Chapter 11 The Temple in Heaven
The sanctuary/tabernacle/temple in Israel was designed by God to bring to Israel in a concrete and visual way the events that are to take place in salvation history. Everything in and around the rituals of the temple were not the real solution to the sin problem on Earth, but a model of how it would take place. The terminology of type and antitype was developed where everything in the temple was types, pointing to the antitype – the real thing – that would occur somewhere in the future.
There were daily rituals in the temple, and also annual rituals. The daily rituals were the morning and evening sacrifices, and the annual rituals had 7 feasts that would occur on certain dates in the Jewish Lunar Calendar. These feasts were grouped in a way that had the people of Israel come to Jerusalem three times a year. In spring there were three feasts on consecutive days: Abib 14 was the Passover, 15 the Feast of Unleavened Bread and 16 the Feast of the First Fruits. Seven weeks after the Feast of First Fruits was Pentecost. The third cluster of feasts was in the autumn: On the first day of the seventh month (Tishri) was the Feast of Trumpets, then the most solemn of all the feasts on the 10th of Tishri, the Day of Atonement, and five days later the last of the seven feasts, the Feast of Tabernacles.
The Spring Feasts met their antitype in the year AD 31 when Christ died on the Passover, rested in the grave on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and was resurrected before dawn on the Feast of First Fruits. Seven weeks later in that year, on the day of Pentecost, God poured out His Spirit on the apostles and other followers of Christ. This empowered them to preach the Gospel and there were great harvests of souls for Christ resulting from that.
The Autumn feasts have not yet met their anti-type, but this will occur soon following the Latter Rain. The Feast of Trumpets are fulfilled in the Trumpets of Revelation 8 and 9. The Day of Atonement is the Close of Probation 3.5 years after the Latter Rain (Rev 11:15-19) and the Feast of Tabernacles will find its fulfillment in the Millennium (Rev 20).
Adventists believe there is a temple in heaven and the temple on Earth was a model of the temple in heaven, a type. We use Heb 8 to substantiate the understanding of a temple in heaven:
2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
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.
There is a problem, however, if all the types of the temple in Jerusalem have an antitype in the temple in heaven. The daily sacrifices and feast sacrifices of lambs, bulls and goats were all types of Christ Who was sacrificed on the cross of Calvary. These sacrifices took place in the courtyard of the temple. Jesus was not sacrificed in the courtyard of the heavenly sanctuary, but outside of Jerusalem on Earth. Is the courtyard of the heavenly sanctuary on Earth? Is there a Holy place, and a Most Holy place in heaven? If God the Father is seated in the Most Holy Place, does Jesus officiate in another room and only goes into the Most Holy place before God on the Day of Atonement which is the Close of Probation? Then there is a problem with the following text where Christ is already seated on the throne with the Father:
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
This is one of several texts that indicate that Jesus is seated on the throne with the Father. Does the Father maybe move from one room in the heavenly temple to the other at the Close of Probation? That will mean He has a throne in the Holy Place, and the Most Holy Place. This could be argued, because the Table of Shewbread in the Holy Place represents the Father in the time of probation where He is the provider for our needs, providing the Bread of Life. The Ark of the Covenant represents His throne on the Day of Atonement.
Rev 21:22 indicates that there is no temple in heaven:
22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
It may be argued that once salvation is complete and sin is irradicated, the temple will be removed. However, the temple in heaven represents the time period of the Millennium, which means salvation history is still not complete. It will only be completed when Satan and sinners are destroyed and the New Earth is created. Then God’s abode will not be in heaven anymore, but on Earth, among men. This verse gives a hint to the meaning of the temple in heaven. God Himself and the Lamb are the temple. The temple in heaven is not a structure, but a series of events in salvation history. Four of these events have already occurred, and three are still to come.
The temple on Earth was the concretisation (type) of salvation events brought to occur by God Who is in heaven (antitype). The purpose of the temple on Earth was to have a physical display of how God would solve the sin problem. It also served as a place of worship. In heaven and on the New Earth, we will worship God on His throne, face to face, not in a temple.
We must make it our first priority to know God, so that we will, one day soon, worship Him face to face in heaven.
The sanctuary/tabernacle/temple in Israel was designed by God to bring to Israel in a concrete and visual way the events that are to take place in salvation history. Everything in and around the rituals of the temple were not the real solution to the sin problem on Earth, but a model of how it would take place. The terminology of type and antitype was developed where everything in the temple was types, pointing to the antitype – the real thing – that would occur somewhere in the future.
There were daily rituals in the temple, and also annual rituals. The daily rituals were the morning and evening sacrifices, and the annual rituals had 7 feasts that would occur on certain dates in the Jewish Lunar Calendar. These feasts were grouped in a way that had the people of Israel come to Jerusalem three times a year. In spring there were three feasts on consecutive days: Abib 14 was the Passover, 15 the Feast of Unleavened Bread and 16 the Feast of the First Fruits. Seven weeks after the Feast of First Fruits was Pentecost. The third cluster of feasts was in the autumn: On the first day of the seventh month (Tishri) was the Feast of Trumpets, then the most solemn of all the feasts on the 10th of Tishri, the Day of Atonement, and five days later the last of the seven feasts, the Feast of Tabernacles.
The Spring Feasts met their antitype in the year AD 31 when Christ died on the Passover, rested in the grave on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and was resurrected before dawn on the Feast of First Fruits. Seven weeks later in that year, on the day of Pentecost, God poured out His Spirit on the apostles and other followers of Christ. This empowered them to preach the Gospel and there were great harvests of souls for Christ resulting from that.
The Autumn feasts have not yet met their anti-type, but this will occur soon following the Latter Rain. The Feast of Trumpets are fulfilled in the Trumpets of Revelation 8 and 9. The Day of Atonement is the Close of Probation 3.5 years after the Latter Rain (Rev 11:15-19) and the Feast of Tabernacles will find its fulfillment in the Millennium (Rev 20).
Adventists believe there is a temple in heaven and the temple on Earth was a model of the temple in heaven, a type. We use Heb 8 to substantiate the understanding of a temple in heaven:
2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
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.
There is a problem, however, if all the types of the temple in Jerusalem have an antitype in the temple in heaven. The daily sacrifices and feast sacrifices of lambs, bulls and goats were all types of Christ Who was sacrificed on the cross of Calvary. These sacrifices took place in the courtyard of the temple. Jesus was not sacrificed in the courtyard of the heavenly sanctuary, but outside of Jerusalem on Earth. Is the courtyard of the heavenly sanctuary on Earth? Is there a Holy place, and a Most Holy place in heaven? If God the Father is seated in the Most Holy Place, does Jesus officiate in another room and only goes into the Most Holy place before God on the Day of Atonement which is the Close of Probation? Then there is a problem with the following text where Christ is already seated on the throne with the Father:
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
This is one of several texts that indicate that Jesus is seated on the throne with the Father. Does the Father maybe move from one room in the heavenly temple to the other at the Close of Probation? That will mean He has a throne in the Holy Place, and the Most Holy Place. This could be argued, because the Table of Shewbread in the Holy Place represents the Father in the time of probation where He is the provider for our needs, providing the Bread of Life. The Ark of the Covenant represents His throne on the Day of Atonement.
Rev 21:22 indicates that there is no temple in heaven:
22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
It may be argued that once salvation is complete and sin is irradicated, the temple will be removed. However, the temple in heaven represents the time period of the Millennium, which means salvation history is still not complete. It will only be completed when Satan and sinners are destroyed and the New Earth is created. Then God’s abode will not be in heaven anymore, but on Earth, among men. This verse gives a hint to the meaning of the temple in heaven. God Himself and the Lamb are the temple. The temple in heaven is not a structure, but a series of events in salvation history. Four of these events have already occurred, and three are still to come.
The temple on Earth was the concretisation (type) of salvation events brought to occur by God Who is in heaven (antitype). The purpose of the temple on Earth was to have a physical display of how God would solve the sin problem. It also served as a place of worship. In heaven and on the New Earth, we will worship God on His throne, face to face, not in a temple.
We must make it our first priority to know God, so that we will, one day soon, worship Him face to face in heaven.
Chapter 11 The Temple in Heaven
The sanctuary/tabernacle/temple in Israel was designed by God to bring to Israel in a concrete and visual way the events that are to take place in salvation history. Everything in and around the rituals of the temple were not the real solution to the sin problem on Earth, but a model of how it would take place. The terminology of type and antitype was developed where everything in the temple was types, pointing to the antitype – the real thing – that would occur somewhere in the future.
There were daily rituals in the temple, and also annual rituals. The daily rituals were the morning and evening sacrifices, and the annual rituals had 7 feasts that would occur on certain dates in the Jewish Lunar Calendar. These feasts were grouped in a way that had the people of Israel come to Jerusalem three times a year. In spring there were three feasts on consecutive days: Abib 14 was the Passover, 15 the Feast of Unleavened Bread and 16 the Feast of the First Fruits. Seven weeks after the Feast of First Fruits was Pentecost. The third cluster of feasts was in the autumn: On the first day of the seventh month (Tishri) was the Feast of Trumpets, then the most solemn of all the feasts on the 10th of Tishri, the Day of Atonement, and five days later the last of the seven feasts, the Feast of Tabernacles.
The Spring Feasts met their antitype in the year AD 31 when Christ died on the Passover, rested in the grave on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and was resurrected before dawn on the Feast of First Fruits. Seven weeks later in that year, on the day of Pentecost, God poured out His Spirit on the apostles and other followers of Christ. This empowered them to preach the Gospel and there were great harvests of souls for Christ resulting from that.
The Autumn feasts have not yet met their anti-type, but this will occur soon following the Latter Rain. The Feast of Trumpets are fulfilled in the Trumpets of Revelation 8 and 9. The Day of Atonement is the Close of Probation 3.5 years after the Latter Rain (Rev 11:15-19) and the Feast of Tabernacles will find its fulfillment in the Millennium (Rev 20).
Adventists believe there is a temple in heaven and the temple on Earth was a model of the temple in heaven, a type. We use Heb 8 to substantiate the understanding of a temple in heaven:
2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
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.
There is a problem, however, if all the types of the temple in Jerusalem have an antitype in the temple in heaven. The daily sacrifices and feast sacrifices of lambs, bulls and goats were all types of Christ Who was sacrificed on the cross of Calvary. These sacrifices took place in the courtyard of the temple. Jesus was not sacrificed in the courtyard of the heavenly sanctuary, but outside of Jerusalem on Earth. Is the courtyard of the heavenly sanctuary on Earth? Is there a Holy place, and a Most Holy place in heaven? If God the Father is seated in the Most Holy Place, does Jesus officiate in another room and only goes into the Most Holy place before God on the Day of Atonement which is the Close of Probation? Then there is a problem with the following text where Christ is already seated on the throne with the Father:
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
This is one of several texts that indicate that Jesus is seated on the throne with the Father. Does the Father maybe move from one room in the heavenly temple to the other at the Close of Probation? That will mean He has a throne in the Holy Place, and the Most Holy Place. This could be argued, because the Table of Shewbread in the Holy Place represents the Father in the time of probation where He is the provider for our needs, providing the Bread of Life. The Ark of the Covenant represents His throne on the Day of Atonement.
Rev 21:22 indicates that there is no temple in heaven:
22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
It may be argued that once salvation is complete and sin is irradicated, the temple will be removed. However, the temple in heaven represents the time period of the Millennium, which means salvation history is still not complete. It will only be completed when Satan and sinners are destroyed and the New Earth is created. Then God’s abode will not be in heaven anymore, but on Earth, among men. This verse gives a hint to the meaning of the temple in heaven. God Himself and the Lamb are the temple. The temple in heaven is not a structure, but a series of events in salvation history. Four of these events have already occurred, and three are still to come.
The temple on Earth was the concretisation (type) of salvation events brought to occur by God Who is in heaven (antitype). The purpose of the temple on Earth was to have a physical display of how God would solve the sin problem. It also served as a place of worship. In heaven and on the New Earth, we will worship God on His throne, face to face, not in a temple.
We must make it our first priority to know God, so that we will, one day soon, worship Him face to face in heaven.
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