New Light On The Sanctuary-1

February 14  New Light On The Sanctuary-1

 

And he said to him and to me, For two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed and restored. dan. 8:14, Amplified Bible.

we must never forget that those who would become Sabbatarian Adventists were of the shut-door persuation. That is, they believed that the prophecy of Daniel 8:14 had met its completion in October 1844. They had no doubts about the dating of the prophecy. The historicist interpreters of Daniel had alwyas widely agreed that the 2300-day prophecy would be fulfilled between 1843 and 1847. The controversy hadn't been about the date but about what would happen at the close of the prophetic time period. In other words, there had been a general consensus about the interpretation of the symbolic figure related to the date, but widespread disagreement over the interpretation of the other two prophetic symbols of Daniel 8:14.

The theological task that Adventists needed to accomplish in the wake of the October disappointment ws to unlock the meaning of the sanctuary and the cleansing.

Miller, we noted earlier, had interpreted the sanctuary to be the earth and the cleansing to be its purifying by fire at the Second Advent. His viewpoint had obviously failed. We should recognize that some had expressed doubts as to Miller's interpretation before the October disappointment. Josiah Litch, for example, wrote in April 1844 that "it has not been proved that the cleansing of the sanctuary, which was to take place at the end of the 2300 days, was the coming of Christ or the purification of the earth." Again he noted, as he wrestled with the meaning of the text, that they were most likely to be "in error relative to the event which marked its close."

That line of thought rose again soon after the October disappointment. Thus Joseph Marsh could acknowledge in early November: "We cheerfully admit we have been mistaken in the nature of the event we expected would occur. . .; but we cannot yet admit that our great High Priest did not on that day accomplish all that the type would justify us to expect."

We can glean a lesson here. At times we are more certain of a particular interpretation of Scripture than we have a right to be. We need to be humble and do our homwork as we study God's word.

Help us, Father, to keep our minds open to Your progressive leading as we study Your Word.

Jesus teaches that we can receive forgiveness from God only as we forgive others. It is the love of God that draws us unto Him, and that love cannot touch our hearts without creating love for our brethren(TFMB 113).

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