p. 18 | The Sanctuary by S. N. Haskell

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Dec 22, 1904

The Sanctuary

By S. N. Haskell

(Continued)

In the law there were many offerings,—the sin-offering, the trespass-offering, the peace-offering, the thank-offering, and the various offerings, and every offering centered in Christ. The different ceremonies illustrate how the sinner is met in the varied circumstances in which he finds himself in this world. Christ was the antitype of every offering; all were fulfilled in him. Each offering represented different phases of the work of the gospel. I wish to take one offering, and if possible in a few words show you how sin was transferred to the sanctuary.

I read, “For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things.” Heb. 8:4, 5. Then the work of the priest represented the work done by the Saviour in heaven for us.

“If any one of the common people sin through ignorance, while he doeth somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which ought not to be done, and be guilty; or if his sin, which he hath sinned, come to his knowledge: then he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he hath sinned.” Lev. 4:27, 28. Notice that there are several things omitted in this record that are mentioned in those of other offerings that were made. For instance, “He shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a female without blemish.”

Now I will put another expression with this, “If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord.” Lev. 1:3. The people were to be perfectly free to do as they chose. This is the way Christ deals with the human family. He does not force any one, but he sets before us the true light, and those that are saved will voluntarily accept him. We must choose, believe, and accept him, with all the sacrifices and afflictions it will bring. Then joy will beam out in our souls because we can suffer for him and with him.

“And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin-offering, and slay the sin-offering in the place of the burnt offering.” Lev. 4:29. Compare this with Num. 5:6, 7: “Speak unto the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men 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 principal thereof, and add unto it the fifth part thereof, and give it unto him against whom he hath trespassed.” At the same time he was to confess his sin on the head of the offering, not to the priest, but on the head of the offering, and “he shall bring the trespass-offering at the same time.”

When God does something for men, it will cause a spirit of liberality to spring up in their hearts, and they will want to do something. They will manifest some appreciation. This was shown in the offering. They were to pour the blood at the bottom of the altar, thus typifying the blood of Christ, which would from the cross fall upon the sin-cursed earth. The blood of Christ has purchased the earth, and through the merits of that blood it will be redeemed.

When a man sinned,—broke the commandments of God,—he was to bring an offering, and laying his hands on the head of it, confess his sins over it. The sinner slew the animal, and after the blood was presented by the priest, the sinner with his own hands removed all the fat from the offering, and gave it to the priest, and the priest burned it upon the altar. Why did the sinner do this? What did the fat represent? David tells us that the fat is as the enemies of the Lord: “they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.” Ps. 37:20. The fat represents sin; and when the sinner took his knife and separated that fat, it represented the work of the people of God in separating themselves from sin by the word of God. There must be an examination of the heart, an earnestness of soul to discover what there is in

the life that is not in harmony with God’s law, his will, and his work. Paul refers to this when he says, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow.” The Word of God will do this; that is, the Spirit in the Word. We need to examine the Word to see if our lives are strictly in harmony with it.

In Isa. 43:23, 24, this thought is brought out still more distinctly: “Thou hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings; neither hast thou honored me with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense. Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices; but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.” Because they had not separated the fat, they made the Lord serve with their sins. Do you grasp the force of this expression, “Thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities”?

“I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.” If we would have our sins blotted out, they must be confessed. There must be no fat remaining on the offering that is brought, but the fat must be removed, the sin must be taken away. There must be an earnestness on the part of the child of God to go to the very depths of his heart and discover what there is there that is not right with God. This will give peace. “If in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.” It is not a fanciful idea that we have a Saviour who has made these promises: he is in the heavenly courts to take all our sins, and finally bring them out and lay them on the head of the scapegoat. But he can never bring them out unless we voluntarily confess every sin. To those who take no special interest in studying the Word, the Lord will never discover many things that are in their hearts. There must be a revival of the study of the Bible by every one of us. God takes the Word, and sends it home to the heart by his Holy Spirit. I can trust in God if I make the Word my daily study. If I do that, then the Lord will do his part, and will discover to me what stands between me and God.

As in the type the priest stood ready to receive the fat from the hands of the sinner, so Christ stands ready to take our sins as soon as we are ready to separate from them. In the type the ashes that accumulated at the altar were removed by the priest into a clean place. Can you see any connection between this and the text that says, “They shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this”?

You can see by this service that even the children were taught. Ashes are always thrown among the refuse, and seeing them placed by the priest carefully in a clean place would call forth questions from even the children, and in explaining why they were in a clean place, the beautiful lesson of the earth finally cleansed from all sin would be taught. Everything redounds to the glory of God.

(To be concluded)

The Sanctuary *

The Sanctuary