Prophetic Expositions, vol. 1

THE IMPORT OF “THE SANCTUARY”—ITS CLEANSING

Verse 13: “How long the vision,”—“to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?” Verse 14: “Unto 2300 days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” PREX1 117.1

The first time the term sanctuary occurs in the Bible, is in the Song of Moses, when God had delivered his people from Egypt and the Red Sea, and was about to introduce them into the land of promise. Exodus 15:17: “Thou shalt bring them in and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in; in the SANCTUARY, O Lord, which thy hands have established.” I ask the reader to pause, and inquire, and settle the question most distinctly, before he goes farther-What was the sanctuary here spoken of? Was it not the land of promise, which God gave (Genesis 17:8) to Abraham and his seed for an everlasting possession? That land, according to Paul, (Galatians 3:16,) is Christ’s, not the Jews’. It is the mountain of the Lord’s inheritance; the place he has made for himself to dwell in. It is the sanctuary which his hands have established. PREX1 117.2

If any doubt remains as to the import of the text and term sanctuary, it is settled by the psalmist, Psalm 78:54: “And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain which his right hand had purchased.” If the Bible anywhere designates the mountain where Christ will dwell, in the land of promise, that spot is emphatically his sanctuary. Mark Exodus 15:17, again; “Plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made FOR THEE TO DWELL IN.” It would seem by this, that there is a peculiar, chosen spot, which the Lord made for his own dwelling-place; and that is his sanctuary. That spot or mountain is designated more distinctly in Psalm 78:67-69: “Moreover, he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim; but he chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved. And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established forever.” His sanctuary which he built like high palaces, was the mount Zion which he loved. PREX1 117.3

We have also yet another distinct testimony on this point, in Psalm 132:13, 14: “For the Lord hath chosen Zion, he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest forever; here will I dwell, for I have desired it.” That place is the only sanctuary that remains, or will ever be “cleansed,” or “justified,” as the margin reads. The term sanctuary, is used (Leviticus 4:6) to signify the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle in the wilderness. But that sanctuary has long since passed away. It is used also to signify the temple at Jerusalem, as in 2 Chronicles 20:8. But that temple has long since been laid in ruins, and cannot be cleansed. But mount Zion and Jerusalem in Judah remain, and is the Lord’s chosen rest forever. PREX1 118.1

The treading under foot of the sanctuary. The meaning of the treading under foot of the sanctuary, is the next point. 2 Chronicles 36:11-21 will give us a view of the treading down of the sanctuary and host;-the holy place and church of God. PREX1 118.2

“Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign; and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet, speaking from the mouth of the Lord. And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart from turning unto the Lord God of Israel. Moreover, all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his DWELLING PLACE: but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy. Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their SANCTUARY, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand. And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon. And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof. And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: to fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.” PREX1 119.1

This desolation existed in the days of Daniel, under Belshazzar, king of Babylon. The bondage of Jerusalem and the church, whether Jewish or Christian, has never ceased from that time to the present. True, under the Medo-Persian kings, the city, temple, and worship of God were restored; but neither place nor people were emancipated from tribute or dependence on the heathen nations. The Medes and Persians, Grecians, Syrians, Egyptians, or Romans, ever after the Babylonian captivity, were, to the church of Jerusalem, a continual source of affliction and oppression. After the crucifixion of Christ, according to the prediction of Daniel, (chap 9:26,) the people of the prince came and destroyed “the city and sanctuary.” Or, according to Christ, (Luke 21st chap.,) “Jerusalem was compassed with armies,” and its desolation “came.” “There (was) distress in the land, and wrath on (that) people; they fell by the edge of the sword, they (were) led captive into all nations, and Jerusalem (is) trodden down of the Gentiles,” and will be “until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” PREX1 120.1

The amount of it is this; God chose Jerusalem as the metropolis of his kingdom, and there established the throne of royalty on mount Zion, in the family of David. See 2 Chronicles 6:6; Psalm 89 also 102 and 132. But the royal family of David were driven, or rather carried into captivity by the king of Babylon. Since that captivity, no descendant of David has reigned on mount Zion. And the word of God declares there never will until he comes whose right it is, and the Lord will give it him. Ezekiel 21:27. PREX1 120.2

The cleansing of the sanctuary. The marginal reading is much preferable, to that incorporated in the text. “Then shall the sanctuary be JUSTIFIED.” Throughout the Scriptures, we find Jerusalem and Zion personified and addressed as a living, sentient being-as being guilty-condemned-punished-pardoned. PREX1 121.1

We have an example of this mode of address in Isaiah, throughout the entire book. It is entitled the vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. “Judah,” the people, and “Jerusalem,” the city, are the subjects of this vision. From the second to the twentieth verse, the people of Judah are addressed and described. The 21st verse begins a description of the city, her unfaithfulness and perversity, together with her punishment. The 25th to the 27th verses present God’s promised mercy to her after he has avenged himself, so that she shall “be called the faithful city,” “the city of righteousness.” Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness. “Zion,” the city, “shall be redeemed with judgment.” She will endure God’s judgment for all her crimes, or the crimes that have been committed in her. But not so her “converts,” who will constitute her future glory and inhabitants. They will be redeemed “with righteousness;” a believing acceptance of the offering made by Christ. There will be no such provision for them as to endure God’s judgment, and then, because they have suffered it out, be pardoned or justified, and saved. Again: Isaiah 4:4, the same sentiment is again repeated. “And when the Lord SHALL HAVE WASHED AWAY the filth of the daughters of Zion.” The Lord is to wash away the fifth of the daughters or inhabitants of Zion. “And shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst of thee, by the spirit of JUDGMENT and the spirit of BURNING.” “And the Lord will create upon every dwelling-place of mount Zion, and upon all her assemblies a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory there shall be a defence.” PREX1 121.2

This deliverance of the daughters of Zion, the converts, will never be until the resurrection of the just, when this corruptible, through the death and resurrection of Christ, will put on incorruption and glory. The glory of Zion also must be referred to that day when the New Jerusalem, Mount Zion, the city of the living God, shall descend; and the glory of God lighten the city of the great King. It was for the sins of Manasseh, which he did in Jerusalem, that this punishment was begun, or the certain infliction declared, so that God declared, though Moses and Samuel stood before him, his mind could not be toward that people. “Let them go forth,” he said. Jeremiah 15:5, he addresses Jerusalem: “For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan thee? or who shall go aside to ask how thou doest?” Verse 6: “Thou hast forsaken me, saith the Lord, thou art gone backward; therefore will I stretch forth my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting.” the justification of Jerusalem is foretold, Isaiah 40:2: “Speak ye comfortably unto Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, and her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” The Psalmist predicts the building up of Zion and God’s mercy to her. Psalm 102:13: “Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion. For the time to favor her, yea, the set time is come.” Verse 16: “When the Lord buildeth up Zion, he shall apfear in his glory.” According to these texts, Zion can never be built up until the Lord, whose everlasting dwelling-place is at Jerusalem, shall appear in his glory. He will do so when he comes in the clouds of heaven, in his own glory, in the glory of the Father, and all the holy angels. PREX1 122.1

Listen a moment to the Saviour, while he pronounces the doom of Jerusalem. Luke 19:41-44: “And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side. And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee: and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another: because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.” PREX1 123.1

But he will come again to Jerusalem and be greeted by a race who “shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” “Then shall the sanctuary be justified.” PREX1 124.1