THE SPRINKLING OF BLOOD
INTRODUCTION
All emphasis are authors unless otherwise stated. Please, don’t just read this lesson, but also to think carefully and closely as you study this lesson!
Isaiah 1: 18 first part. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD:”
NOTE: We realize that full atonement was obtained at the cross when Christ shed his blood for or salvation. Was this all that was necessary? No! His blood must be applied to the heart of the sinner for salvation to be realized. This happens when we let Jesus into the heart, otherwise the whole world would be saved and we know that is not the case. Why? Because this would bypass faith in Jesus as the basis of salvation. Christ’s blood must be applied in the heart of the sinner for salvation to be affected. This is typified in the Jewish sanctuary services regarding the sprinkling of blood in the holy place first, and later in the most holy place at years end. This represents two different phases for the cleansing and forgiveness of sin in the sinner’s behalf.
In this study we will be looking at the Jewish sanctuary service of sprinkling of the animal blood. This is a type representing the application of Christ’s blood to, and in, the human heart for forgiveness and ultimately cleansing from sin. We will be studying concepts that may be foreign to the established understanding and beliefs that are prevalent today.
4 Manuscript Release 157: 1, 2. “We are now amid the perils of the last days, and something more is essential for you to have than that which you now have. It is hard for you to unlearn things which you have learned, and learn those things which ought to have been the very alpha of your education. (Otherwise) The omega (of your education) you will never reach in this world.” {4MR 157.1}. The omega of education means full or complete knowledge. “Seek the Lord while He may be found. Be sure that you have learned your lessons in wearing the yoke of Christ. Then, learning under His restraining discipline His meekness, His lowliness of heart, you will find rest unto your souls. You will find yourselves riveted to the eternal Rock.” {4MR 157.2}.
Review & Herald JULY 26, 1892:7. “We have many lessons to learn, and many, many to unlearn. God and heaven alone are infallible. Those who think that they will never have to give up a cherished view, never have occasion to change an opinion, will be disappointed. As long as we hold to our own ideas and opinions with determined persistency, we cannot have the unity for which Christ prayed.” {RH July 26, 1892, par. 7}.
Amazingly she is writing to Adventists. Let us pray.
Holy Father, please grant us the ability to understand this most important subject. May we acquire a deeper insight into Your wonderful salvation. I ask that Your spirit be present and impress each mind with the glories of under-standing and accepting truth of the blessed atonement through the sprinkling of blood. Forgive our sins and cleanse us from every vestige of worldliness, that we may enjoy eternal life with You. I make this supplication in the name of Jesus, Your only Son. Amen.
Leviticus 16: 14-16. “And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times. Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.”
NOTE: Christ’s death provided complete atonement for those who believe in Him but, as before stated, the blood must be applied to the heart before forgiveness and cleansing can occur. Christ’s death on the cross was necessary to obtain the blood needed for cleansing and forgiveness, but that blood had to be administered in the sinner’s behalf for efficacy. The cleansing from is the destruction of the Adamic life or fallen nature of Adam that we are all born with. That fallen soul must die!
Ezekiel 18: 4, 20. “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. V. 20. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.”
NOTE: The priest sprinkled the blood in the holy place and then on the Day of Atonement, the high priest once again sprinkled more blood for the cleansing of the people and the tabernacle also. Definitely two different cleansings and forgiveness are represented here. Therefore, a two phased atonement is clearly portrayed in these two services representing the two phased work of Christ, our great high priest, in the heavenly courts!
On the Day of Atonement, the blood of the bullock and the blood of the goat for a sin offering for the people in the congregation was administered in the same way. It is evident from the text that atonement (the forgiveness and cleansing of the people from sin) did not occur until the blood had been sprinkled on the ark and before the ark seven times. The number seven represents completeness meaning that this atonement was total restoration to holiness and not partial. Even the memory of sin is eradicated in this atonement, there will be no more memory of sin after this work is finished. This is necessary because when sin is remembered there is a recurrence of that sin. It is like a filthy unholy thing has defiled the mind. There can be no real cleansing as long as the memory of sin is retained. This is why the soul that sinneth, it must die. The fallen nature must die. When that takes place then shortly after the body is changed. In the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
Leviticus 16: 16. “And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so, shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.”
NOTE: Not only are the people cleansed but the temple in heaven needs cleansing because it was defiled by the sins of thee people that were transferred into it.
Moses reveals the functions of the high priest but he does not explain what that procedure represents or what it means in the plan of redemption. We have to study to find out or understand what those procedures mean for salvation.
Leviticus 17: 11, 12. “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood.”
NOTE: since the life is in the blood in order to receive the life of God within our hearts, the blood of Christ must be sprinkled within our hearts.
The ark of the covenant is the receptacle for the ten commandments which is the mind of God or the very life of God! Now in order to have the divine nature of God within us we must have the life or mind of God within us! And how is this accomplished? Through the sprinkling of the blood of Christ, which is his life! Remember, the life is in the blood.
So, when the blood is sprinkled upon the ark of the covenant it represents the blood of Christ being applied or sprinkled to our hearts and life. Being sprinkled before the ark is the consecrating of the way in which we walk to the guiding of God’s will.
This atonement represents all sin and iniquity being removed from the sinner. These sins and transgressions had been placed in the sanctuary by the confession of the penitent sinner during the daily work of the priest all during the year.
These transgressions and sins were recorded in the tabernacle of the congregation. Each day as the penitent brought his sacrifice and offered it to in his place for the punishment and his forgiveness by the shed blood of the substitute. Only those sins that had been confessed and transferred, by the sprinkling of the victim’s blood, were delt with on the day of atonement. All sins that had not been confessed daily during the year were not delt atoned for in the fi-nal Day of Atonement and that sinner was cut off from the congregation. This represents the wicked who have not accepted Christ as their savior and confessed their sins. They have to bear their own sins and suffer death in the final judgment. It is only those who have accepted Christ and confessed their sins that are considered in the judgment which began in 1844 at the end of the 2,300 days.
Why do the sins confessed have to remain upon the books of record all year and are not cleansed and blotted out immediately though separated as far as the east is from the west? One reason is because Christ makes reconciliation only once for all! The last cannot be cleansed until all can be cleansed.
Another reason is because we can still remember past sins. How can sin truly be cleans as long as the memory can recall sin? To remember sin is to experience, to a degree, that sin all over again. No cleansing can exist as long as the memory of sin remains.
1st Corinthians 4:4. “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.”
Romans 3: 3, 4. “For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightiest be justified in thy sayings, and mightiest overcome when thou art judged.”
Ezekiel 18: 4, 20. “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” V. 20. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.”
Romans 6: 6, 7. “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.”
Patriarchs & Prophets 354:2- 357:1. “God hath given it you (the priest) to bear the iniquity of the congregation. Both (the daily and yearly) ceremonies alike symbolized the transfer of the sin from the penitent to the sanctuary. {PP 354.2.}
“Such was the work that went on day by day throughout the year. The sins of Israel being thus transferred to the sanctuary, the holy places were defiled, and a special work became necessary for the removal of the sins. God commanded that an atonement be made for each of the sacred apartments, as for the altar, to “cleanse it, and hallow it from the unclean-ness of the children of Israel.” Leviticus 16:19. {PP 355.1}.
“Once a year, on the great Day of Atonement, the priest entered the most holy place for the cleansing of the sanctuary. The work there per-formed completed the yearly round of ministration. {PP 355.2}.
“On the Day of Atonement two kids of the goats were brought to the door of the tabernacle, and lots were cast upon them, “one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat.” The goat upon which the first lot fell was to be slain as a sin offering for the people. And the priest was to bring his blood within the veil, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat. “And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, be-cause of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgression in all their sins; and so, shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.” {PP 355.3}.
“And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel (this is why a record is kept in the sanctuary –for the transfer of sin to the scape goat, Satan), and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: and the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities into a land not inhabited.” Not until the goat had been thus sent away did the people regard themselves as freed from the burden of their sins. Every man was to afflict his soul while the work of atonement was going forward. All business was laid aside, and the whole congregation of Israel spent the day in solemn humiliation before God, with prayer, fasting, and deep searching of heart. {PP 355.4}.
“Important truths concerning the atonement were taught the people by this yearly service. In the sin offerings presented during the year, a substitute had been accepted in the sinner’s stead; but the blood of the victim (Christ) had not made full atonement for the sin. It had only provided a means by which the sin was transferred to the sanctuary. By the offering of blood, the sinner acknowledged the authority of the law, confessed the guilt of his transgression, and expressed his faith in Him who was to take away the sin of the world; but he was not entirely released from the condemnation of the law. On the Day of Atonement, the high priest, having taken an offering for the congregation, went into the most holy place with the blood and sprinkled it upon the mercy seat, above the tables of the law. Thus, the claims of the law, which demanded the life of the sinner, were satisfied. Then in his char-acter of mediator the priest took the sins up-on himself, and, leaving the sanctuary, he bore with him the burden of Israel’s guilt.” (Please read Lev. 10:17; Num. 18:23).
NOTE: The priests were to bear the sins of the congregation. In the same manner are the 144,000 to bear the sins of God’s people to making atonement for the congregation. Not for forgiveness, that was Christ’s work on the cross, but in the same manner that Moses made an atonement for the congregation after they had repented of the worship of the golden calf at Mt. Sinai.
Exodus 32: 30. “And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin.”
NOTE: In this same manner will the 144,000 make an atonement for Israel. Why? Because there has been no generation who have overcome to the level of these chosen ones. Let’s continue in PP 355.
PP 355 5. “At the door of the tabernacle he (Aaron the high priest) laid his hands upon the head of the scapegoat and confessed over him “all the iniquities of the children of Israel (in order to do this there had to have been a record kept of those sins), and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat.”
NOTE: It is Aaron the high priest representing Christ who places the sins onto Satan! But the 144,000 is also a symbol or type of the high priest, and just like Noah condemned the ante-diluvian world to death by building an ark so the 144,000 and the unnumbered multitude build the ark of the covenant in the human which will prove that it is possible for sinful fallen man to live without sin on this earth. This revelation and living testimony will be the death knell for Satan’s kingdom. Let us continue in Patriarchs and Prophets.
“And as the goat bearing these sins was sent away, they (the sins of the people) were, with him (Satan), regarded as forever separated from the people. Such was the service performed “unto the example and shadow of heavenly things.” Hebrews 8:5. {PP 355.5}.
“As has been stated, the earthly sanctuary was built by Moses according to the pattern shown him in the mount. It was “a figure for the time then present (it was a type to reveal or shadow the work of redemption), in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices;” (see Hebrews 9:9). its two holy places were “patterns of things in the heavens;” {PP 357}.
NOTE: This brings us to the blotting out of sin from the memory and also to the subject of righteousness by faith.
When we receive Christ are, we accounted perfect in Christ? YES, we are. But are we actual-ly perfect from that time forward? NO, we are not.
1st John 2: 1. “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:”
NOTE: This brings us to the question, doesn’t baptism signify our death with Christ? YES, it does. But in baptism do we really die? NO, it is a symbol representing if we remain true to God eventually the sinful soul will be destroyed! That fallen adamic soul that we all received from Adam will be put to death as we are able to let God recreate our minds into His own character
.
Philippians 2: 5. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:”
NOTE: Lets go back to Patriarchs and Prophets page 355: 5. Statement is actually on page 356. “In the sin offerings presented during the year, a substitute had been accepted in the sinner’s stead; but the blood of the victim had not made full atonement for the sin. It had only provided a means by which the sin was transferred to the sanctuary. By the offering of blood, the sinner acknowledged the authority of the law, confessed the guilt of his transgression, and expressed his faith in Him who was to take away the sin of the world; but he was not entirely released from the condemnation of the law. On the Day of Atonement, the high priest, having taken an offering for the congregation, went into the most holy place with the blood and sprinkled it upon the mercy seat, above the tables of the law. Thus, the claims of the law, which demanded the life of the sinner, were satisfied.”
NOTE: What are the claims of the law that “demanded the life of the sinner?
Ezekiel 18, 20. “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. V. 18. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.”
Romans 6: 23. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
NOTE: This is in contrast to a prominently held belief that Christ’s death has satisfied this requirement that the sinner must die. This belief is absolutely false. I promise you it is a false understanding of what Christ atonement is about. I understand that Christ created all things, and also, sustains all things. I know if the creator and sustainer of life were to die would be equivalent to the death of all living things! Who would then be the sustainer of life? Well the Father would. We must understand that the idea of Christ dying in our place so we don’t have to die would break the law that states “the sinner must die”! The death that Christ’s death is in substitution for is not the first death but the second death in the lake of fire after the millennium. We still have to die the first death which is the death of the Adamic life that we all inherited from Adam. Many will refer to Enoch and Elijah as examples of the last generation who do not see death, yes, they are the example of the last generation who live on earth. But they did have to destroy or kill that fallen nature. That Adamic soul. It most certainly had to die for sin cannot enter heaven! They were both instantly changed at the time of their translation just as the saved will be changed after the fallen nature has been replaced with the same divine nature that Enoch and Elijah went to heaven with. That divine nature will be give just before the close of
probation. And the body change will come when the last trump is sounded, at the shout of the arch angel and in the twinkling of an eye. These are two distinct and separate events. Here are the exerts from the Spirit of Prophecy that I was confused about,
HP (HEAVENLY PLACES) 15: 1-8. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 2 Corinthians 5:21. {HP 15.1}
“The God of justice did not spare His Son…. The whole debt for the transgression of God’s law was demanded from our Media-tor. A full atonement was required. How ap-propriate are the words of Isaiah, “It pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief.” His soul was made “an offering for sin.” “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:10, 5). {HP 15.2}
“Jesus suffered the extreme penalty of the law for our transgression, and justice was fully satisfied. The law is not abrogated; it has not lost one jot of its force. Instead, it stands forth in holy dignity, Christ’s death on the cross testifying to its immutability. Its de-mands have been met; its authority maintained.” {HP 15.3}
NOTE: This seems to indicate that Christ’s death on the cross paid the demand of the law; that the sinner must die. If this is so then it seems we are set free from the penalty of death. Yet if the law has not lost one jot of its force then the soul that sins must still pay the price of death for his sin! Let’s continue in Heavenly Places: “God spared not His only-begotten Son. To show the depth of His love for man, He delivered Him up for us all. “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Behold Him dying on the cross. Behold Him who was equal with God, mocked and derided by the mob. Behold Him in Gethsemane, bowed under the burden of the sins of the whole world. {HP 15.4}.
Was the penalty remitted because He was the Son of God? Were the vials of wrath withheld from Him who was made sin for us? Without abatement the penalty fell upon our divine-human Substitute. {HP 15.5} Hear His cry, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34). He was treated as a sinner, that we might be treated as righteous, that God might be just, and yet the justifier of the sinner…. {HP 15.6} (If man is justified then why is he still punished?)
The love existing between the Father and His Son cannot be portrayed. It is measureless. In Christ, God saw the beauty and perfection of excellence that dwells in Himself. Wonder, O heavens, and be astonished, O earth, for God spared not His own Son, but gave Him up to be made sin for us, that those who believe may be made the righteousness of God in Him…. {HP 15.7}
Language is too feeble for us to attempt to por-tray the love of God. We believe it, we rejoice in it, but we cannot comprehend it. {HP 15.8}.
NOTE: Not one word is said in this statement about not dying the adamic life, the first death. Rather it confirms that He died to bring us His righteousness. In order to do this, he suffered the extreme penalty of the law. That indicates the fallen nature He was born with perished eternally never to be raised to life again. In this same way we are to destroy that fallen nature that it will never raise to life again. That is extreme. Our sinful soul must die!
Ezekiel 18: 20, first part. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.”
7 Bible Commentary 936:1. “Justice and Mercy stood apart, in opposition to each other, separated by a wide gulf. The Lord our Redeemer clothed His divinity with humanity, and wrought out in be-half of man a character that was without spot or blemish. He planted His cross midway be-tween heaven and earth, and made it the object of attraction which reached both ways, drawing both Justice and Mercy across the gulf. Justice moved from its exalted throne, and with all the armies of heaven approached the cross. There it saw One equal with God bearing the penalty for all injustice and sin. With perfect satisfaction Justice bowed in reverence at the cross, saying, It is enough” (Manuscript 94, 1899). {7BC 936.1}.
NOTE: It may be said that the law admitting that Christ’s death was enough is reason to assume that not death of the sinner is required. That is not contextual because Christ wrought out a character without spot or blemish, if the law could be altered then Christ need not have, in man’s behalf, wrought a character without one spot or blemish. This character he did not give immediately to man, it was reserved till Pentecost, that is when he gave that character, He had wrought out while living on earth, to those who receive the holy spirit. No! Grace and mercy magnify the law, they are combined, and this gives the law even more authority and power.
In Heavenly Places it states “Jesus suffered the extreme penalty of the law for our transgression, and justice was fully satisfied.” Could be understood as suggesting that Christ’s death fulfilled the part of the law that requires the death of the sinner. But the very next sentence states “The law is not abrogated; it has not lost one jot of its force. Instead, it stands forth in holy dignity, Christ’s death on the cross testifying to its immutability.”
NOTE: The demand for the death of the sinner must still be enforced! The Adamic nature or soul must still die the temporal or first death.
John 3: 3, 7. “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”
NOTE: “To be born again implies a death. Here Jesus is supporting the demand of the law that the man who sines must die! So, why does Ellen White make the statement that “the clams of the law which demanded the life of the sinner was satisfied.” This seems to indicate that Christ’s death satisfied the cams therefore the sinner need not experience death! Thereby, nullifying the law. This cannot be. Christ never disregarded or nullified any part of the law of His Father. I, like many of you once believed that the law demanded my life but Jesus died in my stead, I no longer had to die. That is an evangelical belief and is absolutely a false doc-trine of Satanic origin. I swear to you it is not truth. The soul that sinneth shall die. That is God’s word and it does not return unto Him void! Proof no one but Enoch and Elijah have escaped planet earth alive, everyone else have all died since Adam.
John 3:16. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
John 5: 24. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”
NOTE: These two texts were the main texts I used to support the belief that Jesus died so I don’t have to die, but I always questioned, “why had nobody but two gone to heaven, why did everyone die?” I have suggested that Christ was referring to the second death not the first.
There is another fallacy that goes along with Jesus died as my substitute so that I don’t have to die. This belief when brought to the logical conclusion leads to the belief that since Jesus took my place in death, He also took my place in obedience. Since He is my substitute in obedience then I don’t have to obey because He has obeyed for me. Obedience is not required! Can you see how this completely destroys the truth of God?
First, we must understand that the fulness of Christ’s sacrifice is not what is in question here, but the application of the merits of that death must be seen and understood. Christ’s death supplied an abundance of blood for the application for each sinner’s cleansing but that blood must be applied in the sinner’s heart before cleansing takes place. First Christ had to die, then His blood must be brought into the soul temple (the sinner’s heart) and sprinkled before cleansing occurs. Remember the life is in the blood and receiving the blood of Christ is receiving His life in the heart which produces cleansing. Sin cannot exist in the presence of a holy God.
Revelation 3: 20-22. “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”
To be continued in next lesson.
Let us pray:
Holy Father help us to understand that the Adamic life must be destroyed before we can be fully cleansed. May this process be realized in each of Your children for we are longing for the sons of God to be revealed so we may go home. Forgive our sins and cleans us from all iniquity. I make this request in the name of Your son Jesus. Amen.
Your brother in Christ
Virgil Prindle