God turning people away from heaven at this very moment
Decisions are being made: some enter the kingdom, others are barred forever. But Christ entered the sanctuary once and obtained eternal redemption — there is no waiting line in heaven.
By Rodrigo Custódio ·
The moment
On Thursday, September 30, 1880 — the masthead reads "FIFTH-DAY" — the periodical Signs of the Times, published in Oakland, California, carried in vol. 6, no. 36, page 426, another chapter in the series "Synopsis of Present Truth" (no. 33). The issue's masthead lists James White, J. N. Andrews and Uriah Smith as editors, with J. H. Waggoner as resident editor — the doctrine set forth in the series was therefore the newspaper's official theology.
The chapter deals with the prophetic periods of Daniel and builds its thesis on Daniel 12:13 — "thou shalt stand in thy lot". The author argues that the word translated "lot" would not mean a piece of land, but the decisions of Providence: at the end of the days, a determination would be made as to who would be counted worthy of the heavenly inheritance. Daniel's case would come up for examination, he would be found righteous, would "stand in his lot" and would receive a place in the heavenly Canaan. Psalm 1:5 is cited as referring to the same time: "the wicked shall not stand in the judgment".
Then comes the typology that sustains the absurdity: just as Israel cast lots before entering the promised land — each tribe receiving its lot long before actual possession — so the time of the purification of the sanctuary would correspond to that period in Israel's history. The conclusion is presented in the continuous present, as an ongoing fact: we would be at the borders of the heavenly Canaan, and decisions would be being made, assigning some a place in the eternal kingdom and barring others forever.
The chapter text continues beyond the quoted passage — the sentence about "the decision of your case" continues on the next page of the printed paper. But the central sentence is already complete in what the newspaper recorded: a heavenly court in permanent session, deliberating at this very moment who enters and who is barred from the kingdom, case by case, since the purification of the sanctuary.
Iron gate chained and padlocked in front of a mansion — atmospheric illustration.
The absurdity
The investigative judgment is described as an approval desk shift in heaven: "we are now at the borders of the heavenly Canaan, and decisions are being made, assigning some a place in the eternal kingdom, and barring others forever". Note the continuous present — not "will be made", but "are being made". While the reader was reading the newspaper in 1880, God would be deliberating cases: some stamped for the kingdom, others barred forever. Eternity under deliberation, with an agenda in progress. Here are the exact words of the printed paper:
"We are now at the borders of the heavenly Canaan, and decisions are being made, assigning some a place in the eternal kingdom, and barring others forever."
Source: Signs of the Times, vol. 6, no. 36, September 30, 1880 — p. 426.
Underlined clipping from the printed page with the quoted passage, edition of September 30, 1880, p. 426.
Why this is serious
Heaven becomes a government office with an agenda in progress. If decisions are being made now — assigning some, barring others forever — then each person's eternity is being deliberated at this very moment by a court in session. The newspaper's reader could not know whether his case had already come up on the agenda, whether it had been approved or whether it had been barred forever that very week. It is anxiety institutionalized as doctrine: God deciding destinies in real time, and the believer with no access to the process.
The typology that sustains the thesis is an abuse of the text. The casting of lots for the tribes in Israel was the distribution of an earthly inheritance among a people already redeemed from Egypt — not a court investigating who deserved to enter. Turning the casting of lots into a heavenly examination of worthiness forces the figure until it says what the author needs: that God would require a verification process before knowing who are His. The original figure speaks of an assured inheritance; the reinterpretation speaks of an inheritance under investigation.
And Daniel 12:13 is twisted along the way. The verse promises the prophet rest and an inheritance at the end of the days — a promise of certainty, not a warning of audit. The newspaper converts the promise into a threat: "standing in thy lot" becomes "your case will come up for examination". What God gave Daniel as consolation — rest, your inheritance is assured — the article turns into suspense: your case will yet be examined, and we shall see whether you are found righteous.
Finally, the picture limits divine omniscience. A God who needs an ongoing process, case by case, to decide who enters the kingdom is a God who does not know beforehand who are His — which directly contradicts Scripture: "the Lord knoweth them that are his" (2 Tim 2:19). God does not deliberate over what He already knows; He does not convene an agenda to decide what He already decided in eternity. The court in permanent session does not reveal God's holiness — it reveals the system's need to keep believers under a pending verdict.
Office with sealed documents, seals and books — diorama, atmospheric illustration.
The verdict of the Scriptures
Hebrews 9:12 declares redemption to be a finished work: Christ "entered in once into the sanctuary... having obtained eternal redemption". Obtained — past participle, work done. Not "is obtaining", not "is in the process of obtaining through case-by-case decisions". Eternal redemption was obtained once for all, by one entrance, with one sacrifice. There is no second stage of heavenly deliberation in the Bible complementing what the cross finished.
Hebrews 10:14 reinforces it: "by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified". One offering, perfection forever. If the sanctified have already been perfected forever by the single offering, there is nothing left for a court in session since 1844 to decide concerning them. The verse's "for ever" cancels the newspaper's "are being made": what has been perfected forever awaits no deliberation.
And the believer is not in a waiting line: "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus" (Rom 8:1). Whoever hears Christ's word and believes "hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24). Hath — present. Is passed — a past accomplished. None of these texts allows a 180-year interval between faith and decision; the decision was made at the cross, and the believer receives it by faith, now.
As for the judgment, the Bible places it in the future as a single act: "it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Heb 9:27). And Jesus guarantees personal, present knowledge: "I know my sheep" (John 10:14), "I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish" (John 10:28). God is not turning people away from heaven at this very moment — He already knows His own, He has already called them by name, and the door that Christ opened no one shuts by a court's agenda.