The Day of Atonement, the Scapegoat, and the Man in Linen

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Dear Reader,

Psa 77:13 Thy way, O God, [is] in the sanctuary: who [is so] great a God as [our] God?

As we are told that God's way (truth) is depicted in the Sanctuary Service, let us examine that service in order to dispel some very serious errors befalling professing Seventh-day Adventists today.

Some Very Serious Errors

There are errors being taught that cut to the very heart of the Sanctuary message as regards the continuing Day of Atonement since 1844, as taught by pioneer Seventh-day Adventists. That message is the foundational pillar doctrine of Seventh-day Adventism. Herein, we will prove its veracity from Scripture. We will also use Ellen White and other sources, but the evidence from Scripture should be sufficient for the sincere truth seekers among those who demand Sola Scriptura.

There are persons who have left Adventism and are teaching that the Day of Atonement was over in Christ's day when He ascended to the Heavenly Sanctuary and sprinkled His blood. They claim that Ellen White and Adventists are wrong in extending the antitypical Day of Atonement until the sins of the penitent are placed on the scapegoat at the end of time, and the Sanctuary is thereby cleansed of all sin forever. There are a number of objectives to this study:

  • To prove that there were two sets of garments worn by the High Priest on the Day of Atonement. One was of plain white linen, Ex. 39:27, 28,

  • That the plain Linen garment was worn by the high priest only on the day of atonement--Lev. 16:2-4.

  • To prove that the antitypical Day of Atonement is not over until the sins of the penitent are placed on the scapegoat.

  • To prove that the Antitypical Day of Atonement Sanctuary Service is not over until Christ, as High Priest, removes the plain linen garments and dons the golden girdle.

  • To show the relationship between the Man clothed in Linen as found in Daniel 12, 6, 7, Ezekiel 9:2, and Revelation 1:13.

  • To prove that the sins of the penitent have not yet been placed on the scapegoat because the High Priest did not don the golden attire until the special mediatorial work of the typical Day of Atonement was completed and the sins were then placed on the scapegoat.

  • To prove that the Man in Linen of Ezekiel 9, is Christ, and that He is still dressed in the Linen attire worn by the High Priest on the Day of Atonement.

  • To prove from Scripture and Ellen White that Ezekiel 9 has another literal fulfillment, and that the Man in Linen, Christ, will not put on the "golden garments" until the Sanctuary is cleansed and the Day of Atonement is ended.

Let's begin our study of the Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16. The setting of this chapter finds Moses and Aaron preparing for the Day of Atonement. In Leviticus 16:4, Aaron puts on the Holy Linen coat worn by the High Priest:

"He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments: therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on."

Especially note that Aaron put on a linen girdle. Remember this crucial fact. The importance of this will be seen shortly.

On the Day of Atonement the Sins of the People Were Placed on the Scapegoat

"But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness." Leviticus 16:10.

Question: Have ALL the sins of ALL the penitent been placed on the scapegoat yet? Are there still sins entering the Sanctuary?

The Importance of Ezekiel 9 and The Man in Linen--End-time Context of Ezekiel 9

Ezekiel chapter 5 and 9 are both different takes on the same event. In Ezekiel 5:9, is described "...that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations."

This is describing the worst thing that God will ever do because of the abominations of Jerusalem, the church--God's people. That worst thing, which God has not done, and which He will not do any more the like, refers to the final destruction of Jerusalem, the world, but beginning at His church, His Sanctuary, Ezekiel 9:6:

"Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men [leaders] which were before the house."

Ellen White, being a true prophet, realized that this verse will have another literal fulfillment at the end time, because she knew that Ezekiel 5:9 was end-time in context:

The worst thing God does is His "strange act" at the end-time, the greatest time of trouble known to planet earth, Matthew 24:21, and Isaiah 28:21. Ezekiel chapter 5 is just another take on Ezekiel 9. Ezekiel 5:9 establishes the end-time context of Ezekiel 9. The destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, which was a partial fulfillment of Ezekiel chapters 5 and 9, is not the final fulfillment of that chapter, because the worst thing God does is at the end of time. If the A.D. 70 fulfillment of Ezekiel 5 and 9 was the worst thing God ever has done or ever will do, then the worst time of Jacob's trouble would be over, and that clearly is not the case!

Ellen White Agrees With God That Ezekiel 9 Will be Literally Repeated

"Study the 9th chapter of Ezekiel. These words will be literally fulfilled; yet the time is passing, and the people are asleep. They refuse to humble their souls and to be converted. Not a great while longer will the Lord bear with the people who have such great and important truths revealed to them, but who refuse to bring these truths into their individual experience. The time is short. God is calling; will YOU hear? Will YOU receive His message? Will YOU be converted before it is too late? Soon, very soon, every case will be decided for eternity. Letter 106, 1909, pp. 2, 3, 5, 7. (To "The churches in Oakland and Berkeley, September 26, 1909.)" E. G. White Manuscript Releases Volume One, p. 260.

Ellen White knew from Ezekiel 5:9, that there was another fulfillment of Ezekiel 9. Ezekiel 9:2, refers to a Man in Linen. That Man, Christ Jesus, with the Writer's Inkhorn, is still dressed in Linen at the end of time. This proves that the Day of Atonement is not over, because when it was over in the typical Day of Atonement, the priest removed the garment of Linen, and put on "golden ones" to wit:

"And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall put off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there." Leviticus 16:21-23.

At the end of the Sanctuary Service on the Day of Atonement, the high priest confessed the sins of the people upon the scapegoat, put off the linen garments and put on the golden girdle.

"Put off the linen garments.--These garments, called also the 'holy garments' (Lev. 16:4), were used only on the Day of Atonement. Aaron put them on when he went into the most holy with the incense in the morning. When the special mediatorial work was DONE, he removed the linen garments and put on the golden ones." SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 1, p. 778, col. 2.

Here is a bit more of the subject data we are pursuing:

Exd 39:26 A bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, round about the hem of the robe to minister [in]; as the LORD commanded Moses.

"I was shown what did take place in heaven at the close of the prophetic periods in 1844. As Jesus ended His ministration in the holy place and closed the door of that apartment, a great darkness settled upon those who had heard and rejected the message of His coming, and they lost sight of Him. Jesus then clothed Himself with precious garments. Around the bottom of His robe was a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate. A breastplate of curious work was suspended from His shoulders. As He moved, this glittered like diamonds, magnifying letters which looked like names written or engraved upon the breastplate. Upon His head was something which had the appearance of a crown. When fully attired, HE was surrounded by angels, and in a flaming chariot He passed within the second veil." E.G. White, Early Writings, p. 251.

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.

Linen was the special garment of the high priest at the ceremonies of the great Day of Atonement, Lev. 16. The Man in Linen is non other than Christ, the High Priest.

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 9:11 And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which [had] the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me. We will begin our proofs of the above items by stating the following quote from the SDA Bible Commentary, on Leviticus 16:23.

"Put off the linen garments. These garments, called also the 'holy garments' (Lev. 16:4), were used only on the Day of Atonement. Aaron put them on when he went into the most holy with the incense in the morning. When the special mediatorial work was DONE, he removed the linen garments and put on the golden ones." SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 1, p. 778, col. 2.

Lev 6:10 And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen breeches shall he put upon his flesh, and take up the ashes which the fire hath consumed with the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar.

Lev 16:4 He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these [are] holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and [so] put them on.

Lev 16:23 And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall put off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy [place], and shall leave them there:

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.

The Golden Garments Worn by the High Priest After the Day of Atonement is Ended

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:

Christ as the High Priest in Revelation at the End of Time

Rev 1:13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks [one] like unto the Son of man, clothed with a [Linen] garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.

Only the High Priest wore a girdle that covered the shoulders:

"His Plain Linen Garments.--The high priest had two sets of garments. One was of plain white linen. Ex. 39:27, 28, like these of the common priest, except the mitre and the girdle. The priests wore 'goodly bonnets,' Ex. 29:28, while the linen mitre of the high priest was somewhat conical in shape. The girdle of the common priest, being merely to bind about the coat, passed only about the waist. Josephus says that the girdle of the high priest passed over the shoulder, crossed upon the breast, passed under the arms, twice around the body, and tied in front, the ends hanging down to the feet, thus rendering the high priest more venerable." Sarah Peck, The Path to the Throne of God, p. 71.

Here we are in Revelation. All is finished. The Antitypical Day of Atonement is over, and the Son of man, the previous Man in Linen, is girt about the paps with a golden girdle.

Conclusions

We have found from Scripture and the lesson of the typical Day of Atonement, that the antitypical Day of Atonement is not over until the Son of Man, Christ, the High Priest, places the sins of the penitent upon the Scapegoat, removes His linen coat, and adorns His golden girdle, stands up, and comes out of the Sanctuary, Daniel 12, 1 and 7, and Revelation 1:13. The same evidence herein that proves the Day of Atonement is still in progress, also proves the Investigative Judgment is in progress. Ezekiel 9, is proof of the the Investigative Judgment, in that the Man in Linen, Christ Jesus, is investigating to determine who is sighing and crying for the abominations in the church, and putting a mark or seal on those who are. He is dressed in the Sanctuary Service garment of Linen. He is our antitypical Day of Atonement High Priest.

"Put off the linen garments. These garments, called also the 'holy garments' (Lev. 16:4, were used only on the Day of Atonement. Aaron put them on when he went into the most holy with the incense in the morning. When the special mediatorial work was DONE, he removed the linen garments and put on the golden ones." SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 1, p. 778, col. 2.

The antitypical Day of Atonement is not over friend. The sins of the penitent have not been placed on the scapegoat, and Christ is still wearing the linen garment and sealing those who are sighing and crying for all the abominations in Jerusalem, the church.

"Mark this point with care: Those who receive the pure mark of truth, wrought in them by the power of the Holy Ghost, represented by a mark by the man in linen, are those 'that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the church." Testimonies, vol. 3, pp. 266-267.

Thank you Lord Jesus. Your way is surely shown in the Sanctuary Service. Thank you for that light whereby we may prove all things.

Your humble servant,

Ron Beaulieu