When was the sanctuary cleansed

By the all-seeing God, men will be judged by what they are in purity, in nobility, in love for Christ. Earnestly he sought for the meaning of the vision. All rights reserved. Copyright of such translations and their publication shall remain with the General Conference.

Read Daniel What happens here? White For eighteen centuries [the] work of ministration continued in the first apartment of the sanctuary. So now you know if you read the definition at that link which is an entry in The Character of God and the Gospel Glossary that a sanctuary is more than a dwelling place; it includes the concept of a place of safety.

We will continue looking at the meaning of a sanctuary as referred to by Daniel and how it has been understood over time. Long before Daniel was written, Moses described a sanctuary in the desert which had very much of a teaching role for the children of Israel and is illustrative also for us of how the plan of salvation works. We can see that the Old Testament Sanctuary part 3 was very much like a theater and that, on its own, it could not accomplish the cleansing that was needed could not take away sins — Heb Clearly, it was meant to point to a greater reality.

Following parts of this study will identify the true sanctuary and show, in detail, the process of cleansing the sanctuary. There is considerable history associated with the understanding of Daniel When a prediction for that event did not happen, the focus shifted to the idea of a Heavenly Sanctuary part 4.

While there is some but surprising little direct evidence of a sanctuary in heaven, there is a scarcity of evidence that there is anything in heaven in need of cleansing. More recently, starting in the last half of the twentieth century, attention has shifted back to the Earth, not as the sanctuary itself, but to an expected physical Earthly Sanctuary part 5 expected to be built in Jerusalem — the third Jewish Temple.

Reading that page, we can see the possibility of a third temple yet to be built on earth but also evidence that it could not be the true temple or sanctuary to be cleansed. See this detailed look at The True Sanctuary part 6 and note the considerable Bible evidence pointing to where God most wants to abide. So there is considerable Bible evidence that the sanctuary or tabernacle where God really wants to dwell is in us; we are the tabernacle.

But how does that work? Christ living in us sounds rather mysterious. It helps make sense of this to look at how this would work physically. If in us, then where in us? See the Sanctuary of the Heart part 7 for evidence that God wants to dwell in our minds — the part of us that makes us who we are as individuals; the part of us that can actually welcome Him in. We can now understand that it is talking about the sanctuary that is our minds. Trust comes with familiarity; with knowledge of character — are they, in fact, trustworthy?

As noted in that discussion of the sanctuary of the mind needing cleansing the link above , there are three levels of sin:. Before getting to the details of the cleansing process we should consider a couple of other factors. While cleansing of the sanctuary can be an individual process, there is a timing aspect suggested by Daniel The question is: how can an individual process that is needed by every person who has ever lived be consistent with a start time at some point in history? Perhaps there is more than one sense in which cleansing happens.

Looking at The Timing of the Cleansing part 10 as mentioned in Daniel in its place in history will help to make that distinction. Now we can see that there is a special cleansing in an end-time setting that is especially significant and that this cleansing of the sanctuary is dependent, in large part, on a better understanding of the character of God — our judgment of God. A careful comparison of verses shows that judgment and cleansing are two different processes.

We are years into the "making right" the Heavenly Sanctuary with no end in sight. I too am challenged by this. Hebrew "and remember their sins no more". The church teaches that the confessed sins of the saved are in Heaven waiting to be blotted out? Rather then being literal, the cleansing of the Heavenly sanctuary must be a metaphor we yet don't understand? I'm looking for that text as well. Thank God He prepared a way for us acquitted us, gave us righteousness, and confirmed our salvation.

Romans So ssneter's: ARISE [from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you—rise to a new life]! Shine be radiant with the glory of the Lord , for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you! Yes, "we need the blood of the Messiah to forgive us our sins and enable us to stand in judgment". Hi Pete, Hebrews 8 and 9 talk about different compartments of the heavenly sanctuary.

William, The "Day of Atonement" feast only made use of the "last compartment" of the O. The Book of Hebrews mainly utilizes the "Day of Atonement" symbolism which again, only utilizes the last compartment for what Jesus did "Once for all" at Calvary.

Actually, William, only Chapter 9 mentions specifically both compartments from verse But after verse 7 there it goes on to just focus on the last compartment ministration for the rest of that book and even alludes to that Day of Atonement Ministry before Chapter 9 in the book. In the context of Nadab and Abihu offering "strange fire" in the temple, the notions of purification and penitence associated with the Day of Atonement make sense, It is also interesting that while the Day of Atonement was essentially instituted after the deaths of Nadab and Abihu, there is a Midrashic tradition that it is the day God gave to Moses the second set of ten commandments and comes at the end of 40 days on instruction of the children of Israel after the Golden Calf event.

At that time Israel was granted atonement for the Golden Calf sin and this is why it is known as the Day of Atonement. So it appears that penance and restoration include cleansing are integral in the observance of the day of atonement. How then, do we associate the idea of judgment, and in particular, investigative judgment with it? Lev anyone who does not afflict their soul on that day will be cut off from his people.

So throughout the year they could come and have atonement made for their sins but the Day of Atonement was the last chance for that year for all those sins to be completely wiped out or they would be wiped out.

Dan 7 is a judgment scene - mainly between the "pompous,persecuting, power" and the Most High as to who will have dominion over the whole world because "the books will be opened" this links us to Rev ,, where we have thrones, books opened, judgement based on their contents. Rev 21 - There is a new heaven and earth, the tabernacle of God will be with His people, the new Jerusalem will come down, it is in the form of a cube just like the Most Holy place of the sanctuary.

Heb we find a link between the High Priest entering the Most Holy every year to cleanse it and Jesus Christ entering into the true tabernacle in heaven once and for all to put away sin for good.

The yearly rituals of earthly sanctuary are an object lesson of the Plan of Salvation and the visions of Daniel show us how they fit in the stream of time, the main points being 1 Jesus and His people will be the winners 2 the Truth that has been distorted will be restored 3 the tabernacle of God will be with His people and He will dwell with them Ex , Rev Are not our bodies the temple of the Holy Spirit?

And Jesus is in us. Perhaps it's talking about our temple and not something in Heaven that needs cleansing or set right?

I am just going to post these two texts. See if there is any context, as it relates to todays topic, in which they can be placed. I think what we need is a clearer understanding of the plan of salvation as portrayed in the ancient sanctuary services and how it reveals Jesus' ministry on the sinner's behalf Atonement is a process.

The sacrifice of the lamb was only the first part of the process. Atonement was not completed when the Lamb was killed. It had only just begun. Someone questioned the concept of 'confessed sins in heaven waiting to be blotted out' Well, Scripture declares in Daniel "A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

Norma, I would love to hear your summary of the Plan of Salvation as demonstrated in the Tabernacle, to help me understand. There are so many bits and pieces being posted that it is getting confusing.

Heb And almost all things are by the law purged with blood, and without shedding of blood is no remission. Heb Only one sacrifice was necessary, however He wanted to reveal how this was applied to individuals who had accepted His offering.

However Daniel 8 is telling us that all the negative things that were done by the "horn" which affected the Plan of Salvation 1. The way for the LORD to make this clear was to use the concept of what had to be done when someone had defiled the dwelling of the LORD, thus He used the concept of cleansing, restoring the sanctuary as well as the concept of vindicating the Most High as opposed to this horn who called himself God.

For that Day shall not come unless there first comes a falling away, and the man of sin shall be revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, setting himself forth, that he is God.

That He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest. Therefore, Christ was not a priest until after He had become man and had suffered on man's behalf. Why do we emphasize this point? None of it was done before He came to earth. In the earthly sanctuary the priest served in the first apartment and then in the second apartment, and the service was an example, or type, of the service of Christ.

Therefore Christ must serve in both the first and second apartments of the heavenly sanctuary, and His service in both these apartments must come after the cross. The priest served first in the first apartment. Therefore, if the types mean anything to us, they show that when Christ went to heaven as a priest, He began His service in the first apartment, whereas His ministry in the second apartment was to come at a subsequent time. Now the work in the first apartment of the earthly sanctuary required a much longer period than the work in the second.

Day by day throughout the year the priest ministered in the holy place, and one day in the year he ministered in the most holy. So if we follow that in the antitype in heaven, we conclude that it was necessary that christ should go first into the first apartment, and that He should serve a much longer period there than He would terward serve in the most holy place.

Some argue that the types of Christ's priestly ministry are to be found not in the Levitical priesthood but in the Melchizedec priesthood. But we inquire, Where is the record of Melchizedec's priestly ministry?

What kind of sacrifices did he offer? What was the order of the services performed? If the types are to be found in his priestly service, it is important that we understand them, in order that we may also understand the work of Christ, the antitype. But we find no record of the priestly ministry of Melchizedec. We find no shedding of blood, no offering of sacrifices, no work of atonement.

But we do find all this Set forth in the work of the Levitical priests. In their ministry every detail of the work of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary is clearly taught. If we reject the Levitical priesthood, we are left entirely without a typical ministration. If we accept it, we have a typical service which teaches every principle essential to the plan of redemption.

We are left in no uncertainty on this important point. Thus it is the service of the priests who served under the law that is to be taken as an example of the work of Christ in heaven. These were the Levites.

They were designated as priests by the law of Moses. But in what respect, then, was Christ a priest after the order of Melchizedec? Hebrews Just this: Melchizedec was not a priest under the law of Moses. He did not become a priest by inheritance. The sons of Aaron were priests because their father was priest. It was an inheritance. But Melchizedec became a priest in another way. Just so it was with Christ. He was not of the tribe of Levi but sprang out of Judah.

By the law He had no inheritance in the priestly ministry. He was without priestly parentage or pedigree. For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood. And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another Priest, who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. In this respect therefore Christ was a priest after the order.

In view of these considerations we must therefore urge again that since the earthly priest performed his first service in the first apartment of the sanctuary, which consumed the greater part of his time and labor, so must Christ begin His ministry in the first apartment of the heavenly sanctuary, and continue there a much longer period than that required for His service in the second.

And since the service of the earthly priests in the most holy place came at the end of the yearly round, so must Christ's work in the second apartment come at the close of His priestly ministry, and not at the beginning. He could not therefore, upon His ascension to heaven, have entered immediately upon His work in the most holy place, for His work in the first apartment had not yet been performed. Someone may say, Did not Christ go immediately within the veil? Certainly He did.

But does this prove that He went immediately into the most holy place? If there were only one veil in the sanctuary, then it might seem to indicate that He did, but there were two veils. In Hebrews , Paul says distinctly that there is a second veil. And thou shalt hang up the vail under the taches, that thou mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony: and the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy.

And thou shalt put the mercy seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place. And thou shalt set the table without the vail, and the candlestick over against the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south: and thou shalt put the table on the north side. And thou shalt make a hanging for the door of the tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework.

One of these cloth hangings was at the entrance to the first apartment, and the other served as a dividing veil between the two rooms. He did not say He had gone through two veils, nor did he say He had gone within the second veil. Therefore, when Christ went to heaven and passed within the veil, it was to begin His ministry in the first apartment of the heavenly sanctuary.

And being turned, I saw seven golden. But we do not find that the ark is called God's throne, but find very clear indications that the throne of God is movable, that it moves about from place to place as need requires, being conveyed by living creatures who are capable of moving about with the swiftness of lightning.

See Ezekiel 1. We also know that the throne of God must be movable from what Daniel tells us in chapter , 10, of his prophecy. Here he describes the beginning of the work of judgment. In Revelation , 5, it is recorded that John saw the throne in the first apartment of the sanctuary, for he says he beheld it in the place where the seven lamps were.

Thus it seems that the throne of God moves about whither God wishes to go, and therefore, wherever God is, the throne is present. He is not limited to one little corner. When we are told, therefore, that Christ sat down on the throne at the time of His ascension, that should not be taken to mean that He went at that time into the most holy place of the sanctuary; for we learn from a careful study of the sure word of prophecy that God did not occupy the throne in the most holy place of the sanctuary until the time came for the opening of the judgment in What was the work of Christ in the first apartment of the heavenly sanctuary?

Was there anything for Him to do there? We answer: Jesus' ministry in the first apartment was to plead the merits of His righteousness and of His shed blood in behalf of sinners in the earth who had and who should yet accept Him.

See Matthew This, then, was His work in the first apartment of the sanctuary. As sinners came to God for pardon and would plead the shed blood of Jesus on their behalf, Jesus became.

He offered up their prayers with sweet incense before the Father, and pleaded that since His blood had been shed on behalf of sinners, and since these had accepted Him as their sacrifice, they might receive pardon. Yea, more, He offered to take away the guilt of their sin, and to impute to them His life of righteousness. Thus by accepting Jesus as their substitute and sacrifice, the sins of the sinners were transferred from themselves to the heavenly sanctuary, where Christ was ministering, and where the sins would remain until blotted out in the investigative judgment.

Thus Jesus performed a continual service in the first apartment after His ascension to heaven. Just as in the earthly sanctuary the altar fires were to be kept burning continually, in readiness to consume the sacrifices of sinners who should seek pardon, so Christ stood ready, day and night continually, to receive sinners and offer His shed blood in their behalf.

He beareth away the sins of the world. Thus did Christ minister as High Priest in the holy place, receiving there the sins of the people who came unto God by Him. And thus the heavenly sanctuary has become defiled by the sins of men. From this defilement it requires cleansing at the close of His priestly ministry. During the daily ministration in the first apartment the sins of the children of Israel accumulated in the sanctuary.

The arrangement was that when one committed sin in the camp of Israel, he should bring a lamb or other sin offering, place his hands upon its head, and confess his sins over it.

Thus the sins of the individual were in type transferred to the sacrifice. Then the animal was killed, and a portion of its blood put on the horns of the altar of burnt offering.

The rest of the blood was poured out at the base of this altar, and the flesh was taken into the holy place of the sanctuary, where it was eaten by the priest. This service typified the transfer of the sin from the individual to the sanctuary, and thus the repentant sinner went away free. This slaying of the sacrifice prefigured the death of the Lamb of God, who was to be slain for the sins of the world.

The bringing of sin offerings to the sanctuary continued for the whole year, until the tenth day of the seventh month. On that day the sanctuary was to be cleansed. The book of Leviticus, chapter 16, tells about the cleansing of the earthly sanctuary.

Full details are given here as to what happened on that day. Two goats were brought before the priest, who was to cast lots on them, thus choosing one to be the Lord's goat and the other Azazel's. Azazel is the enemy, or adversary. In other words, one goat was to represent the Lord, and the other God's adversary, Satan. When the lots were cast and the Lord's goat was selected, it was slain, and the priest carried its blood into the sanctuary, beyond the second veil,.

Thus this special service was a cleansing service. It was to accomplish the cleansing of the holy place from the sins of the people.

But from what does he cleanse it? So the cleansing of the sanctuary was a cleansing from sin. This is definitely established.