A Work of Judgment

This work of the cleansing of the earthly sanctuary was a work of judgment. This is indicated in Leviticus 23:27-30.DOF 288.1

“Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a Day of Atonement: it shall be a holy convocation unto you; and you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord. And you shall do no work in that same day: for it is a Day of Atonement, to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God. For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. And whatsoever soul it be that does any work in the same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people.”DOF 288.2

The Jewish people always recognized the Day of Atonement as a judgment day. Even to the present time it is so regarded. The following is a copy of a statement published in a Jewish paper in the city of San Francisco in 1892. The Jewish Day of Atonement was coming on, and the rabbi issued this announcement:DOF 288.3

“The monitory sounds of the shophar [trumpet] are to be heard every morning in the orthodox synagogues, advising preparation for the day of memorial and of the final judgment of Yom Kippur [Yom—day, Kippur—atonement].”—Jewish Exponent, September, 1892.DOF 289.1

In 1902 Isador Meyer, a Jewish rabbi, spoke of the Jew on the Day of Atonement as follows:DOF 289.2

“He is also summoned by the voice of the same trumpet, or shophar, to scrutinize retrospectively his actions of the past year, while he stands trembling before the all-seeing eye of Eternal justice sitting on the throne of judgment.”DOF 289.3

From this we see that the cleansing of the earthly sanctuary on the Day of Atonement was a work of judgment. And the cleansing of the earthly sanctuary was a type of the cleansing of the heavenly. Therefore it follows unquestionably that the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary is a work of judgment also.DOF 289.4