"CONFIRMING THE COVENANT"
Daniel 9:27 states: "And he ('the prince that shall come' [Daniel 9:26] the
Antichrist) shall confirm the covenant with (the) many for one week: and in the
midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease". This short but meaningful sentence comes at
the end of one of the most significant prophetic passages in all of Scripture,
for Daniel 9:24-27 gives the precise unfolding of Hebrew history as given to
the prophet Daniel by the angel Gabriel.
This statement speaks of a future covenant
that the Antichrist will make with the 'many'
or the majority of Daniel's people the nation of Israel. Isaiah prophetically reveals the true nature
of this agreement in Isaiah 28:14-19 and calls it "a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement"
(Isaiah 28:15). Even though it will
be seen as a protective measure for the Jews at that point in time, it will
bring about the exact opposite at the midst of Daniel's Seventieth Week when
the Antichrist reveals his true identity and purpose!
In the interim, during the first 3-1/2
years of Daniel's 70th Week,
this covenant will bring a false sense of security to the Jews as they trust in
the promises of man rather than the promises of God. Amos 9:10 reveals the attitude of the people
of Israel
in the last days when God says: "All
the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not
overtake nor prevent us." Here the Jews proudly proclaim that no
wicked thing will catch up to them, or face them in these last days.
Ezekiel 38:11, also in an end-times
passage, shows just the opposite as the army from the north approaches the Jews
who are living in false security, peacefully, without protection against
dangerous intruders:
"I will go up
to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest that dwell
safely, all of them dwelling without walls, an having neither bars nor
gates."
The promise of peace, along with the
humanistic religious fervor of that day, will be the final push necessary to
bring about the "falling away"
of Israel recorded in Daniel 11:30 and II Thessalonians 2:3 as they place their
full loyalty in the Antichrist. This
total abandonment of the God of their fathers by the majority of the Jews will
open up the opportunity for the Antichrist to gain political/religious
influence and make his way up to 'the top rung'
of the political/religious ladder of the world, giving him full and
complete access to the temple in Jerusalem! (II Thessalonians 2:4)
And, it all starts with the unprecedented
confirming of the covenant. This act on
the part of the physical people of God, the nation of Israel, will set in
motion God's prophetic time-clock, initiating the 70th Week of Daniel, the last seven years of the
times of the Gentiles when God again begins to deal with the Jews corporately
as a nation, causing them to atone for their sin, as prophesied by Daniel
almost 2600 years ago:
"Seventy weeks
are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the
transgression, and to make and end of sins, and to make reconciliation for
iniquity"(Daniel 9:24).
What an exciting time to be alive!
It is marvelous to witness the events
unfolding in Israel
and around the world as God brings together His people and unseals His end
times truths from the book of Daniel! He is preparing His people for His return
when He will remove the saints by Rapture and bring His Day of the Lord
judgment to planet earth and its unbelieving and unrepentant inhabitants.
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