A close friend must spend several years in a distant land; so he asks you to look after his palatial estate in his absence, even supplying the necessary means. Doubtless you think it over quite seriously, because a large investment will be under your control. Your friend has shown great confidence in you, and you would hate to disappoint him.
Now suppose that after you have taken charge, you discover that the property is worth ten times more than you had originally thought. I’m sure not only your appreciation of the owner’s confidence would multiply but also your feeling of responsibility.
The King of the universe has asked you to look after a building of immense value to Him. “Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost” (1 Corinthians 6:19). e more you ponder what He paid for its redemption, the more you appreciate the high honor He has bestowed upon the caretakers of the temple. This concept lifts the study and practice of health habits to a holy level.
The temple in heaven and the temple of our bodies closely parallel each other.
1. Each temple has been formed by the Creator for a special purpose— to be His dwelling place. Chapter 8, verse 2, of Hebrews calls the heavenly sanctuary “the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” Concerning the body temple, David says, “Thy hands have made me and fashioned me” (Psalm 119:73). “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well” (Psalm 139:14).
He who abides “in the high and holy place” (Isaiah 57:15) desires to live in us. “Ye are the temple of God, and...the Spirit of God dwelleth in you” (1 Corinthians 3:16).
2. Each temple enshrines a law written by God’s finger. “Within the holy of holies, in the sanctuary in heaven, the divine law is sacredly enshrined—the law that was spoken by God Himself amid the thunders of Sinai and written with His own finger on the tables of stone” (GC 434). “The laws of nature are the laws of God—as truly divine as are the precepts of the Decalogue. The laws that govern our physical organism, God has written upon every nerve, muscle, and member of the body” (Ed 196).
The mouth provides an example of the laws written in the body. What do you find in the teeth? The law of mastication. Every tooth testifies I am made to cut or chew food. The taste buds add their testimony, telling us that God desires us to enjoy eating. And the salivary glands with their digestive enzymes give additional evidence concerning the importance of the law of mastication.
The knowledge that God has written His laws “upon every nerve, muscle, and fibre of the body” should lead us to study each organ. As we discover the Creator’s laws, we should bring our lives into harmony with His wonderful plan. We are caretakers of the temple.
3. Both temples contain a record of sin. Speaking from the temple above, God says, “Behold, it is written before me...your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together” (Isaiah 65:6, 7). Angels record not only our good deeds, thoughts, and words but also every idle word, sinful act, unholy thought, and impure motive. So men are “judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works” (Revelation 20:12).
Here on earth the violation of physical law leaves its imprint on the body. The poisons of tobacco write their dark story in the lungs, and by and by cancer often develops. Alcohol can destroy thousands of brain cells, and brain cells cannot be replaced. Lack of exercise, overwork, overeating, lack of sleep, anxiety, and guilt—all leave their impressions like the picture on photographic film.
4. Both temples require cleansing. The Scriptures recount concerning the temple above, “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed” (Daniel 8:14).
While Christ is cleansing the temple in heaven we are to work in harmony with Him in our body temples on earth. “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1). He wants us to clean up inside and out. We need to search out every defiling habit and remove it from our lives during the hour of the cleansing of the sanctuary.
5. Only the blood of Jesus can truly cleanse both temples. Hebrews 9:22- 26 points out that although the earthly tabernacle was purified with the blood of animals, it is necessary that the heavenly things should be purified with better sacrifices—Jesus’ blood.
So it is in our minds and bodies. We all come face-to-face with habits the unaided human will cannot break. In addition, the effects of our past sins hinder us. What shall we do? We must come to Christ and ask Him to forgive our past sins and to write His law in our hearts so that in His power we can live as He would. “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). There is no other way.
6. In these great truths concerning the sanctuary we find the foundation of our faith. “Of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle” (Hebrews 8:1, 2).
“The correct understanding of the ministration in the heavenly sanctuary is the foundation of our faith” (Ev 221). Jesus told a story about the man who built his house without a foundation, only to have it swept away in the storm. He wants us to be like the wise man who “digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock” (Luke 6:48). The fierce winds of the coming crisis will not move those who understand and appreciate the work of Jesus in the heavenly sanctuary.
Is there something fundamental about understanding the body temple? Yes, indeed. “A knowledge of physiology and hygiene should be the basis of all educational effort” (Ed 195). Physiology tells us how the body works. Hygiene explains how to care for it. What does basis mean? The foundation. As the true understanding of the heavenly sanctuary constitutes the foundation of our faith doctrinally, so a knowledge of physiology and hygiene forms the foundation of our training as caretakers of the body temple.
7. The light on these two temples came through the same channel. Moses beheld the heavenly sanctuary on Mount Sinai and was instructed to make the earthly tabernacle like the pattern shown him (see Exodus 25:40). On rocky Patmos John in vision repeatedly saw the temple of God (see Revelation 11:19; 14:15, 17; 15:5; 16:17).
When the temple of God was opened in heaven in 1844, how did men find out about it? By revelation. On the morning of October 23, 1844, at Port Gibson, New York, Hiram Edson stopped midway in a corn field, where a divine revelation impelled him to further Bible study which opened the great sanctuary truths to our pioneers. A few weeks later Ellen Harmon saw in vision Jesus rise from the holy place and go into the most holy where He began His closing work. Light concerning the heavenly sanctuary has come by revelation.
What about the light on the earthly temple, the human body? How did the knowledge of health reform come to this people? Ellen G. White writes, “It was at the house of Brother A. Hilliard, at Otsego, Michigan, June 6, 1863, that the great subject of health reform was opened before me in vision” (CD 481). Although a study of science will teach us about the body and how it works, we must never forget that we received the light on health reform through divine revelation.
8. Now what is the purpose of all this? Why has God given us the light on the sanctuary above? Why has He directed our attention to the care of the temple below? He wants to prepare us for His appearing.
God is developing a people who will triumphantly go through the great time of trouble. Not one will fail. “The subject of the sanctuary and the investigative judgment should be clearly understood by the people of God. All need a knowledge for themselves of the position and work of their great High Priest. Otherwise it will be impossible for them to exercise the faith which is essential at this time or to occupy the position which God designs them to” (GC 488). To go through the time of trouble ahead we need to understand Christ’s work in the most holy place.
Now another quotation with that word impossible: “To make plain natural law, and urge the obedience of it, is the work that accompanies the third angel’s message to prepare a people for the coming of the Lord...God...designs that the great subject of health reform shall be agitated and the public mind deeply stirred to investigate; for it is impossible for men and women, with all their sinful, health-destroying, brain-enervating habits, to discern sacred truth, through which they are to be sanctified, refined, elevated, and made fit for the society of heavenly angels in the kingdom of glory” (3T 161, 162).
Without a knowledge of our great High Priest’s work it would be impossible for us to exercise the faith we need at this time. So with the body temple—it is impossible for us to develop the character that God has called for in this closing hour if we continue to befog the mind and destroy the body. God wants to live with us and to prepare us to live with Him. R&R WDF
