Matthew 24:15 says, “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:)”
There are many ideas of what this “abomination of desolation” is, but the Bible creates an interesting puzzle in order to truly understand it.
Some believe the abomination of desolation to have occurred when Antiochus Epiphanes set up an altar and sacrificed a pig to Zeus in the Jewish temple. This would have been prophecy to Daniel, but it was history to Jesus Christ. Therefore, that was not the abomination of desolation because Christ is clearly referring to a future event.
Others believe the abomination to be when sacrifices resume in the temple – which is partially correct, but it is not the complete event.
First of all, an “abomination” is something that God detests – which is no small feat.
Second, “desolation” is an emptying or destruction of a place.
So, the phrase itself refers to God’s utter detesting of the destruction of a place.
Notice that the verse above references the book of Daniel.
Daniel 9:27 states, “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.”
This is a prophetic reference to the Tribulation period (see the book of Revelation). The “one week” (seven days) represents the seven years of the Tribulation. Notice that halfway through the week, “he” (Antichrist) will cause sacrifices to cease.
In Daniel 11, the “king of the north” (Antichrist, or at least a “type” of him) wages war on Jerusalem. Verse 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.”
This means that the sacrifices at the temple, which currently are not occurring, will at some point in the future resume. That, however, is not the abomination of desolation.
The first marker of the abomination is that the sacrifices will begin. The second step is the end of the sacrifices. This is the DESOLATION (emptying/destruction) spoken about earlier. But why would God call this an abomination considering the temple has been desolate of sacrifices for nearly 2,000 years?
Look to 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.”
The “man of sin” is Antichrist. When he causes the sacrifices to stop (Daniel 9:27), he will sit in the temple and proclaim himself to be God.
THAT is why God DETESTS this particular desolation, because through the desolation, the Antichrist will commit the ultimate blasphemy against the Lord.
Daniel 12:11 completes the timeline – “And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.”
1290 days = 3.5 years.
The timeline of events is this – Antichrist reveals himself (2 Thess 2:3-4), likely just before or after the sacrifices begin in the temple again. Three and a half years later (Daniel 9:27), Antichrist will sit in the temple, likely on the mercy seat atop the Ark of the Covenant within the Holy of Holies – which is where the presence of God sat when Moses and the Israelites traveled to the Holy Land (Leviticus 16:2), and declare himself to be God (2 Thess. 2:3-4) for the remaining 3.5 years (Daniel 12:11).
This abomination brings about the Great Tribulation, which will be one of the most destructive periods in the history of mankind, where a majority of the remaining population of the Earth will be dead or suffer plagues that make those levied on Pharaoh in Exodus seem like child’s play.
Spiritual warfare, comets, bloody and poisoned water, earthquakes, locusts with scorpion tails, diseases, famines, and many more horrors await those who remain as the Lord’s judgment on this wicked planet comes to a head.
Thankfully, we Christians will not have to suffer God’s wrath (1 Thess. 5:9). The Lord Jesus Christ will rapture his bride (1 Thess. 4:15-17) before Antichrist is revealed and the abomination makes the temple desolate.
If you are reading this and have not accepted Christ as savior, let me remind you of how close we are to the revealing of the “man of sin.”
The first half of Matt. 24 is like a checklist of the conditions before Antichrist’s appearance. We see all of those things happening right now.
Revelation 13 speaks of the “mark of the beast” in the hand or forehead that will be necessary to buy or sell. This sounds remarkably similar to the ID2020 digital identity biometric chip and/or the much talked about COVID vaccine passports.
The Bible compares the End Times to the “days of Noah,” filled with sexual perversions (Genesis 6), and the “days of Lot,” also filled with sexual perversions (Genesis 19). Take a look at drag queen story hour or watch a few clips of gay pride parades.
The stage is being set for the End Times. The Bible predicted these events all culminating at one time over 2,000 years ago, and it is happening RIGHT NOW almost exactly as prophesied.
This includes the preparations for the “third temple” (Revelation 11:1) that the Jewish Sanhedrin are preparing for at this very moment.
The End Times are here, friends. The Lord wants all of us to be saved (1 Timothy 2:3-4). If you are an unsaved sinner, you are destined for the horrific judgments of the book of Revelation and eternal death in hell and the Lake of Fire.
God does not want that for you, and neither do I. Please, repent and accept Christ as your savior as soon as you possibly can.
No one knows when these events will occur, but they will occur. Contact a trusted Bible believing friend today.
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