THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH (Part 3)
THE TEMPLE SANCTUARY
But what does represent the temple sanctuary? It represents the place where God has always reigned, especially through His Son Jesus Christ. There is a simplified plan of the sanctuary temple, in three main parts (the description is as if one entered by the porch which is in the inner courtyard). Here is the description with their respective symbolic meaning:
1 — The Inner Courtyard of the temple sanctuary, in front of the entrance to the sanctuary, where there is the water basin (Sea of bronze), the altar. Since all was made of copper, we understand that this is the small earthly part where God reigns today, through his Son Jesus Christ: the earthly Christian Congregation (Acts 11:26).
2 — The Holy, the first room entering the sanctuary (Holy Place). It is the part of the earthly Christian congregation in connection with the Heavens, of which Jesus Christ is the mediator (1 Timothy 2:5). In the book of Revelation chapters 1 to 3, the apostle John, is in vision in the Holy of the spiritual temple sanctuary, where is the glorified Jesus Christ. Among the furniture all gold (which symbolizes the Heavens) of the Saint, there were golden lampstands. In the book of Revelation, there is the meaning of their symbolism: The Christian congregations that aim to make the light of the Word of God, shine. Jesus Christ designated His disciples as “the light of the world” that gives glory to God (Matthew 5:14–16). These faithful Christians, lights of the world, when they are all together, constitute a congregation or local church, a lampstand, which is in the Holy of temple sanctuary. According to Revelation 2 and 3, there are seven Christian congregations, in seven different cities, in this Holy ot the spiritual temple sanctuary where there is the glorified Jesus Christ. This shows that the Spiritual Holy, the Christian congregation, is the link between the Heavens and the Earth. When Jesus Christ speaks to the “seven lampstands”, he is speaking to the “angel” responsible for the “lampstand” or the congregation. Is it a heavenly angel? Obviously, no. Sometimes, the accusations made by Jesus-Christ to him, are too serious, for imputing to a heavenly angel who is faithful to God. The word “angel” is to be taken in its etymological definition, that is to say, “messenger”. And the word “messenger” is biblically linked to the priest: “For the lips of a priest should safeguard knowledge, and people should seek the law from his mouth, because he is the messenger of Jehovah of armies” (Malachi 2:7). This means that the angel of the congregation refers to the “priest” or group of “priests” responsible for the Christian Congregation. These “priests”, in Christian congregations, are symbolized by the seven stars in the right hand of the glorified Jesus Christ.
What will be the role of future priests in the earthly paradise?
3 — The Most Holy, the Holy of Holies, where was the famous Ark of the Covenant. It is the symbol of the place where Jehovah God lives, in the company of hundreds of millions of angels. Always, in the vision of the Revelation, from chapters 4, until the conclusion of chapter 12, the apostle John is (in vision) in the Most Holy of the spiritual temple sanctuary. As it is written in Revelation 11: “And the temple sanctuary of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen in his temple sanctuary. And there were flashes of lightning and voices and thunders and an earthquake and a great hail”(Revelation 11:19). There is no doubt that this is indeed the Most Holy of the temple sanctuary because it was there, where was the Ark of the Covenant, symbol of the Divine Presence.
What does the vision of the Ark of the Covenant mean?
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