Hello, saints! I’m just sharing my notes from Wednesday night’s message. (I gave it my best shot on this topic, and I’ll always be open to anyone’s thoughts.)
First, let’s read Micah 4:1-4.
Mic 4:1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. Mic 4:2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. Mic 4:3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. Mic 4:4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.
I love these passages.
Here we can establish some basic facts about life in the kingdom. We learn in vs. 1 that the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains… We know that the Lord’s Temple in His kingdom will be atop His holy mountain of Zion, and we know that the Lord Himself will build His temple. Zec 6:13 tells us that Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. The Lord will build His own temple atop Mount Zion.
Does He do this when He first steps atop Mount Zion or after He judges the nations?
One of the two, yes. We’re not told when.
In vs. 2, we read, And many nations (not all but many nations) shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths… Notice how comfortable and how free people feel about visiting the Lord. It is a joyous thing to hand out with the Lord and so the people say, hey, let’s go to the Lord’s mountain. Let’s listen to Him and walk in His way. Just amazing.
Then we learn, for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. Notice how the law shall go forth out of Zion.
Let’s step back to the judgment of the nations at the Lord’s Second Coming. The Lord judged Israel. All the resurrected saints got their positions and rewards and entered the kingdom. It’s possible some of those Jewish saints could be Jews who survived the Tribulation and they’re allowed into the kingdom as they are, in their mortal sin-cursed bodies but given long life.
Then the Lord judged the sheep and the goat nations. The goats He sent to hell. The sheep He allowed into the kingdom also as they are in their mortal sin corrupted bodies. These “other sheep” were believing Gentiles who survived the Tribulation.
You remember what the Lord said of them in Joh 10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
So at the start of the millennium, everyone’s righteous, including all those mortals in their sin corrupted bodies. The other sheep are brought into the fold. At the start of the millennium, there is only one fold. And that one fold is made up of righteous resurrected saints and righteous believing Jews and Gentiles still in their mortal sin-cursed bodies but now given long life. And they are now all one fold. They are all His people. They are all His sheep, and He is their shepherd, which means that they are all under the New Covenant.
The law doesn’t go away either. We know the Lord will write His law into their hearts (Jer. 31:31-34; Heb. 8:10, 10:16), write it in their minds, and cause them to walk in His statutes.
When the Lord said those things, did He only have in mind the resurrected saints or everybody else, too? I suspect He had everyone in mind. Everyone who entered His kingdom whether resurrected or mortal will be filled with the Spirit and will be filled with the knowledge of His law.
We know from the story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 that being filled with the Spirit doesn’t mean people have lost their free will. It’s still possible for mortals to be filled with the Spirit and to lie to the Spirit and to act in the flesh and rebel against the Spirit.
So it’s already guaranteed at the dawn of the millennial kingdom that the mortals in their corrupted flesh will be breaking the law.
Now the children who are born into the kingdom, we’re not told when or how they’d be filled with the Spirit. I suspect they might be filled with the Spirit when they get saved, which would be to accept the everlasting gospel, to change your mind and accept by faith that Christ sitting atop Mount Zion in Jerusalem is, in fact, the Son of God, and therefore, you’ve chosen to worship Him as Creator and God.
But we’re not given specifics about that.
But we already know that many of those children born into the kingdom will refuse to believe. In fact, there will be so many unbelievers after the thousand years that they’ll build an army, circle Jerusalem, and try to destroy Christ.
There’s a verse in Psa 110:2 The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. There will be so many unbelievers in the kingdom the resurrected saints who’ve been given the prominence of an administrative roles over nations, it is said here in Psa. 110:2 that that saint is viewed as God’s rod of strength and they are told to rule on God’s behalf in the midst of their enemies. And after the thousand years, when Satan is loosed for a bit, the Lord Himself will be surrounded by enemies in Jerusalem.
But back to the law.
Are the laws of the Mosaic covenant reinstated under the New Covenant? I suspect that all the laws described as “a statute forever” or “a perpetual statute” will carry over into the kingdom.
Remember what we read in vs. 2? For the law shall go forth of Zion. What are the laws going to be under the new covenant in the kingdom?
We’ll find out when the kingdom is here, because the Lord will proclaim those laws from His throne in His temple atop Mount Zion.
This is a world that’ll be ruled by the righteous, but this is also a world in which there will be millions of mortal humans in their sin-corrupted bodies who will refuse to believe.
This means that there will need to be law and order. There will need to be established consequences for sin as a deterrent and to maintain the perfect peace that will define the Lord’s reign. So the New Covenant will establish global governance. The New Covenant will establish law and order that reflects the Lord’s righteousness. Every nation, every human must abide by all the laws proclaimed out of Zion by the Lord, all of which will fall under the New Covenant.
This brings us to another point about the kingdom in Mic 4:3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. The Lord loves to judge. He lives to judge. He will judge among the people. He will judge among the nations. And He will judge the strong nations afar off.
I love that! How strong a nation has become is irrelevant to the Lord. Their strength will have no influence on Him. Those strong nations had better abide by His laws. If they do not, the Lord will break that strong nation just as easily as a potter can take a hammer to a vase. His righteousness will rule the world. He will enforce the rightness of His ways in all matters of life, which means there will be perfect peace.
Nations won’t simply be refused the chance to go to war, but they won’t even be allowed to study the art of war.
The bigger point here is that Christ will judge sin in His kingdom. He will carry out just punishments for sin whether it’s individual or corporate as a nation. He will even carry out capital punishment. We know from Isa 11:4 that with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. There are also verses in Zech. 14:16-18 talking about how if nations refuse to comply with the laws of the New Covenant like worshipping the King or observing the Feast of Tabernacles, the Lord will simply deny those nations rain or He’ll send plagues to those nations.
And one of the arguments some Calvinists tried to make in articles about sacrifices in the kingdom was that not only won’t there be any sacrifices but there won’t really be any judgments either because all those sins were paid for at the cross, which is ridiculous. If there will be sin-cursed people and unbelievers in the kingdom, then you must have law and order. That’s where the New Covenant comes in. There will be lots of laws and lots of order because His righteousness will be reigning.
Plus, there must be consequences for sin as a deterrent. And that is where you find the answer to sacrifices in the kingdom. It has nothing to do with justification or payment for sin. It has to do with a sanctified walk. It has to do with managing sin in a kingdom in which all the world is now in a covenant relationship with God who has already died for all their sins.
Temple Highlights
Let’s talk about the temple. A huge section of Ezekiel from 40:1—47:12 is devoted to the new temple – its structure, its size, its priesthood, its rituals, and its overall ministry. The temple in those 8 chapters of Ezekiel are laid out to us with incredible detail right down to the smallest measurements. Here’s an example. Eze 40:9 Then measured he the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and the posts thereof, two cubits; and the porch of the gate was inward. Eze 40:10 And the little chambers of the gate eastward were three on this side, and three on that side; they three were of one measure: and the posts had one measure on this side and on that side.
It is tedious, dry reading. It’s building plans written like Bible verses.
Hilariously, the Calvinists would question whether any of this should be taken literally. That’s the kind of nonsense you have to entertain when you’re spiritualizing everything, when you’re making it all about YOU, and oh, you think we’re already in the kingdom! When the Bible is giving you exact, detailed measurements of a big structure for a temple of the Lord, I’d say the Bible demands that you take it literally.
You also can’t argue that this is a temple that’ll be in the eternal state. We already know that there is no temple in New Jerusalem. “For the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it” (Ezek. 40-42 cf. Rev. 21:22).
We have no choice but to conclude that Ezekiel’s temple is God’s millennial residence, and because of the exact measurements given, we must conclude that it all has to be taken literally.
Plus, we find here in chapter 40 from vs. 28-43, it’s all about the inner court, and Ezekiel is already talking about sacrifices, which periodically resurfaces throughout these 8 chapters. We’re told of the kinds of sacrifices that will be taking place, and because all these measurements about the temple are so specific and detailed, we have no choice but to take these references to sacrifices literally.
But everything is completely different! There is no ark, no mercy seat, no Cherubims, no veils, no tables of stone. Only 6 select sacrifices have been carried over. So it’s important to first note what the new system will be and how it’s different from the old system.
Here’s a link to a great site if you want to explore some detailed plans of Ezekiel’s Temple.
The purpose of the Temple
The purpose of the temple is to provide a dwelling-place for God on Earth. Christ would say in 43:7that this will be “the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever…”
The temple is also the center of Divine Global Government. When Christ takes up residence in the temple, this will be His dwelling-place, the seat of worship, and the center of the divine government. This will be the place of His throne.
A Quick Overview.
It’s a great big square. I didn’t personally compute the cubits or the reeds, but a couple sources said the entire area is basically one square mile.
We know it’ll be atop the very high Mountain of Zion. Both the mountain and the temple will be miraculous creations of the Lord. The temple will be located near the middle of the square.
The entire area is enclosed by a wall (40:5) which is to keep out those who would defile. The outer courtyard is described in 40:6-27, which is where the people gather. There are three gates, north (40:20-23), south (40:24-27), and east, all the same design (40:21) about 75 feet high. You walk up seven steps through the gates (40:26) to the outer court. The Lord will first enter Hiis temple through the east gate (43:1-6). That gate will be kept closed (44:2-3). Only the Prince can use it. I’m skipping over all the many chambers.
The inner court is where the priests will minister (40:28-47). There are three gates to the inner court, each directly opposite the outer wall gates, one on the south (40:28-31), east, and north (40:32-37). There are 8 steps up into the inner court (40:37). Near the north gate, there will be eight tables for preparing sacrifices (40:40-43). The center of the inner court is occupied by one altar (40:47; 43:13-17) where all the sacrifices will be done.
Ezekiel then describes the temple itself in 40:48—41:4. There’s a big ol’ porch in front of the temple (40:48-49) with two large pillars (40:49). Steps again lead up to the porch (40:49). The porch leads into the temple which is the holy place (41:2).
The interior of the temple is described in 41:15-26. Ezekiel only speaks of wood paneling, narrow windows (41:16), palm trees, and cherubims (41:18). Crazy!
It is noteworthy that in all these 8 chapters about the temple there is never once any mention of an ark of the covenant, or a mercy seat, or a veil, or cherubims above the mercy seat, or tables of stone. The only article of furniture described inside is His throne and a table of wood (41:22). That’s it! An extensive description of the dimensions of the throne are given but nothing more (43:7-12).
The priests’ ministry is outlined in 44:9-31 and the worship ritual described in 45:13—46:18.
Ezekiel’s vision ends on an epic note with this description of a river flowing out of the sanctuary (47:1-12; cf. Isa. 33:20-21; Joel 3:18; Zech. 14:8). This river flows out of the temple through the eastern gate, down the mountain, into Jerusalem, then divides to flow into the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean Sea and it furnishes life along its banks.
Similarities vs. Differences
The priesthood has changed. The Levites are out. Their only job is to clean the altar and clean the sanctuary (43:20-27; 44:25-27; 45:18). The new priesthood will be given to the sons of Zadok (Ezek 40:46; 43:19; 44: 15-31). The Levites as a whole are set aside because of their apostasy. Zadok was high priest during the reigns of David and Solomon. He stayed faithful to David during Absalom’s rebellion and to Solomon when Adonijah tried to secure the throne. Zadok serves as a representative of the priesthood in association with the king of God’s choice and with the kingdom established by God in David’s seed.
According to Ezekiel, everything is going to center around the one altar (Ezekiel 43:13-17) on which blood is sprinkled (43:18) and on which are offered burnt offerings, sin offerings, and trespass offerings (40:39). The meal offering is incorporated (42:13). There will be the observance of new moon and sabbath days (46:1). Morning sacrifices will be offered daily (46:13). Passover feast will be observed again (45:21-25). The Feast of Tabernacles becomes an annual event (45:25). The Year of Jubilee is observed (46:17).
Ezekiel basically lays out six primary sacrifices in the kingdom: the burnt offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering (40:39). Plus, we have the meat offering, the peace offering (45:15), and the drink offerings (45:17).
God greatly streamlined everything in the old system. We mentioned before, there is no Ark of the Covenant, no Pot of Manna, no Aaron’s rod to bud, no Tables of the Law, no Mercy-Seat, no Golden Candlestick, no Shewbread, no Veil, no unapproachable Holy of Holies where the High-Priest alone might enter, nor is there any High-Priest to offer atonement to take away sin, or to make intercession for the people. None of this exists in the kingdom. There is no evening sacrifice.
There is mention of the six primary sacrificial offerings in the old covenant, but in the millennium, these offerings are given a totally different emphasis in terms of when and how often they’re done.
Ezekiel places an emphasis on Passover. Mention is made of the Feast of Tabernacles (Ezek. 45:25). There’s no reference to Pentecost.
You might remember that in the OT, the very center of the entire Levitical system revolved around the Day of Atonement, with its ritual of sprinkling of the blood of atonement by the High Priest on the mercy seat. It’s now completely gone. The High Priest, the ark, the mercy seat, and even the day itself—all gone. Of course, they still have a high priest in Christ Himself but everything else is different.
So, first, if you want to make the case that the sacrifices are all going to be memorial in character, then I have to ask why is the Day of Atonement gone? Wouldn’t that be the most important sacrifice if they are all to be memorial in character?
Of course, by this point, the Day of Atonement already happened at His Second Coming. That was always the one day all Israel eagerly anticipated. The Day of Atonement is when eternal reconciliation is made for iniquity for all of Israel. Jordan would point out that the word “atonement” is (at-one-ment) the time when God will take the nation, resurrect them, restore them to their land, establish the kingdom along with the new covenant and remember their sins no more. What made the Day of Atonement possible? Was it not the sacrifice of Christ? So if the sacrifices are to be memorial in nature, why throw out the Day of Atonement?
Then there’s the Prince.
The Lord said in Ezek. 37:25 my servant David shall be their prince for ever. There is no question in my mind that David is the oft-mentioned Prince of the millennial age.
But we find in Ezek. 45:13-17 that the Prince will be doing the sacrifices! No prince ever did that!
The Lord said in Eze 45:17 And it shall be the prince’s part to give burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin offering, and the meat offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make reconciliation for the house of Israel.
Does this even sound like a memorial service to you? David is doing sacrifices to bring about reconciliation between the mortal people and the Lord.
The Lord would also say in Eze 45:21 In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten. Eze 45:22 And upon that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock for a sin offering.
If David is the Prince, then how could he prepare for himself and for all the people a sin offering? How do you reconcile that?
I have a suggestion. Why did the Lord submit Himself to water baptism when He was sinless? He was identifying Himself with His people, right? It may be that David is doing the same thing. He’s identifying himself with the people in doing these sacrifices just as Christ identified Himself with the people when He submitted to water baptism.
Then David is given his own special portion in the land, and he is enjoined not to take any of the people’s inheritance (46:18). Why would the Lord even say that? David might be compelled to punish some people because Jewish mortals in their sin-corrupted state will be sure to misbehave.
Three times in Ezekiel 45, he makes the point that the sacrifices are for the purpose of reconciliation of the people with the Lord (45:15,17,20).
And in this whole section about the temple, from Ezek. 40-47, you will read no less than 14 times Ezekiel writing about these sacrifices being sin offerings.
How can anyone reconcile the idea of memorial sacrifices to these 8 chapters of Ezekiel?
Sacrifices in the Kingdom?
How can there be sacrifices in the kingdom?
First, some would question whether sacrifices would even be in the kingdom.
There is the progressive revelation argument, that what we find in Ezekiel is what’s to be expected at that stage of progressive revelation until we come to Hebrews, and we learn there will be no more sacrifices. There are compelling verses, especially in Hebrews 10, that’d suggest there may not be any sacrifices.
The writer of Hebrews famously says in Heb 10:10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. He also writes in Heb 10:14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
But notice what he says in Heb 10:17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Heb 10:18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
What did he mean by that?
Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
Remission of what? Sins and iniquities in the previous verse.
What does he mean by remission?
Removal.
Where the removal of sin is, there is no more offering for sin. Who in the kingdom will have their sins removed? Who will be freed from the presence of sin? The resurrected saints. They will never again be required to do offerings for sin.
But it seems that in the prophetic program, the criteria for the end of sacrifices for each person is when sin has been removed. So the mortal, sin-cursed humans in the kingdom? All of Ezekiel would strongly suggest that all those mortal humans will be taking part in that sacrificial system. But in the eternal state there will be no more sin offerings because all will be sinless.
With everything we covered, Ezekiel is so weirdly specific in great detail about the temple and how the new sacrificial system will function, which is radically different from the old system, I think we have to conclude that sacrifices will be done for the mortal humans in the kingdom.
Why? First thing’s first.
I think you have to be able to answer for yourself how OT saints were saved. There is a dear brother in grace who had an article on sacrifices in the kingdom and made the case that obedience to the law in the OT got them saved, which means that obedience to the law in the kingdom, will get them saved. That’s ridiculous! Why did Christ die on the cross? Not to mention Rom. 4. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. People were always saved by faith alone. That’s what Romans 4 teaches. Even James 2 quotes Gen. 15:6! I have a link beneath the video to an article on Supply of Grace that does a deep dive into OT salvation.
So what was the law for Israel? Yes, the law condemned them as sinners. Yes, the law was designed to bring them to Christ.
But the law was also the means by which they’d be sanctified, set apart. The law was about how they would as individuals, and as a nation, show the world the rightness of God’s ways. Moses said in Deu_6:25, “And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.” Did Moses mean they’d obtain salvation by obeying the law? How is that possible? Pastor Fred Bekemeyer often said to me, “The law was not a means of justification but of sanctification.”
And that is what Moses meant.
If they observed His law, they would exhibit God’s righteousness in their lives, living rightly as God would have them to live, by which they would be His people set apart from all the nations, a glory to God and a witness to the world of His salvation. God’s righteousness would become their righteousness IN their faithful observance of the law.
The law was not a means of justification but of sanctification.
So when Abraham got saved, God imputed His righteousness to Abraham for His faith, right? He declared Abraham righteous because He believed God.
So let me ask a question. How could God be justified in declaring Abraham righteous when his sin issue hadn’t been dealt with yet? Abraham’s done a lot of sinning. Somebody needs to pay for those sins!
But God knew that His sin issue would be dealt with later at Calvary, when Christ will die for him.
So if God already new Abraham’s sins would be paid for later, where did God get the right to punish him for anything? Isn’t it kind of double jeopardy for God to punish Abraham for sinning when God already knew that those sins would be paid for later?
It wasn’t about paying for sins. With unbelievers, God always had the right to impute their trespasses against them at anytime, like He did with Sodom and Gomorrah. But with saints, it’s about chastening, or correction (Heb. 12:6-11), to mold him, to perfect his walk, to perfect his faith. The chastening was about a sanctified walk.
Later, when Moses came along and God offered the people the chance to be in a covenant relationship with Him, they agreed to be in a relationship with God in which they would willingly be blessed or cursed by God based upon the quality of their obedience to His law.
That covenant wasn’t about justification. The law wasn’t about justification.
Justification was always about faith in what God said.
The covenant and the law was about having a unique relationship with God, about being one of God’s faithful people and serving Him in a royal priesthood to be a testimony to the world. That covenant relationship was about a sanctified walk in obedience to Him and being rewarded or cursed based upon the quality of your service to Him.
If you do good, you’ll be blessed. If you disobey, you’ll come under His judgment.
The law was about a sanctified walk and the sacrificial system in that law was a provision given by God in case you got yourself in trouble.
If you broke the law, you’ve come under God’s judgment.
How can I get out of it?
Do a sacrifice.
You offer that sacrifice in faith to God, and if it’s accepted, then you will avoid bearing the iniquity of your sin.
How?
Because that counter-payment for that sin by an innocent life had been accepted.
Well, now wait a minute. Why would God implement a sacrificial system as counter payments for sin when God already knew that all those sins would be paid later at Calvary?
Because it wasn’t about payment for sins. It was about a chastening to produce a sanctified walk. That sacrificial system was designed to teach them the gravity of sin in the eyes of a holy God. Look at that sacrificed lamb! Sin is death.
The sacrificial system was also always a type of memorial, but not what you think. Consider Heb 10:3. The writer says, But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. The sacrifices were also designed as a memorial in the sense that it’s to make you think about the gravity of what you did so you won’t do it again.
And of course, those sacrifices were designed to teach all the people the essential concept of substitutionary atonement for sin. A life for a sin. That system would help Israel to see clearly how Christ’s sacrifice on the cross would take away all the sins of His people, just as He had prophesied He would do.
But make no mistake. Those animal sacrifices back then were acceptable coverings for sin. They would stay His judgment for those sins. If they did the animal sacrifices properly as prescribed in the law and they were accepted by God then they’d be reconciled to Him. That sin had come between them and God. That substitutionary sacrifice was an acceptable counter payment for that sin. They offered that payment to God in faith. That payment was accepted. Then they were released from God’s judgment.
That system was a deterrent that also taught them sin is death and substitutionary atonement for sin, which prepared them for how the Messiah would take away their sins.
But that sacrificial system was imperfect.
It could never take away the sin that’s in them. It could never deal with sin at its root. It could never free people from the bondage to sin. It could never produce in them the freedom from that bondage of sin that we get to enjoy today.
But now, Christ’s sacrifice has changed everything.
Now a New Covenant is in order.
So what about sacrifices in the kingdom?
I’d suggest sacrifices in the kingdom will function largely as they did in the OT but with a major change.
You have at the dawn of the millennial reign, one new people, one fold, all of them righteous because of their faith. Some of these people are resurrected in their glorified bodies. Some of these people are mortal humans in their sin-corrupted bodies, but all of them are now in a New Covenant relationship with God. Even the babies born from those mortals, they’re born into a covenant relationship with God.
So for the mortal humans, the sacrificial system described in Ezekiel is not about payment for sin. That was already settled by Christ when they got saved. Now it’s a matter of managing sin in the kingdom and chastening His people to produce a sanctified walk in their covenant relationship with Him in His kingdom.
It’s about learning His wisdom through their obedience and being chastened for their disobedience in order to be molded, to perfect their walk, to perfect their faith.
If there are going to be millions of humans in their sin-corrupted bodies in the kingdom, there has to be law and order. There has to be consequences for sin as a deterrent to maintain perfect peace. How could the Lord possibly rule this Earth if there won’t be any consequences for bad behavior?
The animal sacrifices is how He will, in part, manage sin in His kingdom.
So let’s saythe Lord proclaims a new law from Mount Zion. Compliance around the globe is mandatory. And some poor schmuck breaks that law. Now he’s come under God’s judgment. How does he get out of it?
He has to do a sacrifice.
The sacrificial system in the kingdom will stay the judgment of God just as it did for the saints in the OT. If that sacrifice is offered to God in faith, then God will accept it. He’ll then be reconciled to God in that He’ll be released from that judgment, and through that process, he’ll be given a master class on atonement.
The sacrificial system that will exist under the New Covenant isn’t about payment for sin. That sacrificial system is designed first to be a deterrent that teaches the mortals about sin and about Christ’s sacrifice for their sin in all the same ways the sacrificial system taught the people of Israel back in the OT.
Just as it was in the OT, those sacrifices will visually teach them the gravity sinning before the eyes of a holy God. Look at that animal who died for you! Sin is death.
The sacrificial system will also be a type of memorial in that it’s designed to make the people think about the gravity of what they did so they won’t do it again.
Of course, those sacrifices are also designed to teach people the concept of substitutionary atonement. A life for a sin, and we all know Prince David will be talking about the sacrifice that Christ made for all their sins every time he performs a sacrifice on their behalf.
But it’s even more than this.
Do you remember the six primary sacrifices that’ll be taking place in the kingdom?
The burnt offering, the sin offering, the trespass offering (40:39), the meat offering, the peace offering (45:15), and the drink offerings (45:17).
What will each of those six sacrificial types teach the people about Christ’s sacrifice for them?
The burnt offering was a purification for defilement. The burning of the animal illustrates the extreme suffering of Christ, both in soul and body, as a sacrifice for sin. Just as the burnt offering used to be a purification from specific sins and defilement, now it will be used to illustrate the completeness by which Christ purified all of us, washed us and cleansed us from all sin for all time. The sin offering is the illustration of the substitutionary atoning work of Christ. It will teach propitiation for sin and Christ’s substitutionary death for all sin.
The trespass offering was about a trespass against the Lord by doing wrong to a neighbor. This sacrifice illustrates how Christ’s death took on the consequence for all the wrongs we’ve done to each other as people, which is also a trespass against the Lord because those sins were an offense to His holiness.
The meat offering takes you back to Cain and Abel. It’s a gift offering. It signifies the offering up of oneself, one’s life, a living sacrifice for another, which illustrates the offering up, the living sacrifice, of Christ for all of us.
The Peace Offering teaches that as death is permanent for the ram, so too, the peace between you and God is likewise permanent. This illustrates the perfect, eternal peace you have with God through the sacrifice of Christ at Calvary.
And finally, the drink offering, the red wine that’s poured out upon the sacrifice or the meat offering signifies the blood of Christ poured out for our eternal redemption. It teaches the pouring out of His life as an acceptable offering for sin in the sight of God.
So if you commit a sin in the kingdom, you’ll be given a master class on substitutionary atonement, which was already done for you illustrated by those six sacrificial types.
It is a kind of Lord’s Supper for a kingdom people.
Why is the Day of Atonement sacrifices gone? Because these six sacrifices will teach the people the very heart and soul of all that Christ’s sacrifice for their sins accomplished for them.
And what’s the natural response going to be?
Worship.
I came across a small verse in Ezek. 46. This verse really moved me. So, while David, the Prince, is busy doing these sacrifices, we discover in Eze 46:3 Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before the LORD in the sabbaths and in the new moons.
So while David is doing these sacrifices, in the background, we find the people of the kingdom, worshipping the Lord at the gate. They’re praising God! They’re singing songs of worship while all these sacrifices are being carried out!
This to me speaks of a completely different kind of sacrificial system.
Here, the sacrifices of the animals aren’t making the people weep over their own sins. The sacrifices of the animals are causing the people to weep and praise God for His sacrifice of love for us!
The people in the OT didn’t understand the meaning of the sacrifices, BUT everyone in the kingdom will fully appreciate the meaning of those sacrifices.
In fact, the sacrifices in the kingdom are more than just a deterrent to sin that stays the judgment of God while also teaching people about sin. The sacrifices in the kingdom will be a cause to worship… and to praise Him for His sacrifice of love for us.
SUPPLY OF GRACE 