Atonement in Symbols –
Part 1
Lesson 6
The Sanctuary Service
• This week
– How the daily services worked and what
they meant.
• Next week
– How the Day of Atonement worked and
what it meant.
The Sanctuary Service
• All of this, and especially the Day of
Atonement, is vitally connected to
Seventh-day Adventist beliefs.
The Sanctuary Service
•
Fundamental Belief No. 24. Christ's Ministry in the Heavenly Sanctuary:
There is a sanctuary in heaven, the true tabernacle which the Lord set up and
not man. In it Christ ministers on our behalf, making available to believers the
benefits of His atoning sacrifice offered once for all on the cross. He was
inaugurated as our great High Priest and began His intercessory ministry at the
time of His ascension. In 1844, at the end of the prophetic period of 2300 days,
He entered the second and last phase of His atoning ministry. It is a work of
investigative judgment which is part of the ultimate disposition of all sin,
typified by the cleansing of the ancient Hebrew sanctuary on the Day of
Atonement. In that typical service the sanctuary was cleansed with the blood of
animal sacrifices, but the heavenly things are purified with the perfect sacrifice
of the blood of Jesus. The investigative judgment reveals to heavenly
intelligences who among the dead are asleep in Christ and therefore, in Him, are
deemed worthy to have part in the first resurrection. It also makes manifest who
among the living are abiding in Christ, keeping the commandments of God and
the faith of Jesus, and in Him, therefore, are ready for translation into His
everlasting kingdom. This judgment vindicates the justice of God in saving
those who believe in Jesus. It declares that those who have remained loyal to
God shall receive the kingdom. The completion of this ministry of Christ will
mark the close of human probation before the Second Advent. (Heb. 8:1-5; 4:1416; 9:11-28; 10:19-22; 1:3; 2:16, 17; Dan. 7:9-27; 8:13, 14; 9:24-27; Num. 14:34;
Eze. 4:6; Lev. 16; Rev. 14:6, 7; 20:12; 14:12; 22:12.)
The Issue of Sacrifices
• “In the Bible the sacrificial system was
established in order to
• “illustrate how God was going to solve the
problem of sin.
• “At the center of the service was the blood of
the sacrificial animal. The life of the animal
was poured out so that the life of the
repentant sinner could be saved.
• “The animal was a symbol of Jesus, who
would give His life in place of ours.”
The Issue of Sacrifices
• The theology of sacrifice remains an issue, not only for
religions that continue to practice rituals of sacrifice, but also
for those religions that have animal sacrifice in their scriptures,
traditions, or histories, even if sacrifice is no longer made.
Religions offer a number of reasons for why sacrifices are
offered.
– Gods need sacrifice to sustain themselves and their power,
without which they are diminished.
– Sacrificed goods are used to make a bargain with the god,
who has promised some favour in return for the sacrifice.
– The lives or blood of sacrificial victims contains some other
supernatural power whose offering pleases the god.
Religion in Egypt
• The gods of Egypt. “They had human
forms but were much more powerful;
yet like humans, they got angry,
despaired, fought with one another,
had children, and fell in love. They lived
lives that were very much like those of
the people who worshipped them, the
ancient Egyptians.”
Religion in Egypt
• “There were numerous gods, but rather than
living on an isolated mountain or in an
unreachable heaven, many of them lived
invisibly in the mortal world, acting through
sacred sites, items, animals, or even chosen
people. Furthermore, the spirits of the
deceased, if remembered and honored, could
aid and guide the living from the Afterlife.”
Religion in Egypt
• “Rituals centered around offerings, but there were
certainly numerous other rituals, including many
daily functions such as washing and clothing the
gods (or at least the statue of the gods). Other rituals
took the form of celebrations when, for example, one
god might be taken to visit the cult center of another,
and it was during these festivals that common
Egyptians probably came closest to their gods, for at
other times they were prohibited from the
sanctuaries that housed the cult statues.”
Human Sacrifices in Egypt
• The ritual killing of human
beings as part of the offerings
presented to the gods on a
regular basis, or on special
occasions.
• Retainer sacrifice, or the
killing of domestic servants to
bury them along with their
master.
Sacrifices in Canaan
• 1) FIRST LAMB/KID SACRIFICE - The First Night
This very ancient sacrificial holiday of nomadic shepherds is
conducted by the head of the family, standing on the sacred
bomah, the High Place, facing West. A sacred, limping, mourning
dance is performed around the sacrificial animal. The sacrifice
takes place at dusk. When it is done, all present kiss each other
first over right shoulder or on the right cheek, then on left. Each
head of household daubs their tent posts with the animal's blood.
The animal is roasted whole after dark. It is forbidden to break any
of its bones or to leave any part of it uneaten or unburned by
sunrise. After several hours of fire-stoking and spit-turning to cook
the whole animal, the meal takes place late in the night. All inedible
or uneaten parts are burned in a separate firepit. It takes about 5
people to eat a whole lamb, so one would be sacrificed per
household. While waiting for the lamb to roast, people kept each
other awake telling stories, singing and dancing.
The Hebrew Sanctuary
Lesson Introduction
• “In the Bible the sacrificial system was
established in order to illustrate how God
was going to solve the problem of sin.
• “At the center of the service was the blood of
the sacrificial animal.
• “The life of the animal was poured out so
that the life of the repentant sinner could be
saved.
• “The animal was a symbol of Jesus, who
would give His life in place of ours.”
Lesson Introduction
• “When repentant sinners brought their sacrifices to the Lord,
they were acknowledging that they were sinners who deserved
death.
• “But they also were manifesting faith, trusting that the Lord
would grant them forgiveness by accepting the life of the
sacrificial victim in their stead.
• “Assuming responsibility for our sin is indispensable (this is
known as repentance and confession). Only those who, in the
light of the Cross, see themselves as sinners in need of
forgiveness and humbly find in Christ the Lamb of God that
takes away their sin will experience cleansing.
Early Church Application
• “For you know that it was not
with perishable things such as
silver or gold that you were
redeemed from the empty way of
life handed down to you from
your forefathers, but with the
precious blood of Christ, a lamb
without blemish or defect.” (1
Peter 1: 18, 19).
History of the Sacrificial
System
Animal Skins in
Eden
Noah After the Flood
“For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I
have given it to you to make atonement for
yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that
makes atonement for one’s life.” Lev. 17:11
Meaning of the
Sacrificial System
• “In the Bible, the sacrificial
victim and the repentant
sinner who brought it were
identified with each other so
closely that the life of the
animal stood for the life of the
person, and the animal's
blood became a means of
atonement” (Lev 17:11).
Meaning of the
Sacrificial System
• “ . . . became a means of
atonement” (Lev 17:11).
• Only in the person’s mind, not
in reality. An animal cannot
atone for a person.
Meaning of the
Sacrificial System
1. “. . . the sacrificial act was an act of
salvation.”
2. “ . . . the death of sacrificial victims
had a symbolic function only.”
3. “. . . the killing of the sacrificial animal
also illustrated the seriousness of sin
and the costliness of forgiveness.”
Meaning of the
Sacrificial System
Genesis 3:15
“And I will put enmity between you and
the woman, and between your
offspring and hers; he will crush your
head, and you will strike his heel.”
“At the moment sin entered into the world, God instituted a
sacrificial system that had these symbolic and teaching
functions. The first sacrifice that Adam and Eve offered was a
wonderful explosion of hope in the coming Redeemer, a hope
offered in the midst of the pain of guilt and death.”
Contemporary Sacrificial
Systems
• Pagan and animistic religious rites.
• In the Americas
Haitian voodoo
Obeah – Caribbean
Islands
Santería – Spanish
Caribbean
Changó
Brazil Umbanda
Brazil Kardecists
Monday- Sin and Impurity
• “Impurity is considered as damaging to
the covenant relationship as a moral
sin itself.
• “The instructions concerning impurity
have the purpose of motivating the
Israelites to avoid anything that could
contaminate them.
Monday- Sin and Impurity
• “The biblical concept of impurity
indicates that humans are almost in a
natural state of contamination existing
in an environment that is fundamentally
unclean. They need cleansing in order
to be free to approach the Lord. This
cleansing was primarily possible
through the blood of the sacrificial
victim (Lev. 12:8).
Monday- Sin and Impurity
• “The laws regarding purification
instructed them concerning how they
could be restored to a state of purity
before the Lord.”
Monday- Sin and Impurity
• “There are several sources of impurity, some of
which are unavoidable.
• “For example, there is the contamination that a
woman incurs during childbirth (Leviticus 12). In this
case the contamination is the result of the blood
discharge that accompanies the childbirth (Lev. 12:4,
5, 7; see also Lev. 15:19—30 for another kind of
uncleanliness).
• “A man with a blood discharge was also considered
unclean (Lev. 15:1—15; see also vss. 16—18).”
Monday- Sin and Impurity
• “But there was also a theological interest.
The impure person was not allowed to come
into contact with other people and was
excluded from the sanctuary. “Impurity” thus
becomes a metaphor to express a person's
alienation from God and others.
• “In those cases the individual was a carrier, a
contaminating agent; therefore, he or she
was forbidden to contact anybody else or
any holy thing.”
Monday- Sin and Impurity
• Hygienic concerns
• “The LORD will keep you free from
every disease. He will not inflict on
you the horrible diseases you
knew in Egypt.” (Deut 7:15).
Monday- Sin and Impurity
• “In fact, impurity is usually associated with
death. It is connected with dead bodies
(Num. 6:6, 7, 11), diseases (Leviticus 13, 14),
blood discharge (a way of letting life run
away), and the emission of semen, which is
the “seed” of life. The leper was totally
impure and considered as dead (Num. 12:9—
12).
Monday- Sin and Impurity
• What causes “impurity?”
– Anything that produces or even represents
“death.” literally or symbolically.
– Anything that represents “life” but is
misused so as to produce “death” — even
symbolically.
• E.g. monthly menstrual period or discharge of
semen.
– Anything that is hygienically unsafe or
infectious.
Monday- Sin and Impurity
• Theologically, all this has to do with the
issue of “original sin.”
• Human beings are “unclean” by nature.
• There is nothing anyone can do about
it.
• Only the sacrifice/atonement of Jesus
can change a human being’s status
from “death” to “life.”
Tuesday – Kinds of Sacrifices
• Bulls
• “If the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, he
must bring to the LORD a young bull without defect as a sin
offering for the sin he has committed.”
• “If the whole Israelite community sins unintentionally . . . the
assembly must bring a young bull as a sin offering.”
• Goats
• “When a leader sins unintentionally . . . he must bring as his
offering a male goat without defect.”
• “If a member of the community sins unintentionally . . . he must
bring as his offering for the sin he committed a female goat
without defect.” —Leviticus 4
Tuesday – Kinds of Sacrifices
• “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom
3:23).
• “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and
death through sin, and in this way death came to all men,
because all sinned.” (Rom 5:12-13).
Tuesday – What Do We Learn?
• “First, the type of animal brought as a sin offering
depended on the financial condition of the individual
(Lev. 5:7—12),
– “which showed that the Lord was sensitive to the financial
situation of the people. For us, the point shouldn't be missed:
Salvation through Christ is for all people, regardless of their status
in the world.
• “Second, the sacrificial victim was expected to be
unblemished, healthy, and without physical defects
(Lev. 4:3).
– The sinner was defective and morally blemished, but the sacrificial
victim that represented the Lamb of God wasn't.”
Tuesday – What Do We Learn?
• “Another important point to remember:
• “The sin offering atones for both unintentional and
intentional sin (Lev. 5:1—5) and ritual impurity (Lev.
12:6, 7).
• “What's the moral lesson for us?
– It's that there was no sin that God could not forgive if the sinner
repented from it.
– Moral and ritual impurity was symbolically removed from repentant
sinners through the sacrificial blood. But, in fact, only the blood of
Christ could cleanse from sin.
– The great news for us, prefigured in these sacrifices, is that no
matter our past, no matter how badly we have fallen, we can,
through Jesus, find restitution, healing, forgiveness, and
cleansing.
Summary
• Atonement and animal sacrifices
• Sin and impurity
• The sacrifices
•The Removal of Sin and Impurity
•Other Sacrifices
Wednesday – The Removal
• When the repentant sinner brought the sacrificial
victim to the sanctuary, the sinner placed a hand on
the head of the animal and leaned on it. In the daily
sacrifices the laying on of hands was associated
with the phrase “be accepted on his behalf to make
atonement for him” (Lev. 1:4, NIV), indicating that the
sinner fully identified with the sacrificial victim. The
sacrificial victim was at that moment standing for
him or her before God, bearing the sin of the
individual.
Wednesday – The Removal
• Because of the violation of
the covenant, sinners were
heading toward—death, but
that death was actualized in
the sacrificial victim, not in
the repentant sinner, whose
life was then spared by God.
Sin and penalty cannot be
separated from each other.
Wednesday – The Elimination
Process
• Sin has to be eliminated at two
levels:
Next Week’s
Lesson
Personal
Corporate
Wednesday – The Elimination
Process
• What happened to confessed
sins?
– “Another ritual was the bringing of the
blood into the sanctuary, the means by
which sin was brought there.”
– “When sin was not taken inside the
sanctuary in this manner, sin was
transferred to it through the priest.”
Wednesday – The Elimination
Process
• What did all these “transfers”
mean?
– “God was assuming responsibility for the
sin of repentant sinners. This pointed to
Christ’s high-priestly ministry on our
behalf.”
Thursday – Other Offerings
• Burnt offerings – Total consecration to
the Lord.
– Votive offerings (For a vow)
– Freewill offerings (For personal devotion)
• Peace/Fellowship Offerings (eaten by
the persons)
– A joyful occasion
– Communal/fellowship strength
Thursday – Other Offerings
• Meal offerings
– Fruits of the land
– Expressing of gratitude
• The “salt of the covenant” (Lev. 2:13).
– Salt was a preservative
• An expression of the person’s willingness to
preserve the covenant relationship with the
Lord.