'a week' whether of days, weeks or years.  The covenant thus confirmed, is

that of Antichrist with the Jews.  The reference to the abomination of

Desolation spoken by Daniel the prophet, in Matthew 24:15, is not exhausted

by the destruction of Jerusalem under Titus, for, Daniel speaks of this

'abomination' in Daniel 11:31 and in Daniel 12:11, and these, especially the

last, take us to the time immediately preceding the coming of Christ.

Messiah was 'cut off' at the cross, but the prince that shall come, the false

Messiah, shall come to his end, when the desolator himself shall be

destroyed, as revealed in the Book of the Revelation.  The destruction of

Jerusalem under Titus in a.d. 70 is not recorded in the New Testament but the

prophecy of Matthew 23:38 and 24:1 -3 with Luke 21:20 clearly embraces the

words of Daniel:

'The people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and

the sanctuary' (9:26).

The focal point of Daniel 9:27 is the confirmation, by this mighty

prince, of a league.  While the word berith usually refers to the covenants

of God, it is used also in a lower sense.  The word is used when the 'league'

between king Asa and Ben -hadad, and the breaking of a 'league' between Ben -

hadad and Baasha, are spoken of (2 Chron. 16:3).  In Isaiah 28:15 it is

called a 'covenant with death and sheol', and inasmuch as this awful covenant

was made as a refuge from a threatened overflowing scourge, we can see that

it speaks of the same prophetic period as does Daniel 9:27.  As the apostle

Paul has declared, covenant breaking belongs to the time of the end (Rom.

1:31; 2 Tim. 3:3).  Apostates shall forsake the holy covenant, and do

wickedly against it (Dan. 11:30 -32), and deceitful dealings even after a

league has been made, are spoken of in Daniel 11:23.

Apparently, the little horn, the final Satanic king, will enter into an

agreement with Israel at the opening of Daniel's last week.  At the expiry of

3.5 years he breaks his word, turns round upon the people and their worship,

and attempts to blot out all sign and evidence of Israel's God and worship.

What has been going on in Russia is a faint foreshadowing of his policy:

'He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the

overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate' (9:27).

Al kanaph, 'overspreading', means 'a wing'.  Ginsburg, whose authority

in matters of the Hebrew text is beyond our ability to confute, suggests that

the true reading should be al kanno, 'in its stead' as we read in 11:7, where

it is translated 'in his estate'.  If this reading be the true one, the

passage would read:

'He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and In Its

Stead shall stand in the holy place (see Matt. 24:15) the abomination

that maketh desolate'.

Scripture uses the word 'abomination' for an idol.  This blasphemy and

wicked opposition lasts no longer than 3.5 years as Revelation 13:5 confirms:

'Even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon

the desolate (desolator)' (Dan. 9:27).

Here is a reference to the future outpouring of the vials of wrath,

ending with the consignment of the beast to the burning flame (Dan. 7:11 and

Rev. 19:20).  With this the prophecy of Daniel ends.  The following outline