Daniel 9:27 – The Most Misinterpreted Prophecy in the Bible!
Daniel 9:27 may very well be the most misinterpreted prophecy in the entire Bible. The early Protestant Reformers saw it as a Messianic prophecy fulfilled by none other than the Lord Jesus Christ! Most modern-day evangelicals (with the notable exception of Pastor Chuck Baldwin) view it as prophecy fulfilled by the Antichrist who will come to power in the unknown future. Christians who hold this eschatological view follow a school of prophecy interpretation known as Futurism.
Verse Segment | Modern Evangelical Interpretation | Protestant Reformers Interpretation |
---|---|---|
And he | the Antichrist | Jesus Christ |
shall confirm the covenant | shall make a treaty | shall confirm the Covenant of grace God made with Abraham. |
with many for one week | with the Jews and leaders of the world’s religions for 7 years in the future | with the people of Israel for 7 years from the beginning of Jesus’s ministry which began in 27 AD to the stoning of Stephen in 34 AD which was the start of persecution of Christians by the Jews. |
and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease | The Antichrist will stop the daily sacrifice in a rebuilt temple of Solomon. | Jesus was crucified three and a half years after the start of His ministry. Jesus, the Lamb of God, became the ultimate sacrifice for sins which meant there was no more need for daily animal sacrifices, and hence, no more need for a physical temple to do them. |
and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, | The Antichrist will start a world wide persecution against all who refuse to worship him. | Jesus through the Roman General Titus will desolate the Temple of Solomon |
even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. | Jesus will return, fight the Antichrist and his armies, and throw them into hell. | Jesus will cause the Roman army to destroy both the Temple and Jerusalem to put an end to the Jews’ Christ-less religion as punishment for Israel’s rejection of their Messiah. |
Wow, what a difference in interpretation! Where did the modern interpretation come from? I submit to you it came from a Jesuit priest named Francesco Ribera, circa 1585, who cooked it up for the purpose of taking Protestant Christians’ eyes off the Pope and the papacy as the biblical Man of Sin, also known as the Antichrist, to make them think the Antichrist is an Endtime figure only. The Jesuits sure did the job, didn’t they? This doctrine was initially rejected by Protestant Christians but was later promoted by John Nelson Darby and C.I. Scofield. As a result, it was accepted by the prestigious Dallas Theological Seminary. Furthermore, a host of other false doctrines such as pre-tribulation rapture and Christian-Zionism grew out of the false interpretation of Daniel 9:27.