Daniel 8:14 in Perspective

An examination of the prophecies of chapters 7-9 reveals:

1. The great enemy of God, of His truth, and of His people is the little horn power.
2. The sanctuary in heaven—its anointing, the inauguration of Christ's ministration repre­sented by the "daily" and the "yearly"—is the central theme of Daniel's visions. Daniel 9:24 reveals its anointing and setting up; chapter 8: 11-14 its casting down; chapters 7:9-14; 8:14 its restoration and cleansing.
3. Because of the central position of the heavenly sanctuary in the great controversy between Christ and Satan, it becomes the spe­cific point of attack by the little horn.

This attack by the little horn is essentially fourfold:

1. The attack is upon the sanctuary itself, when it is said to take away the "daily" and cast down the place of His sanctuary.
2. The attack is upon God's truth and law, since it is by understanding Christ's ministra­tion in the heavenly sanctuary that a true and clear picture of these truths is obtained (Dan. 7:25; 8:12).
3. The attack is upon God Himself, particu­larly upon the work of Christ as the one and only Mediator between God and man. The pre­rogatives of God are assumed by the little horn. The little horn has introduced a counterfeit mediator and a counterfeit sacrifice. It claims to have the power of judgment over the saints, power to decide their cases before God, a right that belongs to God alone. A proper under­standing and acceptance of the mediatorial work of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary re­moves or destroys that pollution.
4. Finally, there is the attack by the little horn upon the saints of God. So terrible is this war on the saints that few are left (chapters 7:21, 22, 25-27; 8:24). Every circumstance ap­pears to be against God's people. How can these who are being attacked by such a power possibly be the true saints? How can the true saints be determined? Only by an examination of the sanctuary records through the work of the investigative judgment.

All these phases of the pollution by the little horn are dealt with in restoring the sanctuary to its rightful state. The scope and work of the doctrine of the sanctuary include the solution to all the attacks on the sanctuary by the little horn.

Relation of the Sanctuary to the Kingdom of God

From Daniel 2 to Daniel 12 there is shown the conflict between the kingdoms of men and the kingdom of God. How is the sanctuary re­lated to the kingdom of God? It teaches the truth about the setting up of God's kingdom (Dan. 7:9-14). The setting up of the kingdom comes at the time of judgment when a distinc­tion will be made between the true and the false subjects of God's kingdom. The kingdom will be realized through the preaching of the everlasting gospel, the three angels' messages of Revelation 14, with their proclamation that the "hour of his judgment is come." Then the dominion of the little horn will be taken away (Dan. 7:26; 8:14) and the true saints will possess the kingdom (chap. 7:22).

This great work that issues forth from the sanctuary in heaven through the ministration of Christ is also set forth in Revelation 10 and 11. These chapters speak of a time when there is to be "no more delay" (chap. 10:6 R.S.V.), but "the mystery of God should be finished" (verse 7), when "the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein" (chap. 11:1) are to be measured or determined as to their truth. To measure the temple is to direct attention to the rnediatorial work of Jesus there; to measure the altar is to hold up the one sacrifice for sins; to measure the wor­shipers is to find who the true worshipers are in the books of record. It was this great truth concerning the work of the sanctuary that was misunderstood, and this misunderstanding re­sulted in the great disappointment and bitter experience of 1844 (chap. 10:10, 11).

Yet in spite of the attack upon God's truth and God's people by the little horn for 1260 years, when the two witnesses were clothed in sackcloth, with all its evil consequences (chap. 11:2, 3), in spite of the misinterpreta­tion of the sanctuary truth just prior to 1844, there now comes the time when there is to be delay no longer. The work of God is to be finished, The truth is to break forth from the heavenly sanctuary. There can be no greater commission and responsibility given to any people in any age.

Time and again in the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation, this sanctuary work is located during the "time of the end" and constitutes part of the final issue in the triumph of the church of God. Three times in Daniel 7 (verses 9, 10, 21, 22, 25, 26) the judgment is said to follow the period of papal supremacy, or to come shortly after 1798.

Part of the great work of Seventh-day Ad­ventists is to reveal to the world that Christ is the one and only Mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5). To accept Jesus as the one Sacrifice for sins, the only High Priest and Lord, is to destroy the work of the little horn and to restore the sanctuary to its rightful state.

Many were undeceived in regard to the claims of Rome. They saw how vain is the mediation of men or angels in behalf of the sinner. As the true light dawned upon their minds, they exclaimed with re­joicing: "Christ is my priest; His blood is my sacri­fice; His altar is my confessional."—The Great Con­troversy, p. 74.

Daniel 8:14 points to the time when the truth, the whole truth about the sanctuary, its work and ministration, and the people of God, will be proclaimed to the world. Now the true saints are revealed by an examination or investi­gation of the books (Dan. 7:9, 10; Rev. 11:1-3). Proclaiming the antitypical "daily" and "yearly" ministration in the heavenly sanctuary is neces­sary both to the vindication of God's truth and God's people and to the destruction of the work of the little horn.

To restore the sanctuary to its rightful state is to understand and to preach the whole truth about it, and properly to relate one's own life to the mediatorial work of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary. The truth of the sanctuary centers in the mediatorial ministration of Christ. That ministration covers both the "daily" and the "yearly," or antitypical Day of Atonement. One is not complete without the other. The fulfill­ment of the type by antitype requires it. The final and complete dealing with sin and Satan requires it. The preparation of the world for the coming of Christ requires it. The restoring of the sanctuary to its rightful state requires it.

The "daily" or continual mediatorial minis­tration of Christ began with the anointing of the heavenly sanctuary at Christ's ascension and inauguration (Dan. 9:24). That work was in­terfered with by the little horn for a definite period of time (chap. 8:11-14), and would not be removed until the close of the 2300-day period in 1844.

If only the "daily" ministration of Christ is involved in restoring the sanctuary to its right­ful state, Martin Luther and the Reformers could be given full credit for proclaiming anew Christ as the only Mediator between God and man. But this is not the whole truth about the mediatorial work of Christ. The sanctuary in type sets forth the complete picture in both the "daily" and the "yearly." To leave one major part out is to fall short of restoring the truth of the sanctuary to its rightful place. If it were such a serious error for the little horn to tamper with the "daily" and hide this truth from the minds and lives of the people all through the years of papal supremacy, is it not just as serious to leave out the "yearly" and fail to bring this great truth to men and women everywhere? The antitypical Day of Atonement is an essential part of the everlasting gospel. To fail to preach and teach it is to preach only a partial gospel, and consequently means failure to bring to lost men and women the full light of the sanctuary and a full awareness of God's great judgment hour and the needful prepara­tion to meet it.

All these various translations, old and new, do not invalidate the Seventh-day Adventist posi­tion. Rather, they set forth the sanctuary truth in a wider scope. The completion of the minis­tration of Christ our high priest in the heavenly sanctuary clearly sets before the world the great issues in the controversy with sin and darkness, and ushers in the triumph of the church of God and the return of our Lord.