CHAPTER XI.

THE CLEANSING OF THE SANCTUARY.

N order to understand the importance of the chronology spoken of in the previous chapter, it is necessary to understand what the Scriptures teach of the cleansing of the sanctuary.

"And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."1

Bible Doctrine Concerning the Sanctuary.

The doctrine of the sanctuary is clearly presented in the Bible. Although we cannot see the heavenly sanctuary, yet we may get a good understanding of it by studying the earthly sanctuary, or holy places; for they are a figure of the true.

have such an high

"For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” 2 "Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.'

The sanctuary is spoken of so many times in the Bible that we need not be ignorant of this matter. The word "sanctuary" is found in more than one hundred and forty places in the Bible. Nine of these texts speak of the heavenly sanctuary. It is also spoken of as the temple of God in heaven and as the habitation of the Lord. "The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his 3 Heb. 8: 1, 2.

1 Dan. 8: 14.

2 Heb. 9:24.

holy habitation."

"And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament.' 115

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The word "sanctuary" denotes a sacred place. In the old covenant it was the central place for worship, where the ark of God with the ten commandments and the mercy seat were placed. In the new covenant the heavenly sanctuary is the great center toward which all true worship is directed, the temple of God, the sacred depository of the ark and commandments of God, and the place where Jesus ministers.

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Thus it is easily seen that the sanctuary is not the earth, but the dwelling-place of God, "the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established." Neither can the sanctuary refer to the church; for the sanctuary. and the host, or the church, are represented as two things, which both should be trodden under foot; "to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot." 10

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In the New Testament the word "sanctuary" is translated from different forms of the Greek word hagion (a holy place). In most places the original has the plural form, hagia (holy places). This is the case in Heb. 9:2, 12, 24, 25, 13:11. In Heb. 9:24 it is very properly rendered holy places," and in the other places mentioned it means the same, because the sanctuary consisted of two holy places, the holy place and the most holy place. The last named place is called hagia hagiōn (rendered the holiest of all)." In Heb. 8: 2 the original has tōn hagiōn (holy places), a minister of the sanctuary or holy places, showing that his ministry extends both to the first and second apartments.

4 Jer. 25: 30.

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7 Ex. 25 8, 16, 17; Deut. 16 : 6.

8 Rev. 11: 19; Heb. 8: 1, 2.

10 Dan. 8: 13.

9 Ex. 15: 17. 11 Heb. 9:24.

The Earthly and the Heavenly Sanctuary.

The earthly sanctuary was built by the children of Israel. 12 It was built after a pattern which the Lord showed Moses in the mount. 13 It had two holy places, the holy, and the most holy, and the ark of the testimony was placed in the most holy." The priests ministered in the sanctuary; but in the most holy place none but the high priest was permitted to enter, and that only once a year. The ministration in the most holy was done on the great day of atonement, the tenth day of the seventh month. 16

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The earthly sanctuary was destroyed by, the Roman army A. D. 70, and has never been rebuilt. It was a pattern of the sanctuary of the new covenant which is in heaven. "A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary. 'For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the Lord behold the earth." 18

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Jesus is such a high priest who is at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens, "a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. The priests on earth offered gifts in the sanctuary. They served unto the example and shadow of heavenly things.

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The earthly sanctuary was purified with blood. It was also in this respect a shadow of heavenly things, as the apostle testifies :

"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. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. "21

12 Ex. 25: 8, 9.

14 Ex. 26: 33, 34; Heb. 9: 1–7.

16 Heb. 9: 6, 7; Lev. 23: 27-29.

18 Ps. 102: 19.

20 Heb. 8: 5.

13 Ex. 25 9, 40.

15 Ex. 28: 43.

17 Jer. 17: 12.

19 Heb. 8: 2.

21 Heb. 9: 23, 24.