Just thinking out loud!

[PhillipLaSpino]

Would like to discuss the following, just thinking out loud.

Two questions need to be answered; first who is it that will confirm the covenant with many for one week; one week translating to 7 years. Secondly when will the full week (7 years) of CONFIRMING the covenant end?

Before Jesus was crucified he had an earthly ministry of 3 ½ years, and at the end of this period He was betrayed and crucified by the people he came to save.

Let me back up for a moment, in Dan.9:24-26-27 we are told in ver.24 there will be 70 weeks of tribulation concerning the Jews, the land and Jerusalem.

Ver.26 reveals that 62 weeks will end, than AFTER this period of 62 weeks ends, the Jewish Messiah would be cut off. “After (is a word of time) threescore and two weeks Messiah (Jesus) will be cut off.” So, the covenant had to be confirmed for 3 ½ weeks (meaning 3 ½ years) before Jesus was to be cut off.

Dan.9:27, “He (???) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week (3 ½ years) he shall cause the sacrifice and 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.”

If the Jews had received Jesus, his was the final sacrifice the Jews would ever need in order to obtain forgiveness. Upon Jesus death any further sacrifices and offerings would be without merit to the Jew.

When Messiah was rejected, the house of Israel was left desolate meaning God took his hand of protection, his blessings and mercies from the people and the land. This rejection of Messiah set the stage for the future destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Roman armies followed by many desolations coming from the Gentile nations in the hundreds of years to follow.

First question, who is the He in Ver.27 that is to confirm the covenant? Some say its Titus, others say anti-Christ, and others claim its Jesus. Let’s see if the Bible can answer this question for us.
Isa.42:6, “I the LORD (the Father) have called thee (Jesus) in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a COVENANT of the people, for a light of the Gentiles.”
Jesus is to whom the covenant between Israel and the Father is personally expressed.

Luke 22:20, Jesus said, “This cup is the new testament (covenant) in my blood, which is shed for you.”

Mal.3:1, “Behold, I will send my messenger (John the Baptist) and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord (Jesus the Jewish Messiah) whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the COVENANT.”

Jeremiah 31:31-34 describes the Messianic covenant in full. If you will also read Dan.11:30-32, you will read about those who oppose the confirmation of the covenant, those who will “Forsake the covenant,” and “Do wickedly against the covenant.”

Considering the above it should be obvious that Jesus is the one who will confirm the covenant spoken of in Daniel.

My second question:

Daniel said before the 62 weeks are finished, Jesus will have already confirmed the covenant for 3 ½ years. But it was also written that He would confirm the covenant for one week meaning 7 years. So the questions remains, when will the final 3 ½ weeks of confirming the covenant be?

Let’s step back 2000 years! Jesus said, Matt.26:28-29, “Take, eat, this is my body. And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them (the apostles,) saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament (covenant,) ---- But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

This was the last supper, the last time He would be with the 11 that remained with him, Judas having already left to betray him. When the last supper was finished, Jesus went into the garden with the eleven, prayed, and soon after Judas returned with the chief priests and elder of the people to arrest him.

Now if this is correct, Jesus had already confirmed his covenant for 3 ½ years, this ending at the conclusion of the breaking of bread and drinking of the wine. Within a few hours He would be cut off, meaning separated from his disciples and than arrested. This explains the word (after) in Dan.9:26.

But there yet remain 3 ½ years for the covenant to be confirmed; this 3 ½ years would have to be included in the full seven years that remain in the determination of God making --

Dan.9:24, “An end of sins, --- reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness --- and to anoint the most Holy” Jesus is the anti-type of the most holy place, see John 2:19-22.

In the 3 ½ years of Jesus earthly ministry He confirmed the covenant, this being included in the last part of the 62th week. Therefore the last 3 ½ years that remain will have to be included in the first part of the 70th week, meaning the last 7 years of tribulation which was revealed to us by John in Revelation.

So, Jesus confirmed his new covenant for 3 ½ years, 69 weeks of years being finished; yet the 70th week of Daniel’s prophecy remains. When that last week of tribulation for the Jews does begin, it appears that the last 3 ½ years of confirming the covenant with them will begin with the two witnesses of Rev.11 who are given power by the Lord, and will end with the death and resurrection of the two 3 ½ years later; this would fulfill the 7 years of confirming the covenant, with 3 ½ years left in Daniel’s prophecy. 3 ½ years that would complete the full 70 year curse placed on the Jews by God, Dan.9:24.

Your thoughts: opened minded people only, those who would like to discuss the pros and cons of the above.

Phil LaSpino

 

[Time Watcher]

The Lord will confirm the covenant during the future 70th week decreed for a believing remnant part of Daniel's people Israel [Jeremiah 31:31-37]

Jesus did not confirm the covenant for Israel in the first century .... Israel rejected Him .... and He has delayed the confirming

This confirmation is still pending and the 6 objectives will be met for the "many" [a believing remnant of Israel] during the coming 70th week

The vision of Daniel 9 is strictly a view of Daniel's people, past and future

The vision has nothing to do with today's "church" existing during the Lord's period of grace which is still ongoing .... His ecclesia does contain both a few of Israel and majority of Gentiles on matters of His salvation .... but not regarding national identity

When all of the Gentiles that will turn to Him have been added [grafted in] to His ecclesia, He will then deal with the generation of a remnant part of Israel during the coming 70th week still pending [Romans 11:25-36]

 

[Bible2]

PhillipLaSpino said in post 1:

Two questions need to be answered; first who is it that will confirm the covenant with many for one week; one week translating to 7 years.

Regarding Daniel 9:27, back in Daniel 9:26, the original Hebrew word (karath, H3772) translated as "cut off" can refer to when a peace treaty/covenant is "made" (Genesis 21:27). The first century AD fulfillment of Daniel 9:26a was at the Crucifixion, when the true Messiah, Jesus, made the New Covenant (Matthew 26:28, Hebrews 9:15-17). The future fulfillment of Daniel 9:26a will be when the Antichrist makes a peace treaty, which will be the fulfillment of the covenant in Daniel 9:27 and the league in Daniel 11:23, with a future, ultra-Orthodox Jewish false Messiah in Jerusalem, after he and his followers are defeated by the Antichrist (Daniel 11:22-23). So the future fulfillment of Daniel 9:26a can refer to this false Messiah being "cut off" in the sense of being "covenanted", peace-treatied.

This treaty will allow this false Messiah and his followers to keep a 3rd Jewish temple which they will have built on Jerusalem's Temple Mount (after they or great earthquakes have destroyed the Muslim structures there), and to (mistakenly) continue to perform the daily Mosaic animal sacrifices in front of the temple for at least 7 years (Daniel 9:27a), so long as they give up the outer court of the temple (Revelation 11:2a) to the Muslims, so that the Muslims can rebuild the (by that time destroyed) Al Aqsa Mosque on the southern end of the Temple Mount and resume worship there. After "cutting" this treaty (Daniel 9:26a), the Antichrist could appear before the "many" (Daniel 9:27) nations represented at the U.N. General Assembly, and "confirm" (Daniel 9:27) that for at least 7 years he will keep this treaty with the ultra-Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem, using this as purported proof to the world that he's (in his words) "a man of peace, and no Hitler".

In Daniel 9:27, "he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease" refers to when, only some 3.5 years after making the peace treaty of Daniel 9:26a,27a and Daniel 11:23a, the Antichrist will break the treaty, attack the 3rd temple, stop the daily Mosaic animal sacrifices, place the abomination of desolation (possibly a standing, android image of the Antichrist) in the holy place (the inner sanctum) of the temple (Daniel 11:31, Matthew 24:15), and then sit himself in the temple and proclaim himself God (2 Thessalonians 2:4, Daniel 11:36). Thus could begin the Antichrist's future, literal 3.5-year Luciferian (Satanic) worldwide reign of terror (Revelation 13:4-18, Revelation 12:9; 2 Thessalonians 2:9).

 

[Bible2]

Time Watcher said in post 2:

When all of the Gentiles that will turn to Him have been added [grafted in] to His ecclesia, He will then deal with the generation of a remnant part of Israel during the coming 70th week still pending [Romans 11:25-36]

When Paul says "until the fulness (pleroma) of the Gentiles be come in" (Romans 11:25), he means until a full number of genetic Gentile individuals have become saved, which won't happen until near the end of the tribulation, right before Jesus' 2nd coming (Romans 11:26), just as Luke 21:24 shows that "the times of the Gentiles" won't be "fulfilled (pleroo)" until the completion of the treading down of Jerusalem during the future, literal 3.5-year worldwide reign of the Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of the beast) (Revelation 11:2b, Revelation 13:5-18) during the 2nd half of the future tribulation of Revelation chapter 6 to 18 and Matthew 24.

Immediately after the tribulation, at Jesus' 2nd coming (Matthew 24:29-30), all the unsaved elect genetic Jews will become saved (Romans 11:26-28) by God's grace when they see the returned Jesus in person and believe in him (Zechariah 12:10-14). And so they will all become part of the church at that time, just as when genetic Jews believe in Jesus now they become part of the church, for there are now no believers outside of the church (Ephesians 4:4-6).

And the genetic Jews who will become believers at the 2nd coming will all become part of the church by receiving some measure of the Holy Spirit, who is "the spirit of grace and of supplications" in Zechariah 12:10 (Hebrews 10:29c, Romans 8:26), just as genetic Jewish believers today become part of the church by receiving some measure of the Holy Spirit. For it's by receiving some measure of the Holy Spirit that both genetic Jewish believers and genetic Gentile believers become part of the church (1 Corinthians 12:13).

Time Watcher said in post 2:

The Lord will confirm the covenant during the future 70th week decreed for a believing remnant part of Daniel's people Israel [Jeremiah 31:31-37]

Note that even though the prior, millennial prophecy of Jeremiah 31:1-14,16-25 (Jeremiah 31:15 was fulfilled in the first century AD: Matthew 2:17-18) and the other millennial prophecies haven't yet been fulfilled, the making of the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31,33) was fulfilled at Jesus' crucifixion (Matthew 26:28, Hebrews 9:15-17), just as its being made with the houses of Israel and Judah (Jeremiah 31:31,33) has been fulfilled (Acts 2:5,36-41, Romans 11:1,17,24). And the New Covenant being not according to the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law (Jeremiah 31:32) has been fulfilled (Hebrews 7:18-19, Ephesians 2:15-16, Colossians 2:14-17). And the New Covenant law of Jesus being written on the hearts of believers (Jeremiah 31:33) has been fulfilled (Romans 6:17, Ephesians 6:6, Galatians 6:2). And "they shall teach no more every man his neighbour" (Jeremiah 31:34) has been fulfilled (1 John 2:27). And "they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them" (Jeremiah 31:34) has been fulfilled (1 John 2:13). And "I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more" (Jeremiah 31:34) has been fulfilled (1 John 2:12).

 

[Interplanner]

Phil,
why not get 3 good commentaries and check into some things.

Most good commentaries on Dan 9 will show the extraordinary double-entendre. While Messiah appears to be the final paragraphs subject (why wouldn't it be, since the 7 accomplishments of Messiah are the big news of the answer to Daniel's prayer?), the same language has an eerie way of depicting the work of an anti-figure. As one ex., "confirm" has its own double meaning. It can mean to inaugurate (as in New Covenant), or it can mean to "make harsh," which is an amazing description of what 1st century Judaizers had become. They are the ones who lead the "rebellion that desolates" mentioned back in ch 8, which is obviously necessary reading before reading 9.

There is a mathematical mistake you've made that you will want to check into. Why doesn't the first 3.5 take the period from 69 to 69.5? Is there some reason why it has to start at 70? I don't think so.

But I don't think the 70th is a normal week anyway. I think it refers to the formidable generation from the Resurrection (or at least Pentecost) to the DofJ, which held all of Israel's future in its hands. That generation has as much of a decision to make affecting all Israel as the first one after the Exodus (and Jesus did call his Gospel events "his exodus" in Lk 9). Israel was asked by the apostles (as Messiahs' reps) to believe his Gospel and become missionaries to the nations, rather than get engrossed in a vicious battle for freedom for their land, which was the "rebellion that desolates."

Josephus, the priest-warrior of the 6th decade who quit the revolt and tried to appeal to Israel to be sensible after his defection, said that the events of Daniel were happening right in front of him, but he regretted that they spelled doom. I have a thread posted here about that and the quotes from his chronicle of the catastrophe called THE JEWISH WAR.

Because there is so much history to know, and so much of that history is snowed by futurism, and so much of Luke is speaking to this revolution, this huge rebellion, don't try to figure out OUR future from it. The whole idea that there is 2-3000 years between the 69th and 70th is very confusing and poorly reasoned.

The use of "until all the Gentiles full number comes in" is totally mistaken and isolated usage of that. It is not what it means in its own setting in Rom 11.

That is sometimes coupled with a line in Lk 21 about "Jerusalem trampled until the times of the Gentiles is fulfilled" is also used opportunistically as a last gasp to make some sense of futurism. My futurist friends just refuse to wrestle with the historical issues, and you can't do that and read Luke proper; he is absolutely and totally integrated with his times and knows them very closely. (Some people just avoid reading any other history because 'only the Bible is reliable' on these things, or some similar 'sacred' reasoning).

 

[Interplanner]

EVen apart from the particular texts of Rom 11 and Lk 21, there is a huge question which a thread here at CF took up yesterday with the most pressing question: why would justice or fairness for Israel suddenly be taken up after 2000 years of inactivity? People who think this don't seem to know the DofJ happened as scant historic fact, let alone that it was mentioned over and over in Luke, where we have the line that this is "the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that was written." If that (DofJ in 66+) is that, praytell what needs to be punished in the futurist scheme in the future? Didn't the letter of Hebrews have horrifying warnings for the current generation of Israel if it refused the word of salvation? Didn't it say its land would be burned--the same image used in terminal parables in Mt 21 and 22 about the 'vineyard' and about the 'city' of those who refused to come to the king's wedding?

 

[Interplanner]

The most important 'commentaries' on Dan 9 are Mt 24 & //s and then possibly Hebrews. Mt 24 & //s explains the abomination, the time of trouble, and the flood imagery. Of course, none of this does any good if you're not open to the ordinary timeframe set by the opening questions.

Then Hebrews appears to me to be interpreting the 70 times when it says Messiah came at the end of them to deal with sin.

 

[vinsight4u]

/

 

[SG9]

Two questions need to be answered; first who is it that will confirm the covenant with many for one week; one week translating to 7 years. Secondly when will the full week (7 years) of CONFIRMING the covenant end?

I'm just offering a bit of political humor here by saying I had a thought after reading another post before this and thought of it in the same sense that if perhaps, the AC is Obama as some people believe then these two questions might be answered easily,
1) Who? Obama
2) When? Before the end of his second term in office, whenever that be.

No cause for alarm, I'm just having a little fun with political humor. Thanks

 

[Interplanner]

I have never thought that the 2nd half of the week was very regular. "War will continue to the end." Does a war ever go as planned, exactly 24 months or whatever?

The expression the midst of the week is inexact, too. It does not mean to the hour or minute, let alone day. "During" is a better translation.

I have no idea what TW means about it not being confirmed. The whole point of the prayer is that there is an answer to Israel's sin; a new covenant in which there is forgiveness and God 'remembers sins no more' What OT is he reading? ARe there really too many references to the New Covenant to chase down?

 

[Bible2]

SG9 said in post 9:

I'm just offering a bit of political humor here by saying I had a thought after reading another post before this and thought of it in the same sense that if perhaps, the AC is Obama as some people believe then these two questions might be answered easily,
1) Who? Obama
2) When? Before the end of his second term in office, whenever that be.

No cause for alarm, I'm just having a little fun with political humor. Thanks

Regarding "if perhaps, the AC is Obama as some people believe", Obama isn't the Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of Revelation's "beast"), for the gematrial "number of the name" of the Antichrist is 666 (Revelation 13:17c-18, Revelation 15:2), whereas the gematrial number of the name Barack Hussein Obama is 793:

B=2, A=1, R=90, A=1, C=3, K=20, H=8, U=300, S=100, S=100, E=5, I=9, N=50, O=60, B=2, A=1, M=40, A=1. Total = 793.

Also, the Antichrist will come from a country the territory of which used to be part of one of the 4 Diadochian Greek kingdoms which succeeded Alexander the Great (Daniel 8:8-9,21-25). These kingdoms stretched from Greece over to Iran, and down into Egypt. So the Antichrist could come from the Middle East. He could be an Arab who will come from Lebanon, from the modern city of Tyre (Ezekiel 28:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:4), and have a name like (for example) "Nabil Abdullah Falakal al-Hakim", which adds up to 666.

But if a man from the Middle East has a name which adds up to 666, even this doesn't assure that he's the Antichrist. For he also has to sit (at least one time) in a 3rd Jewish temple in Jerusalem and proclaim himself God (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, Daniel 11:31,36, Matthew 24:15, Revelation 11:1-2). Once he does that, there won't be any room for doubt over whether or not he's the Antichrist; his identity will have been definitely revealed (2 Thessalonians 2:3b-4).

The gematrial numerical values of the letters of the English alphabet are: A=1, B=2, C=3, D=4, E=5, F=6, G=7, H=8, I=9, J=10, K=20, L=30, M=40, N=50, O=60, P=70, Q=80, R=90, S=100, T=200, U=300, V=400, W=500, X=600, Y=700, Z=800. The way that the gematrial number of a name is "counted" (Revelation 13:17c-18), is added up, is simply by adding up the gematrial numerical values of all the letters in that name. So, for example, the number of the name "John Mark Smith" is 636, because: J=10, O=60, H=8, N=50, M=40, A=1, R=90, K=20, S=100, M=40, I=9, T=200, H=8. Total = 636. The Antichrist's name will add up to 666 (Revelation 13:17c-18).

That is, the "666" in Revelation 13:17c-18 refers to the number six hundred and sixty-six, the "number of the name" of the individual "man" who is the Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of the beast). The number of a name (Revelation 13:17c-18, Revelation 15:2) is determined by employing the ancient method of gematria, by which numerical values are assigned to the letters of any alphabet as follows: the first nine letters are 1 through 9, the next nine letters are 10 through 90 (counting by tens), and the rest of the letters are 100, 200, 300, etc., to the end of the alphabet. In Revelation 13:18, the "counting", the adding up, of the gematrial number of the Antichrist's name should be done in the same way that the gematrial numerical values of the 3 Greek letters (Chi, Xi, and Stigma) at the end of Revelation 13:18 (in the original Greek Textus Receptus) are added up to arrive at the number six hundred and sixty-six.

The numerical values of the letters of the ancient Greek alphabet (including the 3 obsolete letters of Stigma, Qoppa, and Sampi) were as follows: Alpha = 1, Beta = 2, Gamma = 3, Delta = 4, Epsilon = 5, Stigma = 6, Zeta = 7, Eta = 8, Theta = 9, Iota = 10, Kappa = 20, Lambda = 30, Mu = 40, Nu = 50, Xi = 60, Omikron = 70, Pi = 80, Qoppa = 90, Rho = 100, Sigma = 200, Tau = 300, Upsilon = 400, Phi = 500, Chi = 600, Psi = 700, Omega = 800, Sampi = 900.

Just as the numerical values of Chi, Xi, and Stigma at the end of Revelation 13:18 (in the Textus Receptus) add up to 666, so the numerical values of the letters in the Antichrist's name will add up to 666 (Revelation 13:17c-18). John used the Greek alphabet because it was the most common one used by believers when the book of Revelation was written. Today, the English alphabet is the most common one used by believers, insofar as English is the current lingua franca of the world. So the Antichrist's name will most likely add up to 666 in the English alphabet. The purpose of Revelation 13:17c-18 is to facilitate for believers, not to make difficult for them, the identification of a certain man as possibly being the Antichrist. If the letters in his name had to be transliterated into the Greek alphabet, this would vitiate this purpose, for almost all believers today wouldn't know how to properly perform this transliteration, and so different believers would come up with different transliterations, and so would come up with different gematrial numbers for the name of the man in question.

If believers think that someone is the Antichrist, they need to check and make sure that his name adds up to 666 in gematria (Revelation 13:17c-18). If it doesn't, then he isn't the Antichrist. If it does, then he could be, and they need to be especially wary of him and not be taken in by any deceptive charisma, intelligence, or amazing deeds that he might display. But even if someone's name adds up to 666, this doesn't mean that he's definitely the Antichrist. For just by chance there could be more than one person in the world whose name adds up to 666.

 

[Gideon]

Would like to discuss the following, just thinking out loud.
Two questions need to be answered; first who is it that will confirm the covenant with many for one week; one week translating to 7 years.

• Messiah confirms the covenant up to his death atoning for sin for first 1/2 week.
• Messiah (thru Holy Spirit) confirms the covenant establishing the church for second 1/2 week.

Secondly when will the full week (7 years) of CONFIRMING the covenant end?

He finished confirming the covt when the church was fully established - the Gentiles grafted in as promised in the covenant God originally gave Abraham. (Acts 10 Early AD34 as best as I know the date.)

 

[Biblewriter]

Phil, I have three problems with your suggestion. The first is that this idea ignores the basic rules of grammar. When the word "he" is introduced, it refers to the last male mentioned. in this case, that last male mentioned is "the prince that shall come." This person is to be a prince of the people that destroyed the city and the sanctuary. As we know that the city and the sanctuary were destroyed by the Romans, we know this "prince that shall come" has to be a prince of Rome.

My second problem is with the order of events given in Daniel 9:25-26. It is only after Messiah is cut off and the city and the sanctuary are destroyed that the covenant is confirmed.

And my third problem is that the Lord has never, and will never make a temporary covenant with anyone. But this covenant is for seven years.

 

[Biblewriter]

Phil, I have three problems with your suggestion. The first is that this idea ignores the basic rules of grammar. When the word he is introduced, the reference is to the last male mentioned. in this case, that last male mentioned is "the prince that shall come." This person is to be a prince of the people that destroyed the city and the sanctuary. As we know that the city and the sanctuary were destroyed by the Romans, we know thos "prince that shall come" has to be a prince of Rome.

My second problem is with the order of events given in Daniel 9:25-26. It is only after Messiah is cut off and the city and the sanctuary are destroyed that the covenant is confirmed.

And my third problem is that the Lord has never, and will never make a temporary covenant with anyone. But this covenant is for seven years.

so I conclude that the one who confirms the covenant cannot be anyone other than "the prince that shall come," a prince of the people that destroyed the city and the sanctuary, that is of the Romans.

 

[Biblewriter]

Phil, I have three problems with your suggestion. The first is that this idea ignores the basic rules of grammar. When the word he is introduced, the reference is to the last male mentioned. in this case, that last male mentioned is "the prince that shall come." This person is to be a prince of the people that destroyed the city and the sanctuary. As we know that the city and the sanctuary were destroyed by the Romans, we know this "prince that shall come" has to be a prince of Rome.

My second problem is with the order of events given in Daniel 9:25-26. It is only after Messiah is cut off and the city and the sanctuary are destroyed that the covenant is confirmed.

And my third problem is that the Lord has never, and will never make a temporary covenant with anyone. But this covenant is for seven years.

so I conclude that the one who confirms the covenant cannot be anyone other than "the prince that shall come," the end time prince of the people that destroyed the city and the sanctuary, that is of the Romans.

 

[SG9]

Regarding "if perhaps, the AC is Obama as some people believe", Obama isn't the Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of Revelation's "beast"), for the gematrial "number of the name" of the Antichrist is 666 (Revelation 13:17c-18, Revelation 15:2), whereas the gematrial number of the name Barack Hussein Obama is 793:

B=2, A=1, R=90, A=1, C=3, K=20, H=8, U=300, S=100, S=100, E=5, I=9, N=50, O=60, B=2, A=1, M=40, A=1. Total = 793.

Also, the Antichrist will come from a country the territory of which used to be part of one of the 4 Diadochian Greek kingdoms which succeeded Alexander the Great (Daniel 8:8-9,21-25). These kingdoms stretched from Greece over to Iran, and down into Egypt. So the Antichrist could come from the Middle East. He could be an Arab who will come from Lebanon, from the modern city of Tyre (Ezekiel 28:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:4), and have a name like (for example) "Nabil Abdullah Falakal al-Hakim", which adds up to 666.

But if a man from the Middle East has a name which adds up to 666, even this doesn't assure that he's the Antichrist. For he also has to sit (at least one time) in a 3rd Jewish temple in Jerusalem and proclaim himself God (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, Daniel 11:31,36, Matthew 24:15, Revelation 11:1-2). Once he does that, there won't be any room for doubt over whether or not he's the Antichrist; his identity will have been definitely revealed (2 Thessalonians 2:3b-4).

The gematrial numerical values of the letters of the English alphabet are: A=1, B=2, C=3, D=4, E=5, F=6, G=7, H=8, I=9, J=10, K=20, L=30, M=40, N=50, O=60, P=70, Q=80, R=90, S=100, T=200, U=300, V=400, W=500, X=600, Y=700, Z=800. The way that the gematrial number of a name is "counted" (Revelation 13:17c-18), is added up, is simply by adding up the gematrial numerical values of all the letters in that name. So, for example, the number of the name "John Mark Smith" is 636, because: J=10, O=60, H=8, N=50, M=40, A=1, R=90, K=20, S=100, M=40, I=9, T=200, H=8. Total = 636. The Antichrist's name will add up to 666 (Revelation 13:17c-18).

That is, the "666" in Revelation 13:17c-18 refers to the number six hundred and sixty-six, the "number of the name" of the individual "man" who is the Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of the beast). The number of a name (Revelation 13:17c-18, Revelation 15:2) is determined by employing the ancient method of gematria, by which numerical values are assigned to the letters of any alphabet as follows: the first nine letters are 1 through 9, the next nine letters are 10 through 90 (counting by tens), and the rest of the letters are 100, 200, 300, etc., to the end of the alphabet. In Revelation 13:18, the "counting", the adding up, of the gematrial number of the Antichrist's name should be done in the same way that the gematrial numerical values of the 3 Greek letters (Chi, Xi, and Stigma) at the end of Revelation 13:18 (in the original Greek Textus Receptus) are added up to arrive at the number six hundred and sixty-six.

The numerical values of the letters of the ancient Greek alphabet (including the 3 obsolete letters of Stigma, Qoppa, and Sampi) were as follows: Alpha = 1, Beta = 2, Gamma = 3, Delta = 4, Epsilon = 5, Stigma = 6, Zeta = 7, Eta = 8, Theta = 9, Iota = 10, Kappa = 20, Lambda = 30, Mu = 40, Nu = 50, Xi = 60, Omikron = 70, Pi = 80, Qoppa = 90, Rho = 100, Sigma = 200, Tau = 300, Upsilon = 400, Phi = 500, Chi = 600, Psi = 700, Omega = 800, Sampi = 900.

Just as the numerical values of Chi, Xi, and Stigma at the end of Revelation 13:18 (in the Textus Receptus) add up to 666, so the numerical values of the letters in the Antichrist's name will add up to 666 (Revelation 13:17c-18). John used the Greek alphabet because it was the most common one used by believers when the book of Revelation was written. Today, the English alphabet is the most common one used by believers, insofar as English is the current lingua franca of the world. So the Antichrist's name will most likely add up to 666 in the English alphabet. The purpose of Revelation 13:17c-18 is to facilitate for believers, not to make difficult for them, the identification of a certain man as possibly being the Antichrist. If the letters in his name had to be transliterated into the Greek alphabet, this would vitiate this purpose, for almost all believers today wouldn't know how to properly perform this transliteration, and so different believers would come up with different transliterations, and so would come up with different gematrial numbers for the name of the man in question.

If believers think that someone is the Antichrist, they need to check and make sure that his name adds up to 666 in gematria (Revelation 13:17c-18). If it doesn't, then he isn't the Antichrist. If it does, then he could be, and they need to be especially wary of him and not be taken in by any deceptive charisma, intelligence, or amazing deeds that he might display. But even if someone's name adds up to 666, this doesn't mean that he's definitely the Antichrist. For just by chance there could be more than one person in the world whose name adds up to 666.

 

[Interplanner]

BW wrote:
My second problem is with the order of events given in Daniel 9:25-26. It is only after Messiah is cut off and the city and the sanctuary are destroyed that the covenant is confirmed.

The paragraph starts over, or is coupleted (like much of Hebrew poetry in Psalms, Isaiah). The confirming is the same as cutting off himself (a play on the word 'berit') and is the same as the 7 redemptive accomplishments. It is the new covenant, but the momentum of the 'rebellion that desolates' still carries forward and ruins the city and temple.