If the European Neighbourhood Policy is the Daniel 9:27 covenant, is there anything significant on the Jewish calendar, 3½ years later, that could be a time when sacrifices and offerings could be made to cease in the Jewish temple?

Ted’s Response:

The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) officially went into effect on January 1, 2007. However, I believe it is quite possible that, technically speaking, the ENP may have begun in October, 2006, in which case there is something very significant on the Jewish calendar 3½ years later.

Step 1: Here is a portion of the prophecy, given by the angel Gabriel to the Israeli prophet Daniel:

Seventy "sevens" are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. ... He will confirm a covenant with many for one "seven." In the middle of the "seven" he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him. (Daniel 9:27)

1. it concerns Daniel's "people": Israel;
2. it also concerns Daniel's "holy city": Jerusalem;
3. the covenant will be made with "many": presumably, many nations;
4. the covenant will be for one "seven": a period of 7 years;
5. in the middle of the 7-year period, an end will be put to "sacrifice and offering": to take place in the Third Temple, which will be constructed in Jerusalem at some point before the first 3½ years has been completed.

Step 2: Look at these statements, taken from fundamental ENP regulations, adopted by the EU Council on 17 October and 24 October, 2006:

17 October 2006:

The Council adopted a regulation establishing, and laying down general provisions for, a European neighbourhood and partnership instrument for the 2007-13 period, following an agreement reached with the European Parliament....

The regulation will apply as from 1 January 2007.

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community....

This Regulation establishes for the period 2007 to 2013 a financial envelope which constitutes the prime reference amount for the budgetary authority....

Partner countries referred to in Article I: Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Moldova, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the Russian Federation, Syria, Tunisia and Ukraine.

• it will include Israel;
• it will involve many nations; and
• it will be for a period of 7 years.

Step 3: The Third Temple (or "holy place," according to Jesus, who referred to the Daniel 9:27 prophecy in Matthew 24:15) should be standing, partially or fully, in Jerusalem by the midpoint of the 70th Week (final 7-year) period, because someone (presumably, the Antichrist) will "put an end to sacrifice and offering" in the temple at that time. Look at these statements taken from an ENP document, Questions and Answers on the Action Plan on the Protection and Welfare of Animals:

The Action Plan identifies 5 broad areas for action in the field of animal welfare for the 2006-2010 period:

• Upgrading minimum standards for animal protection and welfare
• Introducing standardised animal welfare indicators
• Ensuring animal handlers and the general public are more involved and informed on animal welfare issues

In a table annexed to the Action Plan, the Commission outlines planned specific actions to improve the protection and welfare of animals, some of which are already underway. These include: ... the possible establishment of a European Quality Standard for products emanating from high animal welfare standards (2010).

The legally binding Protocol on Protection and Welfare of Animals, annexed to the EU Treaty, recognises that animals are sentient beings.

Within this action plan are contained the potential for the remaining two (of five) basic specifications of the Daniel 9:27 prophecy to be fulfilled:

• the Jewish clergy, in the temple, will be forced to stop the religious practices of slaughtering animals for sacrifices, as well as to cease other types of offerings; and
• this will take place in Jerusalem, where the temple will be located.

Step 4: Scripture indicates that the last half of the 70th Week (3½ years or 42 months) will consist of 1,260 days (Revelation 11:2,3, 12:6,14). As such, many assume that the first half that 7-year period also will consist of 1,260 days as well.

For a moment, assuming that the first 3½ years of the 70th Week will consist of 1,260 days, let us add this amount of time to the date of October 17, 2006, on which date a fundamental regulation establishing the European Neighbourhood Policy was adopted (see Step 2 above):

October 17, 2006 + 1,260 days = March 30, 2010.

The week following Passover (which is the Feast of Unleavened Bread) probably is the major week of the year during which animal sacrifices and other offerings will take place in the Third Temple, once it is built. Plausibly, then, that would be a very logical time for the Antichrist to walk into the temple, at the midpoint of the seven years, and "put an end to sacrifice and offering" (Daniel 9:27).

Therefore: If the European Neighbourhood Policy technically began on any day from October 17 to 24, 2006, it is conceivable that this also was the beginning of the prophesied 70th Week. This would allow a forced cessation of animal sacrifices and other offerings in the temple in Jerusalem 3½ years later, during the Jewish Passover week of 2010. After this, there would be 3½ years remaining in the final seven years of this age, at the end of which Jesus the Messiah (Christ) would return back to earth, as the Rider on a white horse, to rule and reign for 1,000 years: the Millennium.

It is remarkable to note that The Temple Institute, founded in Jerusalem in 1987, has been making steady, ongoing preparations for the construction of the Third Temple on Mount Moriah, where two previous temples stood in ancient times. Virtually all of the sacred vessels and vestments, including the blue robe of the high priest, have been made and are ready to be used in the Third Temple. All that is required now is the holy place in which to perform all of the religious ceremonies.

Here is one more thing that I feel is worthy of note. On October 22, 2006 (within the week that the European Neighbourhood Policy was established and funded), there was a new moon. Biblically, God has considered days of the new moon to be significant (1 Chronicles 23:31; Psalm 81:3).