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The Investigative
Judgment, or the pre-Advent Judgment, is
unique only to the Seventh-day Adventist
Church and is considered to be one of the
pillars of the Adventist faith. According to
their view, Christ moved from the Holy Place
to the Most Holy Place in the heavenly
sanctuary on October 22, 1844, and began a
new phase of His High Priestly ministry, the
divine judgment of professed believers.
Ellen G. White made
these comments about the Investigative
Judgment:
“So in the great
day of final atonement and investigative
judgment, the only cases considered are
those of the professed people of God. The
judgment of the wicked is a distinct and
separate work, at a later period” — The Great
Controversy, 1950 edition, page 480.
“The blood of
Christ, while it was to release the
repentant sinner from the condemnation of
the law, was not to cancel the sin; it would
stand on record in the sanctuary until the
final atonement; so in the type the blood of
the sin offering removed the sin from the
penitent, but it rested in the sanctuary
until the Day of Atonement.” — Patriarchs and Prophets,
page 357.
This is what
the “28
Fundamental Beliefs of the Seventh-day
Adventist Church” says.
24. Christ’s Ministry
in the Heavenly Sanctuary:
| There is a
sanctuary in heaven, the true
tabernacle that the Lord set up and
not humans. In it Christ ministers
on our behalf, making available to
believers the benefits of His
atoning sacrifice offered once for
all on the cross. At His ascension,
He was inaugurated as our great High
Priest and, began His intercessory
ministry, which was typified by the
work of the high priest in the holy
place of the earthly sanctuary. In
1844, at the end of the prophetic
period of 2300 days, He entered the
second and last phase of His atoning
ministry, which was typified by the
work of the high priest in the most
holy place of the earthly sanctuary.
It is a work of investigative
judgment which is part of the
ultimate disposition of all sin,
typified by the cleansing of the
ancient Hebrew sanctuary on the Day
of Atonement. In that typical
service the sanctuary was cleansed
with the blood of animal sacrifices,
but the heavenly things are purified
with the perfect sacrifice of the
blood of Jesus. The investigative
judgment reveals to heavenly
intelligences who among the dead are
asleep in Christ and therefore, in
Him, are deemed worthy to have part
in the first resurrection. It also
makes manifest who among the living
are abiding in Christ, keeping the
commandments of God and the faith of
Jesus, and in Him, therefore, are
ready for translation into His
everlasting kingdom. This judgment
vindicates the justice of God in
saving those who believe in Jesus.
It declares that those who have
remained loyal to God shall receive
the kingdom. The completion of this
ministry of Christ will mark the
close of human probation before the
Second Advent (Lev. 16; Num. 14:34;
Ezek. 4:6; Dan. 7:9-27; 8:13, 14;
9:24-27; Heb. 1:3; 2:16, 17;
4:14-16; Heb. 8:1-5; 9:11-28;
10:19-22; Rev. 8:3-5; 11:19; 14:6,
7; Rev. 20:12; 14:12; 22:11, 12).” |
Theological
Considerations:
Seventh-day
Adventists claim that Daniel 8:14 teaches
that in 1844, at the end of the prophetic
period of 2,300 days, Christ entered the
second and last phase of His atoning
ministry.
According to Seventh-day
Adventist theology, each prophetic day
mentioned in the Bible in apocalyptic
literature, (like the books of Daniel and
Revelation) stands for an actual year of
chronological time. Adventism teaches that
the 2,300-day prophecy of Daniel 8:14 starts
in 457 B.C. when the Persian ruler Xerxes
ordered that Jerusalem should be fully
rebuilt, reaching all the way to A.D. 1844
when Christ was said to have entered the
Most Holy Place to investigate the records
of the saints and offer final atonement for
their sins.
Seventh-day Adventists
claim that Christ’s work of redemption
wasn’t completed at the cross, but the Bible
doesn’t say that.
There is no Investigative Judgment ever
spoken of where Christ completes His work of
redemption sometime after His death and
resurrection. Seventh-day Adventist’s fear
for their salvation and can never know they
are saved because of their false belief in
the Investigative Judgment. Seventh-day
Adventists believe that Jesus is still in
the process of redeeming them when in fact,
Jesus accomplished our salvation at the
cross. The notion of a “second phase” of
redemption is exclusive to the Seventh-day
Adventist Church. The Investigative Judgment is a
heretical teaching that is not taught
anywhere in Scripture.
“Summary: The doctrine of the Investigative Judgment
is not biblical for many reasons. The
following is a summary listing some of the
major objections to this doctrine:
• The
word translated “cleansed” in Daniel 8:14 is not the same word used for
the cleansing of the Most Holy Place
on the Day of Atonement.
• The term translated “days” in
Daniel 8:14 should actually be understood
as “evenings-mornings,” referring to
the 1,150 sacrifices rather than
2,300 prophetic days.
• Daniel 8:14 refers to 1,150 days,
not 2,300 days.
[1]
• The
year-day principle is nowhere proven
in scripture. “1) The rule that a
day in prophecy is equal to a year
is incapable of proof. Numbers 14:34
and Ezekiel 4:6 are more pretexts
than proof-texts. They do not say
what Seventh-day Adventists have
traditionally tried to make them
say. There are many instances in
Bible prophecy where a day means a
day and a year means a year. 2) The
“seventy weeks” of Daniel 9 cannot
prove the year-day principle,
because the expression is actually
“seventy ‘sevens‘ (Dan. 9:24 NIV).
We know that Daniel 9 is talking
about “weeks of years,” not “weeks
of days,” but this knowledge comes
from the context, not from the word.
3) The formula “a day for a year”
was not used by the New Testament,
nor by the early Christians. It was
first suggested by a medieval Jewish
scholar, and only later adopted by
some Christian expositors. It
reached its zenith of acceptability
in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries.”
[2]
• The atonement was finished at
the cross; the Bible doesn’t teach
an anti-typical Day of Atonement.
• The little horn desolates the
sanctuary and halts the daily
sacrifices; therefore, the sanctuary
in question cannot be the heavenly
sanctuary, for it cannot be
desolated by any human power (such
as Rome).
• The SDA teaching
is contradictory regarding the
source of pollution in the heavenly
sanctuary: is it caused by the
little horn, or is it caused by the
confessed sins of God’s people?
• The little horn arises from
the divided Greek empire, so it
cannot be Rome.
• Rome cannot
be the little horn because the
desolation of the sanctuary begins
under the Persian empire (if the
start date of 457 B.C. is correct).
• The date 1844 in Roman
Catholic history has no particular
significance that would tie it to
the end of the little horn’s
activities.
• What desolating
act takes place in 457 B.C. that
could possibly impact the Most Holy
Place in heaven?
• The
righteous are not judged by the law.
• The Investigative Judgment
focus on perfection is unbiblical;
it robs believers of assurance.”
[3] |
Most commentators agree that Daniel 8:13-14
is talking about Antiochus IV Epiphanies’
desecration of the temple in Jerusalem.
Daniel 8:13-14 says, “Then I heard a
holy one speaking, and another holy one said
to the one who spoke, “For how long is the
vision concerning the regular burnt
offering, the transgression that makes
desolate, and the giving over of the
sanctuary and host to be trampled
underfoot?” And he said to me, “For 2,300
evenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary
shall be restored to its rightful state.’”
“In Daniel 8:13-14, the “Holy one” refers
to an angel. Daniel overheard the angelic
conversation concerning how long Antiochus
should continue to tread underfoot the host
of Israel. The answer was that Antiochus
would continue for 2,300 evenings and
mornings (Literally: evening-mornings). How
literally may Daniel’s prophecy be reckoned?
Judas Maccabaeus cleansed the temple about
December 25, 165 B.C. Tracing the chronology
in reverse, 2,300 days brings us to 171
B.C., when Antiochus began his harassment of
the Jews.”
[4]
“Antiochus’ desecration
of the temple was to last 2,300 evenings and
mornings before its cleansing (Dan. 8:14).
Some take the 2,300 evenings and mornings to
mean 2,300 days, that is, a little more than
six years. In this interpretation, the six
years were from Antiochus’ first incursion
into Jerusalem (170 B.C.) to the
refurbishing and restoring of the temple by
Judas Maccabeus in late 164. A second
interpretation seems preferable. Rather than
each evening and each morning representing a
day, the reference may be to evening and
morning sacrifices, which were interrupted
by Antiochus’ desecration (cf. “the daily
sacrifice,” Dan. 8:11-21). With two
sacrifices made daily, the 2,300 offerings
would cover 1,150 days or three years (of
360 days each) plus 70 days. This is the
time from Antiochus’ desecration of the
temple (December 16, 167 B.C.) to the
refurbishing and restoring of the temple by
Judas Maccabeus in late 164 and on into 163
B.C. when all the Jewish sacrifices were
fully restored and religious independence
gained for Judah. Whichever interpretation
it is that one accepts, the figure of 2,300
was a literal one and so the time period was
literally fulfilled.”
[5]
“Daniel 8:25
says, “he shall even rise up against the
Prince of princes”. This title refers to God
and indicates the rebellion of Antiochus IV
against even God’s legitimate sovereignty.
Antiochus IV’s coins even have the phrase
“god manifest” (Greek: theos epiphanēs)
on the back of them, which probably means
that he thought he was the gods’
representative on earth.”
[6]
Where did the idea that the Second
Coming would take place in 1844 come
from?
“Daniel’s
prophetic 2,300 days have interested many
throughout history who have sought to
predict the date of the Lord’s return. By
interpreting each day as a year, William
Miller, a Baptist pastor from New York,
calculated that Christ’s second advent would
take place between March 21, 1843 and March
21, 1844. As the date approached, a wave of
excitement and expectation swept across
America. Thousands of Christians from
mainline churches, convinced of the accuracy
of Miller’s prognostication, joined with the
new Adventist movement. Many of these
“Millerites” sold their property to wait
anxiously for the arrival of God’s kingdom.
When the date passed without any cataclysmic
event, Miller set October 22, 1844, as the
new date for the parousia, or return of
Christ. A second failure, known as the
“Great Disappointment,” led Miller to repent
of his errors. Several of his followers,
however, said that Miller’s latest date was
correct but that his explanation was wrong.
According to them, on October 22, 1844,
Jesus moved from His seat at God’s right
hand into the holy place to begin an
“investigative judgment” of all professing
believers, many of whom will be blotted out
of the book of Life. This remnant of
Millerites eventually founded the
Seventh-day Adventist Church.”
[7]
The Little
Horns of Daniel 7 and
Daniel 8 Compared:
It is important to
note that the little horns of Daniel 7 and
8 are two distinct persons. Several factors
make this distinction clear:
The Little Horn in Daniel 7:
Would come from Rome (the fourth kingdom).
Would be an eleventh horn, rooting up three
of ten horns.
Would persecute God’s
people for 42 months, or 3 1/2 years.
The Little Horn in Daniel 8:
Would come from Greece (the third kingdom).
Would be a fifth horn, coming out of one of
four horns.
Would persecute God’s people
for 2,300 evenings and mornings.
What The
Bible Says About The Judgment Of Christ’s
Followers:
Christ
entered the inner most place of the Heavenly Sanctuary shortly after
his death:
Hebrews 1:3,
“He is the radiance of the glory of
God and the exact imprint of his nature, and
he upholds the universe by the word of his
power. After making purification for sins,
he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty
on high,”
Hebrews 6:17-20, “So when
God desired to show more convincingly to the
heirs of the promise the unchangeable
character of his purpose, he guaranteed it
with an oath, so that by two unchangeable
things, in which it is impossible for God to
lie, we who have fled for refuge might have
strong encouragement to hold fast to the
hope set before us. We have this as a sure
and steadfast anchor of the soul,
a hope that
enters into the inner place behind the
curtain,
where Jesus has
gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a
high priest forever after the order of
Melchizedek.”
Hebrews 9:11-12, “But
when Christ appeared as a high priest of the
good things that have come,
then through the
greater and more perfect tent (not made with
hands, that is, not of this creation)
he
entered once for all into the holy places,
not by means of the blood of goats and
calves but by means of his own blood, thus
securing an eternal redemption.”
Hebrews 9:23-24, “Thus it was necessary for
the copies of the heavenly things to be
purified with these rites, but the heavenly
things themselves with better sacrifices
than these. For Christ has entered, not into
holy places made with hands, which are
copies of the true things, but into heaven
itself, now to appear in the presence of God
on our behalf.”
The Bible says
believers do not come under negative
judgment:
John 5:24, “Truly, truly, I say to you,
whoever hears my word and believes him who
sent me has eternal life. He does not come
into judgment, but has passed from death to
life.”
John 10:27-28, “My sheep hear
my voice, and I know them, and they follow
me. I give them eternal life, and they will
never perish, and no one will snatch them
out of my hand.”
Romans 8:1, “There
is therefore now no condemnation for those
who are in Christ Jesus.”
[See also:
Rom. 5:1-2; Eph. 2:8-9; 1 Jn. 5:13]
Christ’s final
judgments are after He returns, not before:
Matthew 25:31-32, “When the Son of Man
comes in his glory, and all the angels with
him, then he will sit on his glorious
throne. Before him will be gathered all the
nations, and he will separate people one
from another as a shepherd separates the
sheep from the goats.”
When
Christians stand before God in this judgment
it is to receive their final reward, not to
determine whether or not he or she is saved:
Romans 14:10, “Why do you pass judgment
on your brother? Or you, why do you despise
your brother? For we will all stand before
the judgment seat of God;”
2 Corinthians 5:9-10,
“So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please
him. For we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ, so that each one
may receive what is due for what he has done
in the body, whether good or evil.”
•
Both Romans 14:10 and 2 Corinthians 5:9-10
speak of the “judgment seat” of Christ. This
is a translation of the Greek word, “bema”
which was the tribunal bench in the Roman
courtroom where the governor sat while
rendering judicial verdicts. Metaphorically
it refers to the place where the Lord will
sit to evaluate believers’ lives for the
purpose of giving them eternal rewards.
[see “The
Judgments of God”]
Our sins are not remembered when
we become members of the New Covenant:
Jeremiah 31:33-34, “For this is the
covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel after those days, declares the LORD:
I will put my law within them, and I will
write it on their hearts. And I will be
their God, and they shall be my people. And
no longer shall each one teach his neighbor
and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the
LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the
least of them to the greatest, declares the
LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and
I will remember their sin no more.”
Romans 11:27, “and this will be my covenant
with them when I take away their sins.”
John 3:18, “Whoever believes in him is
not condemned, but whoever does not believe
is condemned already, because he has not
believed in the name of the only Son of God.”
Hebrews 8:10-12, “For this is the
covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws into their minds, and
write them on their hearts, and I will be
their God, and they shall be my people. And
they shall not teach, each one his neighbor
and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the
Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the
least of them to the greatest.
For I will be
merciful toward their iniquities,
and I will
remember their sins no more.” (cf. Heb. 10:16-17).
Once we become a member of the New
Covenant our sins are not remembered by God
(Jer. 31:34; Rom. 11:27; Heb. 8:12; 10:17). If God cannot,
and will not remember them, they can no longer be on any
books of record that God has kept. God knows
all things. 1 John 3:20 says, “God is
greater than our heart, and he knows
everything.”
The Investigative
Judgment is a doctrine that was invented by
Seventh-day Adventists to explain away a
false prophecy about the Second Coming of
Jesus Christ, by people who were completely
deceived.
Our sins are blotted out when we
repent:
Isaiah 44:22, “I have blotted out your
transgressions like a cloud and your sins
like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed
you.”
Acts 3:19, “Repent therefore,
and turn back, that your sins may be blotted
out,”
1 John 1:7, “But if we walk in
the light, as he is in the light, we have
fellowship with one another, and the blood
of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
Romans 8:1, “There is
therefore now no condemnation for those who
are in Christ Jesus.”
[See also: John 19:30;
Heb. 10:12-14; Rom. 5:9]
God
knows who His children are from the
beginning:
John 10:14, “I am the good shepherd. I
know my own and my own know me,”
2 Timothy 2:19,
“But God’s firm foundation
stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows
those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who
names the name of the Lord depart from
iniquity.”
John 6:64,
“But there are some of you who do not
believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning
who those were who did not believe, and who
it was who would betray him.)”
Colossians 2:13, “And you, who were
dead in your trespasses and the
uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive
together with him, having forgiven us all
our trespasses,”
[See also: Acts 15:16-18;
John 2:24; 1 Jn. 1:9]
Whoever accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord
and Savior has (present tense) eternal life:
John 5:24, “Truly, truly, I say to you,
whoever hears my word and believes him who
sent me has eternal life. He does not come
into judgment, but has passed from death to
life.”
1 John 5:11-13, “And this is
the testimony, that God gave us eternal
life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever
has the Son has life; whoever does not have
the Son of God does not have life. I write
these things to you who believe in the name
of the Son of God that you may know that you
have eternal life.”
John 3:36, “Whoever believes in the Son
has eternal life, but whoever rejects the
Son will not see life, for God’s wrath
remains on them.”
1 John 3:14,
“We know that we have passed out of
death into life, because we love the
brothers. Whoever does not love abides in
death.”
[See also: John 3:16; 17:3;
Rom. 6:23; 1 Tim. 6:12]
The Bible clearly shows that the
cases of the righteous have already been
decided long before any make-believe
Investigative Judgment:
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•
“Jesus told the thief on the cross,
“Today you will be with me in
paradise” (Luke 22:43). How could
Jesus determine his case before the
Investigative Judgment began?
•
Abraham was justified (accounted
righteous) by faith (Rom. 4:2-5)
nearly 1800 years before the
Investigative Judgment supposedly
began.
• Jesus did not need an
Investigative Judgment to determine
the cases of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, so why does He need one to
determine our destiny (Matthew 8:11)?
• How could Enoch be taken to heaven
without the Investigative Judgment
(Genesis 5:24)?
•
Seventh-day Adventists claim from
Jude 1:9 that after Moses sinned and
died, he was resurrected and taken
to heaven. How could Moses enter
heaven if everyone’s sins are not
blotted out until after the
Investigative Judgment?
• How
could God take Elijah in a
“whirlwind to heaven” (1 Kings 2:11),
before the Investigative Judgment
took place?” [8]
|
These Examples Prove That Christ
Needs No
Investigative Judgment To
Determine Who Will Be Saved.
However, according to
Ellen G. White,
Christians must believe
in the Investigative Judgment to be saved.
“Those who would
share the benefits of the Saviour’s
mediation should permit nothing to
interfere with their duty to perfect
holiness in the fear of God. . .
The intercession of Christ in man’s behalf
in the sanctuary above is as essential to
the plan of salvation as was His death upon
the cross. By His death He began that
work which after His resurrection He
ascended to complete in heaven.”
— The
Great Controversy, pages 488-489.
Later she
wrote:
“The correct understanding of the
ministration in the heavenly
sanctuary is the foundation of our
faith.” — Evangelism, page 221. |
Concerning the Biblical
justification for 1844 and the Investigative
Judgment:
“A committee
appointed by the General Conference met for
five years and could not resolve the issues.
A minority admitted that the Adventist
position could not be proved from the Bible.
The majority wanted to solve the problem by
ignoring context and language altogether. .
.
This great
testing truth is not based on a few
scattered texts, much less on a doubtful
interpretation of a difficult Scripture. But
people are prone to set other tests. In the
place of this bright light of the gospel
many want to make less certain things into
tests of faith. Some of these tests rest on
the interpretation of a single doubtful
text.
In this category
I must place the traditional Adventist
interpretation of Daniel 8:14. I do not mind
if the Adventist wants to think his
calculations give him an exact prophetic
reckoning, including his use of a Karaite
calendar. What concerns me is that this
interpretation of a single text, with no
other scriptural witnesses and no New
Testament confirmation, should be made an
article of faith alongside faith in the
sinless life and resurrection of Jesus. Some
Adventists think that believing this
interpretation of Daniel 8:14 is as
important as believing in Christ. October
22, 1844, is considered an event in
salvation history that a person must believe
as fully as one believes that Christ is
risen from the dead. The mentality that
makes a particular interpretation of Daniel 8:14 an article of faith to be placed
alongside the certainties of the New
Testament is rank sectarianism. It is
esoteric and cultic.
Many Adventists
will not really accept other Christians as
sound in the faith if they do not believe
that Jesus passed from one heavenly
compartment to another in 1844. Yet not one
Adventist in a thousand would know how to
prove it from the Bible, and scholars like
Raymond Cottrell and Don Neufeld have stated
that it cannot.”
[9] |
Conclusion:
Ellen G. White was a false prophet who
taught a non-Christian, works-based,
Investigative Judgment that is not found
anywhere in
scripture and her writings should be
completely rejected. The Seventh-day
Adventist Church teaches her false gospel
that can only lead a person to have
self-doubts, fear, and failure.
Always remember what John 5:24 says, “Truly,
truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word
and believes him who sent me has eternal
life. He does not come into judgment, but
has passed from death to life.”
You can
believe God’s Word when He says that every
true believer has eternal life. We
never have to fear for our salvation when we
have put our trust in Jesus Christ as our
Lord and Savior.
References:
1.
Adapted from: 1844
- Is It Prophetic?
2.
Adapted
from:
Is the Investigative Judgment Biblical?
3.
Adapted from: 1844
- Is It Prophetic?
4. See: The Believer’s Study Bible Notes:
Daniel 8:13-14.
5. See: The Bible Knowledge Commentary:
Daniel 8:23-25.
6.
See: ESV Study Bible Notes: Daniel 8:25.
7. See: The
Apologetics Study Bible: Daniel 8:14.
8. Adapted from:
1844 - Is It Prophetic?
9. See:
1844 — Is It Prophetic? (Gospel Outreach)
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