PREFACE
For
more than a millennium God's presence on earth was associated with the
sanctuary in Israel. It was soon after the exodus that God commanded
Moses, “Make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.” Exodus
25:8. This sanctuary, also called the tabernacle, and later superseded
by the temple, was God's dwelling place among men. “The tabernacle
shall be sanctified by My glory,” said God. “And I will sanctify the
tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both
Aaron and his sons, to minister to Me in the priest's office. And I will
dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God.” Exodus
29:43-45.
From
the time of Moses until the time of Christ, God revealed Himself in the
sanctuary, and there communicated with His people. Said God, “I will
meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy scat,
from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony,
of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of
Israel.” Exodus 25:22. Besides this, God also talked with Moses “at
the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord.”
Exodus 29:42.
As
God's dwelling place, among men, the sanctuary must ever be of deep and
abiding interest to the believing child of God. When, in addition, we
understand that the tabernacle and its services were symbolic of “the
true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man,” the “greater
and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands,” and that Christ is
“a minister of the sanctuary” in heaven. When we also understand
that the services of the tabernacle on earth were symbolic of the higher
service above, that the entire ritual and all the sacrifices on the
earthly altars pointed to the true Lamb of God, the sanctuary becomes of
still more importance. In it the gospel is foreshadowed and some of the
deep things of God revealed.
Christians
would do well to study more diligently the sanctuary and its services.
They contain precious lessons for the devout student. Too many have
failed to give study to Christ's high priestly ministry and His session
at the right hand of God. They are not acquainted with Him as High
Priest, though this work is the very essence of Christianity, the heart
of the atonement.
It
is the hope and prayer of the author that this little volume may lead
some, perhaps many, to a deeper appreciation of Christ as High Priest,
Savior, and Redeemer, and that they may, through the new and living way
which He has consecrated for them, enter with Him into the holy places
of the sanctuary above.
The
Author.
“Andreasen,
Millian Lauritz (1876–1962). Danish-born administrator,
educator, author; A.B., University of Nebraska (1920); M.A., University
of Nebraska (1922). Following his ordination in 1902 he held varied
administrative positions: president of the Greater New York Conference
(1909–1910), president of Hutchinson Theological Seminary
(1910–1918), dean of Union College (1918–1922), dean of Washington
Missionary (now Columbia Union) College (1922–1924), president of the
Minnesota Conference (1924–1931), president of Union College
(1931–1938), and field secretary of the General Conference
(1941–1950). From 1938 to 1949 he taught at the SDA Theological
Seminary in Washington, D.C.
“Andreasen
wrote numerous articles and at least 13 books, including The
Sanctuary Service, The Epistle to the Hebrews, A Faith to
Live By, What Can a Man Believe? and Saints and Sinners.
He gave special study to the doctrine of the sanctuary and was
considered an authority in that field.” The Seventh-day Adventist
Encyclopedia. Review and Herald Publishing Association, 2002.
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