The Sanctuary – Part 1

When Adam and Eve sinned, God in his great love gave them a promise “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed ” Gen. 3:15. A descendant from the woman would be born and save humanity from eternal death. God took time to explain and show the terrible consequences of sin to Adam and Eve, only the death of an innocent man could take the place and redeem a sinful human race. In the process of explaining the consequence of sin, God calls by name a lamb, the lamb comes trotting until it comes before the Creator, He takes the innocent lamb in his loving hands and raising up his hand with a dagger he discharges it over the neck of the lamb. Blood gushes out and stains the robe of the Creator, the lamb has died. Adam and Eve had never seen an animal die, it’s a shock to them and tears come out of their eyes as they see the consequences of their sin. The Bible says “for the wages of sin is death “Rom 6:23. They needed to experience the death of a lamb to be able to understand the gravity of sin. They should have died in the moment they disobeyed, for God had told them the day that thou eatest of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt surely die, but they didn’t die in that same moment. Jesus in his marvelous grace and righteousness offered himself as a substitute to redeem the human race, and God the Father in his love provided his Son as a substitute ” whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world “Rev.13:8. Jesus is the lamb that takes away the sin of the world. The lamb that died in the hands of the Creator, represented the true lamb Jesus Christ, the Savior to a lost world.

God called another lamb. This time he takes Adam’s hand and teaches him how to discharge the dagger over the neck of the lamb. What lesson were they to learn? Adam and Eve would never forget the consequences of their sin. In that moment God taught them the system of sacrifices for sin. This is a true story. The Bible states “Unto Adam also and his wife did the Lord God make them coats of skin, and clothed them. Adam was to teach every descendant of his to take the dagger and kill the lamb for the forgiveness of their sins. We can say our ancestors in the Old Testament lived by faith. For 4,000 years there was shedding of blood. Having the faith that one day the Messiah would be born and redeem what had had been lost by our first parents.

Adam and Eve had two sons. “And in the process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the first fruits of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering. “Gen 4:3,4. Abel’s profession was a shepherd and Cain’s profession an agriculturer. Cain brings the fruit of the ground, instead of what God had said to bring as an offering for sin. Cain wasn’t a bad man, he wanted to please God but the problem is he wanted to please God his own way. God desires us to obey him. The word of God says without the shedding of blood there is no remission-for sin.

I would like to ask the question. Before the flood where, were the sacrifices for sin made?
“The fallen race were long permitted to gaze upon the home of innocence, their entrance barred only by guarded gate of Paradise the divine glory was revealed. Hither came Adam and his sons to worship God.” P.P. Page 62. The Sanctuary before the flood was before the Garden of Eden. The Bible tells us that Adam lived 930 years, for seven generations he taught and talked to his descendants about the System of sacrifices.. He would come to the door of the garden, and tell his sons, grandsons and great-grandsons his experience and how before they would ,eat of the tree of life, but now because of the consequence of sin they couldn’t but if they would be faithful one day they could all eat again of the tree of life.

Let’s travel to the time of Moses. God tells Moses in the Mount of Sinai.. “And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely be put to death “Ex.19: 12.. They couldn’t trespass the limits. It was the place where God was abiding. The point here is the presence of God destroys the sinner. Moses was the spiritual leader of the nation of Israel and God gave him important instructions. “And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them”Ex.25:8. The earthly sanctuary was going to be a shadow of the heavenly sanctuary. From Exodus chapter 25 through 40 we have the instructions God gave Moses for the building and Services in the sanctuary. It is important for us to study the sanctuary and its services? Let me tell you, 15 chapters are dedicated to the sanctuary in Exodus. It would be a copy of the heavenly sanctuary.

Guiding the nation of Israel was a cloud. We read in l Cor. 10:1-4 that the cloud was Jesus Christ. It also states “Behold I send an angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the p1ace Ex.23:20. Jesus is the angel that was leading them through their journeys. The moment comes when ” …Moses finished the work. Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle … for the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel… “Ex. 40:33-38. That same Jesus comes every Sabbath and the opening of every Sabbath School. He descends over the church and His presence is with us. By faith we can see his presence today. We read through the Old Testament how the people of God for so many years had to offer an offering for sin, for the forgiveness of their sins from the time of Patriarchs and Prophets, to the time of the Kings until the time came when the system of sacrifices for sin had to be done away with.

When the true Lamb, Jesus Christ died on the cross the veil in the temple was rent from the top to the bottom.. It mean the end of the system of sacrifices and the early sanctuary. Then began a work in the heavenly sanctuary when Christ ascended to heaven, he began his ministry as a Priest. May the Lord help us to understand the gravity of sin and the consequences it has brought to each human being, let us take the banner of Christ an be able to understand that it’s only through the grace of our Master that we can be saved.
AMEN.

Servant in Christ: Joshua Martinez