Mike Bickle – Daniel Seminar 2013 – The 70-Weeks Prophecy of Daniel 9 – Part 2

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Session 8 The 70-Weeks Prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27 (Part 2)

 

  1. OVERVIEW OF DANIEL 9:24-27 (REVIEW)
    1. Daniel 9:24-27 is the only passage in the Bible that presents Jesus’ first and second comings and death along with the restoration of Jerusalem and the temple and their destruction once again. It also describes what happens to the temple in the Tribulation with the Antichrist’s abominations and the resulting desolations. It concludes with the final judgment on the Antichrist. It is the only place in the Bible that the whole story about the Messiah and the salvation of Israel is set forth.
      1. God’s plan to restore Israel includes six great blessings (v. 24)
      2. Jerusalem was restored, and Messiah came to Jerusalem (v. 25)
      3. Jerusalem was destroyed after Messiah was killed in Jerusalem (v. 26)  End of story, as we see it.
      4. The Antichrist will cause great desolations, and then he will be destroyed (v. 27)
    2. The 70-weeks prophecy (9:24-27)
      1. Israel’s salvation and restoration: six glorious promises (9:24)  Fully historical.
      2. Events during the 69 weeks (9:25): Messiah came after Jerusalem was restored  True.
      3. Events after the 69 weeks (9:26): Messiah was killed, and Jerusalem was destroyed True.
      4. Events during the 70th week (9:27): the Antichrist, his covenant, and the Great Tribulation
    3. Gabriel revealed that Israel would suffer oppression for 70 weeks inside the land (Dan. 9:24-27). Jeremiah’s prophecy: Israel would suffer under the Gentiles for 70 years outside the land (9:2).
    4. Gabriel assured Daniel that complete forgiveness and restoration would come to Israel (v. 24), [We see the promise is that 490 years were promised, and these were done in that time frame.  It is seen as nothing but adding to the Word of the Lord to say what the Scripture does not, that these will be done by all the Jews.  The time was given, they were done, but the fact that some were not by no means invalidates the promise.  However, adding to the Words of Scripture, which never says all of Israel would do these things, is a problem of interpretation.] but only after Israel was disciplined and purified by fire (v. 25-27) [The time frame was the promise, not obedience]. Understanding Israel’s glory in the Millennium (v. 24) [There is a hope for Israel, but this is not it.  They failed, and that’s that.] helps us to understand the trouble that Israel experiences (v. 25-27).  Israel will be restored one day, but as for this prophecy, they ‘missed it’.  There are consequences for sin.  Israel did not hear the Word of the Lord, but hardened their heart.  Their destruction in 70 AD was prophesied, as, after Jesus left, the evil He saw fall from heaven like lightning came back, seven-fold, and destroyed their house.
    5. Gabriel revealed that God’s answer included sending Messiah (v. 25) to personally establish what God promised Israel in Daniel 7. Absolutely not!  As Paul wrote, the promise of Messiah goes back to Eve.  Yet, Messiah must come through Abraham, for in Him all the nations of the world would be blessed.  Hence, of course, Messiah would come from the Jews, and the Daniel 7 promise of the Kingdom is indeed God’s design from the beginning, yet the concept presented here is still ‘Israel-centric’ and not ‘God-centric’.  God has a plan, and He reveals pieces and portions along the way.  What Gabriel revealed was God’s wisdom and His way of accomplishing it.  In this time, God would be bringing forth His plan of restoration from the beginning, prophesied all along, which, of course, includes the promises made to Israel.  It all works together, but on God’s agenda, not Israel’s, ours, or anyone else’s.  God is first, and He is the one at the top, only.  God will permanently restore Jerusalem and the temple in a way that is vastly superior to the restoration under Ezra and Nehemiah as set forth in verse 25.
    6. God’s plan contained surprising developments—Messiah being killed, leading to Jerusalem and the temple being destroyed again (v. 26), like the destruction of Solomon’s temple in 586 BC. The temple will be rebuilt in the end times, and again made desolate, by the Antichrist (v. 27).  We see this as the beginning and end of the 490 years, and the best proof of it’s complete fulfillment.  The plan contained it’s decree, it’s building, it’s habitation, and, ultimately, it’s destruction.  Daniel 12 further makes it clear that at the end of this, the power of the people would be broken.  Hence, the prophecy, about the city and the holy people, must needs be seen to be completed.  Daniel 12’s breaking of their power occurred historically, through the overthrow of Jerusalem, and no where else.  For this reason, the Jews are where they are.  Yet, God’s heart is for them, and will, in the future, restore His face to them, as Ezekiel 39:29 says, pouring out His Spirit, or, as Acts 1:6 calls it, giving the Kingdom now available only to a few Jews to the nation as a whole, for He has revealed Jesus to them, and brought the whole house salvation, Romans 11:26.
    7. The end of Israel’s 70 years of Babylonian captivity  did not end her captivity to sin. There was, for the believer in Jesus.  That which is born of God does not sin, John wrote in his first epistle.  Israel’s captivity to sin and oppression would only truly end after 70 weeks (70 units of seven). Israel must first pass through 70 prophetic periods of seven years before the six glorious promises that Gabriel set forth in Daniel 9:24 are fully manifest in Israel’s national experience.  And they did, and those who believed were saved, and those who believed not were damned.
    8. The 70 weeks (490 years) are divided into three parts: 7 weeks (49 years), 62 weeks (434 years), and the 70th week (final 7 years before Jesus’ returns). There is an approximate 2,000-year gap after the 69 weeks, before the 70th week begins. After Jesus was killed in Jerusalem, God’s “prophetic clock or calendar” paused for 2,000 years until Israel was back in their promised land.  This is one possible interpretation, but certainly not obligatory.  We disagree with it.
      MikeBickle-Daniels70Weeks-August2013

      MikeBickle The 2300 Days August 2013

  2. MESSIAH WAS TO COME AFTER JERUSALEM WAS RESTORED (DAN. 9:25)
    1. Messiah was to come only after Jerusalem was restored (9:25). Jerusalem was restored— including its streets and walls. That this process began with a command to restore Jerusalem. Verse 25 described events occurring before the 69 weeks (483 years) were complete.
      “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince [Jesus], there shall be seven weeks [49 years] and sixty-two weeks [434 years]; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.” (Dan. 9:25)
    2. Know and understand: Gabriel called Daniel to understand the details of this vision because it’s meaning was not immediately obvious. Daniel was to seek to understand it (v. 23, 25).
    3. To restore Jerusalem: Gabriel promised that Jerusalem would be restored and rebuilt. It had not fully functioned as a city since it was destroyed about 50 years previously, in 586 BC.
    4. The street and wall built: Gabriel emphasized that the street and the wall would be built again. “The street” is the Hebrew word rehab, which can be translated as open square, broad place, or plaza. Mentioning “the street,” the city’s main street, indicates that the city would function again.
    5. 7 weeks and 62 weeks: Gabriel distinguished the first “7 weeks of years” (49 years) from the following “62 weeks of years” (434 years). He introduced two periods of time—a 49-year period followed by a 434-year period. The two periods are distinguished by a significant event—the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Thus, 49 years after the command was given, the city of Jerusalem was rebuilt. The total “69 weeks of years” (7 weeks plus 62 weeks) equals 483 years.
    6. Troublesome times: The blessing of the coming of Messiah and the restoration of Jerusalem occurred in the context of trouble and difficulty (Neh. 4:l-23; 9:36-37). We sometimes assume that when God’s prophetic purpose unfolds, it should “feel” powerful and happen without trouble.
    7. Until Messiah the Prince: It is accepted by top scholars that Jesus’ ministry started in 26/27 AD and that His crucifixion occurred in the spring of 29/30 AD. Here, Gabriel defined Messiah as the “Prince” (king of the nations) whom Daniel saw being commissioned in heaven (7:13-14).
    8. The command: From the Persian king’s command to restore Jerusalem until the coming of Jesus to begin in His ministry in 26/27 AD, there shall be 69 weeks, or 483 years (49 plus 434 years).
      1. Gabriel made it clear that a Gentile king would give a decree to rebuild Jerusalem. This seemed impossible. Imagine the king of Persia (president of Iran) doing that today!
      2. It was a significant prophetic sign for the generation in which Jesus came. God held Israel accountable for not recognizing the time of God’s visitation in sending Messiah to them. Israel was disciplined by God in 70 AD for rejecting Jesus (Lk. 19:41-44).
      3. “For days will come upon you when your enemies will…  level you, and your children within you, to the ground…because you did not know the time of your visitation.” (Lk. 19:43-44)
    9. Four Persian commands: There were four decrees to rebuild Jerusalem and/or the temple. One decree was given by King Cyrus, one by King Darius and two by King Artaxerxes. The right dates can be understood when comparing them to the realities of historical events. A key to understanding when the 69 weeks (483 years) began is to see where it ended 49 years (7 weeks) and 483 years later. Do the dates correspond to Jerusalem and the coming of Jesus?
      The Jews…built…according to the command of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia [two decrees]. (Ezra 6:14)
    10. King Artaxerxes decree to Ezra in 458 BC (Ezra 7:11-26): 483 years brings us to 26/27 AD. In my opinion this is the most convincing date, since Jesus’ ministry probably began in 26/27 AD. The messianic prophecies are precise, so we expect this one from Gabriel to also be precise.
      1. This decree allowed Ezra to strengthen the temple and set judges in place (Ezra 7:11–26). Rebuilding Jerusalem was not directly stated but clearly implied in Ezra 4:12, 21; 9:9 as two reports given that describe what Ezra did in Jerusalem—he built the city and walls.
        …the Jews [Ezra and company] who came up from you [King Artaxerxes] have come to us at Jerusalem, and are building the…city and finishing its walls… Let it now be known to the king that, if this city is built and the walls completed, they will not pay tax… Now give the command to make these men cease, that this city may not be built until the command is given by me [Rehum the commander]. (Ezra 4:12-21)
        He [God] extended mercy to us [Ezra and the Jews] in the sight of the kings of Persia, to revive us, to repair the house of our God, to rebuild its ruins, and to give us a wall in…Jerusalem.” (Ezra 9:9)
      2. The completion of Ezra and Nehemiah’s rebuilding work in Jerusalem is probably the significant development that occurred in 409 BC (49 years after the 458 BC decree). The Elephantine Papyri mentioned the man who replaced Nehemiah as the governor of Judah in 407 BC—indicating that 409 BC was the end of Nehemiah’s work in Jerusalem.
    11. Artaxerxes’ decree to Nehemiah in 445 BC (Neh. 2:1-8): 483 years brings us to 38 AD. Sir Anderson calculated 483 years, or 173,880, days from this decree (taking into account leap years), and arrived at April 6, 32 AD. (His calculations have been questioned by many). The argument against this decree is that Jesus did not start His ministry in 32 AD or in 38 AD. With better historical records, many scholars today believe that His crucifixion occurred in 29/30 AD.
    12. King Cyrus’ decree to Zerubbabel in 538 BC (Ezra 1:1-4): 483 years brings us to 55 BC. The argument against this is that Jesus did not come in 55 BC.
    13. King Darius’ decree to Tattenai in 518 BC (Ezra 6:1, 6-12): 483 years brings us to 35 BC.
    14. Summary: Artaxerxes’ decree to Ezra in 458 BC is the best date since Jesus’ ministry probably began 483 years later in 26/27 AD and the initial restoration of Jerusalem was probably complete in 409 BC (49 years after 458 BC). There are no significant redemptive events that occurred 49 years (7 weeks) or 483 years (69 weeks) after the other decrees—in 489 BC and 55 BC (Cyrus’); in 396 BC and 38 AD (Artaxerxes’ second decree); and 469 BC and 35 BC (Darius’).
  3. MESSIAH WAS KILLED AND JERUSALEM WAS DESTROYED (DAN. 9:26)
    1. Gabriel described events that occurred after the 69 weeks, or 62 plus 7 weeks, (9:26). Jesus was killed, and Jerusalem was destroyed. Verse 26 focuses on events related to Jesus’ first coming.
      “After the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off [killed], but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come [Antichrist] shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war [70 AD] desolations are determined.” (Dan. 9:26)
    2. After the 62 weeks: Gabriel told Daniel that “62 weeks,” or 434 years, after Jerusalem was restored (409 BC), two momentous events would occur—the death of Messiah, initiated by the leaders of Israel, and the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple by the Romans in 70 AD. From the command to restore Jerusalem until Jesus arrived, there were 69 weeks (483 years), which is the total of 7 weeks (49 years) plus 62 weeks (434 years).
    3. Shall be cut off: To be “cut off” is an idiom for being killed— cut off in death (Gen. 9:11; Ex. 31:14; Isa. 53:8; Jer. 11:19). Perhaps, or a reference to baptism, which is spiritual circumcision.  Imagine, how shocking it must have been for Daniel to hear that the Son of Man of Daniel 7:13-14 would be cut off. He had pondered the Daniel 7 vision for about 15 years (he received it in 553 BC). About 150 years earlier, Isaiah had prophesied that the Servant of the Lord (Messiah) would be cut off in death for our sins (Isa. 53:8).
      1. Gabriel did not reveal to Daniel who would kill the Messiah. Several decades later, the Lord showed Zechariah that the Jewish leaders would reject Messiah (Zech. 11:7-14).
      2. Killing the Messiah was the lowest point in Israel’s history and the turning point in God’s plan for Israel. When Jesus was killed God’s “prophetic time clock/calendar” was put on pause for about 2,000 years, until Israel would be back in the land with a temple.  This is purely conjecture.  The concept and the certainty are only established upon the need for it in the rest of the interpretational paradigm.
    4. Not for Himself: Jesus died for the benefit of His people in that His death was substitutionary.
    5. The destruction of Jerusalem and the temple: Israel’s idolatry had led to Jerusalem and the temple being destroyed and the Jewish people being driven out of the land and into Babylon for 70 years. Later, Israel’s rejection of Messiah led to Jerusalem and the temple being destroyed by the Roman army, and the Jewish people being driven out of the land for nearly 2,000 years,
    6. The people of the prince: Gabriel introduced another prince called “the prince who is to come.” This prince is the Antichrist who makes a covenant in verse 27. The people of the prince are identified as the people who destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD—the Roman army.  This may or may not refer to Titus and the Romans.
      1. No one knew who these people were until it was walked out historically when the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem and burned the temple in 70 AD. In other words, history has clarified that the “people” who destroyed Jerusalem were from the Roman army.
      2. Many have destroyed Jerusalem—it has been destroyed 20 times since Jesus’ death. But only once were both the city and the temple destroyed soon after the Messiah was killed, and it happened in 70 AD.
    7. The end of Jerusalem: The end of “it”—Jerusalem under Jewish leadership—came with a flood of destruction. The Roman military attacks brought desolation to Jerusalem and the temple.
      “…the end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined.” (Dan. 9:26)
    8. Till the end of the war: War and desolations were decreed by God until Jerusalem was completely destroyed. Until the end of the Jewish-Roman war (66-73 AD) desolations or great losses occurred in Israel continually; this was unlike the Maccabean revolt (167-160 BC) against the Seleucid Empire when Israel had many victories in warfare. Israel was not to fight against the Romans, because God had determined that desolation in Israel would continue to the end.
    9. With a flood: The end of Jerusalem and the temple came with a flood of violence. This figure points to the vast scale of the destruction (Isa. 28:15-18; Dan. 11:22). The Roman army came like a flood and swept Jerusalem away. A flood of destruction overwhelmed Jerusalem (Isa. 8:8; Dan. 11:10, 22, 26, 40). Satan will come like a flood against Israel in the end times (Rev. 12:15).
    10. Desolations are determined: This reveals the extreme measures to which God will go to redeem a nation that He is zealous for. God has sovereignly determined specific things to occur in accomplishing His purposes (Isa. 10:23; 19:17; 28:22; Dan. 9:24, 26, 27; 11:36; Zech. 1:6; 8:14- 15; Jer. 23:20; 30:24).
  4. THE ANTICHRIST WILL CAUSE DESOLATION (DAN. 9:27)  As described in Part 1, we do not see an antichrist in Daniel 9.  Likewise, we disagree with most of these points for explanations previously given.
    1. ‘Gabriel described events occurring during the 70th week (the final 7 years of this age) (9:27). The Antichrist will cause desolation, and then he will be destroyed. Verse 27 focuses on events related to Jesus’ second coming, the Antichrist and his covenant, and the Great Tribulation.
      27“Then he [Antichrist] shall confirm a covenant with many [nations] for one week [7 years]; but in the middle of the week [3½ years] he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering [in the temple]. And on the wing of abominations shall be one [Antichrist] who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate [Antichrist].” (Dan. 9:27)
    2. There is a gap of 2,000+ years between the end of the 69th week and the start of the 70th week. It is the period between Jesus’ first and second coming. I believe the reason the 2,000-year gap is not mentioned by Gabriel is because God’s “prophetic clockar” pauses until the Jewish people are in the land, with a restored Jerusalem (as its governmental capital), and a functioning temple.
    3. After the end of the 70th week, the six blessings announced by Gabriel (v. 24) will be fully manifest on the earth. Thus the negative events in verse 27 are part of God’s answer to Daniel’s prayer for the future blessing of Israel. Wickedness must be brought to the surface worldwide before it can be removed from the earth forever.
    4. The events prophesied in verses 25-26 have all been fulfilled in a way that is easily identifiable. This gives us confidence that the unfulfilled parts will surely come to pass (v. 27). Because verses 25 and 26 came to pass precisely as prophesied, we have confidence that verses 24 and 27 will also come to pass, precisely as it says.
    5. The Antichrist is referred to in two ways—first, as the “prince who is to come” (v. 26c) and second, as “one who make desolate” (v. 27d).
    6. In Daniel 9:27 the Antichrist’s activities include confirming a covenant with many, stopping the sacrifices in the temple, establishing abominable practices, and making desolate—people, places, and institutions (religious, economic, social, legal, military, etc.).
    7. In Daniel 9:24-27 Gabriel revealed three things that God has determined—first, His plan that involves significant events over 70 weeks (490 years, v. 24); second, a war with desolations against Israel in 70 AD (v. 26); and third, judgment to be poured out on the Antichrist (v. 27).
  5. TAKING THE SACRIFICES AWAY  Here as well, the conclusions reached differ from us.  Most of these are conclusions based on previous premises, already shown to be non-conclusive.  While we could refute each point, the prior discourse should suffice.
    1. There are six verses in Daniel that give us information into the daily sacrifices being removed (8:11, 12, 13; 9:27; 11:31; 12:11). When these six verses are considered together (in letting Scripture interpret Scripture), then we can more clearly see the purpose that God intended to be understood related to “taking away” or “bringing an end to” the daily sacrifices in the end times.
    2. In each passage, in which the abomination occurs, a man “takes the sacrifices away.” This is an evil man—he exalts himself seeking to rival Jesus the Prince (8:11); he casts truth down (8:12); he tramples underfoot the temple (8:13); he confirms a deceitful covenant (9:27); he leads forces that defile the temple and places the abomination of desolation in the temple (11:31); and he takes the sacrifices away and sets up the abomination of desolation for 1,290 days (12:11).
    3. The sacrifices being taken away is emphasized each of the four times that Daniel refers the abomination of desolation (8:13; 9:27; 11:31; 12:11).
    4. The sacrifices were stopped by the Roman army in 70 AD, not by Jesus. His death on the cross made them invalid in a spiritual way, but Jesus did not stop them in the way the text demands.
      27“Then he [Antichrist] shall confirm a covenant with many [nations] for one week [7 years]; but in the middle of the week [3½ years] he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. (Dan. 9:27)
    5. 2,000-year gap: Many messianic prophecies have a gap of 2,000+ years between Jesus’ first and second comings. (Isa. 9:6-7; 42:2-4; 61:1-2; Zech. 9:9-10; Mal. 3:1-2; Lk. 3:16-17). Isa. 61:1-2a applies to both comings of Jesus [We disagree on this.  We see that it applied to His first, including the ‘day of vengeance’.], while the second part describes Jacob’s trouble just prior to His return [Further analysis of Matthew 24 and Daniel 11 show the Great Tribulation as 70 AD]. In Lk. 3:16-17, John the Baptist’s prophecy of Jesus’ coming to Israel has a gap.
    6. He: The antecedent of “he” is “the prince that shall come” (v. 26). (It is the last antecedent and, thus, it is the subject of the next verb [Again, this case is contested widely.  The antecedent is ‘the people of the prince who will come’, and ‘the prince who will come’ is a dependant clause of ‘the people’ by way of the preposition ‘of’.  It is hardly conclusive, although it must be to make the case that the commentator desires to make, and so it is presented as an assertion.]). The end-time context of verse 27 points to the Antichrist. His actions and judgment are parallel to the little horn of Daniel 7. “He” is not Titus, Antiochus, or Jesus. None of these three made a covenant with Israel for seven years. No-one has yet fulfilled the details of verse 27, including confirming the seven-year covenant.
    7. Confirm a covenant: The Antichrist [No, Jesus] will confirm a covenant with many nations [nations is the commenator’s interpretation] for seven years. “Many” includes Israel and many Gentile nations. To confirm a covenant is “to make firm” a covenant that already exists. This covenant will be a political alliance that brings peace and safety (1 Thes. 5:3). This covenant will be the primary political event that signals the final seven years of this age.
      For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction [Great Tribulation] comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. (1 Thes. 5:3)
    8. Forerunner messengers will proclaim that a man will confirm a covenant that will bring peace to the Middle East. In conjunction with this covenant, Jewish leaders will be allowed to offer animal sacrifices and initiate the building of the Jewish temple on the Temple Mount in the very place where Islam’s Dome of the Rock (also called the Noble Sanctuary) is located.
    9. One week: This is the final seven years of natural history [That is, of course, the end result of the commentator’s direction.  We fully disagree, on the conclusion of our own reading.], ending with the return of the Lord. This seven-year period is often referred to as “Daniel’s 70th week.”
    10. Middle of the week: The middle of the week speaks of the 3½-year mark, when the Antichrist shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering in the Jerusalem temple. In the middle of the week, or at the beginning of the second half of the 70th week, the Great Tribulation will begin (Mt. 24:21; Rev. 7:14). This is the same 3½-year period referred to in Daniel 7:25.
    11. Bring an end to sacrifice: The Antichrist will stop the sacrifices in the temple. By doing this, he will violate his covenant with Israel in the area that is most sacred to them—their sacrifices.
      1. Some isolate the abomination of desolation and the removing of the sacrifices in 9:27 from how they are defined throughout the book of Daniel. Daniel 9 does not make reference to the Abomination of Desolation.  Reading the KJV demonstrates this, thoroughly.  It’s just not there. Thus, they wrongly conclude that Jesus is making the covenant and stopping the sacrifices. The context in Daniel is of an evil man removing sacrifices and setting up an abomination in the temple (8:11, 12, 13; 9:27; 11:31; 12:11).
      2. The sacrifices were not brought to an end by Jesus in the middle of a seven-year covenant; they were stopped by the Romans, 40 years later, in 70 AD. Jesus did not make a seven-year covenant, but an eternal covenant. The clear antecedent of “he” (9:27) is “the prince that shall come” (9:26), not Jesus.  Jesus ’caused’ the sacrifice to cease by His death, an effect that took a little while to come into being, but it’s cause was still the cross.
      3. The sacrifices being taken away is emphasized each of the four times that Daniel refers to the abomination of desolation (8:13; 9:27; 11:31; 12:11). Every mention of it is identified with a wicked man who stops the sacrifices at the time of the end. Each time it is the Antichrist (or Antiochus as a type of the Antichrist) who is stopping the sacrifices.
      4. Daniel defines the ending of the sacrifices in terms of their physical removal from the temple while an abomination is occurring in the temple at the very same time.
      5. Jesus’ death put an end to the efficacy of animal sacrifices with regard to our forgiveness, but that is not what verse 27 is addressing. He did not stop them in the temple—as the text here demands. The sacrifices here are those taken away for 1,290 days (12:11).
      6. If Jesus was the one who stopped the sacrifices, then Titus must be the one who makes desolate, and who had God’s judgment poured out on him. We read the judgment as being poured out upon the city, not the antichrist, hence, this rebuttal has no founding.  This does not describe Titus. He went on to become emperor and suffered no harm related to the siege of Jerusalem. In other words, the “consummation” of judgment being “poured out on the desolate” does not have an historical fulfillment in Titus. Jesus highlighted this passage as a sign of the Tribulation and His coming, not of events occurring in the first century (Mt. 24:15, 21).
    12. One who makes desolate: The Antichrist is the one who makes desolate (the desolator, NRSV). The KJV and YLT both have the desolate one, not the desolator.  He will do this in various ways that include defiling the temple, killing those who resist him, and causing the cities of the earth to be destroyed. A desolate city is unfit to live in. His atrocities will cause cities to be desolate. This will be the most terrible time in history (7:21-25; 12:1, 7).
      27“On the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate [the desolator, NRSV].” (Dan. 9:27)

      1. Desolation is the state of being desolate or devastated or ruined with utter wretchedness. To be desolate means to be devoid of inhabitants, lifeless, and made unfit for habitation.  On the city already made desolate, the final determined end is finally poured out upon the city, not the antichrist, as we understand it.  This prophecy is about the city and the people, hence, our reading fits in with the declaration of Gabriel in that regard.
      2. His abominations related to the temple will lead to a situation that will cause desolation to come to the earth. The earth will be emptied, or desolate, as a result of his actions.
        The LORD makes the earth empty and makes it waste, distorts its surface and scatters abroad its inhabitants… The land shall be entirely emptied and utterly plundered…  The earth is defiled under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws…  Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell in it are desolate. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left. (Isa. 24:1-6)
      3. Many amillennialists see this desolation as Rome’s destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. But Rome did not put an idol in the temple, and this is an essential part of the abomination of desolation.  Either Antiochus’ idol in the temple was the Abomination, or it wasn’t.  The problem is that it was, which impacts our use of Daniel 8 and 11 in this regard. 
    13. On the wing of abominations: This refers to the Antichrist’s extreme abominations. “On the wing of abominations” is a figure for great or “overspreading abominations” (KJV). The Antichrist will make many desolate by his policies that enforce his extreme abominations.
    14. Consummation: This speaks of the fullness of judgment being poured out on the Antichrist. The cup of wrath will be fully poured out until it reaches to the very end of God’s judgments. He will continue in his abominations and desolating activities until judgment destroys him.
      27“On the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.” (Dan. 9:27)
      Compare to
      and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. KJV
      The KJV has a much different rendering.  It is because of the great abundance of abominations that he, Jesus, makes it desolate.

      1. “Poured out” speaks of a flood of God’s judgment that will destroy the Antichrist (Dan. 7:9-12, 26; 2 Thes. 2:8; Rev 19:19-21). The Antichrist will be unrelenting in causing desolation until the “God-appointed consummation” of fullness of judgment stops him.
      2. God has determined that desolation will be poured out in fullness on the Antichrist. Thus, He will empower Israel army to resist Antichrist’s attacks (Zech. 9:13; 10:3-7; 12:5-8).
    15. Determined: God has determined to pour out judgment on the Antichrist (the desolate one). God only declares His sovereign determination to act in specific ways in dealing with the nations when it relates to something that is of great importance to His global purposes (Isa. 10:23; 19:17; 28:22; Dan. 9:24, 26-27; 11:36; Zech. 1:6; 8:14-15; Jer. 23:20; 30:24).
      “…until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.” (Dan. 9:27) 
    16. Daniel described the Antichrist’s judgment four times, emphasizing that he will be consumed, destroyed, and broken without human means (by divine intervention), and that no military alliance will be able to help him or rescue him from judgment (7:11, 26; 8:25; 11:45). Paul used the same two verbs that Daniel used to describe the Antichrist’s end—consume and destroy (2 Thes. 2:8).
      26“They shall take away his [Antichrist’s] dominion, to consume and destroy it forever.” (Dan. 7:26)
      11“I watched till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame.” (Dan. 7:11)
      25“He shall even rise against the Prince [Jesus]…he shall be broken without human means.” (Dan. 8:25)
      “…yet he [Antichrist] shall come to his end, and no one will help him.” (Dan. 11:45)
    17. Jesus will breathe on the Antichrist (2 Thes. 2:8) to immobilize him, so that he might be captured and thrown alive into the lake of fire (Rev. 19:20). Paul used the same two verbs that Daniel used to describe the Antichrist’s end—consume and destroy (2 Thes. 2:8; Dan. 7:11, 26).  2 Thessalonians 2 most likely refers to a rebel leader in Jerusalem during 70 AD.  This individual was first killed by the breath of Christ in 70 AD, and will later be destroyed in the brightness of His coming, the Second Coming.  One is historical, the other is the future Second Death.
      And then the lawless one [Antichrist] will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. (2 Thes. 2:8)
      20Then the beast [Antichrist] was captured, and with him the false prophet…these two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. (Rev. 19:20)
    18. The Lord Himself will gather the armies of all the ungodly nations to stand against Israel (Joel 3:2, 12; Zech. 12:3; 14:2; Zeph. 3:8; Ezek. 38:4; 39:2).
      “For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem.” (Zech. 14:2)
      “My determination is to gather the nations to My assembly of kingdoms [at Jerusalem], to pour on them My indignation…all the earth shall be devoured with…My jealousy.” (Zeph. 3:8)
    19. In that Day, Jesus will show Himself as the greater Moses when He frees the captives of Israel from prison camps. He will be seen as the greater Joshua when He leads the liberated ones to the promised land, and as the greater David when He wins back Jerusalem and establishes His throne and temple there! He will come as the greater Elijah to confront the Antichrist, cleanse the earth of idolatry, and turn Israel and the nations to God.

We disagree with commentator’s treatment of the antichrist.  We do not see a scriptural, future antichrist, as much modern church sees it.  We see works like AW Pink’s “Antichrist” as imaginative philosophy, and the grouping together of all the evil of the Bible and attempting to create one “end times ‘super-villian'”.  The case for it, Scripturally, though, as we see it, is not there.  As such, we do not follow in much more of the teachings of this series on Daniel, as most of the rest look to Daniel 8, 11, & 12, and we see these are, by and large, historical.  The further case for where we do see many of the individual elements, however, are detailed elsewhere, in the body of our own work, and need not be fully presented here.  Suffice to say, there is nothing conclusive in this argument, provided you take a fresh look at Matthew 24, specifically Matthew 24:29, which was wrongly translated as ‘immediately’.  The word does not imply this in the Greek, and hence, for many years, many wrong conclusions have been drawn on the End Times.  A fresh look at the Olivet Discourse, however, reveals that the 70 AD events of Matthew 24, including the Great Tribulation, are indeed past.  The rest of the development of the eschatology follows on that basis, and largely invalidates large portions of this commentator’s exegesis.  Indeed, had the understanding of ‘eutheos’ in Matthew 24:29 not been given, much of the same conclusions would have had to been reached by us.  Yet, by whatever grace, it is made evident that Matthew 24:29 is indeed separated into two separate groups of events.  For this reason, we separate ourselves from the doctrines of this commentator, and find many of them to have no true basis in the Word of God.