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.

This final verse of Daniel 9 describes the 70th and last week of Daniel. Since this is the last week, and as we have stated in the previous part of this teaching — one (1) week corresponding to 7 years — this means that when we see the events described in this last week, we should know that we are 7 years away from the return of Jesus Christ.

This verse tells us that "he" will confirm a covenant with many for one week (that is, for 7 years); and in the midst of the week (7 years ÷ 2 = 3.5 years), "he" will cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. Before examining the covenant that "he" will confirm or the sacrifice he will cause to cease, let us first discover who this "he" is. "He" does several things at once: "he" confirms the covenant, "he" causes the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and he commits the most abominable things — things that ought never to be committed. Let us read Daniel 8:9–11, Daniel 11:31, and Daniel 12:11.

Daniel 8:9–11
⁹And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. ¹⁰And 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. ¹¹Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.

Daniel 11:31
And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.

Daniel 12:11
And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.

This little horn that causes the daily sacrifice to cease in Daniel 8 is none other than the Antichrist; the troops spoken of in Daniel 11 are the forces that will be under the orders of the Antichrist. Daniel 12:11 informs us that this sacrifice will be interrupted for 1,290 days — that is, 3.5 years. This is what is expressed by "the midst of the week" in Daniel 9:27; one week being equal to 7 years, the midst of the week is simply 7 years ÷ 2 = 3.5 years. Do you now understand why one (1) week corresponds to 7 years? Therefore, "he" is none other than the Antichrist, who will be capable of committing the most abominable things — such as the abomination of desolation (Matthew 24:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:4). Know also that it is during this period of 3.5 years — when the daily sacrifice is interrupted — that the Great Tribulation will take place; the Antichrist will proclaim himself god and will put to death all who refuse to acknowledge his divinity, and in particular the Church. Let us read Revelation 13:5–7 and Daniel 7:21.

Revelation 13:5–7
⁵And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. ⁶And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. ⁷And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

Daniel 7:21
I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them.

The presence of the daily sacrifice and the oblation in the 70th week implies the existence of a Temple during this period. While it is true that this daily sacrifice was first observed in the Tent of Meeting in the wilderness (Exodus 29:38–42), it was ultimately before the Temple that it was celebrated for centuries by the Jews (2 Chronicles 24:14; Ezra 9:4–5). In this period of the last 7 years, the sacrifice will be offered in a new Temple that will be built in Jerusalem: this is the third Temple of Jerusalem. It is in this very Temple that the Antichrist will seat himself and proclaim himself god. Let us examine for a moment the passage of 2 Thessalonians 2:1–4.

2 Thessalonians 2:1–4
¹Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, ²That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. ³Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; ⁴Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

This passage from 2 Thessalonians 2 speaks primarily of the return of the Lord and the wedding feast with Him — what the Word here expresses as the coming of Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto Him. What is remarkable is that the Lord Himself tells us at what moment this will occur. The Lord states clearly that for His return and the wedding feast with Him to be possible, there must first come the apostasy — that is, the abandonment of the faith (something we already see today) — and also that the man of sin, the son of perdition — the Antichrist — must have appeared, proclaiming himself god and seating himself in the Temple, thereby committing the abomination of desolation. Do you realize, beloved, how perfectly the prophecies complement one another? Since the return of the Lord and the wedding feast must take place after the Antichrist has committed the abomination of desolation — during the midst of the week, that is, after 3.5 years — this again confirms, as stated above, that the Church will pass through the Great Tribulation before the return of its Head, who will deliver her from the wrath to come. Note also that the Great Tribulation is entirely distinct from the wrath of God; and know that everything described in verse 4 of 2 Thessalonians 2 is what is called the abomination of desolation.

The Holy Covenant

Now that we have discovered who this "he" is, let us return to the covenant that "he" — the Antichrist — will confirm during the 70th week. Let us re-read the text.

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.

The covenant that the Antichrist will confirm at the beginning of the 70th and last week of Daniel — that is, at the beginning of the last 7 years before the return of Christ — is the covenant that God made with Abraham, which the Bible has chosen to call the Holy Covenant. Let us turn to Genesis 15:18–21.

Genesis 15:18–21
¹⁸In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: ¹⁹The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, ²⁰And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, ²¹And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

As you have just read, this covenant concerns the borders of the nation of Israel. The problem Israel faces today is that its Arab neighbors do not recognize it as a state — even though the United Nations approved it on May 14, 1948. For these Arab nations, Israel has no right to exist as a nation and should not even appear on the map; these Arab nations advocate for the existence of a Palestinian state. You therefore understand that all the incessant conflicts between Jews and Arabs have their origin in nothing other than land — borders. However, what these Arab nations do not know is that God, thousands of years ago, had already defined the borders of Israel. Let us turn to Exodus 3:8 and Joshua 1:4.

Exodus 3:8
And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

Joshua 1:4
From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.

In the light of these texts, we can see that the borders of Israel extend from the Sinai desert in the south to the river Euphrates in the north, passing through southern Lebanon; to the east, they extend into Jordan (a portion immediately east of the eastern bank of the Jordan — see Numbers 32:32–33); to the west, they extend to the Mediterranean Sea. You therefore understand that the Sinai — currently occupied by Egypt; the Gaza Strip and the West Bank — currently occupied by the Palestinians; cities such as Madaba and Irbid in Jordan (east of the Jordan); southern Lebanon; and the Golan Heights — to name but these — are all territories that belong to Israel. Yet since their departure from Egypt, Israel has lived fully within its borders only during the reign of Solomon. You may read this in 1 Kings 4:7–24; let us read together only verses 20, 21, and 24.

1 Kings 4:20–21, 24
²⁰Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry. ²¹And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life. ²⁴For he had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side the river: and he had peace on all sides round about him.

In 1967, during the Six-Day War, Israel had conquered the Sinai from Egypt, the Golan Heights from Syria, the West Bank (Jerusalem–Jericho), and southern Lebanon. Unfortunately, under international pressure, Israel returned these lands to its Arab neighbors in exchange for peace.

Beloved, therefore remember that the covenant the Antichrist will confirm at the beginning of the last 7 years is the Holy Covenant pertaining to the borders of Israel; from the time this covenant is confirmed, Israel will have the right to exist as a nation in the eyes of its Arab neighbors, and its borders will be largely restored. Note also that the confirmation of this covenant will only be possible in the wake of a very temporary peace agreement in the Middle East. If you follow this teaching carefully, you will be able to understand that this accord will not last more than 7 years. From this peace agreement, a Palestinian state will be approved by the international community with East Jerusalem as its capital, while West Jerusalem will be the capital of Israel — thereby fulfilling the prophecy of Joel 3:2, which long ago announced the division of Jerusalem. We may read it:

Joel 3:2
I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

Furthermore, this peace agreement will only come about in the aftermath of a war that will begin in the Middle East and then spread to the rest of the world. This war will pit the Arab nations — backed by the communist bloc, that is, Russia and its allies — against the nation of Israel — backed by the United States and its allies. This is the Third World War (which has nothing to do with the Battle of Armageddon). It is in the wake of this war that the lawless one — the Antichrist — will appear, bringing peace to the world; and as a consequence, he will largely restore the borders of Israel, the source of multiple conflicts and global destabilization. Recall the text of 1 Thessalonians 5:1–3, which I invite you to meditate upon:

1 Thessalonians 5:1–3
¹But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. ²For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. ³For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

It is also important for you to know that this same provisional peace agreement will place the Temple Mount under a shared arrangement; from this, Israel will build its third Temple.

Having described together the various events that will unfold during the 70th and last week of Daniel, let us draw our final conclusions:

• When we see the confirmation of the Holy Covenant — which will allow Israel to reclaim a large part of its borders in the wake of a peace agreement — we should know that we are 7 years away from the return of Jesus Christ.

• When we see the cessation of the daily sacrifice and the oblation, along with the abomination of desolation, we should know that we are three and a half years (3.5 years) away from the return of Jesus Christ. The Temple of Jerusalem will be rebuilt during the first half of the week; the sacrifice and the oblation will resume during this same first half — more precisely toward the end of it; and in the second half of the week, the interruption of the oblation and the sacrifice by the Antichrist will be followed by the abomination of desolation. Glory to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour!

May the Lord bless you!