70 Weeks Prophecy (Part 9) – Dan 9:26

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1.      Dan 9:26 – “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.”

A.    “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off,“

1. The 62 weeks (threescore and two weeks) was the period after the first 7 weeks (Dan 9:25).
2. Therefore, the Messiah would be cut off after 69 weeks (7+62).
3. Remember, we are dealing with “weeks” (7 year periods).
4. The Messiah would be cut off after 69 weeks.
5. After adv. – 2. Of time: Subsequently, at a later time; afterwards.
6. What week comes after the 69th week?
7. The 70th week, of course.
8. Therefore, the Messiah would be cut off during the 70th week.

iii.    To be cut off is to be put to death (Gen 9:11 c/w Gen 7:21).

1. Therefore, the Messiah would be put to death during the 70th week by being “cut off out of the land of the living” (Isa 53:8).
2. This single fact (that Christ died during the 70th week) utterly obliterates the interpretation of the Premillennial Dispensationalists who claim that the 70th week is yet future.

B.     “…but not for himself:“

1. The Messiah would not be cut off for himself.
2. The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23).
3. The Messiah had no sin (1Pe 2:22).
4. Therefore, death had no claim on Him.
5. Jesus Christ was cut off for His people.
6. He laid down His life for them (Joh 10:15, 17-18).
7. He gave Himself for an offering and a sacrifice to God for them (Eph 5:2).
8. He was made sin for them (2Co 5:21).
9. He died for their sins (1Co 15:3).

iii.    Christ was not cut off for His own sins, but “for the transgression of my people was he stricken” (Isa 53:8).

1. This constituted the crowning sin of Israel in finishing the transgression.
2. By this means He accomplished the end of sins, made reconciliation for iniquity, and brought in everlasting righteousness.

C.     “…and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;“

1. The prince that would come was Titus who was the son of the emperor Vespasian.
2. Titus was the commander of the Roman army (the people) that destroyed Jerusalem in 70AD.
3. This is a historical fact verified by the Jewish historian Josephus and others.
4. Titus was called the prince in that he was the commander of the Roman army and later became the Emperor of the Roman Empire.
5. Dispensationalists claim that “the prince that shall come” is some future prince which will be in league with the antichrist, or possibly even the antichrist himself.
6. They claim that Dan 9:27 teaches that he will make a covenant with the nation of Israel for seven years (the 70th week).
7. He will then break the covenant with them after 3.5 years (in the midst of the 70th week) and will cause the sacrifices to cease in the rebuilt (3rd) temple.

iii.    This interpretation is absurd on many levels.

1. Firstly, it separates the 70th week from the 69th week by 2000+ years.

(i)     I have already proved that Christ was cut off during the 70th week.

(ii)   That simple fact obliterates this foolish interpretation.

1. Secondly, “the prince that shall come” is the prince of the people that destroyed Jerusalem and the temple.

(i)     It is a historical fact that it was the Romans who destroyed Jerusalem.

(ii)   Therefore, “the prince that shall come” must be a Roman prince.

(iii) The Roman empire ceased to exist about 1500 years ago.

(iv) How is a prince of the Roman people who destroyed Jerusalem (who don’t exist anymore) going to come (from where?) and make a covenant with Israel?

1. Thirdly, it completely changes the entire meaning of the 70 weeks prophecy.

(i)     It makes the antichrist the focus of the prophecy instead of Christ.

(ii)   It removes the events of the prophesy from the distant past to the uncertain future.

D.    “…and the end thereof shall be with a flood,“

1. God’s judgment of sinners is as a flood which takes them away (Psa 90:5-7).
2. Destruction by invading armies is referred to as a destroying flood (Isa 8:7-8; Isa 59:19; Jer 46:8; Jer 47:2-4).

iii.    The Roman armies destroyed Jerusalem with overflowing force like a raging flood that swept away everything in its path (Luk 19:41-44).

E.     “… and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.“

1. Desolation – 1. The action of laying waste a land, etc., destroying its people, crops, and buildings, and making it unfit for habitation; utter devastation; an act or occasion of this kind.
2. There would be desolations in Jerusalem while it was besieged until the end of the war with the Romans.
3. This war lasted 3½ years beginning in 66 A.D. and ending with the final overthrow of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
4. An historical account of this war is found in the writings of Flavius Josephus entitled, interestingly enough, Wars of the Jews.
5. The Roman armies invading and destroying Jerusalem was called the abomination of desolation (Luk 21:20 c/w Mat 24:15).

iii.    These desolations were determined upon the people and city of Daniel because of their rejection of the prophets, Christ, and His apostles.

1. Their rejection of the Messiah and their subsequent punishment were foretold (Act 4:10-11, 25-28 c/w Psa 2:1-5; Act 13:27, 40-41).
2. Our Lord predicted these very desolations in Mat 23:37-38 and Luk 21:20-24 declaring them to be the fulfillment of that which was written (Isa 6:9-12; Dan 9:26).
3. When God determines desolations upon a people, there is no escape!
4. Behold! The Jews lost their church.  Beware lest you lose yours (Rom 11:22).