The Sanctuary Study Pt. 16

Our Sanctuary Study -- Continues
Light From the Throne -- Part 3 William Grotheer --
-- DANIEL SEVEN -- The seventh chapter of Daniel sheds light upon the final atonement when we relate it to the shadowy type of Leviticus 16, and helps us to see where we are in the progression of that Heavenly judgment.
This key prophecy above all others in Daniel, gives us a sequence of symbols and imagery by which we can identify in history the "little horn."
The attack on this prophecy today in the form of prophetic speculation is reprehensible. For individuals to profess "historic" Adventism, to promote the sales of "Spirit of Prophecy" books, such as Great Controversy, and then to undermine the force of this God-given prophecy in Daniel is to reveal themselves as the "agents" of Satan.
Those who promote such "agents" have themselves become instruments of the evil one to confuse God's professed people.
Daniel , in a night vision saw four beasts arise in succession from the sea "diverse one from another." (7:2-3)
{7:2} Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night,and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon thegreat sea. {7:3} And four great beasts came up from the sea,diverse one from another. {7:4} The first [was] like a lion,and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof wereplucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made standupon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it
The first was "like a lion,, and had eagle's wings." (7:4) The identity of this beast, as can be shown both by Scripture and archeology, is Babylon.
Jeremiah, a contemporary of both Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar, used this same symbolism in describing Babylon's king. (Jer. 49:19, 22, 28)
{49:19}Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling ofJordan against the habitation of the strong: but I willsuddenly make him run away from her: and who [is] achosen [man, that] I may appoint over her? for who [is] likeme? and who will appoint me the time? and who [is] thatshepherd that will stand before me?
{49:22} Behold, he shall come up and fly as theeagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that dayshall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart ofa woman in her pangs.
{49:28} Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdomsof Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon shallsmite, thus saith the LORD; Arise ye, go up to Kedar, andspoil the men of the east.
The lion was followed by the bear, leopard, and the non-descript beast.
Out of the last beast with ten horns arose another "little horn" who plucked up three of the ten.
It had the eyes of a man, and spake "great things." (7:8)
{7:8} I considered the horns, and,behold, there came up among them another little horn,before whom there were three of the first horns plucked upby the roots: and, behold, in this horn [were] eyes like theeyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.
It must be kept in mind that this "horn" never existed apart from the beast out which it arose. Its life and source of being was ever rooted in the non-descript beast.
The Powers which in succession followed Babylon were Medo-Persia, Grecia and Rome. Out of Rome and in the midst of the invading peoples who occupied the Roman Empire, there arose that unique power called the Papacy. It was to continue for "a time and times, and the dividing of time." (7:25)
{7:25} And he shall speak [great] words against themost High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High,and think to change times and laws: and they shall be giveninto his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
This would bring the sequence of the symbols as seen by Daniel down to 1798 A.D.
From the earthly march of nations, Daniel's attention was then turned to the heavenly. He wrote - "I watched until the thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days sat ... the court was set and the books were opened. " (7:9-10 Heb.)
{7:9} I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and theAncient of days did sit, whose garment [was] white assnow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne[was like] the fiery flame, [and] his wheels [as] burning fire.{7:10} A fiery stream issued and came forth from beforehim: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and tenthousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgmentwas set, and the books were opened.
In the sequence of this prophecy, this "judgment scene" would follow 1798, and it did according to the next prophetic vision given to Daniel, in 1844.
(8:14)
{8:14} And he said untome, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shallthe sanctuary be cleansed.
But the setting of the judgment did not conclude the night of vision of Daniel 7. Two more events followed in the vision. He "beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake." He continued to see the history of the little horn "till" the beast [which nourished the horn] was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame." (7:11)
{7:11} I beheld thenbecause of the voice of the great words which the hornspake: I beheld [even] till the beast was slain, and his bodydestroyed, and given to the burning flame.
Before considering the "great words" which the horn spoke after 1844, we should note the comparative prophecy in Rev. 19:20, where the beast, also non-descript, (13:2) is with "the false prophet," cast alive into "a lake of fire."
{13:2} And the beast which I sawwas like unto a leopard, and his feet were as [the feet] of abear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragongave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
Then follows the 1000 years and the judgment of the Great White Throne, before whom the "dead" [the lost] stand as individuals. (20:11-12)
{20:11} And I saw a great white throne, and him that saton it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away;and there was found no place for them. {20:12} And I sawthe dead, small and great, stand before God; and the bookswere opened: and another book was opened, which is [thebook] of life: and the dead were judged out of those thingswhich were written in the books, according to their works.
Corporate bodies of earth through which Satan worked during time cease at the Second Advent. Following the 1000 years, the Devil no longer operating through "agents" leads the host of the lost in the final confrontation. (20:8)
{20:8} And shall go out to deceivethe nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gogand Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number ofwhom [is] as the sand of the sea.
Now we return to a consideration of the "great words" which the "horn" spake after 1844.
In 1854, the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception was promulgated. This fact assures us that in the final conflict the doctrine of the Incarnation will play a vital role. In 1870, the Dogma of Papal Infallibility was affirmed by Vatican Council I. The issue of "authority" and what is true "authority" cannot be treated lightly in the end-time. Then in 1950, Pius XII made official dogma for the Catholic Church the teaching that Mary was received bodily into Heaven.
In the prophetic sequence of Daniel 7, after Daniel hears the "great words," he sees "one like unto the Son of man" coming not to earth, but to the Ancient of Days to receive "dominion, and glory, and a kingdom" made up of "the saints of the most High.". (7:13-14, 18)
{7:13} I saw in the night visions, and, behold, [one]like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, andcame to the Ancient of days, and they brought him nearbefore him. {7:14} And there was given him dominion, andglory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, andlanguages, should serve him: his dominion [is] aneverlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and hiskingdom [that] which shall not be destroyed.
{7:18} But the saints of the most High shall takethe kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even forever and ever.
In this same night vision, Daniel was told that the Judgment renders a decision in favor of the "saints of the most High," and the time came for them to possess the kingdom. (7:22)
{7:22} Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment wasgiven to the saints of the most High; and the time came thatthe saints possessed the kingdom.
Further, when the judgment shall sit, one of its objectives was to take away "the dominion" of the horn, and "to consume and destroy it unto the end." (7:26)
{7:26} But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take awayhis dominion, to consume and to destroy [it] unto the end.
How shall we harmonize the shadowy type of Leviticus 16, and the prophetic sequence of Daniel 7?
On the typical Day of Atonement, the first entry of blood into the Most Holy Place was by the High Priest, not only for himself, but "for his house." (16:11)
Then came the blood of the Lord's goat by the same High Priest. This was defined as necessary "because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins." (16:16) But the "uncleanness" was not cleansed until the final act at the Altar in the court where both the blood of the bullock and goat were mingled.
It was at this Altar that the daily service for the individual provided forgiveness because through the blood of the sin offering confession was made, and the fact that the penalty had been paid was recorded by the placing of the blood on the horns of that Altar.
The prophetic symbolism of Daniel 7 fits the picture of Christ coming to the Ancient of Days having completed the cleansing of the "saints" of their uncleanness. Thus the "saints" can possess the Kingdom through "the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" - God's grace in providing it, and Jesus' willingness, as Isaac's, to be "the propitiation." (Rom. 3:24-25)
The "great words" which began with a dogma concerning Mary, closed with a dogma concerning her in 1950. The events - both secular and within the Church - which took place at that date and since, take on a new significance for those who wish to walk in the light from the Throne. ( I John 1:7)
{1:7} But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, wehave fellowship one with another, and the blood of JesusChrist his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
Consider the following data, now a matter of history. The World Council of Churches was formed in 1948. Israel was re-established a State the same year. An 1949, Bible Readings for the Home Circle was revised, and the doctrine of the Incarnation was the first doctrine to be altered. It was followed by other doctrinal changes in succeeding decades culminating in the adoption of the 27 Fundamental Statements of Belief in 1980. In 1950, Wieland and Short made their original presentation to the General Conference on the infiltration of Baal worship into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. (See original manuscript - 1888 Re-Examined as reproduced in A Warning and Its Reception.) In 1952, a world-wide Bible Conference held in the Sligo Park Church discussed the significance of Luke 21:24. It has since been fulfilled. (See manuscript - The Times of the Gentiles Fulfilled.) All of this must now be understood and harmonized for the time has come for the saints to possess the kingdom. "The hour has come, the hour is striking, and striking at you, the hour and the end!" (Eze. 7:6-7 Moffatt)
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We're going to pause here.
History and Biblical prophecy going hand in hand. The type mirroring the true in a shadowy way. We can see this we can with the Holy Spirit's guidance come to understand all of this.
People don't like to hear words like judgment, punishment, endings. People want to believe that they won't *really* be judged, that punishment won't follow judgment, that there will be an end to all things. It's much easier to just look away from it all and believe it's not true because then they can live without worry of an ultimate ending to their lives. Here and now is all there is, so that's the way it is. That belief might satisfy a lot of people, but it doesn't satisfy me. I refuse to believe this world is all there is. That it created itself over time and when your brief life span is up that's it, you no longer exist. No, I don't want to believe that. I can't believe it.
I believe in God. I believe in the Bible. I believe in Jesus as my Savior.
I believe we are given instructions and we need to study to understand.
In type God's chosen were given the sanctuary and all its services. In reality the sanctuary pointed to Jesus, the savior, the redeemer. The sanctuary was an example of the heavenly, and yes, I believe there is a heavenly sanctuary not made with hands.
Heb. {9:11} But Christ beingcome an high priest of good things to come, by a greaterand more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is tosay, not of this building; {9:12} Neither by the blood ofgoats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in onceinto the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption [forus. ]
May God bless us as we continue to study-
2 Tim. {2:15} Study to shew thyself approved unto God, aworkman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividingthe word of truth.
By the Grace and Mercy of our Lord and Savior, in the name of Jesus, God's only Son we ask this.
Amen.