Miriam H re 70th week of Daniel
Thank you for taking the time to respond. You very thoroughly documented the reason Messiah is the person of the 70th week. Nicely done. I can see that your presentation is a complete concept, which is connected to other prophetic verses.
Also, I agree that there likely will be a “peace” agreement between the world powers and Israel and that it is the “covenant with death”. This will be akin to the curse of Balaam and Balak and you have mentioned Balaam. In the eyes of the world this would be a global equivalent to Hitler’s “Final Solution”.
Here is where our thinking begins to differ. Perhaps the false peace agreement is stated to be for seven years. There is now a broad realization that sudden destruction is not in keeping with three-plus years of peace before destruction. Further, three-plus years of peace are hard to correlate to tribulation/trouble.
Therefore, I do not believe the false peace agreement is the covenant referenced in Daniel Ch. 9. Pardon me if you have seen me write this before, but the context of Chapter 9 is quite specific. Daniel’s prayer is specifically regarding God’s covenant with Daniel’s people. That is the covenant Gabriel provides a description about; no other.
Would you agree that the Bible follows the rules of correct grammar? I think this assumption is reasonable. Therefore, the subject of respective chapters and verses will be maintained throughout. This applies to verse 26 as well. If the evil prince appears in verse 26 the subject of the verse must change from the Messiah to the evil prince and back again in verse 27 to the Messiah. Remember that Messiah in Daniel’s time was the prince to come. The people of the prince are those indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The war is the spiritual war we are all engaged in, as charges of Christ, until the determined time:
“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.”
It is easier to see this when referencing Strong’s for the Hebrew definitions. Nevertheless, it comes down to identifying the prince as Messiah through the entire message. One would not introduce a second prince in a verse without clarifying the identities.
Finally, I will suggest you have followed a path of circular logic regarding the “seven years” of evil as applied to Daniel. It is as if you are declaring that, “There is a seven year period, so this is where it is.” No offense, it is hard to separate what we have been taught from direct reading of scripture. While I, too, see room for a seven year period I believe it will involve the stewardship of Christ and the start of the Millennial Kingdom, not the ruler ship or dominion of the Son of Perdition/Beast.
Interesting that the longest prophetic period of days spelled out in Daniel is 2300 days; about 2/3 of a year short of seven, and this in another chapter of Daniel. These 2300 days regard the dominion of the Beast, which has likely begun.
Christ’s Love to you and your study,
GM