Salvation

The cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary

The cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, which involves a work of judgement called investigative judgement, is the cornerstone of the creed of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. Adventists are very proud of this doctrine, for they say that today their preaching of the doctrine of the sanctuary is the preaching of the most timely truth that could be presented to men. Now, first of all, let me tell you the origin of this doctrine.

The origin of this doctrine

In 1818, a Baptist minister named William Miller (1782-1849), after he had studied the Scriptures for two years, came to the conclusion that in about twenty-five years from that time (1818) all the affairs of our present state would be wound up. Involved in the ‘winding up’ of the affairs of the world was the expected return of the Lord Jesus Christ. At first Miller did not set an exact date for Christ’s return, but affirmed that this event would occur ‘about 1843.’ However, later he specified that the return of Jesus would take place some time during the Jewish year running from March 21, 1843 to March 21, 1844. He wrote: ‘I believe the time can be known by all who desire to understand and to be ready for His coming. I am fully convinced that some time between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844, according to the Jewish mode of computation of time, Christ will come and bring all His saints with Him; and that then He will reward every man as His work shall be’ (Signs of the Times, January 25, 1843)

How did Miller arrive at this date? In Daniel 9:24-27 he found the prophecy of the ‘seventy weeks’ which are there predicted as extending from the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem (v. 25) to the time when the anointed one will be cut off (v. 26). According to Miller, the starting point for these seventy weeks was the decree of Artaxerses spoken of in Ezra 7:11-26 which permitted Ezra to go back to Jerusalem. This decree was dated in his Bible (according to the Ussher chronology) as having been issued in 457 before Christ. He assumed that in prophetic writings of this sort a day stood for a year. On this basis seventy weeks, which would be equivalent to 490 days, would represent 490 years. And 490 years after 457 before Christ brings to 33 A.D., the year when, according to Ussher, Christ was crucified. In Daniel 8:14 there is a reference to 2300 evenings and mornings which must elapse before the sanctuary will be cleansed. Miller assumed that the cleansing of the sanctuary alluded to in this prophecy meant Christ’s return to earth. In agreement with the above mentioned principle, he took the 2300 evenings and mornings as standing for 2300 years. He also assumed that the 2300 years started at the same time as the 70 weeks. And 2300 years after 457 before Christ brings us to 1843 A.D., the year when, according to Miller, Christ would return.

When the year arrived, however, the Lord did not return, and there was much disappointment among the so called ‘Millerites.’ Miller acknowledged his error, yet He still believed that the day of the Lord was near, even at the door, and he exhorted the brethren to be watchful, and not let that day come upon them unawares.

In August of 1844, Samuel S. Snow, one of the Millerite leaders, predicted that Christ would return on October 22, 1844 (which would be our calendar equivalent of the Jewish Day of Atonement for that year), that is, seven months later. According to Ellen G. White ‘that which led to this movement was the discovery that the decree of Artaxerxes for the restoration of Jerusalem, which formed the starting point for the period of the 2300 days, went into effect in the autumn of the year 457 B.C., and not at the beginning of the year, as had been formerly believed. Reckoning from the autumn of 457, the 2300 years terminate in the autumn of 1844’ (Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan. The Conflict of the Ages in the Christian Dispensation, [Mountain View, California: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1950. Revised edition first published, 1911.], pages 398-399). All the followers of Miller and Miller himself accepted this prediction. So they began to expect the Lord to return some time that day. On October 22, however, the Lord did not return. The disappointment of the Millerites was intense. This day is usually referred to in the history of the Adventist Church as the day of ‘The Great Disappointment.’

One of the ‘Millerites’ who expected the Lord to return on October 22, 1844, was a certain Hiram Edson of Port Gibson, New York. On the following morning most of the believers who had met at Edson’s house to wait for Christ’s return returned to their homes. However, Edson went to his barn to pray with those who remained. After breakfast Edson decided to go out to comfort the other Adventists. As Edson and a companion walked across the corn field adjoining the farm on their way to their first destination, Edson had a ‘vision’. Here is what Edson himself wrote: ‘We started, and while passing through a large field I was stopped about midway of the field. Heaven seemed open to my view, and I saw distinctly and clearly that instead of our High Priest coming out of the Most Holy of the heavenly sanctuary to come to this earth on the tenth day of the seventh month, at the end of the 2300 days, He for the first time entered on that day the second apartment of that sanctuary; and that He had a work to perform in the most holy before coming to this earth’ (From a fragment of a manuscript on his life and experiences, by Hiram Edson; quoted by Francis D. Nichol, The Midnight Cry, Washington: Review and Herald, 1945, page 458). In the light of this ‘vision’, Edson now realized that there was a heavenly sanctuary corresponding to the Old Testament earthly sanctuary which had been patterned after it, and that there were two phases in Christ heavenly ministry, just as there had been two phases in the sanctuary ministry of the Old Testament priests. In other words, according to Edson, Christ did not come out of the Holy of holies of the heavenly sanctuary to this earth at the end of the 2300 days, but he had simply for the first time passed from the holy place of the heavenly sanctuary into the heavenly holy of holies. So Miller had not been wrong in his calculations, but simply in thinking that the sanctuary which was to be cleansed at the end of the 2300 days was a sanctuary on earth - or, perhaps, the earth itself. For the sanctuary which had to be cleansed was located in heaven.

During the next several months Edson and two men who were closely associated with him at that time, that is, Franklin B. Hahn and O. R. L. Crosier, began to study the Bible earnestly, particularly with regard to the sanctuary ministry as described both in the Old Testament and in the book of Hebrews. Crosier wrote down his conclusions on the subject in an article which appeared in the Cincinnati Day-Star, an Adventist publication, under date of February 7, 1846. Here are the conclusions to which he came. Crosier explained that we must see in the work of Christ a fulfilment of the work of the Old Testament priests. In the daily work of these priests, when they presented the daily offerings to God and brought the blood of these offerings into the holy place, sprinkling it before the veil or applying it to the horns of the altar of incense, they were only transferring iniquity from the people to the sanctuary. On the Great Day of Atonement, however, the sanctuary was cleansed. This happened when the high priest entered the holy of holies and sprinkled the blood of the slain goat upon the mercy seat. After the sanctuary had been cleansed, the sins of the people were then put on the head of the scapegoat which was sent away into the wilderness. There were thus two phases in the ministry of the Old Testament priests: the first (the daily ministry, which had to do with the holy place) led to the forgiveness of sins; the second, however (the yearly ministry, which had to do with the holy of holies), led to the blotting out of sins. These two phases of priestly ministry are also to be seen in the work of Christ. Throughout the centuries of the Christian era Christ had been doing a work comparable to the daily ministry of the priests, which work resulted in the forgiveness of sin but not in the blotting out of sin. The process of blotting out sin began on October 22, 1844, when Christ entered the holy of holies of the heavenly sanctuary, an action which was comparable to the work of the high priest on the Day of Atonement. However, since the cleansing of the sanctuary was not complete until the sins of the people had been laid on the scapegoat – who typified Satan – the last act of Christ’s priestly ministry will be to take the sins from the heavenly sanctuary and to place them on Satan. Only after this has happened will Christ return. This article was endorsed by such prominent Adventist leaders as Joseph Bates and Ellen G. White. As for William Miller, it must be said that he never accepted Crosier’s teachings about Christ’s sanctuary ministry.

This teaching about Christ’s sanctuary ministry was confirmed by Ellen G. White, the so called prophetess of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, who – in February of 1845 – had a ‘vision’ of Jesus entering into the holy of holies of the heavenly sanctuary.

The cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary and the investigative judgement

Now let me expound in detail the doctrine of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, which involves the so called investigative judgement, as it is taught by the Adventist Church.

The earthly sanctuary which was built by Moses in obedience to the commandment of God was the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as it is written that God said to him: “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain” (Hebrews 8:5 - NKJV). That sanctuary consisted of two places: the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. The priests would enter the Holy Place daily with the blood of some animal sacrifices prescribed by God to make atonement for the sins of the people or for their own sins. Instead, the high priest would enter the Most Holy Place only once a year, that is, on the Day of Atonement, which was the tenth day of the seventh month, to make atonement for himself, for his household, and for all the children of Israel, and for the sanctuary. Therefore on that day the high priest, his household, the children of Israel and the sanctuary were cleansed from all sins. Here is what the High Priest had to do on that day according to the law of Moses: “And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat. Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on. And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house. And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat [Hebrew: Azazel]. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD's lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness [Hebrew la’aza’zeel which means ‘to or for Azazel’]. And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself: And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail: And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not: And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times. Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness. And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel. And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the LORD, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about. And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat: And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall put off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there: And he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering, and the burnt offering of the people, and make an atonement for himself, and for the people. And the fat of the sin offering shall he burn upon the altar. And he that let go the goat for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward come into the camp. And the bullock for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall one carry forth without the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung. And he that burneth them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp. And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you: For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD. It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever. And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest's office in his father's stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments: And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation. And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year.” (Leviticus 16:1-34), As you can see, on that particular day, the priests and the people were cleansed from their sins through the blood of some animal sacrifices. The sanctuary also was cleansed through the blood of the sin offering which the high priest had to bring into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain. Another thing which can be seen is this: on that day two goats had to be offered to make atonement for the sins of the children of Israel: one had to be offered as a sin offering, while the other had to be presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, and be sent to or for Azazel. According to the Adventist Church, Azazel does mean Satan, so it follows that the second goat stood for Satan.

Now, as we have seen, on the Day of Atonement the earthly sanctuary was to be cleansed; therefore, since that sanctuary was the copy and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary, the heavenly sanctuary too had to be cleansed or purified. However, it had to be cleansed or purified with better sacrifices, as it is written: “Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these” (Hebrews 9:23 – NKJV). And the sacrifice with which the heavenly sanctuary was purified is the sacrifice of Christ.

When was it purified? To this question Adventists answer, ‘It was purified on October 22, 1844 (or rather the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary began on that day, and – as we will see later – this cleansing is an investigative judgment which is still going on), because 2300 years (the 2300 evenings and mornings mentioned in Daniel 8:14 stand for 2300 years because in prophetic writings of this sort a day stood for a year, according to the Adventists) after 457 B.C. (the year in which king Artaxerxes issued the decree spoken of in Ezra 7:11-26 according to which Jerusalem had to be restored) brings us to A.D. 1844 (more precisely to October 22, 1844: ‘The tenth day of the seventh month, the great Day of Atonement, the time of the cleansing of the sanctuary, which in the year 1844 fell upon the twenty-second of October …’ Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, page 400). For they say, Daniel stated that the sanctuary would be cleansed after two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings, as it is written: “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 [Lit. evening-mornings]; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed” (Daniel 8:13-14 – Ellen G. White said: ‘The prophecy, "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed," unquestionably points to the sanctuary in heaven’ - The Great Controversy, page 417).

At this point, I have to explain to you in detail how Adventists come to this conclusion. The prophet Daniel wrote: “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. 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. 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 there 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. 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. 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 his 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 practised, and prospered” (Daniel 8:2-12). Now Adventists ‘believe that the ‘little horn’ of Daniel 8:9 represents both pagan and papal Rome’ (Seventh-day Adventists Answer Questions On Doctrine, Review and Herald Publishing Association, Washington, D.C. 1957, page 255) and ‘that ‘the sanctuary’ of Daniel 8:11-14 must involve both the earthly and the heavenly sanctuaries’ (Ibid., page 255), and furthermore they believe that the daily sacrifice represents ‘the daily regular, or ‘continual,’ services of both sanctuaries where involved’ (Ibid, page 256). The daily sacrifice which was offered in the earthly sanctuary was commanded by God in the law in these terms: “Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually. The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even: And with the one lamb a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil; and the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering. And the other lamb thou shalt offer at even, and shalt do thereto according to the meat offering of the morning, and according to the drink offering thereof, for a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD. This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee” (Exodus 29:38-42), and again: “And thou shalt say unto them, This is the offering made by fire which ye shall offer unto the LORD; two lambs of the first year without spot day by day, for a continual burnt offering. The one lamb shalt thou offer in the morning, and the other lamb shalt thou offer at even; And a tenth part of an ephah of flour for a meat offering, mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil. It is a continual burnt offering, which was ordained in mount Sinai for a sweet savour, a sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD. And the drink offering thereof shall be the fourth part of an hin for the one lamb: in the holy place shalt thou cause the strong wine to be poured unto the LORD for a drink offering. And the other lamb shalt thou offer at even: as the meat offering of the morning, and as the drink offering thereof, thou shalt offer it, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD” (Numbers 28:3-8). This daily sacrifice foreshadowed ‘the work of Christ, upon His ascension and inauguration as our heavenly high priest’ (Questions on Doctrine, page 263), that is, ‘the first phase of His heavenly ministry, mediating and applying the atoning sacrifice He had completed on the cross’ (Ibid., page 264). At this point, Adventists tell us that ‘it is obvious that the activities of pagan Rome were concerned primarily with the earthly sanctuary, or Jewish temple, while those of papal Rome must concern the heavenly sanctuary’ (Ibid., page 256). Therefore, they believe, ‘first, that the taking away of the ‘daily’ by pagan Rome represents the desolation of the Temple in A.D. 70, with the permanent cessation of its services …. And second, that the taking away of the ‘daily’ by papal Rome represents the introduction of such papal innovations as a mediating priesthood, the sacrifice of the mass, the confessional, and the worship of Mary, by which it has successfully taken away knowledge of, and reliance upon, the continual ministry of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, and rendered that ministry inoperative in the lives of millions of professed Christians’ (Ibid., pages 256-257). That’s how “the place of his sanctuary was cast down” (Daniel 8:11).

Now God predicted through the prophet Daniel that the daily service in the heavenly sanctuary would be ‘taken away’, but He also predicted that after 2300 evenings and mornings the sanctuary would be cleansed. However, the 2300 evenings and mornings are not days but years, for God said to Ezekiel: “I have appointed thee each day for a year” (Ezekiel 4:6). The starting point for the 2300 evenings and mornings is 457 B.C. for in Daniel it is written: “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince …..” (Daniel 9:25), and the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem was issued in 457 B.C.: in that year (in autumn, according to Adventists), for king Artaxerses issued a decree according to which he permitted Ezra to go back to Jerusalem. So 2300 years after 457 B.C. brings us to A.D. 1844. In that year, that is, 1844, the words of Daniel were fulfilled. In other words, it came to pass that the sanctuary was cleansed because Christ entered the Most Holy Place (or the Holy of Holies) of the heavenly sanctuary to cleanse the sanctuary: this cleansing was foreshadowed by the service of the high priest on the Day of Atonement (Hebrew: Yom Kippur).

Where was Jesus before October 22, 1844, then? What kind of ministry did He fulfil before that date on behalf of those who believed on Him? According to the Adventist Church, Jesus was in the Holy Place, not yet in the Most Holy Place, because as I have just said, Jesus entered the Most Holy Place in 1844. Here is what Ellen G. White wrote about these two phases of the intercession of Christ in heaven: “The ministration of the priest throughout the year in the first apartment of the sanctuary, "within the veil" which formed the door and separated the holy place from the outer court, represents the work of ministration upon which Christ entered at His ascension. It was the work of the priest in the daily ministration to present before God the blood of the sin offering, also the incense which ascended with the prayers of Israel. So did Christ plead His blood before the Father in behalf of sinners, and present before Him also, with the precious fragrance of His own righteousness, the prayers of penitent believers. Such was the work of ministration in the first apartment of the sanctuary in heaven. …. For eighteen centuries this work of ministration continued in the first apartment of the sanctuary. The blood of Christ, pleaded in behalf of penitent believers, secured their pardon and acceptance with the Father, yet their sins still remained upon the books of record. As in the typical service there was a work of atonement at the close of the year, so before Christ's work for the redemption of men is completed there is a work of atonement for the removal of sin from the sanctuary. This is the service which began when the 2300 days ended. At that time, as foretold by Daniel the prophet, our High Priest entered the most holy, to perform the last division of His solemn work -- to cleanse the sanctuary’ (Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, pages 420-421).

You may ask now, ‘Why was the heavenly sanctuary to be cleansed? Because – according to the Adventists – ‘as anciently the sins of the people were by faith placed upon the sin offering and through its blood transferred, in figure, to the earthly sanctuary, so in the new covenant the sins of the repentant are by faith placed upon Christ and transferred, in fact, to the heavenly sanctuary. And as the typical cleansing of the earthly was accomplished by the removal of the sins by which it had been polluted, so the actual cleansing of the heavenly is to be accomplished by age the removal, or blotting out, of the sins which are there recorded. But before this can be accomplished, there must be an examination of the books of record to determine who, through repentance of sin and faith in Christ, are entitled to the benefits of His atonement. The cleansing of the sanctuary therefore involves a work of investigation -- a work of judgment. This work must be performed prior to the coming of Christ to redeem His people; for when He comes, His reward is with Him to give to every man according to his works. Revelation 22:12’ (Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, pages 421-422). In other words, the heavenly sanctuary had to be cleansed because it had been polluted by the sins of all those who had believed in the Lord till October 22, 1844; and it still needs to be cleansed because the sins of the repentant are transferred to the heavenly sanctuary.

As we have seen, the cleansing of the sanctuary involves a work of investigation, that is, a work of judgement; this work is called ‘investigative judgement,’ and it is one of the key doctrines of the Seventh-Day Adventism. Here is what Ellen G. White wrote about this judgement which began on October 22, 1844, and is still going on: “As the books of record are opened in the judgment, the lives of all who have believed on Jesus come in review before God. Beginning with those who first lived upon the earth, our Advocate presents the cases of each successive generation, and closes with the living. Every name is mentioned, every case closely investigated. Names are accepted, names rejected. When any have sins remaining upon the books of record, unrepented of and unforgiven, their names will be blotted out of the book of life, and the record of their good deeds will be erased from the book of God's remembrance. The Lord declared to Moses: "Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out of My book." Exodus 32:33. And says the prophet Ezekiel: "When the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, . . . all his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned." Ezekiel 18:24. All who have truly repented of sin, and by faith claimed the blood of Christ as their atoning sacrifice, have had pardon entered against their names in the books of heaven; as they have become partakers of the righteousness of Christ, and their characters are found to be in harmony with the law of God, their sins will be blotted out, and they themselves will be accounted worthy of eternal life’ (The Great Controversy, page 483). The 23rd article of the Fundamental Beliefs of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church says about this investigative judgement: ‘In 1844, at the end of the prophetic period of 2300 days, He entered the second and last phase of His atoning ministry. It is a work of investigative judgment which is part of the ultimate disposition of all sin, typified by the cleansing of the ancient Hebrew sanctuary on the Day of Atonement. …. The investigative judgment reveals to heavenly intelligences who among the dead are asleep in Christ and therefore, in Him, are deemed worthy to have part in the first resurrection. It also makes manifest who among the living are abiding in Christ, keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and in Him, therefore, are ready for translation into His everlasting kingdom. This judgment vindicates the justice of God in saving those who believe in Jesus. It declares that those who have remained loyal to God shall receive the kingdom. The completion of this ministry of Christ will mark the close of human probation before the Second Advent… .’ Adventists quote the following biblical passages to confirm that there will be a judgement according to works before the return of Christ: 1 Peter 4:17-18; Daniel 7:9-10; Revelation 14:6-7; Matthew 18:23-25. They quote also what the Jewish Tradition says about the Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim), which are the days (ten days) starting with Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year which occurs on the first and second days of the seventh month) and ending with Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). For according to the Jews, this is a time for serious introspection, a time to consider the sins of the previous year and repent before Yom Kippur. God has "books" that he writes the names of the Jews in, writing down who will live and who will die, who will have a good life and who will have a bad life, for the next year. These books are written in on Rosh Hashanah, but the actions committed by the Jews during the Days of Awe can alter God's decree. The actions that change the decree are "teshuvah, tefilah and tzedakah," repentance, prayer, good deeds (usually, charity). These "books" are sealed on Yom Kippur, that is to say, the judgment entered in these books is sealed on Yom Kippur. According to the Adventist Church, this time for serious introspection – which goes from the first day of the seventh month to the Day of Atonement – is, in a certain sense, an investigative judgement!

So, in the light of what Adventists teach about the investigative judgement, if a believer is acquitted his sins will be blotted out from the heavenly records and his name will remain on the book of life and when Jesus comes he will take part in the resurrection of the just (if he remains till the coming of the Lord he will be changed and caught up together with the resurrected saints); but if the believer is condemned his sins will not be blotted out and his name will be blotted out of the book of life, and he will take part in the resurrection of the unjust (if he remains till the coming of the Lord, he will be destroyed). According to the teaching of the investigative judgement, therefore, when a person repents and believes in Jesus, his sins are forgiven, but not yet blotted out. We read in Questions on Doctrine: “The actual blotting out of sin, therefore, could not take place the moment when a sin is forgiven, because subsequent deeds and attitudes may affect the final decision. Instead, the sin remains on the record until the life is complete – in fact, the Scriptures indicate it remains until the judgement’ (Questions on Doctrine, page 441). When are his sins blotted out, then? Well, on the one hand it is clear that the sins of believers will not be blotted out until their names have come up in the investigative judgement. This will not happen until after they have lived their lives, so that all their deeds may be taken into consideration. Thus the investigative judgement will take place after their death. However, the investigative judgement of those believers who will be still living when Christ returns will have been completed before the Second Coming, so that they may be translated to glory when the millennium begins. It must be said, however, that according to Ellen G. White, no one can say that the sins of those believers who have been accepted in the investigative judgement have been blotted out, for they still have some sort of existence. In fact, they will not really be blotted out until the time of the ‘final eradication’ or ‘final blotting out’ of sin, which will occur just before Christ’s return, and will consist in the placing of the sins of all men, both righteous and wicked, on the head of Azazel which stands for Satan. Here is what Ellen White wrote: ‘In the typical service the high priest, having made the atonement for Israel, came forth and blessed the congregation. So Christ, at the close of His work as mediator, will appear, "without sin unto salvation" (Hebrews 9:28), to bless His waiting people with eternal life. As the priest, in removing the sins from the sanctuary, confessed them upon the head of the scapegoat, so Christ will place all these sins upon Satan, the originator and instigator of sin. The scapegoat, bearing the sins of Israel, was sent away "unto a land not inhabited" (Leviticus 16:22); so Satan, bearing the guilt of all the sins which he has caused God's people to commit, will be for a thousand years confined to the earth, which will then be desolate, without inhabitant, and he will at last suffer the full penalty of sin in the fires that shall destroy all the wicked. Thus the great plan of redemption will reach its accomplishment in the final eradication of sin and the deliverance of all who have been willing to renounce evil” (Ellen White, The Great Controversy, pages 485-486). According to Questions on Doctrine Satan will have to bear even the sins committed by the wicked: ‘The other goat, in antithesis, symbolized Satan, who must bear the responsibility not only for his own sins but for his part in all the sins he has caused others, both righteous and wicked, to commit’ (Questions on Doctrine, page 397). Therefore – the Adventist Church says – just as the so-called scapegoat was sent away into an uninhabited wilderness after the sins of the people had been confessed over his head, so Satan, after the sins of the world have been placed upon him, will be banished to the desolate earth, which during the millennium will be a dreary, uninhabited wilderness (Adventists do not believe that during the Millennium Christ will reign with His saints on the earth)

Confutation

Christ cleansed the heavenly things immediately after His ascension to heaven

The earthly sanctuary (or tabernacle), which was built by Moses, symbolized the heavenly sanctuary, as it is written that it was “a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: ‘See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain” (Hebrews 8:5 – NIV).

In its first room were the lampstand, the table and the consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, which had the golden censer and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s rod that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. Above the ark were the cherubim of the glory, overshadowing the mercy seat (cf. Hebrews 9:1-5).

The priests entered regularly into the first part of the sanctuary to carry on their ministry. But only the high priest entered the second part, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance (cf. Hebrews 9:6-7).

That earthly sanctuary, after it was set up, was cleansed with the blood of calves and goats, as it is written: “For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, ‘This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.’ Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission” (Hebrews 9:19-22 – NKJV). Therefore – the Scripture continues – it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these (cf. Hebrews 9:23). And the sacrifice with which the heavenly things had to be purified is the sacrifice of Christ. Can we say that the cleansing of the heavenly things began in 1844 because in that year, precisely on October 22, Jesus passed from the Holy Place to the Most Holy Place to perform the second phase of His heavenly ministry (that it might be fulfilled what is written in Daniel 8:14)? Not at all. For the Scripture teaches us that the cleansing of the heavenly things was performed by Christ on the same day He ascended to heaven (after He had by Himself purged our sins). The following passages of the Scripture confirm what I have just said: “When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here [or the good things to come], he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:11-12 – NIV); “For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own” (Hebrews 9:24-25 – NIV).

That the cleansing or purification of the heavenly things took place when Jesus ascended to heaven is confirmed by the fact that the cleansing of the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry, which was performed by Moses in the wilderness, took place immediately after the animal, whose blood had to be used to cleanse the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry, was killed (cf. Leviticus 8:15). Therefore, if the earthly sanctuary – which was a copy and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary - was purified immediately after the slaughtering of the animal prescribed by the law, the heavenly sanctuary too – which is the true sanctuary, not a man-made sanctuary – had to be purified immediately after the killing of the One who is the Minister of the heavenly sanctuary (having been made High Priest forever) and the Lamb of God who had to be offered to cleanse us from our sins and to cleanse the heavenly sanctuary.

You must keep in mind, however, that when Jesus ascended to heaven, He not only cleansed the heavenly things with His own blood, dedicating in this way the heavenly sanctuary and the vessels which are in it, but also entered the Most Holy Place with His own blood to purchase eternal redemption for us. In other words, when Christ ascended to heaven, He not only did toward the heavenly sanctuary and its vessels what Moses (and not the high priest) had done toward the earthly sanctuary and all the vessels of the ministry (that is, the sprinkling of the earthly sanctuary and its vessels) – however, Jesus sprinkled the heavenly sanctuary with His own blood and not with the blood of goats and calves – so that the New Covenant also might be dedicated with blood, as the Old Covenant had been dedicated; but He also entered the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary with His own blood to purchase eternal redemption for us, that is to say, He also did what was done every year by the high priest when he entered the Most Holy Place of the earthly sanctuary with the blood of the animal sacrifices prescribed by the law in order to make atonement for himself and for the sins of the people (however, Jesus entered the Most Holy Place with His own blood He shed for the remission of our sins, for He was without sin).

That’s something, brothers, you must keep in mind from now on to understand all the other confutations I am going to write. For in these confutations I will make many references to the cleansing of the sanctuary performed by Moses and to the atonement that was made every year by the high priest by entering the Most Holy Place with the blood of some animal sacrifices.

Explanation of the cleansing of the sanctuary predicted in Daniel 8:14

The cleansing of which Daniel spoke, was the cleansing of an earthly sanctuary, that is, the temple of Jerusalem. That temple – God foretold the prophet Daniel – would be profaned first and then cleansed, that is, it would be cast down first and then would be restored to proper use. That’s what we clearly deduce from all the context in which the Scripture says that the sanctuary would be trampled underfoot for 2300 evenings and mornings: “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. 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 his 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 practised, and prospered. 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” (Daniel 8:8-14). Now I will explain the above mentioned words written in the book of Daniel. The he goat which waxed very great stands for the kingdom of Greece which – under the rule of Alexander the Great, the great horn – defeated the Medo-Persian empire (that is, the ram which had two horns, seen by Daniel in the same vision a short time before – cf. Daniel 8:3-4) in 331 B.C. This is confirmed by the following words spoken a little later by the angel Gabriel to Daniel to make him understand the vision: “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” (Daniel 8:20-21). After the death of Alexander the Great, that is, when the great horn was broken, the kingdom of Greece was divided into four kingdoms (that is, Greece, Asia Minor, Syria and Egypt) which are the four horns which came up in place of the great horn. Here is what Gabriel said to Daniel: “Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power” (Daniel 8:22). Out of one of those little horns (that is, out of the kingdom of Syria) came Antiochus Epiphanes (ruler of Syria from 175 B.C. to 164 B.C.), who is the “little horn which waxed exceeding great” who invaded the land of Israel, killed thousands of Jews and cast down the temple of Jerusalem by profaning it (he offered a sow to his gods and placed a statue of Jupiter in the temple), and who did take away the regular burnt offering which according to the law had to be offered in the morning as well as in the evening (cf. Numbers 28:3-8; Exodus 29:38-42). Gabriel foretold Daniel the coming of this wicked man and his devastating work in these terms: “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. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, 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” (Daniel 8:23-25). The sanctuary of Jerusalem was trampled underfoot for 2300 days (that is, six years and three months and eighteen days): from 171 B.C (when Antiochus began to ‘trample underfoot’ the sanctuary of Jerusalem by substituting the high priest with Menelaus) to 165 B.C., the year Judas Maccabeus together with a certain number of Jews conquered Jerusalem and cleansed the temple and restored it to its right and proper use (therefore he restored the regular burnt offering as well). The cleansing and the dedication of the temple gave rise to the Feast of Dedication (cf. John 10:22) which is still celebrated by the Jews (the Jews call it Chanukkà or Feast of the lights, it begins on the 25^th of December and lasts 8 days) The cleansing and the dedication of the temple were recorded in the first book of Maccabees, one of the apocryphal books the Roman Catholic Church has added to the Canon of the Bible (therefore it is not divinely inspired; yet in it are recorded some events which really happened). Here is what we read in the first book of the Maccabees about those events: ‘Then Judas and his brothers said, "Now that our enemies have been crushed, let us go up to purify the sanctuary and rededicate it." So the whole army assembled, and went up to Mount Zion. They found the sanctuary desolate, the altar desecrated, the gates burnt, weeds growing in the courts as in a forest or on some mountain, and the priests' chambers demolished. Then they tore their clothes and made great lamentation; they sprinkled their heads with ashes and fell with their faces to the ground. And when the signal was given with trumpets, they cried out to Heaven. Judas appointed men to attack those in the citadel, while he purified the sanctuary. He chose blameless priests, devoted to the law; these purified the sanctuary and carried away the stones of the Abomination to an unclean place. They deliberated what ought to be done with the altar of holocausts that had been desecrated. The happy thought came to them to tear it down, lest it be a lasting shame to them that the Gentiles had defiled it; so they tore down the altar. They stored the stones in a suitable place on the temple hill, until a prophet should come and decide what to do with them. Then they took uncut stones, according to the law, and built a new altar like the former one. They also repaired the sanctuary and the interior of the temple and purified the courts. They made new sacred vessels and brought the lampstand, the altar of incense, and the table into the temple. Then they burned incense on the altar and lighted the lamps on the lampstand, and these illuminated the temple. They also put loaves on the table and hung up curtains. Thus they finished all the work they had undertaken. Early in the morning on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, that is, the month of Chislev, in the year one hundred and forty-eight [that is, in the year 165 B.C.], they arose and offered sacrifice according to the law on the new altar of holocausts that they had made. On the anniversary of the day on which the Gentiles had defiled it, on that very day it was reconsecrated with songs, harps, flutes, and cymbals. All the people prostrated themselves and adored and praised Heaven, who had given them success. For eight days they celebrated the dedication of the altar and joyfully offered holocausts and sacrifices of deliverance and praise. They ornamented the facade of the temple with gold crowns and shields; they repaired the gates and the priests' chambers and furnished them with doors. There was great joy among the people now that the disgrace of the Gentiles was removed. Then Judas and his brothers and the entire congregation of Israel decreed that the days of the dedication of the altar should be observed with joy and gladness on the anniversary every year for eight days, from the twenty-fifth day of the month Chislev’ (1 Maccabees 4:36-59 – NAB)

As you can see, the cleansing which took place at the end of the 2300 evenings and mornings was not the same cleansing which would take place every year on the Day of Atonement according to the law of Moses, because it was the restoration of the temple to its rightful and proper use after its desecration by Antiochus Epiphanes. So the priests were able to carry on their ministry again. Obviously, before they could carry on their ministry, the temple was cleansed for the temple had been polluted by the Gentiles.

As we saw before, God had foretold Daniel the cleansing of the temple in a vision centuries before, for the Scripture says that the little horn would take away the daily sacrifice, that is, the sacrifice which had to be offered in the temple daily in the morning as well as in the evening; and it says also that one saint asked another how long it would take for the vision to be fulfilled – the vision concerning the daily sacrifice – and it was said to him: “Unto two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed” (Daniel 8:14 – ASV), that is, after that time the sanctuary would be restored. We can say that it was both a cleansing and a restoration, for the Hebrew word translated cleansed is actually the Niphal form of the verb tsadaq, which in the Qal means to be right or righteous; in the Niphal the verb therefore means to be put right. The Revised Standard Version renders: ‘Then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state”, while the New International Version renders: ‘Then the sanctuary will be reconsecrated,” and the New American Standard Bible reads, “Then the holy place will be properly restored!”

In the light of what I have said above, Adventists are wrong in asserting these things: 1) the little horn which came out of one of the four horns is papal Rome, 2) the sanctuary which had to be trampled underfoot was the heavenly sanctuary, 3) the heavenly sanctuary had to be trampled from 457 B.C. to 1844 A.D. (that is, for 2300 years, in that the 2300 evenings and mornings in Daniel 8:14 stand for 2300 years according to the Adventist Church). They are wrong also when they say that the following words spoken by God to Ezekiel: “I have appointed thee each day for a year” (Ezekiel 4:6), must be applied to the 2300 evenings and mornings of Daniel 8:14, because these words spoken to Ezekiel are a particular order God gave to the prophet Ezekiel; if you read carefully the context in which these words are, you will realize this.

Adventists contradict themselves several times in upholding their doctrine about the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary

I want to point out to you that the doctrine of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary taught by the Adventist Church contains several contradictions. Let us look at them closely.

First of all, if according to Adventists, the sanctuary which had to be trampled by the little horn is the heavenly sanctuary which had to be trampled by papal Rome, and the starting point for this trampling is 457 B.C., we do not understand how the ministry of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary could be obscured since the year 457 B.C.; for we know that the death of Christ, His resurrection and His ascension to heaven took place about 490 years later!! Furthermore, if the taking away of the daily sacrifice represents the introduction of the papal impostures which obscured the ministry of Christ, and we know that the papacy began to develop during the centuries which followed the coming of Christ on the earth, Adventists – to be consistent – should take as the starting point for this trampling a year either in the forth or fifth or sixth century after Christ! But Adventists are not consistent at all, because they use the year 457 B.C., in which Artaxerses issued the decree of which Ezra speaks in Ezra 7:11-26, as the starting point for the trampling of the heavenly sanctuary!!! In addition, the decree issued by Artaxerses in 457 B.C. had nothing to do with the rebuilding of Jerusalem. King Artaxerses issued a decree through which he permitted Jerusalem to be rebuilt in the year 444 B.C. (that is, thirteen years after 457 B.C.): it is the decree which permitted Nehemiah to go back to Jerusalem so that he might rebuild the wall of the holy city. Therefore, the starting point for the seventy weeks as well as for the 2300 evenings and mornings used by the Adventist Church is not the one of which Daniel spoke when he said: “… from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince …. “ (Daniel 9:25 – NKJV).

Here is another contradiction. Adventist say: “We understand that the work of Christ, upon His ascension and inauguration as our heavenly high priest, was foreshadowed by the daily service in the earthly type. This was the first phase of His heavenly ministry, mediating and applying the atoning sacrifice He had completed on the cross’ (Questions on Doctrine, pages 263-264). So we say, if according to the prophet Daniel the daily service would be restored after 2300 years, this means that in 1844 Christ would have to continue His ministry in the Holy Place because there He was performing the first phase of His ministry. How is it then that according to the Adventist Church in that year Jesus passed from the Holy Place to the Most Holy Place, that is, He finished to perform the ‘daily’ service and began to perform the ‘annual’ service? In other words, if papal Rome obscured the ministry of Christ in the Holy Place (that is, it took away the daily service), the ministry of Christ in the Holy Place should have been enlightened, and not abolished by the annual service of the high priest in heaven. So, Daniel was implicitly told in the vision that the daily sacrifice would be restored, while the Adventist Church have ‘taken away’ the daily service of Christ, I mean they have abolished it once for all! Reflect upon what I say, and you will realize that Adventists are inconsistent. In addition to this, we could say also this: if in the vision that Daniel had it is written that the little horn took away the daily sacrifice, and the little horn represents papal Rome and the daily sacrifice represents the first phase of the ministry of Christ performed in the Holy Place, this means that papal Rome – even if we grant for the sake of argument that Christ at the time was in the Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary – would have to take away from Christ the ministry in the Holy Place, that is, it would have to sweep it away (even if just for a period of time). On the other hand, this would be logical from the Adventist point of view, because Adventists say that pagan Rome took away the daily sacrifice from the earthly sanctuary, for they say that when the temple of Jerusalem was destroyed in the year 70 A.C. all the temple services ceased permanently (‘the taking away of the ‘daily’ by pagan Rome represents the desolation of the Temple in A.D. 70, with the permanent cessation of its services’ - Questions on Doctrine, page 256). How is it then that Adventists do not say that the Papacy took away (in the real sense of the word) from Christ the so called ministry He was carrying on in the Holy Place? They say that the Papacy through its diabolical innovations took away knowledge of the continual ministry of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary and rendered that ministry inoperative in the lives of millions of Christians (cf. Questions on Doctrine, page 257). However, Daniel did not say that the little horn would take away knowledge of the daily sacrifice, but he said that the little horn would take away the continual sacrifice; thus, the continual sacrifice prescribed by the law would disappear. Let me explain to you this concept with other words; Daniel did not say that the little horn would take away knowledge of the daily sacrifice, as if the daily sacrifice would continue to be offered in the temple but the Jews would not know that the daily sacrifice was still being offered in the temple, but Daniel said that the daily sacrifice would be literally taken away by the little horn. Therefore, if we follow the Adventist allegories, it is logical to think that Christ should have been literally deprived of his ministry in the Holy Place; while according to the Adventist Church the daily service performed by Christ in the Holy Place was not really taken away from Him, but it was just obscured. Therefore, what they say is not right. On the other hand, Adventists could not say that the Papacy took away from Christ His heavenly ministry, because in this case they would have considered the pope stronger than Christ, for they would have said that the pope was able to prevent Jesus from carrying on His ministry in heaven!

I want you to notice another contradiction. When Adventists speak of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, they always speak of the Day of Atonement, for on that day the high priest made atonement for the sanctuary through the blood; so they say that the cleansing of the sanctuary which took place on the Day of Atonement represents the cleansing of the sanctuary which began on October 22, 1844. As for the cleansing which took place on the Day of Atonement, they quote the following words written in the epistle to the Hebrews: “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” (Hebrews 9:23). However, they forget that in the epistle to the Hebrews these words: “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” are written immediately after these other words: “For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission” (Hebrews 9:19-22). What do I mean by that? I mean that the cleansing of the copies of the heavenly things the author is speaking about is not the cleansing which took place every year on the Day of Atonement, but it is the cleansing which took place when the first Day of atonement had not yet been celebrated, that is to say, it is the cleansing of the sanctuary which took place immediately after it was set up. For the Scripture states that Moses (and not Aaron the high priest) “sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry” (Hebrews 9:21), and thus he cleansed those things. As for the time when Moses sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry, the Scripture says that the sprinkling took place on the first day of the first month in the second year because the tabernacle was set up at God’s command “on the first day of the first month” (Exodus 40:1 – NKJV) in the second year, and on that day were anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, the altar of the burnt offering and all its utensils, the laver and its base (cf. Exodus 40:9-11). On that day Aaron and his sons were anointed so that they might serve God as priests (cf. Exodus 40:13-15). According to what is written in the book of Leviticus, on that day Moses killed the bull for the sin offering; “then he took the blood, and put some on the horns of the altar all around with his finger, and purified the altar. And he poured the blood at the base of the altar, and consecrated it, to make atonement for it” (Leviticus 8:15 - NKJV). I have pointed out to you this so that you may understand that the cleansing of the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry which is mentioned in the epistle to the Hebrews and taken as a type of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary is not the cleansing of the sanctuary which was performed by the high priest every year, but is the cleansing which was performed by Moses even before the first day of atonement. All this, of course, nullifies the great emphasis the Adventist Church puts on the cleansing of the sanctuary which took place on the day of atonement (however, it does not nullify the fact that the heavenly things themselves were cleansed with better sacrifices than these). Once again, therefore, Adventists contradict themselves greatly because the words of the epistle to the Hebrews, concerning the cleansing of the copies of the heavenly things, refer to the cleansing of the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry which was done by Moses, and not by Aaron the high priest; and that cleansing took place in the first month of the second year, thus prior to the first day of atonement (which was on the tenth day of the seventh month). However, there is something else to be said about the cleansing of the heavenly things, so that you may understand that Adventists are greatly mistaken and contradict themselves when they affirm that the heavenly things began to be cleansed in 1844. If the Old Covenant was dedicated when Moses sprinkled with the blood of calves and goats the people and both the tabernacle and the vessels of the ministry, the New Covenant also was dedicated when Christ sprinkled with His own blood the believers in Christ. And if the New Covenant was dedicated by Christ with the shedding of His blood, surely the heavenly sanctuary was cleansed a short time after He shed His own blood. Why do I say this? Because when the Old Covenant was dedicated, both the tabernacle and the vessels of the ministry were sprinkled with blood after a short time the people were sprinkled with blood. Bear in mind that Moses sprinkled with blood both the book itself and all the people in the first days of the third month in the first year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt (cf. Exodus 19:1,16; 24:1-8), while he sprinkled the tabernacle and the vessels of the ministry on the first day of the first month in the second year (cf. Exodus 40:1-2; Leviticus 8:15). Therefore, even if Christ had sprinkled with His own blood His disciples first, and then the heavenly sanctuary, the period of time between the two sprinklings would have been short: in this case it would have been a period of some weeks, that is, the time between His death and His ascension to heaven. We say all this because when the author of the epistle to the Hebrews speaks of the cleansing of the earthly sanctuary first, and then of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, he refers to the dedication of the two covenants, for a short time before he says: “For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives. Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood” (Hebrews 9:16-18 - NKJV). Now consider carefully these words because they help us to understand the words which follow. For the writer says that a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives (as for the testament of Christ, if Christ had not died the testament would have had no power. Therefore, since Christ died, His Testament is in force: that is, since Christ shed His own blood for us His Testament is in force). At this point, the writer says: “Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood” (Hebrews 9:18 - NKJV), that is, both the second and the first covenant were dedicated with blood (the second with the blood of Christ, while the first with the blood of calves and goats). And he goes on saying that the first covenant was dedicated when Moses took the blood of calves and goats and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, and then likewise both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. And then he says that “according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22 – NKJV). Therefore, when the author – a short time later – says: “Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these” (Hebrews 9:23 – NKJV), he means: ‘For this reason it was necessary that the copies of the heavenly things should be purified with the blood of animal sacrifices, because according to the law almost all things are purified with blood (and the purification of the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry took place after the purification of the people). However, since those earthly things represented the heavenly things, the heavenly things themselves (being better than the earthly things because they are true and eternal) had to be purified with a better blood, that is, the blood of Christ. And in fact, Christ entered the heavenly sanctuary with His own blood and not with blood of calves and goats.’ Therefore, if we read the above mentioned words in their context and we link them to one another well, we can see that the cleansing performed by Moses was not the annual cleansing performed by the high priest when he entered the Most Holy Place with blood that was not his own, but the cleansing he performed to dedicate the first covenant; and we can also see that the cleansing of the heavenly things was performed by Christ with His own blood a short time after His death, that is, when He ascended to heaven, so that He might dedicate the second Covenant, which is better and eternal. Instead, according to the Adventist Church, the cleansing of the copies of the heavenly things, of which the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews speaks, is the cleansing that took place every year on the Day of atonement; but that’s not true because, as we have seen, the cleansing of the copies of the heavenly things is the cleansing that took place ‘once for all’ (I use this expression so that you may understand well) when the first Covenant was dedicated, for the earthly sanctuary (where the services of the first Covenant had to be performed) - in order that it might be used - had to be cleansed. And – still according to the Adventist Church – the cleansing of the heavenly things was performed by Christ (or rather was began by Christ) in 1844, while this is not true because if it were as they say we should say that the New Covenant was fully dedicated by Christ in 1844 through the cleansing of the heavenly tabernacle (rather we should say that not even in 1844 the dedication of the New Covenant took place, for it will be fulfilled just before Christ’s return) Therefore, if Adventists recognize that Christ dedicated the New Covenant with His own blood, they must recognize that the second Covenant was fully dedicated when Christ entered the heavenly sanctuary to cleanse it, that is, when He ascended to heaven, and not about eighteen centuries later! Otherwise they will contradict themselves because they will not be able to demonstrate that before 1844 the New Covenant had been already dedicated with the blood of Christ, for as it was necessary for the earthly tabernacle to be cleansed in order that the first covenant might be fully dedicated, so it was necessary for the heavenly tabernacle to be cleansed with the blood of Christ in order that the second covenant might be fully dedicated; but according to the Adventist Church the cleansing of the heavenly tabernacle took place in 1844!!

Let us now speak of another contradiction. Adventists say that the little horn represents also pagan Rome, and the trampling of the sanctuary represents the desolation of the temple of Jerusalem which was destroyed in 70 A.D. by the roman army, whose commander was Titus. Now, in order to be consistent with the explanation they give to the 2300 evenings and mornings of Daniel 8:14 (I remind you that Adventists use as a starting point for these evenings and mornings the year 457 B.C.), Adventists should say that in 1844 the cleansing of the earthly sanctuary in Jerusalem took place, thus the daily sacrifice was restored in that year. But – as you know – the temple of Jerusalem has not been rebuilt since 70 A.D: in that year pagan Rome took away from the Jews the continual sacrifice, which has not been restored ever since,