The Sanctuary Doctrine Defended

The investigative judgment and cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary are central doctrines in Seventh-day Adventism’s highly developed theology. Together with the truth about Sabbath, they are included in the final Three Angel’s Message (Revelation 14:6–7) and are to be presented to the world in the light of the everlasting gospel, carried by the first angel (Rev 14:6):

“Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment (the investigative judgment) has come; and worship Him who ‘made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water’ (quote from the Sabbath Commandment, Exodus 20:11)”.

The Greek word ‘krisis‘ translated here as ‘judgment’ in Revelation 14:7, refers to the entire judicial process (including the investigation), not merely the final judicial verdict (Greek: ‘krima’) (see Vine’s Expository Dictionary of NT words, “judgement”).

In 1844, at the end of the prophetic period of 2300 years, God established a special advent movement (the “remnant”) that “keeps the commandments of God” (including Sabbath), and “have the testimony of Jesus” (Rev 12:7), which is the “Spirit of Prophecy” (Rev 19:10). Through this movement God intended to proclaim to the world the fully restored everlasting gospel, the truth about the Sabbath (as the sign of salvation by faith) and the investigative judgment (in the light of the gospel), and warn the entire world that all those who refuse to come out of the spiritual Babylon (Rev 14:7) and who receive the mark of the beast (Sunday keeping as a sign of salvation by works), will experience the 7 last plagues and perish (Rev 14:9-10).

Opposition

Teaching on the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, the great day of atonement and the investigative judgement were always furiously attacked by other denominations and even some of the Adventist own preachers and scholars, including D.M. Canright, Albion Ballenger, Louis Conradi, and Desmond Ford.

What distinguishes Ford from all previous critics is that he brought together their arguments and presented them in a more persuasive manner. Many Seventh-day Adventists couldn’t answer Desmond Ford’s questions, and they left the church. In Australia, the entire generation of pastors left the Adventist Church when Desmond Ford brought his theology.

It affected the entire denomination because people, including deceived pastors, had not studied this subject for themselves, and they didn’t know what the sanctuary message is all about.

Later on, we are going to go through all the key points raised by Ford and refute each one of them using undeniable biblical arguments.

Why some Adventists doubt about the sanctuary doctrine?

“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.” Great Controversy, 488.

Unfortunately, the unique teaching involving the sanctuary is one of the Church’s most misunderstood doctrines, and it has been the subject of severe criticism. Also within the SDA Church this subject is often neglected and misunderstood.

The 2018 Global Church Member Survey (GCMS) found that 64 percent of Adventists strongly accept it, 18 percent accept it because the church teaches it, and about 18 percent had doubts or did not believe in it.

Some Adventists doubt or reject the sanctuary doctrine because they do not study this subject properly with fervent prayers and patience.

Another reason is that the truth about investigative judgment and cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary are not presented to them in the light of the gospel, or as an extension of the good news of the gospel. As a result, especially the gospel-oriented members are unable to reconcile it with the salvation by faith alone, and struggle to understand why this doctrine is so important and why it is emphasised by the SDA Church.

The investigative judgment, in particular, is seen by them as undermining the assurance of salvation, because they think that according to this doctrine one’s salvation is not definitively settled until after a period of investigation. This can lead to feelings of anxiety and insecurity, rather than the peace, confidence, and assurance of salvation that should characterize believer’s life.

Importance of the sanctuary doctrine

1. During the great final day of atonement and cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, God will demonstrate before the unfallen worlds that He was not responsible for the entrance of sin in the perfect universe. This responsibility will be placed on Satan who is the originator of sin (Leviticus 16:21-22).

2. In response to constant Satan’s accusations (Revelation 12:10), God uses the investigative judgement to reveal to the unfallen worlds His justice in saving sinners who accepted the gift of salvation with true faith (Romans 3:26). He proves that He has legal right to do it because they truly accepted Christ’s perfect representative righteousness and their death in Him (Rom 6:6, 2 Corinthians 5:14). If we have truly accepted Christ’s saving work on our behalf and keep on believing in Him, we can face the judgment without fear.

The decisive issue in the judgment does not primarily concentrate on what we have done or not done, but rather on God’s love and His perfect justice and whether we have accepted or rejected what Christ has done for us.

The deeds of the saints are reviewed in the judgement (2 Corinthians 5:10) but not to prove that they are good enough to be saved. They are only an evidence that the gift of salvation was accepted by them with true faith, faith that works.

3. To prevent the unfallen worlds from any doubts about His justice and love, God through the investigative judgement wants to demonstrate that He did everything He could to save fake Christians and that they will be lost forever because they ultimately rejected the gift of salvation by their persistent unbelief, legalism, carelessness, worldliness, and life independent from God.

4. Christ’s ministry in the heavenly sanctuary is to provide His followers with the power of Holy Spirit to make them victorious over the indwelling law of sin and the temptations of the enemy and prepare them for the translation at Christ’s return.

The great controversy between Christ and Satan cannot be concluded until such a demonstration develops.

This victory over the power of sin does not contribute to their salvation but during the investigative judgment provides evidence that they truly accepted justification by faith.

5. The investigative judgment (2 Corinthians 5:10; Daniel 7:10,22) is a good news for the true believers (Daniel 7:22) as it vindicates the righteousness they have in Christ through faith (1 Corinthians 1:30) and works of Christ in them (Gal 2:20; John 15:5).

At the same time, it is a solemn message of warning. It reminds legalists that justification by faith in Christ is the only ticket to heaven, and that all those who think that they can save themselves by their good works, are under the curse (Gal 3:10).

It also warns all the careless, cheap grace Christians that faith without works is dead (James 2:17,20), that those who “live according to the flesh will die” (Romans 8:13) and that “without holiness, no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).

6. The sanctuary doctrine reminds believers that the Day of Atonement was also a day of judgment, for whoever did not “afflict” his “soul” on that day, was “cut off” (Leviticus 23:29).

“Each individual was to “afflict” his soul, search his heart, and put away every sin, spend much time in prayer and fasting… If he failed to keep the day of atonement … he was cut off from among the people of God. Likewise, the individual who, during the investigative judgment, thinks that Christ will plead his case while he himself ignores the work of ‘afflicting the soul’ will find that his name is blotted out from the book of life. We are saved by faith in our High Priest, but faith without works is dead (James 2:17,20)” (Stephen Haskell, The Cross and its Shadow, p. 221).

Isaiah 22:13: “The Lord Almighty called you on that day (Day of Atonement) to weep and to mourn, to tear out your hair and put on sackcloth. But instead, there is pleasure and gladness, eating of meat and drinking of wine! ‘Let us eat and drink,’ you say, ‘for tomorrow we die (unbelief)!’ Then it was revealed in my hearing by the LORD Almighty, ‘Surely for this iniquity there will be no atonement for you, even to your death’.”

In time of the antitypical Day of Atonement, we live in now, when God calls for repentance, choosing distraction and pleasure instead of humility is spiritually fatal. The statement “no atonement until death” warns us that there is a limit to God’s forbearance if people persist in hardening their hearts.

“While the sins of penitent believers are being removed from the sanctuary, there is to be a special work of purification, of putting away of sin, among God’s people upon earth” (Great Controversy, 425).

Stages in God’s plan of dealing with sin revealed in the heavenly sanctuary

God’s plan revealed in the heavenly sanctuary is a process involving the following stages:

1) Pre-advent or Investigative Judgment of all Professed Believers (2 Corinthians 5:10) started in 1844 (Daniel 8:14) and is to continue until before the return of Jesus. The judgment begins first upon the people of God, and their cases must be decided before Christ comes, because the saints are to judge the world after He comes (Daniel 7:22; Rev. 20:4). This judgment is required because the believers have an “accuser who accuses them day and night” (Rev 12:17). It is to justify both God and the true believers from Satan’s accusations (Zechariah 3:1-5; Revelation 12; Daniel 7:10,22). God’s justice must be vindicated in the judgment because He forgives guilty people who are true believers. His justice also must be vindicated in the judgment when He condemns fake believers who defile God’s sanctuary (Leviticus 20:3).

2) The investigative judgement will end up with the Cleansing of the Heavenly Sanctuary (Hebrews 9:23; Dan 8:14) from the record of sins committed by God’s people and transferring them onto the head of Azazel (satan) (Lev 16:7-10) thus making him responsible for leading them to those sins. The cleansing, restoration and vindication of the heavenly sanctuary refers also to the sins of the little horn (papal Rome) that “trampled the truth” (Dan 8:9-12) about the gospel and Christ’s heavenly ministry as High Priest by “polluting” Christianity with the heresy of salvation by faith plus works and by diverting the attention of Christians from Christ’s mediating ministry and directing it toward the priestly service of clergy that offer forgiveness through human mediators.

3) The execution of judgment at the Second Coming of Christ when all wicked sinners will die. At the same time Christ resurrects the dead who died in faith and transforms His living followers and takes them all to heaven (2 Thessalonians 1:7–9; John 5:28–29; Revelation 22:12; Matthew 16:27; Matthew 25:31–32).

4) A judgment of the wicked during the Millennium period of thousand years in heaven (Revelation 20:4-6; Revelation 20:11-13; 1 Cor. 6:2

3). The post-advent or millennial judgment concerns those who have rejected or never professed God’s grace. This millennial judgment allows the saints to review all of history and God’s judgments before the final elimination of evil at the end of the Millennium.

5) The final annihilating judgment which removes sin, sinners, and death, at the end of the Millennium (Rev 20:1-15).

The sanctuary doctrine in the light of the gospel

The biblical truth about heavenly sanctuary consists of two main elements, Pre-advent or Investigative Judgment of Professed Believers and Cleansing of the Heavenly Sanctuary.

Pre-advent or Investigative Judgment of professed believers

The opponents of the pre-advent judgment of the believers can’t deny that this truth is clearly taught by the Word of God, and the following texts prove it:

2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we (believers) must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

Romans 14:10 “We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.”

1 Peter 4:17–18 “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel?”

Other texts: Rev 12:10; Hebrews 10:30; Ecclesiastes 12:14; Daniel 7:9-10; Luke 20:35; Revelation 14:6-7; 22:12; Matthew 22:11-14.

The pre-advent judgment is understood by Adventists to begin in 1844 (Daniel 8:14) and to continue until before the return of Jesus. The judgment begins first upon the people of God, and their cases must be decided before Christ comes, because the saints are to judge the world after He comes (Dan. 7:22; Rev. 20:4).

What is the reason for the investigative judgment?

The primary reason for the investigative judgment, according to Seventh-day Adventist theology, is to vindicate God’s justice and character in the face of Satan’s accusations against humanity and God’s plan of salvation.

It must be clear that the investigative judgment is not to prove that the believers are good enough to be saved as nobody can be saved by good works, no matter how good they are (Rom 3:20; Gal 2:16; Gal 3:10).

Because saints “have an accuser who accuses them day and night” (Rev 12:10), there is a need for the court case (judgement) as Just God needs to prove before the unfallen worlds that the accuser is wrong and that God has a legal right to save the true believers through their faith in Christ!

During the investigative judgment God demonstrates that he has right to save them because they accepted Christ’s representative righteousness and death (1 Cor 1:30; 2 Cor 5:14,19; Rom 5:18; Rom 6:6) through genuine faith and that they remain (John 15:5) in Him and His righteousness till the end (Matthew 24:13).

Polish Adventist theology professor, Zachariasz Łyko, in the following way explains the key reason of the investigative judgment: “The life of the righteous (those justified by faith in Christ) must be examined in the trial (in absentia) to determine whether they have remained in justification (in a state of grace) until the end, or whether they have despised God’s justification and are not worthy of the name of God’s children. This matter must be resolved before the second coming of Christ.” [Nauki Pisma Świętego (The Teachings of the Holy Scriptures), p. 821].

God discloses the process and the outcome of the investigative judgment to the entire unfallen universe to defend Himself against Satan’s accusations and to prevent all the unfallen beings that inhabit the universe from doubting about His perfect justice.

This judgment is required because the believers have an “accuser who accuses them day and night” (Rev 12:17). It is to justify both God and the true believers from Satan’s accusations (Zechariah 3:1-5; Rev 12; Daniel 7:10,22). God’s justice must be vindicated in the judgment because He forgives guilty people who are true believers. His justice also must be vindicated in the judgment when He condemns fake believers who defile God’s sanctuary (Lev 20:3).

Why does the Bible say that believers are judged according to their deeds (2 Cor. 5:10)?

Their good deeds are reviewed during the investigative judgement (2 Cor 5:10; Dan 7:10) not to prove that their works are good enough to save them, but as evidence (James 2:17) that they have truly accepted salvation through faith alone, allowing Holy Spirit and Christ to dwell in them to produce works of faith. Those works do not save them but provide evidence that they accepted the gift of salvation by faith alone and are born from the Spirit.

In James 2:22, we read that Abraham provided evidence of true faith by his deeds, especially by being willing to sacrifice his son, Isaac: “You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.”

Our works prove not that our righteousness is genuine, but that our faith is genuine.

In the judgment, Christ will bring our works as evidence that we are justified by faith, and when He does that, it will give Him the legal right to represent us. He will say to God, “My righteousness is theirs because they have genuine faith”.

This is the purpose of the investigative judgment and the good news of the gospel. So, the investigative judgment is necessary because God must vindicate His saints and His justice before Jesus comes to take them to heaven.

Through the investigative judgment of the professed believers, God also wants to reveal their motives and the reason why they are Christians.

1 Corinthians 4:5: “Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.”

When God judges, He doesn’t simply judge by our outward acts. He judges by our motives. His verdict will be honest and just, and everyone will admit it.

Investigative judgment in the parable about the wedding garment

The parable about the wedding garment is an excellent example of what the investigative judgment is all about.

Matthew 22:10-14: “The wedding hall was filled with guests (professed believers). But when the king (God) came in to see the guests (investigative judgment), he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment (robe of Christ’s righteousness). So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness…”

The wedding garment here represents the righteousness of Christ. All who accepted the invitation are professed believers. The king (representing God) is investigating who among the invited guests (believers) wears the wedding garment (symbol of Christ’s righteousness) provided by the king and who wears own garment (representing salvation by works or legalism).

And when, as a result of king’s investigation, one guy (legalist and fake believer) was caught red-handed, because he refused to accept Christ’s righteousness as the only way of salvation, he was judged and condemned when the king (God) found he was not wearing the right garment (was not covered with the garment of Christ’s righteousness).

This parable is an excellent representation of the investigative judgment over the professed believers. During the pre-millennial judgment, God investigates whether they have accepted the garment of Christ’s righteousness as the only ticket to heaven and whether they have remained in that righteousness until the end.

The proof that true believers accepted the righteousness of Christ by faith is their works of faith performed by the indwelling Holy Spirit. That is the reason why the deeds of the saints are reviewed during the investigative judgment (2 Cor 5:10). Their good works and keeping of the law don’t save them, because they are saved by Christ 2000 years ago (2 Cor 5:19) and because they made that salvation active by faith and acceptance. Their deeds are only evidence that they truly accepted salvation and are saved.

As a result, those who are righteous by faith alone are vindicated, while all fake believers and legalists are condemned. According to the final verdict of this investigation, the “judgment was given in favour of the saints” (Daniel 7:22), because all those true believers were found covered by the garment of Christ’s righteousness, maintained their faith and remained in Christ’s righteousness until the end.

Investigative judgment in Zechariah 3:1-5

Zechariah 3:1–5 is another excellent illustration of the investigative judgment of believers:

“Joshua the high priest was standing before the Angel of the Lord (Christ), and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose (Heb. “accuse”) him. And the Lord said to Satan, ‘The Lord rebuke you, Satan! … Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?’ Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel who spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, ‘Take away the filthy garments from him.’ And to Joshua He said, ‘See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.’”

This passage depicts Joshua, the high priest, standing before God, with Satan accusing him. Joshua as high priest wears the breastplate with 12 stones “over his heart” which represents God’s people and judgment conducted according to Christ’s love toward them revealed in His sufferings and death for them. That is why it is called the breastplate of judgment which was placed “over the heart” of the high priest.

Exodus 28:29: “So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel on the breastplate of judgment over his heart, when he goes into the holy place, as a memorial before the Lord continually” (the sanctuary was designated as the place of divine judgment as indicated by the judgment of Urim (Num. 27:21) and by the breastplate of judgment of the high priest (Exod. 28:15, 28-30).

The filthy garment worn by Joshua (high priest) represents sins of God’s people. During the judgment process, Christ defends Joshua (and God’s people) by rebuking Satan and telling that He had the right to defend and save Joshua and God’s people because they were like a “brand plucked from the fire” (a burning piece of wood taken out of the fire with a bare hand) referring to His sufferings and death for their salvation.

“Jesus speaks of His people as a brand plucked out of the fire, and Satan understands what this means. The infinite sufferings of the Son of God in Gethsemane and on Calvary were endured that He might rescue His people from the power of the evil one. The work of Jesus for the salvation of perishing souls is as if He thrust His hand into the fire to save them… It is through Christ’s righteousness alone that we are enabled to keep the law” (Signs of the Times, June 2, 1890).

Eventually, as a result of the investigative judgment, Christ legally removes the representative filthy garment from Joshua and from God’s people he represented, and replaces it with His robe of perfect righteousness.

This scene is interpreted as a perfect symbolic representation of God’s judgment, where the life of believers is examined based on their “obedience to the gospel”(1 Pt 4:17), their sins are removed, and they are clothed in Christ’s righteousness.

Since we were perfect in Christ (1 Cor 1:30) and we were punished with death in Him (Romans 6:6; 7:4; 2 Cor 5:14), and because we accepted it, what is the final verdict of the judgment over us, if we are true believers?

Daniel 7:22 “Until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favour of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.”

Investigative judgment in the parable about 10 virgins

Virgins (Mat 25) refer to the church of God and all professed believers who accept God’s truth before the return of the Lord. The story also points to the investigative judgment over the believers. The number ten used here may refer to the people of God living in the end times, who “keep the (10) Commandments of God and believe in the sanctuary doctrine because priests in the temple always served in groups of ten.

In case of the wise true Christians wo are justified by faith and born from the Spirit (symbolised here by oil) the judgement will be made in their favour (Daniel 7:22) because they provided evidence of accepting the justification by faith in the form of internal presence of Holy Spirit (oil) and walking in the Spirit.

But legalists and all those who “do not obey the gospel” will be condemned (1 Pt 4:17; Gal 3:1-2) during the investigative judgement.
According to 1 Pt 4:17 the “obedience to the gospel” (acceptance of justification by faith) is the basis for the investigative judgment. To obey the gospel means to believe in Christ and accept salvation in Christ through faith (Gal 3:1-2) which always leads to works of faith, or obedience motivated by freedom and love.

Didn’t Christ promise that true believers will not be judged?

In John 5:24, the word “judgment” was translated from the Greek word “krisis” which can also mean “condemnation”.

In James 5:12 the same Greek word “krisis” is used and in many Bible versions (including ESV, NIV, and NRSV) it is translated as “condemnation” and not “judgment”.

Therefore, by promising that the believers in Him will not be judged, the Lord simply meant they will not be condemned (Rom 8:1). At the same time, by saying that true believers are not going to be judged, Christ meant that they will not be judged at the final judgement of unbelievers which will take place during the millennium.

This must be what He meant as otherwise Christ would contradict many clear Biblical statements according to which saints are to be judged (2 Cor. 5:10; Rom 14:10). They are to be judged now during the investigative judgement and not at the final judgement of unbelievers that will take place after Christ’s second coming.

In John 5:24 Christ does not say true believers will not come into judgment but that they will not come into condemnation. In other words, the verdict for the believer will never be condemnation as long as they maintain their faith in Christ till the end. It is clear because Romans 8:1 states that “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ”, because in Christ they have passed from death to life.

However, since they have an “accuser who accuses them day and night”, God must vindicate the righteousness, the saints have by faith in Christ, before the entire universe, and He does it through the investigative judgment. In this way God will also demonstrate His perfect justice in dealing with saved by grace sinners.

Cleansing of the Heavenly Sanctuary

What does the Bible teach about cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary?

Evangelical Christians believe that we true believers are cleansed from all aspects of sin when they accept Christ as their Saviour but Adventist claim that the sins of believers are still found in the heavenly records and will be removed from there in the future:

“When the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord, then the sins of the repentant soul who has received the grace of Christ and has overcome through the blood of the Lamb, will be removed from the records of heaven, and will be placed upon Satan, the scapegoat, the originator of sin, and be remembered no more against him forever. . . . When the conflict of life is ended, when the armor is laid off at the feet of Jesus, when the saints of God are glorified, then and then only will it be safe to claim that we are saved, and sinless.” — Signs of the Times, May 16, 1895. {3SM 355.5}

“The work of the investigative judgment and the blotting out of sins is to be accomplished before the second advent of the Lord. Since the dead are to be judged out of the things written in the books, it is impossible that the sins of men should be blotted out until after the judgment at which their cases are to be investigated…. When the investigative judgment closes, Christ will come, and His reward will be with Him to give to every man as his work shall be.” The Great Controversy, 485.

The investigative judgment will end up with the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary from the record of sins committed by God’s people and transferring them onto the head of Azazel (Satan) thus making him responsible for leading them to those sins.

Does the Bible teach about cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary?

The necessity of cleansing the heavenly sanctuary is clearly taught by the Word of God: Daniel 8:14; Leviticus 16:8-10; Hebrews 9:23. We may not perfectly understand this subject but the opponents of this truth can’t deny its existence in the Word of God!

Dan 8:14 (NKJV): “Because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn (papal Rome) to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered. Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who was speaking, ‘How long will the vision be, concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot?’ And he said to me, ‘For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed’.”

Does the New Testament mention about cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary?

Hebrews 9:22-23: “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens (earthly sanctuary) should be purified (cleansed) with these, but the heavenly things themselves (heavenly sanctuary) with better sacrifices than these (Christ’s blood)”.

What is the meaning of the expression “heavenly things” used by Paul in verse 23? In the context we know for sure that he meant the heavenly sanctuary: Hebrews 9:24 (NIV): “For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence”.

Although Adventists are condemned for teaching about the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary yet even among famous protestant theologians there are some who seem to agree with this idea.

BF Westcott

Brooke Foss Westcott (renowned British theologian) wrote the following comment on Hebrews 9:23: “It may be said that even ‘heavenly things,’ so far as they embody the conditions of man’s future life, contracted by the Fall something which required cleansing. It was Christ’s blood, Paul said, that was available ‘for the cleansing of the heavenly archetype of the earthly sanctuary’.” B.F. Westcott, Epistle to the Hebrews, pp. 272, 271.

Henry Alford: “The heaven itself needed, and obtained, purification by the atoning blood of Christ.” Henry Alford, The Greek Testament, 3rd ed. (London: Deighton, Bell and Co., 1864), vol. 4, p. 179.

What in heaven, where holiness prevails, could possibly need to be purified?

There are few forms of sin the heavenly sanctuary needs to be cleansed from. One of them is the record of the sins committed by the saints.
In heaven God has a detailed account of every sin ever committed by every individual (Revelation 20:12; Matthew 12:36; Ecclesiastes 12:14).
Although those true believers are already justified, regarded as holy, and constantly live under umbrella of Christ’s righteousness, yet the record of their sins must be blotted out by the blood of Jesus on the basis of the fact that all their sins were already included in the cross of Christ.

However, it extremely vital to emphasize the fact that this found in the heavenly sanctuary record of sins (committed by true believers), remains there until the great day of judgement, final atonement and cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, not against the truly believing sinners, as they are no longer under the law and condemnation (Rom 7:6; 8:1), but against Satan who will ultimately be held responsible for all the sins included in that record.

“The blood of Christ, while it was to release the repentant sinner from the condemnation of the law, was not to cancel the sin; it would stand on record in the sanctuary until the final atonement. … In the great day of final award, the dead are to be ‘judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works’ (Revelation 20:12). Then by virtue of the atoning blood of Christ, the sins of all the truly penitent will be blotted from the books of heaven” (Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 357).

Please notice that this quote talks only about blotting out of sins registered in heaven but it does not claim that we will be justified from them through Christ’s ministry in the heavenly sanctuary. As it was already mentioned here many times, true born from the Spirit believers who maintain their faith are already forgiven, justified from all sins (past, present and future). Therefore, in heaven, only the record of their sins is to be blotted out.

Although we are already forgiven and free from condemnation now (Rom. 8:1) and stay in this peaceful state as long as we keep on truly accepting Christ and His righteousness (Rom. 5:1; 1 Cor. 1:30), yet the record of our sins remains in the heaven (2 Cor. 5:10) until the final atonement and the investigative judgement is over.

Then Christ will finish the process of cleansing the heavenly sanctuary (Hebr. 9:23; Dan. 8:14) from the record of the sins committed by true believers, placing them upon the head of Azazel (Satan) who will ultimately be held responsible for all the sins included in that record.
It is important, because although the cross of Christ saved saints once for all, yet it didn’t solve the problem of responsibility for introducing the law of sin and selfishness in perfect universe and here on earth, and for leading saints to sin.

Therefore, the Adventist teaching about cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary is based on the Bible and does not contradict the truth about justification by faith alone.

Although as true believers we are already forgiven and free from condemnation now (Rom. 8:1) and stay in this peaceful state as long as we keep on truly accepting Christ and His righteousness (Rom. 5:1; 1 Cor. 1:30), yet the record of our sins remains in heaven until the final atonement and the investigative judgement is over. Then Christ will finish the process of cleansing the heavenly sanctuary (Hebr. 9:23; Dan. 8:14) from the record of the sins committed by true saved believers in Him. This record of sins (committed by saints) found in the heavenly sanctuary remains there until the great day of judgement, final atonement and cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, not against the truly believing sinners, as they are no longer under the law nor condemnation (Rom 7:6; 8:1), but against Satan who will ultimately be held responsible for all the sins included in that record.

The record of sins (committed by saints) found in the heavenly sanctuary, remains there until the great day of judgement, final atonement and cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, not against them, as they are already forgiven and are no longer under the condemnation of the law (Rom 7:6; 8:1) but against Satan who will ultimately be held responsible for all the sins included in that record.

The true believers have been already cleansed from all their sins by the blood (death) of Christ, but since the cross didn’t deal with the problem of responsibility for injecting the law of sin in us and using it to lead us to sins, this aspect of sin must be addresses by God at the great day of judgement before the return of Christ.

“As the priest, in removing the sins from the sanctuary, confessed them upon the head of the scapegoat, so Christ will place all these sins upon Satan, the originator and instigator of sin. The scapegoat, bearing the sins of Israel, was sent away ‘unto a land not inhabited;’ so Satan, bearing the guilt (responsibility) of all the sins which he has caused God’s people to commit, will be for a thousand years confined to the earth, which will then be desolate, without inhabitant, and he will at last suffer the full penalty of sin in the fires that shall destroy all the wicked.” – The Great Controversy, 485, 486.

Here is what the book Great Controversy teach about cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary and closely associated with it investigative judgement:

“As the books of record are opened in the judgment, the lives of all who have believed on Jesus come in review before God. Beginning with those who first lived upon the earth, our Advocate presents the cases of each successive generation, and closes with the living. Every name is mentioned, every case closely investigated. Names are accepted, names rejected…. At the time appointed for the judgment –the close of the 2300 days, in 1844– began the work of investigation and blotting out of sins. All who have ever taken upon themselves the name of Christ must pass its searching scrutiny. Both the living and the dead are judged ‘out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works’.” (Great Controversy, 1950 edition, page 483, 486).

Cleansing of the sanctuary in Leviticus 16

In Hebrews 9:23 Paul clearly says that the temple in heaven must be cleansed, because the earthly one was cleansed once a year, and the earthly temple was a reflection of the heavenly. It means that everything that took place in the earthly must also take place in the heavenly (Hebrews 8:5). Therefore, since once a year, in the earthly temple, there was the great Day of Judgment (Atonement) and the cleansing of the temple, the same must also take place in the heavenly temple!

It explains why in Hebrews 9:23 Paul only stated that the temple in heaven must be cleansed, but he didn’t expand on this idea. He didn’t write more details about cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary because all the details were already included in Leviticus 16! That is why after a brief description of the earthly temple in Hebrews 9:1-4 he concludes, “of these things we cannot now speak in detail” (Hebrews 9:5). He simply tells us that there is no need to explain why and how the heavenly temple must be cleansed, because it was already explained by the service that took place in the earthly temple. So he prompts us to study Leviticus 16 if we want to understand it!

The purpose of the entire Letter to the Hebrews (addressed to Jewish Christians, who were soon to be disheartened due to the destruction of the earthly temple), is simply to show them that the earthly temple was only a shadow, but the true reality where the minds and hearts of the believers should dwell is the heavenly sanctuary where Christ our righteous Great High Priest and Mediator is!

So, let us go to Leviticus 16, because the earthly temple was a reflection of the heavenly, and everything that happened in the earthly must also happen in the heavenly.

Leviticus 16:30: “For on this day atonement shall be made for you, to cleanse you. You shall be clean from all your sins before the Lord.”
On the basis of this text we can say that because in the earthly sanctuary, God’s people and the sanctuary were cleansed from sin on the Day of Atonement (Judgment), also Christ as our High Priest must perform such cleansing in the heavenly sanctuary (Hebrews 9:23).

Since, the great Day of Atonement (Judgment), during which the earthly temple was cleansed from sin, took place before the Feast of Tabernacles, likewise the the investigative judgment and cleansing of the heavenly temple, must take place before the saints inherit God’s Kingdom at the return of Christ.

In the earthly temple, which was a reflection of the heavenly, the priests carried out two kinds of service: 1. THE DAILY SERVICE IN THE HOLY PLACE, and 2. THE YEARLY SERVICE IN THE MOST HOLY PLACE.

1. The Daily Service – This was the continual service of forgiveness and reconciliation, which gave the sinner a constant opportunity to confess sins, be reconciled to God, and receive forgiveness through the sacrifice and the mediator (the priest), with both the sacrifice and the mediator pointing to Christ. During the daily service a sinner came to the temple with a sacrifice, confessed his sins upon its head, and killed it. The priest would take the blood of the sacrifice into the holy place (not the most holy) and sprinkle it on the veil that separated the holy from the most holy. In this way the sinner went away reconciled with God.

On the basis of the fact that what happened in earthly temple must take place in the heavenly, we may say that the daily service refers to Christ’s mediatory work in the holy place of the heavenly sanctuary that started at the time of His ascension.

Hebrews 9:24: “For Christ has not entered a sanctuary made with hands, which are copies of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.”

The word “now” means that Christ immediately after His ascension entered the holy place of the temple and interceded for sinful people who believed in Him.

Hebrews 10:19–20: “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the veil, that is, through His flesh…”

After His ascension Christ entered the holy place of the heavenly temple in order continually to intercede for sinful people who believe in Him, and He still carries out this ministry even now, because He is a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

2. The Yearly Service – Because the sins of God’s people were daily carried into the temple, once a year, on the great Day of Judgment, all God’s people gathered before the temple and two goats were brought. One was for the Lord and one for Azazel. The one for the Lord (symbolising Christ) was killed, and its blood was taken by high priest into the Most Holy Place and sprinkled over the ark of the covenant, which contained the Law of God that had been transgressed. In this way the high priest made the atonement for the people. Then, the priest laid his hands on the head of the goat for Azazel (symbol of Satan), thereby transferring onto its head the sins of the people. This goat was not killed, but sent into the wilderness.

Just as those confessed sins in some way defiled the earthly temple, so also our sins defile the heavenly temple. And therefore, just as once a year there was the Day of Judgment, during which the final cleansing of the temple and of God’s people from sin was carried out, so also the same must take place in the heavenly temple (Hebrews 9:23).

The investigative judgement will end up with the Cleansing of the Heavenly Sanctuary (Hebr 9:23; Dan 8:14) from the record of sins committed by God’s people and transferring them onto the head of Azazel (satan) (Lev 16:7-10) thus making him responsible for leading them to those sins. The cleansing, restoration and vindication of the heavenly sanctuary refers also to the sins of the little horn (papal Rome) that “trampled the truth” (Dan 8:9-12) about the gospel and Christ’s heavenly ministry as High Priest by “polluting” Christianity with the heresy of salvation by faith plus works and by diverting the attention of Christians from Christ’s mediating ministry and directing it toward the priestly service of clergy that offered forgiveness through human mediators.

Cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary refers to the aspect of sin that was not dealt with at the cross, and therefore, must be addressed before the return of Christ!

To understand why the heavenly sanctuary, the believers, and God Himself are to be cleansed (justified) from sin in the sense of responsibility, we need to take into consideration that there are 4 different aspects of sin and not all of them were included in the cross of Christ:

1. Condemnation and punishment of sin: This aspect of sin was addressed by the cross of Christ. We have been already saved (past tense) from punishment and condemnation of sin (justification) by the death of Christ (2 Cor 5:14,19-21; Rom 6:6; 7:4) and because we are in Christ (1 Cor 1:30) and because we accept it, we are not under the condemnation of the law but under grace (Rom 6:14; 7:6).

2. Power of sin and slavery to sin: We are being now delivered from the power of sin (from sinning) in the present continuous tense (which is a progressive and an ongoing process of sanctification).

3. Presence of sin and the nature of sin: In the future we will be saved, delivered from the presence of sin (from our sinful nature and the indwelling law of sin) at the second coming of Christ (glorification).

4. Responsibility for injecting the “sin” (law of sin) in us and using it to lead us to sins: At the great day of atonement and cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, the just God will deal with the responsibility for introducing sin in the perfect universe, injecting into our first parents and us the “law of sin” (Rom 7:20-25) and for using this law to lead us (believers) to sins.

Unfortunately, the Evangelical Christians focus only on the first one or two aspects of sin, neglecting the final one (responsibility), and that is why they have natural tendencies to condemn Adventists who believe in the clear biblical teaching about the necessity of cleansing the heavenly sanctuary. On the other hand, some Adventists contribute to it by presenting this subject in a legalistic way instead of in the light of the gospel.

Popular Adventist theologian Jack Sequeira, using the following example, explained the relationship between punishment and responsibility:

“We were driving once in a Volkswagen in Ethiopia with the president of our union, who was from Sweden. We were keeping the speed limit and driving safely. A certain man, who was walking by the road, noticed his friend on the other side of the road and suddenly turned on the road right into our car. His head hit the windscreen and he died instantly. The parents of that man took us to court. We had to admit that it was our car that killed him. We couldn’t deny that. But the witnesses who saw the whole thing all agreed that this man crossed the road without looking. We killed the man, but who was responsible for his death? He was. Therefore, we were set free, even though we were involved in the man’s death. According to the law, we could not be punished.”

Similarly, when it comes to sin, it is critically important to consider not only the aspects of guilt and punishment, but also responsibility. Who initiated sin, introduced it in the perfect universe and developed? Who is responsible for injecting the law of sin into Adam and Eve and through them into all of us? And who is responsible for leading us to many sins using the law of sin which is in us?!

The judgment and cleansing of the sanctuary also involves “justifying” God Himself by demonstrating that He is not responsible for sin appearing in the perfect universe as this responsibility will be transferred onto the head of Azazel:

“In the judgment of the universe, God will stand clear of blame for the existence or continuance of evil. It will be demonstrated that the divine decrees are not accessory to sin. There was no defect in God’s government, no cause for disaffection. When the thoughts of all hearts shall be revealed, both the loyal and the rebellious will unite in declaring, ‘Just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints’ (Revelation 15:3-4).” — The Desire of Ages, p. 58. (See also The Great Controversy, p. 503; Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 339)

Heavenly sanctuary cleansed from the sin of earthly (priestly) ministry and caritas gospel introduced by “little horn”

There are two additional forms of sin committed by professed (false) believers that the heavenly sanctuary had to be cleansed from:

1. Papal Rome (little horn) trampled the truth (Dan 8:9-12) about the heavenly sanctuary and Christ’s heavenly ministry as a high priest, which was meant to be one of the most important teachings for believers (Hebrews 8:1-2). Papal Rome diverted the attention of Christians from Christ’s service and directed it toward the priestly service of clergy. A temple was established on earth along with a substitute earthly priesthood, offering forgiveness through human mediators. In place of the Last Supper, the Mass was introduced, which the Roman Church established as a continually repeated, bloodless sacrifice presented to God by a human priest. Because these sacrifices are continually repeated, it thus became possible to obtain grace for the dead as well (for which money also had to be paid).

2. The heavenly sanctuary, which represents the pure truth of the gospel, was also polluted with the introduced by Augustine, the father of Catholic Church, sin of perverted caritas gospel (salvation by faith plus works), similar to the heresy of galatianism. For more details on this subject go to the section “What sin makes the Sanctuary polluted”.

In this way, papal Rome perverted the truth of the gospel, and Christ’s mediating ministry in the heavenly sanctuary was ultimately denied. The truth about the gospel and sanctuary was cast down to the ground (Daniel 8:12). It was only after 1260 years—after the year 1798 (in the first half of the 19th century)—and at the end of the 2300 prophetic years (in 1844) that this truth was to be “restored”, “vindicated” (Daniel 8:14), and the sanctuary “cleansed.”

That is the reason why in Daniel 8:14 the prophet decided to use the Hebrew word tsadak instead of taher (Lev 16). This is so because tsadak has a broader meaning and apart from cleansing it involves restoring, vindicating and justifying. That is why the Amplified Bible (1987) wisely translates “tsadak” using two different words, “cleansed” and “restored”: “For 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed and restored.”

Why do saved believers confess sins?

“When we confess our sins, they are taken from us and marked in the heavenly sanctuary as forgiven—just as symbolically the sins of Israel were transferred to the earthly sanctuary, where they too were forgiven. And just as the earthly sanctuary was cleansed, so also will the heavenly one be cleansed of all sins. One day, those sins will fall upon the head of the one who caused them” (Clifford Goldstein, 1844 Made Simple).

Because according to the above quote by Clifford Goldstein, our sins are forgiven when we confess them, we need to understand why true and saved by faith believers confess their sins.

It is very interesting that apostle Paul who wrote half of the New Testament never tells Christians to confess sins. Only John says in 1 John 1:9 that “if we confess our sins, God will forgive us”.

Does this mean that we are not under the grace anymore until we confess?

When we reed the context, we can see that John addresses Christians who deceived themselves by claiming they “had no sin” because they believed they were sinless (see 1 John 1:8). So, he simply says that we are deceiving ourselves if we think we have no sin (are sinless) because “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. And therefore, if confess our sins (admit that we are sinners), God forgives us through the blood of His Son as He already took all our sins to the cross.

Does it mean we shouldn’t confess our sins? No, we should, but true saved by grace believers confess their sins and are truly sorry not because they are not forgiven until they confess their sins, but because with their sins they increased the sufferings of Christ He experienced on the cross, because their sins disturb their delicate and loving relationship with the Lord, and because through their sins they grieve God who hates sin.

According to the gospel, true believers should not confess their sins out of fear of condemnation, but they are to confess them as something that was already dealt with and forgiven on the cross 2000 years ago, and because they were crucified with Christ 2000 years ago (because they were already punished through death in Him for all their sins) (Rom 6:6; 2 Cor 5:14), are constantly free from condemnation of the law in Christ (Rom 7:6; Rom 8:1) who all the time covers them with His perfect righteousness (1 Cor 1:30), and because they are complete in Him (Col 2:10) in spite of imperfections, and married to Him (Rom 7:4), and are one with Him (1 Cor 6:17), and therefore His perfection is theirs.

What about Bible verses suggesting that our sins are blotted out forever and not remembered anymore?

But what about all those texts that seem to say that when God forgives us now, He doesn’t remember our sins anymore? Isn’t what we teach about cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, the investigative judgment and the final atonement contradict the Word of God?

Here are few verses that claim God is not supposed to remember our sins:

“I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (Hebrews 8:12).
“I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more” (Isaiah 43:25).
“I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (Jeremiah 31:34).

Well, there is no contradiction here as these verses simply predicted that after the final Day of Atonement and when Christ finishes the final act of cleansing the heavenly sanctuary, God will finally blot out all our sins registered in heavenly records.

“When the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord, then the sins of the repentant soul who has received the grace of Christ and has overcome through the blood of the Lamb, will be removed from the records of heaven, and will be placed upon Satan, the scapegoat, the originator of sin, and will be remembered no more against him forever”. – Signs of the Times, May 16, 1895. {3SM 355.5}

“The work of the investigative judgment and the blotting out of sins is to be accomplished before the second advent of the Lord. Since the dead are to be judged out of the things written in the books, it is impossible that the sins of men should be blotted out until after the judgment at which their cases are to be investigated…. When the investigative judgment closes, Christ will come, and His reward will be with Him to give to every man as his work shall be.” The Great Controversy, 485.

However, at the same time, if we are true believers in Christ, our sins are already forgiven, we constantly live under the umbrella of His righteousness and are free from condemnation of the law.

This record of sins (committed by believers) found in the heavenly sanctuary remains there until the great day of judgement, final atonement and cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, not against the believing sinners, as they are no longer under the law and condemnation (Rom 7:6; 8:1) but against Satan who will ultimately be held responsible for all the sins included in that record.

So, there is no contradiction here. Those who quote the above Bible verses which state that God will not remember our sins anymore don’t prove that EGW was wrong and that our doctrine of the investigative judgement and final cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary from registered in heaven sins contradict those verses. They only say, that God will remember our sins no more at some point of time in the future (after the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary).

However, at the same time it is important to emphasise the fact that the forgiveness from our sins and freedom from condemnation starts as soon as we accept Jesus as our Saviour (1 John 1:9). And we stay forgiven, freed from condemnation of the law and we constantly remain righteous in Him as long as we keep on truly believing in Christ and accepting His righteousness as our own and as long as we remain in Him through faith (1Cor 1:30, Romans 8:1; Rom 5:1; Rom 7:4).

EXAMPLES OF FORGIVEN BUT NOT FORGOTTEN SINS IN THE BIBLE

The above texts that state God will not remember our sins anymore say nothing about when this happens. They only say God at certain point will finally blot them out forever and they will not be remembered anymore in due time.

Let me give you a proof and few examples of sins committed by true and saved believers whose sins were forgiven but the memory of those sins still exists and haven’t yet been blotted out.

The obvious examples are the sins committed by David, Samson, Peter, Manasseh and other sins committed by forgiven and saved believers. Have their sins been wiped out from existence and not remembered anymore now? No! They are forgiven but not forgotten yet as many people continue reading about those sins in the Bible, remember about those sins and talk about them.

They will be finally blotted out at the end of the investigative judgment and the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary. When the great controversy between Christ and Satan finally ends, God will, for all eternity, remember our sins no more; they will be wiped from existence forever. All that will be remembered forever are the wounds of Jesus caused by our sins.

Opponents of the sanctuary doctrine & response to their key arguments

First of all, whatever the critics say, the existence of the investigative judgement over the believers and the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary are undeniable Biblical facts (2 Cor 5:10; Heb 9:23). And the Seventh Day Adventist Church is the only honest and brave enough denomination to admit existence of those truths in the Bible and doing her best to understand this difficult subject better.

All the opponents of the sanctuary message who put the SDA Church among sects because of the teaching about the investigative judgement and the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, should be asked a the following questions:

Can you provide an honest and reliable explanation of Daniel 8:14; Heb 9:23; and 2 Cor 5:10?

Can you justify the ridiculous gap theory of the 70 weeks?

Can you justify your claim that Antiochus Epiphanes was the fulfilment of the prophecy about little horn from Daniel 7 and Daniel 8?

And if you can’t, maybe you should be called a cult?

The early Christians, the apostolic church, were called a sect by the Roman world, although they had and proclaimed the truth. And it is not uncommon for history to repeat itself. Shakespeare wrote that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Truth is truth, whatever men call it, and God’s truth will triumph.

Main Critics of the sanctuary doctrine

CANRIGHT

It started in1880s when it was attacked by the prominent ex-Adventist minister Dudley M. Canright (1840-1919) in his influential book Seventh-day Adventism Renounced. He argued that if one believes in a literal heavenly sanctuary and reads Hebrews 6:19-20 where Jesus is said to have entered “within the veil”, then Jesus ascended into the Most Holy Place at his ascension in AD 31 and consequently the 1844 date is meaningless. He argued that “there is no need of a temple in heaven just like the old Jewish one.

BELLENGER

A more substantial challenge to the doctrine of the investigative judgment and cleansing of the sanctuary came from Albion Ballenger (1861-1921). Ballenger “did not reject the sanctuary teaching” but “retained and radically modified the SDA doctrine.” He claimed that Christ entered “within the veil” into the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary at his ascension in AD 31 and not in 1844 (he repeated Canright’s view); and that the atonement for sin and the cancellation of guilt was completed at the cross and, therefore, there was no need for a later investigative judgment to deal with sin.
Ellen G. White rejected Ballenger’s views as a misapplication of scriptural verses.

KELLOG

John Harvey Kellogg, M.D. (1852-1943) was advocating pantheistic views of God rejected the very idea of a real, tangible heavenly sanctuary and thus an investigative judgment. He indicated that “the cleansing of the sanctuary from sin was not something in a faraway heaven. The sin is here in our heart, and here is the sanctuary to be cleansed.”

WAGGONER

It is of interest to note that E. J. Waggoner (1855-1916), who helped initiate a renewed focus on righteousness by faith in 1888, eventually rejected the teaching of the investigative judgment. In the late 1890s Waggoner increasingly came to conceive of salvation and atonement as an essentially subjective experience of personal transformation and perfection. Sin was a problem within that is cleansed through a reception of the mystical life of Christ within the believer. Eventually, just before he died in 1916, he believed that God only needed to internally cleanse our inward enmity against him. There was no external need to investigate sin or cleanse a legal record from the heavenly sanctuary.

CONRADI

In the early 1930s a prominent former European church leader, Ludwig R. Conradi (1856-1939), left the church to become a Seventh Day Baptist. Rejection of the investigative judgment was one of the reasons. Conradi argued that the 2300 days of Daniel 8:14 pointed to the restoration of the Reformation Gospel in 1844 and not an investigative judgment.

BARNHOUSE AND WALTER MARTIN

In the 1950s, two evangelical scholars by the name of Barnhouse, the editor of Eternity Magazine, and Walter Martin, the expert on the cults, visited the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and had several meetings with the brethren, our theologians. The result of those meetings were twofold. A book published by the Review and Herald, which I am sure most of you are acquainted with, Questions on Doctrines, appeared. Those questions were asked by these two scholars.
The other book was by Walter Martin himself, The Truth About Seventh-day Adventists. In that book, Walter Martin delivered the Seventh-day Adventists out of the cults. He no longer calls us a cult, but he calls us a Christian Church with a few beliefs. He had one observation to make above most others and that was our doctrine on 1844 and our interpretation of Daniel 8:14. I will paraphrase what he said. He said that the Seventh-day Adventist teaching on Daniel 8:14, 1844, cleansing of the sanctuary, and so on is the greatest face-saving lie invented in the history of Christianity. That was his statement.

HAROLD LINSO

Then another scholar came on the scene by the name of Harold Linso. This is what he says: “If Seventh-day Adventists cannot prove 1844 from the Bible they have no right to exist as a denomination.” I agree with that. Destroy 1844 and you destroy the mission of this church. If you destroy the mission of this church, we have no right to exist as a denomination so it is quite a challenge from these non-Adventist scholars.

DESMOND FORD

Then we come to that famous October meeting at Pacific Union College, October, 1979, when Desmond Ford (1929-2019) was asked by the Adventist Forum to defend 1844 from the Bible. He answered that it cannot be defended from the Bible. This led to six months of probation when he had to defend himself by producing a document which was studied at Glacier View.
What distinguishes Ford from all previous critics is how he brought together their arguments and presented them in a more persuasive manner.

Many lifelong Seventh-day Adventist couldn’t answer Desmond Ford’s questions and they left the church and never returned. In Australia the entire generation of pastors left the church when Desmond Ford brought his theology. It affected the entire denomination because people, including those deceived pastors, had not studied this subject for themselves and they didn’t know what the sanctuary message is all about.

It is interesting that Ford also maintained that he still believed in a pre-advent judgment, although it was reduced to a momentary activity of Christ just before he returns (no investigation, court, thrones, angels, books, or open process).
In the next part of this article we are going to go through all the key points that Ford raised that cast doubt on our beliefs concerning the sanctuary message.

RAYMOND COTRELL

After Glacier View, Loma Linda requested Raymond Cottrell, a very well-known Adventist scholar, to expound on what he felt about Desmond Ford’s position. Raymond Cottrell was not only one of the editors of the Review and Herald, but also the man who wrote that section of Daniel in the Seventh-day Adventist Commentary. So he was a key scholar.

In his talk at Loma Linda, Cottrell said that, when he was writing the Daniel part of our commentary, he contacted almost every Bible professor dealing with this area — not only from the colleges of North America but also colleges outside of North America. He said that not one of them could defend 1844 from the Bible. So he was asked by a person of the congregation there at Loma Linda, “Do you believe in 1844?” And he said, “Yes, but I do not believe that I can prove it from the Bible. I believe it because Ellen G. White taught so.”

Response to the key arguments used against the sanctuary doctrine

Desmond Ford and other opponents of the sanctuary doctrine came up with the arguments that are addressed below.

The investigative judgment, the verdict, and the reward are all done at the Second Coming of Christ. Nothing in it is pre-Advent

Unlike SD Adventists, other denominations believe that the investigative judgment, the verdict, and the reward are all done at the Second Coming of Christ.
There are two answers for such people in order to defend the Adventist position.

Number one, we know that the reward of the believers will take place at the Second Coming of Christ. The New Testament is absolutely clear on that. In John 14:2-3 Christ says, “I go to prepare a place for you; and when I come back, you will be where I am.”

If the reward is at the Second Coming of Christ, which is the third phase of the judgment, then the trial and the verdict has to take place before the Second Coming. Therefore, the judgment over the believers must take place before the return of Christ and not at the second advent! There is no text in the Word of God suggesting it will take place at the return of the Lord.

Here is a second reason. Nowhere in scripture, Old or New Testament, does it ever teach that when Christ comes for the second time, He will be our advocate. He will come as King and Conqueror. If our trial is after He comes the second time, then we will be without our advocate! If He is not going to be my advocate, I have a problem. But I thank God that He is my advocate now, and that He will vindicate my justification.

It is obvious that the priestly ministry of Christ — that is, His advocate ministry — is pre-Advent. Nowhere is it ever mentioned that He will be an advocate at the Second Advent.

Our fellow Christians, who believe that they will be judged at the second coming of Christ need to ask themselves “who is going to be their advocate when Christ comes not as their advocate but as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords?!” At His second coming, He will not come to judge but to execute the outcome of the judgment. As far as

I am concerned know who my advocate is right now — “Christ, the Righteous”.

The sanctuary doctrine as taught by the Seventh-day Adventists contradicts the gospel of grace and salvation by faith alone

At the heart of Ford’s objections was his understanding of the gospel. He later stated that “The doctrine of an Investigative Judgment that began in 1844 denies the finality of the Cross. If the atonement is finished at the cross, and salvation is granted in a once-for-all manner via forensic justification when one believes, then there is no need for a future investigative judgment. The believer has passed from death to life and will not enter into judgment (Ford used John 5:24 as a favourite proof text).” According to Ford, All atonement, judgment, and blotting out of sin was completed at the cross.

However, Desmond Ford and other opponents of the sanctuary doctrine are not right because the sanctuary doctrine emphasizes the gospel, as shown by the fact that God’s end-time judgment is based on gospel message in Revelation 14:6-7. Please notice that the first angel who has the everlasting gospel announces that the hour of judgment has come. It means that the judgment message is closely related to the gospel.

Although it is true that when the church was struggling with legalism, the doctrine was often taught legalistically, but when we have been gospel-focused, the doctrine is more frequently taught with gospel-based assurance. The more recent focus on phases of heavenly ministry has led to a more gospel-centred understanding of the doctrine.

The opponents of this doctrine can’t deny that the truth about the investigative (pre-advent) judgment of the believers and cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary are included in the Word of God.

It is also clear that those truths do not contradict the gospel and justification by faith in Christ alone.

Since there is an accuser who continuously accuses God’s people and God Himself, the main purpose of the investigative (pre-advent) judgment of the believers is to defend and vindicate the righteousness the saints already have in Christ by faith as well as God’s justice in dealing with the sin problem.

The main purpose of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary is to transfer onto the head of Azazel (satan) the responsibility for introducing sin in the perfect universe, injecting into us the law of sin and for using it to lead us (believers) to sins.

The vision of the premillennial judgment and cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary from registered there sins of true believers, can be portrayed in the following way:
When, during this judgment, an angel standing before the glorious heavenly tribunal solemnly announces the name of a person who professed faith in Christ, another mighty angel rises and proclaims the verdict in a resounding voice:

“Throughout his life, from the moment of conversion, he was always sorry for the sins he committed as a believer, and was never relying on his own righteousness, which he regarded as a defiled garment. He always relied on the fact that all his sins were already dealt with on the cross of Christ and by a genuine faith he was continuously accepting the representative righteousness and death of Christ as the only way of justification.

As a result, he was always covered with the spotless robe of His righteousness. He also provided evidence of genuine faith by being born from the Spirit and by allowing the indwelling Holy Spirit to produce works of faith.

Therefore, because he preserved his true faith in Christ until the end, by order of the Supreme Court, we hereby declare once and for all that he is recognized as holy and righteous in Christ, and the entire record of his already justified sins is forever erased. The responsibility for having led him into all recorded transgressions, from which he has been cleansed by the blood of the Lord, is placed upon Lucifer—the author and instigator of sin. Amen!’”

Then the angel reads the name of another person. But this time, it is a fake believer, a legalist, or someone who did not endure in faith. Therefore, with a voice heavy with sorrow, the angel announces a fearful verdict.

Does the Seventh Day Adventist teaching on cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, the great day of atonement and investigative judgement contradict the truth about righteousness by faith alone?

There are many Christians and scholars who believe in the investigative judgment. For example, the famous Allan Lead believes in an investigative judgment but he doesn’t call it the investigative judgment; he calls it the “scrutinizing of the lives of the believers.” It is the same thing.

The same is true in case of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary.

Heb 9:22-23: “And according to the Law, almost all things are CLEANSED with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Therefore, it was NECESSARY for the copies of the things in the heavens [earthly sanctuary] to be cleansed with these [blood of animals], but the HEAVENLY THINGS THEMSELVES WITH BETTER SACRIFICES than these [with blood of Christ]”.

Here is an example of how an honest none-Adventist theologian, Brooke Foss Westcott [1825-1901, Anglican bishop of Durham, Eng., and renown biblical scholar who collaborated on an influential critical edition of the Greek text of the New Testament] understood Paul’s inspired intentions:

“In what sense then can it be said that ‘the heavenly things’ needed cleansing? The necessity for the purification of the earthly sanctuary and its vessels came from the fact that they were to be used by man and shared in his impurity (comp. Lev. xvi. 16). Agreeably with this view it may be said that even ‘HEAVENLY things,’ so far as they embody the conditions of man’s future life, contracted by the Fall something which REQUIRED CLEANSING (comp. 1 Tim. iv. 4f ). Man is, according to the revelation in Scripture, so bound up with the whole finite order, that the consequences of his actions extend through creation in some way which we are unable to define.” [Commentary on the Epistle on the Hebrews 9:23]

Westcott doesn’t seem to understand why also the heavenly things need cleansing [with the blood of Christ], but unlike many other scholars, theologians, pastors and believers, he is honest because he knows nobody can deny the fact that inspired Apostle Paul clearly stated here that there is a true sanctuary in heaven and that Christ himself ministers there for us as a High Priest and that this heavenly sanctuary has to be cleansed.

ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF GOD, ALTHOUGH BELIEVERS ARE RIGHTEOUS IN CHRIST, YET THEY STILL MUST STAND IN THE JUDGEMENT (2 Cor 5:10; Rom 14:10; 1 Peter 4:17).

The following conclusion is very clear in the Bible:

On one hand, it declares that (true believers in Christ) are now righteous in Christ, hidden and just in Him (1 Cor. 1:30), forgiven, freed from sin (Rom. 6:14) in the sense of condemnation and eternal death, delivered from under the condemnation of the law (Rom. 7:4,6), and can enjoy constant peace with God (Rom. 5:1) in spite of imperfections (1 John 2:1).

On the other hand, the same Word of God states that we (saved and forgiven believers in Christ) are to be judged on the basis of good deeds and bad deeds (forgiven sins):

“For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” 2 Corinthians 5:10.

When evangelical Christians are shown this statement (written by the messenger of the gospel of freedom – Apostle Paul), they are often very surprised and they have no idea how to understand it, because this verse clearly points to the fact that also all converted Christians are to be judged, or must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ and be dealt with according to their deeds! Wow! What a surprise!

Also Peter confirms the same truth: “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” 1 Peter 4:17.

Our good deeds are reviewed during the investigative judgement not to contribute to our forgiveness and salvation but to give evidence we are truly saved (through faith alone), we accepted Christ’s righteousness and forgiveness, we are born from the Spirit, and keep on maintaining our faith and remaining in Christ.

In the Bible, we have one group of texts which says that we are justified by faith without works and we have another group of texts that says we will be judged and rewarded according to works. Most Christians ignore one at the expense of the other, accepting one and rejecting the other. Many of the evangelicals use the texts from the first group ignoring the texts that say that we will be judged and rewarded by our works. But many Adventists use the other group of texts and ignore the first. The truth is that we have to accept both. Both are inspired by God. “All scripture is inspired.”

How then do we reconcile one group of texts that say we are justified by faith apart from works and the other group of texts that say we are rewarded, we are judged, we receive resurrection unto life because of our good works or we are lost because of our bad works?

Well, there is a third group of texts that deal with that and we will start with Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches that genuine justification by faith always produces works. You cannot have justification by faith without works; it is impossible. That’s why James says (James 2:17): “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (See also James 2:26). James is not against justification by faith. He is in harmony with Paul. James is condemning those who think that they can be saved and live as they like.

John 14:10-11: “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.”

Jesus saying here, “Philip, the greatest evidence that I can give you that the Father dwells in me and reveals Himself through me is my works. The greatest evidence that the Father was dwelling in Christ was His works and the greatest evidence that we can give that we are justified by faith is that Christ lives and works through us! This is why our works are taken into consideration during the investigative judgment!

In James 2:22, we see what the offering up of Isaac proved: “You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.” Our works prove not that our righteousness is genuine, but that our faith is genuine.

So, in the judgment, Christ will bring our works as evidence that we are justified by faith and when He does that, it will give Jesus the legal right to represent us. He will say to God, “My righteousness is theirs because they have genuine faith,” and He will justify us. This is the purpose of the investigative judgment.

That’s the good news of the gospel! So the investigative judgment is necessary because God has to vindicate the saints before He comes to take them to heaven.

Also our sins are reviewed there because righteous God wants to demonstrate to his holy angels and unfallen worlds that we were truly sorry for committing sins as saved believers. God wants to show that we asked for forgiveness through the cross of Christ and His blood and that we confessed them out of love (because Christ’s perfection He achieved in our corporate sinful nature constantly covers our imperfections) and not because of fear of punishment or egocentric motivation to gain heaven.

The biblical doctrine on the investigative judgement, therefore, does not contradict the truth about righteousness by faith alone. It only demonstrates that the saints remain in Christ and His righteousness until they are finally sealed and until the end of the probation period (prior to Christ’s glorious return). Their sanctified life (which is the result of Christ and Holy Spirit presence and work in them) proves they are covered with the robe of Christ’s righteousness and are saved.

Also the record of sins (committed by saints) found in the heavenly sanctuary remains there until the great day of judgement, final atonement and cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, not against them, as they are no longer under the law and condemnation (Rom 7:6; 8:1) but against Satan who will ultimately be held responsible for all the sins included in that record.

On the basis of the same record, the investigative judgment also reveals before entire universe why God can’t save the professed believers, those who only say that they are Christ’s true followers but with their legalism, life independent from God, lasting in sin, stubbornness give evidence that they are hypocrites and are spiritually dead.

In order to judge them and show His righteousness by excluding them from heaven, God must have the record of their unbelief, legalism, pride, sins, and hidden ungodliness! If God during the investigative judgement doesn’t show the cause of depriving those fake Christians of everlasting life, He might have encourage holy angels and unfallen worlds to serve Him out of fear and not pure love.

THE PARABLE OF THE WEDDING GARMENT

The parable about the wedding garment is an excellent example of what the investigative judgement is all about. The king (representing God) is investigating who among the invited guests (believers) wears the wedding garment (symbol of Christ’s righteousness) provided by the king and who wears own garment (representing salvation by works or legalism). And when, as a result of king’s investigation, one guy (legalist and fake believer) was caught red-handed, he was judged and condemned when the king (God) found he was not wearing the right garment (was not covered with the garment of Christ’s righteousness). This is the very purpose of the Biblical idea of the investigative judgement of the believers.

And, according to the final verdict of this investigation, the “judgement was given in favour of the saints” (Daniel 7:22), because all those true believers were found covered by the garment of Christ’s righteousness, maintained their faith and remained in Christ’s righteousness until the end of their lives or until the end of the probation time. And the proof for this is the fruit of the righteousness by faith (works of Jesus in and through them).

This is important because although the cross of Christ saved saints once for all, it didn’t solve the problem of responsibility for introducing the law of sin and selfishness in a perfect universe and here on earth, and for leading saints to sin also after their conversion. Therefore, the holy and righteous God has to deal with it at certain point.

The word “cleansed” is not a correct translation of Daniel 8:14

Meaning of the word “tsadaq” in Daniel 8:14

Ford argued that the word “cleansed” (nitsadaq) should actually be translated as “justified” or “restored,” and that the Hebrew word meaning “cleanse” is not there.

The word translated as “cleansed” (KJV, NKJV, ERV, ASV) in Daniel 8:14 may not be best rendered as “cleansed” but the broader range of meaning (encompassing justifying, restoring, vindicating, and cleansing) affirms a judgment or judicial connection.

Apart from KJV and NKJV, there are other translations that use the word “cleansed” in Dan 8:14:

American Standard Version: “Unto two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”
English Revised Version: “Unto two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”
Amplified Bible (1987): “For 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed and restored.”

According to the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, the word tsadek can mean: “Cleanse, clear self, do justice, turn to righteousness”.

The term “cleansed” probably made its way into the King James Version (KJV) Bible through the Greek Septuagint translation, which uses “katharisthesetai“, which means to cleanse or purify.

Another possibility is that the KJV relied on the Latin Vulgate, which in Daniel 8:14 uses the word “mundabitur” which also means “cleansed“.

The problem is that, according to the critics, if in Daniel 8:14 the prophet meant cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, he would have used the Hebrew word “tahar” found in Leviticus 16 to express the cleansing of the sanctuary. But in Daniel 8:14, instead of using the word “tahar” the inspired author used a different word, the word “tsadaq“, which means to justify, to restore, or righteous.

The Hebrew word for cleanse (in reference to cleansing of the sanctuary) used in Lev 16 is “tahar” which is different than the word tsadak, used in Daniel 8:14 to describe what happens to the sanctuary.

The reason why Daniel 8:14 uses the word “tsadaq” instead of “tahar”

So, does Daniel 8:14 refer to the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary if the linguistic connection to the Day of Atonement doesn’t seem to be strong and clear?

It is true that the Hebrew word “tsadaq” translated as “cleansed” in Daniel 8:14 is different than the word taher translated as cleansing in Lev 16 but it is so because the word used in Daniel 8:14 having a broader meaning, and better reflects the fact that this act involves not only cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary from sins of the true believers but also vindicates God’s justice in dealing with them, with the responsibility for introducing sin in the perfect universe, and for leading saints to sins. Therefore, the word “tsadaq” was used in Daniel 8:14 because it is related in a very special way to the context of what the day of Atonement is all about.

The Hebrew word here is “tsadaq” has a broad range of possible meanings. Its basic idea is ‘make right,’ ‘justify,’ ‘vindicate,’ or ‘restore’; but “purify” and “cleanse” may be included within its conceptual range. The statement, therefore, acknowledges “cleanse” to be an accepted meaning. One cannot be dogmatic as to its meaning, because in Daniel 8:14 the word “tsadaq” is in the passive form, and the Hebrew passive form of this verb is not found elsewhere in Scripture.

Apart from being polluted with the sins of the believers, the heavenly sanctuary, which represents the pure truth of the gospel, was also polluted with the introduced by Augustine, the father of Catholic Church, sin of perverted caritas gospel (salvation by faith plus works), similar to the heresy of galatianism. For more details on this subject, go to the section “What sin makes the Sanctuary polluted”.

In this way, papal Rome perverted the truth of the gospel, and Christ’s mediating ministry in the heavenly sanctuary was ultimately denied. The truth about the gospel and sanctuary was cast down to the ground (Daniel 8:12).

It was only after 1260 years—after the year 1798 (in the first half of the 19th century)—and at the end of the 2300 prophetic years (in 1844) that this truth was to be “restored”, “vindicated” (Daniel 8:14), and the sanctuary “cleansed.”

That is the reason why in Daniel 8:14 the prophet decided to use the Hebrew word “tsadaq” instead of “tahar” (Leviticus 16). This is so because “tsadak” has a broader meaning and apart from “cleansing” it involves “restoring”, “vindicating” and “justifying”.

That is why the Amplified Bible (1987) wisely translates “tsadak” using two different words, “cleansed” and “restored”: “For 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed and restored.”

The Biblical idea of parallelism in the book of Daniel

One of the proofs that the Hebrew word “tsadaq” can refer to cleansing is the Hebrew idea of parallelism used in the Old Testaments text. Especially in Hebrew poetry there are a number of instances where the parallelism is used.

It is true that the Hebrew word translated “cleansed” for the Day of Atonement, which is taher in Leviticus 16:30, is not the same word used in Daniel 8:14.

However, we have learned that the word “tsadaq” which is used in Daniel 8:14 is related in a very special way to the context of what the day of Atonement is all about.

Note also that the Hebrew words taher and tsadaq are sometimes used interchangeably throughout scripture, a seen in the following two verses:

Job 4:17 “Shall mortal man be more just (tsadaq) than God? shall a man be more pure (taher) than his maker?”
The word “pure” is the Hebrew word “taher” which is the same word used to describe the cleansing of the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:30). Here we find that both taher and tsadaq are interchangeable!

So, justified in the Hebrew mind also means to be purified (clean).

Job 15:14 “What is man, that he should be clean (zakah)? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous (tsadaq)?”

Job 17:9 “Yet the righteous (tsadaq) will hold to his way, And he who has clean (taher) hands will be stronger and stronger.”

Psalm 18:20 “The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness (tsadaq); according to the cleanness (bor) of my hands hath he recompensed me.”

We can see here that throughout the Old Testament the concept of being justified and cleansed or purified are used together. Therefore, when Daniel 8:14 says “unto2300 days then shall the sanctuary be justified”, it also means cleansed. And when in KJV it says ““unto2300 days then shall the sanctuary be cleansed”, it also means justified.

Psalm 19:9 “The fear of the LORD is clean (taher), enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous (tsadaq) altogether.”

Ecclesiastes 9:2 “One event happens to the righteous (tsadaq) and the wicked; To the good, the clean (taher), and the unclean.”

It is therefore clear that the word tsadek (which in Daniel 8:14 is usually translated as justified) is used in the above examples in the context of purification and cleansing. Therefore the meaning of the word tsadek in Daniel 8:14 involves not only justification but also cleansing. The Hebrew word “tsadaq” is associated with such concepts as Judgement, Vindication, Righteousness, Salvation, Purification and Cleansing. All these concepts are exactly what the Day of Atonement is all about. The words tsadaq and taher are intimately connected in scripture. Both are interchangeable, with tsadaq conveying an even deeper meaning to what the Day of Atonement was all about; not just cleansing, but also vindication, salvation, judgment, and more.

To answer the question why in Dan 8:14 tsadak is used and not taher from Lev 16, we need to find out what the sanctuary is being restored or justified from.

Daniel 8 describes a power (antichrist describes as little horn) that arises after the Greek empire. Unlike its predecessors, this power expands not only on earth but also into heaven. It persecutes God’s people and tramples down truth. It figuratively puts itself in the place of Christ and His ministry.

What the antichrist power does is described as “transgression” (Daniel 8:13). In the Bible there are different words to describe the various types of sin. “Transgression” is the Hebrew word pesha and it refers to rebellion.

There is only one ritual that can remedy transgression. It is the Day of Atonement. In fact, in all of Leviticus, “transgression” only occurs in Leviticus 16, which is the chapter that describes the Day of Atonement.

This means that even though “cleanse” is not used in Daniel 8:14, this verse certainly refers to the Day of Atonement.
To further strengthen the Day of Atonement connection, Daniel in vision sees a ram and a goat in Daniel 8, which are the animals used on the Day of Atonement.

Furthermore, the evenings and mornings of Daniel 8:14 cannot refer to the daily sacrifice as this is always described as the morning and evening sacrifice. The only day that begins in the evening, which affects the sanctuary, is the Day of Atonement.

In addition, Daniel 8:14 employs the term “justify”, ”restore” because it has a broader range of meaning than the term “cleanse”. It is a fitting term to describe the solution to the problems described in Daniel 8:13. The word was chosen intentionally in order to cover all problems created by the little horn: restoration of the priestly ministry of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary to its rightful state (from 1844), purification of the heavenly sanctuary from sin, and the vindication of the heavenly sanctuary and the saints through the judgment (Daniel 7:22).

Daniel 8:14 along with the parallel passage of Daniel 7:8-14, describes the vindication of God’s justice and character and His accused by Satan true people, and restoration of the sanctuary truth. False charges laid against God’s justice and sins of His people are legally and rationally dismissed through the investigative judgment.

Septuagint and Daniel 8:14

Take note also that while translating the Hebrew bible into the Greek language, 70 Jewish scholars chose to translate the Hebrew word “tsadaq” in Daniel 8:14 into the Greek word “katharizo.” This same Greek word (which is Strong’s #2511) is used to describe the “cleansing” of the sanctuary on the Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16:30:

Daniel 8:14 (King James Version, LXX) ”And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed (katharizo).”

Leviticus 16:30 (King James Version, LXX.) “For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse (katharizo) you, that ye may be clean (katharizo) from all your sins before the LORD.”

The Greek “katharizo” is also used to describe the cleansing of the Heavenly Sanctuary in Hebrews 9:23. Here the King James Version translates this Greek word as “purified”:

Hebrews 9:23 “It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified (katharizo) with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.”

Even though some believe that Septuagint may not be the best translation, yet it should be emphasised that it was translated from original Hebrew into Greek not by Seventh-day Adventists but by 70 Jewish scholars who at that time knew OT Hebrew much better than any modern scholar.

In addition, there is also an evidence that Septuagint was used by the New Testament writers. And the fact is that in Septuagint (known as the Greek Old Testament), those 70 Jewish scholars translated the Hebrew word “tsadaq” in Daniel 8:14 as “katharizo” which, in Greek, does mean cleansed! And this alone is a very strong argument that the meaning of katharizo does include cleansing. So we have the backing of the Septuagint that it does mean “cleansed.” So the King James version and other versions that translate it as “cleansed” are accurate.

Here is what Polish Adventist theology professor, Zachariasz Łyko, wrote on this subject in one of his books:

“The expression: and the sanctuary shall be cleansed (Dan. 8:14) in Hebrew is: venitsadaq qodesh. The word venitsadaq (and it shall be cleansed) comes from the root tsadaq, which means: to justify, to cleanse. That the word tsadaq in this context means to cleanse is also evident from the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament). The Jewish translators of the Septuagint, when translating this text from Hebrew into Greek, used the Greek word katharizō, which literally means to cleanse. This translation should be considered highly reliable, given the fact that those Jewish translators (scholars) at that time must have had a better knowledge of Hebrew than even the best modern translators” (Nauki Pisma Świętego, p. 316).

Hebrews 9:1-10 Confirms that Paul anticipated an antitypical Day of Atonement ministry at a later “time of di-orthosis” (setting right) (Hebrews 9:10) imposed by the prophetic word. Adventist pastor, John Peters (Pennsylvania Conference), provided a biblical evidence that the Greek di-orthosis is an equivalent to one of the meanings of the Hebrew tsadaq (cleanse, KJV) in Daniel 8:14.

What sin makes the Sanctuary polluted?

In order to know what is the heavenly sanctuary to be cleansed from, we must find out what kind of sin makes it polluted.
The below study, I have derived from the article by E.H. “Jack” Sequeira, provides an evidence that apart from being polluted with the record of the sins of God’s people, the sanctuary is polluted with the sin of caritas love that leads to the heresy of salvation by faith plus works.

The idea of caritas love was a mixture of eros love with agape love introduced by Augustin, the Latin father of the Catholic Church. This sin of caritas love, promoted by “little horn” (papal Rome), distorted the true gospel and salvation by faith alone transforming it into a salvation by faith plus works. In this way the “daily sacrifice was taken away from the Lord” (Dan 8:11), and “the truth (of the gospel) was thrown to the ground” (Dan 8:12) by the little horn (papal Rome).

The ground of our salvation is the love of God. This is the clear teaching of the New Testament. Satan knew this and that is why the first thing that he attacked the Christian Church was not the Sabbath or the state of the dead but it was the concept of God’s love. Human egocentric love was expressed by the Greeks — especially Plato — by the concept of eros, whereas God’s self-emptying love IS described in the New Testament as agape. Then Augustine married these two and came up with the idea of caritas love. Since God’s agape love is the foundation of the true gospel, therefore, if we contaminate the love of God with human eros love, we distort the true gospel. We does it because agape is a self-emptying, spontaneous, unconditional love that God has for us while eros has a self-seeking and conditional love. When agape is the foundation of the gospel it points to the fact that God alone out of His great love saved the sinful human kind through His Son. Adding the human eros love (representing salvation by human works) to the gospel, on the other hand, emphasises efforts of sinful human beings trying to help God in the process of saving them. Therefore, Caritas love, as a combination of agape and eros refers to the sin of false gospel known as galatianism or salvation by faith plus human works partly God and partly us.

AGAPE GOSPEL (GRACE): GOD > > > > MAN
(God out of agape love already saved the entire sinful world 2000 years ago (2 Cor 5:19; Rom 5:18). Sinners need only to accept the gift with a genuine faith and as a result be born from the Spirit)

EROS GOSPEL (LIGALISM): MAN > > > > GOD
[sinners attempting to save themselves by trying to love God and through their good works. As a result they are lost because it is impossible (Gal 3:10)]

CARITAS GOSPEL (GALATIANISM): GOD > > < < MAN
[sinners attempting to save themselves by faith in Christ but plus their good works. It also leads to their condemnation because salvation is possible only by God’s grace (Gal 2:16; Gal 3:1-3)]

Aristotle’s definition of salvation was: “Salvation is the movement of the creature towards God.” Plato put it this way: “God saves only those who are loveable.” That means that God saves only the good people. This is the foundation of every pagan, non-Christian, legalistic religion. In fact, the eros gospel is “legalism”: you have to be good before God can save you. So the eros gospel is man seeking after God that he might be saved. The Roman Catholic wants to go to Rome that he might find blessing in Rome. The Protestant goes to the Holy Land as if there is some special blessing in the Holy Land. The Muslim goes to Mecca that he may become holy. Always running after God, trying to get a blessing from Him: that is at the foundation of the eros religion. The mistake that the Jews made was that they understood God’s love in terms of eros. Therefore, Judaism became a legalistic religion, not a true religion which God intended that it should be (Matthew 19:16). This is something that began right there in the garden of Eden at the beginning of the fall. What did Adam do when he discovered that he was a sinner and naked? He and Eve made fig leaves to cover themselves.

Caritas is where the problem lies. It is a synthesis of agape and eros, therefore its gospel is a synthesis of God and man. In other words, man must do his part and God will do His part. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that while faith is essential, it is not enough on its own for salvation. Good works are also necessary. In the Bible it is known as galatianism (salvation by faith plus works) and is condemned by apostle Paul. Galatians 3:3: “Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?” In other words, they were deceived by thinking that what God did in Jesus Christ was incomplete so they had to make up for it.” So the caritas gospel is partly of God and partly of man. Are we saved by faith alone or are we saved by faith plus works? Neither. We are saved by faith that works.

Salvation is in the agape gospel, because God’s love is unconditional; God’s love is unending; God’s love is seeking after man not to punish him but to save him. Therefore salvation, according to the agape gospel, is God’s gift, not to good people, or people who are trying to be good, but to sinners. That is how the New Testament presents it.

In Romans 5:10: “For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” That’s the agape gospel. Ephesians 2:4-6: “But because of his great love [agape] for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus….” Please notice: while we were still dead in sins, He saved us. While we were still sinners, He saved us.

God did not come to us because we did something good, but — because of His mercy — He saved us. That is the agape gospel. In other words, the eros gospel is salvation by works. It is good advice. The caritas gospel is salvation by faith plus works. The caritas gospel is conditional good news. The agape gospel is unconditional good news.

There is confusion that we are facing between caritas and agape. What comes first, forgiveness or repentance? If you say repentance comes before forgiveness you are preaching a caritas gospel. You are saying, “Repent first, before God forgives you.” The Bible teaches that “it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance” (Rom 2:4). I repent because God has already given me Jesus Christ, not because I want to be forgiven.

Legally, all men and women today have been justified in Christ. Faith only makes it effective. God doesn’t justify me because I believe. I believe because God has already justified me. My faith doesn’t bring justification. My faith only makes effective something that is already there. We need to be clear what gospel we are preaching. As long as we make the gospel conditional good news, we will always be giving advice.

What does all this have to do with The Sanctuary Polluted?

We have come under fire because of our interpretation of Daniel 8:14: “Unto 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be cleansed (reconsecrated, justified, restored to its rightful state, etc.).”

Daniel 8:11-12 is the context of verse 14, ant this context is extremely important: “He (little horn) took away the daily sacrifice from the Lord, and his sanctuary was thrown down… and truth was thrown to the ground.”

The context tells us that the “little horn” has polluted the sanctuary of God and has cast the truth of the sanctuary to the ground. The sanctuary of God is His model plan of salvation. In other words, the sanctuary of God is the gospel in type. Since the little horn belongs to the New Testament dispensation, this passage is simply saying the little horn (papal Rome) has cast the gospel to the ground and has prospered.

The question in Dan 8:13 is, “How long are you going to allow the truth of the sanctuary to be cast to the ground and trampled under foot?”
And the answer is in verse fourteen: “Unto 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be cleansed (reconsecrated, justified, restored to its rightful state, etc.).””

In other words, the caritas gospel, which was established by the papacy, thanks to Augustine’s teaching on caritas, a mixture of I plus Christ: man must make himself disposable to God before God can save him.

This is what has crept into the Christian Church, not only into the Catholic Church but even among the evangelicals who boast about preaching the gospel. They are preaching the conditional good news. For example, most of them use the “in Christ motif” only for the believer — you have to believe first before God puts you in Christ.

The Bible doesn’t teach that! God puts all people into Christ, before they believe. Faith only makes it effective. Faith doesn’t justify a person. We are already justified in Christ, but faith makes it effective.

The caritas gospel has dominated the Christian Church, but the question is: How is God going to cleanse the sanctuary?
God is using the Advent Movement to do it.

Beginning in Revelation 10:9-10, we have a description of the great disappointment that was the result of studying Daniel 8:14. The book was sweet in the mouth but bitter in the belly. After the disappointment, God gave a command to these flocks who were disappointed (Revelation 10:11): “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.”

The word “prophesy” means “proclaim.” God’s people were called to proclaim again the three angels’ message, based on the fully restored and based on pure agape love everlasting gospel carried by the first angel (Rev 14:6).

When we realise that the heavenly sanctuary has been polluted not only by the forgiven sins of the saints but the sin of the distorted corrupted gospel of salvation by faith plus works based on the caritas love, then we can understand why in Dan 8:14 Daniel was inspired to use the word tsadak instead of taher (Lev 16). In Dan 8:14 the word tsadak is used because with its broader meaning it better reflects the following things the heavenly sanctuary is to be cleansed from, or why it needs to be reconsecrated, justified, restored to its rightful state:

Heavenly sanctuary represents God who must be “justified” from the responsibility for sin appearing in the perfect universe and on earth. This responsibility will be transferred onto the head of Azazel.

Heavenly sanctuary must be “cleansed” from forgiven sins of the saints. This responsibility will be transferred onto the head of Azazel.
The represented by the heavenly sanctuary gospel is to be fully “restored” by God through his people by proclaiming it to the entire world before return of Christ.

The Bible teaches neither a two-apartment heavenly sanctuary nor a two-phased ministry (two-phased atonement) by Jesus in heaven

When we read Hebrews 8:5 we clearly see that Moses was told to make the sanctuary according to the pattern that was showed in heaven. So, the earthly sanctuary was a precise pattern of the heavenly sanctuary. Did the earthly sanctuary have two apartments (the holy and most holy)? Yes! Therefore, since earthly sanctuary was a reflection of the heavenly then the heavenly has to have two apartments and not one!

I have no idea how could someone get around Hebrews 8:5 and claim that the Bible doesn’t teach a two-phase apartment sanctuary.

The same is true in case of the two-phased ministry of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary. The earthly sanctuary service, which was reflection of the heavenly, included the two-phased ministry (atonement), and therefore the same is true in case of the heavenly.

The book of Leviticus provides evidence for two phases of atonement. It outlines a sacrificial system where atonement involves both the purification of the sanctuary and the removal of sin from the people. This is evident in the rituals of the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16), where the high priest makes atonement for the sanctuary and then for the people.

In Seventh-Day Adventism, the word atonement is defined differently than how Christian’s define it. In Christianity, atonement refers to the reconciliation between sinful humanity and God. This reconciliation is possible through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, as stated in Romans 3:23-25, Romans 5:9-11, and Romans 5:19.

For Seventh-Day Adventist’s, however, atonement means two things: the atonement of the cross and the final atonement referring to two phases of atonement.

Atonement on the cross is what Jesus did for mankind by offering himself, making salvation possible. But the final atonement involves, the investigative judgement and the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary.

Since Jesus’s death on the cross did not bring the entire universe into perfect harmony the atonement isn’t complete because there are some aspects of sin the cross didn’t address. One of them is the responsibility for introducing sin in the perfect universe, injecting sin into us and leading us to sins.

SDA theology places a significantly broader definition on the word “atonement” than do other denominations. For most Christians the word “atonement” means the work of Christ on the cross. For most of Adventists, the word atonement means two things: the atonement of the cross, and the final atonement.

The atonement of the cross refers to the fact that at the cross “God was in Christ reconciling (atoning) the world to Himself” (2Cor 5:19). It means that at the cross God actually saved all sinners (entire world) in Jesus from condemnation, and therefore, in this sense the atonement was finished at the cross. That is why Lord Jesus cried out, “it is finished”.

However, this salvation (atonement) is not automatically enforced upon anyone, because it is a gift and as it is with any gift, in order to enjoy it and make this salvation effective, it must be accepted with true faith which makes such believer spiritually alive (born from the Spirit).

On the other hand, the atonement that was accomplished at the cross didn’t completely solved the problem of the power of sin and believer’s slavery to sin, the still ongoing presence of the sinful nature (including the “law of sin”) in the believers.

The cross didn’t also solved the issue of responsibility for introducing sin in the perfect and holy universe and previously sinless planet earth, and responsibility for leading born again Christians to sin. It is the final atonement that is going to deal with these aspects of sin. And that is the very reason why both the Bible as well as Spirit of Prophecy (Ellen White) clearly suggest that the atonement in this sense is not complete yet.

The final atonement refers to the time when God will clean us and entire universe from every aspect, effect and trace of sin, bringing the entire universe into perfect harmony as it was before sin appeared.

Since Jesus’ death on the cross did not bring the universe into perfect harmony we can say that in a sense the atonement is not complete, and therefore, the same Saviour continues His atoning work now in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary until it is finished in due time.

However, speaking of the atonement in the sense of salvation from the condemnation and punishment for sin (from eternal death) which brings the sinner assurance of salvation, it is perfect, fully complete, and nothing can be added to it. The only thing we can do is to make sure we are born from the Spirit (spiritually alive) by accepting Christ’s cross and righteousness as our only ticket to heaven by true faith, and according to the Bible, we also must maintain the true faith till the end.

Therefore, since there are certain aspects of sin the atonement which our Saviour accomplished at the cross didn’t deal with it is not a denial of the cross to teach that Jesus continues His work of atonement in heaven.

Did Jesus complete or did not complete the atonement on the cross?

The evangelical Churches furiously attack Adventist doctrine about Christ’s ministry in the heavenly sanctuary because they believe it denies the fact that the atonement was complete at the cross.

To prove their point they quote the following scripture:

“Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation” (Romans 5:9-11).

Also even among Seventh-day Adventists, there are two groups that oppose each other with regards to the understanding of Christ’s atonement (reconciliation). Some of them claim the atonement was finished at the cross while others oppose this idea because they believe it contradicts the truth about Christ’s atoning work in the heavenly sanctuary which hasn’t finished yet.

This lack of unity has been also contributed by the fact that in both, the Bible and Ellen White’s writings, we can find two groups of statements that seem to contradict each other, as they state that the atonement was complete and at the same time suggest it wasn’t complete.

ELLEN WHITE QUOTES SUGGESTING THAT THE ATONEMENT WAS COMPLETED AT THE CROSS

“[Christ] planted the cross between heaven and earth, and when the Father beheld the sacrifice of His Son, He bowed before it in recognition of its perfection. ‘It is enough,’ He said. ‘The atonement is complete’” RH September 24, 1901, par. 11.

“Our great High Priest completed the sacrificial offering of Himself when He suffered without the gate. Then a perfect atonement was made for the sins of the people” 7BC 913.3.

“Christ’s sacrifice in behalf of man was full and complete. The condition of the atonement had been fulfilled. The work for which He had come to this world had been accomplished” AA 29.2.

“When Christ on the cross cried out, ‘It is finished,’ He addressed the Father. The agreement had been fully carried out. Now He declared, ‘Father, I have completed the work of redemption.’ ‘I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am’.” (John 17:24). Desire of Ages (498)

“The Lord would have His people sound in the faith—not ignorant of the great salvation so abundantly provided for them. They are not to look forward, thinking that at some future time a great work is to be done for them; for the work is now complete” 1SM 394.3.

ELLEN WHITE QUOTES SUGGESTING THAT THE ATONEMENT WAS NOT COMPLETE AT THE CROSS

“Instead of … Daniel 8:14 referring to the purifying of the earth, it was now plain that it pointed to the closing work of our High Priest in heaven, the finishing of the atonement, and the preparing of the people to abide the day of His coming” (Testimonies, vol. 1, p. 58).
“Jesus entered the most holy of the heavenly (sanctuary), at the end of the 2300 days of Daniel 8, in 1844, to make a final atonement for all who could be benefited by His mediation” (Early Writings, p. 253).
“Our Saviour is in the Sanctuary pleading in our behalf. He is our interceding High Priest, making an atoning sacrifice for us, pleading in our behalf the efficacy of His blood.” Fundamentals of Christian Education, 370.
“Today He [Christ] is making an atonement for us before the Father. ‘If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.’” Manuscript 21, 1895.
“As in the typical service, there was a work of atonement at the close of the year, so before Christ’s work for the redemption of man is completed there is a work of atonement for the removal of sin from the Sanctuary. This is the service which began when the 2300 days ended.” Great Controversy, 421.

IS THERE A CONTRADICTION BETWEEN THESE TWO GROUPS OF STATEMENTS?

Well, the answer to the question lies in the fact that those two groups of statements appear as if they contradict each other only because they deal with different aspects of Christ’s atoning ministry. The word “atonement” (or reconciliation) in those two groups of statements refers to different aspects of salvation from sin.

In a similar way, the Word of God uses three different tenses (past, present and future) with regards to our salvation. It states that believers are already saved or were saved in the past tense, it says they are being now saved in the present continuous tense, and it also states they will be saved in the future. Does it prove the Bible contradicts itself? No, it only points to the fact that it refers to different aspects of salvation from sin.

We have been already saved (past tense) from punishment and condemnation of sin (justification) because we are in Christ and not under the law but under grace; We are being delivered from the power of sin (from sinning) now in the present continuous tense (which is our continuous process sanctification); And finally, in the future we will be saved, delivered from the presence of sin (from our sinful nature and the indwelling law of sin and selfishness) at the second coming of Christ (glorification).
And it is exactly the same when we deal with the subject of atonement, which is synonymous with salvation from sin, and involves different aspects of the sin problem.

Why in Romans 5:10 Paul uses two tenses (past and future) regarding our salvation?

In Rom 5:10 Paul uses past and future tens regarding our salvation because he refers to 2 different aspects of sin:

2000 years ago, through Christ’s death, we were saved (reconciled) from the punishment and condemnation of sin (from the second death) which is our justification.
Now we are being saved or will be saved from the power of sin and slavery to sin (sanctification) “through Christ’s life” (Rom 5:10). What does it mean, “through Christ’s life”. Where does Christ leave now? He lives in the heavenly sanctuary. Therefore, “through Christ’s life” means through His constant intersessions for us in the most holy place in the heavenly sanctuary where He lives now, constantly providing us with power to save us from the slavery to sin.

Paraphrase of Romans 5:10 by Jack Sequeira: “For, if while we were still God’s bitter enemies, He poured His agape love on us and reconciled us unto Himself through the death of His Son, you can be absolutely sure that this unfailing agape love will continue to work on our behalf and for our ultimate salvation through Christ’s priestly ministry in heaven.”

Another excellent paraphrase of Rom 5:10 by J.B. PHILLIPS: “If, while we were his enemies, Christ reconciled us to God by dying for us, surely now that we are reconciled, we may be perfectly certain of our salvation through his living in us.”

2000 years ago, the entire world was saved through Christ’s death (2Cor 5:19; 5:14) and those who truly accept through faith that salvation history we already have in Christ, should be born from the Spirit through whom Christ dwells in them saving them now from the slavery to the law of sin and selfishness (Gal 2:20-21; Rom 8:2-3).

The day-year principle lacks clear biblical support

2300 days in Daniel 8:14 are literal days and not years. The 2300 evenings and mornings of Daniel 8:14 are not even full days but half days and refer to only 1150 literal days. Therefore cleansing of the sanctuary refers to the temple in Jerusalem and not heavenly sanctuary.

They believe that “evening morning” doesn’t refer to days but to sacrifices. But there is a problem. Normally, the Old Testament, when referring to sacrifices, will use “morning and evening,” whereas, when they refer to days, they use “evening and morning” like in Genesis: “evening and morning” was the first day, “evening and morning” was the second day. They reverse it normally when they apply to sacrifices. That is why many scholars — especially Young, the famous scholar, for example — takes the position that the “evening morning” does refer to days. Therefore, he says it is 2,300 days. So we have scholars in both camps, both non-Adventist scholars.
There are two key verses that we use to prove that days are years in Bible prophecy, Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6. Criticising this Biblical principle, Desmond Ford and other opponents use a principle known as a higher criticism. According to it, these two Bible texts do not have anything to do with Daniel 8:14. So this higher criticism goes against our historicist approach to Bible prophecy.

If we get rid of the day-year principles we would have to assume that in all other prophecies of the book of Daniel the prophetic periods referring to the birth, baptism, death and resurrection of Christ (Daniel 9) should be treated as literal days thus leading to another complete nonsense.

It is very interesting that all Christians agree that the period of the “70 weeks” (490 days) from Daniel 9:24 does not signify literal days but years. So they claim that the days here are symbolic and stand for years. But when it comes to the 2300 days in Daniel 8:24 they insist that this period should be considered as literal days and not as years. So, there is a dishonest and clear lack of consistency here and an attempt to manipulate the Word of God. If someone claims that the 2300 evenings and mornings are literal days, then they should also accept that the 70 weeks (490 days) are literal days and not years. These dishonest Christians know that if they accept the 70 weeks as literal days, this prophecy would make no sense and would not be fulfilled in the life of the Messiah.

Interpreting the 2,300 evenings and mornings, Daniel 8:26 adds the definite article: “the evening and the morning”. Therefore, the full expression should be “the 2,300 evenings and the 2,300 mornings” (compare Deut. 9:25—“the forty days and the forty nights”). This means 2,300 days.

In Daniel 8:14, “Days” in Heb. “ereb boqer”, literally, “evening morning,” is an expression comparable with the description of the days of creation, “the evening and the morning were the first day” (Gen. 1:5).

The LXX (Septuagint) has the word “days” following the expression “evening and morning.”

In an attempt to make this period roughly conform to the three years of the devastation of the Temple by Antiochus IV, some (including Desmond Ford) have assigned to the expression “2300 evening morning” to only half days or 1150 literal days.

Most Bible expositors apply Daniel 8:14 to the Antiochus-Maccabean period (175-164 BC). In order to do this, they discount the day-for-a-year principle, as it applies to the 2300 days, and make out that this refers to 2300 evening and morning sacrifices, which would mean 1150 days. But this calculation doesn’t fit the little horn prophecy and no one has ever been able to work out any scheme where this fits exactly.

Concerning this, Keil has remarked that the prophetic period of the 2300 evening-mornings cannot be understood as “2300 half days or 1150 whole days, because evening and morning at creation constituted not the half but the whole day.” After quoting the foregoing statement, Edward Young says, “Hence, we must understand the phrase as meaning 2300 days” (The Prophecy of Daniel, p. 174).

Commentators have tried, but without success, to find some event in history that would fit a period of 2300 literal days. As Wright observes, “All efforts, however, to harmonise the period, whether expounded as 2300 days or as 1150 days, with any precise historical epoch mentioned in the Books of the Maccabees or in Josephus have proved futile. Professor Driver is justified in stating, ‘It seems impossible to find two events separated by 2300 days (6 years and 4 months) which would correspond with the description’” (Charles H. H. Wright, Daniel and His Prophecies, 1906, pp. 186, 187).

The only way that consistency can be given to these “days” is to apply them in a prophetic sense by the application of the year-day principle.

The word sanctuary in verse eleven is “Migdash” which is a common Hebrew word for sanctuary and can be applied to any sanctuary. Pagan sanctuaries were called migdash. God’s sanctuary was called migdash. Normally when Migdash is applied to God’s sanctuary, it has always a qualifying term. In other words: “The migdash of the Lord thy God,” or build me a migdash, or my migdash. Why two different words? It looks like the inspired prophet changed the Hebrew name from migdash to cordash because he meant the heavenly sanctuary and not the earthly!

Now, since Desmond Ford said that Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6 do not have anything to do with Daniel 8:14, let us breakdown Daniel 8 and see how the day/year principle can be applied in this chapter.

In Daniel 8:2 the prophet says that he had the “vision” (Hebr. “hazon”). And in verse 3 he sees the ram. And verse 20 of that chapter makes it very clear that the ram represents Medo-Persia. Then we see the goat which is Greece according to verse 21 of the same chapter. And after that we have a little horn that is the greatest of all the powers mentioned in the prophecy. And then you come down to Daniel 8:13 where a question is asked by two heavenly beings, “how long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the transgression of desolation to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?”

Now, when the question is asked how long shall be the vision what word for vision is used here in Daniel 8:13? The word “hazon”, the same word as used in the beginning of chapter 8. It means that the question “how long” refers to the entire vision and not only the little horn. How long the three powers (including the pagan and papal Rome) will trample the sanctuary underfoot.

And what’s the answer?

“Unto 2300 days”. Now, 2300 literal days is only about roughly six years. So, if you accept that this period is literal and not symbolic, you’re saying that Medo-Persia Greece, and pagan and papal Rome did their work of persecution against God’s people in about six years or 2300 literal days!

Some interpreters, including Desmond Ford take even more ridiculous approach and claim that 2300 evening mornings should be understood as half days or 1150 literal days (about three and a half years) referring it to the length of time Antiochus Epiphanes ruled over his kingdom.

Anyway here’s the point. Knowing that the hazon prophecy of Daniel 8 involves the history of the kingdoms of Medo-Persia, Greece, as well as the pagan and Papal Rome, can this prophecy be fulfilled in 2300 literal days? No, it is impossible because the dominance of Medo-Persia started 539 BC until it was defeated by Greece in 331, and Greece ruled until 168 when it was overpowered by pagan Rome in 168 BC which controlled the world until 476 AD, and the supremacy of papal Rome lasted from 538 AD to 1798.

Only when you apply the biblical principle of treating symbolic days as years then this prophetic period of 2300 days/years makes sense as it is able to embrace such a long period.

When we read or listen to Desmond Ford’s arguments, initially the look convincing, but when you investigate them with prayer and study this chapter carefully, then you start wondering how on earth a professor of theology could come up with such a ridiculous idea and how could he deceive so many people including pastors with it.
Finally, the period of 2300 can’t represents days because the visions of Daniel 7 and Daniel 8 must rich the end times:

Daniel 8:17 “Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the time of the end.”

The same expression (“time of the end”) also appears in Daniel 11:35,40; 12:4,9 (compare with Daniel 8:19) to identify a time near the end of human history, close to Christ’s Second Coming (compare with Daniel 12:1–3).

If the second goat for Azazel (Lev 16:7-10) represents Satan than Adventists teach that he takes away our sins

It began with a Danish scholar who first accused us of the above claim and since then many others have.

Adventists are about the only denomination that teaches that Azazel represents Satan. Most Christian denominations take the position that Azazel represents Christ. They believe that both the goats represent Christ or two phases of Christ’s atoning work.

According to Adventists, the Lord’s goat represents Christ and the Azazel represents Satan.

The “Scapegoat” (Lev 16:7-10) in the original Hebrew is “Azazel,” and some of the modern translations use that word.
In the Hebrew, words have meanings. What does the word mean?

According to the Hebrew scholars (these are not Christian scholars, but Jewish scholars), “Azazel” is the name of the devil. So the Hebrew scholars back us up.

In the Syriac manuscript, which is one of the oldest manuscripts, the word “Azazel” was replaced with the phrase “the angel that revolted.” Syriac manuscript is regarded as a very reliable manuscript.

NONE OF THE RELIABLE EVANGELICALS DICTIONARIES REFERS AZAZEL TO CHRIST BUT ALWAYS TO SATAN! SO IT IS A MYSTERY HOW IT IS POSSIBLE THAT EVANGELICALS STILL INSIST ON CLAIMING THAT AZAZEL REPRESENTS CHRIST!

In Logos Bible I have searched the manning of the word “Azazel” using many different dictionaries and received the following results:

“desert demon”, “Azazel is regarded as the name of a demon in the Dead Sea Scrolls and other ancient Jewish books”, “according to one Jewish tradition, Azazel is the name of a fallen angel”, “name occurs in the Book of Enoch (2nd cent. BC) as that of the leader of the evil angels”, “Azazel is portrayed as the leader of the fallen angels”, “demonic fallen angel Azazel is considered the source of all the sin and evil on earth”, “chief of the spirits by whose doctrine and influence the earth was corrupted”, “demon named Azazel, leader of angels who corrupt humankind”, “a prominent Jewish view is to regard Azazel as a demon”, “it appears that Azazel is God’s enemy. Therefore, it is likely that Azazel is some kind of demon”.

These are only few examples, and none of them suggests that Azazel refers to Christ. Instead, they all claim Azazel to refer to Satan.

Most Christian scholars interpret Azazel as the Scapegoat. What does scapegoat mean? If you looked it up in a dictionary, the scapegoat refers to someone who takes the blame for something. Azazel refers to someone has to take the blame. And that is the key issue here! When you deal with sin in a legal sense, as a transgression of the law, there are three things involved: guilt, punishment, and also responsibility, or who is to take the blame for the transgression or a crime.

During the final day of atonement (judgment) and cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, God will transfer the responsibility for introducing sin and injecting sin in us onto the head of Azazel (satan).

Antiochus Epiphanes (215-164 BC) was the primary if not exclusive fulfilment of the little horn prophecy in Daniel 7 and Daniel 8

Ford argued that the sins of the little horn, not the saints, defiled the sanctuary.

Pagan Rome (including during the reign of Antiochus and later in 70 AD) trampled and destroyed only the physical temple which was merely a shadow of the true one, which is in heaven… Papal Rome (little horn), on the other hand, trampled the truth about the heavenly sanctuary and Christ’s heavenly ministry as a high priest, which was meant to be one of the most important teachings for believers (Hebrews 8:1–2). Papal Rome diverted the attention of Christians from Christ’s service and directed it toward the priestly service of clergy. A temple was established on earth along with a substitute earthly priesthood, offering forgiveness through human mediators. In place of the Last Supper, the Mass was introduced, which the Roman Church established as a continually repeated, bloodless sacrifice presented to God by a human priest. Because these sacrifices are continually repeated, it thus became possible to obtain grace for the dead as well (for which money also had to be paid). In this way, Christ’s mediating ministry in the heavenly sanctuary was ultimately denied. And as Daniel prophesied, the truth about the sanctuary was cast down to the ground (Daniel 8:12). It was only after 1260 years—after the year 1798 (in the first half of the 19th century)—and at the end of the 2300 prophetic years (in 1844) that this truth was to be “restored”, “vindicated” (Daniel 8:14), and the sanctuary “cleansed.”

The great reformers, including Luther, agreed (as do Adventists today) that the little horn symbolized the papacy and that the 2300-day period referred to years and pointed to the end times.

In response to the reformers, the Roman Church introduced two Jesuits who sought to demonstrate that the prophecy in the book of Daniel had been fulfilled before Christ, and partly in the end times, conveniently bypassing the era of papal supremacy (the gap theory). In doing so, they aimed to obscure the truth about the apostate church they represented.

And nearly all contemporary Protestant theologians and denominations (except the Seventh-day Adventists) now hold the same views on these prophecies that those Jesuits once proposed, thereby justifying the papacy. Luther would be astonished.

The parallels between Daniel 7 and Daniel 8 make it abundantly clear that the little horn depicted in both visions refer to the same entity, and because the little horn in Daniel 7 cannot be Antiochus Epiphanes, the little horn in Daniel 8 can’t be either.

Besides this parallel, internal evidence of Daniel 8 regarding the nature, activity, origin, time–frame, and demise of the little horn prove that the Antiochus interpretation simply doesn’t work.

Of the three main prophetic schools of interpretation, it’s clear that only the historicist is true to the basic meanings of the texts.

Isaac Newton, in his writings on the Book of Daniel, argued that the “little horn” described in Daniel 8 was not Antiochus IV Epiphanes, a Syrian king known for desecrating the Jewish temple. Newton believed the “little horn” in Daniel 8 represented a future power, not only just one historical figure like Antiochus. He supported this by noting that the “little horn” in the prophecy grew exceedingly great, a characteristic not exhibited by Antiochus, whose kingdom was weak and tributary to Rome.

There are several reasons why the little horn mentioned in Daniel 8 could not be Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

– A careful look at the “gender” when describing the source of the little horn in the Hebrew shows that the little horn was to arise from one of the four winds or one of the four directions of the compass and not from one of the horns. [Note that Hebrew nouns have gender.]

– The little horn was to prosper (Daniel 8:12) and grow exceedingly great. (Daniel 8:9) Antiochus IV Epiphanes did neither of those. In fact, he was referred to by contemporaries as a the madman.

Daniel 8:4 says that the ram referring to Medo-Persia became great . Then from verse 5 we have the he-goat representing Greek empire under Alexander the Great who defeated Medo-Persia and Daniel 8:8 says that this male goat became very great. Then in Daniel 8:9 we read that out of the four winds (not horns) came the little horn which grew exceedingly great.

Who among these three powers was the greatest according to these verses? The little horn because ram was great, the male goat was very great and the little horn grew exceedingly great.

Now, who fits this description much better, Antiochus or papal Rome? Papal Rome because Antiochus Epiphanes ruled for only few years, his kingdom was weak and he never became exceedingly great. Medo-Persia and Greece empires ruled over the world for hundreds of years and Antiochus who was supposed to be even greater ruled for only few years and his kingdom was small. Therefore he can’t be the little horn.

– The little horn was to grow exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the “glorious land” (Daniel 8:9). After a short-lived triumph in the “south” (Egypt), Antiochus IV Epiphanes was totally defeated when the Roman ambassador, C. Popilius Laenas, merely informed him that the Roman Senate wanted him to leave. The Roman ambassador drew a circle around Antiochus with his cane and demanded a decision before he stepped out of it. (See Livy, History of Rome, 45.12.) Antiochus Epiphanes did not succeed in the east either. He died under obscure circumstances in his campaign in Mesopotamia. Even in Palestine, referred to as the “glorious land” (Daniel 8:9) where he initially seemed to be successful, he ultimately lost all of that land when Palestine became temporarily free under the Maccabees.

– Horns in the symbolism of Daniel always referred to kingdoms and never to individual kings.

– The period of time during which Antiochus IV Epiphanes was in control of Jerusalem cannot be fitted with 2300 days or 2300 evenings and mornings. The best contemporary account found in 1 Maccabees 1:54-59; 4:52-54 overwhelmingly states very precisely that he succeeded in interrupting the temple services for three years and 10 days (from Chislev 15, 168 B.C. to Chislev 25, 165 B.C.). While 1 Maccabees 1:54 applies the phrase “desolating sacrilege,” taken from Daniel 9:27 in the Greek, to what Antiochus IV Epiphanes did in Jerusalem by erecting an idol in the temple grounds and sacrificing a pig nearby, Jesus in his discourse from the Mount of Olives said that Daniel’s “desolating sacrilege” was still future as of His day. (See Matthew 24:15.) He added, “Let the reader understand”.

In 1733, Sir Isaac Newton, the celebrated scientist who first explained the principle of gravity, wrote the following about Daniel 9 and Antiochus IV Epiphanes:

“This last horn is by some taken for Antiochus Epiphanes, but not very judiciously. A horn of a beast is never taken for a single person: it always signifies a new kingdom, and the kingdom of Antiochus was an old one… This horn was at first a little one, and waxed exceeding great, but so did not Antiochus. It is described great above all the former horns, and so was not Antiochus. His kingdom, on the contrary was weak, and tributary to the Romans, and he did not enlarge it… The sanctuary and host were trampled underfoot 2300 days; and in Daniel’s prophecy days are put for years; but the profanation of the temple in the reign of Antiochus did not last for so many natural days. These were to last till the time of the end… till the sanctuary which had been cast down should be cleansed, and this sanctuary is not yet cleansed.” Sir Isaac Newton’s Daniel and the Apocalypse, eds., Sir William Whitla (London: John Murray, 1922), page 222.

This prophecy could not have been fulfilled in the time of Antiochus, for Christ—who lived long after Antiochus’s death—said that what Daniel prophesied referred to the future:

Matthew 24:15: “So when you see (in the future) standing in the holy place (in the temple) ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand…”

This article provides overwhelming evidence that the prophetic period of 2300 can’t represent literal days but years and therefore it can’t refer to Antiochus but to the end times. And if we accept that the 2300 days are actually years, then the prophecy could not have referred to the earthly temple — all the more since it was destroyed in 70 AD and was not rebuilt in 1844. Therefore, Daniel’s prophecy about cleansing of the sanctuary after 2300 days/years must refer to the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary after 1844. It is clear in the Bible that such a sanctuary exists in heaven (Hebrews 8:1-2; Revelation 11:19). Revelation 11:18 speaks of judgment and the end times, and immediately after that, the temple in heaven and the ark of the covenant with the 10 commandment was shown to John.

Why do we believe the little horn of Daniel 8 is papal Rome?

Based on the principal that Daniel’s visions parallel each other, it is clear that Rome followed Greece in Daniel 2 and Daniel 7. Thus, Rome should follow Greece in Daniel 8 as well.

As mentioned above, Rome arose in the west—out of one of the four winds or directions.

Historically, it is clear that papal Rome grew out of pagan Rome. Thus, the Roman bishop was a successor to the Roman emperor. Therefore, it is appropriate for them both to be represented by a single horn or single kingdom.

Pagan Rome magnified itself against “the Prince of the host” (KJV) It was under Roman authority that Jesus was crucified.

Both pagan Rome and papal Rome destroyed “mighty men and the people of the saints” (Daniel 8:24, RSV) i.e., many Christians were persecuted by both pagan and papal Rome throughout its history.

Papal Rome has done its best to replace the tamid or “continuous ministry of Christ in the sanctuary of Heaven” with a system of human priests and ministries.

The below quote comes from the article “The Little Horn of Daniel 8” by Clifford Goldstein:

“Daniel 8 does not appear in a vacuum. It comes after two parallel chapters, Daniel 2 and 7, which both help set the background for interpreting Daniel 8. The link between these three chapters, and this principle of amplification between them, is not an Adventist concoction; other scholars have seen it. And no wonder; it’s obvious… Daniel 8 is a parallel prophecy of Daniel 2 and 7, with some new details given, others left out. Perhaps the greatest difference is that, instead of dealing with four earthly kingdoms, it deals with only three, Babylon being excluded… In Daniel 2, 7 and 8, the power that arises after Greece exists until it is supernaturally destroyed at ‘the time of the end’ (Daniel 8:17). After all, if the vision of Daniel 8 is for the end, and the little horn’s demise is the end of the prophecy, then its demise was clearly ‘at the time of the end’ … The parallels between Daniel 2, 7 and 8 alone –in which the last power depicted in all three exists until ‘the time of the end’ (Daniel 8:17), when all three are supernaturally destroyed—debunks Antiochus for Daniel 8. And, then, with Jesus putting events in Daniel in the future even from Himself while on earth tosses more dirt on the already interred Antiochus interpretation… Daniel 8 consists of only four elements: the ram, the goat, the little horn, and the sanctuary being cleansed. That’s it. The ram, we know, is Media-Persia, a major power in the history of the world and in the history of God’s people. The goat is Greece, a major power in the history of the world and of God’s people. And the little horn is Rome, an even bigger power in the history of the world and of God’s people. And, then, what? The chapter climaxes with Daniel 8:14, the sanctuary being cleansed. Now, with the first three events of the prophecy major happenings in the history of the world and of God’s people, what should that automatically teach us about the meaning of the final, climactic event of the prophecy—the cleansing of the sanctuary? Of course, whatever it is, it must be of major significance. Even if you don’t believe in the SDA 1844 interpretation, whatever happened at the end of the 2300 days, given the context in which it appears, should be something as major as what precedes it in the vision. And it is—the cleansing of the sanctuary is the same thing as the judgment scene depicted in the parallel prophecy of Daniel 7, the judgment that is ‘made in favour of the saints of the Most High’ (Daniel 7:22), the judgment that leads directly to God establishing His eternal kingdom. That’s big enough, indeed, to fit the context of the major events that led up to it in Daniel 8. And, I might humbly add, Seventh-day Adventists are the only people in the Christian world who give this text the due it deserves.” (https://atoday.org/the-little-horn-of-daniel-8/)

The principle of parallelism or recapitulation tells us that Daniel repeats the historical events through his various chapters. Chapters 2, 7, and 8 are repetitions or recapitulations of the same kingdoms and periods. Notice that the stone of Daniel 2, the judgment of Daniel 7, and the cleansing of the sanctuary — which will take place after the 2,300 evenings and mornings of Daniel 8:14 — all belong to the same period of time. They belong to the period that is designated as God’s Kingdom, when He will establish that kingdom which is known as the consummation! Therefore, In view of this principle of parallelism, one thing is very clear — the cleansing of the sanctuary is a last-day event (an eschatological event). It’s something that will take place at the end of time. This itself is confirmed in at least three verses in Daniel 8.

I have asked Grok 4 AI to provide an unbiased opinion about the controversy regarding the little horn. Here is the answer based on the arguments from both sides:

“Based on the provided evidence, the Seventh-day Adventist interpretation of the little horn as papal Rome and the 2300 days as years (culminating in the 1844 heavenly sanctuary cleansing) is more compelling than the Antiochus Epiphanes argument. The SDA view aligns with Daniel’s eschatological focus (Daniel 8:17), the day-year principle (consistent with Daniel 9), and the heavenly sanctuary context (Hebrews 8:1–2). The Antiochus interpretation fails to match the prophecy’s scope, duration, and historical details, as his reign was brief and weak, not ‘exceedingly great.’ While critics’ preterist view has scholarly support, it overlooks the prophecy’s end-time fulfillment and Jesus’ future application (Matthew 24:15). Therefore, the Adventists are right.”

Four approaches to prophecy interpretation

There are four basic ways of the interpretation of Bible Prophecy: Futurism, Preterism, Idealism (Spiritualism), and Historicism.

Futurism (known also as the “gap” theory) teaches that some of the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation were fulfilled in the prophet’s times. And then after a big gap in time the remaining prophecies referring to the last days will be fulfilled at the end of time. For example, of the 70 weeks of Daniel 9, 69 weeks were fulfilled during the Jewish and Daniel’s period and the 70th week will be fulfilled at the end of time. They believe that the antichrist will be a specific literal person sitting in a literal temple, in literal Jerusalem, who will build a literal image of himself, will command all to literally bow before the image, will rule for three and a half literal years and will persecute literal Israel. If the fulfillment of Revelation 4-20 is still future with literal Israel in the literal land after the rapture, then the three angels’ messages have no relevance for the church today. The papacy and the United States have nothing to do with the fulfillment of Bible prophecy! If the little horn is not the papacy then the papacy did not change the Sabbath. Therefore, futurism destroys every reason for the Seventh-day Adventist church to exist.

Preterists (Catholics and liberal protestants) believe that by the second century B.C., all of Daniel’s prophecies were already fulfilled. Within a few years after John, all the prophecies of Revelation were fulfilled. For example, little horn from Daniel 7 was Antiochus and the beast from Revelation 13 was Nero. This method is in direct opposition to our beliefs because if the little horn was Antiochus and the beast was Nero, then the Papacy had nothing to do with the change of the Law or persecuting God’s people during 1260 year period of papal dominance or before the return of the Lord. The book of Daniel and Revelation would have no relevance for the world of now.

Idealism says that prophecies are not predictions but simply symbolic forms of instruction. This is the position of many Lutheran scholars who do not believe that God can see the future.

Historicists (only Adventists) believe that symbols are not literal and they are fulfilled over the long period of time reaching the end times. Symbols shouldn’t be taken literally but understood according to their meaning provided by the Bible. Days in the prophecy are symbolic, therefore shouldn’t be understood as literal days but years. This position was not invented by Adventists but by the reformers. The reformers, using the historicist approach of Daniel and Revelation, came to the conclusion that the “little horn” of Daniel 7 and Daniel 8 was the papacy. That was the conclusion Luther came to.

Because during the reformation the historicists provided biblical evidence that “little horn” had to be papacy, the Roman Catholic Church came up with two scholars — both Jesuit priests, who opposed the historicist approach by introducing preterism and futurism.

The first one was Luis De Alcazar from Seville, Spain, a Jesuit priest who came up with the idea of the preterist interpretation. By claiming that the prophecies of Daniel were fulfilled by 2nd century BC and Revelation by the 2nd century AD, he excused the papacy because began in the fifth century AD, therefore, by using the preterist approach, he save the Catholic Church from being the “little horn”.

Futurism was introduced by another Spanish Jesuit priest, Francisco Ribera who taught that some of the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation were fulfilled in the prophet’s times and the remaining prophecies referring to the last days will be fulfilled at the end of time. But in the gap period between the past and future fulfillment, which is the papacy period, none of the prophecies apply.

So, whichever approach you take — Futurist or Preterist — you deliver the Roman Catholic Church from being the little horn from Daniel or beast from Revelation. And today almost every Protestant denomination, except Seventh-day Adventists, have given up the historicist interpretation and have gone to the Roman Catholic position. If Martin Luther was to raise up from his grave, he would be horrified with what the Protestant churches have done with their historicist school of interpretation.

Today the Protestant churches have fallen for the introduced by Jesuits preterist and futurist approach and, therefore, have liberated the Catholic Church from the stigma of being “little horn”. All the other denominations except Adventists have turned to Jesuit position.

But “even if a thousand tell lies and one person tells the truth, lying doesn’t become truth”. You do not judge truth by numbers. Jesus said that the road to heaven is narrow and only great minority find it tend choose it. The road to destruction is wide and there are many who walk in it. Let us not judge truth by numbers or by scholars. The Jewish scholars did not see in Christ the Messiah. They took only those sections of the prophecies of Christ that deal with His second coming when He will come as a King. They ignored the prophecies that dealt with Him as a suffering servant.

SDA Church is wrong teaching that sacrificial blood could defile the sanctuary either on earth or in heaven

Some people believe that according to our understanding our sins were transferred to the heavenly sanctuary through the blood of Christ in a similar way as sins of Israelites were transferred to the earthly temple through the blood of the sacrificial animals and defiled the sanctuary. And for this reason the sanctuary had to be cleansed once a year.

However, in reality if you look at what Seventh-day Adventists have taught about this subject, you will find that we never claimed that the blood of Christ defiles the heavenly sanctuary. We only believe that the sins defile the sanctuary not the blood.

In the Bible blood is the symbol of Christ’s death. And it is through His death that we are justified (cleansed) from our sins. His death doesn’t transfer our sins into the heavenly sanctuary. Sins are not transferred but recorded. They are recorded there in the heavenly register for a very important purpose that is repeatedly explained here.

The focus of the judgment and sanctuary cleansing in Daniel 7 and Daniel 8 is not about judging the people of God but rather about judging the enemies of God’s people (especially the “little horn”)

When you look at Daniel 7 when it talks about the judgment you see the lion, the bear, the leopard, the dreadful beast with iron teeth, then you see the little horn come up, and then you see the judgment. So, Desmond Ford says that those are the beasts, the kingdoms that were the enemies of God’s people and they’re going to be judged (not God’s people) and that’s what the judgment is about.

The truth, however, is that the investigative judgement involves the saints because in Daniel 7:22 we read that the “judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.” So, it is clear that the saints are judged because the judgement is made in their favour”.

So, right there in Daniel 7 we see that the judgment is to give God’s kingdom to the people of God. The pre-advent judgement may involve the enemies of God’s people who claim to believe in God (including the little horn) but its main purpose is to defend and vindicate the saints of God. It is to demonstrate before the universe that they have right to inherit God’s kingdom because they accepted the righteousness of Christ by faith, and remained in that righteousness till the end.

In Daniel 12:2 we read that right after the final persecution (Dan 12:1) and at the return of the Lord, “many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt.”

The act of giving everlasting life or depriving anyone of it before the second coming of Christ is so vastly important and responsible that the righteous God must demonstrate before the entire universe the He is just by saving true believers and condemning the fake ones. And God does it through the investigative judgement.

Otherwise, without demonstrating His justice, God would give opportunity to doubt about it and thus opening the door for another rebellion.

Apart from that, it is very clear in the Bible that the believers must be judged and this judgement must take place before return of the Lord:
2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we (believers) must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

Romans 14:10 “But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.”
1 Peter 4:17 “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?”

This judgement must take place before the return of the Lord because judging believers after taking them to heaven wouldn’t make any sense.
Paul Petersen’s work on Daniel showed that the sins of God’s people, and not merely those of the little horn, are a concern in Daniel 8 and Daniel 9.

The book of Hebrews 9:12 teaches that Christ entered not the holy but the the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary at his ascension

Therefore He couldn’t enter the most holy place in 1844. Desmond Ford also claimed that in Hebrews 9:3, 8, 12, 24, 25; 10:19; 13:11 the Greek words ta hagia (holies/sanctuary) always refer exclusively to the Most Holy Place. All this eliminated the need or possibility of a future entry by Christ into the Most Holy Place in 1844 to undertake a future antitypical Day of Atonement.

Various studies have shown that the phrase, ta hagia, in the first century was always used to refer to the Sanctuary as a whole and never to just the Most Holy Place. This confirms that Hebrews has a general focus on the heavenly Sanctuary as a whole and Christ’s work within it, and not to just one apartment (either first or second) within the Sanctuary.

Most versions are quite inconsistent about how they render “ta hagia” in the book of Hebrews. It is sometimes rendered, “holy place” and sometimes, “most holy place” and sometimes, “sanctuary”.

We must be careful to distinguish between the three different forms of this in Hebrews:

Ἅγια (hagia) is just the “holy place” as per Hebr. 9:2

Ἅγια ἁγίων (hagia hagion) is the “holy of holies” or “Most Holy Place” as per Heb 9:3

τα’ ἅγια (ta hagia) is neuter plural. It can be translated as “holy places” and denotes the entirety of the parts of the sanctuary as per Heb 8:2, 9:8, 9:12, 24, 25, 10:19, 13:11. Note that the three different forms can be seen side by side in Heb 9:1, 2, 3. The first is “ta hagia” meaning the sanctuary as a whole.

Most versions get Heb 8:2 and Heb 9:1, correct and render ta hagia as “sanctuary”. Most of the other cases are quite inconsistent. However, the New English Bible consistently renders “ta hagia” as sanctuary. The reason for this is simple – the neuter plural denotes the entirety of the parts, that is, Ta hagia (the holies or holy places) indicates all of the sanctuary’s parts.

The phrase “within the veil” in the book of Hebrews 6:19 refers to the second veil or entrance of the most holy place

Many Adventist scholars now tend to affirm that the phrase “within the veil” in Hebrews 6:19 refers primarily to the inner veil to the Most Holy Place. However, this does not indicate the antitypical Day of Atonement. It is better understood in connection with the antitypical inauguration of the heavenly sanctuary, its new priesthood, the new covenant. All of these aspects are emphasized in Hebrews, all are linked to inauguration, and none of them have any connections with the Day of Atonement.

Hebrews 10:20 explicitly refers to ‘inauguration’ itself (enekainisen ‘to inaugurate’).

Opponents of the sanctuary message often claimed that according to Hebrews 6:19 Christ entered “behind the veil” into the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary at his ascension in 31 AD and not in 1844.

Hebrews 6:19–20 “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

However, in Heb. 9:3 Paul describes the veil separating the holy from the most holy place as “the second veil”! It means that there were two veils in the temple. Hence, when he speaks of “the veil” in Heb. 6:19 he must refer to the first veil at the entrance of the tabernacle! It means that after His ascension Christ entered not the most holy place but the holy place.

Numbers 18:7 talks about entering within (behind) the veil and it is clear that this verse is talking about entering into the holy place and not the most holy place. Therefore, because Paul says in the book of Hebrews that Christ has entered within the veil does not automatically mean the veil to the most holy place because there was a veil into the holy place.

E. E. Andross came up with another idea which he described in his book A More Excellent Ministry (1912). He agreed that in Hebrews 6:19 Paul could mean the second veil but argued that it refers to the act of dedicating the heavenly sanctuary and not to the Day of Atonement. Many Adventist scholars now tend to affirm that the phrase “within the veil” in Hebrews 6:19 refers primarily to the inner veil to the Most Holy Place. However, this does not indicate the antitypical Day of Atonement. It is better understood in connection with the antitypical inauguration of the heavenly sanctuary, its new priesthood, the new covenant. All of these aspects are emphasized in Hebrews, all are linked to inauguration, and none of them have any connections with the Day of Atonement. Hebrews 10:20 explicitly refers to ‘inauguration’ itself (enekainisen ‘to inaugurate’).

Daniel 8:14 and Leviticus 16 are not linked

A careful analysis of Daniel 8 clearly shows that Daniel uses sanctuary language throughout Daniel 8:11-14, with the purpose of expressing sanctuary ideas. Therefore, it proves that there is a connection between this section and the sanctuary. And there is a strong and extensive connections between Daniel 8 and the Levitical sanctuary.
The usage of the Hebrew word “tamid” (translated as “daily sacrifices”) in Dan 8:11 is clearly linked with the priestly mediatory work performed on behalf of the people in the sanctuary.

Furthermore, the word “tsadaq” translated as “justified” or “vindicated” or “cleansed” in Daniel 8:14 is used in the Bible (especially in Psalms) to express the same idea as “taher” used in Leviticus 16 to express “cleansing” of the sanctuary.

Also the little horn is described in Daniel 8 as able to defile the sanctuary and to oppose the work of Christ (“Prince”) in the heavenly sanctuary. And when the time comes for the Christ to begin his work in the most holy place, the little horn loses control of the sanctuary. It cannot affect the Prince’s work in the most holy place. As depicted in Leviticus 16, Christ’s work in the most holy place includes the vindication of God’s character, cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, and the investigative judgment of the saints before the return of Christ.

Daniel 9:24-27 proves that Daniel 8:14 refers to the end times and 1844

by Jack Sequeira

Does the Word of God actually explain Daniel 8:14? Yes, the explanation is given in Daniel 9:24-27. This is not only an Adventist position. Many reliable scholars admit that verses 24 to 27 of Daniel 9 is the explanation of Daniel 8:14. Even Desmond Ford, who does not agree with us entirely on Daniel 8, agrees that Daniel 9:24-27 contains an explanation of Daniel 8:14. The following is his his statement on Daniel 9:24-27 taken from his book Good News for Adventists:

“We take the position that the vision of Daniel 8:14 is briefly explained in Daniel 9:24-27. Why? In chapter nine, Gabriel appears again. The same angel that appeared in chapter 8 appeared again, this time to give Daniel wisdom and understanding… Daniel 9:24-27 is explaining Daniel 8:14. Thus, in Daniel 9:24-27, Daniel is told more detail than before, just what the restoration of the sanctuary consists of.”

In order for us to understand that passage, we need to understand the context of Daniel 9. First let us look at the context of Daniel 9 and the time frame. It is about 14 years after the vision of Daniel 8.

Daniel 9:1: “In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom.”

It is approximately 538 B.C., which is about 14 years after the vision of Daniel 8. So for 14 years, Daniel had gone without an explanation and was wrestling with Daniel 8:14, wondering, “What is the meaning of this statement?” This would make it approximately 65 years after Jerusalem and the temple were already destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. So the temple and city of Jerusalem were in ruins, in desolation, now, for about 65 years.

From Daniel 9:2, we discover that Daniel understands from the prophet Jeremiah, who was a contemporary of Daniel, that the desolation of Jerusalem and the temple was to last 70 years. Sixty-five years had already passed, so there were five years left.

But the problem was that according to Daniel 8:14, the restoration was to take place in the distant future. So Daniel was worried because to the Jews, the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple meant that God had forsaken them.

To him the idea that the restoration of the temple will not take five years but in the a distant future was unbearable!

So, what did Daniel do? He went on his knees with fasting and sackcloth and he prayed.

His burden is not an Adventist burden, it is a Jewish burden. Look at Daniel 9:16-19. He says here, “the nations around us are pointing their fingers to us saying, ‘Where is your God? You are a defeated people, where is your God’?” He is turning to God’s love and His mercy as the means of his supplication.

Did God listen to his prayer?

Yes. God said, “Yes Daniel, I understand your concern. I know you are confused. You can’t reconcile Jeremiah’s prophecy which has only four years left with the prophecy I have given you.”

Daniel is not thinking of a heavenly sanctuary. His burden is Jerusalem and his people.

But we know from the principle of parallelism that Daniel 8:14 is not dealing with the Jewish nation. It is dealing with the time of the end — the consummation

So God has a problem. “What shall I do?”

Let us turn to Matthew 24 and look at the similar problem that Jesus faced. Daniel was not making a distinction between Jeremiah’s prophecy which was 70 years of desolation and Daniel 8:14. The disciples made the same mistake. We know from history that in Matthew 24 Christ was referring to the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. But to the disciples the destruction of the temple was the same as the second coming of Christ. How did they respond?

Mat 24:3: “As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately [because they were disturbed, just like Daniel was disturbed]. ‘Tell us,’ they said, ‘when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?’”

So the disciples linked the destruction of Jerusalem with the Second Coming of Christ and the end of the world. They were confused.

Now what could Jesus do? Could he say to them, “Your temple will be destroyed in a few years in 70 A.D. but my coming will be 2000 years later?”

What would happen to the disciples? They would not have been able to bear it. So Jesus combined the two events. When you read Matthew 24, you will notice the signs of the destruction of Jerusalem and the signs of the Second Coming of Christ, which are separated by almost two millenniums, are joined together! That may seem unfair to you, but, remember, God lives in eternity. A thousand years are to Him as one day – 2 Peter 3:8.

God is doing the same thing to Daniel. But in Daniel 9:24-27 the angel doesn’t refer to the end of the world. He is discussing the final stages of the Jewish nation. Jeremiah’s prophecy is right. The Jewish temple will be restored but it will once again be destroyed, never to be restored. This is the end! So he is explaining in the 70 weeks the final time of the end of the Jewish nation. But, at the same time, this has to give an explanation of the Daniel 8:14, which is the consummation.

The only way I can reconcile it is to take the 70 weeks as a model. In other words, God is using the 70 weeks as a model for what will take place at the end of the 2,300 years or days.

The day-year principle is already there in Daniel 9. We just need to take the main events of the 70 weeks and use them as a model to understand Daniel 8:14.

The explanation which Ford uses means that the problem has multiple applications, so every event is a fulfilment. That makes prophecy meaningless.

What I am giving here is what the New Testament uses — The Jew-Gentile principle. If you look at the New Testament, God divides the human race into two camps — Jews and Gentiles.

Let us look at a couple of examples. When Jesus gave the great commission of the gospel, He said, “Take the gospel first to the Jews. After they have had their chance and, if they reject it, then go to the Gentiles.” Even when He sent out the 72, he said, “Don’t go to the Gentiles. Their time has not yet come. Give it to the Jews first.

Paul does the same in Romans, “The Jew first and then the Gentiles” Romans 1:16.

That doesn’t mean that the Gentiles cannot be saved during the Jewish period. They can be saved but the Gentile had to become a Jew during the Jewish period. Like in our Christian period, which began in 31 A.D., if a Jew accepted the gospel, he had to become a Gentile.

When a Jew in Israel today becomes a Christian, he loses his citizenship. The government takes away his passport because he has become a Gentile. Even the Jews recognize today that when a Jew becomes a Christian he no longer is a Jew — even in nationality.

So please remember that a Jew can be saved today. God is not going to give the Jewish nation a second chance. The Bible does not teach that. God does say that every Jew still can be saved if he accepts Christ as the Messiah.

Daniel 9:24-27 – two-fold application of 70 weeks – Jews & Gentiles

Going through this chart, let us first look at the five main points of the 70 weeks:

Commandment to restore Jerusalem and temple – 457 BC (Daniel 9:24). The 70 weeks begin with a commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem and the temple.
Coming out of literal Babylon. For that commandment to be carried out — for Jerusalem to be restored and the temple to be restored — what did the Jews had to give up? Babylon and go back to desolate Israel. They could not remain in the nice houses that they had built in Babylon. They had to come out of Babylon and go to Israel.
Rebuilt and restore Jerusalem & Temple (which will take place in troubled times). Having come to Israel, they had to restore the temple and the city. I would like you to notice what Daniel 9 says about the restoration (not the commandment but the act of restoration – Daniel 9:25. The hardest part of the 70 weeks is the restoration itself.

There will be much opposition. There will be many difficulties, but it will be restored — guaranteed! Even though it will take a long time.

After the restoration comes the confirmation of the covenant. What confirmation? For generations, God had promised the Jews the Messiah. They were looking for this promise for years. Was this promise fulfilled? Yes, it was fulfilled in the last week of the 70 weeks: when Christ came, He confirmed the promise. That means He fulfilled what was promised for years. And, in the middle of the week, the 70th week, He fulfilled all that was promised in the sacrificial system. He met the atonement requirement. He died on the cross. Did the Jews accept that promise which was now confirmed? I’m talking of the Jews as a nation not as individuals. The answer is “No.” God gave them three and one half more years. Now God did not blame them for crucifying Christ. He would forgive that. But, after Christ was risen from the dead, and the soldiers came to Caiaphas, the leader, and said, “This man that you put to death and sealed His tomb is resurrected.” — Now there was no excuse. The resurrection was the greatest evidence that Jesus Christ was the Messiah. They had no excuse! Jesus said to the Jews, “How often did I take you under my wings like a hen does her chicks. But now I leave you desolate.” And when they stoned Stephen to death (34 AD), they were publicly confessing by that act that they rejected the Messiah.

Abomination that will make Jerusalem desolate (Matthew 23:37-39). The abomination that was to bring desolation to Jerusalem, Ichabod to the nation. When the temple was about to be destroyed, the Roman soldiers took the Roman insignia and nailed it on the door of the temple. And Jesus had told the disciples, “When you see that sign, you know that the end is coming. And because of the prophecy that Jesus gave which he connected with Daniel, no Christian that we know of died in that siege. But the unbelievers died.

1844 AD <— TIME OF THE END – GENTILE DISPENSATION —> PROBATION CLOSES

We have looked at these five things and now we will apply it to Daniel 8:14 as a consummation.

Commandment to restore the Gospel (in 1844). The 70 weeks began with a commandment, and the cleansing of the sanctuary also begins with a commandment. Turn to Revelation 10 and remember that Revelation is complementing Daniel. Here is a description of the bitter disappointment of 1844. But there were a faithful few who held unto God. What did God say to the few who remained faithful to God, even though the experience of the stomach was bitter? Revelation 10:11: “Then I was told, “You must prophesy (proclaim) again about (to) many peoples, nations, languages and kings.” Why “again”? Because the gospel that God gave to the early church was polluted by the Little Horn. Remember the sanctuary is the model plan of salvation (gospel), which we have covered. This was polluted by the Little Horn of Daniel 8. And God is saying to this little flock: “You must prophesy (proclaim) again — you must restore this gospel and proclaim it again.” To whom? “To many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.” What is that proclamation that has to be proclaimed again? Well, Revelation 14 tells us. It is the Three Angels’ Message, which is the everlasting gospel (Rev 14:6). So the commandment that God gave the “little flock” — the Advent flock that came out of the Millerite movement — was to restore the gospel and proclaim it to the world. That’s the commandment. That’s what 1844 means — the commandment to restore the true gospel.

Getting out of spiritual Babylon. But for that commandment to be fulfilled, those people must go out from spiritual Babylon (Rev. 11:1-8). “Come out of her my people.”

That’s number two.

Number three is the actual restoration process (number 1 was the command to restore it). Have we restored the gospel? God tried it 100 years ago through the 1888 message, but it fizzled away. That is why we are having difficulty, because the restoration of Jerusalem was done in troublesome times. The restoration of the gospel today is also in troublesome times. We are still struggling to restore the gospel. We are not united as a church on the gospel. But the question is, “Will this gospel be restored?” Was Jerusalem restored eventually? Yes. And the gospel will be restored. How do I know? Because Revelation 18 says so.
And, when it is restored, the earth will be lightened with the glory of God. In other words, God will confirm the covenant, which is the everlasting gospel, not with the Jewish nation, which was done in 31 A.D., but with the Gentile world. He will confirm so that no nation, no people of the Gentile world, will have any excuse. The world will be lightened with His glory.

Now comes the question, “Will the world accept the gospel?” I’m not thinking of individuals, for we know that thousands at that time will be converted, but will the world? No. They will reject the gospel. Not out of ignorance but deliberately and wilfully, like Caiaphas and the Jews did. That is the abomination that will bring this world into desolation for a thousand years. God has raised up the Advent movement to restore the gospel and to proclaim it with power. We are still struggling now, but when it is done, the earth will be lightened with the truth as it is in Christ. There will be no excuse. And when the world deliberately and wilfully rejects the gospel, probation will close. God will say to the world, the Gentile world, “I leave your house desolate”. God will remove His protection from the world and they will experience the seven last plagues. As the Roman seal was placed on the temple in 70 A.D. as a sign for early Christians to leave Jerusalem, a Sunday law will be a sign that will tell God’s people to leave towns and cities. When we see that, we will have to give up our freezers and we’ll have to live on watercress and dandelions up in the mountains, but only for a short season.

That is what I see Daniel 8:14 is saying. We have a mission and if we destroy 1844, we will destroy the mission for this movement. And if we destroy this mission for this church, we are just another denomination drifting along like everybody else.

My generation has failed to restore the gospel. Your generation cannot afford to fail because.

So we need to realize that Daniel 8:14 has a special message for us today. And it is my prayer that we will take the challenge and go on our knees like Daniel and say, God we beseech you, we plead with you, please restore the gospel, that has been polluted by the Little Horn, so that the world may know the truth as it is in Jesus Christ, that He can come as He promised.

Jesus said in Matthew 24:14: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
That word “testimony” is a legal term. In a court case, you bring witnesses to testify either for or against the person. That preaching of the gospel will be the greatest testimony to a world that has deliberately rejected it. And when that gospel has been preached to the world for a witness, the end will come.

Additional (important) chapters

Cleansing of the Heavenly Sanctuary by E.H. “Jack” Sequeira

One of the clear teachings of the Bible is the sovereignty of God. It means that nothing happens in the universe without the permission of God. Did God know that Lucifer would sin? Yes. Then, why did He create him? That’s one of the big questions.

If God is sovereign, then He has allowed Lucifer to sin and become satan. He has also allowed Satan to tempt Adam and Eve. This has created a problem and it was not solved on the cross.

So what does God do? God actually assumes the blame! There are many texts in the Bible where God assumes the blame for many things. For instance God said, “I have hardened Pharaoh’s heart.” In Isaiah 45:7, God says, “I have created evil” (KJV). These texts perplex many Christians. They wonder why those texts are there. Well, it’s because God assumes the blame until the Day of Atonement. Because He’s sovereign and He allows things to happen, He assumes the blame. Does He assume the blame for a good reason? Yes. But we will not know it until the judgment. Before the sin problem will be solved forever, God must take the blame and responsibility off Himself to permanently remove any doubts about His love and justice. As a result the entire universe will forever praise His name out of love because all will know without a shadow of a doubt about God’s righteous judgement.

In Psalm 119:7 David says: “I will praise your name with uprightness of heart when I know of your righteous judgment.”

The purpose of the Day of Atonement is to put the blame where it belongs.

Why did God instruct Moses and the Jews that they had to use goats instead of sheep?

If you look at your Bibles you will discover that goats represent sin (Matt. 25:33).

Matt 25:41: “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand (goats), Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”

Notice that this condemnation refers to the goats. Goats always symbolize sin in the Bible .

Who created this world including Adam and Eve? Who actually did the speaking? Christ. We have Christ the Creator and Lucifer the originator of sin. The issue is, which of these two are to blame for sin? This case will be dealt with in the Day of Atonement.

What does the priest do with the goat upon whom the lot fell for the Lord?

Lev 16:9 “And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord’s lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.”

The Lord’s goat is Christ who takes the guilt and the punishment of our sin. But, did the cross deal with the issue of blame? The answer is no. The cross only took our guilt and our punishment.

Satan is responsible for injecting in us the law of sin and for using it to lead us to sins and in the great day of atonement (judgment) and cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary Satan will be made responsible for it.

Rom 7:20: “Now if I do that I would not [if I’m doing what I did not choose to do], it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.”

Who is Paul putting the blame on? Sin that dwelled in him and in all of us. We call that indwelling sin, the law of sin, a constant evil force that is pulling us toward sin and selfishness.

Rom 7:21-22: “I find then a law [principle] when I would do good, evil is present with me. [I want to keep the law, but instead I’m not keeping it, I’m breaking it] For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.”

Who put that law of sin in you? When God came to Adam whom did Adam blame? He blamed Eve thus blaming God who created her. Then God went to Eve. Who did Eve blame? The serpent. Please notice that God did not go to the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Why? Because the Day of Atonement is going to settle this. In the Day of Atonement, God will put the blame on Azazel (scapegoat) who is Satan. And he will admit it because all the evidence is there.

So what is happening on the day of atonement is that the priest will go into the sanctuary and cleanse the sanctuary. He will cleanse the people from the guilt and punishment through the blood of the goat for the Lord, representing Christ and His death for sinners. Then the priest will take the blame (responsibility) for sin and lay it on Satan.

Here is a question: When you accepted Christ did you make a decision not to sin? Did you promise God to be good? Yes. So as far as your choice is concerned, would you chose to sin? No. But we do sin. Why do we sin? Because we have what we call the law of sin in our members. Who put that law of sin there? Do you blame God or do you blame Lucifer? Who is the one that originated it? Lucifer took that sin and injected that sin into mankind through Adam and Eve leading to horrible results. But the truth is the world blame God for it. And the great controversy cannot come to an end unless the heavenly sanctuary (representing God) is cleansed from the blame of sin. That’s why the word “Azazel” means, the angel that takes the blame. Therefore, in the great day of atonement, the Lord’s goat takes the guilt and punishment; Azazel takes the blame.

The word “law” in Romans seven [“the law of sin”] is used in the same way that we use the law of gravity. It’s a force. The human will is not a law because the human will is changeable. A law means a constant unending force, just like the law of gravity. It’s a constant force that is existing day and night, seven days a week, all the year round. In our human body, there is a force towards sin. Paul calls it “the law of sin.” And this force is constant. You can defy that force by your willpower but you can never conquer it.

Of these two forces, which is greater: the law of the mind or the law of sin? Since the fall, which is stronger? This is the struggle of Romans seven. I chose to do right but I find that I am doing wrong. Please remember that Romans seven Paul is pretending to be an immature Christian who makes a common mistake and tries to overcome the law of sin using only his will power and not the indwelling law of the Holy Spirit. Therefore in Romans 7 Holy Spirit is not mentioned, unlike Romans 8 which is loaded with Holy Spirit.

These two forces, the law of sin and the law of the Spirit, met in Christ (Romans 8:2-3).

There are three laws: the law of your mind, the law of sin, and the law of the Spirit. The law of the Spirit is found in Romans 8:2.

In Romans 7 what Paul is saying is that the law of sin is greater, stronger, than the law of the mind. The mind (will power) cannot conquer the law of sin.

Did God create man with the law of sin? No. Who injected the law of sin in our members? Satan. Satan put the virus into Adam through Eve. First Satan deceived Eve, then he used her as a tool to get Adam. Then, through Adam, we all were born with the law of sin.

Please remember that when the law of the Spirit and the law of sin meet in Christ — both are constant forces — which is stronger? The law of sin or the law of the Spirit? The law of the Spirit is stronger. That is in chapter eight of Romans. This chapter is dealing with the law of the Spirit against the law of sin. Paul says the law of the Spirit has set us free from the law of sin in Christ.

But chapter seven is not dealing with Christ. It is dealing with the law of sin versus the law.

Who is to blame for the law of sin? That blame is what Lucifer has to take.

If God takes the blame for our law of sin then the great controversy can never come to an end.

So sin will eventually be wiped out, but God will do it in a righteous and a just way so that even Satan will admit that sin is not good. But he will not repent. Because he will not repent, he has to be destroyed.

There’s something here that is very important and we need to understand it. The love of God, which is the basis of His government, has no self in it. It is self-emptying love. On the other hand, the new type of love introduced by Lucifer was self-centred (egocentric).

Initially and when you don’t know the results of this kind of love, it sounds very convincing. You cannot be happy unless you love self. So the idea of self-love seems right.

But there is that text is Proverbs 14:12 which says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”

So Lucifer deceived himself by believing that life according to the introduced by him self-love was better than God’s way in which there is no self. God had to allow Lucifer to develop this world on the principle of self, to show the results of it. This world has been developed on the principle of self for the last six thousand years. Has the world improved? No. It makes everything worse.

The Day of Atonement will put the blame of sin where it belongs. Christ accepted the guilt and punishment and paid for it on the cross, but the responsibility, the blame for sin will be placed upon Satan.

But initially he will not be killed. He will be sent into the wilderness for one thousand years. No human being is present during the thousand years. And he has no permission to go beyond this earth during that time. In that sense, he is bound. He will have a thousand years to contemplate what he has done to this world.
Does Lucifer repent after the one thousand years? No, he does not repent. Therefore, he himself admits that sin must be destroyed.

Additional questions

Why did Peter believe that the investigative judgment started in his days (1 AD)?

In 1992, George Rice in the following words explained why in 1 Pt 4:17 Peter believed the investigative judgment started in his days (1 AD):

“Because Peter believed that Christ’s death and resurrection introduced the last era of human history (1 Peter 1:20; 4:7), he was confident that the time of the judgment had also arrived…

This fact does not rule out the reality of the heavenly investigative judgment in the last days.

Repenting Israelites were judged forgiven throughout the year (Lev. 4:26, 31, 35). But not until the Day of Atonement did the final judgment of the year occur, which involved cleansing of both sanctuary and people (See Lev. 16:29-34; compare Dan. 7:9-14; 8:14.)” – George Rice, 1 Peter – A Living Hope, 1992, p. 87.

If only professed Christians are judged in the investigative judgment, when are those who lived a moral life but never heard about Christ judged?

According to the investigative judgment doctrine, while Christians undergo an investigative judgment before the second coming of Christ, those who have never heard the gospel are judged based on their knowledge of right and wrong and their actions, not based on their faith in Christ.

Many of them will be saved but in heaven they will discover the gospel and learn that the are saved only because they also were included in the perfect life and death of the Lord (2Cor 5:14,19; Rom 5:18).

The article titled “The Good News of the Investigative Judgment” published in Adventist Review, emphasizes that the Investigative Judgment is not about informing God, but about revealing His justice to the universe. It also affirms that those who never heard the gospel are not judged in this phase but later, and it will be based on their conscience and actions. Their judgment will occur after the investigative judgment for Christians, and will be based on how they lived in relation to the knowledge they possessed.

So, when will they be judged? After investigative judgement but still before return of Christ, or during the Millennium?
…
Since neither the Bible nor SOP provide an answer it is better to leave it:

“Whether all the children of unbelieving parents will be saved we cannot tell, because God has not made known His purpose in regard to this matter, and we had better leave it where God has left it and dwell upon subjects made plain in His Word.” (3SM, 315, 1).

“I know that some questioned whether the little children of even believing parents should be saved, because they have had no test of character and all must be tested and their character determined by trial. The question is asked, How can little children have this test and trial? I answer that the faith of the believing parents covers the children, as when God sent His judgments upon the first-born of the Egyptians” (3SM, 313,4).

Additional important thoughts and quotes referring to the sanctuary doctrine

According to some Adventist sources, the statement that “the hour of His judgment has come” (Rev. 14:7) should not be limited to the time of the investigative judgment of the believers before the return of Christ. It refers to judgment of every sinner in every age of the worlds history who heard and was convicted of the truth of the gospel. Such individuals have made a decision for or against Christ that will decide their eternal destiny in the final judgment.

Here is what the SDA Church teaches concerning the sanctuary doctrine in the book “Seventh-day Adventists Believe… A Biblical Exposition of 27 Fundamental Doctrines” (chapter 23):

“There is a sanctuary in heaven, the true tabernacle which the Lord set up and not man. In it Christ ministers on our behalf, making available to believers the benefits of His atoning sacrifice offered once for all on the cross. He was inaugurated as our great High Priest and began His intercessory ministry at the time of His ascension.
In 1844, at the end of the prophetic period of 2300 days, He entered the second and last phase of His atoning ministry. It is a work of investigative judgment which is part of the ultimate disposition of all sin, typified by the cleansing of the ancient Hebrew sanctuary on the Day of Atonement. In that typical service the sanctuary was cleansed with the blood of animal sacrifices, but the heavenly things are purified with the perfect sacrifice of the blood of Jesus.

The investigative judgment reveals to heavenly intelligences who among the dead are asleep in Christ and therefore, in Him, are deemed worthy to have part in the first resurrection. It also makes manifest who among the living are abiding in Christ, keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and in Him, therefore, are ready for translation into His everlasting kingdom.

This judgment vindicates the justice of God in saving those who believe in Jesus. It declares that those who have remained loyal to God shall receive the kingdom. The completion of this ministry of Christ will mark the close of human probation before the Second Advent.”

Here is how Pastor William H. Branson—the vice president of General Conference — explained his understanding of the same subject in his letter written to Canright in 1933:

“Jesus is my sacrificial Lamb and also my High Priest. He has died for me, but His death is of no avail to me until I accept Him as my substitute. When I do accept Him I then confess my sins to God through Him, just as the man in Israel confessed his sins over his offering. And thus my sins are transferred from myself to the sanctuary above, where Christ ministers as priest on my behalf. He takes away my sins, and gives me His righteousness. But where does He take them? He takes them to the sanctuary, where He is ministering as priest; and although they are forgiven, the record of them must there remain until they are blotted out in the judgment. Someone may say: I thought that when Christ forgave my sins, He took them clear away. Yes, He did, so far as you are concerned. He promises to make us as white as snow. But this does not mean that the sins are finally disposed of. He takes them from us, but the record is still there. We are free because we have accepted Him as our substitute and sin bearer, but the record of sin is held in the sanctuary.” (Reply to Canright, p. 126)

What the above text should also emphasize that the record of sins committed by saints and found in the heavenly sanctuary remains there until the great day of judgement, final atonement and cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, not against them, as they are already forgiven and are no longer under condemnation of the law (Rom 7:6; 8:1) but against Satan who will ultimately be held responsible for all the sins included in that record.

“When we become children of God, our names are written in the Lamb’s book of life, and they remain there until the time of the investigative judgment. Then the name of every individual will be called, and his record examined by Him who declares, ‘I know thy works’.”—Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times, Aug. 6, 1885.

“In the typical service, only those who had come before God with confession and repentance, and whose sins, through the blood of the sin offering, were transferred to the sanctuary, had a part in the service of the Day of Atonement. So in the great day of final atonement and investigative judgment, the only cases considered are those of the professed people of God.

The judgment of the wicked is a distinct and separate work, and takes place at a later period. ‘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?’

The books of record in heaven, in which the names and the deeds of men are registered, are to determine the decisions of the judgment. Says the prophet Daniel, ‘The judgment was set, and the books were opened.’ The revelator, describing the same scene, adds, ‘Another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works’.” — The Great Controversy between Christ and Satan, 1888, p. 480.

Four different aspects of sin addressed in different times

The critics of the biblical doctrine about cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary need to understand the following very important fact. God’s plan of salvation has to deal with listed below 4 different aspects of sin which are addressed in different time frames. The last (fourth) aspect of sin, which is responsibility for introducing sin in perfect universe and leading saints to sin), will be addressed at the time of cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary:

I. In the past (2000 years ago) through Christ’s death, God delivered all sinners (past, present and future) from the condemnation and punishment of sin (from eternal death) (2 Cor. 5:19). However, since this historic fact is a supreme gift of God for the entire humanity, it still needs to be accepted with a genuine faith in order to be effective and to benefit sinners by making them spiritually alive (born from the Spirit).

II. In the present continuous tense, Christ through His constant ministry in the heavenly sanctuary intercedes for all believers providing them power of Holy Spirit they need to be set free from the second aspect of sin – the power of sin and slavery to sin. This victory over sin is an ongoing process and does not contribute to their salvation but provides evidence that they truly accepted the justification by faith in what Christ already did for them 2000 years ago. This evidence of true Christianity is taken into consideration during the investigative judgment. Why do you need a Mediator in your behalf? Did Christ die for all our sins, including future ones, on the cross, or only for the past sins? He dealt with all our sins including future ones! So, the question is, what is Jesus doing now in the heavenly sanctuary if He already saved us long time ago? Romans 5:10 is a very good verse to help answer this question: “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” Paul says here that when we were enemies and unbelievers we were already reconciled to God (or saved) through the death of Christ which took place 2000 years ago. However, it was not the end of the salvation process because Paul adds that although we were saved 2000 years ago through Christs death we are being reconciled (saved) now through His life! Why through Christ’s life we are being saved now? Where is Christ living now? In the heavenly sanctuary where He is interceding for us (saving us) already saved believers. What is He saving us from now through His life (his ministry in heaven)? He is saving us from the power of sin and slavery to sin! So, 2000 years ago on the cross through His death He saved us from the condemnation and punishment of sin, from second death. Now He is saving us from the slavery to sin and the power of sin. And that is the reason why He is constantly interceding for us there. He is doing it to provide the power of HS that we may demonstrate the evidence that we have accepted the salvation through His death through genuine faith. In addition, the statement that “we shall be saved now by His life” also means by Christ’s life in us through HS (John 15:5).

III. In the future, at the second coming of Christ, God will deliver His true people from the third aspect of sin – the presence of sin and the nature of sin (from the law of sin and death that is in them).

IV. Finally, at the great day of atonement and cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, the just God will deal with the last aspect of sin, the responsibility for introducing sin in the perfect universe, injecting into our first parents and us the law of sin selfishness and pride and for using this law to lead us (believers) to sins.

The above are the key aspects of sin the just God must deal with before the final and permanent elimination of the sin problem. Unfortunately, most of the evangelical Christians focus only on the first one or two, neglecting the final one (responsibility), and that is why they have natural tendencies to condemn those who believe in the clear biblical teaching about the necessity of cleansing the heavenly sanctuary.

Development of the doctrine

The following quote from the poem by CHARLES WESLEY who died in 1788 proves that he believed in the pre-advent judgment of the believers: “O Judge of the living and the dead, Before whose judgment seat, With either holy joy or guilty dread, We all shall soon appear, Prepare our souls for that great day, with watchful care, And stir us up to pray.”

The pre-advent investigative judgment is often thought of as a unique Seventh-day Adventist teaching. However, a simplified version appeared before the Great Disappointment, being taught by Josiah Litch in 1842 and George Storrs in early 1844. And something like it re-emerged simultaneously and independently among the Millerites after the Great Disappointment.

The most significant early explanation of the meaning of Daniel 8:14 and October 22, 1844, was that of O. R. L. Crosier, first presented in the Day-Dawn, 1845, and later in a more expanded form in the Day-Star Extra, Feb 7, 1846, with the title “The Law of Moses.” Crosier’s discussion was not directly about a pre-advent or investigative judgment but explored the typology of the ancient Israelite sanctuary service. Crosier argued that the cleansing of the sanctuary in Daniel 8:14 referred to the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary (not the earth as Miller had taught).

This post-1844 heavenly work was soon explained primarily in terms of an investigative/pre-advent judgment. The key passage was Daniel 7 with its judgment scene. While judgment took place in heaven, there would be a special work of purification of God’s people on earth who would proclaim the final message of warning outlined in the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14:6-12. The first message consists of a proclamation that God’s judgment had now come. This is interpreted as a reference to the investigative judgment.

The ideas of a pre-advent judgment and a cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary developed side by side and eventually the former was used to explain the essence of the latter.

Elon Everts first used the phrase “investigative judgment” in a letter in the Review and Herald on December 17, 1856.
By 1857 the prophecy (Dan 7; 8:14; Rev 14:6-12), typology (Lev 16:7-10, 23:16-32), parable (Matt 25), and numerous other verses (Eccl 12:14; Rom 14:10, Heb 8-10; 1 Pet 4:17, etc.) had come together to form the doctrine of the investigative judgment.

Thereafter articles and works were produced in which the investigative judgment featured as a key explanation for the meaning of the cleansing of the sanctuary. The doctrine of both the Sanctuary and the investigative judgment developed over time with input from many Adventist Bible students.

While Ellen White contributed little to the initial studies, later writings confirmed and enriched findings of other Adventist writers. George Knight clarifies her role by noting that “we can best view Mrs. White’s role in doctrinal development as confirmation rather than initiation.”

Among the modern Adventist theologians, the most significant contribution to the proper understanding of the doctrine of the heavenly sanctuary in the light of the gospel was provided by Jack Sequeira: www.jacksequeira.org/sanctuary01.htm

Sources and beneficial links

– Article by pastor Jack Sequeira on sanctuary: https://www.jacksequeira.org/sanctuary01.htm
– Book “1844 Made Simple” by Clifford Goldstein (https://1844madesimple.org/)
– Video sermons on sanctuary doctrine by pastor Norman McNulty: Sanctuary Message and Desmond Ford’s Attack (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0CdkLkKDVQ).
– Statement on Desmond Ford document: https://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/1980/10/statement-on-desmond-ford-document
– “Seventh-day Adventists Believe… A Biblical Exposition of 27 Fundamental Doctrines”, chapter 23
– William H. Branson, Reply to Canright, p. 126: https://sdamaranathachurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Doctrine-Critics-William-H-Branson-In-Defense-Of-The-Faith-A-Reply-To-D-M-Canright-1933.pdf