Bible study of the Sanctuary -- Part 1

Bible study of the Sanctuary -- Part 1

The beginning of the Sanctuary

What is the Sanctuary?

A Sanctuary is a sacred place, or a place of refuge.

Exodus 25:8
And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.

The Most common meaning of the word Sanctuary is as a sacred place, a place where God’s presence is.
The purpose of the Sanctuary in Israel was known as the House of God. Not a place to disrespect or profane. Likewise today, in Church we refer to the place where we worship God as the Sanctuary. It is a place where His presence is, and it should be treated with distinction and humble reverence.
 The House of God is also referred to as a temple.

In Scripture, how many Sanctuaries or temples of importance are there? (Excluding all pagan and false ones)

The heavenly Sanctuary

Hebrews 8:1-5
1 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;

2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.

3 For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.

4 For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:

5 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 shewed to thee in the mount.

The earthly Tabernacle (Designed after the heavenly)

Exodus 25:8, 9.
8 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.

9 According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.

Patriarchs and Prophets 356, 357:
“As has been stated, the earthly sanctuary was built by Moses according to the pattern shown him in the mount. It was “a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices;” its two holy places were “patterns of things in the heavens;” Christ, our great High Priest, is “a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” Hebrews 9:9, 23; 8:2. As in vision the apostle John was granted a view of the temple of God in heaven, he beheld there “seven lamps of fire burning before the throne.” He saw an angel “having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.” Revelation 4:5; 8:3. Here the prophet was permitted to behold the first apartment of the sanctuary in heaven; and he saw there the “seven lamps of fire” and the “golden altar” represented by the golden candlestick and the altar of incense in the sanctuary on earth. Again, “the temple of God was opened” (Revelation 11:19), and he looked within the inner veil, upon the holy of holies. Here he beheld “the ark of His testament” (Revelation 11:19), represented by the sacred chest constructed by Moses to contain the law of God. {PP 356.1}

Moses made the earthly sanctuary, “according to the fashion that he had seen.” Paul declares that “the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry,” when completed, were “the patterns of things in the heavens.” Acts 7:44; Hebrews 9:21, 23. And John says that he saw the sanctuary in heaven. That sanctuary, in which Jesus ministers in our behalf, is the great original, of which the sanctuary built by Moses was a copy. {PP 357.1}”

The temple of the body
1 Corinthians 3:16, 17
16Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

17If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

1 cor. 6:19-20

19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

               The Body is the one temple that is most desecrated and unsanctified. As we look around us in this world, we see the foul characters of men and women and even children all around. Sin and disease has corrupted and destroyed the Image of God of whom we were created in. The body which, was created for to do good and the perfect will of God, to be the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, has been brought down to the level of beasts by the indulgences of selfishness and sin, and by the indwelling of satanic influences. The minds of men are becoming only continually evil; the fruits of their labors are of destruction and wickedness. The greatest troubles of this world are caused by the wickedness of mankind. This course of destructive behavior could change, but only by the influence of the Holy Spirit dwelling within.
               The actions of the hands and feet are the products of our hearts and minds; what we expose our hearts and minds to is what the fruits of our labors, and the words of our mouth are patterned after. If we allow for the sinful and worldly influences to enter into the ports of our minds (ears, eyes, mouth), our fruits will become patterned and follow after those influences. Do we allow that which is only pure, and holy, and acceptable enter into us, or that of sin and wickedness? Are our bodies the temple of God, or are they the dwelling place of worldliness and sin? Let us remember what our bodies were designed after, and what our bodies truly are. May we only let that which is acceptable unto the Lord dwell within.

Conclusion

So far we have distinguished the three temples that are the Lords, we have seen that the Tabernacle sanctuary of Israel, and all its ordinances and ceremonies, were patterned and designed after the one in heaven, not built by the hands of men, and that the third Temple, which is our bodies, is made to be the dwelling place of the holy Spirit. Each article of the Tabernacle of Israel and all of its ceremonies are a foreshadowing of things that were to come and be fulfilled. In further studies that we will be doing of the Sanctuary, we will address in detail the Tabernacle Sanctuary, and all of its ordinances and what they represent, and what they point to, and how they pertain to us in this current day.