The Greatest Deception In Modern Christianity (Part 5) -By Joe Dauda

IT’S ALL IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

Except you have not read Parts 1-4 of this series (especially Part 4) you ought to be asking what happened in 1844.

For those who may not be aware of this aspect of church history, the fact is that, indeed, there was a sweet-bitter experience in 1844 — a great disappointment – and it occurred at the end of the 2300 years, which began in 457BC. Interestingly, as prophesied in Revelation 10, this experience did result in the opening of the closed book of Daniel (see Revelation 10:1-2) and ultimately to the preaching of a special end-time gospel to the entire world — see Revelation 10:11. If you have not heard that special gospel before, you have already started hearing it from Part 1 and will hear more before the end of this series. For example, many readers, until they started reading this series, sincerely believed that Jesus Christ will come before the Antichrist is revealed. But we have successfully debunked that notion by showing, from the Bible, that the Antichrist will be revealed before the second coming and that it is even Jesus Christ, during His second coming, that would destroy the Antichrist with the Spirit of His mouth and with the brightness of His coming. See 2 Thessalonians 2:8.

What Led To The Great Disappointment Of 1844

Before 22nd October 1844, the Christians who later went through the Great Disappointment were in high spirits. Nothing was sweeter in the mind of a true Christian than the prospect of the second coming of Jesus Christ. And these Christians believed they had been able to determine the date of this amazing and long-expected event. They had read the Bible and made their calculations. Although they initially expected the second coming in 1843, they quickly realized their error and eventually settled for the 22nd of October 1844. This one was sure because they had checked and cross checked, with the Bible and world history as their building blocks.

The basis of this holy excitement was the understanding of Daniel 8:14. Through the preaching of a gentleman by the name William Miller, these Christians believed they had unlocked the longest time prophecy in the Bible.

Daniel 8:14

“And he said unto me, unto two thousand and three hundred days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”

For reasons only God can tell, Miller assumed that the “sanctuary” mentioned in Daniel 8:14 was the earth. Another assumption that followed that faulty assumption was that it was the second coming of Jesus Christ that would cleanse the earth. Based on these two assumptions, the inference was too exciting to resist — William Miller believed that Daniel 8:14 was the secret to knowing when Jesus Christ would return to the earth.

But he was wrong. And every error of his preaching stemmed from this fundamental assumption.

Was William Miller also wrong about the time?

The 2300 years prophesied about in Daniel 8:14 began in the 7th year of Artaxerxes Longimanus (457BC) and ended on the 22nd of October, 1844. There is no doubt about that and there is no room for confusion as long as a student of Daniel’s prophecies understands the fundamental fact that the 70 weeks (490 years) “cut off” for the Jews were not cut off out of nothing but were cut off from the 2300 years prophecy. With that in mind, we can boldly say William Miller was right in declaring that the 2300 years ended in 1844. Because 1844 is exactly 2300 years from 457BC, when Daniel 9:25 was fulfilled by the decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus. You can read the decree for yourself in Ezra Chapter 7 (from verse 11 to verse 28). Again, although he was right about 1844 being the end of the 2300 years, Miller was wrong about his understanding of the word “sanctuary.”

We now know that when the Bible said “the sanctuary shall be cleansed” it meant “the sanctuary shall be cleansed.” Period. The sanctuary was not the earth; the sanctuary was the sanctuary.

Perhaps because knowledge of the Old Testament feasts and their applications was limited in his days, Miller conveniently misunderstood that word and assumed it must be referring to the earth. Please read about the Great Disappointment in Church History in your spare time. There are no words to sufficiently capture the horror those Christians went through. It was bitter, after the initial excitement, which was based on the expectation of the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Revelation 10:10

“And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey; and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.”

Indeed it was bitter.

They suffered the pain of absolute embarrassment, self-inflicted poverty, confusion, hopelessness, temptation to profanity and rejection of religion, temptation to anger against God, and utter loneliness and mockery — but they were led by God. And although these saints did not know it, they had just fulfilled the prophecy of Revelation 10:10 and it was out of that bitterness that a correct understanding of Daniel 8:14 sprang forth, thereby unsealing the sealed portion of the end time prophecies of Daniel. By the way, they were nicknamed Adventists because they had been expecting the Second Advent of Jesus Christ.

Which sanctuary was to be cleansed after 2300 years from 457BC, that is, in 1844?

And how did it become defiled?

And how would this cleansing take place?

Moreover, Who will do the cleansing?

All the answers are in the Old Testament, with helpful hints in the Book of Hebrews and other New Testament Books.

Due to the need to summarize, only the salient points of this teaching will be highlighted. Further information is available to those who request. But please note that the understanding of the Old Testament shared below was part of the result of the unsealing of Daniel 8:14. After 1844 and the experience of the Great Disappointment, the Old Testament became a living Document, rich with meaning beyond what Christians ordinarily understood before that time. Moreover, Daniel’s closed book became an open book and the people of God were able to fully understand the secrets of end time prophecy.

In short, if the yearly Passover feast celebrated in the Old Testament was fulfilled by the death of Jesus Christ during the Passover feast of AD31, if the yearly Feast of First Fruits was fulfilled by His resurrection from the dead, and if the Feast of Weeks (or Pentecost) was fulfilled by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, then the Old Testament Feast celebrated as the Day of Atonement is what Daniel 8:14 was referring to. And this is simple and easy to prove from the Bible. From both Leviticus 16 and 23 (which I recommend you read later) it is clear that the Day of Atonement was for the cleansing of the sanctuary. But this matter is deeper than it first appears and full of prophetic insight, apart from laying bare God’s interesting plan for the salvation of the human race.

In the Old Testament, the Day of Atonement was like a final exam. That was the only day the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies; that is, the second apartment of the sanctuary where the presence of God dwelt between the cherubims. Entering the holy of holies was such a big deal to the extent that, if the High Priest had any sin in his life, he would die right there. But because nobody could go in to take out his corpse, they had to tie a cord around one of his legs, with bells ringing as he moved around performing the rituals of the Day of Atonement. The ringing of the bells was to serve as evidence that he was still alive. If the bells stopped ringing for too long, then the other priests keeping vigil outside the holy of holies would know that their High Priest had sin in his life and had died in the presence of God. And they would then use the other end of the cord tied to one of his legs to pull his corpse out. That was how solemn things were. And this feast was observed every year in Israel. The Passover was also observed every year. But, in its fulfilment, the Passover was fulfilled just once – with the death of Jesus Christ. Christ died once and rose again, and the Bible even stated (just in case someone does not understand) that Christ would not die again.

Romans 6:9

“Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.”

But do you recall that the Bible refers to Christ as our High Priest?

Hebrews 2:17

“Wherefore in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God.”

The point is that, to understand the role of Christ, you have to understand what the role of the High Priest was during the Old Testament. The earthly Levitical Priesthood was a demonstration of the ministry of Christ. This means that what the Jews were doing in Israel was not useless; it was a dramatization of real heavenly things. Even the building plan for the earliest tabernacle built by Moses was simply a copy of the one in heaven. So heaven is the real place where the real thing takes place. Think about a war movie. All the characters are actors; but real soldiers do the real thing when they go to war. None of them are acting. But a war movie gives you an idea of how a war situation looks like. From this perspective, all the ceremonies of the Old Testament were dramatizations. But never forget that they were important for communicating God’s plan for our salvation because they pointed to the real thing, and that real thing was meant to be fulfilled by Jesus Christ – in heaven; in the very presence of God. Of course there are fundamental differences. In the ministration of Christ, for example, He ministers with His own spotless and sinless blood.

Hebrews 9:12

“But by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place.”

To teach Israel that the real High Priest (Jesus Christ) will be sinless, God demanded that the High Priest dramatizing the role of Christ in the earthly sanctuary also enters the holy of holies without any unconfessed sin or else he dies in the presence of God.

What Was The Difference Between The Day of Atonement And Other Days?

First of all, all the sacrifices done on all the other days have nothing to do with the second apartment of the sanctuary, also known as the “holiest” or “holiest of all” in the Bible but nicknamed “holy of holies” by Christian theologians. See Hebrews 9:3, 8. Another major difference was that, while any Israelite who sinned could go to the sanctuary with his animal and have the sacrifice done by a priest, the Day of Atonement involved the whole nation of Israel.

In summary, when an Israelite sinned, he comes to the sanctuary, confesses his sin on the head of the lamb he had acquired, and then that lamb is killed.

Leviticus 5:5, 6, 9.

5 And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing: 6 and he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD for his sin which he hath sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his sin.

9. And he shall sprinkle of the blood of the sin offering upon the side of the altar; and the rest of the blood shall be wrung out at the bottom of the altar: it is a sin offering.

This requirement forces the sinner to realize that the result of sin is death and that it is his sin that has resulted in the death of the innocent lamb. Moreover, the unmistakable and most important object lesson in this requirement is that the sinner is made to understand that, one day, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world (Jesus Christ) would be killed to atone for the sin of the world and His shed blood would prove effective for all who, like the sinner, acknowledged their guilt and humbly accepted God’s solution for the sin problem. Those who refused to acknowledge their sin or accept God’s prescribed solution would bear the consequence of their sin and that would be death – the second death, from which there shall be no resurrection.

So the sin leaves the sinner, goes to the lamb, and then, by the sprinkling of the blood of the lamb on the altar, the sin goes to the altar, causing the sanctuary to be defiled. If you have wondered why the sanctuary needed to be cleansed, there is your answer and it deserves to be stated in bold:

IT IS THE CONFESSED AND FORGIVEN SINS OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD THAT DEFILES THE SANCTUARY

Note that it is not the sins of the enemies of God, but the confessed and forgiven sins of the people of God, that defiles the sanctuary, which is then cleansed by the High Priest once a year on the Day of Atonement. But how does this play out in the Christian dispensation? How does this play out in the real sanctuary in heaven, where Jesus Christ ministers with His own blood?

There is something Peter said inActs 3:19-21 that would not make sense, except in the context of the correct understanding of the sanctuary service.

“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; 20 and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: 21 whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” Emphasis Supplied.

What Peter means here is exactly what we have been trying to communicate. Although calling on people to repent, he truthfully told them that the blotting out of their sins would only take place when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.No matter what has been done to obscure this truth, what is incontrovertible here is that Peter put the blotting out of repented sins at a period later than the time of repentance of the people he was preaching to.

Repent (today, right now) that your sins may be blotted out (not today, not right now, but) when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you . . .”

What Peter was saying was in tune with the reality of the Day of Atonement, which he apparently knew about. But apart from this passage in Acts, the Bible complements doubles down of the concept in Acts 17:30, 31 in the following manner.

And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31 because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. Emphasis Supplied.

God had appointed a day in which He will judge the world and that judgment would be done by Jesus Christ.

The above statement was made several years after Christ had died, resurrected, and ascended to heaven; yet Paul was saying that the Day of Judgment was still in the future: “ . . . because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness . . .” It is on that day – not necessarily a single day but definitely a specific time period – that God will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ. The beginning of that day is what was given in the prophecy of Daniel 8:14.

And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. Emphasis Supplied.

Because the cleansing of the sanctuary is actually a work of judgment.

If you understand the cleansing of the sanctuary as a work of judgment, you will have no problem seeing the implication of the juxtaposition of Daniel 8:14 with Acts 3:19-21, and Acts 17:30, 31. Together, these portions of scripture provide evidence for the soundness of the doctrine of the sanctuary, which, unfortunately, is quite unpopular among Christians – exactly the way Satan wants it to be. The doctrine shows that the remission of sins was an immediate consequence of accepting Jesus as savior. But these sins were not immediately blotted out. Rather, following the pattern of the earthly sanctuary, they were transferred to the heavenly sanctuary (making it unclean) until the Day of Atonement, when Christ, as High Priest, went into the Holy of Holies to cleanse the sanctuary, not of the sins of the world, but of the confessed and forgiven sins of His people, which is the only thing that makes the sanctuary unclean in the first place. This doctrine also puts the judgment at a later date and completely destroys the idea that, once a person dies, they go to heaven, or hell, or purgatory.

It is at the end of this judgment (heavenly Day of Atonement) that Jesus will no longer be interested in the repentance of any man and also when the righteous cannot fall into sin, as seen in Revelation 22:11.

Revelation 22:11.

He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy,let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. Emphasis Supplied.

Shortly after making the above statement, Jesus will return to the earth to take those who have been confirmed in the just concluded judgment. See Revelation 22:12.

Those confirmed are those whose names were written in the Book of Life and NOT BLOTTED OUT during the judgment. For Jesus Christ to be addressing the church and to promise certain persons who remained faithful that He would not blot out their names from the Book of Life means that, among those He was addressing (among the church) the names of some would definitely be blotted out. This is the main business of the Day of Atonement. It is either your sins are completely blotted out, or your name is blotted out. You can begin the journey to eternal life and end somewhere due to unbelief or the love of this world and the Day of Atonement judgment (strictly for the people of God) is to determine which among those that began the journey will have their names confirmed and sealed in the Book of Life. Once your name is confirmed, your eternal life is guaranteed, which is why those who are alive when Revelation 22:11 is fulfilled cannot fall into sin. Their situation will be like that of Noah and his family – after they had entered the ark. God shut the door of that ark so that not even Noah could open it again. Anybody outside that ark was doomed and all the people inside were guaranteed salvation from the flood. But the ark remained on the ground and there was no rain — for seven whole days!

This “investigative judgment” is what is meant by the judgment of the church. Even God told Moses about this in Exodus 33:32 — the idea that, although everyone that comes to Him has their names written in the Book of Life, only those who continue will have their names retained. This was what Jesus Christ meant in Revelation 3:5 when He promised not to blot out the names of those who remained faithful.

Exodus 32:33

“And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out of my book.”

In Acts 2:38, Peter meant that, if the people repented, there will be an immediate remission of their sins; this means they will be released from its consequences.

Then Peter said unto them,Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Emphasis Supplied.

Nevertheless, God knows why Peter went into the issue of blotting out of sins in Acts 3:19, which he placed at a time in the future, long after the people have repented and received remission of their sins.

Perhaps the most important truth in the sanctuary doctrine is that, at His death, Christ did not go straight into the Holy of Holies, until sometime later, which we now know to be 22ndOctober 1844, based on Daniel 8:14, Daniel 9:24, and the simple historical fact that the 7th year of king Artaxerxes was 457BC and that it was his decree in that year that fully fulfilled the requirement of the “command to restore and to build Jerusalem” prophesied in Daniel 9:25.

But the Bible said that Jesus Christ, after His resurrection, went to heaven and sat at the right hand of God. If we have just asserted that Christ did not immediately go to the Holy of Holies, does that mean that God Himself was not in the Holy of Holies at the time of Christ’s resurrection, and that He later moved into the Holy of Holies also in 1844?

In Daniel 7:9, the Bible gives a description of what happened on October 22nd 1844.

As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow: the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. NIV. Emphasis Supplied.

In verse 10 of Daniel 7, the Bible says that the judgment was set, and the books were opened. Note that this judgment process is the cleansing of the sanctuary.

Later, it explained that the Son of man (that is, Jesus Christ) was brought before the Ancient of days in this same judgment setting, which ended with Him being given dominion over all nations and people and tongues, etc. Daniel 7:13, 14.

In verse 21 of Daniel 7, it says that the little horn made war with the saints and prevailed against them. Their ultimate victory against the little horn was not until the time of their possession of the kingdom, which came after the judgment was given in their favour. But that judgment in favour of the saints could not happen, of course, until the Ancient of days came. So, the sequence of events is:

1. The prevailing of the little horn against the saints;

2. The coming of the Ancient of days;

3. The judgment in favour of the saints; and

4. The time for the saints to possess the kingdom.

The time for this judgment is between the persecution of the saints, and the possession of the kingdom by the saints. The exact time is provided in Daniel 7:26, with reference to Daniel 7:25.

25. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hands until a time and times and the dividing of time.

26. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.Emphasis Supplied.

It is after a time, times, and the dividing of time (1260 prophetic years) that the judgment shall sit. So, this judgment must be after 1798. If you do not fully understand this aspect, do not worry as all would eventually be explained. For now, please understand that, apart from the 2300 years prophecy, another interesting end-time prophecy has to do with the first tenure of the beast. And this was prophesied in coded language to last for 1260 years, stated as a time, times, and the diving of time. Bearing in mind that a typical Jewish year contains only 360 days, and that a time is one year, a time, times, and half a time is 3.5 years and equivalent to 1260 days (actually years) in its fulfilment. The first tenure of the little horn began in AD538 and lasted till 1798. We would have more to say about the second tenure of the little horn later, but the point to note now is that, based on Daniel 7:25 and 26, the judgment must begin sometime after 1798 and 1844 is after 1798. The reign of the little horn was interrupted in 1798 by a deadly wound inflicted upon it. Its second tenure will begin when that deadly wound is healed. This is brought to view in Revelation 13:3.

And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

But the little horn (same as the beast and even the Antichrist) is not our focus for now.

The point to note is that thrones were set up for the Ancient of days to take His seat before the judgment began. To make matters even clearer, the thrones were said to have wheels (Daniel 7:9), making it clear that they are mobile thrones which can move and which apparently did move. This movement was from the Holy to the Most Holy portion of the heavenly sanctuary. Recall, also, that Jesus Christ, signified as the Son of man, was brought to the Ancient of days for the judgment to begin.

Daniel 7:13.

I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. Emphasis Supplied.

The above means what is apparent, which is that, before the 1844 investigative judgment of the people of God began, both the Ancient of days and the Son of man were elsewhere.

His throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. Daniel 7:9b Emphasis Supplied.

Wheels are for movement.

So, Christ, at His ascension, went to meet God, Who was in the first apartment of the heavenly sanctuary – also known as the holy place. Only on the 22nd of October 1844 when the judgment was set to begin, did both Father and Son move into the Holy of Holies. It is after they moved that Daniel 7:9 and 7:13 happened.

Daniel 7:9. As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat.

Daniel 7:13. I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

It was after these two were together that “the judgment was set, and the books were opened”, as stated in Daniel 7:10. Remember that judgment took place in the earthly sanctuary on the Day of Atonement in the most holy place when the High Priest (representing Christ) went into the holy of holies, where God’s presence was, between the cherubims. In like manner, the heavenly judgment could only be set in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary – where, according to Daniel 7:10, both Christ (the Son of man) and the Ancient of Days (that is, God) came to.

A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. Emphasis Supplied.

This event could only have taken place in the Holy of Holies. It is the heavenly Day of Atonement, at the end of which probation for humanity closes. It began in 1844 and no one knows for sure when it would end. But when it does, there will be no need to repent anymore. It is the end of that judgment that is the end of human probation and what results in the scary words of Revelation 22:11.

Is there additional evidence in the Bible to show that, at His death, Jesus Christ did not go straight into the Holy of Holies, but went, instead, to the Holy Place, also known as the first apartment of the heavenly sanctuary?

The secret to this answer can be found in Revelation chapter 4 and Revelation chapter 5.

In Revelation chapter 4, only God, the Father of Jesus Christ, is sitting on the throne, and He alone is worshipped, as shown in Revelation 4:9-11.

9. And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, 10 the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11  Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Emphasis Supplied.

In the above scene, Jesus is absent. Actually, Jesus was on earth at the time because, even before Jesus came to the earth, He shared God’s throne. And when He returned, He took His place again. In His last prayer for His disciples, Jesus revealed this truth by telling God:

John 17:5.

And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

So, in Revelation 4, Jesus was not in heaven because He was still on the earth.

However, in Revelation 5, we see an account of the coronation of Jesus Christ, after His death and resurrection. This is in line with the declaration of the Bible in Philippians 2: 5-11, where the Bible stated that, after He had humbled Himself and died on the cross, Jesus Christ was exalted by God.

Revelation chapter 5 began with a challenge, which only Jesus could meet. Please, read Revelation 5: 7-14 and note that it was through His death that Christ met that challenge, depicted as taking a certain book out of the hand of God. After that, all of heaven worshipped Him.

That heavenly coronation of Jesus Christ depicted in Revelation 5:7-14 took place before Pentecost and made the outpouring of the Holy Ghost possible. As the Bible clearly stated, until Jesus was glorified, the Holy Ghost could not be poured out.

John 7:39

(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) Emphasis Supplied.

The question we must answer is this: where did the coronation of Jesus Christ take place in heaven?

Did it take place in the first apartment of the heavenly sanctuary, or in the second?

How can we know where Christ’s coronation took place, with reference to Revelation 4 and Revelation 5? Incidentally, this is very easy. There is a small detail in Revelation 4:5 that reveals where God was sitting when Christ came and took the sealed book from His hand, which was what resulted in His coronation.

And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. Revelation 4:5. Emphasis Supplied.

The above verse states that there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne where God was seated when Christ resurrected and went to meet Him in heaven. This was the place God was sitting during the coronation of Christ. Now, the question is this: in which part of the earthly sanctuary do we have the seven golden candlestick?

The simple answer is that the seven golden candlestick is found in the first apartment of the sanctuary, otherwise known as the Holy Place. And Revelation 4:5 just said that “out of the throne” where God was sitting during the coronation of Jesus Christ, “were seven lamps of fire”.

Hebrews 9:2

For there was a tabernacle made;the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the showbread; which is called the sanctuary. Emphasis Supplied.

The above “the first” is referring to the holy place and it is different from the “the second” which is the most holy place, or the holy of holies.

Hebrews 9:3

“And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all.”

According to Hebrews, there were two apartments and it was in the first apartment that the candlesticks were. These seven golden candlestick represent the Seven Spirits of God. The point is that the place were God was when Jesus Christ resurrected to meet Him was the first apartment, and the giveaway is the presence of the “Seven Spirits of God, depicted by the seven golden candlestick in the Old Testament sanctuary. In essence, we have biblical evidence that, at His ascension, Christ did not go directly into the Holy of Holies but into the first apartment. Because God Himself was seated in the first apartment and, as indicated in Daniel 7, God had to move (using the wheels in His throne) to the second apartment, and Christ (the Son of man in Daniel 7:13) had to be brought to God, for the judgment to begin; for the cleansing of the sanctuary to begin.

There is further insight in the Book of Revelation that shows that the judgment is taking place in the Holy of Holies. In the earthly sanctuary, one of the pieces of furniture in the Holy of Holies is the Ark of the Covenant. So, the time of the judgment has to be related to the sighting of the Ark of the Covenant, which contains the Ten Commandments. The Book of Revelation completely agrees.

Revelation 11:18-19.

And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail. Emphasis Supplied.

When the judgment began in 1844, it began with those who had died. I believe one will be forgiven to suggest that it began with the first man who ever died “in the Lord” namely Abel; and so on and so forth. The main work of this judgment of the people of God is to crosscheck the records of those whose names had ever been written in the Book of Life to see if it will remain there or be blotted out.

Unfortunately, sadly, and fearfully, majority of the people in this world (who have never had any relationship with God) do not even qualify for this pre-advent judgment. The case is very similar to an entrance examination into an institution; the only persons considered for admission are those who actually sat for the exams: others are exempted.

1 Peter 4:17, 18.

For the time is come thatjudgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Emphasis Supplied.

Notice that the Bible says the righteous (even the righteous) shall scarcely be saved. This is because the righteous needs to remain righteous until the very end and could lose their status if they pull back. The fact that your name is written in the Book of Life is no guarantee that you will inherit the kingdom of God. And yet there are preachers today who lie to their congregations and teach them with a straight face and even with a smile that their salvation, once they become born-again, can never be lost. Ok. We shall see.

The judgment of the dead will go on until it gets to the turn of those who will not die until Jesus returns to take them to heaven. These ones will have their mortal bodies changed in an instant, “in the twinkling of an eye”. Because Jesus ceases His work in the heavenly sanctuary for a brief period before He comes again to the earth, these saints must live a life without sin because they would spend a brief period on earth when there would be no mediator to remit or blot out their sins. This is why they are said, in Revelation 14:5, to be “without fault before the throne of God.” They will be on earth when Jesus utters the fearful words of Revelation 22:11. However, for them, these words would not be terrible but sweet:

He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

They are the “righteous” and the “holy” in the quotation above. They will remain in their state of sinlessness for a brief period until Christ shows up in the clouds to take them home.

Before this knowledge about the cleansing of the sanctuary, majority of Christians believed that, when a person died, that person either went straight to hell, or straight to heaven. The basis of that doctrine was the pagan belief that the soul of human beings was indestructible – it could never die – so God could not really kill the soul but only punish the soul forever and ever, since the soul could not be destroyed. But the Bible says the soul that sinneth, it shall die. Ezekiel 18:20. This pagan belief that the soul could only “transcend” but could not die, led to the belief that hell fire was an ever-burning fire, in spite of all the clear statements in the Bible about the dead knowing nothing and death comparable to a deep sleep. From one lie that the soul of man is indestructible, there came out two false doctrines in Christianity, namely that people went to heaven or hell immediately after they died, and that hell fire burnt forever. Satan was the inventor of this lie and it is an old lie. God had told Adam that, in the day he ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which was in the midst of the Garden, he would die: not just die, but surely die. See Genesis 2:16-17. However, Satan told Eve that she will not surely die. Eve chose whom to believe and she and her husband (Adam) soon found out whose word was reliable.

The fact is that, for such subjects where Satan uses some portions of the scripture to spread false doctrines among Christians, God did the smartest thing and gave us examples. To assure us that hell fire will destroy whatever lands inside it, God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone and Jude 7 categorically said Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed with “eternal fire” and serve as an example for those who will live an ungodly life. That is a clear reference to their second death in the lake of fire. Although the word “rapture” does not occur in the Bible, in order to avoid argument and for the sake of communicating with readers already familiar with that word, it will be used. The only condition is that, by “rapture” we are referring to that gravity-defying rise of both dead and living saints towards heaven to meet Jesus Christ in the air during His second coming. With that settled, there are examples of rapture experiences in the Bible to assure us of how the general rapture will look like. As an example of those who will still be alive when Jesus Christ returns, God used both Enoch and Elijah, but the experience of Elijah was stated in more details, giving us an opportunity to see how this group of saints will be raptured. As for those who would have died before the second coming, Moses was the example of the experience God has prepared for them. Like Moses, they will be resurrected from the dead. But the Bible said they will be raised incorruptible (1 Corinthians 15:52) and that was exactly what happened to Moses. No man had ever lived on earth longer than Methuselah and Methuselah lived for 969 years only. However, Moses, who had died before the children of Israel entered the land of Canaan, was seen (along with Elijah) talking with Jesus Christ in the Mount of Transfiguration, thousands of years after both he had died and Elijah had been translated. What does this mean? It is exactly what it appears to mean: both Moses and Elijah now have the incorruptible body with which the dead in Christ will be raised to life and with which the living in Christ will be raptured. And that was why they could remain in existence for thousands of years from their time down to the time of Jesus Christ. See Matthew 17:1-3 and Mark 9:2-4. So, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was an example of what would happen to sinners. They will be turned to ashes. See Malachi 4:1, 3. But they will die the death and be no more. The Bible says they will be like they had never been.

Ask any theologian and they would tell you that the Bible can never contradict itself. Now, suppose we were to believe the false doctrine that, once a person dies, that person went straight to heaven or to hell. Then what would be the purpose of the resurrection of the saints? The resurrection is supposed to be the hope of the Christian. Even Jesus Christ does not promise to impart eternal life on His followers – until the last day.

John 6:44

“No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.”

That last day is the day of the Lord – the second coming – which was explained in Part 1 of this series. But what would be the purpose of this promise if all the followers of Jesus were already in heaven?

In case you did not know, the Bible accounts for the presence of some selected individuals (like Enoch, Moses, and Elijah) in heaven. This group would include those who resurrected along with Jesus Christ during His resurrection and even appeared to many in Jerusalem (Matthew 27:50-53) but the general lot of humanity is to sleep in their graves until awoken on the last day. This is not the time to delve into this topic but suffice to state that there shall be two resurrections, separated by a thousand years. Jesus Christ taught about these two resurrections.

John 5:28-29

“Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”

After the first resurrection (during the second coming of Jesus Christ) hear what the Bible says would happen, which proves that the two resurrections will be separated by a thousand years.

Revelation 20:5

“But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.”

And it was to bring this knowledge to the people of God that Daniel 8:14 was written. But there was much more the correct understanding of Daniel 8:14 was going to bring. However, this understanding that the judgment had begun – that the heavenly Day of Atonement had come – was the key to all this knowledge. No wonder, the announcement of the beginning of the judgment was part of the burden of the first angel’s message, which is “first” only because there is a “second” and, of course, a “third”. These three angels’ messages were revealed to the Adventists who went through the Great Disappointment of Revelation 10:10. They are stated in Revelation 14:6-12. The first angel’s message is in verse 7, and, like the others after it, it was to be preached to the whole world – to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people, exactly as prophesied in Revelation 10:11. What is the first angel’s message?

Revelation 14:6-7.

“And I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.”

FOR THE HOUR OF HIS JUDGMENT IS COME

FOR THE HOUR OF HIS JUDGMENT HAS COME

Nobody understood this message until after the 22nd of October, 1844. The three angels’ messages were the meat of the unsealing of Daniel 8:14 and the understanding of them (including the fact that the judgment had begun, that Jesus Christ had entered into the holy of holies to begin the cleansing of the sanctuary) happened after the 2300 years were fulfilled (in 1844) so that the Christians could accurately preach and say that the judgment had begun. For that is what Revelation 14:7 declares – that the judgment had begun. “For the hour of His judgment had come.” You could not say “the hour of His judgment had come” when the hour of His judgment had not actually come. So, part of the mystery of Daniel 8:14 was to keep the understanding of the time for the cleansing of the sanctuary (the beginning of the judgment of the church) secret, until the process actually began. No wonder that portion of Daniel was sealed. Now you can see why. After October 22nd 1844, the first angel’s message was ripe for preaching; and it was only understood and preached after that date. Talk about the wisdom of God!

There is more to this first angel’s message, and then there are two other distinct messages — making the whole three. They are all linked to the issue of the Antichrist and we will have more to say about this in Part 6 of The Greatest Deception In Modern Christianity. To show how closely linked these messages are to the issue of the Antichrist, read the third of the three messages in Revelation 14-9-11. It contains the strongest warning/threat ever issued to human beings by God and that warning is against receiving the mark of the beast. Any serious-minded person would like to understand these three angels’ messages because, if, by mistake or by stubbornness or whatever, you receive the mark of the beast, you will die the second death. And there shall be no remedy in that case.