In the Book of Daniel there is reference to the perpetual sacrifice."He (the beast) will make a covenant with many for the space of a week; and, for the space of one-half week he will put a stop to sacrifice and oblation, And, on the wing of the Temple will be the disastrous abomination until the end, until the doom assigned to the devastator." Dan.9:27
"It abolished the perpetual sacrifice and overthrew the foundation of his sanctuary, and the army too; it put iniquity on the sacrifice and flung truth to the ground; the horn was active and successful." Dan.8:11-12Daniel's words are not about the past, but about events which lie in the future at the time of the world's end. Jesus appeared to Daniel in a vision to underscore this fact: "Understand this: the vision shows the time of the End." (Dan.8:17).
For this reason, we must conclude that Daniel is speaking of things Christian. His references are not about Jewish sacrifices.The old covenant was replaced almost two thousand years ago. It is gone by the hand of God and, according to the Book of Hebrews, will not be reborn. The perpetual sacrifice is a part of Christian liturgy. It honors the perfect and everlasting sacrifice Jesus made to God when He went to the cross.
The liturgy of Christ's sacrifice is communion. Jesus told His disciples that He was sacrificing His life for the life of the world. By that sacrifice God would raise Him up and everyone who believed in Him (ate His body and drank His blood). He then offered Himself to the world in the elements of a 'Last Supper'.Paul said it was imperative that this 'Last Supper' be celebrated and offered until the end, making it a perpetual celebration among Christians worldwide. It is tightly bound to the legal perpetuation of the 'treaty of peace' that Jesus made with the world. The treaty of peace will remain in effect as along as the communion sacrifice remains inviolate.
The liturgical elements of the treaty (especially the perpetual sacrifice) play a critical role in Daniel's prophecies about the last days. If the treaty is rejected, it's offer will be withdrawn -- an event Daniel darkly foresees for our future. This will terminate the power that holds back the Wrath and allow sin to bring the world to the End that Jesus predicted for it.
By examining the liturgical elements of Christ's offer of peace to the world the hidden meaning behind Daniel's description's of what is to come can be better understood. The symbol of Christ's treaty is the cross, and while our liturgical acceptance of the cross is baptism, the sacrifice that makes it all possible is perpetuated by holy communion.
Because it perpetuates the offer of the cross to the world, communion perpetuates the treaty. It is a meal so important, said Paul, that to eat it casually produces sickness and death (1 Cor,11:29). Heavy words for something many Christians give little thought to.
It is evident in Daniel's words that when the Rebel of the last days decides to attack the altar of the communion sacrifice, he will at the same time terminate God's offer of peace to the world. Pulling down the cross, he will erect in its place above the altar something that has power only to bring death. the disastrous abomination,.
For those who do not have a mind to understand the liturgical mysteries, the words of Daniel remain an enigma -- one whose liturgy seems somehow Jewish. But Daniel's words relate to Jesus, not Moses (Dan.7:13-14). Christ's treaty is offered, not from Jerusalem, but from Babylon:
"Writhe, cry out daughter of Zion...for now you have to leave the city and live in the open country. To Babylon you must go and there you will be rescued; There God will ransom you out of the power of your enemies." (Micah 4:10).
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E.C.S.Leavenworth III; Goodnews Christian Ministry.