https___text.beta.egwwritings.org_read_1297.664.xml
https___text.egwwritings.org_read_14254.578_1.xml
1.1 2.1 3.1 4.1 6.1 7.1 8.1 9.1 10.1 11.1 12.1 13.1 14.1 15.1 16.1 17.1 19.1 20.1 21.1 22.1 23.1 24.1 25.1 26.1 27.1 28.1 29.1 30.1 31.1 32.1 33.1 34.1 35.1 36.1 37.1 38.1 39.1 40.1 42.1 43.1 44.1 45.1 46.1 47.1 48.1 49.1 50.1 51.1 52.1 53.1 54.1 54.2 54.3 55.1 55.2 56.1 56.2 57.1 57.2 57.3 57.4 57.5 57.6 58.1 58.2 59.1 59.2 59.3 59.4 59.5 59.6 60.1 60.2 60.3 61.1 61.2 61.3 61.4 61.5 61.6 61.7 61.8 61.9 62.1 62.2 62.3 62.4 63.1 63.2 63.3 64.1 64.2 64.3 64.4 64.5 64.6 65.1 65.2 66.1 66.2 67.1 67.2 68.1 68.2 68.3 69.1 69.2 69.3 69.4 69.5 70.1 70.2 71.1 71.2 71.3 71.4 72.1 72.2 73.1 73.2 73.3 73.4 73.5 73.6 73.7 74.1 74.2 74.3 74.4 74.5 74.6 74.7 74.8 74.9 74.10 74.11 74.12 74.13 74.14 75.1 75.2 75.3 75.4 75.5 76.1 76.2 76.3 76.4 76.5 76.6 77.1 77.2 77.3 78.1 78.2 78.3 78.4 78.5 78.6 79.1 79.2 79.3 79.4 79.5 79.6 80.1 80.2 81.1 81.2 82.1 82.2 83.1 83.2 83.3 83.4 83.5 83.6 83.7 83.8 84.1 84.2 84.3 84.4 84.5 84.6 84.7 85.1 85.2 86.1 86.2 86.3 87.1 87.2 87.3 87.4 87.5 87.6 87.7 87.8 88.1 88.2 88.3 89.1 89.2 89.3 90.1 90.2 90.3 90.4 91.1 91.2 91.3 91.4 91.5 91.6 92.1 92.2 92.3 92.4 93.1 93.2 93.3 93.4 93.5 93.6 93.7 93.8 93.9 93.10 94.1 94.2 94.3 94.4 94.5 95.1 95.2 95.3 96.1 97.1 97.2 97.3 98.1 98.2 98.3 98.4 99.1 99.2 99.3 100.1 100.2 100.3 100.4 100.5 100.6 100.7 100.8 100.9 100.10 100.11 101.1 102.1 102.2 102.3 102.4 102.5 102.6 102.7 102.8 103.1 103.2 103.3 103.4 103.5 103.6 103.7 103.8 103.9 103.10 103.11 103.12 104.1 104.2 104.3 104.4 104.5 104.6 105.1 105.2 105.3 105.4 105.5 105.6 105.7 105.8 105.9 105.10 105.11 105.12 105.13 105.14 105.15 105.16 105.17 105.18 105.19 105.20 105.21 106.1 106.2 106.3 106.4 106.5 106.6 107.1 107.2 107.3 108.1 108.2 109.1 109.2 109.3 109.4 109.5 109.6 109.7 109.8 109.9 109.10 109.11 109.12 110.1 110.2 110.3 110.4 110.5 110.6 110.7 110.8 110.9 110.10 110.11 110.12 110.13 111.1 111.2 111.3 111.4 111.5 111.6 111.7 111.8 111.9 111.10 111.11 111.12 111.13 111.14 112.1 113.1 113.2 113.3 113.4 113.5 113.6 113.7 114.1 114.2 114.3 115.1 115.2 115.3 115.4 115.5 115.6 115.7 115.8 115.9 115.10 115.11 115.12 115.13 116.1 116.2 116.3 116.4 116.5 116.6 116.7 117.1 117.2 117.3 117.4 117.5 117.6 117.7 118.1 118.2 118.3 118.4 118.5 118.6 118.7 119.1 119.2 119.3 119.4 119.5 119.6 119.7 119.8 119.9 119.10 120.1 120.2 120.3 120.4 120.5 120.6 120.7 120.8 121.1 122.1 122.2 122.3 122.4 123.1 123.2 123.3 123.4 124.1 124.2 124.3 124.4 124.5 124.6 124.7 125.1 125.2 125.3 125.4 125.5 126.1 126.2 126.3 127.1 127.2 127.3 127.4 127.5 127.6 127.7 127.8 127.9 128.1 128.2 128.3 128.4 128.5 128.6 128.7 129.1 129.2 129.3 129.4 130.1 130.2 130.3 130.4 131.1 131.2 131.3 131.4 131.5 132.1 132.2 132.3 132.4 132.5 133.1 133.2 133.3 133.4 133.5 133.6 133.7 134.1 134.2 134.3 134.4 135.1 135.2 135.3 135.4 135.5 135.6 135.7 136.1 136.2 136.3 136.4 136.5 137.1 137.2 137.3 138.1 138.2 138.3 138.4 138.5 138.6 138.7 139.1 139.2 139.3 139.4 139.5 139.6 140.1 140.2 140.3 140.4 141.1 141.2 141.3 141.4 141.5 141.6 141.7 141.8 142.1 142.2 142.3 142.4 142.5 142.6 142.7 142.8 142.9 142.10 142.11 142.12 142.13 142.14 143.1 143.2 143.3 143.4 143.5 143.6 143.7 143.8 143.9 143.10 144.1 144.2 144.3 144.4 145.1 145.2 146.1 146.2 146.3 146.4 146.5 146.6 146.7 146.8 146.9 146.10 146.11 147.1 147.2 147.3 147.4 147.5 147.6 148.1 148.2 148.3 148.4 148.5 148.6 148.7 148.8 149.1 149.2 149.3 149.4 149.5 150.1 150.2 150.3 151.1 151.2 151.3 151.4 151.5 151.6 151.7 151.8 151.9 151.10 151.11 151.12 151.13 151.14 152.1 152.2 152.3 152.4 153.1 153.2 153.3 153.4 153.5 153.6 153.7 153.8 153.9 153.10 154.1 154.2 154.3 154.4 154.5 154.6 155.1 155.2 155.3 155.4 156.1 156.2 156.3 156.4 156.5 156.6 156.7 156.8 156.9 156.10 157.1 157.2 157.3 157.4 158.1 158.2 158.3 159.1 159.2 159.3 159.4 159.5 159.6 159.7 159.8 160.1 160.2 160.3 160.4 160.5 161.1 161.2 161.3 162.1 162.2 162.3 163.1 163.2 163.3 163.4 164.1 164.2 165.1 165.2 165.3 166.1 166.2 166.3 166.4 166.5 166.6
Daniel and The Revelation- Contents - PREFACE - ILLUSTRATIONS - INTRODUCTION - 01 - DANIEL IN CAPTIVITY - 02 - THE GREAT IMAGE - 03 - THE FIERY ORDEAL - 04 - NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S DECREE - 05 - BELSHAZZAR’S FEAST - 06 - DANIEL IN THE LIONS’ DEN - 07 - THE FOUR BEASTS - 08 - VISION OF THE RAM, HE GOAT AND LITTLE HORN - 09 - SEVENTY WEEKS - 10 - DANIEL’S LAST VISION - 11 - A LITERAL PROPHECY - 12 - CLOSING SCENES - 01 - THE OPENING VISION - 02 - THE SEVEN CHURCHES - 03 - THE SEVEN CHURCHES CONTINUED - 04 - A NEW VISION THE HEAVENLY SANCTUARY - 05 - THE HEAVENLY SANCTUARY CONTINUED - 06 - THE SEVEN SEALS - 07 - THE SEALING - 08 - THE SEVEN TRUMPETS - 09 - THE SEVEN TRUMPETS CONTINUED - 10 - THE PROCLAMATION OF THE ADVENT - 11 - THE TWO WITNESSES - 12 - THE GOSPEL CHURCH - 13 - PERSECUTING POWERS - 14 - THE THREE MESSAGES - 15 - THE SEVEN LAST PLAGUES - 16 - THE PLAGUES POURED OUT - 17 - BABYLON THE MOTHER - 18 - BABYLON THE DAUGHTERS - 19 - THE TRIUMPH OF THE SAINTS - 20 - THE FIRST AND SECOND RESURRECTION - 21 - THE NEW JERUSALEM - 22 - THE TREE AND THE RIVER OF LIFE - INDEX OF AUTHORS - INDEX OF TEXTS IN OTHER BOOKS OF THE BIBLE - GENERAL INDEX - Results - Related - Featured - Weighted Relevancy - Content Sequence - Relevancy - Earliest First - Latest First 08 - VISION OF THE RAM, HE GOAT AND LITTLE HORN Change from Chaldaic to Hebrew - Date of Belshazzar’s Reign - Date of This Vision - Where was Shushan? - A Prophecy of Isaiah Fulfilled - The Angel Explains the Symbols - How the Goat Represents the Grecians - Alexander the Great - Battle at the River Granicus - Battle at the Passes of Issus - The Great Battle of Arbela - Subversion of the Persian Kingdom, B.C.331 - Alexander’s Famous Reply to Darius - The World Will not Permit Two Suns nor Two Sovereigns - Increase of Power - Alexander’s Disgraceful Death - Division of the Kingdom - The Roman Horn - How It Came out of One of the Horns of the Goat - Antiochus Epiphanes not This Horn - Rome the Power Symbolized by the Little Horn - What is the “Daily”? - Two Desolating Powers Brought to View - When Oppression of the Saints Will End - The 2300 Days not Here Explained - The Sanctuary Explained - What the Cleansing of the Sanctuary Is - The King of Fierce Countenance - By What Means the Romans Prospered - The Explanation not Finished - The Reason Why We now come once more,” says Dr. Clarke, “to the Hebrew,,the Chaldee part of the book being finished. As the Chaldeans had a particular interest both in the history and the prophecies from chapter 2:4 to the end of chapter 7, the whole is written in Chaldee; but as the prophecies which remain concern times posterior to the Chaldean monarchy, and principally relate to the church and people of God generally, they are written in the Hebrew language, this being the tongue in which God chose to reveal all his counsels given under the Old Testament relative to the New.”DAR1909 163.1 “VERSE 1. In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first.”DAR1909 163.2 One prominent characteristic of the sacred writings, and one which should forever shield them from the charge of being works of fiction, is the frankness and freedom with which the writers state all the circumstances connected with that which they record. This verse states the time when the vision recorded in this chapter was given to Daniel. The first year of Belshazzar was B.C.540. His third year, in which this vision was given, would consequently be 538. If Daniel, as is supposed, was about twenty years of age when he was carried PICTURE to Babylon in the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, B.C.606, he was at this time about eighty-eight years of age. The vision he speaks of as the one “which appeared unto him at the first,” is doubtless the vision of the seventh chapter, which he had in the first year of Belshazzar.DAR1909 163.3 “VERSE 2. And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at Shushan in the palace which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.”DAR1909 165.1 As verse 1 states the time when, this verse gives the place where, the vision was given. Shushan, as we learn from Prideaux, was the metropolis of the province of Elam. This was then in the hands of the Babylonians, and there the king of Babylon had a royal palace. Daniel, as minister of state, and employed about the king’s business, was accordingly in that place. Abradates;, viceroy or prince of Shushan, revolted to Cyrus, and the province was joined to the Medes and Persians; so that, according to the prophecy of Isaiah (21:2), Elam went up with the Medes to besiege Babylon. Under the Medes and Persians it regained its liberties, of which it had been deprived by the Babylonians, according to the prophecy of Jeremiah, chapter 49:39.DAR1909 165.2 “VERSE 3. Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns; and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great.”DAR1909 165.3 In verse 20 an interpretation of this symbol is given us in plain language: “The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.” We have only, therefore, to consider how well the symbol answers to the power in question. The two horns represented the two nationalities of which the empire consisted. The higher came up last. This represented the Persian element, which, from being at first simply an ally of the Medes, came to be the leading division of the empire. The different directions in which the ram was seen pushing, denote the directions in which the Medes and Persians carried their conquests. No earthly powers could stand before them while they were marching up to the exalted position to which the providence of God had summoned them. And so successfully were their conquests prosecuted that in the days of Ahasuerus (Esther 1:1), the Medo-Persian kingdom extended from India to Ethiopia, the extremities of the then known world, over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces. The prophecy almost seems to fall short of the facts as stated in history, when it simply says that this power “did according to his will, and became great.”DAR1909 165.4 “VERSE 5. And as I was considering, behold, an he-goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground; and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power. And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him and smote the ram, and brake his two horns; and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.”DAR1909 166.1 “As I was considering,” says the prophet; and in this he sets an example for every lover of the truth, and all who have any regard for things higher than the objects of time and sense. When Moses saw the burning bush, he said, “I will now turn aside, and see this great sight.” But how few are willing at the present time to turn aside from their pursuit of business or pleasure to consider the important themes to which both the mercy and the providence of God are striving to call their attention.DAR1909 166.2 The symbol here introduced is also explained by the angel to Daniel. Verse 21: “And the rough goat is the king [or kingdom] of Grecia.” Concerning the fitness of this symbol to the Grecian or Madedonian people, Bishop Newton observes that the Macedonians, “about two hundred years before the time of Daniel, were called AEgeadae, the goats’ people:” the origin of which name he explains, according to heathen authors, as follows: “Caranus, their first king, going with a great multitude of Greeks to seek new habitations in Macedonia, was advised by an oracle to take the goats for his guides to empire: PICTURE and afterward, seeing a herd of goats flying from a violent storm, he followed them to Edessa, and there fixed the seat of his empire, and made the goats his ensigns, or standards, and called the city AEgae, or the goats’ town, and the people AEgeadae, or the goats’ people.” “The city of Aegeae, or Aegae, was the usual burying-place of the Macedonian kings. It is also very remarkable that Alexander’s son by Roxana was named Alexander Aegus, or the son of the goat; and some of Alexander’s successors are represented in their coins with goats’ horns.” - Dissertation on the Prophecies, p.238.DAR1909 166.3 The goat came from the west. Grecia lay west of Persia.DAR1909 168.1 “On the face of the whole earth.” He covered all the ground as he passed; that is, swept everything before him; he left nothing behind.DAR1909 168.2 He “touched not the ground.” Such was the marvelous celerity of his movements that he did not seem to touch the ground, but to fly from point to point with the swiftness of the wind; the same feature is brought to view by the four wings of the leopard in the vision of chapter 7.DAR1909 168.3 The notable horn between his eyes. This explained in verse 21 to be the first king of the Macedonian empire. This king was Alexander the Great.DAR1909 168.4 Verses 6 and 7 give a concise account of the overthrow of the Persian empire by Alexander. The contests between the Greeks and Persians are said to have been exceedingly furious; and some of the scenes as recorded in history are vividly brought to mind by the figure used in the prophecy, - a ram standing before the river, and the goat running unto him in the fury of his power. Alexander first vanquished the generals of Darius at the River Granicus in Phrygia; he next attacked and totally routed Darius at the passes of Issus in Cilicia, and afterward on the plains of Arbela in Syria. This last battle occurred in B.C.331, and marked the conclusion of the Persian empire, for by this event Alexander became complete master of the whole country. Bishop Newton quotes verse 6: “And he [the goat] came to the ram which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power;” and adds: “One can hardly read these words without having PICTURE some image of Darius’s army standing and guarding the River Granicus, and of Alexander on the other side, with his forces plunging in, swimming across the stream, and rushing on the enemy with all the fire and fury that can be imagined.” Ptolemy begins the reign of Alexander B.C.332; but it was not till the battle of Arbela, the year following, that he became, according to Prideaux (Vol.1, p.378), “absolute lord of that empire to the utmost extent in which it was ever possessed by the Persian kings.” On the eve of this engagement, Darius sent ten of his chief relatives to sue for peace; and upon their presenting their conditions to Alexander, he replied, “Tell your sovereign ... that the world will not permit two suns nor two sovereigns!”DAR1909 170.1 The language of verse 7 sets forth the completeness of the subjection of Medo-Persia to Alexander. The two horns were broken, and the ram was cast to the ground and stamped upon. Persia was subdued, the country ravaged, its armies cut to pieces and scattered, its cities plundered, and the royal city of Persepolis, the capital of the Persian empire, and even in its ruins one of the wonders of the world to the present day, was sacked and burned. Thus the ram had no power to stand before the goat, and there was none that could deliver him out of his hand.DAR1909 170.2 “VERSE 8. Therefore the he-goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.”DAR1909 170.3 The conqueror is greater than the conquered. The ram, Medo- Persia, became great; the goat, Grecia, became very great. And when he was strong, the great horn was broken. Human foresight and speculation would have said, When he becomes weak, his kingdom racked by rebellion, or paralyzed by luxury, then the horn will be broken, and the kingdom shattered. But Daniel saw it broken in the very prime of its strength and the height of its power, when every beholder would have exclaimed, Surely, the kingdom is established, and nothing can overthrow it. Thus it is often with the wicked. The horn of their strength is broken when they think they stand most firm.DAR1909 170.4 Alexander fell in the prime of life. (See notes on verse 39 of chapter 2.) After his death there arose much confusion among his followers respecting the succession. It was finally agreed, after a seven days’ contest, that his natural brother, Philip Aridaeus, should be declared king. By him, and Alexander’s infant sons, Alexander AEgus and Hercules, the name and show of the Macedonian empire were for a time sustained; but all these persons were soon murdered; and the family of Alexander being then extinct, the chief commanders of the army, who had gone into different parts of the empire as governors of the provinces, assumed the title of kings. They thereupon fell to leaguing and warring with one another to such a degree that within the space of twenty-two years from Alexander’s death, the number was reduced to - how many? Five? Three? Two? But four - just the number specified in the prophecy; for four notable horns were to come up toward the four winds of heaven in place of the great horn that was broken. These were (1) Cassander, who had Greece and the neighboring countries; (2) Lysimachus, who had Asia Minor; (3) Seleucus, who had Syria and Babylon, and from whom came the line of kings known as the “Seleucidae,” so famous in history; and (4) Ptolemy, son of Lagus, who had Egypt, and from whom sprang the “Lagidae.” These held dominion toward the four winds of heaven. Cassander had the western parts; Lysimachus had the northern regions; Seleucus possessed the eastern countries; and Ptolemy had the southern portion of the empire. These four horns may therefore be named Macedonia, Thrace (which then included Asia Minor, and those parts lying on the Hellespont and Bosphorus), Syria, and Egypt.DAR1909 171.1 “VERSE 9. And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of this sanctuary was cast down. And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced and prospered.”DAR1909 171.2 A third power is here introduced into the prophecy. In the explanation which the angel gave to Daniel of these symbols, this one is not described in language so definite as that concerning Medo-Persia and Grecia. Hence a flood of wild conjecture is at once let loose. Had not the angel, in language which cannot be misunderstood, stated that Medo-Persia and Grecia were denoted by the ram and the he-goat, it is impossible to tell what applications men would have given us of those symbols. Probably they would have applied them to anything and everything but the right objects. Leave men a moment to their own judgment in the interpretation of prophecy, and we immediately have the most sublime exhibitions of human fancy.DAR1909 172.1 There are two leading applications of the symbol now under consideration, which are all that need be noticed in these brief thoughts. The first is that the “little horn” here introduced denotes the Syrian king, Antiochus Epiphanes; the second, that it denotes the Roman power. It is an easy matter to test the claims of these two positions.DAR1909 172.2 Does it mean Antiochus? If so, this king must fulfil the specifications of the prophecy? If he does not fulfil them, the application cannot be made to him. The little horn came out of one of the four horns of the goat. It was then a separate power, existing independently of, and distinct from, any of the horns of the goat. Was Antiochus such a power?DAR1909 172.3 Who was Antiochus? From the time that Seleucus made himself king over the Syrian portion of Alexander’s empire, thus constituting the Syrian horn of the goat, until that country was conquered by the Romans, twenty-six kings ruled in succession over that territory. The eighth of these, in order, was Antiochus Epiphanes. Antiochus, then, was simply one of the twenty-six kings who constituted the Syrian horn of the goat. He was, for the time being, that horn. Hence he could not be at the same time a separate and independent power, or another and remarkable horn, as the little horn was.DAR1909 172.4 If it were proper to apply the little horn to any one of these twenty-six Syrian kings, it should certainly be applied to the most powerful and illustrious of them all; but Antiochus Epiphanes did not by any means sustain this character. Although he took the name Epiphanes, that is, The Illustrious, he was illustrious only in name; for nothing, says Prideaux on the authority of Polybius, Livy, and Diodorus Siculus, could be more alien to his true character; for, on account of his vile and extravagant folly, some thinking him a fool and others a madman, they changed his name of Epiphanes, “The Illustrious,” into Epimanes, “The Madman.”DAR1909 174.1 Antiochus the Great, the father of Epiphanes, being terribly defeated in a war with the Romans, was enabled to procure peace only by the payment of a prodigious sum of money, and the surrender of a portion of his territory; and, as a pledge that he would faithfully adhere to the terms of the treaty, he was obliged go give hostages, among whom was this very Epiphanes, his son, who was carried to Rome. The Romans ever after maintained this ascendency.DAR1909 174.2 The little horn waxed exceeding great; but this Antiochus did not wax exceeding great; on the contrary, he did not enlarge his dominion, except by some temporary conquests in Egypt, which he immediately relinquished when the Romans took the part of Ptolemy, and commanded him to desist from his designs in that quarter. The rage of his disappointed ambition he vented upon the unoffending Jews.DAR1909 174.3 The little horn, in comparison with the powers that preceded it, was exceeding great. Persia is simply called great, though it reigned over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces. Esther 1:1. Grecia, being more extensive still, is called very great. Now the little horn, which waxed exceeding great, must surpass them both. How absurd, then, to apply this to Antiochus, who was obliged to abandon Egypt at the dictation of the Romans, to whom he paid enormous sums of money as tribute. The Religious Encyclopedia gives us this item of his history: “Finding his resources exhausted, he resolved to go into Persia to levy tribute, and collect large sums which he had agreed to pay the Romans.” It cannot take long for any one to decide the question which was the greater power, - the one which evacuated Egypt, or the one which commanded that evacuation; the one which exacted tribute, or the one which was compelled to pay it.DAR1909 174.4 The little horn was to stand up against the Prince of princes. The Prince of princes here means, beyond controversy, Jesus Christ. Daniel 9:25; Acts 3:15; Revelation 1:5. But Antiochus died one hundred and sixty-four years before our Lord was born. The prophecy cannot, therefore, apply to him; for he does not fulfil the specifications in one single particular. The question may then be asked how any one has ever come to apply it to him. We answer, Romanists take that view to avoid the application of the prophecy to themselves; and many Protestants follow them, in order to oppose the doctrine that the second advent of Christ is now at hand.DAR1909 175.1 It has been an easy matter to show that the little horn does not denote Antiochus. It will be just as easy to show that it does denote Rome.DAR1909 175.2 The field of vision here is substantially the same as that covered by Nebuchadnezzar’s image of chapter 2, and Daniel’s vision of chapter 7. And in both these prophetic delineations we have found that the power which succeeded Grecia as the fourth great power, was Rome. The only natural inference would be that the little horn, the power which in this vision succeeds Grecia as an “exceeding great” power, is also Rome.DAR1909 175.3 The little horn comes forth from one of the horns of the goat. How, it may be asked, can this be true of Rome? It is unnecessary to remind the reader that earthly governments are not introduced into prophecy till they become in some way connected with the people of God. Rome became connected with the Jews, the people of God at that time, by the famous Jewish League, B.C.161. 1Maccabees8; Josephus’s Antiquities, book 12, chap.10, sec.6; Prideaux, Vol.II, p.166. But seven years before this, that is, in B.C.168, Rome had conquered Macedonia, and made that country a part of its empire. Rome is therefore introduced into prophecy just as, from the conquered Macedonian horn of the goat, it is going forth to new conquests in other directions. It therefore appeared to the prophet, or may be properly spoken of in this prophecy, as coming forth from one of the horns of the goat.DAR1909 175.4 The little horn waxed great toward the south. This was true of Rome. Egypt was made a province of the Roman empire B.C.30, and continued such for some centuries.DAR1909 176.1 The little horn waxed great toward the east. This also was true of Rome. Rome conquered Syria B.C.65, and made it a province.DAR1909 176.2 The little horn waxed great toward the pleasant land. So did Rome. Judea is called the pleasant land in many scriptures. The Romans made it a province of their empire, B.C.63, and eventually destroyed the city and the temple, and scattered the Jews over the face of the whole earth.DAR1909 176.3 The little horn waxed great even to the host of heaven. Rome did this also. The host of heaven, when used in a symbolic sense in reference to events transpiring upon the earth, must denote persons of illustrious character or exalted position. The great red dragon (Revelation 12:4) is said to have cast down a third part of the stars of heaven to the ground. The dragon is there interpreted to symbolize pagan Rome, and the stars it cast to the ground were Jewish rulers. Evidently it is the same power and the same work that is here brought to view, which again makes it necessary to apply this growing horn to Rome.DAR1909 176.4 The little horn magnified himself even to the Prince of the host. Rome alone did this. In the interpretation (verse 25) this is called standing up against the Prince of princes. How clear an allusion to the crucifixion of our Lord under the jurisdiction of the Romans.DAR1909 176.5 By the little horn the daily sacrifice was taken away. This little horn must be understood to symbolize Rome in its entire history including its two phases, pagan and papal. These two phases are elsewhere spoken of as the “daily” (sacrifice is a supplied word) and the “transgression of desolation;” the daily (desolation) signifying the pagan form, and the transgression of desolation, the papal. (See on verse 13.) In the actions ascribed to this power, sometimes one form is spoken of, sometimes the other. “By him” (the papal form) “the daily” (the pagan form) “was taken away.” Pagan Rome was remodeled into papal Rome. And the place of his sanctuary, or worship, the city of Rome, was cast down. The seat of government was removed by Constantine in A.D.330 to Constantinople. This same transaction is brought to view in Revelation 13:2, where it is said that the dragon, pagan Rome, gave to the beast, papal Rome, his seat, the city of Rome.DAR1909 176.6 A host was given him (the little horn) against the daily. The barbarians that subverted the Roman empire in the changes, attritions, and transformations of those times, became converts to the Catholic faith, and the instruments of the dethronement of their former religion. Though conquering Rome politically, they were themselves vanquished religiously by the theology of Rome, and became the perpetrators of the same empire in another phase. And this was brought about by reason of “transgression;” that is, by the working of the mystery of iniquity. The papacy is the most cunningly contrived, false ecclesiastical system ever devised; and it may be called a system of iniquity because it has committed its abominations and practiced its orgies of superstition in the garb, and under the pretense, of pure and undefiled religion.DAR1909 177.1 The little horn cast the truth to the ground, and practiced and prospered. This describes, in few words, the work and career of the papacy. The truth is by it hideously caricatured; it is loaded with traditions; it is turned into mummery and superstition; it is cast down and obscured.DAR1909 177.2 And this antichristian power has “practiced,” - practiced its deceptions upon the people, practiced its schemes of cunning to carry out its own ends and aggrandize its own power.DAR1909 177.3 And it has “prospered.” It has made war with the saints, and prevailed against them. It has run its alloted career, and is soon to be broken without hand, to be given to the burning flame, and to perish in the consuming glories of the second appearing of our Lord.DAR1909 177.4 Rome meets all the specifications of the prophecy. No other power does meet them. Hence Rome, and no other, is the power in question. And while the descriptions given in the word of God of the character of this monstrous system are fully met, the prophecies of its baleful history have been most strikingly and accurately fulfilled.DAR1909 177.5 “VERSE 13. Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, 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? And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”DAR1909 178.1 The time. These two verses close the vision proper of chapter 8; and they introduce the one remaining point which of all others would naturally be of the most absorbing interest to the prophet and to all the church; namely, the time the desolating powers previously brought to view were to continue. How long shall they continue their course of oppression against God’s people, and of blasphemy against high Heaven? Daniel, if time had been given, might perhaps have asked this question himself, but God is ever ready to anticipate our wants and sometimes to answer even before we ask. Hence two celestial beings appear upon the scene, holding a conversation, in the hearing of the prophet, upon this question which it is so important that the church should understand. Daniel heard one saint speaking. What this saint spoke at this time we are not informed; but there must have been something either in the matter or the manner of this speaking which made a deep impression upon the mind of Daniel, inasmuch as he uses it in the very next sentence as a designating title, calling the angel “that certain saint which spake.” He may have spoken something of the same nature as that which the seven thunders of the Apocalypse uttered (Revelation 10:3), and which, for some good reason, John was restrained from writing. But another saint asked this one that spake an important question: How long the vision? and both the question and the answer are placed upon record, which is prima-facie evidence that this is a matter which it was designed that the church should understand. And this view is further confirmed by the fact that the angel did not ask this question for his own information, inasmuch as the answer was addressed to Daniel, as the one whom it chiefly concerned, and for whose information it was given.DAR1909 178.2 “And he said unto me,” said Daniel, recording the answer to the angel’s question, “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”DAR1909 179.1 The daily sacrifice. We have proof in verse 13 that sacrifice is the wrong word to be supplied in connection with the word daily. If the daily sacrifice of the Jewish service is here meant, or, in other words, the taking away of that sacrifice, as some suppose, which sacrifice was at a certain point of time taken away, there would be no propriety in the question, How long the vision concerning it? This question evidently implies that those agents or events to which the vision relates, occupy a long series of years. Continuance of time is the central idea. And the whole time of the vision is filled by what is here called the daily and the transgression of desolation. Hence the daily can not be the daily sacrifice of the Jews, the taking away of which, when the time came for it, occupied comparatively but an instant of time. It must denote something which occupies a series of years.DAR1909 179.2 The word here rendered daily occurs in the Old Testament, according to the Hebrew Concordance, one hundred and two times, and is, in the great majority of instances, rendered continual or continually. The idea of sacrifice does not attach to the word at all. Nor is there any word in the text which signifies sacrifice; that is wholly a supplied word, the translators putting in that word which their understanding of the text seemed to demand. But they evidently entertained an erroneous view, the sacrifices of the Jews not being referred to at all. It appears, therefore, more in accordance with both the construction and the context, to suppose that the word daily refers to a desolating power, like the “transgression of desolation,” with which it is connected. Then we have two desolating powers, which for a long period oppress, or desolate the church. Literally, the text may be rendered, “How long the vision [concerning] the continuance and the transgression of desolation?” - the word desolation being related to both continuance and transgression, as though it were expressed in full thus: “The continuance of desolation and the transgression of desolation.” By the “continuance of desolation,” or the perpetual desolation, we must understand that paganism, through all its long history, is meant; and when we consider the long ages through which paganism had been the chief agency of Satan’s opposition to the work of God in the earth, the propriety of the term continuance or perpetual, as applied to it, becomes apparent. By “the transgression of desolation” is meant the papacy. The phrase describing this latter power is stronger than that used to describe paganism. It is the transgression (or rebellion, as the word also means) of desolation; as though under this period of the history of the church the desolating power had rebelled against all restraint previously imposed upon it.DAR1909 179.3 From a religious point of view, the world has presented only these two phases of opposition against the Lord’s work in the earth. Hence although three earthly governments are introduced in the prophecy as oppressors of the church, they are here ranged under two heads; “the daily” and the “transgression of desolation.” - Medo-Persia was pagan; Grecia was pagan; Rome in its first phase was pagan; these all were embraced in the “daily.” Then comes the papal form, - the “transgression of desolation” - a marvel of craft and cunning, an incarnation of fiendish blood-thirstiness and cruelty. No wonder the cry has gone up from suffering martyrs, from age to age, “How long, O Lord, how long?” And no wonder the Lord, in order that hope might not wholly die out of the hearts of his down-trodden, waiting people, has lifted before them the vail of futurity, showing them the consecutive future events of the world’s history, till all these persecuting powers shall meet an utter and everlasting destruction, and giving them glimpses beyond of the unfading glories of their eternal inheritance.DAR1909 180.1 The Lord’s eye is upon his people. The furnace will be heated no hotter than is necessary to consume the dross. It is through much tribulation we are to enter the kingdom; and the word tribulation is from tribulum, a threshing sledge. Blow after blow must be laid upon us, till all the wheat is beaten free from the chaff, and we are made fit for the heavenly garner. But not a kernel of wheat will be lost. Says the Lord to his people, “Ye are the light of the world,” “the salt of the earth.” In his eyes there is nothing else on the earth of consequence or importance. Hence the peculiar question here asked, How long the vision respecting the daily and the transgression of desolation? Concerning what? - the glory of earthly kingdoms? the skill of renowned warriors? the fame of mighty conquerors? the greatness of human empire? - No; but concerning the sanctuary and the host, the people and worship of the Most High. How long shall they be trodden under foot? Here is where all heaven’s interest and sympathy are enlisted. He who touches the people of God, touches not mere mortals, weak and helpless, but Omnipotence; he opens an account which must be settled at the bar of Heaven. And soon all these accounts will be adjusted, the iron heel of oppression will itself be crushed, and a people will be brought out of the furnace prepared to shine as the stars forever and ever. To be one who is an object of interest to heavenly beings, one whom the providence of God is engaged to preserve while here, and crown with immortality hereafter - what an exalted position! How much higher than that of any king, president, or potentate of earth? Reader, are you one of the number?DAR1909 180.2 Respecting the 2300 days, introduced for the first time in verse 14, there are no data in this chapter from which to determine their commencement and close, or tell what portion of the world’s history they cover. It is necessary, therefore, for the present, to pass them by. Let the reader be assured, however, that we are not left in any uncertainty concerning those days. The declaration respecting them is a part of a revelation which is given for the instruction of the people of God, and is consequently to be understood. They are spoken of in the midst of a prophecy which the angel Gabriel was commanded to make Daniel understand; and it may be safely assumed that Gabriel somewhere carried out this instruction. It will accordingly be found that the mystery which hangs over these days in this chapter, is dispelled in the next.DAR1909 181.1 The sanctuary. Connected with the 2300 days is another subject of equal importance, which now presents itself for consideration; namely, the sanctuary; and with this is also connected the subject of its cleansing. An examination of these subjects will reveal the importance of having an understanding of the commencement and termination of the 2300 days, that we may know when the great event called “the cleansing of the sanctuary” is to transpire; for all the inhabitants of the earth, as will in due time appear, have a personal interest in that solemn work.DAR1909 181.2 Several objects have been claimed by different ones as the sanctuary here mentioned: (1) The earth; (2) The land of Canaan; (3) The church; (4) The sanctuary, the “true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man,” which is “in the heavens,” and of which the Jewish tabernacle was a type, pattern, or figure. These conflicting claims must be decided by the Scriptures; and fortunately the testimony is neither meager nor ambiguous.DAR1909 182.1 Is the earth the sanctuary? The word sanctuary occurs in the Old and New Testaments one hundred and forty-four times, and from the definitions of lexicographers, and its use in the Bible, we learn that it is used to signify a holy or sacred place, a dwelling-place for the Most High. If, therefore, the earth is the sanctuary, it must answer to this definition; but what single characteristic pertaining to this earth is found which will satisfy the definition? It is neither a holy nor a sacred place, nor is it a dwelling-place for the Most High. It has no mark of distinction, except as being a revolted planet, marred by sin, scarred and withered by the curse. Moreover, it is nowhere in all the Scriptures called the sanctuary. Only one text can be produced in favor of this view, and that only by an uncritical application. Isaiah 60:13 says: “The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious.” This language undoubtedly refers to the new earth; but even that is not called the sanctuary, but only the “place” of the sanctuary, just as it is called ‘the place” of the Lord’s feet; an expression which probably denotes the continual presence of God with his people, as it was revealed to John when it was said, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” Revelation 21:3. All that can be said of the earth, therefore, is, that when renewed, it will be the place where the sanctuary of God will be located. It can present not a shadow of a claim to being the sanctuary at the present time, or the sanctuary of the prophecy.DAR1909 182.2 Is the land of Canaan the sanctuary? So far as we may be governed by the definition of the word, it can present no better claim than the earth to that distinction. If we inquire where in the Bible it is called the sanctuary, a few texts are brought forward which seem to be supposed by some to furnish the requisite testimony. The first of these is Exodus 15:17. Moses, in his song of triumph and praise to God after the passage of the Red Sea, exclaimed: “Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou has made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.” A writer who urges this text, says, “I ask the reader to pause, and examine and settle the question most distinctly, before he goes further. What is the sanctuary here spoken of? But it would be far safer for the reader not to attempt to settle the question definitely from this one isolated text before comparing it with other scriptures. Moses here speaks in anticipation. His language is a prediction of what God would do for his people. Let us see how it was accomplished. If we find, in the fulfilment, that the land in which they were planted is called the sanctuary, it will greatly strengthen the claim that is based upon this text. If, on the other hand, we find a plain distinction drawn between the land and the sanctuary, then Exodus 15:17 must be interpreted accordingly.DAR1909 183.1 We turn to David, who records as a matter of history what Moses uttered as a matter of prophecy. The subject of the psalmist here, is the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian servitude, and their establishment in the promised land; and he says: “And he [God] led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased.” The “mountain” here mentioned by David is the same as the “mountain of thine inheritance” spoken of by Moses, in which the people were to be planted; and this mountain David calls, not the sanctuary, but only the border of the sanctuary. What, then, was the sanctuary? Verse 69 of the same psalm informs us: “And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established forever.” The same distinction between the sanctuary and the land is pointed out in the prayer of good king Jehoshaphat. 2 Chronicles 20:7, 8: Art not thou our god, who didst drive out the inhabitants of the land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend forever? And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name.” Taken alone, some try to draw an inference from Exodus 15:17 that the mountain was the sanctuary; but when we take in connection with it the language of David, which is a record of the fulfilment of Moses’s prediction, and an inspired commentary upon his language, such an idea cannot be entertained; for David plainly says that the mountain was simply the “border” of the sanctuary; and that in that border, or land, the sanctuary was “built” like high palaces, reference being made to the beautiful temple of the Jews, the center and symbol of all their worship. But whoever will read carefully Exodus 15:17 will see that not even an inference is necessary that Moses by the word sanctuary means the mountain of inheritance, much less the whole land of Palestine. In the freedom of poetic license, he employees elliptical expressions, and passes rapidly from one idea or object to another. First, the inheritance engages his attention, and he speaks of it; then the fact that the Lord was to dwell there; then the place he was to provide for his dwelling there; namely, the sanctuary which he would cause to be built. David thus associated Mount Zion and Judah together in Psalm 78:68, because Zion was located in Judah.DAR1909 183.2 The three texts, Exodus 15:17; Psalm 78:54, 69, are the ones chiefly relied on to prove that the land of Canaan is the sanctuary; but, singularly enough, the two latter, in plain language, clear away the ambiguity of the first, and thereby disprove the claim that is based thereon.DAR1909 184.1 Having disposed of the main proof on this point, it would hardly seem worth while to spend time with those texts from which only inferences can be drawn. As there is, however, only one even of this class, we will refer to it, that no point may be left unnoticed. Isaiah 63:18: “The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down the sanctuary.” This language is as applicable to the temple as to the land! for when the land was overrun with the enemies of Israel, their temple was laid in ruins. This is plainly stated in verse 11 of the next chapter: “Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire.” The text therefore proves nothing for this view.DAR1909 185.1 Respecting the earth or the land of Canaan as the sanctuary, we offer one thought more. If either constitutes the sanctuary, it should not only be somewhere described as such, but the same idea should be carried through to the end, and the purification of the earth or of Palestine should be called the cleansing of the sanctuary. The earth is indeed defiled, and it is to be purified by fire; but fire, as we shall see, is not the agent which is used in the cleansing of the sanctuary; and this purification of the earth, or any part of it, is nowhere in the Bible called the cleansing of the sanctuary.DAR1909 185.2 Is the church the sanctuary? The evident mistrust with which this idea is suggested, is a virtual surrender of the argument before it is presented. The one solitary text adduced in its support is Psalm 114:1, 2: “When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language; Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion.” Should we take this text in its most literal sense, what would it prove respecting the sanctuary? It would prove that the sanctuary was confined to one of the twelve tribes: and hence that a portion of the church only, not the whole of it, constitutes the sanctuary. But this, proving too little for the theory under consideration, proves nothing. Why Judah is called the sanctuary in the text quoted, need not be a matter of perplexity, when we remember that God chose Jerusalem, which was in Judah, as the place of his sanctuary. “But chose,” says David, “the tribe of Judah, the Mount Zion which he loved. And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established forever.” This clearly shows the connection which existed between Judah and the sanctuary. That tribe itself was not the sanctuary; but it is once spoken of as such when Israel came forth from Egypt, because God purposed that in the midst of the territory of that tribe his sanctuary should be located. But even if it could be shown that the church is anywhere called the sanctuary, it would be of no consequence to our present purpose, which is to determine what constitutes the sanctuary of Daniel 8:13, 14; for the church is there spoken of as another object: “To give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot.” That by the term host the church is here meant, none will dispute; the sanctuary is therefore another and a different object.DAR1909 185.3 Is the temple in heaven the sanctuary? There now remains but this one claim to be examined; namely, that the sanctuary mentioned in the text is what Paul calls in Hebrews the “true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man,” to which he expressly gives the name of “the sanctuary,” and which he locates in “the heavens;” of which sanctuary, there existed, under the former dispensation, first in the tabernacle built by Moses, and afterward in the temple at Jerusalem, a pattern, type, or figure. And let it be particularly noticed, that on the view here suggested rests our only hope of ever understanding this question; for we have seen that all other positions are untenable. No other object which has ever been supposed by any one to be the sanctuary - the earth, the land of Canaan, or the church - can for a moment support such a claim. If, therefore, we do not find it in the object before us, we may abandon the search in utter despair; we may discard so much of revelation as still unrevealed, and may cut out from the sacred page, as so much useless reading, the numerous passages which speak on this subject. All those, therefore, who, rather than that so important a subject should go by default, are willing to lay aside all preconceived opinions and cherished views, will approach the position before us with intense anxiety and unbounded interest. They will lay hold of any evidence PICTURE that may here be given us as a man bewildered in a labyrinth of darkness would lay hold of the thread which was his only guide to lead him forth again to light.DAR1909 186.1 It will be safe for us to put ourselves in imagination in the place of Daniel, and view the subject from his standpoint. What would he understand by the term sanctuary as addressed to him? If we can ascertain this, it will not be difficult to arrive at correct conclusions on this subject. His mind would inevitably turn, on the mention of that word, to the sanctuary of that dispensation; and certainly he well knew where that was. His mind did turn to Jerusalem, the city of his fathers, which was then in ruins, and to their “beautiful house,” which, as Isaiah laments, was burned with fire. And so, as was his wont, with his face turned toward the place of their once venerated temple, he prayed God to cause his face to shine upon his sanctuary, which was desolate. By the word sanctuary Daniel evidently understood their temple at Jerusalem.DAR1909 188.1 But Paul bears testimony which is most explicit on this point. Hebrews 9:1: “Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.” This is the very point which at present we are concerned to determine: What was the sanctuary of the first covenant? Paul proceeds to tell us. Hear him. Verses 2-5: “For there was a tabernacle made; the first [or first apartment], wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the showbread; which is called the sanctuary [margin, the holy]. And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; and over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy-seat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.”DAR1909 188.2 There is no mistaking the object to which Paul here has reference. It is the tabernacle erected by Moses according to the direction of the Lord (which was afterward merged into the temple at Jerusalem), with a holy and a most holy place, and various vessels of service, as here set forth. A full description of this building, with its various vessels and their uses, will be found in Exodus, chapter 25 and onward. If the reader is not familiar with this subject, he is requested to turn and closely examine the description of this building. This, Paul plainly says, was the sanctuary of the first covenant. And we wish the reader carefully to mark the logical value of this declaration. By telling us what did positively for a time constitute the sanctuary, Paul sets us on the right track of inquiry. He gives us a basis on which to work. For a time, the field is cleared of all doubt and all obstacles. During the time covered by the first covenant, which reached from Sinai to Christ, we have before us a distinct and plainly defined object, minutely described by Moses, and declared by Paul to be the sanctuary during that time.DAR1909 188.3 But Paul’s language has greater significance even than this. It forever annihilates the claims which are put forth in behalf of the earth, the land of Canaan, or the church, as the sanctuary; for the arguments which would prove them to be the sanctuary at any time, would prove them to be such under the old dispensation. If Canaan was at any time the sanctuary, it was such when Israel was planted in it. If the church was ever the sanctuary, it was such when Israel was led forth from Egypt. If the earth was ever the sanctuary, it was such during the period of which we speak. To this period the arguments urged in their favor apply as fully as to any other period; and if they were not the sanctuary during this time, then all the arguments are destroyed which would show that they ever were, or ever could be, the sanctuary. But were they the sanctuary during that time? This is a final question for these theories; and Paul decided it in the negative, by describing to us the tabernacle of Moses, and telling us that that - not the earth, nor Canaan, nor the church - was the sanctuary of that dispensation.DAR1909 189.1 And this building answers in every respect to the definition of the term, and the use for which the sanctuary was designed.DAR1909 189.2 It was the earthly dwelling-place of God. “Let them make me a sanctuary,” said he to Moses, “that I may dwell among them.” Exodus 25:8. In this tabernacle, which they erected according to his instructions, he manifested his presence.DAR1909 189.3 It was a holy, or sacred place, - “the holy sanctuary.” Leviticus 16:33. In the word of God it is over and over again called the sanctuary. Of the one hundred and forty instances in which the word is used in the Old Testament, it refers in almost every case to this building.DAR1909 190.1 The tabernacle was at first constructed in such a manner as to be adapted to the condition of the children of Israel at that time. They were just entering upon their forty years’ wandering in the wilderness, when this building was set up in their midst as the habitation of God and the center of their religious worship. Journeying was a necessity, and removals were frequent. It would be necessary that the tabernacle should often be moved from place to place. It was therefore so fashioned of movable parts, the sides being composed of upright boards, and the covering consisting of curtains of linen and dyed skins, that it could be readily taken down, conveniently transported, and easily erected at each successive stage of their journey. After entering the promised land, this temporary structure in time gave place to the magnificent temple of Solomon. In this more permanent form it existed, saving only the time it lay in ruins in Daniel’s day, till its final destruction by the Romans in A.D.70.DAR1909 190.2 This is the only sanctuary connected with the earth concerning which the Bible gives us any instruction or history any record. But is there nowhere any other? This was the sanctuary of the first covenant; with that covenant it came to an end; is there no sanctuary which pertains to the second, or new covenant? There must be; otherwise the analogy is lacking between these covenants; and in this case the first covenant had a system of worship, which, though minutely described, is unintelligible, and the second covenant has a system of worship which is indefinite and obscure. And Paul virtually asserts that the new covenant, in force since the death of Christ, the testator, has a sanctuary; for when, in contrasting the two covenants, as he does in the book of Hebrews, he says in chapter 9:1 that the first covenant “had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary,” it is the same as saying that the new covenant has likewise its services and its sanctuary.DAR1909 190.3 Furthermore, in verse 8 of this chapter he speaks of the worldly sanctuary as the first tabernacle. If that was the first, there must be a second; and as the first tabernacle existed so long as the first covenant was in force, when that covenant came to an end, the second tabernacle must have taken the place of the first, and must be the sanctuary of the new covenant. There can be no evading this conclusion.DAR1909 191.1 Where, then, shall we look for the sanctuary of the new covenant? Paul, by the use of the word also in Hebrews 9:1, intimates that he had before spoken of this sanctuary. We turn back to the beginning of the previous chapter, and find him summing up his foregoing arguments as follows: “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” Can there by any doubt that we have in this text the sanctuary of the new covenant? A plain allusion is here made to the sanctuary of the first covenant. That was pitched by man, erected by Moses; this was pitched by the Lord, not by man. That was the place where the earthly priests performed their ministry; this is the place where Christ, the High Priest of the new covenant, performs his ministry. That was on earth; this is in heaven. That was therefore very properly called by Paul a “worldly sanctuary;” this is a “heavenly one.”DAR1909 191.2 This view is further sustained by the fact that the sanctuary built by Moses was not an original structure, but was built after a pattern. The great original existed somewhere else; what Moses constructed was but a type, or model. Listen to the directions the Lord gave him on this point: “According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.” Exodus 25:9. “And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was showed thee in the mount.” Verse 40. (To the same end see Exodus 26:30; 27:8; Acts 7:44.)DAR1909 191.3 Now of what was the earthly sanctuary a type, of figure? Answer: Of the sanctuary of the new covenant, the “true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man.” The relation which the first covenant sustains to the second throughout, is that of type to antitype. Its sacrifices were types of the greater sacrifice of this dispensation; its priests were types of our Lord, in his more perfect priesthood; their ministry was performed unto the shadow and example of the ministry of our High Priest above; and the sanctuary where they ministered, was a type, or figure, of the true sanctuary in heaven, where our Lord performs his ministry.DAR1909 191.4 All these facts are plainly stated by Paul in a few verses to the Hebrews. Chapter 8:4, 5: “For if he [Christ] were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle; for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount.” This testimony shows that the ministry of the earthly priests was a shadow of Christ’s priesthood; and the evidence Paul brings forward to prove it, is the direction which God gave to Moses to make the tabernacle according to the pattern showed him in the mount. This clearly identifies the pattern showed to Moses in the mount with the sanctuary, or true tabernacle, in heaven, where our Lord ministers, mentioned three verses before.DAR1909 192.1 In chapter 9:8, 9, Paul further says: “The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all [Greek, holy places, plural] was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing; which was a figure for the time then present,” etc. While the first tabernacle stood, and the first covenant was in force, the ministration of the more perfect tabernacle was not, of course, carried forward. But when Christ came, a high priest of good things to come, when the first tabernacle had served its purpose, and the first covenant had ceased, then Christ, raised to the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, as a minister of the true sanctuary entered by his own blood (verse 12) “into the holy place [where also the Greek has the plural, the holy places], having obtained eternal redemption for us.” Of these heavenly holy places, therefore, the first tabernacle was a figure for the time then present. If any further testimony is needed, he speaks, in verse 23, of the earthly tabernacle, with its apartments and instruments, as patterns of things in the heavens; and in verse 24, he calls the holy places made with hands, that is, the tabernacle in heaven.DAR1909 192.2 This view is still further corroborated by the testimony of John. Among the things which he was permitted to behold in heaven, he saw seven lamps of fire burning before the throne (Revelation 4:5); he saw an altar of incense, and a golden censer (chapter 8:3); he saw the ark of God’s testament (chapter 11:19); and all this in connection with a “temple” in heaven. These objects every Bible reader must at once recognize as implements of the sanctuary. They owed their existence to the sanctuary, and were confined to it, to be employed in the ministration connected therewith. As without the sanctuary they had not existed, so wherever we find these, we may know that there is the sanctuary; and hence the fact that John saw these things in heaven in this dispensation, is proof that there is a sanctuary there, and that he was permitted to behold it.DAR1909 193.1 However reluctant a person may have been to acknowledge that there is a sanctuary in heaven, the testimony that has been presented is certainly sufficient to prove this fact. Paul says that the tabernacle of Moses was the sanctuary of the first covenant. Moses says that God showed him in the mount a pattern, according to which he was to make this tabernacle. Paul testifies again that Moses did make it according to the pattern, and that the pattern was the true tabernacle in heaven, which the Lord pitched, and not man; and that of this heavenly sanctuary the tabernacle erected with hands was a true figure, or representation. And finally, John, to corroborate the statement of Paul that this sanctuary is in heaven, bears testimony, as an eye-witness, that he beheld it there. What further testimony could be required? Nay, more, what further is conceivable?DAR1909 193.2 So far as the question as to what constitutes the sanctuary is concerned, we now have the subject before us in one harmonious whole. The sanctuary of the Bible - mark it all, dispute it who can - consists, first, of the typical tabernacle established with the Hebrews at the exode from Egypt, which was the sanctuary of the first covenant; and, secondly, of the true tabernacle in heaven, of which the former was a type, or figure, which is the sanctuary of the new covenant. These are inseparably connected together as type and antitype. From the antitype we go back to the type, and from the type we are carried forward naturally and inevitably to the antitype.DAR1909 193.3 We have said that Daniel would at once understand by the word sanctuary the sanctuary of his people at Jerusalem; so would any one under that dispensation. But does the declaration of Daniel 8:14 have reference to that sanctuary? That depends upon the time to which it applies. All the declarations respecting the sanctuary which apply under the old dispensation, have respect, of course, to the sanctuary of that dispensation; and all those declarations which apply in this dispensation, must have reference to the sanctuary in this dispensation. If the 2300 days, at the termination of which the sanctuary is to be cleansed, ended in the former dispensation, the sanctuary to be cleansed was the sanctuary of that time. If they reach over into this dispensation, the sanctuary to which reference is made is the sanctuary of this dispensation, - the new-covenant sanctuary in heaven. This is a point which can be determined only by a further argument on the 2300 days; and this will be found in remarks on Daniel 9:24, where the subject of time is resumed and explained.DAR1909 194.1 What we have thus far said respecting the sanctuary has been only incidental to the main question in the prophecy. That question has respect to its cleansing. “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” But it was necessary first to determine what constituted the sanctuary, before we could understandingly examine the question of its cleansing. For this we are now prepared.DAR1909 194.2 Having learned what constitutes the sanctuary, the question of its cleansing and how it is accomplished, is soon decided. It has been noticed that whatever constitutes the sanctuary of the Bible, must have some service connected with it which is called its cleansing. There is no account in the Bible of any work so named as pertaining to this earth, the land of Canaan, or the church; which is good evidence that none of these objects constitutes the sanctuary; there is such a service connected with the object which we have shown to be the sanctuary, and which, in reference to both the earthly building and the heavenly temple, is called its cleansing.DAR1909 194.3 Does the reader object to the idea of there being anything in heaven which is to be cleansed? Is this a barrier in the way of his receiving the view here presented? Then his controversy is not with this work, but with God’s Word, which positively affirms this fact. But before he decided against this view, we ask the objector to examine carefully in reference to the nature of this cleansing, as he is here undoubtedly laboring under an utter misapprehension. The following are the plain terms in which Paul affirms the cleansing of both the earthly and the heavenly sanctuary: “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.” In the light of foregoing arguments, this may be paraphrased thus: “It was therefore necessary that the tabernacle as erected by Moses, with its sacred vessels, which were patterns of the true sanctuary in heaven, should be purified, or cleansed, with the blood of calves and goats; but the heavenly things themselves, the sanctuary of this dispensation, the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man, must be cleansed with better sacrifices, even with the blood of Christ.”DAR1909 195.1 We now inquire, What is the nature of this cleansing, and how is it to be accomplished? According to the language of Paul, just quoted, it is performed by means of blood. The cleansing is not, therefore a cleansing from physical uncleanness or impurity; for blood is not the agent used in such a work. And this consideration should satisfy the objector’s mind in regard to the cleansing of the heavenly things. The fact that Paul speaks of heavenly things to be cleansed, does not prove that there is any physical impurity in heaven; for that is not the kind of cleansing to which he refers. The reason Paul assigns why this cleansing is performed with blood, is because without the shedding of blood there is no remission.DAR1909 195.2 Remission, then; that is, the putting away of sin, is the work to be done. The cleansing, therefore, is not physical cleansing, but a cleansing from sin. But how came sins connected with the sanctuary, either the earthly or the heavenly, that it should need to be cleansed from them? This question is answered by the ministration connected with the type, to which we now turn.DAR1909 196.1 The closing chapters of Exodus give us an account of the construction of the earthly sanctuary, and the arrangement of the service connected therewith. Leviticus opens with an account of the ministration which was there to be performed. All that it is our purpose to notice here, is one particular branch of the service, which was performed as follows: The person who had committed sin brought his victim to the door of the tabernacle. Upon the head of this victim he placed his hand for a moment, and, as we may reasonably infer, confessed over him his sin. By this expressive act he signified that he had sinned, and was worthy of death, but that in his stead he consecrated his victim, and transferred his guilt to it. With his own hand (and what must have been his emotions!) he then took the life of his victim on account of that guilt. The law demanded the life of the transgressor for his disobedience; the life is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11, 14); hence without the shedding of blood, there is no remission; with the shedding of blood, remission is possible; for the demand of life by the law is thus satisfied. The blood of the victim, representative of a forfeited life, and the vehicle of its guilt, was then taken by the priest and ministered before the Lord.DAR1909 196.2 The sin of the individual was thus, by his confession, by the slaying of the victim, and by the ministry of the priest, transferred from himself to the sanctuary. Victim after victim was thus offered by the people. Day by day the work went forward; and thus the sanctuary continually became the receptacle of the sins of the congregation. But this was not the final disposition of these sins. The accumulated guilt was removed by a special service, which was called the cleansing of the sanctuary. This service, in the type, occupied one day in the year; and the tenth day of the seventh month, on which it was performed, was called the day of atonement. On this day, while all Israel refrained from work and afflicted their souls, the priest brought two goats, and presented them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. On these goats he cast lots; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scape-goat. The one upon which the Lord’s lot fell, was then slain, and his blood was carried by the priest into the most holy place of the sanctuary, and sprinkled upon the mercy-seat. And this was the only day on which he was permitted to enter into that apartment. Coming forth, he was then to lay both his hands upon the head of the scape-goat, confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, and, thus putting them upon his head (Leviticus 16:21), he was to send him away by the hand of a fit man into a land not inhabited, a land of separation, or forgetfulness, the goat never again to appear in the camp of Israel, and the sins of the people to be remembered against them no more. This service was for the purpose of cleansing the people from their sins, and cleansing the sanctuary and its sacred vessels. Leviticus 16:30, 33. By this process, sin was removed, - but only in figure; for all that work was typical.DAR1909 196.3 The reader to whom these views are new will be ready here to inquire, perhaps with some astonishment, what this strange work could possibly be designed to typify; what there is in this dispensation which it was designed to prefigure. We answer, A similar work in the ministration of Christ, as Paul clearly teaches. After stating, in Hebrews 8, that Christ is the minister of the true tabernacle, the sanctuary in heaven, he states that the priests on earth served unto the example and shadow of heavenly things. In other words, the work of the earthly priests was a shadow, an example, a correct representation, so far as it could be carried out by mortals, of the ministration of Christ above. These priests ministered in both apartments of the earthly tabernacle, Christ therefore ministers in both apartments of the heavenly temple; for that temple has two apartments, or it was not correctly represented by the earthly; and our Lord officiates in both, or the service of the priest on earth was not a correct shadow of his work. But Paul directly states that he ministers in both apartments; for he says that he has entered into the holy place (Greek,, the holy places) by his own blood. Hebrews 9:12. There is therefore a work performed by Christ in his ministry in the heavenly temple corresponding to that performed by the priests in both apartments of the earthly building. But the work in the second apartment, or most holy place, was a special work to close the yearly round of service and cleanse the sanctuary. Hence Christ’s ministration in the second apartment of the heavenly sanctuary must be a work of like nature, and constitute the close of his work as our great High Priest, and the cleansing of that sanctuary.DAR1909 197.1 As through the sacrifices of a former dispensation the sins of the people were transferred in figure by the priests to the earthly sanctuary, where those priests ministered, so ever since Christ ascended to be our intercessor in the presence of his Father, the sins of all those who sincerely seek pardon through him are transferred in fact to the heavenly sanctuary where he ministers. Whether Christ ministers for us in the heavenly holy places with his own blood literally, or only by virtue of its merits, we need not stop to inquire. Suffice it to say, that his blood has been shed, and through that blood remission of sins is secured in fact, which was obtained only in figure through the blood of the calves and goats of the former dispensation. But those sacrifices had real virtue in this respect: they signified faith in a real sacrifice to come; and thus those who employed them have an equal interest in the work of Christ with those who in this dispensation come to him by faith, through the ordinances of the gospel.DAR1909 198.1 The continual transfer of sins to the heavenly sanctuary (and if they are not thus transferred, will any one, in the light of the types, and in view of the language of Paul, explain the nature of the work of Christ in our behalf?) - this continual transfer, we say, of sins to the heavenly sanctuary, makes its cleansing necessary on the same ground that a like work was required in the earthly sanctuary.DAR1909 198.2 An important distinction between the two ministrations must here be noticed. In the earthly tabernacle, a complete round of service was accomplished every year. For three hundred and fifty-nine days, in their ordinary year, the ministration went forward in the first apartment. One day’s work in the most holy completed the yearly round. The work then commenced again in the holy place, and went forward till another day of atonement completed the year’s work. And so on, year by year. This continual repetition of the work was necessary on account of the short lives of mortal priests. But no such necessity exists in the case of our divine Lord, who ever liveth to make intercession for us. (See Hebrews 7:23-25.) Hence the work of the heavenly sanctuary, instead of being a yearly work, is performed once for all. Instead of being repeated year by year, one grand cycle is allotted to it, in which it is carried forward and finished, never to be repeated.DAR1909 199.1 One year’s round of service in the earthly sanctuary represented the entire work of the sanctuary above. In the type, the cleansing of the sanctuary was the brief closing work of the year’s service. In the antitype, the cleansing of the sanctuary must be the closing work of Christ, our great High Priest, in the tabernacle on high. In the type, to cleanse the sanctuary, the high priest entered into the most holy place to minister in the presence of God before the ark of his testament. In the antitype, when the time comes for the cleansing of the sanctuary, our High Priest, in like manner, enters into the most holy place to make a final end of his intercessory work in behalf of mankind. We confidently affirm that no other conclusion can be arrived at on this subject without doing despite to the unequivocal testimony of God’s word.DAR1909 199.2 Reader, do you now see the importance of this subject? Do you begin to perceive what an object of interest for all the world is the sanctuary of God? Do you see that the whole work of salvation centers there, and that when the work is done, probation is ended, and the cases of the saved and lost are eternally decided? Do you see that the cleansing of the sanctuary is a brief and special work, by which the great scheme is forever finished? Do you see that if it can be made known when this work of cleansing commences, it is a solemn announcement to the world that salvation’s last hour is reached, and is fast hastening to its close? And this is what the prophecy is designed to show. It is to make known the commencement of this momentous work. “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”DAR1909 199.3 In advance of any argument on the nature and application of these days, the position may be safely taken that they reach to the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, for the earthly was to be cleansed each year; and we make the prophet utter nonsense, if we understand him as saying that at the end of 2300 days, a period of time over six years in length, even if we take the days literally, an event should take place which was to occur regularly every year. The heavenly sanctuary is the one in which the decision of all cases is to be rendered. The progress of the work there is what it especially concerns mankind to know. If people understood the bearing of these subjects on their eternal interest, with what earnestness and anxiety would they give them their most careful and prayerful study. See on chapter 9:20 and onward, an argument on the 2300 days, showing at what point they terminated, and when the solemn work of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary began.DAR1909 200.1 “VERSE 15. And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man. And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.”DAR1909 200.2 We now enter upon an interpretation of the vision. And first of all we have mention of Daniel’s solicitude, and his efforts to understand these things. He sought for the meaning. Those who have given to prophetic studies their careful and earnest attention, are not the ones who are unconcerned in such matters. They only can tread with indifference over a mine of gold, who do not know that a bed of precious metal lies beneath their feet. Immediately there stood before the prophet as the appearance of a man. And he heard a man’s voice; that is, the voice of an angel, as of a man speaking. The commandment given was to make this man, Daniel, understand the vision. It was addressed to Gabriel, a name that signifies “the strength of God, or the mighty one.” He continues his instruction to Daniel in chapter 9. Under the new dispensation he was commissioned to announce the birth of John the Baptist to his father Zacharias (Luke 1:11); and that of the Messiah to the virgin Mary, verse 26. To Zacharias, he introduced himself with these words: “I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God.” From this it appears that he was an angel of high order and superior dignity; but the one who here addressed him was evidently higher in rank, and had power to command and control his actions. This was probably no other than the archangel, Michael, or Christ, between whom and Gabriel alone, a knowledge of the matters communicated to Daniel existed. “VERSE 17. So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision. Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright. And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation; for at the time appointed the end shall be.”DAR1909 201.1 Under similar circumstances to those here narrated, John fell down before the feet of an angel, but it was for the purpose of worship. Daniel seems to have been completely overcome by the majesty of the heavenly messenger. He prostrated himself with his face to the ground, probably as though in a deep sleep, but not really so. Sorrow, it is true, caused the disciples to sleep; but fear, as in this case, would hardly have that effect. The angel gently laid his hand upon him to give him assurance (how many times have mortals been told by heavenly beings to “fear not”!), and from this helpless and prostrate condition set him upright. With a general statement that at the time appointed the end shall be, and that he will make him to know what shall be in the last end of the indignation, he enters upon an interpretation of the vision. The indignation must be understood to cover a period of time. What time? God told his people Israel that he would pour upon them his indignation for their wickedness; and thus he gave directions concerning the “profane wicked prince of Israel:” “Remove the diadem, and take off the crown.... I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.” Here is the period of God’s indignation against his covenant people; the period during which the sanctuary and host are to be trodden under foot. The diadem was removed, and the crown taken off, when Israel was subjected to the kingdom of Babylon. It was overturned again by the Medes and Persians, again by the Grecians, again by the Romans, corresponding to the three times the word is repeated by the prophet. The Jews then, having rejected Christ, were soon scattered abroad over the face of the earth; and spiritual Israel has taken the place of the literal seed; but they are in subjection to earthly powers, and will be till the throne of David is again set up, - till He who is its rightful heir, the Messiah, the Prince of peace, shall come, and then it will be given him. Then the indignation will have ceased. What shall take place in the last end of this period, the angel is now to make known to Daniel.DAR1909 202.1 “VERSE 20. The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.”DAR1909 202.2 As the disciples said to the Lord, so may we here say of the angel who spoke to Daniel, “Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb.” This is an explanation of the vision in language as plain as need be given. (See on verses 3-8.) The distinguishing feature of the Persian empire, the union of the two nationalities which composed it, is represented by the two horns of the ram. Grecia attained its greatest glory as a unit under the leadership of Alexander the Great, a general as famous as the world has ever seen. This part of her history is represented by the first phase of the goat, during which time the one notable horn symbolized Alexander the Great. Upon his death, the kingdom fell into fragments, but soon consolidated into four grand divisions, represented by the second phase of the goat, when it had four horns which came up in the place of the first, which was broken. These divisions did not stand in his power. None of them possessed the strength of the original kingdom. These great waymarks in history, on which the historian bestows volumes, the inspired penman here gives us in sharp outline, with a few strokes of the pencil and a few dashes of the pen.DAR1909 202.3 “VERSE 23. And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. 24. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand: and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.”DAR1909 203.1 This power succeeds to the four divisions of the goat kingdom in the latter time of their kingdom, that is, toward the termination of their career. It is, of course, the same as the little horn of verse 9 and onward. Apply it to Rome, as set forth in remarks on verse 9, and all is harmonious and clear.DAR1909 203.2 “A king of fierce countenance.” Moses, in predicting punishment to come upon the Jews from this same power, calls it “a nation of fierce countenance.” Deuteronomy 28:49, 50. No people made a more formidable appearance in warlike array than the Romans. “Understanding dark sentences.” Moses, in the scripture just referred to, says, “Whose tongue thou shalt not understand.” This could not be said of the Babylonians, Persians, or Greeks, in reference to the Jews; for the Chaldean and Greek languages were used to a greater or less extent in Palestine. This was not the case, however, with the Latin.DAR1909 203.3 “When the transgressors are come to the full.” All along, the connection between God’s people and their oppressors is kept in view. It was on account of the transgressions of his people that they were sold into captivity. And their continuance in sin brought more severe punishment. At no time were the Jews more corrupt morally, as a nation, than at the time they came under the jurisdiction of the Romans.DAR1909 203.4 “Mighty, but not by his own power.” The success of the Romans was owing largely to the aid of their allies, and divisions among their enemies, of which they were ever ready to take advantage. Papal Rome also was mighty by means of the secular powers over which she exercised spiritual control.DAR1909 204.1 “He shall destroy wonderfully.” The Lord told the Jews by the prophet Ezekiel that he would deliver them to men who were “skilful to destroy;” and the slaughter of eleven hundred thousand Jews at the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman army, was a terrible confirmation of the prophet’s words. And Rome in its second, or papal, phase was responsible for the death of fifty millions of martyrs.DAR1909 204.2 “And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand.” Rome has been distinguished above all other powers for a policy of craft, by means of which it brought the nations under its control. This is true of both pagan and papal Rome. And thus by peace it destroyed many.DAR1909 204.3 And Rome, finally, in the person of one of its governors, stood up against the Prince of princes, by giving sentence of death against Jesus Christ. “But he shall be broken without hand,” an expression which identifies the destruction of this power with the smiting of the image of chapter 2.DAR1909 204.4 “VERSE 26. And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true; wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days. And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king’s business: and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.”DAR1909 204.5 “The vision of the evening and the morning” is that of the 2300 days. In view of the long period of oppression, and the calamities which were to come upon his people, Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days. He was astonished at the vision, but did not understand it. Why did not Gabriel at this time fully carry out his instructions, and cause Daniel to understand the vision? - Because Daniel had received all that he could then bear. Further instruction is therefore deferred to a future time.DAR1909 204.6
1.1 2.1 3.1 4.1 5.1 6.1 7.1 8.1 9.1 10.1 11.1 12.1 13.1 14.1 15.1 16.1 17.1 18.1 19.1 20.1 21.1 22.1 23.1 24.1 25.1 26.1 27.1 28.1 29.1 30.1 31.1 32.1 33.1 34.1 35.1 36.1 37.1 38.1 39.1 40.1 41.1 42.1 43.1 44.1 45.1 46.1 47.1 48.1 49.1 50.1 51.1 52.1 53.1 54.1 55.1 56.1 57.1 58.1 59.1 60.1 61.1 62.1 63.1
महान् विवाद नयाँ देशमा ज्योति- Contents - १ — तीर्थयात्री पुर्खाहरू - २ — बिहानका अग्रदूतहरू - ३ — अमेरिकाको सुधारक - ४ — अँध्यारोद्वारा ज्योति - ५ — एक महान् धार्मिक जागृति - ६ — एक चेतावनी इन्कार भयो - ७ — अगमवाणीहरूको पूर्णता - ८ — पवित्रस्थान के हो? - ९ — पवित्रहरूका पवित्रमा - १० — परमेश्वरको अपरिवर्तनीय व्यवस्था - ११ — एउटा सुधार-कार्य - १२ — आधुनिक जागृतिहरू - १३ — जीवनको अभिलेख सामु - Results - Related - Featured - Weighted Relevancy - Content Sequence - Relevancy - Earliest First - Latest First ८ — पवित्रस्थान के हो? धर्मशास्त्रको सबै पदहरूभन्दा यो घोषणाचाहिँ दोस्रो आगमनको विश्वासको जग र केन्द्रीय खम्बा भएको छ: “दुई हजार तीन सय दिनसम्म; त्यसपछि पवित्रस्थान शुद्ध पारिनेछ।” दानिएल ८:१४ (KJV)। प्रभुको शीघ्र आगमनमा विश्वास गर्नेहरू सबै यी शब्दहरूसँग चिरपरिचित थिए। आफ्नो विश्वासको प्रमुख शब्दको रूपमा हजारौँले आफ्ना ओठहरूद्वारा यस अगमवाणी दोहोऱ्याए। सबैले महसुस गरे कि तिनीहरूका सबभन्दा उज्ज्वल अपेक्षाहरू र सबैभन्दा मुटुभित्रका आशाहरू त्यहाँ भएका घटनाहरूमा निर्भर थिए। यी अगमवाणीका दिनहरू १८४४को शरद् ऋतुमा अन्त हुन्छ भनी देखाइएको थियो। इसाई संसारका अरू मानिसहरू साथै दोस्रो आगमनका प्रतीक्षारत विश्वासीहरूले पनि पृथ्वी वा पृथ्वीको केही भागलाई नै पवित्रस्थानको रूपमा हेर्ने गर्दथे। तिनीहरूले बुझे कि पवित्रस्थानको शुद्धीकरण भनेको नै पृथ्वीको शुद्धीकरण हुनु थियो, जुनचाहिँ अन्तको महान् दिनको आगोद्वारा हुनेथियो, र जुन घटना दोस्रो आगमनमा हुनेथियो। यसकारण येशू १८४४मा यस पृथ्वीमा फर्कनुहुनेथियो भनी तिनीहरूले निष्कर्ष निकाले।MBND 147.1 तर तोकिएको समय बित्यो र परमप्रभु देखा पर्नुभएन। विश्वासीहरूलाई थाहा थियो कि परमेश्वरको वचन असफल हुनै सक्दैन; अगमवाणीको वर्णन पो गलत हुनुपर्छ; तर गलतचाहिँ केमा भयो त? धेरैजसोले १८४४मा २३०० दिनहरूको अन्त्य भयो भन्ने कुरालाई इन्कार गर्नेद्वारा विचार नगरी यो समस्याको गाँठो काटिदिए। तिनीहरूले सोचेका समयमा ख्रीष्ट आउनुभएन भन्नुबाहेक यसको लागि अरू कुनै कारण दिन सकेनन्। यदि १८४४मा यो अगमवाणीका दिनहरूको अन्त्य भएको भए आगोद्वारा पृथ्वीको शुद्धीकरणद्वारा पवित्रस्थान शुद्ध गर्न ख्रीष्ट फर्केर आउनुहुनेथियो भन्ने विषयमा तिनीहरूले विवाद गरे; र त्यति बेला उहाँ आउनुभएन, त्यसकारण ती दिनहरू अन्त भएको हुन सक्दैन।MBND 147.2 यो निष्कर्षलाई स्वीकार गर्दा पहिलेको अगमवाणीका अवधिहरूको हिसाबलाई त्याग्नुपर्दथ्यो। जब अर्तासास्तले ४५७ बि.सी. को शरद् ऋतुमा यरूशलेमको पुनर्स्थापना र पुनर्निर्माणको लागि दिएको आदेश लागू भयो तब २३०० दिनहरूको सुरुवात भयो भन्ने कुरा पत्ता लगाइएको थियो। जसरी यसलाई सुरुवातको मितिको रूपमा लिइयो, त्यसरी नै दानिएल ९:२५-२७मा भएको समयको अवधिमा पूर्ववाणी गरिएका सम्पूर्ण घटनाहरूको पूर्णतामा पूर्ण मिलाप देखियो। मसीह, अर्थात् अभिषिक्त जन नआउञ्जेलसम्म उनन्सत्तरी हप्ताहरू, २३०० वर्षहरूको पहिलो ४८३ वर्षहरू हुनेथियो; र पवित्र आत्माद्वारा भएको ख्रीष्टको बप्तिस्मा र अभिषेक निर्धारण गरिएको कुरा २७ ए.डी. मा ठ्याक्कै पूरा भयो। सत्तरीऔँ सातको बीचमा मसीह [अभिषिक्त जन] काटिनुपर्नेथियो। उहाँको बप्तिस्मा भएको साढे तीन वर्षहरूपछि अर्थात् ३१ ए.डी. को बसन्त ऋतुमा ख्रीष्टको क्रूसमा मृत्यु भयो। सत्तरी हप्ताहरू वा ४९० वर्षहरू विशेष गरी यहूदीहरूलाई दिइएको थियो। यो राष्ट्रले उहाँका चेलाहरूलाई अत्याचार गर्नेद्वारा ख्रीष्टलाई अस्वीकार गरेर मोहोर लगाए र चेलाहरू अन्यजातितिर गए, यसरी ३४ ए.डी. मा त्यो अवधिको अन्त भयो। २३०० वर्षहरूको पहिलो ४९० वर्षहरूका अवधि यसरी समाप्त भयो, त्यसपछि अझै १८१० वर्षहरू बाँकी थियो। ३४ ए.डी. देखि १८४४सम्म हिसाब गर्दा १८१० वर्षहरू पुग्दछ। स्वर्गदूतले भने, “त्यसपछि पवित्रस्थान शुद्ध पारिनेछ।” पहिले सबै अगमवाणीका विशेषताहरू निर्धारित समयमा नै निसन्देह पूरा भएका थिए।MBND 148.1 यसरी गन्ती गर्दा सबै कुरा स्पष्ट र मिलेको नै थियो, तर १८४४मा शुद्ध हुने भनिएको पवित्रस्थानको कुरामा चाहिँ कुनै पनि घटना घटेको देखिएन। त्यस समयमा ती दिनहरूको अन्त्य भयो भन्ने कुरा इन्कार गरे भने सम्पूर्ण विषयवस्तु अन्योलमा जाकिनेथियो, र निश्चित अगमवाणीको पूर्णताबाट स्थापित भएका सिद्धान्तहरूलाई परित्याग गर्नुपर्नेथियो।MBND 148.2 तर पमेश्वरले आफ्ना मानिसहरूलाई महान् दोस्रो आगमनको कार्यमा डोऱ्याउनुभएको थियो; त्यस कार्यमा उहाँको शक्ति र महिमा सक्रिय थियो र उहाँले त्यसलाई अन्धकार र निराशामा अन्त हुन, झूट र कट्टरपन्थी उत्तेजना स्वरूप निन्दाको पात्र बन्न त्यत्तिकै छोड्नुहुनेथिएन। उहाँले आफ्नो वचन शङ्का र अनिश्चिततामा समावेश हुन छोड्नुहुन्नथ्यो। यद्यपि धेरै जनाले अगमवाणीका अवधिहरूका अघिल्लो समयको हिसाबलाई त्यागे र त्यसमाथि आधारित कार्यको सठीकपनालाई इन्कार गरे भने अरूचाहिँ पवित्रशास्त्र र परमेश्वरको आत्माको गवाहीद्वारा समर्थन गरिएको विश्वास र अनुभवका तथ्यहरूलाई त्याग्न अनिच्छुक भए। तिनीहरूले आफ्नो अगमवाणीको अध्ययनमा अर्थ खोल्ने असल सिद्धान्तहरू अनुकरण गरेका थिए भनी तिनीहरूले विश्वास गरे र तिनीहरूले प्राप्त गरिसकेको सत्यता थामिराख्नुपर्ने र बाइबलीय अनुसन्धान कार्यमा लागी पर्नुपर्ने कर्तव्य तिनीहरूको थियो। उत्सुक प्रार्थनासाथ तिनीहरूले आफ्नो विश्वास पुनर्विचार गरे र तिनीहरूका गल्तीहरू पत्ता लगाउन पवित्रशास्त्र अध्ययन गरे। जब तिनीहरूले आफ्नो अगमवाणीका अवधिहरूको समय हिसाबमा कुनै गल्ती पाएनन्, तब त्यसले तिनीहरूलाई पवित्रस्थानको विषयमा अझै गहिरो परीक्षण गर्नतर्फ अगुवाइ गऱ्यो।MBND 148.3 तिनीहरूको अनुसन्धानमा तिनीहरूले पत्ता लगाए कि पृथ्वी नै पवित्रस्थान हो भन्ने प्रचलित धारणा कायम राख्नका लागि धर्मशास्त्रमा कुनै प्रमाण छैन; तर बाइबलमा तिनीहरूले पवित्रस्थानको स्वभाव, स्थान र सेवाकार्यको विषयमा पूर्ण स्पष्टीकरण भेट्टाए; पवित्र लेखकका गवाहीहरूमा एकदमै स्पष्ट र प्रशस्त गरी लेखेको छ कि त्यहाँ उक्त विषयमा प्रश्न पनि सोध्न आवश्यक छैन। हिब्रूहरूलाई लेखेको पत्रमा प्रेरित पावल भन्दछन्: “पहिलाको करारमा आराधनाका धर्म-विधिहरू र पार्थिव पवित्रस्थान पनि थिए। एउटा पवित्र वासस्थान तयार भएको थियो, जसको पहिलो कोठाभित्र सामदान, टेबिल र भेटीका रोटीहरू थिए। यसलाई पवित्रस्थान भनिन्थ्यो। दोस्रो चाहिँ पर्दाभित्र महापवित्र स्थान भनिने कोठा थियो, जसमा सुनको धुपौरो र सुनले मोहोरिएको करारको सन्दूक थियो। सन्दूकभित्र मन्न राखेको सुनको भाँड़ो, कोपिला लागेको हारूनको लौरो र करारका शिला-पाटीहरू थिए। सन्दूकमाथि कृपा-आसनमा छाया पारिराख्ने ईश्वरीय महिमाका करूबहरू थिए।” हिब्रू ९:१-५।MBND 149.1 पावलले यहाँ कुरा गरेको पवित्रस्थानचाहिँ मोशाले परमेश्वरको आज्ञाअनुसार बनाएको भेट हुने पाल थियो जुन पृथ्वीमा सर्वोच्चको निवासस्थान थियो। “म तिनीहरूका मध्यमा बस्नलाई तिनीहरूले मेरो लागि एउटा पवित्रस्थान बनाऊन्” (प्रस्थान २५:८) भनिने निर्देशनचाहिँ परमेश्वरसँग पर्वतमा भएको समयमा मोशालाई दिएको थियो। इस्राएलीहरू उजाड़-स्थानद्वारा यात्रा गरिरहेका थिए, र भेट हुने पाल यस्तो तरिकाबाट निर्माण गरिएको थियो कि त्यो एक ठाउँदेखि अर्को ठाउँमा सार्न सकिन्थ्यो; तापनि त्यो अत्यन्तै भव्य संरचना थियो। यसका पर्खालहरू ठाडो पारिएका फल्याकहरूले बनेका थिए जुनचाहिँ सुनले मोहोरिएको थियो र चाँदीका आधारहरूमाथि राखेको थियो, जबकि त्यसका छानाचाहिँ पर्दाहरू अथवा छोप्नेहरूका पत्रहरूबाट बनाइएको थियो, बाहिरी पर्दाचाहिँ छालाहरूको थियो, सबभन्दा भित्रचाहिँ सुन्दर तरिकाले बनाएको करूबका चित्रहरू भएको मुलायम मलमलको थियो। होमबलिको वेदी भएको बाहिरी चोकबाहेक भेट हुने पालमा नै पवित्रस्थान र महा-पवित्रस्थान भनिने दुई वटा कोठाहरू थिए, जुन एक महङ्गो र सुन्दर पर्दाले विभाजन गरिएको थियो; पहिलो कोठोको प्रवेशद्वार पनि त्यस्तै किसिमको एक पर्दाले बन्द गरिएको थियो।MBND 149.2 पवित्रस्थानभित्र दक्षिणतिर सात वटा बत्ती भएको एउटा सामदान थियो, जसले रात-दिन पवित्रस्थान उज्यालो पारिरहन्थ्यो; उत्तरतिर रोटीको टेबिल राखिएको थियो; र पवित्रस्थान र महा-पवित्रस्थानलाई छुट्याउने पर्दा अगाड़ि सुनौलो धूपको वेदी थियो, जहाँबाट सुगन्धित धूपको बादल इस्राएलीहरूको प्रार्थनाको साथ परमेश्वरको सामु दैनिकरूपमा माथि गइरहन्थ्यो।MBND 150.1 महा-पवित्रस्थानमा सुनले मोहोरिएको बहुमूल्य काठबाट बनाइएको एउटा सन्दूक थियो, जसमा परमेश्वरले लेख्नुभएको दश आज्ञाका दुई वटा शिला-पाटीहरू सुरक्षित राखिएको थियो। सन्दूकमाथि पवित्र बाकसको ढकनी स्वरूप एउटा कृपा-आसन थियो, जुनचाहिँ कामदारको भव्य सीपको एक नमूना थियो, दुवै छेउतिर एक-एक वटा करूबले ढाकेका थिए र ती निखुर सुनले बनेका थिए। यस कोठामा भएको करूबहरूको बीचमा महिमाको बादलको रूपमा ईश्वरीय उपस्थिति प्रकट भएको थियो।MBND 150.2 कनानमा हिब्रूहरू बसोबास गरेपछि भेट हुने पालको सट्टामा सोलोमनको मन्दिर स्थापना भयो, जुन स्थायी संरचना र ठूलोरूपमा भए तापनि अनुपातको रूपमा उस्तै थियो, र उस्तै गरी सजाइएको थियो। ७० ए.डी. मा रोमीहरूद्वारा विनाश नभएसम्म दानिएलको समयमा भएको उजाड़ अवस्थामा बाहेक पवित्रस्थान यस्तै अवस्थामा अवस्थित थियो।MBND 150.3 पृथ्वीमा भएको यो मात्रै यस्तो पवित्रस्थान हो, जसको विषयमा बाइबलले जानकारी दिँदछ। यो प्रथम करारको पवित्रस्थान भनी पावलद्वारा घोषणा गरिएको थियो। तर के नयाँ करारमा चाहिँ पवित्रस्थान छैन त?MBND 150.4 हिब्रूको पुस्तक फेरि पल्टाउँदाखेरि सत्यताका खोजी गर्नेहरूले दोस्रो अथवा नयाँ करारको पवित्रस्थानको अस्तित्वलाई पत्ता लगाए, जुन कुरा पहिले नै उद्धृत भएको पावलको वचनमा प्रकट गरेको थियो: “पहिलाको करारमा आराधनाका धर्म-विधिहरू र पार्थिव पवित्रस्थान पनि थिए।” [हिब्रू ९:१]। “पनि” भन्ने शब्दको प्रयोगद्वारा यो कुरा देखायो कि पावलले पहिले यो पवित्रस्थान उल्लेख गरेको छ। अघिल्लो अध्यायको सुरुतिर तिनीहरूले फेरि पल्टाएर पढे: “अब हामीले भन्न चाहेको कुराचाहिँ यही हो: हाम्रा यस्ता प्रधान पूजाहारी हुनुहुन्छ, जो स्वर्गमा महान् परमेश्वरका सिंहासनको दाहिनेपट्टि विराजमान हुनुहुन्छ। मानिसले होइन, तर परमप्रभुले खड़ा गर्नुभएको पवित्रस्थान, साँचो पवित्र वासस्थानमा उहाँ सेवक हुनुहुन्छ।” हिब्रू ८:१, २।MBND 150.5 यहाँ नयाँ करारको पवित्रस्थान प्रकट गरिएको छ। पहिलो करारको पवित्रस्थान मानिसद्वारा स्थापना भएको, अर्थात् मोशाद्वारा बनाइएको थियो; योचाहिँ मानिसद्वारा होइन तर परमेश्वरद्वारा स्थापना भएको हो। त्यस पवित्रस्थानमा पृथ्वीका पूजाहारीहरूले आफ्ना सेवकाइहरू गर्थे भने यस पवित्रस्थानमा चाहिँ ख्रीष्ट, अर्थात् हाम्रा महा-प्रधान पूजाहारी परमेश्वरको दाहिनेपट्टि सेवकाइ गर्नुहुन्छ। एउटा पवित्रस्थान पृथ्वीमा थियो, अर्को चाहिँ स्वर्गमा छ।MBND 151.1 त्यति मात्र नभएर, मोशाले बनाएको भेट हुने पालचाहिँ एउटा नमूनाअनुसार बनाइएको थियो। परमेश्वरले तिनलाई निर्देशन दिनुभयो: “मैले तँलाई देखाउने नमूनाबमोजिम पवित्र वासस्थान र त्यसका सबै सामानहरू तैंले बनाउनू।” फेरि यसरी आदेश दिइयो, “पर्वतमा तँलाई देखाएको नमूनाबमोजिम तैंले होश गरी ती बनाउनू।” प्रस्थान २५:९, ४०। पावल भन्दछन् कि पहिलो भेट हुने पालचाहिँ “त्यस समयका निम्ति एउटा दृष्टान्त थियो,” (KJV) जसमा भेटी र बलिहरू चढाइन्थ्यो; यसका पवित्रस्थान “स्वर्गीय कुराहरूका नमूना” थियो; व्यवस्थाअनुसार उपहार चढाउने पूजाहारीहरूले “स्वर्गीय पवित्रस्थानको नकल र छायाको सेवा” गर्दथे, र साथै “ख्रीष्ट हातले बनाएको पवित्रस्थानभित्र प्रवेश गर्नुभएन, जोचाहिँ साँचो पवित्रस्थानको नकल मात्र हो, तर उहाँ स्वर्गभित्रै प्रवेश गर्नुभयो, र उहाँ हाम्रो पक्षमा परमेश्वरको सामु उपस्थित हुनुभएको छ।” हिब्रू ९:९, २३; ८:५; ९:२४।MBND 151.2 येशूले हाम्रो पक्षमा सेवाकार्य गर्नुभएको स्वर्गको पवित्रस्थानचाहिँ ठूलो सकल हो; मोशाले बनाएको पवित्रस्थान यसैको नमूना थियो। परमेश्वरले पृथ्वीको पवित्रस्थानका निर्माताहरूमा आफ्नो आत्मा हालिदिनुभयो। त्यसको संरचनामा शिल्पकारहरूद्वारा प्रर्दशन भएको दक्षतामा ईश्वरीय बुद्धिको प्रकाशन भएको थियो। पर्खालहरूमा विशाल सुनको झलक थियो, सुनौलो सामदानको सात दियाहरूबाट हरेक दिशातर्फ ज्योति परावर्तन गरेको थियो। रोटीका टेबिल र धूपको वेदी टल्काइएको सुनजस्तै चम्किरहेका थिए। सिलिङ्गको रूपमा रहेको निलो, प्याजी र रातो धागोले बुनेको स्वर्गदूतको चित्रहरू भएको सानदार पर्दाले त्यस दृश्यमा अझै सुन्दरता थपेको थियो। दोस्रो पर्दाको पारिपट्टि पवित्र शिकाईना थियो अर्थात् परमेश्वरको महिमाको दृश्य प्रदर्शन भएको थियो, जसको सामुन्ने प्रधान पूजाहारीबाहेक अरू कोही पनि प्रवेश गरेर जीवित रहन सक्दैनथियो।MBND 151.3 पृथ्वीको भेट हुने पालको अनुपम महिमाले स्वर्गीय मन्दिरका महिमाहरू मानवीय दृश्यमा प्रतिबिम्बित गरेको थियो, त्यहीँ नै ख्रीष्ट, हाम्रा अग्रदूत परमेश्वरको सिंहासन अगाड़ि हाम्रो पक्षमा सेवकाइ गर्नुहुन्छ। राजाहरूका राजाको निवासस्थान, जहाँ हजारौँ-हजारले उहाँको सेवा गर्दछन्, र दस हजार गुणा दस हजार उहाँको सामु उभिन्छन् (दानिएल ७:१०); अनन्त सिंहासनको महिमाले भरिएको त्यो मन्दिर, जहाँ चहकिला अभिभावक शेराफिमहरूले आराधना गर्दा आफ्नो अनुहार ढाक्छन्, त्यो मन्दिरचाहिँ मानिसको हातबाट निर्माण गरिएका सबभन्दा सानदार संरचनामा त्यसको विशालता र महिमाको अस्पष्ट प्रतिबिम्ब मात्र भेट्न सक्थ्यो। यद्यपि पृथ्वीको पवित्रस्थान र यसका सेवकाइहरूद्वारा स्वर्गीय पवित्रस्थान र मानिसको उद्धारका लागि त्यहाँ अघि सारिएको महान् कार्यको विषयमा महत्वपूर्ण सत्यताहरू सिकाइएको थियो।MBND 152.1 स्वर्गको पवित्रस्थानका पवित्र ठाउँहरूलाई पृथ्वीमा भएको पवित्रस्थानको दुई भागहरूले प्रतिनिधित्व गरेका छन्। दर्शनमा प्रेरित यूहन्नालाई स्वर्गको परमेश्वरको मन्दिरको दृश्य प्रदान गरिँदा, “त्यस सिंहासनको सामुन्ने आगोका सात वटा बत्तीहरू बलिरहेका” तिनले देखे। प्रकाश ४:५। तिनले एउटा स्वर्गदूत देखे, जसले “सुनको धुपौरो लिएर वेदीको छेउमा खड़ा भए। सिंहासनको सामुन्ने रहेको सुनको वेदीमाथि सबै सन्तहरूका प्रार्थनासँग चढ़ाउनका निम्ति तिनलाई धेरै धूप दिइयो।” प्रकाश ८:३। यहाँ अगमवक्ताले स्वर्गको पवित्रस्थानको पहिलो कोठा हेर्न अनुमति पाए; र त्यहाँ तिनले “आगोका सात वटा बत्तीहरू” र “सुनको वेदी” देखे, जसलाई पृथ्वीको पवित्रस्थानको सुनौलो सामदान र धूपको वेदीले प्रतिनिधित्व गरेको थियो। फेरि “परमेश्वरको मन्दिर खोलियो” (प्रकाश ११:१९), र तिनले भित्रपट्टिको पर्दाभित्र पवित्रहरूको पवित्र देखे। यहाँ मोशाद्वारा बनाइएको परमेश्वरको व्यवस्था राख्ने पवित्र बाकसद्वारा प्रतिनिधित्व गर्ने “करारको सन्दूक” तिनले देखे।MBND 152.2 यसरी ज-जसले यस विषयमा अध्ययन गरे तिनीहरूले स्वर्गमा एक पवित्रस्थान छ भन्ने कुराको निर्विवाद प्रमाण पत्ता लगाए। मोशाले आफूलाई देखाइएको एक नमूनाबमोजिम पृथ्वीमा एउटा पवित्रस्थान बनाए। पावल सिकाउँछन् कि त्यो नमूनाचाहिँ स्वर्गको साँचो पवित्रस्थानको थियो। यूहन्ना गवाही दिन्छन् कि तिनले स्वर्गमा त्यो देखे।MBND 153.1 परमेश्वरको निवासस्थान अर्थात् स्वर्गमा भएको मन्दिरमा धार्मिकता र न्यायले उहाँको सिंहासन स्थापना भएको छ। महा-पवित्रस्थानमा उहाँको आज्ञा छ, जुन सत्यताको महान् नियमद्वारा सम्पूर्ण मानवजाति जाँचिएका हुन्छन्। व्यवस्थाका शिला-पाटीहरू सुरक्षित राखिएको सन्दूकलाई कृपा-आसनले छोपिएको छ, जसको सामु ख्रीष्टले पापीहरूको खातिर आफ्नै रगत लिएर बिन्ती गर्नुहुन्छ। यसरी मानवको उद्धारको योजनामा न्याय र कृपाको संयोजनलाई प्रतिनिधित्व गरेको छ। अनन्त बुद्धिले मात्रै यस्तो संयोजनको युक्ति सृजना गर्न सक्नुहुनेथियो र अनन्त शक्तिले मात्रै पूरा गर्न सक्नुहुनेथियो; यो एउटा यस्तो एकता हो जसले सम्पूर्ण स्वर्ग नै आश्चर्य र आराधनाले भरिँदछ। पृथ्वीको पवित्र वासस्थानमा श्रद्धापूर्वक कृपा-आसनतिर तल हेरिरहेका करूबहरू थिए, ती करूबहरूले स्वर्गको मण्डलीले मुक्तिका कार्यहरूप्रति गरेको चिन्तनमननलाई प्रतिनिधित्व गर्दछ। स्वर्गदूतहरूले हेर्न चाहने कृपाको रहस्य यस्तै हो, कि उहाँले पश्चात्तापी पापीलाई धर्मी ठहऱ्याउनुहुँदा र उहाँले पतित जातिसँग आफ्नो सम्बन्ध पुनः प्रारम्भ गर्नुहुँदा पनि परमेश्वर न्यायी हुन सक्नुहुन्छ; र ख्रीष्टले अनगिन्ती भीडहरूलाई विनाशको पातालदेखि उठाउनको लागि तल निहुरन सक्नुहुन्छ र तिनीहरूलाई कहिल्यै पनि पाप नगरेका स्वर्गदूतहरूसँग समावेश गराउन र सदासर्वदा परमेश्वरको उपस्थितिमा रहन उहाँको आफ्नो धार्मिकताको निष्खोट वस्त्र पहिऱ्याउन सक्नुहुन्छ।MBND 153.2 मानिसको मध्यस्थकर्ता स्वरूप ख्रीष्टको कार्यचाहिँ जसको नाउँ हाँगा हो, उहाँको विषयमा दिएको जकरियाको सुन्दर अगमवाणीमा प्रस्तुत गरेको छ। अगमवक्ता भन्छन्, उहाँले नै परमप्रभुको मन्दिर बनाउनुहुनेछ, र उहाँ महामहिमाले पहिऱ्याइनुहुनेछ, र उहाँ [पिता]-को सिंहासनमा विराजमान भएर राज्य गर्नुहुनेछ, र त्यो सिंहासनमा उहाँ एउटा पूजाहारी हुनुहुनेछ। अनि दुवैको बीचमा शान्तिको सल्लाह हुनेछ। जकरिया ६:१२, १३।MBND 153.3 उहाँले नै परमप्रभुको मन्दिर बनाउनुहुनेछ। उहाँको बलिदान र मध्यस्थताद्वारा परमेश्वरको मण्डलीको जग र निर्माता दुवै ख्रीष्ट नै हुनहुन्छ। प्रेरित पावलले उहाँलाई “मुख्य कुने-ढुङ्गो”-को रूपमा प्रस्तुत गरेका छन्; “उहाँमा पूरै घर ठीकसँग एकैसाथ जोडिएर प्रभुमा एउटै पवित्र मन्दिर हुनलाई बढ्दैजान्छ। अनि पवित्र आत्मामा परमेश्वरको वासस्थान हुनलाई तिमीहरू पनि उहाँमा एकसाथ निर्माण हुँदैजान्छौ।” एफिसी २:२०-२२।MBND 154.1 उहाँ महामहिमाले पहिऱ्याइनुहुनेछ। पतित मानवजातिको मुक्तिको महिमा ख्रीष्टकै हो। उद्धार पाएका जनहरूको भजन अनन्त युगहरूभरि यस्तै हुनेछ: “हामीलाई प्रेम गर्नुहुने र आफ्नो रगतले हामीलाई हाम्रा पापबाट स्वतन्त्र पार्नुहुने, ... उहाँलाई महिमा र पराक्रम सदासर्वदा होस्।” प्रकाश १:५, ६।MBND 154.2 उहाँ [पिता]-को सिंहासनमा विराजमान भएर राज्य गर्नुहुनेछ, र त्यो सिंहासनमा उहाँ एउटा पूजाहारी हुनुहुनेछ। अहिले उहाँको “महिमामय सिंहासनमा” बस्नुहुनेछैन; महिमाको राज्य अहिलेसम्म प्रवेश भएको छैन। उहाँको मध्यस्थकर्ताको कार्य समाप्त नभएसम्म परमेश्वरले “उहाँलाई उहाँका पुर्खा दाऊदको सिंहासन” दिनुहुनेछैन, त्यो यस्तो राज्य हुनेछ जुन कहिल्यै “अन्त्य हुनेछैन।” लूका १:३२, ३३। एक पूजाहारीको रूपमा ख्रीष्ट अहिले पितासँग उहाँको सिंहासनमा बस्नुभएको छ। प्रकाश ३:२१। उहाँ अनन्त र स्व-अस्तित्व जनसँग सिंहासनमा हुनुहुन्छ, उहाँले नै “हाम्रा निर्बलताहरू” बोक्नुभयो, “र हाम्रो दुःख” भोग्नुभयो, जो “हामीजस्तै उहाँ सबै कुरामा परीक्षित हुनुभयो, र पनि पापरहित हुनुहुन्थ्यो,” ताकि “परीक्षामा पर्नेहरूलाई उहाँले सहायता गर्न सक्नुहुन्छ।” “कुनै मानिसले पाप गऱ्यो भने पनि पितासँग हाम्रो पक्षमा बोलिदिनुहुने एक जना हुनुहुन्छ।” यशैया ५३:४; हिब्रू ४:१५; २:१८; १ यूहन्ना २:१। उहाँको मध्यस्थताचाहिँ एक निष्खोट जीवन, एक घोचिएको र भाँचिएको शरीरबाट भएको हो। चोट लागेका हातहरू, छेड़िएको कोखा, बिगारिएको खुट्टाले पतित मानिसको खातिर वकालत गर्दछ, जसको मुक्ति साँच्चै नै अपार मूल्यद्वारा किनिएको थियो।MBND 154.3 अनि दुवैको बीचमा शान्तिको सल्लाह हुनेछ। पिता र पुत्रको समान प्रेम नै पतित जातिको उद्धारको मूल हो। उहाँ जानुभन्दा अगाड़ि येशूले उहाँका चेलाहरूलाई भन्नुभयो: “म तिमीहरूका निम्ति पितासँग बिन्ती गरिदिनेछु भनी तिमीहरूलाई भन्दिनँ, किनभने पिता आफैले तिमीहरूलाई माया गर्नुहुन्छ।” यूहन्ना १६:२६, २७। “स्वयम् ख्रीष्टमा हुनुभएर परमेश्वरले संसारलाई आफूसँग मिलापमा ल्याउँदैहुनुहुन्थ्यो।” २ कोरिन्थी ५:१९। अनि माथि भएको पवित्रस्थानको सेवकाइमा दुवै बीच शान्तिको सल्लाह हुनेछ। “परमेश्वरले संसारलाई यस्तो प्रेम गर्नुभयो, कि उहाँले आफ्ना एकमात्र पुत्र दिनुभयो, ताकि उहाँमाथि विश्वास गर्ने कोही पनि नाश नहोस्, तर त्यसले अनन्त जीवन पाओस्।” यूहन्ना ३:१६।MBND 154.4 पवित्र वासस्थान के हो? भन्ने प्रश्नको उत्तर पवित्रशास्त्रमा स्पष्ट दिइएको छ। बाइबलमा “पवित्रस्थान” भन्ने भनाइले स्वर्गीय कुराहरूको नमूनाबमोजिम मोशाले बनाएको पवित्र वासस्थानलाई पहिले देखाउँछ; र दोस्रो रूपमा त्यसले पृथ्वीको पवित्रस्थानले प्रतिनिधित्व गरेको स्वर्गीय “साँचो पवित्र वासस्थान”-लाई देखाउँछ। ख्रीष्टको मृत्युमा साङ्केतिक सेवाकार्य अन्त्य भयो। स्वर्गको “साँचो पवित्र वासस्थान”-चाहिँ नयाँ करारको पवित्रस्थान हो। दानिएल ८:१४को अगमवाणी यो समय अवधिमा पूरा भयो, त्यसैकारण जुन पवित्रस्थानतर्फ केन्द्रित गर्दछ त्यो नयाँ करारको पवित्रस्थान हुनुपर्छ। २३०० दिनहरूको अन्तमा अर्थात् १८४४मा धेरै शताब्दीहरूदेखि पृथ्वीमा कुनै पवित्रस्थान नै थिएन। त्यसकारण “दुई हजार तीन सय दिनसम्म; त्यसपछि पवित्रस्थान शुद्ध पारिनेछ” भनिने अगमवाणी स्वर्गको पवित्रस्थानलाई नै देखाउँछ भन्ने कुरामा कुनै शङ्का नै छैन।MBND 155.1 तर सबभन्दा महत्वपूर्ण प्रश्नको उत्तर बाँकी रहन्छ: पवित्रस्थानको शुद्धीकरण भनेको के हो त? पृथ्वीको पवित्रस्थानसँग सम्बन्धि एक यस्तो सेवाकाइ थियो जुन धर्मशास्त्रको पुरानो करारमा उल्लेख गरिएको छ। तर स्वर्गमा शुद्ध गर्नुपर्ने त्यस्तो केही कुरा हुनसक्छ र? हिब्रू ९मा पृथ्वी र स्वर्ग दुवै पवित्रस्थानको शुद्धीकरणको विषयमा स्पष्टसँग सिकाइएको छ। “व्यवस्थाअनुसार रगतले प्रायः सब थोक शुद्ध पार्दछ, र रगत नबगाईकन पापको क्षमा हुनै सक्दैन। यदि स्वर्गीय कुराहरूका नमूनालाई शुद्ध पार्न यी विधिहरू [जनावरको रगत] चाहिए भने स्वर्गकै कुराहरूलाई शुद्ध पार्नु त अझ उत्तम बलिको आवश्यकता पऱ्यो” (हिब्रू ९:२२, २३) अर्थात् ख्रीष्टको अनमोल रगत।MBND 155.2 नकल र सकल सेवाकार्य दुवैमा रगतद्वारा शुद्धीकरण सम्पन्न गरिनुपर्छ; अघिल्लोमा जनावरको रगतले; पछिल्लोमा ख्रीष्टको रगतले; यो शुद्धीकरण रगतद्वारा नै किन हुनुपर्दछ भन्ने कारण स्वरूप पावल भन्दछन्, कि रगत नबगाईकन क्षमा हुन सक्दैन। क्षमा, अर्थात् पाप हटाउने कार्यचाहिँ सम्पन्न हुनुपर्छ। तर पृथ्वी वा स्वर्गको पवित्रस्थानसँग पापको सम्बन्ध कसरी हुन सक्थ्यो र? यो कुरा साङ्केतिक सेवाकार्यको सम्बन्धद्वारा सिक्न सकिन्छ; किनकि पृथ्वीमा सेवाकाइ गर्ने पूजाहारीहरूले “स्वर्गीय पवित्रस्थानको नकल र छायाको सेवा” गर्दथे। हिब्रू ८:५।MBND 156.1 पृथ्वीको पवित्रस्थानको सेवाकार्यमा दुई विभागहरू थिए; पूजाहारीहरूले दैनिकरूपमा पवित्रस्थानमा सेवाकार्य गर्दथे, जबकि प्रधान पूजाहारीले वर्षमा एक पल्ट पवित्रस्थानको शुद्धीकरणका लागि महा-पवित्रस्थानमा प्रायश्चित्तको विशेष कार्य प्रस्तुत गर्दथ्यो। प्रत्येक दिन पश्चात्तापी पापीले आफ्नो बलिदान भेट हुने पालको ढोकामा ल्याउँथ्यो र आफ्ना हातहरू त्यस पशुको टाउकोमाथि राखेर आफ्नो पाप स्वीकार गर्दथ्यो, यसरी सङ्केतद्वारा आफूबाट त्यो पाप निर्दोष बलिमा सारेको देखाउँदथ्यो। त्यसपछि त्यो पशु मारिन्थ्यो। प्रेरित भन्दछन्, “रगत नबगाईकन पापको क्षमा हुनै सक्दैन।” “जीवधारीको प्राण त्यसको रगतमा हुन्छ।” लेवी १७:११। भङ्ग भएको परमेश्वरको व्यवस्थाले अपराधीको जीवनको माग गर्दछ। जस्को दोष त्यस पशुले बोकेको हुन्थ्यो त्यही पापीको अधिकार गुमिसकेको जीवनलाई प्रतिनिधित्व गर्ने रगत नै पूजाहारीले पवित्रस्थानमा लगेर पर्दाको अघिल्लो पट्टि छर्किदिन्थ्यो; जुन पर्दापछाड़ि पापीले भङ्ग गरेको व्यवस्था राखिएको सन्दूक थियो। यस विधिबाट रगतको माध्यमद्वारा त्यो पाप पवित्रस्थानमा सारेको देखाइयो। कहिलेकाहीँ रगतलाई पवित्रस्थानमा लैजाँदैनथियो; तर त्यसको मासु पूजाहारीहरूले खान्थे, जसरी मोशाले हारूनका छोराहरूलाई निर्देशन दिएर भने: “समुदायको अधर्म बोक्न ... भनी परमेश्वरले यो तिमीहरूलाई दिनुभएको हो।” लेवी १०:१७ (KJV)। दुवै विधिहरूले पश्चात्तापीहरूबाट पाप पवित्रस्थानमा सारिएको उस्तै-उस्तै सङ्केत गऱ्यो।MBND 156.2 वर्षभरि दिन प्रतिदिन यस्ता कार्य भइरह्यो। यसरी इस्राएलका पापहरू पवित्रस्थानमा सरे, र ती हटाउन एउटा विशेष कार्यको आवश्यक थियो। प्रत्येक पवित्र भाग [कोठा]-को लागि प्रायश्चित्त गर्नू भनी परमेश्वरले आज्ञा दिनुभयो। “यसरी इस्राएलीहरूका अशुद्धि, अपराध र तिनीहरूका जम्मै पापको कारणले महा-पवित्रस्थानका निम्ति त्यसले प्रायश्चित गरोस्। तिनीहरूका अशुद्धिको बीचमा भएको भेट हुने पालको निम्ति पनि त्यसले त्यसै गरोस्।” त्यसले वेदीको लागि पनि प्रायश्चित्त गर्नुपर्नेथियो, “इस्राएलीहरूको अशुद्धिबाट वेदीलाई शुद्ध र पवित्र गरोस्।” लेवी १६:१६, १९।MBND 157.1 प्रायश्चित्तको महान् दिनमा वर्षको एक पल्ट पूजाहारी पवित्रस्थानलाई शुद्ध गर्न महा-पवित्रस्थानमा प्रवेश गर्थ्यो। त्यस कार्यद्वारा वार्षिक सेवकाइ सम्पन्न हुन्थ्यो। प्रायश्चित्तको दिनमा दुईवटा बोका भेट हुने पालको ढोकामा ल्याइन्थ्यो र तिनीहरूको बीचमा चिट्ठा लगाइन्थ्यो, “एउटा परमप्रभुको निम्ति र अर्कोचाहिँ छाड़ा छोडिने बोकाको निम्ति।” लेवी १६:८। परमप्रभुको बोकाको रूप चिट्ठामा पर्नेलाई चाहिँ मानिसहरूको पाप-बलि स्वरूप मारिन्थ्यो। पूजाहारीले त्यसको रगत पर्दाभित्र ल्याउँदथ्यो र त्यसलाई कृपा-आसनमाथि र कृपा-आसन अगाड़ि छर्कंदथ्यो। पर्दा अगाड़ि भएको धूपको वेदीमाथि पनि त्यो रगत छर्कनुपर्दथ्यो।MBND 157.2 “अनि हारूनले आफ्ना दुवै हात जिउँदो बोकाको टाउकोमा राखोस्, र इस्राएलीहरूका सारा अधर्म, अपराध र पाप स्वीकार गरेर बोकाको टाउकोमाथि राखिदिओस्। त्यसले ती पापहरू बोकाको टाउकोमा राखेर त्यसलाई अघिबाट खटाइराखेको मानिसको साथ उजाड़-स्थानमा पठाइदिओस्। यसरी त्यस बोकाले तिनीहरूका सारा अधर्म एकलास ठाउँमा बोकेर लैजाओस्।” लेवी १६:२१, २२। त्यो छाड़ा छोडिएको बोका इस्राएलीहरूको छाउनीमा फेरि आउँदैनथ्यो र जुन मानिसले त्यसलाई लगेको हुन्थ्यो उसले छाउनीमा फर्कनुभन्दा अगाड़ि नै बग्ने खोलाको पानीले नुहाउनुपर्दथ्यो र लुगा धुनुपर्दथ्यो।MBND 157.3 परमेश्वरको पवित्रता र पापप्रति भएको उहाँको घृणाको विषयमा इस्राएलीहरूमाथि प्रभाव पार्न यो सम्पूर्ण विधिको प्रतिपादन गरिएको थियो; र त्यति मात्रै नभएर तिनीहरू अपवित्र नभईकन पापसँग सम्पर्कमा आउन सक्दैनथ्यो भन्ने कुरा बुझाउन सो गरिएको थियो। तिनीहरूका प्रायश्चित्तको कार्य भइरहेको समयमा प्रत्येक व्यक्तिले आ-आफ्नो प्राणलाई इन्कार गर्न आवश्यक थियो। सबै व्यवसायहरूबाट अलग रहनुपर्दथ्यो, र इस्राएलको सम्पूर्ण समुदायले परमेश्वरको सामु प्रार्थना, उपवास र हृदयको गहिरो खोज गर्दै गम्भीर नम्रताका साथ त्यो दिन बिताउनुपर्दथ्यो।MBND 158.1 प्रायश्चित्तको विषयमा साङ्केतिक सेवकाइद्वारा महत्वपूर्ण सत्यताहरू सिकाइएका छन्। पापीको सट्टामा एक बदला स्वीकार गरिएको थियो; तर पशुको रगतद्वारा पाप ढाकिँदैनथ्यो। एउटा उपाय उपलब्ध गराइयो जसद्वारा त्यो [पाप] पवित्रस्थानमा सारिएको थियो। रगत चढ़ाउनेद्वारा पापीले व्यवस्थाको अधिकारलाई स्वीकार गरिएको हुन्थ्यो, यसरी आफ्नो पाप स्वीकार गरिएको हुन्थ्यो, र आउने वाला एक मुक्तिदातामाथि विश्वास गरेर क्षमा प्राप्त गर्नका लागि आफ्नो इच्छा प्रकट गरिएको हुन्थ्यो; तर ऊ व्यवस्थाको दोषबाट पूर्णरूपमा फुक्का भने भइसकेको हुँदैनथ्यो। प्रायश्चित्तको दिनमा समुदायबाट बलि प्राप्त गरेर प्रधान पूजाहारीले त्यो बलिको रगत लिएर महा-पवित्रस्थानमा प्रवेश गर्दथ्यो, र त्यसका दाबीहरू सन्तुष्टि पार्न त्यो रगत व्यवस्थाको ठीक माथि कृपा-आसनमा छर्कदथ्यो। त्यसपछि उसको मध्यस्थकर्ताको पद्धतिअनुसार उसले त्यो पाप आफूमाथि धारण गर्दथ्यो र त्यसलाई पवित्रस्थानबाट बोकेर लैजान्थ्यो। उसले छाड़ा छोडिने बोकामाथि आफ्ना हातहरू राखेर ती सबै पापहरू स्वीकार गर्दथ्यो, यसरी साङ्केतिकरूपमा ती आफूदेखि त्यस बोकामा सार्दथ्यो। त्यसपछि त्यो बोकाले ती बोकेर टाढा लैजाँदथ्यो र ती पापहरू सदाका लागि मानिसहरूबाट अलग भयो भनी विश्वास गरिन्थ्यो।MBND 158.2 “स्वर्गका चीजहरूका नमुना र छाया”-अनुसार गरिएको सेवाकार्य यस्तै नै थियो। जुन सेवाकार्य पृथ्वीको साङ्केतिक पवित्रस्थानमा गरिन्थ्यो सोही स्वर्गीय साँचो पवित्रस्थानको सेवाकार्यमा गरिन्छ। उहाँको स्वर्गारोहणपछि हाम्रा उद्धारकर्ताले हाम्रा प्रधान पूजाहारीको रूपमा आफ्नो कार्य सुरु गर्नुभयो। पावल भन्दछन्: “ख्रीष्ट हातले बनाएको पवित्रस्थानभित्र प्रवेश गर्नुभएन, जोचाहिँ साँचो पवित्रस्थानको नकल मात्र हो, तर उहाँ स्वर्गभित्रै प्रवेश गर्नुभयो, र उहाँ हाम्रो पक्षमा परमेश्वरको सामु उपस्थित हुनुभएको छ।” हिब्रू ९:२४।MBND 158.3 सम्पूर्ण वर्षभरि पूजाहारीले “पर्दा भित्रै” अर्थात् पवित्रस्थानको पहिलो कोठामा सेवाकार्य गर्दथ्यो, जुन पर्दाले ढोकाको रूप दियो र पवित्रस्थानलाई बाहिरी आँगनबाट छुट्यायो, त्यही सेवाकार्यले ख्रीष्ट उहाँको स्वर्गारोहणमा प्रवेश गर्नुभएको सेवकाइको कामलाई देखाउँछ। परमेश्वरको सामु पापबलिको रगत र इस्राएलको प्रार्थनाका साथ माथि पठाइने धूप चढाउने चाहिँ दैनिक सेवकाइमा पूजाहारीको काम थियो। त्यसरी नै ख्रीष्टले पापीहरूको खातिर आफ्नो रगतको बिन्ती पिताको सामु चढाउनुभयो, र उहाँको आफ्नै धार्मिकताको बहुमूल्य बास्ना, पश्चात्तापी विश्वासीहरूका प्रार्थनाहरूका साथ उहाँको सामु प्रस्तुत गर्नुभयो। स्वर्गमा भएको पवित्रस्थानको पहिलो कोठामा हुने सेवकाइ यस्तै थियो।MBND 159.1 येशू तिनीहरूको नजरबाट माथि उचालिने बेला ख्रीष्टका चेलाहरूले विश्वासद्वारा उहाँलाई त्यहाँ पछ्याए। यहाँ तिनीहरूको आशा केन्द्रित भयो; पावल भन्दछन्, “हाम्रा आत्माको निम्ति दृढ़ र सुरक्षित लङ्गरको रूपमा यो आशा हामीसित छ। यो आशा पर्दाभित्रको पवित्रस्थानमा प्रवेश गर्दछ, जहाँ हाम्रा पक्षमा अग्रदूत भएर ... येशू प्रधान पूजाहारी भई प्रवेश गर्नुभएको छ।” “बोका र बाछाहरूको रगतले होइन, तर आफ्नै रगतद्वारा अनन्त उद्धार प्राप्त गरिदिएर सधैँका निम्ति एकै पल्ट महापवित्र स्थानभित्र उहाँ प्रवेश गर्नुभयो।” हिब्रू ६:१९, २०; ९:१२।MBND 159.2 अठार शताब्दीहरूसम्म यो सेवकाइको कार्य पवित्रस्थानको पहिलो कोठामा निरन्तरता भइरह्यो। ख्रीष्टको रगतले पश्चात्तापी विश्वासीहरूको खातिर वकालत गऱ्यो, पितासँग तिनीहरूको पाप क्षमा र स्वीकारलाई सुरक्षित बनाए तापनि तिनीहरूको पाप अझैपनि अभिलेखका पुस्तकहरूमा बाँकी थियो। जसरी उदाहरणीय सेवकाइमा वर्षको अन्त्यमा एउटा प्रायश्चित्तको कार्य हुन्थ्यो, त्यसरी नै मानिसको उद्धारको लागि ख्रीष्टले गर्नुहुने कार्य पूरा हुन अघि पवित्रस्थानबाट पाप हटाउनको लागि प्रायश्चित्तको एउटा कार्य हुन्छ। यो त्यही सेवकाइ हो जुन २३०० दिनहरू सकिएपछि सुरुवात भयो। जसरी दानिएल अगमवक्ताले अगमवाणी बोले, त्यही समयमा, हाम्रा प्रधान पूजाहारी महा-पवित्रस्थानमा उहाँको गम्भीर कार्यको अन्तिम भाग पूरा गर्नका निम्ति पवित्रस्थान शुद्ध गर्न प्रवेश गर्नुभयो।MBND 159.3 जसरी प्राचीनकालमा मानिसहरूका पापहरू विश्वासद्वारा पापबलिमाथि राखिदिन्थे र त्यसको रगतको माध्यमद्वारा पृथ्वीको पवित्रस्थानमा साङ्केतिकरूपमा सारिन्थे, त्यसरी नै नयाँ करारमा पश्चात्तापीका पापहरू विश्वासको माध्यमद्वारा ख्रीष्टमाथि राखिन्छन् र वास्तवमा स्वर्गीय पवित्रस्थानमा सारिन्छन्। जसरी पृथ्वीमा भएको पवित्रस्थानको साङ्केतिक शुद्धीकरणचाहिँ त्यसलाई अशुद्ध बनाउने पापहरूलाई हटाउनेद्वारा पूरा हुन्थ्यो, त्यसरी नै त्यहाँ अभिलेखमा राखिएका पापहरू हटाउने वा मेटिदिनेद्वारा स्वर्गीय पवित्रस्थानको वास्तविक शुद्धीकरण पूरा हुनेछ। तर यो समाप्त हुनुभन्दा अगाड़ि क-कसले पापको पश्चात्ताप र ख्रीष्टमा विश्वास गर्नेद्वारा उहाँको प्रायश्चित्तका लाभहरू उठाउने हक पाएका छन् वा छैनन् भन्ने कुरा निश्चित गर्नका लागि अभिलेखका पुस्तकहरू जाँच्न आवश्यक छ। त्यसकारण पवित्रस्थानको शुद्धीकरणको प्रक्रियामा छानबिनको कार्य वा एक इन्साफको कार्य पनि समावेश भएको हुन्छ। ख्रीष्टले आफ्ना मानिसहरूलाई उद्धार गर्न आउनुभन्दा अगाड़ि नै यो कार्य सम्पादन गरिएको हुनुपर्दछ; जब उहाँ आउनुहुन्छ, हरेक मानिसलाई उसले गरेअनुसार दिने प्रतिफल उहाँसँग छ। प्रकाश २२:१२।MBND 159.4 यसरी ज-जसले अगमवाणीको वचनको ज्योतिलाई अनुसरण गरे, तिनीहरूले १८४४मा अर्थात् २३०० दिनहरूको अन्तमा ख्रीष्ट पृथ्वीमा आउनुभएको होइन, तर उहाँको आगमनभन्दा अगाड़ि गरिनुपर्ने प्रायश्चित्तको अन्तिम कार्य स्वर्गीय पवित्रस्थानको महा-पवित्रस्थानमा सम्पादन गर्न उहाँ प्रवेश गर्नुभयो भन्ने कुरा तिनीहरूले बुझे।MBND 160.1 यो कुरा पनि देखियो कि पापबलिले ख्रीष्टलाई एक बलिको रूपमा प्रतिनिधित्व गऱ्यो र प्रधान पूजाहारीले ख्रीष्टलाई एक मध्यस्थकर्ताको रूपमा प्रतिनिधित्व गऱ्यो भने छाड़ा हुने बोकाले शैतानलाई पापको सृजकको रूपमा प्रतिनिधित्व गऱ्यो, जसमाथि अन्त्यमा सच्चा पश्चात्तापीहरूका पापहरू राखिनेछ। जब प्रधान पूजाहारीले पापबलिको रगतको तागतद्वारा पवित्रस्थानबाट पापहरू हटाउँथ्यो, तब ती पापहरूलाई उसले छाड़ा छोडिने बोकामाथि राखिदिन्थ्यो। जब ख्रीष्ट, उहाँको आफ्नै रगतको तागतद्वारा उहाँको सेवाकार्यको अन्त्यमा स्वर्गीय पवित्रस्थानबाट आफ्ना मानिसहरूका पापहरू हटाउनुहुन्छ, तब ती पापहरूलाई शैतानमाथि राखिदिनुहुनेछ, जसले इन्साफको कार्यन्वयनमा अन्तिम दण्ड़ भोग्नैपर्छ। छाड़ा छोडिने बोकालाई एकलास ठाउँतिर पठाइदिइन्थ्यो, इस्राएलको समुदायको बीचमा फेरि कहिल्यै नआउने गरी पठाइन्थ्यो। त्यसरी नै शैतानलाई परमेश्वर र उहाँका मानिसहरूको सामुन्नेबाट सदासर्वदाको लागि निर्वासित गरिनेछ, र पाप र पापीहरूको अन्तिम विनाशमा उसलाई उसको अस्तित्वबाट नै मेटिदिनेछ।MBND 160.2