General Conference Bulletin, vol. 3
OUR RELATION TO THE DAY OF ATONEMENT
L. A. HOOPESS. N. HASKELL
Reading for Sabbath, December 29.
In the Jewish economy, the day of atonement was the great day of the year. Every offering made by the people, every ceremony performed by the priests, had reference to the day of atonement, which took place on the tenth day of the seventh month. This is true of the gospel; for the requirements of Christ and the teachings of the apostles all had a direct reference to the anti-typical day of atonement, the time of investigative judgment. GCB July 1, 1900, page 181.2
THE JUDGMENT PREACHED BY THE APOSTLES
Paul reasoned before Felix “of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come.” Acts 24:25. In his solemn charge to Timothy, he referred to the day of atonement in the words, “I charge thee ... before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom.” 2 Timothy 4:1. GCB July 1, 1900, page 181.3
The apostle Peter speaks of those who think it strange that we run not with them to the same excess of riot, and says: “Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.” He then adds: “For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the Spirit.” 1 Peter 4:5, 6. To those who will be alive when this investigative judgement begins, he says: “The time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” Verse 17. GCB July 1, 1900, page 181.4
Again in connection with the day of Pentecost, Peter says: “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” Acts 3:19-21. These scriptures teach that the apostles realized the importance of the antitypical day of atonement. GCB July 1, 1900, page 181.5
WHY WE SHOULD STUDY THIS SUBJECT
“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 fill. Every individual has a soul to save or to lose. Each has a case pending at the bar of God. Each must meet the great Judge face to face. How important, then, that every mind contemplate often the solemn scene when the judgment shall sit and the books shall be opened, when, with Daniel, every individual must stand in his lot, at the end of the days. GCB July 1, 1900, page 181.6
“All who have received the light upon these subjects are to bear testimony of the great truths which God has committed to them. The sanctuary in heaven is the very center of Christ’s work in behalf of men. It concerns every soul living upon the earth. It opens to view the plan of redemption, bringing us down to the very close of time, and revealing the triumphant issue of the contest between righteousness and sin. It is of the utmost importance that all should thoroughly investigate these subjects, and be able to give an answer to everyone that asketh them a reason of the hope that is in them.”—The Great Controversy, 488, 489. GCB July 1, 1900, page 181.7
“Many who embraced the third angel’s message had not had an experience in the two former messages. Satan understood this, and his evil eye was upon them to overthrow them; but the third angel was pointing them to the most holy place, and those who had had an experience in the past messages were pointing them the way to the heavenly sanctuary.... These messages were represented to me as an anchor to the people of God. Those who understand and receive them will be kept from being swept away by the many delusions of Satan.”—“Early Writings,” Spiritual Gifts, p. 119. GCB July 1, 1900, page 182.1
“Such subjects as the sanctuary, in connection with the twenty-three hundred days, the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus, are perfectly calculated to explain the past Advent movement, and show what our present position is, establish the faith of the doubting, and give certainty to the glorious future. These, I have frequently seen, were the principal subjects on which the messengers should dwell.”—“Early Writings,” Experience and Views, pp. 53, 54. GCB July 1, 1900, page 182.2
THE JUDGMENT ANNOUNCED BY THE THREE ANGELS’ MESSAGES
The first angel’s message, of Revelation 14, announces that “the hour of his judgment is come.” The third angel’s message reveals the truths brought out during the investigative judgment, to prepare a people to stand in the final conflict. This people is described as keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus,—the balances by which character is weighed in the judgment. Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14; Romans 2:13, 16. GCB July 1, 1900, page 182.3
On the tenth day of the seventh month, in 1844, all prophetic time ceased. With uplifted hand, the angel swore that prophetic time should be no longer. Revelation 10:5, 6. The prophetic number upon which the message was based, the twenty-three hundred years, was established by more than twenty eclipses, and the preaching of the coming of the Lord, and that “the hour of his judgment is come,” was sounded in every nation upon the face of the earth, finding its way to every mission station, and among the heathen. The world was warned, answering to the blowing of the trumpets, which announced the arrival of the great day of atonement in the Jewish law. GCB July 1, 1900, page 182.4
THE TYPICAL DAY OF ATONEMENT OBSERVED AS A SABBATH, WITH FASTING AND PRAYER
The two principal features of the instruction given to the people, directing them how to spend the typical day of atonement, are of great importance to us. It is to these points we wish especially to call attention. First, no secular work was to be done during the entire day. Second, there was to be an affliction of the soul, “with prayer, fasting, and deep searching of heart.” GCB July 1, 1900, page 182.5
“Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord. And ye shall do not work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God. For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.” Leviticus 23:27-32. GCB July 1, 1900, page 182.6
All who did any work on that day, or did not afflict their souls in that same day, were cut off from among God’s people. These ceremonies were designed to impress the Israelites with the holiness of God, and his abhorrence of sin, and further, to show them they could not come in contact with sin without being polluted. “Every man was required to afflict his soul while this work of atonement was going forward. All business was to be laid aside, and the whole congregation of Israel were to spend the day in solemn humiliation before God, with prayer, fasting, and deep searching of heart.”—The Great Controversy, 420. GCB July 1, 1900, page 182.7
HOW SHALL WE OBSERVE THE ANTITYPICAL DAY OF ATONEMENT?
We have particularly noticed two points connected with the observance of the Jewish day of atonement; namely, the laying aside of all secular labor, and the afflicting of the soul by fasting and prayer. We are now in the antitypical day of atonement. We are the congregation of which the ancient typical work was a type. If it was so important to rest and afflict the soul in the typical day, that those were cut off who failed to comply with the requirements, how much more important that we, the real congregation in the real day of atonement, afflict our souls! GCB July 1, 1900, page 183.1
The afflicting of the soul embraced an entire fast during the day, and a deep searching of heart, so that any sin which was lurking there might be discovered in time to be confessed and borne into the sanctuary by the high priest, and carried from the sanctuary when his work for Israel ceased on that day. Those who fasted during this day of atonement had complete control of their appetite. This teaches the lesson that those who live in the antitypical day should also have a complete control of their appetite. GCB July 1, 1900, page 183.2
It does not necessarily follow that there must be a total abstinence from food in order to fast. Daniel fasted for three full weeks, and he says, “I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth.” Daniel 10:2, 3. Instead of totally abstaining from food, the appetite should be controlled; and if it is under proper restraint, no flesh will enter the mouth, neither will there be any desire to gratify a depraved appetite in any respect. GCB July 1, 1900, page 183.3
THE TESTIMONY OF THE SCRIPTURES CONCERNING THE ANTITYPICAL DAY OF ATONEMENT
The prophet Isaiah, in speaking of this time, said: “In that day did the Lord God of Hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth: and behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we shall die.” He then adds that “it was revealed in mine ears by the Lord of Hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord God of Hosts.” Isaiah 22:12-14. This plainly teaches that the iniquity of gratifying self and living for pleasure, eating and drinking to indulge our appetite, when God calls upon us to afflict our souls, is a sin that can not be purged. GCB July 1, 1900, page 183.4
The Saviour also refers to this time in Matthew 24:37-39: “As the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” In the days of the flood, those engaged in eating and drinking for pleasure were taken away by the flood; but in the antitypical day of atonement, those who eat and drink and marry and are given in marriage, for the gratification of selfish interests, are taken away by the seven last plagues. GCB July 1, 1900, page 183.5
Luke also adds: “Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” Luke 17:28-30. GCB July 1, 1900, page 183.6
The prophet Ezekiel states: “This was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me.” Ezekiel 16:49, 50. GCB July 1, 1900, page 183.7
Strengthening the hand of the poor and needy is also spoken of as one phase of fasting. Isaiah 58. GCB July 1, 1900, page 183.8
Again, Luke, in referring to the time of the investigative judgment, says: “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” Luke 21:34-36. Compare with Leviticus 23:29, 30. GCB July 1, 1900, page 183.9
In this time of being “accounted worthy,” the GCB July 1, 1900, page 183.10
Saviour exhorts the people to take heed to themselves against three particular dangers: First, surfeiting, which is overeating; second, drunkenness, which is improper food and drink; and third, the cares of this life. The prohibitions enjoined upon the people of God are those things which, if indulged in, will surely bring destruction to the soul. The appetite should be controlled both as to the quantity and quality of the food we eat, and also according to the labor in which we are engaged. GCB July 1, 1900, page 184.1
Just as in the typical day of atonement they were to restrain appetite and refrain from secular labor, so in the antitypical day we are to restrain appetite by refraining from surfeiting and drunkenness; and also, we should not become so entangled with the cares of this life that we neglect to take time for the searching of the Scriptures, and the training of our families for the kingdom. GCB July 1, 1900, page 184.2
THE TIME OF THE INVESTIGATIVE JUDGMENT
The period of the judgment is marked by our High Priest’s entering the most holy place in the heavenly sanctuary. The prophet Malachi says that he will “suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts.” He also adds that he “will come near to you to judgment.” The coming, here brought to view, is the coming of Christ into the most holy place, when the investigative judgment begins; and the year 1844 is established by the prophetic periods as being this time. The Judge “is like a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s soap: and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.” He “will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, ... adulterers, ... false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of Hosts.” Malachi 3:1-5. GCB July 1, 1900, page 184.3
Our work is to exalt the standard of righteousness, and by our lives lift up Christ before the people. “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” John 12:32. GCB July 1, 1900, page 184.4
THE JUDGMENT MESSAGE TO BE PROCLAIMED IN ITS PURITY
The truths of the gospel are to be preached in their purity, and our relation to the world will be much the same as was the Saviour’s when he came to this earth. He did not “come to set aside what patriarchs and prophets had spoken; for he himself had spoken through these representative men. All the truths of God’s Word came from him. But these priceless gems had been placed in false settings. Their precious light had been made to minister to error. God desired them to be removed from their settings of error and replaced in the framework of truth. This work only a divine hand could accomplish. By its connection with error, the truth had been serving the cause of the enemy of God and man. Christ had come to place it where it would glorify God, and work the salvation of humanity.”—The Desire of Ages, 332, 333. GCB July 1, 1900, page 184.5
Christ did not disdain the “repetition of old, familiar truths,” but “came to make them appear in their true force and beauty, the glory of which had never been discerned by the men of his time.” But “he cast aside that which had robbed these truths of life and vital power, and gave them back to the world in all their original freshness and force. If we have the Spirit of Christ, and are laborers together with him, it is ours to carry forward the work which he came to do. The truths of the Bible have again become obscured by custom, tradition, and false doctrine.”—Testimonies for the Church 5:710. We should reveal to the world the true character of God. We should show forth the praises of him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. GCB July 1, 1900, page 184.6
“BE YE THEREFORE READY.” GCB July 1, 1900, page 184.7
It is our duty to give heed to the instruction of Christ, especially in referring to the day of atonement. In the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew he refers to the time when the bridegroom went in with the wise virgins to the marriage, and the door was shut. Verse 10. This has reference to the time when the Saviour entered the most holy place in the heavenly sanctuary. He also speaks of a time subsequent to this, when the other virgins came, “saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.” But he met them with the reply, “Verily I say unto you, I know you not.” Verses 11, 12. GCB July 1, 1900, page 184.8
In the twelfth chapter of Luke, his coming to reckon with his servants is referred to, and the duties enjoined upon the people of God which will prepare them to receive him with joy and peace. Said the Saviour: “Seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Let your lions be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.” Verses 31-36. GCB July 1, 1900, page 184.9
The Saviour went to the wedding, as referred to in the parable, in 1844. He will return from the wedding, to each one of us, when our individual cases come up before him in the judgment. In order for us to be prepared at that time, the instruction of the Saviour that we have read, must be strictly followed. Instead of increasing the “cares of this life,” so that we can not find time to study God’s Word, to meditate, and to pray, there must be a change in the order of things, if we are ready to meet our Lord when he comes to our own name. Instead of adding farm to farm, there will be a selling, and a giving of alms, among those who are preparing to meet the Bridegroom when he returns from the wedding. All who are expecting to meet their individual record when it is called in the investigative judgment, will be transferring their possessions to the world to come. We will be in a position of waiting for the Lord. We will all be expecting that our name will come up in review before God, and our attitude to the work of the judgment will show that we believe what we profess. Our lions will be girded about, and our lights will be burning, and we like men who wait for their Lord, when he will return from the wedding. “It shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” Isaiah 25:9. GCB July 1, 1900, page 185.1
No one will ever know the day or the hour when his name will come up in the judgment; but if it comes up in the second watch, or in the third watch, and the individual is found carrying out this instruction, blessed is that servant. But our Saviour has also said: “Know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.” Matthew 24:43. But he did not know the exact time, and so he followed in his daily avocations the same as before, eating and drinking the same as aforetime, and the lord of that servant came in an hour that he was not looking for him, and cut him asunder, and appointed him his portion with the hypocrites and unbelievers. Verses 50, 51. He was not reckoned by others as a hypocrite or an unbeliever; but he had neglected to give due importance to the work enjoined upon him, that would have enabled him to be prepared to meet God. GCB July 1, 1900, page 185.2
“SELL THAT YE HAVE, AND GIVE ALMS.” GCB July 1, 1900, page 185.3
These scriptures present very vividly the condition of Seventh-day Adventists at the present time. They bring home to us our duty. It becomes us as individuals to examine ourselves, whether we be in the faith. Testimonies of late have repeatedly come to us, that now, as never before, it is time to sell and give alms. We are instructed not to “invest our money in buildings, or in any way tie it up so that it can not be used for the advancement of the work of the Lord in our world. It is too late now to build houses which consume the means which the cause of God needs so much. Put your means where it can be used in the Lord’s work. This is what the Lord would have you do.”—Unpublished MS., Aug. 8, 1899. GCB July 1, 1900, page 185.4
In “Testimonies for the Church,” No. 31 (pp. 151, 152, of Vol. V), in speaking of those who, instead of rendering to God the means he has placed in their hands, invest in more land, it is stated that “this evil is growing with our brethren.” Then this question is asked: “Can we be surprised if they are not prospered? if God does not bless their crops, and they are disappointed? Could our brethren remember that God can bless twenty acres of land, and make them as productive as one hundred, they would not continue to bury themselves up in lands, but would let their means flow into God’s treasury. ‘Take heed,’ said Christ, ‘lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life.’ Satan is pleased to have you increase your farms and invest your means in worldly enterprises, for by so doing you not only hinder the cause from advancing, but by anxiety and overwork lessen your prospect for eternal life. GCB July 1, 1900, page 185.5
“We ought now to be heeding the injunction of our Saviour, ‘Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not.’ It is now that our brethren should be cutting down their possessions instead of increasing them. We are about to move to a better country, even a heavenly. Then let us not be dwellers upon the earth, but be getting things into as compact a compass as possible.” GCB July 1, 1900, page 186.1
“BEHOLD, I COME QUICKLY.” GCB July 1, 1900, page 186.2
The day of the Lord is near, and it hasteth greatly; but where do we behold the true Advent spirit? Who are preparing to stand in the time of temptation which is just before us? As a people, we are sleeping at our post. We say by our actions, that we have the truth, and are “rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing.” But the True Witness declares, Thou “knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” Revelation 3:17. GCB July 1, 1900, page 186.3
If in the early church, “as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made” (Acts 4:34, 35), forty years before Jerusalem was destroyed, is it not high time we awake out of sleep, knowing that the time is “nearer than when we believed”? Romans 13:11, 12. GCB July 1, 1900, page 186.4
The time is right upon us when we can not sell at any price. The decree will soon go forth prohibiting men to buy or sell of any man, “save he that hath the mark” of the beast. Already we have seen intimations of this in the agitation in favor of Sunday laws. At the present time we see from every quarter the storm arising. We see the nations becoming angry. It is evident that the wrath of God is about to be poured out. Already storms and tornadoes are causing suffering and devastation. We also see the mark of the beast being enforced in localities, here and there, throughout this country, and in other portions of the world. Steps are being taken to soon make it possible, suddenly and unexpectedly, to enforce Sunday observance upon all. But when that time comes, it will be altogether too late to prepare to meet God. Surely the day of the Lord is coming as noiselessly as the muffled tread of the thief. GCB July 1, 1900, page 186.5
On the other hand, we see the world engaged in carousing, seeking for pleasure, eating and drinking whatever their hearts desire. Is it not time, dear brethren and sisters, to suddenly turn our course, and prepare to meet God? None can know when their individual cases will come up before God. We are in the period of the investigative judgment. It is nearing its close; and when it will pass by the living, we can not say. Already it may be upon the living, for aught we know; but certain it is that it began upon the righteous dead fifty-six years ago, and soon it will have passed upon the living. Those who have given heed to the injunctions of the scriptures to which we have alluded, will sustain that relation to God which will secure them a passport into glory. It is high time that we awake out of sleep, and prepare to meet God. GCB July 1, 1900, page 186.6
We do not call for an impulsive move; but we do call for a calm deliberation of the time in which we are living, and for a move toward the kingdom of God. There will be impulsive moves upon particular lines. But a healthy movement forward is when we see a conscientious paying of the tithe and offerings, a deliberate selling and giving of alms, a reviving of the canvassing work, Bible work, colporteur work, a reaching out for foreign fields, and activity in every line of work of which the Lord has spoken. The heart will be drawn out after God. May God give the true revival spirit to his people, that from the year 1900 we shall see such a move as we have not seen among our people in the past. GCB July 1, 1900, page 186.7
S. N. HASKELL. GCB July 1, 1900, page 186.8