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Identifying True Worshipers in the Time of the EndPay Attention to Daniel’s Prophecy!
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21. (a) The time period foretold at Daniel 12:11 would begin when what conditions had been brought about? (b) What was “the constant feature,” and when was it removed? (See box on page 298.)
21 Daniel was told: “From the time that the constant feature has been removed and there has been a placing of the disgusting thing that is causing desolation, there will be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.” So this time period would begin when certain conditions had been brought about. “The constant feature”—or “the continual sacrifice”a—had to be removed. (Daniel 12:11, footnote) What sacrifice did the angel mean? Not the animal sacrifices offered at any earthly temple. Why, even the temple that once stood in Jerusalem was a mere “copy of the reality”—Jehovah’s great spiritual temple, which went into operation when Christ became its High Priest in 29 C.E.! In this spiritual temple, representing God’s arrangement for pure worship, there is no need of continual sin offerings, for “Christ was offered once for all time to bear the sins of many.” (Hebrews 9:24-28) Yet, all true Christians do offer sacrifices at this temple. The apostle Paul wrote: “Through [Christ] let us always offer to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips which make public declaration to his name.” (Hebrews 13:15) So this first condition of the prophecy—the removing of “the constant feature”—was brought about in mid-1918 when the preaching work was virtually suspended.
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Identifying True Worshipers in the Time of the EndPay Attention to Daniel’s Prophecy!
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REMOVAL OF THE CONSTANT FEATURE
In the book of Daniel, the term “constant feature” occurs five times. It refers to a sacrifice of praise—“the fruit of lips”—regularly offered to Jehovah God by his servants. (Hebrews 13:15) Its foretold removal is referred to at Daniel 8:11, 11:31, and 12:11.
During both world wars, Jehovah’s people were severely persecuted in the realms of “the king of the north” and “the king of the south.” (Daniel 11:14, 15) The removal of “the constant feature” took place toward the end of World War I when the preaching work was all but suspended in mid-1918. (Daniel 12:7)
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