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Ellen
White - prophet?
Earth
after Second coming
The image, beasts of Daniel and "Revelation" Whore of
Babylon New
or Restored Jerusalem? The
Judgment Who
was Jesus before He came first time? Why
Sacrifices?
Seal of God and Mark of the Beast The
Book of Life What
happens when we die?
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34. The Day of Atonement Once
a year, in the Day of Atonement, a high priest sacrificed a bullock for sins of
priests ( from Aaron and all his family - Lev.16:6) and a he-goat for sins of
people of Israel. After that he had taken burning coals of fire from the
altar of incense (Lev.16:12,13) and brought it into the Most Holy before the
Lord. The cloud of the incense covered the mercy seat that was upon the
arc of the Covenant "that
he die not " (16:13), and
the high priest had sprinkled the blood of the bullock and blood of the
goat with his finger upon the mercy
seat. Then he sprinkled the same blood
unto the ark of incense, and bodies of the sacrificed animals were burnt outside
of the camp. So priests, Israel society, the sanctuary, the tabernacle and the
altar were cleansed (Lev.16:17,20). . After
that a scapegoat was brought, the high priest confessed
over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and
the goat was released to die in desert. The
ritual of the Day of Atonement is very symbolical and helps understand, what had
occurred in heaven before Jesus' first coming, what had happened after His
resurrection, what’s happening today, what
will take place in His Second coming, and even what will occur in 1000 years
after the Second coming. Thus,
during a year confessed sins of people caused by Satan, were accumulated
on priests (they ate sin sacrifices) . In the Day of Atonement in order to
purify themselves from those sins and their own sins, committed due their own
imperfect nature, a bull was sacrificed. People of Israel sacrificed a he-goat
for all the sins they had done during a year due
their imperfect nature and under influence of Satan.
Incense of the altar (the altar is symbol of Jesus –Heb.13:10-12), which was brought into the Most Holy place, symbolized Jesus' prayers (Rev.5:8). Before the first coming Jesus had been praying before the Most High for forgiveness of all sins of all people, in His prayers there was His promise to accept death for every confessed sin and the request for protection of the believers from intrigues of Satan (Judas 9). Due His prayers (incense smock) a high priest could be in the presence of Most High, i.e. he could enter the Most Holy place and remained alive. Owing to His prayers The Most High accepted people’s repentance of their sins, which were done by reason of their own imperfect nature as well as by reason of Satan’s interventions. Then
the blood of both animals was sprinkled on the altar of incense (symbol of
Jesus). That means that sins were placed on Jesus as on our Creator. The sins
were forgiven (for ex..:Lev.4:20,26), i.e. the people remained alive and could
rely on God’s mercy and help in
all their affairs, could count on an eternal life on the earth, i.e. salvation
(at that time people already knew about God’s Judgment Day and resurrection of
the dead: Isa.26:19; Isa.25:8; Ps.119:81; Eccl.12:14; John 11:24). However their
sins were not forgotten, the sins still were left on Jesus, that is why for
Heavenly Kingdom people remained unclean. It’s
said that by blood of the bull and he-goat the Most Holy place and altar of
incense were cleansed.. When Jesus ascended to heaven as our high priest
and "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but
by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us" (Heb.9:12), He symbolically sprinkled His blood
on the Arc of the Covenant. God forgave all sins to people for whom Jesus has
interceded (Col.2:13). The
prophecy about 2300 days tells that since Jews had constructed the temple of God
after the Babylonian captivity, the heavenly sanctuary had been trampled by
Satan and his angels. The temple had no more Ark of the Covenant, and that fact
was considered by Satan as proof
that God was disappointed in people, He doesn’t know future, and all His plans
to save mankind were canceled. Due to intrigues of
Satan many angels perceived sins caused by him, as sins caused by imperfectness
of people’s nature, by imperfectness of their Creator. For all sins of humans
Satan was accusing Jesus and God the Father, who had created us. When
Jesus accepted His death, Day of Atonement took place. All angels saw the great
and perfect God’s Plan of salvation of people. Jesus entered the Most Holy to
the Being
embittered and slandering against God’s saints (Rev.12:10), Satan organized a
plot against them and The Most High, but he was conquered (Rev.12:9). And, as
the scapegoat he was dumped on the earth together with his angels (Rev.12:9),
"knowing that
he hath but a short time" (Rev.12:12). The Heavenly sanctuary was cleansed, and all Kingdom
of Heaven came under the authority of Jesus. If
Jesus would refuse to die, the ritual of Day of Atonement would not be
accomplished, sins of the people would not be placed on Satan and then people
must die for all their sins themselves. Jesus'
sacrifice was "to declare his
righteousness for the remission of sins
that are past, through the forbearance of
God " (Rom.3:25,26.) By His
death Jesus had redeemed sins made in the First
Testament (Heb.9:15), i.e. sins which were done since the acceptance
of the Law at the mount of Sinai. "For
until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law"
(Rom.5:13) because "by the law is the
knowledge of sin"
(Rom.3:20). It
doesn’t mean, that no sin will be counted to people who lived before the Law.
And before the Law people already As
a high priest bore lacks of holy gifts devoted by sons of Israel (Ex.28:38), so
and Jesus took on Himself sins of those who left some of committed sins without
repentance. Thus After
redemption of sins made in the First Testament, Jesus "because
he continueth ever…...
able also to save them to During
the Second coming the Day of Atonement will take place on the Earth. Saints as
priests of God, will be cleansed of all sins and will be taken to heaven. Their
sins will be transfer on the wicked (the goat for sin sacrifice) and Satan (the
scapegoat). The wicked will be sacrificed for sin Thus,
all the future events were concealed in the rituals of Passover
was celebrated on 14th of the first month, at evening (Num.28:16; Lev.23:5
Deu.16:6) in the memory of the event when God sent 10-th plague on Egypt
(Ex.12:12,13) and killed all its first-borns.
The Jews by the commanded of God striked the blood of Passover lamb on
their doors, and death didn’t enter their houses. Thus, Passover was killed at
evening. At night all Egypt first-borns were killed, but all Jewish first-borns
thanks to the blood of a lamb were saved. So the Feast of first fruits took
place (the first-borns saved their lives).
In the same night the Pharaoh ordered Jews to leave Egypt (Num.33:3).
They left Egypt , caring with them an unleavened dough (Ex.12:34). In the
same night (15-th had already begun after sunset), in 15-th, they ate Passover
with unleavened bread (Ex.12:8,39;
Deu.16:3). Later in the memory of
salvation of Jewish first-borns, in that night, in 15-th, the first sheaf
of wheat was brought before the Lord (Lev.23:11), that was the Day of the
firstfruits. Therefore the Feast of firstfruits and the first day of the
Feast of unleavened bread is the same day (Ex.12:17),
or more correct: is the same night, which follows after Passover evening.
Night to be observed unto the Lord (Ex.12:42;
Deu.16:16).
Jesus
was called a pure and innocent Lamb (1Pet.1:19; John 1:29), God’s Passover
(1Cor.5:7). Jesus was crucified in the day of Passover, when the lamb had to be
killed. As Passover had to be killed when was getting dark, so and Jesus, being
on a cross in the middle of day (about from 10AM to 4PM), died when it was dark
(Mat. 27:45-50), because The Most High had covered the sun in order the ritual
of the sacrifice of The Passover was executed correctly. As bones of Passover
couldn’t be broken and meat of it could not stay till the morning (Num.9:12;
Ex.12:10; 34:25), so and Jesus was removed from the cross before morning prior
the other persecuted had their legs broken (John 19:32-36). Hence,
by the blood of a lamb all first-borns of Israel were redeemed from death.
Egyptians were terrified, that all of Instead of the redeemed by blood of a lamb
first-borns God had chosen the tribe of Levi: " on
the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for
myself. And I have taken the Levites for all
the firstborn of the children of Israel" (Num.8:17-18); Only
the circumcised (sons of Israel and foreigners who As
you remember, only those who realized their sins and desired the Divine pardon,
i.e. those who searched for God (Ex.33:7) came into the tabernacle. Those who
are indifferent to God, do not repent of their sins, i.e. those who do not
search for God - will be destroyed (Zeph.1:4,6). That means, the
tabernacle was a symbol of salvation, the symbol of the God’s governing on the
earth, the symbol of the new earth where only the saved will live. So,
the altar of burnt offerings in the courtyard of tabernacle symbolized those who
realized their sins and repented them. In order for a person to bring an animal
for a sin sacrifice, It means, the court yard of tabernacle
represented the repented sinners because without a repentance there is no
salvation (Luk.13:5). Thus, the courtyard of the
tabernacle represented the saved. The
sanctuary was in the middle of the courtyard of tabernacle, and it was fenced
from people by a veil. Only Levites and Aaron’s family could behind the veil
into the sanctuary. If
the altar of burnt offering, the
laver and all accessories in the courtyard were made of brass, everything what
was in The
sanctuary represented Kingdom of Heaven or the priesthood on the new earth
(Rev.20:6) where only those High
rank priests in the earthly sanctuary were Aaron’ sons (later – sons of
Zadok); low rank priests or servants in the sanctuary and tabernacle were the
rest of Levite’ family -Levites. They represented a little ones in the Kingdom
of Heaven, priests – the great ones (Mat.5:19). Aaron, the high priest ,
represented Jesus – The High priest. Priests
could enter the sanctuary only after they were The
veil, which was before the sanctuary, was a barrier between salvation and the
Kingdom which could be taken down only by Holy Spirit (2Cor.3:14-17), given by
Jesus. This veil in the earthly sanctuary was torn apart in the moment of Jesus'
death (Mat.27:51.) "Having therefore,
brethren, boldness to enter into the sanctuary (in Greek it is “holies”,
which is plural “holy places”: Holy and Most Holy places. http://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/NTpdf/heb10.pdf
. In many translations, including KJV, translated as holiest [Most
holy place], which is not correct) by the blood of
Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the
veil, that is to say, his flesh"
(Heb.10:19,20). Thus by His death Jesus had opened new (means: there was an old
one) way to become priests of God and enter the sanctuary which is Kingdom of
Heaven, through faith in Jesus. Many teach, that at Jesus' death the veil before Holy Holiest was torn apart.
It is
incorrect. As we have already considered, the tabernacle was a symbol of
salvation, a sanctuary – symbol of Heavenly kingdom. The sanctuary consisted
of Holy place and Most Holy place. Everything in Holy place – breads,
lampstand and altar of incense - symbolized Jesus. The ark in the Most Holy
place symbolized God The Father. By His death Jesus had opened to the saved access to His department: "where I am, my servant also will be " (John 12:26); " And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also " (John 14:3). "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am " (John 17:24). Jesus invited the saved to come to Him. He invited us to be priests, not high priests. Our high priest is Jesus. And He will be the high priest always. And God the Father always will have the highest position – Holy Holiest. If the curtain before the Holy Holiest was torn, it would be the invitation for us to come to God the Father. Then why would we need the high priest - Jesus? However Jesus told: «no man cometh unto the Father, but by me» (John14:6). When at the moment of Jesus’ death the veil before the sanctuary was torn that meant we don’t need priests any more to make cleansing rituals. We already were cleansed and sanctified by His blood: «we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all» (Heb.10:10). Therefore we themselves can be the priests. However we need the High priest « to make intercession for» us before the Father (Heb.7:25). The veil was torn at the moment of Jesus’
death, in the day of the slaughtering of Passover lamb. Passover was the very
great holy day, and there were a lot of people from distant towns who came in
Jerusalem temple with their sacrifice animals, because it was necessary to kill,
bake and eat the Passover in a holy place (Deu.16:2,7). Because of many people Passover lamb was killed much earlier than sunset Priests
always killed animals outside of the sanctuary: in a courtyard of the
tabernacle. When Jesus died, there the sacrifice outside of Kingdom of Heaven,
i.e. outside of the sanctuary, was accomplished. As priests brought blood
of victims for certain sins of the consecrated (priests and society) into the
sanctuary, so and Jesus at His death cleansed the dead saints of their repented
sins and opened to them way to Him (to the altar of incense) into the heavenly
Kingdom. Therefore at the night after the crucifixion the feast of the first
fruits was held: saints were cleansed of their sins and were resurrected. Only
40 days after the crucifixion Jesus had ascended into the Most Holy of heavenly
sanctuary, to The Father (John.20:17; Act.1:3) and gain eternal salvation for
all future generations. Therefore the veil, which was torn apart during the
moment of His death, did not symbolized that the way into the Most Holy to the
Father was opened for Him. The veil was torn in the earthly sanctuary and meant
that for people The
mistake in understanding, which veil was really torn apart, comes from incorrect
literal interpretation of “Hebrews”: 4:14-16 (which really means: we come to God without fear, because we have the
great high priest); Thus,
by His death Jesus opened to His believers an opportunity to become priests of
God and to enter into the sanctuary which is Kingdom of Heaven. Now let's see, what kind of sacrifice
was Passover. The Bible also speaks that "Christ … hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour" (Eph.5:2). The sweet savor is a burnt offering (Lev.1:13; 3:5; 8:21; 23:18). Bible tells that Christ made atonement for us: “Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement” (Rom.5:11;Heb.2:17). Atonement was done with a ram for burnt offering (Lev.16:3). Thus not only a lamb, but a ram also was the symbol of Jesus’ sacrifice. However
burnt sacrifices were burnt completely, only their skin was left for priest,
Passover lamb had to be eaten. Therefore Passover is not a sacrifice for a
sin, nor a burnt offering. What
else do apostles speak about Jesus' sacrifice? A
peace offering could be a lamb or ram. A peace offering However
a peace offering could be offered with leavened
bread (Lev.7:13), Passover should
be eaten only with unleavened bread (Ex.12:15). Besides that, each family ate
whole Passover lamb, and from a peace offering breast and right shoulder
belonged to priests (Lev.7:34). Let's
see other kinds of sacrifices. For trespass offering a lamb (Lev.14:12) or ram
(Lev.5:15; 14:21) could be offered. However its meat belonged not to the ones
who offered the sacrifice, but to the priests (Lev.7:7), Passover lamb Thus,
Passover was a something different: it was neither a sacrifice for a sin, nor a
burnt offering, neither a peace offering, nor a trespass offering. The
only sacrifice, which meat was completely eaten by Besides Passover the consecration into priests is unique ritual which required a certain 7-day's abstention. Thus from the moment of eating Passover 7 days of unleavened bread had began. From the moment of eating a ram of consecration 7 days of sanctification began (Lev.8:33). The same as after the sacrifice of Passover lamb Israelites were in the desert for40 years until God had decide, who was deserved to enter the promised land, i.e. they were in the desert until they were cleansed and sanctified, so and priests after their consecration could not leave the tabernacle before the termination of the 7 days of cleansing. The same as Jews in the
desert ate unleavened bread (manna - Num.11:8), so and priests in
the days of the consecration ate
only unleavened bread (Lev.10:12). Within
7 days of Unleavened bread sacrifices for sin and As
the priests could not leave the tabernacle (which is However
despite of all similarities with the ritual of dedication into the priests,
Pasover was the unique feast. In the ritual of dedication a ram was sacrificed,
and meat of the sacrifice was boiled , for Passover a lamb was
prepared and its meat was baked on fire. So, Passover united into itself all
sacrifices all together: it was a little a burnt sacrifice, a little a sin
sacrifice, a little a peace
offering and a little a trespass
offering. A lamb
symbolized salvation through faith in Jesus for "babies in the Christ"
(1Cor.3:1), a ram, as adult lamb, symbolized the highest goal of salvation for
"perfect in faith" (1Cor.2:6; Heb.5:13-14) - The Kingdom of Heaven. As due to the blood of Passover lamb the Jewish people were released from Egyptian slavery, so and every Christ believer is released from the slavery of sin for the eternal life. However the salvation in ritual of Passover is secondary. The most important - Passover was the consecration of people into the priesthood for Kingdom of Heaven. As Jewish first-borns were saved from the death due to blood of the lamb and as one tribe of Levi became priests in the tabernacle, so and Jesus through His blood gave every His believer the possibility to become a priest in Kingdom of Heaven. Everyone who eats Jesus' flesh and drinks His blood (John 6:56), i.e. who lives by Him, can become a child of God (John 1:12,13) and successor of Kingdom of Heaven (Rom.8:17), i.e. the priest. |
