Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Sabbath School Insights No. 11, Qtr 3-06

Special Insights No. 11

Third Quarter 2006 Adult Sabbath School Lessons

“The Gospel, 1844, and Judgment”

(Produced by the Editorial Board of the 1888 Message Study Committee)

“The Sanctuary and the Little Horn”

The sanctuary doctrine is the “key which unlocked the mystery of the disappointment of 1844” and “opened to view a complete system of truth” (The Great Controversy, p. 423). Connected to the time prophecy of Daniel 8:14 was “the daily” (hattamid) in 8:11-13. Following the great disappointment, our pioneers, including Joseph Bates, James White, J. N. Andrews, Uriah Smith, J. N. Loughborough, and S. N. Haskell, embraced William Miller’s identification of “the daily” as pagan Rome whose “sanctuary” (miqdash) location (the city of Rome) was inherited by the papacy. This view of “the daily” in Daniel 8:11-13; 11:31; 12:11 with 2 Thessalonians 2:7 was theologically part of Adventist heritage until around 1900.

Then L. R. Conradi (who had rejected the 1888 message) reinterpreted “the daily” to be the sanctuary service of Christ’s high priestly ministry in heaven. He taught that the papacy took away Christ’s priestly ministry. This so-called “new view” came from leading early Protestant reformers. Our prominent church leaders, A. G. Daniells, W. W. Prescott, E. J. Waggoner, and A. T. Jones, accepted Conradi’s view. Desmond Ford was Adventism’s most notable scholar who followed Conradi’s view resulting in his ultimate rejection of the sanctuary doctrine as the unique pillar of the Adventist church. His supposedly “scholarly” arguments swept away numerous Adventist ministers and bright lights. The General Conference initiated a counter-attack in the multi-volume Daniel & Revelation Committee Series in order to stem the rejection of the sanctuary doctrine (but in effect to justify Conradi’s view of “the daily”). The Series has resulted in beneficial achievements but also left questions on “the daily.” It’s either Christ’s sanctuary ministry as espoused by Conradi and taught in our Sabbath School Quarterly; or it’s similar to what Miller and the pioneers and Ellen White (Early Writings, p. 74) supported.

The question in Daniel 8:13 concerns “the daily and the transgression of desolation,” giving “both and the host and the sanctuary to be trampled under foot.” If in fact “the daily” is Christ’s sanctuary ministry taken away by the papacy (A. D. 200 at the earliest) and Christ’s sanctuary was cast down and trampled by the papacy (see Dan. 8:11), 2300 years must still elapse extending the termination of the 2300 days to 2500-2600 A. D. But the 2300 years must terminate in 1844 based on the 70 weeks of Daniel 9.

Daniel 8 is permeated with sanctuary (cultic) language as the Quarterly correctly points out. The ram, goat, horn, “daily,” are all terms used with the typical sanctuary service. However, in Daniel 8 they are all used in a negative, counterfeit sense. The ram is a pagan, ungodly power; the goat and the horn each represent pagan, ungodly powers, set forth in counterfeit sanctuary language. Thus “the daily” would also be in a counterfeit “sanctuary” sense, precluding the view that it is Christ’s sanctuary ministry.

In Daniel 8 is the only instance the phrase, “the daily,” is used as a stand alone substantive (noun). The Hebrew, hattamid, means the continual, the perpetual. The only principle that is “continual” in Daniel 8 is that which inspires the pagan nations. The ram exalts (gadal) or becomes great; the goat becomes very exalting (gadal), the horn in 8:9 exceedingly exalting (gadal) or great; the horn again in 8:10 exalts (gadal) to the host of heaven, finally exalting (gadal) himself as high as the Prince of the host. The Hebrew word, gadal, is the self-exalting characteristic of all pagan nations including the religious system that evolves from pagan Rome, namely papal Rome.

Based on the Hebrew, the following view of the pronouns in 8:11 seems reasonable:

“Even unto the Prince of the host he (pagan Roman or emperor) exalted himself; and from him (pagan Rome or emperor) the daily (the principle of self-exaltation) was taken away (lit. lifted up by the papacy) and the place (city of Rome) of his (pagan Rome or emperor) sanctuary was cast down.

In other words pagan Rome inherited the principle of self-exaltation from its predecessors, Greece and Medo-Persia. When the Roman emperor moved the “place” of his capitol to Constantinople (“the place of his sanctuary was cast down”), the papacy assumed his seat in Rome, simultaneously assuming pagan Rome’s primary characteristic of continual self-exaltation.

This exegetical interpretation of Daniel 8:9-14 results in an identification of “the daily” as something negative, detrimental, inherent in fallen man and all pagan nations, internally consistent with the 2300 days commencing in 457 B.C., since “the daily” or the principle of self-exultation was manifested by the ram (Medo-Persia) in that same time-frame.

The word for “sanctuary” in 8:11 is miqdash, whereas in 8:13, 14 it is kodesh. Miqdash can be earthly sanctuaries such as pagan sanctuaries as well as God’s earthly sanctuary. In 8:11 the word is miqdash where it refers to the sanctuary of pagan Rome. Kodesh always refers to God’s holy sanctuary, either earthly or heavenly. In 8:13 kodesh refers to both God’s earthly sanctuary trampled by pagan powers from 457 B.C. until Christ’s ascension and also to His heavenly sanctuary, the truth of which was trampled by the papacy in later years. In 8:14 kodesh is God’s heavenly sanctuary.

That which needs to be “cleansed” is the spirit of self-exaltation from the hearts of the professed people of God and thus from the sanctuary itself as the heavenly Day of Atonement comes to a rapid closure.

Daniel 8 is dealing with the great controversy between Christ and Satan, a conflict involving the mystery of iniquity (the spirit of self-exaltation; gadal) versus the mystery of godliness (spirit of self-sacrificing love; agape). It is only the latter in the hearts of God’s people that will ultimately allow Christ to complete the cleansing of the sanctuary and consummate His wedding, because the bride has now made herself ready.

John W. Peters

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