Satan is the spiritual prince of the people that destroyed the Temple

Much Bible prophecy teaching hinges on one’s interpretation of what is known as the seventy weeks of Daniel prophecy. The whole prophecy would take a chapter of a book to explain so I am limiting this article mostly to the identity of the princes and the people in that prophecy.

The prince of the people that destroyed the Temple and the prince that will sign a covenant with many for seven years are two different human leaders. However, they are vassals of the same spiritual satanic prince.

These two leaders are of the fourth beast of Daniel 7. That beast is the Roman Empire. The “he” in Daniel 9 verse 27 probably comes from the area of the Roman Empire that at the time of the Temple destruction was also once part of the Grecian Seleucid Kingdom. The people of the princes is the armies under their control.

The passage is listed below.

Dan 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. 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.

Preterists and some amillennials believe Jesus fulfilled this prophecy with the New Covenant that ended the Old Covenant sacrificial system and He (Jesus) destroyed the Temple in 70 AD using the Roman Army. There is too much said elsewhere in scripture about latter-day events, the time of Jacob’s trouble, and the tribulation to even seriously consider such an interpretation.

Since Israel came into existence, an agenda of Satan has been to wipe out the nation of Israel. Jesus wept over Jerusalem because He knew that without Him to protect them, the nation of Israel would be destroyed by these satanically controlled Gentile forces.

Those in Covenant Replacement Theology or Supersession Theology who believe that God or Jesus ordered the Temple destruction in 70 AD because Israel rejected Jesus have a weird concept of God’s love for Israel. They also have a distorted view of Jesus. Satan was the spiritual prince that brought the Roman forces against Israel.

If you are a futurist, you will believe Daniel’s seventh week is the tribulation and the “he” of verse 27 is the Antichrist. The issue among futurists is what kingdom the prince of verse 27 (he) comes from and who are the people of that prince?

Just about all futurists believe that the prince mentioned in Daniel 26 is a leader of the Roman Empire although they might disagree with the exact identity of the Roman prince. I think the human prince was Titus. He was the son of Caesar Vespasian. Titus led a war against the Jews in Israel. The Temple was destroyed in 70 AD under his campaign. He was a prince that was not yet a king. Titus was not a king in Rome until 79 AD.

The latter-day human prince (he) is the man of sin controlled by Satan that futurists call the Antichrist. He will rule over whatever the fourth beast of Daniel 7 morphs into in these latter days (the ten toes seen in Daniel 2).

He will confirm some existing (UN?) political covenant (treaty?) for (another?) 7 years with many (nations?). As food for thought, the UN is considering implementing a single seven-year term for Secretary General rather than the two five-year terms that they have now.

It very well could be that the UN will be moved to Geneva, Brussels, or Rome in those days. At the mid-point of this seven-years this leader will become ruler of the world after he becomes incarnated by Satan.

Because of the rise of Islam in the world, some Bible prophecy teachers are now adamant that the people of the prince that were in the Roman legions that attacked Israel were almost all Assyrians. They think that means the Antichrist will be Muslim. I think they miss the point. The political leader of the UN, the Mediterranean Union, (or Europe) will not promote any religion. Worship of a deity is the role of the False Prophet. Even so, the religion of the False Prophet will be that this world leader is God incarnate. The Antichrist will counterfeit and try to supplant Jesus.

The prince of the Roman Empire that destroyed the second Temple was Titus. He used four Roman legions to do so. All the people in these legions were subjects of the Roman Empire. The gods of the Roman legions were the old pagan gods of Babylon that were called by Greek or Roman names.

(As an interesting aside, one of the four Roman legions was “Apollo’s Fifteenth Legion”. Apollo was a Greek god and is the Antichrist figure of Tom Horn. Apollo was the son of Zeus.

Zeus was called the most high god and god of gods. Antiochus IV thought that he was a manifestation of Zeus. He set up an image in the likeness of himself in the Jewish Temple and told Jews to worship Zeus. We know the Antichrist also sets up an image in the Temple to be worshiped. I think the coming Antichrist will set up an image of himself claiming that he is the god of gods that the ancients identified as Zeus. The False Prophet will then make everyone worship Zeus and his image. So much for Islam!).

The Antichrist could rise to power from anywhere under the dominion of the fourth Beast of Daniel chapter seven. That probably includes most of the world at this point. However, we know from scripture that the little horn (Antichrist) rises out of one of the four areas of the Grecian Empire.

Dan 8:19  And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be.
Dan 8:20  The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.
Dan 8:21  And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.
Dan 8:22  Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.
Dan 8:23  And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.
Dan 8:24  And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
Dan 8:25  And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.

 

Here is a map of the Grecian empire (the Seleucid Empire of Antiochus IV is the area in bright green).

Notice that Rome (Italy) is not in the Grecian Empire but Greece, Syria, Turkey, Iraq and a few others are. They also were in the Roman Empire. I think the Antichrist will fulfill the Roman Empire passages so the Antichrist will probably come from a land that first was in the Grecian Empire and later was in the Roman Empire. (Even if the area the Antichrist comes from is now mostly Muslim, the Antichrist will claim to be greater than anything called God (2Th 2:4).

I lean toward the Antichrist coming from the Seleucid Kingdom because a prototype of the Antichrist was played out in 168 BC with Antiochus IV “Epiphanes” (epiphanes – means god manifest). He ruled the Seleucid Empire from Syria.

He is compared to the Antichrist because when some of the Jews did not go along with his Hellenization he forbade the worship of Yahwah. Jewish rites were forbidden on pain of death. Antiochus IV put up an image to Zeus in the Temple. The Image of Zeus was made in Antiochus’ own likeness. He dedicated the Jewish Temple to Zeus and it is reported that he sacrificed a pig on the altar there. He forced Jews to worship only Zeus. This madman caused a Jewish revolt.

The latter-day madman will also cause a Jewish revolt and astute Jews will flee to the mountains of Jordan for protection. This desecration of the Temple is the abomination that causes desolation that Daniel and Jesus talked about.

Much like in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28, the prince in Daniel nine could also be a double reference. There is a spiritual prince behind the human leaders.

Chapter 12 of Revelation makes it clear that Satan is in a war against Israel. In fact, much of the Bible makes that clear.

Rev 12:15  And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood

Revelation 12:15 is the second time we see a flood mentioned in connection to forces coming against Israel. Daniel 9:26 is talking about the people of the prince that shall come. Obviously, Satan does not change his methods in the end times. In both the 70 AD flood and the latter-day flood of Revelation 12:15, there is a flood of armies coming against Israel. Satan’s agenda is to deny Jesus any nation to set up a Jewish Kingdom.

I do not think we should get all hung up on where on earth the Antichrist comes from. He comes from Satan. He comes to destroy Israel because Satan hates Israel even if most of Israel is still in unbelief. Satan knows that Jesus is the Messiah of Israel and Satan knows what scripture says about the future. Satan can’t war against Jesus in heaven but he can and does war against the Lord’s inheritance on earth.

When God allows, Satan will incarnate some man to be god/man on earth just as Jesus is the God/man incarnation. We can miss the whole point by thinking that the Antichrist has anything to do with any existing world religion. The Antichrist is not going to submit to any world religion. World religions will totally submit to him.

So if you want to know who the prince is that confirms the seven-year covenant it primarily will be Satan. And he will do it through any man of his choosing that allows it. Satan thought he got rid of the heir to the kingdom when he got Judas to betray Jesus and Satan got Jesus crucified. However, the grave could not hold the Creator of the creation.

For thousands of years the Jews have been exiled to Gentile nations and they were hunted down and killed by those in satanic religions. First the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks and Romans with pagan gods. Then Popes claiming to be vicars of Christ made Jews convert to their perversion of Christianity or they had them killed. Later, Hitler sold the lie that Jews were an alien inferior race and that led to the killing of one-third of all Jews existing on the earth. Today Islam calls Jews descendants of monkeys and pigs and gives Jews no choice to live at all.

God is now bringing Jews back to Israel but Satan will use all the united forces of the God hating world to try to destroy Jews in Israel so that Jesus cannot come back to rule over the nations. In fact, when failing to destroy the Jews in the mountains of Jordan, Satan will attempt to destroy all flesh on earth by bringing all the armies of the world against Jesus at Jerusalem. For the sake of the elect and the Lord’s plan for a millennial kingdom a remnant will be saved. (Only a third of Jews living in the land at that time will survive and be be refined through the tribulation fire.)

Satan is the prince of the people who follow his ways. Satan was the spiritual prince of the people that destroyed the first Temple; Satan was the spiritual prince of the people that destroyed the second Temple; and Satan will be the spiritual prince of the people that will defile the third Temple. Satan will then attempt to kill all Jews on earth once again. The people of the prince that will come like a flood against Israel will be anti God’s Christ and their leader is aptly called the Antichrist.