August, 1939
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
29S
Daniel's Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks HI. THE SEVENTIETH WEEK AND THE COMING OF THE ROMAN PRINCE
By A L V A J. M cC LA IN Winona Lake, Indiana the treaty made between Ahab and Ben- hadad (1 Ki. 20:34), of the treaty be tween Ephraim and Assyria (Hos. 12:1), and also of the treaty between Antio- chus and Ptolemy Philometer (Dan. 11:22). The same Hebrew word is trans lated fifteen times in the Old Testa ment by our English word “league.” As to the nature of this “firm cove nant,” league, or treaty, the fact that, following the establishment of the treaty, the Roman prince only three and a half years later puts a stop to the Jewish sacrifices certainly suggests that one thing involved in the treaty was thè reestablishment of the Jewish tem ple sacrificial system. Now this fits quite accurately into the present historical situation and di lemma of the Jew today. In the midst of all the great Jewish activity in the land of Palestine just now, there -still remains one heartbreaking problem. Re gardless of material and cultural pro gress, and it is very great, the Jew can never be satisfied until his ancient tem ple is restored and the Mosaic ritual reestablished. But on the very spot where this temple must be built there now stands a Mohammedan mosque, one of the most sacred places in the world to millions of Moslem people. And Great Britain, however much she might desire to fulfill the ancient dream of the Jew for the building of his temple, can not ignore the seething political dan gers which are potential in the great hordes of Mohammedan subjects within her far-flung empire. The thousands of Jews in Palestine today need and are demanding a pro tector in order to satisfy their age-long aspirations. And there is nothing the Fascist Roman Empire would rather do "than to acquire somehow the hegemony over this same country because of its immensely strategic position on the Mediterranean. Now it is easy to see that for the accomplishment of the Fascist aims, nothing could be smarter. ' politically than for Mussolini to offer his services as the patron and protector of the Jewish people. If it be objected that the present Fas cist regime in Italy is anti-Semitic and therefore unlikely to come to any such terms with the Jewish people, the an swer is that Fascist political policies are based wholly on expediency. The anti-Semitic policy could be reversed overnight. All that is needed is a suffi cient motive; and the motive is near at hand. When the final Roman prinae of
Daniel’s prophecy begins his mad ca reer, hé will be a “little horn” politically (Dan. 7:8). Yet within the brief space of three and a half years he must rise to the pinnacle of world rulership. Such an amazing rise is not impossible, but it will require armies, planes, battle-, ships, and all the munitions and supplies of war. But all this will take MONEY. Thus the very present historical situa tion contains the motives for thé treaty predicted by Daniel. ? The Jew wants protection in Palestine and is willing to pay for it. The rising Roman empire needs money desperately. If the Fas cists could free themselves from the Berlin axis, suddenly come to terms with the Jews, offer them the protection they sorely need in return Tor monetary con siderations needed by Italy, the Fascist ■ Empire could fix the British between the horns of a terrible dilemma as far as Palestine is concerned. The Fascist Empire already has the support of the Roman Catholic Church. Add to that the immense wealth and influence of world Jewry, and the combination of forces would be politically incalculable. The Moslem problem would not disturb Italy as it does the British Empire. If Mussolini should suddenly cut loose from Hitler and throw the weight of his political influence on the side of the Jew, he would become overnight the greatest man in the world. Some day a Roman prince will do this very thing, but I do not think it will be Mussolini. Furthermore, it is likely th a t, nothing but a world war could free Rome from the Berlin alliance. But that war may break tomorrow. A Broken Covenant 4. In the middle of the 70th week the Roman prince will suddenly reverse his friendly attitude toward the Jews and “cause the sacrifice and the obla tion to cease.” Quite evidently, after the 7-year treaty has run for only three and a half years, the Roman prince^ tears up his agreement as a mere scrap of paper. Covenant-breaking seems already to have become the fashion of the age. As I write this article, the morning news paper quotes C. J. Hambro, a distin guished statesman and journalist of Norway, as follows: “No state believes whole-hearted ly in any promise given by other states today. Covenants, pacts, treaties, conventions and agree-.
(CONTINUED) [With this present discussion, the President of Grace Theological Semin ary brings to a close the prophetic series which opened in the April issue of T he K ing ’ s B usiness —E ditor .] ANIEL 9:24-27 constitutes an 1 extremely important prophetic | J passage. It provides a key to the Book of Revelation and thus gives a proper perspective as to the present church age. In the first section in this series, it was shown that the first 69 of the Sev enty Weeks of prophetic years began on March 14, 445 B. C., with'; the issu ing of King Artaxerxes’ decree^ to re build Jerusalem .(Neh. 2:1-8); and that the period ended on April 6, 32 A. D., when our Lord rode up to Jerusalem on the foal of an ass, presenting Him self as the King of Israel (Lk. 19:28-44) exactly 69 sevens or 483 years to the very day. In the next article, it was established that the 70th week did not follow the 69th immediately but that between the 69th and 70th weeks there is a vast gap of uncharted time which has already extended over nineteen hundred years, and therefore the 70th ^eek of years is still in the future. The portion of Part IH which appeared la st' month showed from Daniel and the Book of Revelation, that it is the Roman prince who will make the covenant or league with Israel. It was further explained that this prince, in the middle of the seven-year period preceding Christ’s re turn, will break with the nation of Is rael and will begin a period of three and a half years of fearful persecution. Reasons for the Coming Alliance Between Rome and Israel S. The 70th week will begin with the making of a “firm covenant” between the coming Roman prince and the Jew ish people. The exact language of the prophecy is: “He shall make a firm covenant with [the] many for one week” (9:27, R. V.) It has been affirmed by some that the Hebrew “Berith” used here cannot mean a “covenant” between men, but must refer to a covenant on the part of God. They overlook the fact, however, that the same Hebrew term is fesed of A ll rights reservea'.
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