There are many doctrines that the Christian world has come to understand. These doctrines have come from the various Christian denominations which existed long before the Seventh Day Adventist Church was formed. At it’s inception, these fundamental beliefs were adopted into our church and we are indebted to the reformers of all Christendom. But there is one unique doctrine that no other Christian church has brought to the forefront more than the SDA Church. This is the doctrine of the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary doctrine is based on Daniel 8:14, which is a time prophecy, and the book of Hebrews, which explains how Jesus as the Messiah fulfills the Old Testament sanctuary service.
In our first lesson we were introduced to the 2300 day prophecy and two prominent view points surrounding this prophecy. We learned that it is the longest time prophecy in the Bible and who the “Little Horn” is. We found that the prophecy starts with a decree in Ezra 6 and 7, by three Persian kings, for Israel to return and rebuild Jerusalem which began in 457BC. Now let’s look at the vision in Daniel 8 and see what it reveals to us...
As we continue our study of Daniel chapter 8, Let’s now look at the rest of the vision and it’s explanation...
We now come to Daniel chapter 9, and the key to under-standing the time frame of Daniel 8:14 is to recognize that Daniel 8 and 9 are part of one vision and prophecy. In the original Scripture manuscripts there was never a division made between the chapters. Daniel chapter 9 provides the starting date for the 2,300 day prophecy.”
As we continue to look at Daniel’s prophecy,
let’s now look at it in greater detail...
As we look at the closing events of the 70 week prophecy,
let’s recap looking at our prophetic chart...
In our last lesson we arrived at the year AD34. This was the end of the 70 week prophecy.
However, this was not the end of the 2300 day prophecy.
There was still 1810 years left of the whole prophecy…
Who was involved and why? What happened in this period?
When the prophecy ends what implications were there for us?
Adventists see the sanctuary service as a picture of Christ's ministry from His atonement at the cross to His ongoing work as High Priest in heaven. The Sanctuary teaching enables us to see the complete Gospel presented in the Old Testament. It shows God’s plan of redemption for man and how God deals with the issue of sin and it's final removal from the universe. The Sanctuary also points to the work of mediation and judgment that Jesus must complete before He returns to this world. This is the gospel for our time. It is the key to unlocking and seeing the beauty of God’s final message for all of humanity.
After washing their hands and feet at the laver, the priests could then enter the Holy Place. As the priest walked into the Holy Place we see three articles of furniture: The Candlestick, The Table of Shewbread and the Altar of Incense. Let’s now look at each of these in terms of how they represent Christ and what was their function...
God communed with His people from the cloud of glory which rested above the mercy-seat, between the cherubim. These golden cherubim with outstretched wings were a representation of the covering cherubim that surround the throne of God in heaven. There can be no government without law. The very suggestion of a kingdom is always connected with law. There could be no judgment without a law as a standard of judgment...