In my blog, How Long is the Tribulation?, I mention the idea shared by Preterists and Historicists that Christ stops the sacrifices in the seventieth week. If this is what you believe and you are willing to hear a challenge to it, or if you would just like to learn more, please read on.

For reference:

Daniel 9:26-27 (NKJV)
26 “And after the sixty-two weeks
Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself;
And the people of the prince who is to come
Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end of it shall be with a flood,
And till the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;
But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is determined,
Is poured out on the desolate.”

Folks who believe the seventieth week is fulfilled identify “he” who stops the sacrifices in verse 27 as Messiah. But do you know that this language is not unique to Daniel 9? It is important to examine the other Daniel references to the stopping of sacrifices and abomination that causes desolation, which are found in Daniel chapters 8, 11, and 12, to evaluate the hypothesis.

Daniel 8:8-14 (NKJV)
8 Therefore the male goat grew very great; but when he became strong, the large horn was broken, and in place of it four notable ones came up toward the four winds of heaven. 9 And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Glorious Land. 10 And it grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them. 11 He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down. 12 Because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered.
13 Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who was speaking, “How long will the vision be, concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot?”
14 And he said to me, “For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.”

The male goat in verse 8 is Javan, or Greece, and the large horn is the first king—that is, Alexander the Great (Daniel 8:21). After Alexander died suddenly in the prime of his life, leaving no heir, his empire was divided between Cassander, Lysimachus, Seleucus, and Ptolemy I. The blasphemous “little horn” comes from one of those horns/their dominion, and he is the one who takes away the daily sacrifices.

Given the direction the little horn goes (south, east, and to the beautiful land), it must be one of the northern kingdoms. There was an ancient king of the Seleucid Empire, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who at least partially fulfilled this prophecy before the time of Christ, amidst the four hundred silent years between the prophet Malachi and John the Baptist. Antiochus attacked Judah, sacrificed a pig in the temple, and set up an altar to Zeus, thereby stopping sacrifices for a while (maybe even 2300 days). His name and title means “God manifest”, thus he was blasphemously claiming to be God in the flesh—which is what the end times man of sin will do (2 Thessalonians 2:4). When the Maccabees tried to cleanse the temple afterwards, it is said (extra-biblically) that they discovered a one-day supply of oil, which supernaturally lasted for eight days in the lamp of God, which allowed the priests time to create more of the special oil God required. This is remembered in the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah, which Jesus celebrated (John 10:22). Whether Daniel 8:8-14 was totally fulfilled by Antiochus IV Epiphanes or not, the stopping of sacrifices and transgression of desolation is by a wicked man.

The next reference after Daniel 9:27, is found within the reign of a particular king of north (Daniel 11:21-45). Antiochus IV Epiphanes partially fulfilled this prophecy, but not fully.

Daniel 11:29-32 (NKJV)
29 “At the appointed time he shall return and go toward the south; but it shall not be like the former or the latter. 30 For ships from Cyprus shall come against him; therefore he shall be grieved, and return in rage against the holy covenant, and do damage.
“So he shall return and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant. 31 And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation. 32 Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.

You can see how person who orders the stopping of the daily sacrifices is the same one who places the abomination of desolation. This is important, because in one idea of a fulfilled seventieth week, Jesus stops the sacrifices and Rome places the abomination of desolation.

Daniel 12:10-12 (NKJV)
10 Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. 11 “And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. 12 Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.

Daniel 12:11 makes clear that the daily sacrifice being taken away and the abomination of desolation happen on the same day.

A fulfilled interpretation of Daniel 9:27 is inconsistent with the rest of Daniel. Again, they make it like Jesus is the “he” who stopped the sacrifices. It makes no sense God would speak of Messiah’s greatest work in the same language used to describe wicked men attacking his temples!

After Antiochus IV Epiphanes lived and died, Jesus spoke in a future sense of the abomination of desolation.

Matthew 24:15-22 (NKJV)
15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.

When Jesus refers to “the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet… Let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains,” we can see He is referring to a bad thing. He makes an unambiguous statement about the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel, which means it is only logical that the stopping of sacrifices and abomination of desolation in Daniel 9 is accomplished by a wicked man, just as it is in Daniel 8, 11, and 12.

Further, 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 speaks of the man of sin being revealed, “the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”

Thank you for taking the time to prayerfully read this supplementary response to the idea of a fulfilled seventieth week. God bless.