The Sanctuary Study Pt. 13

Our Sanctuary Study is continued.
We know that blood is shed for the remission of sins. Matt. {26:28}
In the Sanctuary service before Christ's ultimate sacrifice, an animal sacrifice was brought to the Sanctuary and sacrificed, it's blood shed. Let's pick up our study here--
1989 Special 2 -- Light From the Throne William Grotheer--
WHAT WAS TRANSFERRED? -- Basic to salvation is transferrence.
We cannot pay a penalty for our sins and live.
What, then, was transferred when in the sanctuary ritual, the sinner placed his hand upon the head of the sacrifice he brought to the door of the tabernacle?
This is no idle question.
It was over this question that E. J. Waggoner stumbled. A letter was found on his desk after his sudden death, May 28, 1916, which he wanted the one to whom it was written to consider it "as a confession of faith." In it he wrote: The self-evident truth that sin is not an entity but a condition that can exist only in a person, made it clear to me that it is impossible for there to be any such thing as the transferring of sins to the sanctuary in heaven, thus defiling that place; and that there could, consequently, be any such thing, either in 1844 A.D., or at any subsequent time, as the "cleansing of the sanctuary." (The Confession of Faith, p. 14)
It can be seen that the question as to what was transferred in the typical sanctuary ritual has been a source of contention in the teaching of the sanctuary truth.
Actually, there was and is no need for the transference of sin to the sanctuary, whether in type or Heavenly Reality.
As we noted in the previous Commentary , all sin the moment committed is recorded in "books", or in modern terminology, a "computer bank." (III-1, p. 6, col. 2) The very inferrence of the language used in outlining the sin offering ritual indicates the recording of the sin committed. The law reads - "If his sin, wherein he hath sinned, come to his knowledge." (Lev., 4:23, 28) The fact of sin preceded the perception of that sin. When perceived, it was not the recording of the sin that the sinner needed, but the means to escape from the penalty of the sin.
Review the steps outlined in the model for one category.
When the common person became conscious of his sin, he brought the designated animal.
Putting his hand upon the head of the victim, he confessed "that he hath sinned in that thing." (Lev. 5:5)
The sacrificial animal was "accepted for him to make an atonement for him." (Lev. 1:4)
What did the atonement require? Death!
Life had to be forfeited, for the wages of sin is death. (Rom. 6:23)
The sinner slew the animal.
The blood, which "is the life of all flesh" (Lev. 17:14), was taken by the priest and fingerprinted on the Altar in the court. This record is saying loud and clear, the penalty had been paid. Confession had been made; therefore, forgiveness can be extended to the transgressor.
This is exactly what the law of the sin offering stated - "and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him." (4:31, 35) It does not say that the priest shall make an atonement for him and record his sin.
What salvation would that be?
"The offerer transferred the consciousness of sin and the desire for forgiveness to the head of the animal that had been brought in is stead, by the laying on of his hand; and after this the animal was slaughtered, and suffered death for him as the wages of sin." (Keil-Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, Vol. I, p. 305) Thus the record of sin already there is offset by the fact that thee penalty has been paid for by some other living creature.
THE LAW OF THE SIN OFFERING -- This is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is killed shall the sin offering be killed before the Lord: it is most holy.
The priest that offereth it shall eat it: in the holy place shall it be eaten, in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation. (Lev. 6:25-26)
So full of meaning was this law that when the sons of Aaron violated it, Moses beame "angry" with them. (Lev. 10:16) He asked emphatically - "Why have ye not eaten the sin offering in the holy place, for it is most holy, and He has given it to you to take away the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before Jehovah? Behold, its blood has not been brought into the holy place inside. You should certainly have eaten it in the holy place as I have commanded." (Lev. 10:17-18 Heb.)
The offering was a "goat," thus a sin offering for an individual. (Lev. 4:23,. 38) Such being the case, the common priest ministered the blood (4:25, 30), and because it was not brought into the sanctuary, he should have eaten of the sacrifice, so as to bear in himself the sin.
In the sin offerings over which the High Priest ministered, the blood was brought into the sanctuary. In this differentiation between the individual and corporate sins as to whom ministered, and what each category of ministering priests did, we see the dual role of Christ both as common priest, and as High Priest.
Every high priest was taken from among men (Heb. 5:1), so Christ to become the great High Priest had to become man.
In becoming man, He "partook of the same" flesh and blood as is common to humanity. (Heb. 2:14)
He "took upon Himself the slave-form of man" (Phil. 2:7, Gr.) coming in "the likeness of sinful flesh" (Rom. 8:3), being made "to be sin for us." (II Cor. 5:21) 'In His earthly ministry, Jesus was both "that prophet" (John 1: 21) , and "common priest. " As "that Prophet" He would "build the temple of the Lord" even as Moses the earthly type. As "the Common Priest," He "offered sacrifice, Himself the priest, Himself the victim." (See AA, p. 33) Ministering in the "court" of this earth, He bestowed "forgiveness" even as the common priests of Israel did upon the individual offerer. To the scribes and Pharisees who became incensed because He said to a palsy stricken man - "Thy sins are forgiven thee" - Jesus demonstrated "that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins" by telling the man, "Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house." And he did! (Luke 5:18-24)
Here in the court of earth, the shadowy type was meeting "the very image" of the good things which it prefigured.
In ministering the law of the sin offering, the priest would "make atonement" for the sin which the individual "committed, and it [would] be forgiven him." (Lev. 4:35)
So Jesus the "anointed One" declared forgiveness to the sin-burdened souls who came to Him. Not only did He forgive sins, but He provided a "forgiveness of sins" which "justified from all things" beyond the scope of the shadowy "law of Moses." (Acts 13:38-39)
Having provided the sacrifice, He ministers, at the Throne of Grace ,mercy and grace to all who come boldly "in full assurance of faith." (Heb. 4:16; 10:22)
The earthly high priest ministered only corporate sin offerings wherein the blood was brought into the sanctuary, and thus did not eat of the offering partaking of its symbolic sin. Christ preserving the purity of His divine character, was called to be the High Priest after the Order of Melchisedec. In this mediatiorial work, He is not only "able to save to the uttermost" those who "come unto God by Him," but He is also "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens." (Heb. 7:2526)
In Christ, the law of the sin offering finds its reality, both in His work as a Common Priest while on earth, and in His work as High Priest in the Heavenly Sanctuary.
THE FAT OF THE SIN OFFERINGS -- Four times during the instruction of how the sin offerings were to be ministered, the Lord told Moses the fat was to be removed and burned "as the fat of the sacrifice of the peace offerings." (Lev. 4:10, 26, 31, 35) The peace offerings had been detailed just prior to the instruction concerning the sin offerings. (Lev. 3) All "the fat that covereth the inwards, ... and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul (fold) above the liver ' with the kidneys, it shall [the priest] take away." (3:9-10) These were to be burned upon the altar.
The fat and the kidneys are declared to be "the food [Heb. - bread] of the offering made by fire for a sweet savour" unto the Lord. (Lev. 3:11, 16; 4:31) "All the fat" the Lord claimed as His, and with the blood, forbad that it should be eaten. (3:16-17)
What is the significance of this part of the ritual? What do the kidneys represent? What is the meaning of the fat and why is it cut away and burned?
First, the kidneys:
The kidneys "were regarded as the seat of the tenderest and deepest emotions." (Keil & Delitzsch, op cit., p. 306)Gesenius in his Hebrew lexicon states that the word for kidneys (k'layoth) was used metonymically to represent "the mind, soul as the seat of the desires, affections, passions," and is often coupled with "heart" (lev).
Observe closely the following texts. Note the use of the Hebrew word for "kidneys" as a figure of speech. In each instance, the word is translated "reins" in the KJV:
The righteous God trieth the hearts and reins. (Ps. 7:9)Examine me, 0 Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart. (Ps. 26:2)Thus was my heart grieved, and I was prickedin my reins. (Ps. 73:21)But, 0 Lord of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the reins and the heart. (Jer. 11:20)I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, ... (Jer. 17:10)
How are we to understand this in relationship to the sin offering? God met Israel at the level of their perception.
The "seat of emotion, desires and passions" was removed from the body and burned on the altar. But before this could be done, the "fat" had to be stripped from the kidneys and also burned. The full comment found in Keil & Delitzsch is interesting. It reads: Now, if the flesh of the victim represented the body of the offerer as the organ of the soul, the fat portions inside the body, together with the kidneys, which were regarded as the seat of the tenderest and deepest emotions, can only have set forth the better part or inmost kernel of the man. (op. cit.)
While this comment relates the separation from the body of certain parts of the sin offering, and differentates between the "outer" and "inner man," it still leaves unexplained, why the fat had to be separated from the kidneys.
Paul addresses the "outer" and "inner" man concepts. He wrote, "For delight in the law of God after the inner man." (Rom. 7:22) To him, "though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day." (II Cor. 4:16) He explained how this could be. He wrote - "I die daily." (I Cor. 15:31) Self, "the reins," was crucified with Christ. (Gal. 2:20)
The kidneys were burned on the altar. Yet the offerer lived because he was forgiven.
In this service, the fat stripped from the inwards parts as well as the kidneys, was also burned.
Into "smoke" it was consumed away.
What does this mean, and what is this ritual saying to us?
In the Scriptures, the Hebrew word, "fat" (helev) was used to refer to the best, and most abundant.
Pharaoh offered Joseph for his family, the "good of the land of Egypt," and said that they "shall eat of the fat of the land." (Gen. 45:18)
But "fat" is also associated with disobedience, sins, and backsliding.
Observe the following texts:
Samuel said to Saul - "To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." (I Sam. 15:22) In this experience, the "fat" was substituted for obedience. To have followed fully the instruction God gave in reference to the Amalekites (15:3), there would have been no fat to offer.
God through Isaiah said of Israel - Thou hast not "filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities." Then God declared of Himself - "I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for my own sake, and will not remember thy sins." (Isa. 43:24-25) How was this "blotting" out not symbolized by Israel? Israel had not brought the "fat of [the] sacrifices."
Ezekiel stated, of the priests who had charge of the sanctuary, that "when the children of Israel went astray" from God, they were to come near and offer to God "the fat and the blood." (Eze. 44:15)
It is objected that "fat" cannot be associated with sin because nothing which represented sin was permitted on the Altar of Burnt Offering. Besides, the offering of the fat of the sin offering was considered a "sweet savour unto the Lord." (Lev. 4:31) How then could this be associated with sin? It is further questioned, how can "fat," if it symbolized sin in any way, be considered as "the bread of the offering," and as being "the Lord's"? (See Lev. 3:11, 16)
In support of the first objection, the exclusion of "leaven," a symbol of sin, from the meal offering is cited. (Lev. 2:11) There is, however, a difference between leaven and fat. Leaven would be introduced into the meal, while fat is an integral part of the animal sacrifice. In the case of the individual sin offering, major parts of the sacrifical animal became the actual possession of the ministering priest. But in all instances, the fat was excluded, cut away, and burned.
The whole of the sin offering was considered "most holy" unto the Lord. (Lev. 6:25) Is it unreasonable to assume that any representation whereby sin is removed either from the sinner, or whereby provision is made for its extinction, that such a sacrifice would be as a "sweet savour" unto God?
The fat cannot be considered in the same category as the "kidney" as it was separated from it, even though both were burned. if the "kidney" stood for the very "reins" of the person, and was burned on the altar, is the concept of sin not introduced to the altar? Does not the Scripture teach that "the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked"? (Jer. 17:9) Is not the significant meaning of this part of the ritual saying -
Since you have been forgiven; the wages of sin have been paid in the mediation of the blood; but to go and sin no more, excesses and abundance must be cut away. And the how is clearly indicated.
While the sinner slew the victim, taking its life, it was the priest who separated the fat from the kidneys and the inward parts.
The offerer could not do it, and not until he died symbolically in the sacrifice could the priest do it!
How does this pertain to the Reality?
We must be crucified with Christ.
Then living by the faith of the Son of God," we are "strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man." (Gal. 2:20; Eph. 4:16)
The excesses of life are cut away; the abundances are placed in God's service; and we become "a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God." (Rom. 12:1)
Whenever sin is separated from the life, and all is surrendered to God, it is indeed to Him, "a sweet smelling savour."
*******
We're going to pause here.
If you're truly following this, studying this, you'll notice from past blogs we talked about living our lives in Christ after the initial acceptance of Jesus as our Savior. People can stumble after the initial *high* of new life wears off and evil is pounding at them daily. A great trial comes and breaks them. Walking in Christ is so important, knowing how to have faith that will last through the severest of trials necessary.
Read this again--
We must be crucified with Christ.
Then living by the faith of the Son of God," we are "strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man." (Gal. 2:20; Eph. 4:16)
The excesses of life are cut away; the abundances are placed in God's service; and we become "a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God." (Rom. 12:1)
Whenever sin is separated from the life, and all is surrendered to God, it is indeed to Him, "a sweet smelling savour."
**
The excesses cut away.
The abundances in God's service.
A living sacrifice.
Holy.
Acceptable unto God.
**
No, we can't save ourselves, but our lives will become a reflection of what God wants of us if we live in Him, if we are 'strengthend with might by His Spirit in the inner man.'
As the sanctuary services reveal not only the sacrifices necessary for our eternal life, it also reveals the way we are to live. We do have parts to play in all this, knowing it is Jesus and only Jesus that saves us, we offer to live for Him, in Him and this is our life, it is His to do with as He wills, and we pray-- Thy will be done.
Amen.