THREE texts of scripture have been quoted by those who have taught that the Sanctuary of Dan. viii was to be cleansed by fire, to prove that the land of Canaan is that Sanctuary. We will here quote from the Second Advent Manual of 1843, by Apollos Hale.—This was a standard work, and gives the view then taken by the Advent body.
"The word Sanctuary is used by the inspired writers in the following significations. 1. It is the name of a particular part of the temple. Heb. ix, 2. 2. The different apartments of the temple. Jer. ii, 51. 3. The temple itself. I Chron. xxii, 19; xxviii, 10. 4. Places of worship generally, true or false. Amos vii, 9; Eze. xxviii, 18; Dan. viii, 11. 5. Heaven is called the Sanctuary. Ps. cii, 19. 6. The promised land.—Ex. xv, 17; Ps. lxxviii, 54; Isa. lxiii, 18. 7. The tabernacle of God in the heavenly state. Eze. xxxvii, 26, 28. These are the principal significations of the word sanctuary, in the word of God. According to which of these significations is the word to be understood in the text before us? I think the most obvious sense is that which points out the promised land; for it must be evident to every one that the Sanctuary here spoken of must be capable of being 'trodden under foot,' and of being 'cleansed,' and as I think we shall see, of being cleansed at the coming of Christ and the resurrection of the righteous dead."
With the first four, and the seventh, and last, significations of the word Sanctuary, as given above, we agree. The texts are plain and afford positive testimony; but with the fifth and sixth we widely differ. There is no positive testimony that heaven is called the Sanctuary. That God's Sanctuary, the "true Tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and not man," the "greater and more perfect Tabernacle" of which Christ is a minister, is in heaven, we have abundance of plain scripture testimony. See Heb. viii, 1-4; ix, 11, 23, 24; Rev. i, 12, 13; xi, 19; xv, 5. The text referred to above, to prove that heaven is called the Sanctuary, is as follows: "For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary: from heaven did the Lord behold the earth." Ps. cii, 19.
The most natural, and obvious meaning of this text is, that the Sanctuary, from the "height" of which the Lord "looked down" to "behold the earth," is the "Temple of God in heaven" in which "was seen" the "ark of his testament." This view is sustained by a mass of plain scripture testimony, while the other view has only an inference from Ps. cii, 19, to sustain it.
We object to the sixth definition of the word Sanctuary, that it is "the promised land" because that view has no other foundation than unwarrantable inferences from only three texts of scripture. These we will now examine.
The first is Ex. xv, 17, "Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in; in the sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established." This is a part of the prophetic song of Moses sung by Israel upon the banks of the Red Sea, in praise to God for their deliverance, and in prospect of their settlement in Canaan. Its fulfillment is declared in Ps. lxxviii, 54, which is the second text claimed as proof that the promised land is the Sanctuary. "And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased." Cruden says, "By Sanctuary, here, [Ex. xv, 17,] may be understood the temple on Mount Moriah, which God would certainly cause to be built and established."
This view is shown to be correct from the context of Ps. lxxviii, 54. After declaring in verse 54, that God brought his people to the border of his Sanctuary, the Psalmist in verses 68, 69 tells us what the Sanctuary was which his hands established, as follows. "But chose the tribe of Judah, the Mount Zion which he loved. And he built his Sanctuary like high palaces." The border, or place of the Sanctuary, where God planted his people, was one thing, and the Sanctuary itself, which he caused to be built like high palaces, was entirely another thing. The people were planted, and dwelt in the former, but God dwelt in the latter, among his people. "The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel: . . . Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them." That Sanctuary was a sacred place. There the Lord placed his name, and manifested his glory.
Why should we confound the border, or place of the Sanctuary, which was the promised land, with the Sanctuary itself? Certainly there is no necessity for so doing. And there is no more propriety in such a course, than there would be in asserting that a house and the yard or farm around it were one and the same thing. And to say that Ex. xv, 17; Ps. lxxviii, 54, which speak of the "place," and "the border" of the Sanctuary, as well as the Sanctuary itself, prove that the promised land is the Sanctuary, is equal to asserting that a farm and a house situated upon it are only a house. We use this simple figure to make the error appear in its true light.
The other text quoted to sustain this position, is Isa. lxiii, 18. "The people of thy holiness have possessed it [the promised land, or the inheritance] but a little while; our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary." The history of the Jews shows a perfect fulfillment of this text, therefore, the Sanctuary mentioned in the text refers to the typical Sanctuary. There is no more necessity or propriety in confounding the inheritance, with the Sanctuary in this text, than in Ex. xv, 17, and Ps. lxxviii, 54. It is true that the tribes of Israel possessed the promised land "but a little while," and it is also true that their adversaries did tread down their Sanctuary, by desecrating and desolating their Temple.
No one believes that the words, "trodden under foot," and "trodden down," mean that the entire land of Canaan has been literally trampled down by the feet of wicked men, any more than the text, "I will tread down the people in mine anger, [Isa. lxiii, 6,] means that the Almighty is to literally trample on men. Those that teach that the promised land is the Sanctuary, must, therefore, admit that the words "trodden under foot," and "trodden down," are figurative expressions, and mean that the promised land has been overrun with the wicked agents of its desolation. Then they should not object to our using the expressions figuratively, in applying the words, trodden down [Isa. lxiii, 18] to the typical Sanctuary, and the words, trodden under foot, [Dan. viii, 13,] to the true Tabernacle or Sanctuary in heaven.
It may be said that the heavenly Sanctuary is not capable of being trodden under foot. But we ask, is it not as capable of being trodden under foot as the Son of God, who is the Minister of the same Sanctuary? Says Paul: "Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace." Heb. x, 29.