Chapter 2
I am sad to report that the biggest hoax since the concept of evolution is heavily influencing the Church. This error in theology began as did Darwin’s Origin of the Species in the mid-19th century, in 1848 to be exact. The author was Nelson Darby who is the father of the modern dispensational theology’s structured focus on prophecy directed by the future of Israel. This system of thought promotes a 7-year “wrath of God” that begins with the Anti-Christ deceiving Israel as he prepares to destroy the Jewish nation and take control of the entire world.
Darby promoted a prophecy given to Daniel by the angel Gabriel in about 532 BC. It is called the “70 weeks prophecy.” The prophecy reveals that 69 weeks were fulfilled when Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem a week before his death on the cross. He stated that one week of 7 years remains to be fulfilled. Darby’s position on end time prophecy has been adopted by most of the popular authors on Biblical prophecy. Unfortunately, these proponents dominate all conferences, and no other viewpoint is allowed to be expressed.
Most Baptists, Pentecostals, Methodists, Evangelicals, and members of Bible and non-denominational churches are taught that Daniel’s final week represents a 7-year Tribulation still to come. They are taught that the Anti-Christ will begin this final week of judgment by signing a false covenant with Israel. In the middle of the week or after 3.5 years the Anti-Christ will then place the Abomination of Desolation in a yet to be built Temple which will be built in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount. They teach that this Anti-Christ may be alive today and therefore many people contrive that he may be Trump or some influential Jew like Jerud who established the Abraham Accord.
This 7-year “wrath of God” concept is dangerous as it generates a false flag mentality and motivates people to distrust good leaders who are peacemakers with a popular following. This theory makes a lot of conclusions that do not fit the context and the basic logic of God’s message to us. For instance, the angel Gabriel normally shared “Good News” of great impact related to the Coming of the Messiah. The angel appeared to both Mary and to Zechariah the father of John the Baptist, to announce the births of Jesus and his cousin John. Gabriel focused on key events to come related only to the Messiah. When Gabriel spoke to Daniel, he was announcing the coming of this “anointed prince” or Messiah who will end the practice of sacrificing animals in the middle of the “week” or in the middle of the 7 years. Jesus Christ fulfilled this when he died for our sins thus ending all sacrifices and offerings. He was the one who was made desolate in the wing of Abomination. He was scourged, beaten, mocked, and spit upon. He was stripped almost naked, and a crown of thorns was put on his head. He was abandoned by the disciples and betrayed by Judas and took upon himself all the sins of the world past, present, and future. Jesus, not the commander or future Anti-Christ was made desolate on the wing of abomination.
From a spiritual perspective Jesus Christ was our eternal sacrifice, and He purposefully ended all offerings and sacrifices for sin on the Cross. The Angel Gabriel was focused on this epic God-directed event and not warning of a theoretical event to happen over 2500 years later that would end all sacrifices and offerings. This is why we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and why history is divided between BC and AD. Historically all Temple offerings and sacrifices ended in 70 AD when the Temple was destroyed. There have not been any since. Why would Gabriel skip all these major historical and spiritual events that would divide history and save humankind from sin and death? Gabriel was assigned the glorious task of announcing God’s plan for eternal redemption of sin through the Messiah, Jesus Christ. This announcement was made by Gabriel to give Daniel, and his people hope during their captivity and during 500 years of trials and silence. Near the end of these 500 years, it is believed that Daniel’s scrolls guided the Magi in the East to look for a Sign in the stars that would point to the time and place of the birth of this coming Messiah or King of Kings. Gabriel’s total focus was on this wonderous birth that would fulfill prophecy and give all of mankind a Savior.
Darby decided to change the interpretation of the 70-week prophecy even though the early Church fathers did not entertain his theory. His theory goes against what Jesus Christ said in Matthew 24 as he warned his disciples about a 3.5-year long wrath to come. Darby claims that the entire 70th week, or 7 years will be the wrath of God and that it has yet to be fulfilled. He taught that the Anti-Christ would sign a covenant with Israel’s leaders and will break this covenant when he commits the abomination of desolation in a yet to be built Temple. He gets all of this from verse 27 of Chapter 9. To Darby the phrase, “in the middle of the week, sacrifices and offerings are ended,” relates to an abomination committed by the Anti-Christ. This goes against what Jesus did on the Cross after 3.5 years of ministry or in the “middle of the week.” The veil in the Temple was split in two and thereon, God would no longer accept Israel’s sacrifices. From the beginning to the end Jesus Christ is the focus of Gabriel’s message since Jesus is the Messiah that fulfills the first 3.5 years ushering in the Church Age. The last 3.5 years will begin when this so-called Anti-Christ organizes a force that surrounds the city of Jerusalem. Jesus warns that everyone must leave Jerusalem with only the clothes on their back. This final scenario is true, and it lasts only 3.5 years not 7.
Gabriel’s 70-week prophecy given to Daniel is split into multiple periods of weeks with various lengthy time spans in-between. So, it is no surprise that the final 7-year period is also split into two periods spanning a lot of time. The 1st period is marked by the baptism of Jesus Christ. It ends with His Ascension in 32 AD. The total time span between that Ascension and the uplifting of the Church in the Rapture is called the Church Age. This time span will last 2000 years: from 32 AD to His 2nd Coming in 2032. The whole “Church Age” covers the gap between the two 3.5-year periods. These two 3.5-year periods act as bookends that represent the spreading of the Gospel into all nations and tribes as commanded by Jesus Christ. The final 3.5 years will represent God’s wrath on sin and will end with defeat of Satan, the false prophet, and the Anti-Christ. It will be marked by the Lord’s glorious 2nd Coming.
Prophets like Zechariah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Joel spoke of this final 3.5-year period as being the “Day of the Lord.” In the book of Daniel, Matthew 24, and in Chapters 12 and 13 in the book of Revelation it is described as lasting only 3.5 years. Nowhere in the Bible is the Wrath of God described as lasting 7 years. For instance, why would the White Horse in the first Seal Judgment be considered the Wrath of God. This horse and rider represent deception and lies. This anti-Christ spirit has been active since the Gospel began. This is what the Apostle John warns about: I John 2:18, “Dear children this is the last hour; and as you have heard the anti-christ is coming, even now many anti-christs have come.” There have been and will be many anti-christs that martyr millions of Christians.
The Darby interpretation connects the “he” in verse 27 of Chapter 9 back to that of the” commander” or “ruler” mentioned in verse 26. This ruler is defined by Darby as being the Anti-Christ who destroys the Temple. And yes, Ceasar Nero did destroy the Temple, but it was in 70 AD and not in a future time. And Nero did think that he was God. It was Nero who desecrated the Temple and caused the abomination of desolation mentioned by Paul in 2nd Thessalonians. He was the perfect Anti-Christ type. However, the person that Darby speaks of is a future Anti-Christ in a future 7-year period who he believes will be the one who ends the sacrifice and offerings. His Anti-Christ is the one who in the middle of the week commits the Abomination of Desolation in a future time in the middle of a future 7-year period. This is not true for in the Hebrew tradition of script writing the main subject, the “anointed prince,” carries forth throughout the thought or paragraph and therefore, the “anointed prince” is the one who ends the sacrifice and is made desolate. In Hebrew one cannot change the pronoun into another character as Darby does. Read the original Hebrew or least the KJV which uses the word “and” to link all the thoughts in verse 26 as a link to verse 27 which then starts with “he” who is the character that is first mentioned in verse 26 or the Anointed One/Prince. Note that the original Hebrew did not have all these confusing verse breakups. This confusing translation led to Darby’s incorrect logic. This bad logic is dangerous, and it makes no sense.
Note that many Messianic Jews believe that a Temple will not be rebuilt and that Darby has misinterpreted Daniel 9:27. The word “sacrifice” is not in italics in Daniel 9, but it is in Daniel 8, 11, and 12. This is because the word sacrifice was added by the translators, but it was not added in Daniel 9. Added words are in italics in KJV when they were not in the original text. It was not added in Daniel 9 because it was in the original text. The emphasis is that Jesus did the action: He took away the sacrifices. Darby’s antichrist cannot and will not do it. There have not been any animal sacrifices since the destruction of the temple. If the temple were rebuilt today, it would be an “abomination of desolation” for the very fact that it would be a denial that Jesus Christ is the Final Sacrifice for all who receive Him. For emphasis, Jews do not believe that the Temple will be rebuilt because it is not necessary. This is a made-up theory. In fact, what keeps Jerusalem from being destroyed by a future anti-Jewish force is the very fact that the Dome of Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque are still on the Temple Mount. Hence to have a future “commander with his forces surround Jerusalem” implies that the purpose is to take over the city and not to destroy a Temple. If the Temple exists in this future time, this commander will simply blow it up with a bomb or missile.

