1844 and the Veil of Lies
The earthly sanctuary is the place where God “dwells among us,” but His true dwelling place is in heaven itself (however we want to conceptualize that). There are no degrees of holiness there. There is no need to confine God’s presence in heaven to a small area, such as in the earthly sanctuary’s holiest place, and certainly not for a high priest such as Jesus. All of heaven is the most holy place.
Jesus Went Directly To the Father’s Immediate Unveiled Presence
Paul confirms that Jesus went directly into the Father’s presence when he says that after His ascension He sat down at the right hand of the Father in heaven itself (Hebrews 1:3; 9:24; 10:12). He entered the immediate unveiled presence of the almighty Father in the highest and holiest place in the entire universe. The teaching that Christ entered the immediate unveiled presence of God is not obscure. It is taught very clearly:
“But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God (Acts 7:55).”
“Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us (Romans 8: 34).
“Which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:20).
“Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God (Colossians 3:1).
“He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God (Hebrews 10:12).
“Who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him (1 Peter 3:22).
“He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne (Revelation 3:21).
These events all talk about an event that had already happened. A further confirmation of this is that Paul says that, as our high priest, Jesus has entered “within the veil,” which can only mean that he entered into the most holy place of the Father’s presence (Hebrews 6:19-20).
If Christ Ascended to Heaven’s Holiest Place,
Then What Happened In 1844?
The obvious problem this creates is that if Jesus entered the holiest place in heaven, then what happened in 1844? We can’t have it both ways. If Jesus entered the holiest place of the Father’s immediate presence directly after His ascension, then that renders Christ entering a heavenly most holy place in 1844 nonsensical, because He was already there.
The Answer Is In the Definition of the Sanctuary
The answer is in the definition of the sanctuary that Christ entered in 1844. This can’t be totally about where Christ is physically because, as shown above, there are no degrees of holiness in heaven. Only human sanctuaries yet need to move through the veil of lies and fallen-ness into a most holy place. Yes, the sanctuary that Jesus officiates in and dwells in is in men:
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? (1 Corinthians 6:19)”
“Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are (1 Corinthians 3:16-17).”
“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22).”
However you describe the mission of Christ, the action point—the place of the effect—is in the heart, minds, and characters of people. That’s where the problem is. Satan wants to draw our attention away from this by teaching a legal doctrine where he removes the problem from our hearts and minds into a courtroom in some distant heavenly place. Thus he hopes to keep anything from happening in the true sanctuary within us.
Paul, in talking about the end time events, says in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 that the man of lawlessness sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. This was written 30 years after Jesus went back to heaven. If this temple or sanctuary was in heaven, then this man of sin would have to go up and knock Jesus off of his throne and reign from heaven. This makes no sense. Malachi 3:1-3 talks about the same event: “Suddenly the Lord will come to His temple and…He will purify the Levites.” What is being cleansed? The Levites—the people. No, the temple Paul is referring to is the spirit temple in men and women and not a temple in heaven.
Christ’s temple is the place of the individual man, multiplied to include millions of sentient beings worshiping Him in harmony. The most holy place of that sanctuary, the inner sanctum where each man is included—heart to heart—in the life of the Trinity, is on earth. It is often also called the heavenly sanctuary because the sanctifying work that is being done in our human sanctuaries is intimately connected with the Father and Son who are in heaven. How else can God create a most holy place within the hearts of men?
A Veil of Lies
A veil of demonic lies and a fallen human nature are what have always prevented man from entering into communion with Jesus in the most holy place of the human temple. The veil of lies and human weakness was rent from top to bottom when Christ died, signifying that now men (and all created beings) could see the truth about God. That truth could now draw them to trust and enable them to meet Him in the place where He has always been in the inner sanctum of the heart. Restored trust allows God to heal all of the damage done by sin.
Every time the truth and healing that Christ procured for men at the cross are embraced through the faith (trust) of an individual, then the veil is rent once more and Christ enters yet again into communion with that soul in the inner sanctum of their heart. Through this ongoing choice to trust and commune with Jesus the entire sanctuary of the soul is cleansed. Double mindedness and schizophrenia are healed and body and soul become authentic and congruent with who they truly are in Christ.
The Answer to the 1844 Riddle
Once we understand that, since His ascension, Jesus has always been in Heaven’s most holy place and that the sanctuary referred to in prophecy is made of men, individually and corporately, then it is easy to see that the entrance of Jesus into the most holy place in 1844 was merely a prediction of revival. The 2300 days prophesied that, after centuries of darkness and lies that once again veiled the most holy place of the human heart, the light of truth would once more shine upon men and cleanse their sanctuaries, filling the whole world with God’s glory.
The same veil of lies that was rent in two to reveal the glory of God when Jesus died was rent once more when the truth and glory of God lightened the world in the revival of 1844. This shining light will continue to shine ever more brightly unto the perfect day.
