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The origin

of the earthly sanctuary

Having an earthly sanctuary was not God's idea!

Jeremiah 7:21-24
"Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Put [or join] your burnt offerings to your [sin] sacrifices, and eat [the] flesh [yourselves - instead of the priests]. For I spoke not to your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices."

"But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people: and walk you in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you."

"But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward."

Hosea 6:6
"For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God [His character] more than burnt offerings".

Matthew 9:13
"But go you and learn what that means, 'I will have mercy, and not sacrifice': for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance".

God wanted loving teachers, not formal ritualists.

Satan had brought the pattern of the sanctuary from heaven and modified it to use in his religions. When the Israelites left Egypt they liked one particular concept of the Egyptians which was to have a special place in which to meet their god, and they therefore set up a tent as a tabernacle for Him.

After the worship of the golden calf (a yearling), a symbol of the god of brute force...

Exodus 33:5-7
"The LORD had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, You are a stiffnecked people [full of self-will]: I will come up into the midst of you in a moment, and consume you. Therefore now put off your ornaments from you, that I may know what to do to you. And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb [Sinai]. And Moses [also] took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation [the people's tent]. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the LORD went out to the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp [including Moses!]".

Patriarchs & Prophets 327.002
By the divine direction the tent that had served as a temporary place of worship was removed "afar off from the camp." This was still further evidence that God had withdrawn His presence from them. He would reveal Himself to Moses, but not to such a people. The rebuke was keenly felt, and to the conscience-smitten multitudes it seemed a foreboding of greater calamity. Had not the Lord separated Moses from the camp that He might utterly destroy them? But they were not left without hope. The tent was pitched without the encampment, but Moses called it "the tabernacle of the congregation." All who were truly penitent, and desired to return to the Lord, were directed to repair thither to confess their sins and seek His mercy. When they returned to their tents Moses entered the tabernacle. With agonizing interest the people watched for some token that his intercessions in their behalf were accepted. If God should condescend to meet with him, they might hope that they were not to be utterly consumed. When the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the entrance of the tabernacle, the people wept for joy, and they "rose up and worshiped, every man in his tent door."

Vol 3 Spiritual Gifts 287.001
The tabernacle here mentioned was a temporary tent arranged for the worship of God. The tabernacle, the pattern of which God gave to Moses, had not yet been built.

From that moment on Jesus was stuck.

Because He always works with His people and not against them, He ALLOWED them their desire and met with them there. He even suggested how to build a better one with more capability of teaching the truth of redemption.

Exodus 25:8-9
"And let [allow] them make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. [But see that you make it] according to all that I show you, after the pattern of the [heavenly] tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall you make it".

This was to be an object lesson.

But it was always His intention that He Himself would be their real place of safety.

Isaiah 8:13-14
"Sanctify the LORD of hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread [respect]. And He shall be for [you] a sanctuary ; but [the temple shall be] for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin [trap] and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem". [Compare Matthew 24:1].

Because they turned the picture into a reality.

The temple which later replaced the sanctuary has always been known as "Solomon's temple", never as God's place, which is why He said,

Jeremiah 7:13-14
"And now, because you have done all these works, says the LORD, and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you heard not [you refused to hear]; and I called you, but you answered not; therefore will I do to this house, which is called by My name, wherein you trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh".

Jeremiah was told to warn the people....

Jeremiah 7:2-7
"Stand in the gate of the LORD's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Trust you not in lying words, saying, 'The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these'. For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour; If you oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever".

God wants good Samaritans, not stiff-necked Jews.

All He ever wanted in those days was

one sacrifice,

for one person,

once in a lifetime,

to show their recognition of the ONE sacrifice of Jesus and their ONE death with Him.
[EGW comment]

Today we don't even have to do that!!

Hebrews 10 :12-24
"After He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever...."

He "sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting [waiting] till His enemies be made His footstool [by whom?]. For by one offering He has perfected forever them that are sanctified. . . ."

"Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He has consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh; and having an High Priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. . . . And let us consider one another to provoke to love and to good works...."

If you can understand this point and accept it, then MAYBE you should go on to the next one..... But we warn you, it's even more dangerous and radical!!!

On to next page .........end....................... [To "The Consecrated Way to Christian Perfection" (through the veil)]

To Ancient SDA's ......... To "What's New?"