November 30–December 6

This weekly feature is dedicated to Adventists who are looking for biblical insights into the topics discussed in the Sabbath School lesson quarterly. We post articles which address each lesson as presented in the Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, including biblical commentary on them. We hope you find this material helpful and that you will come to know Jesus and His revelation of Himself in His word in profound biblical ways.

 

Lesson 10: “Worshiping the Lord”

This week’s lesson has a lot of background on the temple services, the role of the Levites, and the celebration for the completed wall. There is not much that digresses from the Bible truths but, unfortunately, where it does veer off, it does so rather badly.

In the section titled Purification, most of what is said is good and Biblical. But there seems to be the typical Adventist blurring of the line between the Old Covenant and the New.

We find this in the lesson:

The temple and its services were crucial components of the religion of ancient Israel. But the temple and its services were a means to an end, not an end in and of themselves.

So far, so good. That part is true—the services were not an end in and of themselves. They were to set aside the sins committed in ignorance, they were to point forward to the coming Messiah who would remove all sin by paying the penalty demanded by the law; and they were to help keep the people close to God and aware of His sovereign rule over them. 

But then, the lesson veers into the area where the Old and New Covenants are combined into one by saying:

And that end, of course, was to lead the people into a saving relationship with their covenant God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and to know His cleansing power in their lives. And it’s the knowledge of what God has done, what the Lord has saved us from, that leads us to love Him and to worship Him.

There is a distinct difference between life in the Old Covenant and our life in the New Covenant. Let’s look at some of the differences between the two:

Old Covenant—strict obedience to the letter of the Law written on stone.
New Covenant—God’s law of love stated as “love God and fellow man” is written on the heart.

Old Covenant—sacrifice, by the blood of an animal as a substitute for the blood of the sinner, for sins committed in ignorance; the penalty for sin was set aside until the perfect Sacrifice would come.
New Covenant—all our sins—past, present, future—are covered and removed “as far as the east is from the west” and never to be remembered again. This was accomplished by the perfect sacrifice of the Lamb of God.

Old Covenant—they walked by sight (2 Cor. 5:7) as they saw the blood and the death for an innocent animal that resulted from their sin, as they looked forward to the ultimate sacrifice to come.
New Covenant—we walk by faith (2 Cor. 5:7) as we rely on the once-for-all sacrifice that has already been made for us by the perfect Lamb of God.

Old Covenant—they received the blessing of God only by strict obedience to the written law; disobedience brought curses (punishment).
New Covenant—we are blessed by God for our faith in Jesus who lived the law perfectly for us and paid the price for our sins; if we confess our sins, we are cleansed from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

Old Covenant—the letter of the law brought death (2 Cor. 3:6; Rom. 7:6).
New Covenant—we walk by the Spirit who brings life (2 Cor. 3:6; Rom. 7:6).

There are some similarities in the wording of the Old and New Covenants, but the Old points forward to the New while it never turns into the New. The Old brought nothing but death, while the New gives us eternal life in Jesus. 

I was pleased to see this altar call in the lesson:

Regardless of your past sins or your present character, at the cross you can have complete forgiveness—and right at this very moment, too. Why not claim the forgiveness that Jesus offers you right now?

But it is disappointing to see that only “past sins” are included. There seems to be no sense of the total forgiveness offered by the cross. It is so much more than just “forgiving” sins. It is completely covering us with the righteousness of Christ in place of our own lack and applying His payment for the penalty of sin—death—in place of demanding our death. 

This substitution also brings life to our dead spirits which are dead because of the separation from the source of life—God—that resulted from the sin of Adam. That dead spirit has been passed on to all of us who are born of the flesh. 

Besides that, in a lesson intended for Christians, why is there an invitation for someone to claim the forgiveness offered by the cross? If the reader is participating in this study, they almost certainly would already be a member of the Adventist church. And if they are a member, haven’t they already come to Christ?

The unfortunate answer to that is the fact that coming to the cross of Christ and being saved or born again, is not the same thing in Adventist belief as becoming a member of the Adventist church.

I remember from my own life as an Adventist the heretical idea that even one unconfessed sin could keep me from heaven as taught by things like this:

“A perversion of right principles is a transgression of God’s law. Those who in their actions pervert the grand principles of His holy law are under condemnation, for the righteousness of Christ cannot cover one unconfessed sin. The law has been lightly regarded. “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” We must obey God’s law, if we are loyal to Him and accepted by Him. “ (17MR 241.2) 

(The Bible verse quoted above is Ecc. 8:11. Read the entire chapter to get a feel for what it is really saying.)

 

Priests and Levites as Part of Worship

This section brings up the role of the priests in the temple services. It covers it well, but it still imposes an un-Biblical slant to prop up a very un-Biblical belief called the Investigative Judgment.

First it asks us this question:

What did the work of the priests (who were Levites) symbolize? See Hebrews 9:1–11.

So let’s start with that:

Now even the first covenant had regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle prepared, the outer one, in which were the lampstand and the table and the sacred bread; this is called the holy place. 

Behind the second veil there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies, having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod which budded, and the tables of the covenant; and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat; but of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

Now when these things have been so prepared, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle performing the divine worship, but into the second, only the high priest enters once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance. 

The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed while the outer tabernacle is still standing, which is a symbol for the present time. Accordingly both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience, since they relate only to food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until a time of reformation.

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation;

So far, it is a beautiful comparison of the earthly sanctuary and the heavenly.

But, it stopped one verse too soon! Let’s read verse 12 which is actually the ending of the sentence started in verse 11:

and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

Notice the underlined phrase? In the earthly sanctuary, this was the ‘holy place’ the priest entered once a year, what was sometimes called the Most Holy Place, where the throne of God was symbolized by the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant.

When Jesus ascended to heaven after His resurrection, He sat down at the right hand of the Father. (Heb. 8:1 and 12:2) He didn’t loiter around somewhere else until 1844 and then go into the presence of the Father. He has been there since He returned to heaven. 

Also, you will notice in the verses from Hebrews, that He sat down. The priests in the earthly sanctuary never sat in the temple and certainly not on the yearly Day of Atonement. A priest’s work was never done day-to-day and year-to-year. But Jesus’ work is finished, as He said on the cross (John 19:30), and having finished His work of salvation, He sat down at the Father’s right hand.

As far as the finished work of Jesus on the cross is concerned, let’s look at what Ellen White said about it:

The intercession of Christ in man’s behalf in the sanctuary above is as essential to the plan of salvation as was His death upon the cross. By His death He began that work which after His resurrection He ascended to complete in heaven. We must by faith enter within the veil, ‘whither the forerunner is for us entered.’ Hebrews 6:20.—Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 489.

This is a direct contradiction to the words of Jesus recorded in John 19:30. How can you believe anything she says when she calls Jesus a liar?

This deviation from the truths of the Bible is continued in Friday’s lesson. At the end, we find this question:

Scripture is clear: Jesus is our High Priest in the sanctuary in heaven. What, exactly, is He doing for us there? What can the ministry of the priests in the earthly temple teach us about what Jesus is doing for us in the heavenly one? 

Since Ellen White said that His work is of salvation is not finished, this question is in line with Adventist theology. Also, notice that she sees Jesus in the role of a priest in the line of Aaron, but Hebrews is quite clear that He is not. We read in Hebrews 6:

In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. 

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Not only does this say that Jesus is a priest after the order Melchizedek, not Aaron, but it also says that He has already entered through the veil. 

How much better to take the Bible at its word and acknowledge that it tells the truth when it says that Jesus finished His work and is seated at the right hand of the Father? 

Look at Ps. 110:1 

The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”

 During his sermon on the Day of Pentecost, Peter quoted this verse (Acts 2:34, 35) and said it applied it to Jesus. When Jesus ascended to heaven, He was seated in the place of honor at the Father’s right hand and will remain there until His ultimate victory at the Second Coming. That is what will make His enemies “a footstool for His feet”.

This is our Lord Jesus, and He is the one who deserves our worship! †