
Israel Signs a Peace Treaty
But Gets a Holocaust Instead
27 Then he (Antichrist) will confirm a covenant (Treaty) with many for one-week (7 years). In the middle of the week (Halfway point = 3.5 years) he (Antichrist) will put an end to the sacrifices and offerings.
In Isaiah 28, Isaiah is warning Judah that though they boast that they have achieved peace and security, their security covenant will be broken and the invasion which they sought to avoid will overwhelm them,
Therefore, hear the word of the LORD, O scoffers, who rule this people who are in Jerusalem, because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have made a pact. The overwhelming scourge (assault) will not reach us when it passes by, for we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.
Your covenant with death will be canceled, and your pact with Sheol will not stand; When the overwhelming scourge (assault/war) passes through, then you become its trampling place. (Isaiah 28:15, 18)
It is important to highlight several realities established by this passage concerning this last-days covenant. The “covenant of death,” or the “pact with Sheol” is (1) made by the rulers of Judah, (2) made with “death”, (3) instead of trusting in Messiah, they rely on the covenant, (4) they enter into the covenant specifically for the purpose of avoiding “the overwhelming (flooding) scourge”, yet (5) the covenant “will be cancelled” or broken. And so, (6) instead of providing Judah with deliverance from the flooding scourge, they will be “trampled” by it.
This passage contains every element of the view that Israel will enter into a “covenant” or security alliance with Antichrist (death). The result will be a broken covenant and the overwhelming military “flood” of Antichrist will sweep into the land.
The length of the covenant being seven years is not found in this passage but is seen in Daniel 9:27 and in Jesus’ exposition of the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24).
Finally, it seems as if Israel learns their lesson. Isaiah prophesies that in the Messianic Kingdom, after being trampled by Antichrist for 3 ½ years, Israel will repent of their misplaced trust.
No longer will they trust or rely on Antichrist (which this passage in Isaiah refers to as “the Assyrian”) for their security. Instead, “in that day” they will rely solely on the Lord:
Now in that day the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 10:20)