The Prince Who Is To Come...the U.s.-israel Strategic Alliance-part IV

The U.S.-Israel Strategic Alliance—no matter what setbacks—is alive, well and proceeding to its logical conclusion:  The U.S.-Israel Defense Pact [1]. Iran’s determination to resuscitate its nuclear program and trade its oil for anything but dollars; the Sharon “X-Factor”—i.e., Israel after Sharon; and the incessant insurgency in Iraq [2], along with increasing agitation from Hamas (Note Hamas’ domination of Palestinian politics.), Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah and other belligerents, have all converged to create the perfect geopolitical storm.  We await the unprecedented admission that Israel and the USA will no longer regard as politically embarrassing nor strategically ill-advised vis-à-vis the Arab world to openly declare a comprehensive “peace accord” guaranteeing Israel’s security—once and for all! [3]

The debate—or wishful thinking on the part of “fair-minded” (not to say they are not) American Middle East policy wonks like Michael Lind, The Nation et al—over linking Israeli behavior to U.S. support for Israel juxtaposed to the minuscule issue of those in America who want Israel to survive and those (a tiny minority) who do not:  Simply ain’t ‘gonna happen!  The pro-Israel lobby is overwhelming in driving the alliance between the USA and Israel—AIPAC (America-Israel Public Affairs Committee), along with other American Jewish Organizations; the powerful, though at times mercurial Evangelical-Zionists (witness Brother Pat’s absurdities); and the ever influential Neo-Con Establishment—all demand it, and, furthermore, the punditocracy incessantly clamors for it! [4]

Money talks—anyone who thinks otherwise should wake up and smell the coffee, roses or the skunks out there; and, if you can’t, it’s the first sign of political Alzheimer’s setting in!  To think America’s political system, where favors are bought and sold—through “campaign finance reform” (witness the Abramoff fiasco)—will ever correct itself . . . then, fella, you’ve already bought the bridge and it’s time for some swamp land down in Florida.

The Strategic vs. the Eschatological Imperative

Now, it’s time we delve into the theological intricacies of the eschatological imperative driving the current “strategic dialogue” between the USA and Israel—primarily centering upon the Prince of the Covenant; a title committed to Israel’s high priest but practically usurped by the prototype of Antichrist in antiquity, Antiochus Epiphanes IV, as we shall see later[5]  But first, and let me forewarn you, this is not designed as a casual read for Christian Triumphalists [6], the faint of heart or, for that matter, those who recoil when believers zealously affirm the end of the world as we know it—especially, given the superabundance of poignant footnotes—however, let us recap.

In the previous three segments of this series on the U.S.-Israel Strategic Alliance, we’ve stressed the strategic aspects of the alliance.  We highlighted the following tenets of the “special relationship” between the United States and Israel:

(1)   Part I – “Your Covenant with Death, Your Agreement with Hell” . . . toward a U.S.-Israel Defense Pact; guaranteeing Israel’s security by the USA.

(2)   Part II – “He will confirm a covenant with the many . . .” emphasis upon the “He” in establishing the special relationship between the USA and Israel—the growing ascendancy of Presidential interference (encouraged or unwelcome) juxtaposed to Congressional and/or State Department influence over the U.S.-Israel “special relationship.”

(3)   Part III – “He will also invade the beautiful land” – The West’s gradual buildup in the Middle East; especially, the USA’s recent incursions into Iraq, Afghanistan, etc., and the ultimate strategic presence of the U.S. military throughout Israel proper.

The Defining Issue

The sine qua non—the indispensable essential—in Premillenarian eschatology (i.e., the direct rule and reign of the “Messianic Era” is yet future upon this earth [7]) which demarcates the end of the age of human history as we have known it, and the supernatural intrusion of Daniel’s infamous Seventieth Week, is the deceptive, as well as insolent orchestration of a Defense Pact or Treaty wrought between Israel and earth’s uncontested Gentile World Power through the subterfuge of none other than the one known as: The Antichrist![8]

This mutual accord, to be sure, does not countenance earth’s scene unannounced or by happenstance—as if a regathered Israel would submit her security to a mysterious nation or power “out there” who has not, prior to this exquisite subtlety, garnered immense credibility with Jacob’s heritage.  The Jews of Israel—the modern Israeli state—after centuries of persecution, expulsions, inquisitions, pogroms, holocaust and incessant wars since their rebirth, will not abide a “security alliance” with a neophyte upstart with dubious credentials; especially, if he were to claim Jewish heritage.[9]

Certainly, for such a despicable figure to appear from Eurasia is not only a sheer fabrication of historic revisionism (as if Europe or some other Middle Eastern nation could illicit Israel’s signature [10])—it bespeaks a bald-faced rejection of the very Image who arose upon the Plains of Shinar in King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, as interpreted by Daniel the Prophet.

Neo-Babylonia [11], Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome—the lion, bear, leopard and the ten-horned beast—the head of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and sides of bronze and legs of iron—these derivatives of the Image connote the development of Gentile World Power; the evolution—the extension—of the Kingdom of this World juxtaposed to Israel, the Jews.  (Please see Daniel 2:31-34; 7:3-7.)   

Not of Islam, nor of India, the East nor Orthodoxy, and assuredly not of African nor Indigenous Civilizations [12] were envisioned in the prophecies of Daniel and dream of Nebuchadnezzar.  There was but one civilization destined to interact with ancient and modern Israel:  The West.  The overt progression westward from the Crescent of Civilization, Mesopotamia, did this colossus strut and strive upon this earthly clod—demanding unmitigated adoration and worship, homage and subservience.  Alas!  Did not the West tread upon the face of the whole earth to colonize, subjugate and enrich herself—thus, did the Image begin to walk with feet mixed with iron and clay; some strong, some weak (Daniel 2:33, 41-43)? [13]

Its greatness was and is unquestioned; its military supremacy is altogether awesome . . . to resist is futile, for ultimately, this beast will revert to its most egregious manner:  “Dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong . . . devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet” (Daniel 7:7).  Yes, what is left after the devouring and breaking to pieces is trampled asunder?  There is nothing left! [14]

To deny the West’s ultimate manifestation, climax, apex—her crown jewel—is to renounce all sense of historic perspective, and to embrace a colonial template whose zenith in the sun has long been obscured by the reflection of the ten-horned beast:  The Eleventh Horn. [15]  Alas!  That outcropping who, when he bursts forth, uproots three of his familiars. [16]  As Nebuchadnezzar was “that head of gold”—a King with a Kingdom—even so, this finality of evil, the embodiment of pomposity, will speak great words; far greater than his fellows (Daniel 7:8, 20), for this recent authority perceives with evil eye and speaks with a mouth words of grandeur to deceive even the very elect . . . such are the powers of persuasion resourced in this latter-day potentate whose empire bears a frightful semblance to its Romish progenitor.[17]

A Beast Rising Up Out of the Sea

Even so, it is precisely this creature from the abyss—the Eleventh Horn— whose quest for hidden treasures drives him to “rule over many, and (to) divide the land for profit” (Daniel 11:39).  There is nothing novel derived from nobility or pauper throughout history [18], given the opportunity, wherein certain of their species will advance to proclaim their hegemony over men of lesser means.  But this one’s resume sums up perhaps fallen man’s greatest efforts—replete with all manner of claims and fancy to advance his sinister agenda.

His use of “slipperiness and flattery” (Daniel 11:34) knows no end in his efforts to coalesce allies [19] . . . .

“Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished . . . he shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall exalt himself above them all” (Daniel 11:36).

And, why should he take regard, when “in their place” – substitutes for the Almighty and all natural relationships is the modus operandi of this Willful King – “he shall honor a god of fortresses” and abject materialism (“he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things”—Daniel 11:38)? And with these he is prepared to act “against the strongest fortresses with a foreign god, which he shall acknowledge, and advance his glory” (Daniel 11:39). 

How convenient to substitute all that is God for his own achievements—honoring a “foreign god” – the “god of fortresses” who will enable this Willful King to surmount even the strongest of fortresses.  Is this not the one who offered Jesus in his temptation all the kingdoms of this world if the Son of Man would simply bow down and worship this provocateur and avaricious imposter? [20]

Let’s not equivocate by downplaying his audacious pedigree of evil intent.  All of this MADMAN’s modus operandi (Antiochus Epimanes IV’s title given to him by his enemies) is foundational to his ultimate transfiguration into the latter-day Willful King.  For one, the taking of the ultimate presumptuous title:  Epiphanes . . . “God is Manifest!”  This outrageous accolade underlies the human tragedy of humanity exclusively given over to unbridled deviltry.

Antiquity bears out his primordial pontifications:

“I will ascend into heaven,

I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;

I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north;

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,

I will be like the Most High”

(Spoken by Lucifer, Isaiah 14:13-14)

Indeed, it was said of Antiochus Epiphanes IV that he was a vile person—to whom they will not give the honor of royalty (Daniel 11:21a).  Immediately, this “man of the people” declares his “democratic” intentions:  “He shall come in peaceably, and seize the kingdom by intrigue” (Daniel 11:21b).

Could it be that embedded in this delineation is a clue to his populism?  Would a popularly elected leader be able to ascend in the latter days to the next disclosure:  The Prince of the Covenant (Daniel 11:22)?  Is not this the same identification found in Daniel 8?

“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.  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.  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 . . . 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” (Daniel 8:9-12) (My emphasis).

The prophetic writings of Daniel—as well as other Hebrew prophets (e.g., Ezekiel 26-29, the King and Prince of Tyrus; Isaiah 14, the King of Babylon) skillfully deploy this metaphorical instrument to convey both a prototype past, as well as an archetype future, of the Almighty’s antithesis.

Even so, the metamorphosis of the figure, Antiochus Epiphanes IV, into the one who will with insolence “confirm a covenant with the many” (Daniel 9:27) – also known as the “the Coming Prince” (i.e., “the prince who is to come” – Daniel 9:26) – will do so as the “prince of the covenant” – for “after the league is made with him (i.e., “the prince of the covenant”), he shall act deceitfully, for he shall come up and become strong with a small number of people” (Daniel 11:22-23).  The usurpation of Israel’s high priest by Antiochus Epiphanes IV—in an effort to Hellenize the Jews—eventually brought the “God Manifest-Madman” directly to the temple where the “abomination of desolation” in the erection of the altar to Zeus and the offering of swine occurred. 

“The reference to the “prince of the covenant” prophesies the murder of the (Jewish) high priest Onias, which was ordered by Antiochus in 172 B.C., and indicates the troublesome times of his reign.  The high priest bore the title “prince of the covenant” because he was de facto the head of the theocracy at that time.  In 11:28 and 11:32 (Daniel) the “covenant” is used for the Jewish state.” (John Walvoord, Daniel the Key to Prophetic Revelation, Moody, p. 265; see Note 5 below)

Mixing Politics and Religion

The exegesis that the very “prince who is to come” is likewise foreshadowed in the “prince of the covenant” is substantial and connects the activity of Sir Robert Anderson’s “The Coming Prince” in Daniel 9:26 (i.e., Antichrist) with his amplification in Daniel 11:22 (i.e., “The Prince of the Covenant”).  This “Prince of the Covenant” is NOT Messiah the Prince of Daniel 9:25, for like “The Coming Prince” of Daniel 9:26 who, yet future, confirms the Treaty “with the many (i.e., Israel) for one week” and who finds his antecedent in the commencement of Daniel 9:27 (i.e., “the people of the prince who is to come . . . he shall confirm a covenant “); even so, the plethora of antecedents found in Daniel 11:23 bespeak of “The Prince of the Covenant” (“ . . . the prince of the covenant . . . after the league is made with him he shall act deceitfully, for he shall come up and become strong with a small number of people” – Daniel 11:22b-23).  This Prince of the Covenant has politicized and usurped the high priestly office of Israel for gain—he is in fact “running the priesthood” and is none other than the foreshadowing of The Coming Prince (i.e., Antichrist) foreseen in the prototype of Antiochus Epiphanes IV – “God Manifest.”

The usurpation of the office of the high priest of Israel by Antiochus Epiphanes IV through political intrigue and pay off is well documented—ipso facto, he who controls the appointment of the high priest de facto assumes the office himself!  Worse yet—the Jews conspired together with the Madman:

“The Jews themselves afforded Antiochus the first opportunity to interfere in their domestic affairs. The struggle of the Tobiads against the high priest Onias III., originally a personal matter, gradually assumed a religio-political phase. The conservatives siding with the legitimate high priest approached the king of Egypt; for they relied more on that monarch than on Antiochus, sometimes nick-named 'Επιμανής (madman), while the Tobiads well understood that Antiochus' favor was to be purchased with gold. The Tobiads caused the deposition of Onias (173), and the appointment of their own partisan, Jason.” (Lewis Ginzberg. . .” JewishEncyclopedia.com)

His usurpation and religio-politicization of Israel’s high priestly office for gain makes a mockery out of the Jew’s religion and provides the Antichrist with unequivocal credentials:  Prince of the Covenant.

I present this connectivity because the methodology of this “Prince” – this little or younger horn, this presumptuous authority who once descended upon antiquity’s turf – will in like manner orchestrate his discrepancies upon an unsuspecting, vulnerable and welcoming Israel yet future. [21]

Arthur W. Pink’s classic, “The Antichrist, A Systematic Study of Satan’s Counterfeit Christ” is perhaps one of the most exhaustive expositions on the topic.  Pink does not equivocate.  He links the prototypical activities of Antiochus Epiphanes in Daniel 11:22 with those of The Coming Prince who breaks the covenant with the many (i.e., Israel yet future) in Daniel 9:27:

“‘And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the Prince of the Covenant’ (Dan. 11:22). This Vile Person is denominated ‘the Prince of the Covenant,’ which, at once, identifies him with the Prince of 9:26, 27. Then we are told in Daniel 11:23 ‘And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.’ This ‘league’ or ‘covenant’ is doubtless the seven-years-treaty confirmed with Israel, which is made at an early point in the Antichrist’s career, and which corresponds with the fact that at the first he appears as a ‘little horn,’ the ‘small people’ being the Syrians.”  (Arthur W. Pink, The Antichrist, Kregel Publications, 1988, pp. 159-160) (Direct Quote)

The proof of the MADMAN-GOD MANIFEST’s desecration of the temple—and the extent of his involvement in the religious affairs of Israel—could be no clearer than this prototype’s seizure of the peculiar office of Israel’s high priest and utter abandonment in desecrating both the temple and the religious practices of the Jews, to wit:

“And the king sent letters by messengers to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah; he directed them to follow customs strange to the land, to forbid burnt offerings and sacrifices and drink offerings in the sanctuary, to profane sabbaths and feasts, to defile the sanctuary and the priests, to build altars in sacred precincts and shrines for idols, to sacrifice swine and unclean animals, and to leave their sons uncircumcised.  They were to make themselves abominable by everything unclean and profane, so that they should forget the law and change all the ordinances.  And whoever does not obey the command of the king shall die” (RSV—I Maccabees 1:44-49).

Dr. John Walvoord solidifies the religio-political aspects of GOD MANIFEST, and the amazing prototype represented by Antiochus Epiphanes IV by disclosing how a growing number of evangelical Premillenarians see in him a future desecration of the same in the midst of the 70th Week of Daniel as the, yet future, Abomination of Desolation—i.e., what Antiochus accomplished in the temple (prophetically fulfilled in toto) is, nevertheless, an abundant illustration of how this “Prince of the Covenant” shall involve himself in Israel’s, yet future, religious and political life!

“The obvious parallel between the cessation of the daily sacrifice by Antiochus Epiphanes and that anticipated in Daniel 9:27 (i.e., breaking the covenant in the midst of Daniel’s 70th Week), which occurs three and one-half years before the second coming of Christ, has led some expositors to find here evidence for reference to the end of the age and not simply to Antiochus.  As far as this prophecy is concerned, however, it did have complete fulfillment in Antiochus, the people of Israel along with their worship are given over to the power of Antiochus Epiphanes with the resulting transgression and blasphemy against God” (John Walvoord, Daniel the Key to Prophetic Revelation, pp. 187-8).

What astounds in all of this is the merging of RELIGION and POLITICS by the inheritor of “The Prince of the Covenant.”  This peculiar aspect of Antiochus Epiphanes demands that the future Antichrist-Beast will engage Israel, not only on the basis of a strategic military accord, but embedded within the framework of that agreement will be a religious engagement unprecedented for a political leader—initially it will be preliminary, but eventually it will be overt and that at the mid-point of the 70th Week of Daniel.

To solidify the mixing of religion and politics—the “profane and the holy” we have Pink’s final comment from Ezekiel where he sees Antichrist usurping both the priesthood and the kingship:

“We shall notice here but two passages in this prophet (i.e., Ezekiel).  First, in 21:25-27—‘And thou, profane wicked Prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown:  this shall not be the same:  exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.  I will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more, until He comes whose right it is; and I will give it Him.’

“So far as we are aware, all pre-millennial students regard this passage as a description of the Antichrist.  It pictures him as Satan’s parody of the Son of Man seated upon ‘the throne of His glory.’ It sets him forth as the priest-king.  Just as in the Millennium the Lord Jesus will ‘be a Priest upon His throne’ (Zech. 6:13), so will the Antichrist combine in his person the headships of both the civil and religious realms.” (Pink, op. cit. p. p. 148)

The Coming Prince of Daniel 9:26 finds his resurgence AFTER the cutting off of the Messiah in Daniel 9:26 (i.e., after the crucifixion of Christ).  It is after the crucifixion of Christ that the Roman legions under Titus (i.e., “the people of the prince who is to come”) “destroy the city and the sanctuary” (Daniel 9:26).  The destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple took place in 70 A.D. (after the crucifixion of Christ—“Messiah shall be cut off” – Daniel 9:26a).  Yet, the people of this prince—for there has been but one prince (i.e., the Prince of this World, John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11) involved in Israel’s destruction—are but his people, the Romans; yet, he, “The Coming Prince,” will (yet future) “confirm a covenant with the many (Israel) for one week” (Daniel 9:27).

This Prince of the Covenant – The Coming Prince – is able to confirm his Defense Pact or Treaty with Israel for “he shall come in peaceably; and seize the kingdom by intrigue” (Daniel 11:21).  Yes, this Prince of the Covenant has assumed this title through cunning while amassing military force (“With the force of a flood they shall be swept away from before him and be broken” – Daniel 11:22a). It is this political-military might (flood) which shall compromise not only Israel’s strategic posture, but her religious one as well.

Once the Prince of the Covenant (whose origins are found in the legions of Roman Empire—Western Civilization) has confirmed the “Peace Pact” – has assured Israel of her security – yes, “after the league is made with him” (Daniel 11:23a) – “he shall act deceitfully” (Daniel 11:23b), “But in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering”  (Daniel 9:27a).[22] 

From Antichrist to Beast

Anyone obliged to embrace the illusion that Israel’s security has once and for all been affirmed by The Coming Prince-The Prince of the Covenant—the Prince who shall enable a regathered Israel to commence her sacerdotal rites—will tragically discover the superficiality of his agreement:  “He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering!” (Daniel 9:27).

The cosmic transformation of “God Manifest” (i.e., Antiochus Epiphanes IV) from that of a mere human frame contending with Maccabean belligerents and the inheritors of Alexander the Great’s Empire, to the supernatural descriptions given by Daniel the Prophet in Daniel 11:36-45, confirms the prophet’s prototype to be that of Antichrist himself.  We have extensively covered this scenario in previous missives (Please see:  Antichrist and the Gog-Magog War; The Gog-Magog Scenario; Behold: The Prince of Persia…Get Ready for War with Iran!; Gog-Magog, World War III)

He is so involved and bound in treaty and alliance with future Israel that his titles astound: The Coming Prince-The Prince of the Covenant!  It is during these titles, approximately at this “eschatologically significant time past and future, that the prophet Daniel declares these amazing prognostications:

“At the time of the end the king of the south shall attack him (Antichrist); and the king of the North shall come against him (Antichrist) like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through.  He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand:  Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon (all three of modern-day Jordan).  He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape.  He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels (modern-day Sudan, Libya and Egypt)” (Daniel 11:40-43).

Upon or near the time of the end when he assumes, de facto, the title as The Prince of the Covenant, he will be at once embraced and revealed as the Anti-Messiah—the great, latter-day Son of Perdition, Man of Sin, Man of Lawlessness, Abominable Branch—the apocalyptic Rider upon the White Horse of Revelation 6:1-2 (See also:  II Thessalonians 2 and Isaiah 14:19):

“And I looked, and behold, a white horse.  He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.” 

And this is substantiated by Daniel’s recordation:

“But news from the east and the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many” (Daniel 11:44). [23]

Thus, the Armageddon Campaign [24] commences, culminating its seven-year world conflagration in the Holy Land’s epicenter:  Megiddo, wherein the armies of the Antichrist-Beast (Please see Note 22) shall face the Kings of the East in a horrific military climax prior to the miraculous intervention by the true Messiah.

This stereoscopic preview of the coming Messiah catapults the reader to the terminus of Daniel’s 70th Week.  

ISAIAH’S SCENARIO OF THE COVENANT

We conclude where we commenced this series:  Your Covenant with Death; Your Agreement with Hell.  Isaiah’s accounting found in Isaiah 28 regarding the political intrigue swirling around the courts of Judah’s kings—Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah and Manasseh—describes a scene of compromise and apostasy; of sordid political intrigue fraught with bogus alliances with Egypt to the south, and Assyria and ultimately Babylon to the north. 

Isaiah means “Yahweh Is Salvation” – for only through the Almighty, the Redeemer of Israel, could Israel and Judah be protected from her foes.  Notwithstanding, clandestine accords by various political parties within Jerusalem sought out protectors to shield them and permit them political assurance to forward their own agendas.

The Lord God Almighty was outraged over their connivance and intrigue designed to unilaterally abrogate Israel’s covenantal accords promised to Abraham and affirmed under the Davidic Covenant. [25]  Thus, through Isaiah, Ephraim (the northern 10 tribes of Israel) and Judah (the two tribes of the south; Judah and Benjamin) were prophetically denounced as drunkards.  The priesthood and prophethood had so degraded that Isaiah’s graphic depiction is nigh intolerable:

“They err in vision, they stumble in judgment, for all tables are full of vomit and filthy; no place is clean” (Isaiah 28:8).

The finagling leadership—be it figuratively or literally inebriated—was awash in wheeling and dealing as long as they could persist in power and maintain their compromised status of “peace and safety.”  Their “refuge” was aligned elsewhere—not within the citadel of the Everlasting One who said . . . “This is the rest with which you may cause the weary to rest . . . this is the refreshing” (Isaiah 28:12).   But, as Isaiah so poignantly pronounces:  “Yet they would not hear” (Isaiah 28:12b). 

The prototype of Israel’s refusal to hear reveals the ultimate indignation served up to the God of Israel:

“Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scornful men, who rule this people who are in Jerusalem, because you have said, ‘We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol (hell) we are in agreement.  When the overflowing scourge passes through (i.e., the armies of Babylon), it will not come to us, for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood we have hidden ourselves” (Isaiah 28:14-15).

As with Antiochus Epiphanes IV, prototype of Antichrist yet future (who erected an altar of Zeus over the altar of burnt offerings in the Jewish temple), even so—Jerusalem’s pre-exilic accords with their conquerors, especially with Babylon—foresees a latter-day intoxication where “all tables are full of vomit and filth . . . no place is clean” (Isaiah 28:8).  Harsh words?  Of course they are.  The God Who is Israel’s Refuge does not take lightly her affiliations with Gentile World Powers; especially, with the likes of Babylon!  Finding rest, refuge, peace and safety under the strategic umbrella of Babylon is akin to Jerusalem’s inebriated negotiators announcing they have made a “covenant with death” and that they “are in agreement with hell!”

And, HELL it is with whom the treaty is struck—for the “Father of Lies” is well able to convince the Jerusalemites “swallowed up by wine . . . out of the way through intoxicating drink” who have neglected from their youth true discernment and “precept upon precept; line upon line; and here a little, there a little” (Isaiah 28:7, 9-10).

Yet, out of the midst of this flagrant violation of covenantal confidence—and immediately following the “falsehood (under which) we have hidden ourselves” (Isaiah 28:15b)—comes a prophetic bedrock and Messianic promise.  No doubt, Isaiah is inspired to insert this eschatological interlude in the very midst of the one whose efforts are later elucidated by Daniel’s title:  The Prince of the Covenant.

“Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; whoever believes will not act hastily . . . also I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the plummet” (Isaiah 28:16).

Messiah—the DELIVERER-THE LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH—is injected at this time to declare the absolute antithesis to the usurper, the Prince of the Covenant.  The messianic promise must be considered as the first coming of the Messiah—The Lamb of God; however, the subsequent verses include a latter-day disillusionment of that same Covenant with Death and Agreement with Hell . . . and that disannulment will be abrogated initially by the Prince of the Covenant who “in the midst of the week” will break the covenant (with Israel); and the conclusion of Daniel’s 70th Week, extolled by the precious cornerstone, will establish justice and righteousness in His Millennial reign.

“The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters will overflow the hiding place.  Your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overflow