Friday: Further Thought ~ God and the Covenant

Further Thought: Read Ellen G. White, “Consecration”, pages 43–48, in Steps to Christ.

“The ministration of the earthly sanctuary consisted of two divisions; the priests ministered daily in the holy place, while once a year the high priest performed a special work of atonement in the most holy, for the cleansing of the sanctuary.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

Day by day the repentant sinner brought his offering to the door of the tabernacle and, placing his hand upon the victim’s head, confessed his sins, thus in figure transferring them from himself to the innocent sacrifice. The animal was then slain. ‘Without shedding of blood’, says the apostle, there is no remission of sin. ‘The life of the flesh is in the blood’. Leviticus 17:11. The broken law of God demanded the life of the transgressor. The blood, representing the forfeited life of the sinner, whose guilt the victim bore, was carried by the priest into the holy place and sprinkled before the veil, behind which was the ark containing the law that the sinner had transgressed. By this ceremony the sin was, through the blood, transferred in figure to the sanctuary. In some cases the blood was not taken into the holy place; but the flesh was then to be eaten by the priest, as Moses directed the sons of Aaron, saying, ‘God hath given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation’. Leviticus 10:17. Both ceremonies alike symbolized the transfer of the sin from the penitent to the sanctuary” – Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 418.

Discussion Questions:

Think about pledges you have made that you have broken, no matter how sincere and earnest you were in intending to keep them. What have you learned from that experience that, perhaps, could help keep you from making a similar mistake again?
Covenant is a legal establishment of a relationship. We broke it with God, but He is always faithful to His part, even when we are not to ours. How can this understanding of God’s goodness and faithfulness draw humans to a close relationship with Him and, thus, help us live as we should?
Think of how many times you have been unfaithful to God and to promises we have under the “new covenant” (see Luke 22:20, Heb. 8:13, Heb. 9:15). Why is it, so important then to understand the plan of salvation, and the promise of forgiveness that we have because of the sacrifice of Jesus, whose blood sealed the “new covenant” for us?

Amen!