The Two Apartment Sanctuary in Heaven
George Burnside
Many temples have been built by man, and although many have been beautiful and gigantic, Jehovah has not chosen to make them His dwelling place. To Israel, under the shadow of Sinai, the command was given, “Let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.” Exodus 25:8. This building was not large, but its symbolic meaning was gigantic, for its main feature was that it prefigured “heavenly things.” Hebrews 8:1-5. To this end it was costly being overlaid with gold.
For the construction of this unique building God called special men and qualified them for this important task by putting His Holy Spirit upon them. This sanctuary was built under the command, the plan and the inspired direction of God. During the journeys of Israel this building was claimed as God’s sanctuary. Fifty six times it is called “the sanctuary” during this period. It was the dwelling pi ace of God in Israel until Israel became fully established in Palestine in the days of Solomon when it gave place to a permanent structure. It was for the sanctuary that the temple was built, as we read in 1 Chronicles 28: 10, “Take heed now; for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary.” Like the tabernacle, this structure had its holy and its most holy places. But these, in all their dimensions were exactly double. Regarding this building we note, “The temple of Solomon, which though a permanent structure, and upon a larger scale, observed the same proportions and was similarly furnished.” Great Controversy, page 412. As already noted, the tabernacle was called “the sanctuary” fifty six times during the journeys of Israel; and from the time of its entrance into Palestine until its incorporation into the temple, it is called “the sanctuary” another nineteen times. Some thirty five years after the dedication of Solomon’s temple, in the fiftieth year of Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, Shishak, the Pharaoh of Egypt, took Jerusalem and “he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord.” 1 Kings 14:25, 26.
Again and again this temple was robbed until it was finally stripped and destroyed completely by the King of Babylon. Fifty two years later, after the destruction of Solomon Is temple, the foundations of Zerubbabel Is temple were laid, and twenty-one years later it was dedicated. When this temple needed repairs, Herod, to win the favor of the Jews, decided to rebuild it. This building anew of the temple commenced about BC 19, and thus at the first Passover of our Savior, AD 28, the Jews said, “Forty and six years was this temple in building,” John 2:20. It was not fully completed until AD 66. It was destroyed in AD 70, on the same day of the month as the destruction of Solomon’s temple some six hundred and fifty eight years before. It should be noted that the Apostle Paul in his epistle to the Hebrews, goes back invariably to the sanctuary which was erected by Moses, and not to the sanctuary that was embodied in that temple. No doubt this is because it was the original and also because it functioned for so long a period in comparison to the short and interrupted duration of Solomon’s temple and the temples that followed. The original sanctuary and the three temples that followed had certain things in common, although they differed in some details. They all had two compartments, the Holy and the Most Holy. The priesthood was the same throughout and so were the sacrifices. The sanctuary and Solomon’s temple had the ark, which disappeared about 600 BC. Now, let us notice a few facts.
THE SCRIPTURES AND THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY TELL OF A TWO APARTMENT SANCTUARY.
1. The sanctuary on earth had two apartments. This was a shadow of the Heavenly. How can the “shadow” on earth have two apartments if the original in heaven had only one? If a man’s shadow shows two legs, it is because the man has two legs. The shadow of an airplane that reveals two wings, is because the “real” plane has two wings. It could not be otherwise. The “shadow” on earth found in the sanctuary and the temples that followed, all had two-apartments. They all had the two apartments. This needs repeating and emphasizing. The temples of Solomon, Nehemiah and Herod, all had two apartments. In fact, it was “for the sanctuary” that the temples were built. In 1 Chronicles 28: 10 we read, “Take heed now; for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary.” The temples like the sanctuary built by Moses, had their holy and most holy place. The Spirit of Prophecy states: “The temple of Solomon, which though a permanent structure, and upon a larger scale, observed the same proportions and was similarly furnished.” Great Controversy, page 412.
The original sanctuary and the three temples had certain things in common, although they differed in some details. They all had two compartments, the Holy and the Most Holy. The priesthood was the same throughout and so were the sacrifices. They were shadows of the Heavenly, which must also have two-apartments, or else the earthly sanctuary would be deceptive.
Scripture from Moses to Paul in Hebrews, and John in Revelation, knows of a two-apartment sanctuary and no otter. Are we facing a “departure from the faith?” A rapidly growing number of ministers, retired and active, and leading church members are afraid it is so, for there are young ministers who are denying the reality of a two apartment sanctuary in heaven.
EMPHASIS OR DENIAL?
It is claimed that the emphasis should be on the “two phases” of the ministry of Christ in heaven, (ether than on the two apartments of the heavenly sanctuary. In this we are in full agreement. But when anyone denies a two-apartment heavenly sanctuary, that is another thing entirely. This is what is being done. The real issue is thus being clouded. The discussion is not where the emphasis should be - there is a denial of a fundamental truth. It is not merely an emphasis, but a denial that must be clearly kept in mind.
For instance, to emphasize love above law is good but to deny law, is error of the first magnitude. To emphasize the spirit above the letter of the law is good, but to deny the letter is a denial of truth. So to emphasize the phases of Christ’s ministry in heaven above an emphasis of a mere structure is good and true. This we must always do, but to deny a real, two-apartment sanctuary in heaven, is an entirely different matter and this is the issue at stake.
We repeat, the question is not where the emphasis should be, but over a plain denial of the reality of a two-apartment sanctuary in heaven, in which “the Man Christ Jesus” ministers for His needy people.
All modernists and liberals would substitute a ministry for a place, but “Seventh-day Adventists have always emphasized a ministry in a place and that place is the Sanctuary in Heaven.” Roy Allen Anderson, Review and Herald, August 3, 1962.
One speaks of a “spiritual sanctuary of heaven rather than the literal visible one.” He ridicules the idea of a temple in heaven having walls, or furniture.
THIS RAISES QUESTIONS
What is a temple’? What is an immaterial temple? What are the “many mansion,” Christ spoke about in John 14:1-3. Are the mansions only symbols too?
What is the “holy city,” New Jerusalem? Is that too but a symbol? The “great city, the Holy Jerusalem, has walls. If the temple does not have walls, does the holy city have walls? “The wall of the city had twelve foundations.” Revelation 21:14. Is this too, only a symbol, a mere airy fiction? If the “city, which hath foundations,” Hebrews 11:10, is real, why not the temple? How can you have a temple without walls? What is it?
AWAY WITH SUCH AIRY FLOATING FEATHERY FICTIONS
Christ is real. Heaven is real. Our Lord’s return will be real. The resurrection of the saints will be real. The New Jerusalem is to be real. The temple of God is real. The redeemed will be real. They will eat and drink in the Father’s Kingdom. “They shall build houses, and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them.” Isaiah 65:21. Are these things too, mere “symbols” or shadows? Will these houses in the Glory land have walls? If so, why not a heavenly temple?
In Revelation 5:9, 10 we read of the redeemed people. “Thou has redeemed us,” is their clear statement and they serve their Lord “in His temple.” They are real people, so it must be a real temple in which they serve. Real people must be in a real place. How can real people serve in a mere “symbol?” If these things are not real, read Great Controversy, pages 662 and 663 and try to explain away these tremendous realities.
“A fear of making the future inheritance seem too material has led many to spiritualize away the very truths which lead us to look upon it as our home. “ Great Controversy, pages 674,675.
NOW WE SHALL CONSIDER SOME QUESTIONS
“What advantage is there in denying a two-apartment sanctuary in heaven?”
The only answer we have been given to this question, is that it removes a stumbling-block to many who would otherwise accept the truth. This we find difficult to accept. We have seen thousands accept the Advent message. We have seen hundreds of others turn down the truth over the Sabbath, Tithing, Spirit of Prophecy, Health Reform, the Second Advent, Millennium or almost every truth we preach, but we cannot recall a single person who stumbled over the truth of the heavenly sanctuary in a literal heaven, where our Lord, the Man Christ Jesus, mediates for us in the two great phases of His heavenly ministry. We cannot but feel this so-called reason is no reason at all.
WOULD YOU HAVE US BELIEVE THAT JESUS CHRIST WAS SHUT UP IN A
BOX-LIKE ROOM FROM HIS UNTIL 1844?
Certainly not! For instance, in the Old Testament times the priest ministered in the first apartment of the Mosaic sanctuary throughout the year. But that does not mean that when officiating, the priest was shut up in the box like first apartment all the time. Their ministry merely cantered in that apartment, but in actual fact, the time actually spent in the sanctuary would be a very small part of the whole week of 168 hours. Or, to use a present day illustration, our Queen is on the throne. But how long does she actually sit on the throne? She may be visiting in Australia and New Zealand, but she is still on the throne of Britain. So during the first phase of Christ’s ministry in the first apartment of the sanctuary, which “the Lord pitched” does not mean He was shut in that apartment, vast and glorious as it may be. That the earthly sanctuary was a type of the heavenly sanctuary, is a truth to which every Seventh-day Adventist will agree.
HEAVEN IS A REAL, LITERAL, TANGIBLE PLACE!
“I go to prepare a place for you,” is a clear statement of our Lord. This is a real place for real people. Jesus rose from the dead in a literal body of “flesh and bones Luke 24:39, and as the Man Christ Jesus, He ministers in heaven for us today. 1 Timothy 2:5. Real, literal men who were raised from the dead at Christ’s resurrection assist our Lord today and testify that Christ “has redeemed us to God out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation.” Revelation 5:9. Adventists have always been known as preachers of a literal heaven, and not a place of mere floating, feathery fiction on the beautiful isle of somewhere. We have brushed aside these vain vaporizing of the imagination, of silver tinted clouds, immaterial harps, or inaudible music. We have held to a literal resurrection of both our Lord and His redeemed people, both at His resurrection and at His return. We believe in a literal heaven, where the literal nail prints will be seen in the hands that were nailed on Calvary. With “the Man Christ Jesus” we will “eat and drink” literally and actually at the marriage supper of the Lamb. These and a thousand and one other passages confirm the fact that heaven is a real, literal, tangible place.
IS THERE A REAL, TANGIBLE, TWO APARTMENT SANCTUARY IN HEAVEN?
Jesus is “in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle.” Hebrews 8.2. You ask, “Of what is the heavenly sanctuary made?” On this question the Bible is silent. However, the Bible, clear on the fact of a real, tangible, two-apartment sanctuary in heaven. The New English Bible on Hebrews 8:2 reads, “a minister in the real sanctuary,” while Rotherham renders this same verse, “minister of the Real Tent which the Lord pitched and not man.” As Jesus rose in a real resurrection and ministers as a real man, so the sanctuary in which He ministers is just as real. This is so self-evident that the Pulpit Commentary on Hebrews 8:5 states, Rabbinical writers hold the views of an actual heavenly sanctuary. As the book of Hebrews was written to Jews, it was hardly necessary to remind them of the two apartments, as they knew of no other but a two-apartment sanctuary. We cannot say if what materials the sanctuary is built, but we do know that in heaven there are mansions, walls and a temple. To brush these aside as merely the language of vision, is to brush aside the plain statements of the Word of God. To make these things but a fancy, a dream, imagination, or a fantasy is not new light, but old darkness.
IS THE HEAVENLY SANCTUARY ONLY AN “OBJECT LESSON?”
At though the earthly sanctuary was a “shadow,” or a “figure” or an “object lesson,” the heavenly sanctuary is certainly not an “object lesson.” If the heavenly sanctuary is but an “object lesson,” then we should have an object lesson of an object lesson. The earthly sanctuary was an object lesson. Now if the heavenly sanctuary is only an object lesson, we should have an object lesson of an object lesson. Ls that reasonable? Is it scholarship? Is it logical? To us it sounds absurd.
“IS NOT THE HEAVENLY SANCTUARY OR TEMPLE MERELY EQUATED WITH HEAVEN?
In Early Writings, page 19, referring to the “holy temple” in heaven, “Jesus raised His lovely voice and said, “Only the 144,000 enter this place.” Seeing all the redeemed enter heaven, how could this be true if the heavenly temple is equated with heaven itself? Only the 144,000 enter this holy temple, therefore it must be a separate place, distinct from heaven itself.
NOTE THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY ON THIS OUESTION
“I know that the sanctuary question stands in righteousness and truth, just as we have held it for so many years.” Counsels to Writers, page 54.
“One of the landmarks under this message was the temple of God, seen by His truth-loving people in heaven, and the ark containing the law of God.” Counsels to Writers, page 30. “I know that the sanctuary question stands in righteousness and truth just as we have held it for many years. Any man who seeks to present theories which lead us from the light that has come to us on the ministration in the heavenly sanctuary should not be accepted as a teacher.” Life and Teachings, page 49.
WHAT IS THE TEACHING ON THE HEAVENLY SANCTUARY
THAT HAS BEEN HELD FOR MANY YEARS?
Note carefully but a few statements from but one book, Great Controversy. “The temple of Solomon which though a permanent structure and upon a larger scale, observed the same proportions and was similarly furnished.” Great Controversy, page 412. If the only purpose was to show the two phases of ministry, why such slavish following of the same proportions? Paul says that the first tabernacle was a figure for the time them present, that its holy places were patterns of things in heaven. There are “things” in heaven, literal and tangible, and these were typified by the “holy places,” or apartments of the earthly sanctuary, thus there are literal apartments in heaven. Hebrews 9:24. “Christ is not entered into holy places made with hands, which are figures of the true, but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us.” The sanctuary in heaven, in which Jesus ministers in our b half is the great original, of which the sanctuary built by Moses was a copy.” Great Controversy, page 413, 414. Note careful] y that the Spirit of Prophecy shows that Hebrews 9:24 does not teach that the sanctuary in heaven is equated with heaven itself. The inspired commentary shows that the sanctuary is in heaven and not merely heaven. It is the great original” and not merely an object lesson.
Although the earthly sanctuary was the most magnificent structure ever reared by human hands, it was but a faint reflection of it’s (the heavenly sanctuary) vastness and glory. Great Controversy, page 414. The sanctuaries built by Moses and Solomon, although of the same proportions, and of two apartments, differed in size; this is because they were both but miniature representatives of the vast and glorious heavenly sanctuary. But it should be remembered that no variation as to the number of apartments in the sanctuary itself were allowed. This was vital, for a two apartment heavenly sanctuary was typified. “The holy places of the sanctuary in heaven are represented by the two apartments in the sanctuary on earth.” Great Controversy, page 414. After quoting Revelation 4:5 and Revelation 8:5, Sister White comments, “Here the prophet was permitted to behold the first apartment of the sanctuary in heaven.” Great Controversy, page 414-415. Therefore the sanctuary in heaven does have apartments. To brush all this clear evidence aside as merely the “language of vision,” is to do violence to the Spirit of God.
“Again, “the temple of God was opened” (Revelation 11:19) and he looked within the inner veil upon the holy of holies. Here he beheld “the ark of His testament,” represented by the sacred chest constructed by Moses to contain the law of God. “Thus those who were studying the subject found indisputable proof of the existence of a sanctuary in heaven. Moses made the earthly sanctuary after a pattern which was shown him. Paul teaches that that pattern was the true sanctuary which is in heaven. And John testifies that he saw it in heaven.” Great Controversy, page 415.
HOW CAN WE BRUSH THIS ASIDE AND STILL PROFESS FAITH IN GOD’S GIFT OF THE
SPIRIT OF PROPHECY TO HIS REMNANT PEOPLE?
Is all this mere imagination? If there is no ark in heaven, there are no Ten Commandments there. If there is no temple with walls, there is no temple, unless it is a sort of open air meeting. What is the sanctuary in heaven? What is the temple in heaven? If it has no walls, no ark nor furnishings, does it exist at all? If it is only phases of ministry, why does not the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy state this? This is not merely shifting a pin; it is shifting the whole lock, stock and barrel. What do you have left? “The true sanctuary” in heaven is the sanctuary of the new covenant.” Great Controversy, page 417. The Papacy would drag it to earth and trample if underfoot and set up a counterfeit in its own church. (See Daniel 8, Revelation 13.) Others would drag it to earth and make it merely the people of God on earth. But this present teaching, is it less dangerous that would spiritualize it away to nothingness, to a mere object lesson, and brush it aside as merely “the language of a vision,” that the sanctuary in heaven is equated with heaven itself,” and a mere “object lesson”?
“Such was the work of ministration in the first apartment of the sanctuary in heaven.” Great Controversy, page 421. Therefore, are there apartments in heaven? The pen of inspiration leaves no doubt. It is as plain as language can make it. For eighteen centuries this work of ministration continued in the first apartment of the sanctuary. The blood of Christ pleaded in behalf of penitent believers. “When Christ entered the holy of holies to perform the closing work of the atonement, He ceased His ministration in the first apartment. But when the ministration in the first apartment ended, the ministration in the second apartment began.” Great Controversy, page 428-429. There is not only a sanctuary in heaven, but it has apartments, two apartments, the first and the second apartment. “The temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament.” The ark of God’s testament is in the holy of holies, the second apartment of the sanctuary.” Great Controversy, page 433.
Another thing in this discussion that has caused us concern, is the close parallel between what is being argued today and the statements of former apostates. For instance, R. A. Greive, in a letter to Pastor L. A. King, ridicules “the doctrine of Adventism that there is a two apartment sanctuary in heaven with a dividing veil between, this is a distinctive mark of Adventism.” “There is no literal katapetasma (veil) in heaven. Christ’s flesh alone being the symbolic katapetasma. Do you know that I never believed in a two-apartment sanctuary for 28 years? Of course, I well know why you men are contending for two-apartments in heaven. Because it tickles your ego to believe, though quite falsely, that S.D.A’s have so much greater light than the Protestants who believe heaven without division is itself the sanctuary where Jesus ministers.” W. W. Fletcher held similar views. These statements have a very familiar ring in the present controversy and if they are to be accepted, should we not express our regrets to these former apostates? It is regrettable that not only are the views of these apostates being defended but so are the apostates themselves by some who do away with a literal heavenly sanctuary.
NOTICE THOUGHTFULLY THIS WARNING!
“We have nothing to fear for the future except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us and His teachings in our past history.” Life Sketches, page 196.
PLEASE NOTE
In What Has God Especially Led His People? Life Sketches, page 278, referring to “the subject of the sanctuary, which is brought out in the visions of Daniel and John. This subject sheds great light on our present position and work and gives us unmistakable proof that God has led us in our past experience. It explains our disappointment in 1844, showing us that the sanctuary to be cleansed was not the earth, as we had supposed, but that Christ then entered into the most holy apartment of the heavenly sanctuary.” Please note carefully it was on the sanctuary that unmistakable proof was given that God was leading. This Divine leading in the sanctuary truth is what we are in danger of forgetting, and if we do forget, we have much to fear regarding the future. Note, further, that the Lord led in revealing Christ’s entry into the “most holy apartment.” Not merely a phase of ministry, but a ministry in a place - and that place was the most holy apartment of the heavenly sanctuary. The Spirit of Prophecy is just filled with similar statements, warning especially on the danger of tampering with the sanctuary truth and the removing of this great “pillar this old “landmark.”
“As the great pillars of our faith have been presented, the Holy Spirit has borne witness to them, and especially is this so regarding the truths of the sanctuary question. Over and over again the Holy Spirit has in a marked manner endorsed the preaching of this doctrine. But today, as in the past, some will be led to form new theories and to deny the truths upon which the Spirit of God has placed His approval.” Evangelism, page 224.
“No pin is to be removed from that which the Lord has established. The enemy will bring in false theories, such as the doctrine that there is no sanctuary. This is one of the points on which there will be a departing from the faith.” Evangelism, Page 224. “He (the Devil) seeks to create dissension, and to arouse contention and discussion and to remove if possible, the old landmarks of truth committed to God’s people, even some of those who, in times past, the Lord has honored, will depart so far from the truth as to advocate misleading theories regarding many phases of truth, including the sanctuary question.” Evangelism, page 259.
WHERE IS THIS ‘DEPARTURE FROM THE FAITH’ LEADING?
“Jesus entered the most holy place to cleanse the sanctuary at the ending of the days.” (1844) Early Writings, page 243. Is this statement true? Did Christ enter the second apartment - the most holy place in 1844? If there is not a second apartment how could Christ enter it? If Christ did not enter the second apartment in 1844, why did the Spirit of Prophecy say He did? Who is right -“the Testimony of Jesus,” or a “theologian” who says otherwise? Remember! It was a theologian who wrote the Bible denying book, “Honest to God.” Remember! Practically all the corruption of truth began with theologians.
Remember it was a group of theologians who voted Christ to Calvary!
Remember! God’s Word warned “that of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things! Remember! We have more to fear from within than from without the church.
Remember! ‘The enemy will bring in false theories such as the doctrine that there is no sanctuary.’ Counsels to Writers, page 53.
Remember! God has told us, “He (Jesus) entered the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary to make atonement for His people.” Early Writings, page 244.
“Jesus sent His angels to direct the minds of the disappointed ones to the most holy place, where He had gone to cleanse the sanctuary.” Early Writings, page 251.
How could Christ direct attention to the “most holy place,” if “the most holy place” did not exist? Did Christ deceive?
Remember! “This is one of the points on which there will be a departing from the faith.” Counsels to Writers, page 53.
Remember! Over 80 times the Spirit of Prophecy states there are two apartments in the heavenly sanctuary. Who will you believe - God or a theologian?
Remember! “Satan is striving continually to bring in fanciful suppositions in regard to the sanctuary invented to make void the truths of the atonement.” Counsels to Writers, pages 53, 54.
Remember! “The sanctuary question stands in righteousness and truth, just as we have held it for so many years. It is the enemy that leads minds off on side tracks.” Counsels to Writers, page 54.
WHAT DOES THIS PRESENT APOSTASY MEAN?
If there is no actual two-apartment sanctuary in heaven and hence no judgement-hour message, which is based on the fact that Christ entered the second apartment in 1844, then there is no reason for the existence of the Seventh-day Adventist movement.
Because of the vital importance of the sanctuary truth, we must expect it to be challenged, attacked and ridiculed. The devil will see to that. He hates the sanctuary truth. He knows it is heaven’s paramount truth for today. It involves his destiny and doom. So we must expect his attacks from both within and without the church. We must expect, and we are bound to have men arise who would try to revise, or reconstruct this truth. We must also expect to have those who are out and out enemies. This all shows the importance of the sanctuary truth. The devil attacks the foundation. His agents will deride its importance, question its Biblical basis and try to side-step its Spirit of Prophecy confirmation. All through our history men have arisen speaking perverse things against the sanctuary truth. Sometimes deriding, denying, or seeking to alter one feature or another. These destroyers have all finally left us and have usually fought the truth, but God’s truth still marches on.
May we be faithful to our heavenly calling and stand stiffly for the truths that have made us a people, the people of the judgement-hour message, the people of Revelation 14:6-12.