The 2300 Days and the Sanctuary

Advent and Sabbath Tracts. No. 5

THE history of the Advent movement as it stands in the past is well understood. Most are acquainted with the expectations of those who were looking for the Lord at the end of the 2300 days, and their grievous disappointment at the passing of that time in 1844. What was the cause of that disappointment? is the great question which has arisen in the minds of all those who were interested in the Advent faith. And there have been found multitudes, who, not willing to wait patiently the solution of the mystery, not content to rest till God should prove his “own interpreter,” and make all plain, have been ready to deny the hand of God in their past experience, and exclaim, “The days are prolonged and every vision faileth.” But there are others who have lived on, unwilling to deny the Divine Agency in the past movement, in whose minds this question may even yet remain unanswered; who see as yet no good reason why, at that time they did not realize their hope. Let us then examine, briefly, the reasons on which those hopes were based. TTHDS 1.1

It is well known that the main pillar on which rested the proclamation of time, was the 2300 days, of Daniel 8. In the vision of that chapter, four things were presented to the Prophet: the ram, the he goat, the little horn, and the period of 2300 days. Daniel sought for the meaning of the vision, and Gabriel was commanded to make him understand it. Verses 15, 16. He therefore proceeds to explain the symbols of the ram, he goat and little horn, in plain terms which none could fail to understand; yet, says Daniel, at the end of the chapter, I was astonished at the vision, and none understood it. There was only one point which the Angel had omitted to mention; and that was, Time; hence that was what troubled Daniel, and what none understood. But Gabriel must explain this also; for he had received his commission, “Make this man to understand the vision;” and he must fulfill it. Therefore he says in chap 9:22, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. ... Understand the matter and consider the vision. He then commences his explanation upon the very point which he omitted in chap. 8; namely, Time. Seventy weeks, said the Angel, are determined, (literally, cut off - Hebraists all admit that the word rendered determined signifies cut off,) upon thy people and upon thy holy city, etc. Verses 25-27. Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, unto the Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks and three score and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks (from the seven weeks, allowed for the building of Jerusalem) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself. ... And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifices and the oblation to cease, etc. TTHDS 1.2

The first question which arises, is, Are the seventy weeks a part of the 2300 days? We learn that they are from the following facts: 1. The same person whom Daniel saw at the beginning, appears the second time to give him understanding, and refers back to the vision, which can be none other than that of chap 8:2. He explains the very point which he there omitted; namely, Time. 3. He informs us that seventy weeks are cut off; and there is no period given from which they can be taken, but the 2300 days. Hence it follows that the seventy weeks are the first 490 days of the 2300, and the two periods commence together. The commencement of the seventy weeks, we are told by the Angel, is from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem; therefore that is the starting point for the 2300 days. But when did the commandment go forth? In Ezra 7, we find a decree from king Artaxerxes, commencing with these words: “Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, ... I make a decree,” etc. This was in the 7th year of Artaxerxes’ reign, [verse 8,] B. C. 457. For explicit testimony on these points, the reader is referred to a work on the Sanctuary and 2300 days, by J. N. Andrews. See also Bliss’ Analysis of Sacred Chronology. TTHDS 3.1

The decree from which the seventy weeks were to be dated, not only was to give authority for constructing what is called the wall, but for restoring as well as rebuilding the city. Did this decree give such authority? Most certainly it did. Any one must see that Jerusalem is restored when the people return there, re-establish their city polity, and recommence their regular offerings and the observance of their daily worship. For this restoration of Jerusalem the decree granted to Ezra made ample provision when it said: “And thou Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand, set magistrates and judges which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God, and teach ye them that know them not. And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods or to imprisonment.” Verses 25, 26. Thus was Jerusalem restored by the returning of the people, and the re-establishment of judges and law. TTHDS 3.2

But did this decree authorize the rebuilding of the city? Certainly; for so Ezra understood it. Mark well the following quotation from his prayer which he offered after his arrival at Jerusalem, B. C. 457. “For we were bond-men; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.” Ezra 9:9. By this it appears that Ezra understood that the king’s decree authorized him to build the wall; and so should we understand it. TTHDS 4.1

We here find a decree, or commandment, for the restoration and building of Jerusalem, which went forth B. C. 457, which marks the commencement of the 70 weeks. But there are important events to mark their termination as well as their commencement; let us therefore test it by the prophecy, and see if they harmonize. Unto the Messiah the Prince, says the prediction, shall be seven weeks and threescore and two weeks - 69 weeks or 483 days. Messiah the Prince is Jesus Christ. Reckoning from 457 B. C., 483 years bring us to A. D. 27, where according to Usher, Christ was baptized. After his baptism he “came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God and saying, The time is fulfilled.” Mark 1:14, 15. TTHDS 4.2

No time can here be referred to, but the 69 weeks which were then fulfilled. This proves that the days are prophetic; that is, a day for a year. Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6. We also see that it harmonizes perfectly with the conditions of the prophecy. But further. He was to confirm the covenant with many for one week. (Seven years.) This of course was the last, or seventieth week. In the midst (or middle) of this week he was to cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease. The sacrifice and oblation were Jewish ordinances connected with that typical dispensation. Christ did cause them virtually to cease at his crucifixion; for he was their antitype. But was the crucifixion in the midst of the week? This we can determine by ascertaining the length of Christ’s ministry from his baptism to the cross. We learn this by the number of yearly passovers which he attended. We find there were but four; [John 2:13; 5:1; 6:4; 13:1.] and at the fourth he was crucified. These four passovers could not cover more than three years and a half. These three years and a half added to Usher’s chronology of Christ’s baptism, A. D. 27, could not extend beyond A. D. 31; and the Spring of A. D. 31, where by a mass of testimony the cross is immovably fixed, is just three and a half years, or half a week, from the Autumn of A. D. 27, the end of the 69 weeks. Three and a half years more remain, the last half of the week, for confirming the covenant; which was done by the apostles - them who heard him. Hebrews 2:3. Three and a half years from the Spring of A. D. 31, bring us to the Autumn of A. D. 34; which date harmonizes better than any other with the turning of the apostles to the Gentiles. Thus is the prophecy and the vision of the 2300 days sealed up or made sure; [Daniel 9:24;] and thus is given into our hand the great key by which to unlock the whole. TTHDS 5.1

It is contended by some that the permission given to Nehemiah, in the 20th of Artaxerxes is the date from which to reckon. To this view, there are, we think, some serious objections. First, we find no privileges granted to Nehemiah or any one since the captivity, so ample as those to Ezra. Second, is it not evident from the first two chapters of Nehemiah that it was the work of Ezra which he went up to repair? It appears that certain men of Judah came of whom he made inquiries “concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.” And they said unto him, “The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down and the gates thereof are burned with fire.” Why was the wall broken down and the gates burned with fire? The facts are these: From the time that Ezra went up, to the last act of Nehemiah in obliging the Jews to put away their strange wives, the work met with continued opposition from the Samaritans; and thus was the prediction fulfilled, “The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.” Would it not be improper to refer the language of Nehemiah to the destruction of the city by Nebuchadnezzar, when we recollect that he reduced it to ruins 144 years previous to that time? TTHDS 6.1

Was any decree granted to Nehemiah? We find no evidence of any. Says Nehemiah, (2:6,) “It pleased the king to send me,” etc. There is no evidence that this permission was any thing but verbal. When he had obtained the king’s consent, he requested letters from the king to the governors beyond the river, for the means of conveyance to Jerusalem and one to the keeper of king’s forest for timber. A decree would of course have been addressed to him, as was the case with Ezra; but these letters were not so addressed: they were directed to the king’s subordinates: they are nowhere called decrees; and if they were they would constitute a series of decrees, and not one decree, as the prophecy contemplated. The prophecy then should have read, from the going forth of the commandments, or decrees; for there was more than one. Of so little importance were they considered by the Holy Spirit that the inspired penman has preserved no copy of them, but simply stated their import. In contrast with these, the decree to Ezra was one decree, and was expressly called a decree. It was directed, not to the king’s subordinates, but to Ezra himself; and a full copy of it has come down to the present time. TTHDS 7.1

Third, reckoning from Nehemiah’s commission, in the 20th of Artaxerxes, B. C. 445-4, and 483 years would expire, A. D. 39-40. These were to extend to the Messiah the Prince. But we find upon examination that the Messiah was revealed thirteen years before; that he had accomplished the work given him to do, had been offered upon the cross, had risen from the tomb and ascended into heaven long before those years expired, which, according to this view, could extend only to his manifestation. That cannot therefore be the date from which to reckon. The baptism of Christ, A. D. 27, and his crucifixion, A. D. 31, are dates clearly settled. Now these must be proved to be incorrect, or the world must admit that there can be no other date for the going forth of the commandment, than B. C. 457. TTHDS 7.2

We see then by all just and true reckoning that the first 490 years of the 2300, terminated in the Autumn of A. D. 34. Hence it is an easy matter to find the termination of the whole period. There yet remain 1810, which added to A. D. 34, bring us to the Autumn of A. D. 1844. TTHDS 8.1

There was therefore no discrepancy in the reckoning of time. The days did end, as we then believed they would, in 1844. The promise was that then should the Sanctuary be cleansed. We believed that the earth was the Sanctuary, that it would be cleansed by fire at the revelation of the Lord Jesus; but the Lord did not come, the earth was not burned, and the days ended. Now what is the matter? Has God’s Word failed that we did not realize our hope? Has he proved slack concerning his promises? Has he told us what to expect, and then failed to perform it? Before we adopt this conclusion, let us pursue our investigation a little further. The subject of Time being settled, there is left but one more point for consideration; and that is, the Sanctuary. Since the reckoning of time was correct, if an explanation of our disappointment can be found, it must be here. Let us then inquire, What is the Sanctuary? What is the nature of its cleansing, and how is it to be accomplished? TTHDS 8.2

1. WHAT IS THE SANCTUARY? - Our only aim being Bible truth, the Bible shall answer our inquiry. In the book of Exodus, we find first our instructions respecting what is called the sanctuary. In chapter 24, we learn that Moses went into the cloud that covered Mount Sinai, while the glory of the Lord rested upon it; and Moses was in the Mount forty days and forty nights. Here the Lord gave him directions in regard to building the sanctuary. Hence the sanctuary is something to be built. This we may learn from chapter 25. “And the Lord spake unto Moses saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, ... and let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.” The sanctuary, then, was the habitation of God. Let us now examine the plan of it, and the instruments thereof, which were made according to the pattern shown Moses in the mount. In chapter 36, we find these facts: that the tabernacle consisted of upright boards set in sockets of silver; each board was ten cubits long and a cubit and a half wide; on the north side, and on the south side, were twenty boards each; hence the tabernacle was thirty cubits in length, (or about 55 feet, a cubit being nearly 22 inches,) ten cubits, about 18 feet, in height, and about the same width. All these boards were overlaid with gold; and five bars, (also overlaid with gold,) running the length of the sides of the building, through golden rings fixed in these boards, joined them all together. The whole structure, then, had the appearance of being solid gold. The tabernacle had four coverings; and in it was hung up a vail, of blue and purple and scarlet and fine twined linen, of cunning work, which divided between the holy place, and the most holy; and at the east end there was also another vail, or hanging which was called the door of the tent or tabernacle. TTHDS 9.1

The instruments or vessels of the sanctuary which were made according to their patterns, were these: 1. The ark; which was a small chest of wood overlaid with pure gold within and without. Its length was two cubits and a half, and a cubit and a half the height and the breadth of it. This was to contain God’s testimony, or testament: the ten commandments written on two tables of stone. Exodus 25:10-17. Its position in the sanctuary was within the second vail, in the most holy place. Exodus 26:33, 34. 2. The mercy-seat; which was the cover of the ark. On either end of this stood a cherub; and the cherubim stretched forth their wings on high, covering the mercy-seat; and their faces were one towards the other. The mercy-seat and the cherubim were one solid work of beaten gold. Exodus 25:17-23. 3. The table of shew-bread. This was about three and a half feet in length, two and a half feet in height and two in width: it was for the purpose of keeping shew-bread always before the Lord: [verses 23-31:] it was placed in the first apartment of the sanctuary, or holy place. Exodus 26:35. 4. The golden candlestick. This was solid work of beaten gold, about the weight of a talent: it contained seven lamps: its place was in the first apartment. Exodus 26:35. 5. The altar of incense. This was about two feet square, and three and one half in height: it was overlaid with gold, and was used for the purpose of burning incense before the Lord: its position was before the vail in the holy place. Exodus 30:1-7. 6. The golden censer, was used by the priests to burn incense before the Lord. Leviticus 16:12. 7. The altar of burnt offering. Exodus 27:1-9. This altar was placed without the door of the tabernacle: [chap 40:6:] it was about nine feet square, and 5 1/2 feet in height: it was overlaid with brass, and was used for the purpose of offering up sacrifices to God. 8. The brazen laver; which was a vessel containing water for the use of the priests. Verse 7. Around the whole was then reared the court of the tabernacle. TTHDS 10.1

The construction of the sanctuary, with all its parts is particularly described in Exodus, chapters 36-39. The building with all the instruments thereof is now complete: the tabernacle overlaid with gold, with its richly wrought coverings; and within that tabernacle the vail dividing between the holy and most holy place; within the vale the ark containing God’s testimony or ten commandments, called the ark of his testament, and thereon the mercy-seat, with its cherubim of beaten gold; in the holy place the golden altar of incense, the golden candlestick with its seven lamps, and the table of shew-bread; - this is the building which God commanded to be erected that he might dwell among his people: this was his habitation: this was his sanctuary. “Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” Exodus 40:34. God had now taken possession of his dwelling. TTHDS 11.1

The history of this building may be traced through the period of the children of Israel’s sojourn in the wilderness, till they carried it with them into the promised land, and it was set up at Shiloh. Joshua 18:1. It is called the Lord’s tabernacle; [22:19;] the sanctuary of the Lord; [24:26;] the house of God; [Judges 18:31;] the temple of the Lord; [1 Samuel 1:9; 3:3;] and God calls it “my habitation, or tabernacle, margin. 1 Samuel 2:32. This was at length succeeded by the temple erected by Solomon, which differed from the tabernacle principally in being an enlargement of that plan, and in being a permanent instead of a temporary building. Everything in the temple being finished, we read that “they brought up the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up.” “And the Lord unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims.” 1 Kings 8:4, 6. “And it came to pass when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord.” Verse 10. Thus the Lord took possession of the temple, and this thenceforward was the sanctuary. This was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and suffered to remain desolate through the 70 years’ captivity. It was afterwards rebuilt by Zerubbabel; and finally destroyed by Titus in A. D. 70. Since then, it has never been rebuilt; consequently since that period there has been no sanctuary on the earth. But it must somewhere be in existence; for at the end of the 2300 days it is to be cleansed; and those days as we have already seen could not terminate earlier than A. D. 1844. Where then shall we now look for the sanctuary? TTHDS 11.2

The tabernacle and instruments, as we have seen, were made according to the pattern shown Moses in the mount. By this we learn that there is a pattern somewhere, a great original from which they were made. But where shall we find this pattern? God has not left us in darkness on this point. In the year A. D. 96, heaven was opened to the beloved disciple, in vision, on the isle of Patmos. Revelation 4. And he looked and behold a door was opened in heaven, and a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. Recollect the golden candlestick with its seven lamps. We have now found something that it resembles; something that may answer for its pattern. TTHDS 13.1

But still further in chap 8:3, he sees an angel with a golden censer, and much incense was given to him that he should offer it with the prayers of the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. Then we have here found something that may be a pattern of the golden altar of incense; and we would bear in mind that the golden candlestick and altar of incense were placed by the express direction of God in the first apartment of the sanctuary, in accordance with the pattern; and we are now looking into the temple in heaven. TTHDS 13.2

But yet another point is shown us in this revelation to St. John. In chapter 11:15, 19, where we are carried down in the course of events, to the sounding of the seventh angel, he says: And the temple of God was opened in heaven and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament. We recollect the ark, and also its position in the most holy place in the tabernacle built by Moses. Hence we should conclude that the patterns of the earthly things, the tabernacle and its appendages, were found in heaven; and on this point we are forever established by the direct testimony given by Paul. He plainly states, [Hebrews 9:24,] that “Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands which are the figures of the true;” and in the verse above he calls them (the holy places made with hands) the patterns of the things in the heavens; and in chap 8:5, he says: “Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for see (saith he) that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.” TTHDS 13.3

Now we’ve found the pattern for which we were seeking, the great original of the earthly sanctuary. We have found that it is in heaven the “True Tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man,” and contains two holy places as the earthly building, its true copy, teaches. This Jesus calls “my Father’s house.” John 14:2. David, Habakkuk and John call it “the temple of God in heaven.’ Psalm 11:4; Habakkuk 2:20; Revelation 11:19. It is also called God’s holy habitation; [Zechariah 2:13; Jeremiah 25:30;] and Paul speaks of it as the “greater and more perfect tabernacle.” Hebrews 9:11. A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our Sanctuary, says Jeremiah;[7:12] and the Psalmist adds, “For he hath looked down from the height of his Sanctuary: from heaven did the Lord behold the earth. Psalm 102:19. TTHDS 14.1

Thus definitely is our first inquiry answered, and we are plainly told what constitutes the Sanctuary. It includes, first, the tabernacle erected by man, embracing the tabernacle of Moses, the temple of Solomon, and the temple of Zerubbabel, and, second, the great original in heaven, the True Tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man. This point being settled, we are led to inquire. TTHDS 15.1

2. HOW IS THE SANCTUARY CLEANSED? or, What is the nature of its cleansing, and how is it accomplished? With the earthly sanctuary there was connected a ministration, which Paul says served unto the example and shadow of heavenly things. By the ministration therefore of the earthly sanctuary, is shadowed forth the ministration of the heavenly Sanctuary. And when we see the work that was carried on on earth, we may understand the work that is carried on in heaven. We will then notice, briefly, The Ministration and Cleansing of the earthly sanctuary. This ministration was accomplished by the Levitical order of priest-hood and consisted of two great divisions: the daily ministration in the holy place, and the work in the most holy place at the end of the year. The daily ministration embraced the regular morning and evening burnt-offering, [Exodus 29:38-43,] the burning of sweet incense on the golden altar, every morning when the high priest dressed the lamps, and every evening when he lighted them; [Exodus 30;] also, the additional work appointed for the Sabbaths of the Lord, and the annual sabbaths, new moons and feasts, [Numbers 28; 29,] besides the particular work to be accomplished for individuals as they should present their offerings throughout the year. This latter was an important part of the service and was performed as follows: Whoever had sinned brought his victim, that was to be offered up for him, to the door of the tabernacle. He then laid his hand upon the head of the victim which signified that his sin was transferred to it; it was then slain on account of that transgression, and the blood borne in by the priest and sprinkled in the sanctuary. Leviticus 1; 3; 4. Thus the sin of the individual was transferred first to the victim, and then through his blood to the sanctuary itself. TTHDS 15.2

This ministration went on continually through the year; and so through the sacrifices were the sins of the people transferred to the sanctuary; hence, the necessity of its being cleansed; which brings us to the second division of the ministration; namely, the yearly service, or cleansing of the sanctuary. To accomplish this, the work of the high priest was changed from the holy place, where he had ministered during the year, to the most holy within the vale. It took place on the tenth day of the seventh month. Leviticus 16:29. Here he entered with the blood of a bullock as a sin-offering for himself. Leviticus 16:3. He was then to take of the congregation of the children of Israel, (verse 5,) two kids of the goats for a sin-offering; upon these he was to cast lots, (verse 8,) one lot for the Lord and the other for the scape-goat. He then offered up the goat upon which the lot fell for the Lord, for a sin-offering for the people, (verse 15,) and bore his blood within the vale, and sprinkled it with his finger upon the mercy-seat eastward, and before the mercy-seat seven times, and made an atonement for the holy place because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins, etc. Verse 16. And when he had made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he brought the live goat, (that is the scape-goat,) and laid both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confessed over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat and sent him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness; and the goat bore upon him all their iniquities into a land not inhabited. Verses 20-22. This done, the cleansing of the sanctuary was finished; the sins of the people were borne away, and the yearly round of ministration in both the holy places was complete. In view of these facts, let us listen to the teachings of Paul in regard to TTHDS 16.1

The Ministration and Cleansing of the heavenly Sanctuary. “Now 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 which the Lord pitched and not man.” Hebrews 8:2. This settles the point that there is a minister in the heavenly Sanctuary as there were ministers or priests in the earthly sanctuary. Verse 3. “For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.” This fixes another fact; namely, that the minister of the heavenly Sanctuary has an offering to make as well as the priests of the earthly or typical sanctuary. TTHDS 17.1

Who is this minister, and what is his offering? Chap 9:11, 12. “But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” We have now learned that Christ is our great High Priest, and the minister of the heavenly Sanctuary; that he offers his own blood instead of the blood of goats and calves which the priests offered in the earthly ministration, and the earthly ministration is typical of the heavenly, as Paul says, [Hebrews 8:5,] “Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things.” TTHDS 17.2

Between them there was this difference: the earthly priests were many, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death; [Hebrews 7:23;] and their ministration was many times repeated, one round being completed every year; but the priesthood of Christ is an unchangeable priesthood; [Hebrews 7:24;] for he is made a priest forever after the order of Melchisedec; (verse 21;) and once for all hath he offered up himself a sacrifice for our sins. Hebrews 7:27; 9:25, 26, 28. On him was laid the iniquity of us all, [Isaiah 53:6,] and he bare our sins in his own body on the tree. 1 Peter 2:24. In this connection study carefully Hebrews, chapters 7-10. Christ, then, is the great antitype of the offerings connected with the typical sanctuary; and he who brought his victim to the door of the tabernacle, to be then slain on account of his transgression, through that sacrifice pointed to “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” TTHDS 18.1

Here is made manifest the wisdom and goodness of God. Thus was instituted that system of types and shadows that through them the people of that dispensation might lay hold on the merits of a coming Saviour; and that we, while there is now no sanctuary on earth with its ministration carried on before us, might look back upon these, and thus learn the work of the heavenly Sanctuary where our great High Priest is now ministering for us. TTHDS 18.2

By our investigation, thus far, we have found that several important points are established by the Word of God; viz., 1. That the Sanctuary, the pattern or antitype of the earthly building is in heaven. 2. That Christ is the minister of that Sanctuary. 3. That the ministration of the priests connected with the earthly sanctuary, pointed to the ministration of Christ in the heavenly Sanctuary. TTHDS 19.1

We will now consider the time when the heavenly Sanctuary took the place of the earthly, when the type met its antitype, and the shadow was lost in the substance - and the events that marked the change. TTHDS 19.2

In regard to the point of time there can be no dispute: the shadow ceases when the substance comes: the type cannot reach beyond the antitype: the offering of goats and calves was no longer serviceable when the great offering for the world, Christ the Son of God, had died on Calvary. Here then is the dividing point. Christ said as he departed from the temple. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold your house is left unto you desolate.” Matthew 23:37, 38. And when amid the terrific scenes of the crucifixion day, the vail of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, it was a solemn demonstration that its services were forever finished; for that blood was now shed that was to be ministered for us in the heavenly Sanctuary, and there from henceforth, the world was to look for salvation and pardon. TTHDS 19.3

We have now seen when the typical or earthly sanctuary gave place to the Sanctuary in heaven; and Christ, when he ascended, there began, as a minister of that Sanctuary, his mediation for us. He began his ministration in the first apartment, as we may learn from these facts: 1. That the Sanctuary in heaven has two apartments, or it was not, as declared to be, the pattern of the earthly. 2. If there are two apartments, they are both designed for some purpose. 3. As the blood of those sacrifices of which Christ was the antitype, was offered in both apartments of the earthly sanctuary, so his blood must be ministered in both apartments of the heavenly Sanctuary to fulfill the type. TTHDS 20.1

Since, then, we are perfectly satisfied when the service commenced in heaven, and where it commenced, i.e., in the first apartment, we next inquire, How long will it thus continue? How long will that division of the ministration continue, ere the final work of cleansing the Sanctuary is commenced? TTHDS 20.2

This is that question which is graciously answered by the Word of God. Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the Sanctuary be cleansed. But how do we know that this refers to the heavenly Sanctuary? We know from the fact that only 490 of the 2300 days are alloted to the Jews and the earthly sanctuary. “Seventy weeks are cut off upon thy people and upon thy holy city.” Daniel 9:24. The Prophet then introduces the heavenly Sanctuary with these words, “To anoint the most Holy.” This refers to an act preparatory to the commencement of the ministration in the sanctuary, which was to anoint both the holy places and all the sacred vessels. Exodus 40:9-11. TTHDS 20.3

Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the Sanctuary be cleansed. We are now prepared to understand the nature of the cleansing of the Sanctuary, and what is to be understood by that expression. Look back to the type ordained expressly to shadow forth the work in heaven, and what are we taught? We there see the high priest on the tenth day of the seventh month entering in within the vail into the most holy place, to make an atonement for the people and cleanse the sanctuary. Leviticus 16. Hence we learn that our great High Priest at the end of the 2300 days entered into the Most Holy Place of the heavenly Sanctuary, and there commenced the final work of cleansing that Sanctuary. TTHDS 21.1

But it may be asked, How can there be anything in heaven that needs cleansing, anything that is impure? We would reply, that the expression, “then shall the Sanctuary be cleansed,” does not imply that the Sanctuary is of itself impure. Look at the earthly sanctuary. Into the holiest of all, where God manifested his glory, the high priest alone entered, once only, every year. Was there any thing to make that literally impure? certainly not; yet it was, according to law, to be cleansed. Why? Because the sins of the people had been borne in there by the blood of sin-offering, and from these it must be freed: in this sense only it was impure. TTHDS 21.2

So with the heavenly Sanctuary. The sins of all those who come to Christ for salvation and pardon, are through his blood transferred to the Sanctuary: from these it must be cleansed. All can understand this. Paul also bears direct testimony to this point. He says: And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. Hebrews 9:22, 23. That is, the patterns of things in the heavens (the earthly holy places) were cleansed with the blood of goats and calves, but the heavenly things themselves (the True Tabernacle in heaven) with better sacrifices than these, that is, with the blood of Christ; and Paul here plainly states that both were cleansed for one and the same reason. TTHDS 21.3

Again, we read in Daniel 8:13, about treading the Sanctuary under foot; and it may be asked how a Sanctuary under foot; and it may be asked how a Sanctuary in heaven can be trodden under foot. These expressions are figurative as will be seen by Hebrews 10:29, which speaks of treading under foot the Son of God. The Sanctuary can be trodden underfoot in the same sense that the Son of God, its minister, can. Thus the Pope has trodden under foot the Sanctuary, by calling his own sanctuary, or temple, the temple of God, and turning away the worship of men from the temple of God in heaven to his own sanctuary at Rome. And he has trodden under foot the Son of God, the minister of that Sanctuary, by exalting himself above all that is called God, and assuming to be the head of the church in the place of Jesus Christ. TTHDS 22.1

John saw when the first apartment of the heavenly Sanctuary was opened. He “looked and behold a door was opened in heaven.” That he was looking into the first apartment we understand from what he saw before the throne. Revelation 4:1, 5. Again, he is carried down to the “days of the voice of the seventh angel,” and sees the Most Holy Place opened. “And the temple of God was opened in heaven and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament.” Revelation 11:19. Before this ark containing God’s holy law, the ten commandments, Christ, our great High Priest, has been ministering since the termination of the 2300 days. “He that hath the key of David, he that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth,” [Revelation 2:7,] has opened the door between the Holy and the Most Holy Place, and is now performing his last ministration for a fallen world. To this open door all may come for pardon of their transgressions, for whom mercy yet lingers. Christ is pleading his blood before the mercy seat; and while people would come and avail themselves of his mediation, let them remember the law of God beneath that mercy seat, and see that they are living in obedience to all its precepts. Men may affirm that the law of God is abolished; but we see how far from truth this is, when we learn that it occupies the choicest place in heaven. The tables of the covenant, which God gave to man, were only a duplicate: the great original still exists, beneath the guardian watchfulness of his eye, who “slumbers not nor sleeps.” TTHDS 22.2

The cleansing of the Sanctuary being finished, the only remaining event was for the priest to bear out the iniquities and transgressions of the children of Israel, and place them upon the head of the scape-goat, and send him away into a land not inhabited. Leviticus 16:20-22. In the type they sent away a literal goat; but when Christ shall have finished his work of atonement, and bears away the sins of his people from the heavenly Sanctuary, upon whom will he lay them as the antitype of the scape-goat? The Hebrew word for scape-goat, as we learn from Leviticus 16:8, margin, is Azazel. Azazel, according to the oldest opinions of the Hebrews and the Christians, is the name of the Devil. The Syriac, also, has Azazel the angel (strong one) who revolted. Hence the scape-goat is a type of Satan. As the goat bearing the iniquities of the people was sent away into a land not inhabited, so the antitype of that act will be most strikingly fulfilled when the events mentioned in Revelation 20, shall be accomplished; when the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan shall be bound a thousand years, and cast into the bottomless pit and shut up and sealed that he shall deceive the nations no more till the thousand years be fulfilled. Some men’s sins, says Paul, are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after. 1 Timothy 5:24. The sins of all those who are pardoned through the blood of Christ will at the close of his ministry be borne away from the Sanctuary, and thrown back upon the head of their author, the Devil; while the sins of all those who are not forgiven will rest upon themselves and sink them down into everlasting ruin. TTHDS 23.1

We have endeavored thus far, though briefly, to present a plain and harmonious view of the Sanctuary, as clearly taught in the Word of God. The reader will bear in mind the evidence adduced in favor of the position we have taken, while we attempt to answer a few questions which may arise in the minds of some. 1. Why may not the Earth be the Sanctuary? The earth cannot be the Sanctuary, because, 1st, the definition of the word, itself, is enough to contradict such an idea. It is defined by Walker, “A holy place;” by Webster, “A sacred place;” by Cruden, “A holy or sanctified place, a dwelling-place of the Most High;” and we learn from Exodus 25:8, that it is a dwelling-place for God. Now any one knows better than to claim that this polluted earth is a holy place, or a sacred place, or a dwelling-place for God. This therefore, alone, should be sufficient to exclude forever the idea of its being the Sanctuary. 2nd. Of all the times that the word, sanctuary, occurs in the Bible, it is never once applied to the earth. In nearly every instance in which it is used, it refers directly to another definite object, which God calls his sanctuary. Hence those who teach that the earth is the Sanctuary, are not only dependent for their authority on the word of man, but they must take it against the plain testimony of the Word of God an hundred times repeated. If any should think that the earth will be the Sanctuary, after it is purified by fire, [2 Peter 3:10,] we answer that even then God does not call it his Sanctuary, but merely the place of its location. Isaiah 60:13; Ezekiel 37:26-28; Revelation 21:1-3. TTHDS 24.1

2. Why may not the Land of Canaan be the Sanctuary? A few texts are sometimes urged in favor of this view, which we will here notice: 1st. “Thou shalt bring them in and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.” Exodus 15:17. “And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain which his right hand had purchased.” “And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever.” Psalm 78:53, 54, 69. The first of these texts, it will be seen, is a prediction of Moses, the second is a record of facts by the Psalmist. What Moses foretells concerning Israel, David relates as a matter of history. The two texts taken together render the subject perfectly plain. The land of Canaan was the mountain of the inheritance. Exodus 15:17. That mountain was the border of the sanctuary. Psalm 78:54. In that border God built his sanctuary. Verse 69. In that sanctuary God dwelt; [Psalm 74:7;] and in that border the people dwelt. Psalm 78:55. Moses understood the matter when he said, [Exodus 15:2,] “He is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation.” The border of the sanctuary must not be confounded with the sanctuary itself. The lot on which a house is built is not the house. TTHDS 25.1

Isaiah 63:18, is sometimes quoted to prove the land of Canaan the Sanctuary: “The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary.” It affords no evidence in favor of that view. The facts are simply these: when God’s people were driven out from the land of Canaan, they were not only dispossessed of their inheritance, but the sanctuary, built in that land was laid in ruins, as is plainly recorded in 2 Chronicles 36:17-20; which explains the whole matter. TTHDS 26.1

Isaiah 60:13, may by some be urged as evidence that the land of Canaan is the Sanctuary: “The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box, together, to beautify the place of my Sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious.” Isaiah here refers to the glorified state, or the new earth; and we are ready to admit that that will be the place of the Sanctuary. If any still persist in calling the place of the sanctuary, the sanctuary itself, we would remind them that the same text calls the same place, the place of the Lord’s feet; hence the same principle of application which would make the land of Canaan the Sanctuary, would make it the Lord’s feet also. TTHDS 26.2

The word, sanctuary, occurs in the Bible 145 times; yet the few texts above quoted are all that are ever urged in favor of the land of Canaan. But even if it was a sanctuary, it could not then be the Sanctuary of Daniel 8:13, 14; for the Prophet had in view the habitation of God. Canaan is neither a holy place, nor a sacred place, nor yet a dwelling-place for God. TTHDS 27.1

3. Why may not the Church be the Sanctuary? The church cannot be the Sanctuary for the following reasons: 1st. It is never called such in the Word of God. 2nd. Another object is called the sanctuary, and the church is associated with it as the worshipers: the sanctuary being the place of that worship, or toward which their prayers were directed. 1 Kings 8:22-54; 2 Chronicles 20:8, 9; Psalm 20:2; 73:17. 3rd. Because God has many times called the tabernacle or temple, which were patterns of the true, his sanctuary, and because the church is spiritually called the temple of God, [2 Corinthians 6:16,] some infer that the church is the Sanctuary. To how much weight such an inference is entitled in comparison parison with the plain testimony of the Scriptures on this subject, the reader may judge. 4th. Even if a single text could be found to prove that the church is ever called a sanctuary, it could not be the Sanctuary of Daniel 8:13, 14; because the church is there represented by the word, host. “To give both the Sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot.” That the word, host, here means the church, none will deny; the Sanctuary then is another object. The church is the host or worshipers: the Sanctuary is the place of that worship or toward which it is directed. TTHDS 27.2

We find then that the idea that the earth, or the land of Canaan, or the church, is the Sanctuary, is without foundation in the Word of God; and these are the only objects which to our knowledge have ever been claimed as such by our opponents. And we find no dissenting text from the plain view already presented, that the Sanctuary embraced first the tabernacle erected by man, and now consists of the True Tabernacle in heaven which the Lord pitched and not man; that its cleansing is performed through the ministration of a great High Priest, and by means of blood; that the work accomplished is the bearing away from the Sanctuary the sins of God’s people that they may be remembered no more against them forever; and not the burning of the earth by those final purifying fires which shall melt the elements with fervent heat. TTHDS 28.1

Thus we see that we were not warranted by the declarations of the prophecy, to expect the Lord at the end of the days. If in the type the high priest after finishing his ministration in the first apartment, “had traveled off a thousand miles and cleared off the rubbish from some patch of land,” we might have had some reason to expect that Christ, at the end of the days, would leave the Sanctuary and descend to cleanse this polluted earth; but by following out the type we may be saved from all such inconsistency. TTHDS 28.2

The subject of the Sanctuary is a subject of vital importance to the people of God. An understanding of it is essential to a well-grounded position in the Advent faith. By this alone can the past be harmonized and the present established. By this alone can it be shown that the events of time and the words of the prophecy do perfectly agree. With an understanding on this point we have all the bright evidences of the past, and all the harmony of the Scriptures to sustain us; and with these and the mighty array of signs now fulfilling before us, no honest child of God can find room to doubt. A misunderstanding of this subject is the great cause of the ruinous work which has torn and scattered the flock since 1844. TTHDS 29.1