This question was asked previously without calling for a particular Christian perspective, and I believe it deserves an answer. In two parts: How will Christianity identify the prince of the people of Dan. 9:26, and How could the first century Romans be connected to a leader of today before the "end".
So I am asking the same from the fulfilled eschatology perspective in order to be able to provide an answer.
According to preterist interpreter Philip Mauro, the only answer is Titus.
WHO IS "THE PRINCE THAT SHALL COME"? At this point we are confronted with a question which very seriously affects the interpretation of the prophecy. Taking the words according to their apparent and obvious meaning (which should always be done except where there is a compelling reason to the contrary) it would seem quite clear that "the prince," whose people were to destroy the city and the sanctuary, was Titus, the son of the then emperor Vespasian, he (Titus) being the "prince" or "leader" who was in actual command of those armies at the time. In fact we are bold to say that the words of the prophecy, which are the words of God sent directly from heaven to Daniel, do not reasonably admit of any other interpretation.
Christ teaches his disciples:
Mathew 21:19-22
And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.”Immediately the fig tree withered. So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done. And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
What Mountain and why?
The mountain is Mount Zion in the natural, and the reason is because it had become corrupt.
Revelation chapter 18:2,3
And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.”
Also Rev.11:8
And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
Christ teaches His disciples Math. 10:14, 15
And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!
Jerusalem does not receive them in fact they persecute them.
Acts 9:1,2
In the meantime Saul kept up his violent threats of murder against the followers of the Lord. He went to the High Priest and asked for letters of introduction to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he should find there any followers of the Way of the Lord, he would be able to arrest them, both men and women, and bring them back to Jerusalem.
Why is this battle so intense and who are the players?
Rev. 12:1-5
Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.
The woman in verse 1 is Gods new heavens she is Zion. The resurrected Christ comes forth in verse 5 And her first children come forth 40 days later at pentecost.
Acts 2:1-4
When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Also Isaiah 66:7,8
“Before she was in labor, she gave birth; Before her pain came, She delivered a male child. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, She gave birth to her children.
But they can only come forth after Christ prepares a place for them in heaven.
Rev. 12:7-8
And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.
Then this promise comes forth
Isaiah 54:17
No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord.
And this glory God bestowed on His saints
Psalm 149:5-9
May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands, to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron, to carry out the sentence written against them this is the glory of all his faithful people.
Praise the Lord.
The reference in verse 7 is the same as
Psalms 2:1-3
Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us.”
Which Peter interprets:
Acts 4:25-29
who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: ‘Why did the nations rage,And the people plot vain things? The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the Lord and against His Christ. “For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. Now, Lord, look on their threats...
So how do the people of the Prince destroy the city and the sanctuary?
We can see it in the David and Goliath story. David = Christ one with his Saints, Goliath. = the house of Herod, The sword = Rome
The house of Herod is one with Rome, hence the uncircumcised Philistine and his sword.,
John 19:15
But they cried out, "Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar!"
Until 64 A.D. when the sword is no longer in the Giants hand but turned against him which brings his destruction.
Rome is the sword which brings. destruction of Jerusalem but it is wheeled by the prayers of the saints.
As is in Rev. 8:3-10
Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
Verse 8 is the fulfillment of Matthew 21:21
It is correct that the "end" spoken of in Revelation was the return of Jesus Christ. But, the time of His of return is a point many people have difficulty seeing. That end time is a matter of the proper perspective.
It helps to remember the context of the scriptures so that we do not get off track, which a great many denominations / taught perspectives have done. In Daniel chap. 9 - 12, Gabriel is telling him of some things concerning the "end" of the desolation of Jerusalem. We know this from 9:24 -
"Seventy weeks are determined upon THY PEOPLE and THY HOLY CITY..."
The prophesy was only about Daniel's people -thy people - the tribes/children of Israel; and Daniel's holy city - Jerusalem. Gabriel was answering Daniel's question... when would be the end of the desolation of Jerusalem. But, Daniel didn't understand what he was asking, and thought he was only asking about their return to the already and previously destroyed city.
Therefore, the "end" spoken of in Daniel chap. 9 -12 was the end of Jerusalem and its complete destruction.
The next clue is the time of Jesus' manifestation on earth.... in the fullness of time (Gal. 4:4). 1 Pet. 1:20 tells us when Christ was manifested on earth that it was already the last days.
"Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you" (KJV)
Christ was born of the virgin Mary in the last times / last days. That was almost 2,000 years ago.
Heb. 1:1-2,
"God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;" (KJV)
As compared to previous ages when God spoke to the people through the patriarchs or the prophets - agents / messengers / angels - but in the first century A.D. God sent his Son to speak directly to the people. Vs. 2 tells us that Christ spoke to them in "these last days".
A=B=C. If one thing is equal to a second thing, and the second is equal to a third, then the first is also equal to the third.
The Bible plainly tells us that Christ was manifested on earth in "these last days" and that He spoke to the people in "these last days". Not our days... not the days when we are reading the scriptures, but the days in which He walked on this earth and spoke to those of the first century A.D. Those days were the last days!
So, then what were they the last days of? And, we now remember Daniel's question and the prophesy given to Daniel... the end of the desolation of Jerusalem.
Christ was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matt. 15:24). Christ sent His disciples only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matt. 10:6) John had told the scribes and Pharisees that the axe was already laid to the root of the tree when He was with them (Matt. 3:10).
Christ told them that the law and the prophets prophesied until John (Matt. 11:13). Christ told them that their days were the days of vengeance (Luke 21:22). Christ told them that all the shed blood of the righteous would fall on them (Matt. 23:35). Christ told His disciples that they would not finish going through the cities of Israel before He returned to them (Matt. 10:26). Christ told them that John would live to see His coming (John 21:22).
And, then we remember the question the disciples asked Him in Matt. c. 24. They had just shown Him the beautiful temple, and in vs. 2 He replies,
"...See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." (KJV)
The disciples naturally begin to ask Him when that temple would be torn down. All of Matt. chap. 24 concerned the destruction of their temple.. the one standing in Jerusalem when they pointed it out to Him. To the Jews, that temple was the center of their lives. Its destruction / desolation represented the end of their world as they knew it. And, in vs. 34 He further stated,
" Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." (KJV)
Revelation revealed to those who received that prophesy that the "end" was about to come upon them, that all of the things in Revelation was shortly to come to pass (Rev. 1:1; Rev. 22:6, 7, 10, 12, 20).
Compared to Daniel when Gabriel told Daniel that the time was long and to seal up the prophesy (Dan. 12:4), the angel told John not to seal up the prophesy of Revelation because the time was at hand when the prophesy was given (Rev. 22:10).
The "end" that the Scriptures spoke of, the "latter days" of the tribes of Israel that are prophesied in Gen. 49:1-27, the "last days" that are spoken of throughout all of the NT books were the last days of that 2nd temple in Jerusalem, and the last days of the old Mosaic sacrificial covenant.
Contrary to what most "Christian" denominations are teaching, the Bible never speaks of the end of the physical cosmos / world.
Satan did trample the holy city under foot for 42 months; he did so through the agency of the prince of the people that came (Dan. 9:27) to destroy the city - the Roman armies under Titus in 70 A.D.
This may be startling to many, but if we can put aside the taught beliefs of a future "second" coming for just a little while, the words of God will shout out at you from the Scriptures.
His second appearance was promised to that generation (Heb. 9:28), as only that generation who saw His first appearance could have a second appearance of Him. Else every generation since the first century A.D. would have had to see Him in the flesh for the last 2,000 years.
He came in judgment and in glory in A.D. 70. He destroyed the temple, He finished the desolation of Jerusalem, He fulfilled the law, He brought His kingdom, and was anointed as our Most Holy High Priest forever. He made an end of the old covenant sacrificial system.
Christ has been sitting at the right hand of the Father ever since that judgment day, and He rules now. The process is in motion, and on-going. Judgment happens every single hour of every single day as we pass from this mortal life. Those that are in Christ get to go home to their eternal life in heaven to be with the saints that have already gone before (1 Thess. 4:16-17).
This perspective may raise questions for those who have not considered the actual meanings of the words in Scripture. A good deal of study is required to undo all of the misguided and false teaching of most denominations.
I have a few posts that you might like to investigate for further scriptural answers at ShreddingTheVeil. You might want to start with Part I of It's Not The End of The World, and work through Part X as these point out many of the scriptures that are too often glossed over. Then find Daniel And the End Times, The Whore of Babylon, The Beast of Revelation.
Further reading sources:
Daniel 11 - Prophesy Fulfilled here
The Symbolism in the Book of Revelation here
Preterism and Prophesy here
Questions and Answers here
There are many more sources that could be listed, but those are a few to begin. Christ fulfilled all things, and this is the perspective that is required (Luke 24:44; Acts 3:18). Fulfilled eschatology.
(All bold emphasis is mine.)
