What is the "abomination of desolation"?

[Hobie]

We see this verse in Daniel 9:27 (KJV)

"27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: 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, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate."

Christ refers to it in Matthew 24:15(KJV)

"15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:"

The Jewish Rabbis have pushed the view that it was when in 167 B.C. a Greek ruler by the name of Antiochus Epiphanies set up an altar to Zeus over the altar of burnt offerings in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. He also sacrificed a pig on the altar in the Temple in Jerusalem.

But it doesn't fit, as Jesus declared it looking forward in time, so was it the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. And will it be a event on the sacred ground of Jerusalem into what is truly an “abomination.” So what is the abomination of desolation.

 

[Hobie]

Lets start with Matthew 24..

"15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be" (Matthew 24: 15-21).

When Jesus put the words “when you see the ‘abomination of desolation’” with “flee to the mountains,” he speaks of a coming terrible event, and we see it when Jerusalem is taken by the Romans in AD 70. But Jesus was also speaking of the time of the end, as there were two questions. The disciples actually asked a question pertaining to the temple and also to the end times. Notice..

Question 1:...“When will these things be, Question 2:... and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” (Matthew 24:3).

So there are two fulfillments of the "abomination of desolation", the first was the literal siege of Jerusalem which began in 68 A.D. and the armies of Rome temporarily abandoned that siege, signaling Christians to flee the city. When the armies of Rome returned in 70 A.D., the temple was burned and Jerusalem destroyed, but the Christians had fled so none of them perished in the second Roman siege. This was the desolation referred to in Luke 21:20-21..
"20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
21Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto."(Luke 21:20-21).

It was the "type" or initial fulfillment. The second or "antitype" fulfillment which Christ also speaks to, is the answer to the question asked by the disciples with regard to the second coming at the end time. So what is the end time fulfillment, its much like the one in 70 AD, a desecration of what God makes sacred and holy.

 

[Hobie]

There is something that is sacred and holy and if what is common and of another origin is forced upon Gods people by the Antichrist power, we shall see the fulfillment of the "abomination of desolation" of the end time

Genesis 2:1-3
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

Christ shows us what is meant by the prophecy of the end time in Daniel 11:31

Daniel 11:31
And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.

 

[Hobie]

Christ told the Jews back then that by turning aside from the sacred matters God had given them they were leading to what would leave them desolate. This shows its tied to His law which is central to worship and the relationship between God and His people, then the detestable introduction of abomination would leave them desolate.

Matthew 23:23-38
23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

Jesus warned of what was to come in His rebukes to the religious leaders, because they had persistently led the people away from God to the point of rejecting God. He told them of this coming judgment when He says “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.”

 

[EarlyActs]

We see this verse in Daniel 9:27 (KJV)

"27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: 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, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate."

Christ refers to it in Matthew 24:15(KJV)

"15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:"

The Jewish Rabbis have pushed the view that it was when in 167 B.C. a Greek ruler by the name of Antiochus Epiphanies set up an altar to Zeus over the altar of burnt offerings in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. He also sacrificed a pig on the altar in the Temple in Jerusalem.

But it doesn't fit, as Jesus declared it looking forward in time, so was it the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. And will it be a event on the sacred ground of Jerusalem into what is truly an “abomination.” So what is the abomination of desolation.

In Dan 8 it is originally a 'rebellion that desolates' in v13. Later in that chapter, it is a person, and the person is superlatively evil. In ch 9 that person (from 8) is influencing the city in 490 years from the decree to return and ruins the city and temple. Messiah also comes at the same time and accomplishes redemption for the people of God.

In the Thess. letters, Paul is reminding them that he would come but that God would be victorious over him.

The fact that Jesus references ch 9 in Mt 24 etc is the best proof that the Mt 24A material is about that critical generation of Israel.

 

[EarlyActs]

In Dan 8 it is originally a 'rebellion that desolates' in v13. Later in that chapter, it is a person, and the person is superlatively evil. In ch 9 that person (from 8) is influencing the city in 490 years from the decree to return and ruins the city and temple. Messiah also comes at the same time and accomplishes redemption for the people of God.

In the Thess. letters, Paul is reminding them that he would come but that God would be victorious over him.

The fact that Jesus references ch 9 in Mt 24 etc is the best proof that the Mt 24A material is about that critical generation of Israel.

This also helps us see why Caiaphas etc would try to protect Israel by getting rid of a rebel—as Jesus was accused. And when the crowd soared Barrabbas, an actual insurrectionist, it reeked of contradiction.

Btw Barabbas translates as ‘son of the Father.’

 

[Hobie]

In Dan 8 it is originally a 'rebellion that desolates' in v13. Later in that chapter, it is a person, and the person is superlatively evil. In ch 9 that person (from 8) is influencing the city in 490 years from the decree to return and ruins the city and temple. Messiah also comes at the same time and accomplishes redemption for the people of God.

In the Thess. letters, Paul is reminding them that he would come but that God would be victorious over him.

The fact that Jesus references ch 9 in Mt 24 etc is the best proof that the Mt 24A material is about that critical generation of Israel.

Very true, it is talking basically of the same thing and timeline. You see the Ram in verse 4, this is the empire Medo-Persia. This lines up with Daniel 7, in which you have the kingdom that Daniel was in as the starting timeline, Babylon which is the lion with eagle's wings, then Medo-Persia which is the bear that is raised up on one side here in Daniel 7. In Daniel 8, you have the Ram as the Medo-Persia empire that expands toward the west, north, and south, conquering other powers.

The he-goat Daniel 8 represents Greece, and the first horn is Alexander the Great. Notice in verse 5 of Daniel 8 the, "he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes". So Greece under Alexander came with tremendous speed, the “without touching the ground” aspect, and he comes from the west and defeats the Medes and Persians, You can compare with the leopard with four wings in Daniel 7, as the same in the timeline. Then 323 BC, at the age of thirty-three and at the peak of his power and success, Alexander died. You see this in verse 8 of Daniel 8, "and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven." His generals divided the empire among themselves, you see the same in Daniel 7 with the four heads of the leopard. The four kings were Ptolemy, Cassander, Lysimachus, and Seleucus.

Next comes the ascendancy of Rome, and we see it in Daniel 7 as the fourth beast in the timeline, "7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. 8 I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things."

Compare Daniel 8 speaking of this same kingdom. "
9 And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. 10 And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them."

Here is a good sermon on it you can check out... Downey Adventist Church sermon. series: "Daniel: Standing Firm with God" sermon: Daniel 8: The Ram and the Goat