Jesus the great High Priest. What does that really mean? Imagine the following.
God is sitting on His throne. Around Him stand innumerable angels. Beyond them innumerable heavenly beings take their seat. Books are brought before this amazing meeting and are opened.
Books are kept in heaven where every detail of every human life is recorded. Surprised? Your computer records everything you do on it. Don’t you think God has this ability too? On an infinitely grander scale?
As the books are opened, your name appears. The deeds and even the thoughts and words of your life are presented before the watching throng. Embarrassing?
Then one like a Son of Man, the Lord Jesus Himself, approaches the throne of the Father. He approaches in one special capacity - Jesus the great high priest, the one who intercedes on our behalf.
He declares you to be His. He acknowledges your mistakes but declares that He died for your sins and that He wants you to live with Him for eternity.
The heavenly beings watch in anticipation. They too want you there for eternity, for we are their fallen brothers and sisters. But they want the assurance that you are indeed forgiven and fit for life in the heavenly realms. They wait for the confirmation from the heavenly court.
The Father will never refuse Jesus anything. As Jesus stands there and declares you His, the Father consents with a smile. Your record is wiped clean. Your sins, already forgiven by Jesus, are now cleared from the heavenly records. Your slate is clean.
The watching heavenly beings break out in exuberant applause. There is joy in heaven for every sinner who becomes a child of God. They are ready to welcome you in heaven.
What a beautiful scene! And it is 100% true. You can read about it in Daniel 7.
Every believer’s name will be cleared in the heavenly court BEFORE Jesus comes. This is what we refer to as a pre-Advent judgment.
In this
study, we will learn more about this important event. And about Jesus the great High Priest.
“And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it.” (Exodus 25:8-9).
God asked Moses to build the tabernacle or sanctuary. The sanctuary was a mobile tent so it could travel with Israel in their journeys through the wilderness. When Israel settled into the Promised Land, Solomon build the temple to replace the sanctuary. The sanctuary and later the temple were both divided into three parts:
The Courtyard
The Holy Place
The Most Holy Place
We need to keep two things in mind about the sanctuary. First, it was the dwelling place of God on earth. This is why in the Bible it is often called “the House of God.”
Second, it was constructed after a “pattern” that Moses was shown on the mountain. The word translated “pattern” is the Hebrew tabnit and can refer to a model or an actual edifice.
There were seven pieces of furniture in the sanctuary.
In the courtyard:
A. The altar of burnt offerings (Exodus 27:1–8). This is where sacrifices were offered. It represents the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross (John 1:29).
B. The laver of washing. It was filled with water and used by priests to wash before they entered the sanctuary (Exodus 30:18–21). The water represents baptism or cleansing from sin.
In the Holy Place:
C. The golden lampstand (Exodus 25:31–40). It had to be filled with olive oil and gave light to the room. Olive oil represents the Holy Spirit (Revelation 4:5).
D. The table of showbread (Exodus 25:23–30). Bread represents both Jesus (John 6:51), and the Word of God which gives us nourishment (Matthew 4:4).
E. The altar of incense (Exodus 30:7, 8). It represents the prayers of God’s people (Revelation 5:8).
In the Most Holy Place:
F. The Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 25:10–22). The Ark of the Covenant contained the Ten Commandments. It signifies the righteous living that God expects of His people.
G. The Mercy Seat (Exodus 25:10–22). The cover of the Ark of the Covenant was the Mercy Seat where blood from sacrifice was sprinkled. Blood signified the sacrifice of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins.
In the earthly sanctuary the persons who ministered were the priests.
“Now take Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to Me as priest, Aaron and Aaron’s sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty” (Exodus 28:1-2).
The only persons allowed to enter past the courtyard were the priests, Aaron and his descendants. The Levites who were relatives of Aaron (Aaron was from the tribe of Levi) were responsible for caring for the sanctuary and could enter as necessary:
“But let no one come into the house of the Lord except the priests and those of the Levites who serve. They may go in, for they are holy; but all the people shall keep the watch of the Lord” (2 Chronicles 23:6).
Priests had several duties. The main was to be intercessors between the sinner and God. They did this through sacrifices.
“Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices” (Hebrews 8:3).
“Then the Lord said to Aaron: ‘You and your sons and your father’s house with you shall bear the iniquity related to the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity associated with your priesthood… And you shall attend to the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, that there may be no more wrath on the children of Israel’” (Numbers 18:1, 5).
There were two types of ministry, the daily ministry, and the once-a-year ministry of the Day of Atonement. The daily ministry took place in the Holy Place while the once-a-year ministry in the Most Holy Place.
“Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance” (Hebrews 9:6-7).
When offering was made for God’s people, the priests would sprinkle with the blood of the sacrificed animal the curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. This signified that sins were brought into the remembrance of God, whose presence was right behind the curtain in the Most Holy Place.
Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest would enter the Most Holy Place and there make atonement on behalf of God’s people.
The Day of Atonement was a day of judgment (Leviticus 23:27).
The high priest would confess the sins of God’s people. It was the only time in the year he would enter the Most Holy Place. If God were displeased, the high priest would die. The people would wait outside to see if the high priest would come out alive. When he did, there would be jubilant celebrations because it signified that God had forgiven them and they would have a clean start.
Most certainly not!
First, the priests were themselves sinners:
“For such a High Priest [Jesus] was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever” (Hebrews 7:26-28).
The priest in the earthly sanctuary were sinful, just as all humans are.
Second, the sacrifices were not able to cleanse sin:
“For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins” (Hebrews 10:1-4).
To Jesus the great High Priest and His sacrifice on the cross!
“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:14–16).
The priests of the Old Testament pointed forward to Jesus the great High Priest, indeed the only true High Priest!
“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’” (John 1:29).
“From Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Revelation 1:5-6).
Just like human priests pointed to Jesus the great High Priest, the sacrifices of animals and the shedding or their blood, symbolized the death of Jesus on the cross and the shedding of His blood through which we have forgiveness.
“For if He [Jesus] were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle” (Hebrews 8:4-5).
The Bible
calls them a copy and a shadow of heavenly realities! Earthly priests were a shadow of Jesus the great High Priest; animal sacrifices were a shadow of the great sacrifice of Jesus on the cross; the earthly sanctuary was a shadow of the heavenly, the true sanctuary.
“Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” (Matthew 27:51).
At the death of Jesus, the temple curtain was torn from top to bottom. This signified that the temple and its services ceased to have meaning because now the true Lamb of God had been sacrificed!
Note also the following text:
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate” (Matthew 23:37-38).
Shortly before His death Jesus no longer refers to the temple as “My Father’s House” but “your house.” The true Father’s House is in heaven!
This is why there is no longer a temple in Jerusalem. And even if one were to be built, it would not be the house of God because earthly sacrifices and priests are no longer required.
In the ancient mindset, an earthly sanctuary was a copy of the heavenly dwelling place of a deity. Whatever happened in an earthly sanctuary reflected what takes place in heaven. The earthly was considered a miniature of the heavenly. Therefore, the earthly had to be made exactly as the pattern shown to Moses.
The apostle Paul confirms the same about the earthly sanctuary when he states:
“Who [earthly priests] serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, ‘See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain’” (Hebrews 8:5).
Here Paul refers to the earthly sanctuary as a “copy and shadow” of heavenly things.
Absolutely!
“Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.” (Hebrews 8:1-2).
Here Paul speaks of the “true tabernacle” which was erected by the Lord. Similarly:
“But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation” (Hebrews 9:11).
Here Paul
speaks of a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, and not of
this creation. That is where Jesus the great High Priest ministers.
In Revelation we read:
“Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail” (Revelation 11:19).
The word “temple” from the Greek naos designates the dwelling place of Deity.
Similarly:
“He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. And I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name” (Revelation 3:12).
The temple of God here cannot be the temple in Jerusalem which had been destroyed when John was writing Revelation. It is God’s true temple in heaven as is evident by its association with the New Jerusalem.
The prophet Isaiah was taken in vision into God’s heavenly temple/sanctuary and received there his call to the prophetic ministry:
“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew” (Isaiah 6:1-2).
Jacob also saw God’s heavenly house in a dream:
“Then he [Jacob] dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it… Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.’ And he was afraid and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!’” (Genesis 28:12-13, 16-17).
Let us explore these verses. Jacob sees a “ladder.” The word translated “ladder” can better be rendered “stairway.” What Jacob sees is a processional stairway. At the top he sees the Lord standing and on the stairway, angels ascending and descending. Then he awakens and full of fear exclaims that this is “the house of God.”
What Jacob saw was the heavenly sanctuary where God’s real dwelling place is and from whence angels are sent to their missions.
Before Jesus left, He gave the following promise:
“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know” (John 14:2-4).
Here Jesus explained that He would go to the Father’s house in heaven. The Father’s House, or “house of God” is a reference to the temple, in this case the heavenly. There He will prepare a place and come again to take believers to heaven.
And then He adds, “where I go you know.” Jews understood there is a heavenly “house of God” and this is why what Jesus said made sense to them.
The ministry of Jesus the great High Priest began at His ascension!
“Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy” (Daniel 9:24).
The Hebrew words qodesh qodashim for “Most Holy” can also be translated “Most Holy Place.” Daniel 9:24 is a prophecy about Jesus. Within the prescribed time Jesus would be sacrificed for our sins, and He would inaugurate the heavenly sanctuary and be anointed as Jesus the great High Priest in the heavenly Most Holy Place. This happened after His ascension.
“For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).
Since His ascension Jesus has been our Mediator before God. He intercedes with God on our behalf. This was symbolized in the daily ministration of the priests on earth. What they did for Israel on a day to day basis, Jesus does for us before the Father in heaven.
Absolutely!
We saw above that the ministry of the earthly priests was a copy and a shadow of the ministry of Jesus. The same is true of the ministry of the Day of Atonement.
“And he said to me, ‘For two thousand three hundred days; then the [heavenly] sanctuary shall be cleansed’” (Daniel 8:14).
Daniel here prophesied that after a prophetic period of 2,300 days, the heavenly sanctuary would be cleansed. The earthly sanctuary was cleansed on the earthly Day of Atonement when God removed the remembrance of Israel’s sins and gave them a fresh beginning. The heavenly sanctuary would be cleansed on the heavenly Day of Atonement.
Daniel describes this event with the following words:
“I watched till thrones were put in place, and the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire; a fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, and the books were opened” (Daniel 7:9-10).
“I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him” (Daniel 7:13).
“The Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favour of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom” (Daniel 7:22).
The Ancient of Days is the Father. The One like the Son of Man is Jesus our High Priest who appears before the Father as our defence attorney, just like the earthly high priest appeared before the Father on the earthly Day of Atonement.
The ones standing and seating around God’s throne are the heavenly beings.
On the basis of the sacrifice of Jesus those who believe in Him are acquitted: “Judgment was made in favour of the saints!” And they receive the kingdom!
Daniel 8:14 places the heavenly Day of Atonement at the conclusion of the 2,300 day prophecy, the longest timed prophecy in the Bible. Prophetic calculations place the time in 1844 (see the relevant study).
Daniel 7:22 places the heavenly Day of Atonement just before the Second Coming, since at the conclusion of the heavenly judgment, the saints receive the kingdom. This is why we sometimes call it, the Pre-Advent Judgment.
Does God need the heavenly Day of Atonement to acquit us? No and yes.
No, because the moment a person believes in Jesus and repents, the sins committed are forgiven and the name is written in the Book of Life.
But there is a Yes answer too. God is not alone in heaven. There are innumerable angels and possibly other heavenly beings too. God is all-knowing, they are not; God knows our heart, they do not.
Before God brings billions of forgiven sinners from earth to heaven, the innumerable heavenly beings need to know for sure that the forgiven sinners coming from earth are indeed fit to inhabit heaven.
The heavenly pre-Advent judgment prefigured in the earthly Day of Atonement, is the opportunity for every heavenly being to review the record of the life of God’s people and, together with God, and on the basis of our faith in Jesus, declare us worthy to be in the kingdom! Hallelujah!
Jesus the great High Priest!
This has been the longest study in the series. Not because it is the most important (though it is very important). But because most Christians do not understand the High Priestly ministry of Jesus in the heavenly sanctuary.
If you have questions, feel free to get in touch with a Seventh-day Adventist pastor for further clarifications. Moreover, see the upcoming related studies which will shed more light on this important topic.
From the things you have read keep these two thoughts in mind.
First, Jesus is interceding for you and for every believer right now before the very throne of God. Hallelujah!
Second, these are solemn times. The earthly Day of Atonement was the holiest and most solemn day in the Hebrew calendar. The same solemnity should characterize our outlook as we realize we live in the times of the heavenly Day of Atonement.
I am grateful that Jesus the great High Priest is interceding in heaven for me. I look forward to His soon return!
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