Lesson 13: “The Tabernacle”
COLLEEN TINKER | Editor, Proclamation! Magazine |
What do the Sanctuary, the Sabbath, and the Holy Spirit have to do with each other? Even more to the point, what IS Jesus doing now in heaven? What does it mean that He is “interceding” for us?
In this last Sabbath School lesson of the third quarter of 2025, entitled “The Tabernacle”, the author summarizes his presentation on the book of Exodus by cementing his Adventist readers into the Adventist idea that the Old Testament sanctuary reveals the New Testament function of Christ and the law. He uses Hebrews to anchor people to the idea that Jesus is performing His atonement work in heaven, and he uses familiar arguments to bind Adventists to the seventh-day Sabbath as a foretaste of the New Earth. Even more, this lesson never connects the indwelling Holy Spirit with belief in the gospel of Jesus’ finished atonement nor of the Sabbath and the law as being shadows of the reality in Christ.
In other words, this lesson keeps readers chained to the old covenant and to the Adventist worldview instead of understanding the gospel of our salvation, the completed atonement of the Lord Jesus. In short, this lesson reveals that Adventism does not love the blood of Jesus and actually works to eclipse it and its power.
Sanctuary NOT universal demonstration of salvation
This week’s studies open with the Adventist presupposition that the sanctuary—the tabernacle in the desert—is the demonstration of how God saves humanity. In fact, Adventism continues to use the Old Testament tabernacle as the illustration of their version of salvation, including blood transferring sin to the Most Holy Place once a year, and applying the earthly sanctuary service to the work of Jesus in heaven ever since 1844 when, they say, He entered the Most Holy Place to begin His final work of atonement in the investigative judgment.
The Adventist great controversy worldview says that the ultimate question in the universe is the character of God. They say that Satan has accused God of unfairness two ways: first, in exalting Jesus to the position of His Son and taking Him (and not Satan) into the heavenly council, and secondly, by giving His creatures a law that is too difficult to keep. Thus Jesus had to come and vindicate the law, showing it could be kept and providing an example to all that they, too can keep the law. Thus Jesus’ current work in heaven is the review of all the sins of professed believers to see if they are growing in obedience and in the overcoming of sin and placing His blood over all those sins of believers that have been confessed. Sins that remain UNCONFESSED will not be pardoned, and they will remain on the records and ultimately condemn those believers to the lake of fire. Sins that HAVE been confessed Jesus will place on Satan, and when Jesus finished His heavenly work of atonement, Satan as the scapegoat will carry those sins into the lake of fire where he will be punished for them.
Do you see how this entire worldview is unbiblical? The great controversy worldview places Satan at the very center of atonement. He is the one who carries the sins of the saved out of heaven and receives God’s punishment for them! Yet the lesson opens with this set-up to see the lesson through the lens of the great controversy:
Thus, our primary mission is to present the correct character of God and His loving and righteous acts to those around us. When people are attracted to God and are convinced of His unselfish love toward them, they will give their lives to Him and obey what He tells them to do, knowing that it is for their own good.
The sanctuary demonstrated God’s closeness to humanity and revealed the greatest truths to them, which is how He saves those who come to Him in faith.
Yet Scripture tells us that the Lord Jesus fully and eternally paid for all our sin ON THE CROSS. He, not the Old Testament sanctuary, reveals how the Lord saves those who come to Him! In fact, the sanctuary was never part of the gentiles’ frame of reference. When the gospel went to the gentiles and the church began to spread among those without a Jewish past, the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) and Paul himself were very clear: gentiles were never to be subjected to the Ten Commandments. They could come to faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus without the law
The details of the Old Testament sanctuary foretold the coming of the Messiah (see Romans 3:21). The law witnessed to the Messiah, but it does not combine with Jesus and His work as a revelation of salvation. Rather it existed to teach Israel that they were dead in sin and needed a Savior—and it was there to help Israel recognize the Lord Jesus when He finally came and became the substance of every shadow of the law!
Yet Adventism teaches that Jesus made a type of down-payment of blood and now applies that blood in heaven as time goes on. NO! He fully paid once for all. Whenever a person realizes his own depravity and need of a Savior and trusts the Lord Jesus and believes that He has completed the atonement, that person is given spiritual life. God transfers that person out of the domain of darkness into the kingdom of His beloved Son (Colossians 1:13). That person passes out of death into life at the moment he or she believes—and the Holy Spirit indwells that person and never leaves them.
Satan has absolutely NO role to play in our salvation story whatsoever. Only Jesus pays for sin—unless a person refuses to believe and trust Him. Then that person’s sin remains on that person. Satan, though NEVER carries anyone’s sin. He doesn’t cleanse heaven; he’s not the scapegoat. Rather the Lord Jesus is the scapegoat who carries our sins out of the camp as far as east is from west, and He alone receives the wrath of God and dies the death our sins deserve.
Jesus alone is our Salvation!
The Old Testament sanctuary was the center of Israel’s religion life and the center of their identity as God’s holy, chosen nation. Furthermore, the law with its regulations for worship at tabernacle was given to Israel on the basis of the levitical priesthood (Hebrews 7:11). Without the levitical priesthood offering the sacrifices and mediating God’s forgiveness, the law could not function.
Thus, when the Lord Jesus came and fulfilled all the shadows of the law, He rose from death and became a priest of a new order: that of Melchizedek. Hebrews 7:12 tells us,
For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also.—Hebrews 7:12 LSB
The Law that Moses mediated to Israel cannot still be in effect because the Lord Jesus has changed everything. He is a priest of a new order, and that fact necessitates that the old law is obsolete and a new law—the law of Christ—rules over believers now!
Sabbath Is Not Eternal!
Sunday’s lesson reiterates the importance of the Sabbath and says: “The Sabbath of the Old Testament church conveys a manifold message.” It then gives five supportive Adventist points and ends by asking the reader, “What important role does the Sabbath have in the life of our church family?”
First, there is no such thing as “the Old Testament church”. The people of God in the Old Testament were the nation of Israel—and they were not a form of the church! In fact, Romans 9–11 are very clear about this fact. The church is something completely NEW and is marked by people who trust the finished atonement of the Lord Jesus and who receive the new birth when they believe. They pass from death to life (John 5:24), and they are indwelled and sealed by the Holy Spirit when they hear the gospel and believe (Ephesians 1:13, 14).
The finished work of the Lord Jesus and the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit were never part of the life of Israel. The permanently indwelling Holy Spirit could not come to people until the Lord Jesus rose from death and ascended to the Father. The Day of Pentecost marked the birth of the church—a completely NEW entity with a different identity and mission from that of Israel. Israel was a nation in which God placed His presence. Israel was the nation that brought our Savior into the world, recorded His history, and revealed God’s faithfulness to keep His promises.
The church is NOT a nation; it is comprised of individuals who believe and are born again and are scattered throughout the nations, carrying the literal presence of God with them wherever they go. They are the living who work and function among the dead—bearing the new covenant message of the kingdom of God inaugurated in the blood of the Lord Jesus.
The Sabbath was the literal sign of the old covenant which God made with Israel. Sunday’s lesson states that the Sabbath is the foretaste of God’s kingdom, and it insists that all people from creation onward are to keep it, but this is never taught in Scripture. Rather, Colossians 2:16, 17 tell us that the Sabbath was a specific shadow of Christ:
Therefore, no one is to judge you in food and drink, or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day—things which are [only] a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. Colossians 2:16, 17 LSB
Adventism will never admit that the Sabbath was a shadow of Christ in spite of the fact that the New Testament clearly teaches this truth—and in spite of the fact that Acts 15 and the book of Galatians specifically say that no gentle is ever to be put under any requirement of the law. Adventism continues to twist Scripture and obfuscate to hide the plain meanings of the words: the Sabbath was a shadow of Christ—as was the whole law (Hebrews 10:1)!
What About the Holy Spirit?
We have already mentioned that the Holy Spirit indwells people when they place their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus. He is the seal of God on believers.
Adventism says that the Sabbath is the seal of God—but this claim is patently false. Scripture NEVER called Sabbath a “seal”—but it was the sign of the old covenant for Israel (Exodus 31:13).
Yet the lesson says that “the gift of the Holy Spirit was related to people’s different abilities and skills, which needed to be employed in building the tabernacle.” To be sure, Scripture does say that God filled the people whom He empowered to prepare the temple furnishings—but this filling is not the model of new covenant indwelling. It was special equipping for the work of making the temple. In general in the new covenant, the Holy Spirit’s gifts do NOT relate necessarily to a person’s natural gifts. Spiritual gifts are supernatural equipping that God gives His people according to His will (1 Corinthians 12:11).
The Bible is clear that in the new covenant, only those people who have turned from their sin and trusted and believed in the Lord Jesus ALONE are filled with the Holy Spirit. In other words, an Adventist cannot speak of being filled with the Holy Spirit while believing in a fallible Jesus who did not finish the atonement. The indwelling Spirit is God’s gift only to those who believe the true gospel of Jesus and His completed atonement.
Three Statements of Work Being Finished?
In Wednesday’s lesson we see the author steering the lesson directly into the Adventist great controversy worldview, ignoring the clear statements of Scripture. He deliberately refuses to deal with Jesus’ statement on the cross that His work of atonement was complete. If he did deal with this Biblical fact, he would contradict the great controversy and the Adventist reason for being.
This is what Wednesday’s lesson says:
On three occasions, the biblical text states that the work was finished: (1) at the end of Creation week, God underlines the completion of His creative works (Gen. 2:1–3); (2) on the completion of the tabernacle, the biblical text declares: “So Moses finished the work” (Exod. 40:33); and (3) it also is expressed when Solomon finished the work on the temple (1 Kings 7:51).
This connection between the Creation and Israel’s sanctuary points to the cosmic dimension, the time when the Lord will dwell with the redeemed on the new earth in the New Jerusalem, which is “the Tabernacle of God” (Rev. 21:2, 3; compare with Rev. 22:1–4).
What? Jesus uttered one of the Bible’s most significant and well-known statements of completion just before He died as He hung on the cross:
Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.—John 19:30 LSB
Did you see that? Jesus Himself said, “It Is Finished!” As an Adventist I was never taught the significance of this declaration of Jesus. I thought that He meant His suffering was finally over and He was going to die.
No! Jesus declared that the promised atonement for sin WAS FINISHED! There was nothing more to be done. There would be no future need for blood to be applied. An eternal, sufficient sacrifice had been made that could atone for all the sins of mankind. That one statement of Jesus alone negates the antichrist notion of the investigative judgment!
It is not a mistake that this statement of Jesus was omitted from this Sabbath School lesson. Clearly there are at least FOUR, not THREE, statements of finished work—and only the end of creation and this fished work on the cross refer to God’s ceasing His work. On the seventh day after the six days of creation, God ceased His work. As Jesus died, He finished—He ceased—His work of atonement. Now whenever we come to faith in Christ, we enter God’s rest. We rest from our efforts to please God and to qualify for salvation. We become part of His new creation which He created in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:10).
Jesus Tabernacling With Humanity
Thursday’s lesson does speak of Jesus becoming incarnate and, in this way, dwelling with men, but the lesson never mentions that Jesus became a man so that He could die a human death for sin! He didn’t come as a man to show us that God has a good character so no one would fear Him. Rather, He came as a man to do God’s will: to die. In fact, if He hadn’t died, and if we don’t believe, we SHOULD fear God because He is the One who says death is the wages of sin.
We sinners cannot dwell in the presence of God unless our sin has been paid for—and Jesus came to atone and propitiate for our sin so that we can be reconciled to God! Here is what Thursday’s lesson says:
In Matthew 18:20, Jesus said that if two or three are gathered in His name, He will be there among them. Christ is with His people through the presence of the Holy Spirit. Christ invites His followers to be in close relationship with Him: “ ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me’ ” (Rev. 3:20, ESV).
The New Jerusalem will come down from heaven to the earth, and John declares: “ ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people…For eternity, in a world without sin, death, or suffering, we will dwell in the immediate presence of our God.
This quote speaks of Jesus tabernacling with men by taking on flesh—and it leads straight to the New Jerusalem where God will dwell with us for eternity. In that first paragraph it says that Christ invites His followers to be in close relationship with Him—but notice what is never mentioned: the blood of Jesus. Nowhere does this lesson explain how to be in close relationship with Jesus!
There is absolutely no access to the New Jerusalem without the “It Is Finished!” of the Lord Jesus on the cross. We can’t relate to God on the basis of Jesus’ example or demonstration. We can only enter a relationship with God by entrusting ourselves to His shed blood as the sufficient sacrifice for our natural sin and death as well as for all the sins we have committed—past, present, and future.
Adventism refuses to deal with the true gospel and directs its adherents toward the law. The Sabbath, the law, the investigative judgment, the Adventist physicalism that denies we have immaterial spirits that are born dead in sin and must be made alive—these Adventist beliefs define the Adventist false gospel, and they veil the eyes of every Adventist. This Adventist worldview that insists that the Old Testament sanctuary reveals the way of salvation is sneaky and deadly.
Ironically, the Teachers Comments admit that Scripture tells us that the sanctuary was merely a shadow of the heavenly reality (and, I want to say, why will you not deal with the fact that Colossians 2 states that Sabbath was a shadow of Christ?), but the author takes the reader out to the Adventist conclusion: the sanctuary reveals salvation and the ultimate removal of sin. Here is what it says on page 174:
The earthly sanctuary reflects the main functions related to the plan of salvation. There were daily services that provided an individual believer forgiveness and assurance of salvation. The yearly services pictured the final and objective solution to the problem of sin: evil will be no more and will be totally eradicated. As a result, God’s character of love, truth, and justice is uplifted, vindicated, and affirmed by the entire universe because He has openly revealed and demonstrated His love. All creatures will recognize His glory, sovereignty, and power. He is worthy of every being’s praise for His goodness and justice, and every person will bow before Him in total admiration (Phil. 2:9, 10; Rev. 15:4). Everyone without any exception will proclaim that God is love.
The author has echoed the end of Ellen White’s The Great Controversy in this final statement—but notice again: the blood of Jesus is utterly missing. They may say that the tabernacle services included sacrificial blood, but when they speak of sin’s being totally eradicated, they never speak of Jesus’ blood alone being that source of eradication. Rather, within Adventism, they teach that the final removal of sin is accomplished by Satan’s being sent to the lake of fire carrying all the confessed sins of the saved.
In this way, Adventism says, sin will be eradicated. Ellen White assured Adventists that sin would never rise again because Satan was destroyed—and Adventists see the yearly sanctuary service of sending out the scapegoat as being the ritual defined by the sanctuary as the eradication of sin.
The horror of this Adventist belief is beyond expressing. According to Scripture, it is Jesus’ blood that is the “blood of the eternal covenant” that forever protects us against sin. Jesus’ always living to make intercession for us is not Him being in heaven applying blood to records of sins whenever someone remembers to confess. Rather His eternal intercession is His BLOOD. His blood forever qualifies believers to be spiritually alive and reconciled to God. Jesus’ blood is the power that broke sin and death. Jesus’ death broke the curse on each of us into which we were born. Jesus’ resurrection shattered the grave—and death can never claim anyone who has believed and trusted in the finished atonement of the Lord Jesus!
This lesson has mired Adventists into obsolete shadows and has chained them to sin and death. The Adventist sanctuary model keeps people from knowing and believing that the Lord Jesus has purchased their salvation and has completed everything necessary for their eternal life.
Adventism is a dark religion with Satan at its core. They have placed Satan at the heart of their salvation by making him their ultimate sin-bearer—and this belief is evil.
If you haven’t seen that the Lord Jesus has already completed everything necessary for your salvation—that His blood is the only way we can be saved, that we must throw ourselves on His mercy and admit that we are dead in sin, helpless to please Him—then you need to face the biblical truth: you need a Savior.
The Lord Jesus has paid for sin; His blood is what washes you clean. Trust His sacrifice that paid for your sin. Trust that He did die and was buried, and that He rose on the third day according to Scripture. See that the sanctuary was entirely shadows pointing to the reality of the Lord Jesus, and believe that Scripture never asks you to focus on the sanctuary but that it asks you to believe the One who died for you!
Come to Jesus and believe! You will be made alive, filled with the Holy Spirit, and your heart and lips will forever praise the One who died for you !
This weekly feature is dedicated to Adventists who are looking for biblical insights into the topics discussed in the Sabbath School lesson quarterly. We post articles which address each lesson as presented in the Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, including biblical commentary on them. We hope you find this material helpful and that you will come to know Jesus and His revelation of Himself in His word in profound biblical ways.
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