Gospel of Matthew Chapter 24 Vs. 15

 The Abomination of Desolation

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:)”

When ye therefore... When—this marks the starting point of the middle of Daniel’s 70th week when the Antichrist will break his 7-year covenant with Israel and enter Judea to take over Jerusalem as his capital and the Jewish temple as his capital building (Dan. 9:27; 11:40-45; 12:1, 12:7; 2Thes. 2:4; Rev. 11:1-2; 12:1-17; 13:1-18). All this prophecy from Mat. 24:15 on must be fulfilled the last 3 1/2 years of this age.

abomination of desolation... This refers to the Antichrist and his image in the Jewish temple at Jerusalem during the last 3 1/2 years of this age (Dan. 8:9-14; 9:27; 11:45; 12:1, 12:7, 12:11; Rev. 13:1-18; 14:9-11; 20:4-6). The abomination of desolation refers to (Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11); where Antiochus Epiphanes’ profanation of the Jewish temple worship would foreshadow a similar and more severe act by the eschatological Antichrist.

This phrase originally referred to the desecration of the temple by Antiochus Epiphanes, king of Syria in the second century B.C. He, Antiochus, invaded Jerusalem (in 168 B.C.), made the altar into a shrine to Zeus, and even sacrificed pigs on it. However, Jesus clearly was looking toward a yet-future abomination of desolation.

The abomination has to do with the evil one who is set up in the temple in the end days. (Daniel 11, verses 36 and 37), spoke of this abominable one.

Dan. 11:36-37 “And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that is determined shall be done.” “Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.”

The abomination, or the abominable one, truly will set himself up in place of God, in the same place where the temple of God sat. There is a Temple sitting there today that is a Moslem temple. Somehow, sometime, in the future, this temple will be destroyed, and the temple of the true God will be restored.

To say specifically what this exact abomination of desolation is would be presumptuous. It appears to be when the antichrist sets himself up as God at about the middle of the tribulation period, and requires all to bow to him instead of God. (In chapter 12 of Daniel), we read about when this will happen.

Abomination of desolation (βδέλυγμα τῆς ἐρημώσεως)

The cognate verb, βδελύσσομαι, means to feel a nausea or loathing for food: hence used of disgust generally. In a moral sense it denotes an object of moral or religious repugnance. See 2Ch. 15:8; Jer. 13:27; Eze. 11:21; Dan. 9:27; 11:31. It is used as equivalent to idol in 1Kgs. 11:17; Deut. 7:26; 2Kgs. 23:13. It denotes anything in which estrangement from God manifests itself; as the eating of unclean beasts, Lev. 11:11; Deut. 14:3; and, generally, all forms of heathenism. This moral sense must be emphasized in the New Testament use of the word. Compare Luke 16:15; Rev. 17:4, 17:5; 21:27. It does not denote mere physical or aesthetic disgust. The reference here is probably to the occupation of the temple precincts by the idolatrous Romans under Titus, with their standards and ensigns. Josephus says that, after the burning of the temple the Romans brought their ensigns and set them over against the eastern gate, and there they offered sacrifices to them, and declared Titus, with acclamation's, to be emperor.

Dan. 12:6-7 “And [one] said to the man clothed in linen, which [was] upon the waters of the river, How long [shall it be to] the end of these wonders?” “And I heard the man clothed in linen, which [was] upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that [it shall be] for a time, times, and a half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these [things] shall be finished.”

The one clothed in linen would be the High Priest of God. It is pretty obvious that this “time, times, and half” means three-and one-half years. My own personal belief is that I believe just before the wrath of God occurs, the Christians will be carried away into heaven to meet Jesus in the clouds (see Rev. 3:10).

Rev.3:10 “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.”

This verse presents a promise that Christ will rapture genuine believers out of the world before the Tribulation period begins. The hour of temptation is the period of worldwide testing (Greek peirasmos), which has not yet occurred (compare Dan. 12:1; Mat. 24:21, 29). Christ promises to keep them “from” (Greek ek, out of), the period of the Tribulation. That is, they will not even enter into this period of history. The Tribulation is for the purpose of trying or judging them that dwell upon the earth, those who are connected to the earth and its system.

Believers are not even included in this term (compare Phil. 3:18-20; 1Pet. 2:11; Rev. 6:10; 11:10; 13:8, 12, 14; 17:8).

Some suggest that this prophecy was fulfilled in A.D. 70 when Titus invaded Jerusalem and destroyed the temple. However, the Apostle Paul saw a still-future fulfillment (2Thes. 2:3-4), as did John (Rev. 13:14-15), when the Antichrist sets up an image in the temple during the future tribulation.

Christ’s words here therefore look beyond the events of A.D. 70 to a time of even greater global cataclysm that will immediately precede His coming (verses 29-31).

Whereas Antiochus offered a pig on the sacred altar of the temple, the Antichrist will present himself (2Thes. 2:4).

The action of desecration by Antiochus, which Daniel had predicted, will now be repeated in the future by the Antichrist as the signal of the beginning of the Great Tribulation and the braking of the covenant in the midst of the week (Dan. 9:27), that is, the Seventieth Week of Daniel’s prophecy, whose length is 42 months (Rev. 11:2), 1260 days (Rev. 12:6), or time, and times, and half a time (Dan. 7:25; Rev. 12:14).

(Mark 13:14-23; Luke 21:20-26) Having given a brief overview of the entire Tribulation period prior to His return, Jesus then spoke of the greatest observable sign within that period, the abomination that causes desolation. This abomination was spoken of by Daniel (Dan. 9:27). It referred to the disruption of the Jewish worship which will be re instituted in the Tribulation temple (Dan. 12:11) and the establishment of the worship of the world dictator, the Antichrist, in the temple. He will make the temple abominable (and therefore desolate) by setting up in the temple an image of himself to be worshiped (2Thes. 2:4; Rev. 13:14-15). Such an event will be clearly recognizable by everyone.