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On the day of atonement the high priest would enter into the most holy place of the earthly sanctuary. This was the only time during the year he would do so. As part of the day of atonement type he would then cleanse the sanctuary:
Lev 16:16 Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses.
Lev 16:17 No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel.
The new testament affirms that there is also a necessity of cleansing for the heavenly sanctuary:
Heb 9:22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
Heb 9:23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
The question of this thread is how did the system in Leviticus work? How was the sanctuary defiled? Why did it need cleansing? What is the relation of the sin offerings throughout the year, and the day of atonement cleansing on the 10th day of the 7th month?
For some this may be a new line of thought. Here are some views to get you thinking.
View 1:
Jacob Milgrom, one of the leading scholars on Leviticus (who is of the Jewish faith), believes:
a. sin automatically defiles at commission.
b. the sacrifices are not for the person but for cleansing the sanctuary so God's presence does not depart.
c. The regular sin offering is for unintentional sin, and cleanses the outer altar. The sin offering for the high priest penetrates deeper and the offerings, some of the blood of which goes into the holy place, cleanses the first compartment. High handed intentional sins penetrate, in Milgrom's view, to the most holy place and are cleansed on the day of atonement.
View 2 :
Milgrom's student, who is a Seventh-day by the name of Roy Gane, proposed an alternate view of the workings of the sanctuary. It is in fact more or less the same view Adventists have had all along, but his is probably the most sophisticated presentation of it. He has written a book on his system of the sanctuary and wrote the NIV Application commentary for Leviticus where he promotes his view.
He sees the following:
a. The sin offering does atone for the individual. In this he challenges Milgrom.
b. The sin offering however is the means for transferring the sin from the one offering the sacrifice to the sanctuary. The sin is contained in the blood which leaves the record of sin in the sanctuary. Or other times it is transferred by the priest eating the portion for the sin offering, and again Gane sees it being transferred to the sanctuary.
c. defilement then is not automatic at the time of committing the sin, but rather happens when the sacrifice is made. Those high-handed sins which have no sacrifice are atoned for by killing the person who did them.
d. At the end of the year all the stored up sins are cleansed on the day of atonement.
View 3:
This is my current view but I have previously held view number 2 and am open to various lines of evidence, new views, etc.
a. The sin offering forgives the individual.
b. The cleansing of the day of atonement is simply the corporate picture of forgiveness. In other words the day of atonement is an annual reminder of God's provision for all the sin of the camp. The individual sin offering is the chance for the individual to bring the animal from his own heard, kill the animal with his own hand, and confess his own sin.
Both are reminders of the same principle that the blood of the sacrifice forgives.
In this scenario sin is transferred to the sanctuary simply by the sanctuary being among sinful people. The cleansing represents the provision for all sin by blood, but is a corporate picture.
Other views?
Lev 16:16 Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses.
Lev 16:17 No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel.
The new testament affirms that there is also a necessity of cleansing for the heavenly sanctuary:
Heb 9:22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
Heb 9:23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
The question of this thread is how did the system in Leviticus work? How was the sanctuary defiled? Why did it need cleansing? What is the relation of the sin offerings throughout the year, and the day of atonement cleansing on the 10th day of the 7th month?
For some this may be a new line of thought. Here are some views to get you thinking.
View 1:
Jacob Milgrom, one of the leading scholars on Leviticus (who is of the Jewish faith), believes:
a. sin automatically defiles at commission.
b. the sacrifices are not for the person but for cleansing the sanctuary so God's presence does not depart.
c. The regular sin offering is for unintentional sin, and cleanses the outer altar. The sin offering for the high priest penetrates deeper and the offerings, some of the blood of which goes into the holy place, cleanses the first compartment. High handed intentional sins penetrate, in Milgrom's view, to the most holy place and are cleansed on the day of atonement.
View 2 :
Milgrom's student, who is a Seventh-day by the name of Roy Gane, proposed an alternate view of the workings of the sanctuary. It is in fact more or less the same view Adventists have had all along, but his is probably the most sophisticated presentation of it. He has written a book on his system of the sanctuary and wrote the NIV Application commentary for Leviticus where he promotes his view.
He sees the following:
a. The sin offering does atone for the individual. In this he challenges Milgrom.
b. The sin offering however is the means for transferring the sin from the one offering the sacrifice to the sanctuary. The sin is contained in the blood which leaves the record of sin in the sanctuary. Or other times it is transferred by the priest eating the portion for the sin offering, and again Gane sees it being transferred to the sanctuary.
c. defilement then is not automatic at the time of committing the sin, but rather happens when the sacrifice is made. Those high-handed sins which have no sacrifice are atoned for by killing the person who did them.
d. At the end of the year all the stored up sins are cleansed on the day of atonement.
View 3:
This is my current view but I have previously held view number 2 and am open to various lines of evidence, new views, etc.
a. The sin offering forgives the individual.
b. The cleansing of the day of atonement is simply the corporate picture of forgiveness. In other words the day of atonement is an annual reminder of God's provision for all the sin of the camp. The individual sin offering is the chance for the individual to bring the animal from his own heard, kill the animal with his own hand, and confess his own sin.
Both are reminders of the same principle that the blood of the sacrifice forgives.
In this scenario sin is transferred to the sanctuary simply by the sanctuary being among sinful people. The cleansing represents the provision for all sin by blood, but is a corporate picture.
Other views?