in the church prevented them from arriving at a correct interpretation of an important point in the prophecy . Therefore , though they proclaimed the message which God had committed to them to be given to the world , yet through a misapprehension of its meaning they suffered disappointment .
In explaining Daniel 8:14 , " Unto two thousand and three hundred days ; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed ," Miller , as has been stated , adopted the generally received view that the earth is the sanctuary , and he believed that the cleansing of the sanctuary represented the purification of the earth by fire at the coming of the Lord . When , therefore , he found that the close of the 2300 days was definitely foretold , he concluded that this revealed the time of the second advent . His error resulted from accepting the popular view as to what constitutes the sanctuary .
In the typical system , which was a shadow of the sacrifice and priesthood of Christ , the cleansing of the sanctuary was the last service performed by the high priest in the yearly round of ministration . It was the closing work of the atonement --a removal or putting away of sin from Israel . It prefigured the closing work in the ministration of our High Priest in heaven , in the removal or blotting out of the sins of His people , which are registered in the heavenly records . This service involves a work of investigation , a work of judgment ; and it immediately precedes the coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory ; for when He comes , every case has been decided . Says Jesus : " My reward is with Me , to give every man according as his work shall be ." Revelation 22:12 . It is this work of judgment , immediately preceding the second advent , that is announced in the first angel ' s message of Revelation 14:7 : " Fear God , and give glory to Him ; for the hour of His judgment is come ."
Those who proclaimed this warning gave the right message at the right time . But as the early disciples declared , " The time is fulfilled , and the kingdom of God is at hand ," based on the prophecy of Daniel 9 , while they failed to perceive that the death of the Messiah was foretold in the same scripture , so Miller and his associates preached the message based on Daniel 8:14 and Revelation 14:7 , and failed to see that there were still other messages brought to view in Revelation 14 , which were also to be given before the advent of the Lord . As the disciples were mistaken in regard to the kingdom to be set up at the end of the seventy weeks , so Adventists were mistaken in regard to the event to take place at the expiration of the 2300 days . In both cases there was an acceptance of , or rather an adherence to , popular errors that blinded the mind to the truth . Both classes fulfilled the will of God in delivering the message which He desired to be given , and both , through their own misapprehension of their message , suffered disappointment .
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