One of the remarkable features of Daniel’s great messianic prophecy is found in Daniel 9:27, where we read that the coming Messiah would “bring an end to sacrifice and offering.” This statement points us toward one of the most significant accomplishments of the death of Jesus Christ. The sacrificial system that had characterized the worship of Israel for centuries was approaching its divinely appointed conclusion. Something greater was coming. The shadows were giving way to the substance, and the repeated sacrifices of the old covenant were about to be displaced by the one perfect sacrifice of God’s Son.
Daniel’s prophecy must be understood in the larger context of God’s redemptive purpose. In Daniel 9:24, the prophet speaks of the seventy weeks appointed for the people and the holy city. Among the purposes identified are the finishing of transgression, making an end of sins, making reconciliation for iniquity, and bringing in everlasting righteousness. These expressions point beyond the restoration of Jerusalem to the greater work of redemption accomplished through the Messiah.
THE END OF THE OLD SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM
For generations, Israel had approached God through an elaborate system of sacrifices and offerings. The blood of animals was offered repeatedly, the priesthood performed its appointed duties, and the sanctuary provided the setting for divine service. These ordinances were not meaningless human inventions. They were established under the old covenant and served a particular purpose in God’s dealings with His people.
However, they were never intended to provide the final and complete solution to sin. Hebrews 10:1 explains that the law possessed a shadow of the good things to come, rather than the very image of those things. The sacrifices had to be repeated because they could not accomplish what the coming sacrifice of Christ would accomplish.
Hebrews 10:4 makes the limitation unmistakable: “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.”
The problem was not that God had made a mistake in establishing the sacrificial system. It was that the system was preparatory. It pointed forward to something infinitely greater. Every sacrifice anticipated the coming Lamb of God.
THE PERFECT SACRIFICE OF CHRIST
When Jesus suffered and died, He accomplished what thousands of animal sacrifices could never accomplish. Hebrews 9:14 declares that Christ “through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God.”
Notice the difference. The old covenant required repeated sacrifices, but Christ offered Himself once. The old sacrifices involved the blood of animals, but the new covenant rests upon the precious blood of the Son of God. The old priesthood ministered through an earthly sanctuary, but Christ entered the greater and more perfect tabernacle.
Hebrews 10:12 declares, “But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.”
The language is extraordinary. Christ sat down! His work of offering Himself was complete. There would be no need for another sacrifice, another offering for sin, or another priest to repeat the work. His sacrifice was sufficient, final, and eternally effective.
The removal of the old sacrifices was not a tragedy in God’s redemptive purpose. It was the fulfillment of that purpose. What had been temporary had accomplished its intended mission. The Father was pleased with the obedience and offering of His Son.
THE END OF THE OLD COVENANT
The significance of Daniel’s prophecy reaches beyond the cessation of animal sacrifices. It points toward the transition from the old covenant to the new covenant established through Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 8:13 explains that in speaking of a new covenant, God made the first covenant obsolete. Its sanctuary, priesthood, ordinances of divine service, and sacrificial arrangements belonged to an order that was passing away.
Hebrews 9:1-10 describes the earthly sanctuary and its regulations. The priests entered the appointed places, performed their services, and offered gifts and sacrifices. Yet these arrangements could not make the worshiper perfect in conscience. They were imposed until the time of reformation.
That time of reformation arrived through Christ.
The tearing of the temple veil at the death of Jesus (Matthew 27:51) was a powerful sign of the change taking place. Through His death, the way into God’s presence was opened. The old arrangement was no longer the means through which God’s people would approach Him.
The physical temple and its sacrificial services continued for a time, until Jerusalem and its temple were destroyed in AD 70. But the decisive theological accomplishment had already occurred at Calvary. The old sacrifices had lost their covenantal purpose because the perfect sacrifice had been offered.
THE BEGINNING OF SOMETHING GREATER
Daniel’s prophecy also anticipated the coming of everlasting righteousness. The Messiah would accomplish redemption and establish something that animal sacrifices could never provide.
Jeremiah 31:31-34 had already announced God’s intention to establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. Under this covenant, God’s law would be written upon the heart, His people would know Him, and their sins would be remembered no more.
Hebrews 8:6 identifies Jesus as the Mediator of a better covenant, established upon better promises.
What a magnificent progression! The old covenant pointed forward. The prophets anticipated it. The sacrifices illustrated it. The priesthood foreshadowed it. Then Jesus came and accomplished what all those earlier arrangements had anticipated.
The cross was not merely the death of a religious teacher. It was the decisive event in God’s redemptive plan. The sacrifice and offering reached their appointed conclusion because the Lamb of God had offered Himself.
We no longer look toward an earthly altar, an animal sacrifice, or a human priesthood to obtain access to God. We look to Jesus Christ, whose sacrifice is sufficient forever.
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Heavenly Father, thank You for the perfect sacrifice of Your Son, through whom we have forgiveness and access to Your presence. Help us appreciate the greatness of His offering and the blessings of the new covenant. May we never take lightly the price paid for our redemption. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
BDD
