Distraught and Confused
Daniel: A Call to Worship--Part 25
And it grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them. 11 He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down. 12 Because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered.
13 Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who was speaking, “How long will the vision be, concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot?”
14 And he said to me, “For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed” (Daniel 8:10-14).
Daniel 8 presented Daniel with the third major dream/vision recorded in the book that covered the same timeline of political kingdoms but seemingly drew a continually bleaker future for the people of God. As Moses had prayed for the salvation of God’s people to preserve the honor of His Name (Exodus 32:11-14), Daniel had been following the prophecies and counting the years until Jerusalem would be restored and the shame they had brought to God’s Name would be reversed for His glory.
I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem (see Jeremiah 29:10).
3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4 And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, 5 we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments (Daniel 9:2-5).
Daniel knew that the seventy years of captivity were almost expired. Yet he was now receiving a vision that he understood to mean that the sanctuary services, and presumably that would also mean their release from Babylon, would not be restored for 2,300 years, until “the time of the end.”
14 And he said to me, “For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.”
15 Then it happened, when I, Daniel, had seen the vision and was seeking the meaning, that suddenly there stood before me one having the appearance of a man. 16 And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of the Ulai, who called, and said, “Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.” 17 So he came near where I stood, and when he came I was afraid and fell on my face; but he said to me, “Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the time of the end” (Daniel 8:14-17).
What in the world could that mean? Had God finally given up on His people? Had they just gone too far? Reading Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9 indicates that that is what Daniel feared the interpretation was saying.
Daniel 8, like the book of Revelation, is written in what could be called sanctuary language. As mentioned in our last presentation, the beasts of Daniel 8 are sacrificial animals. The plot of Daniel 8 centers on an attack on the sanctuary. And the resolution of Daniel 8 occurs on the sanctuary holy day called the Day of Atonement (or Yom Kippur).
To understand the prophecies of Daniel 8 and Revelation, we must understand what the sanctuary service represented and why and how Satan would want his subordinate kingdoms to attack it.
Before we ate the forbidden fruit, our first parents had the privilege of walking through the Garden of Eden with our Creator (Genesis 2:22; Genesis 3:8). Sin separated humanity from God (Isaiah 59:2), and humanity could no longer dwell in God’s presence without being destroyed by His glory (Exodus 33:20; 2 Thessalonians 2:8).
At the gate of Eden, Jesus left a picture of the throne of God (Genesis 3:24). When Cain murdered Abel and ran away from Eden to start his own civilization, the Bible referred to this as Cain leaving “the presence of the Lord” (Genesis 4:16).
In the Old Testament, the glory of God dwelt with His people, but it was veiled by the coverings of the tabernacle (Exodus 25:8). When Jonah fled Israel from the call of God, he was said to “flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord” (Jonah 1:3).
In the days of Christ, the glory of God was veiled in human flesh (Hebrews 10:20). The life of Christ is the closest God could ever come to unveiling Himself without destroying us. He was, “Immanuel, God with us” (Matthew 1:23; John 2:21).
Later in the New Testament, Paul wrote that Christ hides His glory within His people.
the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. 27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:26,27).
And if we allow Him to come in, He will make us temples of His presence despite our frailty.
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us (2 Corinthians 4:7).
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? (1 Corinthians 6:19).
The story of the Bible, from Genesis 3 through Revelation 20, is the story of God fixing the sin problem we caused so that we can once again dwell in His presence without requiring a protection from the overwhelming glory of God.
“Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire?
Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?”
15 He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,
He who despises the gain of oppressions,
Who gestures with his hands, refusing bribes,
Who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed,
And shuts his eyes from seeing evil (Isaiah 33:14,15).
And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:3,4).
At its very core, the Bible is the story of salvation from sin. It is the story of what God has done, is doing, and will do to remove both the power and penalty of sin from the sinner, restoring his/her character to the image of God we were created in. He forgives our past and changes how we live and whose kingdom we live for.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U0Z1hvan_0&list=PLPikHZqMuEja66M_FAn1VZfqrYYU0Rn4u&index=8
This is summarized in the New Covenant promise:
“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” 17 then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more” (Hebrews 10:16,17).
The New Covenant is the great mystery of Godliness. We don’t understand it. We can’t comprehend it. We certainly don’t deserve it. It’s entirely a gift by the grace of God through the purchase of the blood of Jesus Christ.
the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. 27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:26,27).
There is a temptation among Christians today to ignore the Old Testament in general and the Old Testament sanctuary services specifically. The thinking goes that they are “Old Covenant.” That was for ancient Israel. We are “New Covenant Christians.”
Yet the Bible calls us to look to the sanctuary to find God’s “way” (Psalm 77:13) in the same way the New Testament calls Jesus “The Way" (John 14:6). Make no mistake. The Old Testament sanctuary service couldn’t save anyone.
For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins (Hebrews 10:4).
The Old Testament sanctuary and its services cannot grant salvation to a single soul. Yet it gives us a picture of the plan of salvation that we can ill afford to ignore. The Old Testament sanctuary was indeed part of the Old Covenant. But its role was only ever meant to be a picture of the New Covenant.
If you have ever been to the Grand Canyon, you know that no picture would ever convey the grandeur of what you are seeing. No picture can ever show the depth, the width, the ruggedness, or the ever-changing shades of color. But if you have never been to the Grand Canyon, refusing to examine a photograph with the excuse that “it’s not the real thing,” is to refuse the one means you do have of trying to grasp the greatness of the natural wonder.
The New Covenant promise covers both a forgiveness of past sins and a promise from Christ that He will recreate our characters in His image, in harmony with His Law. As long as we are willing to grant Him full control of our lives, He has placed upon Himself the responsibility of fulfilling His promise.
being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6).
Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:2).
As we come to Christ, He forgives our sins. He then transforms our character into His likeness. Through His power we are then able to dwell in the presence of God. This is the New Covenant promise. This is the picture of the sanctuary.
The curtain surrounding the sanctuary enclosed what was called the courtyard. Entering the gate (which was on the east side), the central object between the gate and the sanctuary door was the altar of sacrifice. Between the altar and the tabernacle was a washbasin called the laver. We will study each of these much more deeply in upcoming presentations, but for now just understand that these two items represented the sacrifice of Christ and the washing away of sins. The sinner exchanged his sin for a clean record through the blood of the sacrifice. The process is called “justification.”
Entering the first room of the sanctuary tent, the seven-branched candlestick would be on the left, the table of showbread on the right, and the altar of incense would be straight ahead just in front of the veil which separated the two inner rooms. This first room was called the “Holy Place.” Again, we will describe each of these pieces of furniture in much greater depth in future presentations, but for today please take note that each of these furnishings portrayed the work of Christ in recreating us into His image.
Christ is the Bread of life, the Living Word (table of showbread). Christ is the Light of the world, the True and Faithful Witness (candlesticks). Christ is the Fragrance that makes our faulty prayers acceptable to be received by the Father (altar of incense). These spiritual disciplines, Bible study, witnessing and prayer, are the means God has chosen to transform us into His image. This transformation of character, of Christ making a formerly sinful life holy, is called “sanctification.”
The final room behind the curtain was called the “Most Holy Place.” It contained the Ark of the Covenant. Inside the ark was the Ten Commandments, a pot of manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded. This room was only entered once per year, on the Day of Atonement, and only by the high priest.
The service of the Most Holy Place is particularly important to the prophecy of Daniel 8. The prophetic Day of Atonement was to be the promised restoration of the sanctuary from the attacks of the “antichrist” power.
“How long will the vision be, concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot?”
14 And he said to me, “For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.” (Daniel 8:13,14).
In the Mosaic presentation, the Day of Atonement was designed to symbolically clean the sanctuary and the congregation of God’s people from sin. How would such a process ever overturn the powerful attacks of the “antichrist”?
Daniel was distraught and confused. To Daniel, it appeared that God had rejected His people if the sanctuary wasn’t to be restored for over 2,000 years. The closing words of the angel had worried him even more. “It’s true Daniel. Going to be a long long time. Seal up the book. This stuff won’t happen until world history is about to close. So you don’t need to worry about it.”
“And the vision of the evenings and mornings
Which was told is true;
Therefore seal up the vision,
For it refers to many days in the future.”
27 And I, Daniel, fainted and was sick for days; afterward I arose and went about the king’s business. I was astonished by the vision, but no one understood it (Daniel 8:26,27).
Daniel had his mind focused on the Name of God being glorified on earth through the restoration of Jerusalem and the temple services. He had been counting on this happening near the end of his lifetime. Now he understood God to be saying that they were nowhere near their return home to Jerusalem.
Jesus had an infinitely larger vision. When Moses was given the plans for the sanctuary, God didn’t just give him specs to work with. Jesus showed Moses the heavenly sanctuary and told Moses to build a scale model.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKWNXTk3pVg
And see to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain (Exodus 25:40).
The author of Hebrews, when describing the New Covenant, tells us that the Old Covenant was the miniature model, a picture, of the New Covenant. And the Old Testament tabernacle was a miniature model, a picture, of the Heavenly Sanctuary.
Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.
3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer. 4 For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; 5 who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” 6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises (Hebrews 8:1-6).
To understand Daniel 8, to understand salvation through the blood of Christ and receiving the New Covenant promise, we need to understand the Heavenly Sanctuary and its services. But sinful humanity cannot enter God’s presence to take a personal tour. So Jesus instructed Moses to build a miniature model in order for us to learn about the Original.
During our next few studies, we will use the earthly sanctuary to study the Heavenly Sanctuary. We will see how its services reveal to us the plan of salvation. We will examine Satan’s attack on the Heavenly Sanctuary through the “antichrist” power. We will study what the Day of Atonement represented in the Old Testament and how it is related to the restoration of the Heavenly Sanctuary in the New Testament. When we get to Daniel 9, we will find out when the 2,300 year timeframe to the prophetic Day of Atonement began and the date of its completion.
As we continue our studies, please focus on how everything in the sanctuary and its services point to Christ and salvation through His Name. Consider how much Satan hates Jesus and why he would be so determined to attack the plan of salvation as depicted in the Heavenly Sanctuary.
But we need not fear Satan’s attack. The King of glory will never let Satan separate us from the One who died for us. Jesus has already won. And He freely offers that victory to His people.
You defiled your sanctuaries
By the multitude of your iniquities,
By the iniquity of your trading;
Therefore I brought fire from your midst;
It devoured you,
And I turned you to ashes upon the earth
In the sight of all who saw you.
19 All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you;
You have become a horror,
And shall be no more forever (Ezekiel 28:18,19).
Then the kingdom and dominion,
And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven,
Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High.
His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And all dominions shall serve and obey Him (Daniel 7:27).