Gospel Issues in Adventism
By E.H. “Jack” Sequeira
“Unto 2,300 days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”
This scripture, wrote Ellen G. White, was the foundation and central pillar of the advent faith (Great Controversy, page 409). In the last study, I touched on the linguistic and contextual problem created by our traditional interpretation of this text and which has caused many in our midst to reject 1844.
However, as I mentioned in that study, 1844 is significant to our global mission, including [our missions at individual churches]. I trust this will become crystal clear in today’s study. In the last study, I laid the foundation to what I believe is the correct interpretation of Daniel 8:14. Today we will see why 1844 is significant to our global and local church mission.
But first a quick review to jog your memory. In order to come to a correct understanding of Daniel 8:14, we first looked at this verse in the context of the entire book of Daniel. In doing so, we discovered two things:
Therefore, following the hermeneutic principal of parallelism or recapitulation, we discovered that the Great Stone of Daniel 2, the Judgment scene of Daniel 7, and the cleansing of the Sanctuary of Daniel 8 all belong to the Kingdom of God period. Each of these three symbols is introduced by the word “till” (in the original), indicating the end of all human kingdoms and the ushering of God’s everlasting kingdom.
Following this, we did an exegesis of chapter 8 itself. We discovered that, of the four symbols Daniel was shown in this vision, the first three were explained, but when it came to the fourth (i.e., Daniel 8:14), all that the prophet was told was that it is true but its meaning was to be sealed since it belonged to the distant future, confirming that the cleansing or vindication of the sanctuary is a last-day event, belonging to the kingdom of God [read Daniel 8:26].
However, this news was devastating to Daniel [look at verse 27]. Why did the prophet take this information so hard? The answer is found in chapter 9 of Daniel. After wresting with Daniel 8:14 for some 13 years, Daniel finally decided to plead with God in prayer [read Daniel 9:1-3].
To appreciate Daniel’s prayer and concern, keep in mind three facts:
So when Daniel was told by Gabriel that the cleansing of the sanctuary would be accomplished in the distant future, he immediately concluded that God had changed His mind and postponed the restoration of the earthly temple and the city of Jerusalem. Note the plea of his prayer [read Daniel 9:17-19]. This created a problem for God. Why? Because, as we have already seen, the vision of Daniel 8:14 referred to the establishing of God’s kingdom on earth in the last days and not the restoration of the earthly sanctuary.
But since God did not want to disappoint His beloved prophet Daniel, He did what Christ did to the disciples when they linked the destruction of Jerusalem, which took place in 70 A.D., with His second coming, which is still future [read Matthew 23:37-24:3].
Going back to Daniel 9, please notice how God responded to the plea of Daniel’s prayer [read Daniel 9:20-23]. According to this statement, the angel Gabriel now comes to explain the unexplained part of the Daniel 8 vision, namely verse 14.
But when we read Gabriel’s explanation of Daniel 8:14 in Daniel 9:24-27, we discover that all Daniel is told is about the final probation period determined for his people Israel, i.e., 490 years [read verses 24-27]. Does this mean the real explanation of Daniel 8:14 was not really given? If so, then Gabriel lied, because he clearly stated in verse 22, “I have come to give you insight and understanding,” i.e., regarding Daniel 8:14.
However, God does not lie. Therefore, the only way we can resolve the problem is to give verses 24-27 of chapter 9 a dual application, just as we do with Matthew 24, the 490 years being the final probation period for the Jewish nation while the period following 2,300 days will be the final or last days for the Gentile world. According to Daniel 9:24-27, five events take place:
Now, taking these five points which sums up Gabriel’s explanation of Daniel 8:14, we will apply the same five points to 1844 and the cleansing or reconsecration of the sanctuary truth, the true gospel the little horn cast to the ground and prospered: