“And he will make a firm
covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put
a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will
come one who makes desolate even until a complete destruction, one that is
decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.” Daniel 9:27
(The majority of the footnotes are
from the Ryrie Study Bible. Their purpose is to clarify Bible verses used in
reference to our study. All Bible quotations are from the New American Standard
Bible.)
This is the closing verse of one of the most important
prophetic portions of the entire Old and New Testament. I would urge you to
master Daniel 9:24-27 to deepen your understanding of Bible prophecy and to
give you a firmer foundation for future prophecy studies.
“And he will make a firm
covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put
a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will
come one who makes desolate even until a complete destruction, one that is
decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.” Daniel 9:27
He
will make- This has only been possible since May 14, 1948 with the founding
of the modern state of Israel. Before this Israel did not exist as a nation, so
therefore this prophecy could not be fulfilled. Today Israel is in the proper
place to enter the covenant predicted in this passage. Since 1948, there have
been numerous attempts at Geneva, the United Nations, Camp David, and in
unilateral agreements to bring peace between Israel and the surrounding Arab
nations. But to date, all such attempts have failed.
The “He” is the Antichrist
who was previously introduced in 7:8, 24-26. “He” will be a Roman king,
since the immediate context is the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. This
fits the description of the antichrist, who will rise out of the Roman Empire.
He is so well known in the Old Testament prophecy that Daniel simply referred
to him as “the prince that is to come” (v. 26).
A
firm covenant- The antichrist will make an agreement wit the Jewish people
and their enemies. Among its features will be the reestablishment of temple
sacrifices. Under the auspices of the antichrist, the Arabs will allow the
Jerusalem temple to be rebuilt and the sacrifices celebrated.
With
the many- Many of the Jews will be deceived, but not all. Some will oppose
the rebuilt temple aware that the next temple is to be built by Messiah. Other
Jews have become believers under the ministry of the two witnesses. They are aware that this fits the prophetic
scenario and the reason to oppose this temple. The many refers to those
unbelieving Jews who enter into an alliance with the prince that shall come,
the antichrist. Such an alliance will obviously be an unholy relationship and
ultimately to the detriment of the people of Israel, however promising it may
be at its inception.
This
covenant, when ratified, begins the 7-year tribulation.
One
week- The agreement is to last 7 years. This is “DANIEL’S SEVENTIETH WEEK.”
Middle
of the week- After 3 ½ years the antichrist will break his covenant with
Israel and desecrate the Temple by demanding worship of himself in it:
“Therefore
when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION[1] which was spoken through Daniel the prophet,
standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), Matthew 24:15
who opposes and exalts himself
[Antichrist] above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes
his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. 2 Thessalonians
2:4
At the
midpoint of the Tribulation, after his apparent “resurrection” from the dead, the
antichrist will desecrate the rebuilt Jewish Temple in Jerusalem by placing
himself there to be worshiped, not only by the Jews, but by all the world. He
will demand worship of everyone. This will be the climax of man’s great sin of
self-deification, in open defiance of God.
The
Bible speaks of two Temple’s in Israel’s future. The first two temples have
come and gone, while the final two have yet to appear. The Tribulation temple
(the third temple) will be next, while the Millennial Temple (the fourth
temple) will appear after Jesus the Messiah returns to planet Earth and builds
it to use during His messianic kingdom.
THE TRIBULATION TEMPLE
It will
be a look in vain to find a scripture that says, “There is going to be a third
Temple.” But the fact that there will be a Jewish Temple in Jerusalem at least
by the midpoint of the seven-year tribulation period is supported by at least
four scriptures:
Daniel
9:27 (the verse we are currently examining)
Matthew
24:15, 16
16 then let those who
are in Judea flee to the mountains; Matthew 24:15, 16
When
Jesus spoke of the “abomination of desolation…standing in the holy place,” He
is referring to the same event that Daniel refers to in Daniel 9:27. The “holy
place” is reference to the most sacred room within Israel’s Temple. What
Temple? There is no Temple now. How can this be fulfilled since there is not a
Jewish Temple standing. The third temple must be seen as a future event. Dr.
Tim LaHaye tells us that “Matthew 24:15 portrays the ‘abomination of
desolation,’ when the Antichrist desecrates the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem.”
He then adds, “Obviously it has to be rebuilt in order to be desecrated.”
2 Thessalonians
2:3, 4
3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come
unless the apostasy[2]
comes first, and the man of lawlessness[3]
is revealed, the son of destruction,
4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so called-god
or object of worship; so that he takes his seat in the temple of God,[4]
displaying himself as being God. 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4
In this
passage we see, for the third time, a description of “the abomination of
desolation.” This time it is referred to a as the event in which the antichrist
“takes his seat in the temple of God.”
Once e again, which Temple? The clear
answer is the future third temple. Dr. Charles Ryrie tells us that at “the
midpoint of the tribulation period the Antichrist will desecrate the rebuilt
Jewish temple in Jerusalem by placing himself there to be worshiped.” This act
of self-deification is the “abomination of desolation.
Revelation
11:1, 2
1 And there was given to me a measuring rod like a staff;
and someone said, “Rise and measure the temple of God,[5]
and the altar, and those who worship in it.
2 And leave out the court which is outside the temple, and
do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread
under foot the holy city for forty-two months.[6]
Revelation 11:1, 2
Since
this section of Revelation in which this passage appears takes place during the
tribulation period, this is a reference to Israel’s third Temple in Jerusalem.
THE MILLENNIAL TEMPLE
The Bible teaches in Ezekiel
40-48 that there will be a fourth Temple. This final temple will be the center
from which worship of Jesus Christ during the Millennium will be focused:
And He said to me, “Son of man,
this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I
will dwell among the sons of Israel forever. And the house of Israel will not
again defile My name, neither they nor their kings, by their harlotry,[7]
and by corpses of their kings when they die, Ezekiel 43:7
As for you son of man, describe
the temple to the house of Israel, that they may ashamed of their iniquities;
and let them measure the plan. Ezekiel 43:10
The Old
Testament refers to the sacrifices that will take place in the Millennial
Temple in the following passages: Isaiah 56:7; 60:7, 13; 66:20-23; Jeremiah
33:15-22; Zechariah 14:16-21.
These sacrifices are not for the expiation of sin
but as a memorial, a remembrance, of what Christ did for us.
Put
to a stop sacrifice and grain offering- When these are stopped is the time
for the Jews to flee to the mountains:
15 “Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION
which was spoken through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let
the reader understand),
16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains;
Matthew 24:15, 16
Many believe the place that they
will flee to will be the mountains of Petra.
Some have postulated that this
verse refers to Christ and His death on the cross. However, they forget that
the Jews continued to carry out the sacrifices until the Roman army came and
defeated them in 70 AD. It was the Romans who stopped the sacrifices then, it
will be a Roman who will stop the sacrifices during the Tribulation.
Sacrifice-
A reference to offerings that would cover their sins. This relates to the
bloody offerings. Unfortunately for them since the sacrifice of Jesus Christ,
their offerings are worthless.
Grain
offering- This refers to non-bloody offerings that were an expression of
thanksgiving and dedication to God.
On
the wing- This involves some symbolism familiar to the author and his
readers. This should be a lesson to all Bible students that not everything is plainly
explained to us. There will be things we read and study that we just don’t know
what it means.
This
could refer to the outstretched wings of some bird to which the ruler is tacitly
compared or else the hawk like wings that adorned the royal insignia of the
kings of Egypt, Assyria, and Rome.
Who
makes desolate- This is the ushering in of the last three and a half years
of the Great Tribulation. The final horrors of the Tribulation.
A
complete desolation- The dictator will hold sway until the wrath of God is
poured out in fury on the God-defying world of the Beast.
One
that is decreed- In summary, it may be concluded that Daniel’s great
prophecy of the seventy sevens comprehends the total history of Israel from the
time of Nehemiah in 445 BC, until the second coming of Jesus Christ. In the
first period of seven sevens, the city and streets are rebuilt. In the second
period of sixty-two sevens which follows, the Messiah appears and is living at
the conclusion of that period. In the parenthesis between he sixty-ninth and
seventieth seven, at least two major events take place:
1.
The cutting off of the Messiah (the death of
Christ)
2.
The destruction of Jerusalem in 70
Though
the church is founded during the time there is no mention of the church
anywhere in the Old Testament.
The
final period of seven years begins with the introduction of a covenant
relationship between the future “prince that shall come” and “the many,” the
people of Israel. This covenant is observed for the first half of the future
seven-year period, then the special liberties and protections granted Israel
are taken away; and Israel becomes persecuted in their time of great
tribulation. The beginning of the last three and one-half years of the seventy
sevens of Daniel, is marked by the desecration of the future temple, the
stopping of the sacrifices, and the desolation of the Jewish religion. It is
this period referred to by Christ as the great tribulation in Matthew 24:15-26.
The
culmination of the entire prophecy of the seventy weeks is the second advent of
Jesus Christ which closes the seventieth seven of Israel as well as the time of
the Gentiles pictured in Daniel’s prophecies of the four great world empires.
For most of the period, the two great lines of prophecy relating to the
Gentiles and Israel run concurrently and both with the same major event- the
second advent of Jesus Christ. At this
point, the oppressed Israel is delivered, and the oppressor, the Gentiles, are
judged. With Israel back in the land, the fulfillment of these prophecies may
not be too long distant.
[1] Abomination
of desolation. This is the man of sin (2 Thessalonians 2:4), the
Antichrist, who at this midpoint in the tribulation breaks his covenant which
he made at the beginning of the tribulation with the Jewish people (Daniel
9:24), and demands that they and the world worship him. Those who resist will
be martyred; that is the reason for he urgency of the instructions in Matthew
24:16-22). The antichrist will make his center of worship in Jerusalem.
[2]
Two trains of thought have come to light on what is meant by the apostasy. An
aggressive and climatic revolt against God which will prepare the way of the
appearance of the man of sin. Another, more recent line of translation, is that
this is an actual reference to the Rapture.
[3] Man
of lawlessness. While it is true that the forces of lawlessness were at
work in Paul’s time and are at word today, the man of lawlessness is an
individual of the future who will come to power during the tribulation days.
John also recognized the presence of many antichrists in his time (1 John 2:18)
as well as the coming of one great Antichrist in the future (Revelation 11:7;
13:1-10).
[4] takes
his seat in the temple of God. At the midpoint of the tribulation period
the Antichrist will desecrate the rebuilt Jewish temple in Jerusalem by placing
himself there to be worshiped (see notes on Matthew 24:15). This will be the
climax of man’s great sin of self-deification, in open defiance of God.
[5] The
temple of God. Apparently the temple which will be rebuilt during the
tribulation days, in which Jewish worship will be carried on during the first
part of that period and in which, at the mid-point of the seven year period,
the man of sin will exalt himself to be worshiped (2 Thessalonians 2:4).
[6] Forty-two
months. This equals three and one-half years and probably refers to the
last half of the tribulation period.
[7] Harlotry.
Temple prostitution.
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