“And he said to me, unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” Daniel 8:14
This text provides purpose and a sense of urgency to who we are as a people. The quarterly appropriately starts the week’s lesson with the statement, “Bible prophecy is crucial to our identity and mission.” We are also reminded by the author that the reformers followed the historicist method which, “sees prophecy as a progressive and continuous fulfillment of history, starting in the past and ending with God’s eternal kingdom.” This is well demonstrated in King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and later in the visions of Daniel in chapters 7 and 8.
“You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. 32 This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay and broke them in pieces. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” Daniel 2:31-35.
“Daniel spoke, saying, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea. 3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other. 4 The first was like a lion and had eagle’s wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it. 5 “And suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear. It was raised up on one side and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said thus to it: ‘Arise, devour much flesh!’ 6 “After this I looked, and there was another, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it. 7 “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 8 I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking [a]pompous words.” Daniel 7:2-8.
Daniel chapter 8 records a similar vision where we see an unbroken linear flow, or an unbroken sequence of earthly kingdoms. Of significance, they start in “antiquity” and go through history, up to the present and into the future when Christ returns. The dream of Chapter 2 and the two visions of Chapters 7 and 8 formed the basis of the reformation historicist interpretation of prophecy, to which Adventists still adhere. There is currently no other Protestant denomination that adheres to this important view of an unbroken linear flow of prophecy. This point will become crucial later in this insight. Once we see that these 3 chapters reveal an unbroken sequence, it is not difficult to appreciate the next point which is the year-day principle. Adventists are good at pulling out two texts to show this vital principle however a right understanding of the principle of an unbroken linear flow or sequence creates a stage where a day for a year makes good sense. Since the prophecies in Daniel 7 and 8 lead up to the “time of the end” which is followed by the setting up of God’s final kingdom, the time periods mentioned in these prophecies should be seen as extending through history to that “time of the end.” In the sweep of history described in these prophecies that extends from the 6th century B.C to our time and beyond, literal time periods of 2300 days, or 3 ½ years etc. would be inadequate to reach to the end of time. Therefore, these time periods should be seen as symbolic. There is another fascinating aspect and that is that during these time periods something adverse or evil for the world or God’s people commonly took place with reversal of the conditions at the conclusion. This provides us with a microcosm of the sin problem during which the great controversy has been worked out. If these were merely literal time periods, they would not have provided ample development of the issues, factors, and history involved in the great controversy. Much textual evidences exist to validate the application of the year-day principle to apocalyptic prophecy, but these are beyond the scope of this insight. We need to appreciate two points so far. One is the principle of “unbroken linear flow” in these prophecies and the other is the year-day principle both of which were appreciated by reformers such as Wycliffe, Luther, Zwingli, Knox and others. Based on this they were able to identify the little horn of Daniel 7 and 8 to be the Roman Catholic Church. When followed logically in linear unbroken fashion there can be no other conclusion. We are living at the very end with no further time prophecies to be given. The memory text is where we are in history and prophecy. So, who are we as Seventh day Adventists and why are we here as a denomination?
The lesson opened with the statement, “Bible prophecy is crucial to our identity and mission.” Seventh Day Adventism came into being soon after the Great Disappointment. The end of the 2300 days was accurately placed in October 1844, but the event was incorrect. E.G. White says, “Jesus did not come to the earth as the waiting, joyful company expected, to cleanse the sanctuary by purifying the earth by fire. I saw that they were correct in their reckoning of the prophetic periods; prophetic time closed in 1844, and Jesus entered the most holy place to cleanse the sanctuary at the ending of the days. Their mistake consisted in not understanding what the sanctuary was and the nature of its cleansing.” EW 15. The Adventist church took its identity and mission from Revelation 10:10, 11 and Revelation 11:19, which I will not quote here but please re-read them carefully.
Present truth for this church at this time is the Three Angels’ Messages accompanied by the Loud Cry Message of Revelation 18. We know where we are in history based on prophecy, and we know our mission based on the messages given for that time. Hear this from Ellen White. “Had Adventists, after the great disappointment in 1844, held fast their faith, and followed on unitedly in the opening providence of God, receiving the message of the third angel and in the power of the Holy Spirit proclaiming it to the world, they would have seen the salvation of God, the Lord would have wrought mightily with their efforts, the work would have been completed, and Christ would have come ere this to receive His people to their reward.” 1 SM 68.1
“In a special sense Seventh-day Adventists have been set in the world as watchmen and light-bearers. To them has been entrusted the last warning for a perishing world. On them is shining wonderful light from the Word of God. They have been given a work of the most solemn import, —the proclamation of the first, second, and third angels’ messages. There is no other work of so great importance. They are to allow nothing else to absorb their attention.
The most solemn truths ever entrusted to mortals have been given us to proclaim to the world. The proclamation of these truths is to be our work. The world is to be warned, and God's people are to be true to the trust committed to them....” Ev 119. She wrote this in 1909.
However, prior to that statement she had written this statement after the 1888 Minneapolis GC session.
“The Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Elders Waggoner and Jones. This message was to bring more prominently before the world the uplifted Saviour, the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. It presented justification through faith in the Surety; it invited the people to receive the righteousness of Christ, which is made manifest in obedience to all the commandments of God. Many had lost sight of Jesus. They needed to have their eyes directed to His divine person, His merits, and His changeless love for the human family. All power is given into His hands, that He may dispense rich gifts unto men, imparting the priceless gift of His own righteousness to the helpless human agent. This is the message that God commanded to be given to the world. It is the third angel's message, which is to be proclaimed with a loud voice, and attended with the outpouring of His Spirit in a large measure.” TM 91,92.
The 1888 message is unique because it presents the true biblical idea of justification by faith in the end-time setting of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary truth. In the statement above and in others she says that this is the third angel’s message. This is true righteousness by faith. When He dispenses “the priceless gift of His own righteousness”’ it is not a cloak for sin. It is the full cleansing of the hearts of His people. The Heavenly High Priest will do the work. The church needs to comprehend that this righteousness by faith is different from the evangelical gospel of righteousness by faith. This work of the third angel has been taking place in the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary since 1844. This work is the work which will lighten the earth with its glory and produce the final presentation of the everlasting gospel of Revelation 14 and 18. Paul says, “To the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places,” Ephesians 3:10. God will use His remnant people and church to demonstrate to the onlooking universe, what it means to preach the gospel to every creature.
Jones and Waggoner agree. “Though I preach the finishing of transgression in the lives of individuals; and though I preach the making an end of sins, and the making of reconciliation for iniquity, and the bringing in of everlasting righteousness, in the life of the individual; and yet do not preach with it the sanctuary and its cleansing, that is not the third angel's message. That great day cannot come till the sanctuary is cleansed. The sanctuary cannot be cleansed until transgression is finished in your life and mine; till an end of sins is made in your life and mine; and reconciliation made for the sins that have been committed; and then, oh, then, in place of it all, everlasting righteousness brought in, to hold us steady in the path of righteousness. A.T. Jones GC Daily Bulletin April 1, 1903.
Waggoner expressed this view right after the 1888 General Conference stating: “But will there ever be any people on the earth who will have attained to that perfection of character? Indeed, there will be [Zephaniah 3:13 quoted]. When the Lord comes there will be a company who will be found ‘complete in him, having not their own righteousness, but that perfect righteousness of God, which comes by faith of Jesus Christ. To perfect this work in the hearts of individuals, and to prepare such a company, is the work of the Third Angel’s Message.” Signs of the Times Dec. 28,1888, p. 790.
Ellen White enlarges this thought even further. “The third angel's message is the proclamation of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus Christ. The commandments of God have been proclaimed, but the faith of Jesus Christ has not been proclaimed by Seventh-day Adventists as of equal importance, the law and the gospel going hand in hand. I cannot find language to express this subject in its fullness. “The faith of Jesus”, it is talked of, but not understood. What constitutes the faith of Jesus, that belongs, to the third angel's message? Jesus becoming our sin-bearer that He might become our sin-pardoning Saviour. He was treated as we deserve to be treated. He came to our world and took our sins that we might take His righteousness. Faith in the ability of Christ to save us amply and fully and entirely is the faith of Jesus.” 1888 p. 217.3, 4.
Ellen White connected the third angel’s message and the cleansing of the sanctuary as she spoke of the events of 1844 and said this: “Those who rejected the first message could not be benefited by the second, and were not benefited by the midnight cry, which was to prepare them to enter with Jesus by faith into the Most Holy place of the heavenly Sanctuary. And by rejecting the two former messages, they can see no light in the third angel's message, which shows the way into the Most Holy place.” 1 Spiritual Gifts p. 171.
However she remains optimistic saying, “The closing work of the third angel's message will be attended with a power that will send the rays of the Sun of Righteousness into all the highways and byways of life.” 1888 p. 166.
“We are in the day of atonement, and we are to work in harmony with Christ's work of cleansing the sanctuary from the sins of the people. Let no man who desires to be found with the wedding garment on, resist our Lord in His office work.” Review and Herald, January 21,1890.
“Christ is pleading for the church in the heavenly courts above, pleading for those for whom He paid the redemption price of His own lifeblood. Centuries, ages, can never diminish the efficacy of this atoning sacrifice. The message of the gospel of His grace was to be given to the church in clear and distinct lines… As the high priest sprinkled the warm blood upon the mercy seat, while the fragrant cloud of incense ascended before God. ….. so while we confess our sins and plead the efficacy of Christ's atoning blood, our prayers are to ascend to heaven, fragrant with the merits of our Saviour's character…..God gave to His servants [Waggoner and Jones] a testimony that presented the truth as it is in Jesus, which is the third angel's message, in clear, distinct lines.” TM 92,93.
We have been living in strange times - times of disease, a pandemic, stay home orders, isolation, social distancing, no touching not even a handshake, economic difficulty. Most recently the world looked as a black man was callously murdered in the streets. It ripped our hearts out. We have witnessed the rapidity with which COVID-19 swept through the world, leaving hardly a country untouched. We have watched as the seminal incident of the taking of a man’s life swept through the world causing protests world-wide in all cultures, even to the Orient. People gripped by a sense that all is not well, something is wrong. Seventh-Day Adventists have been called at this time in history and at this time in prophecy to take our place in the linear, unbroken course of time. We have been raised up, a prophetic movement for such a time as this. The Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message for such a time as this, to give a message “illuminating in its influence, saving in its power”.
“It is the darkness of misapprehension of God that is enshrouding the world. Men are losing their knowledge of His character. It has been misunderstood and misinterpreted. At this time, a message from God is to be proclaimed, a message illuminating in its influence and saving in its power. His character is to be made known. Into the darkness of the world is to be shed the light of His glory, the light of His goodness, mercy, and truth.” COL 415.3 “The last rays of merciful light, the last message of mercy to be given to the world, is a revelation of His character of love.” COL 416.
