… Continuing with,
“to anoint the Most Holy.” Some say it refers to the anointing of Christ at his baptism; others say it means anoint a temple. Actually, it means both! To properly understand, let’s look into the background to find the Old Testament ‘type’ when the first ‘most holy’ was anointed - the tabernacle.
- The tabernacle and all its furnishings were anointed. (Exodus 40:9)
- The high priest was anointed. (Exodus 40:13)
- All the priests (his sons) were anointed. (Exodus 40:14)
Therefore, ‘to anoint the most holy’ means to consecrate the temple in its entirety, both place
as well as person! With this in mind, we can work out what Daniel meant by his figure of speech,
“to anoint the most holy.” It means
the anointing of Christ and his Church, the temple not made by man’s hands. Does anyone here have a problem with the tabernacle/temple prefiguring the church?
Now, I want us to notice how the anointing took seven days to complete.
"And you shall not go outside the door of the tabernacle of meeting for seven days, until the days of your consecration are ended. For seven days he shall consecrate you." (Leviticus 8:33)
I believe these seven days
prefigure the years required to anoint God's temple not made by man’s hands - Jesus and his Church. He is the foundation; we are the stones. He is the head; we are the body. It is a single holy temple extending from heaven to earth,
anointed during the span of the seventieth week. Accordingly, Jesus was anointed at his baptism.
"God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him." (Acts 10:38)
Then, the temple was raised up after his sacrificial death, when the Jewish Church was anointed at Pentecost.
“You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
And finally, the completed Church was anointed when the Gentiles were grafted in about 3½ years later. Thus, the ‘most holy’ is the anointed manifestation of Christ
together with His Church. Yes, the Old Covenant ended when Jesus cried,
“It is finished.” However, the full confirmation of the covenant, including all six clauses of Daniel 9:24, came to pass over the full span of the seventieth week.