— "
Word to the "Little Flock," (1847)
The Sanctuary was the heart of the typical system. There the Lord
placed His name, manifested His glory, and held converse with
the High Priest relative to the welfare of Israel. While we inquire
from the Scriptures what the Sanctuary is, let all educational
prejudice be dismissed from the mind. For the Bible clearly defines,
what the Sanctuary is, and answers every reasonable question you
may ask concerning it.
The name, Sanctuary, is applied to several different things in
the Old Testament, neither did the Wonderful Numberer, tell Daniel
what Sanctuary was to be cleansed at the end of the 2300 days,
but called it the Sanctuary, as though Daniel well understood
it, and that he did is evident from the fact that he did not ask
what it was. But as it has now become a matter of dispute as to
what the Sanctuary is, our only safety lies in seeking from the
New Testament, the Divine comment upon it. Its decision should
place the matter beyond all controversy with Christians.
Paul freely discusses this subject in the Epistle to the Hebrews,
to whom the typical covenant pertained. "Then verily the
first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly
sanctuary. (Hebrews 13:11, see Hebrews 9:1-5.)
"For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was
the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called
(Hagia) Holy.
"And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called
the (Hagia Hagion) Holy of Holies;
"Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant
overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that
had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the
covenant;
"And over it the cherubims of glory overshadowing the mercy-seat;
of which we cannot now speak particularly."
A particular description is found in the last four books of the
Pentateuch. "Sanctuary" was the first name the Lord
gave it; Exodus 25:8 which name covers not only the tabernacle
with its two apartments, but also the court and all the vessels
of the ministry. This Paul calls the Sanctuary of the first covenant,
"which was a figure for the time then present, in which were
offered both gifts and sacrifices;" Hebrews 9:9.
"But Christ being come an High Priest of good things to come
by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands;"
verse 11.
The priests entered the "figures" or "patterns
of the true", which true are the "heavenly places themselves",
into which Christ entered when He entered "heaven itself";
verses 23, 24. When He ascended to the right hand of the Father,
"in the heavens", He became "A Minister of the
Sanctuary (or Hagion, Holies) and of the true tabernacle, which
the Lord pitched and not man;" Hebrews 8:1,2. That is the
Sanctuary of the "better (the new) covenant;" verse
6.
The Sanctuary to be cleansed at the end of 2300 days is also the
Sanctuary of the new covenant, for the vision of the treading
down and cleansing, is after the crucifixion. We see that the
Sanctuary of the new covenant is not on earth, but in heaven.
The true tabernacle which forms a part of the new covenant Sanctuary,
was made and pitched by the Lord, in contradistinction to that
of the first covenant which was made and pitched by man, in obedience
to the command of God; Exodus 25:8.
Now what does the same apostle say the Lord has pitched? "A
city which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God;"
Hebrews 11:10. What is its name? "The heavenly Jerusalem;"
Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 21. "A building of God, an house
not made with hands eternal in the heavens;" 2 Corinthians
5:1. "My Father's house of many mansions;" John 14:2.
When our Saviour was at Jerusalem, and had pronounced its house
desolate, the disciples came to Him to show Him the buildings
of the temple. Then He said: "There shall not be left here
one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down:" Matthew
24:1,2. That temple was their Sanctuary; 1 Chronicles 22:17-19;
28:9-13; 2 Chronicles 29:5,21; 36:14,17. Such an announcement would
tend to fill them with sadness and fear, as foretelling the derangement,
if not the total prostration of their entire religious system.
But to comfort and teach them, He says, "In My Father's house
are many mansions;" John 14:1-3.
Standing, as He was, on the dividing line between the typical
covenant and the anti-typical, and having just declared the house
of the former no longer valid, and foretold its destruction; how
natural that He should point His disciples to the Sanctuary of
the latter, about which their affections and interests were to
cluster as they had about that of the former. The Sanctuary of
the new covenant is connected with New Jerusalem, like the Sanctuary
of the first covenant was with Old Jerusalem. As that was the
place where the priests of that covenant ministered, so this is
in heaven, the place where the Priest of the new covenant ministers.
To these places, and these only, the New Testament applies the
name "Sanctuary", and it does appear that this should
forever set the question at rest.
But as we have been so long and industriously taught to look to
the earth for the Sanctuary, it may be proper to inquire, by what
Scriptural authority have we been thus taught? I can find none.
If others can, let them produce it. Let it be remembered that
the definition of Sanctuary is "a holy or sacred place".
Is the earth, is Palestine such a place? Their entire contents
answer, No! Was Daniel so taught? Look at his vision.
"And the place of His Sanctuary was cast down;" Daniel
8:11. This casting down was in the days and by the means of the
Roman power; therefore, the Sanctuary of this text was not the
Earth, nor Palestine, because the former was cast down at the
fall, more than 4,000 years, and the latter at the captivity,
more than 700 years previous to the event of this passage, and
neither by Roman agency.
The Sanctuary cast down is His against whom Rome magnified himself,
which was the Prince of the host, Jesus Christ; and Paul teaches
that His Sanctuary is in heaven. Again, Daniel 11:30,31, "For
the ships of Chittim shall come against him; therefore, shall
he be grieved and return, and have indignation (the staff to chastise)
against the holy covenant (Christianity), so shall he do; he shall
even return and have intelligence with them (priests and bishops)
that forsake the holy covenant.
"And arms (civil and religious) shall stand on his part,
and they (Rome and those that forsake the holy covenant) shall
pollute the Sanctuary of strength."
What was this that Rome and the apostles of Christianity should
joint pollute? This combination was formed against the "holy
covenant", and it was the Sanctuary of that covenant they
polluted; which they could do as well as to pollute the name of
God; Jeremiah 34:16; Ezekiel 20; Malachi 1:7. This was the same
as profaning or blaspheming His name. In this sense this "politico-religious"
beast polluted the Sanctuary, (Revelation 13:6), and cast it down
from its place in heaven, (Psalm 102:19; Jeremiah 17:12; Hebrews
8:1,2) when they called Rome the holy city, (Revelation 21:2)
and installed the Pope there with the titles, "Lord God the
Pope", "Holy Father", "Head of the Church",
etc., and there, in the counterfeit, "temple of God",
he professes to do what Jesus actually does in His Sanctuary;
2 Thessalonians 2:1-8. The Sanctuary has been trodden under foot
(Daniel 8:13), the same as the Son of God has. (Hebrews 10:29.)
Daniel prayed "Cause Thy face to shine upon Thy Sanctuary
that is desolate;" Daniel 9:17. This was the typical Sanctuary
built by Solomon. "Thou hast commanded me to build a temple
upon Thy Holy Mount, and an altar in the city wherein Thou dwellest,
a resemblance of Thy Holy tabernacle, which Thou hast prepared
from the beginning;" Wisdom of Solomon 9:8; 1 Chronicles 28:10-13.
It has shared in the seventy years desolation of Jerusalem; Daniel
9:2; 2 Chronicles 36:14-21. It was rebuilt after the captivity;
Nehemiah 10:39. Moses received the patterns of the Sanctuary,
built at Sinai when he was with the Lord forty days in the cloud
on the Mount; and David received the patterns of that built by
Solomon, which superseded Moses' with its chambers, porches, courts,
the courses of the priests and Levites, and all the vessels of
service, etc., "by the Spirit;" 1 Chronicles 28:10-13.
It is manifest that both Moses and David had prophetic visions
of the New Jerusalem with its Sanctuary and Christ, the officiating
Priest. When that built by Moses was superseded by Solomon's,
the Ark was borne from the former to the latter; 2 Chronicles 5:2-8.
The Sanctuary comprehended not only the Tabernacle, but also all
the vessels of the ministry, enclosed by the court in which the
tabernacle stood; Numbers 3:29-31; 10:17,21. So the court in which
the Temple stood was properly called the Sanctuary - Prideaux.
We learn the same from 2 Chronicles 29:18,21. "We have cleansed
all the house of the Lord, and the altar of burnt-offering, with
all the vessels thereof, and the shew-bread table with all the
vessels thereof."
The altar of burnt-offering with its vessels stood before the
Temple in the inner court, the whole of which are in verse 21
called the Sanctuary. Well, says one, is not Palestine called
the Sanctuary? I think not. Exodus 15:17 - "Thou shalt bring
them in and plant them in the mountain of Thine inheritance, in
the place, O Lord, which Thou hast made for Thee to dwell in;
in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which Thy hands have established."
What is it which the Lord "has made to dwell in", which
His "hands have established"? Paul says it is "A
city;" Hebrews 11:10; a "Tabernacle", Hebrews 8:2;
"A building in the heavens," 2 Corinthians 5:1. And the
Lord has chosen Mount Zion in Palestine for the place of its final
location; Psalm 132:13,14. "For the Lord hath chosen Zion;
He hath desired it for His habitation.
"This is My rest forever; here will I dwell; for I have desired
it."
"He brought them to the border of the Sanctuary, even to
this mountain;" Psalm 78:54; which was its chosen border
or place; but not the Sanctuary itself, any more than Mount Moriah,
on which the Temple was built, was the Temple itself. Did they
regard that land as the Sanctuary? If they did not, we should
not. A view of the text in which the word occurs will show: "Let
them make Me a Sanctuary;" Exodus 25:8. "The shekel
of the Sanctuary," Exodus 30:13 and above twenty others like
it. "Then wrought Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise-hearted
man, in whom the Lord put wisdom and understanding to know how
to work all manner of work for the service of the Sanctuary,"
Exodus 26:1-6, see Exodus 36:1. "Before the veil of the Sanctuary,"
Leviticus 4:6. "Carry your brethren from before the Sanctuary,"
Leviticus 10:4. "Nor come into the Sanctuary;" Leviticus
12:4. "He shall make atonement for the tabernacle;"
Leviticus 16:33. "Reverence My Sanctuary;" Leviticus
19:30; 26:2. "Nor profane the Sanctuary of his God;"
Leviticus 21:12. "Vessels of the Sanctuary;" Numbers
3:31. "Charge of the Sanctuary;" Numbers 3:32,38. "They
minister in the Sanctuary;" Numbers 4:12. "In the Sanctuary,
and the vessels thereof." Verse 16. "And when Aaron
and his sons have made an end of covering the Sanctuary and all
the vessels of the Sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after
that the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it;" Numbers 4:15;
7:9; 10:21. "That there be no plague among the children of
Israel when the children of Israel come nigh unto the Sanctuary;"
Numbers 8:19. "Thou and thy sons and thy Father's house with
thee shall bear the iniquity of the Sanctuary;" Numbers 18:1.
"He hath defiled the Sanctuary of his God;" Numbers
19:20. Joshua "took a great stone and set it up there under
an oak that was by the Sanctuary of the Lord." Joshua 24:26.
"All the instruments of the Sanctuary." 1 Chronicles
9:29. "Build ye the Sanctuary;" 1 Chronicles 22:19. "Governors
of the Sanctuary;" 1 Chronicles 24:5. "The Lord hath
chosen thee to build an house for the Sanctuary;" 1 Chronicles
28:10; 2 Chronicles 20:8. "Go out of the Sanctuary;"
2 Chronicles 26:18; 29:21; 30:8. "Purification of the Sanctuary;"
2 Chronicles 30:19; 36:17.
I have given nearly every text, and, I believe, every different
form of expression in which the word occurs till we come to the
Psalms; so that every one can see what they understood the Sanctuary
to be. And of the fifty texts quoted, not one applies it to the
land of Palestine, nor any land. That Sanctuary, though enclosed
with curtains, was called "the house of the Lord," (Judges
18:31; 1 Samuel 1:7-24) and was pitched at the city of Shiloah
at the time of dividing the land; Judges 18:1,10, hence it was
called the "Tabernacle of Shiloah," (safety and happiness)
Psalms 78:60. The Lord forsook it when the Philistines took the
ark (1 Samuel 4:3-11) and delivered His strength into captivity,
and His glory into the enemy's hand; verse 21.
It was brought back to Kirjath-jearim (1 Samuel 7:1,2), thence
to the house of Obed-edom, thence to the city of David which is
Zion, (2 Samuel 6:1-19; 5:9) and thence, at the direction of Solomon,
the Ark was conveyed into the Holy of Holies of the temple (1 Kings
8:1-6), which was built in Mount Moriah near Mount Zion; 2 Chronicles
3:1. The Lord has chosen Zion to dwell in rest forever; (Psalms
132:13,14) but as yet He had dwelt there but a short time, and
then in curtains made with hands; but when He shall appear in
His glory He will have "mercy on Zion" and build it
up; then Jerusalem upon it, shall be "a quiet habitation,
a tabernacle that shall not be taken down;" (Psalm 102; Isaiah
33:20). And then "the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem;"
verses 18,19. The Song of Moses, (Exodus 15) is evidently prophetic,
and contemplates the happy scenes of the Eden Zion. And so Ezekiel
has it. The Lord will bring the whole house of Israel up out of
their graves into the land of Israel; and then set His Sanctuary
and tabernacle in the midst of them for evermore. The Sanctuary
is not "the land of Israel" nor the people; for it is
set in their midst, and is built and forms a part of the city
whose name is, "The Lord is there."
THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST
The priesthood of the worldly Sanctuary of the first covenant
belonged to the sons of Levi; but that of the heavenly, of the
better covenant, to the Son of God. He fulfills both the Priesthood
of Melchisedec and Aaron. In some respects the Priesthood of Christ
resembles that of Melchisedec; and in others that of Aaron or
Levi. (1) He was "made an High Priest forever, after the
order of Melchisedec." Taxis, rendered order, properly signifies
"series, succession." Christ, like Melchisedec, had
no priestly descent of pedigree; Hebrews 7:3 (margin) i.e. He
never followed nor will have a successor in office; and "because
He continueth ever, hath an unchangeable Priesthood," (which
passeth not from one to another; margin) verse 24.
The Priesthood of Levi to be continuous had many and a succession
of priests, "because they were not suffered to continue by
reason of death;" verse 23. (2) Being after the order of
Melchisedec, He is superior to the sons of Levi; because He blessed
and received tithes from them in Abraham; verses 1,7,9,10. (3)
He is King and Priest; a King by birth, being from the tribe of
Judah, and a Priest by the oath of His Father; verses 14, 21.
(4) Being Himself perfect, and His priesthood unending, He is
able to "perfect forever" and "save them to the
uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to
make intercession for them." He was not called after the
order of Aaron; i.e. not in his succession; but this does not
at all prove that the Priesthood of Aaron was not typical of the
Priesthood of Christ. Paul distinctly shows that it is.
(1) After calling upon us to "consider the Apostle and High
Priest of our profession (or religion), Christ Jesus," he
lays the foundation of the investigation by drawing the analogy
between Moses over his house (olkos, people) and Christ over His,
(Hebrews 3:1-6) and says: "Moses verily was faithful in all
his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which
were to be spoken after." This clearly shows that the Mosaic
economy was typical of the divine. (2) He shows that He was called
of God to be an High Priest "as was Aaron;" Hebrews
5:1-5. (3) Like Aaron and his sons, He took upon Him flesh and
blood, the seed of Abraham, "was in all points tempted like
as we are, yet without sin," was made "perfect through
suffering," and "in all things it behooved Him to be
made like unto His brethren; that He might be a merciful and faithful
High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation
for the sins of the people;" Hebrews 2:4. (5) Both were ordained
for men in things pertaining to God: that (they might) offer both
gifts and sacrifices for sins;" Hebrews 5:1; 8:3.
(6) Paul evidently considered the Levitical priesthood typical
of Christ's from the pains he takes to explain the analogies and
contrasts between them; (7) "And they truly were many priests,
because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death:
but this Man, because He continueth ever, hath an unchangeable
priesthood." (8) "Who needeth not daily, as those high
priests to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins, and then
for the people's; for this He did once when He offered up Himself."
(9) "For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity;
but the word of the oath which was since the law, maketh the Son
who is consecrated (perfected, margin) for evermore;" Hebrews
7:23-28. (10) "But now hath He obtained a more excellent
ministry" than theirs; Hebrews 8:6. (11) "By how much
also He is the mediator of a better covenant" than theirs;
Hebrews 8:6. (12) "But Christ being come an High Priest of
good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle"
than theirs; Hebrews 9:11. (13) "Neither by the blood of
goats and calves, but by His own blood, He entered in once into
the holy place." verse 12. (14) "For if the blood of
bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean
sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh; how much more shall
the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal spirit offered Himself
without spot to God purge your conscience;" verses 13, 14.
(15) "For Christ is not entered into the holy places made
with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven
itself; verse 24. (16) "Nor yet that He should offer Himself
often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year
with blood of others;" but now once in the end of the world
hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself;"
verses 25, 26. (17) "And as it is appointed unto (the) men
(priests) once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ
was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that
look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto
salvation." verses 27, 28.
(18) "For the law having a shadow of good things to come,
and not the very image of the things can never with those sacrifices
which they offered year by year continually, make the comers thereunto
perfect;" but "by one offering He hath perfected forever
them that are sanctified;" Hebrews 10:14. (19) "It is
not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take
away sins;" "but a body hast Thou prepared Me;"
verses 4, 5. These are a part of the contrasts or comparisons
the Apostle draws between the Levitical priesthood and Christ's,
and there is a resemblance in every instance, but Christ's is
superior to Levi's. - I add one more. Hebrews 8:4,5. "For
if He were on earth He should not be a priest, seeing that there
(many, they) are priests that offer gifts according to the law:
Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things."
The features of the substance always bear a resemblance to those
of the shadow, hence the "heavenly things" referred
to in this text must be priestly service "in the heavens"
(verses 1,2) performed by our High Priest in His Sanctuary; for
if the shadow is service, the substance is service also.
As the priests of the law served unto the example and shadow of
the heavenly service we can from their service learn something
of the nature of the heavenly service. "Moses was admonished
of God when he was about to make the tabernacle; for, see (saith
he) that thou make all things according to the pattern showed
to thee in the Mount."
None can deny that, in obedience to this admonition, Moses made
or instituted the Levitical priesthood; it was then "according
to the pattern" which the Lord showed him, and that pattern
was of heavenly things, Hebrews 9:23. If there was not another
text to prove that the Levitical priesthood was typical of the
Divine, this would abundantly do it. Yet some are even denying
this obvious import of the priesthood; but if this is not its
import, I can see no meaning in it. It is an idle round of ceremonies
without sense or use, as it did not perfect those for whom it
was performed; but looked upon as typical of the heavenly, it
is replete with the most important instruction. As this is the
application made of it by the New Testament, so we must regard
it, while we examine the atonement made under the Levitical priesthood.
"Now when these things (the worldly Sanctuary with its two
apartments and the furniture in each) were thus ordained, the
priests went always (daily, Hebrews 7:27; 10:11) into the first
tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God.
"But into the second went the high priest alone once every
year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for
the errors of the people." Hebrews 9:6,7.
Here Paul divides the services of the Levitical priesthood into
two classes - one daily in the Holy, and the other yearly in the
Holy of Holies. Their stated daily services, performed in the
Holy and at the brazen altar in the court before the tabernacle,
consisted of a burnt-offering of two lambs, one in the morning
and the other at even, with a meat-offering which was one tenth
of an ephah of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of
beaten oil, and a drink-offering which was one-fourth of an hin
of strong wine. The meat-offering was burnt with the lamb, and
the drink-offering was poured in the Holy; Exodus 29:38-42; Numbers
28:3-8. In connection with this, they burned on the golden altar
in the Holy, sweet incense, which was a very rich perfume, when
they dressed and lighted the lamps every evening and morning.
Exodus 30:34-38; 31:11; 30:7-9. The same was afterwards done at
the Temple. 1 Chronicles 16:37-40; 2 Chronicles 2:4; 13:4-12; (13:3
see 2 Chronicles 31:3) Ezra 3:3.
This did not atone for sins either individually or collectively.
The daily service described was a sort of continual intercession;
but the making of atonement was a special work for which special
directions are given. Different words are used both in the Old
Testament and New, to express the same idea as At-one-ment.
Examples. - The italicized words are, in the text, synonymous
with atone or atonement. Exodus 29:36; "Thou shalt cleanse
the altar when thou hast made an atonement for it." - Leviticus
12:8; "The priest shall make an atonement for her and she
shall be clean." Leviticus 14:2; "This shall be the
law of the leper in the day of his cleansing." Verse 21;
"The priest shall make an atonement for him and he shall
be clean." The atonement could not be made for him till after
he was healed of the leprosy, Leviticus 13:45,46. Till he was
healed, he had to dwell alone without the camp. Then Leviticus
14:3,4; "The priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the
priest shall look, and behold if the plague of the leprosy be
healed in the leper; then shall the priest command to take for
him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean," etc.
The law was the same in cleansing a house from the leprosy. Verses
33-57. The stones affected with the plague were removed and the
house "scraped within round about" and then repaired
with new material.
Physical uncleanness is now all removed and we would call it clean;
but not so; it is only just prepared to be cleansed according
to the law. Verse 48; "And he shall take to cleanse the house
two birds" etc. Verse 49; "And he shall cleanse the
house with the blood of the bird" etc. Verses 52, 53; "And
make an atonement for the house, and it shall be clean."
Leviticus 16:18,19;
"And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the Lord,
and make an atonement for it." "And he shall sprinkle
of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse
it and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel."
Leviticus 8:15; "And Moses took the blood, and put it upon
the horns of the altar round about with his fingers and purified
the altar, and poured the blood at the bottom of the altar, and
sanctified it, to make reconciliation upon it," 2 Chronicles
29:29 see 2 Chronicles 29:24. "And they made reconciliation
with their blood upon the altar, to make an atonement for all
Israel," Jeremiah 33:8; "I will cleanse them from all
their iniquities," "and I will pardon all their iniquities."
Romans 5:9-11; "Being now justified by His blood," "by
whom we have now received the atonement," 2 Corinthians 5:17-19;
"Who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ."
Ephesians 2:16; "And that He might reconcile both unto God,"
Hebrews 9:13,14; "The blood of bulls sanctifieth to the purifying
of the flesh; but the blood of Christ shall purge our conscience
from dead works." He is the Mediator for the "redemption
of the transgressions," and to "perfect forever them
that are sanctified," Hebrews 10:14; Ephesians 1:7; "In
whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
our sins," Acts 3:19; "Be converted that your sins may
be blotted out."
From these texts we learn that the words atone, cleanse, reconcile,
purify, purge, pardon, sanctify, hallow, forgive, justify, redeem,
blot out, and some others, are used to signify, the same work,
viz., bringing into favor with God; and in all cases blood is
the means, and sometimes blood and water. The atonement is the
great idea of the Law, as well as the Gospel; and as the design
of that of the Law was to teach us that of the Gospel, it is very
important to be understood. The atonement which the priest made
for the people in connection with their daily ministration was
different from that made on the tenth day of the seventh month.
In making the former, they went no further than in the Holy; but
to make the latter they entered the Holy of Holies - the former
was made for individual cases, the latter for the whole nation
of Israel collectively - the former was made for the forgiveness
of sins, the latter for blotting them out - the former could be
made at any time, the latter only on the tenth day of the seventh
month. Hence the former may be called the daily atonement and
the latter the yearly, or the former the individual, and the latter
the national atonement.
The individual atonement for the forgiveness of sins was made
for a single person, or for the whole congregation in case they
were collectively guilty of some sin. The 1st chapter of Leviticus
gives directions for the burnt-offering, the 2nd for the meat-offering,
the 3rd for the peace-offering, and the 4th for the sin-offering,
which, as its name implies, was an offering for sins, in which
he who offered it attained forgiveness of his sins. The trespass-offering,
Leviticus 5; 6:1-7, was similar to the sin-offering, "If
a soul sin through ignorance," Leviticus 4:2, "when
he knoweth of it, then shall he be guilty," Leviticus 5:3,
"And it shall be when he shall be guilty in any of these
things, that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing,"
verse 5.
From Numbers 5:6-8, it appears that confession and restitution
are necessary in all cases before the atonement could be made
for the individual. "When a man or woman shall commit any
sin that man commit, to do a trespass against the Lord, and that
person be guilty,
"Then they shall confess their sin which they have done,
and he shall recompense his trespass with the principle thereof,
and add unto it the fifth part thereof, and give it unto him against
whom he hath trespassed."
Then he or the elders (if it was for the congregation) brought
the victim for the sin or trespass-offering to the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation on the north side of the altar
of burnt-offering in the court, Leviticus 4:24; 1:11; 17:1-7,
there he (or the elders) laid his hand on its head and killed
it, Leviticus 4:2-4, 13-15, 22-24, 27-29. Then, the victim being
presented and slain, the priest that was anointed took some of
the blood into the Holy, and with his finger sprinkled it before
the veil of the Sanctuary and put some of it upon the horns of
the altar of incense, then poured the remainder of the blood at
the bottom of the altar. Thus he made an atonement for the individual,
and his sin was forgiven, Leviticus 4:5-10, 16-20,25,26,30-35.
The carcasses of the sin-offering were taken without the camp
and burned "in a clean place," Leviticus 4:11,12,21.
It should be distinctly remembered that the priest did not begin
his duties till he obtained the blood of the victim, and that
they were all performed in the court (the enclosure of the Sanctuary),
and that the atonement thus made was only for the forgiveness
of sins. These points are expressly taught in this chapter and
the following one on the trespass-offering. Here is an atonement,
to make which, the priests only entered the Holy, and to make
it they could enter that apartment "always" or "daily".
"But into the second (the Holy of Holies) went the high priest
alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for
himself, and for the errors of the people," (Laos, nation).
This defines the yearly to be.
The National Atonement, of which the Lord "speaks particularly"
in Leviticus 16: "And the Lord said unto Moses, speak unto
Aaron, thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy
place within the veil, before the mercy-seat, which is upon the
ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the
mercy-seat:" verse 2. For what purpose and when could he
enter it? "To make an atonement for all Israel, (the whole
nation,) for all their sins once a year" "on the tenth
day of the seventh month," verses 34, 29. This was the most
important day of the year. The whole nation having had their sins
previously forgiven by the atonement made in the Holy, now assemble
about their Sanctuary, while the High Priest, attired in his holy
garments for glory and beauty, verse 4, Exodus 28, having the
golden bells on the hem of his robe that his sound may be heard
when he goeth in before the Lord, the breast-plate of judgment
on his heart, with their names therein that he may bear their
judgment, also in it the Urim and Thummim (light and perfection),
and the plate of pure gold, the holy crown, (Leviticus 8:9, Exodus
28:36), with "Holiness to the Lord" engraved upon it,
placed upon the fore-front of his mitre that he may bear the iniquities
of the holy things, enters the Holy of Holies to make an atonement
to cleanse them, that they may be clean from all their sins before
the Lord, verse 30. The victims for the atonement of this day
were, for the priest himself, a young bullock for a sin-offering,
verse 3, and for the people, two goats; one for a sin-offering
and the other for the scape-goat, and a ram for a burnt-offering,
verses 5-8. He killed or caused to be killed the bullock for a
sin-offering for himself, verse 11. "Then he shall take a
censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before
the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and
bringing it within the veil; And he shall put the incense upon
the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover
the mercy-seat that is upon the testimony that he die not. And
he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with
his finger upon the mercy-seat eastward; and before the mercy-seat
shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times,"
verses 12-14. So much in preparation to make an atonement for
the people; a description of which follows:
"Then shall he kill the goat of the sin-offering which is
for the people and bring his blood within the veil, and do with
that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle
it upon the mercy-seat. And he shall make an atonement for (cleanse,
see marginal references,) the holy place (within the veil, verse
2), because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, because
of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do
for (i.e. atone for or cleanse), the tabernacle of the congregation
(the Holy) that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness,"
verses 15, 16; "And he shall go out (of the Holy of Holies)
unto the altar that is before the Lord (in the Holy) and make
an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood (for himself),
and of the blood of the goat (for the people), and put it upon
the horns of the altar round about. And he shall sprinkle of the
blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and
hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel,"
verses 18, 19. The altar was the golden altar of incense in the
Holy upon which the blood of individual atonements was sprinkled
during the daily ministration. Thus it received the uncleanness
from which it is now cleansed. Exodus 30:1-10; "Aaron shall
make an atonement upon the horns of it once a year, with the blood
of the sin-offering of atonement." We see from verse 20,
that at this stage of the work "he hath made an end of reconciling
the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the
altar," i.e. the Holy of Holies, the Holy, and the altar
in the latter.
We have before seen that atone, reconcile, cleanse, etc., signify
the same, hence at this stage he has made an end of cleansing
those places. As the blood of atonements for the forgiveness of
sins was not sprinkled in the court, but in the tabernacle only,
the entire work of cleansing the Sanctuary was performed within
the tabernacle. These were holy things, yet cleansed yearly. The
holy place within the veil contained the ark of the covenant,
covered with the mercy-seat, overshadowed by the cherubims, between
which the Lord dwelt in the cloud of divine glory. Who would think
of calling such a place unclean? Yet the Lord provided at the
time, yea, before it was built, that it should be annually cleansed.
It was by blood, and not by fire, that this Sanctuary, which was
a type of the new covenant Sanctuary was cleansed.
The high priest on this day "bore the iniquities of the holy
things which the children of Israel hallowed in all their holy
gifts." Exodus 28:38. These holy things composed the Sanctuary.
Numbers 18:1. "And the Lord said unto Aaron, Thou, and thy
sons, and thy father's house with thee shall bear the iniquity
of the Sanctuary." This "iniquity of the Sanctuary"
we have learned was not its own properly, but the children of
Israel's, God's own people's, which it had received from them.
And this transfer of iniquity from the people to their Sanctuary
was not a mere casualty, incident on scenes of lawless rebellion,
bloodshed or idolatry among themselves, not the devastation of
an enemy; but it was according to the original arrangement and
regular operation of this typical system. For we must bear in
mind that all the instructions were given to Moses and Aaron before
the erection of the Sanctuary. Provision was made to make atonement
for sins committed in ignorance; but not till after they were
known, Leviticus 4:14, 5:3-6, then of course they became sins
of knowledge. Then the individual bore his iniquity, Leviticus
5:1-17; 7:1-8, till he presented his offering to the priest and
slew it, the priest made an atonement with the blood, Leviticus
17:11, and he was forgiven, then of course free from his iniquity.
Now at what point did he cease to bear his iniquity? Evidently
when he had presented his victim slain; he had then done his part.
Through what medium was his iniquity conveyed to the Sanctuary?
Through his victim, or rather its blood when the priest took and
sprinkled it before the veil and on the altar. Thus the iniquity
was communicated to their Sanctuary. The first thing done for
the people on the tenth day of the seventh month was to cleanse
it, thence by the same means, the application of blood. This done,
the high priest bore the "iniquity of the Sanctuary"
for the people "to make atonement for them," Leviticus
10:17. "And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy
place (within the veil, verse 2) and the tabernacle of the congregation
and the altar (or when he hath cleansed the Sanctuary), he shall
bring the live goat: And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the
head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities
of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions and all
their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall
send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: And
the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities into a land
not inhabited (margin, of separation) Leviticus 16:20-22. This
was the only office of the scape-goat, to finally receive and
bear away from Israel all their iniquities into an uninhabited
wilderness and there retain them, leaving Israel at their Sanctuary,
and the priest to complete the atonement of the day by burning
the fat of the sin-offerings, and offering the two rams for burnt-offerings
on the brazen altar in the court, verses 24, 25. The burning without
the camp of the carcasses of the sin-offerings closed the services
of this important day, verse 27.
The Antitype
As this legal system which we have been considering was only a
"shadow", a "figure" and "patterns"
of no value in itself only to teach us the nature of that perfect
system of redemption which is its "body", the "things
themselves"; which was devised in the councils of heaven,
and is being wrought out by "the only Begotten of the Father";
let us, guided by the Spirit of truth, learn the solemn realities
thus shadowed forth. By these patterns, finite as we are, we may
like Paul, extend our research beyond the limits of our natural
vision to the "heavenly things themselves". Here we
find the entire ministry of the law fulfilled in Christ, who was
anointed with the Holy Ghost and by His own blood entered His
Sanctuary, heaven itself, when He ascended to the right hand of
the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, as "A minister
of the (Hagion) Holies, etc., Hebrews 8:6,2. - Paul, after speaking
of the daily services in the Holy, and the yearly in the Holy
of Holies, says, Hebrews 9:8, "The Holy Ghost this signifying
that the way of the Holies (Hodon Hagion) was not yet made manifest;
while as the first tabernacle was yet standing, which was a figure
for the time then present, in which were offered" etc., "until
the time of reformation: But Christ being come, an High Priest
of the (ton) good things to come, by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, "by His own blood He entered
on or into the holy things" (eis hagia) Hebrews 9:8-12. The
phrase, eis hagia, verse 12, is the same as that rendered "holy
places", verse 24. Hagia, in these two verses, is in the
acc. pl. neuter and governed by the prep. eis which signifies
on, into, upon, or among, Hagia, being a neuter adjective, is
properly rendered "holy things"; but Hagia in verse
2, is in the nom. sin. fem. and properly rendered, Holy place.
The definite article "the", belonging before "good
things" in verse 11 and Hebrews 10:1 makes the expression
mean things "good in themselves, or abstractly good."
This shows the perfect harmony of Hebrews 9:11,12,23,24, and Hebrews
10:1. The "things" are "good in themselves",
"holy", or "heavenly", and in "heaven
itself", where Christ has entered as our High Priest to "minister"
for us; and those "holy things" "in heaven"
are connected with the "greater and more perfect tabernacle",
"which the Lord pitched and not man"; the same as the
holy things of the first covenant were connected with their tabernacle,
Hebrews 9:1-5; and all those holy things together make the Sanctuary.
The Holies (two) verse 8, the way of which was not made manifest
till the time of reformation, when Christ shed His own blood,
belong to His "greater and more perfect tabernacle",
spoken of in the next verse. I translate the names literal, because
they are not literal in our common version. The Douay Bible has
them as here given. The word in Hebrews 9:8,10,19, is Hagion,
"of the Holies", instead of the "holiest of all";
and shows that the blood of Christ is the way or means by which
He, as our High Priest was to enter both apartments of the heavenly
tabernacle. Now if there be but one place in the heavens, as many
say, why were there two in the figure? And why, in applying the
figure, does Paul speak of two? Perhaps those who "despise
the law" and "corrupt the covenant of Levi" can
explain this; if not, we advise them to abide by Paul's exposition
of the matter.
Hebrews 6:19,20, is supposed to prove that Christ entered the
Holy of Holies at His ascension, because Paul said He had entered
within the veil. But the veil which divides between the Holy and
the Holy of Holies is "the second veil", Hebrews 9:3;
hence there are two veils, and that in Hebrews 6, being the first
of which he speaks, must be the first veil, which hung before
the Holy, and in Exodus was called a curtain. When He entered
within the veil, He entered His tabernacle, of course the Holy,
as that was the first apartment; and our hope, as an anchor of
the soul, enters within the veil, i.e., the atonement of both
apartments, including both the forgiveness and the blotting out
of sins.
Those who hold that Christ entered the Holy of Holies at, and
has been ministering therein ever since His ascension, also believe,
as of course they must, that the atonement of the Gospel Dispensation
is the antitype of the atonement made on the tenth day of the
seventh month under the law. If this is so, the events of the
legal tenth day, have had their antitypes during the Gospel Dispensation.
The first event in the atonement service of that day, was the
cleansing of the Sanctuary, as we have seen from Leviticus 16.
Then, upon their theory, the Sanctuary of the new covenant was
cleansed in the early part of the Gospel Dispensation.
Evidence is not wanting that neither the earth nor Palestine,
their Sanctuaries, was then cleansed. I call them their Sanctuaries,
for they are not the Lord's. But if the Lord's new covenant Sanctuary
was then cleansed, the 2300 days ended then; but if they are years,
which we all believe, they extend 1810 years beyond the 70 weeks,
and the last of those weeks was the first of the new covenant
or Gospel Dispensation. The fact that those days reach 1810 beyond
the 70 weeks, and that the Sanctuary could not be cleansed till
the end of those days, is demonstration that the antitype of the
legal tenth day is not the Gospel Dispensation; Again, if the
atonement of that day is typical of the atonement of the Gospel
Dispensation, then the atonement made in the Holy, Hebrews 9:6,
previous to that day, was finished before the Gospel Dispensation
began. It has been shown that that atonement was made for the
forgiveness of sins, and I have found no evidence that such an
atonement was made on tenth day of the seventh month. The Gospel
Dispensation began with the preaching of Christ, and if it is
the antitype of the legal tenth day, one of the two things is
true; either the Saviour, instead of fulfilling, has destroyed
the greater part of the law, the daily service of the Holy which
occupied the whole year except one day, the tenth of the seventh
month; or else He fulfilled the whole law except one three hundred
and sixtieth part of it before the Gospel Dispensation began,
and before He was anointed as the Messiah to fulfill the law and
the prophets. One of these two conclusions is inevitable on the
hypotheses that the Gospel Dispensation and the atonement made
in it, is the antitype of the legal tenth day, and the atonement
made in it. Upon which of these horns will they hang? If on the
former, the declaration, "I came not to destroy the law",
pierces them; but if they choose the latter, it then becomes them
to prove that the law, which had a shadow of good things to come,
was fulfilled within itself, that the shadow and substance filled
the same place and time; also they will need to prove that the
entire atonement for the forgiveness of sins was made before the
Lamb was slain with whose blood the atonement was to be made.
Now it must be clear to every one, that if the antitype of the
yearly service (Hebrews 9:7), began at the first Advent, the antitype
of the daily (Hebrews 9:6), had been previously fulfilled; and,
as the atonement for forgiveness was a part of that daily service,
they are involved in the conclusion that there has been no forgiveness
of sins under the Gospel Dispensation. Such a theory is wholly
at war with the entire genius of the Gospel Dispensation, and
stands rebuked, not only by Moses and Paul, but by the teaching
and works of our Saviour and His commission to His apostles, by
their subsequent teaching and the history of the Christian church.
But again, they say the atonement was made and finished on Calvary,
when the Lamb of God expired. So men have taught us, and so the
churches and world believe; but it is none the more true or sacred
on that account, if unsupported by Divine authority. Perhaps few
or none who hold that opinion have ever tested the foundation
on which it rests.
- If the atonement was made on Calvary, by whom was it made?
The making of the atonement is the work of a Priest? but who officiated
on Calvary? - Roman soldiers and wicked Jews.
- The slaying of the victim was not making the atonement: the
sinner slew the victim, Leviticus 4:1-4, 13-15, etc., after that
the Priest took the blood and made the atonement. Leviticus 4:5-12,
16-21.
- Christ was the appointed High Priest to make the atonement,
and He certainly could not have acted in that capacity till after
His resurrection, and we have no record of His doing any thing
on earth after His resurrection, which could be called the atonement.
- The atonement was made in the Sanctuary, but Calvary was not
such a place.
- He could not, according to Hebrews 8:4, make the atonement
while on earth. "If He were on earth, He should not be a
Priest." The Levitical was the earthly priesthood, the Divine,
the heavenly.
- Therefore, He did not begin the work of making the atonement,
whatever the nature of that work may be, till after His ascension,
when by His own blood He entered His heavenly Sanctuary for us.
Let us now examine a few texts that appear to speak of the atonement
as passed. Romans 5:11; "By whom we have now received the
atonement," (margin, reconciliation). This passage clearly
shows a present possession of the atonement at that time the apostle
wrote; but it by no means proves that the entire atonement was
then in the past.
When the Saviour was about to be taken up from His apostles, He
"commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem,
but wait for the promise of the Father," which came on the
day of Pentecost when they were all "baptized with the Holy
Ghost." Christ had entered His Father's house, the Sanctuary,
as High Priest, and began His intercession for His people by "praying
the Father" for "another Comforter", John 14:15,
"and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy
Ghost," Acts 2:33, He shed it down upon His waiting apostles.
Then, in compliance with their commission, Peter, at the third
hour of the day began to preach, "Repent, and be baptized
every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission
of sins," Acts 2:38. This word remission, signifies forgiveness,
pardon or more literally sending away of sins.
Now put by the side of this text another on this point from his
discourse at the ninth hour of the same day, Acts 3:19, "Repent
ye therefore; and be converted that your sins may be blotted out
when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the
Lord." Here he exhorts to repentance and conversion (turning
away from sins); for what purpose? "That your sins may be
(future) blotted out." Every one can see that the blotting
out of sins does not take place at repentance and conversion;
but follows, and must of necessity be preceded by them. Repentance,
conversion, and baptism had then become imperative duties in the
present tense; and when performed, those doing them "washed
away" (Acts 22:16) remitted or sent away from them their
sins. (Acts 2:28); and of course are forgiven and have "received
the atonement"; but they had not received it entire at that
time, because their sins were not yet blotted out.
How far then had they advanced in the reconciling process? Just
so far as the individual under the law had when he had confessed
his sin, brought his victim to the door of the tabernacle, laid
his hand upon it and slain it, and the priest had with its blood
entered the Holy and sprinkled it before the veil and upon the
altar and thus made an atonement for him, and he was forgiven.
Only that was the type, and this the reality. That prepared for
the cleansing of the great day of atonement, this for the blotting
out of sins "when the times of refreshing shall come from
the presence of the Lord, and He shall send Jesus." Hence,
"by whom we have now received the atonement" is the
same as "by whom we have received forgiveness of sin."
At this point the man is "made free from sin." The Lamb
on Calvary's cross is our victim slain; "Jesus the Mediator
of the new Covenant" "in the heavens" is our interceding
High Priest, making atonement with His own blood, by and with
which He entered there. The essence of the process is the same
as in the "shadow". First, Convinced of sin; Second,
Repentance and Confession; Third, Present the Divine sacrifice
bleeding. This done in faith and sincerity we can do no more,
no more is required.
Then in the heavenly Sanctuary our High Priest with his own blood
makes the atonement and we are forgiven. 1 Peter 2:24; "Who
His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree."
See also Matthew 8:17; Isaiah 53:4-12. His body is the "one
sacrifice" for repenting mortals, to which their sins are
imputed, and through whose blood in the hands of an active Priest
they are conveyed to the heavenly Sanctuary. That was offered
"once for all", "on the tree"; and all who
would avail themselves of its merits must through faith, there
receive it as theirs, bleeding at the hands of sinful mortals
like themselves. After thus obtaining the atonement of forgiveness
we must "maintain good works", not the "deeds of
the law"; but "being dead to sin should live unto righteousness."
This work we all understand to be peculiar to the Gospel Dispensation.
An inferential objection arises, which in many minds overwhelms
any amount of Bible argument on this point. It is, New Jerusalem
cannot be defiled, hence needs no cleansing; therefore, New Jerusalem
is not the Sanctuary. A very summary process of inferential deduction
truly, especially for those who have said so much on the insufficiency
of mere inferential testimony. We would advise them to review
the grounds of their faith, and see how many and strong arguments
they have for the earth or Palestine being the Sanctuary, and
how many objections to the Sanctuary of the new covenant being
where its Priest is, that are not entirely inferential; and then
in place of their inferences, take the plain testimony of the
Word and teach it. But how was the Sanctuary defiled?
The Sanctuary of the Old Testament, being on earth, could be,
and was, defiled in various ways - by an unclean person entering
it; "She shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the
Sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled;"
Leviticus 12:4. It could be profaned by the high priest going
out of it, while the anointing oil was upon him, for the dead;
(Leviticus 21:12) by a man's negotiating to purify himself; Numbers
17:20 see Numbers 19:20. All the chief of the priests and of the
people polluted it by transgressing very much after all the abominations
of the heathen; 2 Chronicles 36:14. "Surely, because thou
hast defiled My Sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and
with all thine abominations (idolatry), therefore will I diminish
thee." Ezekiel 5:11.
Moreover this they have done unto Me; they have defiled My Sanctuary
in the same day, and have profaned My Sabbaths: for when they
had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same
day into My Sanctuary to profane it; Ezekiel 33:38,39. "Her
priests have polluted the Sanctuary; they have done violence to
the law." Zephaniah 3:4. Antiochus polluted it by offering
swine flesh upon its altar, 1 Maccabees 1:20-24. From these texts
we can clearly see, that it was moral rather than physical uncleanness
that defiled the Sanctuary in the sight of the Lord. True, it
did become physically unclean, but that uncleanness had to be
removed before the atonement was made by which it was reconciled
or cleansed. See 2 Chronicles 29. And that, we have seen was the
law of cleansing, Leviticus, chapters 12 to 15; the object must
be made visibly clean, so to speak, so that we would call it clean,
to prepare it for its real cleansing with blood. Now no one supposes
that New Jerusalem is unclean or ever has been, as its type was
when overrun, desecrated and desolated by Syrian, Chaldean or
Roman soldiery, or trode by wicked priests. Even if it were, the
removing of such defilement would not be the cleansing it was
to undergo at the end of the 2300 days. The Sanctuary was unclean
in some sense, or else it would not need to be cleansed; and it
must in some way have received its uncleanness from man. Removed,
as the heavenly Sanctuary is from the midst of mortals and entered
only by our Forerunner, Jesus, made an High Priest, it can only
be defiled by mortals through His agency, and for them cleansed
by the same agency. The legal typical process of defiling and
cleansing the Sanctuary through the agency of the priest has been
examined. With that in our minds, let us go to the New Testament.
Paul says, Colossians 1:19,20, "For it pleased the Father
that in Him should all fullness dwell, and having made (margin,
making) peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile
all things unto Himself; by Him I say, whether they be things
on earth or things in heaven." When "things on earth"
are spoken of in connection or contrast with "things in heaven",
no one can understand them all to be in the same place. "Things
in heaven" are to be reconciled as well as "things on
earth".
If they needed reconciling they were unreconciled; if unreconciled,
then unclean in some sense in His sight. The blood of Christ is
the means, and Christ Himself, the agent of reconciling to the
Father both the things in heaven and the things on earth. People
have an idea that in heaven where our Saviour has gone, every
thing is, and always was perfect beyond change or improvement.
But He said, "In My Father's house are many mansions; if
it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place
for you." He went into heaven, and Paul says that the "building
of God, an house not made with hands" is in the heavens;
2 Corinthians 5:1.
For what did He go to His Father's house? "To prepare a place
for you." Then it was unprepared, and when He has prepared
it, He will come again and take us to Himself. - Again, Hebrews
9:23, "It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things
in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly
things themselves with better sacrifices than these." What
were the patterns? "The tabernacle and all the vessels of
the ministry," (verse 21), which constituted the worldly
Sanctuary; verse 1. What were the heavenly things themselves?
The greater and more perfect tabernacle (verse 11), and the good
things and the holy things (verses 11, 12). - These are all in
heaven itself. "For Christ is not entered into the holy places
made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven
itself," verse 24. Paul here shows that it was as necessary
to purify the heavenly things, as it was to purify their patterns,
the worldly.
THE SCAPE-GOAT
The next event of that day after the Sanctuary was cleansed, was
putting all the iniquities and transgressions of the children
of Israel upon the head of the scape-goat and sending him away
into a land not inhabited, or of separation. It is supposed by
almost every one that this goat typified Christ in some of His
offices, and that the type was fulfilled at the first Advent.
From this opinion I must differ; because, First, That goat was
not sent away till after the High Priest had made an end of cleansing
the Sanctuary, Leviticus 16:20,21; hence that event cannot meet
its antitype till after the end of the 2300 days. Second, It was
sent away from Israel into the wilderness, a land not inhabited,
to receive them. If our blessed Saviour is its antitype, He also
must be sent away, not His body alone, but soul and body, for
the goat was sent away alive, from, not to nor into this people;
neither into heaven, for that is not a wilderness or land not
inhabited. Third, It received and retained all the iniquities
of Israel; but when Christ appears the second time He will be
"without sin". Fourth, The goat received the iniquities
from the hands of the priest and he sent it away. As Christ is
the Priest the goat must be something else besides Himself, and
which He can send away. Fifth, This was one of two goats chosen
for that day, one was the Lord's and offered for a sin-offering;
but the other was not called the Lord's, neither offered as a
sacrifice. Its only office was to receive the iniquities from
the priest after he had cleansed the Sanctuary from them, and
bear them into a land not inhabited, leaving the Sanctuary, priest
and people behind and free from their iniquities. Leviticus 16:7-10,22.
Sixth, The Hebrew name of the scape-goat, as will be seen from
the margin of verse 8, is "Azazel". On this verse, Wm.
Jenks, in his Comp. Com. has the following remarks: "(Scape-goat.)
See diff. opin. in Bochart. Spencer, after the oldest opinion
of the Hebrews and Christians, thinks Azazel is the name of the
devil; and so Rosenmire, whom see. The Syriac has Azazel, the
angel, (Strongone) who revolted." Seventh, At the appearing
of Christ, as taught from Revelation 20, Satan is to be bound
and cast into the bottomless pit, which act and place are significantly
symbolized by the ancient High Priest sending the scape-goat into
a separate and uninhabited wilderness. Eighth, Thus we have the
Scripture, the definition of the name in two ancient languages
both spoken at the same time, and the oldest opinion of the Christians
in favor of regarding the scape-goat as a type of Satan. In the
common use of the term, men always associate it with something
mean, calling the greatest villains and refugees from justice
scape-goats. Ignorance of the law and its meaning is the only
possible origin that can be assigned for the opinion that the
scape-goat was a type of Christ.
Because it is said, "The goat shall bear upon him all their
iniquities into a land not inhabited." Leviticus 16:22; And
John said, "Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh (margin,
beareth) away the sin of the world," it is concluded without
further thought that the former was the type of the latter. But
a little attention to the law will show that the sins were borne
from the people by the priest, and from the priest by the goat.
First, They are imparted to the victim. Second, The priest bore
them in its blood to the Sanctuary. Third, After cleansing them
from it on the tenth day of the seventh month, he bore them to
the scape-goat. And fourth, The goat finally bore them away beyond
the camp of Israel to the wilderness.
This was the legal process, and when fulfilled the author of sins
will have received them back again, (but the ungodly will bear
their own sins), and his head will have been bruised by the seed
of the woman; the "strong man armed" will have been
bound by a stronger than he, "and his house (the grave) spoiled
of its goods (the saints)." Matthew 12:29; Leviticus 11:21,22
see Leviticus 16:21,22. The thousand years imprisonment of Satan
will have begun, and the saints will have entered upon their millennial
reign with Christ.
The Sanctuary must be cleansed before Christ appears; because,
- He "was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto
them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without
sin unto salvation." - Now as His last act in bearing the
sins of many is to bear them from the Sanctuary after He has cleansed
it, and as He does not appear till after having borne the sins
of many, and then without sin; it is manifest that the Sanctuary
must be cleansed before He appears.
- The host are still under the indignation after the Sanctuary
is cleansed, Daniel 8. Both the Sanctuary and the host were trodden
under foot. "Unto 2300 days then shall the Sanctuary be cleansed,"
or justified (margin). This is the first point in the explanation,
and after this Daniel still "sought for the meaning of the
vision," and Gabriel came "to make him know what should
be in the last end of the indignation." In the explanation
which follows; he says nothing about the Sanctuary, because that
had been explained by the Wonderful Numberer. He now tells him
about the host upon whom the last end of the indignation still
rests after the Sanctuary is cleansed.
The last end of the indignation is evidently the bitter persecutions,
and the severe and searching trial of God's people, after the
Sanctuary is cleansed, and before the indignation is made to cease
in the destruction of the little Horn, the fruit and the successor
of the Assyrian, Daniel 8:25; Isaiah 10:12; 25:3. The Sanctuary
must be cleansed before the resurrection, for the Lord has provided
a comforting message for His people, telling them that it is done.
"Comfort ye, comfort ye My people, saith your God. Speak
ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare
(margin, appointed time) is accomplished, that her iniquity is
pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for
all her sins," Isaiah 11:1,2 see Isaiah 40:1,2.
Jerusalem and the Lord's people are here spoken of, as the Sanctuary
and host are in Daniel 8. His people, when Jerusalem's appointed
time is accomplished, are affected and are to be comforted by
telling them that her iniquity is pardoned. This must be New Jerusalem,
for there was never any time set for pardoning the iniquity of
Old Jerusalem, which must have had iniquity of some kind and from
some source, else she could not be pardoned of it. The fact that
the Lord has commanded to comfort His people by telling them that
Jerusalem's iniquity is pardoned, is proof positive that she had
iniquity, and that it will be removed before His people are delivered
and enter her with songs and everlasting joy. This message is
similar to that in Isaiah 52:9. After the good and peaceful tidings
have been published, saying unto Zion, Thy God reigneth, it is
declared, "The Lord has comforted His people, He hath redeemed
Jerusalem." - Jerusalem was in a state from which she had
to be redeemed, and that before the resurrection; for the next
verse says, "All the ends of the earth shall see the salvation
of our God."
