October 22: A WIDE OPEN DOOR

Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. Daniel 12:10

This verse hearkens back to that which was happening to God’s faithful people during the Dark Ages: And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them, and make them white, until the time of the end; because it is still for the appointed time (11:35). That time which was appointed came suddenly—and right on time—in 1798 with the inflicting of the apparent “deadly wound” to the papal power.

Today’s verse refers to something that happened after 1798. The period known as the Great Awakening was off and running. In various pockets of the world, intense Bible studies were afoot. The printing press had rapidly replenished the countless Bibles that had been burned during the French Revolution. Through their studies, calculations pointing to 1843-1844 convinced them that Jesus would return to the earth at that time to cleanse the sanctuary (widely considered to be the earth). Their calculations were pointing to the time of a monumental event, but it was clearly not Jesus’s second coming! By the end of 1844, now known as the year of the Great Disappointment, there were two reactions among those Bible students, made up of people from various Protestant denominations. The majority, in disgust, abandoned the study of prophecy and returned to their denominations.  

However, a few – about fifty – stayed together to dig deeper into the Scriptures seeking to discover their mistake. They were cruelly criticized by their brethren and disfellowshipped from the churches they had come from. But the faith of these who remained was purified, made white, and refined as they discovered that the event which they mistook for the time of Jesus’s return was actually a heavenly event that the Lord wants His people to know about. The cleansing of the sanctuary mentioned in Daniel 8:14 (it is the longest time prophecy in the Bible) was not referring to the fiery return of Jesus to earth, but to His final atoning ministry as our heavenly High Priest. This part of the divine work occurs in the Most Holy Place of the sanctuary. And this is exactly where Jesus had moved for the final stage of His High Priestly work, symbolized by the Day of Atonement: the most solemn event on the Hebrew calendar. This is the day in which we are living. By His Spirit, Jesus is also doing a special work of cleansing in His people.

In the letters to the church, Jesus addressed this faithful little group: “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These things says He who is holy, He who is true, He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens. I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it, for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.” (Revelation 3:7-8)

The standard of purity is the standard of judgment; the Lord’s Ten Commandments, which are highlighted throughout His word to mold our wills into the likeness of His will. If you desire for your will to align with God’s, He will even cleanse you of character defects you aren’t aware of!

Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple… Revelation 11:19a Related verses: Exodus 30:10; Leviticus 16:30; 23:27-29; Psalm 19:8,12; Isaiah 4:1-3; Malachi 3:1-3; Ephesians 5:26-27; 1 Thessalonians 5:20, 23; Titus 3:5; Hebrews 9:7-8; Revelation 7:3; 10:10-11; 14:7