KEYWORDS: covenant, prince, antichrist, bible, god

Prince of the Covenant, The--Part 3

David Berg

19 MAY 1979DFO 799_3

Facts about the Antichrist:

  1. Power by the Devil: Rev.13:2,4; Dan.8:24.
  2. Deadly Wound Healed: Rev.13:3,12,14.
  3. Big Mouth: Rev.13:5‚6; Dan.7:8‚20.
  4. War Against Saints: Rev.13:7; Dan.7:21.
  5. Power over All Nations: Rev.13:2,4,5,7,12‚14,15.
  6. One Man World Government: Rev.13:3,8.
  7. Blaspheme Temple: Rev.13:6; Dan.8:11; 11:31; Mat.24:15; 2Thes.2:4.
  8. 42 Months: Rev.13:7; 11:2-3; 12:6,14; Dan.7:25; 9:27; 12:7.

1. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN MUCH CLEARER if the translation had placed that particular declaration in Dan.11:22 at the beginning of the next verse, & translated it saying of the Antichrist:

2. "YEA, (HE'S) ALSO THE PRINCE OF THE COVENANT!"—For the Prince of the Covenant is the Antichrist! But because they stuck that phrase onto the tail end of the previous verse, when the break should have come here before it, & this part should have been on the next verse, really, then I'll admit, it sounds like the Antichrist is going to overthrow & break himself, the Prince of the Covenant!—Ha!

3. BUT IF SO, WHAT YOU ARE SAYING IS THAT THE ANTICHRIST IS GOING TO OVERTHROW & BREAK HIMSELF! Now we know this is not true. This is ridiculous! Now, if an interpretation is absolutely contrary to all the rest of the Bible, & it is totally ridiculous & doesn't make sense, then you know there's something wrong with it, understand?

4. SO, WHAT IT'S REALLY SAYING HERE IS, IT'S DESCRIBING THE ANTICHRIST & talking about his rise & how he comes in peaceably & obtains the kingdom by flatteries & "With the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him & shall be broken."—Stop! PERIOD!—Not semicolon! There should have been a period there! Then there should be a capital "Y":

5. "YEA, (HE'S) ALSO THE PRINCE OF THE COVENANT!" Do you get the point? Yea‚ he is also the Prince of the Covenant. "And after the league (or Covenant) made with him, he shall work deceitfully." If he is broken‚ how can you make a league with him? If he's already overthrown, how can he keep on working & become so great, as it describes here in all the rest of the Chapter?—It's impossible! If you interpret it that way‚ it doesn't make sense!

6. THAT'S WHY THEY GOT SO SCREWED UP!—NO WONDER!—I can see now why they got so screwed up! My Lord, I never realised that was in here! That's the trouble with letting someone else write this for me!—And then there's Joel (former teacher at TSC)! Oh my God!—How far astray he got! Maybe he's the one who gave Sam this idea! It's a sad thing‚ of course, that this thing escaped our notice when we were proofreading.

7. I WAS SHOCKED WHEN I FIRST HEARD OUR FAMILY WAS SAYING THAT THE PRINCE OF THE COVENANT WAS GOING TO BE KILLED BY THE ANTICHRIST! This is ridiculous, because the Prince of the Covenant has always been interpreted as being the Antichrist! He couldn't be anybody else!—Because it goes on to say that "after the league (or Covenant) made with him" he goes on to become this great huge dictator, the Antichrist, the world conqueror! So it's gotta be talking about him, the Prince of the Covenant. So he couldn't have been overthrown or broken. It's not saying that he was overthrown & broken, it is only emphasising that:

8. "YES, HE'S ALSO THE PRINCE OF THE COVENANT!"—Do you understand? (Maria: That's very clear, yes, you've made that real clear.) Well‚ now, the sad thing is that this sort of thing could have crept into Sam's explanation of my Bible prophecy teachings, in which he has slipped in one of his own things which I never said & I never taught! (Just found out Joel did!)

9. HE TRIES TO GET INTO TOO MUCH DETAIL, & tries to explain everything, including some things he doesn't understand‚ which is why you're not going to be able to trust every word you hear that Sam has written. Now, I supposedly proofread & approved it, & that was my mistake.—I will take the blame. I didn't notice it & I was wrong in approving it. Sorry. I was in too big a hurry.

10. WE WERE IN OUR BIG FF REVOLUTION down in Tenerife when these things began pouring through my office, big long lengthy things that I had to read all the way through, & they are long & involved & difficult to understand as it is, so it was just a slip! I let something get through that shouldn't have gotten through, so I'll take the blame. It was my fault.

11. BUT HIS IS NOT THE RIGHT INTERPRETATION‚ & IT IS ABSOLUTELY WRONG! According to him & his interpretation, the Antichrist overcomes & breaks the Prince of the Covenant or kills him! Then of course he's got to figure out a new interpretation about what the Covenant is & who made it, & so he says maybe the Prince of the Covenant's some kind of prophet of God! Well, this is contrary to every Biblical interpretation & prophetic teaching I ever heard! Where he got this I don't know, because I never taught it. (But Joel did at TSC after I left!)

12. I NEVER TAUGHT THAT THE PRINCE OF THE COVENANT WAS SOME MAN OF GOD—NEVER! And I have never taught that that Covenant was anything else but the Antichrist's pact with the religions of the world, to guarantee them religious freedom & specify Jerusalem as an open city, the international religious Capital of the World! But he then gets fed up with the Covenant because it doesn't work. They still fight & squabble & cause trouble.

13. SO HE FINALLY JUST ABOLISHES ALL RELIGIONS & declares Jerusalem the world capital of his religion, not only his world political capital, but also his religious capital, with him as its god & its One-World Religion! If you interpret that any other way, then you are off! Once you miss the pattern, once you miss the stitch & you get off in one place, then you really get balled up!

14. I SPENT 50 YEARS STUDYING BIBLE PROPHECY, & if you don't watch your step, you can really get screwed up! You have to go over the whole Bible, every passage, time & again: Does this agree with this? Does this agree with that?—So that it all fits!

15. IF YOUR INTERPRETATION DOESN'T FIT the rest of the Book, something is wrong with your interpretation, not the Bible, right? Even if this translation of a verse doesn't fit the rest of the Bible‚ then there is something wrong with the way that they translated this one! They didn't make it clear. Just one more tiny word would have helped:

16. "YEA, (HE'S) ALSO THE PRINCE OF THE COVENANT!" which would have made it so much clearer!—Because it is obvious by the verses that follow that the Antichrist Prince of the Covenant was not overthrown nor destroyed nor broken. Because it says in the very next verse, the very next line:

17. "AND AFTER THE LEAGUE MADE WITH HIM" he does so-&-so-&-so-&-so, & on & on it goes!—After the league made with whom?—The Prince of the Covenant!—But all because of the way that it looks & the way they put one line together with that preceding verse which shouldn't have been there, but should have been with the next verse, then it throws some of you.

18. THE GUY WHO DIVIDED THE CHAPTERS & THE VERSES OF THE BIBLE was not necessarily inspired, although he did a good job generally. Neither was the guy who punctuated the Bible necessarily inspired, because I've seen lots of poor punctuations which make it a little difficult to understand sometimes. They could have made it a lot clearer if they had punctuated some places a little better.

19. BUT THANK GOD WE'VE GOT AS ACCURATE A BOOK AS WE HAVE!—But one way to make sure of the accuracy of your interpretation is: Does it agree with the rest?—And when you run across this one little line that does not seem to agree with all the rest of the Book, then there is something wrong with the line or your interpretation of the line or the translation of the line.

20. IN THIS CASE, IT IS MORE A MATTER OF POOR PUNCTUATION AND PLACEMENT!—If they, when it came to the end of that passage there in Daniel 11 the 22nd verse: "And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him & shall be broken," if they had just put a period there, & then added this next line to the next verse, it would have made it a lot clearer:

21. "YEA, ALSO THIS PRINCE OF THE COVENANT, after the league made with him, he shall work deceitfully, for he shall come up & shall become strong with a small people." After this league made with him, this Prince of the Covenant will work deceitfully. It's as clear as anything when you see the point. But I can understand because of the way it is placed & punctuated‚ why Sam & you were led astray. (—And Joel!)

22. (MARIA: SO IN ORDER TO INTERPRET ANYTHING, YOU HAVE TO KNOW ALL THE REST OF THE VERSES?)—YES! You cannot have any "private interpretation" (2Pe.1:20) of any line or one passage or one verse. You've got to know the whole Bible, especially in trying to interpret Bible prophecy. Now, I'm sorry I didn't teach them better. Sam has done very well in most of this, & as far as I know, all the rest of his stuff was correct. I proofread it myself. But as you have already found‚ this is something I missed. I never got the point of what he was trying to teach here‚ because that is ridiculous!

23. THE ANTICHRIST DOESN'T BREAK THE PRINCE OF THE COVENANT—HE IS THE PRINCE OF THE COVENANT! He only breaks the Covenant! (Sue: Well you just made the whole idea easier to relate to‚ about Communism & all being the beginning of the Antichrist System & all—& like you were saying about Jerusalem, about the U.N. already having the idea of making Jerusalem an international city & all that.)

24. THAT HAS LONG BEEN THE SUGGESTION OF THE U.N. AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM, TO INTERNATIONALISE JERUSALEM. That's the only thing that will ever halfway work. But then, as the Antichrist himself finds out‚ even that doesn't work! That still doesn't make the religions stop fighting & quarreling with each other! They will still be fighting & arguing over every square inch of Jerusalem—who gets this‚ & who gets that, & who gets to place their temple here, & who gets to place their altar there! So he finally just gets fed up & abolishes the whole works & sets up his own religion!—You can hardly blame him!

25. BUT FIRST IN DANIEL 9:27, HE CONFIRMS THE COVENANT or this religious peacepact to allow free religious worship in Jerusalem for all religions for 7 years.—And when he does, that will begin the last 7 years of history! We know this from Daniel 9:27. So far Sam's OK: "Of course this may not be broadcast as a 7-year Covenant." In fact we may not even know it's been made, but I have an idea we will, because the Lord will want to let us know, so we'll know where we're at.

26. "THE PACT MAY EVEN BE IN EXISTENCE BEFORE THE ANTICHRIST APPEARS." Well, that's a possibility but I doubt it, because I doubt if he would have the authority & the power to make it‚ unless he is pretty much already in authority. But of course it might be made or suggested by someone else first, like the U.N., but he later confirms it.

27. "BUT WE KNOW THAT WHEN HE CONFIRMS IT, THERE ARE ONLY 7 YEARS LEFT!" Amen! The only reason it is called "Holy" is meaning it is a religious Covenant & has to do with religion & religious freedom & religious worship, therefore it is called "holy." But then he breaks it, which shows it wasn't all that holy! Sam Warner goes on to say:

28. "IT HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH WORSHIPPING & SERVING GOD"—that's for sure! Because it promises to let all these various religions share the Holy City, Jerusalem, & share the holy places of worship there. But now Sam starts talking about a different Covenant: "The Bible says if we'll listen to God & obey God, He'll make a covenant, or peace pact‚ with us." Now, Sam seems to be referring to a Godly covenant in these other Scriptures here: "Incline your ear & come unto Me: hear & your soul shall live: And

29. "I WILL MAKE AN EVERLASTING COVENANT WITH YOU, EVEN THE SURE MERCIES OF DAVID." Well, that's a totally different covenant, an everlasting covenant! "God wants to make a covenant, or peace, with man, but in order to get man to start listening to Him & obeying Him, He has always had to use some man."—That's true. But now Sam is beginning to imply that this Antichrist Covenant is really a Covenant of God, established by some man of God or some prophet. "These Prophets & Apostles stir the people up, make them repent & get them to make peace or a covenant with God". Sam continues:

30. "THIS PRINCE OF THE COVENANT WHO GETS BROKEN BY THE ANTICHRIST MAY BE SUCH A PROPHET." I would cross out that whole sentence out of my Book, because that's where he went astray! Because it is absolutely contrary to the Word of God & a total misinterpretation & a mistaken theory! He says it is "the Prince of the Covenant" who gets broken by the Antichrist, but that's not so!

31. THE PRINCE OF THE COVENANT CAN'T GET BROKEN BY THE ANTICHRIST BECAUSE HE IS THE ANTICHRIST!! But because Sam is confused here‚ he thinks the Prince of the Covenant is somebody different from the Antichrist, therefore he says‚ "He may be such a prophet." I'm sorry, but that's just not what it means. For "After the league made with him" the Antichrist—the Prince of the Covenant, the one it was just talking about, obviously, the Antichrist, "After the league made with him shall he work deceitfully."—Yes, but not the Antichrist with the Prince of the Covenant, for the Antichrist is the Prince of the Covenant!

32. "THIS WORD LEAGUE IS THE SAME AS COVENANT." I agree!—I'm inclined to believe that too. "He is only going to confirm the Covenant to put people off guard so that he can plan his attack under the guise of a friend—much like the average 'peace talks' carried on today by rival nations."

33. FOR "'HIS HEART SHALL BE AGAINST THE HOLY COVENANT.' Then after a disgrace on the battle field, it says he shall 'Have indignation against the holy Covenant ... he shall even return & have intelligence with them that forsake the holy Covenant.’ He finds some Judases, traitors, who are willing to lie about their former beliefs & give him information that somehow helps him to break the Covenant."

34. THAT'S ALL QUITE POSSIBLE, for he gets fed up with it, that's for sure, undoubtedly because it doesn't work & they don't work together & they still are fighting‚ so he finally abolishes it. "For arms shall stand on his part, & they shall take away the daily sacrifice (of religious worship) & they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate." (Dan.11:31.) Interpretation:

35. "IN DANIEL 9:27 IT SAYS THAT "HE SHALL CONFIRM THE COVENANT WITH MANY FOR ONE WEEK OR 7 YEARS‚ & in the midst of the week, halfway through the 7 years‚ he shall cause the sacrifice to cease. Together, these two verses show us that when the sacrifice is ceased in the midst of the week, then the abomination is placed. 'And in his estate shall he (the Antichrist) honour the God of forces: & a god whom his fathers knew not,'" etc. "The abomination of desolation, or idol that he substitutes for the daily sacrifice, may have something to do with these strange new gods." Right!—

36. THE REST OF SAM'S INTERPRETATION SOUNDS OK. Where he went astray was when he got an idea of his own, something there that I never said, I never taught, some brilliant idea he got himself because of his misinterpretation of that one passage. Since he could not see that the Prince of the Covenant was the same as the Antichrist, therefore, he had to figure out somebody else for the Prince of the Covenant.

37. SO SAM GETS THE IDEA THAT IT'S SOME PROPHET OF GOD or some other man or somebody else—he may even have had me in mind, that I'm going to make the Covenant!—Ha! Poor Sam, God bless him! Here dear Sam is throwing in a little of his own interpretation which I never ever taught! (And Joel's!)

38. I HAVE ALWAYS TAUGHT, & nearly all Bible prophecy teachers teach, that the Prince of the Covenant is the Antichrist‚ because that's what the Bible as good as says! "The Prince of the Covenant"—it's obvious. The very term itself implies who he is: The Prince of the Covenant—who is this Prince that has so much to do with the Covenant that he is called the Prince of the Covenant?—Huh?—He can be none other than the Antichrist!

39. THERE'S ONLY ONE OTHER SCREWY INTERPRETATION I ever heard of that, by another outfit who really gets themselves screwed up, & that's the Historicists who say it was all fulfilled in Jesus Christ, & Jesus Himself was the Prince of the Covenant!—How can He be, when this Prince-of-the-Covenant Antichrist is against the "Prince of princes," or King of Kings, Jesus, in Dan.8:25?

40. THE "HISTORICISTS" usually old-line denominations, are the ones who teach that all this Bible prophecy has already been fulfilled‚ it is all past history, & we're now living in the Millennium!—Ha! If this is the Millennium, or Christ's Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, God help us!—It's closer to Hell on Earth! They teach that Jesus' death, the beginning of the Age of Grace & the end of the Law, was also the beginning of the Millennium, & we're now in it, & Jesus will come in the Rapture after it!—That's why they're known as "Post—Millennialists," because they believe Jesus' Second Coming is after the Millennium!

41. IF YOU JUST GET OFF ON ONE LITTLE STITCH & MISS THE PATTERN in one little place, it starts weaving across all wrong in some way that doesn't fit the whole pattern, then the whole tapestry goes awry! You have gotten off the track somehow, you got off on some kind of a tangent that isn't true, just doesn't work, & doesn't fit the picture, & the whole picture gets distorted.

42. SO THAT IS A TOTAL FALSE MISSTATEMENT, & I never taught it & it's not so!: "The Prince of the Covenant who gets broken by the Antichrist may be such a prophet."—That is wrong, I never said it, I never taught it, I never even thought it, the Bible never said it, & that's strictly Sam's misinterpretation of that passage, & I'm very sorry that we let it get through, & that's all I need to say.—Because all the rest of the Bible contradicts it.

43. THE BIBLE IS ITS OWN BEST COMMENTARY, The Bible is its own best interpreter, & whatever you find in the Bible, if your particular little private interpretation doesn't happen to fit all the rest of the Scriptures, your little misinterpretation of only 7 words in this case, then forget it! If it doesn't fit all the rest of the Bible & all the rest of the prophecies & all the rest of the story, then there is something wrong with it.

44. WELL, WE KNOW THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE BIBLE, although sometimes & some places it is difficult to understand, as in this particular case where it is poorly punctuated & perhaps poorly placed in the wrong verse. It's not that the Bible is not right, it's merely our own private misinterpretation.

45. I NEVER DREAMED THE PRINCE OF THE COVENANT WAS NOT THE ANTICHRIST, because he is talked about all the way through the Bible as the Antichrist, & that statement there was never made by me‚ never taught by me, never even thought by me!

46. BECAUSE DURING THE FIRST 50 YEARS OF MY LIFE THAT I REALLY READ THE BIBLE & got seriously into Bible prophecy, I've always agreed with most of the students & teachers of Bible prophecy that the Prince of the Covenant is obviously the Antichrist, it's so obvious‚ because that's what is taught all the way through the Bible!

47. SO THE PRINCE OF THE COVENANT CAN'T BE ANYBODY BUT THE ANTICHRIST‚ he is the Antichrist, he is the Prince of the Covenant, he is the one that makes it, he's the one that breaks it, he's a prince & not a prophet. So poor Sam's misinterpretation here is absolutely wrong, sorry, & ought to be wiped out of the Book!—So sorry! Praise God! That's that!—Thanks!

48. THANK GOD FOR ARA'S POOR SAMSON who had to be the poor goat who was lead astray by that passage & that interpretation into finally coming out with it in such a way that we had to correct him in "Son of Sam," so that mistaken passage would be brought to light & we'd be back to where the trouble really was! He was led astray by this misinterpretation by Sam Warner‚ which I missed & didn't catch when the thing was going through the mill (& Sam led by Joel!)

49. SO IT'S ALL MY FAULT & I'LL TAKE THE BLAME! Well anyhow‚ for God's sake‚ everybody correct your book & scratch out that particular passage! (Paragraphs 53 & 54 of No.349, page 3239, Vol.III.) It's completely erroneous! I never said it, I never taught it. I never thought it & it's false!—It's a misunderstanding‚ a mistake of the head by poor Sam Warner, & a very easy mistake to make for anybody who is not as well versed in Bible prophecy as I am, & as you need to be!—And maybe this'll help! You'll certainly never forget who the Prince of the Covenant is after all this! Maybe you are sick of hearing about him, but soon you will be sick of him!

50. SO I HOPE THAT'S STRAIGHTENED OUT! God help us not to ever make such a mistake again! But that's what happens when you have other people as your ghostwriters trying to interpret what you supposedly have taught & said. I knew there were dangers in this, but I didn't have time to do it myself, & Sam was very well versed in it‚ & nearly all of what he has said is what I have taught & I agree with, & I proofread it & agreed with it, & this is the only mistake we've found so far. So don't blame poor Sam!—Everybody makes them!

51. THERE WERE A FEW LITTLE THEORIES OF HIS OWN that I never taught (could it have been Joel's?). But I figured he's got as much right to his theories as I have to mine, as long as he makes it clear it is a theory—even in this he said "May have been" or "Maybe." So he's still guessing. But in this case it was the wrong guess & contrary to Scripture because of his misinterpretation. But it was a mistake of the head & not of the heart, & it was a mistake very easy to make which a lot of people could have made—& did!

52. I CERTAINLY MADE A MISTAKE IN NOT CATCHING IT, BECAUSE IT IS TOTALLY WRONG! So I hope now you'll never forget the Prince of the Covenant is the Antichrist! He's not Jesus or some prophet or otherwise, he is the Antichrist himself who makes the Covenant & breaks the Covenant, which is why he's called the Prince of the Covenant—OK?

53. THANK GOD THAT THIS MISTAKE HAS NOW BEEN BROUGHT OUT INTO THE OPEN WHERE WE COULD HEAR ABOUT IT & CORRECT IT!—And God bless dear "Son of Sam," for maybe I never would have caught it if so many people hadn't gotten thrown off the beam by it! So Praise the Lord! "All things work together for good!" Amen! Now you've gotten four Letters out of it, & a very timely Bible prophecy lesson on some very significant events that are about to happen!—Ha! PTL!

54. GOD MUST HAVE WANTED TO BRING THIS OUT RIGHT NOW CLEARLY so you'd understand, as it's all about to happen! Amen? PTL! Are you glad? GBY! ILY!—You'll certainly know who the Prince of the Covenant is now!—Ha! PTL! GBAKY!—Love,—Dad

—RU ready for him?!

—UR if U have Jesus!! PTL!