August 27: OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE WAR (part 1)

And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined. Daniel 9:26

History’s fulcrum is set in that amazing 70th week of the seventy weeks. It came right on time and began at the baptism of Jesus in the fall of 27AD. The first phrase of today’s verse centers upon Jesus, the Anointed. He was cut off when He died on the cross, but not for Himself. He did it for us. The sinless Lamb of God took upon Himself the sin of the world and paid a death penalty in the stead of repentant sinners, for the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23 – see also Genesis 2:17).

Now is a good time to learn of the A/B format that often appears in poetic Hebrew literature: an intermingling of two contrasting subjects, subject A and subject B. In today’s opening verse above, we begin with subject A: Messiah.

Now we move into subject B: And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined. This is a reference to the Roman army under Titus. Jesus speaks of this horrific event in Matthew 24:15-20 and Luke 21:20-21. Take note: the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple which happened in 70AD foreshadows the worldwide, end-time tribulation just before the return of Jesus.

The end of [the sanctuary] was with a [literal] flood of blood. The unconverted Jews who had ignored Jesus took refuge in the temple when the Romans came. The Romans set fire to the temple, then waited for those who ran out and slaughtered them before they even got down the steps.

Till the end of the war desolations are determined. Forewarned is forearmed. We are in a war! We have a crafty enemy who is using every possible underhanded method to derail the faith of men.

Back to subject A: Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. (v.27a) In the original Hebrew and Greek, there is no capitalization or punctuation. But in our English, it can be quite helpful if it is correctly done. We are back to the subject of Jesus, and that first he should be capitalized. Jesus confirmed the covenant with the Jews personally for the first half of the 70th week, and His disciples continued bearing witness for the second half of the week (Hebrews 2:3). During this time, many Jews came to Christ! The end of the climactic 70th week, in the fall of 34AD, is vividly marked by the very public and collective rejection of Jesus by the Jewish nation through their chosen leaders (Acts 7:57).

When Jesus died on the cross, in the spring of 31AD, He [brought] an end to the sacrificial system; this system was officially declared ended by the hand of God:

Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split. Luke 23:45; Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38

…TO BE CONTINUED