Chapter 53 — THE SANCTUARY

One verse in the Bible has been the foundation for the major doctrine of the advent faith. "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed" (Dan. 8:14). This verse was well known to everyone who believed in the Lord's soon coming. Thousands of people joyfully repeated this prophecy. This verse was very important to their faith. The believers felt their brightest hopes depended on the happenings described in this verse.SRme 1.1641

The 2300 prophetic days had been shown to end in the summer of 1844. At that time Adventists and the rest of the Christian world believed the earth, or some part of the earth, was the sanctuary. So these people believed the cleansing of the sanctuary was the cleansing of the earth by the fires of the last great day. People believed that the cleansing of the earth would happen at the second coming of Christ. And, since the 2300 years ended in 1844, they expected Jesus to come at that time.SRme 1.1642

The time came, but Jesus did not appear. Many believers said the 2300 days did not end in 1844. The only reason they could give was that Jesus had not come. These people argued that if the prophetic days had ended in 1844, Jesus would have come; Jesus would have cleansed the earth with fire. They said that since Jesus had not come, the 2300 years could not have ended.SRme 1.1643

Most Adventists gave up their faith in the prophetic timing. In giving up faith, these people denied the truth of the advent message. The 2300 day prophecy is the foundation of the advent message. But a few Adventists kept their faith. Their belief in Jesus' return was based on the Bible and on the special leading of the Holy Spirit. These believers knew that God's Word could not fail. They must not have understood. But where was their error? These people were sure that in their Bible study they had used correct principles. They felt responsible to keep the truths already learned. These believing people determined to continue to follow the same method of Bible study.SRme 1.1644

With sincere prayer the believers reviewed and carefully studied the Bible to discover where they had been wrong. The believers could not find any error in counting the prophetic time. They wondered if the error could have been in the meaning of the word sanctuary. The believers were led to study again this subject.SRme 1.1645