| The
expression “evening-morning” is directly connected with the cultic
sanctuary activity or worship as the previous discussion confirms. Shea
has specifically connected the expression “evening-morning” with the
sanctuary service in which the priest lights the lamps in the holy place
at evening and trims the lamps in the morning (Ex. 27:20-21; 30:7-8; Lev.
24:1-4). At the same time the priest was to burn incense on the golden
altar when the lamps were set up in the morning and trimmed in the
evening.104
The expression “from evening
until morning” (evening-morning) consistently refers to the worship
cycle and all its aspects in the cultic sanctuary setting of Leviticus and
Numbers. The various aspects of the “evening-morning” worship cycle
include the daily burnt offering, the daily grain offering (both for a
sweet aroma), the lighting of the lamps filled with oil to give light
within the holy place (Ex. 25:37) illuminating the shewbread which
typified the Word of God (Jn. 6:51, 63). The light from the burning oil in
the lamps thus represented the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit
(Zech. 4:4, 6).
The counterfeit cultic “evening-morning”
expression in Dn. 8:14 would thereby encompass not only a counterfeit
worship associated with the daily burnt offering (sweet aroma) but also
counterfeit light from the lampstand associated with a counterfeit holy
spirit. Since the burning of incense on the golden altar is integral to
the “evening-morning” cultic worship sequence of lighting the lamps in
Ex. 30:7-8, the counterfeit “evening-morning” sequence in Dn. 8:14
also implies a counterfeit incense aroma to Jehovah which was previously
established from independent factors based on the cultic language in Dn.
8:11 and cultic parallels in Leviticus.
8.2.3
The Continual Cloud |