November 29: REFORMATION HIGHLIGHTS and the SANCTUARY (part 1)
Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God? Psalm 77:13
In the book The Great Controversy, the historical fulfillment of many Biblical prophecies for these last two thousand years is intricately detailed. As followers of Christ, we should feel a great debt of gratitude to the reformers for their stance against errors of the Dark Ages church. Amazingly, the various points upon which they faithfully stood correspond perfectly to key elements in the plan of salvation as laid out symbolically in the earthly sanctuary, a copy of the heavenly one which the Lord erected (Hebrews 8:2). These symbols help us to understand sin’s horror and the enormously vast work of God in removing the sin problem from His universe.
You shall also make a table of acacia wood; two cubits shall be its length, a cubit its width, and a cubit and a half its height…overlay it with pure gold…and you shall set the showbread on the table before Me always. Exodus 25:23,24,30
In the Holy Place of the tabernacle proper was the table of showbread on the north side. It represented the Word of God unto salvation. This Word is the Bread of Life. To read and study it—under the Holy Spirit’s guidance—is food for the soul. But the church strictly forbade ownership, reading, or hearing of the Scriptures, on pain of death. John Wycliffe, William Tyndale, Martin Luther, and others were labeled heretics for translating God’s word into languages that could be understood by the common man. Countless souls stood with them, all for the joy found in reading and hearing—eating—the Bread of Life for themselves.
You shall make an altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide—the altar shall be square—and its height shall be three cubits…horns at its four corners…overlay it with bronze…all its utensils of bronze. You shall make a grate for it, a network of bronze. Exodus 27:1-4
In the courtyard of the tabernacle was the altar of sacrifice. The sacrifices there were intended to point to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29). Type met antitype in Jesus at Calvary. Martin Luther dared to stand against errors of the church which was teaching that monetary payment for sins must be added to the sacrifice of Jesus—by selling certificates for “indulgences.” While Luther addressed the church on many points of error, the pinnacle of his efforts at reform lay in his conviction of faith in the all-sufficient atoning sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” Romans 1:17
Thus, we begin to see in Reformation history the work of God in calling His people to restore the joyful message of free salvation to the world, as symbolized in the sanctuary, where God’s thorough and complete way of dealing with sin is vividly illustrated. Behold the beautiful imagery and instructive symbolism in the table of showbread and the altar of sacrifice!
Jesus said:
“I am the bread of life.” John 6:38
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45