Introduction.
The phrase “the abomination that causes desolation” (New International Version 1984), is found in four verses in the Bible, twice in the book of Daniel; 11:31; 12:11, once in Matthew; 24:15 and once in Mark; 13:14. Another expression that is almost identical must also be included, and that is “the transgression of desolation”, this is found only once, and that is in the book of Daniel; 8:13. We will return to these five scriptures in due course, but first we must see whether the words “abomination” and “rebellion” describe the same phenomenon. Both the abomination and the transgression cause, as we see, desolation. We must also look at this later.
Let us begin with the phrase the transgression of desolation, which we find in Daniel 8:13.
In Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, the word desolation is translated from the Hebrew shamem, (pronounced shaw-mame’) with the following words and expressions: to stun (or intransitively grow numb), i. e. devastate or (figuratively) stupefy (both usually in a passive sense):- make amazed, be astonied, (be an) astonish (-ment), (be, bring into, unto, lay, lie, make) desolate (-ion, places), be destitute, destroy (self), (lay, lie, make) waste, wonder.
The word transgression is translated from the Hebrew word pesha`, (peh’-shah) by the following words and expressions: a revolt (national, moral, or religious): – rebellion, sin, transgression, trespass.
In bibehub.com it says that the definition of shaem is to be desolate, to be terrified, to be astonished, to be crushed, and the meaning of the word is: to paralyze, destroy, digest. The definition of pesha’ is transgression, rebellion, insult, and the meaning is rebellion.
What can we conclude from these explanations? The transgression of desolation is a religious rebellion, that is, a rebellion and an insult to God that will paralyze or destroy true worship in such a way that God’s faithful remnant will be astonished and will wonder.
Let us now consider the expression “the abomination that causes desolation,” as found in Daniel 11:31; 12:11; Matthew 24:15; and Mark 13:14.
In Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, the word “desolation” (in the book of Daniel) is translated from the Hebrew shamem, (shaw-mame’); with the following words and expressions: to stun (or intransitively grow numb), i. e. devastate or (figuratively) stupefy (both usually in a passive sense), make amazed, be astonied, (be an) astonish (-ment), (be, bring into, unto, lay, lie, make) desolate (-ion, places), be destitute, destroy (self), (lay, lie, make) waste, wonder.
In Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, the word desolation (in Matthew/Mark) is translated from the Greek erêmôsis, (er-ay’-mo-sis) with the words lay waste, make destitute, barren, desolation, desecration that result from being cut off, isolated.
The word abomination is translated from the Hebrew word shiqquwts, (shik-koots’) with the following words and expressions: disgusting, i. e. filthy; especially idolatrous or (concretely) an idol, abominable filth (idol, -ation) detestable (thing). The Greek word for abomination is bdelugma, (bdel’-oog-mah) and is translated with a detestation, i. e. (specifically) idolatry: – abomination.
In biblehub.com it says that the definition of shiqquwts is: abomination, detestable thing, and the meaning of the word is: disgusting, filthy, idolatrous, an idol, and the definition of the word erêmôsis is to lay waste, make destitute, barren, destruction, desecration that results from being cut off, isolated.
What conclusions can we draw from these explanations? The abomination that causes desolation is an abomination to God, that is, an idolatry that is disgusting to God that will stun or destroy the true worship of God in such a way that God’s faithful remnant will be cut off from practicing pure worship as the Lord wants us to serve Him, and they will be amazed and will wonder.
At first glance, it may seem that both the abomination that causes desolation and the transgression of desolation are about the same thing, but they are not. Although we might say that they are about much of the same thing, there is a fundamental difference between the abomination that causes desolation and the transgression of desolation, both in what they represent and in relation to the time they are set up. All three verses in the book of Daniel belong together, and the verses in Matthew and Mark belong together (these two verses tell the same story).
In Daniel 11:31 and 12:11 we see that the daily [sacrifice] shall be taken away, and this is connected to a time prophecy in verse 12:11. In Daniel, the abomination of desolation will be set up when the daily sacrifice is taken away. In Matthew/Mark, the abomination of desolation will stand in the holy place, or where it should not be.
What can be confusing is that in Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14 Jesus refers to the prophet Daniel, and this is readily connected to Daniel 8:13-14, because this is the first occurrence of the abomination that causes desolation/the transgression of desolation. The prophecy in Matthew/Mark was primarily a prophecy answering the disciples’ questions about when Jerusalem and the temple would be destroyed and the signs of Jesus’ return. We will return to this prophecy shortly. (For the sake of simplicity, I will only use Matthew in connection with the New Testament abomination of desolation in the sequel.)
The prophecy in Daniel 8:13 is a prophecy that points to the end times and tells us that the sanctuary, that is, the heavenly temple, will be cleansed when prophetic time ended and we begin the end times in an extended sense. This has a clear connection with the prophecy in Daniel 11:31 and 12:11, which refers to the time when prophetic time ended and we began the end times in an extended sense.
We should now have a good basis to work on in trying to understand the meaning of the abomination that causes desolation.
All Bible verses are taken from the King James Version 1611/1769 unless otherwise indicated.
Matthew 24:15: The abomination that causes desolation.
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, (Matthew 24:15).
Many seem to believe that the abomination that causes desolation is something that is limited to the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD and explicitly links this to this event. There are several reasons why this is not entirely correct. It is true that it is about the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, but as we have already seen, there are also two other prophecies that point to the abomination that causes desolation, and these are found in the book of Daniel.
If we look at Matthew chapter 24, we find many signs that Jesus says must be fulfilled before He comes again. When we analyze Matthew chapter 24 in our time, many only include in the analysis that it is all about the end times, but what is so special about the Bible and its prophecies is that the prophecies can have double fulfillments, as they do in this context. If we look at Matthew 24 as a whole, we find both general signs and special signs, and the most amazing thing about this prophecy is that what we call general signs for God’s end-time church can also be called “special signs” for the early church in Jerusalem and Judea.
General signs are events that have occurred throughout history, while special end-time signs are signs that herald the transition to the end-time in an expanded sense and that ultimately lead us to the return of Jesus.
The general signs that apply the time from Jesus’ death to His return are, seduction of false prophets who stand forth and call themselves Christ … wars and rumours of war – nation against nation – kingdom against kingdom … famines … pestilences … earthquakes … afflictions … iniquity shall abound … and love shall wax cold …
The special signs that explicitly relates to the end time are,the sun shall be darkened … the moon shall not give her light … the stars shall fall from heaven … the gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world … the powers of the heaven shall be shaken.
Let’s first look at Matthew 24:15-20, because verse 15 is one of the verses we are looking at: So, when you see standing in the holy place the abomination that causes desolation, spoken of through the prophet Daniel – let the reader understand – then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath, (New International Version 1984).
For the early church in Jerusalem and Judea, this prophecy was fulfilled to the letter when the Roman soldiers who were besieging Jerusalem – those who were standing in the holy place – retreated in an inexplicable way. In Matthew 24:32, Jesus encourages his disciples to learn the parable of the fig tree, saying to them, “… … When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer [is] nigh”.
For the Christians, this was a special sign that had to be fulfilled before they could escape, and when the Roman soldiers withdrew, they clearly understood what Jesus had said: “let the reader understand: then let them who are in Judea flee to the mountains” (Matthew 24:15-16). The Christians then understood what they had read and heard from Jesus about the abomination that causes desolation, and in the confusion that ensued, the Christians fled from Jerusalem and all the other cities of Judea without any of the Christians being killed. This is a picture of what will happen to God’s people in the end times. When persecution and trials are at their greatest, God will deliver his people in a miraculous way.
Shortly thereafter, the Romans regained control and resumed the siege of Jerusalem, and the city was destroyed and the Temple laid in ruins in 70 AD. 65 years later, in 135 AD, after the Romans had crushed the Jewish revolt of Bar Kokhba, the Romans erected a temple to Jupiter Capitolinus on the site of the former Jewish temple, and Jews were banned from the city of Jerusalem on pain of death.
Matthew 24:15 was fulfilled in every detail in 70 AD.
However, despite the fact that Jesus speaks of a future event in Matthew 24:15, many still say that this is an event that happened almost 200 years before Jesus made this prophecy. They attribute to Antiochus IV Epiphanes this dubious honor of having set up the abomination that causes desolation when he ravaged the Jewish people in the years around 170 to 165 BC and sacrificed a pig in the temple. This claim, however, is based on the preterist interpretation. However, this interpretation model places almost all the prophecies in the Book of Revelation and the Book of Daniel in the past without any connection to the present.
It was Louis d’Alcazar, a Catholic theologian and Jesuit (1554 – 1613), who was the man behind the preterist interpretation model. He launched the preterist model in the work Vestigatio arcani sensus in Apocalypsis (Investigation of the Secret of Revelation) which was published in 1614, the year after his death. According to this interpretation, the Antichrist cannot originate from the Christian church, but Louis d’Alcazar says that it is political Rome that is the Antichrist, and links this to the persecutions of Christians primarily under Emperor Nero, (Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus) who reigned from October 13, 54 until June 9 (or 11), 68 AD, and the persecutions under Emperor Domitian, (Titus Flavius Domitianus) who reigned from September 14, 81 to September 18, 96 AD. Many liberal Protestant theologians today advocate this interpretative doctrine.
It is from this unbiblical teaching that the theory of Antiochus IV Epiphanes also stems, and as we understand, this interpretation is full of unbiblical teachings and was one of three interpretative models the Catholic Church created to stem the influence that Martin Luther and the Reformation had in the 16th century.
The other two interpretative models are the futuristic interpretation of the Catholic theologian and Jesuit Francisco Ribera, (1537 – 1591), and the dispensational interpretation of the Catholic Cardinal and Jesuit Robert Bellarmine, (1542 – 1621).
But now we must try to find out why the abomination and the transgression are destructive.
Why is the abomination and the transgression destructive? The abomination; Matthew 24:15.
In Matthew 24:15 it speaks of an abomination that causes desolation, and it should be relatively easy to find the answer to this big question. What is the abomination in Matthew 24:15 destroying?
With the answer in hand, we can look back in time and see what happened in Jerusalem and Judah. The Romans laid siege to Jerusalem because the Jews had staged a small rebellion, and a rebellion, according to the emperor, had to be punished. The siege of Jerusalem lasted four years and ended with both the city and the temple being razed to the ground. But this in itself is not the abomination that we are looking at here, because among the Jews an idol or other pagan symbol was often called an “abomination” or something offensive from a religious point of view. The event foretold in Matthew 24:15 is obviously the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in the year 70 A.D. What the Romans did after the destruction of the city and the temple was to place their standards on the site where the temple had stood. This was most certainly an abomination to the Jews who had survived. A standard is a flag and insignia of a military unit and was a symbol of pagan Rome. As it was the standard and symbol of the enemy, we understand that this was considered an abomination.
Daniel 8:13: The daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation.
Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain [saint] which spake, How long [shall be] the vision [concerning] the daily [sacrifice], and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? (Daniel 8:13).
In the book of Daniel, we find several prophecies that deal with world history from the time of Daniel to the return of Jesus. Here in chapter 8, we find such a prophecy, and it is in conjunction with both the daily sacrifice and the transgression of desolation.
It is not always easy to see the meaning of such prophecies, even in the translations I prefer. Then it is good that there are many different translations that can help to give a larger and perhaps clearer picture of the text. In the New Living Translation, we find this text: Then I heard two holy ones talking to each other. One of them asked, how long will the events of this vision last? How long will the rebellion that causes desecration stop the daily sacrifices? How long will the Temple and heaven’s army be trampled on?
As the observant reader will notice, the New Living Translation (NLT) uses the rebellion that causes desecration stop the daily sacrifices, where the KJV uses the daily [sacrifice], and the transgression of desolation. It is not just nuance, but the NLT calls what is happening a rebellion, and that is what it really is. It is a rebellion against God, where what God rightfully should have from humans is elegantly set aside by the power behind the destructive transgression.
In addition to referring to this rebellion, we have a question in Daniel 8:13 about how long it will take from one event to the next. And questions, as we know, require answers. Sometimes we have to search for the answer, but here we find it in the next verse. The answer is: And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed, (Daniel 8:14).
Now we must begin to explain certain words and expressions, and we begin with the sanctuary and where it is located, the host that are given over to be trodden under foot, the expression two thousand three hundred days, and what cleansed means in this context.
The Sanctuary.
200 years ago, the earth was considered the sanctuary to be cleansed by fire at the return of Jesus. This was a common belief among Christians at that time, but this turned out to be wrong and it was eventually discovered that the sanctuary was not this planet, but the heavenly temple.
When the Advent movement, after the great disappointment of 1844, began to pray for answers about where they had gone wrong, they received a revelation. Then they began to scrutinize the Bible with even greater zeal and soon and they found Hebrews chapter 8 and verses 1 and 2. There it says the following: Now of the things which we have spoken [this is] the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
Here it is explained quite clearly; The High Priest, who is Jesus, sat down next to the throne of the Majesty, which is the throne of God the Father, in heaven. And then we have a Priest, who is Jesus, in the true tabernacle that the Lord has pitched, which is the temple that God himself has pitched in heaven. The sanctuary in Daniel 8:13, which Daniel 8:14 says will be cleansed after a specified time, is therefore the heavenly temple.
The host.
We understand from this that the host must have some connection to the heavenly temple and that the host must have something to do with the heavenly temple, since both are to be trampled down at the same time. The question that arises here is who God has been working for throughout history, and who were the ones who built the tabernacle and later the temple? It was God’s special people.
Trodden under foot.
Since this applies to both the sanctuary, which is a building, and the host, which is people, it cannot mean literally that something is trodden under foot, such as into the ground. It is all about taking away from God’s faithful people the opportunity to worship God as He wants them to. This is evident in the meaning and use of the Hebrew word mirmac (meer-mawce). Mirmac conveys the concept of to trod or to oppress, as often used to describe the act of treating something or someone with disgust or contempt and is used in everyday contexts in the context of treating someone or something with contempt, and to describe situations in which something or someone is oppressed or humiliated.
Two thousand three hundred days.
This expression describes a prophetic time. We cannot therefore understand this time period literally, and we must therefore take the Bible to help us and see if we can find something that can help us with this. In Numbers 14:34 it says: After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, [even] forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, [even] forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise. And in Ezekiel 4:6 we find this: And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year. This is a biblical principle that we call the year/day principle. The two thousand three hundred days span a time frame of 2300 literal years.
Cleansed.
There are many different translations of the Hebrew word tsadaq, which in the King James Version 1611/1769 is translated as cleansed. In several other editions it is translated as in the New International Version 1984 with «reconsecrated». Other translations in other languages use restored (Spanish restaurado), be consecrated again (German wieder geweiht werden). The point of the sanctuary being justified is that it is to be cleansed of all sin that has polluted the heavenly temple.
Why is the abomination and the transgression destructive? The transgression Daniel 8:13.
Here, in Daniel 8:13, we are talking about a destructive transgression, and it should be relatively easy to find the answer to this question as well. What is then that the transgression in Daniel 8:13 destroys?
Through its works and theology, we see that the Catholic Church despises everything that is holy to God and tries to destroy it. The Catholic Church is trampling on, and has always trampled on, God’s Sabbath. The Catholic Church has introduced almost countless doctrines for which we find no support in the Bible and has thus deceived honest seekers with its imaginary dogmas. It has persecuted God’s faithful remnant and killed millions of Christians who wanted the Bible in readable language and those who would not submit to the Catholic Church’s many unbiblical and unchristian inventions. These are just a few of the methods the Catholic Church uses to prevent ordinary people from seeking God where God is. And where is God? Well, according to the Book of Hebrews, God is in the Most Holy Place in the heavenly temple: He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption, [New International Version 1984; (Hebrews 9:12)].
Daniel 11:31; 12:11-12; The daily sacrifice and the abomination that causes desolation.
Daniel 11:31.
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, (New International Version 1984).
There is a significant difference between the text in Daniel 8:13 and the text in Daniel 11:31 and 12:11. In Daniel 8, the transgression of desolation is discussed, while in Daniel 11:31 and 12:11, the abomination that causes desolation is discussed, which is also mentioned in Matthew 24:15. It may not seem like the same thing, but upon closer inspection we see what it is all about.
In Daniel 8, both the heavenly temple and the host are trampled down by the power that sets up the transgression of desolating. In other words, it is a transgression of God’s word that has a destructive effect on God’s faithful remnant and that defiles the heavenly temple.
In Matthew 24:15 we see that the abomination of desolation stands in the holy place, and then the abomination of desolation does something to the sanctuary, and what the abomination of desolation does is it defiles what is holy with something that is profane. It was as we saw that Roman soldiers placed their standards where God’s temple had stood before it was destroyed.
In Daniel 11:31, it is the fortress of the sanctuary that is under attack. The time of this attack is so far back in time that it was just before the papacy was established as we know it today. Yet, this desolation of the sanctuary is taking place to this day.
In comparison, the Hebrew word chalal is translated profane, in Daniel 11:31, and is used in Exodus 20:25 to desecrate an altar by using tools to cut the altar stones, and in Exodus 31:14 it is used to desecrate the Sabbath. In the case of the fortress of the sanctuary, this literally means the holy place or place of refuge. These words are in apposition meaning that they provide some kind of additional information that shows us where the abomination of desolation is set up and from where the daily sacrifice is removed.
The earthly sanctuary in Jerusalem was surrounded by fortifications, hence the strength (fortress) of the sanctuary. It was there that God’s people could seek refuge in Old Testament times. The heavenly sanctuary, where Christ intercedes for sinners, is presented as the place of refuge, and is the place where we can seek refuge in our day. Accordingly, Daniel 11:31 has been understood as describing the action of the great apostate power in Christian history who replaced the true sacrifice of Christ and his service as high priest in the heavenly sanctuary with a false sacrifice and a false service.