August 7: THE DAILY (part 1)
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. Daniel 8:11
Twice in the previous verse, the little horn, as a pagan system of thought, is referred to as it. But now, as the papal form of Rome begins to emerge, we see the personal pronoun he. Working through a man, Satan works to elevate and exalt himself by leading the study of Scripture in a direction so as to be misunderstood. Today’s verse, in only a few words, well-describes the work and career of the papacy. The truth of God’s Word is caricatured hideously and mixed with human traditions. Working through a man, the archenemy of Christ works to place himself in such a high position as to be as high as the Prince of the host—that is, the Lord Jesus.
By order of this impostor, the individual’s daily walk with Jesus is replaced with a set of rote prayers (Matthew 6:7) and confession of sins directed to a local priest . . . at least once a year. These and other traditions not only obliterate the essential teaching of a close personal relationship with Jesus, they effectively obscure the reality of the heavenly sanctuary where He serves as our faithful High Priest (Hebrews 8:1-2), for only He can forgive and cleanse (1 John 1:9).
The word sacrifices in today’s verse does not appear in the original text. It was inserted by translators. Think of the daily as that which happens each day as a natural consequence of your devotion to the Lord Jesus in light of His devotion to you: keeping His commandments (John 14:15; 15:14), asking Him for the Holy Spirit’s guidance (Luke 11:13; Acts 5:32), setting apart quality time to spend in the study of His Word (Luke 24:32; 2 Timothy 3:15), cultivating an attitude of prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and seeking discernment to sense each opportunity to share Truth with those who are open to it (Matthew 5:14,16; James 1:5).
To mirror the heavenly sanctuary—the dwelling place of God—we are taught that our minds and bodies are to be His dwelling place (1 Corinthians 3:16,17; 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16). This means being His stewards of our minds and bodies, making a welcome place for His Spirit to reside. This is how we partake of the kingdom of God, even as we await the coming of our Savior. Our enemy desires to defile the earthly temple of God by leading us to ignore His Word, let down our guard, and accept pagan ideas regarding the care and treatment of our bodies and minds. This is another way that Satan casts down the place of [God’s] sanctuary.
And [Jesus] said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23