BIBLE VIEW OF THE SANCTUARY

The sanctuary of the Bible is the habitation of God. It includes, first, the tabernacle pitched by man, which was the pattern of the true; and second, the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man. The tabernacle erected by man, as the pattern of the true, embraced, first, the tabernacle of Moses, second, the temple of Solomon, and, third, the temple of Zerubbabel. The true tabernacle of God is the great original of which Moses, Solomon, and Zerubbabel, erected “figures,” “patterns,” or “images.” We trace the pattern of the true from the time it was erected by Moses, until it was merged into the larger and more glorious pattern which Solomon caused to be established. We trace this building down to the period when it was overthrown by Nebuchadnezzar, and suffered to remain in ruins through the Babylonish captivity. And from the time that Zerubbabel rebuilt the sanctuary, we trace the history of the pattern until we reach the true tabernacle, the great sanctuary of Jehovah. We trace the history of the tabernacle from the time that our Lord entered it to minister in “the holy places” for us, forward to the time when it shall be located on the New Earth, when the tabernacle and sanctuary of God shall be with his people forever. We are compassed about with a great cloud of witnesses. To the law and to the testimony. We gather our first instruction respecting the sanctuary from the book of Exodus. In chapter 24, we learn that Moses went up into the cloud that enshrouded the God of Israel, upon the Mount Sinai, and that he was there forty days. It was during this period that the building of the sanctuary was explained to Moses, and the pattern of it shown to him in that mount. Hebrews 8:5. The next chapter commences withS23D 45.2

THE COMMANDMENT TO ERECT THE SANCTUARY.—S23D 46.1

“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering; of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering. And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, and rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood, oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense, onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate. And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.” Exodus 25:1-9.S23D 46.2

We have here learned several important facts:S23D 46.3

1. The sanctuary was the habitation of God. It was erected for this express purpose, that God might dwell among his people. And Moses had his eye upon this habitation, or sanctuary, in that very chapter in which he is supposed, by some, to teach that the land of Canaan is the sanctuary. “He is my God,” says Moses, “and I will prepare him an habitation.” Chap. 15:2. It is plain that, even then, Moses understood the difference between the habitation of Jehovah and the place of its location. 2. The sanctuary, which God commanded Moses to erect, was the tabernacle. The tabernacle of witness was the sanctuary of God. 3. Moses was solemnly enjoined to make the sanctuary, and all its vessels, according to the pattern shown to him in that place. Hence, we are now to have a model of the habitation of God set before us.S23D 47.1

THE PLAN OF THE SANCTUARY.-Its walls on the north, the west, and the south sides, were formed of upright boards, set in sockets of silver. These boards were ten cubits in length, by one cubit and a half in breadth. And as there were twenty of them on each of the two sides, we learn that it was thirty cubits in length and ten in height. In the same manner, we ascertain that it was about ten cubits in width. The sockets in which the boards were set, are termed, “the sockets of the sanctuary” Chap. 38:27. Five bars running the length of the sides, and passing through rings in the boards, joined them all together. And the whole was overlaid with gold. The sanctuary was covered with four different coverings. The east end was closed by a vail, or hanging, called the door of the tent or tabernacle. A second vail divided the tabernacle into two parts called the holy place, and the holiest of all. Chap. 26:1-29, 31-37; 36:8-38; Leviticus 16:2; Hebrews 9:3.S23D 47.2

THE VESSELS OF THE SANCTUARY.-These were all made after the pattern which the Lord showed to Moses. Exodus 25:9, 40. They were as follows: 1. The ark. This was a small chest about four feet six inches in length, and about two feet six inches in width and height, overlaid with pure gold, within and without. This was made for the express purpose of containing God’s testament, the ten commandments. Chap. 25:10-16, 21; 31:8; 32:15, 16; 37:1-5; Deuteronomy 10:1-5; 1 Kings 8:9; 2 Chronicles 5:10; Hebrews 9:4. 2. The mercy-seat. This was the top of the ark. On either end of it stood a cherub. The cherubim and the mercy-seat being one solid work of beaten gold. Exodus 25:17-22; 37:6-9; 26:34; Hebrews 9:4, 5. 3. The altar of incense. This was overlaid with gold, and was about three and a half feet in height, and nearly two feet square. It was for the purpose of burning incense before God. Exodus 30:1-10; 37:25-28; Luke 1:9-11. 4. The golden censer. This was used to burn incense before the Lord, particularly in the holiest. Leviticus 10:1; 16:12; Hebrews 9:4. 5. The candlestick, with its seven lamps, was one solid work of beaten gold, about the weight of a talent. It was made after the express pattern shown to Moses. Exodus 25:31-40; 37:17-24; Numbers 8:4. 6. The table of show-bread. This was about three and a half feet in length, two and a half in height, and two in width. It was overlaid with pure gold, and on it, show-bread was always kept before the Lord. Exodus 25:23-30; 7:10-16; Hebrews 9:2. 7. The altar of burnt-offering. This was about nine feet square, and nearly five and a half feet in height. It was overlaid with brass, and was, as its name implies, used for the purpose of offering up sacrifices to God. Exodus 27:1-8; 37:1-7. 8. The laver. This was made of brass, and contained water for the use of the priests. Chap. 30:18-21; 38:8. The court of the tabernacle was one hundred cubits in length, by fifty in breadth, and five cubits, or about nine feet, in hight. Chap. 27:9-19; 38:8-20.S23D 48.1

God called those who were to execute this work by name, and filled them with the spirit of wisdom. Chap. 31:1-11; 35:30-35. They knew “how to make all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary.” Chap. 36:1. They received the offering of the children of Israel for “the service of the sanctuary.” Verse 3. They came from the “work of the sanctuary” (verse 4), and testified that more was offered than could be used. And Moses commanded that none should “make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary.” Verse 6. The construction of every part of the sanctuary is minutely described in chaps. 36-39. Everything was then submitted to Moses for inspection, and he pronounced the work such as God commanded, viz.: a true pattern. Chap. 39:33-43. God then commanded Moses to set up the sanctuary, and to place everything in order. Chap. 40:1-16.S23D 49.1

MOSES ERECTS THE SANCTUARY.-And Moses reared up the tabernacle, and set up its boards in the sockets of silver, and united them together by the bars, and spread over the whole, the covering of the tabernacle. He then placed the testimony in the ark, and set the mercy-seat upon it, and carried the ark into the tabernacle. Chap. 40:17-21. He then hung up the vail in front of the ark, and thus divided between the holy places. Verse 21; 26:33; Hebrews 9:3. He placed the table without the vail, on the north side of the holy place, and set the bread in order upon it. Verses 22, 23. He then placed the candlestick on the south side of the holy place, and lighted its lamps before the Lord. Verses 24, 25. He placed the golden altar before the vail, in the holy place, and burned sweet incense upon it. Verses 26, 27. He set up the hanging for the door of the sanctuary, and he placed the altar of burnt offering at the door, and set the laver between the tabernacle and this altar, and around the whole, he set up the court of the tabernacle. Verses 28-33. The sanctuary erected for the habitation of Jehovah (Exodus 15:2; 25:8) is now ready to receive the King Eternal.S23D 49.2

GOD TAKES POSSESSION OF THE SANCTUARY.—“Then the cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” Verses 34, 35. We now have found the habitation, or sanctuary, of the Lord. In the book of Exodus, Moses calls this building the sanctuary at least eleven times. But do you ask for the words of the New Testament on the point? Then listen.S23D 50.1

PAUL’S VIEW OF THE SANCTUARY OF THE FIRST COVENANT.—“Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the show-bread; which is called the sanctuary. And after the second vail, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; and over it the cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy-seat.” Hebrews 9:1-5; 13:11. It is settled, therefore, that we have the right view of this subject thus far, and that the tabernacle of God, and not the land of Canaan, was the sanctuary.S23D 50.2

THE WORLDLY SANCTUARY WAS THE PATTERN OF THE TRUE.—“After the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.” “And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was showed thee in the mount.” Exodus 25:9, 40. “And thou shalt rear up the tabernacle according to the fashion thereof which was showed thee in the mount.” Chap. 26:30. “As it was showed thee in the mount so shall they make it.” Chap. 27:8. “According unto the pattern which the Lord had showed Moses, so he made the candlestick.” Numbers 8:4. “Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen.” Acts 7:44. “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 showed to thee in the mount.” Hebrews 8:5. “It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true.” Hebrews 9:23, 24. From these texts we learn two important facts. 1. We are many times certified that the tabernacle of witness was made according to the pattern which God showed to Moses. 2. That that pattern was a representation of the heavenly sanctuary itself. Hebrews 8:2.S23D 51.1

We trace the history of the sanctuary in the book of Leviticus. Every instance in which the word occurs, it is admitted, refers to the tabernacle of the Lord. The blood of sin-offering was sprinkled “before the vail of the sanctuary.” Leviticus 4:6. For offering strange fire before the Lord in his tabernacle, two of the sons of Aaron were slain. They were then carried “from before the sanctuary.” Leviticus 10:4. The unclean were not to “come into the sanctuary,” or tabernacle. Leviticus 12:4, 6. “The holy sanctuary” was to be cleansed. Leviticus 16:16, 33. “Ye shall keep my Sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary; I am the Lord.” Leviticus 19:30; 26:2. Those who worshiped Moloch, defiled the Lord’s sanctuary. Leviticus 20:3. “Sanctuaries,” used for the two holy places. Leviticus 21:23; 26:31. See also Jeremiah 51:51. God commanded that the high priest should not “go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God,” to mourn for the dead. Leviticus 21:12.S23D 52.1

God placed his tabernacle in the charge of the tribe of Levi, who pitched around it. Numbers 1:50-53. Under the standard of Judah on the east, of Reuben on the south, of Ephraim on the west, and of Dan on the north, the tribes of Israel were to pitch around the tabernacle in four great bodies, during their sojourn in the wilderness. Numbers 2. God then divided the tribe of Levi according to his three sons, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. These three divisions were to pitch severally on the west, south, and north sides of the tabernacle. Numbers 3. The Kohathites were to keep “the charge of the sanctuary,” and also of “the vessels of the sanctuary.” Verses 28, 31. And Eleazar, the priest, was to have the oversight of those who thus kept “the charge of the sanctuary.” verse 32. But on the east side of the tabernacle, Moses, Aaron, and his sons, were to encamp, and keep “the charge of the sanctuary.” Verse 38.S23D 52.2

When the camp was to set forward, the priests were to take down the tabernacle (Numbers 4), and cover the sacred vessels, and “all the instruments of ministry wherewith they minister in the sanctuary” (verse 12); and when they had made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, the sons of Kohath were to bear it. Verse 15. And God commanded that Eleazar should have “the oversight of all the tabernacle, and of all that therein is, in the sanctuary.” Verse 16. “The service of the sanctuary,” belonging unto the Kohathites, was to bear it upon their shoulders. Numbers 7:9. The Levites were given to Aaron to do the service of the tabernacle, that there be no plague “when the children of Israel come nigh unto the sanctuary.” Numbers 8:19. “The Kohathites set forward bearing the sanctuary.” Numbers 10:21.S23D 53.1

The priests were to “bear the iniquity of the sanctuary.” Numbers 18:1. The Levites were not to “come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary.” verse 3. And the priests should “keep the charge of the sanctuary.” Verse 5. The man that neglected purification, “defiled the sanctuary of the Lord.” Numbers 19:20. “The shekel of the sanctuary,” or tabernacle, was the standard in Israel. The word sanctuary, meaning the habitation of God, occurs in this connection twenty-five times. Exodus 30:13, 24; 38:24, 25, 26; Leviticus 5:15; 27:3, 25; Numbers 3:47, 50; 7:13, 19, 25, 31, 37, 43, 49, 55, 61, 67, 73, 79, 85, 86; 18:16.S23D 53.2

The word sanctuary does not occur in the book of Deuteronomy. One chapter refers to it as “the tabernacle of the congregation.” 31:14, 15. We have traced the history of the sanctuary, from the time that it was erected, through the period of Israel’s sojourn in the wilderness. From Acts 7:45, we learn that the tribes of Israel carried it with them into the promised land. In the book of Joshua it is called the house of God, or tabernacle; and we learn that it was set up at Shiloh. Joshua 9:23; 18:1; 19:51; Jeremiah 7:12. It is called the Lord’s tabernacle. Joshua 22:19. It is called “the sanctuary of the Lord.” Joshua 24:26. In the book of Judges it is simply called “the house of God,” located at Shiloh. Judges 18:31; 20:18, 26, 31; 21:2. In 1 Samuel it is termed the house of the Lord. Chap. 1:7, 24; 3:15. In chapters 1:9; 3:3, it is called the temple of the Lord. In chapter 2:32, God calls it “my habitation,” or tabernacle, margin. It still abode in Shiloh. Chap. 4:4.S23D 54.1

GOD FORSAKES THE SANCTUARY.-For the gross wickedness of the priests and people (1 Samuel 2), God forsook his habitation, and gave his glory (the ark of his testament) into the hands of the enemy, the Philistines. Psalm 78:60-62; Jeremiah 7:12-14; 1 Samuel 4. It does not appear that after the ark of God was taken from the tabernacle at Shiloh, and God there forsook his habitation, that his glory, or the ark of his covenant, ever returned to that building. The other sacred vessels remained with the tabernacle which, in the days of Saul, seems to have been located at Nob (1 Samuel 21; Matthew 12:3, 4; Mark 2:26); and in the days of David, at Gibeon. 1 Chronicles 16:39; 21:29, 30; 1 Kings 3:4; 2 Chronicles 1:3. And here we leave it for the present to follow the ark.S23D 54.2

The ark was taken by the Philistines, and kept in their land seven months. In which time they were smitten with sore plagues, and Dagon, their god, twice fell before it. They then returned it to Israel to Beth-shemesh. At this place 50,000 of Israel were smitten for looking into the ark. 1 Samuel 4; 5; 6. From thence it was removed to Kirjath-jearim to the house of Abinadab, where it abode twenty years. 1 Samuel 7:1, 2. In this period it is said that all Israel “lamented after the Lord.” From this place it was removed to the house of Obed-edom, where it abode three months. 2 Samuel 6:1-11; 1 Chronicles 13. From this place David removed it to his own city, Jerusalem, and placed it in a tabernacle which he had pitched. 2 Samuel 6:12-17; 1 Chronicles 15; 16:1. It was at this time, when the Lord had given David rest from all his enemies, and he dwelt securely in his own house, that the habitation of his God came before his mind.S23D 55.1

DAVID DESIRES TO BUILD A GLORIOUS SANCTUARY.-The situation of God’s house came into the mind of David, and he “desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.” Acts 7:46; Psalm 132:1-5. He set this matter before Nathan the prophet, who said to him, “Do all that is in thy heart, for God is with thee.” But that night God charged Nathan to say to David, “Thus saith the Lord, thou shalt not build me a house to dwell in.” 1 Chronicles 17:1-4; 2 Samuel 7:1-5. This was because David had been a man of war, and had shed blood abundantly. But God promised that Solomon, his son, should build the house. 1 Chronicles 22:7-10. Then David proceeded to make great preparation for the building. Chaps. 22:19. The place where the angel of the Lord appeared to David, at the time when the plague was stayed, viz.; the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite (chap. 21:14-18), upon Mount Moriah (2 Chronicles 3:1; Genesis 22:2, 14), which was near to Mount Zion, was the place of God’s habitation. Psalm 78:68, 69; 132:13, 14. And here, “like high palaces,” God’s sanctuary was built. 1 Chronicles 29:1.S23D 55.2

SOLOMON AND THE PRINCES CHARGED TO BUILD THE SANCTUARY.—“Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God: arise, therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the Lord God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the Lord.” Chap. 22:19. “Take heed now; for the Lord hath chosen thee to build an house for the sanctuary; be strong, and do it.” Chap. 28:10. Then David gave to Solomon explicit directions respecting the building of the sanctuary. Verses 11-21. A full account of the erection of this glorious sanctuary may be read in 1 Kings 6; 7; 2 Chronicles 3:4. It occupied seven years and six months in building, and when finished was of wonderful magnificence. It principally differed from the tabernacle in being an enlargement of that plan, and in being a permanent, instead of temporary, building. The vessels of the sanctuary were also increased in size and number.S23D 56.1

THE TABERNACLE GIVES PLACE TO THE TEMPLE.-Everything being finished in the temple of the Lord, and all Israel assembled at its dedication, we read as follows: “And they brought up the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up.” “And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims.” 1 Kings 8:4, 6. The tabernacle which had been at Gibeon for a long while was, as we have here read, brought up to the temple of the Lord, and the sacred vessels, and the priesthood, were transferred to that more glorious sanctuary. The ark, which had for some time been kept at Jerusalem, was carried into the most holy place in the temple. And now the habitation for the God of Jacob is complete.S23D 57.1

GOD TAKES POSSESSION OF THE SANCTUARY.—“And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord. Then spake Solomon, The Lord said that he would dwell in thick darkness. I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in forever.” 1 Kings 8:10-13. The Shekinah, or visible glory of God, which had dwelt in the tabernacle, has now passed into the temple, and that temple is thenceforward the sanctuary of the Lord God.S23D 57.2

THE TEMPLE WAS A PATTERN OF THE TRUE SANCTUARY.—“Then David gave to Solomon his son the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlors thereof, and of the place of the mercy-seat, and the pattern of all that he had by the Spirit, of the courts of the house of the Lord, and all the chambers round about of the treasures of the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things; also for the courses of the priests and the Levites, and for all the work of the service of the house of the Lord, and for all the vessels of service in the house of the Lord.” All this, said David, the Lord made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern.” 1 Chronicles 28:11-13, 19. “Thou hast commanded me [Solomon] to build a temple upon thy holy mount, and an altar in the city wherein thou dwellest, a resemblance of the holy tabernacle, which thou hast prepared from the beginning.” Wisdom of Solomon 9:8. “The patterns of things in the heavens;” “the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true.” Hebrews 9:23, 24.S23D 58.1

The history of the sanctuary is stated very fully in the books of Kings, and in 2 Chronicles. But we can only quote those texts in which it is called the sanctuary. In 1 Chronicles 9:29, we read of “the instruments of the sanctuary,” referring either to the tabernacle or the temple. In 1 Chronicles 24:5, we read of “the governors of the sanctuary,” or “house of God.”S23D 58.2

The psalmist prays that God would send “help from the sanctuary.” Psalm 20:2. He lifted up his hands “toward the oracle of thy sanctuary.” Psalm 28:2, margin. See 1 Kings 6:19, 20. He calls upon the saints to “worship the Lord in his glorious sanctuary.” Psalm 29:2, margin. He prays “to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.” Psalm 63:2. He speaks of the “goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary.” Psalm 68:24, 29. In Psalm 78:54, he styles the land of Canaan “the border of the sanctuary.” And in verses 68, 69, he testifies that God “built his sanctuary like high palaces” at Mount Zion in Judah. He “went into the sanctuary of God,” and saw the end of the wicked. Psalm 73:17. He testifies that “thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary.” Psalm 77:13. He predicts the future desolation of God’s temple, or sanctuary. Psalm 74:3, 7; 79:1. In Psalm 96:6, he declares that “strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.” And in verse 9, margin, he says, “O worship the Lord in the glorious sanctuary.” “Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord.” Psalm 134:1, 2. “Praise God in his sanctuary.” Psalm 150:1.S23D 59.1

From the period in which the Psalms were written, we pass down in the history of the kings of Judah to Jehoshaphat. In prayer, he states that God gave the land of Canaan to the people of Israel, “And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein.” 2 Chronicles 20:7, 8. And in verse 9, he quotes the words used at the dedication of the temple. 1 Kings 8:33-39.S23D 59.2

After this, we read that Uzziah, king of Judah, being lifted up with pride, went into the temple to burn incense. And the priests ordered him to go out of the sanctuary. 2 Chronicles 26:16-18. Still later, we read that Hezekiah offered a sin-offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah. 2 Chronicles 29:21. And he called upon all Israel to yield themselves unto the Lord, and enter into his sanctuary. And he prays for those who were not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary. 2 Chronicles 30:8, 19.S23D 59.3

About this time, God says by Isaiah, “I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches.” Isaiah 43:28. Next, Zephaniah complains that her prophets are light and treacherous persons; her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law. Zephaniah 3:4.S23D 60.1

After this, Ezekiel says, “Thou hast defiled my sanctuary.” Ezekiel 5:11; 8:6. And in his view of the men with the slaughtering weapons, they are charged to “begin at my sanctuary.” “And they began at the ancient men which were before the house.” Ezekiel 9:9. And in chapter 23:38, 39, he says, “Moreover, this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my Sabbaths. For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and lo, thus have they done in the midst of mine house.” And in chapter 24:21, God says, “I will profane my sanctuary.”S23D 60.2

GOD FORSAKES HIS SANCTUARY.—“But go ye now unto my place which is in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. And now, because ye have done all these works, saith theS23D 60.3

Lord, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not; therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh” Jeremiah 7:12-14; 26:6.S23D 61.1

What did God do to the sanctuary at Shiloh? “When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel: so that he forsook the tabernacle at Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men: and delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy’s hand:” Psalm 78:59-61. Then when God told the people that he would do to the temple as he had done to the tabernacle at Shiloh, it was a solemn declaration that he would forsake it. Ezekiel 8:6. That this prediction was accomplished, we shall now show.S23D 61.2

THE SANCTUARY DESTROYED.—“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.” 2 Chronicles 36:16-19.S23D 61.3

The predictions of Asaph (Psalm 74:3, 7; 79:1), of (Isaiah 63:18; 64:10, 11), and of (Ezekiel 24:21), were now verified. The heathen then entered “into the sanctuaries [the holies] of the Lord’s house.” Jeremiah 51:51. “The heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom thou didst command that they should not enter into thy congregation.” Lamentations 1:10. And the Lord “cast off his altar,” and “abhorred his sanctuary:” and the priest and the prophet were “slain in the sanctuary.” and “the stones of the sanctuary were poured out in the top of the street.” Lamentations 2:7, 20; 4:1. In this time of their dispersion, and of their sanctuary’s desolation, God promises to be to them “as a little sanctuary.” Ezekiel 11:16; Isaiah 8:14. The sanctuary thus destroyed, lay desolate till the reign of the kingdom of Persia. 2 Chronicles 36:19-23; Ezra 1:1-3; Isaiah 44:28. It was near the close of the seventy years’ captivity that Daniel prayed, “Cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate.” Daniel 9:2, 17.S23D 61.4