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WCMA DAILY DEVOTIONAL
ARCHIVE FOUR
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Identifying the "People" of the (Evil) Prince to Come
If you can identify the "people" of the coming evil "prince" mentioned in Daniel's prophecy, then you will be able to better identify the evil prince. The following essay is an excerpt from the updated Disciples of Christ Volume 7.
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People of the Prince
To help identify the “prince”, it is helpful to identify the “people” of the “prince” (Daniel 9:26). To identify the “people”, one needs to examine what “peoples” actually desolated the city of Jerusalem and the Temple. If one can discover what “peoples” (nation or compatriots) desolated the city and the temple, then use John’s elimination system (see Briggs’ Elimination Matrix in the Appendices), one can then narrow down the possibilities of “peoples” the “prince” will come from. This is where history comes in. Since Daniel indicated (Daniel 9:26) that there were decreed desolations (plural) of both the city and the temple, then below is a list of the nations (peoples) that did just that, either desolating the people, the holy city or the temple or all three:
721 B.C. Assyria invades Samaria (Northern Israel) forces out the ten tribes of Israel and brings in Babylonian foreigners (2 Kings 17).
593 B.C. Babylon (when Nebuchadnezzar was king) – Temple under siege, stopped the daily sacrifices and offerings.
586 B.C. Babylon (when Nebuchadnezzar was king) – Destruction of Jerusalem and destruction of Solomon’s Temple.
539 B.C. Persia conquers Babylon, this impacts on Israel favorably. The Persian government approves and finances the rebuilding of the Second Temple (initiated by Cyrus, reaffirmed by Darius).
333 B.C. Greece conquers Persia, which will have a negative impact on Jewish religion, i.e., Hellenizing of the Middle East begins.
332 B.C. Greece conquers the Mediterranean (including Israel). Hellenizing of Judaism begins. However, both Alexander the Great and Ptolemy largely ignored the religious practices of the Jews.
199 B.C. Seleucids of Syria conquers Jerusalem.
168-165 B.C. Maccabean revolt against the Seleucids.
169 B.C. (+/-) Seleucids (when Antiochus was king) – Profanes the temple.
147 B.C. Rome conquers Greece, which benefits Israel for quite some time.
63 B.C. Roman Legions (Pompey) seized Jerusalem, to the benefit of Israel. And in 37 B.C. Herod the Great becomes King of Judah until his death in 4 B.C. During Herod’s rule, Judah was annexed as part of the province of Syria Palestina with religious utonomy left mostly under the control of the Sanhedrin. The restoration (and enlargement) of the Second Temple was occurring during this time.
70 A.D. Rome (when Titus was emperor) – Destruction of the Second Temple.
135 A.D. Rome (when Hadrian was emperor) – Total destruction of Jerusalem and disallows Jews from entering Jerusalem.
614 A.D. Persia (when Shahrbaraz was the Shah in what is now known as Turkey, it was not a world empire) – Bloody Massacre of Jerusalem and destroys most churches and once again expels the Jews from Jerusalem. Massive looting, burnings and sacrilege took place. 26,000 Jews turned against “Christians”, joined the Persians and killed over 90,000 “Christians”, for which Persia gave the Jews amnesty and Jewish worship resumed in Jerusalem once again. Although Persia desolated the city, they did not set up an abomination on the Temple Mount. That was to be done by the Caliphate (compatriots of the ruler that is to come).
629 A.D. Byzantine (Rome) – Briefly recaptured Jerusalem.
638 A.D. Caliphate (when Umar, an Arab, was caliph) – Caliphate conquers Jerusalem. Oral tradition states that Umar began to clean off the Temple Mount with his bare hands to which his army was inspired to follow suit until the Mount was cleared. This tradition also says that he constructed a small wooden structure that later became the Al-Agsa Mosque in 715 A.D.
691 A.D. Caliphate (when Abd al-Malik, an Arab, was caliph) – Dome of the Rock completed on the Temple Mount on the spot that is believed to be Solomon’s Temple.
701 A.D. Caliphate (when al-Walid, an Arab was caliph) – al-Aqsa completed, the second mosque on the Temple Mount.
1010 A.D. Caliphate (when al-Hakim was caliph) – Destroys synagogues and churches.
1219 A.D. Caliphate (when Sultan Malik-al-Muattam was caliph) – Razes the city walls of Jerusalem.
1517 A.D. Ottoman the Turk (when Ottoman was the self-acclaimed caliph) – Peacefully takes over Jerusalem.
From the list above, it can be seen that the first Empire (or “people”) to desolate on Israeli soil, was Assyria, second Babylon, third Medo-Persia, fourth Greece, fifth Seleucids (Greece), sixth Romans, seventh Persia/Turks (before Ottoman), eighth through twelfth by various Caliphs (which were not empires, but “peoples”) and finally Ottoman/Turks. A number of these conquerors were not world empires, others did not desolate. John excludes Rome and the Ottoman/Turks since Rome is the “one is” and the Ottoman (who did not desolate) was the “has not yet come” (John 17:10). Assyria does not exist any more and Egypt, Greece and Persia never desolated Israel’s city or temple. Therefore, only two possibilities are left, either Babylon or the various Caliphs (varying from Arab to Turk caliphs).
See Briggs Elimination Matrix used to identify the “People” of the Prince (Click on the image to enlarge)
Chart 1.1 - Phase Two (Empires and Peoples that desolated the City of Jerusalem and/or its temple)
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Exclusion Reasons Legend for Chart 1.0
L(a) = Excluded by Daniel, not included in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream
L(b) = Excluded by Daniel, not seen in the future by Daniel (no animal/beast symbol, etc. Daniel7:17)
L(c) = Excluded by Daniel, no Evil Prince (Evil Angel)L(d) = Excluded by Daniel, wrong animal symbol
L(e) = Excluded by John (Revelation 17:9-11), is a “not yet come”
L(f) = Excluded by John (Revelation 17:9-11), is the “now is”
L(g) = Excluded by John (Revelation 17:9-11), not a “once was”
Exclusion Reasons Legend for Chart 1.1
P(a) = Did not desolate either the City of Jerusalem or the Temple Mount
P(b) = Does not exist anymore
P(c) = Became an empire post John
This exercise identifies three possible identities of the “people”, Babylon, Caliphs/Islam or Ottoman/Turkey. See Appendices for full details.
Now, if one examines Babylon as a possibility there are several major problems. First, Babylon’s “people” did not desolate the City of Jerusalem or its temple, post Daniel’s dreams/visions. Second, at this late stage in prophecy, it would be nearly impossible for Babylon (Iraq) to resurrect as an empire. Third, history also shows that every attempt modern day Iraq has made, to swell its borders, was squashed. Finally, other prophets declared her forever “dead”. That leaves only one choice, the caliphs. All the caliphs prior to Ottoman/Turks, were not world empires by themselves and they came from various nations having various capital cities. But, they can be classified as “compatriots” (“people”) since they held two common elements, first religion (Islam) and second language (Arabic). This, therefore, implicates that the “prince” that will come will emerge from within the Islamic “people”.
The next step is to look at which former empires are Muslim. The conclusions are as follows. Egypt, Babylon (Iraq), Persia (Iran) and Turkey are all Muslim states. Second, one must check to see which if any are excluded by John. Turkey is excluded by virtue of the “has not yet come” (John 17:10) phrase. Third, one must check to see if any are excluded by not desolating Jerusalem and/or the Temple post Daniel’s dreams/visions. Both Egypt and Babylon is, therefore, excluded. Fourth, all four are currently excluded by virtue of not having a land mass equal to their former empire boundaries. With this perspective it seems there are no choices left. Therefore, one must ask, is there any power(s) (empires) in existence that covers or exceeds a land mass of any of the four former empires that have a polity, language and religion in common? The answer is yes. It is the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). The OIC also has Egypt, Iraq (Babylon), Iran (Persia) and Turkey (Ottoman) as member states. And the OIC also represents both factions of Islam, Shia and Sunni, and share a common language, Arabic.
See Briggs Empire Elimination Matrix used to identify the Eighth Head of the Scarlet Beast and the “Prince” Chart 1.2 - Phase Three
Final Elimination Phase
Exclusion Reasons Legend for Chart 1.2
E(a) = Does not exist anymore
E(b) = Is excluded by other prophecies
E(c) = Is excluded by John (see Chart 1.0 above)
E(d) = Is excluded by Daniel by virtue of the phrase “that will rise”
E(f) = Is not part of a nation, continent or entity that has a land mass equal to or greater than any of the first five world empires
E(g) = Is not affiliated/linked with the “people”
This final phase brings all the inclusions reason minus the elimination reason together resulting in only one eligible empire for resurrecting as the Eighth Head by and through the OIC. Furthermore, given that the Two-Horned Lamb is Iran (i.e., its Ayatollah or President), and given that Iran is a member state of the OIC and has close working relations with the OIC, it all makes scriptural sense.
Since the Two-Horned Lamb is Iran (baby Persia) (see Chapter Four) and certainly has close ties with the OIC, it only makes sense that the resurrected Empire points to the Medo-Persian Empire. The name Persia continues to thrive through out history in a multiplicity of ways. Turkey was called Persia (before Ottoman) and they truly desolated Jerusalem and in a multiplicity of ways in 614 A.D. When Persia’s religious compatriots (the Caliphate) took over Jerusalem in 638 A.D., the Caliphate desolated the Temple, which subsequently led to at least six crusades in an attempt to free Jerusalem from Islamic control. Some crusades were successful but usually lasted for only a few years and sometimes without war, but by simple treaty. After the Dome of the Rock was completed in 691 A.D. by the Caliphate, the Muslims never really lost control of the Temple Mount again, even unto this day, even when the city’s control was turned over to non-Muslim leaders from time to time. The Ottoman Empire began in 1517 A.D., a self proclaimed continuation of the Caliphate, and eventually dissolved itself and the caliphate, in Turkey in 1922 A.D.
According to John, the “prince” to come is the “two-horned lamb” (baby ram—see Chapter Four), which is Iran (formerly named Persia). And guess what, and no surprise, the last “peoples” to truly desolate Jerusalem were the caliphs (compatriots of Iran) and the last “people” to desolate the temple was also Iran’s (Persia’s) religious compatriots, the caliphs. It seems obvious from deductive reasoning that the “ruler that will come” will come from within Islam (represented by the OIC, the 8th Empire, resurrected, Medo-Persia) and the president or Ayatollah of Iran (Persia), who is a prominent member of the OIC, will be the “prince”. It is also likely that an Iranian will be the last President/General Secretary (“prince”) of the OIC when the covenant with “many” is confirmed. Furthermore, the only group of people (sect) left on earth that still hates the Jews enough to take action against them are the Muslims, and in particular and vehemently so, Iran (formerly, Persia). Is this a coincidence? Not likely. Daniel said that the people (compatriots) of the ruler that is to come would desolate Jerusalem. The caliphs were not only the last nation to desolate the city of Jerusalem (638 A.D.-1219 A.D.) but effectuated the next to last abomination that causes desolation that would be “set up” by the compatriots of the prince that will come. And the most recent abomination erected that causes desolation has already lasted beyond Daniel’s 1290 days/years and is fast approaching the 1335 days/years count. So in conclusion, by applying all the reasons for exclusion together will all the reasons to include one is left with only one answer to the equation. The Eighth Head is the OIC/Islam, the “people” (compatriots) of the prince are Muslims, the “prince” will emerge from within Islam, and the “prince” will most likely be an Iranian. The last final abomination that causes desolation will be set up by the “prince that will come” and will be set up on a wing of the Temple in the last half of Daniel’s 70th week. According to John, this Persian (Iranian/Islamic) “ruler to come” speaks on behalf of the Beast (which is the OIC/Islam—Ancient Media-Persia resurrected) and sets up the “image of the beast” (Revelation 13:11-18).
In Daniel’s 70th week, this ruler will “confirm a covenant with many”, like a seven-year peace treaty (not necessarily with the Jews) which will allow Israel to resume religious worship on the Temple Mount in order to trick the world (Daniel 8:12, 23-24; Matthew 24:24; and 2 Thessalonians 2:9) into thinking he is something he is not. This act will deceive the world into believing he is a “peace loving” ruler (leader). In the middle of Daniel’s 70th week, this “ruler that is to come” will put an end to “sacrifice and offering” and will also set up another (final) abomination that causes desolation on a wing of the temple. One may conclude that this ruler will allow the Jews to resume worship and sacrifice on the Temple Mount again (like Persia did in 614 A.D.) knowing full well that his (the ruler that will come) eventual plan will be to stop the sacrifices and offerings in order to set up his own abomination that causes desolation (the final abomination), an image that he will force others to worship.
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