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The Signal to Begin, July 21
And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days;
then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
Daniel 8:14
.
We should be earnest students of prophecy; we should not rest until
we become intelligent in regard to the subject of the sanctuary, which is
brought out in the visions of Daniel and John. This subject sheds great
light on our present position and work, and gives us unmistakable proof
that God has led us in our past experience. It explains our disappointment
in 1844, showing us that the sanctuary to be cleansed was not the earth,
as we had supposed, but that Christ then entered into the most holy
apartment of the heavenly sanctuary, and is there performing the closing
work of His priestly office, in fulfillment of the words of the angel to
the prophet Daniel.
The 2300 days had been found to begin when the commandment
of Artaxerxes for the restoration and building of Jerusalem went into
effect, in the autumn of 457 B.C. Taking this as the starting point, there
was perfect harmony in the application of all the events foretold in the
explanation of that period in
Daniel 9:25-27
.... The seventy weeks, or
490 years, were to pertain especially to the Jews. At the expiration of
this period, the nation sealed its rejection of Christ by the persecution
of His disciples, and the apostles turned to the Gentiles, A.D. 34. The
first 490 years of the 2300 having then ended, 1810 years would remain.
From A.D. 34, 1810 years extend to 1844. “Then,” said the angel, “shall
the sanctuary be cleansed.”
Our faith in reference to the messages of the first, second, and third
angels was correct. The great waymarks we have passed are immovable.
Although the hosts of hell may try to tear them from their foundation,
and triumph in the thought that they have succeeded, yet they do not
succeed. These pillars of truth stand firm as the eternal hills, unmoved
by all the efforts of men combined with those of Satan and his host. We
can learn much, and should be constantly searching the Scriptures to
see if these things are so.
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