This is part two of my message on Daniel 9:27.
And he will confirm or strengthen the covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering.
The He is Jesus. The covenant is the new covenant. It is confirmed and strengthened with the latter rain outpouring at the beginning of Daniel’s Seventieth Week. We are doing the second part of the verse.
But in the middle of the week, he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering.
We have two things here that help us understand what this is talking about. First, we know when this happens. It takes place at the middle of Daniel’s Seventieth Week. Second, we know where it takes place. Sacrifice and offerings take place in the outer court of the temple. This is where the brazen altar is. The place of sacrifice and offering is always in the outer court.
So, all we have to do is go to the Book of Revelation and find an event that takes place in the middle of the week and in the outer court. Here is our verse.
Rev 11:1Then there was given me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, “Get up and measure the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it. 2 Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months.
We know this event takes place at the middle of the week because the outer court is trodden under foot for three and a half years. That places it at the middle of Daniel’s Seventieth Week from our verse in Daniel 9:27. The second half of Daniel’s Seventieth Week is the three and a half year tribulation.
Of course, all references to the temple after the cross are referring to the church. (With the exception in Acts where it says the disciples were teaching daily at the temple. But that is just geography.) It also says twice in Acts that God does not dwell in buildings made with stone or buildings made by man. God’s dwelling after the cross is among men.
We have two people groups here. One group are the worshipers in the sanctuary. The other group are those in the outer court. Who are these two groups?
The worshipers are measured. They are not trodden under foot during the three and a half year tribulation. Those in the outer court are not measured. They are trodden under foot during the three and a half year tribulation.
The letters to the seven churches tell us exactly who these two groups are. The two last day churches. Philly and Laodicea. Let’s look at Philly first.
Rev 3:8 ‘I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name.
Rev 3:10 Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
Philly is the overcomer church. The first half of Daniel’s Seventy Week is the final birth pangs of the church. During this time, the Christians who have kept the word of His perseverance and have not denied His name, are given an open door which no one can shut. What is this door? It is the veil between the outer court and the sanctuary.
Hebrews 6:19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, 20 where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Jesus is the forerunner for us. We are all called to enter beyond the veil. His presence is beyond the veil. Beyond the veil is the place of worship. The worshipers who are in the sanctuary are those who have gone within the veil into His presence.
These worshipers in the sanctuary and are kept from the hour of testing, the tribulation.
Now for the second people group, Laodicea.
Rev 3:17 Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,
Rev 3:19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.
The Christians in Laodicea have become arrogant. They are very successful and have everything going for them. They have great social programs and focus on loving everyone. They have embraced the progressive theology of the last day church. They have become lukewarm. Laodicea has everything but the one thing that is required, His presence. They have lost the presence of the Lord.
The Lord loves the Christians in Laodicea. He will not abandon them. The Lord says He will discipline them. The discipline is to get them to repent. He is standing outside the door. This discipline is the tribulation. The purpose of the tribulation is to get them to open the door and invite Jesus back into their church.
The Christians in Laodicea are those in the outer court who are trodden under foot for three and a half years. The progressive church of the last days is stripped of everything they have built. Everything they are proud of. Everything that they boast about. Everything that has replaced the presence of the Lord.
Now let’s go back to Daniel. Jesus puts an end to sacrifice and grain offering. Sacrifice and grain offering take place in the outer court. The discipline of those in the outer court begins at the midpoint of Daniel’s Seventieth Week and continues for the three and a half year tribulation.
Worship takes place in the sanctuary. The worshipers have gone beyond the veil into His presence. They are kept from the hour of testing and are not trodden under foot during the three and a half year tribulation.
The failure to separate the last day church into the two separate people groups of Philly and Laodicea has caused much confusion. They have very different scenarios. This is fundamental to understanding the mysteries of Revelation.
This is why the word church is not mentioned after the letters to the seven churches. The pre-tribbers will tell you that the church is not mentioned because it has been raptured. The reason it is not mentioned is because the word church is not specific enough. Which church? The overcomer church or the lukewarm church? Revelation talks about the Christians in these two groups but it doesn’t say church because we wouldn’t know which one it is referring to.
All of this is foreshadowed perfectly by the Sons of Zadok.
Ezek 40:46 These are the sons of Zadok, who from the sons of Levi come near to the Lord to minister to Him.”
Ezek 44:15 “But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary when the sons of Israel went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me;
When Israel went astray from the Lord, the bulk of the Levite priesthood, went astray also. The sons of Zadok, however, did not go astray. Because of this, they were the only priests who were allowed to enter the sanctuary and minister to the Lord. The rest of the Levite priesthood had to remain in the outer court, the place of sacrifice and grain offering.
The sanctuary is the place of worship. Those in the sanctuary come near to the Lord. They minister to the Lord. Those in the outer court do the sacrifice and grain offering. The sacrifices are for the forgiveness of sin. They minister to the people.
Back to Revelation 11. We have those who did not go astray in the sanctuary. They are ministering to the Lord with their worship. They are Philly, the overcomers. Those who went astray, are in the outer court. They are disciplined. They are Laodicea.
So, Jesus puts an end to the sacrifice and grain offering in the outer court at the midpoint of the week. Those in the outer court are disciplined during the tribulation. Jesus does not put an end to the worship in the sanctuary. They are kept from the tribulation.
None of this has anything to do with the rapture. That comes at the end of the tribulation after all of this is over. Those in the sanctuary preach the gospel of the Kingdom to the whole world during the tribulation. Those in the outer court are called to repent during their time of discipline.
You want to be in the sanctuary. Keep the word of His perseverance and do not deny His name. His name means His presence. During the final birth pangs of the church during the first half of the week, the pressure to compromise His word and deny His presence will be immense. Prepare your heart now for this time of testing. It is almost here.
May we all merit to go beyond the veil into His presence. Shalom.