Exploring the Heavenly Sanctuary: Understanding Seventh-day Adventist Theology

Copyright © Marc Rasell 2009 All Rights Reserved

Acknowledgements

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture verses are from the King James Version, 1611 (Authorized Version) Copyright status: Crown copyright (UK).

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked (GNB) are from the Good News Bible © 1994 published by the Bible Societies/HarperCollins Publishers Ltd UK, Good News Bible © American Bible Society 1966, 1971, 1976, 1992. Used with permission.

Scripture quotations marked (NASB) are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 Enduring Persecution

Chapter 2 The Danger of Drifting

Chapter 3 A Sabbath Rest

Chapter 4 The Immutability of Christ’s Priesthood

Chapter 5 A Temple in Heaven

Chapter 6 Garbage Collection

Chapter 7 The Metal Man

Chapter 8 Beasts from the Sea

Chapter 9 An Attack on God’s Sanctuary

Chapter 10 Biblical Mathematics

Chapter 11 History Repeated

Chapter 12 The City of God

Epilogue

My Testimony

Further Information

Chapter 7 The Metal Man

Daniel 2 the rise and fall of kings

In order to establish a date for the beginning of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary (Daniel 8:13-14) we need to turn to the prophecies of Daniel. As we study these prophecies we will see why the ‘cleansing of the sanctuary’ cannot be referring to the earthly temple. Before we can reach that conclusion we need to work our way through the apocalyptic visions in the book of Daniel. It is a bit like putting together a jigsaw, so that we can see the complete picture and how one part relates to another.

Prior to the beginning of the Book of Daniel, the people of Israel were taken into exile to Babylon. The reason for the exile was that God had to punish them because they had turned to idolatry and lived immoral lives yet refused to repent. Outwardly they still maintained the temple services with meaningless rituals and feasts. God told them that He hated their music and feasts; He said they should live moral lives, and help the oppressed and the poor. It was a time when some were rich and lived in ivory mansions while the poor were sold for a pittance and cheated out of their rights by corrupt judges (Amos 2:6; 3:15; 4:4; 5:12; 5:21-27; Jeremiah 7:5-7; Isaiah 1:13-17; Micah 2:1-2; 3:1-4, 9-11). Because of the prevailing iniquity the Lord sent prophets to warn the people, but they refused to listen. Jeremiah, who is known as the weeping prophet was mocked and scorned and finally thrown down a well. He prophesied that the people would have to spend seventy years in exile in Babylon (Jeremiah 25:11-12; 29:10-11) which was not a popular thing to say, and he was accused of being a traitor (Jeremiah 38:4). God was very patient with the people but they came to the place where they would no longer listen to reason and were in danger of bringing God’s name into disrepute by their wicked ways. The Babylonians came as prophesied, besieged the city and took away the populace bit by bit (2 Kings 24:14, 16; Daniel 1:1-4; Jeremiah 39:9-10) eventually destroying the city and the temple because those left behind kept on rebelling against Babylonian control. Eventually no one was left except a few poor people on the land.

Daniel was one of the first to be taken into exile along with other Hebrews because King Nebuchadnezzar wanted some of the royal family and nobility to be educated in Babylon to serve in the empire. Daniel was soon faced with a serious problem; the food assigned to these captives from the king’s table was unfit for Jews to eat. Most likely this was because it included unclean meats and possibly involved food sacrificed to idols. Daniel resolved not to defile himself (Daniel 1:8); to eat this type of food would have violated his conscience and the law of God. That was a brave decision which could have cost him his life. But God rewarded his fidelity and when the final exams came his vegetarian diet helped him and the other Hebrews to be top of the class; the king found them ten times better than the other wise men (Daniel 1:20). So Daniel and his three friends entered the service of the king. The original diet given to man consisted of fruits, nuts and grains; vegetables were also added after the fall (Gen. 1:29; 3:18). Today, science has verified that this type of diet is the optimal one for maintaining good health. It should come as no surprise that our Creator knows what’s best for the creatures He designed. Sometimes in life we are tempted to compromise what we believe in, and it appears that if we don’t our source of income will be cut off, but God rewards those who are faithful to Him. “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” (Psalm 37:25)

There was once a man who wanted to observe the Sabbath; he had converted to Christianity in a Muslim country. He had a family and was afraid of losing his employment but trusted in the promise of Psalm 37:25; he eventually decided to take his stand and approach his employer. It was unheard of for such a request to be granted. But on the day he presented his request he sent up a prayer to God, his employer saw him praying and amazingly granted his request. He was transferred to a different office but kept his employment and was allowed to keep the Sabbath. Many stories like this have been told about those who trusted in God in difficult times and were rewarded. When Jesus was faced with a similar temptation to work a miracle to turn stone into bread He said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4)

The first vision recorded in the Book of Daniel happened in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign (Daniel 2:1), although it was the pagan king that had the vision rather than the prophet! Nebuchadnezzar had long suspected that the wise men and magicians were frauds (Daniel 2:9) so he tested them by asking them to tell him what he had dreamed rather than let them think up some explanation. When they were unable to do this he decided to get rid of the whole lot of them in one go. Unfortunately this included Daniel even though he had not been present. When Daniel was arrested at home he asked why the decree was so harsh. After the matter was explained he asked to be taken to the king to ask for time so that he might interpret the dream.

That night Daniel and his friends had quite a prayer meeting. It is always a good thing to take matters to the Lord in prayer. When we are busy, even when studying theology or doing the Lord’s work it is easy to forget to pray! I had the experience of seeing God work to solve a difficult problem which had caused me a lot of stress. My wife suggested we pray about it, and later when walking by the sea I was impressed by the power of God. My prayer was answered and everything went smoothly. Other times we have to learn the hard way and God permits trials to come so that we can learn to trust in Him.

That night God revealed to Daniel the dream and its interpretation. The king had seen an image of a metal man, whose head was made of gold, the arms of silver, the belly of bronze, the legs of iron and the feet of iron and clay. Finally a rock was cut out “without human hands” which struck the feet and the whole image was smashed to pieces and swept away. Then the rock became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth (Daniel 2:35).

The interpretation was that the head of gold was Babylon (Daniel 2:38), after that an inferior kingdom (represented by silver) would arise (verse 39). Then the bronze kingdom would rule over the whole earth. Next would be an iron kingdom which smashed, broke and crushed all the others (Daniel 2:40). The feet of iron and clay represented a kingdom with no overall ruler, even though they would try to unite (Daniel 2:41-43). Finally the rock represented God’s kingdom, which would bring all earthly kingdoms to an end (Daniel 2:44).

This prophecy has been marvellously fulfilled in history[i]:

Gold = Babylon (626–539 BC)

Silver = Medo-Persia (539–331 BC)

Bronze = Greece (331–168 BC)

Iron = Rome (168 BC–AD 476)

Iron and Clay = Europe (AD 476–?)

The last past of the prophecy is still to come:

Rock = God’s Kingdom

One of the amazing things about this prophecy is how the metals match their corresponding kingdoms[ii]. Gold was abundant in the time of Babylon and silver was the currency of the Persians. The Greeks used bronze armour and the Romans crushed people like iron and did in fact have iron weapons including an iron spear or “pilium” which could serve as a javelin[iii].

After the collapse of the Roman Empire approximately ten tribes took over the territory Rome had formerly occupied. None of them has ever exercised absolute dominion over the others, even though there have been attempts to control Europe by various dictators such as Napoleon and Hitler; they could not succeed because they were fighting against Bible prophecy.

The rock is a symbol of Christ and represents His second coming when He returns dramatically in the time of Europe and brings all human kingdoms to an end. There are two sides to Christ’ work, those who fall and are broken on the rock will be saved, but those on whom it falls will be crushed (Matt 21:44 / Luke 20:18)[iv]. It is this second aspect that is depicted in the dream, the cataclysmic return of Christ to save His people and set up His kingdom in the time of the Europe.

Many kingdoms have risen only to fall again; moral decay and decadence weakened Babylon until after a night of drunken revelry the Persians stormed the city and gained control of the empire (Daniel 5). The historian Edward Gibbon believed a factor in the fall of Rome was prosperity and moral decay[v], this contributed to the downfall of Rome at the hands of invading barbarians[vi]. Corruption will finally bring all earthly kingdoms to an end (Isa. 24:4-12). Sinful human nature seeks to exalt its own achievements and power (Daniel 4:30), but if we are wise we will overcome this folly and realise that only God deserves exaltation (Daniel 4:34). Nebuchadnezzar had to learn this lesson the hard way and became insane for seven years until he recognised the authority of God. Eventually all human kingdoms will end and God will set up His kingdom, based on meekness (Matthew 5:5).

Perhaps there is a lesson in an idolatrous king receiving a vision of an idol to show him that God is supreme. God speaks to us in language we can understand, He spoke to the Hebrews of bulls and goats, to Nebuchadnezzar in terms of an idol, to Daniel of terrible beasts, I wonder what language God would use for us today? Perhaps we too have our own idols.

Chapter 8 Beasts from the Sea

Daniel 7 the persecution of God’s saints

The next vision concerning the rise and fall of nations occurred during the first year of king Belteshazzar of Babylon. The reference to Belteshazzar in Daniel used to be regarded as a grave historical error as the last king of Babylon is known to be Nabonidus. However, the existence of Belteshazzar appeared in Cuneiform records as the first born son of Nabonidus, and although not called a king, it says he was entrusted with kingship[vii]. It appears Nabonidus had entrusted power to his son while still remaining king, this was why Daniel was later offered the third and not second highest place in the kingdom after interpreting the writing on the wall for Belteshazzar (Daniel 5:29).

In the vision of chapter seven the prophet saw four beasts emerging from the sea in succession (Daniel 7:3). These beasts were a lion with the wings of an eagle, a bear with three ribs in its mouth, a leopard with four wings, and then a terrifying beast with ten horns and iron teeth which crushed its victims and trampled on them. After that appeared a little horn which uprooted three of the ten horns; it had eyes and spoke boastfully (Daniel 7:4-8), persecuted the saints for a set period of time, tried to change times and laws and spoke against the Most High (Daniel 7:25). Following this, a heavenly court is convened involving books and multitudes of beings (Daniel 7:9-10), and then the terrible beast is destroyed! For Daniel this was perhaps confirmation that all these terrible oppressive powers would finally come to an end; he had witnessed the oppression of his own people and of other nations (Daniel 4:27). One day there would be justice when judgement would be pronounced on those who had been so cruel and unrepentant.

The beasts are interpreted to be four kingdoms (Daniel 7:17); this suggests a parallel to the four metals in Daniel chapter two which were also four kingdoms. The fact that the terrible beast has iron teeth and crushed its victims links it to the iron legs of the metal man[viii]. We can also see a correlation between the ten toes of the metal man and the ten horns of the terrible beast. We can now draw a parallel between the two visions:

We can see that essentially the two visions are giving similar information but with some additional information involving the little horn and the judgement. It may seem strange that the terrible beast representing pagan Rome is pictured as being destroyed following the judgement - given that pagan Rome collapsed many centuries ago. This is because the little horn was an integral part of the terrible beast. As the iron extended into the feet of the metal man, so also the ten horns and the little horn are part of the terrible beast. The Roman power extended into the time of Europe in another form: at the Council of Regensburg in 1240, Eberhard II, the archbishop of Salzburg was the first to identity the little horn with the papacy[ix]. This interpretation was then adopted by Wycliffe, Luther, Cranmer, Knox and virtually all the Reformation and post Reformation expositors in the Continent, Great Britain and then the United States. In England, Wycliffe almost lost his life because of his outspoken criticism of the corruption of the papacy, and forty years after his death his bones were exhumed, publicly burned and then scattered in a nearby brook[x].

In the sixth century following the demise of classical civilisation in Rome, the papacy rose to power[xi]. The Roman Empire collapsed as it was invaded by various tribes (represented by the ten horns) who settled in the region formerly occupied by Rome and became the modern nations of Western Europe. Some of these tribes had been opposed to the bishop of Rome because they held Arian beliefs contrary to the doctrines of Rome. The Arian doctrine denied that Christ was equal to God the Father. The three horns which were plucked up (Daniel 7:8) have been identified as the Heruli, Vandals and the Ostrogoths[xii]. The Heruli were defeated by the Ostrogoths in AD 493, and then the Vandals were defeated by Justinian in AD 534. In AD 533 the Emperor Justinian had recognised the bishop of Rome as the head of all the churches, but because Rome was under the control of the Ostrogoths this could not practically be put into effect. Then in AD 538 the Emperor’s General Belisarius delivered Rome from the besieging Ostrogoths[xiii]. The decisive victory occurred early on in the campaign, and although the Ostrogoths continued to wreak havoc in Italy, they never regained their original hold over Rome. The damage done by the remaining Ostrogoths together with the bubonic plague and famine was very damaging to Italy and within a decade classical civilisation had perished in Rome. The victory over the Ostrogoths represented a turning point in the power of papal Rome which gradually stepped into the power vacuum that had been left behind following the collapse of pagan Rome. The three horns had been uprooted to make way for the little horn. Europe remained a collection of divided nations but there was a new spiritual power. This spiritual nature is clearly revealed by the fact that the little horn spoke against the Most High and persecuted God’s people. By the end of the sixth century the bishop of Rome had greatly increased in power.

The papacy taught the people to make confessions to human priests for the forgiveness of sin and to buy indulgences. A monk named Tetzel collected a huge sum of money selling indulgences for the church by claiming that as soon as a coin hit the bottom of the chest a soul would go straight to heaven[xiv]. The people were encouraged to buy these indulgences and make penances rather than being directed to look to Jesus Christ whose blood alone could save them. Martin Luther, when called before the Diet at Worms in 1521 to account for his writings criticising the papacy, defended himself by saying that the doctrines of Rome were wicked, harmed the bodies and souls of men and to recant would only strengthen the tyranny and open the doors to such blasphemy[xv]!

The attempt to change “the times and the laws” (Daniel 7:25) can be seen in the attempt to change the Sabbath to Sunday which is the only one of the Ten Commandments that deals with time. About 1400 AD, Petrus de Ancharano asserted that “The pope can modify divine law, since his power is not of man, but of God, and he acts in the place of God upon earth, with the fullest power of binding and loosing his sheep.”[xvi] Gradually Rome promoted Sunday because of anti-Semitic sentiments in the Roman Empire[xvii] and also to accommodate pagan converts when sun worship was prevalent in society[xviii]. There were always a few Christians who followed the original apostolic tradition of keeping the seventh day Sabbath, such as the Celtic Christians of Britain[xix]. In Scotland the Saturday Sabbath was observed until the eleventh century until Queen Margaret set out to change this. She wrote to a cousin in England to complain that the Scots work on Sunday but keep Saturday in a sabbatical manner[xx].

The papacy claimed to have a higher authority than the Scriptures and those who rejected this were persecuted[xxi]. The principle victims of this era were the Waldenses, Albigenses, Huguenots, the Reformers and the victims of the Inquisition. For centuries those who held the authority of the Scriptures above the bishop of Rome were mercilessly hunted down, tortured and executed. One of the worst atrocities was the St Bartholomew’s day massacre when in one day tens of thousands of Protestants were massacred for their faith. The papacy stopped the common people from having access to the Bible by keeping it in the Latin language. When William Tyndale wanted to translate the Bible into English he had to go to Germany and smuggle Bibles into England by boat. Eventually he was caught and burned at the stake. His last prayer that the eyes of the king of England would be opened was miraculously answered. Two years after his death every church in England had a Bible in the English language for the common people to read, authorised by the king. It seems that through all history God’s people have been persecuted. Jesus said that, “It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?” (Matthew 10:25)

There is a tendency for us to look to the majority when deciding on a right course of action, indeed democracy is built upon this principle. However, even the Greeks discovered that this does not always work. Although they invented democracy, it fell into disrepute after a city was besieged and the populace elected a charismatic leader who led them into a disastrous confrontation with the enemy! Sometimes the majority do get it wrong. Down through Bible history we tend to find the righteous among the minority. Could it be that the majority will lead this world to disaster at the end of time? Certainly the book of Revelation suggests that the majority will be deceived and follow the beast (Rev. 13:3), but a faithful remnant will keep God’s commandments and have faith in Jesus (Rev. 12:17; 14:12).

The fact that the little horn is not destroyed until the return of Jesus suggests that although its reign of terror is over, at some point it will cause problems before Jesus returns. Increasingly Protestants are losing their motto of “sola scriptura”; the influence of critical scholars has eroded their trust in the Bible as the Word of God and so they are losing their shield of faith, the unerring detector of error. We are ever moving closer to an ecumenical union that seeks to ignore seemingly minor doctrinal differences. Could it be that at the end of time the church will once again seek to influence political events and cause problems for God’s remnant who keep God’s commandments? A call for a Sunday law could be just such a political issue popular with the masses that could put pressure on God’s faithful Sabbath keepers to compromise. Is such a thing possible? We will find out in chapter eleven when we delve into the Book of Revelation.

Chapter 9 An Attack on God’s Sanctuary

Daniel 8 a spiritual war

In the third year of Belteshazzar’s reign, Daniel had another vision, this time concerning a ram and a goat. These are both sacrificial animals, the chapter is telling us something about God’s sanctuary[xxii] as we will see later.

The ram is interpreted by the angel to be the kings of Media and Persia (Daniel 8:20) while the goat represents Greece (Daniel 8:21). We know from history that Alexander the Great conquered the then known world rapidly, and then suddenly died at a young age. His kingdom was then divided up into four parts, by four of his generals. Interestingly in Daniel chapter seven the leopard which represents Greece had four wings and four heads; and in chapter eight the goat had a prominent horn (Daniel 8:5) which was broken, and then four horns grew up to take its place (Daniel 8:8). Clearly these are references to Alexander the Great and the subsequent division of his empire.

Next appears a little horn which grows geographically at first and then towards heaven (Daniel 8:9-12). This appears to parallel the two phases of the terrible beast: pagan and papal Rome. The geographical expansion mirrors the pagan Roman conquests which extended to the north, south and east suggesting that the little horn originated in the west, which is where Rome is in relation to the Holy Land.

[see printed version for illustration]

During the papal stage, the little horn casts down some of the host and the stars, set itself up to be as great as the Prince of the host, took away the daily ministration, and cast down the foundation of the sanctuary (Daniel 8:10-11). At this time the truth was thrown to the ground and the little horn seemed to prosper for a time in its terrible work (Daniel 8:12). Sometimes we see wicked people who have done wrong things prosper and wonder why, God says:

“Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb…I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found. Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.” (Psalm 37:1-2, 35-37)

At some time in the future the prophet was told that the little horn would be destroyed, but not by human power (Daniel 8:25).

By keeping the Bible in Latin and teaching people to confess to human priests, the little horn was able to stop the ministration in the heavenly temple because so few people knew that Jesus could forgive their sins, thus the very foundation of the temple (the truth about Jesus’ intercession) was cast down, and truth was cast to the ground.

The visions in Daniel two and seven ended with heavenly scenes: God’s kingdom the rock and the heavenly court setting. So it is natural for the vision of chapter eight to end by focusing on something heavenly[xxiii]. We are not dealing here with an earthly sanctuary which had been destroyed long before the fall of the Roman Empire. Rather we are dealing with God’s sanctuary in heaven. The earthly sanctuary could not be cleansed at this time because it had become obsolete at the death of Christ (Hebrews 9:8), and no longer even existed having been destroyed by the Romans in AD 70.

Next in the vision an angel appears who asks “until when” would these things be, the answer was “until” 2300 evenings and mornings “then” the sanctuary would be cleansed (Daniel 8:13-14). The emphasis in the Hebrew language is on what happens following the termination of the 2300 evenings and mornings[xxiv]. Daniel did not understand the vision, he was appalled by the vision and lay sick for many days (Daniel 8:27). The vision had been explained up to the part about the 2300 evenings and mornings, so it appears he did not understand this last part. Perhaps he thought it meant God’s people would stay in exile for a longer time period that the seventy years predicted by Jeremiah or that some terrible calamity was going to befall his people. The angel had told him it concerned the distant future (Daniel 8:26), nevertheless it remained a mystery to him. Daniel could not understand the part about the 2300 evenings and mornings, and many scholars after him have been puzzled by what this signifies.

Some have tried to identify the little horn with the Syrian King Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-163 BC) who defiled the temple and persecuted the Jews. He led a successful campaign against Egypt, and on his return passed through Judea. He encountered an insurrection which he put down by massacring thousands of Jews (2 Macc. 5:12-14) including women and children. A year later he again invaded Egypt, but this time he was ordered to leave by the Roman Senate; Popilius Laenas drew a circle around him and demanded he give an answer before stepping out. Humiliated Antiochus had to submit to the Roman demands because of their might. He took his wrath out on the Jews by trying to compel them to abandon their laws and their God. He dedicated their temple to Zeus and then sacrificed unclean animals on the altar thus defiling the temple. After three years and ten days it was cleansed and re-consecrated to God[xxv].

The majority of Bible scholars today believe that the little horn of Daniel represents Antiochus. However, there are a number of reasons why he cannot be the fulfilment of this prophecy. The first two points relate to the way the text is translated:

a. Daniel 8:9 says, “And from one of them moves forth a horn from little beginnings, and it became exceedingly great toward the south and toward the east and toward the glory.” (Literal translation[xxvi])

The supporters of the Antiochus theory interpret this verse to mean that the little horn came out of one of the four horns. This fits the Antiochus theory because he lived during the era of the Grecian goat. However, in the Hebrew the word “them” can be linked with either “horns” or “winds”. There is a Hebrew parallelism in the text which suggests the little horn comes out of the four winds rather than the four horns[xxvii]:

Verse 8: to the four winds (fem.) of the heavens (masc.)

Verse 9: from the one (fem.) from them (masc.)

Therefore the little horn comes out of one of the four winds; it expands north, south and east so it must come from the west which is where Rome came from[xxviii]! (The Septuagint translation has “the north” rather than “the glory” which makes up the three points of the compass and fits the context of the four winds.) Antiochus on the other hand did not come from the west. He did not wax great toward the south, east and north[xxix]. He had only partial success against Egypt and could not capture Alexandria because of the Romans. It was Antiochus III who invaded Palestine; Antiochus IV inherited his territory rather than invading it himself, so he does not fit this part of the prophecy.

b. Daniel 8:11 reads, “And it made itself great even to the Prince of the host, and from Him was taken away the continual service, and the foundation of His sanctuary was thrown down.” (Literal translation[xxx])

Antiochus never threw down the foundation of the sanctuary which literally would mean he would have had to destroy it. Some modern dynamic translations change the wording to make it fit the Antiochus theory but this is unwarranted because the Hebrew is clear[xxxi]. The NIV says, “… and the place of his sanctuary was brought low.” The GNB reads, “… and desecrated the Temple.” These do not accurately translate the meaning of the text.

It should be noted that the Hebrew word “tamid” is usually translated as daily sacrifice even though it applies to other parts of the daily service including the shewbread, lamps, incense and fire upon the altar (Ex. 25:30; 27:20; 30:8; Lev. 6:13; 24:2; Num. 4:7)[xxxii]. A better translation is therefore daily or continual service.

c. It is no where stated in the prophecy that the little horn defiles the sanctuary. Nevertheless many have tried to associate the time when Antiochus defiled the temple with the 2300 evenings and mornings. However, Antiochus only defiled the temple for three years which does not fit the 2300 days[xxxiii].

d. There is a strong parallel between the little horn of Daniel seven which represented Rome, and the little horn of Daniel eight in its geographical stage. This would suggest that the little horn is connected to pagan and/or papal Rome which is beyond the Antiochus era.

e. In Daniel 8:23 we learn that the little horn will come at the latter end of the Grecian reign. This cannot be said of Antiochus because he was somewhere in the middle of the Seleucid Empire among a number of other kings rather than at the latter end.

f. The little horn is destroyed supernaturally, “he shall be broken without hand” (Daniel 8:25) which cannot be said of Antiochus.

g. The little horn cast truth to the ground (Daniel 8:12). Antiochus failed in his attempts to convert the Jews to Hellenism; rather it made them more determined to follow their own religion[xxxiv]. On the other hand the papacy was successful in getting its adherents to believe in its doctrines.

Even though Antiochus appears to fit some of the criteria of the prophecy, he does not fit all of them and therefore cannot be the fulfilment.

What we see in Daniel eight is a spiritual attack on God’s temple and the truth about salvation in Jesus, rather than a physical attack on an earthly temple. A spiritual warfare involves false concepts and ideas opposed to God’s truth. Today in modern warfare we often hear the phrase, “winning hearts and minds”. There is a war raging in the universe between Christ and Satan, and the sanctuary is one of the key elements of God’s counter attack. Here is revealed an all loving and just Saviour; it is the truths contained in the sanctuary that are the secret arsenal that will obliterate Satan’s kingdom. No wonder he is so keen to try to obscure its significance and keep God’s people from this secret weapon[xxxv].

We are now ready to put all the pieces together to understand the meaning of cleansing of the sanctuary and find out when this great event begins that will usher in a new kingdom of love, peace and happiness.

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[i] Gerhard Pfandl, Daniel the Seer of Babylon (Review and Herald Publishing Association, 2004) p. 26

[ii] Ibid., pp. 26-27

[iii] Jacques B. Doukhan, Secrets of Daniel: Wisdom and dreams of a Jewish prince (Hagerstown, Maryland: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 2000) p. 32

[iv] Douglass Bennett, The Stone Kingdom of Daniel 2, Symposium on Daniel, Daniel and Revelation Committee Series, Volume 2 (Washington, DC.: Biblical Research Institute of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 1986) pp. 375-377

[v] See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decline_of_the_Roman_Empire

[vi] Francis D. Nichol, The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Volume 7 (Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1978) p. 20

[vii] Gerhard F. Hasel, Establishing a Date for the Book of Daniel, Symposium on Daniel, Daniel and Revelation Committee Series, Volume 2, p. 109

[viii] William H. Shea, Unity of Daniel, Symposium on Daniel, Daniel and Revelation Committee Series, Volume 2, p. 171

[ix] Francis D. Nichol, The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Volume 4 (Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1978) p. 50

[x] Ellen White, The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan, Conflict of the Ages, Volume 5 (Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1911) p. 95

[xi] C. Mervyn Maxwell, The Mark of the Beast, Symposium on Revelation – Book II, Daniel and Revelation Committee Series, Volume 7, pp. 125-128

[xii] Gerhard Pfandl, Daniel the Seer of Babylon, p. 64

[xiii] Gerhard Pfandl, Daniel the Seer of Babylon, p. 65; Francis D. Nichol, The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Volume 4, p. 826

[xiv] Oswald Myconius, trans. in Oliver J. Thatcher and Edgar Holmes McNeal, eds., A Source Book for Mediaeval History, pp. 338–340. Copyright 1905 Charles Scribner’s Sons; renewal copyright 1933 Oliver J. Thatcher. Reprinted with the permission of Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York in the Seventh Day Adventist Students’ Source Book: The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Volume 9, section 860

[xv] Henry Bettenson, ed., Documents of the Christian (New York: Oxford University Press, 1957), pp. 282–285. Used by permission in the Seventh Day Adventist Students’ Source Book: The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Volume 9, section 1277

[xvi] Lucius Ferraris, “Papa,” art. 2, in his Prompta Bibliotheca (“Handy Library”), Vol. 6 (Venetiis [Venice]: Gaspar Storti, 1772), p. 29. Latin. (In the Seventh Day Adventist Students’ Source Book: The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Volume 9, section 1123)

[xvii] Samuele Bacchiocchi, From Sabbath to Sunday a historical investigation of the rise of Sunday observance in early Christianity (Rome: The Pontifical Gregorian University Press, 1977) pp. 169-178

[xviii] Ibid., pp. 268-9

[xix] David Marshall, The Celtic Connection (Grantham, Lincolnshire: The Stanborough Press Ltd, 1994) pp. 29-34

[xx] Andrew Lang, History of Scotland (2nd ed., 1900) vol. 1, p. 96; Turgog’s Life of Queen Margaret (circa 1100) p. xix; W. Forbes-Leith, Turgog’s Life of Queen Margaret (Edinburgh, 1896). See Professor W. F. Skene, Celtic Scotland (Edinburgh, 1886-90) vol. 2, pp. 248-9. (In David Marshall, The Celtic Connection, p. 29 endnote 2)

[xxi] William H. Shea, Daniel: a reader’s guide (Nampa, Idaho: Pacific Press Publishing Association: 2005) pp. 118-120

[xxii] William H. Shea, Unity of Daniel, Symposium on Daniel, Daniel and Revelation Committee Series, Volume 2, p. 196

[xxiii] William H. Shea, Unity of Daniel, Symposium on Daniel, Daniel and Revelation Committee Series, Volume 2, pp. 178, 193; Gerhard F. Hasel, the “Little Horn,” the Heavenly Sanctuary and the time of the end: A study of Daniel 8:9-14, p. 382

[xxiv] Gerhard F. Hasel, the “Little Horn,” the Heavenly Sanctuary and the time of the end: A study of Daniel 8:9-14, Symposium on Daniel, Daniel and Revelation Committee Series, Volume 2, pp. 429-430; the Hebrew words ‘ad-matay’ literally mean “until when”

[xxv] Gerhard Pfandl, Daniel the Seer of Babylon, p. 76

[xxvi] Gerhard F. Hasel, the “Little Horn,” the Heavenly Sanctuary and the time of the end: A study of Daniel 8:9-14, Symposium on Daniel, Daniel and Revelation Committee Series, Volume 2, p. 386

[xxvii] Ibid., pp. 387-392

[xxviii] Ibid., pp. 393-4

[xxix] William H. Shea, Why Antiochus IV Is Not the Little Horn of Daniel 8, Selected Studies on Prophetic Interpretation, Daniel and Revelation Committee Series, Volume 1, pp. 45-46

[xxx] Gerhard F. Hasel, the “Little Horn,” the Heavenly Sanctuary and the time of the end: A study of Daniel 8:9-14, Symposium on Daniel, Daniel and Revelation Committee Series, Volume 2, p. 387

[xxxi] Ibid., p. 410

[xxxii] Angel M. Rodriguez, Significance of the Cultic Language in Daniel 8:9-14, Symposium on Daniel, Daniel and Revelation Committee Series, Volume 2, p. 533

[xxxiii] Gerhard F. Hasel, the “Little Horn,” the Heavenly Sanctuary and the time of the end: A study of Daniel 8:9-14, Symposium on Daniel, Daniel and Revelation Committee Series, Volume 2, p. 432

[xxxiv] Francis D. Nichol, The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Volume 4, p. 847

[xxxv] Herbert E. Douglass, Why Jesus Waits How the sanctuary message explains the delay of the Second Coming (Nampa, Idaho: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 2001) pp. 88-89