HE EARTHLY sanctuary was
heaven in miniature brought to
earth. The objective of its services
was to bring about a reconciliation be-
tween God and man. Man, who was lost
in sin and alienated from God, was to be
redeemed and brought back into fellow-
ship with heaven. It was at the sanctuary
that man was to find God and meet with
Him. It was there that he was to be
cleansed from sin and made fit for the
companionship of angels. At the sanctu-
ary sinful man was to become acquainted
with Christ and all that He was doing to
bring him back again to the pure estate
from which he had fallen. It was there
that the mysteries of heaven were to be
portrayed in terms of simple object les-
sons so that the children of earth might
understand the various steps in God’s
great plan of salvation.
The sanctuary services were of two
types, the daily and the yearly. In the
court and in the Holy Place of the taber-
nacle services were performed every day
of the year, while in the Most Holy Place
there was only one service during the
year.
The brazen altar of burnt offering was
the scene of the most important of the
daily services. Every morning and every
evening a lamb of a year old, without
spot or blemish, was burned upon the
altar. This symbolized the daily conse-
cration of the nation to God, its constant
reliance upon Him, and its continual
dependence on the atoning blood of
Christ. As the church had a perfect
Master, so it was to be a perfect church.
“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your
Father which is in heaven is perfect,”
was the admonition of Jesus. Matthew
5:48. “I beseech you therefore, breth-
ren, by the mercies of God, that ye pre-
sent your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is. your
reasonable service,” was the counsel of
Paul. Romans 12: 1. The perfect lamb
daily offered on the altar was a constant
reminder of the perfection required by
God of the people who daily consecrated
themselves to Him.
The most important service performed
at the brazen altar was the sacrifice of
sin offerings in behalf of individual
sinners. When a person had sinned and
sought forgiveness, he brought to the
altar a lamb or a goat without blemish.
Placing his hands upon the victim’s head,
he confessed his sin over the animal, and
then with his own hand slew the victim.
Leviticus 4: 1-35. In some cases the
propitiatory blood was placed on the
horns of the brazen altar and the flesh
was eaten by the priest. Leviticus 6:
25-30. In others the blood was sprinkled
before the veil in the first apartment and
PAGE 8
put upon the horns of the altar of in-
cense. (Leviticus 4:6, 7.) Thus in
type was the guilt of the penitent sinner
transferred from himself to the animal
that was slain, and by its blood the sin
was removed to the holy place of the
sanctuary. And thus were the sins of all
those who had faith in the promised
Saviour, and accepted Him as a pro-
pitiation in their behalf, transferred from
themselves to the great antitypical Lamb
of God (John 1:29; 1 Peter 1: 18-20),
and to the great heavenly sanctuary
above, whither He ascended, after His
death and resurrection, to appear in the
presence of the Father to make inter-
cession in man’s behalf. (Hebrews 4:
14-16; 8: 1, 2.)
The Hebrews, long before the death of
Christ, understood the inner meaning of
their elaborate ritual. They knew that
there was no efficacy in the blood of a
slain lamb or goat to cleanse any indi-
vidual from sin, and they understood that
it was God alone who granted forgive-
ness. Through Isaiah the Lord had de-
clared: “I, even I, am He that blotteth
out thy transgressions for Mine own sake,
and will not remember thy sins.” Isaiah
43: 25. It was to God that the psalmist
looked for forgiveness from his iniquity,
praying: “Have mercy upon me, O God,
according to Thy loving-kindness: ac-
cording unto the multitude of Thy tender
mercies blot out my transgressions.”
Psalm 51: 1.
Long before Jesus came to this earth in
human form to die His expiatory death
in behalf of sinful man, did the Jews
express their faith in the mercy and
loving-kindness of their Lord and Saviour.
“Who is a God like unto Thee, that par-
doneth iniquity, and passeth by the
transgression of the remnant of His
heritage? He retaineth not His anger
forever, because He delighteth in mercy.”
Micah 7: 18. “The Lord is merciful and
gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in
‘mercy. . . . He hath not dealt with us
after our sins; nor rewarded us according
to our iniquities. For as the heaven is
high above the earth, so great is His
mercy toward them that fear Him. As
far as the east is from the west, so far
hath He removed our transgressions from
us. Like as a father pitieth his children,
so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him.
For He knoweth our frame; He remem-
bereth that we are dust.” Psalm 103:
8-14.
Israel’s sacrificial system was remark-
ably successful in conveying to man a
sense of the awfulness of sin and its
deadly consequences, and of the goodness,
the mercy, and the love of God.
The services at the laver were of a
cleansing type and signified the washing
THE WATCHMAN MAGAZINE