In Search of...Daniel's 70th Week ONLY-Part 2
Is a Third Temple Required? / People of the prince.
Dan 9:26 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.
The city and the sanctuary were not destroyed within that 70th week. With a casual reading of this verse, we would naturally assume that it’s within the same time period because it’s the next verse. However, this is why we are told to study. One thing that sticks out is that it’s not one of the events listed in vs 24, so this is outside of the 70th week. So why was it mentioned? Because Daniel asked…
Dan 9:20 While I was speaking, praying, confessing my sin and that of my people Israel, and presenting my petition before the LORD my God concerning His holy mountain—
Some context briefly - Daniel was held captive during the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians where the first temple was destroyed. Daniel inquired about ‘His holy mountain’ meaning Jerusalem in general. So, Daniel received a prophecy about a future second temple that would be built and the command which would start that prophecy until Messiah’s arrival and the things He would do, and the destruction of that same temple which wouldn’t happen until years later. So this temple destruction, while not part of the 70 weeks prophecy, is elaborated on by Gabriel because it has to do with ‘His holy mountain.’
Back to Dan 9:26 - And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
Most believers today think that this is future because there is no temple and it has to be built. Is this correct? Let’s hash this out…
You can’t destroy the sanctuary if no temple exists, so I understand their logic in that…but that only makes sense if that was an isolated verse without the context. If this prophesy was for a future temple from our time & perspective, then that means….
The prophecy of the 2nd temple being built and destroyed is null and voided because it does not pertain to Daniel or the Jews.
Gabriel did an ‘Oopsie’ and forgot to mention that this is for yet another generation WAY in the future.
Perhaps Gabriel was deceiving Daniel because this prophecy, from God, had nothing to do with him.
And if the above is so, then God was deceiving Daniel.
Consider…
Since this prophecy was written to Daniel and his people (the Jews), is it more likely that he’s speaking of the second temple for the Jews or is a third temple 2000+ years later more likely? Also…
Do you think Yeshua was talking about a future temple when He was pointing to the current 2nd temple speaking of its destruction with His disciples?
Matt 24:1,2 Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. 2And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
So, Gabriel tells Daniel about a future temple, from his perspective at that time, that would be destroyed. Fast forward almost 500 years later and there’s the temple and Yeshua is saying the same thing about that particular temple.
Here’s what really happened…
About 36 years later, after the 70th week, Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans including the temple (or sanctuary) in AD70. The “people of the prince who is to come” in Dan 9:26 was not the antichrist or an antichrist at all. God was judging the religious rulers or elites (Pharisees, Sadducees etc.) and He was using the Roman armies to do it. So, this ‘ruler’ or ‘prince’ was Vespasian and his son, Titus, destroyed the sanctuary. This is a separate and distinct time period which is not a part of the 70th week.
Can you see how the destruction of the temple is not a part of the 70 weeks prophecy?
Thanks for stopping by. Feel free to comment. Stay tuned for Part 3 coming shortly.
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