27 AD is the year that the "unto Messiah the Prince" event occurred, which event concludes the 69 weeks, and is likely referring to His baptism b/c the only way it could be referring to His death is if Daniel would have not spoken of His death as being "after" the 69 weeks. His death is a separate event that happened "
after threescore and two (and seven) weeks", else Daniel would have never indicated such.
Hi, thanks for your input. Here's what happened historically:
1) The ECF spoke of the "seat of the Caesars" which at that time was in Italy, so the answer is the Western Roman Empire.
2) The Western Roman Empire fell for all intents and purposes by 467 AD, and was divided among barbarian tribes for several decades.
3) The resulting chaos and instability led to a mutual agreement among the tribes to allow the Church to rule and reign, which upon accepting this role, became the Papacy - the union of church and state.
4) The Papacy which is the Little Horn of Daniel, the first Beast of Revelation 13, and the Whore of Revelation 17, proceeded to fulfill all the identifying marks of Bible prophecy found in Daniel and Revelation. Here are a few:
- The Papal "little horn" came up officially in 538 AD "among the ten horns" which arose out of the ashes of the Roman Empire. Non-religious historians have identified these 10 as the Anglo-Saxons, Francs, Visigoths, Suevi, Burgundians, Allemanni, Lombards, Vandals, Heruli, and Ostrogoths which prevailed when the dust settled and from which came forth the Papacy.
- Was "different" from the other horns, in that this was a "religio/political power" which would be led by a succession of men.
- uprooted the three "horns" of Daniel 7 (Vandals, Heruli, and Ostrogoths) b/c they refused to submit to the Papal power and utterly destroyed them "by the roots" and left nothing of them, not even their own historical accounts. All information on these 3 are from Rome.
- has the "eyes like the eyes of man", meaning this kingdom was to be led by men lacking Holy Spirit discernment and wisdom while relying on that of man
- has "a mouth speaking Great Things" which Revelation 13 adds "blasphemies". The Bible says it is blasphemy for a man to claim to be God and the power to forgive sins; both of which the Papacy claims to this day (John 10, Luke 5)
- Would "wear out the saints of the Most High". The persecutions of Christians today are NOTHING to what followers of Christ had to endure under the 1,000+ year persecution of the Church via the crusades, inquisitions, etc. Between 75Million - 150 Million Christians were killed for their faith under Papal rule
- Would "think to change times and laws". The Papal power claims the power and has attempted to change the Ten Commandments and adjust other directives of Jesus, such as communion and baptism, and has instituted so many blasphemous rites and rituals that the Protestant Reformation was inevitable
- Would reign for "a time, times, and 1/2 a time" which when compared to Revelation 12 means "1260" prophetic days, or literal years. The Papacy reigned from 538 to 1798, exactly 1260 years, when Napoleon's General Berthier arrested and imprisoned the Pope and the Papacy was declared "dead" when it received a "deadly wound", which would later be healed. The "sword of France" used by the Papacy for so long to kill Christians and other enemies was turned upon itself. "He that leadeth into captivity must go into captivity; he that killeth with the sword must be killed by the sword".
- The "deadly wound" was healed in 1929 when Mussolini gave back the Papal territory and officially recognized the Papacy once again as a legitimate kingdom. Today, "the whole world wonders after the Beast", including Protestants who are completely blind to their own history b/c they have bought into the lies of Futurism and Preterism. The Papacy, once understood fully by Protestants to be Satan's agency of deception and death, is now regarded as a peaceful, unassuming, religious beacon of light to an uncertain world.
These are but just a few of the reasons why the Protestants of old preached Historicism and laughed Jesuit Ribera's Futurism and Jesuit Alcazar's Preterism to scorn. Any history book will confirm that which is written above. The question is are we humble enough to let go of cherished beliefs in favor of what the Bible teaches, which I admit is not easy to do, but possible if we pray earnestly for discernment.