*******
CHAPTER XIV. THE HOUR OF JUDGMENT
continued…
2. The nature of the judgment shows that it is a part of the work of the gospel. In approaching this subject, we shall have to examine the question of the time on which the proclamation rests.
This is a matter of prophecy in Daniel 8. It has been shown that chapters 2 and 3 of this prophecy are specially given to the outlines of the world, as presented under four great kingdoms, Babylon, MedoPersia, Greece, and Rome. Of the fourth or Roman Kingdom chapter 2:40 says:--
"And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron; forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things; and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise."
In chapter 7:7 the same power is thus described:--
"Behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth; it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it."
As before remarked, the first, Babylon, was the most glorious, and the fourth, Rome, was the strongest, even strong exceedingly. In chapter 8 is another vision of the kingdoms, beginning with the Medes and Persians. This kingdom has the symbol of a ram, while the Grecian is represented by a goat, which had a notable horn between his eyes, which was the first king--Alexander. The prophecy says:--
"When he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven. And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great." Verses 8, 9.
In the interpretation it is said:--
"The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia; and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power." Verses 20-22.
Out of that kingdom stood up these four kingdoms: Egypt, Syria, Asia Minor, and Greece or Macedon. The prophecy says that out of one of them came forth a little horn that waxed exceeding great. Out of the last-named of the above four, the Macedonian division, arose the Roman Kingdom, small in its beginning, not counted among the divisions of the empire, but it became exceeding great, just as was said of it in chapters 2 and 7. No other kingdom but the Roman could possibly fulfill this prophecy. But there is this difference between the little horn of chapter 7 and the little horn of chapter 8. The former represented papal Rome, while the latter was Rome in its entire history, in both the pagan and papal forms. This power magnified itself, not only against the host of Heaven, but against the Prince of the host. It cast down the truth to the ground, and practised, and prospered. Verses 10-12. The prophet heard a holy one ask another how long should be the vision, to give the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot. The answer was returned to Daniel, thus:--
"And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." Dan. 8:14.
The truth concerning the cleansing of the sanctuary is the solution of this whole matter.
This we find fully explained in the books of Exodus and Leviticus. To make this clear to the reader, we shall have to refer again to the work of the sanctuary. In Exodus 25 the Lord commanded Moses to take an offering of the children of Israel: "And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them." Verse 8. It is not necessary that a full description of the sanctuary be here given. It was a tabernacle of two rooms; the first had in it the seven golden candlesticks, the table of show-bread, and the golden altar of incense. In this room called the holy, the priests ministered daily. In the inner apartment, called the most holy, was the ark containing the two tables of stone, on which were written the ten commandments. The covering of the ark was called the mercy seat, upon which were the golden cherubim. The Lord commanded Moses, saying:--
"And thou shalt put the mercy-seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel." Ex. 25:21, 22.
Of the priestly work in the most holy, we have full description in Leviticus 16. After making an offering for himself, the high priest was required to take a goat for a sin-offering for the people. The order was then as follows:--
"Then shall he kill the goat of the sin-offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy-seat, and before the mercy-seat; and he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins; and so
shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness." Verses 15, 16.
Why was an atonement to be made for the holy place? It could commit no wrong. The answer is in the order; it was because of the uncleanness of the people; because of their transgressions. But how came the sanctuary to be defiled with the sins of the people, seeing that the people were forbidden under the penalty of death to approach unto it? See Num. 3:10. Answer--The high priest represented the people; the Lord said that the high priest should bear their judgment. Ex. 28:30. The wages of sin is death, and the law demands the life of the transgressor; therefore the Lord said that the blood was given to make an atonement, because the life is in the blood. Lev. 17:11. The blood that was sprinkled on the mercy-seat, in the immediate presence of God, represented the life of the transgressors; in it was borne the sins of the people. Thus the entering of the high priest with the blood of the sin offering, caused him to bear their judgment, and the most holy was defiled. As he did in the most holy, so was he required to do in the holy; he was to anoint the altar of incense, "and he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel." Lev. 16:18, 19.
All this was to take place on the tenth day of the seventh month, which was the day of atonement. Lev. 16:20-31; 23:27. Making the atonement, blotting out the sins from the presence of the Lawgiver, was called cleansing the sanctuary. See Eze. 43:20-22.
This completed the yearly service of the sanctuary; and the service of each year represented the complete priestly work of the Saviour.
The nature of the sanctuary service in the law of Moses, is shown in Hebrews 8 and 9. After discoursing of the priesthood of Christ, after the order of Melchizedek, a kingly priest, the writer says:--
"Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high 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. For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices; wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law; who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle; for, See saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount." Heb. 8:1-5.
Here we learn:
1. That the sanctuary, and the priestly work of the earthly priests, were examples and shadows of things in Heaven.
2. That Christ could not be a priest on earth, for the earthly priests were types of him.
3. That his is a kingly priesthood on the throne of his Father.
4. That there is a true sanctuary or tabernacle in Heaven, of which that on earth was a figure. In this book we learn also that Christ is a Mediator, not only for sinners under the new covenant, but also for those under the first covenant. Chapter 9:15. This proves that Jesus is a Mediator before the same law that God spoke to Israel on Mount Sinai, and wrote on the tables of stone. That law stands against their transgressions, until Jesus blots them out with his own precious blood.
But a question of great interest and importance will here arise: Does the heavenly sanctuary need to be cleansed from the sins of the people, even as the pattern and example did?
To this we have a clear and decided answer in Heb. 9:23, 24. After speaking of the efficacy of the blood of Christ, in contrast with the blood of bulls and goats, which was offered under the old covenant, and of the necessity of shedding blood in order to remission, the writer says:--
"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."
And why should not this be so? Is not our High Priest in the sanctuary in Heaven? Does he not bear our judgment? Does he not present our sins in the presence of God? Does he not present his own blood, the better sacrifice, in that sanctuary? It is for this reason that the heavenly things need to be purified. If they did not, there would have been no necessity for the patterns--the shadow and example; they would have been without meaning. That there are indeed two holy places in the sanctuary above, we learn not only in Heb. 9:23, 24, but also in the book of Revelation.
In chapter 4:1-5, John had a vision of the open temple in Heaven, and of the throne, and he said "there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne." The seven lamps were in the holy place. But in a vision of the heavenly things very near to the close of the dispensation, under the seventh trumpet, when the time to judge the dead had come (Rev. 11:15-19), the prophet said: "And the temple of God was opened in Heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament." The ark of the testament was in the most holy place, which was opened only on the day of atonement, when the sanctuary was to be cleansed from the sins of the people. This is the last part of the priestly service. It is the judgment.
At the time when this part of the sanctuary is opened it is declared that the time of the dead, when they should be judged, has come. Verse 18. This coincides with the time of the first message of Revelation 14, verses 6, 7: "The hour of his judgment is come."
Then the time is come when the sanctuary in Heaven shall be cleansed.
And this clearly shows that the proclamation of the judgment is gospel preaching; for the beginning of the judgment is the work of the priest in the most holy place in the sanctuary in Heaven,--the blotting out of the sins of the saints. To the people of God it is a most important part of the gospel work.
To the impenitent it is the time of deciding that they shall never see eternal life; the time to determine when he that is unrighteous shall remain unrighteous still. But time does not close with that announcement.
Another message of warning is going forth to the world, while our High Priest is engaged in judging the dead.
Still there is opportunity to make our calling and election sure. But we must not presume on the mercies of the Lord. Remember his own warning: "Watch therefore; for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come." Matt. 24:42.
To all those who do not watch, that day will come as a thief. But to the waiting ones, the Scripture says, "But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." 1 Thess. 5:4.
(From Eden to Eden-A Historic and Prophetic Study. By J. H. Waggoner. 1890.)
No comments:
Post a Comment