Sabbath Afternoon - April 29
Memory Text:
“And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.” KJV — Romans 13:11, 12
If you know that He Who keepeth Israel neither sleeps nor slumbers (Ps. 121:3, 4); that He knows all about you, my friends, every moment of the day and of the night; that He takes notice even of the hairs that fall from your heads; that whatever befalls you is but God’s own will for your own good. I say, if you know and believe that He is God and the Keeper of your bodies and souls, then regardless what befalls you, you will be happy in it and give God the credit for it, not murmuring, but glorying even in your trials and afflictions.
Yes, hundreds and thousands of things may happen, but he that trusts in God and does His work well shall find all these so-called hindrances or mishaps wonderful deliverances, and avenues to success, all carrying out God’s marvelous plans, and God’s way toward your promotion from one great thing to another. When you are in God’s care and in His control never say the Devil did this or that regardless of what it be, for he can do nothing except he is allowed to do it. Always give God the credit.
Sunday - April 30
The Cleansing of the Sanctuary
Read Daniel 8:14. What specific timetable does Daniel give us regarding the cleansing of the sanctuary?
Dan. 8:13, 14 – “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.”
To this question, “How long shall be the vision concerning the daily, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?” came the answer, “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” That is, within the 2300 days the daily shall be taken away, the transgression of desolation set up, the sanctuary and the host shall be trodden underfoot. After this the sanctuary is to be cleansed. “Every morning” (margin), denotes 24 hour days – full measure of time. The word “sacrifice” does not belong in the text.
Read Daniel 8:27 and Daniel 9:21, 22. What was Daniel’s response to the vision of the 2,300 days, and what was God’s response to him?
Verses 26, 27 – “And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days. And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king’s business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.”
Daniel here confesses that the meager explanation which Gabriel gave concerning the vision was not sufficient. None could understand it.
Consequently, as time went on and as he still could not understand the vision although the set time for liberation had come, he graphically said:
Dan. 9:1, 2, 3, 22, 23 – “In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans. In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:… And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.”
Because Gabriel was to begin where he left off (Dan. 8), he counseled Daniel first to consider the vision.
Monday - May 1
The 2,300 Days and the End Time
Read Daniel 8:17, 19, 26. What time period does the angel declare that the vision of Daniel 8 and the 2,300 days apply to, and why is that important to understand?
Dan. 8:16, 17 – “And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision. So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.”
Gabriel’s explanation that at the time of the end shall be the vision, shows that the paramount importance of the vision is the cleansing of the sanctuary, and that it takes place not in Daniel’s time, and not before the time of the end, but after the 2300 days, in the time of the end.
Now since the 2300 days began somewhere in the fifth century before Christ (as seen in the following verses), and since the vision was to be for many days, for the time of the end, then obviously the 2300 days must be computed a day for a year as in Ezekiel 4:6. The 2300 days, therefore, are actually 2300 years, in the end of which the sanctuary is cleansed. What signs are to mark the time of the end?
Dan. 12:4 – “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”
The angel explained that at the time of the end many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. And the fact that men are now running to and fro and that knowledge has been increased in itself proves that we are now living in the time of the end, that the vision is now to be understood, and that the sanctuary is now to be cleansed.
Dan. 8:18-21 – “Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright. And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be. The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.”
Here you see where the prophetic history of this vision begins. It begins with the Medo-Persian empire, and carries us in time through the victories of Alexander the Great.
Verse 23 – “And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.”
In the latter end of the Medes and the Greeks, when the transgressors, the Jews, are come to the full, another king or kingdom was to stand up. It was of course none other than Rome, the kingdom which overran the four Grecian divisions
Verses 26, 27 – “And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days. And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king’s business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.”
Daniel here confesses that the meager explanation which Gabriel gave concerning the vision was not sufficient. None could understand it.
Consequently, as time went on and as he still could not understand the vision although the set time for liberation had come, he graphically said:
Tuesday - May 2
The Angel’s Instruction to Daniel
Read Daniel 9:23-27. What specific instruction does the angel give to Daniel? Why is this significant in understanding the meaning of the cleansing of the sanctuary in Daniel 8:14? What events in the life and ministry of Jesus is this about?
Dan. 9:23 - At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.”
Because Gabriel was to begin where he left off (Dan. 8), he counseled Daniel first to consider the vision. Then said Gabriel:
Verse 24 – “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.”
Since Gabriel is here explaining the vision of chapter 8 – the things that were to take place during the 2300 days – the seventy weeks are therefore a part of the 2300 days.
The seventy weeks are actually 490 years. Mark that during these 490 years, Daniel’s people, the Jews, were to make an end of sin and make reconciliation for their iniquity, or else be hopelessly given up. Next Daniel was told where the 70 weeks begin:
Verse 25 – “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 threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.”
From the commandment to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem to Messiah the Prince, to Christ, there were to be 7 weeks (49 years), and 62 weeks (434 years) – 69 weeks in all, or 483 years. History shows that the decree to rebuild the ancient city went forth in 457 B.C. Hence 483 years from 457 B.C. bring us to 27 A.D., to the year Christ, the Messiah, was baptized. (This incident, too, proves that the 2300 days are computed a day for a year, and that the seventy weeks are the first block of time from within the 2300 days.) We should now remember that after cutting off the 69 weeks from the 70 weeks there is yet one week left. What takes place during this week is told in the verses that follow:
Verses 26, 27 – “And after threescore 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.”
In the end of the next 62 weeks, or 434 years the Messiah was to be cut off, crucified. During the remaining week, the 70th, He was to confirm the covenant with many, and in the midst of it He was to be cut off, crucified; that is, there were to be 3½ years from His baptism to the crucifixion, and 3½ years after the crucifixion in which He was to confirm the covenant. This completes the 70 weeks and brings us to the time the apostles were commanded to go out and preach the Gospel to the Gentiles: One named Cornelius (a Gentile), and Peter (a Jew and an Apostle) were both given a vision: Cornelius was instructed to see Peter and Peter was commanded to meet Cornelius. See Acts, chapter 10. The Jews as a nation failed to make an end of sin and were therefore rejected, given up.
Christ’s own sacrifice at the end of the first 3½ years replaced the sacrificial ceremonial system, and thus He caused the sacrifice to cease in the midst of the week. All this, time and event, you see, took place exactly as Gabriel predicted.
Wednesday - May 3
The Messiah “Cut Off”
Read Romans 5:6–9 along with Daniel 9:26. What great truths are revealed here?
The commandment to rebuild Jerusalem went forth in 457 B.C. (Ezra 7:21- 27), the starting point of the seventy weeks proves to be one with that of the 2300 days.
And localizing Christ’s ministry within this period, the angel said: “…He [Christ] 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.” Dan. 9:27.
Since the confirming of the covenant with the many (the Jews) was accomplished during the seven years from the beginning of Christ’s ministry, the time of His baptism, to the time Peter was commissioned to take the gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 10:28; read entire chapter), and since in the midst of this period Christ was crucified, “the week” proves to be seven literal years, and reveals that the 2300-day period must be computed by the rule of Ezekiel 4, reckoning a day for a year, thuswise:
“…from the going forth of the commandment [found in Ezra 7:21-27] to restore and to build Jerusalem [the beginning of the 2300 days], unto the Messiah the Prince [to Christ at His baptism], shall be seven weeks [49 years], and three-score and two weeks [434 years],” totaling 483 years in all, with the first seven weeks or forty-nine years, being for the rebuilding of the city.
Then after “seven weeks” plus “threescore and two weeks [483 years] shall Messiah be cut off,…and the people of the prince [the Romans] that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary [fulfilled by Titus about 70 A.D.]; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And He [Christ] shall confirm the covenant with many for one week [seven years, beginning at His baptism]: and in the midst of the week [in the midst of the seven years] He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease [by the sacrifice of Himself and by its transfer to the heavenly sanctuary: His sacrifice taking the place of the earthly sacrifice, and thus the heavenly sanctuary taking the place of the earthly sanctuary, with Christ Himself being the high priest], and for the overspreading of abominations He shall make it [the temple in Jerusalem] desolate [His presence completely removed], even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.” Dan. 9:25-27.
The remainder of the 2300 days, or years, reach to the time of the cleansing of the sanctuary. (See illustration on page 37.)
Thursday - May 4
The Year 1844
Read Leviticus 16:16. What was the reason for the cleansing of the sanctuary, and what does this teach us about the gospel?
Though the sanctuary in heaven and the one on earth are in two different locations, yet the one necessarily involves the other, for both deal with the same sins and sinners. Hence, for one sanctuary to become polluted will as a consequence affect the other. For instance, if some of the members of the church on earth should backslide after once being converted (as did Achan, King Saul, Judas, Ananias and Sapphira, and many others whose names were once written in the Book of Life but who though failing to continue in the faith became unworthy of life eternal), they would of course at the same time pollute both sanctuaries. The earthly they pollute by their actual deeds and influence; the heavenly, by having their unworthy names in its books; for while the earthly sanctuary harbors the people, the heavenly houses their records.
So while there is need of cleansing the earthly sanctuary from backsliders and hypocrites, there is need of cleansing the heavenly sanctuary from the sinners' names in its books. And the proper term for such a work is Investigative Judgment--the work portrayed in Daniel's prophecy (Dan. 7:9, 10) and in Christ's parables of the harvest, net, talents, wedding garment, and the goats and the sheep.
Counting forward 2300 years from October 457 B.C., the terminus is October, 1844 A.D. And as the angel said, “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed,” the cleansing must thence have commenced in 1844, the very year in which, for the first time in history, the first angel’s message rang forth the proclamation: “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come” (Rev. 14:7; Dan. 7:9, 10) – the time that the Great Judge and the heavenly tribunal sit in judgment to separate the bad from the good; that is, to blot from the Book of Life the names of those who have entered the service of Christ but have not endured to the end.
Since this fearsome truth, as here revealed, finds its counterpart in Christ’s parable of the wheat and the tares, the parables must necessarily therefore teach the investigative---Judgment Among The Living.
“Let both grow together,” commands Christ, in regard to the commingling of the wheat and tares, “until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into My barn.” Matt. 13:30.
Here the Lord is parabolically teaching that a time of investigation will come, and that then the angels will remove the sinners from “the congregation of the righteous.” Ps. 1:5
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just.” Matt. 13:47-49. In both of these parables, Christ is sounding the forewarning that the investigative judgment will take place in the time called “harvest,” which is the end of the world – the time in which the 2300 days culminate, just as the angel declared: “Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.” Dan. 8:17. “…shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.” Dan. 8:26. “…for yet the vision is for many days.” Dan. 10:14.
Pointing directly to the time that the investigative judgment shall take place among the living, Malachi parallels both parables in his prophecy:
“…the Lord, Whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple,…But who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiner’s fire and like fuller’s sope: and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.” Mal. 3:1-3.
As the cleansings called for in the parables and in Malachi’s prophecy have never taken place, the investigative judgment of the living is obviously, then, yet future.
Friday - May 5
Further Thought
This investigative work is therefore occasioned by the work of separation in the earthly sanctuary (church), as brought to view also in Ezekiel 9:
“And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar. And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon He was, to the threshold of the house. And He called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side; and the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
“And to the others He said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.” Ezek. 9:2-6.
Here the people are shown to be in a mixed state (tares and wheat commingled), with the time just ahead of them when on the one hand those who have sighed and cried for the abominations in their midst shall receive the mark of deliverance, while on the other hand those who have not sighed and cried shall be left without the mark, to perish (in their sins) under the angels’ slaughter weapons. From this separation –the one in the church– come forth the first fruits.
Then follows the separation from among the nations, as seen in the parable of Matthew 25, prophetically describing Christ’s coming, though not the one viewed in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17, for at the time of the latter, “the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air”; whereas at the time of the former, “when the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory [the kingdom-church, which up to this point consists only of the first fruits].
“And before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand [these being the second fruits], Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world….Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matt. 25:31-34, 41.
From this separation –the one among the nations– come forth the second fruits