The Atonement by Joseph Harvey Waggoner

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 23, 1864

The Atonement.

By Joseph Harvey Waggoner

BY ELD. J. H. WAGGONER.

(Continued from No. 1, Vol. xxiii.)

This point being settled another question arises: Are there two holy places in the heavenly sanctuary? and if so, did not Christ enter the most holy when he ascended on high? In answer to this I notice,

1. When Moses was about to make the tabernacle he was admonished to make all things according to the pattern showed him in the mount. Heb. viii, 5; Ex. xxv, 40.

2. This tabernacle and its officers served "unto the example and shadow of heavenly things." Heb. viii, 5.

3. The two holy places in the earthly sanctuary are termed "figures of the true" [holy places]; and patterns of things in the Heavens. And they could not be patterns of the heavenly, and be made in "all things according to the pattern" showed to Moses, unless the heavenly had also two holy places.

4. That there are two holy places in the heavenly temple is shown by the book of Revelation, in which prophecy has unfolded various events in this dispensation immediately concerning the position and work of our High Priest. Jesus said to his servant John, to whom he gave the Revelation, that he was in the midst of the "seven golden candlesticks;" and John says he saw seven golden candlesticks, and in their midst the Son of man, when he had a vision of his glory. Rev. i, 12, 13; ii, 1. And when the living creature (one of the cherubim) called him up in the Spirit to Heaven, he said he saw a throne set, and described its appearance, and him that sat thereon; and said there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne. Rev. iv, 2-5. The order given to Moses, in erecting the earthly sanctuary, was to set the candlesticks on the south side of the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, which was the holy place. Ex. xxix, 33-35; xl, 24. As this was a shadow and example of heavenly things, we learn by these texts in the book of Revelation, that John's vision of the throne of God was in the holy place of the heavenly temple, where were the seven lamps of fire or golden candlesticks. Therein the Lord said he would manifest his presence; Ex. xxix, 42, 43; and there was our Saviour at the time of John's vision, officiating as priest. In this, a continual or daily offering was made, that judgment might be stayed, and the sinner spared, until the time of the cleansing of the sanctuary or making atonement, which was the blotting out and entire removal of sin from the sanctuary of God. According to the type this work of propitiation or intercession the Saviour had first to fulfill, in order to give man an opportunity to be reconciled to God, or converted, that his sins might be blotted out in the appointed time.

But we look down the stream of time still further; when the dispensation is drawing to a close, and the seventh trumpet is sounded. The third woe comes upon the earth, and great voices are heard saying the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ; the elders before the throne of God announce that "the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead that they should be judged, and that thou shouldst give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and them that fear thy name small and great." Rev. xi, 15-17. Here is a series of events, the connection and location of which cannot be mistaken, showing that this trumpet closes up this dispensation. Our Saviour says, "Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. xxii, 12. Paul says the saints shall have rest when the Lord Jesus is revealed taking vengeance on the wicked. 2 Thess. i, 6-10. And Jesus told his disciples they should be recompensed at the resurrection of the just. Luke xiv, 14. Thus it is shown that the judgment of the dead, the coming of the Lord, and the resurrection of the just, are events transpiring under this trumpet.

The prevailing ideas of the judgment are vague and indefinite. Probably a majority, certainly many, look upon it in this light: that the Lord shall appear in the clouds of heaven; that all the dead will be raised, and the judgment will then sit upon the whole human race. Another view is that each one is judged immediately after death. Both these views are forbidden by the scripture which says the saints shall judge the world. 1 Cor. vi, 2. It is not reasonable to suppose that the saints will judge the world in their present state, or previous to the time when themselves are judged. The following from Bliss' review of Prof. Bush on the Resurrection is more reasonable and scriptural than the views generally entertained:

"We are inclined to the opinion that the judgment is after death, and before the resurrection; and that before that event the acts of all men will be adjudicated; so that the resurrection of the righteous is their full acquittal and redemption—their sins being blotted out when the times of refreshing shall have come; Acts iii, 19; while the fact that the wicked are not raised proves that they were previously condemned."

This, however, does not give any chance for the fulfillment of the Apostle's words:—"The saints shall judge the world," and must be, so far, incorrect. That the judgment of the saints is fully accomplished while the Saviour is in the sanctuary in Heaven, before his coming, and therefore before the resurrection, is evident; for (1.) their judgment must be closed while Jesus is their advocate that he may procure their acquittal. And (2.) they are raised immortal, which is the evidence of their acquittal. The judgment of the wicked must be subsequent to the redemption of the righteous (for they will take part in that transaction), and yet previous to the second resurrection. It is quite reasonable to consider that the wicked are merely rejected while Christ is a priest, their cases being passed over for future consideration; indeed, this is the only view that will harmonize all scripture; and as the resurrection of the righteous to immortality and eternal life is the announcement of the decision of the judgment to them, so the wicked are raised to condemnation and the second death, which is the execution of the judgment before determined in regard to them.

I think no doubt can remain that the judgment of the saints, the blotting out of sin, the making of the atonement, and the cleansing of the sanctuary, are identical; and we have seen that in the type the atonement was made—the sanctuary cleansed, when the priest went into the most holy place before the ark; and the most holy was opened only on the day of atonement. This fact is also referred to in the scripture under consideration,—Rev. xi. Under the sounding of the seventh trumpet it is said, "The temple of God was opened in Heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament."

I have before noticed that John was shown a door opened in Heaven; a throne set; and seven lamps of fire before the throne. Rev. iv. But it was not till the seventh trumpet sounded that the temple of God in Heaven was opened where the ark of his testament is seen. By reference to "the example" of the heavenly things—to "the figures of the true"—we learn that the seven lamps or candlesticks were in the holy, and the ark of the testament in the most holy place of the sanctuary. And further, that the work of intercession was continual in the holy place, but the most holy was not opened except on the day of atonement.

From this we learn that the work of intercession of our High Priest in the holy place in the heavenly sanctuary extended from the commencement of his ministry in a. d. 31, to the sounding of the seventh trumpet (1844), when the antitypical day of atonement commenced, in which the sanctuary is cleansed. There are differences in the work of the priest in the two places which need to be noticed.

The intercession, or work of the Priest in the holy, is general, for the whole world; and herein is shown the benefit that the whole world receives from the death of Christ. Every sin deserves its punishment, which is death; and without a mediator this would be the unavoidable and universal consequence. But through the pleading of the Saviour, sentence against the evil work is not speedily executed; Eccl. viii, 11; the sinner is granted an opportunity to repent; a time of probation is given in which he may return to God through Christ. In this sense Jesus is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world. He has prepared a covering beneath which all may find refuge. By virtue of his death for sin, wherein mercy is exalted and justice honored, the transgressor is spared and invited to accept the blood of Jesus as his substitute, and be reconciled to God. The benefits of probation which all enjoy, are by his blood and intercession. And surely these are no slight benefits. Though the sinner may pass them by unheeding; may scorn the warning voice, and despise the precious blood; the countless multitude of the redeemed who are all reconciled by those very means, forever attest the value and fullness of those means so blindly disregarded by the impenitent.

On the other hand, the atonement, the work of the Priest in the most holy place, is specific and limited. By this it is not to be understood that repentance and reconciliation are not given in the day of atonement, as some have inferred. To sustain such a view it would be necessary to show that the penitent would not have been received, according to the type, on the day in which Aaron or his son made atonement; but that cannot be shown. All received the benefit of that act who "afflicted their souls," as the Lord commanded. But this we learn that such as did not "afflict their souls"—who did not repent, and were not reconciled to God, were "cut off from among the people;" their sins were not blotted out; no atonement was made for them. This work extends only to those who are reconciled to God; who, by confessing and forsaking their sins are entitled to mercy in the judgment; or in other words, to those who are converted, whose sins "may be" blotted out. Acts iii, 19. It is very evident that Peter did not think their sins would be blotted out when they were converted, but at some future time; and the scriptures clearly show that that time is when the sanctuary is cleansed and the atonement made.

DIFFICULTIES OF THE COMMON VIEW.

Though a doctrine should be maintained or admitted on the strength or correctness of its principles, yet in the mind of the inquirer its strength is more readily appreciated by a discovery of the weakness of, or defects in, an opposite view. The common view, that the death of Christ is equivalent to the atonement, is attended with difficulties which, to my mind, are insurmountable. Losing sight of the truth, men have rushed to the extremes of error in opposite directions, and spent their time in useless labor to maintain a fruitless warfare.

We read that Christ died for all. Some who take the view that the death of Christ is the atonement, readily conclude that the sins of all have been atoned for, and argue thence that no condemnation can remain to any. The argument is reasonable but the premise is defective. A regard for the distinction I have noticed would remove this prop of Universalism.

Others, assured from the Scriptures that all will not be saved, that some do now and will finally rest under condemnation, are shut up to the conclusion that the atonement is not made for all. They also regard the death of Christ and the atonement as the same thing, and therefore are necessarily precipitated to the opposite extreme, that Christ did not die for all, but only for a chosen part of mankind. Here again, the difficulties of ultra-Calvinism lie in the assumption on which their argument is based. The distinction herein advocated and sustained by plain scripture facts and declarations, would remove the errors of "Universalists" and "Partialists," and bring all together on the harmonious testimony of the word of God.

And I would urge upon the consideration of the reader that, assuming that the atonement was made on Calvary, one of the above positions must necessarily be admitted. Either the death of Christ was for a limited number, (as the atonement is), or else the sins of all

have been atoned for, and all must be saved. If the atonement be already made, if the sanctuary be already cleansed, and sin blotted out by an act long past, I am unable to see how the destiny of man is to be affected by the proclamation and belief of the truth. It will be said that our faith lays hold of that which has been done for us; and if the declaration referred merely to what the Scriptures say has been done, it would be correct. But if our sin was removed or blotted out long before we were born, it is hard to see how the fact could be more a fact or made more certain by our belief of it; or if our sins were not so blotted out, our unbelief could not affect the omission. But "Christ died for all;" and the impenitent will be "punished with everlasting destruction." It is a matter of wonder that Bible readers have ever for a moment recognized as true the idea that death makes an atonement, when the atonement is always represented as the work of the priest, performed in the sanctuary, with the blood of the offering.

(To be continued.)