"The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven; his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men." Ps.11:4.

"In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God; and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears. Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth." 2Sam.22:7, 8. See also Ps.18:6, 7.

"In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims; each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke." Isa.6:1-4.

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"Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is; and let the Lord God be witness against you; the Lord from his holy temple. For, behold, the Lord cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth." Micah 1:2, 3.

"And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament; and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail." Rev.11:19.

"And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire. Rev.14:17, 18.

"And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened." Rev.15:5.

"And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done." Rev.16:17. Many other texts might be quoted in which this building is mentioned either as God's temple, tabernacle, sanctuary, or holy habitation. To some of these texts we shall refer in the further study of this subject.

The heavenly temple consists of two holy places. This is proved by many conclusive arguments. The first of these is drawn from the statements respecting the tabernacle erected by Moses. When God called Moses into the mount to receive the tables of the law (Ex.24:12), he first bade him make a sanctuary that he might dwell among them, and that the priests might minister in his presence. Ex.25, 26, 27, 28.

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He also bade him to make an ark to contain the tables of the law, to be placed in the second apartment of the sanctuary. This building consisted of two holy places (Exodus 26), and both itself and its sacred vessels were made like the pattern showed in the mount.

"And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it." Ex.25:8, 9.

"Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle; for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount." Heb.8:5. See also Ex.25:40; 26:30; Acts 7:44.

The tabernacle thus constructed was a pattern of the heavenly temple. Thus Paul bears testimony:-

" It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true [the images of the true holy places, Macknight's translation]; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us." Heb.9:23, 24.

This establishes one plain, incontrovertible argument, that the heavenly temple has two holy places. The temple erected by Solomon furnishes the second argument, and it is of the same character as that drawn from the 44 tabernacle. The temple was a larger and grander building than the tabernacle, and differed from it in being an immovable structure, but it was constructed on the same plan, in that it was an edifice consisting of two holy places, with sacred vessels of the same kind, and occupied with the very same ministration, as that which had previously served in the tabernacle. 1Kings 6, 7, 8; 2Chron.3, 4, 5.

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This building with its two holy places was a pattern of the heavenly temple, as the words or David and of Solomon declare:-

" Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlors thereof, and of the place of the mercy-seat, and the pattern of all that he had by the Spirit, of the courts of the house of the Lord, and of all the chambers round about, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things." "All this, said David, the Lord made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern." 1 Chron.28:11, 12, 19.

This is a second decisive argument that the heavenly sanctuary has two holy places. The third is drawn from the fact that the plural term "holy places" is used in the designation of the greater and more perfect tabernacle.

Thus when Paul says, as expressed in our common version (Heb.8:2), "A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man, " it is literally in the original, "a minister of the holy places." And thus also when we read respecting the heavenly temple, "The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing, " it is literally in the Greek, "the way of the holy places." Heb.9:8. So also where we read of the greater and more perfect tabernacle, in verse 12, that Christ "entered in once into the holy place, " it is also literally "holy places."

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Again, in verse 24, we read in our common version the same thing, literally rendered, "the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true, " which last word is plural in the original, showing that there are holy places in the heavenly temple. And again in Heb.10:19, the term "holiest" is not, in the original "holy of holies, " as in chap.9:3, but simply "holy places." These passages form a most convincing argument that there must be two holy places in the heavenly temple. A fourth argument is found in the fact that each of the two holy places of the heavenly temple is definitely set forth in the description of that building not made with hands.

45 The first apartment is identified by the things which it contains. When John was called in vision to ascend to the place of God's throne, the heavenly temple, a door was opened in heaven, and the throne of God was revealed to his view. This is manifestly the door of the heavenly temple, for the throne of God which it discloses to view is within that temple. Ps.11:4; Rev.16:17.

That it was the first apartment of that temple into which he looked, is evident from what he saw therein. "And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thundering and voices; and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God." Rev.4:5. Here is a plain reference to the seven lamps which burned in the first apartment of the earthly sanctuary. Lev.24:2-4.

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And again, when the seven angels receive the seven trumpets, the scene of vision is still the first apartment of the heavenly sanctuary. Thus we read:-

" And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne." Rev.8:2, 3.

The golden altar stood in the first apartment of the sanctuary, i.e., in the same room with the candlestick on which were the seven lamps. Ex.40:24- 26. The place of God's throne at the time when the book with the seven seals was delivered to Christ, and also when the seven trumpets were given to the seven angels, is the first apartment of the heavenly sanctuary. But when the seven vials are delivered into the hands of the seven angels who have the duty of pouring them out, the second apartment of the heavenly temple is opened, and they come out from thence to execute the wrath of God upon men. This opening of the holiest takes place under the seventh trumpet.

"And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened; and the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth forever and ever. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled." Rev.15:5- 8.

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46 This opening of the heavenly temple, which is followed by the pouring out of the unmingled wrath of God, is an event connected with the closing up of human probation. And it is certain that we have in this case the opening of the holiest of all, here called the tabernacle of the testimony. The expression, "tabernacle of the testimony, " is a familiar term taken from the Old Testament, and is precisely equivalent to "tabernacle of the ten commandments." In proof of this, take the use of this term in the Bible. We begin with the first use of the Hebrew word gehdooth, and trace it through the books of Moses. Thus it occurs for the first time in Ex.16:34: "Aaron laid it up before the testimony." That is to say, he laid up the pot of manna before the ark of the ten commandments. (See Heb.9:4.)

The next is Ex.25:16: "Thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee." This was the ten commandments. (See Ex.31:18; Deut.10:4, 5.) Again (Ex.25:21), "In the ark thou shalt put the testimony, " i.e., the ten commandments. (See 1Kings8:9.) And now the ark itself takes its name from what was put in it. "The two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony." Ex.25:22. "And thou shalt hang up the veil under the taches, that thou mayest bring in thither within the veil the ark of the testimony; and the veil shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy. And thou shalt put the mercy-seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place." Ex.26:33, 34. Here we have the ark of the ten commandments assigned to the most holy place of the tabernacle, and the mercy-seat placed over the ark. Presently we shall find that this testimony gives name to the tabernacle itself.

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As we read onward we find in Ex.27:21; 30:6, 26, 36; 31:7, 18; 32:15; 34:29, the terms "testimony, " "tables of testimony, " "ark of the testimony, " each time by testimony meaning definitely the ten commandments. The term, "tabernacle of testimony, " occurs for the first time in Ex.38:21.

Thus we see that the testimony of the Almighty gives name to the tables on which it was written, to the ark in which the tables were placed, and to the tabernacle itself, whose second apartment received the ark. Next, we thrice read of the ark of the testimony. Ex.39:35; 40:3, 5. And now we are brought to the acts of Moses in setting up the sanctuary. It is said (Ex.40:20), "He took and put the testimony into the ark, " i.e., he put the law of God therein. Then he placed the ark itself within the tabernacle, and covered the ark of the testimony by hanging up the second veil. Ex.40:21. In Lev.16:13 the mercy-seat is said to be upon the testimony.

In Lev.24:3, the veil which hides the ark is called the veil of the testimony. Next, we read of the tabernacle of the testimony, in Num.1:50, 53. Next, of the ark of the testimony. Num.4:5; 7:89; Josh.4:16. Next, of the tent of the testimony. Num.9:15, and of the testimony itself. Num.17:10.

Next, of the tabernacle of witness, or testimony (for the two words are synonymous). Num.10:11; 17:7, 8; 18:2. In all these texts it is certain that the ten commandments are called the testimony, and that they give name to the tables, to the ark, to the veil, and to the tabernacle, especially to the second apartment.

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This term has, therefore, a well-defined meaning in the Scriptures. By the testimony, the tables of the testimony, the ark of the testimony, the veil of the testimony, and the tabernacle of the testimony, are meant respectively the ten commandments. (Ex.31:18), the tables of the ten commandments (Ex.32:15), the ark of the ten commandments (Ex.40:20), the veil of the ten commandments (Ex.40:21; Lev.24:3), and the tabernacle of the ten commandments (Num.9:15; 10:11).

The term, "tabernacle of witness, " or "testimony, " does therefore definitely signify the tabernacle of the ten commandments. Now it is remarkable that this term occurs twice in the New Testament. In Acts 7:44, the tabernacle of witness, i.e., of the ten commandments, is mentioned, referring to the earthly sanctuary; and in Rev.15:5, the heavenly sanctuary is designated by this same term, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven; and we have proved conclusively that this is equivalent to the temple of the tabernacle of the ten commandments in heaven.

This text is therefore a plain reference to the most holy place of the heavenly temple, and to the law of God deposited therein, which gives name to the building. This apartment of the heavenly temple is opened just prior to the pouring out of the plagues. But we have a second statement of the opening of the most holy place of the temple in Heaven. Thus we read of the events under the seventh trumpet:

-" And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament; and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and earthquake, and great hail." Rev.11:19.

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Here is disclosed to our view the second apartment of the heavenly temple, and here is shown the grand central object, which gives name to the tabernacle itself. It is the ark of God, sometimes called the ark of the covenant, or testament (Num.10:33; Heb.9:4), and sometimes the ark of the testimony (Ex.25:22). It is because the heavenly temple contains the ark of God's testimony that it is itself called the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven. And the ark itself is not empty; it contains what Rev.11:19 calls God's testament, and what Rev.15:5 calls "the testimony in heaven." And these two terms must signify the ten commandments, and cannot signify anything else.

The existence of the temple in heaven, and the fact that it has two holy places, like the sanctuary of the first covenant, have been clearly proved. The judgment work in the second apartment remains to engage our attention.

When Paul says, in Rom.2:6, that God "will render to every man according to his deeds, " he adds in the next verse this important statement: "To them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life." Now it is manifest that this work of rendering to every man according to his deeds can only be wrought after the examination of those deeds in the judgment. It must be in consequence of the decision of the judgment that the things promised are rendered to men. It is also evident that the gift of immortality is one of the things thus rendered. As the righteous receive this gift in the very act of being resurrected from the grave, it is certain that the decision of the judgment passes upon them before the voice of the archangel and the trump of God awaken them to immortal life.

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This part of the judgment work takes place where our Lord finishes his priesthood; for his last work as priest is to secure the acquittal of his people, and to obtain the decision that their sins shall be blotted out. We have learned from the Scriptures that the heavenly temple has two holy places. A further examination will evince the fact that there are two parts to the ministration of Christ, and that his last work is at the tribunal of his Father, in the tabernacle of the testimony, where it is determined who shall receive immortality.

The Levitical priests served "unto the example and shadow of heavenly things." Heb.8:5. The most important part of the service pertaining to the earthly sanctuary was that which was performed within the second apartment on the tenth day of the seventh month. Leviticus 16. This is generally considered as typifying the events of the whole gospel dispensation. But we think the evidence conclusive that this chapter is a typical representation of that part of our Lord's work which is embraced in the hour of God's judgment, or in the days of the voice of the seventh angel when he begins to sound.

The sixteenth chapter of Leviticus is devoted solely to the work of finishing the yearly round of service in the earthly sanctuary. This was wrought on the great day of atonement, and was of the most impressive character. First, the high priest was solemnly admonished that he was such only in a typical sense and not such in reality. For on this day, which was by far the most impressive of all, and when he entered the most holy place of the sanctuary, he must put on the plainest and humblest dress, laying aside that splendid dress which the law prescribed for him to wear on other occasions. Lev.16:4 compared with Exodus 28.

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He was also to make a public acknowledgment of his own sinfulness by proceeding to offer a sin-offering for himself. Lev.16:3, 6, 11-14. No part of this can by typical of our Lord's work, for it was expressly designed to impress upon the mind the infirmity and sinfulness of the high priest.

But this being accomplished, the high priest entered upon that work which directly shadowed forth the work of atonement. He took from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin-offering. Lev.16:5. On these two goats he was to cast lots; one lot was for the goat to be sacrificed, and one for the scape-goat. Then he slew the goat upon which the lot fell for a sacrifice, and with his blood he entered into the second apartment of the sanctuary.

This blood he sprinkled before the mercy-seat and upon it. He did this for two purposes: (1) To make atonement for the people; (2) to cleanse the sanctuary by removing from it the sins of the people of God. Then the high priest returned into the first apartment and cleansed the altar from the sins of the people.

The sanctuary being cleansed, the high priest comes out of the door of the building, and, having caused the live goat to be brought, he lays both his hands upon his head and confesses over him all the transgressions of the children of Israel in all their sins. These he puts upon the head of the goat, and sends him away by the hand of a fit man in to the wilderness. And the goat thus sent bears away all their iniquities into a land not inhabited. Lev.16:7-10, 15-22.

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The work of the high priest on the day of atonement was not his whole work in putting away sin. While the ministration was confined to the first apartment which was for the whole period of the year but this day, the priest offered the blood of sin-offering in that apartment to make reconciliation, i.e., to begin the work of atonement. Leviticus 4.

It was by this very work that the sins were transferred to the sanctuary through the blood of sin-offering. The high priest on the day of atonement takes up this unfinished work and completes it. The business of the day is to finish the great work of atonement for the people of God, and to remove their sins from the sanctuary, and place them upon the head of the scape-goat.

The work in the second apartment of the earthly sanctuary does not therefore represent the whole gospel dispensation, but simply that part of it devoted to the finishing of the mystery of God in the days of the seventh angel's voice when he begins to sound; in other words, it is the work embraced in that period of time denominated the hour of God's judgment.

There was a period in "the example and shadow of heavenly things" devoted to the finishing of the high priest's work. There is such a period devoted to the finishing of the work of Christ in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, at the conclusion of the gospel dispensation.

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That work, in the "shadow of good things to come, " was accomplished in the second apartment of the earthly sanctuary. This work in like manner is wrought in the second apartment of the sanctuary in heaven. It is a remarkable fact that the opening of the second apartment of the temple in heaven is an event located under the seventh angel's voice, i.e., in the very time when the work of probation is to be finished. Rev.10:7; 11:15-19.

The opening of the second apartment of the heavenly temple is with manifest reference to the accomplishment of the events which transpire in the finishing of the mystery of God. These are: 1. The session of the judgment by the Ancient of Days. Dan.7:9-14; Rev.11:18; 14:6, 7. 2. The conclusion of the priesthood of Christ at this tribunal in the blotting out of sins. Acts 3:19, 20. 3. The coronation of Christ. Rev.11:15-17; Dan.7:13, 14; Ps.2:6-9. 4. Then the pouring out of the vials of the wrath of God. Rev.11:18; 15:1, 5-8.

The Saviour's priesthood terminates in the second apartment of the heavenly sanctuary. But the very occasion on which it terminates is that of the blotting out of the sins of his people, when the Father sits in judgment.

Again, the blotting out of the sins of the people of God is the very counterpart of that work in the holiest of the earthly sanctuary, whereby the sins were removed from the sanctuary to be placed upon the head of the scape-goat. The session of the investigative judgment must therefore take place in that apartment of the heavenly temple which witnesses the conclusion of our Lord's priesthood.

And hence we understand that the opening of that apartment of the temple in heaven which contains the ark of the testament is for the session of the judgment described in Daniel 7.

The position of the Father during this session of the investigative judgment, in the second apartment of the "greater and more perfect tabernacle, " is evidently alluded to in the following texts:-

" Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord; for he is raised up out of his holy habitation." Zech.2:13.

"But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him." Hab.2:20.

The Father enters the second apartment that he may sit in judgment. Dan.7. The Son presents himself at his tribunal that he may finish as high priest, his great work of atonement for the dead and the living. While the judgment of the righteous dead is going forward, probation remains to the righteous living.

And hence it is that after the hour of God's judgment has come, the third angel proclaims the latest message of mercy to the world of mankind. But when the sins of the righteous dead have been blotted out, and the righteous living have been prepared for the close of their probation by the work of the third angel, the Son of God terminates his priesthood, and takes his place as king upon the great white cloud. Rev.14:6-14.

The act of blotting out is not the only event in the final disposal of the sins of those who overcome. The removal of their sins from the sanctuary, at the conclusion of the high priest's work therein, is followed by a most remarkable transaction. The sins thus removed from the temple of God are placed upon the head of the scape-goat. But our Lord Jesus Christ cannot be typified by this goat; for the sins of men were laid upon him before the work of his priesthood began in the sanctuary; but the scape-goat receives the sins from the sanctuary after the whole work of the priest is completed therein. The sins thus placed on the scape-goat never pass from him to any other being or object.

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But those goats which were slain in sacrifice for sin, had the sins of the people laid on them before the high priest entered the sanctuary to sprinkle the blood of sin-offering before God.

Indeed, it was by this very means that the sins of the people were transferred to the sanctuary. This work represents the sacrifice of the Son of God for us, and his ascension to heaven to plead the cause of his people. But when his work therein is accomplished, and the sins of the people of God are removed thence (see Heb.9:22, 23), that being who receives them at the hand of our High Priest to bear them to a land not inhabited, can be no other than Satan, the author of sin. The fulfillment of this will be when Satan, at the commencement of the 1, 000 years, is confined to the desolated earth, his dreary prison during the long space between the two resurrections. Rev.20:1-7.

That the ancient people of God understand the scape-goat to represent, not Christ, but Satan, the following testimonies will show. It will be seen, moreover, that there is direct evidence that Satan is intended in the very signification and use of this word.

Charles Beecher, in his work entitled "Redeemer and Redeemed, " pp. 66- 70, says:-

" Two goats were to be presented before the Lord by the high priest. They must be exactly alike in value, size, age, color - they must be counterparts. Placing these goats before him, the high priest put both hands into an urn containing the golden lots, and drew them out, one in each hand. On the one was engraven, La Yehovah (for Jehovah), on the other La Azazel (for Azazel).

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"The goat on which the lot La Yehovah fell was slain. After its blood had been sprinkled in the holy of holies, the high priest laid his hands on the head of the second goat, confessed the sins of the congregation, and gave him to a fit man to lead away and let go in the wilderness; the man thus employed being obliged to wash his clothes and person before returning to the congregation."

Mr. Beecher states two views respecting the meaning of this term Azazel, each of which he shows to be manifestly untrue. He then gives his own view, as follows:-

" The third opinion is, that Azazel is a proper name of Satan. In support of this, the following points are urged: The use of the preposition implies it. The same preposition is used on both lots, La Yehova, La Azazel; and if the one indicates a person, it seems natural the other should, especially considering the act of casting lots. If one is for Jehovah, the other would seem for some other person or being; not one for Jehovah, and the other for the goat itself.

"What goes to confirm this is, that the most ancient paraphrases and translations treat Azazel as a proper name. The Chaldee paraphrase and the targums of Onkelos and Jonathan would certainly have translated it if it was not a proper name, but they do not. The Septuagint, or oldest Greek version, renders it by apopompaios, a word applied by the Greeks to a malign deity, sometimes appeased by sacrifices.

"Another confirmation is found in the Book of Enoch, where the name Azalzel, evidently a corruption of Azazel, is given to one of the fallen angels, thus plainly showing what was the prevalent understanding of the Jews at that day.

"Still another evidence is found in the Arabic, where Azazel is employed as the name of the evil spirit.

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"In addition to these, we have the evidence of the Jewish work, Zohar, and of the Cabalistic and Rabbinical writers. They tell us that the following proverb was current among the Jews: `On the day of atonement, a gift to Sammael.' Hence Moses Gerundinenses feels called to say that it is not a sacrifice, but only done because commanded by God.

"Another step in the evidence is when we find this same opinion passing from the Jewish to the early Christian church. Origen was the most learned of the Fathers, and on such a point as this, the meaning of a Hebrew word, his testimony is reliable. Says Origen: `He who is called in the Septuagint apopompaios and in the Hebrew Azazel, is no other than the devil.'

"Lastly, a circumstance is mentioned of the Emperor Julian, the apostate, that confirms the argument. He brought as an objection against the Bible, that Moses commanded a sacrifice to the evil spirit. An objection he never could have thought of, had not Azazel been generally regarded as a proper name.

"In view, then, of the difficulties attending any other meaning, and the accumulated evidence in favor of this, Hengstenberg affirms with great confidence that Azazel cannot be anything else but another name for Satan. . . .

"The meaning of the term, viewed as a proper name, was stated in 1677, by Spencer, Dean of Ely, to be Powerful Apostate, or Mighty Receder."

Mr. Beecher, on the seventy-second page of his work, states that Professor Bush considers Azazel to be a proper name of Satan.

Gesenius, the great Hebrew lexicographer, says:-

" Azazel, a word found only in the law respecting the day of atonement. Lev.16:8, 10, 26. . . . By this name is probably to be understood originally some idol that was appeased with sacrifices, as Saturn and Mars; but afterwards as the names of idols were often transferred to demons, it seems to denote an evil demon dwelling in the desert and to be placed with victims, in accordance with this very ancient and Gentile rite. This name Azazel is also used by the Arabs for an evil demon."

Milton represents Azazel as one of the fallen angels, and the standard-bearer of Satan:-

" That proud honor claimed
Azazel as his right, a cherub tall;
Who forthwith from the glittering staff unfurled
The imperial ensign."
--Paradise Lost, book 1.

The "Comprehensive Commentary" has the following important remarks:-

" Scape-goat. See different opinions in Bochart. Spencer, after the oldest opinions of the Hebrews and Christians, thinks Azazel is the name of the devil; and so Rosenmuller, whom see. The Syriac has Azzail, the angel (strong one) who revolted."

"Cassell's Illustrated Bible" speaks thus of the scape-goat:-" We offer the following exposition as much more likely, and much more satisfactory: That Azazel is a personal denomination for the evil one."

Certainly, these are very important testimonies to show that Satan is typified by the scape-goat. To show the reasonableness of that act which rolls back upon Satan the sins of the people of God, and also to define the nature of the act, let us carefully state the case. Every sin committed by men is instigated by Satan.

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This part of the transgression is the sin of Satan alone, and belongs solely to him, whether men repent or not. But consenting to the tempter, and obeying him, is the sin of the one tempted. This part of the transgression will, in the case of all who avail themselves of the work of our High Priest, be placed upon the antitypical scape-goat, Satan, and he will have to bear the full punishment of all such sins.

One of the most important events, therefore, in the opening of the great day of judgment, is that of placing the sins of the overcomers upon the head of the great author of sin. The fallen angels will, no doubt, share with their great leader in this fearful burden of guilt. Satan and his angels are reserved to the judgment of the great day. And one of its first events after the righteous are made immortal is that they are exalted to sit in judgment upon the fallen angels. Jude 6; 2Peter 2:4; 1Cor.6:2, 3.

It is remarkable that each of the visions of Daniel brings to view either the coronation of Christ or that event which immediately precedes it, the close of his priesthood. Thus, in Daniel 2:44 we read:

"And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever."

But in the seventh chapter the very manner and place of this event are given us. Thus when the prophet describes the act of the Father in taking the place of judgment, he represents the Son as being crowned at that tribunal:-

" I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." Dan.7:13, 14.

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How the kingdom thus set up in the days of these kings shall break in pieces all the wicked kingdoms of earth, is very plainly stated in Rev.19:11-21.

The coronation of our Lord is very distinctly marked in Daniel's fourth vision, as recorded in chapters 10-12. Thus we read:-

" And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book." Dan.12:1.

The standing up of Michael is simply the commencement of the reign of Christ, as has been shown. This is followed by the great time of trouble, which will be briefly noticed hereafter. But the third vision of Daniel, which says not one word respecting the coronation of our Lord, does distinctly mark that event which directly precedes it, viz., the closing act of his priesthood. Here is the record:-

" Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." Dan.8:13, 14.

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Here is an event to transpire in the conclusion of this vision; in other words, it occurs in the end of the gospel dispensation. The sanctuary to be cleansed at the conclusion of the new-covenant dispensation, must be the sanctuary of the new covenant.

A sanctuary implies of necessity a priesthood. The cleansing of the sanctuary is that event which completes the work of the priest who ministers therein. When, therefore, we read of the cleansing of the sanctuary at the end of the twenty-three hundred days, we understand that this is the closing event of the priesthood of the Son of God. It is of necessity a work which brings human probation to a close, and marks the transition from the priesthood to the kingly office of the Saviour.

Paul tells us there are two covenants, the old and the new. Gal.4:24. He tells us that the sanctuary of the old covenant was the tabernacle which Moses made like that one showed him in the mount. Heb.9:1-5; 8:5; Ex.25:8, 9, 40.

This tabernacle was a pattern of the heavenly temple. Heb.9:23, 24; Rev.11:19. When the temple was erected, some five hundred years after the time of Moses, a larger and grander building, indeed, that also was a pattern of the temple of God in heaven. 1Chron.28:11, 12, 19. But the sanctuary of the new covenant is this heavenly temple itself. Here are the words of Paul defining the new-covenant sanctuary to be the temple of God where our High Priest is ministering for us.

"Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man." Heb.8:1, 2.

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The temple of God in heaven is, therefore, not only the great original which Moses and Solomon copied in erecting the tabernacle and the temple, each in its period being the sanctuary of the old covenant, but the heavenly temple is certainly the new-covenant sanctuary. David and Jeremiah each mention this sanctuary in heaven:-

" For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the Lord behold the earth." Ps.102:19.

"A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary." Jer.17:12. Comp. Rev.16:17.

No one will dispute that "the sanctuary" in the days of Moses was the tabernacle. Nor will they deny that 500 years later this gave place to the temple, which was thenceforward, till its destruction, the sanctuary of the old covenant. It will also be freely admitted that with the new covenant came the great antitype of all this, viz., the temple of God in heaven, which is the real sanctuary of the Lord. But it will be denied by many that this sanctuary of God in heaven is brought into the vision of the prophet.

The ninth chapter of Daniel is a key to the eighth. A literal rendering of Dan.9:24 informs us that "seventy weeks are cut off upon thy people and upon thy holy city." Then it is certain that not all the vision pertained to old Jerusalem. The period of 490 years belonged to that city, the place of the earthly sanctuary. But the remainder, viz., 1, 810 years, coming wholly within the gospel dispensation, must pertain only to the sanctuary of the New Testament. And it is remarkable that the very verse which tells us how much of the vision pertained to the earthly sanctuary does present to our view the sanctuary of the new covenant in close connection with the introduction of the new covenant. Dan.9:24, 27 For one of the last events in the period of 70 weeks is the anointing of the Most Holy.

This is not the anointing of the Saviour, for the term is literally, in Hebrew, the Holy of Holies, a plain reference to the sanctuary itself. This anointing was performed in the earthly sanctuary when the ministration therein began. Lev.8:10, 11.

The anointing of the Holy of Holies at the end of the 70 weeks cannot relate to the earthly sanctuary, which was no longer the sanctuary of prophecy, but must relate to the heavenly tabernacle, which then became the sanctuary of prophecy. Its anointing was an event preparatory to Christ's ministering therein, just as the earthly sanctuary was anointed in both its holy places before the Levitical ministration commenced in it. We cannot, therefore, doubt that the last 1, 810 years of Daniel's 2, 300 relate to the sanctuary of the new covenant.

The objection that this sanctuary cannot be trodden down is met by the fact that the New Testament plainly declares that Christ, the Minister of this sanctuary, is trodden under foot of wicked men. Heb.10:29; 8:1, 2.

The further and final objection that it cannot in the very nature of the case ever be cleansed, is fully answered by the expressive language of Paul, who states that the heavenly sanctuary is to be cleansed for the same reason that the earthly one was. Heb.9:22, 23. In a former article we have seen that the cleansing of the earthly sanctuary marked the conclusion of the yearly round of service. Leviticus 16.

The services of the heavenly sanctuary are performed once for all. The cleansing of the sanctuary must therefore have its antitype only once, and that at the close of the priesthood of Christ. The 2, 300 days mark the time of that event. When this work is entered upon by our Lord, it is the concluding work of his priesthood, and the period for the finishing of human probation.

This work finishes our Lord's priesthood preparatory to his coronation. It takes place in the second apartment of the sanctuary. Lev.16; Rev.11:19. As 58 the session of the judgment by the Ancient of Days is the very place where the transition from Christ's priesthood to his kingly office takes place, we cannot err in placing the cleansing of the sanctuary in Dan.8:14, in the closest connection with the blotting out of sins at the Father's tribunal. Dan.7:9-14; Acts 3:19, 20.

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