By John Thiel, The Sanctuary Series, study 8, mp3

Our last study went as far as the work of salvation up to the holy place. After Jesus had been sacrificed on the cross for us which was here on earth the outer court, He then became a priest. He progressed in His work by taking with Him our sins and brought them before God in the heavenly sanctuary. As He went there the first thing He dealt with was the candlesticks in the heavenly sanctuary. The apostles were waiting as He said wait till I send you the Spirit. The candlestick in heaven was the seven spirits of God that were close to the throne of God. When Jesus lit the candlesticks as it were, He actually sent the Holy Spirit and fire came down on the heads of the disciples just as the candles were burning in the symbolic picture. Flames came upon their head.

The table of shewbread was the bread of life, the Word of God sent to us that we should eat and was replenished every Sabbath day, fresh bread. Every Sabbath day we receive a refreshing feast of God’s word and then we eat it all the way through the week. Then Jesus tended to the altar of incense and we saw in heaven that He brought before God the prayers of the people. That is what Jesus was doing in the sanctuary 1810 years. Then there came a change. This is what we will consider now what the next part of His work was. On the Day of Atonement Aaron was to sacrifice the goat.

Leviticus 16:15 Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that [is] for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: 

Not only on the mercy seat but before it as well did he sprinkle the blood on top and before the ark.

Leviticus 16:16 And he shall make an atonement for the holy [place], because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness. 

He sprinkles it on the mercy seat and then He goes out to the altar of incense that is before the Lord.

Leviticus 16:17 And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy [place], until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel.  18 And he shall go out unto the altar that [is] before the LORD, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put [it] upon the horns of the altar round about. 

He sprinkles it on the horns of the same altar.

Leviticus 16:19 And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.

The sinner would come and confess his sin on the sin offering and the sin was taken from him and he didn’t have it anymore as it was taken into the sanctuary. He was free but it was in the sanctuary and it wasn’t yet completely removed. On the Day of Atonement it was to be totally cleansed. What was the cleansing of the sanctuary meant to convey? The Hebrew sanctuary was a symbol of the sanctuary in heaven. What was done here was to be a symbol of the things done in heaven. According to the Law of Moses blood had to be shed to remit sin. It says almost as one thing was a sacrifice of flour so almost all things were by blood.

Hebrews 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.  23 [It was] therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

Heaven also needs cleansing and that is what many Christians find difficult to understand as they don’t understand that the sins we confess to God are removed from us through Jesus Christ and are taken into the heavenly sanctuary. Jesus took our sins and they are recorded in the heavenly sanctuary. The verse says heaven needs cleansing with better sacrifices than the earthly. The heavenly ones need cleansing like the earthly ones did.

The Cleansing Of the Sanctuary in Heaven

Daniel 8:13 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? 14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

Can this mean the earthly sanctuary? It cannot mean the earthly sanctuary as how often was that cleansed? Every 360 days. But here it says 2300 days so it cannot mean the earthly sanctuary. What does it mean? Hebrews says the heavenly things need cleansing.

The 2300 Day Prophecy

According to prophecy a day is for a year so it is 2300 years. After this period the heavenly sanctuary could be cleansed. Heaven needs cleansing.

  As anciently the sins of the people were by faith placed upon the sin offering and through its blood transferred, in figure, to the earthly sanctuary, so in the new covenant the sins of the repentant are by faith placed upon Christ and transferred, in fact, to the heavenly sanctuary. And as the typical cleansing of the earthly was accomplished by the removal of the sins by which it had been polluted, so the actual cleansing of the heavenly is to be accomplished by the removal, or blotting out, of the sins which are there recorded. But before this can be accomplished, there must be an examination of the books of record to determine who, through repentance of sin and faith in Christ, are entitled to the benefits of His atonement. The cleansing of the sanctuary therefore involves a work of investigation–a work of judgment. This work must be performed prior to the coming of Christ to redeem His people; for when He comes, His reward is with Him to give to every man according to his works. Revelation 22:12. {GC 421.3}

If the heavenly sanctuary needs cleansing there is going to be an examination and judgement. This Day of Atonement when the priest went into the most holy place in the Hebrew understanding was a day of judgement.

Leviticus 16:29 And [this] shall be a statute for ever unto you: [that] in the seventh month, on the tenth [day] of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, [whether it be] one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you: 30 For on that day shall [the priest] make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, [that] ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.

As the cleansing of the sanctuary took place to cleanse all the sins of the people in the sanctuary, what were they to do? They were to afflict their souls. What were they to do in afflicting their souls on that whole day? What was meant with afflicting their soul? Whenever the Bible talks about afflicting the soul the person fasted in sackcloth and ashes. They were afflicting themselves in examining themselves in realising how serious their situation was.

Every man was to afflict his soul while the work of atonement was going forward. All business was laid aside, and the whole congregation of Israel spent the day in solemn humiliation before God, with prayer, fasting, and deep searching of heart. {PP 355.4}

Why were they doing that?

Leviticus 16:2 And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy [place] within the veil before the mercy seat, which [is] upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.3 Thus shall Aaron come into the holy [place]: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering.

This was a very special day. If he had gone in at any other time he would have been killed but when he went in on the Day of Atonement. What was at the bottom of his garment; a bell and a pomegranate. As he walked along the bells rang. Why? Why were the people to afflict themselves? He could die if the people had not confessed all their sin. If there was anyone that was careless and didn’t quite care about what was happening, what would happen? They would hear a tinkle and a bang and no more tinkle as he would have been dead. This was a day of judgement. They wanted to hear those bells ringing. Notice that he was only to go in once a year.

A Special Day of Fasting and Prayer

Hebrews 9:7 But into the second [went] the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and [for] the errors of the people:

Once a year when he went into that place and he had to open it. He had to pull the curtain aside and go through. If the curtain was pulled aside any other day, the priest would die but now he opened into the most holy place. That happened once a year. This is the reality of this in the work of salvation. There was the candlestick in heaven, the altar of incense and look at what is revealed. This day of judgement of the Hebrew symbol was now to take place in reality where it says unto 2300 days the sanctuary shall be cleansed. In Revelation there are seven churches, seven seals and seven trumpets that represented the period of earth’s history from the time of the death of Christ all things that were done throughout that period of time to the very end. This is now the seventh trumpet, the last event in the history of the world.

Revelation 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become [the kingdoms] of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

Jesus was to receive the kingdom at a certain time and here it is in the seventh trumpet at the very last event of earth’s history.

Revelation 11:18 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.

That is what was to happen but notice what happened in this seventh angel.

Revelation 11:19 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.

Jesus in the heavenly sanctuary now opened into the most holy place. 2300 days in the time of the seventh trumpet when the nations are angry. Was there ever a time in earth’s history when all the nations of the earth became angry? Until just at the time of 1848 there was a world war and it was stopped and then the First World War started in 1914 when the nations were angry and then the Second World War. This is the time in which we are living. Ever since the time that the nations were angry with each other, the temple of God was opened in heaven. What was seen? It was the temple of the Ark of the Covenant as we saw in the earthly sanctuary.

Revelation 15:5 And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:

In heaven there is the temple of the testimony. There are two temples in heaven, two apartments and this one was open now in heaven as Jesus was working in the plan of salvation to cleanse the sanctuary. Here is a reference to what Jesus was doing in the seventh church period of Philadelphia which was the 2300 day prophecy coming to its end in 1844.

Just before that time, ten days before the Day of Atonement there was the blowing of trumpets because such an important day was coming and the people were to be warned by trumpet blowing for ten days. Every morning and evening the trumpets were blowing so the people realised after ten days it was the Day of Atonement. We look at the Philadelphia period of Revelation. Here is the announcement done before the 2300 days finished in 1844.

Revelation 3:7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; 8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

This is the time period of Philadelphia was from 1833 to 1844. There were those ten days, ten years of warning. Jesus is saying I’m going to open the temple in heaven, the most holy place. I have set before you an open door. God’s people were to go by faith with Jesus and know what He was doing in the heavenly sanctuary. I’m opening the door come follow me. I’m doing a special work for you. We will see Jesus receiving His kingdom. In Revelation 19:15 it says this is now the time when Jesus receives His kingdom.

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.

Jesus in the heavenly sanctuary goes into the presence of the heavenly Father.

Daniel 7:14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion [is] an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom [that] which shall not be destroyed.

Can you see the perfect connection with Revelation 11 where it said that Jesus would receive His kingdom? As He was receiving it, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony is open. As Jesus goes into the most holy place He receives the kingdom. Examine what transpires while Jesus is going into the most holy place. What is happening?

Thrones Put into Position

Daniel 7:11 I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld [even] till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.  12 As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. 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

The books had to be examined if people had confessed their sins or not. In that time of the judgement Jesus comes to the ancient of days. This was the Day of Atonement that was symbolised by the Hebrew sanctuary. There is a particular time in earth’s history when you study the 2300 prophecy culminates in 1844. In that time when the nations begin to be angry, the sanctuary was to be cleansed. After 2300 the sanctuary should be cleansed, the heavenly sanctuary.

Daniel 7:21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; 22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

When the pope was taken prisoner in 1798 it was the end of the persecution of the saints. It was the time that the Ancient of Days came and sat and did His work in the judgment, the judging of the people. Examine this in spiritual salvation terms of the actual work that must take place for the salvation of Gods people in this point of judgment. Just like the Hebrew people were judged, they had to examine themselves closely and afflict their soul, what must Gods people meet?

Romans 2:12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; 13 (For not the hearers of the law [are] just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

When a person has sinned and has been a doer of the law, he has broken the law. We are going to be judged if we have broken the law. Everyone will be judged, one sinning without the law and the one sinning within the law.

Romans 2:16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

When Apostle Paul was preaching the gospel he said there is going to come a day when every person who has sinned in or out of the law is going to be judged when God shall judge them by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. The day of judgement came in when Jesus came to the Father the Ancient of Days in the heavenly sanctuary and the people were judged out of the books and what was written there. Apostle Paul was saying it was future in his time. This is a work that has to do with our salvation. The word ‘is come’ in 1 Peter 4:17 is supplied. He is not saying it has happened. He is saying that judgement must begin at the house of God.

1 Peter 4:17 For the time [is come] that judgment 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?

Where does judgement have to commence? It commences with the house of God. That judgement of the books and the ancient of days in the heavenly sanctuary is the judgement of Gods people. That is where it starts.

1 Peter 4:18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the unGodly and the sinner appear?

In the plan of salvation, the people that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ have their sins recorded in the heavenly sanctuary when they confess and judgement comes to see whether they are worthy. If they have truly confessed and everything has been dealt with right and fine, they are judged worthy. It starts with the children of God. Judgement commences with the house of God with the people who are consciously participating with the work of Jesus in the heavenly sanctuary.

Revelation 11:1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.  2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty [and] two months.

That is another prophecy that ended in 1798. It says the people were to be measured. What was to be measured? The temple of God, the altar and them that worship therein. The Hebrew symbolism is now a reality. The people of God who worship in the heavenly sanctuary where the sins were recorded at the altar of incense by Jesus, now have to be examined. This is a perfect fulfilment of the Hebrew meaning in the New Testament of the people that worship in the heavenly sanctuary, not those who are in the court.

The people in the court who do not understand the work of Jesus in the sanctuary are the gentiles who are not to be judged. The house of God is first to be judged. It commences with the people of God and later with the gentiles. Measure the temple and those in it. What sort of detail does the Bible reveal to us in reference to this measurement and how perfectly is this displayed? This is in an exciting scripture of how it fits in. Ezekiel teaches the children of Israel about the earthly sanctuary and what is meant by it.

Ezekiel 43:7 And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, [neither] they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcases of their kings in their high places.  8 In their setting of their threshold by my thresholds, and their post by my posts, and the wall between me and them, they have even defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed: wherefore I have consumed them in mine anger.

Doesn’t that sound like atonement? Their threshold by mine?

Ezekiel 43:9 Now let them put away their whoredom, and the carcases of their kings, far from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever.  10 Thou son of man, show the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern.

Their threshold next to mine? Tell them they have polluted my sanctuary, my holy place, and now I want you to put away your whoredom’s that you have polluted my sanctuary with. Put them away so that I dwell in the midst of you. Ezekiel shows the people the sanctuary and the house that they may be ashamed of their iniquities. That is why they had to study that sins are recorded in the heavenly sanctuary and they should be ashamed about that. Then he says let them measure the pattern.

Ezekiel 43:11 And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, show them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof: and write [it] in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them.

Participate in my sanctuary activity. Understand what I am doing and perform all that I want you to do so that as you become ashamed, all the workings of what we have studied will become real to them so that they will measure the pattern. This is a summary of everything we have studied in the sanctuary service. God was going to consume them for their sins but says, “They are so close to me I will dwell among them.” We set our posts close together and I want them to examine carefully so they can be cleansed. Once they understand all these things let them now confess everything and make sure everything they have done wrong is put away. Measure the pattern. In other words, do something with the pattern. What is the pattern? They should measure the people of God. What is to be measured? They are to be measured and the pattern is to be measured, the blueprint. Here is the pattern and blueprint and here are the people. What does that mean?

Measure the Pattern

Here is the pattern that we are to measure up with;

Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;  12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

We are to grow through the gospel to the measure of stature of the fulness of Christ. In the judgment hour in the last days He is going to measure the people with the pattern. Have they measured to the same stature of Him? This is the plan of salvation that we need to understand. In taking up the faith and ministry of reconciliation, believers have launched themselves in to what we read in Ezekiel when they accepted the gospel.

Ezekiel 43:11 And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, show them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof: and write [it] in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them.

In the believing of the gospel, the believer needs to understand everything about the sanctuary in the last days especially in the time when they are to measure the pattern.

When we submit ourselves to Christ, the heart is united with His heart, the will is merged in His will, the mind becomes one with His mind, the thoughts are brought into captivity to Him; we live His life. This is what it means to be clothed with the garment of His righteousness. Then as the Lord looks upon us He sees, not the fig-leaf garment, not the nakedness and deformity of sin, but His own robe of righteousness, which is perfect obedience to the law of Jehovah. {COL 311.4}

This is what we have to measure up to. We are engaging in something that is God’s work. He is the one that is trying to get us to this and as He instructs us, we don’t want to forget what is participation with the work of God that we won’t misunderstand.

Philippians 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of [his] good pleasure.

The Holy Spirit is working inside of us while Jesus is working in the heavenly sanctuary. God works in us which is what the sanctuary is all about. What is His work? Building us up. There is to be an examination of the people to see whether they have measured with the pattern.

Righteousness is right doing, and it is by their deeds that all will be judged. Our characters are revealed by what we do. The works show whether the faith is genuine. {COL 312.2}

In all this judging the measuring up is to do with the correct way of living and practise rather than profession. God is examining the people whether they are living the message.

He who becomes a partaker of the divine nature will be in harmony with God’s great standard of righteousness, His holy law. This is the rule by which God measures the actions of men. This will be the test of character in the judgment. {COL 314.2}

God is going to judge the actions of men whether the actions are in harmony with the actions of Jesus in their life. We read in Ezekiel that they were to examine the pattern and confess their wrongs in the time when He is going to do this work of measuring of the people of God only.

The books of heaven record the sins that would have been committed had there been opportunity. God will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing. By His law He measures the character of every man. As the artist transfers to the canvas the features of the face, so the features of each individual character are transferred to the books of heaven. God has a perfect photograph of every man’s character, {5BC 1085.4}

We can understand today better than when Ellen White wrote it about the records of heaven. Today you can video stream. In heaven God has living pictures of our character. As He looks at us in the judgement of those books of our character, this photograph He compares with His law. He measures the people by the pattern. He doesn’t say you don’t measure up – bang! He says in Ezekiel put away your wrongs.

He reveals to man the defects that mar his life, and calls upon him to repent and turn from sin (ST July 31, 1901). {5BC 1085.4}

Through the Holy Spirit He reveals to us the things that mar our life. That is the judgement activity. Can you see the work of salvation since 1844? This is the work of salvation through the sanctuary understanding when our lives are being judged by Jesus Christ.

Remember when you are walking the streets about your business, God is measuring you; when you are attending your household duties, when you engage in conversation, God is measuring you. Remember that your words and actions are being daguerreotyped [photographed] in the books of heaven, as the face is reproduced by the artist on the polished plate. . . . {7BC 972.1}

Can you see how important it is that we concentrate on this message in the last moments of earth’s history? This is an intense time. What did the children of Israel do? They had to afflict their souls. Ever since Jesus went into the most holy place we are to realise what he is doing. We are to examine ourselves and confess everything he shows me and make changes in my life so I can measure up with the pattern. This is the message for the hour and it’s just about over.

Jesus gave two parables that describe precisely this. One is found in Matthew 22. Some people wake up with a shock and say this is not true. This is the parable of how Jesus wanted to invite the people to His wedding and He invited the Jews who rejected Him.

The Call of the Gospel Wedding

Matthew 22:8 Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.  9 Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.  10 So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.  11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:

He came to examine the guests. What is the wedding garment? His character upon the person. There comes a time when the King comes in when everyone in the gospel message has gone into the heavenly sanctuary.

Matthew 22:12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.  13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast [him] into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  14 For many are called, but few [are] chosen.

That is what the judgement is all about.

The Gospel Net that Catches the Fish

As he catches the fish they are brought into the shore.

Matthew 13:47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:  48 Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.  49 So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,

In the end of the world the judgement is going to create a severing of those who are faithful and those who are not. There are two parables relating to the heavenly sanctuary. When the gospel net has been drawn in just before the whole thing closes, there is the sorting out and the king comes in to examine the guests in the other parable. What is the Bible saying? This is doctrine not understood by Christians because they cannot identify the sanctuary in heaven with the gospel  or God’s way with sinners is in the sanctuary.

We see Him kind beyond all measure. He gives Himself and puts Himself next to our threshold. Jesus becomes one with us. We polluted and affected Him so He died with our sins. The offering of salvation is put to all and the gospel message calls all to come and at the end there is a work of sorting this out where the sinner is no longer going to pollute God. Jesus became one with the sinner but now in the atonement the sinner becomes one with Him. They become one with Him and that is the gospel message. When Jesus is finished his work in that apartment, what will He say?

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.  12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward [is] with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

Is there anything missing? It is so clear. May God help us to take it on board.

Amen.