"After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. “While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts."
--- Daniel 7:7-8 ---
Review
In my earlier blog titled "Four Great Beasts!" I talk about the vision of the "four great beasts coming from the sea" that the prophet Daniel had (Daniel 7:1-8) during the first year of Belshazzar, King of Babylon (504 B.C.). Each beast is a kingdom that ruled the earth:
The first beast (Daniel 7:4) is the Neo-Babylonian Empire (605-539 B.C.).
The second beast (Daniel 7:5) is the Medo-Persian Empire (539-331 B.C.).
The third beast (Daniel 7:6) is the Graeco-Macedonian Empire (331-30 B.C.).
The fourth beast (Daniel 7:7-8) is the Roman Empire.
Ancient Roman Empire (30 B.C.-A.D. 476).
Revived Roman Empire - still to come.
There was definitely something very different about the fourth beast. God revealed the following to Daniel:
This beast had ten horns (Daniel 7:7).
A little horn came up among the ten horns (Daniel 7:8).
Three of the first ten horns were pulled out by the roots before the little horn (Daniel 7:8).
The little horn possessed eyes like those of a man and was uttering great boasts (Daniel 7:8).
The little horn was larger in appearance than its associates (Daniel 7:20).
The little horn waged war with the saints and was overpowering them (Daniel 7:21).
The ten horns are ten kingdoms that arise from the fourth beast (Daniel 7:24).
The little horn is also a kingdom, which will arise after the ten kingdoms and will subdue three kings (Daniel 7:24).
"He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. ‘But the court will sit for judgment, and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever'" (Daniel 7:25-26).
Has history revealed that this entire prophecy was fulfilled either before or after the birth of Jesus Christ? Some say that it was fulfilled by Antiochus Epiphanes, Greek king of the Seleucid Empire who reigned over Syria (175-164 B.C.). To avoid a war between the two major factions within Judaism - the Hellenists (they accepted the pagan practices of the Graeco-Macedonian Empire) and the Traditionalists (they were faithful to the Mosaic Law), Epiphanes outlawed Jewish rites and worship by ordering the Jews to worship Zeus rather than Yahweh. He setup an alter to Zeus in the temple and had swine sacrificed on the altar. The Jews expressed outraged over this horrifying act. As a result, Epiphanes slaughtered a large number of Jews and sold others into slavery. He ordered them to sacrifice to pagan gods and to eat pig flesh or they will be executed. You can honestly say that Antiochus Epiphanes waged war with the saints and overpowered them. A revolt led by Judas Maccabeus (167-166 B.C.) resulted in a series of victories of Jewish military forces over Antiochus Epiphanes. After removing Epiphanes and the Seleucids from power, the Jews cleansed the temple and restored temple worship to Yahweh in 165 B.C.
You could make a case that the prophetic vision given to Daniel of the fourth beast and its little horn was fulfilled by Antiochus Epiphanes approximately 330 years later. However, this event occurred during the reign of the third beast, not the fourth.
Others say that this prophecy was fulfilled in A.D. 70 when 30,000 Roman soldiers, under General Titus, destroyed Jerusalem and the temple following a four-year revolt by the Jews against their Roman occupiers. This particular event was prophesied by Jesus approximately 40 years earlier - "Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. And He said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down” (Matthew 24:1-2).
However, the apostle John was given the same prophecy that Daniel received in his vision, but with additional details, approximately 650 years later (around A.D. 95). John's prophecy is recorded in the last book of the Bible - "The Revelation of Jesus Christ" or, for the purpose of keeping the reference to this book short, the book of Revelation.
Since history does not record the fulfillment of Daniel's and John's prophecies after the first century A.D., coupled with the fact that the ancient Roman Empire fell in A.D. 476, then it is logical to conclude that these prophecies will be fulfilled in a future revived Roman Empire, but when and for how long?
Prophetic Timeline
We get a hint how long the little horn "will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One." The saints will be given into the hands of the little horn: "for a time, times, and half a time" (Daniel 7:25). The word "time" indicates an indefinite period. The length of this period is based on the context of the scripture it is found in. Revelation 13:5 gives a very concise time frame - "There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him." We see this again in Revelation 11:2 - “Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread underfoot the holy city for forty-two months." Forty-two months is equivalent to three and a half years. Thus, "time" is one year, "times" is two years, and "half a time" is half a year. Thus, the "little horn" will speak out against God and "wage war" with the saints and "overpower them" (Daniel 7:21) for three and a half years.
But when exactly will all this happen? It depends on which view of the end times you hold to:
Amillennialism - views the 1000-year reign of Christ (Revelation 20:1-7) on earth as a spiritual kingdom, not a literal earthly kingdom. This spiritual kingdom was inaugurated during the first coming of Christ a little over 2000 years and will be consummated when He returns. This view teaches that the Church replaces the promises given to Israel in the Old Testament.
Postmillennialism - sees the second coming of Christ after a "millennium," a golden age of Christian prosperity and dominance. The "millennium" is defined as a very long period of time, not a literal 1000 years. This view teaches that Christians, not Christ Himself, will establish the kingdom on earth thus getting it ready for Christ to return. This view also teaches that the Church replaces the promises given to Israel in the Old Testament.
Historic/Classic Premillennialism - the 1000-year reign of Christ is a literal 1000-year period. Christ will return to earth (Matthew 24:29-31) and will rule the families of the earth from His glorious throne in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 43:4-7; Zechariah 14:4,9, 16-17; Matthew 25:31-32). This view, like Amillennialism and Postmillennialism, teaches that the Church replaces the promises given to Israel in the Old Testament.
Dispensational Premillennialism - this view is very similar to the Historic/Classic Premillennialism view. The big difference is that Israel and the Church are separate and distinct entities. Christ will fulfill His promises to Israel of land (Abrahamic Covenant - Genesis 12:1-3,15:17-21) and a King to sit on the Throne (Davidic Covenant - 2nd Samuel 7:8-17, 1st Chronicles 17:11-14, 2nd Chronicles 6:16) during His millennial reign on earth. These covenants have yet to be fulfilled.
I hold to the Dispensational Premillennialism view because it is the only view that is consistently taught within all of the scriptures - from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21. The term "thousand years" is mentioned six times in Revelation 20:1-7, making it pretty difficult to not take it literally. God has not rejected His people, in spite of their rejection of Christ during His first coming. "I (the apostle Paul) say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?" (Romans 11:1-2).
Jesus said that "a great tribulation" period (Matthew 24:21-22) will occur followed by the return of the Son of Man who will come "on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory" (Matthew 24:29-30). When He returns, "He will sit on His glorious throne" and judge the nations that are "gathered before Him" (Matthew 24:31, 25:31-32).
"Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years" (Revelation 20:4).
Those who will reign with Christ for a thousand years were either beheaded because of their testimony or did not worship the beast or his image and did not receive the mark of the beast. All this occurs during the "great tribulation" period, prior to the physical and glorious return of Christ to earth which happens "immediately after the tribulation of those days" (Matthew 24:29).
When will the "great tribulation" period occur and when will the forty-two months begin and end? The best place to start answering this question is Daniel 9:24-27 - the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks.
Daniel 9:24
“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place."
The Hebrew word for "week" is heptad - seven periods of time (days, years), depending on the scriptural context. In Ezekiel 45:21 a week is a period of seven days - "In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall have the Passover, a feast of seven (heptad) days; unleavened bread shall be eaten." The context of Daniel 9:24-27 points to a week as a period of seven years. "Seventy weeks" is seventy times seven (490) years.
Earlier in Daniel chapter 9, Daniel prayed the following:
"I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed and said, “Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances. “Moreover, we have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, our fathers and all the people of the land. “Righteousness belongs to You, O Lord, but to us open shame, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against You. “Open shame belongs to us, O Lord, to our kings, our princes and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. “To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him; nor have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His teachings which He set before us through His servants the prophets. “Indeed, all Israel has transgressed Your law and turned aside, not obeying Your voice; so, the curse has been poured out on us, along with the oath which is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against Him" (Daniel 9:4-11).
All Israel transgressed the law that God gave to Moses. They rebelled against their God, disobeyed His voice, did not walk according to His teachings as spoken through His prophets - all Israel sinned against God! As a result, God took them into captivity for seventy years to serve the king of Babylon as prophesied by Jeremiah:
“Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘Because you have not obeyed My words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them and make them a horror and a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. ‘Moreover, I will take from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. ‘This whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years" (Jeremiah 25:8-11).
The end of the seventy years in captivity in 539 B.C. signaled the initial end of Jerusalem's desolations. King Cyrus of Persia allowed those in captivity to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple (2nd Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4). In answer to Daniel's prayer, the angel Gabriel (Daniel 9:21) gave Daniel a timeline explaining when the ultimate desolations of Jerusalem would come to a final end.
The "Seventy weeks" that have been decreed for "your people" ("my people Israel" - Daniel 9:20) and "your holy city" ("O Jerusalem, the holy city" - Isaiah 52:1) has six objectives:
>> "to finish the transgression" - the verb "to finish" means to bring something to an end. Israel's sin and disobedience will come to an end at the second coming of Christ when this nation returns to Him and confesses Him as their Messiah and Savior. The Abrahamic and Davidic covenants will be fulfilled at this time.
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. “Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! “For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!’” (Matthew 23:37-39)
>> "to make an end of sin" - Israel's sin, which remained unpunished, would be punished through her substitute, Jesus Christ, on the cross. At His second coming, He will remove Israel's sin.
“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart, I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. “They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more" (Jeremiah 31:33-34).
“Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms. “They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God" (Ezekiel 37:21-23).
>> "to make atonement for iniquity" - this relates to God's final atonement for Israel when this nation repents at Christ's second coming, with the provision that atonement has already been made for Israel's sins at the cross.
"Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. You will give truth to Jacob and unchanging love to Abraham, which You swore to our forefathers from the days of old" (Micah 7:18-20).
"For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people" (Hebrews 2:16-17).
>> "to bring in everlasting righteousness" - this will happen at the start of the millennial reign of Christ on earth.
“Your sun will no longer set, nor will your moon wane; For you will have the LORD for an everlasting light, And the days of your mourning will be over. “Then all your people will be righteous; They will possess the land forever, the branch of My planting, The work of My hands, That I may be glorified" (Isaiah 60:20-21).
“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. “In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The LORD our righteousness'" (Jeremiah 23:5-6).
"His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him" (Daniel 7:27).
>> "to seal up vision and prophecy" - even though miraculous gifts such as prophecy, tongues, and the interpretation of tongues ceased when the scriptures were completed with the book of Revelation at the end of the first century A.D., Jesus told the apostle John - "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near" (Revelation 22:10). What is meant by "the time is near?" The answer is found in the first chapter of the book of Revelation:
"The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bondservants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near" (Revelation 1:1-3).
The time when the prophecies written in the book of Revelation will occur is near! "BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So, it is to be. Amen" (Revelation 1:7). All that God said He would do in fulfilling His covenants with His people, Israel, will be fully realized in the millennial kingdom.
>> "to anoint the most holy place" - Jesus gives this warning, “Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand)" (Matthew 24:15). This "son of destruction" will exalt "himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God" (2nd Thessalonians 2:3-4) during the "great tribulation" period. The "holy place" and the "temple" are synonymous in Acts 21:28 ("and besides, he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place”). The word "anoint" in the Hebrew is the verb māšaḥ, which typically refers to the divine anointing of an individual with oil for service either as a priest or a king. In Exodus 40:9-11 God commands Moses to “anoint” the tabernacle and its equipment with “anointing oil” for its consecration so that it "shall be most holy." The temple will be desecrated by the "little horn" who speaks blasphemies against God and makes war against His saints (Daniel 7:25, Revelation 13:5-7).
When the Son of Man returns in all of His glory, He will enter the east gate of the temple. His glory will fill the house (Ezekiel 43:1-5). Jesus Christ will reconsecrate, "anoint the most holy place," when He establishes His millennial kingdom.
"Then I heard one speaking to me from the house, while a man was standing beside me. He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the sons of Israel forever. And the house of Israel will not again defile My holy name, neither they nor their kings, by their harlotry and by the corpses of their kings when they die, by setting their threshold by My threshold and their door post beside My door post, with only the wall between Me and them. And they have defiled My holy name by their abominations which they have committed. So, I have consumed them in My anger. “Now let them put away their harlotry and the corpses of their kings far from Me; and I will dwell among them forever" (Ezekiel 43:6-9).
Daniel 9:25
"So, you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress."
Two distinct periods of time are mentioned in this passage - "seven weeks" (49 years) and "sixty-two weeks" (434 years) - a total of 483 years, 7 years short of 490 years. This 483-year time period began when a decree was issued "to restore and rebuild Jerusalem." It ends during the time of "Messiah the Prince."
Jerusalem was destroyed during "the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (586 B.C.) ... He burned the house of the LORD, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every great house he burned with fire. So, all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem" (2nd Kings 25:8-10).
Approximately 55 years after the Babylonian Captivity ended (539 B.C.), King Artaxerxes (Persian king), during the twentieth year of his reign (445-444 B.C.), issued a decree to Nehemiah, "the cupbearer to the king" (Nehemiah 1:11) to rebuild Jerusalem and its walls (Nehemiah 2:1-10).
Why are there two distinct periods - 49 years and 434 years - mentioned in Daniel 9:25? When Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem, he discovered that the situation is bad - "Jerusalem is desolate and its gates burned by fire" (Nehemiah 4:17). It took 49 years to remove all of the debris from Jerusalem, rebuild the walls, their gates, as well as rebuild the city! This work was all done in "times of distress" (Read Nehemiah chapters 4-6). The 49-year period ended around 397-396 B.C. and the 434-year period began, which takes us into the time of "Messiah the Prince." During this period, we see the end of the Medo-Persian Empire, the rise and fall of the Graeco-Macedonian Empire, and the early years of the ancient Roman Empire. Jesus was born during the reign of the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus (27 B.C.-A.D. 14) as recorded in Luke 2:1-20.
Daniel 9:26
“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."
>> "Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing." - this is in reference to the suffering servant prophesied in Isaiah 53.
"He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment, He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet He was with a rich man in His death, because He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth" (Isaiah 53:7-9).
Jesus was crucified, died, and was buried in a borrowed tomb.
>> "The people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary." - The "people of the prince to come" is the ancient Roman Empire. Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed by 30,000 Roman soldiers under General Titus in A.D. 70.
>> "And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined." - Jesus gives this warning - “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. “But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs" (Matthew 24:6-7).
Daniel 9:27
“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.”
>> “And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week" - since “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people (Jews) and your holy city (Israel)" (Daniel 9:24), and sixty-nine of those weeks (483 years) have been completed by this time, this must be the seventieth week - the final seven years of Israel's history before the second coming of Jesus Christ to earth. Note that "he will make a firm covenant" - who is the "he" referred to in this passage? There is no other explanation from scripture that this is a ruler who will come out of a revived Roman Empire at the end of the current Church Age.
>>"But in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering" - this future world ruler will make a seven-year covenant with the Jewish people. He will allow them to perform temple sacrifices and grain offerings. He will break this seven-year covenant three and half years later.
>> "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" - after breaking his covenant, this ruler will desecrate the Temple. Jesus gives this warning to His disciples - “Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains" (Matthew 24:15-16). This "man of lawlessness" and "son of destruction" will take "his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God" (2nd Thessalonians 2:3-4). The dragon (Satan) will give him "a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months" (Revelation 13:5).
In summary, the scriptures discussed to this point and past history reveal:
The "little horn" did not come out of the ancient Roman Empire before it fell in A.D. 476. There is no documented evidence in history that states otherwise.
There will be a future, revived Roman Empire from which the "little horn" will arise.
The first sixty-nine weeks (483 years) of Daniel's seventy-week prophetic timeline ended when Jesus Christ was crucified.
Jerusalem and it's second temple were destroyed by the Roman Empire in A.D. 70.
Daniel's seventieth week (7 years) is the "great tribulation" period.
The "little horn" will speak blasphemies against God and make war against His saints from a future temple during the second half (three and a half years) of the seventieth week.
Jesus Christ will physically and gloriously return to earth and establish His millennial kingdom immediately after the "great tribulation" period.
What will happen during the first half of the tribulation period? The reign of the "little horn" will be established. He will more than likely be a charismatic political leader who will be able to arrange a peace agreement with Israel. This agreement will be for seven years. He will allow the Jews to perform sacrifices and make grain offerings in the temple. God will grant authority to His two witnesses who “will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days (three and a half years), clothed in sackcloth” (Revelation 11:3). These witnesses are "two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth" (Revelation 11:4) as prophesied in Zechariah 4:11-14. The two witnesses will "have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire" (Revelation 11:6). They will be overcome and killed by "the beast that comes up out of the abyss when they finish their testimony" (Revelation 11:7). Their dead bodies will lie in the street for three and a half days, then they will be resurrected and taken up into heaven in a cloud as their terrified enemies watch (Revelation 11:7-13).
When will the "great tribulation" period begin? Here is my theological answer: I don't know. There has not been a Jewish temple in Jerusalem since A.D. 70. Daniels "seventieth week" has yet to occur; it is still to come.
Are you ready?
Resources
The following resources were used in the development of this blog post.
English Standard Version Study Bible, 2008 Edition, Crossway Bibles
New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update, The Lockman Foundation
The Book of Daniel, Dr. Douglas J. Simpson, Second Edition 2000, Randall House Publications
The Bible Knowledge Commentary - An Exposition of the Scriptures by Dallas Theological Seminary Faculty, Old Testament, John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, 1985, Victor Books
Wikipedia
"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth"
2nd Timothy 2:15
Unless otherwise noted, all scripture cited in this post is taken from the New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update.
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