The people of the prince to come

Submitted by Michael S (United States), May 21, 2018 at 21:00

Hi, Peter

The "covenant" thing:

Daniel 9:
[24] Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
[25] Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
[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.
[27] 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.

You did not pick an easy-to-decipher passage. Let me try, though:

"from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times."

When was "the commandment to restore..."? A Christian apologist says,

"And, if we start at 456 B.C. for the "going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem", the 483 years of the 70 weeks prophecy brings us to about 27 A.D., which is, by most estimates, very near the time when Jesus began his public ministry."

http://www.letgodbetrue.com/bible/prophecy/cyrus-decree-to-rebuild.php

Let's take that at face value, just to avoid more argument than we need on the subject.

[26] And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself... (Jesus' death) ...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.

The city and the sanctuary were destoryed in 70 CE, destroyed by Titus, the Roman-Emperor-to=be. He was therefore the "prince". Who were his "people"?

" A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death, thus becoming the first Roman emperor to come to the throne after his own biological father...

"Vespasian was from an equestrian family that rose into the senatorial rank under the Julio–Claudian emperors...."

"Titus Flavius T. f. Sabinus was the father of the emperor Vespasian.

"Sabinus was the son of Titus Flavius Petro and his wife, Tertulla, and was an eques from Reate in the Sabine region of Italy. He served as a customs official and then as a banker in the province of Asia, where he was honoured with statues dedicated "To an Honest Tax-gatherer", and later as a banker at Aventicum among the Helvetii in Gaul, where he died..."

-- Wikipedia

Need I say more? The "people of the prince" were the Romans. In 800 CE, Charlemagne was crowned the "Holy Roman Emperor"; and from his loins came all the rulers of Europe. All Westerners, then, including Americans, could thus be considered "Romans", or "people of the prince".

I suppose you believe, as do many Evangelicals, that the second half of the last "week" will happen in the End Times. I think I see your logic here, that Trump is "confirming the covenant" with the Evangelicals and Jews now, in preparation for a "surprize" in the near future. That could happen. That's why I don't worship Trump or his miracle worker, Jared Kushner. Stranger things have happened. It's possible. Then again, Messiah may not return for many years. Our job is to watch and wait, and to endure to the end. Great persecution is coming, and I don't expect to be "raptured" out of it.

Shalom shalom :-)

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".