ADVENTIST PERPLEXITIES ANSWERED!! PART II

SOME SANCTUARY BASICS!

In this post, I would like you to witness some of the issues of the Sanctuary with the help of an Adventist scholar.  His name is Dr.  C.  Mervyn Maxwell.  The quotations to follow are from his book, "God and His Sanctuary." This book is a powerful example of the power to be found in Adventism which was handed down from the Millerites.  It's intent is to specifically show how the book of Daniel explains the events of 1844 in the cleansing of the sanctuary, and what Christ is doing there now.  Starting at page 3 in the paperback version:

The day on which the sanctuary was cleansed is called in the R.S.V.  and the K.J.V.  the "day of atonement." It is well known even to nonreaders of the Bible by its Hebrew name, Yom Kippur.  Yom Kippur was and still is observed on the tenth day of the seventh month of the traditional Jewish year, a date that coincides roughly with the month of October.  In Bible times the "day of atonement" was the most portentous day in the religious calendar.  It was the only day when the high priest was permitted to enter the most holy place, the innermost compartment of the sanctuary.  As we saw on pages 161-164, when the people offered their personal sacrifices day by day, they placed their hands on their animals to transfer their guilt symbolically and then slew the animals as their symbolic substitutes.  Subsequently, the priest made a record of their confessed and forgiven sins (Leviticus 4:20) by applying blood-immediately or later-to the golden altar in the holy place and to the floor nearby, in front of the inner veil.

Notice that when the sinner brought the lamb for the sacrifice, he was to place his hands on the head of the lamb, confess his sins, and then slay the lamb.  Notice what happened when the Disciples of Christ gave their message to the people.  They were telling the people the same as was John the Baptist, "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matt.  3:1, 2.  This was however brought about with a common misconception: that Christ was there to free the Jews from the yoke of Rome and establish them as a nation above all others.

Biblically and historically, we can see THAT CHRIST WAS NOT INTERESTED IN THEIR MISCONCEPTION, but that He was interested in another part of their message: the one which told all to repent, which meant TO CONFESS THEIR SINS UPON THE LAMB and turn away from them.  We therefore see that at the time of Christ, only those who preached or accepted the message of the Disciples were found confessing their sins upon the Lamb and repenting of their sins just before the Lamb was actually slain.  The Disciples of Christ therefore fulfilled the story according to the pattern outlined in the Old Testament ritual although they did it while regarding a common misconception.

Yet now we have another example in that of the Millerites.  Their example is far more crucial, as we will see.  In order to understand this example, we have to first get the basic understanding of the issues concerning the Day of Atonement from our author.

pg.  32 The people's part.  It is most important to learn that the people of Israel were expected to become deeply involved in the religious meaning of the Day of Atonement.  To alert the Israelites to the great day just ahead, the priests summoned them to a sacred meeting on the first day of the seventh month (Rosh Hashanah) by blowing an ALARM on their long, straight, silver trumpets.  Leviticus 23:23-25; Numbers 10:1-10.  These trumpets seem always to have been used in pairs.  As their mellow tones rose, clear as sunbeams, above the noisiness of a community, the children no doubt ran home to shout, "They're blowing the trumpets.  Listen, everyone!" NINE DAYS FOR PREPARATION FOLLOWED.  The Day of Atonement, the tenth day of the seventh month, could, like our Christmas, fall on any day of the week.  But whatever day it fell on, it was as sacred as the weekly Sabbath day.  Leviticus 23:26-32.  Whereas, however, the Sabbath was a day for joy (Isaiah 58:13, 14), THE DAY OF ATONEMENT WAS AN OCCASION FOR THE PEOPLE TO "AFFLICT" THEMSELVES.  THEY WERE TO ENGAGE IN DEEP SPIRITUAL SELF-EXAMINATION.  A custom arose of fasting on the day.

Notice what is the clear instruction given in the symbolism of the Sanctuary?  It tells us that we are to AFFLICT OURSELVES.  What does this mean?  It means we are to pray, fast, confess our sins and turn away from them.  This process will make us powerful people.  Yet what therefore is the response from hell to make sure we don't do these things?

First was the cry "DIVERSITY!" We don't know what's right and what's wrong anymore! Aren't all these different opinions MARVELLOUS! That was done to confuse us to make sure that we don't clearly know what right and wrong is so that we cannot fulfill the description given of the day of atonement.  It is also to clear the way so that chaos can result from the confusion, leading to societal turmoil which would then create the need for a singular dictator to clear away all the confusion.  Can you guess who?  Yet there is more.

What was Satan's response to make sure that the people do not afflict their souls and engage in self-examination in order that their sins might be eliminated?  He sent in men TO ESTABLISH A DIFFERENT "STYLE" OF WORSHIP.  Everyone must be compelled not to afflict their souls and do earnest heart searching, but to CELEBRATE! They must Celebrate the good things Christ has done for them! Satan encouraged these men to first lie to the people telling them it is a new "worship style." He then impressed them to lie to the people by telling them that it is a matter of culture, even though they were pushing for it to dominate all cultures, and it was not practiced before the 1980s BY ANY CULTURE.  If it was, how come they advertised it as "new?" They couldn't have meant just new to us, for it was advertised as new EVERYWHERE.  He impressed "Christ-centered" men to lie to us by telling us that it is just a test.  They said, "We have not seen the fruit of this movement yet.  Let's wait and see!" After that was done, minister after minister were sent to DEMAND that the worship styles of ALREADY EXISTING AND SOVEREIGN CHURCHES change.  They did not consent to give the Celebration "worship style" a trial by having new churches be established with the fables so that all can see.  THEY FORCED IT UPON ALREADY ESTABLISHED CHURCHES.  Sure there is no conspiracy!! Sure!!

One after another already established churches started to fall victim to the new fables.  In this "style" of worship, two basic principles were concocted in order that the hated people who desired to maintain the established order of the church be removed.  Contemporary music, long known to be a no-no for worship for multiplied decades, was incorporated into the new style.  This was done in order to secularize first that which was marked for destruction.  They cannot destroy Christianity without first secularizing it.  It was also done because those pushing it understood that dedicated Adventists who knew this could never be acceptable, after a while of forcing this on the congregations, would be forced to leave from the contaminating influence.  With their enemies therefore gone, they could force the changes upon the rest of the congregations till the established mode of the church changed officially.  Drama was also added during the divine service to help accomplish the same purposes.  That's why those telling us that we must PROGRESS are either lying to us or are ignorant of what is going on.  There are people in this church with a spectrum of beliefs far outnumbering the bands of a rainbow.  From that, where do we get the idea to stop "resisting change" to then find us subjected to ORGANIZED and UNIFIED decisions which we are told we MUST submit to?  DIVERSITY DOES NOT GUARANTEE CHANGE! IT GUARANTEES THE OPPOSITE!!! There can be no change in the concept of diversity they have pushed!! How is it that you can't see that?! Anyway, our author continues:

The purpose of the Day of Atonement was the removal of sin, ceremonially from the sanctuary and truly from the people.  Through Moses, God told the Israelites that the high priest entered the most holy place not only to "make atonement for the sanctuary" but also to make atonement "for you, to cleanse you," so that 'from all your sins you shall be clean before the Lord" (see Leviticus 16:30-33).  Leviticus 16:29, 30 specifically states that this removal of sin was the reason they were to afflict themselves.  They were to afflict themselves "for"-that is, because-an atonement was being made for them.  It was taught very clearly that the atonement would not benefit the people if they did not afflict themselves.  The Day of Atonement offered no magic and encouraged no superstition.  The people were taught that "whoever is not afflicted on this same day shall be cut off from his people." Leviticus 23:29.  To make the point dramatically urgent, God added, "Whoever does any work on this same day [that is, whoever refuses to keep it as a sacred, solemn Sabbath], that person I will destroy from among his people." It was a day for at-one-ment.  God had appointed the day; He had designed the mercy seat, consecrated the high priest, and provided the atoning blood.  Those who refused reconciliation evidently chose separation, and God honored their decision.  DAY OF ATONEMENT/DAY OF JUDGMENT.  THE REQUIREMENT THAT PERSONS WHO REFUSED TO TAKE THE DAY SERIOUSLY SHOULD BE "CUT OFF" IMPLIES THAT THE DAY OF ATONEMENT WAS ALSO A DAY OF JUDGMENT.  ANY ISRAELITE WHO REFUSED TO ENTER SERIOUSLY INTO THE RELIGIOUS PROMISE OF THE DAY WAS TO BE INVESTIGATED BY THE ELDERS, TRIED, SENTENCED, AND PUNISHED.

The requirement to 'afflict" themselves was at first a completely spiritual one.  The people were expected to observe the Day of Atonement as a very sacred occasion on which to worship God, pray earnestly, confess sin, and make wrongs right.  They were to afflict their souls by probing their memories and their motives to see if they were really sincere in their religious profession.

Jewish rabbis have long described the day as one of judgment.  In fact, Jewish tradition has expanded the concept of judgment to include the first day of the month (Rosh Hashanah) as well, and even all the days in between, with final sentence being pronounced on Yom Kippur.  "THE IDEA OF A UNIVERSAL DAY OF JUDGMENT," says The Universal Jewish Encvclopedia, dominates the ten-day penitential season and "is expressed particularly in the Unethanneh Tokef prayer of Yom Kippur." With the Day of Atonement seen to be a day of JUDGMENT, we sense immediately that the cleansing of the sanctuary in Daniel 8:14 is closely parallel to the judgment scene of Daniel 7 and to the arrival of the supernatural stone in Daniel 2.  We are on firm ground.  Unfolding parallelism is one of the principal keys to understanding the book of Daniel.

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