GREENWICH, MARCH 16TH, 1901
GREENWICH, MARCH 16TH, 1901
To W.J.
My Dear Brother, — I am glad to answer to the best of my ability your enquiry. The difficulty is in that we use words in a loose way, and often Scripture words with a sense not quite in accord with that in which they are used there. I have looked up the word ‘sanctuary’ and find that in the Old Testament it means ‘chapel, hallowed place, holy place’. This evidently conveys the idea that it meant that which was, so to say, enclosed. David was charged to build a house for the sanctuary. In the New Testament there is no distinct word for sanctuary, it is simply an adaptation of the adjective ‘holy’. The plural word indicates the ‘holiest’. In regard to the word ‘temple’, two words are employed, namely, one signifying the whole including the courts, and another signifying the building. These words are used carefully and never confounded. It is clear that the [p. 169] sanctuary answered to the latter view of the temple. Hence we cannot take the temple and sanctuary as synonymous. My impression is that the sanctuary is presented to us objectively, as that into which we enter: we are not spoken of as being the sanctuary, as we are of being the temple. We are not the holiest. I imagine that that is the revelation of God and of His will in Christ. Evidently in Hebrews the idea is objective. Yet we are said to be the temple, and that in the sense of the actual building. The conclusion to which one is compelled to come is that there were two ideas in the temple, one as the sanctuary, and the other as where God dwells among men, so as to put Himself in touch with them. We retreat into the sanctuary, and there learn the secret of God: this thought comes out frequently. On the other hand, the temple is where God puts Himself in touch with men. In times of distress in Israel faith was taught to look to God’s holy temple. This thought is realised in the church, the Spirit of God dwells there. As you say, ‘house’ is a more general idea, and consists of those that have access to God’s courts, and thus come under His discipline. The temple is a type of the church as a building, but I cannot quite see the tabernacle is this, it refers more exclusively to Christ. I do not know whether the above is plain but I trust that it will serve to make plain what is in my mind in regard to a very interesting point. I hope that you are well, and remain, with love in the Lord.
Your affectionate brother,
F. E. Raven.