(OPINION) One of the key events of the End Times is a coming peace treaty between Israel and her neighbors which the coming antichrist will broker.
We read about this in Daniel 9:27, “And he, [the antichrist, referred to in the previous verse as ‘the prince that shall come’] shall confirm the covenant with many for one week [one set of seven years] and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate…”
There’s a lot to unpack in this verse: The antichrist is going to make a covenant or treaty with the many in Israel for a seven-year period of time. In the middle of that seven years, he’s going to put an end to sacrifice and offerings, which can only happen in a rebuilt temple.
At the temple, he’ll set up an “abomination that causes desolation.” The antichrist will enter the temple, declaring that he is God, and will set up an image in the temple that people must worship in order to buy or sell (see Revelation 13).
The first part of this passage tells us that he will “confirm” a covenant with Israel for seven years. Bible translations differ, saying he will “make a covenant,” “compel a covenant,” or “make a strong covenant.” Some take it as a covenant that already exists, while others suggest the antichrist will compel this covenant, bringing the parties to the table and giving them a take-it-or-leave-it deal.
Whatever the exact meaning, there’s one thing that’s clear: The antichrist is going to forge a sweeping peace agreement between Israel and her neighbors that’s going to have to do with the Temple Mount area and Israel renewing its sacrifices. This event will mark the start of the seven-year tribulation.
Recent events strikingly foreshadow this coming peace compact. August 13th was the third anniversary of the announcement of the Abraham Accords, which were ratified the following month. These arrangements heralded a new beginning of peace in the Middle East as several Arab nations agreed to normalize relations with Israel.
The previous five American presidents tried everything they could with Palestinian leaders and failed. Finally, that streak was broken with the Abraham Accords, which resulted in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan all signing peace treaties or normalized relations with Israel. That added to Israel’s peace treaty with Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994, bringing the current total to six neighboring nations.
The “big fish” is clearly Saudi Arabia. Prime Minister Netanyahu has called the normalization of relations with Saudi Arabia and Israel “the deal of the century.”
Last week, a top Israeli diplomat said that a normalization agreement would be “a historic opportunity for a peace process that will change the face of the Middle East and the whole world.” That’s a dramatic statement in light of Bible prophecy. A lot of headlines about this are very striking to me:
Times of Israel — “Foreign Minister Cohen to Arabic outlet: Israel will make gestures to Palestinians for Saudi deal.” Israel is willing to make some concessions to the Palestinians to make this deal happen.
Times of Israel — “Any deal must be done before Biden leaves office, Israel reportedly tells Saudis.” They believe this is going to have to happen before President Biden leaves office, which obviously, doesn’t give a lot of time.
Times of Israel — “Leading Saudi columnist says it’s ‘highly likely’ peace with Israel is possible.”
Wall Street Journal — “Saudis Agree With U.S. on Path to Normalize Kingdom’s Ties With Israel” subtitle, “Officials are negotiating details of agreement they hope to cement within nine-to-12 months, though obstacles remain.”
While some say there’s no fixed timetable, the US wants to wrap all of this up by next March. You can imagine the political reasons. This would be a huge feather in the cap for President Biden to be able to be in the middle of this deal or take credit for it.
There are several serious obstacles to all of this. One is the current turmoil in Israel. Saudi Arabia will likely wait on the sidelines until Israel can figure things out internally. The other major obstacle, as always, is the Palestinian question. What’s going to happen with the Palestinians? What’s Israel going to have to give up? What’s Saudi Arabia going to demand to have normalized relations?
Last Saturday, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Jordan presented his credentials to begin serving as Saudi Arabia’s first-ever non-resident ambassador to Palestine. Is this simply Saudi Arabia checking a box with the Palestinians before normalizing relations with Israel? (READ MORE)
