This was made very clear as attention was given to the manner in which the types relating to the first advent of Christ had been fulfilled .
The slaying of the Passover lamb was a shadow of the death of Christ . Says Paul : " Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us ." 1 Corinthians 5:7 . The sheaf of first fruits , which at the time of the Passover was waved before the Lord , was typical of the resurrection of Christ . Paul says , in speaking of the resurrection of the Lord and of all His people : " Christ the first fruits ; afterward they that are Christ ' s at His coming ." 1 Corinthians 15:23 . Like the wave sheaf , which was the first ripe grain gathered before the harvest , Christ is the first fruits of that immortal harvest of redeemed ones that at the future resurrection shall be gathered into the garner of God .
These types were fulfilled , not only as to the event , but as to the time . One of the fourteenth day of the first Jewish month , the very day and month on which for fifteen long centuries the Passover lamb had been slain , Christ , having eaten the Passover with His disciples , instituted that feast which was to commemorate His own death as " the Lamb of God , which taketh away the sin of the world ." That same night He was taken by wicked hands to be crucified and slain . And as the antitype of the wave sheaf our Lord was raised from the dead on the third day , " the first fruits of them that slept ," a sample of all the resurrected just , whose " vile body " shall be changed , and " fashioned like unto His glorious body ." Verse 20 ; Philippians 3:21 .
In like manner the types which relate to the second advent must be fulfilled at the time pointed out in the symbolic service . Under the Mosaic system the cleansing of the sanctuary , or the great Day of Atonement , occurred on the tenth day of the seventh Jewish month ( Leviticus 16:29-34 ), when the high priest , having made an atonement for all Israel , and thus removed their sins from the sanctuary , came forth and blessed the people . So it was believed that Christ , our great High Priest , would appear to purify the earth by the destruction of sin and sinners , and to bless His waiting people with immortality . The tenth day of the seventh month , the great Day of Atonement , the time of the cleansing of the sanctuary , which in the year 1844 fell upon the twenty-second of October , was regarded as the time of the Lord ' s coming . This was in harmony with the proofs already presented that the 2300 days would terminate in the autumn , and the conclusion seemed irresistible .
In the parable of Matthew 25 the time of waiting and slumber is followed by the coming of the bridegroom . This was in accordance with the arguments just presented , both from prophecy and from the types . They carried strong conviction of their truthfulness ; and the " midnight cry " was heralded by thousands of believers . Like a tidal wave the movement swept over the land . From city to city , from village to village , and into remote country places it went , until the waiting people of God were fully aroused . Fanaticism disappeared before this proclamation like early frost before the rising sun .
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