Seating of the Judgment

“I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man (Jesus, Luke 19:10) came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days (God the Father), and they brought him near before him” (Daniel 7:13).

Because Jesus is depicted in the New Testament as coming in the clouds, many interpret Daniel 7:13 as referring to His glorious second coming. But rather than coming to the earth, He comes to the Ancient of days, who according to the typical services of the earthly sanctuary, resides upon His throne in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary.

The earthly sanctuary, and its rituals, were a type patterned after the antitypical (true) sanctuary in heaven (Hebrews 8:9). It consisted of two apartments known as the holy and most holy, as does the heavenly.

In the typical services, the high priest, who symbolized Jesus our heavenly High Priest (Hebrews 4:14), ministered throughout the year in the first apartment, or holy place. Only one day a year, on the Day of Atonement, was he allowed into the most holy apartment. There he administered a ritual that cleansed the sanctuary of all the accumulated sins of Israel that had been symbolically transferred from the sinner to the sanctuary throughout the year.

The Jews regarded that most solemn day, called Yom Kippur, as the Day of Judgment. It was a day of fasting, examining the heart, and putting away every sin. Those who refused to participate were expelled from the encampment.

In the heavenly sanctuary the antitypical Day of Atonement, the Day of Judgment, began when Jesus left the holy place and moved into the most holy place to join His Father, the Ancient of Days (Daniel 7:13). At that time, they began the work of cleansing the heavenly sanctuary from the record of sins recorded and stored there in books.

The sins of every individual are faithfully chronicled in those heavenly books, which will be opened and used to determine the guilt or innocence of all during the judgment process.

“A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened” (Daniel 7:10). Next week, can we know when the Judgment begins?