THE CLEANSING OF THE SANCTUARY

WHEN AND HOW?

THE 2300 DAYS--DANIEL 8:14

 Thought for Meditation
At the time appointed for the judgment--the
close of the 2300 days, in 1844--began the
work of investigation and blotting out of sins.
All who have ever taken upon themselves
the name of Christ must pass its searching
scrutiny. Both the living and the dead are to
be judged "out of those things which were
written in the books, according to their
works." {GC 486.1}
 Solemn are the scenes connected with the closing
work of the atonement. Momentous are the
interests involved therein. The judgment is now
passing in the sanctuary above. For many years this
work has been in progress. Soon--none know how
soon--it will pass to the cases of the living. In the
awful presence of God our lives are to come up in
review. {GC 490.1}
• Dan. 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?
 
• Dan. 8:14 -- And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and
three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."
 
 
THE 2300 DAYS--DANIEL 8:14
 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.
• 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."
 
 What signs are to mark the time of the end?
• 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 
 What signs are to mark the time of the end?
• Dan. 8:26, 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:
2 TG. No. 33: 5
 What signs are to mark the time of the end?
• Dan. 9:1-3 -- "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:...
 
 What signs are to mark the time of the end?
• Dan. 9:22, 23 --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 counselled Daniel first to consider the
vision. Then said Gabriel:
 What signs are to mark the time of the end?
• Dan. 9:24 -- "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
Let us now study the subject
with the aid of this chart.
 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:
Dan. 9:25 -- "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."reconciliation for their iniquity, or
else be hopelessly given up. Next Daniel was told
where the 70 weeks begin:
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. Look at the chart.)
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:
Dan. 9:26 -- "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.
Dan. 9:27 -- 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."
Just what was to take place during the first seven
weeks or 49 years I am not prepared to say, but 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 3 1/2 years from His
baptism to the crucifixion, and 3 1/2 years after the
crucifixion in which He was to confirm the covenant.
This completes the 70 weeks and brings us to the
time to 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 3 1/2
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.
Christ's own sacrifice at the end of the first 3 1/2
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.
Now since the 2300-year period begins in 457 B.C.,
with the commandment to restore and to rebuild
the city Jerusalem, the 2300 days consequently end
in 1844.
 
 456 OR 457 B.C.?

Question No. 63:

In Tract No. 3 "The Judgment and the Harvest,"
1942 Edition, p. 37, the computation, according
to the diagram, dates the beginning of the 2300-
day prophecy of Daniel 8:14 from 456 B.C.,
whereas "The Great Controversy," p. 328, dates
it from 457 B.C. How do you harmonize the two?
 456 OR 457 B.C.?

Answer:
• Dealing with the long prophetic period in round
numbers only, the Tract counts back 2300 years
from 1844, thus locating the period's starting
point as 456 B.C. The Great Controversy, however,
is dealing with the fact that the period began, not
in the first month of the year according to the
present calendar, but rather in the seventh month
(our October) of the year according to the Mosaic
calendar (Ex. 12:2).
The difference is seen from the following diagram.
The upper part of it deals in the terms of the tract;

The lower part, in the terms of The Great

Controversy. Answerer # 3. page 49
Dealing with the long prophetic period in round
numbers only, the Tract counts back 2300 years
from 1844, thus locating the period's starting point
as 456 B.C.
2300 - 1844 = 456
The Great Controversy, however, is dealing with the
fact that the period began, not in the first month of
the year according to the present calendar, but
rather in the seventh month (our October) of the
year according to the Mosaic calendar (Ex. 12:2).
Thus far every specification of the prophecies is
strikingly fulfilled, and the beginning of the seventy
weeks is fixed beyond question at 457 B.C., and
their expiration in A.D. 34.
From this data there is no difficulty in finding the
termination of the 2300 days.
The seventy weeks--490 days--having been cut off
from the 2300, there were 1810 days remaining.
After the end of 490 days, the 1810 days were still
to be fulfilled
 From A.D. 34, 1810 years extend to 1844.
Consequently the 2300 days of Daniel 8:14
terminate in 1844
• At the expiration of this great prophetic period,
upon the testimony of the angel of God, "the
sanctuary shall be cleansed." Thus the time of the
cleansing of the sanctuary--which was almost
universally believed to take place at the second
advent--was definitely pointed out. {GC 328.2}
At the time appointed for the judgment--the close of the
2300 days, in 1844--began the work of investigation and
blotting out of sins. All who have ever taken upon
themselves the name of Christ must pass its searching
scrutiny. Both the living and the dead are to be judged
"out of those things which were written in the books,
according to their works." {GC 486.1}

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?
 Solemn are the scenes connected with the closing
work of the atonement. Momentous are the
interests involved therein. The judgment is now
passing in the sanctuary above. For many years this
work has been in progress. Soon--none know how
soon--it will pass to the cases of the living. In the
awful presence of God our lives are to come up in
review. {GC 490.1}
 We are now living in the great day of atonement

In the typical service, while the high priest was

making the atonement for Israel, all were required
to afflict their souls by repentance of sin and
humiliation before the Lord, lest they be cut off
from among the people. In like manner, all who
would have their names retained in the book of life
should now, in the few remaining days of their
probation, afflict their souls before God by sorrow
for sin and true repentance. There must be deep,
faithful searching of heart.
 The light, frivolous spirit indulged by so many
professed Christians must be put away. There is
earnest warfare before all who would subdue the
evil tendencies that strive for the mastery. The
work of preparation is an individual work. We are
not saved in groups. The purity and devotion of
one will not offset the want of these qualities in
another. Though all nations are to pass in judgment
before God, yet He will examine the case of each
individual with as close and searching scrutiny as if
there were not another being upon the earth.
Everyone must be tested and found without spot or
wrinkle or any such thing. {GC 489.3}
 Sins that have not been repented of and forsaken
will not be pardoned and blotted out of the books of
record, but will stand to witness against the sinner
in the day of God. He may have committed his evil
deeds in the light of day or in the darkness of night;
but they were open and manifest before Him with
whom we have to do.
 Angels of God witnessed each sin and registered it
in the unerring records. Sin may be concealed,
denied, covered up from father, mother, wife,
children, and associates; no one but the guilty actors
may cherish the least suspicion of the wrong; but it is
laid bare before the intelligences of heaven. The
darkness of the darkest night, the secrecy of all
deceptive arts, is not sufficient to veil one thought
from the knowledge of the Eternal.
 God has an exact record of every unjust account
and every unfair dealing. He is not deceived by
appearances of piety. He makes no mistakes in His
estimation of character. Men may be deceived by
those who are corrupt in heart, but God pierces all
disguises and reads the inner life. {GC 486.2}
Miller and his associates at first believed that the
2300 days would terminate in the spring of 1844,
whereas the prophecy points to the autumn of
that year…. The misapprehension of this point
brought disappointment and perplexity to those
who had fixed upon the earlier date as the time of
the Lord's coming.
But this did not in the
least affect the
strength of the
argument showing
that the 2300 days
terminated in the year
1844, and that the
great event
represented by the
cleansing of the
sanctuary must then
take place. {GC 328.3}
•At the time appointed for the judgment--the close
of the 2300 days, in 1844--began the work of
investigation and blotting out of sins. All who have
ever taken upon themselves the name of Christ
must pass its searching scrutiny. Both the living
and the dead are to be judged "out of those things
which were written in the books, according to their
works." {GC 486.1}
 THE CLEANSING OF THE SANCTUARY
Dan. 8:14 Rev. 14:6, 7

Both the prophecy of Daniel 8:14, "Unto two thousand and

three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed,"
and the first angel's message, "Fear God, and give glory to
Him; for the hour of His judgment is come," pointed to
Christ's ministration in the most holy place,
 THE CLEANSING OF THE SANCTUARY
Dan. 8:14 Rev. 14:6, 7

Both the prophecy of Daniel 8:14, "Unto two thousand and

three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed,"
and the first angel's message, "Fear God, and give glory to
Him; for the hour of His judgment is come," pointed to
Christ's ministration in the most holy place,
 THE CLEANSING OF THE SANCTUARY
Dan. 8:14 Rev. 14:6, 7

Both the prophecy of Daniel 8:14, "Unto two thousand and

three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed,"
and the first angel's message, "Fear God, and give glory to
Him; for the hour of His judgment is come," pointed to
Christ's ministration in the most holy place,
In the summer of 1844, Adventists discovered the
mistake in their former reckoning of the prophetic
periods, and settled upon the correct position.  
The 2300 days of Daniel 8:14, which all believed to
extend to the second coming of Christ, had been
thought to end in the spring of 1844;  
….but it was now seen that this period extended to
the autumn of the same year, and the minds of
Adventists were fixed upon this point as the time
for the Lord's appearing. {4SP 248.2}
CLOSING THOUGHTS
 The Work of the Investigative Judgment
Rev. 14:6, 7

In 1844 our great High Priest entered the most holy

place of the heavenly sanctuary, to begin the work
of the investigative judgment. The cases of the
righteous dead have been passing in review before
God. When that work shall be completed, judgment
is to be pronounced upon the living.
 We Are in the Antitypical Day of Atonement
Dan. 7:9-10 Judgment Rev. 14:6, 7

How precious, how important are these solemn

moments! Each of us has a case pending in the
court of heaven. We are individually to be judged
according to the deeds done in the body.
 The Typical Day of Atonement

In the typical service, when the work of atonement

was performed by the high priest in the most holy
place of the earthly sanctuary, the people were
required to afflict their souls before God, and
confess their sins, that they might be atoned for
and blotted out.
 We Are in the Antitypical Day of Atonement

Will any less be required of us in this antitypical day

of atonement, when Christ in the sanctuary above is
pleading in behalf of His people, and the final,
irrevocable decision is to be pronounced upon every
case? {1SM 125.1}
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