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THE CLEANSING OF THE SANCTUARY
OR
THE CHURCH OF GOD IN TYPE AND ANTITYPE, AND
IN PROPHECY AND REVELATION.
BY
D.S. WARNER,
Author of “Bible Proofs of a Second Work,” “Poems
of Grace and Truth,”
“Salvation, Present, Perfect, Now or Never,” etc.,
AND
H.M. RIGGLE,
Author of “Two Works of Grace,” “The Kingdom of
God and the One Thousand Years’ Reign,” “Religious Discussion,” “Bible
Readings for Bible Students and for the Home and Fireside.”
_________
“We behold wondrous things in thy law.”
_________
1903
The Gospel Trumpet Publishing Co.,
Moundsville, W. Va., U.S.A.
PREFACE.
Ever since I first read Brother Warner's manuscript on
"The Cleansing of the Sanctuary," I have
felt a deep desire to see the precious and valuable light contained
therein, shed upon the public. It being one of the last, and deepest
works written by this departed saint, I am sure it will be intensely
interesting, and very instructive to the body of Christ. Since Brother
Warner's death, the light of truth has kept rapidly increasing, and many
things that then seemed wrapped in mystery have since been made clear.
This accounts for the necessity of revising the original manuscript.
Brother Warner's death left the work far from complete. Feeling the hand
of God upon me to this end, I, after much prayer, study, and hard labor,
bestow the results upon the public without apology. As the reader will be
interested to know just what part of the book was written by our departed
brother, I will state that, beginning with the chapter, '' The New Covenant Sanctuary," and
ending with the heading, " Unchangeableness," of the church is
what was written by Brother Warner. The reader will observe that I have
added about one-half more to the book than what was originally written.
This book will be found to contain many precious and deep truths not
clearly brought out in any book yet published. A glance at the table of
contents will give you a faint idea of the value of the precious
jewels of truth contained in this work. With much holy love to all, I am
your sanctified brother in Christ,
H. M. Riggle.
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The First
Covenant Sanctuary,
A sanctuary denotes a place set apart, or
separated. In Scripture it signifies a sacred or holy house, separated
and set apart for the dwelling place of God, and a place of service and
sacrifice unto him. It was his original plan, before the foundation of
the world, to have a pure and holy people to serve him here upon earth.
Accordingly we read that "he hath chosen us in him before the
foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love.'' Ephesians 1: 4. God had designed to make the human heart
his sanctuary upon earth; but through the fall the whole human
family became corrupted by sin, for "by one man sin entered into the
world, and death by sin: and so death passed upon all men, for that all
have sinned." By nature mankind were children of wrath. The human
heart was deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Its
thoughts and imaginations were only evil continually. It is also true
that the legal sacrifices were not able to make a full atonement, were
not able to purify the soul of man from sin: "For it is not possible
that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins." Nay;
those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually could not
make the comers thereunto perfect. See Hebrews 10:1. This being true, it
was impossible for God to dwell in the human soul. The place of
his sanctuary must be holy, and since all mankind were defiled
and guilty before God, he could not dwell in their sinful hearts. Yet he
desired to be among his people.
When he chose Israel for his peculiar people, and
separated them unto himself, he desired to be with them. Thus it came to
pass that God ordered Moses to build him a sanctuary, and
sanctify it for his dwelling place. "And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying:. . . And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell
among them. 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: 8, 9. " The first covenant had
also ordinances of divine service, and
a worldly sanctuary." Hebrews 9:1. This tabernacle
was the place of God's residence as king of Israel, and he filled it with
his glory. '' Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the
glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter
into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and
the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle." Exodus 40: 34, 35.
Here is where the Jews offered their sacrifices and worshiped God. This
building was constructed with extraordinary magnificence, and at a
prodigious expense, so that it might be in some measure suitable to the
dignity of the Great King of heaven, for whose palace it was designed;
and to the value of those spiritual and eternal blessings, of which it
was designed as a type or emblem.
The value of the gold and silver alone, used for this
work, was immense, about £182,568 in English coin. See Exodus 38:24, 25.
The building or tent was about 55 ft. long, 18 broad, and 18 high. As to
its construction, see Exodus 26: 18-29; 36:23-34. This sacred tent was
divided into two apartments or rooms, by means of four pillars of shittim
wood overlaid with gold. These stood in sockets of silver. Exodus 36:36.
On these pillars was hung a vail. Exodus 26: 31-36. There was also an
outer vail—the first vail, or door. Exodus 36: 37, 38. There were no
windows in this tent; hence, a lamp was kept burning continually. There was
also a court which surrounded this house. A further description of this
worldly sanctuary and its furniture is fully given in the
following chapter, where all its types are considered.
This tabernacle was reared up the first day of the
first month of the second year after the Israelites left Egypt. Exodus
40:17. When erected, it was anointed, together with its furniture, with
holy oil (Exodus 40:9-11), and sanctified with blood. Hebrews 9:21. When
the King of heaven entered it, he sanctified it with his glory. This
tabernacle was so constructed as to be taken to pieces and put together
again, when occasion demanded it. It was designed to accompany the
children of Israel in their journeys through the wilderness, until they
entered the promised land. It will be seen in Numbers 4, that when the
children of Israel moved from place to place the Levites took down the
tent and carried it with them. Wherever they camped they pitched it in
their midst. After Israel became settled in their land, and God had given
them rest from their enemies, David desired to build a house for God's
dwelling place. This desire he expressed to Nathan, in the following
words: '' See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God
dwelleth within curtains." 2 Samuel 7:1, 2. Up to this time God had
no settled house for his sanctuary, but "walked in a tent and
in a tabernacle." Verse 6. Yet God had not complained, nor found
fault. Verse 7.
But when the children of Israel were now planted in
the promised land, and God had fulfilled the covenant made to their
fathers unto them, and chosen Jerusalem for his habitation, David desired
a house to be built for his sanctuary. While David himself was not
permitted to build this house, God made him the following promise:
"And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy
fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of
thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for
my name.'' 2 Samuel 7:12, 13. This was fulfilled in Solomon, who
built the first temple at Jerusalem. Much of the material for this great
house was prepared before David's death, and the pattern was given him
from God. 1 Chronicles 28:19. The outline of the inner real house of God
was similar to that of the original tabernacle pitched by Moses. The
utensils for "the sacred service were also the same as those used in
the tabernacle, only several of them were larger, in proportion to the
more spacious edifice to which they belonged. We will here insert the
entire account of the building of this house by king Solomon.
"Then Solomon began to build the house of the
Lord at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his
father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshing floor of
Ornan the Jebusite. And he began to build in the second day of the second
month, In the fourth year of his reign. Now these are the things wherein
Solomon was instructed for the building of the house of God. The length
by cubits after the first measure was threescore cubits, and the breadth
twenty cubits. And the porch that was in the front of the house, the
length of it was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits,
and the height was an hundred and twenty: and he overlaid it within with
pure gold. And the greater house he ceiled with fir tree, which he
overlaid with fine gold, and set thereon palm trees and chains. And he
garnished the house with precious stones for beauty: and the gold was
gold of Parvaim. He overlaid also the house, the beams, the posts, and
the walls thereof, and the doors thereof, with gold; and graved cherubims
on the walls. And he made the most holy house, the length whereof was
according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the breadth
thereof twenty cubits: and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to
six hundred talents.
"And the weight of the nails was fifty shekels of
gold. And he overlaid the upper chambers with gold. And in the most
holy house he made two cherubims of image work, and overlaid them with
gold. And the wings of the cherubims were twenty cubits long: one wing of
the one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house; and
the other wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing of the
other cherub. And one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching
to the wall of the house: and the other wing was five cubits also,
joining to the wing of the other cherub. The wings of these cherubims
spread themselves forth twenty cubits; and they stood on their feet, and
their faces were inward. And he made the vail of blue, and purple, and
crimson, and fine linen, and wrought cherubims thereon. Also he made
before the house two pillars of thirty and five cubits high, and the
chapiter that was on the top of each of them was five cubits. And he made
chains, as in the oracle, and put them on the heads of the pillars; and
made an hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains. And he reared
up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on
the left; and called the name of that on the right hand Jachin, and the
name of that on the left Boaz.
"Moreover, he made an altar of brass, twenty
cubits the length thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and ten
cubits the height thereof. Also he made a molten sea of ten cubits from
brim to brim, round in compass, and five cubits the height thereof; and a
line of thirty cubits did compass it round about. And under it was the
similitude of oxen, which did compass it round about; ten in a cubit,
compassing the sea round about. Two rows of oxen were cast when it was
cast. It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and
three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and
three looking toward the east: and the sea was set above upon them, and
all their hinder parts were inward. And the thickness of it was an
handbreadth, and the brim of it like the work of the brim of a cup, with
flowers of lilies: and it received and held three thousand baths. He made
also ten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to
wash in them: such things as they offered for the burnt offering they
washed in them; but the sea was for the priests to wash in. And he made
ten candlesticks of gold, according to their form, and set them in the
temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left. He made also ten
tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side, and five
on the left: and he made an hundred basons of gold.
"Furthermore he made the court of the priests,
and the great court, and doors for the court, and overlaid the doors of
them with brass. And he set the sea on the right side of the east end,
over against the south. And Huram made the pots, and the shovels, and the
basons. And Huram finished the work that he was to make for king Solomon
for the house of God: to wit, the two pillars, and the pommels, and the
chapiters which were on the top of the two pillars, and the two wreaths
to cover the two pommels of the chapiters which were on the top of the
pillars; and four hundred pomegranates on the two wreaths; two rows of
pomegranates on each wreath, to cover the two pommels of the chapiters
which were upon the pillars. He made also bases; and lavers made he upon
the bases; one sea, and twelve oxen under it. The pots also, and the
shovels, and the flesh hooks, and all their instruments, did Huram his
father make to king Solomon, for the house of the Lord of bright brass.
In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between
Succoth and Zeredathah.
"Thus Solomon made all these vessels in great
abundance: for the weight of the brass could not be found out. And
Solomon made all the vessels that were for the house of God, the golden
altar also, and the tables whereon the shew-bread was set; moreover the
candlesticks with their lamps, that they should burn after the manner,
before the oracle, of pure gold; and the flowers, and the lamps, and the
tongs, made he of gold, and that perfect gold; and the snuffers and the
basons, and the spoons, and the censers, of pure gold: and the entry of
the house, the inner doors thereof for the most holy place, and the doors
of the house of the temple were of gold.
"Thus all the work that Solomon made for the
house of the Lord was finished: and Solomon brought in all the things
that David his father had dedicated; and the silver and the gold, and all
the instruments, put he among the treasures of the house of God. Then
Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes,
the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto Jerusalem, to bring
up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is
Zion.
"Wherefore all the men of Israel assembled
themselves unto the king in the feast which was in the seventh month. And
all the elders of Israel came; and the Levites took up the ark. And they
brought up the ark and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the
holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, these did the priests and the
Levites bring up. Also king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel
that were assembled unto him before the ark, sacrificed sheep and oxen,
which could not be told nor numbered for multitude. And the priests
brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, to the
oracle of the house, into the most holy place, even under the wings of
the cherubims. For the cherubims spread forth their wings over the
place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark, and the staves
thereof above. And they drew out the staves of the ark, that the ends of
the staves were seen from the ark before the oracle, but they were not
seen without. And there it is unto this day. There was nothing in the
ark, save the two tables which Moses put therein at Horeb, when the Lord
made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.
"And it came to pass, when the priests were come
out of the holy place; (for all the priests that were present were
sanctified, and did not then wait by course; also the Levites, which were
the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons
and their brethren being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and
psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them
an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets; it came even to
pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be
heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their
voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised
the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth forever: that
then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord; so
that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for
the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God." 2 Chronicles 3,
4, 5 chapters.
In chapter six we have an account of the dedication of
this temple by king Solomon.
"Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the
fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the
sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the house. And the priests
could not enter into the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord
had filled the Lord's house. And when all the children of Israel saw how
the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed
themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and
worshiped, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy
endureth forever. Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices
before the Lord." 2 Chronicles 7:1-4.
Thus we have given at some length the account of the
building of the temple, or sanctuary of the Lord at Jerusalem.
How God filled it with his glory, and the fire from heaven consumed the
burnt offering and sacrifices. That ancient structure was but a shadow, a
figure of a greater and more perfect temple, adorned with the beautiful
grace of holiness. Thank God! In this latter temple our soul has found a
place of rest. We will now briefly trace the history of that
worldly sanctuary with its destructions, and defilements, its
cleansings, and rebuilding, until we finally reach its end, as
the sanctuary of the Lord, when Christ expired upon the cross,
and its final destruction and overthrow by the Itoman armies in A. D. 70.
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THE DESTRUCTION OF SOLOMON'S
TEMPLE,
AND ITS REBUILDING UNDER
ZERUBBABEL.
The pristine splendor and glory of the temple lasted
but thirty-three years, when it was plundered by Shishak, king of Egypt.
1 Kings 14: 25, 26; 2 Chronicles 12:9. As long as Israel obeyed the Lord,
and walked according to his commandments, he was pleased to dwell among
them; and as long as he dwelt in their midst their enemies could not
prevail against them. It would have been utterly impossible for the
heathen to have entered the temple to defile or destroy it as long as the
presence of the Lord filled it. But the Jews rebelled against God, and
went into idolatry, until God had to forsake them. For example, during
the reign of Kehoboam the children of Judah and Israel did evil in the
sight of the Lord. "For they also built them high places, and
images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree. And
there were also Sodomites in the land: and they [Judah and Israel] did
according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord cast out
before the children of Israel." 1 Kings 14:28, 24. This greatly
displeased the Lord, insomuch that he moved out of his house and left it
desolate. As soon as this occurred, Shishak, king of Egypt, came against
Jerusalem, and he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord.
From this time the Jews were subject to more or less wars
and pillages from the heathen, until at length they became so corrupt
that they themselves polluted the house of God. 2 Chronicles
36: 14-16. At this time Babylon was the ruling kingdom of the world, with
Nebuchadnezzar, in the prime of life, bold, vigorous, and accomplished,
seated upon its throne. He marched his legions to Jerusalem, hemmed in
the city, destroyed the house of God, broke down the wall, and left the
city a heap of ruins. He carried all the vessels of the house of God to
Babylon and put them in the heathen temple. All the children of Israel
who had escaped the sword were carried captive into Babylon. An account
of this is given in 2 Kings 25:1-11; 2 Chronicles 36:1-20. Babylon at
this time was the greatest city of the world. Surrounded by a wall three
hundred and fifty feet high, and eighty-seven feet thick, with its
hanging gardens, its luxuriant pleasure grounds, its magnificent
buildings, and the river Euphrates flowing through its midst, it was a
wonderment to all nations. Such was "The glory of kingdoms, the
beauty of the Chaldees Excellency," when Daniel and the Hebrew
captives entered its impregnable walls to serve for seventy years in its
gorgeous palaces. There the children of Israel, oppressed more than
cheered by the glory and prosperity of the land of their captivity, hung
their harps upon the willows of the sparkling Euphrates, and wept when
they remembered Zion.
"By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down,
yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows
in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive
required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth,
saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord's
song in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand
forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to
the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said,
Raze it, raze it, even to the foundation thereof. O daughter of Babylon,
who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be that rewardeth thee as thou
hast served us. Happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones
against the stones." Psalms 137:1-9.
Such was the distress of Israel in their captivity.
Such was the calamity which befell this people because they disobeyed
God. Israel was a type of the New Testament church. Her captivity in
Babylon was typical of the captivity of the true Israel in spiritual
Babylon during a greater part of the Christian era. Many great events
occurred during those seventy years of captivity. Nebuchadnezzar had a
dream of earthly kingdoms, and the everlasting kingdom of heaven, which
was interpreted by Daniel, who was made ruler over the whole province of
Babylon. Daniel 2. The Hebrew children were delivered from the fiery
furnace. Daniel 3. King Nebuchadnezzar was driven from men, and dwelt
with the beasts of the earth seven years. Daniel 4. The Medes and
Persians conquered Babylon and took the kingdom. Daniel 5. Daniel was
delivered out of the lion's den. Daniel 6. Daniel received great
visions and revelations. Daniel 7, 8, 11, 12 chapters. Thus we see that
God honored his people, and favored them during the years of their oppression.
He also brought judgment upon their oppressors, and made their proud city
a perpetual desolation. Long before her fall, the prophet Isaiah foretold
it in the following words: "And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the
beauty of the Chaldees excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom
and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in
from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent
there; neither shall the shepherd make their fold there. But wild beasts
of the desert shall lie there: and their houses shall be full of doleful
creatures: and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. And
the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and
dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her
days shall not be prolonged." Isaiah 13: 19-22.
All this came upon that city. In Jeremiah 50th and
51st chapters will be found a clear prophecy of the downfall of Babylon
and the return of Israel to Zion, or Jerusalem.
The first decree. The captivity began 606 B. C.
and ended 536 B. C. In that year Cyrus, king of Persia, received a charge
from the God of heaven to build the house of God at Jerusalem. He made a
decree to the Jews, giving them permission to return to Jerusalem to
rebuild the temple. Ezra 1:1-11; Ezra 6:3. In that year 42,360 Jews
returned with Zerubbabel to rebuild the house of God. See Ezra 2:1-70;
3:1-7; Nehemiah 7:66. In the second year of their return Zerubbabel laid
the foundation of the temple. Ezra 3:8-10. The exclamations of joy, which
Israel uttered when the foundation was laid, are recorded in the
following words: "And they sang together by course in praising
and giving thanks unto the Lord; because he is good, for his mercy
endureth forever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great
shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of
the Lord was laid. But many of the priests and Levites, and chief of the
fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation
of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and
many shouted aloud for joy; so that the people could not discern the
noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people:
for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar
of." Ezra 3:11-13.
This return of Israel from Babylonish captivity is
certainly a type of our return to Zion from the captivity in Mystery
Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the
earth." Revelation 17:5; 18:1-5. At that time fleshly Israel went to
literal Zion, or Jerusalem, weeping for joy. Jeremiah 50: 4, 5; Jeremiah
31:1-9. And just so in these last days, spiritual Israel—the church—is
returning, and coming to spiritual Zion "with songs and everlasting
joy upon their heads.'' Isaiah 35:10. And just as they laid the
foundation amid loud shouting of joy, so we today build upon the
everlasting rock, the same foundation upon which the saints of yore were
built; and as a result we cry aloud and shout his praise for joy.
By reading Ezra 5 it will be seen that the enemies of
Israel caused them much trouble, and finally the work ceased. But in the
second year of the reign of Darius, king of Persia, the prophets Haggai
and Zechariah, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem,
in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them. Ezra 5:1. See also
Haggai 1st and 2nd chapters, and Zechariah 1st and 2nd chapters. So
Zerubbabel rose up with the Jews, and began in earnest to build the
house of God: "and with them were the prophets of God helping
them.'' Ezra 5: 2. Here they went to work under divine inspiration, and
"the eye of their God was upon them," that their enemies
"could not cause them to cease," and the work "goeth fast
on, and prospereth in their hands." Verse 5, 8. When asked who
commanded them to build this house, they answered: "We are the
servants of the God of heaven and earth, and build the house that was
builded these many years ago, which a great king of Israel builded and
set up." Verse 11.
How beautiful and wonderful the types of the old
dispensation! This whole work was a clear type of the present great
reform. In the beginning of the present reformation, the enemies of the
Lord greatly hindered. It seemed many times that all efforts were
frustrated. But, thank God! the prophets of the Lord rose up and began ''
blowing the trumpet in Zion,'' sounding an alarm in the holy mountain,
and hundreds and thousands rose up and began to build "in the temple
of the Lord " (Zechariah 6:15), and it "groweth unto an holy
temple.'' The eye of the Lord is upon us, and the work goeth on fast.
Thank God! All hell can not hinder. We are building in the same house a
great King set up many years ago; namely, "the house of God, which
is the church." The Second Decree. King Darius made a
decree 519 B. C. for the speedy prosecution of the work until the house
of God should be finished. Ezra 6:1-12. Under this decree the temple was
completed. At its dedication the Jews offered one hundred bullocks, two
hundred rams, and four hundred lambs; and for a sin offering twelve he
goats. Ezra 6:15-19. The Third Decree. In 457 B. C. king
Artaxerxes made a decree to Ezra, a mighty priest of the law. Ezra
7:1-13. Among other things, the object of this decree was to beautify the
house of the Lord, and an unlimited amount of treasure was granted for
this purpose. He was granted the privilege to do whatever else seemed
good unto him. It empowered him to ordain laws, set magistrates and
judges, and execute punishment, even unto death; in fact, it was the
command to restore the Jewish state, civil and ecclesiastical,
according to their law and ancient customs. It was to restore Jerusalem.
Ezra 7:11-28. Ezra understood this decree to include the rebuilding of
Jerusalem. Ezra 9:9. It is the one referred to in Daniel 9: 25. Ezra went
up to Jerusalem and wrought a great reform among the Jews. All that he
accomplished is not recorded in his book.
The Fourth Decree. In 445 Nehemiah went up to
Jerusalem by permission of king Artaxerxes. Nehemiah 2:1-20. His work was
principally rebuilding the walls, etc. He reigned over Jerusalem about
twelve years. Thus we give in brief a history of the destruction of
Solomon's temple and its rebuilding under Zerubbabel.
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The Defiling Of Zerubbabel’s Temple
By The "little Horn" Of Daniel 8.
While Daniel was a captive in Babylon he received the
remarkable vision recorded in this chapter. "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. 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 their
any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will
and became great." Daniel 8:1-4.
In the interpretation Gabriel informed Daniel that
this ram with two horns represented "the kings of Media and Persia."
Verse 20. This kingdom was composed of two nationalities represented by
the two horns. "But one was higher than the other, and the higher
came up last." This was the Persian division. At first it was but an
ally to the Medes, but afterward became the ruling element in the
kingdom. The different directions which it was seen pushing, denote the
directions in which the Medes and Persians carried their conquests. No
earthly power could stand before them while they were marching to the
exalted position to which the providence of God had summoned them. They
ruled over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces. Esther 1:1.
“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." Daniel 8:5-7.
Said the angel to Daniel: "The rough goat is the
king [kingdom] of Grecia." Verse 21. Grecia lay west of Persia,
hence, came from the west. The great horn between the eyes of this goat,
we are told, "is the first king." Verse 21. This was Alexander
the Great. Verses 6 and 7 give a clear account of the overthrow of the
Persian empire by this general. The conquests of Alexander have no
parallel in historic annals. It seems he conquered the whole world. It
lay prostrate at his feet. But we are told that when this goat kingdom
waxed very great, and strong, "The great horn was broken;
and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of
heaven." Verse 8. This refers to Alexander's death when in the prime
of life. Although he had conquered the world, he failed to conquer himself.
He died a drunken sot. Well did Solomon say: "He that ruleth his
spirit is greater than he which taketh a city." The four notable
horns which came up in his stead are interpreted to be "four
kingdoms," which were to "stand up out of the nation, but not
in his power." Verse 22.
At the death of Alexander it seemed for a short time
that the kingdom would fall to pieces, but it soon consolidated into four
divisions. Within fifteen years it was divided among his four leading
generals. Cassander had Macedonia and Greece in the
west; Lysimachus had Thrace and the parts of Asia on the
Hellespont and Bosporus in the north; Ptolemy received Egypt,
Lydia, Arabia, Palestine, and Celo Syria in the south;
and Seleucus had Syria and all the rest of Alexander's
dominions in the east. These four divisions may be named, Macedonia,
Thrace, Syria, and Egypt. "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.'' Verse 9.
A mistake has been made in the past in confounding
this little horn with that of chapter seven. The little horn brought to
view in chapter seven, came up out of the fourth beast (Rome); came up
among his ten horns, and subdued three. This can only refer to popery.
But it will be seen that the little horn here brought to view came
out of one of the four divisions of Grecia. This can not be popery,
nor yet Imperial Rome, as neither of these came out of Grecia. You
may search all through the archives of history, but you can not trace
popery, nor the imperial head of the Roman empire, to Greece. Even the
family of Agustus Caesar was not of Greek descent. Therefore we must look
elsewhere for this little horn. Gabriel interprets it to be
"a king of fierce countenance." Verse 23. This
implies that it refers to a certain individual —a king. But did such a
king come out of one of the divisions of Grecia? History says, yes;
(Antiochus Epiphanes) the Syrian king. He without doubt is
the little, horn in this vision. Antiochus was the eighth of
twenty-six kings who ruled over the Syrian portion of Alexander's empire.
We will here quote from 1 Maccabees.
"And it happened, after that Alexander, son of
Philip, the Macedonian, who came out of the land of Chettiim, had smitten
Darius king of the Persians and Medes, that he reigned in his stead, the
first over Greece, and made many wars, and won many strongholds, and slew
the kings of the earth, and went through to the ends of the earth, and
took spoils of many nations, insomuch that the earth was quiet before
him; whereupon he was exalted, and his heart was lifted up. And he
gathered a mighty strong host, and ruled over countries, and nation, and
kings, who became tributaries unto him. And after these things he fell
sick, and perceived that he should die. Wherefore he called his servants,
such as were honorable, and had been brought up with him from his youth,
and parted his kingdom among them, while he was yet alive.
"So Alexander reigned twelve years, and then
died. And his servants bare rule every one in his place. And after his
death they all put crowns upon themselves; so did their sons after them
many years: and evils were multiplied in the earth. And there came
out of them a wicked root, Antiochus surnamed Epiphanes, son of Antiochus
the king, who had been a hostage at Rome, and he reigned in the hundred
and thirty and seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks."
The reader will at once see the harmony between the
language of Daniel 8:5-9,21-23, and that quoted from 1 Maccabees. It will
be seen that Daniel's prophecy was fulfilled to the letter. In the
prophecy it is recorded that "out of one of them [one of the four
divisions of Grecia] came forth a little horn"— "a king of
fierce countenance." In the above quotation from Maccabees, we read,
that "there came out of them [one of the four divisions of Grecia] a
wicked root, Antiochus surnamed Epiphanes." These are the same. As
recorded in Daniel 8: 9, this little horn was to wax great, "toward
the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land." We
will now prove that Antiochus fulfilled this prediction. (1)Toward the
south— Egypt. "Now when the kingdom was established before
Antiochus, he thought to reign over Egypt, that he might have the
dominion of two realms. Wherefore he entered into Egypt with a great
multitude, with chariots, and elephants, and horsemen, and a great navy,
and made war against Ptolemee king of Egypt: but Ptolemee was afraid of
him, and fled; and many were wounded to death. Thus they got the strong
cities in the land of Egypt, and he took the spoils thereof."
(2) Toward the east. This was fulfilled in
his conquests of Celo Syria and Persia. (3) And toward the pleasant
land. This refers to Judea, or Palestine—"the glorious
land." Daniel 11:16, 41; Ezekiel 20:6, 15; Jeremiah 3:19. Into it
Antiochus made his inroad after his return from Egypt. By reference to
the LXX it will be seen to read somewhat differently. "And out
of one of them came forth one strong horn, and it
grew very great toward the south, and toward the host."
Only the south and host are here spoken of. The
"host" refers to the Jews in Palestine and Jerusalem— God's
people. The reading of the LXX harmonizes with the facts of history.
Immediately after conquering Egypt, Antiochus went up against Israel and
Jerusalem.
"And after that Antiochus had smitten Egypt, he
returned again in the hundred forty and third year, and went up against
Israel and Jerusalem with a great multitude." 1 Maccabees 1: 20.
"At the same time that Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes, had a
quarrel with the sixth Ptolemy, about his right to the whole country of
Syria, a great sedition fell among the men of power in Judea, and they
had a contention about obtaining the government; while each of those that
were of dignity could not endure to be subject to their equals. However,
Onias, one of the high priests, got the better, and cast the sons of
Tobias out of the city; who fled to Antiochus, and besought him to make
use of them for his leaders, and to make an expedition into Judea. The king
being thereto disposed beforehand, complied with them, and came upon the
Jews with a great army, and took their city by force, and slew a great
multitude of those that favored Ptolemy, and sent out his soldiers to
plunder them without mercy." Josephus' Wars of the Jews, Book T,
Chapter. 1.
These facts of history, briefly stated, prove beyond
question that Antiochus fulfilled the prophecy. We will now consider the
things which this little horn was to accomplish.
''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 practiced, and prospered.'' Daniel 8:10-12. I
will here give the interpretation as rendered' in the LXX. "And at
the latter time of their kingdom, when their sins are coming to the full,
there shall arise a king bold in countenance, and understanding riddles.
And his power shall be great, and he shall destroy wonderfully, and
prosper, and practice, and shall destroy mighty men, and the holy people.
And the yoke of his chain shall prosper: there is craft in his hand; and
he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by craft shall destroy many,
and he shall stand up for the destruction of many, and shall crush them
as eggs in his hand." Daniel 8:23-25, LXX.
Here is recorded a number of things this king was to
accomplish. '' Cast down the host and stamp upon them;'' that is,
"destroy mighty men, and the holy people." He was to take away
the daily sacrifice, cast down the sanctuary, or, as more
properly rendered in the Septuagint Version, "The holy place shall
be made desolate." Did Antiochus do this? We will let the voice of
history answer: Antiochus "came upon the Jews with a great army, and
took their city by force, and slew a great multitude. He
also spoiled the temple, and put a stop to the constant
practice of offering a daily sacrifice of expiation for three years
and six months.
"Now Antiochus was not satisfied either with his
unexpected taking of the city, or with its pillage, or with the great
slaughter he made there; but being overcome with his violent passions,
and remembering what he had suffered during the siege, he compelled the
Jews to dissolve the laws of their country, and to keep their infants
uncircumcised, and to sacrifice swine's flesh upon the altar against
which they all opposed themselves, and the most approved among them were
put to death. Bacchides also, who was sent to keep the fortresses, having
these wicked commands, joined to his own natural barbarity, indulged all
sorts of the extremist wickedness, and tormented the worthiest of
the inhabitants, man by man, and threatened their city every day
with open destruction, till at length he provoked the poor sufferers by
the extremity of his wicked doings to avenge themselves." Josephus'
Wars of the Jews, Book 1, Chapter 1.
"King Antiochus returning out of Egypt, for fear
of the Romans, made all expedition against the city of Jerusalem; and
when he was there, in the hundred and forty-third year of the kingdom of
the Seleucida, he took the city without fighting, those of his own party
opening the gates to him. And when he had gotten possession of Jerusalem,
he slew many of the opposite party; and when he had plundered it of a
great deal of money he returned to Antioch. Now it came to pass, after
two years, in the hundred forty and fifth year, on the twenty-fifth day
of that month which is by us called Chasleu, and by the Macedonians
Apelleus, in the hundred and fifty-third olympiad, that the king came up
to Jerusalem, and, pretending peace, he got possession of the city by
treachery; at which time he spared not so much as those that admitted him
into it, on account of the riches that lay in the temple; but, led by his
covetous inclination, (for he saw there was in it a great deal of gold,
and many ornaments that had been dedicated to it of very great value,)
and in order to plunder its wealth, he ventured to break the league he
had made. So he left the temple bare, and took away the golden
candlesticks, and the golden altar [of incense], and table [of
shew-bread], and the altar [of burnt offering]; and did not abstain
from even the vails, which were made of fine linen and scarlet. He also
emptied it of its secret treasures, and left nothing at all remaining;
and by this means cast the Jews into great lamentation, for he forbade
them to offer those daily sacrifices which they used to offer to God,
according to the law.
"And when he had pillaged the whole city, some of
the inhabitants he slew, and some he carried captive, together with their
wives and children, so that the multitude of those captives that were
taken alive amounted to about ten thousand. He also burnt down the finest
buildings; and when he had overthrown the city walls, he built a citadel
in the lower part of the city, for the place was high, and overlooked the
temple; on which account he fortified it with high walls and towers, and
put into it a garrison of Macedonians. However, in that citadel dwelt the
impious and wicked part of the [Jewish] multitude, from whom it proved
that the citizens suffered many and sore calamities. "And when the
king had built an idol altar upon (God's altar, he slew swine, upon
it, and so offered a sacrifice neither according to the law, nor the
Jewish religious worship in that country. He also compelled them to
forsake the worship which they paid their own God, and to adore
those whom he took to be gods; and made them build temples, and raise
idol altars in every city and village, and offer swine upon them every
day. He also commanded them not to circumcise their sons, and threatened
to punish any that should be found to have transgressed his injunction.
"He also appointed overseers, who should compel
them to do what he commanded. And indeed many Jews there were who
complied with the king's commands, either voluntarily, or out of fear of
the penalty that was denounced. But the best men, and those of the
noblest souls, did not regard him, but did pay a greater respect to
the customs of their country than concern as to the punishment which he
threatened to the disobedient; on which account they every day underwent
great miseries and bitter torments; for they were whipped with rods, and
their bodies were torn to pieces, and were crucified, while they were
still alive, and breathed. They also strangled those women and their sons
whom they had circumcised, as the king had appointed, hanging their sons
about their necks as they were upon the crosses. And if there were any
sacred book of the law found, it was destroyed, and those with whom they
were found miserably perished also." Josephus' Antiq., Book XH,
Chapter 5, page 362 and 363.
"And after that Antiochus had smitten Egypt, he
returned again in the hundred forty and third year, and went up against
Israel and Jerusalem with a great multitude, and entered proudly into the
sanctuary, and took away the golden altar, and the candlestick of
light, and all the vessels thereof. And the table of the shew-bread, and
the pouring vessels, and the vials, and the censers of gold, and the
vail, and the crowns, and the golden ornaments that were before the
temple, all which he pulled off. He took also the silver and the gold,
and the precious vessels: also he took the hidden treasures which he
found. And when he had taken all away, he went into his own land, having
made a great massacre, and spoke very proudly. Therefore there was great
mourning in Israel, in every place where they were; so that the princes
and elders mourned, the virgins and young men were made feeble, and the
beauty of women was changed. Every bridegroom took up lamentation, and
she that sat in the marriage chamber was in heaviness. The land also was
moved for the inhabitants thereof, and all the house of Jacob was covered
with confusion.
"And after two years fully expired, the king sent
his chief collector of tribute unto the cities of Juda, who came unto
Jerusalem with a great multitude; and spake peaceable words unto them,
but all was deceit: for when they had given him credence, he fell
suddenly upon the city, and smote it very sore, and destroyed much people
of Israel. And when he had taken the spoils of the city, he set it on
fire and pulled down the houses and walls thereof on every side. But the
women and children took they captive, and possessed the cattle. Then
builded they the city of David with a great and strong wall, and with
mighty towers, and made it a stronghold for them. And they put therein a
sinful nation, wicked men, and fortified themselves therein. They stored
it also with armor and victuals, and when they had gathered together the
spoils of Jerusalem, they laid them up there, and so they became a sore
snare: for it was a place to lie in wait against
the sanctuary, and an evil adversary to Israel. Thus they shed
innocent blood on every side of the sanctuary and defiled it: insomuch
that the inhabitants of Jerusalem fled because of them: whereupon the
city was made a habitation of strangers, and became strange to those that
were born in her; and her own children left her.
Her sanctuary was laid waste like a wilderness, her feasts were
turned into mourning, her Sabbaths into reproach, her honor into
contempt. As had been her glory, so was her dishonor increased, and her
excellency was turned into mourning.
"Moreover king Antiochus wrote to his whole
kingdom, that all should be one people, and every one should leave his
laws: so all the heathen agreed according to the commandment of the king.
Yea, many also of the Israelites consented to his religion and sacrificed
unto idols, and profaned the Sabbath. For the king had sent letters by
messengers unto Jerusalem and the cities of Juda, that they should follow
the strange laws of the land, and forbid burnt offerings, and sacrifices,
and drink offerings, in the temple; and that they should profane the
sabbaths and festival days: and pollute the sanctuary and holy
people: set up altars, and groves, and chapels of idols, and sacrifice
swine's flesh, and unclean beasts: that they should also leave their
children uncircumcised, and make their souls abominable with all manner of
uncleanness and profanation: to the end they might forget the law, and
change all the ordinances. And whosoever would not do according to the
commandment of the king, he said, he should die.
"In the selfsame manner wrote he to his whole
kingdom, and appointed overseers over all the people, commanding the
cities of Juda to sacrifice, city by city. Then many of the people were
gathered unto them, to wit, every one that forsook the law; and so they
committed evils in the land; and drove the Israelites into secret places,
even where soever they could flee for succor. Now the fifteenth day of
the month Casleu, in the hundred forty and fifth year, they set up the
abomination of desolation upon the altar, and builded idol altars
throughout the cities of Juda on every side; and burnt incense at the
doors of their houses, and in the streets. And when they had rent in
pieces the books of the law which they found, they burnt them with fire.
And where soever was found with any the book of the testament, or if any
consented to the law, the king's commandment was, that they should put
him to death. Thus did they by their authority unto the Israelites every
month, to as many as were found in the cities.
"Now the five and twentieth day of the month they
did sacrifice upon the idol altar, which was upon the altar of God. At
which time according to the commandment they put to death certain women,
that had caused their children to be circumcised. And they hanged
the infants about their necks, and rifled their houses, and slew them
that had circumcised them. Howbeit many in Israel were fully resolved and
confirmed in themselves not to eat any unclean thing. Wherefore they
chose rather to die, that they might not be defiled with meats, and that
they might not profane the holy covenant: so then they died. And there
was very great wrath upon Israel.'' 1 Maccabees 1: 20-64.
"Now when this that was done came to the king's
ear, he thought that Judea had revolted: whereupon removing out of Egypt
in a furious mind, he took the city by force of arms, and commanded his
men of war not to spare such as they met, and to slay such as went up
upon the houses. Thus there was killing of young and old, making away of
men, women, and children, slaying of virgins and infants. And there were
destroyed within three whole days fourscore thousand, whereof forty
thousand were slain in the conflict; and no fewer sold than slain. Yet
was he not content with this, but presumed to go into the most holy
temple of all the world; Menelaus, that traitor to the laws, and to his
own country, being his guide: and taking the holy vessels with polluted
hands, and with profane hands pulling down the things that were dedicated
by other kings to the augmentation and glory and honor of the place, he
gave them away." 2 Maccabees 5:11-16.
"Not long after this the king sent an old man of
Athens to compel the Jews to depart from the laws of their fathers, and
not to live after the laws of God: and to pollute also the temple in
Jerusalem, and to call it the temple of Jupiter Olympius; and that in
Garizim, of Jupiter the Defender of strangers, as they did desire that
dwelt in the place. The coming in of this mischief was sore and grievous
to the people: for the temple was filled with riot and reveling by
the Gentiles, who dallied with harlots, and had to do with women within
the circuit of the holy places, and besides that brought in things that
were not lawful. The altar also was filled with profane things, which the
law forbiddeth. Neither was it lawful for a man to keep sabbath days or ancient
feasts, or to profess himself at all to be a Jew. And in the day of the
king's birth, every month they were brought by bitter constraint to eat
of the sacrifices; and when the feast of Bacchus was kept, the Jews were
compelled to go in procession to Bacchus, carrying ivy.
"Moreover, there went out a decree to the
neighbor cities of the heathen, by the" suggestion of Ptolemee,
against the Jews, that they should observe the same fashions, and be
partakers of their sacrifices: and whoso would not conform themselves to
the manners of the Gentiles should be put to death. Then might a man have
seen the present misery. For there were two women brought, who had
circumcised their children; whom when they had openly led round about the
city, the babes hanging at their breasts, they cast them down headlong
from the wall. And others, that had run together into caves near by, to
keep the sabbath day secretly, being discovered to Philip, were all burnt
together, because they made a conscience to help themselves for the honor
of the most sacred day." 2 Maccabees 6:1-11.
We have here quoted at some length from Josephus and
Maccabees, to prove beyond disputation that all contained in the prophecy
of Daniel 8 was fulfilled in Antiochus' reign. Who can fail to see after reading
the above, and then the prophecy, that they are the same. Antiochus
entered the pleasant land, camped against the host at Jerusalem, captured
the city, and slew a multitude with a great slaughter. He compelled the
Jews to sacrifice swine's flesh upon the altar, and commit all the
abominations of the heathen. All who would not do this were slain.
Thus the host was trampled under foot. He completely suspended the
worship of God, and set up heathen worship in Jerusalem and Juda. He took
away the daily sacrifice, and placed the abomination of desolation. He
laid the sanctuary waste like a wilderness.
Mattathias thus describes the condition of things at
this time: "And when he saw the blasphemies that were committed in
Juda and Jerusalem, he said, Woe is me! Wherefore was I born to see this
misery of my people, and of the holy city, and to dwell there, when it
was delivered into the hand of the enemy, and
the sanctuary into the hand of strangers? Her temple is become
as a man without glory. Her glorious vessels are carried away into
captivity, her infants are slain in the streets, her young men with the
sword of the enemy.... Of a free woman she has become a bond-slave. And,
behold, our sanctuary, even our beauty and our glory, is laid
waste, and the Gentiles have profaned it." 1 Maccabees 2:1-12.
This awful work of Antiochus is a clear type of the
great apostasy of the church during the Christian era. This Syrian king
is a type of popery. Just as he trampled the host, defiled the temple,
took away the daily sacrifice, placed the abomination of desolation in
Jerusalem, so has popery and Protestant sectism trampled God's spiritual
host, defiled the spiritual sanctuary, taken away the
sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, and set up a human abomination of
desolation.
We will next consider the cleansing of
Zerubbabel's temple and the time allotted. '' 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: 13,14.
The same sanctuary which Antiochus defiled
is the one to be cleansed. Farther on in this book will be found
"The Adventist theory." They teach the disgusting theory that
the cleansing of the sanctuary here referred to, is
a cleansing in heaven, accomplished by Jesus Christ. The same was to
begin in 1844. They endeavor to stretch out the 2,300 days to that time.
Upon this calculation, U. Smith says the whole Advent movement is
founded, and if not correct, "It is a fraud.'' We shall clearly
prove it to be so by the Word of God.
Had the inventors of the Adventist theory paused to
consider the context of Daniel 8:14, they would surely have been ashamed
to publish it. They apply the cleansing of
the sanctuary at the expiration of 2,300 days, to a change of
the Lord Jesus from the holy into the holiest of his supposed
"literal structure" in heaven. But there is no hint of such a
thing in all the lesson. No question had been asked as to how long it
would be until Christ would shift from the first to the second apartment
of his sanctuary in heaven or anywhere else. Had Daniel heard one
saint speaking, or an angel inquiring how long it would be until Christ
would pass into the most holy place of heaven, and begin to cleanse it
from sins, then might U. Smith have coupled this theory on to the answer.
But neither saints nor angels have conceived or uttered a thing so
extremely ridiculous; nor is there a word in the Bible that intimates
such a thing. The order of Christ's priesthood was not at all in the
conversation of the saints; and no question had been asked to draw out an
answer in regard to it. But what was seen and heard in the vision?
The question related to the little horn—Antiochus—who
took away the daily sacrifice, set up the transgression of desolation,
and trod down the host and sanctuary. This is too plain to
admit of any possible mistake as to what the sanctuary was that was
to be cleansed. It were an utter confusion of words, if the answer to the
question relates not to the same thing the question itself does. The
inquiry of the saint was, how long this desolate state of
the sanctuary and the holy people of God should continue; the
answer was immediately given. By properly connecting the question and its
answer all can see that the cleansing of
the sanctuary was made necessary by the pollution and casting
down of the same by the little horn. And of course the
same sanctuary that was defiled and trodden under foot was to
be cleansed at the end of the 2,300 days. And yet these blind guides
locate the sanctuary in heaven, as if that little horn had actually
entered that lofty habitation of God, and defiled it.
Is it possible that U. Smith could overlook the
identity of the sanctuary in the question with that in the
answer? But to admit that identity would utterly overthrow his theory.
Therefore the sanctuary to be cleansed he says is in heaven.
But how does he define the one that was trodden down? Now let that dark
and deceptive sect hide her face with shame, while we expose her
unscrupulous wresting of the Scriptures. After quoting from Ezekiel 21:25-27,
31, in "Thoughts on Daniel," page 238 and 239, the writer
remarks, "Here is the period of God's indignation against his
covenant people; the period during which the sanctuary and the
host are to be trodden under foot. The diadem was removed, and the crown
taken off, when Israel was subject to the kingdom of Babylon." The
utter crookedness of this teaching is its blending together prophecy that
relates to the subjection of the Jews to the king of Babylon, and the
very language of Daniel 8:9-13, which refers to the work of the
little horn which came out of Grecia. Did Babylon come out of Grecia? U.
Smith surely knew better when he penned the above. But such are the gross
absurdities of that people who stand in the smoke of Sinai.
Is it possible that any man in his senses can read
Daniel 8:9-13 and conclude that the sanctuary of which it was
asked, how long its desolation should continue, refers to the Babylonian
captivity, B. C. 606; and the sanctuary mentioned in verse 14,
in direct answer to the question, refers to a literal structure in
heaven? But such is the foolish and disgusting position in which U. Smith
places himself, in his extreme zeal for his dark and worthless sect. Out
of his own mouth we judge the man.
Daniel received this vision of the little horn while
he was a captive in Babylon, and but a few years prior to the return of
the captivity; therefore, the prophecy related to something future of his
time. We have before clearly proved that the little horn was Antiochus,
who defiled the sanctuary which Zerubbabel had built. Of course
this work was a type of the work of the apostasy, and the cleansing
of that ancient house, a type of the present cleansing of the
church. But Adventist fiction teaches it was something defiled on earth,
and cleansed in heaven.
Taking U. Smith's teaching all together
the sanctuary of Daniel 8:13 is the Jews in their seventy
years' captivity, is the people of God under the oppression of the dark
ages, and yet being identical with verse 14, is something in heaven. Surely
the children of the bondwoman are sons of confusion. He says, "The
question [concerning the cleansing of
the sanctuary] is one which is calculated to enlist our whole
attention. It is one of deepest interest; for it pertains to the time
when the heel of oppression shall be forever lifted from the host,
the people of God." Then it does not relate to a time when Christ is
supposed to enter the holiest in heaven and begin to cleanse it out. It
relates to a triumph of the people of God, after which "opposing
powers shall no longer be able to pervert his worship"; then it is
fulfilled here on earth, and not in heaven; for in that holy habitation
"opposing powers" never entered and the worship of God is not
perverted. Again, if the cleansing of the sanctuary relates
to the deliverance of the people of God from opposing powers, and the
restoration of the true worship of God, then it did not occur October 22,
1844. For at that time no sanctuary was cleansed.
Having now clearly proved that the prophecy can not refer
to anything in heaven, and that the Advent theory is a fraud; we will
next give some good reasons why it can not apply to popery.
1. There is no hint that the 2,300 days apply to
anything else than the exact length of time the horn was to continue, and
the host and sanctuary should be trampled.
2. The 2,300 days must relate to the length of the
triumph of the little horn that came out of the four—Antiochus Epiphanes.
3. Therefore it would not be proper to apply the 2,300
days to the triumph of Titus when he set up the abomination of desolation
in Jerusalem.
4. For the same reason it could not be applied to the
triumph of popery.
5. There is an evening and a
morning connected with each of the 2,300 days. Daniel 8:14—margin,
also LXX, and Verse 26. This clearly shows that they are natural days
instead of so many years, as formerly supposed.
6. To suppose that they signify so many years, and
apply them to the reign of popery, we must measure from a
date several hundred years before popery arose. This is entirely
incredible.
7. The 2,300 days can not measure from a certain type
to its antitype, for nothing of the kind is hinted at.
8. Popery may be considered an antitype of Antiochus'
triumph, but in that case we could make no antitypical application of the
2,300 days; for we should have to figure the beginning of the antitype
before the type arose.
With these facts before us we are certain that the
2,300 days can not apply to anything else than what the prophecy clearly
states, the reign of the little horn—Antiochus—who trampled the host,
took away the daily sacrifice, and set up the abomination of desolation.
The abomination of desolation was set up in Jerusalem and the daily
sacrifice taken away by king Antiochus in the 145th year and 15th day of the
month Casleu, of the Grecian empire. "Now the fifteenth day of the
month Casleu, in the hundred forty and fifth year, they set up the
abomination of desolation upon the altar and builded idol altars
throughout the cities of Juda on every side; and burnt incense at the
doors of their houses, and in the streets." 1 Maccabees 1: 54,55.
Casleu is the ninth month. See 1 Maccabees 4: 52. This gives us the
starting stake of Daniel 12:11. "And from the time that the daily
sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate
set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days."
We are to count 1,290 days from the setting up of the
abomination of desolation, and taking away of the daily sacrifice. As
seen above this occurred in the 145th year, 9th month, and 15th day of
the month. 1,290 days from this date bring us to the 149th year, 4th
month, and 15th day. Counting 30 days to the month, these years contain
just 360 days. The 149th year was when Antiochus heard of the defeat
of his armies by the armies of Israel, and he took sick, and died. See 1
Maccabees 6:1-16. The 1,290 days measure from the setting up of, the
abomination of desolation in Jerusalem by Antiochus to the 149th year,
4th month, and 15th day, when he heard of the defeat of his army by the
armies of Israel, which caused him to take his bed sick, and to repent of
all the evil he had done against Judea and Jerusalem. See 1 Maccabees
6:1-13; 2 Maccabees 9:1-17.
After this Antiochus was sick many days. 1 Maccabees
6:9. 'Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three
hundred and five and thirty days." Daniel 12:12. The setting up of
the abomination of desolation is the starting point of both these
periods. The 1,335 days bring us to the 30th day of the 5th month of the
149th year, which was the date of Antiochus' death (1 Maccabees 6:16),
which marks the end of the little horn.
Now since we are commanded in Daniel 12:11 to count
the 1,290 days from the setting up of the abomination, we figured these
dates from the date given in 1 Maccabees 1: 54, and find the end of the
1,290 days reaches to the 149th year, 4th month, and 15th day. And
counting the 1,335 days from the same starting stake they reach to the
30th day of the 5th month of the 149th year; which is the year given in
Maccabees 6:16 for the defeat of the army of Antiochus, and his sickness
and death. Read carefully the 6th chapter of Maccabees, and you will see
clearly that the 1,290 days reach to the time when Antiochus received the
news of the defeat of his army by the armies of Israel, which caused him
to take to his bed sick, and to repent of all the evil he had done
against Judea and Jerusalem. Verse 9 of this chapter says that he
continued sick many days. The exact number of days is not given, but the 45
days added to 1,290 to make 1,335 days doubtless specify the number of
the days of Antiochus' sickness if the facts were known. And the 1,335
days beyond doubt reach to the death of Antiochus. This is highly
probable since we have the testimony before us that Antiochus' death
occurred that year.
If we measure back from the 30th day of the 5th month
of the 149th year 2,300 days we find their beginning on the 10th day of
the 1st month of the 143d year, which is the year specified as the time
when Antiochus marched against Israel in 1 Maccabees 1: 20. We believe
this to be the true history of Antiochus, and a correct explanation of
these three prophetic periods.
Summing up the foregoing facts, what have we.? A king
of fierce countenance came out of Grecia—Antiochus Epiphanes. He
fulfilled the prophecy of the little horn which came out of one
of the four. He did everything prophesied that the little horn would
do. He marched his hosts to Jerusalem in the 143d year of the Grecian
empire, in the 1st month and 10th day. 1 Maccabees 1: 20. He then began
to trample the host of Israel under foot. Counting from this date, 2,300
days bring us to the 149th year, 5th month, and 20th day, when Antiochus
died. 1 Maccabees 6:16. This reaches to the end of the little horn who
trampled the host and defiled the sanctuary.
There is also great reason to doubt the 2,400 days of
our text of the LXX. The Alexandrian Version of the LXX has 2,300 days
the same as the Hebrew, and none of the Church Fathers use 2,400
days—always 2,300 days. The Church Fathers also apply the little horn to
Antiochus, and they should be considered good authority for prophecies
that met their fulfillment prior to their time.
Antiochus set up the abomination of desolation in
Jerusalem in the 145th year, 9th month, and 15th day. 1 Maccabees 1: 54.
From this date the 1,290 days of Daniel 12:11 reach to the time when
Antiochus heard of the defeat of his army, took sick, and repented of the
evil he had done. 1 Maccabees 6:1-13. And the 1,335 days of Daniel 12:12
reach to the time of his death. 1 Maccabees 6:16. Thus the little horn of
Daniel 8, came to his end at the time appointed. We have yet to consider
the cleansing of the sanctuary which Antiochus defiled.
This work was accomplished by Judas Maccabeus.
"Then said Judas and his brethren, Behold our
enemies are discomfited: let us go up to cleanse and dedicate
the sanctuary. Upon this all the host assembled themselves
together, and went up into mount Sion. And when they saw
the sanctuary desolate, and the altar profaned, and the gates
burned up, and shrubs growing in the courts as in a forest, or in one of
the mountains, yea, and the priests' chambers pulled down; they rent
their clothes, and made great lamentation, and cast ashes upon their
heads, and fell down flat to the ground upon their faces, and blew an
alarm with the trumpets, and cried toward heaven. Then Judas appointed
certain men to fight against those that were in the fortress, until he
had cleansed the sanctuary. So he chose priests of blameless conversation,
such as had pleasure in the law: who cleansed
the sanctuary, and bare out the defiled stones unto an unclean
place. And when as they consulted what to do with the altar of burnt
offerings, which was profaned; they thought it best to pull it down, lest
it should be a reproach to them, because the heathen had defiled it:
wherefore they pulled it down, and laid up the stones in the mountain of
the temple in a convenient place, until there should come a prophet to
show what should be done with them. Then they took whole stones according
to the law, and built a new altar according to the former; and made up
the sanctuary, and the things that were within the temple,
and hallowed the courts. They made also new holy vessels, and into
the temple they brought the candlestick, and the altar of burnt
offerings, and of incense, and the table. And upon the altar they burned
incense, and the lamps that were upon the candlestick they lighted, that
thy might give light in the temple. Furthermore they set the loaves upon
the table, and spread out the vails, and finished all the works which
they had begun to make.
"Now on the five and twentieth day of the ninth
month, which is railed the month Casleu, in the hundred forty and eighth
year, they rose up betimes in the morning, and offered sacrifice
according to the law upon the new altar of burnt offerings, which they
had made. Look, at what time and what day the heathen had profaned it,
even in that was it dedicated with songs, and citherns, and harps, and
cymbals. Then all the people fell upon their faces, worshiping and
praising the God of heaven, who had given them good success.'' 1
Maccabees 4: 36-55.
''Now Maccabeus and his company, the Lord guiding
them, recovered the temple and the city: but the altars which the heathen
had built in the open streets, and also the chapels, they pulled down.
And having cleansed the temple, they made another altar, and striking
stones they took fire out of them, and offered a sacrifice after two
years, and set forth incense, and lights and shew-bread. When that was
done, they fell flat down, and besought the Lord that they might come no
more into such troubles; but if they sinned any more against him, that he
himself would chasten them with mercy, and that they might not be delivered
unto the blasphemous and barbarous nations. Now upon the same day that
the strangers profaned the temple, on the very same day it was cleansed
again, even the five and twentieth day of the same month, which is
Casleu. And they kept eight days with gladness, as in the feast of
the tabernacles, remembering that not long afore they had held the feast
of the tabernacles, when as they wandered in the mountains and dens like
beasts. Therefore they bare branches, and fair boughs, and palms also,
and sang psalms unto him that had given them good success
in cleansing his place. They ordained also by a common statute
and decree, that every year those days should be kept of the whole nation
of the Jews. And this was the end of Antiochus, called Epiphanes." 2
Maccabees 10:1-9. Thus the prophecy of Daniel.8th chapter was fulfilled.
This whole work of defiling the temple Zerubbabel built, and
the cleansing of the same, took place 170—164 B. C.
|
THE REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE
BY HEROD,
AND ITS
FINAL, DESTRUCTION —
THE END OF THE
WORLDLY SANCTUARY.
About thirty-seven years before Christ, Herod resolved
to rebuild and beautify the temple. See Josephus' Antiq., Book XV,
Chapter I, 11. He pulled down the temple Zerubbabel built, and erected
one considerably larger. This last one was built of white marble, and was
a temple of exquisite beauty. All the Jewish writers praise this temple
for its beauty and the costliness of its workmanship. Even the disciples
spoke to Jesus of the temple, "how it was adorned with goodly stones
and gifts." Of it, Josephus says: Its appearance had everything that
could strike the mind and astonish the sight. For it was on every side
covered with solid plates of gold, so that when the sun rose upon it, it
reflected such a strong and dazzling effulgence, that the eye of the
beholder was obliged to turn away from it, being no more able to sustain
the radiance than the splendor of the sun. But this temple appeared to
strangers, when they were coming to it at a distance, like a mountain
covered with snow; for as to those parts of it that were not gilt,
they were exceeding white. Josephus' Wars, Book V, Chapter V.
This was the temple at
Jerusalem—the sanctuary of the Lord—at the time when Christ
appeared among men to build its antitype. We will briefly consider its
final destruction. While Daniel was confessing his sins and the sins of
his people, he received the following revelation from Gabriel:
"Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy
city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to
make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting
righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the
Most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of
the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the
Prince shall be seven weeks, and three score and two weeks: the street
shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after
three score and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself:
and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and
the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto
the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the
covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall
cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading
of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation,
and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate." Daniel
9:24-27.
"Seventy" weeks have been determined upon
thy people, and upon the holy city, for sin to be ended, and to seal up
transgressions, and to blot out the iniquities, and to make atonement for
iniquities, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal the vision
and the prophet, and to anoint the Most Holy. And thou shalt know and
understand, that from the going forth of the command for the answer and
for the building of Jerusalem until Christ the Prince there shall be
seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks: and then the time shall return, and the
street shall be built, and the wall, and the times shall be exhausted.
And after the sixty-two weeks, the anointed one shall be destroyed, and
there is no judgment in him: and he shall destroy the city and
the sanctuary with the prince that is coming: they shall be cut
off with a flood, and to the end of the war which is rapidly completed he
shall appoint the city to desolations. And one week shall establish the
covenant with many: and in the midst of the week my sacrifice and drink
offering shall be taken away: and on the temple shall be the abomination
of desolations; and at the end of the time an end shall be put to the
desolation.'' Daniel 9:24-27, LXX.
This is an important prophecy, and one that may well
attract our careful study and attention. The prophet, with a few strokes
of his pencil, and a few dashes of his pen speaks volumes to us. Great
and mighty events are couched in these few verses. The mission of Messiah
and the end of the Jewish polity is foretold. The key to this
time-prophecy is found in verse 25. "Know therefore and understand,
that from the going forth of the command to restore and build
Jerusalem." In a previous chapter we have proved that this
command refers to the one given to Ezra by king Artaxerxes. Ezra 7:1-28.
It will be seen that this command was to restore Jerusalem.
Such was the decree given to Ezra. It empowered him to ordain laws, set
magistrates and judges, and execute punishment even unto death; in fact,
it was the command to restore the Jewish state, civil and ecclesiastical
according to their law and ancient customs. It was to restore Jerusalem.
The Jews desired to rebuild the city, and this decree gave them that
privilege. Ezra understood this decree included the rebuilding of Jerusalem.
Ezra 9:9. This command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem was given 457 B.
C. "Seventy weeks are determined. "Daniel used the week of
years, so common in use among the Jews in his time. Therefore the seventy
weeks equal four hundred and ninety years. Measuring four hundred and
ninety years from 457 B. C., which is the date given to start from—when
the command was given— they extend to A. D. 33. In other words, just four
hundred and ninety years lay between 457 B. C. and A. D. 33.
However the work of restoring all things did not begin
until the middle of the year 457 (Ezra 7:8), which would bring the four
hundred and ninety years to the fall of A. D. 33, or about the middle of
that year. "Seven weeks, and three score and two
weeks." Sixty-nine weeks, of this seventy, were to reach to
"the Messiah the Prince." This refers to Christ. Messiah
(Hebrew), Christ (Greek), means anointed. "The anointed
one." How and when was Jesus anointed? "How God anointed
Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about
doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was
with him.'' Acts 10: 38. " Now when all the people were baptized, it
came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was
opened, and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon
him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son;
in thee I am well pleased.'' Luke 3: 21, 22. '' The Spirit of the Lord is
upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he
hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the
captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them,
that are bruised.'' Luke 4:18. ;
Here we have the exact time of the anointing of Jesus.
At his baptism he was anointed the Messiah of the world, and entered his
earthly ministry, because God had anointed him to preach the
gospel—anointed him with the Holy Ghost. This is what is meant in
Daniel's vision by the words, "To anoint the Most Holy." The common
account called Anno Domini began when Christ was four years old. Luke
informs us that Christ began to be about thirty years of age when
baptized, and when he entered his ministry. Luke 3:21-23. This would make
Christ's baptism occur in A. D. 26. He was baptized in about the middle
or latter part of A. D. 26. The seven weeks, and the three score and two
weeks, which were to reach to Messiah, the anointed one, equal 69 weeks,
or 483 years. Beckoning 483 years from 457 B. C. they reach to A. D. 26,
to the anointing of the Most Holy—to Messiah the Prince. This leaves one
week of seven years, to make up the seventy weeks.
We will now consider what was to be accomplished in
this last week. "And he shall confirm the covenant with many
for one week." Having seen that the 69 of the 70 weeks extend
to the baptism of Jesus (A. D. 26), when he was anointed Messiah the
Prince, and entered his earthly ministry for the salvation of the world,
the last week of the seventy must begin with A. D. 26, and extend to A.
D. 33— just seven years—one week. During this week the covenant was to be
confirmed with many. The covenant here referred to is the new covenant in
Christ Jesus—"Grace and truth which came by Jesus Christ."
Of this covenant Jeremiah thus prophesies:
"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Juda: not
according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that
I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my
covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord:
but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel:
After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward
parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they
shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor,
and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know
me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for
I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no
more." Jeremiah 31: 31-34.
The 69 weeks, 483 years end in A. D. 26 at Christ's
baptism. Here he was anointed to preach the gospel of the kingdom (Luke
3: 21, 22; 4:18), to deliver the new covenant. Here he entered the
ministry of salvation to men. Here the last week of the seventy began.
Three and one-half years of that week were taken up in delivering the
principles of that covenant. Then Christ died and dedicated this covenant
with his own blood. His blood was shed: "The blood of the new
testament, shed for many"; "The blood of the everlasting
covenant.'' Thus the covenant he delivered to the world was sealed with
his own blood, and came into force at his death. There yet remains three
and one-half years of this week to confirm that covenant to
many. It is a fact that the first three and one-half years after
Christ's death were a marked epoch in spreading the gospel to all nations
of the then known world. The word sounded out "to all the
world." Thousands upon thousands were saved through the blood of the
covenant, and thus the covenant was confirmed to many.
The last week, as before observed, reaches from A. D.
26 to A. D. 33. Just seven years. This marks the end of the 70 weeks or
490 years. From the time the command went forth to restore and
rebuild Jerusalem, 457 B. C. to A. D. 33, is just 490 years. But we are
not yet through with this last week. The greatest, and mightiest event
that ever occurred in heaven or earth took place in that week. Thus saith
the prophecy: "And after three score and two weeks shall
Messiah be cut off, but not for himself. Daniel 9: 26. "And in
the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation
to cease.'' Daniel 9: 27. The reader will observe that the 69 weeks which
were to extend to Messiah, are divided off as follows: "Seven weeks,
three score and two weeks." The first seven weeks, or 49 years
extended from 457 B. C. to 408 B. C. This, no doubt, was the time that it
took to complete the walls, streets, etc., which the prophecy says were
finished "in troublous times.'' From 408 B. C., where the first
seven weeks ended, to the anointing of the Most Holy, was just three
score and two weeks, or 434 years. After this, or, in the midst of
the last week of the seventy, Messiah should be cut off. This refers to
the death of Christ. Just three and one-half years after Jesus was
anointed and entered his earthly ministry, he was cut off —crucified—for
the sins of the whole world; right in the midst—middle—of the last
week. Thus we stand in awe at the wonderful fulfillment of prophecy.
We will now consider what took place in the midst of
this last week of the seventy, when Jesus—Messiah—was cut off, or died
upon the cross. "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people." Up
to this time the Jews were the chosen people of God. But the moment
Christ expired upon Calvary they ceased to be his special people. His
blood was shed for the whole world. The way was now opened for all
nations to come into covenant favor with God. The middle wall of
partition between Jew and Gentile was broken down, and both were made
one, were reconciled into one body by the cross: in whom "there
is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian,
Sythian, bond nor free." Colossians 3:11. The distinction of Jew and
Gentile was conceived in the covenant to Abraham, almost two thousand
years before Christ. The Jew stood for Abraham's nation. To them were
given the "lively oracles, the covenants and promises." They
were favored above every nation upon earth. The Gentile is a
cosmopolite—a citizen of any nation. Here, the Jews on one side, and
Gentiles on the other, are placed in distinction and contrast. The Jews
were God's people, the Gentiles were "without God, and without hope
in the world.'' But after being severed by a special providence for so
long a period of time, both meet in Messiah and are made one, in whom
there is neither Jew nor Greek. All nations thus saved through Christ's
blood constitute the seed of Abraham by promise, the '' true Israel of
God."
"And upon thy holy city." God had said,
"I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there.'' 2
Chronicles 6: 6. After the children of Israel entered the land of
promise, and God fulfilled his covenant to them, he desired a place among
them for his dwelling place, and he chose Jerusalem. There the
sanctuary was built, and there God dwelt. For this reason it was
denominated the holy city. There is where God met with, and answered the
prayers of his people. They came to Jerusalem to worship. When a Jew at a
distant point, prayed, he turned his face to Jerusalem. Even Daniel
turned his face toward Jerusalem and prayed three times a day. That was a
holy city, for God placed his name there and dwelt there. But the moment
Christ expired upon the cross, the Lord took his name out of Jerusalem,
and it lost its sacredness. It was no longer the holy city. The words of
Jesus to the Samaritan woman were now fulfilled. "Our fathers
worshiped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place
where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the
hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at
Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what : we know what
we worship ; for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now
is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in
truth : for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and
they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." John
4:20-24.
Up to that time Jerusalem was the place to worship.
But the moment Christ died, it ceased to be so, and now in every
place, wherever two or three are gathered in his name, and worship
him in spirit and in truth, there he is in the midst of them. Jerusalem,
in this dispensation, is no more regarded by the God of heaven than
London, New York, or any other city.
"To finish the transgression, and to make an end
of sins." Christ by his death accomplished all this. He
"put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." "He hath
washed us from our sins in his own precious blood," and, "The
blood of Jesus Christ his Son, cleanseth us from all sin." Thus we
obtain a perfect deliverance from all sin, reach the end of sin, and
obtain an uttermost salvation. Not only are we delivered from all sin,
but his abundant grace keeps us from committing sin. ''Whosoever is born
of God doth not commit sin." 1 John 3: 9.
"To make reconciliation for
iniquity." Hear the fulfillment: "For when we were yet
without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely
for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some
would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in
that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being
now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For
if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his
Son; much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not
only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we
have now received the atonement." Romans 5:6-11. "And having
made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things
unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things
in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind
by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh
through death, to present you holy and unblamable and unreprovable in his
sight.'' Colossians 1: 20-22.
"And to bring in everlasting
righteousness." This signifies a complete deliverance from sin,
and a supply of grace to serve God "in holiness and righteousness
before him, all the days of our life." Luke 1:74, 75. Thus saith the
Lord: "The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all
men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should
live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.'' Titus
2:11, 12.
"He shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to
cease." The sacrifices and oblations of the law were but types
of Christ and his great atonement. Sacrifice generally
signifies slaughter. Oblation, offering or present. So Christ
offered his body, and presented it to God for a sacrifice to atone for
the sins of the whole world. He was given as a sacrifice and oblation.
His offering was perfect, and brought eternal redemption to the world.
Hence, when he expired upon the cross, the sacrifices and oblations of
the law ceased to be accepted of God. They were but types, and
now were all fulfilled.
"And for the overspreading of abominations, he
shall make it desolate." This marks the end of the
worldly sanctuary. The temple at Jerusalem was
God's sanctuary up to this time. But it belonged to the types
and shadows of the old dispensation. Over five hundred years before
Christ appeared, it was foretold that he would build the temple of the
Lord. Zechariah 6:12, 13. When he came upon earth, in fulfillment of the
Old Testament predictions, he began building the temple, or new
covenant sanctuary—the church of God. Just before he expired upon
the cross, he uttered these words, "It is finished." His death,
the shedding of his blood, was the last thing necessary to complete the
structure—to finish the house of God, "which is the church of the
living God," in which we are builded together for an habitation of
God through the Spirit. The antitype of the
worldly sanctuary was now complete; hence, the shadow passed
away and gave place to the substance. The moment Jesus expired, and the
new covenant sanctuary was finished, "the vail
of the temple [in Jerusalem] was rent in twain from top to bottom.''
Matthew 27: 51. God moved out of that earthly building, never more to
dwell in temples made with hands. Their great house at Jerusalem was made
desolate in fulfillment of Jesus' own words in Luke 13:34, 35. "O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that
are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children
together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!
Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you,
Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he
that cometh in the name of the Lord." The Jews would not be gathered
under his wings, but filled up the cup of their iniquities by crucifying
the Messiah. Their wickedness and abominations had reached to the
full, and God forsook their house forever, and left it desolate. We
will next consider what was to happen to the desolate sanctuary.
''He shall make it desolate, even until the
consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the
desolate." Daniel 9: 27. The consummation of a thing is the end of
it. That worldly house was made desolate at Christ's death, and was to
remain so until its end, or final destruction; until "that
determined shall be poured upon the desolate."
Something determined was to come upon the sanctuary and
city. What was that? "And the people of the prince that shall
come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end
thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations
are determined." Verse 26, Common Version. "And he shall
destroy the city and the sanctuary with the prince that is coming: they
shall be cut off with a flood, and to the end of the war which is rapidly
completed he shall appoint the city to desolations.'' Verse 26, LXX. This
is a clear prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman
armies. Jesus foretold it in the following language: "And when he
was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, If thou
hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong
unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall
come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and
compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee
even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not
leave in thee one stone upon another; “because thou knewest not the time
of thy visitation." Luke 19:41-44.
Vespasian was the tenth Caesar and Roman emperor,
ruling from A. D. 70 to 79. Prior to A. D. 70 he carried his conquest
into Judea, and laid the cities and countries waste. City after city
fell into his hands, until at length the Jews gathered their hosts inside
the walls of Jerusalem. In A. D. 70 Vespasian returned to Rome, and left
the war in Judea to his son Titus. Titus, now in sole command, marched
the Roman legions to Jerusalem, and hemmed the city in on all sides. The
casting of a trench about her was literally fulfilled. Titus, having made
several assaults upon the city without success, resolved to surround it
with a wall, which was completed in three days. The wall was thirty nine
furlongs in length, and was strengthened with thirteen forts at proper
distances, so that all hope of escape was cut off: none could escape, and
no provision could be brought in. When this wall and trench were
completed, they were enclosed on every side. This soon reduced the
inhabitants to a most terrible distress by the famine which ensued.
It will be well worth the reader's attention to read
the whole account of that great tribulation as recorded by Josephus.
Moses foretold this awful calamity which befell the Jewish nation as
follows: "The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from
the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue
thou shalt not understand; a nation of fierce countenance, which shall
not regard the person of the old? nor show favor to the young: and he
shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou
be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil,
or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have
destroyed thee. And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high
and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy
land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land,
which the Lord thy God hath given thee. And thou shalt eat the fruit of
thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which
the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straightness,
wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee: so that the man that is
tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his
brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his
children which he shall leave: so that he will not give to any of them of
the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left
him in the siege, and in the straightness, wherewith thine enemies shall
distress thee in all thy gates. The tender and delicate woman among you,
which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for
delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of
her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, and toward her
young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children
which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things
secretly in the siege and straightness, wherewith thine enemy shall
distress thee in thy gates.'' Deuteronomy 28: 49-57.
We will here insert the following from Josephus, to
show that the above was all fulfilled in the famine which ensued in the
city: " So all hope of escaping was now cut off from the Jews, together
with their liberty of going out of the city. Then did the famine widen
its progress, and devoured the people by whole houses and families; the
upper rooms were full of women and children that were dying by famine,
and the lanes of the city were full of the dead bodies of the aged; the
children also and the young men wandered about the market-places like
shadows, all swelled with the famine, and fell down dead, where soever
their misery seized them. As for burying them, those that were sick
themselves were not able to do it; and those that were hearty and well
were deterred from doing it by the great multitude of those dead
bodies, and by the uncertainty there was how soon they should die
themselves; for many died as they were burying others, and many went to
their coffins before that fatal hour was come. Nor was there any
lamentations made under these calamities, nor were heard any mournful
complaints; but the famine confounded all natural passions; for those who
were just going to die looked upon those that were gone to rest before
them with dry eyes and open mouths.
"A deep silence also, and a kind of deadly night,
had seized upon the city; while yet the robbers were still more terrible
than these miseries were themselves; for they brake open those houses
which were no other than graves of dead bodies, and plundered them of
what they had; and carrying off the coverings of their bodies, went out
laughing, and tried the points of their swords in their dead bodies; and,
in order to prove what metal they were made of, they thrust some of those
through that still lay alive upon the ground; but for those that
entreated them to lend them their right hand and their sword to dispatch
them, they were too proud to grant their requests, and left them to be
consumed by the famine.
"Now every one of these died with their eyes
fixed upon the temple, and left the seditious alive behind them. Now the
seditious at first gave orders that the dead should be buried out of the
public treasury, as not enduring the stench of their dead bodies. But
afterwards, when they could not do that they had them cast down from the
walls into the valleys beneath. However, when Titus, in going his rounds
along those valleys, saw them full of dead bodies, and the thick
putrefaction running about them, he gave a groan; and, spreading out his
hands to heaven, called God to witness that this was not his doing; and
such was the sad case of the city itself." Josephus' Wars, Book V,
Chapter XII.
"Now of those that perished by famine in the
city, the number was prodigious, and the miseries they underwent were
unspeakable; for if so much as the shadow of any kind of food did
anywhere appear, a war was commenced presently, and the dearest friends
fell a fighting one with another about it, snatching from each other the
most miserable supports of life. Nor would men believe that those who
were dying had no food, but the robbers would search them when they were
expiring, lest any one should have concealed food in their bosoms, and
counterfeited dying; nay, these robbers gaped for want, and ran about
stumbling and staggering along like mad dogs, and reeling against the
doors of the houses like drunken men; they would also, in the great
distress they were in, rush into the very same houses two or three times
in one and the same day.
"Moreover, their hunger was so intolerable, that
it obliged them to chew every thing, while they gathered such things as
the most sordid animals would not touch, and endured to eat them; nor did
they at length abstain from girdles and shoes; and the very leather which
belonged to their shields they pulled off and gnawed: the very wisps of
old hay became food to some; and some gathered up fibres, and sold a very
small weight of them for four Attic [drachmae].
"But why do I describe the shameless impudence
that the famine brought on men in their eating inanimate things, while I
am going to relate a matter of fact, the like to which no history
relates, either among the Greeks or Barbarians? It is horrible to speak
of it, and incredible when heard. I had indeed willingly omitted this
calamity of ours, that I might not seem to deliver what is so portentous
to posterity, but that I have innumerable witnesses to it in my own age;
and besides, my country would have had little reason to thank me for
suppressing the miseries that she underwent at this time.
"There was a certain woman that dwelt beyond
Jordan, her name was Mary; her father was Eleazar, of the village
Bethezob, which signifies the house of hyssop. She was eminent for her
family and her wealth, and had fled away to Jerusalem with the rest of
the multitude, and was with them besieged therein at this time. The other
effects of this woman had been already seized upon, such I mean as she
had brought with her out of Perea, and removed to the city. What she had
treasured up besides, as also what food she had contrived to save, had
also been carried off by the rapacious guards, who came every day running
into her house for that purpose. This put the poor woman into a very
great passion, and by the frequent reproaches and imprecations she cast
at these rapacious villians, she had provoked them to anger against her;
but none of them, either out of indignation she had raised against
herself, or out of commiseration of her case, would take away her life;
and if she found any food, she perceived her labors were for others, and
not for herself; and it was now become impossible for her any way to find
any more food, while the famine pierced through her very bowels and
marrow, when also her passion was fired to a degree beyond the famine
itself; nor did she consult with any thing but with her passion and the
necessity she was in.
"She then attempted a most unnatural thing; and
snatching up her son, who was a child sucking at her breast, she said, 'O
thou miserable infant! for whom shall I preserve thee in this war, this
famine, and this sedition? As to the war with the Romans, if they
preserve our lives we must be slaves. This famine also will destroy us,
even before that slavery comes upon us. Yet are these seditious rogues
more terrible than both the other. Come on; be thou my food, and be
thou a fury to these seditious varlets, and a by-word to the world, which
is all that is now wanting to complete the calamities of us Jews.'
"As soon as she had said this she slew her son,
and then roasted him, and eat the one half of him and kept the other half
by her concealed. Upon this the seditious came in presently, and smelling
the horrid scent of this food, they threatened her that they would cut
her throat immediately if she did not show them what food she had gotten
ready. She replied that she had saved a very fine portion of it for them,
and withal uncovered what was left of her son. Hereupon they were seized
with a horror and amazement of mind, and stood astonished at the sight,
when she said to them, 'This is mine own son, and what hath been done was
mine own doing! Come, eat of this food; for I have eaten of it myself! Do
not you pretend to be either more tender than a woman, or more
compassionate than a mother; but if you be so scrupulous, and do
abominate this my sacrifice, as I have eaten the one half, let the rest
be reserved for me also.'
"After which those men went out trembling, being
never so much affrighted at any thing as they were at this, and with some
difficulty they left the rest of that meat to the mother. Upon which the
whole city was full of this horrid action immediately; and while
everybody laid this miserable case before their own eyes, they trembled,
as if this unheard-of action had been done by themselves. So those that
were thus distressed by the famine were very desirous to die, and those
already dead were esteemed happy, because they had not lived long enough
either to hear or to see such miseries.'' Wars of the Jews, Book VI, Chapter
III.
These few extracts from Josephus' account give us a
faint idea of what came upon that people. "And Jesus went out,
and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to show
him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all
these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one
stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. When ye therefore
shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet,
stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand) then let
them which be in Judea flee into the mountains: let him which is on the
housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: neither let
him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto
them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But
pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath
day.'' Matthew 24:1, 2, 15-20.
The abomination of desolation is the supplanting of
the true worship of God by pagan worship. It will be remembered that
Antiochus placed the abomination of desolation in Jerusalem. This he did
by abolishing the worship of Jehovah, and setting up heathen worship on
the sacred ground of the temple; building an altar on top of God's altar,
and sacrificing swine's flesh on the same. Just so did the Romans.
"And now the Romans, upon the flight of the seditious into the city,
and upon the burning of the holy house itself, and of all the buildings
round about it, brought the ensigns to the temple, and set them over
against the east gate; and there did they offer sacrifice to them, and
there did they make Titus imperator with the greatest acclamations of
joy."—Josephus.
"Almost the entire religion of the Roman camp
consisted in worshiping the ensigns, swearing by the ensigns, and
preferring the ensigns before all other gods."—Tertullian.
Thus the Romans did what Antiochus had done,
supplanted the worship of God by heathen worship. They sacrificed to
their standards, the standards of the very army which did desolate the
city and sanctuary. This was truly an abomination of desolation.
Jesus gave the church a sign by which they might know when the time had
arrived for the city to be destroyed. By this sign they might know when
to flee out of the doomed city and make their escape. "And when ye
shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation
thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains;
and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them
that are in the countries enter there into." Luke 21:20, 21.
Just as soon as the Roman armies were to appear, that
was a sure sign for the disciples of Christ to flee out . This counsel
was remembered by the Christians. Eusebius tells us that "all who
believed in Christ left Jerusalem and fled to Pella, and other places
beyond the river Jordan; and so they all marvelously escaped the general
shipwreck of their country; not one of them perished."
The Lord urged them to pray that their flight be not
in the winter, neither on the sabbath day. In the winter the hardness of
the season, the condition of the roads, the shortness of the days, and
the length of nights, would all be great impediments to their flight. On
the Jewish sabbath the gates of all the cities and towns in every place
were kept shut and barred, so that if their flight had been on a sabbath
they could not have escaped, nor found admission in any place of security
in the land.
God took care to provide for the escape of the
Christians out of the awful calamity which befell the Jews. Prior to the
time when Titus marched his hosts to the city, Cestius Gallus, the
president of Syria, came against Jerusalem with a powerful army. He might
have assaulted the city and taken it, and thereby put an end to the war;
but with out any just reason, and contrary to the expectation of all, he
raised the siege and departed. Josephus remarks that at this time,
"many of the principal Jewish people forsook the city as men do a
sinking ship." These evidently were the Christians, who understood
from Jesus' words, that the desolation of the place was nigh. Jesus
pitied such as would be with child, and gave suck in those days. Such
would not be in a condition to escape; neither could they bear the
miseries of the awful siege.
Daniel foretold these miseries as follows: "And
there shall be a time of tribulation, such tribulation as has not been
from a time that there was a nation on the earth until that time: at that
time thy people shall be delivered, even every one that is written in the
book." Daniel 12: 1, LXX.
This delivering of the people of God refers to their
escape out of the city upon which this great tribulation was coming.
Jesus used the same language as Daniel with reference to the destruction
of the city: '' For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not
since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And
except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved:
but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." Matthew 24:
21, 22. '' Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and
let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that
are in the countries enter there into. For these be the days of
vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe
unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days!
for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this
people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away
captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the
Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.'' Luke 21: 21-24.
No history can furnish us a parallel to the calamities
and miseries of the Jews: rapine, murder, famine, and pestilence within;
fire and sword, and all the horrors of war without. Our Lord wept at the
foresight of these calamities; and it is almost impossible for any humane
person to read them, as recorded by the Jewish historian, without weeping
also. These were the '' days of vengeance, that all things which were
written might be fulfilled." All the calamities predicted by Moses,
Isaiah, Daniel, and other prophets, as well as those predicted by our
Savior, met in one common center, and were fulfilled in the most terrible
manner on that generation. God sent vengeance and wrath upon that people
for the blood they had shed. Josephus computes the number of those who
perished in the siege at eleven hundred thousand. In the entire
war about 1,357,660 were slaughtered. If it had continued much longer, no
flesh would have been saved. The whole Jewish nation would have been
wiped out of existence. But Jesus had said that "this generation
shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.'' The generation of the Jews
was to be preserved till the end. For this reason '' those days were
shortened.'' The Lord overruled things insomuch that an elect seed was
preserved. These were led captive into all nations. Even yet, to-day, the
Jews are a scattered people among all nations. They long for a time to
return and be recognized in their own land, but whether this desire will
ever be realized, time alone will tell. Jerusalem was to be trodden down
of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
There are yet a few things I will mention, which will
be of interest to the reader. Jesus foretold that prior to this awful
destruction, there would be '' fearful sights, and great signs from
heaven." Luke 21:11. We will here quote from Josephus, Book VI,
Chapter V. "Thus were the miserable people persuaded by these
deceivers, and such as belied God himself; while they did not attend nor
give credit to the signs that were so evident, and did so plainly
foretell their future desolation, but, like men infatuated, without
either eyes to see or minds to consider, did not regard the denunciations
that God made to them. Thus there was a star resembling a sword, which
stood over the city, and a comet that continued a whole year."
He further says that "at the ninth hour of the
night, so great a light shone round the altar and the holy house, that it
appeared to be bright daytime; which lasted for half an hour. ... At the
same festival also, a heifer, as she was led by the high priest to be
sacrificed, brought forth a lamb in the midst of the temple.
"Moreover the eastern gate of the inner [court of
the] temple, which was of brass, and vastly heavy, and had been with
difficulty shut by twenty men, and rested upon a basis armed with iron,
and had bolts fastened very deep into the firm floor, which was there
made of one entire stone, was seen to be opened of its own accord about
the sixth hour of the night. Now those that kept watch in the temple came
hereupon, running to the captain of the temple, and told him of it; who
then came up thither, and not without great difficulty was able to shut
the gate again. This also appeared to the vulgar to be a very happy
prodigy, as if God did thereby open them the gate of happiness. But the
men of learning understood it, that the security of their holy house was
dissolved of its own accord, and that the gate was opened for the
advantage of their enemies. So these publicly declared that the signal
foreshadowed the desolation that was coming upon them.
"Beside these, a few days after that feast, on
the one and twentieth day of the month Artemisius, a certain
prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared: I suppose the account of
it would seem to be a fable, were it not related by those who saw it, and
were not the events that followed it of so considerable a nature as to
deserve such signals; for, before sun setting, chariots and troops of
soldiers in their armor were seen running about among the clouds, and
surrounding of cities.
''Moreover, at that feast which we call Pentecost, as
the priests were going by night into the inner [court of the] temple, as
their custom was, to perform their sacred ministrations, they said that,
in the first place, they felt a quaking, and heard a great noise, and
after that they heard a sound as of a great multitude, saying,' Let us
remove hence.'
''But what is still more terrible, there was one
Jesus, the son of Ananus, a plebeian and a husbandman, who, for four
years before the war began, and at a time when the city was in very great
peace and prosperity, came to that feast whereon it is our custom for
every one to make tabernacles to God in the temple, began on a sudden to
cry aloud, 'A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice from
the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem and the holy house, a voice
against the bridegrooms and the brides, and a voice against this whole
people!' "
Josephus tells us, that though the magistrates
endeavored by stripes and tortures to restrain him, yet he still cried
with a mournful voice, "Woe, woe, to Jerusalem!" And this he
continued to do for several years together, going about the walls and
crying with a loud voice: "Woe, woe, to the city again, and to the
people, and to the holy house!'' And as he added,'' Woe, woe, to
myself!" a stone from some sling or engine struck him dead on the spot.
It is worthy of remark, that Josephus appeals to the
testimony of others, who saw and heard these fearful things. Tacitus, a
Roman historian, gives very nearly the same account as that of Josephus.
As to the high veneration which the Jews cherished for
their temple, we quote the following from another writer: '' Their
reverence for the sacred edifice was such, that, rather than witness its
defilement, they would cheerfully submit to death. They could not bear
the least disrespectful or dishonorable thing said of it. The least
injurious slight of it, real or apprehended, instantly awakened all the
choler of a Jew, and was an affront never to be forgiven. Our Savior, in
the course of his public instructions, happened to say, ' Destroy this
temple, and in three days I will raise it up.' John 2:19. This was
construed into a contemptuous disrespect, designedly thrown out against
the temple; his words instantly descended into the hearts of the Jews,
and kept rankling there for several years; for upon his trial, this
declaration, which it was impossible for a Jew ever to forget, or to
forgive, was alleged against him as the most atrocious guilt and impiety.
Matthew 26: 61. Nor was the rancor and virulence which this expression
had occasioned, at all softened by all the affecting circumstances of
that excruciating and wretched death they saw him die: even as he hung
upon the cross, with triumph, scorn, and exultation, they upbraided him
with it, contemptuously shaking their heads and saying: 'Thou that destroyest
the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself.' Matthew
27:40."
It is also true that when the Jews tried to condemn
Stephen, they'' set up false witnesses, which said, this man ceaseth not
to speak blasphemous words against this holy place" (meaning the
temple). Acts 6:13. This was blasphemy not to be pardoned; hence, they
put the holy apostle to death. The same was true when the Jews accused
Paul of taking Trophimus an Ephesian into the temple. They said, "He
hath polluted this holy place." This so incited them that they were
ready to put him to death. See Acts 21:1831. In their blind zeal for the
worldly sanctuary, they could not discern the heavenly, which
at that time was established in the earth.
But that splendid building, which was once the
admiration and envy of the world, has forever passed away. According to
our blessed Lord's prediction, that there should not be left one stone
upon another, that should not be thrown down, it was completely
demolished by the Roman soldiers under Titus, A. D. 70, on the same month
of the year, and on the same day of the month on which Solomon's temple
was destroyed by the Babylonians.
The above is a brief history of the old
covenant sanctuary, of which we will speak more particularly in
future chapters.
|
The New
Covenant Sanctuary.
Were it not for the dark leaven of Adventism, a few
plain scriptures were all that need be given to point out
the sanctuary of the New Testament, for all spiritually minded
readers are very naturally led to understand that God's church is
the sanctuary. But since those crafty "children of the
bondwoman" have darkened counsel by their cunningly devised fables,
the reader will please bear with us while we show clearly what
the sanctuary is, and also remove the props of their babel
structure, and let it fall to the ground. What then is
|
THE ADVENTIST THEORY?
We will quote from U. Smith's tract,
"The Sanctuary and the Twenty-Three Hundred Days of
Daniel,'' and from his "Thoughts on Daniel." We introduce the
absurdities of that sect by this man, because he is one of their foremost
writers. He says, '' The Advent body were a unit, and their testimony
shook the world. "—Sanc, page 10. Was that body the body of Christ,
or one of the daughters of great Babylon? The body of Christ is the
church (Ephesians 1: 22, 23; Colossians 1: 18, 24), "The pillar and
ground of the truth," and was called out of the world by the gospel
of truth. How was this Advent body called out? What was her testimony? We
turn to Smith and receive this answer: "A world-wide agitation of
this question of Christ's immediate second coming called out hundreds of
thousands of believers in the doctrine."— Sanc. 10. The time of his
coming was set for Oct. 22, 1844. This was their testimony, and this cry
called out that body. Was it true or false? Were their hopes realized in
the "immediate coming of Christ"? Let the same writer answer:
"Suddenly their power was broken, their strength
scattered, their ranks divided, and their testimony paralyzed. They
passed the point of their expectation and realized not their hope. That a
mistake had been made somewhere, none could deny. From that point, the
history of the majority of that once happy, united people [happy in
believing a delusion, and only united in the same] has been marked by
discord, division, confusion, speculations, new mistakes, fresh
disappointments, disintegration and apostasy. The world, without careful
scrutiny looks complacently upon this result, and, relieved of its
anxiety respecting the Lord's coming, is wont to regard all classes of
Adventists as only the remnants of an exploded delusion."—Sanc. 10,
11.
This well describes the facts, not only as seen by the
world, but also by men of God, who view the ruins with "careful
scrutiny." Here then we prove by their own witness that the Advent
movement was animated by a false prediction, that their "body"
was called out by a delusion, that their unity was based on a lie, and
their explosion wrought the fruits of division, confusion and apostasy,
all of which force the conclusion that the whole thing originated with
the father of lies. In the language of U. Smith, '' It must have been a
mighty influence of some kind." True; but we are told that Satan is
"mighty," and it may have been his influence. We have only to
consider whether their "testimony," and prediction that Christ
would come on Oct. 22, 1844, was true or false, to determine whether the
excitement arising from it was of God, or of the devil; for God never
moves out on a falsehood, nor invents a false alarm; but his Book
ascribes to Satan the fatherhood of all lies. Therefore, the Adventist
movement, having been created by a falsehood, must have been a
"mighty influence of some" satanic kind. Such was its evident
character while united on a wild fanaticism, and such it has remained
since their false prediction failed. Says Smith:
"Let it be remembered that God can not be the
author of the confusion that has existed since that time in some branches
of the Advent body."—Sanc. 15. If he was not the author of the thing
when united on an error, nor yet of its confusion after falling into
fragments, we conclude that he never had anything to do with it. '' The
fruits of the Spirit are in all goodness,'' and,'' A good tree can not
bring forth evil fruit.'' But what kind of fruit could be expected from a
tree which took its root in the soil of error? Let us call your attention
to two evils that have grown out of that sect, which are acknowledged in
the quotations we have given from Smith. First, "apostasy."
We have been informed by men who witnessed the Miller excitement that,
many who had been sincere Christians were carried away with this
"wind of doctrine,'' disposed of their homes, "at a great
sacrifice, neglected all temporal duties, and after they found themselves
deceived, cast the blame upon the Bible, and apostatized.
Some time ago the conviction came clearly to our mind,
that the Adventist commotion was specially invented by the devil as a
false alarm of Christ's second coming, well knowing that the reaction
would involve the whole world in carnal indifference and deep slumber on
the awful fact of his coming; to our astonishment we find U. Smith
admitting that such was the very effect produced. In the words already
quoted he says that the world is "relieved of its anxiety respecting
the Lord's coming." That is a natural consequence, since one extreme
generally follows another. Satan seems to have had some knowledge of the
fact that the time drew near when God's messengers would '' run to and
fro," publishing salvation, announcing the signs of Christ's coming,
and gathering God's holy remnant, ready for the Bridegroom's coming.
Therefore he prematurely moved a great excitement, based upon a set time
that would soon betray all who were thereby carried away, and thus ease
the whole world down into a deep slumber, only to be broken by the
thunders of the judgment day. To illustrate the effect: Suppose the
people of a village are suddenly aroused from their sleep by the cry of
fire. They rush forth into the streets, but, finding no fire, conclude
they have been imposed upon by a false alarm. They retire with sullen
feelings, not to be easily fooled again. Yea, they lie down and give
themselves to slumber that is undisturbed by a similar report, even
though it prove to be a true one that imperils their very lives.
Just so the devil has sent out the false cry of Adventism, and a thousand
other lying novelties, until the masses, disgusted and bewildered, have
given themselves over to carnal indifference, and have, as it were, laid
themselves down to sleep over the very fires of hell; and few can be
waked by the awful trump of present truth. Oh, how dreadful the
situation!
And after this great bubble of 1844 collapsed, Satan
took an advanced step by organizing the confused throng on a
no-soul-all-bondage creed, sending forth their teachers to deceive the
nations, turning men away from the kingdom of heaven to the kingdom of
legality, darkness and death. But confusion of face was upon them. They
had deceived the people once, and how could they expect their confidence
again ? Some device must be sought out by which they could account for
their failure, and, in some measure at least, escape the reproach of
being false teachers. Because Christ did not come, and the earth was not
cleansed at the time announced, Smith says, "It has led the
majority, while divided on many other points, to agree on this, that the
2,300 days did not end in 1844. It has led them to make a full surrender
of positions which were once acknowledged to be the ground and pillar of
the Advent faith.' '—Sanc. 18. Here it is confessed that their mere
speculation on a point of prophecy was the pillar and ground of their
sect. Had truth been their pillar and ground it would not have failed
them. But while the majority left off this fanaticism, others sought out
a new device. Their theory had been as follows:
"The sanctuary is the earth, or at least some portion of
the earth. Its cleansing is to be by fire. But the renovation of the
earth is to take place only at the second coming of the Lord."—Sanc.
15. "The theory as held in 1844 consisted of two main propositions:
(1) That the 2,300 days would end in 1844. (2) That the earth was
the sanctuary then to be cleansed."—page 16.
Such blindness betrays an utter absence of spiritual
knowledge. Had they ever ''sanctified the Lord God in their hearts,''
they would have known the place of his sanctuary; but being earthly,
their foolish minds worked for an earthly sanctuary. Instead of
their crumbled pillar, they set up this, if possible, more ridiculous
fabrication; namely, the earth is not the sanctuary, but it is
something up in heaven. Having thus shifted the scene
of cleansing to a realm that lies beyond human observation,
they have this advantage; i. e., their second delusion is not exposed to
general view as was the first. On this new fabrication they base a claim
that "the calculation of the time was correct. In 1844 the great
period of 2,300 years was finished, which marked the commencement of the
work of cleansing the sanctuary."—Sanc. 72. So we are told
that in 1844 Christ began to clean out his sanctuary in heaven.
And upon this disgusting theory Adventists hope to redeem themselves from
the stigma of their past blunders. It is the only soul in their system;
the only "remedy," as Smith says, for the movement, which
"has fallen into such misfortune and weakness."
"The sanctuary is the one subject that brings order out of
all this chaos."—Sanc. 11.
Again, " If we take the ground that the prophetic
periods did not then expire, the whole work falls to the ground as wholly
false and unscriptural. For if the termination of the prophetic period is
yet future, another like movement is to transpire [God forbid], and the
one we had was a counterfeit and a fraud. Then we must attribute to
fanaticism that work."—Sanc, page 74. On page 141 and 142 it is
again conceded that if that time calculation was not correct, then,
"the past Advent movement is all a failure. But if there is nothing
to the past movement, there is certainly nothing to the present."
Here then is the conclusion of the whole matter. It is
virtually a confession that the sect has no other apology for its
existence save the interpretation of certain prophecy, which, according
to their discovery, has nothing to do with the salvation of men on earth,
but relates exclusively to what is going on in heaven. It is a frank
acknowledgement that there is no vital principle, nor regenerating
element in the thing. If it did not hit that date all right it is "
all a failure,'' and there is "nothing to the past movement,"
and "certainly nothing to the present.'' In short, it has proved to
be good for nothing. It neither possesses nor teaches any real salvation,
and has never helped any one into the kingdom of heaven; therefore if its
high assumption of wisdom and prophecy proves to be
"fanaticism," then the whole thing is a " counterfeit and
a fraud.'' The whole system then rests upon the single pivot that their
application of time in Daniel 8:14 was correct. If this last shift is
overthrown the entire superstructure, as Smith has admitted, '' falls to
the ground as wholly false and unscriptural." And fall it must
before the light of God's truth. A certain calculation, and not Christ,
is its foundation. The Lord pity the sect that rests upon such a
precarious device. Surely you look in vain for deliverance to your
imaginary sanctuary; for the hail of God's Word will sweep it away.
We shall prove that your second delusion is no better than the first.
First, then, we will examine their new invention that
they have sought out. Briefly and fairly set forth it is this: The
tabernacle and temple were God's sanctuary during the first
covenant. They were a type of the sanctuary under the present
covenant, which is in heaven. When the Israelite brought a sacrifice to
be offered by the priest according to the law, he did not receive a
clear pardon for the sin he had committed. "But he was as yet only
relatively or conditionally free. The law still held him, and unless its
claims should be more directly satisfied, the remission of his sins would
not be secured."—Sanc. 133. The sinning Jew being only partially
forgiven, we are told his sins were transferred from him to
the sanctuary, and there kept on hand, as if they were ponderable
things that could be done up in a package, labeled and stored away.
"Their transfer," says U. Smith, "from the sinner to
the sanctuary was not the final disposition of them. They were not
borne into the sanctuary either to remain there forever, or to be
considered as blotted out and removed. But they were treated as still in
existence, and as hateful and evil things."—Sanc. 128. Then Advent
fictions further inform us that on the great day of atonement, the tenth
day of the seventh month of each year, all that large stock of sins that
had accumulated against the repentant Jews during the year was brought
out, laid on the scapegoat, and by him borne off into the wilderness and
thus finally disposed of.
Then it is further stated that this round of
ceremonies in the temple is a type of Christ's high priestly association
in heaven. The interval between the annual days of atonement corresponds
with Christ's ministry from the time of his ascension until Oct. 22,
1844. And as the sins of the Jews were only relatively forgiven, laid up
in the temple, so the sins of all who had believed on Christ from the
beginning of the gospel until Oct. 22, 1844 had accumulated in
the sanctuary in heaven. See "Thoughts on Daniel,"
page 233. And on the above date Christ left the holy place of
the sanctuary in heaven, entered the most holy and began to
cleanse that sanctuary, as the last stage of his high priestly
office. And upon this beautiful story rests the entire fabric of
Adventism. "For," says Smith, "if
the sanctuary is not now being cleansed, the position and work
of our Lord differs in no respect from what they have been the past 1,800
years; and the past Advent movement is all a
failure."—Sanc, page 141.
No wonder the new invention has been diligently sought
out. It has been demonstrated in the nineteenth century that men become
so intent on saving their own religion from disrepute that they forget
that they have a soul to be saved from sin, and that there is a Christ
who is able to save it. Who ever heard, or read in the Bible, that God
partially forgave men's sins? even the sins for which the guilty party
had offered the required sacrifice? In Leviticus 4:20, 26, 31, 35; 5:10,
17, 18, you will find that when the Israelite trespassed against the law
of God, he was required to bring a certain sacrifice, which the priest
was to offer; and thus, it is stated on each several occasion, The priest
"shall make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven
him." Not once does it state that it "shall be relatively
forgiven him." The priest shall offer the sacrifice there and then,
and in so doing he "shall make an atonement for him," "and
it shall be forgiven him." As sure as the atoning sacrifice was then
offered, God declares their sin was at the instant forgiven. But Smith
says, "The remission of his sins would not be secured;"
"the law still held him" until the day of atonement. But God
says the sacrifice offered for him made a full legal atonement for him,
and actually secured his pardon on the spot. God's way is to forgive and
remember no more our sins against us; and this was true in the legal, as
well as in the present dispensation.
In the whole law of pardon under the Levitical
priesthood, there is not one hint that sins were only relatively
remitted, and not one word do we read about them being conveyed into
the sanctuary. The Advents are entitled to a patent on that idea,
for it wholly originated with them, and was never thought of before in
heaven, nor on earth. They also originated the idea that the great day of
atonement disposed of sins that had been previously remitted. The solemn
services of that day are described in Leviticus 16. Several times in the
chapter we are told that the sacrifice then offered was to cleanse
the sanctuary, and had it been from sins transferred from
pardoned sinners, it would doubtless have been somewhere recorded.
Neither does the inspired record, by silence, give room for the new
conjecture. Nay, we shall prove by plain statements in the divine record
that the sanctuary was to be cleansed from the uncleanness of
the people in the camp, and not from sins that had been "relatively
pardoned," and conveyed into the temple during the year. "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. '' Leviticus
16:16. " 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.'' Lev. 16: 30.
It was because the sanctuary "remained
among them in the midst of their uncleanness," that this
cleansing was necessary. The sin of the people which rested upon
them, and not what had been conveyed from them into the holiest, required
this annual atonement. Nothing is said in all God's Book
of cleansing the sanctuary of sins previously
forgiven. It is only found in Smith's book, and those of his fellows
under the smoke of Sinai. If, as Adventism teaches, the sins of the
pardoned Jews were conveyed into the holiest, during all the year, and
not yet wholly forgiven, but "treated as hateful," etc., and
that has all been repeated in antitype, from the beginning of the gospel
of Christ until Oct. 22, 1844, as their story runs, then it follows, as a
result of that creed, that Christ never granted the complete pardon of a
sinner prior to A. D. 1844. And every man who believed, realized, and
testified that his sins were fully pardoned and all blotted out, was
deceived.
Instead of having it done as David testified in Psalms
103: 12—"As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed
our transgressions from us"—they were only separated a few feet, and
deposited in the holiest place. And in the case of the penitent believer
in Christ, they were not blotted out, but conveyed to heaven, and laid up
against him, and all those happy new-born souls that implicitly believed
the testimony of the Spirit in their hearts—that their sins were wholly pardoned—were
deceived by that testimony. And so it has been discovered in the
nineteenth century, that the old prophet Jeremiah was badly mistaken when
he represented God as saying,'' I will forgive their iniquity, and I will
remember their sin no more." Jeremiah 31: 34. This novel creed
dishonors God, and the plan of salvation, by teaching that he only
"relatively" forgives, and for eighteen hundred years still
remembered their sins against them. Such are the absurdities and
abominable doctrines of confusion that men fall into when they try to
invent props to sustain a false creed.
Hebrews 8:1, 2 is chiefly relied upon to prove that
the sanctuary is up in heaven. The argument drawn from it is
this: Christ is seated on the right hand of the throne in the heavens.
Christ is a minister of the true sanctuary, which the Lord
pitched, and not man; therefore that sanctuary is in heaven,
and not on earth. But this is a false reasoning as we shall prove. First,
before any force can be ascribed to it, the writer would have to
prove that Christ is not omnipresent ; that while seated on the right
hand of the throne in the heavens, he is not also present in this world;
that he does not dwell in his church on earth. And when Mr. Smith
succeeds in disproving these things he will also have overdrawn the
Bible; for such is clearly its teaching. The fact, therefore, that Christ
ascended into heaven does not prove that his sanctuary is only
in heaven. Neither does the scripture under consideration assert that the
true sanctuary was pitched in heaven, though Smith repeatedly
so words it.
We shall hereafter prove that Christ's ministry is not
a ceremonial routine in heaven, but a saving ministration on earth. He
did not enter it after ascending into heaven, but "Christ being come
an high priest of good things, by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle," which he "entered by his own blood," became a
perfect Savior. Then follow the results of his high-priestly offering:
"How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal
Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from
dead works to serve the living God?" Hebrews 9:11-14. So Christ came
into this world, built his own sanctuary, and in it ministered
salvation to men through his own blood. That Christ has entered heaven
itself, to appear in the presence of God for us, is all true. He is there
as our advocate with the Father. But it is also an indisputable fact that
he dwells in his church on earth, and we shall establish the fact beyond
the shadow of a doubt that his church is his sanctuary. Hence,
the former fact does not disprove the latter, nor in the least affect it.
Another text from which the new theory is argued is
Revelation 11:19. We remark that heaven may properly be called the temple
of God; and so is the whole universe, for he dwells everywhere. But
distinctively, the sanctuary that is now being cleansed is not
heaven, or anything in heaven, for there is nothing there
needing cleansing. The temple of God opened in heaven is simply
the true church of God brought to view in the heavenlies—the plane of
heaven's purity.
In the very next verses (Revelation 12:1, 2), a great
wonder appears in heaven, a woman travailing in pain to be delivered. On
these verses, Smith himself remarks: "We do not understand that the
events here represented to John took place in heaven where God
resides."—"Thoughts," 521. It is just as evident to our
mind that the last verse of the preceding chapter does not refer to the
place of God's throne. But passing to verse 3 we read: '' And there
appeared another wonder in heaven, and behold a great red dragon."
"And there was war in heaven." Verse 7. Surely heaven above is
not the place of dragons, nor war. In verses 10-12 heaven is also used in
connection with events that transpired on the earth. The chapter on the
two witnesses will make this matter sufficiently plain. So the above
proof text fails to locate the New Testament sanctuary in
heaven, and the argument that Smith draws from Revelation 11: 19 he
himself overthrows by his admission on 12:1.
Hebrews 9:22, 23 is another text used to locate
the sanctuary in heaven. It reads as follows: "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.'' The '' heavenly things''
he supposes to be the two apartments of the sanctuary up in
heaven, corresponding with the two parts of the earthly temple. May the
Lord pity such blindness and confusion! Why do men shut their eyes and
guess at the sense of Scripture when the context furnishes a clear
interpretation of its meaning? Perfected holiness, or purity, is, the theme
of this epistle. Not a cleansing up in heaven, where all is
pure; but the cleansing of men's hearts here on earth, which is
much needed. This glorious plane of holiness was beyond the power of the
law to give, for "the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in
of a better hope did." Hebrews 7:19. This hope is Christ in us. He
hath "obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also, he is
the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better
promises." Hebrews 8:6. Hence, the first covenant made on Sinai, and
engraven on stone "decayeth and waxeth old, is ready to vanish
away." Verse 13.
Then follows a further comparison of things under the
law with the priesthood of Christ in the ninth chapter, reaching a grand
conclusion in verses 11-15. "Christ came by a greater and more
perfect tabernacle;" "the blood of bulls and goats," etc.,
"sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh;
but how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal
Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from
dead works to serve the living God?"
Now what were the patterns of the things in the
heavens, and what the heavenly things, that were purified by better
sacrifices than beasts that were offered by the law? Namely, the very
things that had been spoken of. Two means and degrees
of cleansing are set forth in verses 13, 14, and the same thing
is alluded to again in verse 23. So the heavenly things are simply men
and women who have received the "much more cleansing." The
legal cleansings by the blood of goats, etc., were patterns of the great
salvation not yet revealed from heaven. Whereas those who have received
the perfect purging of their conscience through the blood of Christ,
since he has offered himself without spot to God, are the "heavenly
things" themselves. So called because cleansed by a sacrifice from
heaven; because now raised up to sit with Christ'' in the heavenlies.''
Ephesians 2: 6, Emphatic Diaglott. And they have '' come unto mount Sion,
and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem"
(Hebrews 12: 22), and "have tasted of the heavenly gift."
Hebrews 6:4. Who are blessed "with all spiritual blessings in
heavenly places in Christ." Ephesians 1:3. "To the intent that
now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known
by the church the manifold wisdom of God." Ephesians 3:10. Surely
such as have been cleansed by a heavenly sacrifice have come to the
"heavenly Jerusalem," and are sitting with Christ in
"heavenly places," and are even blessed with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places, even God's church, to whom is revealed the
manifold wisdom of God in the heavenly—surely such are heavenly things.
All these scriptures join with the ninth of Hebrews and prove conclusively
that the "heavenly things," that have been cleansed by better
sacrifices, are just what the writer of the epistle has there set forth;
namely, men and women who had received the "much
more" cleansing of the blood of Christ. Hebrews 9: 22, 23
is simply a recapitulation of the same things taught in verses 13, 14.
Thus the Word explains itself. Men and women are the heavenly things
purified by the heavenly sacrifice. It can not be denied that Christ is a
heavenly being. But with "love made perfect," "as he is so
are we in this world." 1st John 4:17. Then are we also of heavenly
stamp. "For both he that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified,
are all of one" (Hebrews 2:11); all on the plane of heaven's purity,
of heavenly character. Thus is the Advent refuge again overflowed by the
torrents of truth.
Their next argument is drawn from Hebrews 8:5; 9:9,
23. It is this, that "the tabernacle was built after the pattern of
another, a tabernacle up in heaven.'' We may grant all this, and the Word
of the Lord will show us plainly just what that
glorious sanctuary is which cast its shadow from heaven upon
earth in the form of the legal sanctuary. Of course the whole
system of legal sacrifices, with the tabernacle, temple, and high priest,
sustained the relation to Christ and his church of type and antitype.
Jesus was a "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."
Revelation 13: 8. "In the beginning was the word.'' Back at the
foundation of the world, when man fell into sin, God predetermined the
sacrifice of his Son for the world's redemption; and what is foregone in
the mind of God is a fact in his eternal counsel, as real as if already
transpired.
But since Christ was slain from the foundation of the
world, as a sacrifice and Savior, the church, being inseparable from his
great plan of redemption, was also a fact coexisting with the death of
his Son, in the eternal purpose of God, from the foundation of the world.
So the church of the living God, the new Jerusalem, which, in the
fullness of time came down from God out of heaven, was symbolized on
earth by the temple, the pattern of that which was yet in heaven, long
before its manifestation-here below. It is a glorious truth, and one of
the chief objects of the legal system, that God's holy church, his Son the
Redeemer thereof, and the atoning blood of its covenant, all prepared in
the mind of God in his divine plan from the time man fell into sin, cast
before their love-betokening shadow, to inspire hope of coming
redemption. They were, indeed, the prototypes of the temple, its
sacrifices and flowing blood. The tabernacle and temple—both the same in
form, and in their typical relation to the church, and when therefore
we speak of one in this relation, the other is equally included—
were only object lessons on the church of God and the way of salvation.
They were "a shadow of things to come," but as a substance
which casts a shadow must exist before the shadow, so the church of God
and its sacrifice existed before their shadow on earth.
It is very easy, indeed, to comprehend now that the
temple and its blood-sprinkling service were "the example and shadow
of heavenly things," of "things in the heavens," when we
consider that both the church and the slain Lamb of God came down from
God out of heaven, and when we trace the beautiful similitude between the
temple and God's church. But there is not a sentence in the Bible which
makes the tabernacle the shadow of another
"literal sanctuary" in heaven, and distinct from
God's church. That whole theory is a myth of Adventist origin. And we
have seen that the very texts relied upon by U. Smith, when interpreted
in the light of divine truth, overthrow his Dagon. But we will not stop
with them. In the name of Jesus we proceed to demolish the structure by
the testimony of other scriptures.
It is impossible for men to weave a fabric and cover a
fallacious creed, which the Word of God, if permitted to speak, will not
tear away and expose the deception. Bear in mind, the U. Smith invention
is this: "There is in heaven a real, literal sanctuary, the
antitype of the earthly building. ' '—Sanc, page 151. Into the first
apartment of this '' literal "structure in heaven Christ entered at
his ascension, and remained there until Oct. 22, 1844, when he passed on
into the holiest, and began to cleanse it: yes, cleanse the most holy
place in heaven from sin. For, says the doctrine of Adventism: " It
is not accomplished with water, soap, sand, mops, and brushes. It is
a cleansing accomplished with blood. But the use of blood
is for the sake of remission, or forgiveness of sin, nothing else; hence,
the cleansing is a cleansing from sin."—Sanc, page
125. Who ever read of such a thing in the Bible? Surely this is a
soul-sleeper's dream, a disgusting fable. We will now proceed to plain
texts of the Word, which prove it a lying device.
The Hebrew epistle dates A. D. 64. Its inspired writer
informs us that Christ had already at that time "entered into that
within the vail." 6:19, 20. There was in the earthly temple a
beautiful vail that separated the holy and the holy of holies. To enter
therefore within the vail is to enter the holiest place. There is no
evading this fact. We, says the apostle, have "boldness to enter
into the holiest by the blood of Jesus," and "through the vail."
Hebrews 10:19,20. This nails the matter fast.'' Within the vail,'' where
Christ, our high priest, had already entered in A. D. 64 is positively
declared to be "within the holiest." And this must allude to
the "greater and more perfect tabernacle" by which Christ came,
the house of God over which he is high priest, or in other words,
the sanctuary of the new covenant. For into this we—all God's
people—have boldness to enter, but into the former only the high priest
had access.
Again hear the word of the Lord: "But Christ being
come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for
us." Hebrews 9:11, 12.
In the verses preceding, the
"worldly sanctuary" of the first covenant is set
forth as a figure, and in the above words the substance or antitype is
clearly defined as Christ's more perfect tabernacle, into which
he "entered" by his own blood, even into the
"holy place." The Emphatic Diaglott renders, "He entered
once for all, into the holy places." And U. Smith himself observes
on this very passage in "Thoughts on Daniel," page 174, he
"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." The parenthesis
and all are his words. So according to the plural
word hagia, and according to the Emphatic rendering, and U.
Smith's "Thoughts," the holiest place in the
present sanctuary of Christ is included in that which he had already
entered before A. D. 64.
The very words that Smith brings forward to prove his
theory positively overthrow it. But, having the vail over his eyes, he
did not notice that Christ's entrance to the holy places was, at the time
of the inspired writing, a thing of the past. The testimony is,
he "entered" before A. D. 64, and not that he shall
enter in A. D. 1844. The Greek word is in the plural, and the Emphatic,
other versions, and U. Smith, include within it both the holy and most
holy. And this is proved in verse 25 of the same chapter: "As the
high priest entered into the holy place every year with the blood of
others." The word holy is hagia, precisely the same as in
verse 12, and is rendered "holies" in the direct from the
Greek, and "holy places" in the Emphatic translation. So all
can see that Christ had entered the holiest of his more perfect
tabernacle before the epistle to the Hebrews was written, which holiest
was foreshadowed by the most holy place of the first tabernacle, into
which the high priest entered but once every year.
We repeat, that if that which the "high priest
entered every year with blood" is indeed the holiest of all, as
the whole record of the law proves, and the New Testament asserts, then
"by his own blood" he—Christ, our glorious high priest—entered
in once for all into the most, holy place of his greater tabernacle;
because both the annual entrance of the high priest, and that of Christ,
once for all, are declared to be into the hagia—holies. And so the
whole Adventist babel is demolished, as Smith has already confessed, that
if Christ did not enter the holiest of his sanctuary in 1844,
"then the Advent structure falls to the ground as wholly false and
worthless." But we have proved that he entered prior to A. D. 64.
Hence, their babel is destroyed by the oracles of God, and by their own
confession.
Paul says that the sanctuary of Moses was
the sanctuary of the first covenant. It was, as we have seen,
one of the chief features of that covenant. But that covenant has given
place to the new. Jeremiah 31: 31; Hebrews 8:10-12. Under this new
covenant we are now living. This is true of God's spiritual children, but
the Adventists, remaining under bondage to the law, have no part in the
new covenant. Again, after quoting Hebrews 9:1, "Then verily the
first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a
worldly sanctuary," he proceeds: "Paul is showing the
relation which the two covenants sustain to each other; and the
word also, shows that those things which he mentions pertain to
both. One had ordinances of divine service; the other also had them. One
had a sanctuary; the other also had a sanctuary.''
The great question to which we have now come, and in
which all the controversy is involved, is then simply this:
"what is The Sanctuary
Of The New Covenant?"
He continues, "The sanctuary of the old
covenant must bear the same relation to the new covenant which the old
covenant itself bears to the new. And upon this point we suppose there is
no controversy. All agree that they stand as type and antitype. The first
was the type and shadow; this, the antitype and substance.
The sanctuary of that dispensation was the type;
the sanctuary of this, the antitype. But
the sanctuary of that dispensation was the tabernacle of Moses.
Of what, then, was the tabernacle of Moses a type, figure; or
shadow?"
We have thus quoted at length to show that U. Smith
has himself laid a good strong foundation for the truth which we shall
bring forward to overthrow his theory, and prove that the church of the
living God is the sanctuary of this dispensation. Be it then
remembered that the Adventists admit that whatever under the new covenant
was typified by the tabernacle of the old, and whatever now takes the
place of that tabernacle, is the sanctuary of this dispensation.
One more point of ground we wish to note, and that is
that the tabernacle was "incorporated into the temple," and
both were the continuous sanctuary of the legal dispensation.
See Sanc, page 92; "Thoughts on Daniel," 171. It follows then
that whatever now takes the place of either the tabernacle of Moses, or
Solomon's temple, is the sanctuary of the Lord and the antitype of
the former structures. In other words, whatever is the temple of God now,
is the sanctuary. With this much truth admitted it is an
astonishing fact that U. Smith could shut his eyes and exclaim, ''
No sanctuary on earth; for since A. D. 70 there has been none
here.'' Again in '' Thoughts,'' page 176, this writer asserts 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.''
No promise in the Bible for the cleansing of
the church? Oh, the blindness and thick darkness of Adventism! They are
devoted to their new invention with such a blind zeal and infatuation
that they set aside the crowning work of redemption, the chief object for
which Christ laid down his life, namely, to sanctify and cleanse his
church. In their Pharisaical zeal for their own sect they seem scarcely
to have learned that God has a church. They read the Bible with such
idolatrous devotion to their own inventions that they never see God's
ways.
It will be seen by the above words that the author had
not the remotest conception of any cleansing, but a mere formal or
ceremonial service. The idea of an actual cleansing from sin
and unrighteousness is wholly left out of the question. The assertion
that the Bible teaches no such thing as a cleansing of the
church, betrays gross ignorance of the Word, or an unscrupulous attempt
to hide the truth. We will just let one text of Scripture refute the
Smithsonian falsehood.
"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also
loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and
cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present
it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such
thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.'' Ephesians 5: 25-27.
Truly here is a glorious cleansing of the church; and it is
something more than a mere ceremonial service. Can it be possible that a
man of intelligence could overlook this great work in the plan of
redemption, the chief object of the Savior's death and shed blood, and
the crowning work in God's redeeming love? Yea, this
very cleansing is just what Mr. Smith felt the need of when his
heart breathed out its condition in these words found in '' Thoughts on
Daniel,'' page 274: "Alas, for the evils of our nature which
cut us off from this communion! Oh, for grace to overcome these, that we
may enjoy this spiritual union here, and finally enter the glories of his
presence at the marriage supper of the Lamb."
Now should that writer get the evils of his nature, the
works of the devil, destroyed and cleansed out of his heart, it would
upset his entire theory. He would soon find out that God has
a sanctuary to dwell in here on earth. But notwithstanding it
would burn up the entire heap of Advent rubbish, he would, with the
apostle Paul (who also was zealous for the law in his day, that is before
he became dead to the law, and married to Christ) count the great loss a
happy gain, and praise God for salvation so as by fire. Amen. But, alas!
the devotees of a blind god have no time to seek deliverance from the
evil nature of their hearts, being ever busy about the props of their
dark creed, and the defense of their confused sect. Surely that volume is
but Smith's "thoughts." But God says, "My thoughts are not
your thoughts, and my ways are not your ways."
But let us come right to the question, What is the
antitype of the ancient temple? What has now taken the place of
that sanctuary of the first covenant? The writer above alluded
to, admits the fact that the former was a type or shadow of the present,
and so teaches the Word. In Hebrews 9:1 the apostle tells us,'' Then
verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a
worldly sanctuary.'' He proceeds to describe the same, and then says
in verse 9, "Which was a figure for the time then present,"
etc. In Hebrews 10:1 we read that the whole law system with its many
sacrifices, was a'' shadow of good things to come.'' In Colossians
2:14-17 we are told that the legal rites, sabbaths, etc.,. were "a
shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." By which
we clearly see that these services of the first covenant were types and
shadows of good things that were to appear with the coming of Christ, in
the covenant of which he is mediator. Yea, it is plainly stated that the
first tabernacle was a shadow of the true, the greater tabernacle not
made with hands. Hebrews 9: 24.
But let us return to Hebrews 9:9, "Which
[tabernacle, or legal sanctuary] was a figure for the time then
present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not
make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the
conscience." But, passing over from the law to the gospel, from type
to antitype, in verse 11 he continues, "But Christ being come an
high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this
building." And, true to the figure of the high priest, who entered
by the blood into the holiest once a year, "He entered
in once [for all] into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us." Verse 12. So we see that Christ our high priest
had already entered the holiest in his more perfect tabernacle at the
time that epistle was written in A. D. 64.
The writer continues right on treating on the superior
priesthood, covenant, and tabernacle of this dispensation. "And
having a high priest over the house of God," etc. 10: 21. The
greater tabernacle of the second covenant, in which Christ now officiates
as high priest, is declared to be the house of God. Now we have but to
ascertain what the house of God is, and the important question is
settled. And here we have the desired information. After giving Timothy
instructions relative to the church, the apostle adds: "These things
write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly: but if I tarry long,
that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of
God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the
truth." 1st Timothy 3:14, 15.
Plenty of other scriptures teach the same thing, but
we will not bring them forward here. But the few links of divine truth we
have now put together make a chain that no man can break. The
"worldly sanctuary" of the law was a type of the true
tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and over which he is now high priest.
But that more perfect tabernacle is declared to be the house of God, and
"the house of God is the church of the living God." Then the
church of the living God is the sanctuary of this dispensation.
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