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.--Daniel ix. 27.
Some writers consider this verse prophetical of the desolate state
of Jerusalem under Antiochus Epiphanes, that sacrilegious monarch
who impiously profaned the sanctuary of the God of Israel. By him
the temple was ransacked and despoiled of its holy vessels; its
golden ornaments pulled off; its hidden treasures seized; and
an unclean animal offered on the altar of burnt-offerings. Thus
did this impious Syrian king dare profane the altar and temple
dedicated to Jehovah. Neither was this all; Jerusalem again felt
the force of his horrid cruelty and profaneness; men, women, and
children, were either slain or taken captive; and the houses and
city walls were destroyed. The Jews were not allowed to offer burnt
offerings or sacrifices to the God of Israel--circumcision was
forbidden--they were required to profane the Sabbath, and eat the
flesh of swine, and other beasts forbidden by their law[135]--the
sanctuary dedicated to Jehovah was called the temple of Jupiter
Olympius, and his image set up on the altar--idol temples and altars
were erected throughout all their cities--and the Holy Scriptures
destroyed whenever they were met with--and death was the fate of
those who read the word of the Lord. The most horrid and brutal
cruelties were inflicted on such as chose to obey God, rather than
this Syrian monster. Jerusalem was overspread by his abominations;
desolation was indeed poured out "upon the desolate" when Antiochus
Epiphanes held the blood stained sceptre, emblem of satanic power.
Yet, closely as these circumstances resemble the description given
by the prophet's vision, we cannot think it is the event alluded to
in this prophecy. Daniel, in the three preceding verses, speaks of
the Messiah, and the final destruction of the city and sanctuary: by
Antiochus the temple certainly was _not_ destroyed. In the eleventh
chapter there appears a striking prophecy of the events which
happened in Jerusalem during the dominion of the Syrian tyrant, but
we cannot think he is alluded to in any part of the ninth chapter.
The first clause of this verse, "He shall confirm the covenant with
many," cannot refer to Antiochus, but alludes to the same glorious
person mentioned in the preceding verses. The latter part of this
verse may with propriety be considered as a continuance of the
prophecy of Jerusalem's final destruction, as it occurred under
Titus. To Jesus the Messiah we direct our eyes. The one week, or the
midst of the week, (seven years half expired,) alludes to the time
of his Public Ministry, which was three years and a half; during
which period he declared, the design of his mission was to confirm
the well-ordered covenant of redemption and peace, which was drawn
up in the counsels of eternity--sealed on earth with the blood of
the Incarnate God--signed in the presence of Jehovah, angels,
men, and devils--registered in the court of Heaven--and proclaimed
good and valid by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit.[136] It is true, the sacrifices and
oblations of the temple service did not cease immediately on the
death of Christ, they were continued some little time after that
event; but they became unnecessary, they had lost their value,
and were but idle ceremonies and useless rights, when the thing
signified was accomplished. At best, they were only types of the
Lamb of God, the blood of that one great sacrifice, which alone
"cleanseth from all sin." "It is not possible for the blood of
bulls or goats to take away sin." No, the sacrifices and ceremonies
of the Mosaic economy were only efficacious so far as Christ, the
substance, was viewed through the shadow.[137] In less than forty
years after the death of Christ, the sacrifices and oblations
ceased, for the temple was demolished. A spot so deeply stained
with crime, needed the fire of divine vengeance to consume it from
the face of the earth: it was erected for the worship of the God of
Israel, but was turned into the seat of iniquity and profaneness.
The horrid enormities observed in the temple of Juggernaut scarcely
surpassed the impious practices exercised within the Jewish
sanctuary. When Titus, the Roman general, approached the walls of
the city, it more resembled the court of Mars and Bacchus, than the
temple of Jehovah; the drunkard's voice--the clash of arms--the
shouts of the victor--the cries of the vanquished--and the groans of
the dying, echoed through that magnificent pile; human blood flowed
in its courts, and sprinkled its altars and its walls. Jerusalem was
a scene of slaughter; but it was not a war to support the glorious
cause of freedom; nor were they fighting to repel the foreign foe,
or shedding their blood to defend their beloved homes, and the still
dearer objects of affection, around which the warm heart clings with
fondest thought amidst the scene of danger and of death, and for
whose preservation the weakest arm grows desperate, and the feeblest
mind resolves to conquer or to die. But theirs was no such glorious
contest; no--civil war had reared her hydra head; the horrid yell
of intestine discord rang through Salem's courts, and echoed round
her walls; that infernal power bursts the bands of brotherhood,
severs the closest ties, dissolves the strongest link of union, and
makes the man a monster. The sword of her own sons deluged Jerusalem
with Jewish blood; the fire which destroyed her houses was kindled
by her own children; death and destruction reigned through all her
palaces; the city groaned beneath a three-fold faction, when the
Roman legions approached her walls to complete the horrid scene
of slaughter. The temple was the head-quarters of Eleazar and the
Zealots; they had in their possession the stores of first fruits
and offerings, and were frequently in a state of intoxication; but
when not drunken with wine, they thirsted for the blood of their
countrymen, and issued from their strong hold, to assault John and
his party, who lay intrenched in the out-works of the temple. The
ruin of Jerusalem is attributed to the horrid enormities of the
Zealot faction: surely that was the summit of wickedness, when the
priests sold themselves to work iniquity, and the temple of the
Lord was the seat of their crimes. That was "the overspreading of
abomination," and it continued until the sanctuary was consumed,
and "ruin was poured upon the desolators." It was the iniquitous
practices of the Jews, rather than the Roman eagle, which profaned
the courts of the Lord's House: the conquerors did not plant their
standard to insult, but with a wish to preserve, the temple from
total ruin and destruction.
[135] Leviticus xi. 2, 7, 8.
[136] 1 Timothy iii. 16. Acts ii. 24, 33.
[137] Hebrews iv. 2. x. 1-10, 20.