In Part I of Countdown in Daniel, God’s purpose, plan and program are revealed to Daniel in Daniel 9:24-27. A 70-week period (490 years) was prophesied for the program to be completed. From the issue of the command to rebuild Jerusalem, the construction of the city and its walls, and for the coming of the Christ, 69 of the 70 weeks were completed. In the last part of the prophecy, the events of the 70th week are foretold.

With the revelation of the fulfilled prophecies in the Bible, the correlation and exact timing of events become evident. This is evidenced with prophecies concerning Jesus’s life — His birth, death, resurrection and ascension — in exact accordance with the timing of the Jewish holy feasts. In these we find that Jesus was born, crucified, resurrected, and ascended on the time exactly as prophesied, often hundreds of years in the past. God is on time with fulfillment of prophecy. We do not know when the final 70th week prophesied in Daniel will take place. At this time, it has already been close to 2,500 years since it was revealed to Daniel. But we do know, based upon God’s past biblical record of prophetic fulfillment, that it will be on time according to God’s divine plan. “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself” (Daniel 9:26 KJV)¹.  

“Messiah be cut off” refers to the death of Jesus by crucifixion on the cross. “Cut off” also means death by capital punishment, as in the execution of a criminal. (“For he was cut off out of the land of the living” (Isaiah 53:8).) “But not for himself” declares Jesus’s death as a sacrifice and atonement for all the sins of all men throughout the ages.

He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:5-6)

He had done no violence (sin), neither was any deceit ([iniquity) in his mouth (Isaiah 53:9).

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB).

As was mentioned in Part I, the Bible is a book of books containing many stories, but two main themes are pervasive: God’s plan for His chosen people of Israel, and the salvation of a fallen and lost mankind through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

The Messiah was cut off after 69 weeks (483 years) of the 70-week prophetic period that had been fulfilled. With the crucifixion of Christ, God’s clock stopped ticking and the calendar stopped turning pages in God’s program for the nation of Israel. He ceased His dealings with Israel and called a “time out.”

This began an undetermined period of time–which we are still presently in–called the “times of the Gentiles” or the church age; a time when Jesus said there would be wars and rumors of wars as Christians awaited Jesus’s second coming. “Take heed that no man deceive you; for many shall come in my name, saying, ‘I am Christ,’ and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that ye be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” (Matthew 24:4-6 KJ21)

Because of the rejection of their Messiah, a sort of blindness has come upon Israel, and they will not see the miraculous spiritual awakening that is going on around them outside the Old Testament biblical law. “Blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in” (Romans 11:25 KJ21). This phrase “the fullness of the Gentiles” implies the completion of the church, the body of Christ, the bride of the Lamb. This will not be complete until every last brick in the building–every last person whom God only knows–is added to the church during this period. The church age was not revealed to the Old Testament prophets. It was a mystery to them.

And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world [has] been hid in God (Ephesians 3:9).

This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:32).

When the body of Christ is completed during the church age, it will be time for Jesus to come for His church in the rapture. When the rapture occurs, God’s clock for Israel — and the world — starts ticking again and the last and final 70th week, as prophesied in Daniel, will begin. This will also be the beginning of the seven-year period of God’s judgment of Satan, his minions, and the lost of mankind in the Tribulation, as was told to the Apostle John in the Book of Revelation.

In the second part of Daniel 9:26 the 70th week begins (as discussed above) after the Messiah is cut off and an undetermined amount of time passes:

And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined” (Daniel 9:26) (or also read “and unto the end, wars and desolations are determined”).

“The prince that shall come” is not Jesus, the Prince of Peace, but the Antichrist–the false Messiah, the Man of Sin, the lawless one, the son of perdition (unmitigated wickedness). It will be the time when “the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,” who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, “according to the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders” (see 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 and 8-9).  

Refer to Revelation chapter 13 for Scripture relating to the following discussion.

The Antichrist (the first Beast) is a man who rises to great power (after the rapture) out of a “sea” of Gentile nations. He is the antithesis of Jesus Christ. He is Satan incarnate.

In the latter period of their rule, when the transgressors have run their course, a king will arise, insolent and skilled in intrigue. His power will be mighty, but not by his own power, and he will destroy to an extraordinary degree and prosper and perform his will; he will destroy mighty men and the holy people. And through his shrewdness he will cause deceit to succeed by his influence; and he will magnify himself in his heart, and he will destroy many while they are at ease. He will even oppose the Prince of princes. (Daniel 8:23-25 NASB)

He is empowered by Satan (the fiery red dragon of Revelation 12:3) and performs all kinds of miracles and wonders to gain the attention of a war-torn and desperate world on the brink of implosion. Mankind is ripe for his lies, deceit, and false promises of peace and unity. By setting up and unifying a world government and concomitant religion, he paves the way for Satan’s takeover in the second half of the tribulation. As is evident by recent current events and political/religious trends, humankind has just about come to the conclusion that the only solution to the problem of continuous war is a one-world government. The Antichrist will solidify this, as well as a religion favorable to Satan, resulting in the dragon’s penultimate power coup. The Antichrist speaks countless great and obscene blasphemies against God, His tabernacle, and heavenly host. His power dominates all peoples, nations, and languages. Eventually, all those who dwell upon the earth will worship him, with the exception of those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, i.e., those who by faith have accepted salvation through Jesus Christ. Israel–who has been persecuted, beleaguered, and besieged on all sides for an indeterminate amount of time, and anxious for some relief–will enter into a covenant with the Antichrist, who promises them protection, peace, and permission to continue their sacrifices and worship in the temple, bringing with him a proposal of peace that he will put into effect (see Daniel 9:27).

The Antichrist is aided by another powerful satanic being, the false prophet, the second beast, who is described as a lamb–meek, mild and gentle–but who speaks as the dragon. He is the “wolf in sheep’s clothing” as described in Matthew 7:15. The false prophet’s sole role will be as a sort of super-satanic evangelist, and he will work toward the complete dominance of all men on earth by the Antichrist. He strives to uplift the Antichrist, enforce his policies and edicts, and to add credibility to his lies and schemes. He causes all to worship the beast, who receives a mortal wound and then lives. During this time–the first 42 months (3 ½ years) of the Tribulation (the 70th week)–the ultimate act of enforcement is instituted; the requirement that all must receive the mark of the beast in order to buy, sell or conduct commerce. However, this is not merely an economic power play, it is a spiritual one as well, for by receiving the mark men execute the final, irreversible rejection of the Savior and His promise of salvation.

One final note to conclude discussions of verse 26 in Daniel referenced above: the destruction of the city and the sanctuary (temple) which come to their end with a “flood” is felt by some to speak of the utter destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the Roman emperor, Titus, in AD 70. Thousands upon thousands of Jews were annihilated during this event. This does not seem to be consistent with the 69-week timeline discussed in Countdown in Daniel Part I. However, I feel sure those of this opinion have their reasons for this explanation. Others feel it will be the destruction of Jerusalem and the rebuilt temple, which will be constructed some time after the Jews–scattered to the ends of the earth in AD 70–returned to their homeland.

Yea he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down” (Daniel 8:11).

The flood is not a flood of water, as in Noah’s time, but an enormous flood of wrath and evil poured out upon the Jews and their holy place. In either event, “wars and desolation follow to the end” (of times).

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 the sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one (the “desolator”) who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate” (Daniel 9:27 NASB).

At the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him (Daniel 9:27 NIV).

Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains (Matthew 24:15-16 NASB).

And they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that makes desolate (Daniel 11:31; see also Daniel 8:11-13, 12:11).

In Daniel 9:27, the Antichrist is fully in control of a chaotic, plague-ravaged, fallen world locked under his dominion of a one-world governmental religious system. In the second half of the Tribulation, Satan takes full control of the earthly body of the Antichrist and literally indwells him; hence is established the polar opposite of the Holy Trinity (God the Father/Satan, God the Son/Antichrist, Holy Spirit/False Prophet). No longer in need of the unified religious order, Satan does away with this religion described in Revelation 17:5 as “Mystery Babylon, the Mother of Harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth.”

With no religion to block his way among the peoples and nations of the earth, Satan and his minions cast the Jews out of the temple, breaking the covenant promised by the Antichrist with Israel earlier in the 70th year. It is at this point that the “abomination of desolation” is set up in the temple, claiming to the world that he is God. The word “abomination” was commonly used in Hebrew literature of the times to refer to idols or idolatrous worship. Along with his acts of desecration in the face of God, Satan falsely realizes his dream of the millennia–that is, to be worshiped as God.

But you said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north” (Isaiah 14:13).

Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).

And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. (Daniel 11:36-37)

Of course his abominable sacrilegious acts are in full violation in the worst way of the first two commandments in Exodus chapter 20. Since before the dawn of time, Satan’s ultimate fate has been ordained and is sealed. (For further study, refer to Ezekiel 28:13-19 to read about Satan’s beginning, fall and demise.)

He will come to his end, and no one will help him (Daniel 11:39 NASB).

The devil who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are also (Revelation 28:10 NASB).

And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever (Revelation 19:20).

Thus Satan, who has reaped what he has sown among men for millennia–lies deceit, treachery, misery, death, and destruction–will reap for himself what he has sown among others for so long. However, there will be no relenting, no escape, no rest from his torment for eternity.

The abomination of desolation also sets in motion the last seven plagues of the vials or bowls of judgmental wrath which will wreak upon the earth and its inhabitants–destruction, desolation, and torment that the earth has never seen the equal of it or ever will again. Hence, the desolator (Satan) receives the judgment and destruction decreed to fall on him. “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will (Matthew 24:21 NASB).

At this point, I am going to conclude Part II of Countdown in Daniel. In Part III, the conclusion, I will attempt to summarize and highlight the main messages and lessons to take away from this discussion of these very interesting and inspiring passages in God’s Word. Thank you for your patience and for reading.

Holding fast,

Mark

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.(Matthew 5:16)

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¹ All Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.

 

^{Photography by Sven van der Pluijm}