Daniel 9:26-27 “Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”
Compare two people mentioned in the original Hebrew, “Messiah” and “prince”. In the Hebrew, the term for “Messiah” is mashiyach. Per Strong’s Concordance it means: anointed, anointed one, of the Messiah, Messianic prince, of the king of Israel, of the high priest of Israel. This describes Jesus, He is a king and a priest of the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 7).
In the Hebrew, the term for “prince” is nagiyd. It means: leader, ruler, captain, or prince.
There is clearly a difference in prominence and prestige.
Messiah will be cut off… At the time of the writing of Daniel (approximately 606 BC to 539 BC), the idea of the Messiah being on the scene was prophetic. Messiah had yet to appear to Israel. Messiah Jesus Christ was 500-600 years away. This had to be confusing to readers, a Messiah who was going to be killed and have nothing to show.
This verse says the Messiah will be “cut off” or karath in the Hebrew. According to Strong’s Concordance karath means: to cut, cut off, cut down, cut off a body part, cut out, eliminate, or kill. Cut a covenant. This is exactly what Jesus did with His death on the cross. He was eliminated and killed at that time. With His death, He cut a blood covenant for the sins of the world.
the prince who is to come… Who are the people of this prince? In 70 AD, the Romans laid siege to Jerusalem and completely leveled the city. Many think the antichrist will come from a revived Roman Empire. In the western world, many assume this person will come from Europe. Look at a map of the Roman Empire. It is a large area of land. There is more to the Roman Empire than Italy. There is an eastern leg to the Roman Empire. The capital of the Roman Empire was moved to Constantinople, a city patterned after Rome. This eastern area included modern day Turkey, Syria, and Iraq.
This geographic area also provides for the antichrist being Jewish. Early church writers including Irenaeus and Hippolytus looked to a Jewish antichrist and backed their positions with Scripture (The Truth Behind Left Behind, Hitchcock and Ice).
There is another coming in the future of today’s time (November 2014) who will take Jerusalem again. Who is this guy going to be? Where will he come from?
will destroy the city and the sanctuary… The Hebrew grammar is clear. The false prince will be the agent of destruction and ruin Jerusalem. This verse also implies there will be a future Temple in Jerusalem. It is called the qodesh in the Hebrew. Translated, the “holy”. In the New Testament, Jesus confirms the “holy place” in Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14.
And its end will come with a flood… SUDDENLY! The Apostle Paul makes reference to the suddenness of the destruction in 1 Thessalonians 5:3 While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.
