Will The Anti-Christ Come From The European Union? - Daniel 9:26

Daniel 9:26 says,

"The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary."

This verse is often interpreted as follows:

The people: the Romans of the first-century

The ruler to come: the Anti-Christ sometimes in the future

Will destroy the city and the sanctuary: the Romans destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70.

The ruler to come is interpreted as the Anti-Christ who will come in the future, arising from the reformed Roman Empire - the European Union.

This interpretation is based on the Romans destroying Jerusalem and the temple in the first century, which did occur in AD 70.

The belief is there will be a rebuilt Roman Empire from where the Anti-Christ (the ruler to come) will come.

I once held to this interpretation and belief.

However, there is another interpretation of this verse which I believe is the more accurate translation and the one to which I now hold.

This interpretation is:

The people: first-century Israel

The ruler to come: Jesus, see Micah 5:2 - the Ruler will come from Bethlehem.

Will destroy the city and the sanctuary: the word "destroy" is also the Hebrew word (shachath) for "corrupt" -see Genesis 6:11.

Shachath is translated 14 times in the Hebrew Bible as "corrupt" and other times as "corruptly."

Shachath is used to describe the people of Israel becoming corrupt and corrupting the land of Israel and Jerusalem - Deuteronomy 4:16, 25; 9:12; 31:29; 32:5; 2 Chronicles 27:2; Isaiah 1:4; Jeremiah 6:28; Ezekiel 20:44; 23:11; Zephaniah 3:7; Malachi 2:8.

In Daniel 9:26, translating shachath as "destroy" rather than "corrupt" changes the meaning of the verse.

In the context, the more accurate translation is "corrupt."

Daniel 9:26 describes how the people of Israel corrupted Jerusalem and the temple before, during, and after the days of Jesus.

Because the people of first-century Israel corrupted Jerusalem and the temple, which is why Jesus drove the moneychangers out of the temple and confronted the Jewish leaders for their corruption, the end of Jerusalem and the temple came like a flood in AD 70 when the Roman armies destroyed Jerusalem and the temple.

The last sentence in Daniel 9:26 says,

"The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed."

This is a reference to the Jewish-Roman War from AD 66-70, ending in the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.

The translation of the word shachath as "destroy" rather than "corrupt" has caused people to look for the Anti-Christ (the ruler to come) to arise from a reformed Roman Empire in the future.

However, translating shachath as "corrupt" rather than "destroy" shows that the people of Israel corrupted Jerusalem and the temple.

The ruler to come was Jesus who was from Israel and is the one who condemned Israel for their corruption and pronounced the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple (Matthew 23:1-24:28; Luke 19:41-44; 21:5-24; 23:26-30).

If you enjoyed this article, you may enjoy Brad’s Books.