The Sanctuary

MONDAY March 2

The Sanctuary

What were the services of the Old Testament tabernacle, and how did they illustrate the plan of salvation? Heb. 9:1–8.

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With the sanctuary service God produced a visual demonstration that enabled the sinner to understand the great plan of salvation. Confession, sacrifice, forgiveness, faith, reconciliation, holiness, all graphically were demonstrated in the daily and yearly services of the earthly sanctuary.

According to Hebrews 8:1, 2, Jesus ministers in the heavenly sanctuary. What does His ministry consist of, and why does Hebrews 9:23 say that the heavenly sanctuary needs cleansing?

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In the Old Testament the sinner received forgiveness through faith in the atoning blood of the promised seed (Gen. 3:15), Who was foreshadowed in the animal sacrifice of the sanctuary service. And just as in the earthly service there was a Day of Atonement, a day of judgment, at the close of the year on which the sanctuary was cleansed, so in the heavenly sanctuary service there is a day of judgment prior to Christ’s second coming.

The pre-advent judgment reveals to the universe that those who have professed Christ that are really His followers. God, so to speak, opens the books of heaven for all the universe to see that in each case His decision was just and fair. In that sense, this judgment vindicates the justice of God in saving those who believe in Jesus (Rom. 3:4).

In Leviticus 16, the key element that appears over and over again is blood. And that makes sense, because this is the Day of Atonement, and only blood makes atonement. And what is atonement, other than the work of God saving us? Hence the judgment is good news; it’s the work of God saving us because we can’t save ourselves. The crucial point is that just as the high priest never went into the Most Holy Place without blood, neither should we, for to enter into the Most Holy without blood means death, not atonement. Dwell on these ideas. What hope and encouragement should they bring to us, we who are living in the great antitypical day of atonement?