The Abomination of Desolation

Jesus answered the disciples’ sign question by presenting signs that would be “the beginning of the birth pains” for Israel (Matt 24:8 ESV). Now, He gives a sign nearer to the temple’s fall: “There will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matt 24:21).¹

I will make three general observations as we approach this sign. First, Jesus now reduces the field of action. The earlier signs would affect the disciples as they preached throughout the Roman Empire (Matt 24:14). This tribulation sign would focus on the land of Israel, especially Jerusalem. Jesus changes literary styles to strengthen this point. He moves from literal descriptions (Matt 24:9) to hyperbole—the coming “great tribulation” would be the greatest of all time (Matt 24:21)—and other figures of speech. 

Second, I must now change my method of showing the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecies. In previous posts, the New Testament Scriptures were my primary source for showing that Jesus’ signs took place before the temple fell. That will not be possible for the remaining signs because the New Testament does not describe the temple’s fall or the great tribulation that preceded it. This requires me to use uninspired sources to show fulfillment. Still, I will not be adrift in a sea of prophetic speculation; reliable historical sources—Josephus, chief among them—provide descriptions that meet our needs.

Third, Jesus now draws more heavily from the Old Testament prophets. They had described previous temple judgments and foretold the one about which Jesus is now speaking. They wrote about abominations, God’s vengeance, and Israel’s future. Naturally, the Lord would use their writings to discuss signs linked to the temple’s fall.

In this post, I will discuss one aspect of Jesus’ great tribulation sign: (1) the desolation it brought. Future posts will deal with (2) the descriptions it required and (3) the deliverance it afforded.

The Desolation of the Great Tribulation

Jesus’ great tribulation sign included a warning about the abomination of desolation. He said,

“When you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.” (Matt 24:15–20) 

Daniel had described three temple desolations. Which one did Jesus have in mind? In order of their historical fulfillment, the prophet mentioned a desolation by (1) the Babylonian armies (Dan 9:2, 17–18), (2) the “little horn” (Dan 8:9–27; 11:31), and (3) “the prince who is to come” (Dan 9:26–27; 12:11). 

The first desolation Daniel mentioned was the one Jeremiah had foretold around 600 BC. God would send the king of Babylon against Israel, “And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years” (Jer 25:11). The Babylonian armies fulfilled this prophecy by destroying the temple in 587 BC. 

Jeremiah had also said Israel would return to the land after these seventy years (Jer 25:12; 29:10). While living in Babylon, Daniel read Jeremiah’s prophecy and realized the seventy years were almost over (Dan 9:2–3). Therefore, Daniel prayed, “Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate” (Dan 9:17).

God granted his request. The Jews returned to their land, built the Second Temple, and reinstated the daily sacrifices, reversing the effects of Daniel’s first desolation.

Daniel’s second desolation was a future (to him) “transgression of desolation” (Dan 8:1, 13; 11:31) against the Second Temple. He predicted the Jews would again restore the temple: “Then the sanctuary shall be cleansed” (Dan 8:14). Antiochus Epiphanes fulfilled this prophecy by abominating the temple in the month of Tishri, 167 BC. Judas Maccabaeus became a Jewish hero when he rededicated the temple in 164 BC.² These events fulfilled Daniel’s “little horn” desolation prophecy.

When Jesus gave the Olivet Discourse, the disciples knew these two abominations and subsequent restorations had occurred. They celebrated the second one in the annual “Feast of Dedication” (John 10:22). Therefore, they knew Jesus’ reference to “the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet,” pertained to his third abomination. Daniel had mentioned it twice:

After the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate. (Dan 9:26–27)

And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. (Dan 12:11)

For over five centuries, Daniel’s prophecy of a third abomination remained unfulfilled; now, Jesus is saying it would happen just before the temple’s fall.

Two details of Daniel’s third desolation are essential for our prophetic model. First, this desolation was to follow the Messiah’s death. He would “be cut off, but not for himself,” then “the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary … and … [then] shall be one who makes desolate” (Dan 9:26–27). 

Jesus follows this sequence in the Olivet Discourse as He responds to the disciples’ sign question. As the Messiah, He would die in Jerusalem and rise again on the third day (e.g., Matt 16:21). After His resurrection, Daniel’s third abomination of desolation would appear, and the temple would fall, bringing the end “to sacrifice and offering.”

Second, Daniel did not promise restoration after this desolation as he had for the other two desolations. Instead, he emphasized the finality of this event: a prince would destroy Jerusalem and “bring an end to sacrifice and offering.… even until the consummation” (Dan 9:27). This desolation would occur at “the time of the end” (Dan 12:9).

Jesus again follows Daniel by linking abominating desolation to “the end of the [Mosaic] age” (Matt 24:3, 6, 13–14), not the end of history. God had designed the temple for that age. Once that age ended, the people of God would no longer need the physical temple. In the new messianic age—the period of Christ’s parousia (presence) with His people—they would worship in a spiritual temple (Matt 12:6; John 2:19–21; 2 Cor 6:16). Therefore, Jesus does not say the Mosaic age daily sacrifices would resume after this abomination of desolation.

The abomination of desolation that Jesus spoke of would change the disciples’ temple-centered world forever. Did they wonder how it would occur? Jesus hinted: “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near” (Luke 21:20). Some of these disciples saw Roman armies fulfill this prophecy before and during the great tribulation.

In his book The Wars of the Jews, Josephus describes how this invasion happened. After Jesus returned to heaven, Jewish resentment toward Roman occupation led to open rebellion. In response, Roman armies invaded Judea from the North and continued south through the land, using a “scorched earth” tactic, burning towns and countryside.³ They eventually surrounded Jerusalem and destroyed the temple. Luke’s account of the Olivet Discourse and Josephus’ historical record led Matthew Poole to adopt the view of those 

who understand the abomination of desolation to be meant of the Roman armies, which being made up of idolatrous soldiers, and having with them many abominable images are therefore called the abomination … because they were to make Jerusalem desolate.… When, saith our Lord, you shall see the abominable armies stand in the holy place, that is, upon the holy ground, (as all Judea was), whoso readeth those prophecies of the prophet Daniel, let him understand, that as through the righteous judgment of God he once suffered the holy place to be polluted by the abominable armies of Antiochus, which he foretold, so he will again suffer the holy place to be polluted by the abominable armies of the Romans, who shall make the holy place desolate, which was prophesied by the prophet Daniel as well as the former. Therefore, saith our Saviour, when you see the Roman armies pitch their tents before Jerusalem, be you then assured God will give Jerusalem into their hands, and then all that I have foretold shall come to pass.⁴

This invasion brought the abomination of desolation, the great tribulation, and the temple’s fall.

Conclusion

Jesus’ reference to Daniel’s abomination of desolation fits well in our inmillennial prophetic model.⁵ However, most modern commentators have divorced it from the temple’s fall in AD 70. They say it will occur at the end of history or the end of the church age and that the tribulation will be something like an atomic war that will engulf the entire world. 

This view raises a lot of questions. How can people escape a worldwide nuclear holocaust by heading to the hills before returning to their homes from their fields? Will the Mosaic-age restrictions on Sabbath-day travel be in effect then? 

Such questions are needless, for the abomination of which Jesus spoke was a first-century event linked to the temple’s fall. It would affect the generation who heard Jesus on the Mount of Olives, not one in our future.

1. This post resumes a series that began with The Great Commission and Biblical Prophecy: Introduction. My last post in this series is here.
2. The image in this post is The Death of Judas Maccabeus by José Teófilo de Jesus Oppenheimer  (1758–1847). It is in the public domain.
3. Flavius Josephus, The Works of Flavius Josephus, trans. William Whiston, 4 vols. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1974), 1:228 (B.J. 3.62–63), 1:236 (B.J. 3.132), 1:330 (B.J. 4.471), 1:336 (B.J. 4.489), 1:381 (B.J. 5.262). I thank Daniel Morais for most of these references, but without endorsing the site from which they are taken. [Daniel Morais, “The Destruction of Heaven and Earth and the New Heaven and Earth Explained!” https://revelationrevolution.org/the-destruction-of-heaven-and-earth-and-the-new-heaven-and-earth-explained/#_ednref11.]
4. Matthew Poole, A Commentary on the Holy Bible, 3 vols. (1685; repr., Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1962), 3:114.
5. Please consider becoming familiar with the inmillennial view of prophecy. You can read a summary version here or tackle the book-length version here.