STUDENT PLCINT GABRIEL

IN CONFIRMATION OF THE SANCTUARY MESSAGE

THE BACKGROUND OF THE ARTICLE The article was written by Richard M. Davidson in 1996 in the Journal of the Adventist Theological Society. Richard M. Davidson is an Old Testament scholar and Seventh-day Adventist. He has authored dozens of articles for theological journals. As of 2009, he is the chair of the Old Testament department at Andrews University, and the J. N. Andrews Professor of Old Testament Exegesis. He is married to JoAnn Devidson. This article treats to respond at some important questions about the doctrine of Sanctuary. Ellen White said that it is very important to have a correct understanding of this doctrine because this is the foundation of our faith. Because in the decade of the 1980s considerable agitation once again surrounded this basic tenet of faith, Adventists have been constrained to rigorously test the soundness of their sanctuary teaching against the standard of Gods Word. The past ten years have brought agonizing doubts for many; for some it has meant rejection of the historic Adventist interpretation of the sanctuary doctrine; and for some it

has meant the rejection of Adventism entirely and the withdrawal of their membership. In the 1980s several pastors were leaving the ministry and the Adventist church. These are some reasons for which Richard Davidson has decided to write an article in which he offers solid arguments about the Sanctuary doctrine.

MAJOR IDEAS The first subject thet he treat is the Preadvent Investigative Judgment who is one of the points most widely rejected in recent critiques of Adventist sanctuary teachings. He decovered that the idea of an investigative judgment taking place in heaven is supported by at least 28 different Old Testament passages outside of Daniel, some of these passages clearly involving the aspect of investigative judgment from the heavenly as well as the earthly sanctuaries. In these passages the author find a technical name who is covenant lawsuit and it regularly involves a divine investigation of the evidence before sentence is pronounced upon Gods professed covenant people. The author offers a briefly presentation of the book of Ezekiel who speak among others about the investigative judgment. In this book Ezekiel describe how Israel is arraigned before the divine tribunal. There is a covenant lawsuit, an investigative judgment, not of the world at large, but of the professed people of God. What is Gods procedure in this case? Before the executive judgment He conducts an investigative judgment of His professed people in which He discloses a distinction is revealed between the true and false worshipers of God. The final chapters of Ezekiel give a vision of a cleansed and restored Temple. The message of Ezekiel is the message of the Day of Atonement. In the type presented by Ezekiel, we have the same contours as in the antitypical Day of Atonement of the last days.

God is active in setting things right in His sanctuary, God is active in cleansing a people, and God is active in vindicating His holy name or character. Then the author presents some evidences from the book of Daniel. He offers some internal evidence to support the year-day principle. After this he brings evidence concerning the beginning and ending dates of the great time prophecies that concern the sanctuary, the 2300 days. He treats also the problems about the term nidaq from Daniel 8:14. The first is the tamd (or continual), which according to vs 12 is taken away. Second, there is the transgression which causes horror, which, according to vs 12 is the transgression of the host, the sins of the saints. Third, there is the trampling underfoot of the sanctuary and host the persecution of the saints, and yet more than persecution. The joyous news for all three of these problems is contained in the three-fold semantic range of the word nitsdaq set right, cleanse, and vindicate. Shortly after the 1980 Glacier View Conference a teacher at an Adventist college felt compelled to reject the Adventist interpretation of the sanctuary because he discovered that the book of Hebrews contradicts the book of Leviticus and he accepts the book of Hebrews and rejects the book of Leviticus. For this reason Richard Davidson brings evidences that prove that the author of Hebrews does not manipulate the Old Testament type to fit the antitype, but insists upon a fundamental continuity between type and antitype. After this he brings some evidences from the book of Revelation and these evidences are related with the introductory sanctuary scenes. So the introductory sanctuary scenes serve to structure the entire book of Revelation, and further serve as a guide as to where we are in the sweep of salvation history as we make our way through the book.

PERSONAL CRITIQUE Strong points 1. He brings some not usualy evidences from the Bible. 2. He based his research on the Bible. 3. The footnotes are another strong point in my opinion.

Weak points 1. A weak point could be that the space for this research is not so large.

CONTRIBUTION TO THE COURSE This article help us to have a better understanding about the relationship between the heavenly sanctuary and the earthly sanctuary. Help us to have a better understanding of the Sanctuary doctrine and remove some doubts that we can have about this doctrine.