Daniel’s prophecy tells about a time when the sacrifice will be stopped, and Jesus quotes Daniel’s prophecy in relation to the end times. Both set the event of the ceasing of the sacrifice as a marker on the time line in order to measure where we are in the time line. Dan 12 puts the ceasing at the beginning of the 7 years.
From the daily sacrifice we are able to count down to the abomination of desolation and to a “blessed event”. Jesus references this scripture in Mat 24:15 and following KJV
The Ceasing of the Sacrifice is a Marker on the Apocalyptic Time Line
The sacrifice as the first sign to begin the countdown. Dan says 1290 days from the ceasing of the sacrifice until the abomination of desolation. So what is the ceasing of the sacrifice and what can that look like? Well, the first foreshadow type where we see “ceasing of the sacrifice” was Antiochus taking over the temple and forbidding them to come in and worship. But, like all foreshadow events, it will not look EXACTLY like that event, but will only hold similarities, like a caterpillar and a butterfly.
Hebrews 10:1 tells us “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, [and] not the very image of the things…”
The Sacrifice that will be stopped is the Passover.
So I began investigating the ceasing of the sacrifice because it strikes me, as it does all Christians, that we do not offer sacrifices. How can they cease if they are not happening. Some Christians gladly write this off as the end times cannot come unless the temple and sacrifices are restored. But this flies in the face of scriptures, because we are told point blank that we no longer need sacrifices because Christ fulfilled them.
Hebrews 10 tells us that these sacrifices are no longer needed
So then why would we restore the sacrifices just to take them away to fulfill a prophecy? Especially when the restoration of those sacrifices literally represents the insufficiency of Christ and the denial of his messianic title? Of course we wouldn’t. But we DO continue observing the Lord’s Supper because it represents the Lord’s death.
So which sacrifice exactly will be stopped? What is Daniel talking about? There are many different sacrifices observed by the Jews. A closer examination of the word translated “daily” shows that the word is usually translated “perpetual”. The most well known and recognized sacrifice is the Passover. The Passover is indeed a perpetual sacrifice, literally to be observed forever, even in the New Earth and New Heaven. Not only that, but of all the ordinances, Jesus, establishes the Passover as a symbolic representation of his death, as opposed to its former symbolism, the escaping of the death angel and exodus from Egypt, making the ordinance a ‘new testament’ observance. The disciples were observing the Passover with the Lord and during the meal, and during the meal Jews would talk about the exodus and the first Passover. But Jesus, as the Lord of the Passover and the Instituter of it, broke with tradition in an unforgettable way and said, “this do in remembrance of ME”. The Passover is commanded to be a perpetual sacrifice, to be observed for ever
Christ re-established Passover as an honor to his death, and Paul encouraged the churches in their observance “as often as ye do it”. All festivals and sacrifices were abandoned after the temple was destroyed in 70 AD. But Christians and Jews all over the world still celebrate Passover. Until 2020, when the lockdown closed down churches and stores WORLDWIDE, which should be a key point in all of our signs if we are talking about the end of the world. So, this lead me to examine Dan 12 a little more closely. What offering specifically was going to be halted?
We do not need a Third Temple for this to be fulfilled.
A lot of Christians are insisting on a third temple to be built for those literal sacrifices. But as I said before, the sacrifices, literal blood of animals, are outdated because of Christ’s sacrifice. The temple is also outdated. The temple always represented God’s dwelling with His people. The Holy of Holies inaccessible to everyone except the high priest. This is the Physical representation of Heaven. It was physically and supernaturally rent at the death of Christ. Hebrews 10 says the veil represented His flesh. Now we can boldly go into the Holy of Holies. God allowed the temple to be destroyed in 70 AD because it was obsolete. The new temple is our body. We do not need a physical temple for the Revelation or Daniel prophecy to be fulfilled.