Prepared by William Earnhardt for Sabbath School Class, May 6, 2023.

Main Theme: The cleansing of the Sanctuary justifies God’s people as well as His character of love.

Read in Class: Daniel 8:14, and Daniel 9:24-27. Discuss the link between these two passages.

Note: Gabriel tells Daniel that 490 years are “cut off” (the literal meaning of the Hebrew word chathak, sometimes translated “determined”). Cut off from what? It could be the only other time prophecy alluded to here: the 2,300 days of Daniel 8:14. These 490 years, a time prophecy, is directly linked back to the time prophecy of Daniel 8:14, the only part of the vision left unexplained in Daniel 8 and the only time prophecy in Daniel 8, as well. Thus, we can see that Gabriel with this prophecy is coming to help Daniel understand what he didn’t understand in the previous chapter: the 2,300 days.

Study: What was to happen at the end of the 2300 days?

Apply: Why is it significant that the death of Jesus, as revealed in Daniel 9:24-27, is directly linked to the judgment, in Daniel 8:14? What great truth is taught here by this link?

Share: Your friend says there is no reason for an investigative judgment because God already knows everything. What do you tell your friend? See also The Cleansing of the Sanctuary in Scripture.

Read in Class: Leviticus 16:7-9, 15-22. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What did the priest do with the blood? What did he do with the sins? Who does the scapegoat represent? See The Sanctuary and the Scapegoat.

Apply: How does this segment of the cleansing of the sanctuary and Jesus dying on the cross help you to see that God is love and not the evil tyrant Satan wants us to believe He is? See Was the Atonement to Appease an Angry God or an Angry Race.

Share: Your friend says that the scapegoat cannot be Satan because Satan does not make an atonement. What do you tell your friend. See The Sanctuary and the Scapegoat.

Read in Class: Leviticus 23:27-30. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What are God’s people to be doing during this time? What happens to those who do not repent and turn from open sin?

Apply: How might Galatians 5:19-26 help us to understand what it means for us to “do not work” during the literal atonement we are in today?

Share: Your friend asks, how does God’s people being purified help others to see God as a God of love? What do you tell your friend? Hint: An ancient philosopher once told a group of Christians, “If you want me to believe in your Redeemer, you are going to have to start looking a lot more Redeemed.”

Read in Class: Hebrews 4:14-16. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What assurance does this passage give us in the investigative judgment and cleansing of the sanctuary?

Apply: How has God’s grace and mercy changed your behavior and attitude towards others?

Share: How can you help your friends see the love of God in the cleansing of the sanctuary and investigative judgment?

For further resources see The Cleansing of the Sanctuary in Light of the Cross.