Daniel

The struggle between God's people and the empire started long ago, with the struggle of God's elect out of man, Jacob, with satan at the brook Jabbok. As we discussed, the man with whom Jacob fought until sunrise and by whom he was crippled, was not the appearance of God. It was a trick of the devil to lure Jacob into a fight in order to prove himself able to fight with 'elohim', the gods, the angels. With Eve satan spoke to deceive her into believing she could know like 'gods'. With Jacob satan fought to deceive him into believing he could fight like 'gods'. And not only was he crippled. His name was altered into 'Israel' - 'he one who struggles with god'. And he was blessed by the devil. The history of Israel shows what the lameness and the new name and the blessing meant. Although they saw the great and powerful works of the Lord, they have never been able to bring God's kingdom on earth. Their history was a history of idolatry and failure, ending in the most evil of acts ever performed: the rejection of God Himself, Who had come the them in the Person of Messiah, Jesus Christ.

 

However, in the midst of all failure of the people of Israel as a whole, there has always been a faithful remnant that was obedient to the Lord and that expected his salvation to come. Through them, Jesus came to the earth. The vessel through which He came, Mary, belonged to those expecting the coming of the Lord. To them, the Lord will in the Endtime reveal Himself and they will be saved however far they have wandered away from Him, as we shall see. Through ways we cannot fathom He will lead them to repentance and to true knowledge of Himself.

 

But the idolatry and failure of the people of Israel has brought the devil to great heights en so we arrive at the empire. God gave Jerusalem and his temple over to fire and his people to exile. Since then the empires ruled the world. They became the devil's instrument to persecute those of God's people that still obeyed the Lord. That is why we see the three friends of Daniel being thrown into the fiery oven (Daniel 3), Daniel being thrown in the lions' den (Daniel 6) and the complete people of Israel being threatened by extinction (Esther). After the return from exile and the rebuilding of the temple, the faithful were harshly persecuted by the Greek Antioch Epiphanes while the temple was defiled for 3 years (Daniel 8).

 

All of the devil's efforts to destroy God's people could never exceed God's ultimate authority nor thwart God's plans with his people. Again and again they were saved, from the fiery oven, from the lions' den, from extinction and from persecution. And God gave his people the promise of the coming of Messiah, He that would destroy all power of satan and erect an everlasting kingdom of justice and peace. Messiah would come after 69 periods of 7 years would have passed after the command from Ceres, the first Persian king, to restore and rebuild the city of Jerusalem, an order that came in 458/7 before Christ. But when He came, at the appointed time, 69 x 7 years =483 years past Ceres' command, in the year 27 AD, He was crucified. And even that could not nullify the plans of God. On the contrary. His crucifixion would become the central cornerstone of the fulfillment of God's eternal councils.

 

There would come a 70th period of 7 years in which God's people would again be fiercely attacked by the empire - so fierce that the whole world would doubt weather they as a people would be able to survive. In our understanding of recent history we have now arrived in this final week of history, that will end in the total victory of God's people and the destruction of the empire, because of the return of Messiah, that was once crucified. The last half of this 70th period of 7 years would become extremely difficult, not only for God's people but for the whole of mankind. Messiah Himself has announced this period with the words: 'For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be'. (Mathew 24:21)

 

The book of Daniel does not reveal anything about what would come after the 70th period of 7 years. Its account of the future ends 45 days past that last 7 years, when destruction would have come to a halt and those having survived all disasters would enter a totally new epoch: 'Blessed is he that waits and comes to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days' (Daniel 12:12). The last half of the last 7 years will consist of 1,260 days, so 1,335 days is 45 days past the last 7 years.

 

We will now look into the chapters of Daniel from the perspective of Israel. The book of Daniel from the perspective of the empire is discussed here. Daniel served at the courts of the first two of four empires that would rise through history. Therefore the emphasis of the book is on the development of the empires. But the empires all considered the small strip of land at the Mediterranean as of enormous strategic value and they all wanted to control it. Therefore the people and the land of Daniel also plays a role in Daniel's prophecies.

 

Daniel 7

The first prophetic chapter that shows us the people of Israel is Daniel 7. This chapter pictures four consecutive empires as four beast coming out of the sea: The Babylonian empire as a winged lion, the Mede-Persian empire as a bear, the Greek empire as a winged leopard with four heads and the Roman empire as a dreadful beast which would destroy everything that it encountered. All of this is presented to Daniel in a dream in which he sees ten horns on the fourth dreadful beast that represents the Roman empire. Among the ten horns Daniel sees an eleventh horn arising before whom three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. In that horn he saw eyes like the eyes of man and a mouth that was speaking great things.

 

This eleventh horn is the last phase of the empires. For Daniel sees the following taking place: 'I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.' (Daniel 7:11,12).

 

While the fourth beast is slain and the dominions of the others taken, Daniel sees 'a Son of man' coming with the clouds of heaven who will be given an everlasting kingdom that would encompass the earth and extend to all nations. (Daniel 7:13,14)

 

It is Jesus who told the Sanhedrin that they would see Him - the Son of man, as He always called Himself, sit at the right hand of the Power and come with the clouds of heaven (Mathew 26:64). So Jesus applied this prophecy to Himself. However, during the reign of the Roman empire He did not yet receive his everlasting worldwide kingdom. From our daily experience it is clear that Jesus does not exercise 'all power in heaven and on earth' that is given to Him. That moment is still future.

 

Here the interpretation of the ten horns and the eleventh horn becomes important. In the centuries that followed the first coming of Jesus, the Roman empire fell apart and out of much strife among the peoples of Europe, ten rather distinct nations arose in the 18th century - the ten horns of the fourth beast. In that same period of enlightenment a totally new nation arose from the peoples of Europe, at the newly discovered continent called America - the 11th horn. It was established in 1776. In a few decades this nation became very powerful, so much that it started to contest the European nations from which it had sprung. It claimed the complete Western hemisphere as its dominion (Monroe doctrine of 1823). After surviving a vicious civil war, which almost split the new nation into two, it started to attack the mighty European colonial and industrial powers. The three foremost of them were completely subordinated after WWII, Spain (1898), Germany (1918) and Great Britain (1945). Since then the little horn had grown into the beast as a whole, exercising diplomatic, economic and military power worldwide. That the beast of the Endtime, that started as 'little horn', a territory of 13 colonies in the East of North America, would grow into the worldwide last empire, coming out of the former empires, is stated in Revelation 17. We live in the last days of 'the little horn', it having eyes of a man and speaking boastful words - the 'big brother' with its al seeing eye and its great mouth, ordering the rest of the world to comply with the rules that it doesn't adhere to itself.

 

The first mentioning of the people of Israel is found in verse 18, as 'the saints of the most High, where we find an explanation of Daniel's dream by one of the figures that he sees in his dream:

'These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.''  (Dan.7:17,18)

 

After all empires will be gone, the saints of the most High, the faithful people of Israel, which today are represented by the Palestinians, will take over 'the kingdom', which won't be a new empire but which will be 'the kingdom of God', which will be given to 'the Son of man', Jesus, at his return.

 

When Daniel inquires further after the details of his dream concerning the fourth beast, with its ten horns and especially the eleventh horn, that rose among the ten, he adds a new detail, concerning the 'saints of the most High':

 

^'I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them' (Daniel 7:21)

 

Here we see that the USA, as the last stage of world empire, would wage war against God's people and that is exactly what we see since the USA from 1948 onward started to promote Zionism, by backing Zionist with military, financial and diplomatic support. And with each rise in support for Zionism, the war against the Palestinian people became more gruesome, even growing into a downright genocide since 2023.

 

However the happy ending is directly stated by Daniel in the verse that follows: 'Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.' (Daniel 7:22)

 

This phase of genocide, according to Daniel 9:27, would take 7 years, as we shall discuss below. The last half of these 7 years will become very dark, not just for the Palestinians but for the whole world. These 3.5 years are mentioned at the end of Daniel's vision in verse 25:

 

'And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.' (Dan.7:25)

 

The 'he' in this verse is the eleventh horn, that rose among the ten that came forth from the Roman empire. It is the USA, that once started as a colony of 13 states, in the form of a 'horn', that became a world superpower and whose mouthpiece is its president. In the Endtime, the actions of this superpower would be about three things. (1) The mouth of 'the eleventh' horn would be opened against the most High God Himself. This aligns with de 'abomination of desolation', which will amount to the president of the mighty USA being honored like God in one of the mosques of the Haram Al Sharif, bringing the wrath of the Muslims in Iran over the land of Israel in the form of utter desolation. Therefore Daniel 9:27 speaks of 'the abomination that causes desolation'. (2) This 'eleventh horn' woud wear out the saints of the most High, the already mentioned 'war' against the Palestinians. (3) He would think to change times and laws. Changing times, that is to turn against the natural course of things, the empire losing strength and making place for a new power structure on earth. Instead, the last empire thinks it can hold on to power forever by waging war against every opponent. Changing laws: the rule of law would no longer be applicable to the empire. The empire will put itself above every law that it forced upon the rest of the world.

 

Looking at the behavior of the US empire, we can clearly discern the points (2) and (3). Only characteristic (1) is yet unfulfilled. It will be fulfilled in the abomination of desolation which will mark the start of the third world war.

 

The saints of the most high will be 'given into his hand' until a time, times and half a time. This is the first instance that the duration of the Endtime is mentioned, 3.5 years. Until these 3.5 years have passed, the saints of the most high will be subjected to the persecution of the empire and suffer greatly. Therefore, the Endtime is also called 'Jacob's trouble'  (Jeremiah 30:7), for the Palestinians are the most direct in line with the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. That is why they are being persecuted by the empire.

 

But Daniel 7 ends thus: ' But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.' (Dan.7:26,27)

 

Two times 'the horn' is said to wage war against the saints of the most High and to prevail against them (verses 21 and 25). But three times the saints of the most High are said to inherit the kingdom of God and to rule forever and ever (verses 18, 22, 27). We believe we are very near to the Endtime of 3.5 years, seeing the enormous and vicious attack on the Palestinian people by the empire through their proxy, the zionist state of Israel, together with all other developments in which the USA is at the center - murder of people on boats in the Caribbean - military encirclement of Russia and China - threats against the government of Venezuela - forceful attacks on countries in the Middle East that are not yet subdued, especially Iran. All of this seems to lead up to the last great war at the start of the great tribulation, which will end once Jesus returns and destroys the empire.

 

Daniel 8

The dream of Daniel in Daniel 8 zooms in on a fraction of the story of the empires of Daniel 7, adding some very important details by which we can determine the approaching Endtime. It is about the empires (2) Persia and (3) Greece. They are portrayed as a ram (Persia) and a goat (Greece). While still in the third year of the last king of Babylon, the next empire is already foreshadowed as a mighty Ram with two mighty horns (representing the Mede and the Persians) that would takeover the whole civilized world of the time of Daniel. Then from the West a goat with a great horn approaches with enormous speed (not touching the ground), casting down the Ram. Then the great horn breaks, making place for four other horns. The relation with history is too obvious to be missed. The Greek empire of Alexander the Great defeated the Persians and took over the complete civilized world. Alexander died and was replaced by four of his generals, who divided the empire among them. The most North-Eastern part, the Seleucid kingdom played an important role in the history of Judea. It is the king, that in Daniel's dream is seen as 'little horn', giving it some resemblance to the dream of Daniel 7. Only there the 'little horn' came forth from the fourth empire, the Roman empire. In the explanation above we have seen that it represents the 13 colonies on the East coast of North America, which grew into the US-empire. In Daniel 8 the 'little horn' is the brother of the deceased Antiochus III, who had no legal right to the throne but who declared himself king. So Antiochus IV Epiphanes started as a politically less relevant figure but he became the Seleucid king that defied the Ptolemy kingdom, the Southern, Egyptian part of the Greek empire. That also applies to the little horn in Daniel 7, the politically less relevant colony in North America becoming the world empire.

 

The 'Greek' little horn, growing into the Seleucid king Antiochus IV, on his expeditions toward Ptolemaic Egypt would also act against the people of Israel. In his dream, Daniel sees this as follows:

 

'And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of the sanctuary was cast down. And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced, and prospered.' (Dan.8:10-12).

 

The host of heaven and the stars, which this king cast to the ground cannot be real stars or angels for no king is able to do that. They are the most important figures within the Judaeo community of a few centuries before Christ. In the Judea of those days, there was a dispute about the office of the high priest together with a discord among the people in Judea on the 'modernization' of Jewish religion. The faithful Jews wanted to distance themselves from the Hellenistic world of their days and they came under attack of this Greek king, who wanted to spread the Greek culture throughout the Middle East. Once the faithful people revolted, the revolt was brutally crushed. According to the book I Maccabees about 40,000 Jews were killed and another 40,000 were sold as slaves. This was the 'casting down some of the host and of the stars to the ground and stamping upon them'. After the mass killings, the temple was defiled with offerings of a swine and with the statue of Zeus, while the daily sacrifice was interrupted for three years. In Daniel's dream: 'Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of the sanctuary was cast down. And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced, and prospered.' The 'prince of hosts' is the Lord God. The 'daily sacrifice was taken away'. The offerings to the Lord in the tempel stopped for 3 years. The 'place of the sanctuary was cast down'.  The Temple in Jerusalem was forcibly changed to a syncretic Greek-Jewish cult that included worship of Zeus. 'An host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced, and prospered.' There were treacherous Hellenistic Jews that cooperated with Antiochus IV, in the defeating of the faithful Jews and in the installment of a hellenized way of worship that went totally contrary the laws, given by the Lord.

 

There are three indications that part of this dream might apply to the Endtime, which we are fast approaching.

(1) The total disarray of the temple service and the oppression of the faithful would last for 2300 days, as Daniel heard saying in his dream (Dan.8:14). However, in fact the daily sacrifice was interrupted for three years, not longer. From Kislev 25 of 167 BC until Kislev 25 of 164 BC. There are efforts to reconcile this with the prophecy by doubling the number of days in three years, applying the 2300 to the offerings. 2 x 3 x 360 = 2160 days, which approaches the 2300 number. But the text in the prophecy of Daniel 8:14 clearly speaks of 'days' not of 'offerings'. Therefore, the abomination hasn't come to its full fulfillment yet. It will be continued somewhere in the future. That is exactly what is described in chapters 7, 9 and 11 of Daniel. In Daniel 7 we already saw that 'the eleventh horn' (the USA) the would come out of the Roman empire, would 'speak great words against the most High'. That will happen once the 2300 days of abomination will be fulfilled. If three years of desecration have already passed, then 2300 - 2 x 360 = 1220 days are still future. That is very close to the 1260 days or 42 months of which we read in Revelation (Rev.11:2,3 12:6,14, 13:5).

(2) The desecration of the temple by Antioch IV is called 'the transgression of desolation' (Dan.8:13), which comes very close to the expression, used for the further fulfillment in the Endtime: the abomination of desolation' - which we will discuss below. Moreover, Daniel 9:24 says that 70 weeks (periods of 7 years) are 'determined to finish the transgression'. The seventieth week is either still future or we are in the first half of it (as we shall demonstrate below). That means that the 'transgression' still has to be made full during the second half of the 70th week.

(3) Gabriel, who explains some details to Daniel, twice indicates that the dream is about the Endtime: (1) 'Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision' - (Dan.8:17) and (2) '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 8:19)

 

As it was in the days of Antioch IV, in the Endtime there would be the people of the Lord that would be severely oppressed and unbelieving Jews that would collaborate with the empire, helping the empire to gain control, doing its dirty work. That is exactly what we see in modern day Israel. We see the so called European Jews, Zionists, that are in full cooperation with the US empire in order to help it in its quest for power and control over the Middle East and thereby of the whole world. And we see the indigenous people of the land, the true descendants of the patriarchs that are brutally deprived of their land, severely oppressed and gruesomely murdered. The empire uses the Zionists, who pose themselves as the rightful owners of the land, to destroy the true people of God. This will ultimately lead up to a desecration of the holy place - not of the temple, but of one of the mosques on the Haram Al Sharif, where Muslims honor the God of heavens, the Almighty, the most High, according to their limited understanding.

 

The details that are added to the prophecy by the explanation by Gabriel strikingly resemble the present day situation in 'the holy land'. After having explained the meaning of the ram and the goat as the kingdoms of Media an Persia and of Greece he points to the great horn as the first king of Greece and the four horns that follow as the succeeding parts of the Greek empire. Then he comes up with the next detailed description of the man that would play a key role in the Endtime:

'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. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. 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. And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.' (Dan.8:23-26)

 

Who is this 'king of fierce countenance'? There are quite some characteristics given of him:

1. He will stand up 'in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full'

2. He will be 'a king' of fierce countenance

3. He will understand dark sentences (schemes)

4. His power shall be mighty but not by his own power

5. He shall destroy wonderfully and prosper

6. He shall destroy the mighty and the holy people

7. Through his policy he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand

8. He shall magnify himself in his heart

9. By peace shall he destroy many

10. He shall stand up against the Prince op princes

11. He shall be broken without hand.

 

All of these characteristics apply to the figure of Netanyahu.

1. He will stand up 'in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full' - The 'in the latter time of their kingdom' must not be seen as the second century before Christ, when the Greek empire was taken over by the Roman empire. As we know from Daniel 7, the empires being defeated by new ones did not cease to exist as nations. We still have a Persian nation (Iran), a Greek nation, and a Roman nation (Italy). However their former power as empire is gone. While the Endtime judgment will fall upon the last of all empires, the little horn that grew into the US-empire, Daniel 7:12 states: 'As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time'. So the 'latter time of their kingdom' must be seen as the Endtime, the last days before the total structure of 'this world' will be scattered by the return of Jesus Christ.

The word 'transgressors' is closely related to the word 'transgression' that is used in Daniel 8:13, the 'transgression of desolation', connected to the destructive actions of the Greek king Antioch I. That the 'transgressors' have come to the full, have become complete, means that those that will bring the rest of destruction upon Gods people are in place and ready to act according to prophecy. This is what we see in the political support for the monstrous genocide upon the Palestinians by the US empire through its proxy, the state of Israel. All key positions in the world are being held by 'transgressors', evil politicians and corrupt ministers, working as agents for the empire, willing to do everything that would enable Israel to carry out its genocide.

 

2. He will be 'a king' of fierce countenance - The expression 'a king' does not relate this Endtime rule to the former kingdom of Greece. In the preceding verse, the four kingdoms that arose after the breaking of the 'great horn', the death of Alexander the great, were said to 'stand up out of the nation' of Greece. That is not said of this 'king'. This mysterieus king is also named in Daniel 11:36, where 'the king' is suddenly seen as an actor amidst the constant struggle between the king of the North and the king of the South. This 'king' of Daniel 11:36 is described with the same kind of words as the 'king' of Daniel 9:23. Daniel 9:25 - 'he shall magnify himself in his heart'. Daniel 11:36 - 'He will exalt and magnify himself above every god'. The end of 'the king' is prophecied in Isaiah 30:33 - 'For Tophet (place of fire) is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it'. The fierce countenance or 'strong' or 'mighty' countenance does not just apply to facial characteristics but also to the perseverance of the face in the political arena, the forceful continuation of political life through the most difficult of political circumstances.

 

3. He will understand dark sentences (schemes). Almost all prime ministers of Israel came from East Europe and had their names changed in order to look more 'Jewish'. Likewise the name of the father of Netanyahu was 'Mileikowski'. Netanyahu spent most of his youth and adolescent years in the USA, where he was groomed for the task he has been performing as Israeli politician. He learned everything he needed to know about intelligence and modern weapons. He participated in nuclear smuggler ring. Since his arrival in the arena of world policy in 1994 he became an expert on the satanic activity of accusing the nations all around Israel of terrorism and of having 'weapons of mass destruction'. In the case of Irak, he greatly attributed to the invasion of the country, the wholesale destruction of infrastructure and the death of millions. In 1995, he was the first in the world to warn for an attack on the world trade center, which indeed happened on 9/11/2001 and which has the fingerprints of Israeli spies and agents all over it. In the days after the attack he bragged about the advantages that 9/11 would have for Israel. Since 1995 Netanyahu has missed no opportunity to warn for the atomic bomb, that Iran would be developing in order for the USA to attack Iran. In June of 2025 he himself ordered a relentless attack on Iranian politicians and scientists while they were in talks with the USA about a nuclear deal. The attack was meant as a 'decapitation strike' in order to force a regime change. The regime change was however prevented by the resilience of the Iranian military and the full support of the Iranian people for its government. There are also indications the Israel, together with the US and its Middle Eastern proxies like Quatar is behind ISIS, which eventually succeeded in overthrowing the Assad regime in Syria, throwing the country in civil-war like conditions of balkanization. Much of this can be seen in this video of the CorbettReport.

 

4. His power shall be mighty but not by his own power - It is evident that the state of Israel and its prime minister have no power on their own. They have power because they are backed by the US-empire, which uses them to serve its interests in the Middle East. The US provides them financial, military, legal and diplomatic support on all sides.

 

5. He shall destroy wonderfully and prosper - Since Netanyahu appeared on the political scene of the Middle East, he has succeeded in using US-force to destroy Arab countries that were opposed to US hegemony. Following 9/11,  in which intelligence from Israel was complicit, 7 countries would be attacked: Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Iran, according to a message within the US military that was shared by General Wesley Clark in an interview of 2007. The policy of destroying the structure of the Middle East, for which 9/11 gave the pretext, was already planned in 1982, in the 'Yinon plan'. Six of the aforementioned countries indeed were attacked and their political structure is in ruins and because of that strides toward 'greater Israel' can be made and US-hegemony in the world is stil standing, even amidst the enormous rise to power of Russia and China. The only country stil standing is Iran. But is was also viciously attacked in June, 2025, meant as a decapitation strike in which 30 Iranian generals and 9 Iranian scientists were killed. We expect Iran to fall in a dramatic third world war, which will be kindled by 'the abomination of desolation' in which both Netanyahu and Trump will be instrumental (Dan.11:39-45). See: Where are we now?

 

6. He shall destroy the mighty and the holy people - The mighty people might point to the resistance of Hezbollah, Ansar Allah (the Houtis) and Al Qassam (Hamas), which form a considerable force against the multi billion Israeli war machine. Under the watchful eye of Netanyahu, Israel killed top commanders of Al Quassam as well as of Hezbollah and it could very well be behind the sudden death of president Raisi, who was killed in an unexplained helicopter crash. Notorious are also the attacks by different kinds of devices (pagers and walkietalkies) which exploded in the hands and before the eyes of hundreds if not thousands of Hezbollah members.

The holy people are the Palestinian citizens that are slaughtered in the tens of thousands and according to some estimates in the hundreds of thousands. These are the indigenous people of the land with the most direct lineage to the patriarchs of the old people of Israel. They are the ones that would be under attack of the empire shortly before the return of Jesus (Daniel 7:21, 25, Zechariah 13:8, 14:1,2, Revelation 12:12). Whereas Gaza was regularly the aim of death and destruction by Israeli snipers and bombardments before 2023, total destruction came after the false flag attack of October 7, where it was not Hamas but the IDF itself causing most of the Israeli casualties. Till October 7, 2023, Netanyahu has consistently pushed the government of Qatar to finance Hamas and he was backed by the USA. The objective was to maintain a split within the Palestinian movement in order to prevent a two state solution. The outbreak of October 7 from what is called an open air prison with huge walls, watch towers and high tech surveillance is still highly suspicious and after 2 years of genocide still has to be investigated. 

 

7. Through his policy he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand - The policy of Netanyahu can be summarized as follows: 'Prevent the establishment of a two state solution and pursue an Israel that extends from the Euphrates to the Nile in order to secure US control over the whole of the Middle East'. In the pursuit of these objectives he has been instrumental in upgrading the Israeli intelligence and surveillance techniques. The Palestinians were used as test-population. Through the Israeli spyware, like Cellebrite and Pegasus, Israel exerts control over large parts of the human population, without people knowing it.

 

8. He shall magnify himself in his heart - 'Netanyahu has exhibited narcissistic behaviors, including prioritizing personal success over ideology; a belief in his superior perception' See more on the personality of Netanyahu on this site.

 

9. By peace shall he destroy many - The word for 'peace' is mostly translated with 'prosperity' or 'quietness'. This might relate to the money that at the directions by Netanyahu had started to flow from Quatar to Gaza since 2018:  '' The 2014 war in Gaza was the turning point. The U.S., UN, Israel and Qatar decided soon after the war to set up a new system in which $30 million would be delivered to the coastal strip by Doha each month. Some $10 million was to buy fuel from Israel, needed to operate Gaza's power station, $10 million to pay the salaries of government employees, and the final $10 million was to be given in $100 stipends to some 100,000 Gaza families in need.' It was for a mild 'prosperity' and quietness in the Gaza strip, which in 2005 was cleansed from setters by the IDF. This removal of settlers is strange while settlements in the Westbank were booming but in light of the events since October 7, 2023 on starts to understand. Moreover, if the intention was to appease the Palestinians in Gaza with the millions from Qatar, why were they treated like animals in a zoo, with ultra high walls around them? Why was there a rationing of food that was allowed in? Why were their movements to and from the Gaza strip obstructed? Why were complete buildings regularly bombarded as a matter of 'mowing the lawn? Why was water weaponized? The money from Qatar started coming in 2018 and much doubt has risen about where the money was spent on. It could very well have been used by Hamas to build their military infrastructure from which they would be able to fight the IDF for 2 or more years. Summarizing: Netanyahu started the money flow from Qatar. But by the way of his direct treatment of the Palestinians, he also gave the military wing of Hamas the reasons to use the money for military purposes in order to fight back at some point in the future. And then came October 7, 2023, which gave Israel the pretext for a total ethnic cleansing. 'By prosperity shall he destroy many'.

 

The last two parts of the characteristics are yet to be fulfilled:

10. He shall stand up against the Prince op princes - The way we see this to be fulfilled in the nearby future is in two ways.

(1) At the beginning of the great tribulation of 3.5 years: Together with the president of the United States, Israel's prime minister will enter one or both Mosques on the temple mount where he will again honor Trump as the great peace president. He will even bestow more honor upon the ruler of the US-empire and call him 'God'. The president not contradicting this, would thereby acknowledge such. This will take place in a Mosque (the Greek word for 'temple' can mean any sacred place) and not in a Jewish temple for that would be very counterproductive for both Netanyahu and Trump. Both are politically very dependent upon the right wing religious factions within the Jewish society and to jeopardize their support by insulting them is the last thing they want to do. On the contrary, they have long been seeking a conflict with their mighty opponent Iran, which has always been very constrained in its reaction to Israeli and US aggression. The desecration of one or two of the most holy places of the Islam might ignite the war they have been seeking for years.

(2) At the end of the great tribulation of 3.5 years. Shortly before the return of Jesus, the US-president (mouthpiece of the beast), together with the prime minister of Israel (mouthpiece of the false prophet) will gather all armies of the empire in Jerusalem in order to take it back. It is the sequence of the vials five and six as the last stages of God's judgments upon the empire. The fifth vial will be poured out upon the throne of the beast, which will darken his kingdom. This is because the last years before Jesus return, the world will be controlled out of Jerusalem, the command center of the image of the beast - the digital copy of the empire. Somehow control over Jerusalem will be lost (vial 5 - upon the beast's throne, his kingdom darkened). Then all of the world's armies will be ordered to Jerusalem (vial 6, when the Euphrates falls dry). Then Jesus will return upon the white horse and both world leaders will have the audacity to start a fight with Him.

 

11. He shall be broken without hand - This is the end of Netanyahu, together with the empire and all that pertain to it, he will be thrown into the lake of fire, as stated in Revelation 19:20.

 

Daniel 9

Where the prophecies of Daniel 7 and 8 primarily concern the empires, the prophecy of the 70 weeks (periods of 7 years) totaling 490 years, primarily concerns the people of Israel as stated by Gabriel, the angel that brings Daniel the prophecy: 'Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city' (Daniel 9:24).

The start of the 70 weeks is 'the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem'. Restoration is a political/judicial change while the rebuilding is physical. The only commandment by a Persian king containing both elements is the order given in 458/457 BC by Artaxerxes. From there, during 7 'weeks' it would be rebuilt and it would stay rebuilt during 62 'weeks'. So in total 69 periods of 7 years would pass, 483 years, and then Messiah, the Prince would come. Adding 483 years to 457 BC brings us to 27 AD (the year 0 doesn't exist, so one jumps from 1 BC directly to 1 AD, skipping one year). In 27 AD, Jesus was baptized, as we argue here. 

 

Verse 26 - 'And after 62 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. '

At the end of the 7 + 62 weeks Messiah the Prince was baptized, entering his mission among his people. But 'after' the 7+62 weeks, He would be rejected by his own people and be crucified. 'Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself'. In Hebrew the text literally says: 'to be nothing or not exist; a nonentity'. That was indeed the place and the status that the Creator of the universe was given by his people. What else could this bring than utter destruction? Therefore the text goes on to say: 'and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary...' This clearly is the destruction upon the city of Jerusalem and the temple, which was also foretold by Jesus in Luke 19:43,44 and Luke 21:6 and which has come in the year 70 AD. Verse 26 has a strange ending, literally stating: 'end flood unto end war, desolations, determined.' The two times stating of 'end seems to point to the Endtime that would be full of destruction. The word for 'flood' also bears the meaning of 'outrageous', 'overflowing'. The word 'desolations' bears the meaning of 'stupefying', 'appalling' things. We therefore would paraphrase the last part of verse 26 as: 'until the end unprecedented events will take place, surpassing everything ever experienced in history, until the end, events consisting of war and the most stupefying and appalling things imaginable will occur, which are fully determined to happen.'

Verse 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'

In the last verse 27, some details are given concerning the last week, the last 7 years before 'the end': 'And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week'. The last part of verse 26 therefore runs parallel to verse 27. Both the last part of verse 26 and verse 27 concern the 70th week of Daniel, which is still future. The coming of Messiah, the Prince, broke the sequence of 70 weeks in two, the first 69 weeks and the last, the 70th week, which shifted almost 2000 years to the future (more exact 2022 - 27 = 1995 years = 3 x 5 x 7 x 19, where 19 = 12 + 7 two numbers of completeness). As already stated, we consider this 70th week of 7 years to have started in december 2022 with the extreme right Netanyahu government. Many Christians have expected that the rapture of the church would occur before the start of Daniel's last week of 7 years but that is nowhere stated in Bible prophecy. 'The hour of temptation' mentioned by Jesus in Revelation 3:10 from which the church would be kept, very probably is the sequence of events starting with the opening of the seals, in Revelation 6. There are valid arguments for the red horse of the second seal being the 'abomination of desolation' at the midst of 'the week', 3.5 years before Jesus' return. If so, then the rapture would take place shortly before the last 3.5 years and not before the last 7 years.

The 'he' refers back to the last person mentioned in verse 26 and it is not Messiah, as some preterist expositors want to have it. The 'he' refers to 'the prince that shall come' whose people would destroy the city and the sanctuary, the Roman legions attacking Jerusalem from 66 - 70AD. Out of Rome would, after almost 2000 years stand up a new 'prince', that would act in the last of the 70 weeks. How that is possible is explained in Daniel 7, which shows the fourth beast that came from the sea as having ten horns among which an 11th horn came up, which was different from the ten and became bigger than the ten. As we explained above, that 11th horn was the USA, which grew bigger than the ten nations of Europe. Europe's nations were all heirs of the Roman empire. But in the Endtime, the US would end up to become the only true heir, the hegemon that would control the whole world. The 'he' of Daniel 9:27 is nobody else than the president of the USA. There is ample numerical evidence for the USA being the beast out of the sea of the Endtime and for Donald J. Trump being the last president, fulfilling - at least partly - the role of the 'he'. Why partly? That is determined by the meaning of the 'many' in Daniel 9:27. The literal text of the first sentence is: 

'And he will make strong the covenant many one week'. Translators have chosen for a covenant 'with many' but one can also read 'for many', in which it is not just the covenant itself but also the 'making strong' of the covenant. Who are these 'many'? Here the context is important: 'Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city'. It is about 'the people of Daniel', the true Jews. The covenant would be 'made strong' relating to them. Within the context of 'stupefying events' of 'desolations', a covenant that is made strong or mighty does not seem a positive thing. Since 1917, there has been some sort of covenant, a deal, made with the most powerful man on earth, to create a 'homeland for the Jews', the so called 'Balfour declaration'. Since then the situation of the indigenous people of the land of Palestine has slowly but surely been turned into a living hell. Their land was invaded by militarized gangs with an almost limitless financial, judicial and diplomatic support, claiming to be the rightful owners of the land because of a 2000 year old lineage. Most of them were only partly Jewish, while the so called 'Arab Palestinians' had much purer Jewish blood in their veins. At the 1948 Nakba more than half of Palestinian land was violently taken from them, many Palestinians were brutally murdered and half of them had to flee into refugee camps, where they still remain until this day. Their situation aggravated in 1967, when the new 'owners' of the land, that was renamed into 'Israel', occupied the parts that still belonged to the Palestinians. In the decades that followed a policy of the harshest forms of apartheid and ethnic cleansing was pursued in order to slowly expel all Palestinians from their land. Each rightful Palestinian opposition against the occupation was labeled 'terrorism' and was met with disproportional violence. This is what we would call 'the covenant', that was made among powerful bankers, the Rothschild family, Western elites and Western institutions like the United Nations. The UN was important for two reasons: (1) The institution of the partition plan, which laid the groundwork for the establishment of the state of Israel and (2) The veneer of justice for the public eye, in order to give the impression that the rule of law would prevail in the end. The secret covenant however was much stronger than 'the rule of law' because it was backed by limitless financial sources.

This covenant would be made 'strong' or 'mighty' for many for one week, 7 years, which actually is coming to pass from december 2022, onward. With the most right wing cabinet the world had ever seen, the oppression of the Palestinian people grew much more intense. Former illegal settlers became part of the government and under their protection, settlers in the occupied territories started to destroy more and more homes while stealing the land. Then October 7, 2023 came and the apartheid and ethnic cleansing was turned into a downright genocide, bombing Palestinians in their homes, bombing hospitals, schools, universities, mosques and churches, destroying water facilities, energysources and blocking the entrance of food.

'And in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease'. If 'the week' indeed started in december 2022, then the midst of 'the week', will be 3.5 years after december 2022, being June 2026. 'The sacrifice and the oblation' are expressions from the ceremonial law of offerings in the tabernacle / temple. However, no temple service is in place yet. We expect no Jewish temple will be built before the return of Jesus, which Jesus Himself foretold in his last words to the Pharisees: 'Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.' (Mathew 23:38,39) Here Jesus connects the acknowledgment of the Jews of Who He is with their house (the temple) no longer being desolate. Therefore the ceasing of the offerings at the midst of the 70th week does not apply to a Jewish temple. It applies to the sacred places that were build close to the temple precincts of old, the two Mosques. The Islam also has a ceremony of offerings, once a year. In 2026 those offerings will be brought from May 28 until May 30. That would be 1246 - 1248 days past December 29, 2022, which we perceive as the starting point of the 70th week - 12 days short of the 1260 days that are mentioned in the book of Revelation as indication of the second half of the week (Rev.11:3, Rev.12:6).

'And for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.'

If the US with Israel would desecrate one of the mosques on the Haram Al Sharif, then that would ignite an enormous forceful reaction from Iran, which has been constantly harassed by the USA and Israel. Think of the assassination of its most important military officer, Soleimani (2020), the bombing of its embassy in Damascus (2024) and the murder of important generals and scientists, together with hundreds of citizens in a failed decapitation strike (2025). Moreover, the USA and the state of Israel have upset the whole world by the way that the Palestinians have been treated for the past 2 years. The desecration of one or both of the mosques would be the straw that breaks the camel's back. The literal Hebrew word for 'overspreading' is 'wing' or 'extremity'. So because of the abominations (detestable things and idolatry), will reach the most extreme levels thinkable (like the honoring of a USA president in a Mosque, following a genocide by both this president and his Zionist proxy) 'he', this US-president, will make desolate, will devastate, will cause horror. But what will be made desolate? Reading the context, it must be 'the city and the people of Daniel'. It is the state of Israel that is constantly harassing the complete Middle East since its inception, so it is the state of Israel that will be wiped off the map. Daniel 9:27 is in perfect alignment with Daniel 11:39-40. There we see 'the god of fortresses' (the USA) being honored by 'the king', the ruler of Israel, we believe to be Netanyahu, based on Daniel 8:23-26 (see above). This would happen in 'the strong fortress' (one or both Mosques on the temple-mount). Then 'the king of the South' (Egypt) and 'the king of the North' (Iran) will attack Israel. According to Isaiah 28:14-19, this will be a terrible experience. It is the start of the 'great tribulation'. Jesus warns every witness of the 'abomination of desolation' in Israel to flee the land as soon as possible (Mathew 24:15-21).

 

 

*****

The prophecy shows the empire in the background. The 490 years will end with six things that will be accomplished:

1. to finish the transgression - The transgression of 2300 days of desecrating the temple, stopping the daily sacrifice and putting up an abomination, worshiping an idle in the holy place. As we have seen above, about 3 years 1.080 days of transgression already passed from 167 - 164 BC. The rest of the 2300 days = about 1.220 days still have to be fulfilled in the future. We think the last 'week' of 7 years has already started with the present Netanyahu regime in december 2022. That would mean that 

2. to make an end of sins

3. to make reconciliation for iniquity

4. to bring in everlasting righteousness

5. to seal up the vision and prophecy

6. to anoint the most Holy

 

 

Under construction:

Reference to decree of building of the city

Reference to days of abomination of Antioch

Reference to partition plan Syria