THE PRINCE TO COME
In the book of Daniel the Prophet , in the Old Testament, the 9 th chapter we are given a concise list of events that lead up to what is commonly refered to as "the end times".
Daniel along with his fellow country men , had been taken captive by the king of babylon, there he was given a series of insights and visions concerning the future of the Jewish people, their city Jerusalem and its Temple.
At the time Jerusalem and the Temple had been destroyed by the invading Babylonian army who had captured Daniel and many other jews and taken them into captivity in Babylon itself.
Daniel was visited by an angel who told him of the things that would occur in the future.
Daniel was told that in time the jewish people would return to Jerusalem, and rebuild it and build a new temple ( this refered to the second temple that even stood in Jesus time )
It was explained to Daniel that this would take place in a time of war, and even though the city of Jerusalem would be rebuilt, Daniel's people would have to do this in a time of great trouble.
As it turns out, with the added bonus of hindsight , we know this was indeed the case as they had to have a trowl in one hand and a sword in the other while they undertook to rebuild Jerusalems city wall and build a new temple, under constant attacks from hostile neighbours.
Then the angel told Daniel about the prince/messiah who is killed or cut off ,but not for or because of himself.
This must have been a great puzzle at the time , yet we know it refered to Jesus dying for the sins of all mankind on the cross.
At the beginning of and in each part of the prophecy between events the angel gives a time reference in weeks.
He called it seventy sevens of seventy weeks.
This isnt that important until we get into uncharted time events which we are concerned with.
For we know the second temple was built and Jesus came and died for us all.
Then the angel talks of the destruction of the temple and city yet again.
And he tells who will do it also.
The angel tells daniel :-
The PEOPLE of the PRINCE TO COME WILL DESTROY THE CITY AND THE SANCTUARY
What could this mean?
Well lets look at it in depth,
notice the angel doesnt say the prince will destroy the city and temple , but his people will,
he only says of this prince , that he is to come (future tense)-" is to come."
We know what this mean because of history.
In ad 133, about 90 years after Jesus died , rose and ascended into heaven to be with the Father, the romans came and destroyed the city and the temple .So seeing as we know from Daniels' writing, that the first temple had been destroyed by the babylonians, we know the angel telling him about the destruction of the temple, was refering to what these romans did in ad 133.
THEN
The angel says dramatically,
the end will come like a flood!! meaning very qiuckly, but he adds,
But war shall continue UNTIL the end,
and many desolations and evil things were to occur before that very end would actually come.
That part of the prophecy needs careful attention for the way it is worded is VERY important if you are to understand its meaning fully.
THE END WOULD COME LIKE A FLOOD
BUT
WAR was to continue "UNTIL THE END"
UNTIL is the important part.
For we know from other parts of the word of God that "PEACE AND SECURITY" would be the buzz word just prior to that very end time , and the return of Jesus from heaven, the world will not be saying WAR WAR, as it was and has been since the destruction of the second temple in ad 133 till the present time.
Yet interestiingly enough we are now begining to hear "them "say "PEACE AND SECURITY" just as the Bible said "they "would.
In Another part of the bible another writer called St Paul , wrote of this "end times " also.
He was telling people what would be the big signs leading upto Jesus return from heaven, or his second coming as it is called.
He started by saying that there was no need to try and give dates as it was impossible to do so,
Jesus would return like a thief in the night, a bit like the end coming like a flood only in Jesus case it would be unexpected by most of the world.
They, (the christians Paul was writing to) however , were expecting Jesus to return soon, at any time.
Some even thought they had missed the big event, and st Paul elswhere straightened that out for them also.
back to this though,
St Paul said that just prior to Jesus returning from heaven , the whole world 's leadership would be saying
"PEACE AND SECURITY"
but then unexpectecdly great destruction would come on the world,
and Jesus would return.
So st paul gave a big clue as to what would be happening on earth just before Jesus returned.
A policy of "PEACE AND SECURITY"
WOULD BE THE MAIN THRUST OF WORLD POLITICS.
So Daniel wrote WAR WOULD CONTINUE UNTIL THE END
now we know why UNTIL, the END
for peace and security would be strived for RIGHT AT THE DOOR OF THE END .
Some people think also this strange peace that leads to destruction will be actually achieved for a short period of time.( there are differing opinions on this )
But to continue,-
the angel then says a strange thing , virtually as though he'd been talking incoherently
for he says out of the blue:-
HE SHALL CONFIRM A COVENENT WITH MANY FOR ONE WEEK
( OR AGREEEMENT BETWEEN TWO PARTIES)
( for a relatively short period of time )
THEN IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS WEEK HE SHALL STOP SACRIFICE AND OFFERING
AND HE SHALL SET UP THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION ON THE WING OF THE TEMPLE
9there are different versions of this verse, however the main thrust is this,
a man will make strong ( not make ) a covenent with many,
then stop sacrifices and offering and then set up something horrible on THE WING (specific*)
of THE TEMPLE ( specific*)
(Jesus refered to what DANIEL wrote about this specific event, when he, Jesus was telling his disciples the key signs that would proceed his return to earth.)
Who is this HE?
it is obvious the angel had been talking about this" HE "previously and if we go back through the text we see we have 2 possibilities as to who the angel meant.
firstly we had heard the angel speak of the messaih prince who would be cut off , but not for himself, this means someone who would be killed but not for himself, implying it must be for others.
We know this refered to Jesus or yeshua as his name is said in hebrew.
now if the messaih is cut off it means he died.
But yes he rose from the dead.
but then does this mean the HE is Jesus?
well not likely seeing as this person sets up an abomination.
maybe if you are reading this and dont believe in jesus you may be thinking he could do that.
but wait , i will prove its not refering to him at all.
some christians think the part where it says
HE SHALL CONFIRM A COVENENT WITH MANY FOR ONE WEEK
proves it refers to Jesus,
for they says Jesus MADE the new covenent in his body and blood.
But TO CONFIRM is not to MAKE,
yes Jesus MADE a covenent he didnt just confirm one, as this HE does
also this HE figure stops sacrifice and offering in the middle of this after confirming this covenent.
Jesus never stopped sacrifice or offering.
the jewish temple service wasnt affected by jesus at all,
infact he even refered people to the law by telling them go show the priest , when he healed people .
So Jesus isnt the one.
So we only have the other option,
it must refer to that prince of the people who actually destroyed the city of jerusalem and the temple that Daniels' people had rebuilt.
we know that happened in 133 ad, that was long after jesus had died and rose again in anycase, and then he ascened to Gods right hand and was not on earth anymore.
And this mysterious HE doesnt turn up until the end of this series of events that spans thousands of years.
SO THIS "HE" THE ANGEL SAID WOULD CONFIRM A COVENENT WITH MANY IS THE PRINCE TO COME.
WHEN "HE", THE PRINCE TO COME , ACTUALLY TURNS UP!
what covenent will he confirm?
Remember a covenent is an agreement between two parties
so we have this prince figure coming along and confirming an agreement that is already made.
this covenent has to do with sacrifice and offering this prince stops sacrifice and offering ( that's a big clue)
the old covenent had to do with sacrifice and offering also
another thing that is confusing is the next sentence
HE SETS UP THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION ON A WING OF THE TEMPLE
What temple??
the previous two were destroyed , the first by the babylonians back in daniels time and the second by the people of this prince figure, the romans, back in Jesus time!
so what temple?
This can only mean that by confirming this covenent a new temple is built.
and sacrifice and offering is again given within a temple.
what covenent needs a temple and sacrifice and offering?
the old covenent between God and the jewish people.
So this prince will pretend to be a friend of the jews by making it possible for them to rebuild THE TEMPLE for a third time, and start sacrificing within it,
then he will betray them and set up the abomination of desolation.
the one who sets this up is the anti messiah , the man of sin st paul wrote about and the beast king st john wrote about in the book of revelation , Daniel was told about him by the angel Gabriel who called him THE PRINCE TO COME.
WHO IS THIS PRINCE TO COME?
see next link in index for a possible answer.
