The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 410

Chap. 23 - What is the Sanctuary?
The scripture which above all others had been both the foundation
and the central pillar of the advent faith was the declaration: “Unto two
thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”
Daniel 8:14. These had been familiar words to all believers in the Lord’s
soon coming. By the lips of thousands was this prophecy repeated as the
watchword of their faith. All felt that upon the events therein foretold
depended their brightest expectations and most cherished hopes. These
prophetic days had been shown to terminate in the autumn of 1844. In
common with the rest of the Christian world, Adventists then held that
the earth, or some portion of it, was the sanctuary. They understood that
the cleansing of the sanctuary was the purification of the earth by the
fires of the last great day, and that this would take place at the second
advent. Hence the conclusion that Christ would return to the earth in
1844.
But the appointed time had passed, and the Lord had not appeared.
The believers knew that God’s word could not fail; their interpretation of
the prophecy must be at fault; but where was the mistake? Many rashly
cut the knot of difficulty by denying that the 2300 days ended in 1844.
No reason could be given for this except that Christ had not come at
the time they expected Him. They argued that if the prophetic days had
ended in 1844, Christ would then have returned to

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