cain, Seth, Noah, Job), as well as the
patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob) erected altars and brought offerings to
God (see, for example, Gen. 8:20; 12:7, 8; 13:4, 18; 22:9; 26:25; 33:20; 35:7).
Ever since the Fall sacrifices had enabled the worshipper to seek union
with God. On the one hand, they thanked Him for the help and the gifts He
bestowed upon them, and on the other hand, they symbolically redeemed
the individual's sin through the innocent blood of the offered animals.
Sacrifice counters sin, a principle that emerges from the earliest books
of the Bible ( Genesis and Job) and functions beyond national boundaries.
Job, a non-Israelite, offered burnt offerings in case his sons had sinned
(Job 1:5). The patriarchs, too, obviously understood that, according to
God's law, sin could be atoned for only by the shedding of blood (implied
in Genesis 42:22). Thus from the earliest days of human history sacrifices
taught that humans, though sinful, could find restoration to God, but only
through the death of Jesus, prefigured in those sacrifices.
Types of Offering
In Old Testament times believers could bring offerings on different
occasions and for different personal circumstances. They were allowed
to "offer" clean animals, grain, or drink, as well as other physical objects,
but not human sacrifices, a frequent practice in surrounding nations. The
sacrifice is the oldest element in the sanctuary service, and it belongs,
together with the priestly role, in the center of the Israelite cult. Biblical
religious life without sacrifice was inconceivable.
Among the most important types of offerings at the sanctuary were the
burnt offering (Lev. 1) and the grain offering (Lev. 2), as well as the three
functional categories of well-being offering (Lev. 3 ), purification offering (Lev.
4), and reparation offering (Lev. 5: 14-6:7).
1
The different types of offerings are
nota modern distinction- they received different names in Hebrew.
The burnt offering (Hebrew 'olah) symbolizes the total dedication of
the one making the offering (Lev. 1:1-17; 6:8-13).
38
The grain offering or cereai offering (Hebrew minchah) symbolizes the
dedication of material possessions to God, whether it be food, animals, or
something else (Lev. 2:1-16; 6:14-23).
The well-being offering (Hebrew shelamim) is the only one in which
the participant receives a part of the offering for personal consumption
(Lev. 3:1-17; 7:11-36). The individual would bring it to a communal feast,
for example, to seal a covenant (Ex. 24:3-11).
The three voluntary offerings reminded the Israelites, and us, that in
the end, everything that we are and all that we have belongs to God. The
other two sacrifices are obligatory, and demonstrate that all wrongs have
consequences but that those wrongs could also be "healed:'
The purification offering (Hebrew chattat; in other translations often
called "sin offering")2 was presented after ritual defilement, or after one
became aware of a moral defilement through sin. It effects the purification
ofthe offerer (Lev. 4:1-35; 6:24-30).
The reparation offering or guilt offering (Hebrew asham) generates
reparation to heal a wrong caused either to God or fellow humans (Lev.
5:14-6:7; 7:1-10).
It is striking that none of the Hebrew terms related to sacrifice refer to
the act of ritual slaughter. Biblica! sacrifice was not about killing so much
as about relationship.
God established the sacrifice, and later the sacrificial system, so that
believers could enter into a close relationship with Him. It is the reason
that the people could bring offerings in all different kinds of situations:
for thanksgiving, as an expression of joy and celebration, as a gift, as a
petition for forgiveness, as a penitential plea, as a symbol of dedication, or
as restitution for harm done.
Offerings carne from all spheres of life. The sacrifice thus was not
only essential for religious aspects, it permeated the entire life. One had to
dedicate every aspect of existence, which raises the question of whether we
have elements in our lives that we still need to bring to our Lord.
At first sight, the many offerings in the Bible seem to stress the
bloodshed but not the dignity and magnificence of the sacrifice. Why so
many sacrifices? Why so much blood? Let me suggest a few thoughts. First,
the sacrifices were a constant reminder of the grim reality and results of sin.
Sin devastates lives. It separates us from God, the source of alllife. Second,
they really emphasized the dire need for forgiveness for God's people.
Third, they were symbolic of the Messiah's substitutionary sacrifice for us.
They reminded the people of God's willingness to forgive, something that
would cost Him everything. Fourth, we do not know how many sacrifices
were brought on a daily hasis. Special occasions may have involved many
offerings, but households may have just come to the sanctuary once per
year (e.g., 1 Sam. 1:3), or three times per year (Ex. 23:14-17).
Sacrifice at Moriah
O ne of the Bible's most powerful stories about sacrifice is the offering
of Isaac in Genesis 22. However disturbing that story is, one could argue
that God meant it to be troubling and to cause consternation and distress.
The real issue is Will Abraham trust God, even in such an ordeal? For
James Crenshaw, Genesis 22 describes what it means to fear God: "For
some people, true worship means to walk alene into God-forsakenness, or
worse yet, to discover the Lord as one's worst enemY:'
3
What was God's purpose behind His incredible challenge to Abraharn's
faith? Divine promises had always accompanied his life with God: the
promise of land, descendants, and blessings (Gen. 12:1-3); the promise of
a son (Gen. 18:1-15); and the promise ofGod taking care oflshmael (Gen.
21: 12, 13). Abraham had sacrificed, but it was always in the light of a promise.
In the situation described in Genesis 22, however, the patriarch did not get
any divine promise. Instead, God told him to sacrifice the living promise,
his son. Looking closer, "the real point of the act was Abraham's sacrifice
of himself, that is, of his will and his wisdom with regard to his son Isaac:'
4
Following through with the divine command, Abraham showed that God
was more important to him than any of His promises. What motivated the
man was his love for God, not his personal gain from the relationship with
Him.
Abraham showed an unbelievable faith. He demonstrated his unwavering
trust in God when he told his servants that "we will come back to you" (Gen.
22:5, NIV), and when he answered Isaac that "God will provide for Himself
the lamb for a burnt offering" (verse 8). Although his words scund as if he
were just trying to appease the people around him, he rather relied upon
God and believed that the impossible might actually be possible, that God
could indeed raise Isaac from the dead (Heb. 11:16-19). We mustn't forget
that nobody had risen from the dead so far. He could not have known or
heard of such a thing actually happening. The patriarch just believed. Thus
he became the shining example for all believers who trust that God will again
do the unprecedented and unheard-of at the end of this world's history.
40
Abraham understood two essential principles about sacrifices. First, the
sacrifice and the means of salvation cannot come from anyone other than
God Himself. It is the Lord who will provide (Gen. 22:8). He eternalized
this principle by naming the place "YHWH Jireh;' that is, "The-Lord-Will-
Provide:' Second, the actual sacrifice is substitutionary, one that saves Isaac's
life, for the ram is offered "in the place of" Isaac (verse 13). That animal,
which God provided, prefigures the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, on whom
"the Lord has laid ... the iniquity of us ali" (Isa. 53:6, NIV; Acts 8:32).
The "binding of Isaac;' as some refer to the story, has typological
implications. It prefigured the sacrifice of God's Son.
5
We see the typology
indicated in Romans 8:32, in which Paul used the language ofGenesis 22:12,
16 in saying that God "did not spare His own Son'' (the phraseology occurs
only in those two passages). Just as Abraham was willing to offer his only
son, whom he loved, so God chose to offer His only begotten Son, whom
He loved (John 3:16). And just as Isaac was willing to give up his life, so
Jesus willingly offered His life for us. However, while God saved Isaac at the
last minute, Jesus became the sacrifice to save humanity. Abraham had three
days to argue with himself, to rationalize another way. The Father and the
Son had three years ( and even more) to step back from the ultimate sacrifice.
Why did they do it nevertheless? In the end, Jesus offered Himself not for
personal gain, not because of what the Godhead would receive out of it
(adoration, etc.), but because oflove, love for us. Finally, Abraham believed
that God was able to raise his son from the dead, and God was indeed able
to raise His Son from the dead. In short, Abraham's sacrifice becomes the
archetype of sacrifice.
Some might think that we could only understand the typology
retrospectively after the death of Christ. However, Abraham grasped it in
advance: "in the ram divinely provided in the place of Isaac, Abraham saw
a symbol of Him who was to die for the sins of men:'
6
And the heavenly
beings, who watched "with intense earnestness:' realized the meaning of
the events on Mount Moriah when "the ram which God had provided
was offered in the place ofisaac-then light was shed upon the mystery of
redemption, and even the angels understood more clearly the wonderful
provision that God had made for man's salvation:'
7
Abraham's Mount Moriah is the same mountain on which the Temple
later stood. At least, the name Moriah occurs only in reference to them
(Gen 22:2; 2 Chron. 3:1).
8
What an acutely appropriate, salvation-historic
site to erect the earthly Temple there.
Life for a Life
A key statement in the heart of Leviticus puts sacrifices into proper
perspective: "For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you
on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason
of the life that makes atonement" (Lev. 17:11). In a passage in which God
instructs the Israelites not to eat any blood, He provides an interesting reason
for such a prohibition: blood stands for life, and God has made sacrificial blood
a ransom for human life. Thus one life, represented by the blood, ransoms
another. The principle of substitution, which had become explicit on Mount
Moriah-when Abraham offered the blood of the ram in the place of that of
his son-is firmly anchored in God's legal requirements for ancient Israel.
As in Genesis 22, God shows that it is He Himself who provides the
means for atonement. The Hebrew ofLeviticus 17:11 emphasizes the 'T ' We
cannot provide our own ransom. God needs to give it, a concept in contrast
to the intent of sacrifices in other religions. The difference clearly lies in a
different conception of deity. In the Bible God does not need to be appeased
but rather approached. And He provides the means for humanity to enter His
holy presence. He Himself supplied the blood for ransom through Christ.
However, God never intended the ritual and the blood tobe a substitute
for the attitude of the heart. On the contrary, the sacrifices sought to open
the heart of the believer to the Lord. If one loses sight of the fact that
sacrifices express a spiritual relationship between human beings and God
and that they all point to a much greater sacrifice, Jesus Christ, one might
easily mistake the sacrificial ritual as an automatic apparatus for making
atonement. The idea is, however, that God always wants all of us, not just
our sacrifice. He prefers loyalty, not sacrifice; knowledge of God, not burnt
offerings (Hosea 6:6; cf. 1 Sam. 15:22). The Lord desires our heart to be
right with Him (Ps. 51:16, 17). Consistently the Israelite prophets had to
confront the people about their false piety and then call for true sacrifices,
namely "to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God"
(Micah 6:6-8; cf. Isa. 1:10-17). Such actions oftangible love do please God
and are "much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices" (Mark 12:33).
If we assume that we are not in dan ger of practicing empty habits, think
again. In our relationship with God we rely on time-tested regular activities
such as Bible study, prayer, singing hymns, or attending worship service.
However, we are in danger of losing the meaning of religious activities
that we constantly repeat. To avoid spiritual formalism and mechanical
performance, it is absolutely vital to offer ourselves as sacrifice-that is,
continually to devote our life with all our heart to God. Because Christ
gave His life, God wants us to give our lives to Him.
Sacrifices Today /Living Sacrifice
After Christ's sacrificial death it is no longer necessary to offer animal
sacrifices. And yet, the New Testament brings to mind the need for offerings
of another kind. Terminology from the sacrificial system became part and
parcel of early Christian theology. It worked very well in portraying what it
meant to live a life totally consecrated to God (see, e.g., Rom. 12:1, 2; Phil.
4:18; 1 Peter 2:5; Heb. 13:15, 16). Even when Paul was thinking about his
martyrdom, he described himself as a drink offering (Phil. 2: 17; 2 Tim. 4:6).
The most significant text is Romans 12:1, 2. It declares that believers are
tobe a "living sacrifice" (KJV), nota dead one. "Living" means that the entire
person is given to God. That includes the dedication of the body (verse 1) as
well as the transformation of the inner being (verse 2), for Christians regard
their entire life as worship of God and as set apart ("holy") for the sale purpose
of serving the living Lord. The reasons Christians will present themselves
wholly to the Lord are the "mercies of God;' as described in Romans 1-11,
which present Christ as our sacrifice, the means of our salvation. In this
context, Paul now appeals for us to imitate Christ. A true understanding of
God's grace logically leads to a life consecrated to Him and loving service
for others. Surrender of self and its desires to the will of God is the only
reasonable response to Christ's ultimate sacrifice for us. Our sacrifice is our
praise ofGod and consists ofboth words and works (Heb. 13:15, 16).
In the end, there has to be harmony between our understanding of
spiritual and doctrina! truth, and our outward service to others. Every
aspect of life should express the believer's genuine commitment to God.
True worship is never only inward and spiritual-it comprises very
concrete acts of service.
John Stott describes vividly what it means tobe a living sacrifice: "Our
feet will walk in His paths, our lips will speak the truth and spread the
gospel, our tongues will bring healing, our hands will lift up those who
have fallen, and perform many mundane tasks as well like cooking and
cleaning, typing and mending; our arms will embrace the lonely and the
unloved, our ears willlisten to cries of the distressed, and our eyes willlook
humbly and patiently towards God:'
9
Another area of sacrifice is time. In our fast-paced lives it is a precious
commodity that we do not seem to give up easily for anything or anyone.
As Christians, however, we seek to spend quality time in service for God
and others.
In calling Christians to be ready to be offered, Oswald Chambers asks
the uncomfortable question ~ r e you ready to be not so much as a drop in
the bucket-to be so hopelessly insignificant that you are never thought of
again in connection with the life you served? Are you willing to spend and be
spent; not seeking to be ministered to, but to minister? Some saints cannot
do menial work and remain saints because it is beneath their dignity:'
10
For some, a self-sacrificing lifestyle for God's sake is foolishness. However,
many Christians can testify that offering oneself for the higher purpose of
serving and loving God goes hand in hand with utmost fulfillment.
Condusion
God established the ritual of the sacrifice among humanity after the
entrance of sin into the world. Through sacrifice people can again come
into union with God. However, it is not the sacrifice that we bring that
restores our relationship to God, but rather the one that God provides. Our
answer to His ultimate sacrifice is the surrender of our lives to His will.
1
G. Ulrike Dahm distinguishes 18 offering types. "Opfer (AT)," in Das wissen-
schaftliche Bibellexikon im Internet (2006), www.wibilex.de (accessed Aug. 7, 2012).
2
Insofar as on many occasions the chattat was offered because a person had sus-
tained a major impurity but had not sinned, the name "purification offering" has to be
preferred. For such cases, see, for example, the purification offering of women after giv-
ing birth (Lev. 12:1-8), or the purification offering of persons with genital discharges (Lev.
15:15, 30). Even a house could be "purified" (Lev. 14:49, 52, which uses the corresponding
verb chata').
3
James L. Crenshaw, A Whirlpool of Torment: Israelite Traditions of God as an
Oppressive Presence (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1984), p. 28.
4
Allen P. Ross, Creation and Blessing: A Guide to the Study and Exposition of Genesis
(Grand Rapids: Baker, 1988), p. 393.
5
See 7he SDA Bible Commentary, Ellen G. White Comments, vol. 1, p. 1094; E. G.
White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 154.
6
Ellen G. White, 7he Desire of Ages (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn.,
1898), p. 112.
7
E. G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 155.
8
See also E. G. White, 7he Great Controversy, pp. 18, 19; Patriarchs and Prophets, pp.
748, 749; and Prophets and Kings (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1917),
p. 37.
9
John Stott, 7he Message of Romans (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1994), p. 322.
10
Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest (Uhrichsville, Ohio: Barbour, 1993),
p. 36.
The Israelite Sanctuary
T
he earthly sanctuary is God's satellite sanctuary. Just as the heavenly
sanctuary is a multifunctional place that reveals various facets of
God's character, we can expect the earthly counterpart to have a similar
multifaceted significance. The sanctuary is certainly one, if not the best,
of God's major devices to teach us the meaning of the gospel. The Lord
designed it as an interface between Him and a sinful humanity, to bring
them back into relationship with the Holy One.
We can learn much from the sanctuary. A breathtaking array of
theological and conceptual connections emanate from it. In this chapter we
can only follow a few of them, but let me assure you that the sanctuary has
many theological treasures in store for the one seeking them. Peter Enns
is right on the mark when he remarks that the tabernacle "is laden with
redemptive significance, not just because of the sacrifices and offerings
within its walls, but simply because of what it is: a piece of holy ground
amid a world that has lost its waY:'
1
In studying the sanctuary, you will find the following diagram of the
tabernacle (see p. 45) helpful.2
Place of the Presence
In the Garden in Eden sin shattered the face-to-face relationship between
God and humanity. Sin forfeited our first parents' unhindered communion
with Him. However, the Creator still desires to draw humanity to Himself
and to enjoy a deep covenant relationship with fallen humanity, and He began
the process of restoration right there in Eden. He gave our first parents the
promise and the sacrifice. Centuries later God again showed further initiative
in bringing humanity back into His presence by delivering Israel from Egypt
and establishing the sanctuary and the sacrificial system.
44
,'
' . Holy Plae<
T ', Ark . 1 t::! Table
'lJ "'
1
Al f
2
O $:

1 ' : - U.mpsrand
!O.bt-----1
QBasin
,'
Coun
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Alw ofBurn<
Offering
.
IOOcubits -----------.;
The frrst two texts that mention the word "sanctuary" in the Bible reveal
its supreme purpose: "the place, O Lord, which You have made for Your dwel-
ling, the sanctuary" (Ex. 15:17); "let them construct a sanctuary forMe, that I
may dwell among them" (Ex. 25:8). The sanctuary testifies to God's unceasing
desire to dwell among His people. It is his initiative: "For the Lord has chosen
Zion; He has desired it for His habitation. This is My resting place forever; Here
I will dwell, for I have desired it" (Ps. 132:13, 14). His ultimate goal is relation-
ship, and the sanctuary was His chosen means to attain it. It is the tangible
evidence of God's presence with His people on earth. The pillar of cloud and the
pillar offrre (Ex. 13:21, 22; 33:9, 10; Num. 12:5; Deut. 31:15), which may have
been later memorialized by the two pillars at the entrance to the Temple, visibly
indicated that presence during the desert years (1 Kings 7:15-22).
God did not temporarily visit His people. His intention was to pitch
His tent among them and stay. The material and tent structure would
ensure that the sanctuary, and thus God, could move with the people.
Just imagine, with the sanctuary the Creator of the universe, the O ne who
made all that existed, lowered Himself to dwell among homeless wanderers
in the desert. The layout plan described in Numbers 2 indicates that the
tabernacle was located in the center of the square encampment where,
ordinarily in the-ancient Near East, the king would put his tent. Hence
the tabernacle symbolizes that God is the king over Israel. The Levites,
meanwhile, put their tents immediately around the tabernacle (Num. 1:53)
and the other tribes "ata distance" in groups of three (Num. 2:2). Such a
scheme illustrates in a tangible way both the nearness (immanence) and
the distance ofGod (transcendence).
Another purpose of the sanctuary was to provide a location for a
centralized, divinely ordained form of worship. The people's impurities
and moral failings jeopardized God's presence among them. As a result,
He provided a system of sacrifices and offerings through which unholy
people can live and remain in the presence of the holy God. The sanctuary
also sought to reveal more details regarding the plan of redemption, which
included not only the sacrifice but the ministry of the priesthood as well.
Finally, the sanctuary was a link to heaven. God did not live in the
earthly sanctuary in His full presence, which He reserved for His heavenly
abode. However, coming to the earthly sanctuary meant that one was
seeking Godin heaven (1 Kings 8:29, 30).
"Be Ye Holy, for 1 Am Holy"
Exodus 40:9, 10 shows us that the sanctuary was to be regarded
as "holY:' The basic idea of holiness is separateness and uniqueness, in
combination with belonging to God.
The Lord uniquely designed the sanctuary to illustrate. His holiness
by a gradation of holiness. As things get closer to the ark they are more
holy, and the substances they consisted of were more valuable. The high
priest wore more elaborate and costly fabrics, plus additional items such
as a golden plate crown engraved with "Holy to the Lord" (Ex. 28). The
materials for the garment of the high priest remarkably reflect those used
to make the tabernacle, so that the high priest became a sort of moving
mini-tabernacle. As for access to the tabernacle, fewer and fewer people
were permitted to go into an area the closer it was to the ark. Any ritually
clean Israelite could come into the courtyard, but only priests could enter
the holy place (Ex. 30:19, 20) and only the high priest could visit the Most
Holy Place, and then only once a year (Lev. 16:2, 34).
The sanctuary structure recalls the Sinai experience of the great
revelation of God and His holiness. The three-part structure of the
tabernacle, which progresses from lesser to greater degrees of holiness,
reflects the levels of holiness commanded at Mount Sinai (Ex. 24:1-18):
Moses alone is permitted in the presence of God where he receives the
tablets of the testimony in the cloud and fire of the glory ofYahweh (verses
2, 12, 15-18); the priests and elders worshipped "ata distance;' saw God,
and ate and drank (yerses 1, 10, 11); while the rest of the people stayed at
the foot of the mountain tYerse 2), where Moses built an altar for burnt
offerings (verses 2-6). WheneYer the people of Israel carne to worship at
the sanctuary, they would be reminded that God saved them out of Egypt
and graciously revealed His character and principles to them at Sinai.
In consideration of the fact that God is holy and that one of the main
purposes of the sanctuary is for Him to dwell among His people, some
crucial questions arise: How cana holy God reside among an unholy people?
God's command "You shall be holy, for I am holy" occurs refrain-like in the
book ofLeviticus (Lev. 11:44, 45; 19:2; 20:7, 26; 21:8). But then, how can an
unholy people actually be holy? The answer is "I am the Lord, who makes
you holy and who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord"
(Lev. 22:32, 33, NIV).
It is God's holiness that transforms us and sets us apart. His holiness is
the ultima te motivation for the ethical conduct of His people in all spheres
oflife (see Lev. 19), whether for observing the dietary laws (Lev. 11:44, 45),
respecting the priest (Lev. 21:8), or not giving into former lusts (1 Peter
1:14-16). Obviously God wants us to grow in holiness as we get closer and
closer to Him. He longs to restore us into the "image of God:' Being holy
affects everything: our thinking, our habits, our tastes, our activities, etc. It
excludes nothing. Being holy is a lifestyle. It's the believer's attitude toward
life.
Instruments of the Sanctuary
God not only supplied the building materials through the plunder of
Egypt (Ex. 12:35, 36), but even more important, He gave the Spirit of God,
wisdom, and the necessary craftsmanship to ensure that the creation of the
tabernacle would comply with His instructions (Ex. 31:2-11 ). The Spirit's
presence at Creation in Gene sis 1:2 is thus paralleled at the creation of
the tabernacle. Obviously the tabernacle and its furnishings are of great
significance, for the Spirit of God ensured the success of their construction,
which for both should be after the heavenly pattern (Ex. 25:9). It is worth
noting that "devotion to God and a spirit of sacrifice were the first requisites
in preparing a dwelling place for the Most High:'
3
What is the meaning of all the furniture involved? May I suggest a
word of caution ?. Some Bible readers like to find symbolic significance for
every detail of the sanctuary. Such an approach can be quite arbitrary when
detached from the original context and intent, and the interpretations range
widely. Therefore, we should refrain from allegorical and spiritualizing
interpretations. However, the meanings of the main items seem quite
evident even though the Bible might not explicitly mention them.
4
The ark of the testimony is the supreme symbol of God's presence and
His holiness. Its name derives from the two stone tablets of the law, called the
"testimony" (Ex. 32:15, 16), that Moses placed inside it (Ex. 25:16, 21; Deut.
10:1-5). Through the law God made known His character to His people.
On top of the ark rested the mercy seat with two cherubim over-
shadowing the cover with their wings (Ex. 25:17-21). Appropriately
called the "atonement cover" (verse 17, NIV), it conveys the idea that
the compassionate and gracious God reconciled the people with Himself
and made every provision for them to maintain a covenant relationship
with Him. Here is where, once a year, atonement for the people and the
sanctuary took place (Lev. 16:14-16). In Romans 3:25 Paul refers to Jesus
as "atonement cover" ( usually translated as "propitiation" or "sacrifice of
atonement"), because Jesus Himself is the place of redemption, the one
through whom God has made atonement for our sins.
The people considered the ark to be the throne of God, for He is
"enthroned above the cherubim" (2 Sam. 6:2; 2 Kings 19:15; 1 Chron 13:6;
Ps. 80:1; 99:1; Isa. 37:16). The ark signifies the Lord as king. From between
the two cherubim upon the ark God would reveal Himself to Moses (Ex.
25:22). In a symbolic sense, then, God's throne rests on mercy, represented
by the atonement cover, and righteousness, represented by the tablets of
the Ten Commandments within the ark.
In the holy place, the first apartment, the lampstand continually provided
light (Lev. 24:1-4) and the altar of incense would continually produce the
protective smoke that concealed the presence of God from the priest (Lev.
16:12, 13). On the table for the bread of the Presence the priests placed 12
loaves ofbread, representing the 12 tribes oflsrael, and also dishes, pans, jars,
and bowls (Ex. 25:29, 30). Although the Bible gives little information about
their significance, it seems that the items in the first apartment represented
the elements of a covenant meal ( recalling Ex. 24:11) and served as a constant
reminder of God's covenant with the people.
Ellen White provides further insight on the symbolic meaning of the
altar of incense and the table of the Presence. "The incense, ascending
with the prayers of Israel, represents the merits and intercession of
Christ, His perfect righteousness, which through faith is imputed to
His people, and which can alone make the worship of sinful beings
acceptable to God. Before the veil of the most holy place was an altar of
perpetua! intercession, before the holy, an altar of continuai atonement:'
5
"The showbread was kept ever before the Lord as a perpetua! offering.
. .. It was an acknowledgment of man's dependence upon God for both
temporal and spiritual food, and that it is received only through the
mediation of Christ:'
6
The unifying factor of ali items in the first apartment is that they
are continuously in service: perpetua! incense, perpetua! lighting, and
perpetua! offering of the showbread. Hebrew expresses the idea of
continuity or perpetuity by the word tamd. Hence the regular or daily
sanctuary service, which is connected to the first apartment and to the
o uter altar, is the service of tamd.
7
The courtyard in front of the tabernacle tent contained the altar of
burnt offering and the bronze water basin. The basin stood between the
altar and the entrance to the sanctuary. Its location suggests that the priests
should not forget to wash themselves before entering the tent, no matter
what. Ritual cleansing of both hands and feet was obligatory if a priest
intended to enter holy ground or serve at the outer altar (Ex. 30:19-21).
A sanctuary without an altar is no sanctuary. The altar ofburnt offering
is, of course, the place the priests offered animal sacrifices to the Lord and,
as such, it was central to the daily ministry of atonement ( see the next
chapter) .
Center of Divine and Communal Activity
At the dedication ceremony of the new-built Temple, King Solomon
offered seven cases of specific prayers that could be offered there ( 1 Kings
8). The seven functions exemplify the extensive role of the Temple in the
lives of the Israelites. It is a place for seeking forgiveness (verse 30), for
oath swearing (verses 31, 32), for supplication when militarily defeated
(verses 33, 34), for petition when faced with drought (verses 35, 36) or
disasters of various sorts (verses 37 -40), for the alien to pray (verses 41-43),
for petition for victory (verses 44, 45), and for repentance and supplication
in exile (verses 46-51).
8
That God intended the Temple tobe a "house of
prayer for ali the peoples" (Isa. 56:7) becomes evident from the fact that
Solomon envisions the individual Israelite, the foreigner, and the entire
people as petitioners. The range of subject matters include interpersonal
relationships, foreign affairs, nature (natural disasters), health and sickness,
and last but not least relationship to God.
The sanctuary was the ideologica! center of basicaliy ali activity in
Israel. Religion was not part of the believer's life or even a major aspect- it
was life.
When the people wanted to receive advice or judgment, or if they
repented their sins, they went to the sanctuary. Leafing through the book
of Numbers reveals that the sanctuary was the hub of life dur ing the desert
years of Israel. When God desired to communicate to His people, He did
so from the sanctuary (Ex. 25:22; 29:43). Therefore Scripture appropriately
calls it the "tent of meeting" (e.g., Lev. 1:1).
Without the sanctuary, God's people on earth were in danger of ceasing
tobe a worshipping people. After the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple
when Israel had to go into the Babylonian exile, they could still pray,
knowing that God would hear in His heavenly sanctuary (see 1 Kings 8:46-
51). Even after the loss of the earthiy sanctuary, the heavenly sanctuary
guaranteed their existence as a peopie of God. However, whenever Israel
did Iose sight of God's sanctuary, they also wandered away spiritually and
couldn't have cared less about God. The same is true today. The heavenly
san.:ruary is the hub of divine activity. If we Iose our concern for it, we are
danger of not worshipping Him anymore. Even though we do not have a
,:.ible sanctuary today, focusing our thoughts on the heavenly sanctuary
;ill help us to keep God at the center of our thoughts and activities.
Until 1 Went Into the Sanctuary of God"
Time and again the psalms show that the sanctuary plays a significant
part in the relationship between believers and God. Well known is the firm
-on,iction David expresses at the end of Psalm 23 that he "will dwell in the
ouse of the Lord forever" (verse 6). This line is in parallel to the previous
one:
"Only goodness and kindness pursue me alt the days of my life;
And my dwelling is in the house of [Yahweh] for a length of days"
'LTl .
Yahweh provides the psalmist with two lifelong companions for the
path oflife: goodness and loving-kindness. Goodness is the knowledge that
o ne is known and loved by the Lord, while loving-kindness is the experience
that the Lord is full of mercy, that He forgives and shares willingly all good
things. David found both companions in God's sanctuary.
_o wonder his foremost wish in Psalm 27 is tobe in the presence of
Yahweh, which is best experienced in the sanctuary. He expresses his wish
in ,erse 4 in the language of Psalm 23:6.
9
In order to show how much he
-herishes the sanctuary, David uses the full panoply of expressions to refer
to it, calling it the house of the Lord, Temple, tabernacle, and tent. It is there
that one can meditate and "behold the beauty of the Lord" (Ps. 27:4). How
is this possible? "Dwelling in the house ofYahweh is not just an experience
of aesthetic delight in the gracious hospitality of God. There is a protective
nearness of God:'
10
The activities of God in the sanctuary, as mentioned
in Psalm 27, illustrate this point: He keeps the worshippers safe and hides
them in His sanctuary, even in tough times (verse 5). God provides secure
refuge and assures peace of mind for all who enter His presence. The beauty
of God is thus connected to what He does for His people. God's actions
make Him beautiful. In addition, the sanctuary service with its symbolic
significance shows His goodness and loving-kindness as well as His justice.
The ultimate abject of David's deepest desire is not only to be just
in the sanctuary, but for Yahweh to be present with him. That is why the
psalmist resolves to "seek" God (verses 4, 8). "To seek God ... is nota matter
of unfocused searching but a sign of commitment to the way of life he
demands and provides:'
11
Thus, seeking God is equivalent to self-surrender
and a willingness to do what is right, regardless of the consequences.
Another psalm in which the sanctuary plays a pivotal role is Psalm 73.
In it Asaph addressed the problem of suffering. He could not understand
the ostensible success of the wicked ( verses 4-12 ), while the faithful suffered
affliction. He himself almost slipped (verses 1-3), but entering the sanctuary
made the difference for him (verses 13-17). There he could see the power
and glory of God (see Ps. 63:2) and recognize that present conditions are
only apparent and transitory. One day they will change and justice will
occur. He could reflect anew on the truth and receive reaffirmation that in
the end the wicked are on slippery ground (Ps. 73:18-20) and the faithful
are secure (verses 21-28). For those who seek God, the sanctuary becomes
a place of confidence, a stronghold of life, where God will set them "high
upon a rock" (Ps. 27:5, NIV). From the truth taught by the sanctuary service
we can indeed learn to trust in God's goodness and justice.
To look at our life, at our present decisions, at what happens to us today,
from the point of"the end" will keep our priorities in the right balance. It is
quite a healthy experience, and we should practice it regularly. What might
seem so important for us today could be insignificant in view of eternity.
The end, as promised in God's Word, gives us hope for now and a future
for tomorrow. As we enter the sanctuary we will find the ups and downs
of life put in perspective, and we can focus on Christ. Then we will know
that "the end of a matter is better than its beginning" (Eccl. 7:8). Asaph was
right on target.
Conclusion
The earthly sanctuary is God's designated meeting place with His
people. It visualizes the holiness of God and the means by which believers
can enter and stay in a relationship with Him. It provides a place for worship
and living in the divine presence. Understanding what the sanctuary
illustrates will awaken the desire to be near to God.
1
Peter Enns, Exodus, p. 522.
2
Roland Dell 'mour and Martin Probstle designed the illustration of the tabernacle
plan.
3
4
Ellen G. White gives an insightful description of the tabernacle sanctuary and its
service in Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 343-358.
5
6
Ibid., p. 354.
- For more on the Hebrew cultic term tamd and its meaning, see chapter 10 of this
book.
See John H. Walton, The Lost World of Genesis One (Downers Grove, 111.:
InterYarsity, 2009), p. 90.
The phrase "ali the days of my life" o ce urs in Psalms only in 23:6 and 27:4. Another
expression found in both texts is "the house of Yahweh," which appears further on in
P alms 92:13; 116:19; 118:26; 122:1, 9; 134:1; 135:2.
"':erald H. Wilson, Psalms, Volume 1, NIV Application Commentary (Grand
~ Zondervan, 2002), p. 484.
lbzd.
Atonement Phase One:
Purification Offering
T
he sacrificial system is probably the best-known part of the sanctuary
service, because it's the aspect that points directly to Christ's sacrifice.
God gave it to ensure that His loyal people could stiU enjoy His presence
if they sinned, and it demonstrates how He would eventually sol ve the sin
problem. The central offering in the sacrificial system was certainly the
mandatory "purification offering;' often called "sin offering" (Lev. 4).
1
By
means of such an offering sinners could be forgiven, atonement for them
achieved, their lives saved, and covenant community with God maintained.
The blood of the animal that dies for the sinner becomes a symbol for the
blood of Christ, who perished for us.
The Israelite cult had two phases of atonement. Phase One is the
regular service conducted throughout the year. Phase Two is the ceremony
conducted on the Day of Atonement (in Hebrew called Yom Kippur) that
takes place just once a year. Phase One is often called the daily service,
and Phase Two, the yearly. Both were necessary to complete the cycle of
atonement for God's people.
The daily service consisted of the regular activities of the priests and the
special purification offerings for personal sins. They included the morning and
evening sacrifice at the altar ofburnt offering in the courtyard, and in the holy
place the trimming of the lampstand (daily), the offering of incense (daily),
and the exchange of the showbread (weekly on the Sabbath). Such ongoing
rituals confirmed the constant presence of God and the continued availability
of divine forgiveness. In a way, we could say that the sanctuary assured them
of being God's covenant people. In this chapter, however, we will focus on the
purification offering, the prescribed means for atonement of personal sins.
The legislation of the purification offering appears in Leviticus 4. It has
four parts, depending upon who brings the offering: anointed priest (verses
53
3-12), whole community (verses 13-21), leader (verses 22-26), or commoner
(verses 27 -35). The ritual procedure is similar, except when it comes to the
location ofblood applications and eating the remainder of the offering.
The goal of the purification offering was to remove sin and guilt
from the sinner, to transfer its responsibility to the sanctuary, and to let
the sinner leave forgiven and cleansed. The purification offering was
mandatory-that is, one was required to bring it after becoming aware of
a sin. God made provision so that everyone was able to offer some kind
of purification offering. The anointed priest and the community as a
whole had to present a bull, the leader should bring a male goat, while the
commoner was to sacrifice a goat or a sheep, or, in rare cases of hardship,
the tenth of an ephah of fine flour (approximately 4.5 pints). Although
the last purification offering was bloodless, it is understood that "without
shedding ofblood there is no forgiveness" (Heb. 9:22).
The relevant activities for a purification offering to achieve these
goals involved the laying of hands on the head of the animal, the death
of the animal, blood manipulation, the burning of fat, and the eating of
the remaining flesh of the offering. The sinner who brought the offering
was granted forgiveness only after the blood ritual. Hence forgiveness not
only requires a repentant attitude, but also has something to do with the
offering itself and its blood application.
The purification offering conveys several concepts ( each connected
with a specific part of the ritual), which was God's appointed way to help us
understand better how He is reconciling us to Himself through the only true
sacrifice, Jesus Christ. Before we focus on those individual aspects, however,
it is necessary to understand the overall (legal) concept of divine forgiveness.
Sin and Mercy
As anyone who knows the Lord can testify, sin separates us from God.
The good news, of course, is that the Lord has put in place a system to heal
the breach caused by sin and to bring us back to Him. At the center of it is
the sacrifice.
The Old Testament depicts basically three kinds of sin, each cor-
responding to the sinner's awareness while committing the transgression:
inadvertent or unintentional sin, deliberate or intentiona! sin, and
rebellious sin. The "purification offering" prescribed in Leviticus 4:1-5: 13
could be presented in cases of unintentional sin, as well as in some cases
of deliberate sin (Lev. 5:1). While the first two categories had an offering
available, Scripture mentions none for rebellious sin, the most heinous
kind. A person committed such sin "in the face" of God, with a high hand,
and the rebel deserved nothing less than tobe cut off (Num. 15:29-31).
Nowhere does the Bible prescribe a cultic way to cleanse this kind of sin
from the rebel sinner. And yet, looking at the life of King Manasseh, one
is surprised to see how far God could extend His mercy. Manasseh, who
rebelled willfully against God, carne finally to his senses, humbled himself
before God, and received forgiveness (2 Chron. 33:12, 13). God's grace can
even prevail over intense hard-heartedness. What a wonderful God!
God forgives the sinner. However, the question remains whether He
is justified in doing so, for the sinner is unrighteous and, as such, worthy
of condemnation. So does the Lord do right to forgive the sinner? What
happens when a judge pronounces the unrighteous to be just? This is
certainly contrary to what justice demands and to God's own rule when
He denounced those judges who "justify the righteous and condemn the
wicked" (Deut. 25:1). Any judge who regularly pardoned the guilty would
get kicked off the bench. What makes God different?
The story of the woman of Tekoa can illustrate the answer (2 Sam.
14:1-11). It's all about mercy, justice, and guilt ( and actually has to do with
the case of Absalom). Pretending tobe a bereaved widow, the best actress
of Israel went to King David, seeking his judgment as chief justice of the
supreme court of ancient Israel. She contrived a story about her two sons,
one killing the other. Israelite law demanded the death of the murderer
(Num. 35:31), even though he was the only male left in the family. The
woman pleaded with Judge David to let the guilty son go free.
Then, interestingly enough, she declared: "The iniquity is on me and
my father's house, but the king and his throne are guiltless" (2 Sam. 14:9).
Both the Tekoite woman and David understood that if the king should
decide to let the murderer go free, the ruler himself would acquire the guilt
of the murderer, and that his throne of justice ( that is, his reputation as
iudge) would be in jeopardy. The judge was morally responsible for what
he decided. That is why the woman offered to accept the guilt herself.
Similarly, God assumes the guilt of sinners in order to declare them
righteous. If God forgives sinners, He takes their blame. For us to be
forgiven, God Himself must bear our punishment. That is the legal reason
that Christ had to die if we were to be saved. Forgiveness is costly, but
God acquired the right to grant it. First John 1:9 tells us that "ifwe confess
our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins:' The legal
declaration of forgiveness is a necessity for justification. It would have
been very problematic, to say the least, if God would have "just forgiven"
the sinner without getting too much into legal issues. The Lord needed
to maintain His righteousness when He forgives so that He could defeat
Satan, who accused Him ofbeing unjust or unloving, or both. God proved
Satan wrong: He is love and He is just. Therefore, He had to die.
Identification
The significance of the laying on of hands (Lev. 1 :4; 4:4; 16:21) is that
it involves an act of identification: it is done so that the offering "may be
accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf" (Lev. 1:4). The offering
applies only for the one who put his hands on the animal's head. The laying
on of hands designates also the transfer of property, as now the sacrificial
animal does not belong to the offerer anymore but to the sanctuary and
thus to God. Once the hands have been laid on, there was no turning back
on this "dead-end road" -the animal had to be presented. According to
Leviticus 16:21, the laying on ofhands could also be practiced together with
the confession of sin. In the purification offering this would acknowledge
the transfer of sin from the sinner to the innocent animal.
The slaughter is, of course, basic to any animal offering. After the
animal is killed, the spilled blood will make atonement on the altar (Lev.
17: 11). Because the sins have been transferred to the animal by the ritual
of identification (that is, the laying on ofhands), we should understand the
animal's death as a substitutionary one. The animal dies in the place of the
sinner. This may explain why the guilty person, and not the priest, had to
perform the act of killing the animal.
Transfer of Sin
After the laying on ofhands and the death of the animal, the next ritual
activity in the purification offering was the blood manipulation. The priest
would apply the sacrificial blood to the horns of the altar. Because blood is
involved, this rite has to do with atonement (verse 11).
We notice two principles about the locality of the blood manipulation.
First, the deeper that it penetrates into the sanctuary, the higher the status of
the sinner is. If the offerer was a commoner or a leader, the blood was put
on the altar of burnt offering in the courtyard (Lev. 4:25, 30). But should
the (high) priest or the entire congregation sin, the blood was applied to the
inner altar, the altar of incense, which stands in the holy place (verses 7, 18).
Apparently, with the office comes greater responsibility and accountability.
Note that the sin under consideration in Leviticus 4 is an inadvertent sin
otherwise not specified. Therefore, to which altar the blood should be applied
did not depend upon the different nature of the inadvertent sin.
This brings us to the second principle. The attitude of the sinner
influences how deep the sin affects the sanctuary. Rebellious sins (in Hebrew
often called pescha') deflie the sanctuary even without sacrifice and blood
manipulation (Lev. 20:2, 3; Num. 19:20), and the sanctuary had tobe cleansed
from them on the Day of Atonement, because Leviticus 16:16 mentions the
pescha' sins among those things for which it is necessary to make atonement.
One can therefore assume that more grievous sins-that is, sins committed
with a rebellious attitude-would penetrate deeper into the sanctuary.
Of course, it is also clear that sins themselves differ from each other.
The idea that one sin is the same as another is not biblical. There are
various forms of sin with various kinds of consequences. Some sins are
more serious than others. Although the final result of all sin is death (Rom.
6:23), the nature of the sin itself can be quite different, as the ancient
Israelites' penallaw illustrates.
What does it mean to smear blood on the horns of the altar? The Old
Testament often mentions altars with horns at each of their four corners.
2
The horns are curved-up projections on the altar's otherwise flat top.
3
As the
highest points of the altar, they could signify the vertical dimension and were
considered the holiest part of the altar. Fugitives seeking refuge would grasp
the horns of the altar to put themselves under the protection of the deity, and
could in this way obtain asylum, as Adonijah's case demonstrates (1 Kings
1:50). However, the protection did not seem to apply to serious offenders,
uch as murderers, as Joab had to learn dramatically (1 Kings 2:28-34).
The blood smeared on the altar's
horns thus comes into the presence of
God, into His jurisdiction. Jererniah
17:1 is of particular importance for
understanding the concept behind
the blood manipulation. The sin of
Judah is engraved "upon the tablet
of their heart and on the horns of
their altars:' Although the prophet
has idolatrous altars in mind here,
Four-horned altar from Tel Beersheba (eighth century the principle remains the same: the
RC.). Photo: Author.
altar reflects the moral condition of the people. Blood transfers the guilt of sin.
The blood smeared on the horns of the altar shifted sin away from the sinner
to the sanctuary, a crucially important truth in order to understand the plan of
salvation as revealed in the earthly sanctuary service. In idolatrous worship, of
course (and that is God's argument in Jererniah 17:1), applying blood on the
altar's horns cannot free the offerer from sin and guilt. Thus the guilt stiU remains
upon the heart of the Judahites, as well as on the horns of their altars.
We have to cond ude that the blood manipulation transferred sin to the
sanctuary-sacrificial blood defiled the sanctuary. The blood carries sin
and, as such, has defiling properties. Here is an example. When the blood
of the purification offering splashed by accident on a garment, it should be
cleansed not just anywhere, but specifically "in a holy place" (Lev. 6:27).
The bloodstained garment would not only be physically unclean, but also
ritually so.
The burning of the fat in smoke on the altar, which concludes
the symbolic actions of the ritual, indicates that everything about the
purification offering belongs to God (Lev. 3:16; 4:31).
The ancient Israelites learned, among other things, that they could
penitently bring their sins to the sanctuary and, through sacrifice, leave
them there for God to take care of. Similarly, through our repentance and
confession, our sin has been taken away from us, placed on Jesus Christ,
who is the ultimate sacrifice, and transferred to the heavenly sanctuary,
where God will take care of it. He forgives us and assumes the guilt upon
Himself-a central concept of the plan of salvation. The question for us
to ponder is How can we learn even better to give sin totally away to God
when we repent and confess?
BearingSin
A part of the purification offering ritual not described in Leviticus 4
is eating the remainder of the offering (Lev. 6:25, 26; 10: 16-18). By eating
the purification offering at the holy place the officiating priest would "bear
away the guilt" of the offender. The meat was not just remuneration for the
priests; otherwise, Moses would not have been so angry with Aaron's sons
for not eating of it. Yet how does eating the purification offering contribute
to the process of atonement? Eating was required only of those offerings
in which blood did not enter the holy place, that is, those of the leader and
the commoner. Scripture explicitly states that the eating symbolized that
the priests would "bear away the guilt;' which will "make atonement" (Lev.
10:17) for the sinner. Obviously, carrying another person's guilt implies
that the individual can go free.
The Hebrew of Exodus 34:7 conveys that God "carries iniquity" when
forgiving the trespasses of the sinner. The same two Hebrew words-
"carrying iniquity" -appear in Leviticus 10:16, 17, in which it's ele ar that the
priest carrying the sin is what brings forgiveness to the sinner. Otherwise,
without that transfer, the sinner would have to bear his own sin (Lev. 5:1),
and that, of course, would lead to death (Rom. 6:23).
Carrying guilt is just like conveying a backpack. If you carry the
backpack of your own guilt, you are responsible for it and will suffer the
consequences (Lev. 19:8). However, if someone else offers to take your
backpack, you go unburdened and are free of guilt. A husband could do that
for his wife (Num. 30:15). And the priest should do it because it belongs
to his job description (Ex. 28:38; Num. 18:1). The priest does not have to
suffer the consequences for the guilt he carries, because he would bring his
own purification offering and thus deposit his sins on the sanctuary.
Bearing another's sin is exactly what Christ did for us. He offers to carry
our entire backpack of guilt and sin so that we are free. Of course, He had
to suffer the consequences. As a result, He died in our place (Isa. 53:5, 6, 11;
1 Peter 2:24). We conclude that what the priest did at the sanctuary typifies
Christ's work for us, because He has taken upon Himself the guilt of our sins.
"If the transgressor of God's law will see in Christ his atoning sacrifice,
if he will believe in him who can cleanse from all unrighteousness, Christ
will not have died for him in vain. By giving himself a sacrifice for sin,
Christ has given opportunity to every sinner to repent and be converted,
and become a laborer together with God:'
4
Forgiveness
May I introduce you to my champion of all Old Testament texts about
God's forgiveness? Sure, Scripture has many candidates: He will forgive
iniquity and remember sin no more (Jer. 31:34). He swept away offenses
like a cloud and sins like the morning mist (Isa. 44:22). Even if our sins are
as scarlet and crimson, He will make them blistering white (Isa. 1: 18). The
best of all, however, in my opinion, is Micah 7:18, 19. Just read it, and you
will know that God indeed is the champion of forgiveness.
The last three verses of the book of Micah focus on the relationship
of God and His remnant. The text describes beautifully why He is
unrivaled. He is incomparable, because of His forgiving love and grace.
The outstanding characteristic of God, as revealed in the book of Micah
and elsewhere, is simply His unique forgiveness. Micah emphasizes the
point by using varied repetition for God's attributes (verse 18) and for
His achievements (verses 19, 20). Exodus 34:6, 7, one of the most beloved
biblical descriptions of the character of God, explains His attributes and
achievements in the language of the Israelite credo. The passage illustrates
clearly that God is much more eager to forgive than to punish.
Interestingly, several crucial words in Micah 7:18-20 also appear in the
Servant Song in Isaiah 53, pointing to the fact that the means of forgiveness
comes from the One who is suffering for the people.
Unfortunately, not everyone will enjoy God's saving grace, but only the
"remnant ofHis possession'' (Micah 7:18). God's forgiveness is neither cheap
nor automatic. It involves loyalty. The emphasis here is on kindness or "love"
(verse 18), which refers back to Micah 6:8, a central text in the book: "He
has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?"
Thus as the Lord "delights in unchanging love" (Micah 7:18) He calls His
remnant to "love kindness:' His people will imitate His character. His desires
will become their own. Their lives will reflect His love, compassion, and
kindness. In short, they act as imitatia Dei, the "imitation of God:'
Combining Micah 7:18-20 and its emphasis on forgiveness with
Nahum 1:2, 3 and its stress on judgment unfolds the two dimensions of
God's dealings with us: forgiving the repentant, and punishing the wicked.
Both si des belong to God: He is Savior and judge. The two aspects of God's
character are complementary, not contrary. A compassionate God can also
be a just God. Thus we can rest assured in His love, in His forgiveness, and
in His ultimate justice.
Now back to the purification offering. Its result is forgiveness. The one
who offers the sacrifice "will be forgiven:' The Hebrew word used here
appears in the Old Testament only with God. Thus it is absolutely clear that
it is not the priest who forgives. Neither is it an automatic process that will
happen just because the sacrifice gets offered correctly. Forgiveness is God's
privilege. He alone can forgive, and He has provided everything for this end.
Of course, we know that the blood of animals could not purify the
believer. In reality, we are redeemed "with precious blood, as of a Iamb
unblemished and spotless, the blood ofChrist" (1 Peter 1:19). "As Christ at
His ascension appeared in the presence of God to plead His blood in behalf
of penitent believers, so the priest in the daily ministration sprinkled the
blood of the sacrifice in the holy place in the sinner's behalf. The blood of
Christ, while it was to release the repentant sinner from the condemnation
of the law, was not to cancel the sin; it would stand on record in the
sanctuary until the final atonement; so in the type the blood of the sin
[purification] offering removed the sin from the penitent, but it rested in
the sanctuary until the Day of Atonement:'
5
Atonement happens in two
stages. It was so at the Israelite sanctuary, and it is the same at the heavenly
sanctuary. We are ready for Phase Two.
Conclusion
The sacrificial system of the Old Testament foreshadowed Christ's
sacrifice and illustrates clearly that the sins are transferred into God's
sanctuary. The means of conveying them are the blood and the priest,
signifying Christ's sacrifice and His priestly ministry. It is the first phase
of the atonement. While God forgives the unrighteous sinner, He Himself
will, and must, take care of the guilt.
Though the earthly sanctuary is "but a faint reflection" of the "vastness
and glory" of the heavenly sanctuary, "important truths concerning the
heavenly sanctuary and the great work there carried forward for man's
redemption were taught by the earthly sanctuary and its services:'
6
1
A note on terminology: Using the term purification offering instead of sin offering
fits best the various reasons that it has to be brought. We need to avoid the impression
that, for instance, giving birth is regarded as moral fault, because the new mother had to
present such an offering (Lev. 12:6-8). This sacrifice is best understood as a "purification
offering" for her ritual impurity, and not as a sacrifice because of sin.
2
The Old Testament refers to altar horns in Exodus 27:2; 29:12; 30:2; 37:25; 38:2;
Leviticus 4:7, 18, 25, 30, 34; 8:15; 9:9; 16:18; 1 Kings 1:50, 51; 2:28; Psalm 118:27; Ezekiel
43:15, 20; Amos 3:14; and the New Testament once in Revelation 9:13.
3
Archaeologists have excavated severa! ancient Israelite altars with so-called horns.
Most famous are the ones from Beersheba and Megiddo. One can get an impression
of what such al tars looked like by visiting the archaeology wing in the Israel Museum
in Jerusalem, which has the 1.6-meter-square four-horned altar of Beersheba (eighth
century B.C.) on display, or, more conveniently, by visiting the museum's Web site at
www.imj.org.il!imagine/collections/item.asp?itemNum=370646 for the four-horned in-
cense altar from Megiddo (ninth century B.C.).
4
Ellen G. White, in Review and Herald, Feb. 27, 1900.
5
6
E. G. White, The Creat Controversy, p. 414.
Atonement Phase Two:
Day of Atonement
G
mar Chatimah Tovah. "A good final sealing:' That's the Jewish greeting
on or right before Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Idiomaticaliy,
it means something like "May you be inscribed (in the Book of Life) for
good:' A Jewish prayer declares, "On Rosh Hashana, it is written. On Yom
Kippur, it is sealed:'
1
In between there lie the 10 Days of Awe, or the 10
Days of Repentance, in which the "accounting of souls" takes place, when
the good deeds and the transgressions of every person are juxtaposed on
a scale to decide the fate of each one. The Talmudic rabbis imagined a
heavenly court that judges ali people until the end of Yom Kippur, when
the final "sealing" of our fate has taken place. During the Days of Awe, and
especialiy on Yom Kippur, God gives the gift of His nearness.
2
The Jewish
understanding ofYom Kippur reflects the gravity and solemnity of the day,
but it also marks it as a time of forgiveness par excelience.
Yom Kippur has a historical precedent, at least according to tradition.
The date of Yom Kippur, the tenth of the month of Tishri, was chosen to
be the same calendar day when Moses, after another solemn encounter
with the Lord, carne down from the mountain, carrying the second set of
the tablets of the testimony (Ex. 34:29).
3
Moses pleaded for the life of his
people while in God's presence but shrouded by a cloud-foreshadowing
the high-priestly intercession-and the repentance of the people saved
them from extermination. His descent from Sinai thus signified that God
had forgiven Israel their "great sin" of the golden calf (Ex. 32:21, 31). It was,
in a way, the grand first "Day of Atonement:'
The Day of Atonement as regulated in Leviticus 16 is the cultic high
point and the most solemn of ali rituals prescribed in the Old Testament.
It is deliberately placed in the heart of the book of Leviticus in the center
of the Tarah to illustrate its "most holy" character.
4
Also, the names given
62
for the Day of Atonement underline its significance: Sabbath of Sabbaths
"sabbath of solemn rest" in Leviticus 16:31; 23:32) or the "White Sabbath:'
The cessation of all work is unique for an Israelite yearly festival. This
fact places the day squarely within the Sabbath concept, and marks it as
a totally consecrated day of rest in the enjoyment of the full re-creation
accomplished by God, of what He has done and will do for us.
To capture the mood of the Day of Atonement, it is helpful to follow the
special readings from the Old Testament as prescribed by today's Jews for
Yom Kippur. The morning readings comprise the regulations for the ritual
1Lev. 16:1-34; Num. 29:7-11) and Isaiah 57:15-58:14, which talks about
the Lord's intentions to save His people and their correct attitude of true
worship, especially with regard to fasting and the Sabbath observance, two
essential components of the Day of Atonement. The afternoon readings
also include three passages that emphasize sexual behavior (Lev. 18:1-30),
God's intention to save (the entire book of Jonah), and the praise for His
incomparable grace and faithfulness (Micah 7:18-20).
In this chapter we will study what happened on the Day of Atonement
in the earthly sanctuary, specifically the rituals with the two goats, which
helps us to better understand deeper truths regarding salvation and
the final disposition of sin. Identifying the purpose of such rituals will
aid in identifying what God intends during the eschatological day of
atonement.
5
Let's start with a detailed overview of Leviticus 16 that will serve as a
walk-through of the Day of Atonement ritual:
1. Preparatory Activities (Lev. 16: 1-1 O)
equipment of Aaron for entering the sanctuary (verses 3-5)
bull + ram for Aaron, linen garments, two goats + ram for Israel
purpose and preparation of bull and two goats ( verses 6-1 O)
bull for purification offering for Aaron and his house
selection of ( 1) goat for purification offering for Israel (goat
for Yahweh)
(2) goat for removal (goat for Azazel)
2. Purification Offerings and Blood Manipulation ( verses 11-19)
bull on behalf of the priests ( verses 11-14)
slaughtering of bull
entering the Most Holy with incense
blood application on mercy seat (o ne time) and sprinkling in front of
it ( seven times)
goat on behalf ofthe people (verse 15)
ritual analog to the bull
.... summary of purpose of the blood manipulation (verse 16)
purification of the holy place ( tent of meeting) analogous to that of the
Most Holy Place (verse 16)
.... summary of purpose so far (verse 17)
purification and sanctification of altar ofburnt offering (verses 18, 19)
blood application on altar (o ne time) and sprinkling on it ( seven
times)
.... concluding summary (verse 20)
3. Elimination Ritual: Live Goat (verses 20-22)
laying on ofhands, confession of sins, sending into the wilderness
( verses 20, 21)
.... summary of elimination ritual (verse 22)
4. Burnt Offering (verses 23-25)
preparation: high priest disrobes and bathes (verses 23, 24)
presentation ofburnt offering (verses 24, 25)
5. Postrequisite Tasks of Priestly Assistants (verses 26-28)
designated individual for sending the live goat (verse 26)
disposal of purification offerings (verses 27, 28)
6. Concluding Wrap-up (verses 29-34)
people's task: fasting and resting from work (verses 29-31)
.... concluding summary ofDay of Atonement (verses 32-34)
The Yearly Cleansing
Throughout the year all kinds of sins and ritual impurities accumulated
upon the sanctuary. With the Day of Atonement carne the time for their
removal. The yearly cleansing removed evil from the inside out. The high
priest applied blood (1) on the ark cover, (2) in front ofit, (3) on the incense
altar, (4) in front of it, (5) on the altar ofburnt offering by daubing its horns,
and ( 6) by sprinkling on it. Finally, after the cleansing was complete, he
confessed all sins on the live goat that then carried them into the wilderness.
6
The ritual on the Day of Atonement thus has three main parts:
1. The purification offering of the priest. The high priest slaughtered
a bull for his sin, making sure that he (the priest) would be clean
when entering the sanctuary and performing the ritual to cleanse it.
2. The purification offering of the goat 'Jor the Lord." Throughout the
year the purification offerings brought the sins of the Israelites to the
sanctuary, so that they "accumulated" there. The Day of Atonement
was the time to remove all moral faults and ritual impurities from
the sanctuary through the blood of the goat "for the Lord:'
3. The elimination ritual with the live goat for Azazel. God wanted to
remove the sins of His people away from the sanctuary and camp.
Therefore He had another goat sent alive out into the desert, taking
all sins with it, to die there.
Most Hol Place
lx
lx 7x
Ark
1 ~
1 Altar of lncense
1
= Lampstand Altar ofBurm
Offering
The purpose of the blood of the goat for the Lord is to cleanse, not to
defile. Because the ritual of the goat for the Lord involved neither confession
of sin nor laying on of hands, there was no transfera! of sin on this goat,
and its blood was not a carrier of sin. Leviticus 16:15 describes how the
priest brought the blood into the Most Holy Place and sprinkled it once
toward the ark of the covenant and seven times before it. The summary
verses 16 and 20 describe clearly its effect: the high priest makes atonement
with the blood of the Lord's goat, cleansing the entire sanctuary. The same
procedure also purifies the people so that, when the sanctuary is cleansed
from all kinds of.sins of the people, the people themselves are cleansed too.
In this sense the Day of Atonement is a unique event in Israel, for only on
this day were both the sanctuary and the people cleansed.
The Day of Atonement is the second stage of the divinely appointed
two-phase process of atonement. In the first phase, during the rest of the
year, the Israelites were forgiven. Their sins were transferred onto the
WGM-3
sanctuary and its priests, and thus into the sphere of God's responsibility.
They were not blotted out but were entrusted to God Himself, who promised
to deal with them. The second phase, the Day of Atonement, involves the
elimination of sins. It does not have much to do with forgiveness. In fact, the
verb "forgive" does not occur at all in Leviticus 16 or in Leviticus 23:27-32.
"The blood of Christ, while it was to release the repentant sinner from
the condemnation of the law, was not to cancel the sin; it would stand on
record in the sanctuary until the final atonement; so in the type the blood
of the sin offering removed the sin from the penitent, but it rested in the
sanctuary until the Day of Atonement:'
7
What this shows us is that the entire plan of salvation deals with more
than just the forgiveness of our sins, a point that makes even more sense
when understood in the wider context of the great cosmic conflict between
good and evil. God takes great care in the process of eliminating sins forever.
He does not leave anything to chance and is committed to end the tragic
history of sin in a manner that again demonstrates His love and justice.
Beyond Forgiveness
The primary function of the high priest was to mediate between God
and humanity. Regarding the sanctuary, he administered the sacrificial
system and performed or directed the various rituals of sacrifices and
offerings (Heb. 8:3). His task on the Day of Atonement was enormous, the
responsibility resting upon him immense, for he should "make atonement
for the Most Holy Place, for the tent of meeting and the altar, and for the
priests and all the members of the community" (Lev. 16:33, NIV). He
performed almost every ritual component, except for leading the goat
for Azazel into the wilderness, though he gave the command to send the
animal away.
On the Day of Atonement the "great priest;' as he is also called,
becomes a living example of Christ. As God's people focused on the high
priest, so Jesus is the exclusive center of our attention. Just as the activities
of the high priest on earth bring cleansing to the people, so Jesus' work in
the heavenly sanctuary does the same for us (Rom. 8:34; 1 John 1:9). It is
the only ground for cleansing us from all unrighteousness. And as the only
hope of the people on the Day of Atonement lay in the high priest, our only
hope is in Christ.
The high priest was to cleanse the sanctuary from ali sins. According
to Leviticus 16:16, he had to enter the Most Holy Place and purge it from
the ritual impurities, transgressions, and all sins. The cleansing was all-
encompassing. Finally he transfered all the iniquities, all the transgressions,
and all the sins of Israel onto the live goat and expelled them through the
creature into the desert. Thus all moral fault of Israel was literally gone.
The unique goal of the Day of Atonement had achieved its purpose: moral
purification that went beyond forgiveness. There was no new forgiveness
necessary on this day. God had already forgiven the sins that were now
blotted out on Yom Kippur.
Verse 16 states that the sanctuarywas also cleansed from transgressions
or rebellious sins. How did those sins end up in the sanctuary, because
there was no sacrifice intended for them? Two texts suggest how such
willful transgressions could have defiled the sanctuary. The rebellious
-in of offering one's child to Molech (Lev. 20:2, 3) and the refusal to be
ritually cleansed by the means that God had provided (Num. 19:20) both
'"'defile the sanctuary of the Lord:' The obvious conclusion must be that
a serious offense automatically made the sanctuary ceremonially unclean
mdependent of any offering. As people who belonged (at least outwardly)
:o God's people committed such transgressions, they cast a damning light
on God and His government. By their action they called God's reputation
.nto question, profaned His name, and defiled His sanctuary.
8
Azazel
First of all, let's make one thing sure: the ritual with the live goat was
not an offering. After the lot decided which of the two goats was to be for
Yahweh and which one for Azazel (often mistranslated "scapegoat"), it was
only the goat for Yahweh that Scripture referred to as a purification offering
Lev. 16:9, 15). The goat for Azazel was instead called the "live goat:' He was
never slain, probably to keep away any idea that it constituted a sacrifice.
:-he live goat carne into play only after the high priest had finished the
atonement of the entire sanctuary (verse 20). We cannot overemphasize
the fact that the ensuing ritual with the live goat has nothing to do with
the actual purification of the sanctuary or of the people. They already have
been cleansed.
Who or what is ''Azazel"? It cannot be the name of the goat or a
geographicallocation, as some have suggested. This would not explain the
antithetical mentioning of the names Yahweh and Azazel. Rather, Azazel is
a name for a personal being like Yahweh, but antagonistic to Him (verses
-10). Azazel must represent Satan. Incidentally, early Jewish interpreters
identified Asasel as the original angelic sinner and primary author of evil,
even as the leader of evil angels, who is responsible for human sin as well:
the earth has been corrupted by the deeds of the teaching of Azazel;
and upon him write all the sins" (1 Enoch 10:8).
9
So what was the purpose of the ritual with the live goat? A rite of
elimination that accomplishes the final disposal of sin, it brought sin upon
the one responsible for it in the first place, Azazel, and then carried it away
from the people forever. was made upon it in a punitive sense
(Lev. 16:10), as the goat conveyed the ultimate responsibility for sin.
10
Does this mean that Satan plays a role in our salvation, as some falsely
charge we teach? Of course not. Satan never, in any way, bears sin for us
as a substitute. Jesus alone has done that, and it's blasphemy to think that
the devil had any part in our redemption. But the final eradication of sin
does require his elimination as originator of sin, and it is part of the plan
of salvation.
We find the ritual with the live goat paralleled in the law ofthe malicious
witness (Deut. 19:16-21). The accuser and the accused stand before the
Lord, represented by the priests and judges. They conduct an investigation,
and if they find the accuser to be a malicious witness, he or she shall
receive the punishment he or she intended for the innocent (for example,
vicious Haman, who put up a gallows for loyal Mordecai). Satan accuses
the saints and God (Zech. 3:1-5; Rev. 12:10). A cosmic investigation will
make clear that the devil's accusations will not hold (Dan. 7:9-14). Proven
to be a malicious witness, he will receive the punishment he desired to have
inflicted upon the saints (Rev. 20:7-10).
Ellen White observes that as the high priest confessed the sins upon
the live goat, so "the sins of God's people will be placed upon Satan; he will
be declared guilty of all the evil which he has caused them to commif'
11
"For the sins of those who are redeemed by the blood of Christ will at
last be rolled back upon the originator of sin, and he must bear their
punishment, while those who do not accept salvation through Jesus will
suffer the penalty of their own sins:'
12
Call for Loyalty
The people were not to be totally passive on the Day of Atonement.
Leviticus 16:29-31 and Leviticus 23:27-32 prescribe what the Israelites
should do on Yom Kippur, and each of the activities required holds some
truth for us today as well:
1. "Come to the sanctuary." There is no other place tobe. Their eyes
and minds fixed on the sanctuary and on what the high priest was
doing there, the people would understand the truths of the Day of
Atonement. '
2. "Present an offering by fire." The priest was offering for the people,
and they have to focus on what he does for them.
3. "Keep a Sabbath rest:' This makes it possible to direct all the
attention to the sanctuary activities on this day. At the same time,
the Israelites could recall their utter dependence on God, because
they could do nothing to cleanse the sanctuary or themselves.
4. "Humble your soul." Traditionally the Israelites express their
sincerity of faith and their respect of God through fasting and
praying (Ps. 35:13). They lament their sin.
5. "Let oneself be cleansed." The people do not accomplish their
cleansing by themselves but through the high priest. In as much
as the high priest represents what God is doing for the people, it is
clear that God Himself is responsible for their cleansing.
These who did not adhere to these instructions were to be cut off and
destroyed (Lev. 23:29, 30). The Day of Atonement was, really, about nothing
less than life and death. It demanded a believer's complete loyalty to God.
Suppose that some confessed their sins during the first phase of
atonement during the year (that is, the daily sacrifices) but did not take
the Day of Atonement seriously. By their disregard of what God planned to
demonstrate on this day, such individuals proved themselves to be disloyal
to God and revoked the forgiveness they had previously received. In fact,
Jesus' parable of the unforgiving servant illustrates the same point: after
the servant has obtained the king's forgiveness for his monstrous debt, he
mercilessly requires a fellow servant to pay him back a few shekels, thus
proving himself disloyal to his king and not worthy of the previously
granted forgiveness (Matt. 18:23-35).
The acquittal of the sinner during the year cannot constitute the
final cleansing. Full restoration and demonstration of loyalty takes time.
Acquitted sinners who remain loyal to God can prove that the Lord was
just in forgiving their sins. The sinner does it through his or her actions,
for actions demonstrate loyalty.
The Day of Atonement thus involves at least four aspects: the acquitted
sinner who is loyal is justified; the acquitted sinner who does not care about
God anymore is condemned; the originator of sin receives the punishment
as malicious witness; and God is vindicated and proven to be just in all His
dealings.
What this means it that a person can, though professing faith in God,
stilllose salvation. As Adventists, we do not believe in once-saved-always-
saved, because the Bible does not teach it. We are secure in Christ just
as long as we live in faith and surrender to Him, claiming His power for
victory when tempted and His forgiveness when we fall.
Isaiah's Personal Yom Kippur
Isaiah 6 presents us with one of the most thrilling and emotionally
moving encounters of a human being with God. Shortly after King Uzziah's
breach of the sanctuary-he was presumptuous enough to play priest
(2 Chron. 26:16-23)-Isaiah saw the heavenly King sitting on a throne
in the Temple "high and exalted" (Isa. 6:1, NIV). The vision blended the
earthly and the heavenly temples and was a judgment scene that presented
God as coming for judgment (Isa 5:16; cf. Isa. 2:11, 17).
Can we be more specific about the identity of Yahweh, whom Isaiah
beheld? The phrase "high and exalted" occurs two more times in Isaiah,
for Yahweh's Servant (Isa. 52:13) and for the Holy One (Isa. 57:15). Isaiah
57: 15 reads like a commentary oflsaiah 6: God's name is Holy (cf. Isa. 6:3),
He dwells on a "high and holy place" (cf. Isa. 6:1), and He revives the lowly
and the contrite ( cf. Isa. 6:5-7). It is the Gospel ofJohn that identifies the
Yahweh in Isaiah 6 as Jesus Christ. Talking about Jesus in John 12:37-41,
the disciple connects two quotations from Isaiah, one from the Servant
Song of Isaiah 53 and the other from Isaiah's encounter with God in Isaiah
6, concluding that Isaiah "saw His glory" and "spoke ofHim" (John 12:41).
Even though Isaiah was God's prophet who called others to repentance
(read the six "woes" in Isaiah 5:8-23), he understood that in God's presence
he was doomed. He had to cry out the seventh "woe" to himself (Isa. 6:5).
Confronted with God's holiness and glory, he perceived painfully clear his
own sinfulness and also the uncleanness of his people. Holiness and sin
are just incompatible. Always. Like Isaiah, each person needs to come to
the conclusion that they are doomed and cannot pass the divine judgment
by their own strength. It's impossible to move from "Woe to me" to "Here
am I:' Human beings cannot change their futile situation. The good news,
however, is that God can.
The vision in Isaiah 6 is full of allusions to Yom Kippur. The combination
of a temple filled with smoke (verse 4), an altar (verse 6), a burning coal (verse
. judgment (verse 1), and atonement for sin and uncleanness (verses 6, 7)
r:. the midst of uncleanness (verse 5), all emanating from God's throne in
e center of the temple (verses 2, 6), recalls strongly the Day of Atonement
to Leviticus 16 appear also ("atone;' "uncleanness;' "sin;'
in the midst of" [KJV]). Isaiah experienced, as it were, his own personal
Day of Atonement.
13
He was facing the heavenly King and High Priest on his
-.rdgment day. Note that the "train" of Yahweh's robe in verse 1 recalls the
obe of the high priest.
14
Functioning like a priest, a seraph (literally "burning
ne") takes a glowing coal from the altar, presupposing some kind of offering,
- purge the prophet's sin and "iniquitY:' In the book oflsaiah this offering is
- e Suffering Servant, our substitute, who carries our "iniquities" (Isa. 53:5, 6,
11. Isaiah 6 provides an apt image for the cleansing from sin that is possible
:hrough the sacrifice of Jesus and His priestly ministry of mediation. Isaiah
::-ecognizes this as a cleansing ritual, and he keeps still as the coal touches
!lis lips. Thereby his "iniquity is taken away" and his "sin is forgiven" (verse
- . The passive voice in verse 7 ( which frequently indicates divine action in
cripture) shows that forgiveness is granted by the O ne sitting on the throne.
The Judge is also the Savior. He is our only hope.
Then carne God's question: "Whom shall I send, and who will go
for Us?" (verse 8). It's a discreet question, which is exactly why it is so
.:ompelling. O ne can learn a lot about God's personality and His intentions
through studying the questions He asks. The Lord is never more direct,
:nore piercing, more up close and personal than when He asks a question.
15
God could have commanded Isaiah to go. Instead He asked a question, a
ubtle invitation, so that the prophet could raise his hand and volunteer.
Isaiah was quick to respond. In the face of the Holy One, you will be
changed and become His ambassador.
God's work of cleansing brings us from "Woe is me" to "Here am I, send
me:' Understanding the heavenly activity on the Day of Atonement leads
to a readiness for proclamation, because a true grasp of it creates assurance
and surety. And that's because you know that, in judgment, you have a
substitute, Jesus Christ, whose righteousness alone (symbolized by the
blood) will enable you to stand without fear of condemnation (Rom. 8:1).
Apparently Isaiah needed to experience God's holiness and God's
judgment himself in order to be God's good messenger. The prophet
understood the lesson. He proclaimed Him to be the "Holy O ne" of Israel,
a typical Isaianic title of God.
16
And he announced judgment, knowing that
it leads to salvation. From judgment to salvation is a movement echoed in
the book oflsaiah itself ( chapters 1-35 deal mainly with judgment, chapters
40-66 with salvation).
If you want to preach the judgment message, you need to desire
your own judgment. Though it may scund strange, it is only when you
understand that the judgment will justify the believer are you ready to
proclaim the judgment message to the world. Gratefulness motivates
mission. The acquitted sinner is God's best ambassador (2 Cor. 5:18-20),
because he or she has experienced the loving and saving acts of God and
knowwhat they have been spared from. Judgment and salvation-or better,
judgment is salvation-is still the Adventist message today. The sacrifice
of Jesus Christ holds the two of them together. That's the message of the
eschatological Day of Atonement.
Conclusion
The Day of Atonement constitutes the second and final phase of the
atonement. It will eradicate sin forever through the ministry of the high
priest, while believers demonstrate their loyalty to God. In the end divine
justice will hold the one responsible for sin accountable.
1
The prayer is the Unetaneh Tokef. See also the Babylonian Talmud, Rosh Hashanah
16a: "It has been taught: 'Ali are judged' on new year and their doom is sealed on the Day
of Atonement." Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish new year and is celebrated according to the
Hebrew calendar on Tishri 1 and 2, which is nine days before Yom Kippur on Tishri 10.
For the year 2013 Yom Kippur falls on September 13/14 (from sundown to sundown); for
2014 it is October 3/4.
2
For an excellent overview of the Jewish thought on Yom Kippur, see Nosson
Scherman, Hersh Goldwurm, and Avie Gold, Yom Kippur: Its Significance, Laws, and
Prayers, ArtScroll Mesorah Series (New York: Mesorah, 1989).
3
For the chronology of Moses' ascents and descents of Mount Sinai, see Yom Kippur,
pp. 52, 53.
4
The book of Leviticus exhibits a concentric composition with Leviticus 16 in the
middle. The section on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:2-34) is the center of ali 37 divine
speeches in Leviticus, which start with the formula "The Lord spoke/said to Moses/
Aaron." See Wilfried Warning, Literary Artistry in Leviticus, Biblica! Interpretation
Series (Leiden: Brill, 1999), voi. 35, p. 39; and Erich Zenger, "The Book of Leviticus: An
Important Book in Jewish-Christian Dialogue," European ]udaism 41, no. 2 (2008): 88-
93.
5
For the Day of Atonement, see Roy Gane, Leviticus, Numbers, NIV Application
Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004), pp. 268-297. See also the more in-depth
discussion on the Day of Atonement in Roy Gane, Cult and Character (Winona Lake,
Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 2005), pp. 217-323.
6
Adapted from Gane, Leviticus, Numbers, p. 279; designed by Roland Dell'mour and
Martin Pri:ibstle.
7
8
For the trajectories of different kinds of sin see Gane, Leviticus, Numbers, pp. 280-
283.
9
Similar statements appear in 1 Enoch 6:7; 8:1; 9:6; 10:4; 13:1; 54:5; 55:4; 69:2.
10
"To make atonement for" (Hebrew kipper 'al) is used in a punitive sense to describe
the execution of a murderer (Num. 35:33) or the execution of an immoral Israelite and
his Midianite lover (Num. 25:13, 14). The punishment of these sinners effected expiation
for their immoral deeds. Gerhard F. Hasel explains the phrase "make atonement over it"
(NRSV) in Leviticus 16:10 differently with the meaning "make atonement beside it" or
"in proximity to it" ("Studies in Biblical Atonement II: The Day of Atonement," in A. V.
Wallenkampf and W. R. Lesher, eds., 7he Sanctuary and the Atonement: Abridged [Silver
Spring, Md.: Biblical Research Institute, 1989], pp. 115, 116).
u E. G. White, 7he Great Controversy, p. 658.
12
Ellen G. White, Early Writings (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn.,
1906), p. 178.
13
"The vi sion given to Isaiah represents the condition of God's people in the last days.
They are privileged to see by faith the work that is going forward in the heavenly sanctu-
ary . . .. As they look by faith into the holy of holies, and see the work of Christ in the
heavenly sanctuary, they perceive that they are a people of unclean lips-a people whose
lips have often spoken vanity, and whose talents have not been sanctified and employed
to the glory of God. Well may they despair as they contrast their own weakness and un-
worthiness with the purity and loveliness of the glorious character of Christ. But if they,
like Isaiah, will receive the impression the Lord designs shall be made upon the heart,
if they will humble their souls before God, there is hope for them. The bow of promise
is above the throne, and the work done for Isaiah will be performed in them" (7he SDA
Bible Commentary, Ellen G. White Comments, vol. 4, p. 1139).
14
The Hebrew for "train" (shulayim) occurs 11 times in the Old Testament, seven of
them in connection with the high-priestly garment (Ex. 28:33 [twice], 34; 39:24, 25, 26).
The New Testament depicts Christ wearing a high-priestly robe (Greek pod ere) reaching
down to His feet (Rev. 1:13; cf. Ex. 25:7; 28:4, 31; 29:5; 35:9; Zech. 3:4).
15
Here is a selective list of divine questions you may want to study: Genesis 3:9, 11,
13; 4:6, 9; 18:13, 14; 21:17; 32:27; Exodus 14:15; Numbers 12:8, 14; 14:27; 1 Samuel16:1; Job
1:7, 8; 1 Kings 19:9; Job 38-41; Malachi 1:6-9; 3:2. In the New Testament, the Son of God
asked some penetrating questions, e.g., Matthew 9:28; 12:48; 16:15; 20:22; Mark 2:9; 8:29;
Luke 2:49; 10:36; 24:17; John 1:38; 2:4; 6:67; 8:10; 14:9; 21:15-17, 22; Acts 9:3, 4.
16
The title "Holy O ne oflsrael" occurs 26 times in Isaiah (Isa. 1:4; 5:19, 24; 10:20; 12:6;
etc.) and only six or seven times in the rest of the Old Testament (2 Kings 19:22; Ps. 71:22;
etc.). The adjective "holy" (qadosh) occurs 118 times in the Old Testament, 38 of them in
Isaiah alone!
Christ, Our Sacrifice
A
bittersweet rniracle took place on July 29, 1941, in the rnidst of the
:valley of death. Earlier that year the Franciscan priest Maxirnilian
Kolbe was irnprisoned as nurnber 16,670 in Auschwitz for providing
shelter to refugees frorn Greater Poland, including about 2,000 Jews. In
July 1941 arnan from Kolbe's barracks seemingly vanished (his dead body
was found later), prompting the S.S. to pick 10 prisoners from the sarne
barracks to be starved to death in reprisal in the so-called Bunker, an
airless underground starvation cell. One of the selected rnen, Franciszek
Gajowniczek, a noncommissioned officer, cried out in despair, "My wife!
My children! I will never see thern again:' At this point the unexpected
happened. Prisoner 16,670 stepped forward from the ranks ofthe reprieved
and offered himself in the other rnan's place-that is, Kolbe asked that he
be the one to starve, not the distraught farnily man. The utterly surprised
S.S. officer, Karl Fritzsch, consented to the exchange, and Kolbe joined
the ranks of the doomed, while Gajowniczek resumed his place in the
barracks. On August 14, Kolbe, who had comforted and prayed with his
fellow starving prisoners but had not died yet, was executed by a carbolic
acid injection and then cremated.
If one person dies willingly for another, it rnoves our hearts deeply. Yet
Kolbe's selfless sacrifice is only a faint shadow of the One who willingly
stepped forward to take our place and to die for all of us, an act syrnbolized
in the sanctuary service.
The New Testament identifies Jesus with the two major aspects of the
Old Testament sacrificial system: He is our sacrifice (Heb. 9; 10) and He is
our high priest (Heb. 5-10).
For this chapter we will focus on different aspects of Christ's ultirnate
sacrifice, beginning with one of the most studied chapters in the Old
74
Testament (Isaiah 53) before we delve into the theme of sacrifice in the
New Testament, particularly in the book of Hebrews.
Suffering Servant
Isaiah 52:13-53:12 is the fourth and climactic of the so-called Servant
Songs in Isai ah that talk about the "Servant of the Lord" ( the others are Isaiah
42:1-9; 49:1-7; 50:4-9). Much scholarly discussion concerns the identity of
the Suffering Servant. It centers on the question whether we should interpret
him collectively (national Israel, ora remnant within Israel) or individually
(the prophet Isaiah himself, King Cyrus, or Jesus Christ).
1
While in several instances in Isaiah 40-55 the Servant is a reference to
Israel (Isa. 41:8, 9; 43:10; 44:1,2, 21; 45:4; 48:20), a number of considerations
strongly suggest that the Servant in Isaiah 52:13-53:12 represents an
individuaP The passage never designates the Servant as Israel. Rather, the
Servant is "high" and "exalted" (Isa. 52:13), descriptors used in Isaiah only
for God (Isa. 6:1; 33:10; 57:15). We find a distinction between the Servant
and the "we:' "us:' and "our;' the latter seeming to refer to the people and the
prophet. Also we note that Isaiah distinguishes between the Servant and the
"many" who will be justified and forgiven (Isa. 53:11, 12). Thirteen times
the book states that the Servant acts in a substitutionary manner. Isaiah
compares the Servant to a "root" (Hebrew shoresh) and a "tender shoot"
(Hebrew yoneq) (verse 2), using the same Hebrew word for "root" as in the
messianic passage in Isaiah 11:1, 1 O. The Servant is equipped with knowledge
and righteousness that He shares with others (Isa. 53:11), reminiscent of the
work of the Messiah (Isa. 11:2). All such factors lead to the conclusion that
we must identify the Servant in Isaiah 53 with the Messiah.
The structure of Isaiah 52:13-53:12 reveals both a progression of
thought and an interconnection of its paragraphs:
3
52:13-15
53:1
53:2,3
53:4-6
53:7-9
53:10, 11
53:11, 12
My servant will triumph despite his suffering.
Who would have recognized Yahweh's arm?
He was treated with contempt.
The reason was his suffering for us.
He did not deserve his treatment.
By his hand Yahweh's purpose will succeed.
My servant will triumph because of his suffering.
This song shows in full bloom the thematic buds of the previous three
songs: the Servant's willingness to endure undeserved suffering (Isa. 42:4;
50:6), the people's lack of understanding of His task (Isa. 49:4, 7; 50:6, 7),
the worldwide consequences of the work of the Servant after His apparent
failure (Isa. 42:1, 4, 6; 49:6), and nonetheless His certain success as God
vindicates and exalts Him (Isa. 42:6; 49:7; 50:8, 9).
Especially prominent in Isaiah 53 is the idea of vicarious, sacrificial
substitution, which is also the theme of the structural center paragraph.
Several aspects provide clear evidence that the Servant's death is atonement
in the form of penal substitution, which means that He took the penalty
that others deserved and, in fact, died as a substitute for them:
1. The Servant suffers for others. He takes their grief and sorrows
(verse 4), transgressions and iniquities (verses 5, 6, 8, 11), and sin
(verse 12). He not only participates in their suffering and pain, but
also assumes the sinful burden from them. Two Hebrew verbs,
used twice in reverse order, express this idea: He "hore [nasa1 our
griefs" and "carried [sabal] our sorrows" (verse 4), as well as He
shall "carry [sabal] their iniquities" (verse 11) and "hore [nasa1
the sin of the many" (verse 12). The language of carrying the sin
of others is familiar from the book of Leviticus.
4
We see carrying
and deliverance beautifully joined in Isaiah 46:4, in which Yahweh
carries and delivers His people.
2. The Servant is sinless. He is righteous (Isa. 53:11 ), without violence
or deceit (verse 9). Having no sin ofHis own, He does not deserve
to die.
3. The Servant brings great benefits to those for whom He suffers:
peace and healing (verse 5) and justification (verse 11). It is an
exchange of consequences. Our sin causes His death, but His death
brings us peace.
4. The Servant chooses willingly to suffer (verses 7, 10, 12). His
affliction is not forced against His will upon Him.
5. It is God's will for the innocent Servant to suffer and be crushed
(verse 10). God put humanity's iniquity on Him (verse 6). The
suffering and death of the Servant is thus part of God's plan of
salvation.
6. The Servant offers Himself as a "guilt offering" (verse 10).
Interestingly, Isaiah 53: 1 O reverses the regular substitution of
animals for humans, which implies such extreme guilt that only
the death of the innocent Servant as a guilt offering will put things
right. The people's guilt must be immense. The language points
again back to Leviticus.
5
The "guilt offering" (Hebrew 'asham)
makes atonement for the desecration of God and His holy things
that someone has treated as if they were common. It includes
reparation for the damages do ne and restoration of the holy things
to their right status (reconsecration).
6
So the Servant's life as guilt
offering comprises redemptive atonement and reparation on behalf
of God's people, as well as their restoration.
7
He is "dying to provide
restitution for the sins of everyone else:'s
Even without the New Testament it is obvious that Isaiah 53 portrays
the image of a messianic figure suffering vicariously. It must have been
one of the prophetic passages the risen Christ referred to on the way to
Emmaus (Luke 24:25-27).
The New Testament allusions to Isaiah 53 establish beyond doubt
that Jesus Christ fulfills the Servant's role. The Ethiopian eunuch read
from the chapter, then quoted two verses to Philip, asking who the
prophet was talking about. Then Philip explained to him about Christ
(Acts 8:28-35). The apostle Peter used extensive phrases from Isaiah 53
in extolling Christ as the innocent Suffering Servant of God and model
for the suffering believers (1 Peter 2:21-25). Even Jesus identified Himself
with the Servant depicted in Isaiah 53 (Luke 22:37). He took our sins upon
Himself and suffered for us so that we could be forgiven and transformed.
Many passages in the Bible are worth the effort to be committed
to memory. Isaiah 53 is certainly one of them. In fact, Ellen White
recommends memorizing the entire chapter.
9
Why not try over the
next few days to memorize several verses from the chapter with careful
thought as to the meaning of the text? The effects of doing so should not
be underestimated. Because memorizing and contemplating the text go
hand in hand, you might find a new appreciation for the messages of this
profound chapter. The exalted Servant Himself might inspire you with
new personal insights.
Sufficient Substitution
The interpretation of the death of Christ in the New Testament is
crucial to understanding its meaning. The following statements reflect the
textual evidence.
Christ's death is a sacrifice. The Suffering Servant offered Himself
as a sacrifice. "Sacrifice" is the most prominent metaphor to express
the significance of the death of Christ. Using different terminology in
the Greek, Jesus is called a "sacrifice;'
10
an "offering" or "gift;'
11
and a
"(sacrificial) gift:'
12
Christ's death is designated as "ransom." Here is another metaphor to
explain what Jesus did for us (Mark 10:45; 1 Tim. 2:5, 6). The Greek word
for "ransom'' (ly.tron) refers to the price of release, especially the payment
to set slaves or prisoners of war free. The ransom is a substitute for the
person redeemed, and it is costly and painful. In addition, it points to the
legal aspect of Christ's death. Jesus was prepared of His own free will to
give His life as a ransom. The preposition "for" ( Greek an ti) in Mark 10:45
means "in place of" as well as "in behalf of' It expresses the fact that Christ
gave His life instead of that of many and also for their benefit. The "many"
links Mark 10:45 to Isaiah 53:11, 12, which predicted that the Servant will
bear the sin of "many" and thus will justify "manY:' Even more explicit is
1 Timothy 2:6 in stating that Jesus "gave Himself as a ransom for aU;' using
the Greek antilt;tron (literally "instead-of-ransom'') with the prefix anti to
emphasize the idea of substitution. Christ paid for us the ransom that we
are not capable of meeting ourselves.
Christ's death is substitutionary. The concept is closely connected to
His death being a sacrifice. Jesus died for sinners. He was without sin (Heb.
4:15), so that when He gave His life as a sacrifice He would not be dying
for His own sin. On the contrary, He was "to bear the sins of many" (Heb.
9:28), to "make propitiation for the sins of the people" (Heb. 2:17), and to
put away sin forever (Heb. 9:26). Jesus' death therefore is a substitutionary
one and not just that of agreat martyr (Rom. 4:25; Gal. 1:4; 1 Cor. 15:3;
2 Cor. 5:14). Through Him God could reconcile humankind to Himself
(Col. 1:20).
We are the beneficiaries of Christ's death. What Martin Luther
frequently called a "wonderful exchange" or "joyous exchange" of Christ's
righteousness for human sin,
13
Ellen White described in a classic statement
as follows: "Christ was treated as we deserve, that we might be treated as
He deserves. He was condemned for our sins, in which He had no share,
that we might be justified by His righteousness, in which we had no share.
He suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which
was His. 'With His stripes we are healed: "
14
"We may enjoy the favor of God. We are not tobe anxious about what
Christ and God think of us, but about what God thinks of Christ, our
Substitute:'
15
Christ's death is all-sufficient. Though the animal sacrifices had to be
repeated time and time again, day after day, year after year, Jesus died but
once. The little word "once" (Greek hapax) can easily get overlooked, but
it has great power. Jesus "has appeared once for all at the end of the ages
to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself" (Heb. 9:26, NIV) and He
"was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people" (verse 28, NIV).
His single sacrifice was sufficient (after all, look at who was sacrificed!) to
cover the sins of all humanity.
Christ's death was planned. According to Hebrews 2:9, the specific
purpose of making Jesus "a little lower than the angels" (KJV) was so
that He could suffer death. The point is to explain why Jesus' death is an
indispensable requirement for His exaltation. The reason the suffering is
necessary is first because of the grace of God, which only by Christ's death
is perceived as grace, and second because of the death of Jesus, which only
by dying for all proves to be of salvific value. In simple terms, in order for
humanity to be saved, Jesus had to die. There was no other way.
The goal of incarnation appears here as the death of the Son.
16
Only
through the suffering of death could Jesus become the author of salvation
(Heb. 2:10). It is certainly one of the most profound statements in the
whole Epistle. Why was it fitting for God to let Jesus suffer? The context in
Hebrews 2:14-18 suggests that Jesus' death was necessary in order to rescue
God's children from the slavery of death, from the devil, from the fear of
death, and to qualify Him to become a "merciful and faithful high priest"
(verse 17). "He nullifies the power of death by sharing in it."
17
In short, the cross had to precede the crown.
Better Blood
A scarlet thread runs all through the Bible. It is the concept of
redemptive blood. Starting when God clothed Adam and Eve with animal
skins on the first day of sin, blood has always been present when animal
sacrifices occurred. Blood rituals characterize the Israelite sacrificial system
in order to illustrate beyond any doubt that without blood we would not
have any chance. to be forgiven and to enter into the presence of our holy
God. As a result, blood is the only way to receive God's mercy and to have
community with Him-and He Himselfhas provided it for us (Lev. 17: 11).
Blood is life (Deut. 12:23; cf. Gen. 9:4; Lev. 17:11, 14).
Redemptive blood plays a major role in the Epistle to the Hebrews. We
find in it a whole slew of texts referring to Christ's blood and that of the Old
so Where God and I Meet
Testament sacrifices. Sin is something too terrible to be resolved merely by
the death of animals (as sad and unfortunate as those deaths are). "For it is
not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins" (Heb.
10:4, NKJV). Instead, all of that spilled animal blood merely pointed to the
only solution for sin, and that was the death ofJesus Himself. The fact that
it took the death of our Creator in order to atone for sin shows just how bad
sin really is. "He was perfect, and undefiled by sin. He was without spot or
blemish. The extent of the terrible consequences of sin could never have
been known, had not the remedy provided been of infinite value:'
18
Christ's blood does not stand for His life but is a symbol for His
substitutionary death, and as such it describes the functional aspect of
that death. Our Savior's shed blood is amazingly multifunctional. It is the
reason for each step taken in the salvation process. His blood obtain eterna!
redemption (Heb. 9:12), affords cleansing from sin (verse 14; 1 John 1:7),
provides forgiveness (Heb. 9:22) and sanctification (Heb. 10:29; 13:12), and
is the reason for the resurrection (Heb. 13:20). Through Christ's blood God
rescues us from our futile way of life (1 Peter 1:18, 19), we have access to
the heavenly sanctuary in worship and prayer (Heb. 10:19, 20), and we are
able to conquer our accuser, Satan (Rev. 12:10, 11). Thus His blood is the
ratification of the covenant between God and humanity (Heb. 9:18; 12:24).
It is, as it were, our elixir oflife (John 6:53, 54).
The book of Hebrews presents a powerful contrast: Christ's blood is
better than any other blood ( such as blood from the animal sacrifices, or
Abel's blood). In fact, no other blood could really provide forgiveness.
Christ's death is the only reason that ali sins are forgiven, both prior to and
after the cross (Heb. 9: 15). The shedding of Christ's blood and its effects are
clear evidence that His death functions as atonement for us in the form of
penal substitution, which means that He took the penalty that we deserve
and died as a substitute for us.
An impressive statement about the blood of Christ appears in Hebrews
12:24, at the climax of a passage that speaks about our approaching the
"living God" (verses 18-24). The verse says that the sprinkled blood ofJesus
" s p ~ a k s better:' In Greek, the present participle translated "that speaks"
refers to an ongoing action. It "implies that the once-for-all sacrifice of
Jesus has continuing significance for the worship of God's people in the
heavenly J erusalem:'
19
The blood is speaking more clearly than any word in
the Bible, and more powerfully, for it reaches all humans and has the power
to transform them.
20
Where God and l Meet 81
Spotless Sacrifice
A well-known symbol of Christ's sacrifice is His designation as the
"Lamb of God:' It has two theological strands, depending on the two Greek
words used to describe Jesus as "Iamb" in the New Testament. The one
strand uses amnos ("Iamb"), which occurs four times in the New Testament
and in the Greek translation of the Old Testament for the sacrificiallambs at
the sanctuary. John the Baptist testifies that Jesus, who is preexistent (John
1:30), is the Lamb of God "who takes away the sin of the world!" (verses
29, 36). Peter employs the comparison of Jesus with an "unblemished and
spotless" Iamb to stress the atoning power of His sacrificial death ( 1 Peter
1:19). And, as we have seen earlier in this chapter, Scripture identifies Jesus
as the Suffering Servant, who, like a Iamb, remained silent and submissive
to death (Acts 8:32, quoting Isa. 53:7). The Greek amnos then connects the
Lamb of God with the Suffering Servant.
The other strand uses arnion ("young Iamb" or "lambkin;' or "ram"),
which occurs 30 times in the New Testament. The book of Revelation uses
it 28 times for the Christ Lamb, making it the most frequent title of Christ
in that book. The Lamb has been slaughtered and, by His blood, redeems
the believers from the slavery of sin (Rev. 5:6-10; 7:14, 15; 12:11; 13:8).
The slaughtered Lamb evokes Christ as the symbolic 1-year-old Passover
Iamb slaughtered on the eve of the salvation from slavery (Ex. 12:5, 6;
1 Cor. 5:7). Rabbinic Judaism ascribed a certain atoning force to the
blood of the slaughtered lambs at the Exodus. Even more so, Jesus' blood
possesses ultimate atoning power.
Whether the background is the sacrificial Iamb at the sanctuary or
the Passover Iamb, Christ fulfills both symbolic meanings. As Lamb, He
is nothing less than the antitype of the Old Testament sacrificial offerings.
A person had to select a sacrificial animal with great care. They could
not just take any animal for an offering. It needed to fulfill several criteria
depending on the type of offering intended, such as the kind of animal, its
age, and its gender (Ex. 12:5; Lev. 3:1; 4:3; 22:17-25).
However, ali offerings had to meet one ultimate qualification. They
had tobe "unblemished:' One could also render the Hebrew word (tamim)
as "complete;' "unscathed;' "without fault;' or "perfect:' It expresses that
something meets the highest standard possible. Only the best was good
enough. Pertaining to people, Scripture used the word to characterize their
relationship with God as being "blameless" (Gen. 6:9; 17:1; Deut. 18:13).
Jesus, the "Lamb of God;' fulfills perfectly the Old Testament criterion
of a spotless sacrifice, because He offered himself"without blemish'' to God
(Heb. 9:14; 1 Peter 1:19). The physical spotlessness of the sacrifice points
to Christ's sinlessness. He is "without sin'' (Heb. 4:15), "holy, innocent,
undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens" (Heb.
7:26). His pure life establishes Jesus as a perfect sacrifice, and as a perfect
priest. Here is the guarantee for our salvation, for only a sinless one could
bear vicariously our sin, and it is His perfect righteousness that covers us,
now and in the judgment. That righteousness is our hope of salvation.
Like its Hebrew equivalent, the Greek word for "without blemish"
(amomos) describes not only Jesus and His flawless sacrifice, but also the
character of His followers. The believers should be "holy and blameless"
(Eph. 1:4; 5:27) and "innocent" and "above reproach'' (Phil. 2:15). Should
this cause us to feel uneasy? Must we despair? The bar has not been raised
beyond reach, however, for the Bible is absolutely clear how God's children
can obtain such a high standard: "He has now reconciled you in His fleshly
body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless
and beyond reproach'' (Col. 1:22). Christ's death and His ministry bring us
blameless before God, and there we find ourselves filled with great joy and
exultation (Jude 24). We have become "holy" as well. That is possible only
because the Blameless One stands in our place.
This brings us to the motivating aspect of Christ's death. Our new
status before God affects the way we live. His spotless sacrifice inspires us
to give thanks and, indeed, to offer ourselves (Rom. 12:1, 2; Heb. 13:15).
Of course, that does not in any way change anything about the perfect and
fully sufficient death of Christ. After all, what could our works ( or anything
in our lives) possibly add to what Christ has done for us by dying in our
stead? Considering this, Christ's death deals a deathblow to the dreadful
theory of salvation by works.
AGreat Danger: Disregard of Christ's Sacrifice
The book of Hebrews demonstrates how magnificent God's salvation
is, how He has revealed Himself, and what He has done and is doing for
believers. It not only explores the theological understanding of Christ's
sacrifice, but also explains some of its practica! implications.
However, Hebrews must address at least one main problematic issue:
the danger that we could gradually take Christ's sacrifice for granted. It
describes such danger as "drifting away" from the goal (Heb. 2:1). The
implied image is that of a ship that veers off course and finally does not
reach the port of destination. The main task is to stay on course. What
happens, then, if someone ignores this sacrifice?
Some of those who reject God do so deliberately, which means that
their life before receiving the gospel and after is virtually the same. Such
individuals do not, in fact, have any efficacious sacrifice for their sins.
Hebrews 10:26-31 focuses on such forthright rejection of the gospel.
Here it refers to people who have received the "knowledge of the truth"
but then "go on sinning willfully" (verse 26). The word "truth" stands here
for the Christian message, the gospel,
21
and the word "knowledge" does
not designate a mere theoretical awareness of the gospel, but includes an
experiential one as well.
Verse 29 provides a most graphic description of such a person "who
has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the
blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the
Spirit of grace:' Old Testament terminology would describe it as a sin done
with "high hand" (Num. 15:30, ESV). The argument from smaller to bigger
(Heb. 10:28, 29) adds seriousness to the situation of the apostate believers,
for if someone who rejected Moses' law had to die (smaller), what would
happen to those who in threefold manner reject the Son of God, profane
His blood of the covenant, and insult the Spirit (bigger)? The result is pretty
much the same: merciless punishment.
Hebrews 6:4-6 portrays what happens to those who have now
apostatized in an even more tangible way. They had been enlightened,
shared in the Holy Spirit, and tasted the goodness of God's Word and the
powers of the coming age. Yet such former believers have fallen away "big-
time;' because they were "crucifying the Son of God all over again and
subjecting him to public disgrace" (verse 6, NIV). Hardly spirituallaxity,
rather it is spiritual suicide, a kamikaze attack on the heart of Christianity.
Again, such behavior is unpardonable.
However, it seems that not many believers would forthrightly reject
Christ's sacrifice or even think about such a thing. Still, the real danger of
disregard and neglect is that it is often a subtle and gradual process. The
transition could be unnoticeable. Slowly a person ceases to fully appreciate
the work of Christ, similar to Esau, who did not value his birthright anymore
(Heb. 12:15-17). Christ's sacrifice should never become so familiar that we
regard it as commonplace.
Hebrews 6:4-6 and Hebrews 10:26-31 show where the path leads when
believers distance themselves ( too far) from God. It becomes "impossible"
for them to return to Him, sin ce they rej ect the only means of their salvation,
Christ's sacrifice. There is no more salvation available for them. So "how
will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation'' (Heb. 2:3)? While the book
ofHebrews does not want to scare its readers, it nevertheless needs to show
them the consequences of veering away from God. On the positive si de, it
vividly encourages them to "hold firm" all good things of salvation (Heb.
3:6, 14; 10:23) and to fix their eyes on Jesus (Heb. 12:2).
There indeed lurks the danger of simply getting "used to" the amazing
truth about the cross. How can we avoid losing our admiration for what
Jesus has done for us? "It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour
each day in contemplation of the life of Christ. We should take it point by
point, and let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones.
As we thus dwell upon His great sacrifice for us, our confidence in Him
will be more constant, our love will be quickened, and we shall be more
deeply imbued with His spirit:'
22
"Nothing less than the death of Christ could make His love efficacious
for us. It is only because of His death that we can look with joy to His
second coming. His sacrifice is the center of our hope. Upon this we must
fix our faith:'
23
Conclusion
Christ's sacrifice captivates our heart and mind. It has legal, functional,
motivating, and transformational effects for us and is all-sufficient. All
good things for us have their reason in Christ's substitutionary death on the
cross. His once-and-for-all death is the solution to our human dilemma.
Returning to our story of Auschwitz at the beginning of the chapter,
Franciszek Gajowniczek was released after spending fi ve years, fi ve months,
and nine days in the death camp. Not only had he survived Auschwitz, but
he lived another 54 years until his death in 1995. In 1972, when 150,000
pilgrims commemorated at this very place the first anniversary of Kolbe's
beatification by Pope Paul VI, one of the first to speak was white-haired
Gajowniczek. "I want to express my thanks;' he said haltingly, "for the gift
oflife:'
24
That is exactly the response that the substitutionary death of Jesus
generates in the heart of the believer. His sacrifice and His great love
amazes us. He has given us life in the midst of our death camp, and we
have therefore a well-grounded hope that we will survive. I am sure that
one day I will kneel before Jesus Christ and express my deepest gratitude
by telling Him with a trembling voice, "Thank You for the gift of life:' Will
you then join me?
1
For a good overview of the different interpretations and their implications, as
well as of a discussion of this crucial chapter, see the collection of essays in Darrell L.
Bock and Mitch Glaser, eds., Ihe Gospel According to Isaiah 53 (Grand Rapids: Kregel,
2012).
2
Interestingly, the collective references of the Servant al! occur outside the so-called
Servant Songs. Only in o ne instance (Isa. 49:3) does the book cal! the Servant "Israel," but
it involves his function, not his identity. He is for Israel and carries out its task but is not
Israel himself. See John N. Oswalt, Ihe Book oflsaiah: Chapters 40-66, New International
Commentary of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998), p. 291.
3
The structure is from John Goldingay, Ihe Message of Isaiah 40-55: A
Literary-Iheologica/ Commentary (London: T & T Clark, 2005), p. 469.
4
Isaiah 53:12 uses the verb "bear" (nasa') together with the noun "sin" (chet'), while
Isaiah 53:11 employs the verb "carry" (saba/) with the noun "guilt" ('awon). The book
of Leviticus often uses the verb "bear" (nasa') with "sin" (chet') (Lev. 19:17; 20:20; 22:9;
24:15) and with "guilt" ('awon) (Lev. 5:1, 17; 7:18; 10:17; 16:22; 17:16; 19:8; 20:17, 19; Lev.
22: 16). To bear the sin can be either an expression of judgment, if o ne has to carry one's
own sin (Gen. 4:13; Lev. 5:1) or somebody else's sin (Lam. 5:7), or of forgiveness, if some-
one else accepts the burden of that sin (Ex. 28:38, 43; 34:7; Lev. 10:17; Num. 18:1; 30:15;
Ps. 32:5; Micah 7:18).
5
For the guilt offering, see Leviticus 5:14-6:7; 7:1-10; 14:12-18; 19:20-22; Numbers
5:6-8; 6:12; 1 Samuel6:3-8, 17.
6
For an extensive discussion of the guilt offering, see Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus
1-16, The Anchor Bible (New York: Doubleday, 1991), voi. 3, pp. 319-378; and Richard
E. Averbeck, "Guilt Offering ('asham)," in W. A. VanGemeren, ed., New International
Dictionary of Old Testament Iheology and Exegesis (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997),
voi. 1, pp. 557-566.
7
So Richard E. Averbeck, "Christian Interpretations of Isaiah 53," in Bock and
Glaser, p. 53.
8
Gary V. Smith, Isaiah 40-66, New American Commentary (Nashville: B&H, 2009),
p. 458.
9
Ihe SDA Bible Commentary, Ellen G. White Comments, voi. 4, p. 1147. She gives
some good advice for memorizing Bible texts. One of her most famous quotes in this
regard is the following: "If this Word [the printed Word] is printed in the memory, no
one can take it from us" (Last Day Events [Boise, Idaho: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1992],
p. 67; compare the entire section "Commit Scripture to Memory" in Last Day Events,
pp. 66, 67). Note, however, the following caution: "To read a certain number of chapters
daily, or commit to memory a stipulated amount without careful thought as to the mean-
ing of the sacred text, is a work of little profit" (Review and Herald, Oct. 9, 1883; cited
in Ellen G. White, Our High Calling [Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn.,
1961], p. 205). Ellen White explicitly recommended that we memorize the following texts:
Exodus 20:1-17 (Selected Messages [Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn.,
1958], book 1, p. 217); Isaiah 51 (Review and Herald, Dec. 1, 1896); Isaiah 53 (Ihe
SDA Bible Commentary, Ellen G. White Comments, voi. 4, p. 1147); Isaiah 58 (Mind,
Character, and Personality [Nashville: Southern Pub. Assn., 1977], voi. 1, p. 95); John
13:34 (Education [Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1903], p. 242); and
1 Corinthians 12 and 13 (The SDA Bible Commentary, Ellen G. White Comments, voi. 6,
pp. 1090, 1091).
10
Greek thusia: Ephesians 5:2; Hebrews 9:23, 26; 10:12, 26.
11
Greek prosphora: Ephesians 5:2; Hebrews 10:10, 14.
12
Greek doron: Ephesians 2:8.
13
Verifiably for the first time in Martin Luther, Von der Freiheit ei nes Christenmenschen
(1520), in D. Martin Luthers Werke. Kritische Gesamtausgabe [Weimarer Ausgabe],
Schriften Bd. 7, ed. P. Pietsch (Weimar: Bohlau, 1897), pp. 25, 34.
14
E. G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 25.
15
E. G. White, Selected Messages, book 2, p. 32.
16
First Corinthians 2:7 declares that the mystery and wisdom of God, which is the
crucified Christ (1 Cor. 1:23, 24; 2:1, 2), was "predestined" by God "before the ages to our
glory."
17
Steve Motyer, "The Atonement in Hebrews," in The Atonement De bate, ed. D. Tidball,
D. Hilborn, and J. Thacker (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008), p. 143.
18
Ellen G. White, The Spirit of Prophecy (Battle Creek, Mich.: Seventh-day Adventist
Pub. Assn., 1877), voi. 2, p. 11.
19
Paul Ellingworth, The Epistle to the Hebrews, New International Greek Testament
Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993), pp. 682, 683.
20
Luke Timothy Johnson, Hebrews, The New Testament Library (Louisville, Ky.:
Westminster John Knox Press, 2006), p. 333.
21
The word "truth," which in the book of Hebrews occurs only in 10:26, often
functions as an expression for the Christian gospel: 2 Corinthians 6:7; Galatians 5:7;
Ephesians 1:13; 2 Thessalonians 2:10-13; 2 Timothy 2:15; James 1:18; and three times
"truth" appears in the phrase "the truth of the gospel" (Gal. 2:5, 14; Col. 1:5).
22
E. G. White, The Desi re of Ages, p. 83.
23
Ibid. , p. 660.
24
"Pilgrim in Poland," Time, Oct. 30, 1972, www.time.com/time/magazine/print
out/0,8816,906661,00.html (accessed Aug. 1, 2012).
Christ, Our Priest
A
fter His resurrection and ascension to the heavenly sanctuary, Christ
entered into a new phase of the plan of redemption (Heb. 2: 17). With
the indispensable requirement of His sacrifice fulfllled, He was inaugurated
as high priest and began His priestly ministry in order that His perfect
sacrifice could now be mediated perfectly to the world, more specifically in
behalf of those covered by faith in His blood. His priestly ministry consists
of two phases, both by divine design foreshadowed in the earthly sanctuary:
the daily ministry, and the yearly Day of Atonement. Like the Aaronite high
priests of old, Christ intercedes and mediates through the daily ministry for
the sinner and effects forgiveness. In addition to the daily ministry, Christ has
taken up in the yearly ministry the task of judgment, of cleansing the heavenly
sanctuary from all sin, and of bringing salvation to its consummation.
His sacrifice provided the necessary and only means that makes
salvation available for us. What we need now is for Christ to minister His
sacrifice to us through the continuai priestly service.
In this chapter we will study the work of Jesus as high priest during
His daily ministry. We will consider several aspects of it and recognize
the practical ramifications they have for us. Finally, we will look into a
critical position about the Day of Atonement in Hebrews that challenges
the Adventist teaching of the pre-Advent judgment.
Better Priest
The book in the New Testament that speaks most about Christ as
priest is Hebrews. The Old Testament backbone ofHebrews consists of two
verses from Psalm 110. Hebrews cites Psalm 110:1 to confirm that Christ is
exalted above all because He sat down at the right hand of God, a recurring
theme in the book, one that emphasizes Jesus' divinity and Messiahship
87
(Heb.1:3, 13; 4:14; 7:26; 8:1; 10:12, 13; 12:2). Then it uses Psalm 110:4 to
demonstrate that Melchizedek has foreshadowed Christ's priesthood (Heb.
5:6, 10; 6:20; 7).
The Bible does not provide much information about Melchizedek
(Gen. 14:18-20). Yet what it reveals shows remarkable similarities to Christ.
Melchizedek is the king of the city Salem (Salem means "peace;' so he is
the "King of Peace"), and his name translates as "King of Righteousness;'
which tells much about his character. He is detached from history, as
Scripture does not give his familial line. Since the Bible omits his birth and
death, it creates the image that he had no beginning and no end. Finally, he
is "priest of the most high God" (verse 18, KJV). Melchizedek's priesthood
is superior to the Levitical priesthood, because Levi, through Abraham, gave
tithe to Melchizedek (Heb. 7:4-10). Thus Melchizedek is a type of Christ,
a typological relationship already indicated in the Old Testament in Psalm
110:4, since it predicts a new priest patterned after the order ofMelchizedek.
But Christ is even more. Aaron was the first high priest in Israel.
God Himself chose him (Ex. 28:1), and from his line would stern the
subsequent high priests (Ex. 29:29). What Hebrews 5:1-4 describes is an
idealized high-priestly office with the following Aaronite characteristics:
divine appointment, representative of humanity, mediation before God,
compassionate, offering sacrifices for the people and for himself. Hebrews
5:5-10 and Hebrews 7 portray Christ as the new high priest. He is of a better
order than even Aaron, because not only does He meet the requirements
of the Aaronite priesthood, He enhances them. Jesus had no sin, was
fully obedient, and did not need to bring an offering for Himself. On the
contrary, He Himself was the offering-the most perfect one possible.
Jesus fulfilled both the Aaronite and the Melchizedek high priesthood
in a better way than either of those priesthoods ever did or could. Both
types meet their antitype in Christ. He is simply the best priest ever.
Advocate and Intercessor
Romans 8:31-34 is a courtroom scene in which we should visualize
ourselves in the dock. The passage presents a number of questions: Who is
against us? Who will bring a charge against us? Who condemns us? Such a
situation could easily send shivers down our spine. After all, we are well aware
of our human imperfection and sinfulness. And we do have a prosecutor
against us who is well experienced in accusing sinners such as we.
However, we do not need to fear. The legal reply to those questions
is crystal clear: we will not be condemned. The beautiful and artistically
formulated promise that nothing and no one can separate us from God's
love centers on several important points: God is for us (verse 31), delivered
His Son for us (verse 32), freely gives us all things (verse 32), and justifies us
(verse 33). Jesus Christ is on our side. Thus He is the answer to any fear of
condemnation, for He died, was raised, and is now continuously interceding
for us in the heavenly sanctuary at the right hand ofGod (verse 34).
If someone goes so far as to die willingly for us, we should feel confident
of His love. The assurance revealed in Romans 8:31-39 dramatically
portrays the kind of Deity that we believe in. If we understand that our
God loves us so much that nothing can thwart His purposes for us (verses
35-39), the divine courtroom becomes a place of joy and jubilation. At the
same time, God's love will provide us with confidence and assurance.
This truth becomes even clearer in 1 John 2:1, 2. The apostle describes
how we can regain assurance of salvation when we have sinned.
Our hope lies in the Intercessor. The Greek parakletos designates a legal
assistant or advocate, someone who appears in another's behalf as "intercessor:'
The word is unique to John. In his Gospel it refers to the Holy Spirit as another
teacher who comes after Christ has left (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7), but in
1 John 2:1 it points to Christ in connection with His heavenly ministry. He
is our advocate in the legal sense, and He defends us, because, otherwise, we
would have no hope.
Our advocate is "righteous;' which gives us the secure hope that the
Father will hear Christ's intercession, for Christ is continually in His
presence and could do nothing that His righteous Father would ever reject.
Christ is as righteous as the Father is righteous. Their nature is in perfect
harmony, and this applies also to forgiveness. Christ intercedes for those
who have sinned and lack righteous behavior, presenting Himself-the
One who has not sinned- as the righteous one in their stead. When Christ
is our defense attorney we have nothing and no one to fear. With Him
as the "propitiation for our sins" and "those of the whole world;' we have
enough reason to be confident (verse 2).
It is important to note that J ohn has just used the same word "righteous"
two verses earlier in 1 John 1:9 to describe the nature of God the Father,
who "is faithful and just" (KJV) to forgive. Forgiveness is grounded in
God's character, not in our repentance or confession. And it is also based
in the historic event of Christ's death, which gives God the legal right to
forgive. He is indeed "righteous" when He forgives.
It goes without saying that 1 John 1:9 is no free pass for sinning, not "a
sort of palliative for chronic premeditated sin:'
1
John instead exhorted his
readers not to sin (1 John 2:1) and let them know that God will purify us
from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
Mediator
In 1 Timothy 2:5 Paul first restates the basic Israelite credo, the Shema
("there is one God"), and then formulates the Christian expansion of it
("there is o ne mediator"). Christ is called the o ne mediator between God and
humanity. There is none else, because, in fact, no one else is necessary. His
position as mediator makes salvation and knowledge of truth universally
available (verse 4). The crucial question for everyone is whether or not
they will take advantage of what God has offered to each of us, regardless
of our status, race, character, or past deeds.
What is a mediator? The concept of patronage, part of the Mediterranean
culture of New Testament times, helps us to appreciate Christ's work as
mediator. The patronage-based society consists of widely ramified networks
of favor and loyalty, in which three figures play their decisive ro les. The patron
was the wealthy benefactor who could provide extensive gifts or favors ( called
"grace") and all the social support necessary for a person to have success in
society. The patron's beneficence was nota one-time isolated good deed; it
was a long-term, permanent attitude. The client was the one who received
benefits from the patron. In turn the client accepted the obligation to make
the patron's favors public and display intense personalloyalty to the patron.
Such gratitude (also called "grace") was inseparable from the acceptance
of the patron's gifts. In fact, gratitude became the essential virtue of such a
society. The patron-client bond was based on mutualloyalty (called "faith'')
and personal relationship. It assured the well-being of the client and his
family as well as the in crease of the patron's honor. The mediator ( or broker)
gave the client access to a powerful patron, who was a friend of the mediator.
He facilitated the relationship between patron and client. A familiar example
of such a patron-client script from the New Testament is Paul asking his
"friend" Philemon to favor Paul's new client Onesimus: "If then you regard
me a partner, accept him as you would me" (Philemon 17).
One can easily understand that the early believers regarded their
relationship to Christ and the Father in terms of a patron -client relationship:
the Father's infinite grace, expressed in favors and gifts; the call for respectable
behavior to honor God and to dismiss everything that would shame Him; and
here God and I Meet 91
the priestly work of Chris , who e-tablishes unlimited access to the Father.
Within such a social conte:\-t they would not entertain any fear toward God,
but gratitude toward their divine patron and their human-divine mediator.
The result will be nothing les- than loyalty for life, called "faith'' (pistis).
2
"Mediator" is also a term from the Hellenistic commercial and legal
world. It describes someone who negotiates or acts as arbitrator between
two parties to remove a disagreement, or reach a common goal so that a
contract or covenant can be inaugurated. The book of Hebrews connects
Christ as mediator with the new covenant (Heb. 8:6; 9:15; 12:24). He has
made reconciliation between God and humanity. Though sin had destroyed
the close communion between them and would have led to the destruction
of the human race, Christ carne and restored that connection. He alone
is the link between God and us, and through that bond we can enjoy full
covenant relationship with the Lord.
Paul's reference to Him as the "man Christ Jesus" expresses His unique
quality ofbeing both human and divine (1 Tim. 2:5). It is in precisely Jesus'
humanity, and His voluntary self-offering, that salvation and mediation
has its anchor. By being both God and human Jesus unites heaven and
earth with ties that can never be broken.
"Jesus Christ carne that He might link finite man with the infmite God, and
connect earth that has been divorced by sin and transgression from heaven:'
3
Pontifex Maximus
The Epistle to the Hebrews portrays Jesus Christ as high priest.
Nowhere else does the New Testament refer to Jesus as priest. "Now this
is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest,
who is seated at 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
erected, and not man'' (Heb. 8:1, 2, NKJV).
Jesus is the "great High Priest" (Heb. 4:14, NKJV). He is superior to ali
high priests and earthly rulers. The Greek term used for "great High Priest"
is the equivalent to the Latin title Pontifex Maximus (literally, "greatest
bridge-maker"). Roman emperors beginning with Augustus used it to
designate themselves as the preeminent religious mediator between the
people and the gods. In the Roman imperial and cultic system the emperor
as highest priest would offer sacrifices for the good of all citizens. Thus the
designation of J esus as great high priest ( and sacrifice) in Hebrews afflrms
His supremacy not only over the Israelite sacrificial system, but also over
against the Roman cultic system. Jesus is not only the mediator above all
mediators, He is the sole mediator-the true and only Pontifex Maximus.
The book ofHebrews assigns a number of characteristics and functions
to Jesus as great high priest:
"Merciful and faithful:' The two characteristics of merciful (Heb. 2:17; 4: 16;
8:12) and faithful (Heb. 2:17; 3:6) fit Christ's role as mediator, for He bestows
His gifts on us ("merciful") and is loyal to His Father and to us ("faithful").
"With us:' Jesus can sympathize with us (Heb. 2:18; 5:2, 7). Because
He became human and walked more than 30 years in our moccasins, we
can trust that He is compassionate and a perfect helper. Yet He is not in
the same situation as we are in, because He is "without sin" (Heb 4:15).
We find an important lesson here: to be sinful is not how God designed
humans. Sin does not belong to the original human nature. Yes, all of us
are sinful, but Jesus was fully human and had no sin, showing us that the
sinful nature is not an original part of created humanity. In fact, Jesus is the
human being. Thus we stilllong for the time God will transform our sinful
human nature once and for all into the real human nature, that of Jesus,
when the divine high priest finishes His day of atonement ministry and
comes to earth, declaring that sin will be eradicated forever.
"Over us:' Jesus as high priest is not in the community ofbelievers, as
Moses was, but He is over us, as a son presides over the house of his father
(Heb. 3:6). Christ enjoys full authority among the saints.
''As we are:' Jesus' divine origin did not give Him any exclusive rights.
He was tempted as we are (Heb. 4:15). Of course, it cannot mean that Jesus
experienced the exact same temptations as we do. After all, He did not
live in the twenty-first century, with its modern temptations. Still, Jesus
was tested in every dimension as we are. The selected temptations in the
Judean desert show that Satan confronted Him in the physical, mental, and
spiritual realms oflife (Matt. 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13). From His "our-ness" we
collect strength to look upon Jesus in times of temptation.
"For us:' Christ entered the heavenly sanctuary "for us" (Heb. 6:20)
and now appears before God "for us" (Heb. 9:24) to make intercession for
us (Heb. 7:25). By His sacrifice, He has opened "for us" a totally new way
into the presence of God (Heb. 10:20). Thank God that we have a divine
representative to appear in the judgment in our place.
First-Phase Ministry
Some argue that right after His ascension Christ entered as high
priest into the second phase of atonement, starting the antitypical day of
atonement ministry. They offer three texts from Hebrews 9 as evidence for
a Day of Atonement setting. Of course, such a view throws into question
the Adventist teaching of a pre-Advent judgment, and we need to take a
closer look at the passages.
4
1. Hebrews 9:8, 9. "The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the
sanctuary [ta hagia] has not yet been disclosed while the first tent [prote skene]
is still standing, which is a symbol [parabole] for the present time, during
which gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of
the worshiper:' Various translations render the three Greek terms indicated
in the translation differently, but their meaning is crucial. Ta hagia occurs in
Hebrews nine times (Heb. 8:2; 9:2, 3, 8, 12, 24,25: 10:19; 13:11). A careful study
of its use in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, and in
Greek literature around the time Hebrews was written shows that whenever
the plural form ta hagia appears by itself, it refers to the whole sanctuary and
not to the holy place or Most Holy Place.
5
Thus in Hebrews 9:8 it should also
indicate the entire sanctuary.
The meaning of prote skene depends on the context. In the book
of Hebrews skene can denote the heavenly sanctuary (Heb. 8:2; 9:11),
the earthly sanctuary (Heb. 8:5; 9:21), its holy place (Heb. 9:2, 6), or its
Most Holy Place (verse 3). When it occurs together with prote ("first") it
designates the first apartment, the holy place (verses 2, 6). In Hebrews 9:8
it could then refer to the holy place, but it seems also possible that it means
the first tabernacle on earth in opposition to the heavenly tabernacle
mentioned at the beginning of verse 8.
It is important to note that parabole is not the same as typology but
rather an illustration of a truth-similar to some of Jesus' parables-
namely, that the function of the heavenly sanctuary could only start after
that of the earthly sanctuary carne to an end through the death of Christ.
6
2. Hebrews 9:12. That Jesus went as high priest "once for all" into
the heavenly sanctuary, presenting His own blood and not that of
sacrificial animals, may sound like Day of Atonement language, but closer
investigation suggests a different conclusion. The term for "goats" in
verse 12 is not used for the goats at the Day of Atonement but for those
at the inauguration ritual of the sanctuary (Num. 7). Further, the context
speaks of inauguration of the new covenant (Heb. 9:15). What Hebrews
9:11, 12 describes is that Christ went into the heavenly sanctuary for its
inauguration ceremony (so Heb. 10:20).
7
3. Hebrews 9:23. Finally, some like to understand Hebrews 9:23 in terms
of the Day of Atonement and point to verse 25 that clearly speaks about it.
However, the word "therefore" at the beginning of verse 23 indicates that
the verse belongs to the previous context: the cleansing of the tabernacle
and its inauguration (verse 21).
In conclusion, we find many aspects that contradict the view that Jesus
started a Day of Atonement ministry in the first century A.D. Our Adventist
position is not only compatible with but supported by the textual evidence.
Conclusion
Our high priest Jesus Christ is the surety of our salvation who
administers the effects and benefits of His sacrifice and blood before God
Himself. With Him on our side we have nothing to fear.
"Jesus is a compassionate intercessor, a merciful and faithful high
priest. He, the Majesty ofheaven-the King of glory-can look upon finite
man, subject to the temptations of Satan, knowing that He has felt the
power of Satan's wiles:'
8
1
Robert W. Yarbrough, 1-3 John (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New
Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2008), p. 64.
2
A most useful and concise treatment on patronage and reciprocity is David A.
deSilva, "Patronage," in Craig A. Evans and Stanley E. Porter, eds., Dictionary of New
Testament Background (Downers Grove, 111.: InterVarsity, 2000), pp. 766-771. For unlock-
ing the sociocultural values that prevailed in the Greco-Roman world of the first century
and thus understanding better the relevancy of the New Testament message, see espe-
cially David A. deSilva, Honor, Patronage, Kinship and Purity: Unlocking New Testament
Cu/ture (Downers Grove, 111.: InterVarsity, 2000).
3
Ellen G. White, Sermons and Talks (Silver Spring, Md.: Ellen G. White Estate, 1990),
voi. 1, p. 253.
4
See Marvin Moore, The Case for the Investigative Judgment (Nampa, Idaho: Pacific
Press Pub. Assn., 2010), pp. 291-306.
5
Carl P. Cosaert, "The Use of Hagios for the Sanctuary in the Old Testament,
Pseudepigrapha, Philo, and Josephus," Andrews University Seminary Studies 42 (2004):
91-103.
6
See Felix H. Cortez, "From the Holy to the Most Holy Place: The Period ofHebrews
9:6-10 and the Day of Atonement as a Metaphor of Transition," fournal of Biblica/
Literature 125 (2006): 527-547.
7
For more on Hebrews 9:14, see Felix M. Cortez, '"The Anchor of the Soul That
Enters Within the Veil': The Ascension of the 'Son' in the Letter to the Hebrews" (Ph.D.
diss., Andrews University, 2008), pp. 324-386.
8
Ellen G. White, Christian Education (Battle Creek, Mich.: International Tract
Society, 1893), p. 160.
The Pre-Advent Judgment
A s the book ofHebrews so clearly shows, after His sacrificial death Jesus
..l"lbegan a new phase of work for us: inaugurated as our high priest, He
started His priestly mediation in the heavenly sanctuary. Can we say anything
else from the Bible as to what happens during His high-priestly ministry
until He comes back as the glorious King of kings in the clouds of heaven?
Yes, we can. At the heart of the book of Daniel, the visions in Daniel
7 and 8 reveal that the heavenly work of Christ had at some point in
history entered a new phase: the judgment, the "eschatological day of
atonement" -eschatological because it pertains to the end-time, and Day
of Atonement because it is prefigured by the Day of Atonement service in
the earthly sanctuary, as prescribed in Leviticus 16. The prophetic twins of
Daniel 7 and 8 thus become the major texts for the Seventh-day Adventist
understanding of the pre-Advent heavenly judgment, o ne of our unique
contributions to biblical theology.
The Vision and the Judgment
Daniel received his first vision in Belshazzar's first year of coregency
with Nabonidus, c. 550/549 B.C. As we read through Daniel 7 we go over
the same ground four times: the initial vision account (Dan. 7:2-14); a first
explanation that mentions the most important two points (verses 17, 18); a
second selective vision report with some added details (verses 19-22); and
a second interpretation of the accompanying angel, which now is more
elaborate than the previous one (verses 23-27).
The first, brief explanation of the angel is actually the best summary
of the vision's intent. After the earthly kingdoms have run their course,
the eternal kingdom belongs to the saints. That alone would be enough to
know. Of course, Daniel saw more.
95
96 Where God and I Meet .
The vision in Daniel 7 contains a sequence of kingdoms, symbolized
by four animals, that parallels the series in Daniel 2:
Daniel2 Daniel7 Interpretation
head of gold lion Babylon
chest of silver bear Medo-Persia
thighs of bronze leopard Greece
legs of iron fourth beast Rome (pagan)
feet of iron and clay ten horns divided Europe
After Daniel had seen the four beasts, he observes another horn
coming up among those of the fourth beast. This "little horn'' emerges
tobe the main enemy of God and battles His saints. Daniel 7:8 describes
its activities, ending with a "mouth uttering great boasts:' At this point
Daniel's attention turns abruptly from the dark earth to a bright judgment
scene in the heavenly throne room (verses 9-14), and he does not tell us the
contents of the horn's boasting. Its speaking ultimately amounts to nothing.
The judgment scene is the pivot of the entire vision and involves two
key figures, the "Ancient of Days" and the "Son of Man:' They summon the
angels present to serve as witnesses to the judgment. The scene unfolds in
three steps:
1. Court scene (verses 9, 10)
2. Outcome of the judgment on the beastly powers on earth (verses
11, 12)
3. Transfer of dominion and kingdom to the Son of man (verses 13,
14)
The vision depicts God the Father as the majestic Ancient of Days, the
wise and sage judge par excellence. His white hair and old age symbolize
wisdom (Lev. 19:32; Job 32:7), His snow-white garment absolute purity (Isa.
1:18), and the blazing fire around Him that He is going to judge (Ps. 50:3,
4). The -son of man, Jesus Himself, represents humanity in the heavenly
court. Jesus used this title numerous times to refer to Himself, and at least
twice He clearly evoked imagery of Daniel 7 (Matt. 24:30; 26:64).
Whenever the heavenly council appears in the Bible, its purpose is
judgment (1 Kings 22:19; Isa. 6:1-7; Ps. 82; Zech. 3:1-10; Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6).
The location is clearly in the heavenly throne room, that is, the heavenly
temple. In a temple setting, the coming of the Son of man "with the
clouds of heaven" to the enthroned Ancient of Days is portrayed as if the
heavenly high priest, surrounded by clouds of incense, approaches God's
throne of mercy on the Day of Atonement. Several other factors support
the idea that the vision alludes to the Day of Atonement: the whiteness of
the garment (Dan. 7:9) may refer to the linen garment that the high priest
wore on the Day of Atonement. The language describing the Son of man
as being "presented before Him'' (verse 13) has cultic overtones, for the
Old Testament also uses the verb "to present" for sacrificial gifts. Even the
inherent impurity of the mixed creatures might be a Day of Atonement
allusion, because their impurity is countered by the heavenly purity, and the
heavenly judgment ends their reign. The removal of their impurity would
correspond to what happens on the Day of Atonement. In conclusion, the
scene of the heavenly throne ro om clearly has a cultic setting, and the most
natural parallel is the Day of Atonement.
1
The heavenly judgment includes documents. They are opened to
present the evidence, and the judgment draws upon such records (verse
10). What's written in them? The Bible mentions several books ofheavenly
origin: the "book oflife" (Ps. 69:28; Dan. 12:1; Phil. 4:3; Rev. 3:5; 13:8; 17:8;
20:12, 15; 21:27), the "book of remembrance" (Mal. 3:16), the "books of
deeds" (Rev. 20:12), and God's "book" (Ex. 32:32, 33; Ps. 56:8; 139:16; Isa.
34: 16). They are not all the same, though there might be some overlapping.
What is clear is that heaven is keeping information about our lives that it
will then use in the judgment. For some, this thought might be quite scary.
For others, it is reason to rejoice, because heaven has not forgotten us-our
names are recorded there (Luke 10:20). Heaven is deeply interested in us.
2
The court books indicate that the heavenly judgment is primarily
investigative. To be sure, at its end, God will take action, both against the
horn and for the saints (Dan. 7:22, 26). The Bible teaches that everyone
will receive judgment in its own time. Not even the righteous are exempt
from it (Rom. 14:10-12; 2 Cor. 5:10). In fact, it will start with the believers
(1 Peter 4:17), and Daniel 7 shows that it does indeed.
3
The judgment is all-
encompassing: we will be responsible for every act and everything hidden,
whether good or evil (Eccl. 12:14), as well as every careless and certainly
every discreet word (Matt. 12:36, 37). It is a judgment according to works
(Rom. 2:2-6; 1 Peter 1:17; Rev. 20:12, 13). Just to make sure, it is absolutely
clear that we are not saved by works (Gal. 2:16; Eph. 2:8, 9). However, our
deeds do provide the evidence that we have been saved. Loyalty to God is
WGM-4
essential, and our behavior proves that we are loyal to Him. Had not the
Israelites to demonstrate their loyalty to God on the Day of Atonement?
I will not tire of repeating, once again, that loyalty takes time and action.
That's why judgment is according to works. But most important of all, "by
virtue of the atoning blood of Christ, the sins of ali the truly penitent will
be blotted from the books of heaven. Thus the sanctuary will be freed, or
cleansed, from the record of sin:'
4
Judgment Pattern
The concept of an investigative judgment is thoroughly biblica!. God's
judicial procedure often includes a phase of investigation and inquiry.
We see it first reported in Genesis 3, in which God investigates before
He pronounces the verdict (Gen. 3:8-19). God's dealings with Cain (Gen.
4), Babel (Gen. 11), and Sodom (Gen. 18; 19) follow a similar pattern.
In each we perceive Him undertaking the same action that He requires
of the judges in Israel, namely to "investigate and search out and inquire
thoroughly" (Deut. 13:14; cf. Deut. 19:18).
Investigation involves deliberation and fairness. It often is public. God
allows others to look over His shoulder and see for themselves what He
is doing, and, in fact, learn from Him. In this way, when He announces
and executes the verdict-be it salvation or condemnation-onlookers are
assured that His response is the best one possible. That is exactly the reason
the heavenly judgment in Daniel 7 involves books. The books are not for
God's sake, so that He would remember more easily, but for the benefit
of the celestial beings surrounding Him, who, unlike God, don't know all
things. With the books at their disposal, they can investigate as they like.
Another vision illustrates perfectly how the heavenly judgment
vindicates the saints: Zechariah 3:1-5. Joshua the high priest is "standing
before" the An gel of the Lord ( the preincarnate Christ). Next to him lurks
Satan, his accuser. Although Scripture does not explicitly state the reason
for the accusation, it must have been Joshua's unclean condition. His filthy
clothes are a symbol for his sins and deficiencies (verse 4). (Also, soiled
gar-ments would defile him in his priestly role.) Satan takes issue with the
sins in the life of God's people. He exposes them accurately. I guess he
doesn't even need to lie. All believers have plenty of evidence against them.
The Angel of the Lord is fully aware ofJoshua's sins. Still He gives orders
to change the priest's clothing. The divine robe of Christ's righteousness
suits the sinner well. The good news is that Satan can do absolutely nothing
about it when the Angel justifies Joshua in front of all the celestial beings.
That's the heavenly judgment of the believers! "While we should realize
our sinful condition, we are to rely upon Christ as our righteousness, our
sanctification, and our redemption. We cannot answer the charges of Satan
against us. Christ alone can make an effectual plea in our behalf. He is able
to silence the accuser with arguments founded not upon our merits, but
on His own:s How does the divine advocate do this? Christ "declares: 'The
Lord rebuke thee, O Satan. I gave My life for these souls. They are graven
upon the palms of My hands. They may have imperfections of character;
they may have failed in their endeavors; but they have repented, and I have
forgiven and accepted them: "
6
In other words, sinfulness does not exclude assurance of salvation. Our
sins are nota hindrance for Jesus to justify us when we commit them into
His care-that is, if we confess them and ask for forgiveness.
Time of the Judgment
The heavenly judgment follows as a divine response to the horn's
presumptuousness and precedes the transfer of the kingdom to the saints
(Dan. 7:22). The vision describes the judgment as occurring during the
time the horn power is still active (verse 11), but after the prophetic period
of three and one half times of the horn's dominion over the saints has
ended, i.e., after A.D. 1798 (verses 25, 26).
7
When the judicial procedures
conclude, all earthly kingdoms are destroyed (verses 12, 26).
Thus the judgment of Daniel 7 must take place before the Second
Coming-it is a pre-Advent judgment. The final judgment, however,
comprises several phases:
Time pre-Advent Second Coming millennium postmillennium
Texts
Dan. 7:9-14, 22, 1 Cor. 15:51-55; Rev. 20:1-6;
Rev. 20:7-15
26; Rev. 14:7 1 Thess. 4:15-17 1 Cor. 6:3
Place heaven earth heaven earth
Whols reward for saints
wicked
executive judg-
Judged judgment of horn ment of wicked
judgment at the
judgment after
the millennium is
Purpose Second Coming is
fair (for saints and
fair (for angels)
angels)
How could there bea final reward or punishment if there is no judgment
preceding it? The saints receive their rewards at the time of Christ's
advent, which presupposes that they have already been judged. Similarly,
the wicked, including the demonie powers, will be examined during the
millennium before God executes the final judgment (Revelation 20).
Certainly God does not need extra time to go through the records.
Always fully aware ofwho His people are (2 Tim. 2:19), He does not require
a court trial in order to decide who is going to be saved. The pre-Advent
judgment, rather, shows the divine judge to be just in saving His people.
The angels need to be sure that the saints are safe to save. Here we catch a
glimpse of the universal great controversy, which just so happens to involve
not only our planet but the entire universe. Other beings have an interest
in the final outcome of the plan of salvation. The heavenly judgment is for
them.
At the same time, the duration of the pre-Advent judgment serves
a soteriological purpose, for God wishes "for all to carne to repentance"
(2 Peter 3:9). As long as probation still lingers, the message about the
heavenly judgment must be proclaimed (Rev. 14:6-12).
VVhentheJudgmentEnds
The pre-Advent judgment results in several far-reaching actions:
1. The Son of man is crowned. He receives "dominion, glory and a
kingdom" and the worship of all creation (Dan. 7:14). Serving Him
is equal to worshipping Him (cf. Dan. 3:12, 14, 17, 18). Serving God
continually (Dan. 6:17, 21) is what believers on earth now do, and it
will continue in the eternal kingdom.
2. The saints receive the kingdom forever. The judgment is for the
benefit of those who will enter God's kingdom (Dan. 7:22). It
forever vindicates them. Unmistakably the Son of man and the
saints have a very clase relationship. When the Son of man receives
His kingdom, He invites the saints to join Him. His kingdom is
their kingdom (verse 27). Beyond that, the judgment inaugurates a
time when the Son of man Himself is given to His people. The King
of the everlasting kingdom permanently reunites with His people.
It is their (and His) greatest reward.
3. Gad defeats and destroys the rebellion. The enemies of God's people
are judged. After the horn makes war against the saints, it itself is
defeated and destroyed forever (verses 25, 26).
4. Gad demonstrates His absolute justice. Because the judgment in
the heavenly court is public and the angels attend the inquiries
into human affairs, all can see for themselves that the Lord is fair
in His actions. He is able to uphold both love and righteousness.
Thus in the end, Gad Himself will be also vindicated, and all will
acknowledge that He is just and that Gad is love (see Rev. 16:5, 7;
19:2; Ps. 51:4; 119:7; Rom. 3:4). The whole procedure ensures that
the universe will from then on be a secure place for eternity. Sin will
not rise again.
Considering the results, the judgment of Daniel 7 is much more than
just investigative. "Its wider concern is with vindication-vindication of
God's sanctuary, vindication of God's name, vindication of God's people:'s
The results fulfill the hopes of both Gad and the believers. God's
desire is to save His people and eradicate sin while leaving no doubt about
His love and justice. Humanity's yearning is for salvation from sin, from
oppression in any form, and from the evil one, and to enjoy eterna! life
in the presence of the O ne who loves them. The judgment thus becomes
the guarantee for an eternal and trusting relationship between Gad and
His creation.
"The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners are no more. The entire
universe is clean. One pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the
vast creation. From Him who created all, flow life and light and gladness,
throughout the realms of illimitable space. From the minutest atom to the
greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate, in their unshadowed
beauty and perfect joy, declare that Gad is love:'
9
Responsible Assurance
In Psalms we often find the plea of the righteous for vindication and for
their oppressors tobe judged. Obviously the divine judgment of the wicked
implies also that the believers are positively judged-that is, vindicated.
Why would anyone cry out "Judge me, O Lord" (Ps. 7:8, KJV)? The
reason is simple. Judgement means salvation: "Save me, O Gad, by Your
name, and vindicate me by Your power" (Ps. 54:1). The two parallellines
of the verse show that "God saves" is equal to "Gad vindicates" (literally,
"Gad judges"). Psalm 26 is a heartbreaking plea for Gad to judge. David
expresses marvelously the idea that God, the judge, is always on the side
ofHis loyal people and that His judgment is more than desirable (Ps. 26:1;
35:24; 43:1; 54:1). Judgment implies vindication.
So does the pre-Advent judgment threaten our assurance of salvation?
Not at all. Should we be afraid of the judgment? No way! The outcome
of the judgment is certain. It is "in favor of the saints" (Dan. 7:22) . God's
work in the judgment reaffirms our forgiveness and intensifies our
assurance by making our sins eternally irrelevant. Such judgment is,
actually, another manifestation of the salvation that is ours. Judgment
is salvation. It does not put salvation in jeopardy but completes it. The
judgment is not the time God decides to accept or reject us. Rather, it is
when He finalizes whether or not we have truly accepted Him, a choice
revealed by our works.
How then can we develop from this objective certainty of salvation a
personal assurance regarding salvation? I believe the answer is simple. If
the focus is Christ and not oneself, assurance grows. "With Christ as our
Substitute and Surety, our Advocate and Mediator, our Witness, Friend,
and Judge, what better news can we ask?"
1
Focus on Christ!
"He who dwells in the heavenly sanctuary judges righteously. His
pleasure is more in His people, struggling with temptation in a world of
sin, than in the host of angels that surround His throne:'
11
For the believer
then, judgment increases assurance. To put it more radically, judgment lies
at the heart of the doctrine of Christian assurance.
Can you now look forward to the judgment and proclaim with David,
"Judge me, O Lord my God"?
In the judgment God vindicates the righteous and blots out their
sins forever. The anticipation of the judgment and the knowledge that it
proceeds has another significant and beneficia! effect for the believers: it
encourages them to live a life of loyalty and accountability. The assurance
of salvation is thus accompanied by the motivational impetus for moral
behavior. Because God has done so much for us, we love Him and seek to
express that love through being faithful in all that He asks of us.
12
Conclusion
The pre-Advent judgment demonstrates that God is just and full oflove,
because He condemns the wicked horn power and vindicates the saints.
God works for His people, judging in their behalf before the onlooking
universe, and granting them entrance in Christ's eternal kingdom, the
culmination of all their hopes as followers of the Lord. Such judgment is
good news. It heralds the consummation of the plan of salvation. We can
celebra te with all creation that the Lord will judge the earth (Ps. 96:11-13).
1
See Martin Probstle, "Truth and Terror: A Text-oriented Analysis ofDaniel8:9-14"
(Ph.D. diss., Andrews University, 2006), pp. 653-661.
2
E. G. White, The Great Controversy, pp. 480-485.
3
It is true that Jesus declared in John 5:24 that the believers of God have eternallife
and do "not come into judgment," but the judgment He refers to here is that of condem-
nation, as the use of the word "judgment" in verse 29 shows.
4
E. G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, pp, 357, 358.
5
Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press
Pub., 1948), voi. 5, p. 472.
6
E. G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 589.
7
For the year A.D. 538 as the beginning of the prophetic time periods of three and
o ne half times, see Heinz Schaidinger, "Historical Confirmation of Prophetic Periods,"
Biblica! Research Institute Release 7 (Silver Spring, Md.: Biblica! Research Institute,
2010).
8
Roy Adams, The Sanctuary: Understanding the Heart of Adventist 7heology
(Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1993), p. 128.
9
E. G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 678.
10
Richard M. Davidson, "The Good News of Yom Kippur," Journal of the Adventist
7heological Society 2 (1991): 7.
11
E. G. White, Christ's Object Lessons, p. 176.
12
For more on the interrelationship between the believer's assurance and the end-time
judgment, see Woodrow W. Whidden II, The Judgment and Assurance: 7he Dynamics of
Personal Salvation, Library of Adventist Theology (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald
Pub. Assn., 2012), voi. 4.
The Eschatological
Day of Atonement
F
or the Adventist movement in the nineteenth century Daniel 8: 14 was
"the scripture which above all others had been both the foundation and
the central pillar of the advent faith:'
1
What was true then is still true now.
Understanding this most important text is essential for the concept of an
eschatological day of atonement. In studying Daniel 8 we will discover the
real issue of the conflict between the horn power and God, and we will see
why the "restoration of the holy;' beginning in A.D. 1844, is God's perfect
answer to the destruction done by the horn.
Daniel 8:14 comes at the climax of a vision that parallels the one in
Daniel7:
Daniel7 Daniel8 Interpretation
lion
-
Babylon
bear ram Medo-Persia
leopard he-goat Greece
fourth beast - Rome (pagan)
little horn little horn Rome (papal)
heavenly restoration eschatological
judgment ofthe holy Yom Kippur
transfer of the
Second Coming
kingdom to Son of -
man and saints
and beyond
Contrary to the majority of scholars, the horn power in Daniel 8 does
not refer to Antiochus IV Epiphanes in the second century B.C., but to
Rome.
2
There are several reasons for such a view:
104
1. Antiochus IV was a king of the Seleucid kingdom that is already
represented by one of the four horns of the he-goat (Dan. 8:8). The little
horn, however, does not stern from those horns, but "carne forth'' from
one of the directions of the compass, as contextual, literal-structural, and
semantic considerations suggest.
3
2. The growth and self-magnification of the horn is much greater than
that of the previous powers. Antiochus IV was never more powerful than
Greece or Medo-Persia, but Rome was.
3. Since the little horn functions on the same structurallevel as the
ram (Medo-Persia) and the he-goat (Greece), we must therefore identify it
historically as Rome, which followed the kingdoms of Medo-Persia (verse
20) and Greece (verse 21). Though imperial Rome might be included,
the horn symbol clearly represents papal Rome and its religious war, the
primary focus of the vision.
4. Striking parallels between the little horns in Daniel 7 and 8 show that
they represent the same power. In Daniel 7 the horn and its characteristics
clearly point to the Roman Church,
4
so must the horn in Daniel8.
5. The temporal sequence of the kingdoms in Daniel 7 and 8 indicates
that the power represented by the little horn should originate from within
imperial Rome (the fourth animal in Daniel?) and extend to the end-time.
Note the similarities between the bear (two sides, three ribs, devouring
much flesh) and the ram ( two horns, three directions of attack, no other
beast could stand against it), and between the leopard (four wings, four
heads) and the he-goat (without touching the ground, four horns).
6. Jesus suggested that the abomination of desolation was still future
in His time (Matt. 24:15; Dan. 9:27), thus not supporting the view that
Antiochus IV was the desolater mentioned in Daniel.
The Little Horn's Attack on Holiness
As in Daniel 7, the horn power basically attacks God, His people, and
His sanctuary (Dan. 8:9-14). The horn power first grows horizontally,
enlarging its territory of influence upon the earth (verse 9), then vertically
against the "host of heaven" (verse 10), and finally it exalts itself up to the
"prin ce of the host" (verse 11, KJV).
The "host of heaven'' and the "stars" symbolize the people of God
(Gen. 37:9; Num. 24:17; cf. also the simile in Dan. 12:3). Some of them
get trampled by the horn, which resembles the terrorizing of the saints in
Daniel 7:21, 25.
The "prince of the host" must be a divine person. In Joshua 5:13-15,
the only other place in which a heavenly "prince of the host" appears, He
is the supreme commander of the host of Yahweh and is distinctly marked
as divine-as Yahweh. Joshua, who was standing on "holy" ground in His
presence, bowed down to Him and listened to His, Yahweh's, words (Joshua
6:2-5). Thus we should identify the "prince of the host" in Daniel 8:11 as
the divine-like commander Michael, the chief of the angels. It is nobody
else than Christ, the Son of man, who is distinct from the Most High.
5
We see the divinity of the prince of the host underlined by the fact
that a sanctuary (Hebrew miqdash) belongs to Him (Dan. 8:11). The term
miqdash often indicates an earthly temple, but it can also refer to a heavenly
sanctuary, as it does here.
6
Throwing down the "place [foundation] ofHis
sanctuary" (verse 11) is parallel to throwing down the truth (verse 12).
Obviously, the horn attacks the fundamental truths the heavenly sanctuary
is built upon.
The horn took away "the daily" (Hebrew tamd) from the prince of
the host (verse 11, KJV). What does the word tamd mean? It is a cultic
expression.
7
In the Torah tamd designates the regularity (with intervals)
or continuity (without interruption) of activities, events, or state of affairs
and, as such, describes the regular activities of the daily service at the
sanctuary.
8
A priest (often the high priest) performs such activities "in the
presence of Yahweh;' and they thus form part of the continuai worship
service ofYahweh.
9
In addition to the regular sanctuary service, the tamd also refers to
the true worship by the people of God. We find two reasons for this. First,
Daniel6:16, 20 uses the Aramaic equivalent for tamd in connection with
Daniel's constant worship. Thematically, Daniel 6 is about the struggle
for the tamd of an individual, the prophet's continuai worship, whereas
Daniel8 is about the struggle for the universal tamd, the contin ual worship
by God's people. Second, in Daniel 11:31 and Daniel 12:11 the tamd is
replaced by false worship ("abomination of desolation''), indicating that
it is the true worship. In short, the tamd in Daniel 8 designates (a) the
contin ual service of the "Prin ce of the host" as high priest, and (b) the
contin ual worship directed toward the "Prince of the host" by believers.
Daniel 8:11, 12 then describes how the horn interferes with the
worship of the divine "Prince of the host;' the true priest. The horn acts
as another "prince of the host" and commands its own counterfeit "host;'
which the horn sets up against the tamd (verse 12). In a warfare context,
the word "host" refers to an army, but in a sanctuary framework it indicates
a "priestly host:' Because the counterfeit host goes against the regular
worship service, it could point to a counterfeit priestly host. Verse 12, with
the repetition of the hook words tamd and "throw down;' functions as an
explanation of the two activities of verse 11:
Vision (Daniel 8: 11) Explanation (Daniel8:12)
From Him [Prince of the host] he It [horn] will set up a host against
[horn] took away the tamd. the tamd in rebellion.
And he [horn] threw down the It [horn] will throw truth to the
foundation of the sanctuary. ground.
Of course, the horn cannot interfere in Christ's continuai priestly
mediation in the heavenly sanctuary (Heb. 7:25; 8:1, 2). Who could do that
anyway? Christ's priestly ministry itself remains unaffected and untouched.
However, the horn power usurps the responsibilities of the heavenly priest
and interrupts the continuai worship of God on earth. It substitutes the
true worship of God with a false, sacrilegious worship. Historically, the
"taking away of the daily" by the horn "represents the introduction of such
papal innovations as a mediating priesthood, the sacrifice of the Mass, the
confessional, and the worship of Mary, by which it has successfully taken
away knowledge of, and reliance upon, the contin ual ministry of Christ in
the heavenly sanctuary, and rendered that ministry inoperative in the lives
of millions of professed Christians:'
10
The horn wages a religious war against the divine heavenly Prince, His
sanctuary, and His people. It becomes an earthly instrument of Satan, as
indicated by the phrase that the horn power is "mighty, but not by his own
power" (Dan. 8:24). Its activities are indicative of a cosmic war fought on
two levels, the earthly and the heavenly.
It is all the more important that believers demonstrate an unswerving
commitment to continuous service to God, a life of uninterrupted worship,
and, of course, uphold the sanctuary truths and the true way of salvation in
which Christ, our sacrifice and high priest, is the center.
"H 1 "'"
ow ong!
I still remember the hot summer day in 2005 when we drove with
our two boys through Death Valley on our way to Yosemite. After we had
traveled for about five hours (half of the way), the inevitable question carne
from the back seat. I think you know the question (sure, you just read it in
the heading). It's the same one we hear again and again in life, one that we
ourselves have asked countless times.
"How long?" is a typical human question. It's the perennial one from
the back seat of world history that we regularly encounter in the Scriptures.
"How long?" always asks for the present situation tobe changed. God and
His prophets demand it of the people (see, e.g., Ex. 10:3; Num. 14:27;
1 Sam. 16:1; 1 Kings 18:21). His people also direct it to God and (see, e.g.,
Ps. 6:3; 94:3; Isa. 6:11; Rev. 6:10), and even the angel ofYahweh asks God
(Zech. 1:12). In the time of need or in unbearable situations we cry "How
long?"
The vision in Daniel 8 presents one such example. The presumption
of the little horn leads to the angelic cry "How long?" (Dan. 8:13; cf.
Dan. 12:6). Observe the repeated sequence from a power's hubris to its
fali: just when the ram "magnified himself;' his inevitable downfall carne
along in the form of a goat (Dan. 8:4), and just when the goat "magnified
himself exceedingly;' it had its large horn broken (verse 8). The little-horn
power, however, is second to none when it comes to self-exaltation. First it
expanded horizontally, then it grew up to the host ofheaven, and, finally, it
even compared itself to the prince of the host (verses 9-11). No wonder the
angel asked, "How long will the vision be?" It is a lament over continuous
distress, a plea for change, and a call for divine judgment. Such a question
expresses the hope that God will finally triumph.
Although the question singles out a few activities of the horn (perhaps
the most horrible ones), it still seeks the length of the entire vision- that is,
it is inquiring about the events shown in the vision of Daniel 8Y
Interestingly enough, a "holy o ne" raises the issue. Daniel was obviously
too absorbed by what he saw, so one of the holy ones formulated what the
prophet should have asked (unlike Dan. 7:16, 18). The angels are deeply
stricken about the religious desolation caused by the horn. They do not
have a spectator role but have taken with Christ's side (and the fallen angels
with Satan). In fact, the book of Daniel is foremost in showing us that the
angels participate in the spiritual battle behind the scenes (see DaniellO).
They are do ing this all for Christ and for us. If the angels involve themselves
to the limit, why should we ever feel that it is not urgent to take a stand for
Christ? We need to join their heavenly alliance.
Once we understand the human condition and the prophetic time that
we live in, we cannot remain silent. The cry "how long?" needs to go forth
Our earnest desire for God's intervention in the world' affaic an
return should regularly beseech the heavenly throne room.
is now at work, as promised in Daniel8:14, we want H"
of evil here and return in the glory He has time and again pnc:::::s.c:...
when Christ comes will the back-seat question neYer be r31S
As in Zechariah 1:12, 13, in which Yahweh replied with ...
"comforting words;' the answer to the question "Hm;,' long?'' in Dam
comes right away, and it is full of comfort: restoration of the damage
by the horn will be under way beginning after a period of "2,300
and mornings" has passed (verse 14).
Restoration of the Holy
The phrase "evenings and mornings" reflects language from the
Creation account signifying a day (Gen. 1:5, 8, etc.). It implies that God,
using His own creative force, will counter the destructive activities of the
horn and its host. The Creator causes a change of situation, something
actually called for by the question in Daniel 8:13.
A literal translation of the answer in Daniel 8: 14 is "Until 2,300
evening-mornings, then will the holy be restored:'
12
Better known, of
course, is the translation "then shall the sanctuary be cleansed;' one found
in many English Bibles. Let's see what the terms "restore" (Hebrew nitsdaq)
and "holy" (Hebrew qodesh) mean.
A study of the terms parallel to nitsdaq shows that it has three major
senses: in a relational context, it denotes restoration (see the parallel
term return in Isaiah 10:22); in a cultic context, it stands for cleansing or
purification ("be clean" in Job 25:4, "be pure" in Job 4:17, or "cleanness" in
Ps. 18:20); and in a legal context, it points to vindication ("justice" in Job
34:5, NIV).
13
Although one should be cautious to not apply uncritically
all these different meanings to nitsdaq in Daniel 8:14, it is surprising that
all of them fit very well into the context of the vision. It is probably safe
to suggest that the word was chosen intentionally in order to cover all
problems created by the horn: restoration of the priestly ministry to its
rightful state, purification of the heavenly sanctuary from horrible sin,
and vindication of the sanctuary and the saints. If one needs to settle on a
specific translation, the more encompassing "restored to its rightful state"
seems to be a good option.
14
In its passive form the verb tsadaq occurs only here in Daniel 8: 14
(as nitsdaq). Scripture uses the active form of the same verb for God's
intervention in judgment, when the righteous are vindicated, or declared
tobe righteous (1 Kings 8:32; Isa. 50:8). Interestingly, the object of all active
forms is without exception personal.
15
One should therefore allow for the
possibility that qodesh, "holy;' in Daniel8:14 could be personal as well.
So what does qodesh ("holy") in verse 14 mean? Elsewhere the book
of Daniel employs it both in association with the sanctuary (Dan. 9:24,
26) and with holy people (Dan. 12:7). Daniel 8:24, in fact, makes it clear
that the little-horn power, as did the little-horn power in chapter 7, attacks
God's "holy" people. In the immediate context in Daniel 8:14 the qodesh
could designate both the sanctuary and the holy people. The little horn has
attacked both (verses 10, 11), and the question in verse 13 mentioned both.
If we take into consideration the full spectrum of the possible
meanings of nitsdaq and qodesh in Daniel 8: 14, the restoration of the holy
encompasses the solution to all problems inherent in the question. Thus
not only will judgment be rendered against the little-horn power, which
originated the devastation, but the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary and
the vindication of God's holy people will take place as well. God's people
and His sanctuary will return to their rightful state. That is exactly what
should happen on the Levitical Day of Atonement: to cleanse the sanctuary
and God's people (Lev. 16:20, 30).
The work of restoration in Daniel 8 thus equals the divine judgment in
Daniel 7, in which God ruled in fa vor of the saints and against the evillittle-
horn power. The correlation of both events in the table at the beginning of
this chapter is correct.
God is already at work. The heavenly judgment is the divine answer to
the present situation in our world. The mission of God's people on earth is
to proclaim the sanctuary truth: what God is doing for us. Thus the world
needs to know that the time for justice and judgment, predicted in Daniel
8:14, has come, and that now is the moment to accept the salvation offered
us in Jesus. We will see in the next chapter that the first angel's message
describes exactly this mission of God's people on earth, while the Lord in
heaven conducts the pre-Advent judgment.
Day of Atonement in Daniel8
What the climax of the vision in Daniel 8 portrays is nothing other than
a religious or cultic war. The central goal of the horn is to seize control of the
cult. Language related to the Israelite cult abounds in Daniel8:9-14: "beauty"
(often refers to the Temple Mount), "sanctuary;' "daily;' "remove from'' as
priestly activity, "transgression;' and "holy" are the obvious ones. Even the
words "horn;' "host;' and "prin ce of the host" have cultic connotations.
16
We ha ve seen that Daniel 8:14 provides God's answer to such religious
devastation. The restoration of the holy must be understood as a Day
of Atonement activity, as shown by several terminological and thematic
allusions to the Day of Atonement that we observe in Daniel 8:
1. The target of the horn's attack is God's heavenly sanctuary and
His people. They need, as requested in Daniel 8:13, restoration to
their rightful state. However, only the Day of Atonement achieves
purification of the sanctuary and the people of God to bring them
back to their proper condition and thus justify God in His dealings.
2. The combination of the themes of cult (sanctuary imagery),
judgment, and creation, prominent in the climax of the vision of
Daniel 8, have their counterpart in the Day of Atonement. Judgment
and cult are self-evident, but how does the Day of Atonement connect
to creation? The cessation of ali work on the Day of Atonement,
unique for an Israelite yearly festival, places the day squarely within
the Sabbath concept and marks it as a totally consecrated day of rest
in the enjoyment of full cultic re-creation.
3. The horn acts in "rebellion'' (Dan. 8:12, 13), a term that occurs
in the book of Leviticus only in Leviticus 16:16, 21. It describes a
defiant sin, and only on the Day of Atonement can the sanctuary
be cleansed from it. "Rebellion'' has to be set right by a Day of
Atonement activity, the only cultic ritual that deals with it.
4. The word "holy" (qodesh) explicitly links Daniel8:14 with Leviticus
16, in which it occurs to designate the Most Holy Place (Lev. 16:2,
3, 16, 17, 20, 23, 27, 33). That the "holy" gets restored to its rightful
place is reminiscent of the Day of Atonement, when the "holy" is
purified from "rebellion" (verse 16, NIV).
5. It is quite possible that "evenings and mornings" alludes, beyond
Creation, also to the Day of Atonement, the only cultic day specifically
mentioned as starting in the evening (Lev. 23:32) and during which
the "holy" plays a major role (Lev. 16). The divine act of creation
would then also involve Day of Atonement activity.
6. The specific use of the animal imagery of ram and he-goat alludes
to the Day of Atonement (verse 5).
7. The further designation of the goat as "the shaggy" o ne (Dan. 8:21)
involves a term used for the two goats at the Day of Atonement.
The text itself does not require the specification of the goat as "the
shaggy" one. After all, the vision depicts only a single goat. It is
given as if the an gel would again like to point Daniel and the readers
to the Day of Atonement.
8. The parallel vision in Daniel 7 exhibits several Day of Atonement
features and sets the tone for the extensive use of cultic imagery in
the vision report of Daniel 8.
17
9. The Septuagint translates nitsdaq in Daniel 8:14 with the Greek
katharizo ("to purify"), a technical term for cleansing used
prominently in the Day of Atonement ritual (Lev. 16:19, 20, 30).
We obvious1y have to conclude that the Day of Atonement serves as
"macrotheme" for the vision in Daniel 8.
18
Divine intervention carried out
in the context of an eschatological day of atonement counters and cuts short
the horn's religious warfare. At last, terror comes to an end as God restores
His people, their worship, and the sanctuary to their rightful position. In
the process God Himself stands vindicated. As He demonstrated on the Day
of Atonement that He is just in His dealings and judgments, to forgive the
loyal and to judge the disloyal and rebellious, so the eschatological day of
atonement will verify that God is just both when He saves and when He
punishes.
Daniel 8 and 9 and the Beginning ofYom Kippur
One basic question still remains to be answered: when does the
prophetic time period of 2300 evenings-mornings end and thus the
eschatological day of atonement start?
First, we must remember that the vision in Daniel 8 reaches to the
end-time. The term vision (Hebrew chazon) in the question in Daniel 8:13
("How long is the vision?") refers to the entire vision in verses 3-14 and
encompasses the time of Medo-Persia (ram), Greece (he-goat), and papal
Rome (little horn).
19
Since the angel gives the length of the vision as "2300
evenings and mornings;' we should understand it as embracing the time span
from Medo-Persia to the end-time. Repeatedly Gabriel emphasized that the
vision pertains to the "time of the end" ( verses 17, 19) and "many days in the
future" (verse 26). If taken literally, 2300 days cannot cover the time span of
the vision. Thus we need to interpret them by the day-year principle as 2300
years, following the example ofEzekiel4:5, 6 and Numbers 14:34.
20
The question remains: when do the 2300 years begin? Bible scholars,
both Jewish and Christian, have seen a powerfullink between the 2300
evening-mornings ofDaniel8:14 and the 70 weeks ofDaniel9:24-27. The
connection between Daniel 8 and 9 provides the possibility to anchor the
2300 years in history.
21
Both time periods begin in the Persian Period: the ram of Daniel 8
stands for Medo-Pe risa, and a Persian king issues the decree mentioned
in Daniel 9:25. Further, Daniel 9:21-23 is a strong connector to Daniel
8. At this place it is important to distinguish two Hebrew words: chazn
and mareh. Chazn indicates the entire vision in Daniel 8, whereas mareh
refers to its final part, the message about the 2300 evenings-mornings.
After Gabriel had explained the chazn, Daniel was particularly concerned
about the 2300 days, the "mareh of the evenings and mornings" (Dan.
8:26), because he did not understand the mareh (verse 27). Several years
later Gabriel again appeared to the prophet to give him a message so that he
would "understand the mereh" ofthe 2300 days (Dan. 9:23). The keyword,
"understand;' thatlinks chapters 8 and 9 (Dan. 8:15-17,21,23, 27; 9:2,22,
23), the reference in Daniel 9:21 to Gabriel, whom Daniel "had seen in
the chazn previously" (that is, in Daniel8), and the call in Daniel 9:23 to
understand the mareh, all establish that the following 70-weeks prophecy
provides the chronological key to unlock the prophetic time element of
Daniel 8:14. It is the verb "decreed" at the beginning of Daniel 9:24 (best
translated as "apportioned;' or "cut off") that specifically suggests that the
70 weeks compose a part of the longer period of 2300 days. Thus the 70-
week prophecy is a part of the larger 2300-day prophecy of Daniel 8: 14.
This gives us the starting point for the prophetic time period depicted in
Daniel 8:14. How? To make any sense, the 70 weeks can only be "cut off"
from the beginning of the longer period, because both start in the Persian
Period.
In Daniel 9:24-27 "the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild
Jerusalem" marks the commencement of the 70 weeks (verse 25). The
books of Ezra and Nehemiah report four decrees concerning Jerusalem
and the Temple, but only the third (Ezra 7:12-26) is the most effective
one.
22
Given by the Persian king Artaxerxes 1 in his seventh year ( 457 B.C.),
it involves both the reconstruction of the Temple and the rebuilding of
Jerusalem as a politica! and administrative center, for Ezra received orders
to establish taxing, judicial, and educational systems, and he was to enforce
the penal system and support the Temple cult (verses 24-26). Thanksgiving
that praises God for influencing the king follows only this decree (verses
27, 28). Further, onlywith 457 B.C. as a starting point do the 70 weeks (that
is, 490 years) reach the time of Christ, the "Messiah, the Prin ce" of Daniel
9:25-27. Thus the prophecy of the 70 weeks provides the precise date for
the beginning of the 2300 evenings and mornings. They start in 457 B.C.
and end after 2300 years in A.D. 1844.
Decree to
Restore Jerusalem Gospel to Gentiles
490 days/years allotted
to Jewish nation
1810 days/years
2300 DA YS/YEARS
Conclusion
Sanctuary Cleansed
The activities on the eschatological day of atonement that begins in
A.D. 1844-that is, the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary and all its
ramifications-counter the assault against Christ and His work in the
heavenly sanctuary as well as the attack on His people.
"While the investigative judgment is going forward in heaven, while
the sins of penitent believers are being removed from the sanctuary, there
is to be a special work of purification, of putting away of sin, among God's
people upon earth. This work is more clearly presented in the messages of
Revelation 14:'
23
So let's turn to this chapter.
1
2
See Martin Probstle, "Who Is the Little Horn in Daniel8?" in Interpreting Scripture:
Bible Questions and Answers, ed. G. Pfandl, Biblica! Research Institute Studies (Silver
Spring, Md.: Biblica! Research Institute, 2010), vol. 2, pp. 245-248.
3
For arguments, see Martin Probstle, "Does the Little Horn Carne Out of O ne of the
Goat's Faur Horns or From the Faur Winds?" in Interpreting Scripture: Bible Questions
and Answers, pp. 242-244.
4
E.g., the little horn comes forth from the fourth animal having a Roman nature
(Dan. 7:8); it emerges among 10 kingdoms and uproots three of them, symbolizing papal
Rome's conflict with the Germanie tribes (verse 8); the saints are allowed to carne under
the horn's power for a time period that only fits the medieval dominance of papal Rome
(verse 25); and papal Rome attempted to change times and law (verse 25).
5
The expression "prin ce of the host" is military terminology and designates the
supreme commander of the army who was regarded as the most powerful person in the
nation second to the king only, to whom he was subordinated (1 Sam. 17:55; 1 Kings 1:19;
11:15, 21; 2 Kings 4:13; 25:19; 1 Chron. 19:18; 27:5; Jer. 52:25). By analogy one could argue
that the "prince of the host" in Daniel 8:11 refers to the heavenly commander-in-chief
who is divine and yet, at the same time, distinct from God the Most High.
6
References to a heavenly sanctuary have been seen in Psalms 68:35; 78:69; 96:6;
Jeremiah 17:12.
7
Of 104 occurrences, tamd stands 80 times in connection to the Israelite cult.
Another five times it occurs in Daniel.
8
For example, the word tamd designates daily activities such as the regular burnt
offering (Ex. 29:38), the regular grain offering (Lev. 6:20), or the regular incense offer-
ing (Ex. 30:8). The priests set the bread of the Presence regularly (Ex. 25:30) on the table
once a week (Lev. 24:8). The fire should be kept burning on the altar perpetually without
interruption (Lev. 6:9, 12, 13).
9
For the following I draw from my dissertation, "Truth and Terror," pp. 206-232.
10
Seventh-day Adventists Answer Questions on Doctrine (Washington, D.C.: Review
and Herald Pub. Assn., 1957), pp. 256, 257.
11
In regard to the Hebrew grammar, one should not translate "How long will the
vision ojlabout!concerning the daily ... ," but rather "How long will the vision be? The
daily ... "
12
The English Standard Version is clase to my translation. "And he said to me, 'For
2,300 evenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state."'
13
See Richard M. Davidson, "The Meaning of Nisdaq in Daniel 8:14," ]ournal of the
Adventist Theological Society 7 (1996): 107-119; Niels-Erik Andreasen, "Translation of
Nisdaq/Katharisthesetai in Daniel 8:14," in Symposium on Daniel, ed. F. B. Holbrook,
Daniel and Revelation Committee Series (Washington, D.C.: Biblica! Research Institute,
1986), voi. 2, pp. 475-496.
14
I agree here with Andreasen, pp. 495, 496.
15
See the active Piei forms in Job 32:2; 33:32; Jeremiah 3:11; Ezekiel 16:51, 52, and
the active Hifil forms in Exodus 23:7; Deuteronomy 25:1; 2 Samuel 15:4; 1 Kings 8:32;
2 Chronicles 6:23; Job 27:5; Psalm 82:3; Proverbs 17:15; Isaiah 5:23; 50:8; 53:11; Daniel
12:3.
16
See Angel M. Rogriguez, "Significance ofthe Cultic Language in Daniel8:9-14," in
Symposium on Daniel, pp. 527-549.
17
See Probstle, "Truth and Terror," pp. 653-661.
18
Some suggest that Daniel 8:14 is about the Temple rededication after the terrible
devastation by Antiochus IV (175-164 B.C.). However, severa! of the characteristics men-
tioned do not fit the concept of rededication: (1) the theme of judgment, (2) the restora-
tion of the people to their right state, (3) the evoking of a day starting in the evening, (4)
the link to the vi sion in Daniel 7 with its Day of Atonement setting of the judgment scene,
and (5) that God is the one whose activity sets things right, whereas in rededication the
emphasis lies on human effort.
19
See the use of vi sion (chazn) in Daniel8:1, 2, 13, 15.
2
For the main points in support of the day-year principle, see Desmond Ford, Daniel
(Nashville: Southern Pub. Assn., 1978), pp. 300-305; William H. Shea, Selected Studies on
Prophetic Interpretation, rev. ed., Daniel and Revelation Committee Series (Silver Spring,
Md.: Biblica! Research Institute, 1992), voi. 1, pp. 67-104.
21
For a detailed explanation of the link between Daniel 8 and Daniel 9, see, e.g.,
Probstle, "Truth and Terror," pp. 669-677; William Shea, "What Is the Relationship
Between the 2300 Evening-Mornings ofDaniel8:14 and the 70 Weeks ofDaniel9:24-26?"
in Interpreting Scripture: Bible Questions and Answers, pp. 258-262.
22
The first decree is given by Cyrus in his first year, in 538 B.C., and concerns the
Temple (Ezra 1:1-4). The second is a reiteration of the first one and is given by Darius
I in his second year, in 520/519 B.C. (Ezra 4:24; 6:1-13). The third decree is given by
Artaxerxes I in his seventh year, in 457 B.C. and concerns the city and the Temple (Ezra
7:7, 12-26). And the fourth is a reiteration of the third o ne and is given by Artaxerxes I in
his twentieth year, in 444 B.C. (Neh. 2:1-11).
23
Our Prophetic Message
O
ur study ofDaniel8 has shown that there will bea special proclamation
of an apocalyptic message beginning around the end of the 2300
evenings and mornings (A.D. 1844). It presents the great truths about the
pre-Advent judgment (Dan. 7), the cleansing of the sanctuary in heaven,
and the restoration of God's people on earth (Dan. 8).
The Day of Atonement message of Daniel 7 and 8 coincides with the
preaching of the end-time message as outlined in the centerpiece of the
book of Revelation. In the great controversy scene in Revelation 12-14
lies the heart of the Adventist mission. We can outline the contents of the
vision as follows: Satan's war and defeat, reaching from the cross to the
end-time (Rev. 12); the deployment of Satan's end-time alliance (Rev. 13);
and God's answer to it (Rev. 14).
In the last section we find the three angels' messages that contain the
themes of creation, judgment, and gospel (Rev. 14:6-12 ). They present God's
urgent and final call to prepare our world for the second coming of Christ.
"These messages provide a concentrated sample of the exhortations
and pronouncements made indirectly to the audience, representing a
summary statement of the argumentative appeals throughout the whole of
Revelation's vision:'
1
The theme of the first angel is indeed the "everlasting gospel;' because
it resembles the preaching of the apostles that the people "should turn from
these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the
sea, and all things that are in thern'' (Acts 14:15, NKJV; cf. Acts 4:24). We
find the importance of the message highlighted by the fact that the word
"gospel" itself appears only here in the book of Revelation. Thus whatever
we preach about end-time events, we must make certain that the "gospel"
is at its core.
117
No More Period ofTime
Let's start with Revelation 10 and the connection to the book of Daniel.
Language and circumstances of Revelation 10 echo that of Daniel12. The
parallels are obvious and intended.
The portrayal of the angel recalls the description of Christ in Revelation
1 and of the divine-like "man dressed in linen" in Daniel's last vision (Dan.
10:5, 6; 12:5-7), suggesting that they are identical. He stood above creation
and swore by the One who lives forever. The contents of the oath is both
alike and yet different. In Daniel12:7 He gave the time prophecy of three
and one half times (1260 years). It is a repeat of the crucial prophecy of
Daniel 7:25, during which God's people would face terrible persecution.
In Revelation 10:6, however, the same Angel proclaimed that there will be
"no more period of time" (literal translation), pointing out that the time
prophecies of Daniel ha ve run their course.
The book of Daniel was supposed to be sealed until the end of time.
Then it would be opened and many would gain knowledge from it (Dan.
12:4, 9). When the prophesied period of 1260 years terminated in A.D. 1798,
the time had carne to search the book for further knowledge, symbolized
by the open book in the hand of the angel in Revelation 10. From now on
believers would better understand Daniel's prophecies.
At the same time, Revelation 1 O reveals that the experience would not
all be pleasant. John ate as commanded, and the book tasted sweet in his
mouth but bitter to his stomach. He symbolically represents the people
who internalized the book of Daniel at the end of time. The prophetic
description had its fulfillment in the increase of apocalyptic knowledge
throughout the Millerite movement, which arose in the first half of the
nineteenth century amid great worldwide interest in end-time events. It
also depicts the bitter disappointment of those who recognized that the
prophecies in Daniel referred to their time, but not as they had first thought.
The "2300 evenings and mornings" did not signal the return of Christ, as
they expected, but rather the beginning of the final phase of salvation as
portrayed in the great judgment scene of Daniel 7.
Right after the bitter experience the Angel told John to "prophesy again
concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings" (Rev. 10:11).
The introduction to the three angels' messages takes up this language
in saying that the first angel will preach "to every nation and tribe and
tongue and people" (Rev. 14:6). Another strong terminological connection
between the two passages involves the word "preach" which
occurs in the entire Johannine literature only in Revelation 10:7 and 14:6.
The three angels' messages thus depict the proclamation after the bitter
disappointment in A.D. 1844. They must reach the same ones targeted by
the sea beast (see Rev. 13:7). It's about a spiritual battle, in which God's
alliance with the remnant and the satanic end-time aliiance compete for
the world.
So what is this eternal gospel ali about?
Fear God!
What does it mean to "fear God"? "Fear" could be understood in two
ways. First, there is a fear that shows itself in reverence and respect. It is what
I cali a "healthy fear" of God. Those who fear God are true believers in Him
(Rev. 11:18). To fear God means to honor Him (Rev. 14:7), praise Him (Rev.
19:5), and glorify His name (Rev. 15:4). Interestingly, ali these texts occur in
a judgment context, suggesting that the fear of God is a distinctive feature of
those judged to be righteous. In the first angel's message, to fear God implies
to acknowledge Him as judge and as Creator and to worship Him as such.
Already the Old Testament expounds the "fear of God:' It is the
beginning of ali wisdom (Prov. 1:7; 9:10). In fact, it is wisdom (Job 28:28)
and goes hand in hand with do ing His will and keeping His commandments
(see, e.g., Gen. 22:12; Lev. 19:14; Deut. 8:6; 13:11; 17:13; Eccl. 12:13). Psalm
34:7-22 shows beautifuliy how God rewards those who fear Him. As the
controversy over worship and the commandments of God takes center
stage in the last conflict on earth, the cali to fear Godin Revelation 14:7
points to His will-His law-as the only safeguard in such troubled times.
Second, there is a fear in the sense of being afraid, for God does not
wait any longer but will take action and judge the world. To the unfaithful,
the message of the judgment is one of terror. That's why we often cali the
three angels' messages God's last warning to the world. Inherent in the very
notion of a "warning" is something to be concerned about, and if you read
what the lost will face, they indeed do have something to dread.
However, as long as mercy is available God always desires to motivate
the lost to repentance ( that's the cali of the first angel), and the fear of
God could be an incentive to start seeking Him ( see Rev. 11: 13). Though,
ultimately, a saving relationship with God is one based on love and will
drive out any anxious fear (1 John 4:16-18), sometimes some people need
a good dose of fear to open their eyes. And if it takes a warning to get their
attention-why not?
To "give glory" to God means to praise Him and honor Him, both in
word and deed (Rev. 4:9; 11:13; 14:7; 16:9; 19:7). It is a natural follow-up
of repentance (Rev. 16:9). The first angel's message caUs all those who have
not given glory to God so far to join finally the heavenly worship (Rev. 4:9,
11; 5:12, 13; 7:12).
Judgment Has Come
Of course, we want to know when the "hour of the judgment" has
arrived. Scripture gives us sufficient indicators.
1. The judgment proclaimed in Revelation 14:7 begins before the return
of Christ described in Revelation 14: 14-20.
2. The three angels' messages summon people to worship God and
turn away from the beast and its "image:' The "image" carne into existence
only after the prophetic 42 months (they are the same thing as the 1260
days) ended in A.D. 1798 (Rev. 13:3-5, 12-14).
3. The sequence of events in Revelation 13 and 14 parallel those in
Daniel 7:
2
Daniel7 Revelation 13 and 14
four beasts ten-horned beast
(lion, bear, leopard, (includes features of the
10-horned beast) leopard, bear, and lion)
horn: action of the beast:
usurping and oppressing usurping and oppressing
power (1260 days) power ( 42 months)
heavenly judgment proclamation of the three angels
coming of the Son of man coming of the Son of man
The "judgment has come" means therefore that the pre-Advent
judgment of Daniel 7 now takes place, which begins, according to Daniel
8:14, in the year A.D. 1844.
As long as the last warning in Revelation 14:6-12 continues to be
proclaimed, the door of mercy remains open. People can stiU turn away
from Babylon and worship the true God.
Where God and 1 Meet 121
God's judgment might seem long overdue, at least from the perspective
of the oppressed (Rev. 6:10). However, it begins at the prophesied time,
and the eschatological day of atonement takes its course all according to
His plan.
Revelation 11:17, 18 provides a quick overview of divine judgment.
God finally reacts to the rage of the nations (Rev. 13) that the wrath of Sat an
has incited (Rev. 12:17). Judgment begins in heaven and then extends to
earth when God destroys the wicked powers that have shattered the human
world (Rev. 19:2). Divine wrath originates in the heavenly sanctuary and is
poured out in the seven plagues (Rev. 15-18). God's judgments are based
on the concept of retaliation and retribution. At the Second Advent He
will also reward the saints who fear Him (Rev. 22:12). Finally, the dead
are judged and evil eradicated (Rev. 20:11-15). When all is over, God's
character stands vindicated before the onlooking universe. Events have
shown Him to be just and fair in all His ways. For now, our challenge is to
cling to Him with all our heart and soul and mind, trusting that all this will
come to pass in His appointed time.
Worship the Creator
With the second imperative, heaven calls the people on earth to
worship the Creator at a time that God is about to come back to earth and
re-create this world. Thus they are prepared to join in the heavenly worship
as described in the sanctuary scene of Revelation 4.
Yes, the heart of the book of Revelation is about worship. It shows readily
in the concentric structure, which contrasts two different kinds of worship,
framed by the indirect appeal to keep the commandments of God ( the Greek
entole for "commandment" occurs in Revelation only, in 12:17 and 14:12):
3
A Sanctuary Scene: Ark of the Covenant (Ten Commandments)
(Rev. 11:19)
B Call to Keep the Commandments ofGod (Rev. 12:17)
C Call to Worship the False Creation (Rev. 13:14-Rev. 17)
,
C Call to Worship the True Creator (Rev. 14:6, 7)
,
B Call to Keep the Commandments of God (Rev. 14:12)
!\ Sanctuary Scene: Temple of the Tabernacle of Testimony (Ten
Commandments) (Rev. 15:5)
While the dragon, the beast from the sea, and the beast from the earth
(the "false trinity") join forces to unite the world in worshipping them (Rev.
13:4, 8, 12, 15; 14:9, 11), God summons the human race to worship Him, the
Creator (Rev. 14:7). Those who do not worship the "image of the beast" risk
losing their temporallives (Rev. 13:15; see also Dan. 3), while those who do
worship that image Iose eternallife (Rev. 14:9-11).
What a choice!
Worship is inextricably connected with God's commandments. Look
at the allusions to the Ten Commandments in Revelation 13 and 14: the
making of an "image" that should be worshipped (Rev. 13:14, 15; 14:9, 11),
idol worship (Rev. 13:4, 8, 12, 15; 14:9, 11), blaspheming God's name (Rev.
13:1, 5, 6), reason for the Sabbath commandment (Rev. 14:7), murder (Rev.
13:10, 15), adultery (Rev. 14:4, 8), and lies (verse 5).
4
God's law provides a
framework in which the believers can worship. In fact, being obedient to
God's will is part of our daily worship. The final "contest will be between
the commandments of God and the commandments of men:'s The faithful
will then demonstrate unconditional covenant loyalty.
In the context of the assault on God's law in Revelation 13, the phrase
that describes God as "making heaven, earth, and the sea'' ( verse 7) alludes
to the Sabbath commandment (Ex. 20:11; cf. also Neh. 9:6; Ps. 146:6). The
Sabbath becomes a central issue in the final conflict. As with no other
commandment, the designated day of worship is suited for a test ofloyalty,
because it cannot be deduced by solely logical reasoning. We keep it only
because God has commanded us to do so. As such, the Sabbath becomes a
sign or a seal of God for the remnant.
The mark of the beast is an imitation of the seal of God. A person
symbolically accepted it either on the right hand or on the forehead, the
very places reserved for the law of God (Deut. 6:5-8; cf. Deut. 11:18). Hen ce
the seal of God has to do with the commandments. It's remarkable that the
only commandment that contains the elements of an ancient Near Eastern
seal (name, title, dominion) is the Sabbath one. The non-Adventist scholar
Meredith Kline observes: "It is tempting to see in the sabbath sign presented
in the midst of the ten words the equivalent of the suzerain's dynastic seal
found iri the midst of the obverse of the international treaty documents .
. . . The sabbath is declared his 'sign of the covenant' (Ex. 31:13-17). By
means of the sabbath, God's image-bearer, as a pledge of covenant
consecration, images the pattern of the divine act of creation which
proclaims God's absolute sovereignty over man. God has stamped on world
history the sign of the sabbath as His seal of ownership and authority:'
6
Where Go an
It's the Creator whom we must worship.
particularly significant for our times. Disbelief in creation i an--
very heart of Christianity. Evolution, even a kind that purpon
the Bible, guts Adventism of all that it stands for, and especially nullifi
three angels' messages, including the Sabbath and the judgment.
we believe as Adventists makes sense apart from the Lord as Creator, and
nothing in the Bible is as clear a sign of God's creatorship as the Sabbath.
Creation also goes hand in hand with judgment. The phrase "springs
ofwater" (Rev. 14:7) is an allusion to the Flood (Gen. 7:11; 8:2) and directs
our attention to God as the righteous judge of the world (2 Peter 3:5-7).
The combination of heaven, earth, se a, and springs of water also points to
the divine judgment in the first four plagues.
In summary, Revelation 14:7 provides two reasons that the eternal
gospel needs to be proclaimed: divine judgment has begun, and God is
the Creator. The two themes of judgment and creation combine in a very
important Old Testament day of worship, Yom Kippur. Thus the first
angel's message is thematically that of the eschatological day of atonement.
Doomed or Blessed
The second and third angels' messages are a warning for all who do not
heed the divine call of the first angel's message and as a result worship the
beast and his image. If people continue their wrong path, they will partake
of God's seven last plagues, which is "the wine of the wrath of God" (Rev.
14:10) poured out on those who remain in Babylon. To save those people,
God must unmask Babylon.
According to the book of Revelation, Babylon has fallen. That can
refer to its impending judgment, or to its state of apostasy in which it has
distorted and perverted the gospel. Babylon stands for rebellion against
God (Gen. 11: 1-9; Jer. 50; 51 ). It arrogantly assumes the place of God and
is the enemy ofHis people. By the time of the New Testament, Babylon had
become a code word for Rome (1 Peter 5:13).
7
In the book of Revelation
two symbolic images attest that we must understand Babylon as a religious-
political power. The image of the harlot (Rev. 17) emphasizes its religious
influence and contrasts it with the pure woman (Rev. 12) and the bride of
the Lamb (Rev. 19), both symbols for the true church. The image of the
city (Rev. 18) stresses Babylon's political power and contrasts it with the
imagery of J erusalem.
Revelation 13:15-17 describes the "Babylonian crisis;' when the
beastly powers of Revelation 13 join forces to persecute the remnant of
God. Babylon is thus a symbol of the end-time alliance of apostate religion,
together with the corrupt politica! powers of the world.
8
The message of the three angels summons God's followers in Babylon
to join the faithful and visible end-time remnant ofGod (cf. Rev. 14:8 with
18:2-5).
9
Yes, there still exists a faithful remnant in Babylon, and they need
to hear the Seventh-day Adventist end-time message.
In the context of the third angel's message we find a description of
God's faithful remnant in the end-time. It highlights three characteristics:
perseverance, keeping God's commandments, and the faith of Jesus (Rev.
14:12).
The "perseverance" or "patience" of the saints does not describe
so much a passive endurance of hostile activities but rather a steadfast
awaiting ofChrist (Rev. 1:9; 3:10). Perseverance is something highly active.
The second characteristic of keeping the commandments is essential
in the controversy about worship and law. The believers not only follow
the commandments in obedience, but also proclaim them to the world. As
such, they are keepers, guardians, and heralds of God's law.
The "faith of Jesus" can refer to the believers' faith in Jesus or to Jesus'
loyalty that carries the believers faithfully through.
10
At the end of the
third angel's message we find our eyes directed to Christ. Through His
merits and His loyalty, God's people are able to persevere and keep His
commandments. "Several have written to me, inquiring if the message
of justification by faith is the third angel's message, and I have answered,
'It is the third angel's message in verity: "
11
Because of this message, "of
all professing Christians, Seventh-day Adventists should be foremost in
uplifting Christ before the world:'
12
Taken together, with these three characteristics the believers are
perfectly suited to persist in the last conflict, a struggle that requires an
unconditional covenant loyalty.
Conclusion
The three angels' messages are God's last call to humanity. They contain
the good news of a God who wants desperately to save all human beings
by summoning them to worship Him, trust Him, and live according to His
will. As all-powerful Creator and righteous judge, He is more than able
to bring His salvation plan to completion. Our world desperately needs
God and His gospel. He expects us to proclaim the end-time judgment
to strengthen the believers that their hopes will finally be fulfilled, and to
urge all unbelievers, especially the undecided, to make their decision for
Godnow.
1
David A. deSilva, Seeing Ihings ]ohn's Way: Ihe Rhetoric of the Book of Revelation
(Louisville, Ky: Westminster John Knox, 2009), p. 258.
2
Jacques B. Doukhan, Secrets of Revelation (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald
Pub. Assn., 2002), p. 123.
3
William H. Shea, "The Controversy Over the Commandments in the Central
Chiasm of Revelation," ]ournal of the Adventist Iheological Society 11 (2000): 229.
4
See Johannes Kovar, "The Remnant and God's Commandments: Revelation 12:17,"
in Toward a Iheology of the Remnant, ed. A. M. Rodrguez (Silver Spring, Md.: Biblica!
Research Institute, 2009), pp. 120-123.
5
E. G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 188.
6
Meredith G. Kline, "The Two Tables of the Covenant," Westminster Iheological
Journa/22 (1960): 138, 139.
7
See also Jewish literature at that time: 2 Baruch 11:1, 2; 67:7; 4 Ezra 3:1, 2, 28;
Sibylline Oracles 5:137, 138, 143, 158.
8
Ellen White interprets Babylon in Revelation 17 as the church apostate (Ihe Creat
Controversy, p. 381) and as Rome (ibid., p. 382). The daughters ofBabylon (see Rev. 17:15)
are churches that follow Rome's example. Thus in Revelation 14:8 Babylon refers to "re-
ligious bodies that were once pure and have become corrupt" and "cannot refer to the
Roman Church alone." Babylon includes "various churches professing the Protestant
faith" that enter "a sinful union with the world" (ibid., p. 383).
9
Both texts use terminology and themes from Jeremiah 51:8, 9.
10
See Sigve K. Tonstad, Saving God's Reputation: Ihe Iheological Function of Pistis
Iesou in the Cosmic Narratives of Revelation, Library of New Testament Studies (London:
T & T Clark, 2006), voi. 334, pp. 165-194.
11
Ellen G. White, in Review and Herald, Apr. 1, 1890.
12
Ellen G. White, Gospel Workers (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn.,
1915), p. 156.
The Cosmic Conflict
Over God's Character
A
s Seventh-day Adventists we understand reality through the biblical
concept of the "great controversy between Christ and Satan:' Indeed,
some have designated the "great controversy" theme as a hallmark of
Adventist thinking and theology. It is, to use a phrase from philosophy, the
"meta-narrative;' the grand, overarching story that helps explain our world
and the things that happen in it. Ellen White begins her great Conflict
of the Ages Series with the words "God is love" and ends it about 3,500
pages later with the same words: "God is love:'
1
She thereby indicates what
the issue between Christ and Satan is all about: Is God indeed love? The
greatest struggle in the universe centers on the character of God, which
has been under attack by Satan since he first began his rebellion in heaven.
Central to the controversy is the sanctuary, which, as we have seen,
presents a recurrent theme that runs from the beginning to the end of
salvation history. It suggests that both the sanctuary, which helps illustrate
God's character, and the great issues involved ( the question of God's
character) go hand in hand, and that one is closely connected with the
other.
In this chapter we will study some milestones in the great conflict
between Christ and Satan and observe how they justify God's character
against the accusations of the enemy.
Revolt-in the Heavenly Sanctuary
Two passages in the Bible give us a glimpse of the outbreak of sin in
heaven and of the originator of evil in the celestial courts: Ezekiel 28:11-
19 and Isaiah 14:12-15. Both passages follow a divine judgment speech
against an earthly king full of hubris, who, in the eyes of God, is evidently
a miniature edition of the great cosmic rebel.
126
Ezekiel28 contains a judgment speech for the "prince ofTyre" (verses
1-1 O, NKJV) and a lament over the "king of Tyre" ( verses 11-19). While
the first refers to the Phoenician king, severa! factors suggest that the latter
lament transcends the earthly ruler and really alludes to a supernatural
being, whom we can identify as Satan.
For starters, the prophetic speech depicts the being as a cherub. But
he was not simply one cherub among many-he was the anointed cherub
"who covers" (verses 14, 16). The description of a covering cherub recalls
the Most Holy of the earthly sanctuary, in which two cherubim were
"covering" the ark and the presence of the Lord (Ex. 25:18-20; 37:7-9;
1 Kings 8:6, 7; 1 Chron. 28:18). It also reminds one of the anointed high
priest, indicating that Satan was in the heavenly sanctuary. He walked in
the midst of the fiery stones-that is, in the center of the "holy mountain of
God" (Eze. 28:14) and the center of "Eden, the garden of God" (verse 13),
both expressions of sanctuary imagery. The covering of precious stones
described in verse 13 contains nine stones also found in the high-priestly
breast garment (Ex. 39:10-13). It is as ifthe cherub is dressed in the most
sa cred garment of the Israelite high priest.
After having indicated the great splendor of the cherub, the text moves
to his moral fall. His glory went to his head. The qualities given to him
by his Creator produced hubris. Lucifer must have had the chance to
decide whether he would direct his sight to God and praise Him for the
qualities given to him or avert his gaze from God to himself and, dazzled
by his qualities and believing them to be truly his own, exalt himself. The
anointed cherub chose the second path. His beauty made his heart haughty,
his splendor corrupted his wisdom, and his trading, which probably
refers to his slandering the character of God, deteriorated the way he was
interacting with others and turned him violent. Sin affects every aspect of
life: appearance, thinking, and social interaction. Nothing gets excluded
from its dominion.
How is it possible to mistake God's blessings for something inherent?
I believe that we can best answer with another question: Who is the most
important person in your life: God or yourself?
Why sin developed remains a mystery. Of course, we can speculate.
Perhaps the Angel of the Lord, Christ, was outwardly not so much different
from the anointed cherub, Lucifer, so that envy could develop? Still, "the
entrance of sin into the world" is a mystery "too deep for the human mind
to explain, or even fully to comprehend:'
2
Isai ah 14:12-15 talks about the fall of the "morning star:' It is the
central part of a saying (lament or taunt song) about the Babylonian king
(verses 3-23). While some of the church fathers regarded the middle verses
as describing the fall of Lucifer, modern interpreters usually believe that
they refer to a human king only. Could the verses depict an insolent human
king? One recognizes that arrogant earthly powers can seek to move from
earth toward heaven (remember the little horn's growth toward heaven
in Daniel 8), from the profane to the holy, thus desecrating the holy. In
Isaiah 14:12-15 the "morning star" (Latin lucifere, from which comes the
name Lucifer) goes in the opposite direction: he falls from heaven to earth,
indicating his supernatural as opposed to earthly origin. Other phrases
such as "throne above the stars of God;' "mount of assembly" in the far
north, and "Most High" reinforce the impression that he is a celestial being.
While verses 12 and 13 are in the past tense, verse 15 suddenly changes
to the future. Such a shift in time signals that there was, first, a fall from
heaven to earth (verse 12), and that there will bea second fall, from earth
to "sheol" (the grave), sometime in the future (verse 15). It does not seem
to indicate any specific Babylonian king. Instead, we must take it as a
reference to Lucifer.
The five "1 will" clauses in verses 13 and 14 illustrate the heart of the
sin problem: self-centeredness. Dissatisfied with his position, Lucifer was
bent on a fatal search for honor. His aim was to be greater than the stars of
God, to sit on the heavenly mount of assembly-probably a synonym for
the divine council-and take the position of the Most High. One cannot
help recognizing the stark contrast to the attitude of Christ: He "did not
regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself ...
humbled Himself .. . to the point of death'' (Phil2:6-8). While the created
Lucifer wished to become like God, the Creator Jesus became human.
While Lucifer wanted to shine above the heavens, Jesus descended into
the darkness of our sin-stricken planet, even into the dark valley of death.
And while Lucifer strove for greatness, leading to his fall, Jesus exhibited
humility and lowliness, resulting in His exaltation (verse 9). Christ is the
true andonly "bright morning star" (Rev. 22:16; cf. 2 Peter 1:19).
The Accusations
Change of arena. Same conflict. After his fall from heaven, Satan
attempted to distort and slander God's character in Eden, in the midst of
the first "sanctuary" on earth (Gen. 3:1-5). Satan brought his rebellion,
which originated in the heavenly sanctuary, down to the earthly sanctuary
in Eden. Through the serpent as his medium He spread his own view of
God and his rebellious ideas to human beings. After initiating contact
with Eve through the serpent (verse 1), he openly planted the idea in her
mind that God was depriving her and Adam of being like God themselves,
knowing good and evil (verse 5). Thus, however subtly, he misrepresented
God's character as being selfish.
The fall of Adam and Eve set Satan temporarily on the throne of our
world. Several texts suggest that he again gained access to the heavenly
court, though now as the "ruler" and "god of this world;'
3
as one who
possessed the earth but did not own it, much like a thief. He claimed to
be the delegate from our planet instead of humanity, but in reality he
represented only his own agenda.
We see his ro le as o ne who has something to say ( certainly no good
things) about humans in the heavenly court portrayed in the introduction
of the book ofJob (1:6-12; 2:1-6) and the fourth night vision of Zechariah
(Zech. 3:1-5). Such texts let us look behind the curtain for a glimpse of
the heavenly side of the great controversy. Satan is accusing believers in
front of God in the heavenly sanctuary. As we can see, the matter of the
accusation could be different, though.
Satan presented Job's righteousness as simply self-serving and accused
God of being self-interested when blessing Job. The implication is that
Job doesn't serve the Lord because He is worthy, but because it's in the
patriarch's best interests; and once it becomes clear that to do so won't
bring any blessing, Job will abandon his faith. God could then no more
show off the man as a righteous follower as He used to do. It was another
way of saying that God is unfair and unjust, practicing favoritism.
Job also had questions about God's righteousness (see, e.g., Job 19:6-8;
23:16-24:1). In fact, we're all in the same boat. We do wonder about God's
justice. When good people die much too early, we cry to God. Or when we
see bad things happening to good people, and good things happening to
bad people, we demand, Why? Sometimes we may have questions about
whether the Lord is just in His dealings. But there must be a difference
between the believers' questioning and Satan's criticism of God's justice.
And what is it? I think it is that we do believe that God is love, though we
do not understand what is happening (see Ps. 73). We see the unrighteous
world and ask our good God what He will do about it. Satan, on the other
hand, sees the good deeds of God and believes that He is unrighteous in
WGM-5
doing them. In a nutshell, we believe in a good and loving God, whereas
Satan portrays Him as a devilish deity.
In the case of the high priest Joshua in Zechariah 3 (a sanctuary motif),
Satan presented Joshua's unrighteousness as being an insurmountable
obstacle to the priest's salvation. And it was no isolated case. Satan is
making the same accusations of sin against all believers (see Rev. 12:10).
In both cases, the real issue is not the righteousness or unrighteousness
of the human beings, but rather the issue of divine justice. The question
behind all his accusations is whether God is fair and just in His dealings.
The divine character is on trial. Is it fair when God saves sinners? Is He
just when He declares the unrighteous tobe righteous? IfHe is just, Satan
argues, God will punish them. But if the Lord is gracious, He will forgive
them. Yet how can God be both, when He bestows good things on those
who do not deserve them?
Vindication at the Cross
From the very beginning God left no doubt that He would invalidate
Satan's accusations and demonstrate His ultimate love and justice. His
justice demands payment of the penalty for humanity's sin. On the other
hand, His love seeks to restore humanity into fellowship with Him. Again,
how could God manifest both?
I believe we find the answer already in the promise in Genesis 3:15.
4
On the same day that Adam and Eve sinned, God declared in this "first
gospel" that a savior would descend from them, who would endure
humanity's penalty and thereby claim victory over Satan. The fatal wound
of the serpent will happen at the same time that the heel of the savior is
bruised. The imagery is of a warrior who crushes with his foot the serpent's
head, while the serpent strikes at the very same foot.
The cross of Christ fulfilled the ancient gospel promise. While Satan
celebrated a Pyrrhic victory over Christ, little did he know that Christ's
resurrection would prove him wrong on all counts for all time.
So far God's character of love and justice stands revealed in its fullest
manifestation at the death of Christ. The Lord loved us and sent His Son
tobe the propitiation, the atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:10; John
3:16). By Himself paying the penalty for the violation of the law, God
showed His justice: the demands of the law had to be met, and they were,
at the cross, but in the person of Jesus.
At the same time, by His act ofjustice, God was also able to demonstrate
His grace and love, because Jesus' death was substitutionary. He died for
us, in our stead, so that we don't have to face that death ourselves. This is
the "joyous exchange" (Luther) in which we are absolutely allowed to revel:
that amazingly God Himself, to meet His own justice, would bear in Christ
the punishment that deservedly belonged to us, so that He could lavish His
grace and love on us, presenting us with all the good and wonderful things
that deservedly belonged to Christ only. For us believers, "mercy triumphs
over judgment" (James 2:13).
Romans 3:21-26 is a biblical jewel on the theme of God's own
righteousness and the redemption in Jesus Christ. Christ's sacrificial death
is a demonstration of God's righteousness "so that He would be just and the
justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus" (verse 26).
Again sanctuary imagery provides the framework for Christ's death.
Because His death is a perfect substitutionary sacrifice, Christ is the
"atonement cover" (see verse 25). Hebrews 13:10 adds that Christians do
ha ve an "altar": the self-offering of Christ on the cross at Calvary. In short,
the Bible reveals that the Old Testament sanctuary typified Christ's mission.
The result of the cross is that Satan has no right anymore to enter God's
presence. At the cross he was dethroned. There the one who offered Jesus
all the kingdoms of this world in exchange for worship (Matt. 4:8, 9) lost
any claim to it all. The ruler of our world has been cast out (John 12:31).
Vindication in the Judgment
In the past three chapters we have seen that the divine judgment is
good news for those of us who believe in Him, trust in Him, and are loyal
to Him. However, the judgment is not only for us. It also serves the purpose
to vindicate God before the entire universe, because the judgment displays
God's character.
He will judge the peoples with equity (Ps. 96:10), in faithfulness and
truthfulness (verse 13), and in righteousness (2 Tim. 4:8) so that it will
be proclaimed that He is just, true, and righteous (Rev. 16:5, 7; 19:2). His
judgment will exalt His character. What Abraham had already understood
will, in the end, be.manifest to all humanity: "Shall not the Judge of all the
earth deal justly?" (Gen. 18:25). The different phases of judgment, with
their open-book investigation, make sure that the angels (in the pre-Advent
judgment) and the righteous (in the millennial judgment) can prove and
convince themselves that God is just in His dealings with humanity and at
the same time He has been merciful in each case.
The beautiful "Christ hymn'' in Philippians 2:5-11 predicts as a final
act the exaltation and homage of Christ (verses 9-11). The main two events
express the same thought: Jesus is Lord and all creation will acknowledge
it. First, "every knee will bow" (verse 10). Bowing of the knee is a common
idiom for the recognition of a person's authority. Here it refers to the
rendering of homage to Christ, acknowledging His supreme sovereignty.
The second cosmic happening is that everyone "will confess that J esus
Christ is Lord" (verse 11). To the posture of homage is thus added the
confession of homage. By the way, the language of both acts of worship
comes straight from Isaiah 45:23, 24, in which Yahweh prophesied that all
would bow to Him, some because of His gift of salvation, others because
of His judgment. Thus Paul asserts that Yahweh's prophecy concerning
Himself will be fulfilled in Christ at the Second Coming ( cf. Rom. 14:10-
12). It is not difficult to see that Jesus is equal to Yahweh.
The homage to Jesus is universal. "In heaven and on earth and under the
earth" (Phil. 2:10) comprises every living being: the supernatural beings in
heaven, the living on earth, and the resurrected dead. Those who will pay
respect seem not tobe limited just to the saints. Everyone will acknowledge
His lordship, even the lost. In this way all creation will recognize that the
character of God, which has stood at the center of the great controversy,
is just and faithful. Even Satan, the archenemy of Christ, will acknowledge
God's fairness and bow to the supremacy of Christ.
5
Vindication by the Believers: The Cosmic Spectacle
The key element in the vindication of the divine character before the
universe is the cross. However, as important as the cross and the judgment
are in demonstrating God's character to be love and justice, individual
believers will also have their role. They declare God to be just by living
according to His principles. In that manner our seemingly wretched and
fragile life on this planet, if lived "in Christ;' will become a piece of the
puzzle that will reveal God's character to the universe and multiply His
praise and His honor.
The vindication of God by the believers is a concept found in both
the Old and the New Testament. One of the classic passages on the new
covenant in the Old Testament is Ezekiel36:23-27. Here God promises to
work a dramatic transformation among His people. He will cleanse them
(verse 25) and grant them a new heart and a new spirit (verse 26) so that
they will become a holy people who will follow God's commandments.
What God desires to accomplish is to justify and sanctify believers, and by
their life they will honor Him for who He is and what He does (verse 23).
The New Testament caUs Christ's followers a "spectacle to the world,
both to angels and to men" (1 Cor. 4:9). That is, what we do is being seen
not only by other people but by heavenly intelligences as well. What kind
of witness do we present? We can by our lives make known the "manifold
wisdom of God ... to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places"
(Eph. 3:10). Or we can bring shame and reproach on the name of the Lord
whom we profess to serve.
To this effect, we are living in a Christian culture of honor and shame.
We, as followers of Christ, can bring glory or shame to God by our actions.
Jesus succinctly pointed out this principle: "Let your light so shine before
men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is
in heaven'' (Matt. 5:16, NKJV).
Giving honor to God is an all-embracing task. It involves all aspects of
life, inwardly and outwardly, mentally and physically. One of the areas in
which it is most easy to recognize when we heap honor on our God is how
we treat our fellow humans. The New Testament frequently refers to loving
one another and having a forgiving attitude. Just remember that you honor
God when you forgive someone. And you honor Him when you honor a
person. So "honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the
king" (1 Peter 2:17).
In the book of Revelation the end-time remnant, as described in
chapters 12-14, fulfills the same task of glorifying God. Through their
faith, their divinely transformed character, and their loyal actions, they
can vindicate their God in front of the entire creation. The victory hymn
in Revelation 12:10-12 illustrates how God's people exonerate Him from
Satan's charges and emerge victorious in the conflict with Satan.
The key to victory is threefold. The first and foremost reason that
we can overcome is that we do it not in our own power, but through our
adherence to the power ofthe "blood ofthe Lamb" (see Rev. 5:9, 10; 7:14).
The blood of Christ has already gained the victory for us. It decided the
conflict long ago (notice the past tense "overcame" in Revelation 12:11).
Now Christ's victory will visibly continue in our lives.
Second, the power to conquer also rests in our testimony to the cross
of Christ. We declare what God has do ne for us. It involves both words and
actions, both loyalty and lifestyle. Our mission is a second key to victory.
Finally, our loyal relationship to God overcomes even the fear of death.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
We would rather die than sin against God. This triple key to victory is at
the same time the key to glorify God.
Conclusion
The great conflict between Christ and Satan originated in the heavenly
sanctuary and will end there. The cross, the judgment, and the loyallives
of the believers expose Satan and prove his accusations to be null and void,
while demonstrating God's love and justice.
The greatest revelation of His character, however, is not any event
in history or in any redeemed one, but it is Christ. "There stood in the
world One who was a perfect representative of the Father, One whose
character and practices refuted Satan's misrepresentation of God. Satan
had charged upon God the attribute he himself possessed. Now in Christ
he saw God revealed in His true character-a compassionate, merciful
Father, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to Him
in repentance, and have eternallife:'
6
And we will never know the end of this amazing revelation. "And
the years of eternity, as they roll, will bring richer and still more glorious
revelations of God and of Christ. As knowledge is progressive, so will
love, reverence, and happiness increase. The more men learn of God, the
greater will be their admiration of His character. As Jesus opens before
them the riches of redemption and the amazing achievements in the great
controversy with Satan, the hearts of the ransomed thrill with more fervent
devotion:'
7
1
E. G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 33; The Creat Controversy, p. 678.
2
Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn.,
1956), p. 106.
3
Scripture calls Satan "ruler of this world" (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11), "god of this
world" (2 Cor. 4:4), "prin ce of the power of the air" (Eph. 2:2), and as leading the "rulers,
... authorities, [and] cosmic powers of this present darkness" (Eph. 6:12, NRSV).
4
See "First Sacrifices" in chapter 3.
5
See E. G. White, The Creat Controversy, pp. 670, 671.
6
The SDA Bible Commentary, Ellen G. White Comments, voi. 6, pp. 1101, 1102.
7
E. G. White, The Creat Controversy, p. 678.
Exhortations From the Sanctuary
F
rom the book of Hebrews we learn that all theology has practical
implications. Throughout the book passages about Christian faith
(exposition) alternate with others about Christian living (exhortations).
The "what" of faith leads to the "how" of living that faith. The middle
section is no exception. After its author has painted the magnificent
theological picture ofChrist as high priest and sacrifice (Heb. 7: 1-10:18), he
encourages and exhorts the believers to live according to the implications
of those truths. We especially see such exhortation in Hebrews 10:19-25
with its three hortatory imperatives: "draw near:' "hold fast;' and "consider:'
The passage is one long, complex sentence in Greek. It consists of two
basic facts (verses 19-21) that lead to three exhortations introduced by "let
us:' and they contain the familiar Pauline triad of faith, hope, and love ( verses
22-25; see also Heb. 6:10-12; 1 Cor. 13:13). Each "let us" section contains
another fact of Christian faith that serves as reason for the exhortation. The
overview of the text below should help in grasping its message:
Two basic facts:
1. Christ is our sacrifice: "since we have confidence to enter the holy
place by the blood ofJesus" and His sacrifice (verses 19, 20).
2. Christ is our high priest: "since we have agreat priest" (verse 21).
Three "let us" based on the two basic facts:
1. Let us draw near to God "in full assurance ofFAITH" (verse 22).
Reason: We are justified and our hearts cleansed from a guilty
conscience (verse 22).
2. "Let us hold" to "our HOPE without wavering" (verse 23).
Reason: "He who promised is faithful" (verse 23).
135
3. Let us encourage one another to LOVE and to good deeds and not
forget to assemble together (verses 24, 25).
Reason: "The day is drawing near" (verse 25).
As we follow the line of thought developed in Hebrews 10:19-25 we
can see what kind of practica! exhortations for Christian living the author
draws from the two great sanctuary themes: Christ our sacrifice and Christ
our high priest.
The language ofHebrews 10:19-25 contains numerous references and
allusions to other places in the Epistle. In this chapter I will trace a number
of those connections (albeit for many of them I give only their reference,
but it is worthwhile to read those passages and thus savor the beautiful
textual tapestry they create).
Hebrews 10:19-25 exhibits especially close relationships with three
other sections of Hebrews. Their consideration will help in understanding
the message of this passage. First, Hebrews 6:19, 20 is connected with
Hebrews 10:19-21 with regard to theme and terminology. In the overall
structure of the book both passages correspond to each other. Second,
Hebrews 4:14-16 shares two of the three imperatives of Hebrews 10:22-25
("draw near;' "hold fast the confession"). Both Hebrews 4:14 and Hebrews
10:19 begin with the same construction, "having therefore;' found only
here in the book. The passage in Hebrews 4:14-16 mentions also the same
two basic facts as the reason for the practica! exhortation: Christ as high
priest and the suffering of Christ. Third, Hebrews 6: 10-12 shares the same
triad offaith, hope, and love with Hebrews 10:22-25.
Access to the Heavenly Sanctuary
One of the book of Hebrews' messages is that believers have spiritual
access to the heavenly sanctuary, to the very throne of God. We can seek
closeness to Him, because our "entry" was made possible by the blood of
Christ and by His representation in our behalf as our high priest (Heb.
10:19-21). Other texts assure us that our soul has an anchor connected to
Jesus Christ, who is in the verypresence ofGod (Heb. 4:14-16; 6:19, 20). In
Him "we ha ve boldness and access with confidence through faith of Him''
(Eph. 3:12, NKJV).
The text in Hebrews 6:19, 20 has long been an issue in Adventist
theology. Although many have written extensively on it, it boils down to
this question: Does Christ's entry "within the veil" in the first century A.D.
(at the time of the book's composition) call into question the understanding
that the day of atonement ministry of Christ commenced in 1844? In other
words, does Hebrews 6:19, 20 teach that the antitypical day of atonement
started in the first century A.D., because He entered the Most Holy Place?
To answer this question, we first have to understand what the phrase
"within the veil" means before we explore the theological impact of the
passage. A careful study of the terminology leads to the conclusion that
"within the veil" refers to the space behind the curtain that separated the
Most Holy from the holy place.
1
Christ therefore entered the Most Holy
Place after His ascension ( the Greek verbal form for "entered" describes a
one-time action occurring in the past). This is also evident from the fact
that Hebrews mentions several times that Christ sat down "at the right
hand of God;' an obvious reference to God's throne, which is located in
the heart ofthe heavenly sanctuary (Heb. 1:3, 13; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2). Still, this
is far from saying that Christ started the day of atonement ministry in the
first century. It rather designates that Christ gained full access to God after
His ascension and inauguration as the heavenly high priest.
2
That Christ's
inauguration serves as background to Hebrews 6:19, 20 we see underlined
by the structurally closely connected passage in Hebrews 10:19-21, which
clearly has inauguration in view.
3
Atit Christ sat on the heavenly throne, an
image that demonstrates His royal status (Rev. 3:21).
More important than the inauguration background of Hebrews 6:19,
20 is its straightforward good news for us: our representative is in the
presence of the Father. No mere earthly priest (himself sinful) serves on
our behalf. We have the better priest. While the earthly priests needed to
be shielded from God's presence in the Most Holy Place and could enter
there only once a year, and then only in a protecting cloud of incense (Lev.
16:13), nothing separates the Son from the Father. Because Christ is perfect
and sinless, there does not need to be a veil that shields God's holiness
from Jesus, our high priest (Heb. 10:20). This is the message of assurance
in Hebrews 6:19,20.
One more note: the author of Hebrews neither presents evidence for
the existence of two apartments in the heavenly sanctuary nor denies it. It
is simply not an issue in the Epistle.
For us to enter God's presence requires a decision, and to remain
there demands a loyallife. Here we need to pay attention to the only other
text in the New Testament that, besides Hebrews 10:19, speaks about the
"entrance" ( Greek eisodos) to heavenly places: 2 Peter 1:11. After Christ
has gained access to God, it is on us to make firm our call and election
(verse 10). Final salvation, "entrance into the eternal kingdom" (verse 11),
can only be granted if the believer gives the appropriate response, which
Peter explains as the fruits (verses 5-9). Notice that the entrance will be
"abundantly supplied to you" (verse 11). God always provides more than
necessary. In Him is fullness of every good thing, and He is more than
willing to share with His faithful ones.
Cleansed and Sincere
We have seen that we have full access to God's presence. But how shall
we come before Him? According to Hebrews 10:22, worshippers need to
meet four conditions before they draw near to God:
1. With a true or sincere heart. The heart is our inner being, our thoughts,
our motivations, our emotions, our will, and our character. God wants us to
be genuine and true. The Greek word for "true" (alethinos) occurs only three
times in Hebrews. As the sanctuary in heaven is the "true tabernacle" (Heb.
8:2; 9:24), so our heart needs to be true, that is, our devotion to God must be
honest (Heb. 10:22). We cannot enter the heavenly sanctuary with an "evil
heart of unbelief" (Heb. 3:12, KJV). Only true hearts are allowed into the
true tabernacle. However, the heart can become sincere only if cleansed. It
doesn't mean that we are perfect, only that we are striving with determination
toward revealing the character of Christ. Our wholehearted attitude matters.
2. In Juli assurance of faith. Because of Christ, our sacrifice and our
high priest, our faith can reach its fullest potential. Actually, the book
of Hebrews never envisions anything else than absolute and complete
faith. That is why it encourages its readers to show "diligence" -zeal and
eagerness- so as to realize the "full assurance" of hope (Heb. 6:11 uses here
the same word as in Heb. 10:22). Faith and hope seem not tobe virtues
that just fall into one's lap. It requires commitment and effort to hold on to
faith and hope in full assurance until the end (Heb. 3:6, 14). Furthermore,
it involves love, service, and an unswerving belief that God will keep His
promises.
4
We have tobe passionate about our faith.
A noteworthy observation, o ne easily overlooked (because you actually
have to look for nonoccurrences), is that the word "faith" has not appeared
in the book since Hebrews 6:12. The apostle never uses the word "faith;'
or any cognate verb, for the entire middle section of his Epistle, in which
he presents Christ as high priest and sacrifice. For him, those two glorious
truths are facts. Not something just to believe, they are instead the reason
for faith. They create faith that reaches beyond, from the seen to the unseen,
from the existent toward the not yet existent, from the present toward the
future. The book of Hebrews directs faith more toward the future than to
the past or the present.
5
But what about all those who feel that their little faith is much less than
perfect? Is there hope for us when we fall short of full assurance of faith?
When we cry out "Ido believe; help my unbelief" (Mark 9:24)? To answer
that, we must ask ourselves, Who never doubts? Who never despairs of
oneself? Who has not fallen? Who never fails our Savior? Here, again, is
the good news: Jesus is our assurance. He is "the author and perfecter of
faith'' (Heb. 12:2). The secret of absolute confidence is to have Him in full
view, not ourselves. He is all and all.
3. With aur hearts sprinkled clean from an evil canscience. The
sprinkling of the heart refers back to the blood sprinkling of the people in
the wilderness (Ex. 24:8; compare Lev. 8:23, 24), which made them ritually
clean but could not cleanse their conscience (Heb. 9:9, 13). The cleansing
in the true tabernacle in heaven, however, is one involving the conscience,
effected by the blood of Christ (verse 14). Such cleansing symbolizes
the justification of the repentant sinner. We can have a clear conscience,
because we haye been forgiven.
4. With aur badies washed with pure water. This verse again seems
saturated with sanctuary language. At the door to the tabernacle the ritual
of washing with water makes clean and pure (Ex. 29:4; Lev. 8:6). Some see
here an allusion to Christian baptism, but we could also understand it in
a more spiritual sense as "washing ... with the word" (Eph. 5:26), reading
the Bible and applying its principles to our lives.
The last two conditions mentioned in Hebrews 10:22 find their
correspondence in a wake-up call offered by the apostle James. In James
4:7, 8, James struggles with the "double-minded" attitude of his readers.
They have apparently lost their single-mindedness toward God. Having
compromised, they face immediate danger. This passage suggests that there
is a spiritual state between full assurance of faith and spiritual indifference.
The only remedy prescribed is radical repentance, which shows itself in
cleansing the entire person, both the outward hands and the inward heart.
James, like Hebrews, uses language associated with cultic purity, that is,
purity at the sanctuary. It is truly a sanctuary concept that approaching
God is possible only if purification takes place. However, we can come
close only because God Himself provides for such cleansing.
Faith: Be Confident
Hebrews 10:19-25 offers many expressions of certainty. The theme
of "confidence" appears time and again in the book. The Greek word
for "confidence" (parresia) refers to a courage and fearlessness that, in
the New Testament, describes our new relationship with God. We can
come with boldness to the throne of God (Heb. 4:16; 10:19) and should
never be tempted to throw such confidence away (Heb. 10:35; cf. Heb.
3:6). Originally, parresia referred to an openness of speech, which, in the
context of Hebrews 10:19, could specifically designate that one can freely
approach God in prayer. Such openness in our relationship with Him
produces a joyful confidence. The reason and object of our confidence is
that we have a high priest in heaven through whom we can have access
to the very presence of God. It is unlimited, and nothing can block it but
ourselves and our wrong choices. We have an open invitation to come into
the heavenly sanctuary.
So where does such confidence come from? We do not produce it by
ourselves, but gain it by recognizing, again, that the blood ofJesus has won
access to God's presence for us.
Let's look at a few other texts in Hebrews that speak about confidence
and assurance. Our confidence is not to be lost, for we are "His house"
(Heb. 3:6) and "partakers of Christ" (verse 14). With Him as high priest,
we can confidently ask God for grace and mercy (Heb. 4:16). Assurance is
thus a hallmark of being Christian (Heb. 6:11).
To many people faith and full assurance are incompatible, for they
understand faith as a condition of not knowing or being unsure. However,
in the Bible, and especially in Hebrews, faith is in fact nothing else than full
assurance. How is this possible?
Rest assured, confidence and assurance are not entrenched in us, but
only in Christ. They do not depend upon whom we are but whom our
Mediator is. Interestingly, the book does mention that the believer would
have nothing less than "full assurance" (Heb. 6:11; 10:22). Obviously, the
newwaythathas been foreveropened through Jesus' death willlead without
fail to full confidence. Nothing less is expected. To rephrase this again,
full assurance of faith is not a presumptuous attitude. True believers, who
have full assurance, trust in Christ alone, while proud and presumptuous
"believers" trust in themselves.
There are two ways to develop Christian confidence and maintain
it in faith. One is through faith itself (Eph. 3:12), while the other is
through faithful Christian service for others (1 Tim. 3:13). Both aspects
are necessary and important. In Hebrews, too, assurance of faith and
exhortation to prove oneself as Christian go hand in hand. Christian living
is never detached from Christian faith.
Hope: Be Steadfast and Unswerving
Besides the assurance of salvation, it is important personaliy to
persevere and uphold the hope offered to ali. To hold fast is a serious appeal
in Hebrews. One gets the impression that some believers were slipping
away from their Christian faith and hope. The apostle had to encourage
them again and again to not let go. What he considers worth clinging to he
expresses in quite similar ways: "confidence and the pride that belong to
hope" (Heb. 3:6, NRSV), "assurance" (verse 14), "confession'' (Heb. 4:14),
"hope set before us" (Heb. 6:18), and "confession of our hope" (Heb. 10:23).
We can understand ali of these terms in an objective sense as referring to
Christian belief. And we can do so, because our hope isn't in ourselves, but
in Jesus and what He has done for us. The moment we forget that crucial
truth we will surely Iose confidence.
As a Christian, it is not possible to cut back on the convictions of
hope. The texts challenge us to be steadfast from the "beginning" (Heb.
3:14) and "until the end" (Heb. 3:6, 14; 6:11). To do so "without wavering"
(Heb. 10:23) refers to an immutable and unshaken faith. Whatever the
circumstances may be, our hope remains the same, our commitment to
God unchanged, and that is because we can trust that He is faithful to
do what He has promised. If we are losing our hold on hope, it is God's
faithfulness that encourages us again to rethink and to renew our firm
commitment.
Hebrews 10:23 says that the reason for hope is that God is faithful.
Scripture constantly attests to God's faithfulness (see, e.g., Deut. 7:9; 1 Cor.
1:9; 10:13; 2 Cor. 1:18; 1 Thess. 5:24). But what does it mean that He is
faithful? The apostle's answer is that God is true to His word. The example
from history, which he chose to illustrate this very point, was God's
promise to Abraham and Sarah (Heb. 6:13-15). Even though Sarah was
barren, the parents-to-be trusted God that He would fulfili His promise.
Such trust, given physical realities, seems to be highly irrational. However,
the reason for their confidence is that they considered "him faithful
who had promised" (Heb. 11:11, NRSV). This statement, with the same
wording, occurs in one other place in the book (Heb. 10:23), in which the
hope refers to God's promise of our eternal inheritance (see Heb. 1:14; 6:12;
9:15; 12:28).
Fulfillment in the past gives us hope for the future. God's faithfulness
as proven in history offers assurance that He will keep those promises
not yet brought to reality, appearances notwithstanding. In addition to
the promise to Abraham and Sarah (see also Rom. 4:19-21), He fulfilled,
among others, the promise of Christ's first coming (Gal. 3:19), the promise
to raise up a priest like Melchizedek (Heb. 7:11, 15; cf. Ps. 110:4), and the
promise to ratify His covenant (Heb. 8:7-13; 9:15). In time He will also
bring to pass the promise of Christ's return (Heb. 12:26). God's ultimate
promise, however, is eternal life, which He announced even before time
began (Titus 1:2; 1 John 2:25). And we can trust that He will fulfill it.
God's promises are the essential nourishment for our perseverance
(Heb. 10:34-37). We need such "endurance" so that we "may receive what
was promised" (verse 36), and while we wait and work patiently, we fix our
eyes on Jesus (Heb. 12:1, 2). Without hope in God's promises, who could
be steadfast? Without hope, why should we persevere?
God's promises are also the reason for our faith. Hebrews 11: 1 gives
us this definition of faith: "faith is the assurance of things hoped for" or
"faith is the substance of things hoped for" (NKJV). Contrary to what
many people "believe;' faith is not wishful thinking, nor does it reside in
uncertainty. Faith is reality, but one just not yet present. And it is based on
God's promises. In other words, God's faithfulness awakens our faith.
Finally, God's faithfulness is immovable. Even "if we are faithless,
He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself" (2 Tim. 2:13). Our
unfaithfulness or disbelief will not change His intention for us. His
promises remain unshaken by our morallapses. They will still be available
for us because faithfulness is part of the divine nature. In fact, we need to
cling to those promises especially when we fail, because we need to fix our
eyes on Jesus and not on ourselves. Only then will we experience faith and
not frustration.
Love: Encourage One Another
Whereas the second exhortation focuses on the individual attitude, the
third one has the community ofbelievers in view: "And let us consider how
to stimulate one another to love and good deeds" (Heb. 10:24). We do not
walk alo ne on our path with Christ. Rather, we should consistently care for
one another.
The challenge to love one another is a traditional component of
Christian behavior. It originated in the new commandment of Christ
to "love one another;' and such love becomes the hallmark of Christ's
followers (John 13:34, 35; 15:12, 17). The New Testament has taken up this
commandment and passed it on in many different forms (Rom. 13:8; Gal.
5:13; Eph. 4:2; 1 Thess. 3:12; 4:9; 2 Thess. 1:3; 1 Peter 1:22, 23; 1 John 3:11,
23; 4:7, 11, 12, 19-21; 2 John 5).
However, loving one another does not just happen naturally. The
activity of "considering" suggests concentrated and careful pondering.
Scripture urges us to pay attention to our fellow believers and see how
we could incite them to love God and others, and to do good works. It
is, unfortunately, easier to provoke and antagonize others, to irritate and
confuse them, than it is to spur them on to Christian love, isn't it? It's all the
more important, then, that we focus our efforts on working for the best of
the community so that, because of our inducements to love, others cannot
help loving and performing good works as well.
There is one point that the author of Hebrews especially stresses: that
we express love toward o ne another in Christian gatherings (Heb. 10:24,
25). If someone does not attend worship anymore, how could he or she
ever fulfill Christ's law of love? Some people may think that they have
"good" reasons to stay away from Christian meetings, such as persecution,
unloving church members, or hostility from fellow citizens. Hebrews,
however, touches on the sensitive issue that, in the end, it might be their
own apathy that keeps them away. One can always find reasons to avoid
church attendance or other Christian gatherings. They, however, pale in
contrast to the reason for coming- and that is, in order tobe blessed by
God and be a blessing to others.
Such behavior is all the more pressing the nearer the day of Christ's
return approaches. At the beginning of Hebrews 10:19-25 the author
admonishes believers to draw near to God in the heavenly sanctuary, and
at its conclusion reminds them that the day of the Lord draws near. The
imminence of Christ's return has and will always bea major incentive for
Christian behavior. It provides a sense of urgency to our lives that will
transform into energy to live like Christ and proclaim His message.
Conclusion
The facts of theology always shape Christian living. That Jesus Christ
is our high priest and our sacrifice gives us full assurance of salvation
and draws us close to God, who justifies and saves us, and to our fellow
believers, whom we can encourage and support in Christian living.
"We are to understand that we may confidently expect God's favor not
only in this world, but in the heavenly world, since He paid such a price for
our salvation. Faith in the atonement and intercession of Christ will keep
us steadfast and immovable amid the temptations that press upon us in the
church militant. Let us contemplate the glorious hope that is set before us,
and by faith lay hold upon if'
6
1
Besides in Hebrews 6:19, the phrase "within the vei!" appears in the Greek Bible
only in Exodus 26:33 and Leviticus 16:2, 12, 15. In those texts it indicates the locality be-
hind the tabernacle's second curtain, that is, the Most Holy Place. Even the Hebrew word
for "vei!" (paroket) used in these texts occurs a total of 21 times in the Old Testament
and always applies to the second curtain (Ex. 26:31, 33 [3x), 35; 27:21; 30:6; 36:35; 38:27;
40:3, 22, 26; Lev. 4:6, 17; 16:2, 12, 15; 21:23; 24:3; Num. 18:7; 2 Chron. 3:14). For the sake of
completeness, we should mention that the Greek term for "vei!" (katapetasma) can refer
in the Old Testament to the entrance vei! to the tabernacle court (four times), to the tab-
ernacle's first vei! (eight times), or its second vei! (26 times), while in the New Testament
katapetasma denotes only the second vei! (Matt. 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45; Heb. 6:19;
9:3; 10:20).
2
So Richard M. Davidson, "Christ's Entry 'Within the Vei!' in Hebrews 6:19, 20: The
Old Testament Background," Andrews University Seminary Studies 39 (2001): 175-190;
"Inauguration or Day of Atonement? A Response to Norman Young's 'Old Testament
Background to Hebrews 6:19-20 Revisited,'" Andrews University Seminary Studies 40
(2002): 69-88; Cortez, "'The Anchor of the Soul,'" pp. 300-324.
3
Hebrews 6:19, 20 and Hebrews 10:19-21 adjoin the theological central section of
the book (Hebrews 7:1-10:18) at opposite ends, the former being the end of a hortatory
section, while the latter is the beginning of the next hortatory section. They are thus part
of a symmetrical structure in the middle part of Hebrews. Both passages share similar
themes and are connected by "hook words": "Jesus," "curtain," "on our behalf/for us,"
"entered/entrance," and "high priest." See George Rice, "The Chiastic Structure of the
Central Section of the Epistle to the Hebrews," Andrews University Seminary Studies 19
(1981): 243-246; George H. Guthrie, The Structure of Hebrews: A Text-Linguistic Analysis,
Supplements to Novum Testamentum (Leiden: Brill, 1994), voi. 73, p. 100.
4
See Craig R. Koester, Hebrews, Ihe Anchor Bible (New York: Doubleday, 2001), voi.
36, pp. 317, 444.
5
The noun "faith" occurs in Hebrews 4:2; 6:1, 12; 10:22, 38, 39; 12:2; 13:7; and 24
times in Hebrews 11. The verb "to believe" appears in Hebrews 4:3; 11:6. The objects of
faith regarding the' fu ture are the promised rest (Heb. 4:2, 3), promises (Heb. 6:12), and
the unseen and unfulfilled (Heb. 11).
6
Ellen G. White, in Review and Herald, June 9, 1896.
To understand the scarlet thread fully, we must look at the
sanctuary: the holy ground that offers a glimpse of God's
character and His plan of redemption.
Mysterious and often misunderstood, the sanctuary is at the
very heart of biblica! theology. Where God and I Meetwill help
you achieve greater understanding of the heavenly sanctuary,
the Israelite sanctuary, the pre-Advent judgment, and Christ's
sacrifice and high-priestly ministry. You'll come to grasp how the
sanctuary interconnects with salvation, prophecy, and mission.
But most important, you will see how the precious scarlet thread
weaves a message ofhope and redemption throughout every page
of the Bible.
MARTIN PROBSTLE, Ph.D., is an Old Testament professor
at Bogenhofen Seminary in Austria. He is passionate about
studying and teaching the Bible with "fresh eyes." Martin enjoys
reading, spending time with his wife, Marianne, and playing
soccer and volleyball with their sons, Max and Jonathan.
tJ) Review&Herald.
REVIEW ANO HERALD" PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION
SINCE 1861 1 WWW.REVIEWANOHERALO COM
US$13.99
ISBN 978-0-8280-2704-5
1 111111 III
9 780828 027045

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