The Abomination of Desolation

As we now make this detour away from directly discussing the Olivet Discourse and take some time to get a better grasp of the phrase, Abomination of desolation,: we will take a few minutes to discuss what we have discovered thus far in regards to what is an abomination and to look at how Daniel uses the same term.

In our study of Matthew and the parallel passages we have noted a few important items regarding this abomination

• It may be, os is at least related to, the Roman armies surrounding Jerusalem
• If it is not the actual armies surrounding the city, the abomination takes place between the time of the city’s surrounding and it’s eventual destruction
• The abomination is an event or events that determines the city’s destruction
• It is something that is visible as Jesus warns His disciples to note when “they see” the abomination
• It is the last sign that will be seen and will serve as the last warning to escape the city
• It is centered in either the city or the Temple (or both)
• It may, if Old Testament parallels remain true, involve worship or the spiritual act of worship
• Jesus tell us that Daniel hold the key to this mystery.

It is this last point that we will now turn our direction. It is most common to move directly to Daniel 9 and Daniel’s 70 Week prophecy to start the discussion of the abomination of desolation because of how theologians have married the two concepts, especially in the lat 50 to 100 years. But Daniel uses the phrase or similar constructs on three other occasions. The serious Bible student need take note of the other uses and see if by chance they are related to the event in question in Matthew or possibly belong to another event.

The three other uses, which will be listed below are all related to the taking away or eliminating of the burnt offering system at a rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem. Daniel in prophesying that a time will come when the burnt offering will be taken away for a time period of 1,290 days.

Daniel 8:13 Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one who spoke, “For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled underfoot?”

Daniel 11:31 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 12:11 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.

The above passages deal with an invading force that will take over the city and Temple, do away with the burnt offering system and set up some sort of abomination in the Temple some 3 1/2 years later. We must immediately ask the question as to whether something historically can account for the events described. We will then address the use of the term in the Daniel 9 passage to determine the placement of events as described there as well. But, as has been our system thus far, we will look at the “brighter” verses first to see if they can shed light on the more difficult or darker verses.

Other than the most ardent Dispensationalist, most commentators, theologians and historians would argue that the abomination of desolation described in the above passages relates to the persecution and tribulation Israel faced at the hands of the Syrian Ruler Antiochus Epiphanies in the first and second centuries BC. After the restoration of the city and rebuilding of the Temple under Ezra and Nehemiah the Syrians were the foes of the Israelites. The greatest and most powerful rules was Antiochus.

The list of atrocities is plentiful and the revolt and expulsion of the city of Jerusalem in found in the Apocryphian books of Maccabees. This is called, by Protestants, the “quiet time” of God between the final prophets and the birth of Christ. The snapshot history is as follows.

• Called himself Theos Epiphanies (God manifest)

• In 168 BC he killed 40,000 Jews and controlled the city over 3 years

• Sacrificed a pig and sprinkled the altar with it’s blood and broth

• Erected a statue of Zeus above the altar

• Sparked the Maccabean revolt which overthrew the Syrians in 3 ½ years - 1,290 Days (Book of Maccabees)

The above history matches perfectly the prophesied events of three of Daniel’s uses of the term “abomination of desolation.” The atrocities that are most related to the the actual abomination would be the sacrificing of a pig on the altar and the erection of a statue of Zeus above the altar. It should not take much if any explanation as to why those actions would be seen as an abomination and how it would leave the the Temple desolate.

What is most important about Jesus’ use of the term “abomination of desolation” is not to necessarily discover the exact event prophesied but to initially understand that the first century reader, especially the Jew, would be immediately reminded of the events of Antiochus Epiphanes as they read Jesus’ words. They were being instructed to look for an event that was either similar or had the same repercussions as the actions involving Antiochus. Actions that would leave the Temple or city desolate.

So keep that in mind as we next turn our direction toward the most popular usage of the term “abomination of desolation” in Daniel’s 70 Week prophecy found in Daniel 9.