7. The Prophesied Destruction

The end of the Prophecy said, "And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary."

For centuries, Christian interpreters have seen this as a prediction of what happened in AD 70. The "people of the prince who is to come" are the Romans. The legions under Titus's command. And the prophecy says they would destroy both Jerusalem and the Temple.

Look at how the details line up:

The prophecy says the city and sanctuary would be destroyed. That's exactly what happened in AD 70—Titus's forces breached the walls, burned the Temple, and systematically demolished the city's fortifications.

The prophecy says this would happen after the anointed one is "cut off." If Jesus's crucifixion around AD 30-33 is that "cutting off," then the destruction came about 37-40 years later—within a single generation. Which, by the way, is exactly what Jesus himself predicted: "This generation will not pass away until all these things take place."

The prophecy says "its end shall come with a flood"—imagery of overwhelming, unstoppable force. And that's precisely how Josephus describes the Roman assault: like a flood of soldiers pouring through breached walls.

The prophecy says "to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed." Jerusalem remained in ruins for decades after AD 70. When the emperor Hadrian tried to rebuild it as a Roman colony in AD 135, it sparked another Jewish revolt, leading to even more devastation and the complete expulsion of Jews from the city.