Introduction: Have you ever asked yourself, “How do I know Jesus was
God?” “Why would God die on the cross?” Is there a link between
Jesus and the God of the Old Testament?
I have a dear Jewish friend who tells me (with a smile) that
Christians have “hijacked” his religion and we should leave the
Jewish religion alone. I respond by telling him his religion is
incomplete, he needs our Messiah to complete his theology. To prove
my point, I ask him what he thinks all those animal sacrifices were
about?
At the core of the answer to all of these questions and the debate
with my friend is the sanctuary of the Old Testament. Let’s dive into
this study and find out why this is a “pillar” of our faith!
- The Pattern
- Read Exodus 25:1-7. On what basis did God ask His people
for an offering? (If their heart told them to give.) - God had some very specific gifts in mind. This
reminds me of an engaged couple registering with a
store for wedding gifts! What would you think if you
heard this “wish list” from God? (That this was no
ordinary offering, He had something particular in
mind.) - Read Exodus 25:8-9. What does God have in mind? (He wants
them to build sanctuary (tabernacle) out of this stuff.) - Why does He want them to build this? (So God can
dwell with them.) - Now that you know God’s reason for the requested
offering, would you be anxious to give? - Why would God want to dwell among His people?
(This is another example of God’s love for us.) - When we built our new church we started with a
general idea and hired an architect to draw up the
plans. Who designed this sanctuary? (Verse 9 tells us
that God was the designer — He had a pattern.) - Read Hebrews 8:5. Where have you seen this “pattern”
language before? (The writer of Hebrews is paraphrasing
the text we just read – Exodus 25:9) - Where did God get His design? (God gave Moses a
pattern for the sanctuary in the desert that was “a
copy and shadow of what is in heaven!”) - When Hebrews says the sanctuary on earth was “a
shadow” of the one in heaven, what do you think
it means? (The heavenly sanctuary is much
grander!) - The Point
- I suggest that you take a few moments and skim over
Leviticus chapters 1 and 2 which describe the animal and
grain offerings given (sacrificed) at the sanctuary. What
was the purpose of these animal sacrifices? (Read
Leviticus 1:2-4. These sacrifices would “atone” for the
sin of the person.) - If there is no sin in heaven, why do they need a
sanctuary in heaven? - Are animal sacrifices going on up there?
- Read Hebrews 9:11-14. What do these verses reveal is going
on in the heavenly sanctuary? (Jesus takes the part of the
high priest and the part of the sacrifice. It is His blood
that saves us from sin instead of the blood of animals.) - Why do you think God set up the animal sacrifice
system here on earth? (This system was a living
parable (the lesson calls it a “type”) for the death
of Jesus. The entire system pointed towards the day
when the Messiah (the “antitype) would come and make
an atonement for sin. This leaves us with two
conclusions. First, it is clear that Jesus is the
Messiah. He did exactly what was symbolized by the
sacrificial system. Second, modern Judaism has lost
its vision of what it was about.) - Why do you think that modern Judaism has lost
“the point” of the sacrificial system? (When the
temple was destroyed by the Romans (70 A.D.),
that whole part of their worship system
disappeared.) - Why do you think the Romans destroyed the
temple? (This is yet further proof that Jesus is
the Messiah. After Jesus died and was raised to
life, thus fulfilling the entire sacrificial
system, the Romans destroyed the temple. God
allowed this to happen because earthly sanctuary
was no longer needed. Its purpose had been
fulfilled.) - Lessons From the Copy
- Next week we are going to go into more detail about the
sanctuary in heaven. Let’s turn our attention to what
other lessons we can learn from the earthly sanctuary. - Read Exodus 29:38-41. What do you think about the timing
of the sacrifices? Is there a spiritual lesson in this
for us today? (God wants us to turn our attention to Him
first thing in the morning and last thing in the evening.)
- What about the time in between? ( 1 Thessalonians 5:17
tells us to “pray continually.” I think the lesson of
the sanctuary is have a formal resolve to start with
God each morning and end each day with Him.) - Notice in Exodus 29:41 God mentions the “aroma” of
the sacrifice. Why, of all things, should the smell
of this be mentioned? (Have you ever passed by a
restaurant and been attracted by the smell? I used to
think that restaurants would deliberately vent the
smell of the cooking to lure you in! People not
seeing the sacrifice would be reminded by the smell
in the area what was going on. Another “smell” part
of the service was burning incense. See Exodus 30:8-9.) - Is there a spiritual lesson in this for us? (To
make the worship of God as attractive as
possible.) - Read Leviticus 17:11. Why was spilling the blood of the
animal required for sacrifices at the earthly
sanctuary?(Life is in the blood. Spilling the blood meant
that the animal’s life was ending. Last week we discussed
that Satan’s first lie was to deny that sin causes death.
( Genesis 3:4) The sacrificial system not only reminded
people that sin does, indeed, cause death. It also taught
them that their sin could be removed by a substitute. This
substitute requires cleansing with blood.) - Could the blood of these animals cleanse the people
of their sins? If it could, why would Jesus have to
come and die? (Read Hebrews 9:13-15. The blood of
these animals made the Israelites superficially
clean. It took the sacrifice of Jesus to make us
completely clean ie., to pay the penalty God set at
the beginning of the world: sin = death.) - During the year the animal sacrifices for sin were
continually made. Then once a year, on the Day of
Atonement, a sacrifice was made for the sanctuary itself
and the High Priest. This is described in Leviticus 16. A
summary of this is found in Leviticus 16:32-34. Read. What
was the reason for this? (To cleanse all of these
“things”(the sanctuary, the tent of meeting, the alter,
the priests and the people) from the sins that had been
collecting in the sanctuary during the year.) - Is there a spiritual lesson in this for us today?
(Our lesson points out (Monday) that the sanctuary
ritual on earth did not end with the death of the
animal. Thus, there is a time when the heavenly
sanctuary will also be cleansed.) - Read Hebrews 9:24-28. How many days of atonement are
there in heaven? (One. Jesus entered on our behalf
once.) - Does Jesus stay there in the heavenly sanctuary
as our priest? (Verse 24 says that Jesus is
“now” going to appear for us in God’s presence.
This seems to indicate an ongoing work on behalf
of us.) - When is the heavenly sanctuary cleansed? When does
this “Day of Atonement” end? (Our lesson indicates
(based on other prophetic texts that are not
discussed) that this began in 1844. However, Verses
26 and 28 suggest the end is at the Second Coming.
While this beginning date suggested by the lesson is
not without considerable controversy, I doubt that
the beginning date has considerable significance to
us today. Instead, the significance is when the
Atonement is over and Jesus comes a second time to
close the door on our sin and take us home with Him!) - Friend, the entire sacrificial system points to Jesus as
the sacrificed Lamb of God. He not only died for us, but
in the heavenly sanctuary He acts as our High Priest who
intercedes for us. At some point soon this intercession
will end and He will return. Will you accept Him today as
your sacrifice and as your Intercessor to free you from
your sins? - Next Week: The Heavenly Sanctuary
