Thoughts on Daniel 9:27 – The Antichrist, Bread and Wine

In our Last Days book, we discuss Daniel 9:27 and explain our translation of Daniel 9:27a, which is
He will confirm a covenant with many; the last one seven now begins.

The second part of Daniel 9:27a says,
In the middle of the “seven” he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. (NIV)

In this post, we focus on the phrase “sacrifice and offering” and what it might mean, and then we summarize the bigger picture.

From the Septuagint, “sacrifice” and “offering” are the two Greek words θυσία and σπονδή.

Besides Daniel 9:27, the following is a list of the verses where these two words are used together in the Old Testament – they occur together six times. On every occasion, the two words are translated “grain offering” and “drink offering”:

Numbers 6:15 …and a basket of unleavened bread, loaves of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil, and their grain offering and their drink offerings. (ESV)

Numbers 29:11 …also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the sin offering of atonement, and the regular burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings. (ESV)

Numbers 29:18 …with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, in the prescribed quantities; ( ESV)

Numbers 29:21 …with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, in the prescribed quantities; (ESV)

Joel 1:9 The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off from the house of the LORD. The priests mourn, the ministers of the LORD. (ESV)

Joel 1:13 Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Go in, pass the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God! Because grain offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God. (ESV)

Besides Daniel 9:27, whenever θυσία and σπονδή are used together in the Old Testament, they are translated “grain offering” and “drink offering.” However, when these two words are translated in Daniel 9:27, most versions translate them as “sacrifice and offering.” Sadly, this change in translation might cause us to miss the significance of the words and miss a possible understanding of what this verse might mean.

We suggest it would help our understanding of Daniel’s message, and improve consistency and accuracy, if the two words would be translated in Daniel 9:27 the same way they are translated every other time they appear together in the Old Testament. Thus, the second part of Daniel 9:27a would say,
In the middle of the “seven” he will put an end to grain offering and drink offering.

Next, we review what the drink and grain offerings were so that we can better understand the meaning of Daniel 9:27.

The drink offering was wine, as we see in Leviticus 23:13b,
…and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin.

The grain offering, as spelled out in chapter 2 of Leviticus, could take several forms.

When you bring a grain offering baked in the oven as an offering, it shall be unleavened loaves of fine flour mixed with oil or unleavened wafers smeared with oil. And if your offering is a grain offering baked on a griddle, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mixed with oil. You shall break it in pieces and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering. And if your offering is a grain offering cooked in a pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil. (Leviticus 2:4-7, ESV)

As we see in the Leviticus verses, the grain offering could be flour or whole roasted heads of grain. The grain offering could also be in the form unleavened cakes of flour mixed with oil that was either baked in an oven, baked on a griddle, or cooked on a pan – in other words, unleavened bread.

Now that we are clear on what Daniel 9:27 says, let’s think what the grain offering and drink offering were—they were bread and wine!

We have traditionally thought that the antichrist will put an end to Jewish sacrifice and offering (and that may be what it means). However, another option is also just as likely – this verse is telling us that the antichrist will put an end to the Christian use of bread and wine (known by various denominations as Communion, the Lord’s Supper, Holy Eucharist, the Mass, etc.).

Remember, the antichrist is antichrist and antichristian—it would not be surprising that he would want to put an end to this activity, this rite, which is unique to Christianity.

To sum up, what does Daniel 9:27 tell us?
1) The last 7 years begin when the antichrist strengthens a covenant with many.
2) In the middle of the 7 years the antichrist does something—he puts an end to grain offering and drink offering, which might mean either of two things:
– he puts an end to Jewish sacrifice and offering
– he puts an end to the Christian act of remembering the Lord’s death (partaking of the bread and wine)

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