The Time for the Judgment to Begin
The eighth and ninth chapters of the great prophecy of Daniel are closely connected.
In the eighth chapter of Daniel, an angel showed the prophet a great panorama of the future. Daniel saw a ram and a he-goat, representing respectively Medo-Persia and Greece (Daniel 8:1-12, 20-26).
What is the fourth part of the prophecy?
“‘How long will it take for the vision to be fulfilled—the vision concerning the daily sacrifice . . . ?’ He said to me, ‘It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings [or days, KJV]; then the sanctuary will be reconsecrated [cleansed, KJV].’”
—Daniel 8:13, 14.
Daniel fainted before the angel could explain the 2,300-day part of the prophecy, and the eighth chapter closes with no interpretation of it. But later the angel reappeared and stated:
“I have now come to give you insight and understanding. . . . Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision: seventy ‘sevens’ [margin: weeks] are decreed [cut off, KJV] for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness . . . .”
—Daniel 9:22-24.The 2,300 days are, of course, 2,300 years, each day standing for a year (Ezekiel 4:6). Seventy weeks, or 490 years, constituted the first section of the longer period of 2,300 years. Both time periods started in 457 B.C. when Persia issued the decree “to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.” Subtracting 490 years from the 2,300 years, leaves 1,810. Adding 1,810 years to A.D. 34, when the 490 years ended, brings us to A.D. 1844.
The Heavenly Sanctuary
Cleansed – A JudgmentThe angel told Daniel that in 1844, at the end of the 2,300 years, “the sanctuary will be reconsecrated [cleansed, KJV].” But what does that mean?
Since A.D. 70 when the Romans destroyed the temple at Jerusalem, God’s people have had no temple on earth. So the sanctuary to be cleansed, beginning in 1844, has to be the heavenly sanctuary of which the earthly temple was only a replica.
Now, what does the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary mean? Ancient Israel called the day for cleansing the earthly sanctuary Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It was really a day of judgment to the Hebrew people.
As we discovered in guide 12, Christ’s activity for us in the sanctuary has two phases: 1. The daily sacrifices and ceremonies focus on the priest’s ministry in the first room of the sanctuary, the Holy Place. 2. The yearly sacrifices and ceremonies concentrate on the High Priest’s ministry in the second room of the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place (Leviticus 16 and 23; Hebrews 9:1-5).
In the earthly temple, as people confessed their sins day by day, the blood of slaughtered animals was sprinkled on the corner of the altar, and the priests ate the meat in the Holy Place (Leviticus 4 and 6). Thus, in symbol, day after day the confessed sins were brought into the sanctuary and laid up there.
Then each year, on the Day of Atonement, the sanctuary was cleansed from all sins confessed during the past year (Leviticus 16). To effect this cleansing, the High Priest made a special sacrifice of a consecrated goat. He then carried its blood into the Most Holy Place and ministered before the ark of the covenant which contained the Ten Commandments beneath the atonement cover. The High Priest sprinkled this cleansing blood before the atonement cover to show that the blood of Jesus, the coming Redeemer, would pay the penalty for sin. The High Priest then symbolically removed the confessed sins from the sanctuary and placed them on the head of another goat, which was led out into the wilderness to die (Leviticus 16:20-22).
This ceremony on the yearly Day of Atonement cleansed the sanctuary from sin. The people regarded it as a day of judgment because those who refused to confess and seek divine pardon for their sins were considered unrighteous and were “cut off from His [God’s] people” (Leviticus 23:29).
What the High Priest did symbolically once a year, Jesus does once for all time as our High Priest (Hebrews 9:6-12). In the great judgment day He removes from the sanctuary the confessed sins of all who have accepted Jesus as Saviour. If we have confessed our sins, He will forever blot out the record of our sins at that time. This is the work of judgment that began in 1844.
In 1844 when the hour of God’s judgment began in heaven and Jesus began His work of cleansing the heavenly sanctuary, a judgment hour message began to be preached throughout the world (Revelation 14:6-7).
Facing Your Life Record In the Judgment
Since 1844, according to the prophecy in Daniel 8 and 9, Christ has taken on a judicial role in an investigative judgment, blotting out the record of our sins and cleansing the heavenly temple. Concerning this, Peter said:
“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that YOUR SINS MAY BE WIPED OUT, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ.”
—Acts 3:19.
This pre-advent judgment now going on in heaven investigates the records of all the righteous dead and of all the righteous who are alive in order to validate in the minds of the onlooking universe who will be among the saved when Jesus comes. As our Judge, Jesus “wipes out” all of the sins of the righteous from their life record in heaven, sweeping them away “like the morning mist” (Isaiah 44:22). He thrusts them into infinity—”as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12). Sin will vanish from the universe for all time (Revelation 21:1).
If you had the opportunity to alter your life record, what changes would you make? You’d probably rush to X out quite a few embarrassing entries. The good news is that Christ does this more thoroughly than we ever could. When your name comes up in judgment, it will be an easy matter to face your life record—IF you’ve accepted Christ as your Substitute, your Saviour.
Because Jesus is confident that after the righteous enter heaven they will never again sin, He clears their record of every trace of sin and credits them with His own perfect life. He then returns to earth to reward them:
“‘Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. . . . Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.’”
—Revelation 22:12, 14.Are you ready for Jesus to come? Or is there something you’ve been hiding from Him? Do you have an open and honest relationship with the One who longs to be your Advocate?
An awareness of the judgment shouldn’t make us anxiously dig into our past for some sin that we may have forgotten to confess. But it should motivate us to put everything on the table before God—no secrets, no games.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
—1 John 1:9.
Confession simply means agreeing with God concerning the problems He convicts us about. We’re willing to face them. We accept His forgiveness and acknowledge our need of His power and grace.
While visiting a prison in Potsdam, King Frederick William I listened to a number of pleas for pardon. All the inmates swore that prejudiced judges, perjured witnesses, or unscrupulous lawyers were responsible for their imprisonment. From cell to cell the same story of wronged innocence continued.
But at one cell the inmate had nothing to say. Surprised, Frederick joked, “I suppose you are innocent too.”
“No your Majesty,” the man answered, “I am guilty and richly deserve all that I get.”
The king turned to the guard and called out loudly, “Come and release this rascal quickly, before he corrupts this fine lot of innocent people.”
How do we prepare for the judgment? How do we get ready for Christ to come? Simply by an honest confession of the truth. Simply by acknowledging this great discovery: I richly deserve the penalty of death for my sins, but Another has taken my place and given me a wonderful pardon.
Make a commitment right now that, whatever happens, you’ll keep your relationship with Christ eye-to-eye honest and heart-to-heart sincere.
Delivered From Your
Empty Way of LifeAs the Lamb of God and our High Priest, Jesus not only covers our past and secures our future, He also empowers our present.
“You were redeemed FROM THE EMPTY WAY OF LIFE . . . with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”
—1 Peter 1:18-19.He delivers us from an “empty way of life.” Jesus offers us the moral equivalent of a heart transplant.
“I WILL CLEANSE YOU from all your impurities and from all your idols. I WILL GIVE YOU A NEW HEART and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
—Ezekiel 36:25, 26.All of us struggle with old habits and compulsions, but God promises to counter the pull of the old with the pull of the new:
“And I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT IN YOU and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”
—Verse 27.Remember these promises as you start on your spiritual journey. Let God’s perspective sink in deep, and Jesus will deliver you from an “empty way of life” through His Holy Spirit.
Dear Father in heaven: Thank You for the gift of Jesus who died, not for Himself, but for our sins. Thank You for appointing Him our Advocate, our High Priest, and our Judge. What hope and confidence that gives us! Just now I wish to again place my life in Jesus’ hands. I accept His promise to deliver me from an empty way of life and prepare me for heaven. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
