Chapter 1
The traditional KJV interpretation of the Angel Gabriel’s message to Daniel is as follows: “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate,” Daniel 9:27. Can you understand the message relayed? The failure to give a clear accurate interpretation of this passage is a cause for concern. Who is the “he” in this passage? Modern day translators declare that the “he” is the Anti-Christ, yet according to proper interpretation the subject here is the anointed prince. This switch has flipped the meaning of current Prophecy projections and warnings.
The verse prior to verse twenty-seven states: “After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed Prince will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the commander (Anti-Christ) who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.” The “appointed prince” is in the singular whereas the “people of the coming commander” is in the plural tense. The “he” in verse 27 is also in the singular and therefore refers to the “appointed prince” and not to the “people of the commander.” The appointed prince is also the main subject and since verses 26 and 27 belong in the same paragraph or in the same line of thought, the “he” in verse twenty-seven must be the “Anointed Prince.” He, the Anointed Prince and not the commander, “shall confirm the Covenant with many for one week.” The word “confirm” is also incorrect. We will see that the correct interpretation is the word, “prevails.”
The commander’s army is the enemy of the Jews and will “destroy both the city (Jerusalem) and the Temple.” The commander will not confirm a covenant. This flip in translation caused teachers, pastors, and authors around the world to misinterpret one of the most important prophecies in the Word of God. Following the crowd is not a good excuse. It is important for everyone to understand that the New Covenant prevails and not this inauspicious commander and his people. The “anointed prince” is Jesus Christ who is in Heaven directing Gabriel to make this important announcement to Daniel. Why would Jesus ignore sharing the purpose of His birth, mission, and resurrection which prevails against sin and death and all forms of wickedness, anxiety, and fear? Why would Jesus ignore his own Promise to Israel and waste time announcing Satan’s future commander and covenant?
The Archangel Gabriel also gave important messianic announcements to the Temple priest Zechariah and to the Virgin Mary. It would be out of character for him to digress from the theme of this divine message to introduce an Anti-Christ as the Covenant maker. Why would God’s heavenly messenger skip the Messiah’s New Covenant that would end all sacrifices and offering? Why would he skip the message of hope and steadfast love that God was conveying to His exiled nation? And why would Garbriel ignore the “desolation” that Christ would suffer at the hands of this coming “commander?” The entire message recorded by Daniel would also comfort future Jewish generations that would go through four hundred years of silence and severe trials.
We should note three mistakes in translation: 1) The correct Hebrew translation for the verb “gabar” is not the word “confirms” but is the more commanding word “prevails.” In the Hebrew Lexicon the word gabar is defined as “to cause to overpower.” Thus, verse 27 should read: “His Covenant will prevail with many for one week.” The New Covenant of Grace “prevails” as the Anointed Prince defeats Satan in the wilderness, sets the captives free, brings sight to the blind, defeats death, and redeems humanity. Jesus is the 2nd Adam born fully man and fully God. He has come to reclaim the right of dominion from Satan and save mankind. Using the word “confirm” would carry less power and authority. God prevails and overcomes Satan, sin and death through Jesus Christ and His Covenant of Grace. The New Covenant prevails over the Old Testament but does not abolish it.
2) We can interpret the 2nd part of verse twenty-seven as: “and He will be made desolate on the wings of abomination.” Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah who fulfills all prophecy and therefore is the suffering servant who is made desolate. An obvious way to translate this entire passage is, “The covenant shall prevail for many for one week. In the middle of the week, He (Jesus Christ) shall cause the sacrifices and offerings to cease, and upon the wing of abomination He shall be made desolate.” Jesus Christ was “made desolate” when He was betrayed by Judas, abandoned by his disciples, denied by Peter, and when he appeared alone before the High Priest who blasphemed God, the Jewish people that rejected him over Barabas, and Pilate who condemned Him. He was again “made desolate” when he had to carry the cross on which he had been nailed to and died on, bearing the sins of all mankind past, present, and future. Nobody in history has been made so desolate for the sake of others.
“The wings of Abomination” refers to the location or locations where this atrocity took place. The majority of Christ’s physical torture and mocking began in the Roman Antonia and ended on the Cross which are both located in the Northwestern “wing” of Mount Moriah. This “wing of abomination” could also refer to the Garden Tomb which is also on Mount Moriah but further away. Both are outside the city wall or on a wing outside the body of the Temple and Temple court. In each case the Lord “was made desolate on the wing of abomination.”
3) It is unfortunate that verse twenty-seven is one of the most misinterpreted verses in the entire Bible. In some versions the word “destroyed” replaces the word “desolate.” Again, “destroyed” is the wrong word to use for we know that Christ cannot be destroyed. He is “made desolate” when he is beaten up, scourged, and placed on a cross where He redeems the sins of the world. Jesus Christ is not “destroyed.” This incorrect translation is a result of improper interpretation throughout the Daniel 9:26-27 passage.
Improper translation in the book of Daniel leads to wrong conclusions made in studying and teaching the book of Revelation. These Prophecy teachers claim that Revelation foretells of an Abomination of Desolation in an “end time Temple” in Jerusalem. This is a false narrative, for the book of Revelation does not mention the Abomination of Desolation. These teachers refer to Revelation 13:8-14, which speaks of the first beast, “all who inhibit the earth will worship him” and the second beast “is empowered to give life to the image of the beast.” They claim this worship and image coming to life has to happen in a future Temple built on the Temple Mount. And they suggest that these events are the Abomination of Desolation. Note that the book of Revelation does NOT state the location where these events happen. They could happen at the Vatican or in any place on earth.
Note that John the Apostle authored the Book of Revelation 20 years after the real Abomination of Desolation happened in Jerusalem in 67 AD. That is why it is not part of John’s vision given to him by Jesus Christ and portrayed in the book of Revelation. Both Paul and Jesus warned about the abomination of desolation because it had not happened. It would happen soon after Nero executed Paul in 67 AD. Jesus warned his disciples about Nero’s abomination of desolation and told them to flee before a three-and-a-half-year Roman siege would trap them in the city walls. In 70 AD Titus, “the commander” destroyed the Temple and killed the survivors of the siege.
In summary the main theme of Gabriel’s message in about 532 BC was to announce to Daniel and to those who read Daniel’s scroll that a specific time was set for the Messiah to appear. This Messiah or Prince is Jesus Christ who ministers for half a week, or 3.5 years and then he is crucified near the end of this period. This represents the first 3.5-years. His death and resurrection end the need for sacrifices and offerings. During this “desolation” He redeems mankind. The Resurrection ends the need for a Temple since Jesus Christ is “the Temple” that He said would be “raised up after 3 days” and He is the New Covenant that redeems all those who place their trust in Him. He told the Pharisees that the “Kingdom of God is within us.” All who receive Him have become the spiritual “Temple of God.”
Furthermore, the second 3.5-year period entitled “The Wrath of God” by Jesus Christ, John, and Paul was orchestrated by God from the beginning of Time to occur in the last generation. We are that last generation as defined by the parable of the Fig tree in Matthew 24. This parable and the Great Sign of Revelation 12 are interpreted in the author’s first book: Cosmic Crossroad Countdown: the Fig Tree and the Prophetic Generation. Our generation began with the birth of the nation of Israel and comes at the end of the Church age. The Church age represents a 2000-plus-year span of time, like the 69-week span of time in Daniel’s 70-week Prophecy. This means that the final 3.5-year period of Daniel’s 70th week may happen at any moment in the future. This will happen after the rapture and at a time when the Wrath of God will judge the sin of the world. Jesus discusses this final 3.5-year period of “Wrath” in his Olivett Discourse and never mentions any future 7-year period. Again, we must note that even though Jesus referred to Daniel’s 70-weeks prophecy, He did not warn of a “Wrath of God” that would last 7 years. He infers that his ministry represents the first half of the 7-year period. This will be detailed in Chapter 3.
Jesus warned His followers to look for the “desolation” spoken of by “Daniel the prophet.” This desolation began when Nero placed his image in the Temple in 67 AD and executed both Peter and Paul. The Roman siege of Jerusalem continued into 70 AD when the Roman commander Titus finally breached the walls and desecrated the Temple by burning it down. In 2 Thessalonians 2:4, Paul wrote, “He opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped, to that he sits as God in the temple of God, setting himself up as God.” The final desecration would happen in 70 AD or 38 years after Jesus gave his Olivett Discourse in Matthew 24. Those in Jerusalem who did not flee with “just the clothes on their back” would die in Jerusalem. That is why Jesus warned his disciples to quickly leave Jerusalem when they saw Nero “set himself up as God” in the Temple.
Twenty years after the 70 AD destruction of Jerusalem, John the Apostle wrote in Revelation about a time of “great tribulation” that would last 3.5 years. The “Abomination of Desolation” had already happened in Jerusalem and now Jesus Christ returning from Heaven gives John a vision of end time events that will happen on earth and in Heaven. Chapters 11, 12, and 13 describe events that last a total of three-and one-half years. Jesus does not describe any 7-year period of tribulation nor any 7-year “Wrath of God.” Surely this detailed vision would reveal something about a 7-year judgment or wrath to come. This clearly suggests that Jesus Christ fulfilled the first 3.5 years of the 70th week and therefore was the Covenant Maker who ended sacrifices and offerings for eternity.
In conclusion Word of God reveals that we will be looking forward to a three-and one-half-year Wrath of God and not to a “7-Year Wrath of God” popularized by the futurist prophecy movement. Jesus Christ has fulfilled the first 3.5 years of Daniel’s 70th Week Prophecy. This means that both the “covenant” and the betrayal following that covenant by a so-called commander or anti-Christ figure will not happen in the future. What Jesus and Paul described as “abomination of desolation” happened in their generation, in 67 AD under the leadership of Nero and eventually Titus. Therefore, the Abomination of Desolation spoken of by Jesus in the Olivette Discourse and by Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians has already been fulfilled. The covenant that Gabriel announces is the New Covenant given unconditionally to all who receive Jesus Christ as Savior. We are not looking forward to an “abomination of desolation” that Darby and others claim will happen in a Temple on the Temple Mount. Both the Jews and secular believers do not want a Temple. What appears to be a minor issue has become a major deviation of Truth concerning the whole of end time Biblical Prophecy.
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