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VI.
The Sure Word of
Prophecy
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Chapter 54
:
The Atonement in Type and Antitype
1. WHAT did God, through
Moses, command Israel to make?
"And let them make Me a sanctuary; that I
may dwell among them." Ex. 25:8.
2. What was
offered in this sanctuary?
"In which were offered both gifts and
sacrifices." Heb. 9:9.
3. Besides the
court, how many parts had this sanctuary?
"And the veil shall divide unto you between the
holy place and the most holy." Ex.
26:33.
4. What was in the first
apartment, or holy place?
"For there was a tabernacle
made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and
the table, and the showbread; which is
called the sanctuary." Heb. 9:2. "And he put the
golden altar in the tent of the congregation before
the veil." Ex. 40:26. See also Ex. 30:1-6.
5. What was contained in
the second apartment?
"And after the second veil,
the tabernacle which is called the holiest of all; which
had the golden censer, and the ark of the
covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was
. . . the tables of the covenant." Heb. 9:3,4.
See also Ex. 40:20,21.
6. By what name was the
cover of the ark known?
"And thou shalt put the
mercy-seat above upon the ark; and
in the ark thou shalt put the testimony
that I shall give thee." Ex. 25:21.
7. Where was God to meet
with Israel?
"And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune
with thee from above the mercy-seat, from between the
two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony."
Verse 22.
8. What was in the ark,
under the mercy-seat?
"And He wrote on the tables, according to the
first writing, the ten commandments. . . . And I
turned myself and came down from the mount, and put
the tables in the ark which I had made." Deut.
10:4,5.
9. When did the priest
minister in the first apartment of the sanctuary?
"Now these things having been thus prepared, the priests
go in continually into the first tabernacle,
accomplishing the services." Heb. 9:6, R.V.
10. Who alone went into
the second apartment, how often, and for what purpose?
"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." Verse
7..
11. What were sinners
desiring pardon instructed to do?
"And if anyone of the common people sin through
ignorance, while he doeth somewhat against any of the
commandments of the Lord. . . then he shall bring his
offering, a kid of the goats, a female without blemish,
for his sin which he hath sinned. 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. 4:27-29.
NOTE.-According to this, if a man sinned in Israel,
he violated one of the ten commandments that were in
the ark under the mercy-seat. These commandments are
the foundation of God's government. To violate them
is to commit sin, and so become subject to death. 1
John 3:4; Rom. 6:23. But there was a mercy-seat
reared above these holy and just commandments. In
the dispensation of His mercy, God grants the sinner
the privilege of confessing his sins, and bringing a
substitute to meet the demands of the law, and thus
of obtaining mercy.
12. What was done with
the blood of the offering?
"And the priest shall take of
the blood thereof with his finger, and put it upon the
horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour
out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar."
Verse 30.
NOTE.-After a person discovered his sin by the law
which demanded the death of the transgressor, he
first brought his offering, then he confessed his
sin while laying his hands on the head of the
victim, thus, in figure, transferring his sin to the
victim; the victim was next slain in the court, or
outer part of the sanctuary, and its blood put on
the horns of the altar and poured at the foot of the
altar. In this way sins were pardoned, and, in the
typical service, transferred to the sanctuary.
13. After the
accumulation of the sins of the year in this way, what
service took place on the tenth day of the seventh month
of each year?
"And this shall be a statute
forever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the
tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, . .
. for on that day shall the priest make an atonement
for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all
your sins before the Lord." Lev. 16:29,30.
14. How was the sanctuary
itself to be cleansed, and how were the sins of the
people to be finally disposed of?
"And he [the high priest]
shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel
two kids of the goats for a sin-offering. . . . And he
shall take the two goats, and present them before the
Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats, one lot
for the Lord, and the other lot for the
scapegoat." Verses 5-8.
NOTE.-The Hebrew word for scapegoat is Azazel.
See margin of verse 8. It is used as a proper
name, and according to the opinion of the most
ancient Hebrews and Christians, refers to Satan, or
the angel who revolted and persisted in rebellion
and sin.
15. What was done with
the blood of the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell?
"Then shall he kill the goat
of the sin-offering, that is for the people, and bring
his blood within the veil, . . . and sprinkle it upon
the mercy-seat, and before the mercy-seat." Verse
15.
16. Why was it necessary
to make this atonement?
"And he shall make an
atonement for the holy place, because of the
uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of
their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall
he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that
remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness."
Verse 16.
NOTE.-Sins were conveyed into the sanctuary during
the year by the blood of the personal sin-offerings
offered daily at the door of the tabernacle. Here
they remained until the day of atonement, when the
high priest went into the most holy place with the
blood of the goat on which the Lord's lot fell; and,
bearing the accumulated sins of the year in before
the mercy-seat, he there, in type, atoned for them,
and so cleansed the sanctuary.
17. After having
made atonement for the people in the most holy place,
what did the high priest next do?
"And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy
place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the
altar, 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 in 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."
Verses 20,21.
NOTE.-The offering of the Lord's goat cleansed the
sanctuary. By this offering the sins of the people,
transferred there during the year, were, in type,
atoned for; but they were not by this offering
finally disposed of, or destroyed. The scapegoat,
symbolizing Satan, the great tempter and originator
of sin, was brought to the sanctuary, and upon his
head were placed all these sins which Satin had
tempted God's people to commit.
18. What final
disposition was made of the sins of the people?
"And the goat shall bear upon him all their
iniquities unto a land not
inhabited: and he shall let go
the goat in the wilderness." Verse 22.
19. What was this earthly
sanctuary and its round of service?
"Which was a figure for the time then present."
Heb. 9:9.
20. Of what sanctuary, or
tabernacle, is Christ the minister?
"A minister of the sanctuary, arid of the true
tabernacle, which the Lord
pitched, and not man." Heb. 8:2.
21. Of what was the blood
of all the sacrifices of the former dispensation only a
type?
"Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His
own blood He entered in once into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption for us." Heb. 9:12.
See Eph. 5:2.
NOTE.-Through the sacrifices and offerings brought
to the altar of the earthly sanctuary, the penitent
believer was to lay hold of the merits of Christ,
the Saviour to come. In this way, and in this way
only, was there any virtue connected with them.
22. At the death of
Christ, what miraculous occurrence signified that the
priestly work and services of the earthly sanctuary were
finished?
"Jesus, when He had cried again with a loud voice,
yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the
temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom."
Matt. 27:50,51.
NOTES.-Type had met antitype; the shadow had reached
the substance. Christ, the great sacrifice, had been
slain, and was about to enter upon His final work as
our great high priest in the sanctuary in heaven.
The priestly work in the earthly sanctuary was
typical of the work of Christ in the heavenly
sanctuary. In the earthly, the atonement was
performed on the last day of the ceremonial year.
All who did not then have their sins atoned for were
"cut off," and the camp was cleansed from sin. The
atonement day was virtually a day of judgment for
Israel, and the people whose sins had been atoned
for were free from sin, and could enter upon the
services of the new year clean in the sight of God.
This work was kept up year after year. In the
heavenly sanctuary, the sacrifice is offered but
once; and but one atonement, or cleansing of the
heavenly sanctuary, can be made, which must take
place at the time assigned of God for it. And when
the great atonement, or cleansing, of the heavenly
sanctuary has been made, God's people will be
forever free from sin, and the fate of all will be
forever sealed. See Rev. 22:11. This, as in the type
will be a day of judgment.
The round of service in the earthly sanctuary was
God's service. It had to do with the sins of the
people; not that the blood of the sacrifices offered
there could in itself take away their sins, for it
is expressly said that it could not. Heb. 10:4. It
could, however, show their faith in the
efficacy of Christ's blood yet to be spilled,
and to which the sanctuary work was intended
constantly to direct their minds. The work there was
a type, or shadow, of Christ's atoning work, and, as
such, carries with it a significance that cannot be
overestimated. Upon a correct understanding of the
type depends a correct understanding of the
antitype. The entire sanctuary service was an
object-lesson of most important and vital gospel
truth,-that of man's salvation and the atonement of
sin.
23. What relation does
the earthly sanctuary sustain to the heavenly?
"Who serve unto the example
and shadow of heavenly things, as 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." Heb. 8:5.
24. By what comparison is
it shown that the heavenly sanctuary will be cleansed?
"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." Heb. 9:23.
25. When Christ has
finished His priestly mediatorial work in the heavenly
sanctuary, what decree will go forth?
"He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he
which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is
righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is
holy, let him be holy still." Rev. 22:11.
26. What event is
directly connected with the blotting out of sin and the
final refreshing from God's presence?
"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; and He shall send
Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
whom the heaven must receive until the times of
restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the
mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began."
Acts 3:19-21.
27. According to
the view of the judgment presented to
Daniel, what is
to be given to Christ while still before the Father?
"I saw. . . and, behold, one like the Son of man came .
. . to the Ancient of days, and they brought Him near
before Him. And there was given Him dominion, and
glory, and a kingdom, that all people,
nations, and languages, should serve Him." Dan. 7:13,14.
28. What will occur when
the Lord descends from heaven?
"For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a
shout, with the voice of the archangel,
and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ
shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to
meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be
with the Lord." 1 Thess. 4:16,17.
29. What statement
immediately following the announcement mentioned in Rev.
22:11, indicates that a judgment work had been in
progress before Christ comes?
"And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with
Me, to give every man according as his work shall be."
Rev. 22:12.
NOTE.-The typical sanctuary service is fully met in
the work of Christ. As the atonement day of the
former dispensation was really a day of judgment, so
the atonement work of Christ will include the
investigation of the cases of His people prior to
His coming the second time to receive them unto
Himself.
30. Is there a specified
time for the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary?
"And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three
hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."
Dan. 8:14.
31. How may one know that
this does not refer to the earthly sanctuary?
"He said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at
the time of the end shall be the vision." Verse 17.
NOTE.-The prophetic period of 2300 days (years)
extends to 1844 A.D., while the divinely appointed
services of the earthly sanctuary ceased at the
cross (Dan. 9:27; Matt. 27:50,51), and the sanctuary
itself was destroyed in 70 A.D., when Titus captured
Jerusalem. For explanation of the period here
mentioned, see the preceding reading.
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