Growing up in the church I knew very little about what the Bible actually said.  It would not have mattered what I read, for conclusions about theology were given to us by the church. Ellen White was the final authority on all matters theological, and the weapon of choice in discussions of behavior and conduct. We were a special people raised up by God, and had been given the greatest of gifts in our Testimonies. We kept God’s true Sabbath, and kept the law, which meant that we didn’t eat meat, didn’t do anything fun on the Sabbath, and never wore jewelry.  If we lived a really good life our reward was that someday all the other churches would get together and pass a law that said we could be killed because we wouldn’t go to church on Sunday. We would go through the most extreme time of trouble, and those of us who had memorized lots of scripture would be saved, because they’d take away all of our Bibles.

Jesus had previously been in the holy place in the Sanctuary in heaven, but in 1844 he moved from that room into the most holy place (we kids always wondered what exactly He was doing in that little room…). As a result, the books were opened and God was examining the record of all the dead people and when done, would move into the records of the living people. Once He was done looking at your record your fate was sealed and your probation was over. If your name came up and you were not ready, well, you had just better be ready.

I also believed that salvation worked something like this: God came down here and walked among men. He was tempted in the desert to teach us how to overcome temptation. He lived a perfect life to prove that it could be done. He taught about God, and was really nice, but in the end those bad Jews killed him with a painful death on the cross. (As kids we really didn’t know what the big deal was – He was God, didn’t He know he’d come back to life after 3 days?)  Later he went back to heaven and the disciples – now called the apostles – went all over telling people about him.  He died on the cross so that I can have salvation. If I have strong faith I can overcome any temptation. I will be saved if I keep my faith strong. Jesus proved it could be done, and He demonstrated how to do it.

As an adult that changed somewhat. I then was informed that we were saved by a combination of God and us. God played His part and we had a part to play. Salvation was a blending of faith and our works. We do our best and Christ makes up the difference.  As I worked at overcoming problems I kept failing.  Life was a constant up and down cycle of some success followed by an eventual failure (after which I beat myself over the head and promised myself and God "Never again." I never really kept that promise.)  This, of course, was all overshadowed by the knowledge that no matter how much I was able to achieve, there was still that time of trouble to make it through where everyone will chase me and try to kill me because I didn’t go to church on Sunday.

For some people this picture is worse than they remember growing up, while for others there experience was (and still is) much more severe.  Yet, I seriously doubt that any of us have experienced the tone of legalism and hopelessness of common people under the Jewish religious system around the time of Christ.  With over 300 laws just on the Sabbath, there really was no way to fully comply with the Sabbath Law so as to be counted righteous.

The writer of Hebrews is not calling for a reform of the system, or even for a clearer understanding of it.  He is not putting a gloss over it telling his hearers that they shouldn’t so extremely interpret it – he is declaring that the old system is out, obsolete, weak, ready to disappear. (Heb 8:13) And so in chapter 9 he uses the sanctuary as an illustration of two ages, and of two covenants. (Remember, that is exactly what his theme has been as we begin chapter 9.)

So he begins.  Even the first covenant had a religious system, and the earthly sanctuary – and he describes this earthly sanctuary.  There was an outer tabernacle, and he supplies some details of what was in that outer tabernacle, or room (tent), and then he points out that there was another tabernacle behind the second veil.  The first is called the holy place while the second is called the Holy of Holies. As with the first, he describes some of the contents of the second.

So far we’re doing pretty well – the writer is simply recounting what they would have been familiar with, and what most of us are also familiar with.  God had Moses build a sanctuary, and he explained exactly how it should be structured – details even down to the gold rings that held the curtains in place. 

There is a problem, however, in the description.  Notice the contents of each of the compartments:

The problem is in the second column – in the earthly sanctuary the altar of incense was in the first apartment, inside the holy place, but outside the veil that separated the holy place from the Most Holy Place where the presence of God was. To some of us this might seem like an insignificant detail, yet theologians have been perplexed about it for some time. Seventh-day Adventist theologians especially have wrestled with it.

Under the old covenant, there were daily ceremonies that were performed within the holy place (first apartment) throughout the year. The bread on the table was set out each day, candles were kept lit, and certain sacrifices involved the holy place; some of the blood was brought into the holy place. The presence of God, however, rested behind the veil inside the Most Holy Place. This second apartment was entered only once each year – and only with blood of the sacrifice, and only by the High Priest during the day of atonement ceremony.

Verses 6 and 7 outline these two types of ceremony. Depending on your particular translation, verse 6 may say "outer" or "first" – the word is literally, "first" tabernacle. Verse 7 mentions the counterpoint that the priest entered into the second only once a year.

To explain the problem of the misplaced altar, then, we visit Exodus 30. This is in a section where God is explaining the construction of the sanctuary and rituals, and here He is specifically describing the construction and purpose of the altar of incense. Verse 6 tells what was to be the purpose of this altar throughout the year:

The altar was placed right outside the veil, right outside of where God’s presence was.  One gets the sense of a continual ritual of worship before the Lord. So, back in Hebrews 9 we remember that verse 4 had said that the Most Holy Place was "having the golden altar of incense", so it is not too much of a stretch to say that even though this altar was positioned in the holy place, it could be said that it belonged to the Most Holy Place. 

There is however, a better explanation and a deeper understanding, that we can find in Exodus 30. Note verse 10:

We know this altar was located in the holy place – the first apartment – because incense was burned on it every day. The Most Holy Place – the second apartment – was entered only once a year. This altar was located in the holy place, but it was an important player in the most awesome ceremony that happened only once a year, as specified above. "Aaron (the High Priest) shall make atonement on its horns once a year…with the blood of the sin offering of atonement…"   Leviticus 16 describes the yearly Day of Atonement ritual that cleansed the sanctuary, the priests, and all the people and says:

Verse 17 says "When he goes in to make atonement in the holy place", so we know that the priest was inside the most holy place, and we also know from Exodus 30 that the altar of incense was part of the Day of Atonement ceremony.[1]

Back to Hebrews 9, then, we can now review the table above and notice something – we already know that the context of chapter 9 is a comparison between the old and the new; the old was obsolete and the new was replacing it. The writer of Hebrews is not giving us a history lesson of the tabernacle, but as we mentioned, he is using the sanctuary as an allegory of the old covenant and the new!  The first apartment is a metaphor for the old or first covenant, while the second apartment is a metaphor for the new or second covenant.

This is why verse 8 continues:

That word "symbol" is the same word used of the stories that Jesus employed to teach spiritual truths to the people – parable.  While the "outer" – the word is literally "first" – is still standing, the way into the holy place – literally "holy places" – has not yet been disclosed.  Some have erroneously read that and stopped right there, and have missed the good news.  The way isn’t still hidden, and this is the writer’s point. Verse 11 is the good news:

The way was not known while the first apartment was still standing – while the first covenant was still in effect. But – there’s one of those conjunction words that are packed with meaning – but when Christ appeared.  Christ entered the holy place (literally "holy places") once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.  He entered the Most Holy Place, which is to say, He ushered in the new covenant. The allegory is complete.

What the writer has done is use the familiar ceremonies and apartments of the sanctuary to demonstrate that the old covenant has been supplanted by the new, and he will go on to further reinforce how much better, and why, the new covenant and achievements are.  The symbol for the old covenant is the first apartment and the daily ministry, while the symbol of the new covenant is the second apartment and the ministry on the Day of Atonement. The time of reformation has come, and Christ is the sacrifice and High Priest of a better covenant.

Now, you might well be tempted to ask right now, "What does all of this have to do with me?"  Simply this:  The law was given to prophesy of, to teach of, and to drive us to Christ.  As a living parable the sanctuary proclaimed a coming Savior and a salvation that was free and complete. As a system of worship it was mysterious and deep. But as a means of salvation and an object of power, it was weak and incomplete. It could never make the worshipers perfect in conscience (v.9).  And the more the Jewish worshippers attempted to achieve righteousness by the works of the law, the more futile their efforts.  Paul said that the law was weak, not because the law was somehow flawed, but because we were flawed (Rom. 7:12,8:3).  But weak as the law was because of the flesh, God did something that we, through the law, could never do – he fulfilled the requirement of the law in us, we who walk according to the Spirit. (Rom. 8:4,5)

The New Covenant ushered in a new era of hope and a new set of wonderful discoveries about the mercies and power of God.  In Christ we have been adopted as sons and daughters of God (Rom 8:15), have been blessed with every spiritual blessing (Eph. 1:3), have the forgiveness of our trespasses through His blood (Eph. 1:7), and have been sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise (Eph. 1:13).  And that just scratches the surface – there is so much more that we have in Christ, who is the Mediator of a new covenant.

Our writer here is trying to teach his Hebrew audience that the older sanctuary, ceremonies, and laws had been swept away by the fulfillment of those symbols, mainly, Jesus Christ, and that our Advocate and Savior now was the Mediator of a new covenant. Is it any wonder that he will later say in chapter 10:

Appendix

On a personal note: I am fully aware of the implications of what I am teaching in this series of papers on the theological positions of the Seventh-day Adventist church. My disagreement with the positions on the "sanctuary message" started when I attempted to write a paper proving Biblically our teaching related to Daniel 8:14. The more of our scholars that I read the more problems I had with our position. Daniel 8 didn’t appear to support our logical leap to the Day of Atonement and ultimate Judgment of the saints, from the termination of a 2300 day/year period that included what to me was obviously the working of the Roman Catholic papacy in replacing Christ’s sacrifice and sufficiency with their own system I could not support a connection between Daniel 8:14 and Leviticus 16.

I clearly see a pre-advent judgment scene in Daniel 7, though the judgment is of the little horn and in favor of the saints. I see elsewhere in Scripture that we must all stand before the judgment seat of God. I have no fundamental problem with the concept of judgment, but the manner in which it is presented by Adventist theologians I find contrary to sound Biblical reading.

In Daniel 8 clearly there is a problem that needs a solution. Something is wrong and the angel asks when it will end. Truly it is debatable what exactly they are saying, but to suggest that Daniel 8:14 means that Christ moved from the first apartment in the heavenly sanctuary into the most holy place is unsupported in Scripture: it is a question and a theological structure that is not presented by Biblical writers. The question of "which apartment did Christ go to when he ascended to heaven" is a fallacy. This is not the point of the writer of Hebrews and indicates a misunderstanding of Daniel 8 and of Hebrews 9. The reason it is so difficult to prove that Christ entered the holy place and later transitioned to the most holy is because this theological position is extra-Biblical and Adventist theologians have always needed to jump through logical and exegetical hoops trying to overlay their structure over passages that are speaking a different point totally.

Some have argued that Hebrews 9 is saying that Christ entered the Most Holy Place: this is the most honest with the passage. However, again, the question is fundamentally flawed in the first place, and only in understanding the context and the writers true point does the confusion in the passage melt away and the beautiful truth emerge. Christ ushered in and is the new covenant, and the writer is using the daily sacrifices and the outer apartment to illustrate the old covenant, and the yearly and more important Day of Atonement and the inner apartment to illustrate the new covenant.  The idea that Christ entered the holy place in heaven on his ascension and ministered according to the daily sacrifices until 1844 is next to impossible to prove from scripture even with the most delicate of theological dancing. To establish that he moved from the first to the inner in 1844 is an even greater logical leap. If the first is impossible, the second is painful from the perspective of Adventist pastors and evangelists. 

I have never met a pastor who was able to confidently prove from scripture the sanctuary message while being true to the text and the context. Instead they generally repeated the well practiced mantra and brushed aside objections as the prophesied heresies that would creep into the Adventist church – even though these same questions were presented from the earliest days of our church.

Because I find the dart-throwing between the Adventist apologists and "Fordites" to be distasteful and devoid of value, I wrote this paper to hopefully illuminate what I feel is the real point of Hebrews 9. There will always be the discussion about the Adventist position. Because of Ellen White and the belief that she was a prophet inspired by God there will always be an Adventist theology that promotes the same heresies of the past. Even should the mainstream theological community admit the problems both with her and with the theological positions, yet still there would be a community of "historical Adventists" who will continue to blindly repeat what they feel is God’s message for this time. And there will continue to be those who are swept into this deception and into the misunderstanding of the gospel and who are kept separate from the Power of Christ.

Mormons have their history and their beliefs. Jehovah Witnesses theirs. And many of the other movements that came out of this spiritualist laced period known as the Restoration Period

[1] Here "holy place" is, because of the context, a reference to the Most Holy Place. In verse 15 he brings the blood inside the veil, and sprinkles it on the mercy seat.  When he goes "out" to put the blood on the horns of the altar, it is out of the Most Holy into the holy, and onto the altar of incense.

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Snapshot

“Illuminates the message contained in Hebrews 9.”

• Part 1
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• Part 5

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