In Seventh-day Adventist theology, the heavenly sanctuary teaching asserts that many aspects of the Hebrew tabernacle or sanctuary are representative of heavenly realities. In particular, Jesus is regarded as the High Priest who provides cleansing for human sins by the sacrificial shedding of his blood. The doctrine grew out of the church's interpretation of the 1844 Great Disappointment. As a whole, it is unique to Seventh-day Adventism, although other denominations share many of the typological identifications made by the epistle to the Hebrews, see. One major aspect which is completely unique to Adventism is that the day of atonement is a type or foreshadowing of the investigative judgment. Technically, the "heavenly sanctuary" is an umbrella term which includes the investigative judgment, Christ's ministry in heaven before then, the understanding of, etc. However, it is often spoken of interchangeably with the investigative judgment. The earthly Most Holy Place was entered once a year by the High Priest on the Day of Atonement to offer atonement for the Israelites. Adventists believe this is a "type" of Jesus' ministry in heaven. In 1844 Jesus moved from the Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary into the Holy of Holies to begin a final atonement for humanity. This is understood as a change in two phases of Jesus' ministry.
The historical foundation of the doctrine began with the Millerites who expected Jesus to return to earth on October 22, 1844. They interpreted the cleansing of the sanctuary to mean the cleansing of the earth by Jesus' coming. After the "Great Disappointment" when Christ did not come, those who awaited Christ further studied the prophecies and concluded that the event reached in time prophecy was actually the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary. This understanding then initiated the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Hiram Edson experienced a revelation concerning this new doctrine the day after the great disappointment, and the doctrine was subsequently worked out in more detail by Owen Crosier and others. Church pioneers James White and Ellen G. White wrote further about it over the succeeding years.
Teaching
Biblical basis
8:1-5 -
Summary
Adventists traditionally believe that the blood of the daily sacrifices transferred the sins of penitent Israelites to the sanctuary, through the ministration of the priests in the "holy place" of the tabernacle. On the Day of Atonement, a set of rituals were performed by the Levitical high priest to "cleanse" the sanctuary of the accumulated sins, ultimately transferring the sins to the scapegoat. This goat was sent into the wilderness, thus removing sin from the people entirely. Accordingly, Jesus ministered in the holy place of the heavenly sanctuary from his ascension until 1844. During this time the forgiven sins of Christians were transferred to the heavenly sanctuary. In 1844 he entered the most holy place, or holy of holies, to cleanse the heavenly sanctuary of its defilement. In the final judgment, the sins of all true Christians will be transferred to Satan, who is symbolised by the scapegoat. The 1844 date is derived from the application of the day-year principle to Daniel 8:14. The starting year for calculating 1844 is seen as the command to restore and rebuilt Jerusalem by Artaxerxes in 457 B.C. on the basis of.
