Doug Batchelor - Cleansing the Sanctuary - Part 2

TOPICS: Book of Daniel, Bible Prophecy

Welcome once again, friends, to another presentation in the Landmark of Prophecy series. We're very thankful that each of you are here. I want to thank you personally for your faithfulness. You know, we've titled this series Landmarks of Prophecy and one of the famous landmarks in the world, of course, is the Taj Mahal. The Emperor's wife died giving birth to their 14th child and he loved her so much that he wanted to build something that would just commemorate his love for her and so he had just the best architects in the kingdom that built this beautiful building.

What many people are not aware of is that he also saw it as a place where people could find redemption. When the Emperor dedicated the building, it was Emperor Shah Jahan, he declared in these words, "Should the guilty seek asylum here, like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin. Should a sinner make his way to this mansion, all his past sins are to be washed away. The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sighs and the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes. In this world, this edifice has been made; to display thereby the creator's glory."

Very interesting. He speaks of a monotheistic creator and that this building was to be a place where a person could find asylum, like a city of refuge. And so, it's not just beautiful, it also had some representation of a place of worship as well.

You know, there is a building that the Bible talks about, it's called sometimes the tabernacle, the temple, the sanctuary, that is found all the way from Exodus through Revelation and is mentioned by most of the major Bible prophets. In the context of this building we're going to learn a lot about salvation tonight, and some of the most interesting Bible prophecies that even relate to our day.

The lesson today is lesson #11 dealing with the subject of cleansing the Sanctuary. Now, when the Children of Israel came out of Egypt and Moses went up Mount Sinai, what did he get up there on top of Mount Sinai? Ten Commandments. But, you know, that's not the only thing he got up there. The Bible tells us the Lord gave him blueprints. Just like the Lord gave blueprints to Noah to build the ark, he gave blueprints to Moses to build a tabernacle. This was to be the central place of worship in the Hebrew economy. It was a very specifically designed building that was to teach them about how God saves people. And here's a picture.

At first, when they were going through the wilderness, they needed a portable tabernacle because they would strike their camp, move to another spot, pitch it again, strike it, move to another spot, they had all these Levites that were designated to carry it on their shoulders from place to place. For 40 years they carried their temple with them. Finally, when they got into the Promised Land, they built a permanent one. But there were some things that happened here that all illustrated the plan of salvation.

There was one door, how many ways of salvation does Jesus tell us there are? One, He is the way, the truth, the life. He said I am the door'. He's the Lamb of God. People would bring their lamb through that door and the first thing that happened on the entrance to the sanctuary was there was a sacrifice. There were two pieces of furniture that you principally saw when you went in: after you went in the door, the first thing was what they called the Altar. This is where the sacrifice took place and where it was burnt and presented to God, that represents the cross.

The next piece of furniture you saw was the Laver. It was where this water was and they would wash, then, before they entered the Holy Place. So, in Egypt, the Children of Israel, before they were saved from slavery, they sacrificed a lamb. Then they went through the Red Sea. That water is a symbol of, like, baptism. Paul says that in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. They were baptized in the sea. When they went down through the Red Sea and came up it was sort of a symbolic baptism. The Bible tells us that Jesus is the lamb. Jesus is the rock. Jesus is the living water. Everything you look at in the tabernacle tells us about Jesus.

Then you went into what they call the Holy Place, the first room of the tabernacle, and the first thing you saw when you went into the Holy Place was this Table of Showbread. Jesus said, I am the Bread of Life'. Right? The other thing you saw was a lampstand with seven lamps on it. That's because Jesus said, I am the Light of the World'.

And then the third thing you saw was this Altar of Incense and that's where they would sprinkle incense and the pleasant aroma would waft over the curtain into the Holy of Holies or the Most Holy Place. This represents the prayers, the intercession, of Jesus. We pray in His name. So, before we go any farther, we saw three things in the Holy Place: those are the three secret weapons for your being successful as a Christian. Did you catch it? Bread, light, the altar of incense. That's reading your Bible, that's the Bread of Life, man doesn't live by bread alone, but by every word, right? God said let your light shine, be a witness, and you need to pray. That's that altar of incense. Those three things are the keys to having a close relationship with God.

Now you went through the veil into what they called the Holy of Holies and there was only one thing in there. What was that? That was the Ark, the golden Ark of the Covenant, and there, what was inside? Ten Commandments. When you read the Bible prophecy books of Isaiah, "In the year", chapter 6, "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple." The vision is in the temple. Ezekiel, I read it today in my personal devotions, chapter 40, he's measuring the temple, the vision's in the temple. Zechariah, Daniel, the context of so many of these great prophecies, Revelation, are in the context of this building. There are some secret lessons that we can learn about God and how He saves, and even prophecy, from studying this.

So, one of the important things that happened with Jesus' ministry, let's go to the lesson, the story at the beginning of your lesson. Is, the center of worship for the nation at the time of Christ was the Jewish temple. Now the temple, during the time of Jesus, was the one that had been rebuilt. Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed the one of Solomon. It lasted about 400 years and then Nebuchadnezzar destroyed it and then years later, 70 years later, they came back and, during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, they rebuilt it but it didn't have quite the former glory.

But then, along came a Roman-Jewish king, Hasmonean king, named Herod the Great who was quite a builder. He loved to build, passionate builder. He built Masada. He built Caesarea. He built everywhere. He also was pretty heartless. He's the one who killed the babies in Bethlehem. But to show, for political reasons, the Jews that he would be a good king, he refurbished their temple and it was a beautiful place and it still was the place where they worshiped.

So when Jesus came in to teach in the temple, you know, the people would bring their sacrifices, well the religious leaders had turned it into a bazaar where they were selling lambs, selling doves, selling sacrifices, the courtyard of the temple that was supposed to be a place of prayer, and praise, and worship, it sounded like a flea market and--it was like a stockade auction house. Everybody was fighting over the price of sacrifices and it smelled and Jesus walked in there one day and He said, 'My Father's house is a house of prayer for all nations'. By the way, He's quoting the Old Testament. He said, 'You've turned it into a den of thieves'. Fire flashed from His eyes. He overturned the moneychangers' tables. You remember reading about this? He made a cord, a whip out of cords it doesn't say He whipped anybody but His holding it was probably enough.

And then He said, in John chapter 2, verse 16, "Take these things hence! Make not My Father's house a house of merchandise!" Notice, Jesus said, 'My Father's house'. At the end of Christ's ministry when the religious leaders rejected His teaching, He said, 'Behold, your house is left to you desolate'. That's interesting to consider. There's a change.

Now, question #1: What is the starting point for the 2300-day and 70-week time prophecies? Now get your Bibles, turn with me to Daniel 9:23, "at the beginning of your supplications the commandment went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision:" Now there's no vision in chapter 9 so what vision is the angel talking about? The one in chapter 8 he didn't get to finish explaining because Daniel fainted, right? "Seventy weeks", here we go, verse 24, Daniel 9:24, "Seventy weeks are determined for your people", who were Daniel's people? Jewish nation, seventy weeks, the word determined there means 'cut off' or 'allotted' or 'remain' for your people. For what? To introduce the Messiah to the world. "and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins,", the final sacrifice for sin would be offered, "to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness,", that's Christ who brings that everlasting righteousness, "to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy."

So he said seventy weeks are determined for all these things to be accomplished. "Know therefore and understand,", now here is the starting point for all these prophecies, "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince,", from this point to this point, "there shall be seven weeks and three-score and two weeks;"

Alright, three-score and two is sixty-two, right? A score is twenty. Sixty-two plus seven is how much? Sixty-nine. So you've got one week missing. He tells us what happens in the midst of that last week, He makes the sacrifice cease. So He breaks it up like that because there's the first seven weeks they're building the wall and the street. Then you've got another sixty-nine weeks and at the end of that sixty-nine week period it says that the Messiah is going to be anointed and begin his ministry. So unto the Messiah the prince, seven weeks; three-score and two weeks.

The starting point is from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem. Can we know from all the dusty, musty records of history when did that happen? Good news. It's given in your Bible. It's in Ezra 7:7. The decree of King Artaxerxes, that king gave a decree that allowed them to go back. It was the most prominent variety of decrees that came saying that they could rebuild the city and the walls and the temple and that is 457 B.C. it is a very clearly established date in history.

So you've got the starting point, 457, and he says now it'll be sixty-nine weeks until the Messiah begins His ministry. First there'd be the seven weeks, forty-nine years while they're building the street and the wall in troublous times, then there'd be another sixty-two weeks, a total of sixty-nine, right? Now when you're interpreting Bible prophecy, what is the principle that you're supposed to use? A day equals a year.

You can read this, there's several verses in Ezekiel 4:6, “I have appointed thee each day for a year." You can read Numbers 14:34 "Each day for a year" the angel said that if you're to count sixty-nine weeks from 457 B.C. you'd come to Messiah the Prince. So now, did it happen? If you go, a day equals a year in prophecy, if you go 483 years from 457 B.C. it comes to the baptism of Jesus in 27 A.D. Matthew 1:22 and 23, "Now this was all done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 'Behold, a virgin will be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us'." It says specifically in Daniel 9:24, part of the purpose would be to anoint the Most Holy. Was Jesus anointed with the Holy Spirit when He was baptized? Did the Spirit come down like a dove?

What marked the beginning of Jesus' ministry? His baptism. You know, one of the most clearly established dates in the New Testament is Luke chapter 3, verse 1. You have your Bible? And the reason is they give so many dates, he gives so many corresponding leaders during this time, there's very little doubt about when it was, historically. Some of these ancient dates it's hard to pin down, but let me tell you what Dr. Luke did for us. Luke 3, verse 1, "Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar,", that's not that hard to establish, "Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea,", that's one more benchmark, "and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the Word of God came unto John..."

Look at all of those different leaders. You can triangulate all of those different points, well, triangulate would be only three, he gives about five different leaders. There's only one date in history when we know that they all corresponded: 27 A.D. it is such a well-established date this is the year that Jesus was baptized. That is exactly the right time period after 457 B.C. Mark 1:15, when Jesus began preaching you know what He said? "The time is fulfilled", right after His baptism Jesus said, "The time is fulfilled", what time is He talking about? He's talking about the time from Daniel's prophecy. He was anointed. He began to preach. This is what they were all waiting for.

Every Jew read the prophecy of Daniel 9, wondering when the Messiah would come. Which also means, if they had been studying their Bibles back then the way they should have, they could have known the time of His birth because a high priest could not reign until he was thirty years of age. A priest couldn't serve until he was thirty. Joseph began to rule at thirty. David began to rule at thirty. Priests began to rule at thirty. They could have guessed the Messiah would begin His ministry at His thirtieth birthday and that's when Jesus was baptized.

Did you know that? It says, 'As Jesus began to be thirty years of age', also in Luke. All they had to do was count back thirty years from the anointing point and they could have guessed when He would have been born. So we've got a couple of charts here that we're going to put up just to review what we're looking at. First we know, from 457 you've got sixty-nine weeks. That would go 483 years to the point of His baptism, that would be 27 A.D. What was to take place next in this prophecy? And you can read the answer to that is Daniel chapter 9, verses 26 and 27. It says, "And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be", what? "Cut off, but not for Himself." After that the Messiah would be cut off.

You know, this was something that a lot of the religious leaders didn't understand and they struggled with because they wanted the Messiah to come and flex His muscles and be a combination of King David and Samson and overthrow the Romans and make them a world empire. Having a Messiah come that would die as a lamb didn't fit in very well with what their hopes and dreams were.

Then it goes on and it says, "And He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of that week He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease." The Messiah is anointed but Jesus doesn't preach seven years, He only preaches half of that. He preaches three and a half years in person and then He is cut off in the middle of that last week that reaches to 34 A.D. Christ dies in 31 A.D. He says, I will preach. I'm going to train My twelve apostles. I will preach'. And He says, when he leaves and goes to Heaven He tells the apostles, 'As the Father sent Me, so send I you'. But, catch this, Jesus did not say 'Go to the world first'. Matter of fact, He said, 'Don't go anywhere. Wait in Jerusalem until you receive the Holy Spirit. And when you receive the Holy Spirit you'll be My witnesses. First Jerusalem, then Judea', I'm in Acts chapter 1, 'Then Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth'.

When Christ sent them out preaching after He rose, He said, 'Go not in the way of the Gentiles, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel'. He wanted to finish confirming the covenant to His own people first. And so the Lord specifically kept His promise to Abraham. He said, 'I'm going to confirm the covenant to Your people for a full seven years'. Three and a half years through the Messiah, He will be cut off. In another three and a half years through those who heard Him, the apostles. You look at the bottom part of this chart here, you've got the first sixty-nine weeks Christ is baptized. Three and a half years He preaches in person. Three and a half years He preaches through the apostles. At the end of that, in 34 A.D., something happens.

Alright, go to your Bibles real quick. Turn to Acts chapter 7. In Acts chapter 7 Stephen is the first martyr of the Christian church. After he was falsely tried by the same people who tried Jesus, he told them the wonderful gospel that Peter had preached at Pentecost three and a half years earlier, but instead of repenting and saying, 'What must we do to be saved'? the supreme court, the leaders, the representatives of the nation plugged their ears. They gnashed their teeth. They didn't want to hear it. They cried out, verse 57, Acts 7:57, "Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul." whose name was later changed to... wow, isn't this a pivotal point in history?

34 A.D. the nation officially plugs their ears, says we don't want to hear about Jesus anymore. They kill His representative the same way they killed Jesus, falsely tried, taken out of the city by a mob, executed, clothes are laid down, the clothes of Christ were taken away. And it says, if you read chapter 8, verse 1, "And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles." They went everywhere preaching. There's a great persecution and that just totally seals what happened here in that time period. According to the angel who spoke with Daniel, what would happen at the end of the 2,300-year period of time? Answer: it says in Daniel 8:14, "And he said unto me, 'Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."

Now go, go back to your Bibles for a second. If you look in Daniel chapter 8 and if we read down here, verse 12, "Because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered." So what's happening is the truth of God and the truth of the Bible and the truth of Jesus, during this time, becomes compromised and yet it prospers.

Well, I'm going to give you a little quick history. I won't diverge on this, but I think most of us know that during this period of time you know, about three or four hundred years after Christ, originally Christians were persecuted in Rome. They fed them to the lions, right? What was once considered religio-illicita, forbidden religion, was persecuted, outlawed, they were killed. They built catacombs. They went underground, it suddenly became the state religion and it almost overnight became fashionable, with the conversion of Constantine, to become a Christian. But what happened is a lot of people started coming into the church from the different Greco-Roman religions that weren't totally converted, didn't even know the teachings of Jesus, and they tried to bring some of their pagan ideas with them.

We studied the other night about the truth about hell, that people do not go right at death to, before judgment or resurrection, a place of burning where they burn through all eternity. Did we, we learned there is a lake of fire, there is a punishment, but there's misunderstanding that came in from Greek mythology, right? Cast the truth to the ground in practice. The idea of purgatory, this halfway burning place, we found out that that's been now renounced. It's not biblical. There's nothing in the Bible about that. The idea that the dead go immediately to Heaven as soon as they die and then they come back for their bodies or they're in Abraham's bosom waiting. We found out that's not in the Bible and a lot of other things, the truth was cast to the ground.

The idea that you don't need to keep the Ten Commandments anymore because once you believe in Jesus you can somehow now ignore His law, that's another one of the truths that was cast to the ground. All kinds of things began to get corrupted during this time. So, when would there be a cleansing of the sanctuary?

Alright, so now, starting at 457, you go 2,300 and you know when that comes? Two thousand, that's the longest time period in the Bible. That reaches to 1844. I'll put a chart up here. The movement that is bringing you this series of studies, really found its beginning back then because in 1844 Christians all over the world thought that Jesus was coming. They called it the Great Advent Movement. It had nothing to do with Seventh-day Adventists because there were no Seventh-day Adventists back then. The word advent means 'coming'. They thought Jesus was coming.

How many of you have heard this before? They called it the Millerite movement. They were Baptists and Methodists and Presbyterians and Congregationalists and when Jesus didn't come they said, 'Look, it's not God's will we have all these different denominations. We've got to put aside our differences and study the Bible together and find out 'Where have we drifted'? And all of a sudden the Lord began a movement that brought them all back to the word of God and that translated into a movement that is now 17 million strong and going around the world and they're helping sponsor these meetings that you're receiving right now. People who are saying that Christians, in the last days, need to return to the Bible. Revelation tells us there are seven churches. The last age of the church is called what? Laodicea. You know what that means? A judging of the people. And we entered the last phase of the history of the church in 1844.