DAY OF JUDGMENT
Lesson 10 Part l
page 3 of 4
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Heaven’s court must convene
after 1798
Applying verses 21,22,
and 26 (items 4 & 7 above) we
conclude that the courtroom scene
takes place in heaven about the time
the little horn ends the first
persecution of the saints.
The time period of
persecution in Daniel 7:25 is
called “a time, times and
half a time.” This period
represents 3.5 years or 1,260
days. A “time” refers
to a year. (Daniel
4:16,25 “Times”
refers to two years and a “half
a time” refers to half a
year. This point is confirmed
within Revelation 12:6,14. Here
1,260 days and “a time, times
and half a time” refer to the
same time period and thus
interchangeable. If the time
period of Daniel 7:25 is 1,260 years
long, the reign of Papal power from
538 to 1798, confirms this
interpretation of prophecy.
Point 4 above may
represent a problem to some
students. Some may think the
little horn loses its power because
the court sits. Don’t
overlook the allotted time period for
the persecution of the saints by the
little horn. In actuality, the
little horn loses its power because
its time of power is fulfilled when
the 1,260 years end in 1798.
Just as God set boundaries of the
oceans, he set a time limit upon the
antichrist power. Daniel 7:26
can be understood to mean that the
saints would be warred upon until the
1,260 years of the little horn’s
power is broken, but justice for
God’s people will come.
The antichrist power will be
destroyed forever. Jesus
Himself will avenge the blood of His
persecuted saints!
Putting the pieces
together
- The judgment
of human beings takes place
in heaven after 4 world
empires have risen and fallen
and after the little horn
power waged war on the saints
for 1,260 years.
- Jesus is the
Judge. He is granted
authority, glory and
sovereign power to conduct
this process.
- The
restoration or cleansing of
the heavenly sanctuary began
at the end of the 2,300 years
in 1844. Thus, 1844
marks the beginning of the
appointed time of the end
because the Day of Atonement
marks the final stage of
salvation’s process in
heaven. The courtroom
scene can be nothing less
than the judgment of human
beings. It is the final
event in the heavenly
sanctuary. The opening
of the books at this time
indicates that time to review
the records of each person
has come!
- The Old
Testament Day of Atonement
provides valuable information
that helps us understand what
the cleansing of the
“true” sanctuary
means.
Repetition and
enlargement
Understand that Daniel
7, like Daniel 2, is a broad sweeping
prophecy. All details regarding
the little horn power are not
included in Daniel 7. There are
many more things to learn that
specifically relate to our day.
As mentioned before, the Bible uses
the process of repetition and
enlargement to unfold the prophecies.
Daniel 7 enlarges the details of
Daniel2. Likewise, Daniel 8
expands some of the details of Daniel
7, and we will see that the entire
book of Revelation enlarges upon
Daniel 8-12!
The process of the
judgment examined
What happens in the
judgment process? How are we
judged? Solomon, the wise man,
wrote, “…here is the
conclusion of the matter: Fear
God and keep his commandments, for
this is the whole duty of man.
For God will bring every deed into
judgment, including every hidden
thing, whether it is good or
evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:
13,14
In 1844, Jesus began
cleansing the sanctuary in
heaven. What defied the
heavenly sanctuary? The
recorded sins of people on
earth. Remember how the sins of
Israel were transferred to the earthy
sanctuary each day so that it had to
be cleansed each year on the Day of
Atonement? So the sins of each
person are accurately and full
recorded in heaven’s
sanctuary. Those who lived up
to all the knowledge they had were
given the righteousness of Christ.
This is the mystery of God.
This is how the plan of salvation can
save the vilest offender. In
1844, Jesus began going through the
book of record. This process is
conducted before the host of angels
so that nothing is hidden.
Jesus thoroughly investigates all
aspects of each person’s life
that lived upon earth. He began
with the first to die, a man called
Abel.
As Jesus proceeds
thorough the books of record, He
makes an irrevocable decision about
each person regarding eternal life or
death. Those in the books of
record who rejected the promptings of
the Holy Spirit are lost. They
stand condemned as
“uncovered” sinners before
the Father. They refused to
live by faith and they refused to
heed the promptings of the Holy
Spirit. Understand that Jesus
intimately investigates every aspect
of a person’s life to insure
that a fair decision is made.
Jesus considers what each person
knew, what each person had
opportunity to know, what each person
did with what he knew or
believed. He also considers
where each person came from, their
time and place, how each person
treated others and many, many other
factors. This is a solemn scene
of eternal importance. Millions
of reverent angels are in attendance.
In 1844, the judgment
of the dead began. This process
has been going on in heaven for
almost 159 years. Soon, the
judgment of the living will
begin! We’ll learn more
about this in lessons 14 and 15.
A new problem arises
If the judgment of the
dead began in 1844, what happened to
all those people who died and went to
heaven or hell before 1844? In
other words, how could eternal
judgment be passed upon people who
died centuries ago if the judgment
process did not begin until 1844?
Many people believe
that the sentence of eternal life or
of eternally burning in hell is
executed at death. Naturally,
such thinking would require that
judgment be made at the time of
death. Is this what the Bible
teaches about the judgment of
mankind? No. The Bible
clearly says that God has appointed a
certain time to judge the world. Acts
17:31
In Daniel, it is
called “the appointed time of
the end.” 1844 marks the
beginning of this time period, for
this is when Jesus begins to cleanse
the heavenly sanctuary. In
fact, when Jesus returns at the
second coming, He brings His reward
with Him indicating that the judgment
process is completed!
“Behold I am coming soon!
My reward is with me, and I will give
to everyone according to what he has
done.” Revelation 22:12
Does God burn people
for eternity?
Through the centuries,
Satan has tormented millions of
people with the concept that when a
person dies, he goes straight to
heaven or hell. Many Christians
accept this idea today and
aren’t particularly bothered by
it. After all, no one has seen
a large pit of fire where loved ones
are burning and writhing in pain.
Only in the past
century has this doctrine lost most
of its terror. In Protestantism
today, almost everyone goes to
heaven. When was the last time
you were at a funeral sermon sending
someone to hell?
The doctrine of an
eternally burning hell has a terrible
history. This teaching was used
by the Roman Church to control the
masses. The people who lived
during the Dark Ages didn’t have
Bibles, so they lived in constant
fear and had many superstitions about
God. (For example, a sneeze was
believed to be a demon attempting to
snatch away one’s breath.
Thus the quick response “bless
you” was offered since last
rites were necessary for
salvation.) The superstitious
fear of the people war preyed upon by
Roman clerics as a way of raising
money. Families could both buy
deceased loved ones out of the
torment of purgatory and purchase
eternal life for themselves,
regardless of any behavior. The
wealthier the family, the higher the
price of course. (In fact, the
construction of St.Peters Basilica
was financed entirely from the sale
of indulgences in the 15th
and 16th centuries.
An indulgence was a
“legal document” from the
Pope granting eternal life without
first going to purgatory.)
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