The People of the Coming Prince (Pt. 1)

Daniel 9:26b
“the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;”

It is thought by many that the phrase, “the people of the prince that shall come”¹ refers to the Romans and their general, Titus. However, when we look closer at the textual/grammatical evidence of Daniel and the eye-witness account left to us by Josephus, a different picture comes into view.

The premise of this study is to show that, “the people of the prince that shall come” does not refer to Titus and his army, or a supposed future antichrist. It will clearly show that it refers to the Jews themselves. This will be accomplished through proper exegetical study and historical witness. We will see that, the Coming Prince refers to Jesus the Messiah, and Him alone. Therefore, the people of the coming prince are the Jews, and that it was the Jews who destroyed the city and temple.

The Coming Prince

1. The Messiah Prince was to be manifested sixty-nine heptads² after the command is given to return and rebuild Jerusalem [Dan. 9:25].

The Messiah Prince would be revealed after the 483 years ended. The starting point of the counting was “from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem.” The most widely accepted date for this is 457 BC.³ The number of years covered by these sixty-nine heptads (or sevens) is 483 years. Subtracting 483 years from 457 BC, we arrive at AD 26. This means starting in AD 26, this Messiah Prince could be expected. Strong evidence can be produced that Jesus arrived on the scene for His baptism by John in the fall of AD 26 or early AD 27.

2. It is this same Prince who is cut-off at some point after these same sixty-nine sevens [Dan. 9:26].

The prophecy does not give us the exact time when the Anointed Prince would be cut-off (from the land of the living). However, some hint is given shortly.

3. It is the same Prince who makes strong (confirms) a covenant with the many for one heptad, or week of years [Dan. 9:27].

What covenant did Jesus confirm and give strength to? It could be argued that it was the Old Mosaic Covenant that Jesus made strong. Jesus told His people, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” To ‘fulfill’ is to render complete, to fill up what is lacking to its fullest. Hence, if you fill up what is lacking, you are making it strong.

It should be noted that the confirming of the covenant lasts for seven years, not that the covenant itself lasts for only seven years.

Also, we cannot restrict this confirming to just the Old Mosaic covenant. The prophets of the Old spoke of a new and better covenant. This New Covenant would be represented by and confirmed in the person of the Messiah Himself, the Servant of the Lord. This New Covenant made strong by the Messiah Prince is an everlasting covenant.

The prophets are clear that it is this Messiah Prince which will be the covenant-bringer to the people. In fact, He Himself is the covenant.

Isaiah 42:6 “I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;”

The prophecy above is spoken to the Servant of the Lord, which is widely identified with the Messiah. Hence, God has given the Messiah as “a covenant for the people, for a light of the nations.”

Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.”

In this prophecy, we see two messengers.
1). the messenger who prepares the way before the Lord (John the Baptist)
2). the messenger of the covenant ("the Lord, whom ye seek")

Hebrews 7:22 “By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.”

What does it mean that Jesus is “made a surety” of a better covenant? The word 'surety' is a legal term used in contracts. It means guarantee. It points to One who, accepts the legal obligation for the performance or payment of a legal action or debt, on the behalf of another.

Jesus, as the Surety or guarantee, takes upon himself the performance and payment of the legal obligation required by the covenant.

It is in this sense that He makes or confirms the New Covenant, by being the guarantee of a better, a “stronger” covenant, based upon better blood. We have here the witness of Scripture, that Jesus, the Messiah Prince, is made “a covenant for the people” (Isa. 42:6). He is the “messenger of the covenant” (Malachi 3:1), who is the Lord Himself.

He is the One who comes to fill up what is lacking in the Law and the Prophets. What was lacking in the Law and the Prophets, but obedience and fulfillment? He fulfilled the Old as the perfectly obedient Israelite, so that He might establish the New (Heb. 9:15).

Because of His obedience and sacrifice, He has become the guarantor of a better and stronger covenant, i.e., the eternal covenant in His Blood. Notice again that He would confirm the covenant with many for one week of years (7 years), not that the covenant would last for only seven years, as the dispensationalists erroneously teach. There also is no gap between the 69th and 70th weeks. It only exists within the vivid imagination of those who created it, Darby -> Scofield -> all Dispensationalists.

The "Messenger of the covenant" who appeared at the beginning of the final week, was cut off in the midst of it. This cutting off was the cause of 'making the sacrifice and the oblation to cease’ as we will see in a moment. There is no event given that would mark the end of this week. However, when we look at the record given in Acts, we have two events that could serve as the termination of that final week.

Firstly, it would appear that the stoning of Stephen would have occurred about 3 years after the cutting off of the Messiah. The stoning of Stephen would have been a public witness to how the Gospel was rejected by those who were not counted among “the many." Secondly, some have placed the end of the final week at the going of Peter to preach the gospel to Cornelius, demonstrating “the many” included both Jew and Gentile.

4. In the midst of that same seventieth week, it is the Prince who causes “the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,” [Dan. 9:27].

In the midst or middle of this seventieth and final week, He, the Messiah Prince, shall cause “the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.” How did He do this? Did He go into the temple and forcibly make them stop the sacrificial offerings? No, but he did so by His own perfect sacrifice. His death and resurrection made the offerings in the temple of no effect.

In Hebrew 8:13, the writer states, “In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to (about to) vanish away.”

The Book of Hebrews points to the fact that at the time of writing (early to mid AD 60’s), the first covenant was decaying and waxing old, about to vanish. Vine suggests that this word “vanish away,” (φανισμός) is suggestive of abolition.

Abolition is defined as, The act of doing away with or the state of being done away with; annulment. The Old Covenant is abolished, caused to disappear because of the establishment of the New. One of the major themes of Hebrews is that the New Covenant is better, stronger and more excellent than the Old.

Turning back to the verb “to cease” (#7673 shabath), it is in the imperfect mood. What does this tell us?

A verb in the imperfect mood denotes an action that has a starting point in the past, but finishes its action in the future or in the process of time. This points to the death of Jesus as the starting point of causing the sacrifices and oblations to cease.⁴ This is due to the fact that the death of Jesus satisfies the legal requirements of the Mosaic offerings. However, they obviously continued to be offered in the temple, only completely ceasing when the temple was destroyed in AD 70. From AD 30 to AD 70, all the sacrifices that were offered in the Jerusalem temple were just mechanical motions, having no efficacious effect.

Is there any evidence of Jesus’ death being the cause of this cessation? Yes, indeed there is. The first and most obvious one, is the veil of the temple being torn in two at the death of Jesus. Also from the testimony given in rabbinic literature, we have some very compelling evidences that the death of Jesus was the initial starting point of the sacrifices and oblations being stopped.⁵ What is this evidence?

"Forty years before the destruction of the Temple, the western light went out, the crimson thread remained crimson, and the lot for the Lord always came up in the left hand. They would close the gates of the Temple by night and get up in the morning and find them wide open.”(Jacob Neusner, The Yerushalmi, p.156-157) This information is taken from the rabbis' Talmud, Yoma 39b.

Four things began to occur forty years before the Jerusalem temple was destroyed in AD 70. This would place the starting point for these four events in AD 30, which happened to be the year of the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah Prince.

This has been discussed in detail in the study Fearful Sights and Great Signs. This is just to reiterate their importance. These four events are as follows:

• 1. The western lamp in the temple went out and would not stay lit.
• 2. The lot cast for the Lord always came up in the left hand of the high priest.
• 3. The crimson thread hung on the door of the temple did not turn white.
• 4. The temple doors would open every night of their own accord.

The weight of evidence shows that "He who causes the sacrifice and oblation to cease" can be none other than Jesus the Messiah. There is no other person or explanation that fits the Biblical and historical evidence.

The idea that this prophecy speaks of some future antichrist that will cause the Jews to cease their sacrifices in a rebuilt temple, is nothing but pure fiction. The Jews have tried twice before to rebuild their temple in Jerusalem, but both times they were stopped dead in their tracks. It remains to be seen whether God will allow a third attempt in our own day.

Could it be a coincidence that all four of these things mentioned above, began to occur in the same year that Jesus offered Himself up as the only sacrifice accepted by God?

When do such things become mathematically impossible? The only Prince that is to come, according to the Seventy Weeks Prophecy, is the Messiah Prince who is revealed after the 69 Heptads have expired. The whole prophecy speaks of only one Prince, and that Prince is Jesus Christ.

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¹Can also be rendered as “the coming Prince,” or “the prince, the coming one.” This is the exact phrase John the Baptist used while in prison when he sent his disciples to ask Jesus if He was “the coming one” or should they expect a different kind of messiah [Matt. 11:3].
² heptad = sevens, here meaning sevens of years. Sixty-nine heptads or sixty-nine sevens of years, being 483 years.
³There is strong Biblical evidence that the one who gives this command to return and rebuild was Cyrus the Great. However, a reworking of the chronology of the Persian to Greek period needs extensive work. Based upon the work of Rev. Anstey, it can be argued that Cyrus issued this decree in about 457 BC. This topic is covered in more detail in my book, The Determined Time, available from Amazon.
⁴Remember the veil of the temple being torn in two at Jesus' death, opening the way of access to God?
⁵ I should point out I don't usually trust rabbinic literature much at all, however, in the very few instances when they actually give witness, even unknowingly, to the validity of Messiah's claims, then it is worth noting. In the case of the following report, there would be no reason for the rabbinic Pharisees to record them unless they were sure of their validity.