Sanctuary Power

May God send you help from the sanctuary…Psalm 20:2

Psalm 20 is a prayer for God to help someone else. The writer states many petitions for the hearer like: May God answer you in your trouble, May God protect you, May God remember all of your offerings, and here, may God help you from the sanctuary. As I think about this the startling conclusion comes that the sanctuary is not normally thought of much at all,and when it is through of, it is not seen in the context of Help coming from there.

Minutia diminishes the Big Picture

I know many members of the Second Advent Movement cringe when an Elder or minister gives a seminar on the Sanctuary. Sometimes it becomes a discussion of the color of the cloth that was used in the ancient service. Sometimes it becomes an intricate discussion of ancient religious choreography that outlines the priest’s steps as he performed his duties. Most of us have heard presentations that were simply mathematical calculations that only sought to demonstrate that 1844 was the year on which the “cleansing” found in Daniel 8 began. And finally you may have heard of architectural descriptions of the celestial realities as someone delineates each piece of furniture and its connection to Jesus Christ. Each of these approaches can easily help us lose the forest while looking at trees.

What is the Sanctuary at Core?

While each of those other approaches have their place, we can never lose sight of the fact that deliverance comes from the Sanctuary. Our hope is in the Sanctuary. Salvation is in the Sanctuary. The conclusion of the Great Controversy is delineated in the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is where God puts together God’s plans to lead the earth to its conclusion. So, the next time someone speaks about the Sanctuary or the Sanctuary message, before you think about mathematical calculations, choreography, or architecture, just think about it being the place from which God sends help to God’s people and try to understand it within that context. Perhaps then you will have a stronger understanding of the the architecture, choreography, and calculations.

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