Abomination
of Desolation
What is abomination?
Dictionary
something
regarded with disgust or hatred ; considered war an abomination. extreme
disgust and hatred ; loathing a crime regarded with abomination.
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Are
we ready?
What is the abomination of desolation?
The phrase
“abomination of desolation” refers to Matthew 24:15 ; “So when you
see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken
of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand.” This is referring to Daniel
9:27, “He will confirm a covenant with many for one ’seven.' In the middle
of the ’seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing [of
the temple] he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end
that is decreed is poured out on him.” 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. This event is known as the abomination of
desolation.
In Matthew
24:15, Jesus was speaking some 200 years after the abomination of
desolation described above had already occurred. So, Jesus must have been
prophesying that some time in the future another abomination of desolation
would occur in a Jewish temple in Jerusalem. Most Bible prophecy interpreters
believe that Jesus was referring to the Antichrist who will do something very
similar to what Antiochus Epiphanies did. This is confirmed by the fact that
some of what Daniel prophesied in Daniel 9:27 did not occur in 167 B.C.
with Antiochus Epiphanies. Antiochus did not confirm a covenant with Israel for
seven years. It is the Antichrist who, in the end times, will establish a
covenant with Israel for seven years and then break it by doing something
similar to the abomination of desolation in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem.
Whatever
the future abomination of desolation is, it will leave no doubt in anyone’s
mind that the one perpetrating it is the person known as the Antichrist. Revelation
13:14 describes him making some kind of image which all are forced to
worship. Turning the temple of the living God into a place of worship for the
Antichrist is truly an “abomination.” Those who are alive and remain during the
tribulation should be watchful and recognize that this event is the beginning
of 3 1/2 years of the worst of the tribulation period and that the return of
the Lord Jesus is imminent. “Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be
able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand
before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36).
From
gotquestionsdotorg
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What
is the meaning of the abomination of desolation?
After
the Sermon on the Mount (cf. Matthew 5-7), the longest recorded address
by Jesus is His Olivet discourse, which is found in Matthew 24–25 (see
also Mark 8 and Luke 21). In these chapters, Jesus briefly
describes the coming destruction of Jerusalem that occurred in 70 AD, and then
goes on to describe at length what will happen just before His second coming.
Christ goes into vivid detail of the signs and events that will comprise what
is often called in Scripture the tribulation, a period of time in which God
pours out His wrath on the unbelieving world and upon the Antichrist and his
kingdom.
A
defining moment in the general tribulation period is described by Jesus in Matthew
24:15, where He describes an incident that immediately brings about a
terrible series of events: "So when you see the abomination of desolation
spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader
understand)" (Matthew 24:15). Once this "abomination of
desolation" occurs, "then there will be great tribulation, such as
has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will
be" (Matthew 24:21).
Jesus
does not say what the abomination of desolation is in this passage or the
parallel passage in Mark. However, Matthew and Mark both add the parenthetical
note "let the reader understand," which underlines the criticality of
those reading Matthew and Mark's gospels being able to comprehend what Jesus
was talking about. Although the abomination of desolation is not defined by
Matthew, there are enough clues contained in Scripture to arrive at a
reasonable conclusion as to what it will be.
The
word "abomination" in the Greek means something that is disgusting
and is oftentimes associated with that which is defiling and/or idolatrous. In
the Hebrew, the meaning is the same and is associated with pagan idols. The
word "desolation" means to be in a condition that is uninhabitable
and devastated. In all biblical uses, the term can be understood as the
"abomination causing the desolation."
The
abomination of desolation is mentioned three times in the book of Daniel:
•
"And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half
of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of
abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured
out on the desolator." (Daniel 9:27)
•
"Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and
shall take away the regular burnt offering. And they shall set up the
abomination that makes desolate." (Daniel 11:31)
•
"And from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the
abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290 days." (Daniel
12:11)
As
is sometimes the case in Scripture, there is a dual or near/far fulfillment to
Daniel's prophecies. There is little to no disagreement among theologians that
the near fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy refers to the reign of Antiochus IV,
a Syrian king who ruled Palestine from 175-165 B.C. He assumed the title
"Theos Epiphanes" (god manifest), which gives some idea of his
tyrannical pride. The text of Daniel 11:21-35 perfectly describes the
rule of Antiochus, who gained his throne "through intrigue" (v. 21
NIV), made numerous excursions into Egypt (vv. 24-27), and desecrated the
Temple in Jerusalem (v. 31).
The
apocryphal books of 1 and 2 Maccabees describe in detail the rule of Antiochus
and the Jewish resistance to his brutal actions. Antiochus slaughtered
thousands of Jews and attempted to obliterate the Jewish religion. History
records him as desecrating the Temple by sacrificing a pig, the most ceremonially
unclean of all animals, on the altar and forcing the priests to eat its flesh.
He then set up in the Temple an idol of Zeus, the pagan deity he believed
himself to be.
When
Jesus' words were recorded by Matthew, the reign of Antiochus had long since
ended, and yet, Jesus clearly speaks in a way that shows the abomination of
desolation was to occur sometime in the future. So while the reign of Antiochus
clearly fulfilled part of the prophecies contained in Daniel, there is
evidently a future aspect to it as well. Further, Antiochus's reign was not
characterized with a covenant with Israel that was broken in three and a half
years, nor a complete desolation that occurred (cf. Daniel 9:27, 12:11),
which gives further evidence of a fuller, future fulfillment of Daniel's
prophecies.
A
few clues help piece together what this future event will be. First, Jesus says
in Matthew 24 that the abomination will be "standing in the holy
place." The term "holy place" is found in only one other place
in the New Testament (Acts 21:28) and refers to the Temple in Jerusalem.
Psalm 24:3 also identifies the temple as the holy place of God.
Next,
Daniel 9:27 shows that it is a person who causes the desolation;
"one who makes desolate" is repeated twice in the verse. So putting
these two puzzle pieces together we understand that a person being in God's
holy place will cause some sort of desolation until complete destruction is
delivered upon that individual. Moreover, the destruction of that individual
has been decreed by God.
Who
could this individual be? Daniel 9:26-27 indicates he will be
"prince" from a people who will come to destroy the city (Jerusalem)
and the sanctuary after the Messiah has been put to death. After Jesus was
crucified, the Romans under the lead of Titus came into Jerusalem and destroyed
the city and the temple, literally not leaving one stone upon another. The
prince who is spoken of, therefore, will be of Roman descent, with most
theologians agreeing that his identity is the Antichrist.
This
is confirmed in the New Testament in two separate passages which also provide
the last pieces of the puzzle as to what the actual abomination of desolation
act is. In his letter to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul describes the end
times tribulation period and gives his readers an interesting sign of that
period that concerns the Antichrist and an important blasphemy he commits:
"Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the
apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of
destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object
of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself
as being God" (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, emphasis added). This agrees
perfectly with Jesus' statement about the abomination being in the holy place
of God and the abomination being an individual, as described by Daniel.
Finally,
in Revelation 13:5, the Apostle John describes the Antichrist and the
time given him to rule, which is 42 months. This agrees with Daniel 9:27,
which says the Antichrist will break his treaty with Israel in the middle of
the seven year tribulation period, and it also matches up with Daniel 12:11
that there will 1,290 days (approximately 3.5 years) before the abomination of
desolation occurs. John also explains that an image of the Antichrist will be
constructed and those on the earth will be forced to worship it: "and by
the signs that it [the false prophet] is allowed to work in the presence of the
beast [the Antichrist] it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to
make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. And it
was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the
beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of
the beast to be slain" (Revelation 13:14-15). It is possible that
this image could be set up in God's rebuilt temple in Jerusalem and could be
what Paul refers to rather than the Antichrist actually seated there in person.
So
by letting Scripture interpret Scripture, we find that a reasonable answer to
the question of "What is the abomination of desolation?" is that it
will be the Antichrist, three and a half years into his reign, taking a place
in God's rebuilt temple in Jerusalem and saying to the world that he is God and
must be worshipped as God. When that occurs, the real Creator will respond to
the challenge and will ultimately and eternally destroy the Antichrist (Revelation
19:20).
From
compellingtruthdotorg
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Daniel
9
Albert
Barnes
Intro
Analysis
of the Chapter
This
chapter is properly divided into three parts, or comprises three things:
I.
The inquiry of Daniel into the time that the desolations of Jerusalem were to
continue, and his determination to seek the Lord, to pray that his purpose in
regard to the restoration of the city and temple might be speedily
accomplished, Daniel 9:1-3. Daniel says Daniel 9:1, that this occurred in the
first year of Darius of the seed of the Medes. He was engaged in the study of
the books of Jeremiah. He learned from these books that seventy years were to
elapse during which the temple, the city, and the land were to be desolate. By
a calculation as to the time when this commenced, he was enabled to ascertain
the period when it would close, and he found that that period was near, and
that, according to the prediction, it might be expected that the time of the
restoration was at hand. His mind was, of course, filled with the deepest
solicitude. It would seem not improbable that he did not perceive any
preparation for this, or any tendency to it, and it could not but be that he
would be filled with anxiety in regard to it.
He
does not appear to have entertained any doubt that the predictions would be
fulfilled, and the fact that they were so clear and so positive was a strong
reason why he should pray, and was the reason why he prayed so earnestly at
this time. The prayer which he offered is an illustration of the truth that men
will pray more earnestly when they have reason to suppose that God intends to
impart a blessing, and that an assurance that an event is to occur is one of
the strongest encouragements and incitements to prayer. So men will pray with
more faith when they see that God is blessing the means of restoration to
health, or when they see indications of an abundant harvest; so they will pray
with the more fervour for God to bless his Word when they see evidences of a
revival of religion, or that the time has come when God is about to display his
power in the conversion of sinners; and so undoubtedly they will pray with the
more earnestness as the proofs shall be multiplied that God is about to fulfill
all his ancient predictions in the conversion of the whole world to himself. A
belief that God intends to do a thing is never any hinderance to real prayer; a
belief that he is in fact about to do it does more than anything else can do to
arouse the soul to call with earnestness on his name.
II.
The prayer of Daniel, Daniel 9:20-27. The principal difficulty in the
exposition of the chapter is in this portion; and indeed there is perhaps no
part of the prophecies of the Old Testament that is, on some accounts, more
difficult of exposition, as there is, in some respects, none more clear, and
none more important. It is remarkable, among other things, as not being a
direct answer to the prayer, and as seeming to have no bearing on the subject
of the petition - that the city of Jerusalem might be rebuilt, and the temple
restored; but it directs the mind onward to another and more important event -
the coming of the Messiah, and the final closing of sacrifice and oblation, and
a more entire and enduring destruction of the temple and city, after it should
have been rebuilt, than had yet occurred. To give this information, an angel -
the same one whom Daniel had seen before - was sent forth from heaven, and came
near to him and touched him, and said that he was commissioned to impart to him
skill and understanding, Daniel 9:20-23. “The speediness of his coming
indicates a joyful messenger. The substance of that message is as follows: As a
compensation for the seventy years in which the people, the city, and the temple
had been entirely prostrate, seventy weeks of years, seven times seventy years
of a renewed existence would be secured to them by the Lord; and the end of
this period, far from bringing the mercies of God to a close, would for the
first time bestow them on the theocracy in their complete and full measure.” -
Hengstenberg, “Christology,” it. 293. The “points” of information which the
angel gives in regard to the future condition of the city are these:
(a)
That the whole period determined in respect to the holy city, to finish
transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for the
people, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision
and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy, was seventy weeks - evidently seventy
prophetic weeks, that is, regarding each day as a year, four hundred and ninety
years, Daniel 9:24. The time when this period would “commence” - the “terminus
a quo ” - is not indeed distinctly specified, but the fair interpretation
is, from that time when the vision appeared to Daniel, the first year of
Darius, Daniel 9:1. The literal meaning of the phrase “seventy weeks,”
according to Prof. Stuart (“Hints on the Interpretation of Prophecy,” p. 82),
is seventy sevens, that is, seventy sevens of years, or four hundred and ninety
years. “Daniel,” says he, “had been meditating on the accomplishment of the
seventy years of exile for the Jews, which Jeremiah had predicted. At the close
of the fervent supplication for the people which he makes, in connection with
his meditation, Gabriel appears, and announces to him that‘” seventy sevens”
are appointed for his people,‘ as it respects the time then future, in which
very serious and very important events are to take place. Daniel had been
meditating on the close of the seventy years of Hebrew exile, and the angel now
discloses to him a new period of seventy times seven, in which still more
important events are to take place.”
(b)
This period of seventy sevens, or four hundred and ninety years, is divided by
the angel into smaller portions, each of them determining some important event
in the future. He says, therefore Daniel 9:25, that from the going forth of the
command to rebuild the temple, until the time when the Messiah should appear,
the whole period might be divided into two portions - one of “seven sevens,” or
forty-nine years, and the other of “threescore and two sevens” - sixty-two
sevens, or four hundred and thirty-four years, making together four hundred and
eighty-three years. This statement is accompanied with the assurance that the
“street would be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.” Of these
periods of seven weeks, sixty-two weeks, and one week, the close of the first
is distinguished by the completion of the rebuilding of the city; that of the
second by the appearing of the Anointed One, or the Messiah, the Prince; that
of the third by the finished confirmation of the covenant with the many for
whom the saving blessings designated in Daniel 9:24, as belonging to the end of
the whole period, are designed. The last period of one week is again divided
into two halves. While the confirmation of the covenant extends through it,
from beginning to end, the cessation of the sacrifice and meat-offering, and
the death of the Anointed One, on which this depends, take place in the middle
of it.
(c)
The Messiah would appear after the seven weeks - reaching to the time of
completing the rebuilding of the city - and the sixty-two weeks following that
(that is, sixty-nine weeks altogether) would have been finished. Throughout
half of the other week, after his appearing, he would labor to confirm the
covenant with many, and then die a violent death, by which the sacrifices would
be made to cease, while the confirmation of the covenant would continue even after
his death.
(d)
A people of a foreign prince would come and destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end of all would be a “flood” - an overflowing calamity, until the end of
the desolations should be determined, Daniel 9:26-27. This fearful desolation
is all that the prophet sees in the end, except that there is an obscure
intimation that there would be a termination of that. But the design of the
vision evidently did not reach thus far. It was to show the series of events
after the rebuilding of the city and temple up to the time when the Messiah
would come; when the great atonement would be made for sin, and when the
oblations and sacrifices of the temple would finally cease; cease in fact and
naturally, for the one great sacrifice, superseding them all, would have been
offered and because the people of a foreign prince would come and sweep the
temple and the altar away.
The
design of the whole annunciation is, evidently, to produce consolation in the
mind of the prophet. He was engaged in profound meditation on the present
state, and the long-continued desolations of the city and temple. He gave his
mind to the study of the prophecies to learn whether these desolations were not
soon to end. He ascertained beyond a doubt that the period drew near. He devoted
himself to earnest prayer that the desolation might not longer continue; that
God, provoked by the sins of the nation, would no longer execute his fearful
judgments, but would graciously interpose, and restore the city and temple. He
confessed ingenuously and humbly the sins of his people; acknowledged that the
judgments of God were just but pleaded earnestly, in view of his former mercies
to the same people, that he would now have compassion, and fulfill his promises
that the city and temple should be restored.
An
answer is not given “directly,” and in the exact form in which it might have
been hoped for; but an answer is given, in which it is “implied” that these
blessings so earnestly sought would be bestowed, and in which it is “promised”
that there would be far greater blessings. It is “assumed” in the answer Daniel
9:25 that the city would be rebuilt, and then the mind is directed onward to
the assurance that it would stand through seven times seventy years - seven
times as long as it had now been desolate, and that “then” what had been the
object of the desire of the people of God would be accomplished; that for which
the city and temple had been built would be fulfilled - the Messiah would come,
the great sacrifice for sin would be made, and all the typical arrangements of
the temple would come to an end. Thus, in fact, though not in form, the
communication of the angel was an answer to prayer, and that occurred to Daniel
which often occurs to those who pray - that the direct prayer which is offered
receives a gracious answer, and that; there accompanies the answer numberless
other mercies which are drawn along in the train; or, in other words, that God
gives us manymore blessings than we ask of him.
________
Matthew
10;22
You
will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured
to the end who will be saved.
1
Timothy 4;1-4
Apostasy
4 But
the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the
faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 by means of
the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, 3 men
who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has
created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For
everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is
received with gratitude; 5 for it is sanctified by means of the
word of God and prayer.
The
Abomination of Desolation
Mark
13;14-23
14 “But when you see the abomination
of desolation standing where it should not be” (let the reader
understand), “then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. 15 The
one on the roof must not come down or go inside to take anything out of his
house. 16 The one in the field must not turn back to get his cloak.
17 Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing their
babies in those days! 18 Pray that it may not be in winter. 19 For
in those days there will be suffering unlike anything that has happened from
the beginning of the creation that God created until now, or ever will happen. 20 And
if the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would be saved. But because of
the elect, whom he chose, he has cut them short. 21 Then if anyone
says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe
him. 22 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and
perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, the elect. 23 Be
careful! I have told you everything ahead of time.
2
Timothy 4;3
For
there will be a time when people will not tolerate sound teaching.
Instead, following their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for
themselves, because they have an insatiable curiosity to hear new things.
Daniel
12
The
Time of the End
1 “Now at that time Michael,
the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will
arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there
was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is
found written in the book, will be rescued. 2 Many of those who
sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the
others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who
have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven,
and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. 4 But
as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of
time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.”
5 Then I, Daniel, looked and
behold, two others were standing, one on this bank of the river and the other
on that bank of the river. 6 And one said to the man dressed in
linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How long will it be until
the end of these wonders?” 7 I heard the man dressed in
linen, who was above the waters of the river, as he raised his right hand and
his left toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for
a time, times, and half a time; and as soon as they finish
shattering the power of the holy people, all these events will be
completed. 8 As for me, I heard but could not understand; so I
said, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these events?” 9 He
said, “Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and
sealed up until the end time. 10 Many will be purged, purified and
refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; and none of the wicked will
understand, but those who have insight will understand. 11 From the
time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation
is set up, there will be 1,290 days. 12 How blessed is he
who keeps waiting and attains to the 1,335 days! 13 But as for you,
go your way to the end; then you will enter into rest and rise again
for your allotted portion at the end of the age.”