Did the Bible Prophesy Last Week’s Middle East Peace Treaty?

If it did, is Donald Trump the Anti-Christ?

At first, this title just looks like click bait, but it’s a question that has flashed across the minds of many dispensationalist Christians in the last week.

There are a few things we believe about biblical prophecy that do give us pause.

The Daniel 9 Prophecy.

According to Daniel 9:27, the event that starts the 70^th Week of Daniel is the confirmation of a covenant with many. Bible teachers have generally interpreted this to be a Middle Eastern Peace Treaty. J. Dwight Pentecost in the Bible Knowledge Commentary describes the potential fulfillment of this prophecy this way.

A significant event that will mark the beginning of this seven-year period is the confirming of a covenant. This covenant will be made with many, that is, with Daniel’s people, the nation Israel. “The ruler who will come” (Dan. 9:26) will be this covenant-maker, for that person is the antecedent of the word he in verse 27. As a yet-future ruler he will be the final head of the fourth empire (the little horn of the fourth beast, 7:8).

The covenant he will make will evidently be a peace covenant, in which he will guarantee Israel’s safety in the land. This suggests that Israel will be in her land but will be unable to defend herself for she will have lost any support she may have had previously. Therefore she will need and welcome the peacemaking role of this head of the confederation of 10 European (Roman) nations. In offering this covenant, this ruler will pose as a prince of peace, and Israel will accept his authority.

I tend to agree with Pentecost’s understanding of the prophecy and its fulfillment. However, prophecies don’t always turn out exactly how we think they will. There is always an element of speculation concerning their fulfillment. Bible prophecy will always be fulfilled — but sometimes the reality is slightly different than the expectation.

Let’s consider the elements of Daniel’s prophecy.

It is part of a larger passage that lays out a timeline from Daniel’s time until the commencement of the Messianic Kingdom.

A Week is a Sabbatical Year Cycle.

There will be a period of 483 years from Daniel’s time until the earthly appearance of the Messiah. The sevens (translated weeks) mentioned in the passage, were closely associated with Israel, its inheritance, and the judgment of the nation during Daniel’s time. The term weeks is literally the word seven and to the ancient Jew, it would have immediately been understood as a sabbatical year cycle. In Leviticus 25:1-7 God commands Israel to leave the fields dormant every seventh year–free from planting or harvesting. Daniel says that 69 sabbatical cycles must occur after the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem and before the coming of “Messiah the Prince.” Three commands to restore and rebuild Jerusalem occurred during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. Scholars debate which one is the starting point.

This initial prophetical timeline finished with the first Advent of Christ. It is not my purpose to explain that in detail here.

Some things must happen in the interim between the 69^th and 70^th Sabbatical Cycle.

After the first 69 cycles, Messiah the prince will be killed, and the City of Jerusalem along with its Temple will be destroyed by a foreign invader.

And after the sixty-two weeks [plus the seven mentioned in verse 25] Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself. 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, (Daniel 9:26).

Jesus was crucified around 30 AD and the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in in 70 AD. The Battle of Jerusalem is still being studied by scholars today.

After that, the 70^th Sabbatical cycle will occur. We would normally expect it to follow on the heels of the 69^th cycle, but clearly there is a gap between them. There were four decades between the crucifixion of Christ and the destruction of Jerusalem.

Based upon the description of the 70^th Week in Revelation and Daniel, that cycle has not yet started. It is also called the Great Tribulation or the Time of Jacob’s trouble.

According to this prophecy, the event that initiates the 70^th Week of Daniel is a peace treaty or covenant made between Israel and many nations and orchestrated by the Anti-Christ.

That leads us to this this last week’s news cycle.

As we often do when we consider the intersection of current events and prophecy, we ask the question, “Is this, that?”

My answer to that is a firm, “I don’t think so.”

It kinda looks like it.

It is between Israel and many nations, not just Hamas. There is great celebration, and our imaginations would expect that the biblical treaty would look something like this.

There is a key missing element.

The Daniel 9:27 covenant is a seven-year treaty. The length of the treaty is declared ahead of time. If not, the idea of breaking the treaty in the middle of it would not make sense. So far, we have seen no declared duration of the present treaty.

That’s it. I don’t have any more to add because the Bible gives us no more details about this covenant.

If this actually is the biblical treaty, there would be some interesting biblical consequences. First, the architect and the one credited for putting last week’s treaty together is the present President of the United States. The one credited for the biblical treaty is the Anti-Christ. While I know there are many people who do not like Donald Trump and think this would be in perfect character, there seems to be indication that the Anti-Christ himself will be European and Jewish in background.

We also know that there will be a Temple in Jerusalem, according to prophecy, although it could conceivably be built during the first half of the 70^th Week.

If this actually is the biblical treaty, then the idea of a pre-tribulational rapture is in jeopardy. I am not going to try to biblically defend that position right now, even though it is the one I hold. If the Great Tribulation has already started, I would be hoping for a Pre-Wrath rapture as a consolation. Everyone I know who believes in a Pre-Wrath Rapture thinks that they are right but hopes that the Pre-tribbers are right. After all, the biblical account of the first half of the Great Tribulation is no picnic.

Here is what I do know. Someday, there will be a treaty that begins this final period of judgment. There will be an Anti-Christ. The events of Revelation 4-19 will occur. And best of all Jesus will come again and we will reign together with Him then.

Until then, we must commit ourselves to be urgently about the Master’s business and be prepared every day for His return.

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The audio version of this post is here: Did the Bible Prophesy Last Week’s Middle East Peace Treaty?

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