allenroy@cs.pdx.edu (callen roy) (06/22/91)
THE FINAL JUDGMENT IN SHMBOL AND REALITY The Jewish calendar of temple celebrations was a chronological symbol of the history of the atonement. Every twelve months it retold the full story of God's work to eradicate sin from the universe. The daily sacrifices were intended to reveal to the sinner the great provision made for his own personal salvation. Building on that same theme, the annual calendar took in the cosmic scope of the atonement plan. Each spring, Isreal gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. This feast looked back to their deliverance from Egypt and forward to the sacrifice of the Messiah as their true Passover Lamb. As such, it typified the beginning of the Messiah (Christian) era. This was reinforced by the offering of the firstfruits several days later--a promise of the harvest which the gospel would surely produce. Fifty days later, the Feast of Pentecost marked the time of rejoicing for the abundant harvest. Its New Testament 'fulfillment' in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4,14) illustrated its anticipation of the final maturing of the harvest in the end of time. But it is the fall celebrations, coming at the end of the liturgical calendar, which are of most interest to us at this point in this study. They began with the solemn blowing of trumpets, stirring the thought of the people toward the finality involved in these symbols. The fall series of feasts ended with the Feast of Tabernacles, a joyous festival recalling the first permanent dwellings of God's people in canaan after many years of wanderings. What better symbol of the permanent heavenly homes to be enjoyed by the redeemed! Pilgrims on earth, but not forever! BETWEEN the blowing of the trumpets and the Feast of Tebernacles came a one- day ceremony recognized as the most solemn of the year--the Day of Atonement. The entire camp of Isreal prepared for this day with unusual searching of heart.(Leviticus 16:32; 23:27-29) They recognized it as dealing with sin in some final way. Notice these clues to its meaning: Its position in the liturgical calendar--following the warning tones of the trumpets, yet preceding the final rejoicing of being at home at last-- identifies it as a final act in dealing with sin. The use of two goats, each dealt with in an entirely different way, pre- figures a final showdown between the two great protagonists in the cosmic controversy. The Hebrew word for scapegoat, azazel, was commonly under- stood to denote an evil one. In marked contrast to the way virtually every other animal was dealth with in the sanctuary, the scapegoat was not sacrificed. Instead, it was carried away from civilization, never to return.(Leviticus 16:20-22) Clearly, the people understood this to be a promise that the time would come when sin would be more that forgiven; it would be removed forever from the universe. But remember: God has always had but one way to remove sin--only one method to eradicate sin from the universe. He does not strong-arm Satan our of reach, for POWERA is not the issue. He does not command Satan in to silence for AUTHORITY is not the issue. Rather He exposes Satan for the fraud that he is and fully reveals the more than adequate bsis for trust in Himself, for TRUTH IS THE ISSUE! The Day of Atonement is a promise that the time will come when Jesus--in His role as High Priest--will step forth from the supreme court of heaven and, in the presence of the entire universe, declare what the evidence has overwhelmingly shown: Satan is the father of all lies, there is not one tiny reason to distrust God, and the vote of the jury is unanimous. Every decision which God has made--about Satan, the redeemed, even the lost--has been fair beyond question. THIS IS HOW SIN IS REMOVED FROM THE UNIVERSE! Throughout the year, as individual worshipers have brought their sin offer- ings to the altar, the priest has carried a portion of the blood into the sanctuary, sprinkling it before the veil. This represents the fact that, though he has accepted the Sacrifice to be made on the worthiper's behalf and is thus forgiven, some aspect of the sin problem remains to be solved. It doesn't mean that the 'Father' is uncertain about accepting the 'son's' sacrifice as adequate to sequre forgiveness. Rather, by accepting that blood into His most holy place, the 'Father' is saying that He will assume accountability to see to it that Satan is ultimately shown to be the cause of that sin. REPEATED BY DANIEL This same final-judgment motif is repeated in the prophecies of Daniel 7 and 8, which is connected to Leviticus 16 by far more than just the word cleasned (Daniel 8:14, KJV). The similarities between the Daniel and Leviticus accounts are striking: First: Both accounts describe the judgment as happening in the presence of a vast assembled throng. In the earthy type, the whole camp of Isreal was intensely involved.(Leveiticus 23:28-31) In Daniel's view of the heavenly antitype, he beheld a virtually numberless thorng.(Daniel 7:10) Thus the pre-advent judgment is no private affair, taking place in the seclusion of some forbidden chamber. Second: The setting portrays an ultimate showdown between the two heads of great opposing forces. The two goats of Leviticus--one honored in sacrificial death, the other banished forever to a desolate place--clearly typify Jesus versus Satan. Daniel sees the little-horn power as a type of Satan, most clearly identified by his accusing attack upon God Himself. (Daniel 7:25) Third: The results of the two judgment accounts are also identical. Just as Satan and all he stands for is banished symbolically in Azazel,(Leviticus 16:20-22) so Daniel forsees that all Satan's kingdom will be taken away from him and awarded to Jesus and His Kingdom.(Daniel 7:22,26,27) Fourth: All of this happens, not at the time of Jesus' first coming, but just prior to the setting up of His eternal kingdom.(Daniel 7:22,27; Leviticus 23:26-33) Thus it is an end-time judgment.(Daniel 8:17) Daniel and Moses are each telling the same story, but from a different perspective. Daniel set the final judgment in the flow of secular history- -the rise and fall of earthly nations and the setting up of an eternal kingdom. Moses, on the other hand, is speaking in the context of God's covenant people, with a special emphasis on their involvement and on the spiritual issues necessary to the settling of the war of wars. I believe, from the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation, that we are living through this end-time judgment now. God has begun to bring the world into final confrontation with truth so the war can be ended and Jesus can receive His kingdom. This is not a time when Jesus and the 'Father' go into hiding in order to make up their mindds about who to save! Rather it is a time when the angelic forces are calling the world to 'Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come.'(Revelation 14:7, KJV)--and God has been waiting for a people who will carry that message to the world with such convincing power that the earth will be lightened with it's glory.(Revelation 18:1-4) We must be less concerned about the NEARNESS of Jesus' coming than we are about the world knowing THE ONE WHO IS COMING! For He can only have a people who 'haved loved his appearing'(2 Timothy 4:8) when He has a people who intelligently love, and properly represent, Him who shall appear.