Dear Reader,
The Lord has shown me the direct relationships between The Day of Atonement, the investigative judgment and Ezekiel 9. On the Day of Atonement, the high priest donned his robe of linen, and all were to humble themselves and afflict their souls. All who would not do so were put out of the camp. This humility and affliction of soul is directly related to the sighing and crying for the abominations in the church, which is depicted in Ezekiel 9.
The Investigation and the Judgement of Ezekiel 9 by the Man in Linen
First we have the investigation. The Man in Linen, non-other than Christ Himself, is going through the camp and determining who is sighing and crying for the abominations. In Ezekiel 9, all who will not sigh and cry for the abominations (sins) in the church, are cut off from receiving the mark or seal of God. If this is not an act of investigation and severe Judgment, then nothing ever was such. This has a direct parallel with the Day of Atonement and being cut off from the camp because of not afflicting one's soul.
In Ezekiel 9 we find a Man in Linen. This is non-other than our High Priest, Jesus Christ, who is performing a work of Investigative Judgment by going through the midst of Jerusalem, the church, and setting a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. Then, all who do not receive this mark or seal are neither pitied nor spared. Old, young, both maids and little children, and women, are slain.
Does Ellen White Relate Ezekiel 9 to the Last Work of Judgment of the Man in Linen--Jesus Christ--The Investigator?
"Especially IN THE CLOSING WORK FOR THE CHURCH, in the sealing time of the one hundred and forty-four thousand who are to stand without fault before the throne of God, will they feel most deeply [be afflicted by] the wrongs of God's professed people. This is forcibly set forth by the prophet's illustration of the LAST WORK under the figure of the men each having a slaughter weapon in his hand. One man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side. 'And the Lord [God] said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof." E.G. White, Testimonies, Vol. 3, 266-7.
Parallels With the Day of Atonement
"And this shall be a statute forever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you. And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest's office in his father's stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments" Leviticus 16:29, 30.
The words "in his father's stead," refer to Christ in His father's stead in the antitypical fulfillment. In Ezekiel 9:3, it is God the Father who calls to the man clothed with linen.
On the typical Day of Atonement, the people were to humble and afflict their souls, and all who would not were cut off from the people? How was it known whether or not a person performed this work? The priest took note of such--He made the Investigative Judgment. People were not arbitrarily cut off from the camp. Do you see the direct parallels in the following account of Ezekiel 9? In the following statements, look for any signs of humility (humbling) and being afflicted, for these were the signs of those who successfully met the conditions of the Day of Atonement:
"The class who do not feel grieved [afflicted] over their own spiritual declension, nor mourn over the sins of others, will be left without the seal of God." Testimonies, Vol. 5, 211.
"In the time when His wrath shall go forth in judgments, these HUMBLE, DEVOTED followers of Christ will be distinguished from the rest of the world by their SOUL ANGUISH [soul affliction], which is expressed in LAMENTATION AND WEEPING, REPROOFS AND WARNINGS. While others try to throw a cloak over the existing evil, and excuse the great wickedness everywhere prevalent, those who have the zeal for God's honor and a love for souls will not hold their peace to obtain favor of any. Their righteous souls are VEXED [afflicted] day by day with the unholy works and conversation of the unrighteous. They are powerless to stop the rushing torrent of iniquity, and hence they are filled with grief [affliction of soul] and alarm. They MOURN [afflict their souls] before God to see religion despised in the very homes of those who have had great light [professing Seventh-day Adventists]. They lament and AFFLICT THEIR SOULS because pride, avarice, selflessness, and deception of almost every kind are IN THE CHURCH The Spirit of God, which prompts to reproof, is trampled underfoot, while the servants of Satan triumph. God is dishonored, the truth made of non effect." Testimonies, Vol. 5, 210-211.
There you have it in the very words used to describe the requirements on the Day of Atonement--They AFFLICT THEIR SOULS. If this is not clear and clarion evidence of the Investigative Judgment and the antitypical Day of Atonement, still in effect, then there is no clear and clarion evidence on any point in Scripture.
"One man among them. This man was one of the six bearing the slaughtering weapons, and not a seventh, as some interpreters assert (see 3T 266, 267). He was "clothed with linen," the ordinary priestly garment, and the special garment of the high priest at the ceremonies of the great Day of Atonement. (Lev. 16)." SDA Bible Commentary, Vol. 4, p. 606.
Note: Christ is our High Priest on the antitypical Day of Atonement.
Agents of Satan Proclaim the Day of Atonement is Over and Past
What a peace and safety lie it is to teach as Martin Eldon, Bob Davis, and other professing SDA's, are teaching, that there is no Investigative Judgment--that the Day of Atonement ended with the cross--and that Ellen White was a false prophet for extending the antitypical Day of Atonement to current times! It is agents straight from hell who are teaching this diabolical lie. But these agents of Satan are dealing with a two-edged sword power that can contend with them. They know not what they are contending with.
Note: This study should be read in connection with the one entitled "The Day of Atonement, the Scapegoat, and the Man in Linen," which appears above this study on the front page Menu of my Website.
In Summary
Ezekiel 9 is a classic demonstration of the Investigative Judgement and the Day of Atonement work of the Man in Linen.
Eze 9:2 And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them [was] clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.
Eze 9:3 And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which [had] the writer's inkhorn by his side;
Eze 9:4 And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
This is indicative of an act of Investigation in order to see who is afflicting their soul by sighing and crying for all the abominations that be done in the church, and to see who is putting away such abominations from their own lives. This is exactly the course pursued on the Day of Atonement.
Dan 10:5 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins [were] girded with fine gold of Uphaz:
Dan 12:6 And [one] said to the man clothed in linen, which [was] upon the waters of the river, How long [shall it be to] the end of these wonders?
Dan 12:7 And I heard the man clothed in linen, which [was] upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that [it shall be] for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these [things] shall be finished.
Both Ezekiel and Daniel saw the same Man clothed in linen. Daniel's description of the Man in Linen that he saw, resembles that given by John when Christ was revealed to him (Rev. 1:13). It was indeed the same Being who appeared to Daniel.
In the Sanctuary Service on the Day of Atonement, when the High Priest laid off His linen garment, He donned a golden one. So does Christ at the end of all things--after the Investigative judgment is over and the Sanctuary is cleansed:
Rev 1:13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks [one] like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
"The work of the investigative judgment and the blotting out of sins [which did not begin until 1844-GC88 485.2] is to be accomplished before the second advent of the Lord. Since the dead are to be judged out of the things written in the books, it is impossible that the sins of men should be blotted out until after the judgment at which their cases are to be investigated. . . . When the investigative judgment closes, Christ will come, and His reward will be with Him to give to every man as his work shall be. {FLB 213.2}
"Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after. 1 Tim. 5:24.
The Work of the investigative judgment and the blotting out of sins is to be accomplished before the second advent of the Lord. Since the dead are to be judged out of the things written in the books, it is impossible that the sins of men should be blooted out until after the judgment at which their cases are to be investigated. . . . When the investigative judgment closes, Christ will come, and His reward will be with Him to give to every man as his work shall be." E.G. White, Mranatha, p. 251.
Thayers Lexicon on "refreshing" in Acts 3:19, says: "Of the Messianic blessed to be ushered in by the return of Christ from heaven."
That is the context of Acts 3:19. That is the context in which Ellen White uses it as applied to the Investigative Judgement and the cleansing of the Sanctuary. Sins were not blotted out of the Sanctuary until the Day of Atonement, and we are in the anit-typical Day of Atonement which does not end until the Sanctuary is cleansed and commensurately, the Sanctuary is not cleansed until the end of the Day of Atonement.
"The great work of the gospel is not to close with less manifestation of the power of God than marked its opening. The prophecies which were fulfilled in the outpouring of the former rain at the opening of the gospel are again to be fulfilled in the latter rain at its close. Here are "the times of refreshing" to which the apostle Peter looked forward when he said: "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus." Acts 3:19, 20. {GC 611.3}
"When the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord, then the sins of the repentant soul who has received the grace of Christ and has overcome through the blood of the Lamb, will be removed from the records of heaven, and will be placed upon Satan, the scapegoat, the originator of sin, and be remembered no more against him forever. . . . When the conflict of life is ended, when the armor is laid off at the feet of Jesus, when the saints of God are glorified, then and then only will it be safe to claim that we are saved, and sinless.-- Signs of the Times, May 16, 1895. {3SM 355.5}
In the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
Ron Beaulieu