FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:
September 14
THE SANCTUARY DOCTRINE EXPLAINS THE WAY OF SALVATION OF THE GOSPEL (Part 3)
Before proceeding further in our quest to understand the purpose of the sanctuary and its services, designed by God and given personally to Moses in Mount Sinai (during the 40 days he went without food and water while being in an actual physical one-soul audience with God himself), let us establish a firm and sound foundation of the meanings of these two key words:
- SANCTUARY
The Hebrew miqdash, ‘sacred place,’ ‘sanctuary,’ ‘holy (things).’ both from qadash, ‘to set apart,’ that is, to separate from common use; the Greek hagion (often in the plural),‘what is holy,’ ‘sanctuary.’ A place consecrated to the worship of the true God, especially the TABERNACLE erected at Mt. Sinai (Exo. 25: 8, etc.) and the TEMPLE later constructed at Mt. Moriah (2 Chron. 3: 1; 20: 8, etc.).”
I hope to share with you the services connected with the sanctuary, namely, the daily, the yearly, the five sacrifices or offerings (the burnt, meat/meal, peace, trespass, and sin offerings, and the special sacrifice/offerings of the yearling red heifer, and the living bird sacrifice—as time and opportunity allows by God’s permission and provision.
- TEMPLE
“A rendering of:
1) Hebrew and Aramaic ( a loan word from Sumerian-Akkadian ekkalu, borrowed from the Sumerian E-GAL, ‘palace,’ ‘temple,’ literally ‘great house,’), used also of the ‘tabernacle’ at Shiloh (1 Sam. 1: 9: 3: 3) and of God’s heavenly abode (2 Sam. 22:7).
2) The Hebrew bayith, ‘house,’ ‘temple,’ either that of a pagan deity (Judges 9: 46; 2 Kings 10: 21; etc.), or the Temple of God in Jerusalem (1 Kings 6: 2-10, etc.). A temple was considered primarily a dwelling place of the deity, and only secondarily a place of worship.
3) Greek hieron (Matt. 4: 5; 12: 5, 6, etc.).
4) Greek naos (Matt. 23: 16; etc.). Strictly speaking, hieron applies to the whole Temple complex, with all its auxiliary buildings and courts, whereas naos designates the sacred shrine, or the Temple building, consisting of the ‘holy place’ and the ‘most holy place.’ . . .
“Although the Old Testament says very little about the pagan temples in Canaan [the promised land!], it gives detailed descriptions of the Temple of Solomon and of the IDEAL temple of Ezekiel’s vision [which was never built], and also some information of Zerubbabel’s Temple. Herod’s Temple, the scene of Christ’s ministry, is described in detail in the writings of [the Jewish historian] Josephus [‘The Antiquities of the Jews’] and the Mishnah.” – SDA Bible Dictionary, Complete with Atlas, Commentary Reference Series, Vol. 8, 1960, Review & Herald.
NOTE: The Mishnah is the traditional doctrine of the Jews as developed primarily by the decisions of the rabbis before the third century A.D; the collection of Halakoth, the basis of the Talmud.
(To be continued). Bless all, NMF.