Another look at Hebrews chapters 6 through 13 to know if Jesus ascended directly to the heavenly Holy Place or the heavenly Most Holy

“Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil.” (Heb. 6:19).

The Writer of Hebrews (Paul), or the Writers of Hebrews (Paul, Silas, and Luke?) (WoH) was seeking every opportunity to remind the Hebrew Christians of the self-sacrifice of High Priest Messiah. The Jewish believers were in great danger of abandoning the gospel and WoH couldn’t let them forget what he had personally, previously taught them. Their turning back to the obsolete animal sacrificial system would have immediately robbed them of faith in Christ. Their hearts would have gravitated directly to the old and decayed, superseded truth from Eden and would have left the present truth of the Messiah’s coming. The apostle must dissuade them of this. So he fell back onto his depth of scriptural knowledge to create a probing treatise that they could not easily overlook. “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause He is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.” (Heb. 9:14-17).

Hebrews chapter 7 shows most of the contrasts between old and new covenants, always showing that the old was worse than the new and the new being better than the old, as listed in the table below.

Worst	Best
After the law of a carnal commandment	After the power of an endless life
Priests after Levi, without an oath, temporary	Priest after Melchesidec, sworn with an oath, perpetual
Priests died, were corrupt, unfeeling, have infirmities	High Priest is touched with the feelings of our infirmities, separate from sinners, made higher than the heavens
The first tabernacle (earthly)	The holiest of all (heavenly)
Weakness and unprofitableness	By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament
Could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;	The bringing in of a better hope [made us perfect]; by the which we draw nigh unto God.
The earthly temple a figure for the time then present	Until the time of reformation when the earthly temple no longer stood
Only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances purifying the flesh	The blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit, offered Himself without spot to God [shall] purge our conscience
Dead works	Serve the living God
This building made with hands	A greater and more perfect tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man
By the blood of goats and calves	By His own blood
Change of many priests because of death	One High Priest, unchangeable priesthood
Priests who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, faulty ministry	Christ has a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
The first tabernacle	The true tabernacle

The book of Hebrews is much about contrasts between the heavenly and the earthly tabernacles to show the Jewish Christians why to not return to and get caught up in the glitz and glamour of the decayed, Babylonian-influenced Jewish religion. The power of externals and the appeal to carnal stimulation is as strong a temptation today as the early Jewish Christians faced.

“Many Protestants suppose that the Catholic religion is unattractive and that its worship is a dull, meaningless round of ceremony. Here they mistake. While Romanism is based upon deception, it is not a coarse and clumsy imposture. The religious service of the Roman Church is a most impressive ceremonial. Its gorgeous display and solemn rites fascinate the senses of the people and silence the voice of reason and of conscience. The eye is charmed. Magnificent churches, imposing processions, golden altars, jeweled shrines, choice paintings, and exquisite sculpture appeal to the love of beauty. The ear also is captivated. The music is unsurpassed. The rich notes of the deep-toned organ, blending with the melody of many voices as it swells through the lofty domes and pillared aisles of her grand cathedrals, cannot fail to impress the mind with awe and reverence. 

     This outward splendor, pomp, and ceremony, that only mocks the longings of the sin-sick soul, is an evidence of inward corruption. The religion of Christ needs not such attractions to recommend it. In the light shining from the cross, true Christianity appears so pure and lovely that no external decorations can enhance its true worth. It is the beauty of holiness, a meek and quiet spirit, which is of value with God. 

     Brilliancy of style is not necessarily an index of pure, elevated thought. High conceptions of art, delicate refinement of taste, often exist in minds that are earthly and sensual. They are often employed by Satan to lead men to forget the necessities of the soul, to lose sight of the future, immortal life, to turn away from their infinite Helper, and to live for this world alone. 

     A religion of externals is attractive to the unrenewed heart. The pomp and ceremony of the Catholic worship has a seductive, bewitching power, by which many are deceived; and they come to look upon the Roman Church as the very gate of heaven. None but those who have planted their feet firmly upon the foundation of truth, and whose hearts are renewed by the Spirit of God, are proof against her influence. Thousands who have not an experimental knowledge of Christ will be led to accept the forms of godliness without the power. Such a religion is just what the multitudes desire. 

     The church’s claim to the right to pardon leads the Romanist to feel at liberty to sin; and the ordinance of confession, without which her pardon is not granted, tends also to give license to evil. He who kneels before fallen man, and opens in confession the secret thoughts and imaginations of his heart, is debasing his manhood and degrading every noble instinct of his soul. In unfolding the sins of his life to a priest,--an erring, sinful mortal, and too often corrupted with wine and licentiousness,--his standard of character is lowered, and he is defiled in consequence. His thought of God is degraded to the likeness of fallen humanity, for the priest stands as a representative of God. This degrading confession of man to man is the secret spring from which has flowed much of the evil that is defiling the world and fitting it for the final destruction. Yet to him who loves self-indulgence, it is more pleasing to confess to a fellow mortal than to open the soul to God. It is more palatable to human nature to do penance than to renounce sin; it is easier to mortify the flesh by sackcloth and nettles and galling chains than to crucify fleshly lusts. Heavy is the yoke which the carnal heart is willing to bear rather than bow to the yoke of Christ.” Great Controversy, p. 566, 567.

Anything and everything today connected with Babylonian religion is simply a new and improved version of the ancient, lustrous golden calf and “immaculate” heathen deities. Outwardly everything appears different to the religions of the ancient past. But, in principle nothing has changed. Preventing the Jewish believers from this is what WoH was striving for.

I also see another paradigm in the epistle to the Hebrews, which I will try to amplify by using the Strong’s Concordance numbering system, and The Interlinear Greek to English New Testament, by George Ricker Berry. In his rendition of the New Testament he has given the original Greek words and his own interpretation, which, following the Greek words I will add with quotation marks. In this paradigm I see that WoH made zero effort to say that Jesus went directly into the heavenly Most Holy Place (MHP). Rather, throughout the entire book of Hebrews he consistently wrote that Jesus entered into the heavenly temple in general. By consistently using the Koine Greek hagia or hagion, he makes it abundantly clear that Christ ascended to the heavenly sanctuary as a whole, and thus necessarily performing His ministry in the first compartment, the Holy Place, G39 hagia, hagion, “holy place” or “holy places”. WoH generalized about the heavenly temple because he understood the principle of type-antitype that Jesus had inculcated into the earthly temple economy when He gave it to Moses. Although WoH seemed limited in how much to write, he was very familiar with the details of the earthly temple system, and therefore understood the implications built into its two compartments and its court. The type-antitype principle forced into the earthly sanctuary’s abstract theology the revelation that Messiah, for a period of time, must enter into a post-sacrificial offering, heavenly propitiatory work before closing up that defiling work with a Day of Atonement (DoA) special cleanse of His Father’s hermetically sealed, emergency room-triage unit style sanctuary. And His self-sacrifice was sufficient for even that. Nothing is more caustic to all impurity than the pure “ashes of an [unobtrusive, spotless, young, diffident, meek, self-effacing, reserved, quietly blinking, lovely] Heifer” (Heb. 9:13), Jesus Christ our Lord.

The early church was baptized in wonder, and amazed enough simply to know that Jesus began the heavenly ministry prescribed by the Mosaic temple economy. “For Christ,” wrote WoH, “is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself [“the holiest of all^G39 hagion “holies” (Heb. 9:8)], now to appear in the presence of God for us.” (Heb. 9:24). The early church’s focus was not on a Day of Atonement at all. The many references to the temple by WoH were not of the MHP or the second veil, but of the sanctuary as a whole. He consistently spoke of Jesus passing through “the” veil into the whole heavenly sanctuary. That veil must have been the first veil, not the second, since the only way to enter the whole earthly building, and thus the whole heavenly, was to enter through the first veil. This grand retinue David was privileged to foresee.

“Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory.” (Ps. 24:7-10).

“Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Being made so much better than the angels, as He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

For unto which of the angels said He [God the Father] at any time, THOU ART MY SON, THIS DAY HAVE I BEGOTTEN THEE? And again, I WILL BE TO HIM A FATHER, AND HE SHALL BE TO ME A SON?” (Heb. 1:3-5).

“LET ALL THE ANGELS OF GOD WORSHIP HIM.” (Heb. 1:6).

There was no reason for WoH to specify which veil of the heavenly sanctuary it was that Christ entered because common sense made it the first veil. Entering heaven and walking among the churches in John’s Revelation meant Jesus Messiah was pleading His sacrifice before God and sending Their Spirit (see Revelation 1:12,13; 5:6) for reassurance that He was completing His mission to overcome their sins and sinful natures. His entering the whole heavenly sanctuary was enough for the first generation Christians.

And, indeed, entering the whole heavenly sanctuary is what Jesus had done. And that’s the only place He entered. If His entering the heavenly Holy Place to minister His self-sacrifice doesn’t “purge [our] conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb. 9:14), then we haven’t submitted to the Law of God and surrendered to the cross of Christ. We don’t have the Spirit of the Son. We are not converted and are yet carnal. And to seek to eek out of the book of Hebrews what isn’t there is to be ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. It ends in straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel. We want something more than what Jesus gave us. We want hyper-grace, which side-steps the condemnation of God, especially at this late hour in the time of the end, the investigative judgment. Therefore we swallow a lie from the deceiver because we won’t accept the truth. “Heavy is the yoke which the carnal heart is willing to bear rather than bow to the yoke of Christ.” Great Controversy, p. 567.

So, let’s look at each verse and hear WoH speak of the whole sanctuary and not just of the Most Holy Place. Hebrews chapter 7 is full of contrasts between old and new covenants, with its animal sacrifices contrasted to the sacrifice of the Son of God, the priests being weak as opposed to nothing pleasing their Saviour’s strong love more than to intercede before God for them, the earthly priests’ ministries ending by death while Christ had an endless intercession, the priests cannot be touched with the people’s deepest infirmities while our High Priest’s heart is touched and He touches theirs (see 1 Sam. 10:26), the new heavenly ministry necessitated a change in the whole ceremonial law and covenant, disannulling it, etc. (see Hebrews 7:12, 18). The message to the Hebrew Christians was to alert and to convince the early Jewish church to not cave to the persecution pressuring them to return to the corrupted earthly system. But this study’s purpose regards today’s new issue over the book of Hebrews, that nothing in Hebrews chapter 7 refers to the issue of a specific MHP, an earthly high priest entering it, or Christ Himself ascending to it. It speaks of Christ as High Priest after the order of Melchisedec, but only to contrast the superior Son of God and His sacrifice to the inferior earthly priesthood and sacrificial system, just as Hebrews chapter 9 contrasts the superior heavenly sanctuary to the inferior earthly.  So I will skip chapter 7, but picking up at its last verse simply for a context to chapters 8 and 9. Then I will leave a short comment for each verse of those chapters.

Heb 7:28  For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the [ceremonial] law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore. The grand finale of the chapter’s stance of the new covenant’s effectiveness contrasted with the old covenant’s ineffectiveness.

Heb 8:1  Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an High Priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; Heb 8:2  A minister of the sanctuary^G39 hagion “holies”, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. New direction in the discussion—the sanctuary. No reference to DoA or specifically MHP.

Heb 8:3  For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this Man have somewhat also to offer. Heb 8:4  For if He were on earth, He should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: As with chapter 7, the effectiveness of the new covenant over the old is due to the better gift and precious sacrifice of Christ’s own body and blood, Spirit and soul. A change of covenant and ceremonial law from earthly Zion to heavenly Zion. No reference to DoA or MHP.

Heb 8:5  Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle^G4633: for, See, saith He, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount. Strengthening the doctrine of the heavenly ministry versus the earthly one in the Jerusalem temple. No reference to DoA or MHP.

Heb 8:6  But now hath He obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the Mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. Heb 8:7  For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. The change in covenant and ceremonial law, strengthening the doctrine of the heavenly ministry versus the earthly one in the Jerusalem temple. No reference to DoA or MHP.

Heb 8:8  For finding fault with them [old covenant and lesser promises, and therefore weakened spiritual resolve against sin among the people], He saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Heb 8:9  Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in My covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. Heb 8:10  For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put My laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to Me a people: Heb 8:11  And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest. Heb 8:12  For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. Strengthening the doctrine of the heavenly ministry versus the earthly one in the Jerusalem temple. No reference to DoA or MHP.

Heb 8:13  In that He saith, A new covenant, He hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

The change in covenant and ceremonial law, strengthening the doctrine of the heavenly ministry versus the earthly one in the Jerusalem temple. The effectiveness of the new covenant contrasted with the ineffectiveness of old covenant. No reference to DoA or MHP.

 Heb 9:1  Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary^G39 hagion “sanctuary”. WoH has detailed knowledge of both earthly sanctuary ministries inferring that WoH acknowledges same in heavenly antitype arrangement.

Heb 9:2  For there was a tabernacle^G4633 made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary^G39 hagia “holy”. Detailed knowledge of both earthly sanctuary ministries infers WoH acknowledges same with heavenly antitype arrangement.

Heb 9:3  And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all^{G39 G39} hagia hagion “holy of holies”; Detailed knowledge of both earthly sanctuary ministries infers WoH acknowledges same with heavenly antitype arrangement.

Heb 9:4  Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; Detailed knowledge of both earthly sanctuary ministries infers WoH acknowledges same with heavenly antitype arrangement.

Heb 9:5  And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly. Detailed knowledge of both earthly sanctuary ministries infers WoH acknowledges same with heavenly antitype arrangement.

Heb 9:6  Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. Detailed knowledge of both earthly sanctuary ministries infers WoH acknowledges same with heavenly antitype arrangement.

Heb 9:7  But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: Detailed knowledge of both earthly sanctuary ministries infers WoH acknowledges same with heavenly antitype arrangement. The use of “once” does not necessarily assume a DoA or an ascension directly to the MHP. WoH uses the singularity of the events to emphasize the greatness of all things related to the heavenly component over the earthly carnal ordinances in this type-antitype theological structure.

Heb 9:8  The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all^G39 hagion “holies” was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: Heb 9:9  Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; This verse reinforces that WoH was not referring to the MHP only. The way into the Holy Places hagion, the heavenly sanctuary, not the heavenly “Holiest of all ^{G39 G39}” (Heb. 9:3) Most Holy Place hagia hagion was manifested after the first tabernacle ceased to stand. WoH was relating to the chapter 7 issues of every sort of carnal, imperfect ritual, rather than to the issue of “within the veil” for perfect peace with God and perfect victory over sin. WoH was encompassing the whole earthly system bound up in its temple, which he had just described in the previous seven verses.

Heb 9:10  Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. Related to carnal ceremonies until the arrival of the “within the veil” issue for victory over sin. The earthly foods, drinks, washings, ordinances was a temporary system until the new light on the heavenly ministry of verse 8 would be manifested. WoH still does not relate this to the DoA or specifically the MHP.

Heb 9:11  But Christ being come an High Priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle^G4633, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building: Heb 9:12  Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place^G39 hagia “holies”, having obtained eternal redemption for us. After His “one” sacrifice Christ entered “once” the heavenly sanctuary—this does not speak of the heavenly Most Holy Place, but of the greater and more perfect heavenly tabernacle.

Heb 9:13  For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: In this sentence WoH was speaking broadly in his argument to reclaim the faith of his fellow persecuted Jewish Christians. “The blood of bulls and goats” was related to DoA or MHP, but “the ashes of an heifer” was not necessarily related to DoA or MHP. The ashes of a spotless heifer was introduced by Jesus to reveal His total destruction by which He would ordain His High Priestly ministry, as Eleazar took that earthly highest office immediately after accomplishing the red heifer ceremony (see Numbers 19:3; 20:23-29). But, since “the blood of bulls and goats” was not the only facet of this argument bullet, the issue was not a DoA or MHP issue. The statement bullet was to remove fealty to the earthly temple and its many rituals.

Heb 9:14  How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? This offering and purging relates to Calvary, and infers nothing relating to the MHP or DoA, but rather it infers a HP experience, which followed the daily sacrificial offering of a slain animal and a slain heart. For, “the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.” (Heb. 7:19).

Heb 9:15  And for this cause He is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. This concerns High Priest Jesus’ new covenant ministry “within the veil” of whole heavenly sanctuary and acts as precursor to verse 26, “in the end of the [age]”, the age of the old covenant. It regards the end of the first testament age and the transgressions arising from the weak, unprofitable, decayed and waning old covenant—thus it regards the redemptive new covenant’s reformation of the old covenant and the transgression due to its failures prior to the heavenly “Holiest of all” sanctuary becoming manifested. It specifies the first veil into sanctuary.

Heb 9:16  For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. Heb 9:17  For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. These verses speak of the testator’s death before the better testament has any power. By the death of the better sacrifice the unprofitable old system was changed. This speaks of ordaining, dedicating a new system, purifying the heavenly sanctuary, rather than relating to DoA or solely the MHP.

Heb 9:18  Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. This again equates the offering of Christ to Mosaic temple dedication, not to Day of Atonement.

Heb 9:19  For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, Heb 9:20  Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. Heb 9:21  Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle^G4633, and all the vessels of the ministry. More of temple dedication, and unrelated to Day of Atonement.

Heb 9:22  And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. This speaks of Christ’s offering of Himself in the heavenly court (Earth).

Heb 9:23  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. More of the type and the true temple dedications, and unrelated to DoA and the MHP.

Heb 9:24  For Christ is not entered into the holy places^G39 hagia “holies” made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: This clearly speaks to Christ entering, not an earthly, but heavenly holy places, heaven, the Holiest of all. “Now” has the power of “once”, used together in verse 26, “now once”, “now” not necessarily beginning a period, but certainly ending one, “in the end of the world^G165 [aion ‘age’, ‘eon’]”. Therefore, the message of this verse is simply a reiteration and a building crescendo: “Now” at the end of the old testament we see manifested the true tabernacle, the Holiest of all, which is “heaven itself”. Once again, unrelated to DoA and the MHP.

Heb 9:25  Nor yet that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place^G39 hagia “holies”, “sanctuary” every year with blood of others; This is a comparison with the Day of Atonement because of the word “high priest” and “every year”, but only for the purpose of saying that the new covenant Sacrifice died only once at the end of the court typical period, i.e. the Old Testament. Dying “once” makes its offering infinitely better than the most spotless of spotless earthly yearlings. This verse’s comparison seems to carry over from chapter 7. This verse does not infer that Jesus ascended to the MHP to accomplish the Day of Atonement since Hebrews 9:12 already said, “by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us”.

Heb 9:26  For then must He often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world^G165 [aion “age”, “eon”] hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. This speaks to the end of the old covenant dispensation, not to the end of the world.

Heb 9:27  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: Heb 9:28  So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation. This is the finale of the building crescendo. It does not specify which compartment of the heavenly sanctuary that Christ will exit, but in keeping with the earthly tabernacle and the loyalty of WoH to the earthly construct, as he declared in Hebrews 8:4,5, it can be assumed that, as one dies and sleeps for a potentially long time before Judgment Day, WoH expected a long time period before Christ would finish His work of purifying His people and cleansing the sanctuary, and then appearing the second time without sin. “There are priests that offer gifts according to the law: who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith He, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.” (Heb. 8:4,5). WoH holds true to the earthly format, superimposing it onto the heavenly program.

Thus, our Adventist forefathers were correct in their interpretation of Hebrews chapters 8 and 9. The original Advent movement and platform hold true. The investigative judgment holds true. Let us afflict our souls at this late hour, rather than involve ourselves with the new Baal-peor celebration apostasy. Let us allow nothing to distract us from Day of Atonement preparation, not exciting worship, not soothing music, not the darkness all around attempting to crush our faith in Jesus’ heavenly cleansing. Let’s not even permit religious doubt-filled disputation, atheism or atheology to take us off the trail of truth. The Spirit of Prophecy and scripture, prayerfully and carefully studied, provide for our only guiding light today.