The ‘Abomination that Caused Desolation’

What was the ‘Abomination that caused Desolation’ during Jesus’ visitation in Matthew 24:15-16 and the overspreading of abominations that he shall make desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate in Dan_9:27

1^st I will cover Abomination

2^nd desolate

3^rd consummation

4^th that determined

1^st ABOMINATION

If a group of Christians sat down to list perplexing passages, it wouldn’t take long for someone to mention : “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.”

The reasons for uncertainty are easy to list. What is an abomination? How many things does God consider to be an abomination? Which abomination does Jesus have in mind? One that belongs to his generation, one from the last days of his Generation or one from the last days of our Generation? What is the connection between the prophecies of Daniel and Jesus? Who is “the reader,” and what should he or she understand? In what sense should readers “flee to the mountains”? Should they obey literally or metaphorically?

As always, the first step is to read the text in literary, cultural, historical, and canonical contexts. Then we analyze the structure of the passage and do the necessary lexical and grammatical work. We begin with the key phrase, “abomination of desolation.” 

The term “abomination” (Hebrew toevah andsiqqus) appears more than 100 times in the Old Testament and just a few times in the New Testament. An abomination is normally a great sin, commonly worthy of death or destruction. Readers immersed in current debates about sexual ethics may first think an abomination is a sexual sin. Indeed, Scripture calls sexual sins like adultery, homosexuality, and bestiality abominations (e.g., Leviticus 18:22, 29-30). But more often throughout the Bible “abomination” refers to major covenant violations, especially idolatry (in Deuteronomy alone, see 7:25, 13:6-16, 17:2-5, 18:9-12, 27:15, 32:16). In the historical books, “abomination” always describes idolatry, often with child sacrifice (1 Kings 11:7, 2 Kings 23:13). Abomination also refers to idolatry in the prophets, including Daniel 9 and 11. (Daniel uses siqqus, a term that always appears in connection with idolatry.)

We can identify the type of abomination Jesus was referring to by what was happening at the time between the corrupt high priest and his followers in the temple and and the high priest Jesus that came to cleanse them.

This group of people that were in high power positions of the temple, were the High priest, the priests under him called the chief priests, the Sadducees, and the Pharisees, which were the majority of the people that Jesus was rebuking during His three or so years of ministry.

These people were supposed to be going by the laws of keeping the temple and the people around it holy and promote righteousness but Jesus was constantly pointing in Matthew 23 their abominations.

The temple was Holy and they were not representing it as such, they had even fell low enough to call righteousness evil and evil righteous. Which we know is an abomination to God as well.

Pro_17:15 Who so ever is justifying the wicked, And condemning the righteous, Even both of these are an abomination to God the highest.

Pro_29:27 An abomination to the righteous is the perverse man, And an abomination to the wicked is the upright in the way!

Pro_17:15 He that justifies the wicked, and he that condemns the just, they both are abomination to the LORD.

The Pharisees and and their followers the Jews from the temple were doing Just what the verses above said was abomination. Saying the most righteous man ever was of the devil.

Joh 8:52 Then said the Jews unto him (Jesus), Now we know that you have a devil.

Mat_12:24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow (Jesus) does not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.

Jesus speaking to this whole GENERATION of Jews said Mat_12:34 O generation of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

Luk_16:15 And he said unto them, You are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knows your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

Like wise when Jesus the messiah came for his visitation to inspect the temple in his time he found it had been made unclean and the temple had been made into a place for thieves to reside in a wing of the temple that was reserved for only worshiping God by setting up tables of what they idolized, MONEY, in the holy place of the temple. Mar_11:17 And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house (temple) shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves. To put the importance of money in the temple over the importance of worshiping God in it are more abominations of the high priests of the temple by changing Gods law to allow the worship of idols(money) in the Holy Place.

Luk 16:13 “You cannot serve two masters at the same time. You will hate one master and love the other. Or you will be loyal to one and not care about the other. You cannot serve God and Money at the same time.”

Luk 16:14 The Pharisees were listening to all these things. They criticized Jesus because they all loved money.

Luk 16:15 Jesus said to them, “You make yourselves look good in front of people. But God knows what is really in your hearts. What people think is important is worth nothing to God.

The murdering of Jesus the very Son of God Himself was the mother of all abominations and it wasn’t done by a secular group outside the temple this time, but by the very people (called His wife by God) that were chosen by God to keep it clean of sin.

If you look hard you will find that this GERNERATION of people of the temple of God had committed almost every example of abomination in the bible. As a matter of fact Dan 9:27 says for a OVERSPREADING OF ABOMINATIONS (plural) he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation (conclusion of things), and that determined (destruction) shall be poured upon the desolate. (the people void of holy spirit).

It was not Just ONE abomination that was to cause the complete destruction of the temple and its surrounding towns of over one million Jews to be killed along with the temple being burnt down and not one stone of the temple being left upon another.

When Jesus chased the den of thieves out of the temple He was cleansing it. But He knew the spirit of evil would return, Jesus tells us how the wicked spirits think after being chase out in Mat 12:44 I (the wicked spirits) will return into my house from where I came out; and when he get there, he finds it empty, swept, and garnished. Mat 12:45 Then goes he, and takes with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

Jesus knew this Generation was not going to accept cleansing of its evil and the next step was to take the holy spirit out and leave that Generation and its temple desolate of of God and His mercy.

The interpretation of Daniel 9 thru 11 is difficult and disputed, but it does have some fixed points, and the nature of the abomination that causes desolation is one of them. But we know that first there is some entity standing in the place of God, (the temple) and they are a abomination, something that defiles the temple and the people in it and makes it spiritually unclean, a HOLY SPIRIT can not reside in a unclean place (unholy place) the result is that place being left DESOLATE OF HOLY SPIRIT and if the cleansing does not happen then destruction is next.

2nd DESOLATION

Jews were no longer a protected people by God, Jesus said Mat_23:38 Behold, your house (temple) is left unto you desolate. If the temple was still standing and everything around looked the same then what just became desolate? Desolate verbˈdesəˌlāt 1.make (a place) bleakly and depressingly empty or bare. All physical things looked the same in Jerusalem after Jesus said your temple IS left desolate. The temple (physical building) was not destroyed at the point he said it is desolate. Also be aware that their bodies were also part of the temple that housed the holy spirit. 1Co_6:19 What? know you don’t know that your body is the temple of the Holy spirit which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own?

It was the temple and the people in it that the holy spirit was taken from and without it they can not understand the word of Jesus who is sent by God.

Here are just some of the examples of verses that refer to being spiritually desolate.

• This verse shows the High priests, chief priests, scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees and their followers were like Kings and counselors of the earth that had only built themselves a spiritually desolate places with in themselves.

Job_3:14 With kings and counselors of the earth, which built desolate places for themselves;

• Here is someone saying I am desolate.

Psa_25:16 Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted.

• Here is Daniel referring to the sanctuary as God’s people and God’s people being desolate because the physical temple had not been rebuilt yet.

Dan 9:16 O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. Dan_9:17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake.

• Jesus confirms a New testament causing the old testament of sacrifices and the oblations to cease he took the holy spirit out of the Old Testament Nation leaving it desolate and gave it to the New Testament people which is anyone on earth believing in Jesus. All Because of the Old Testament people’s abominations.

Dan_9:27 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.

• Residing in the spirit of God is where man should have his habitation. Because your body is the temple. The spirit must be in you for you to be in habitation with God or you are desolate of God.

Psa_71:3 Be you my strong habitation, where unto I may continually resort: you have given commandment to save me; for you are my rock and my fortress.

Psa_91:9 Because I have made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, my habitation;

• The fitting together of all peoples that have the spirit in them form the holy temple of God spiritually.

Eph 2:21 In whom all the building fits framed together and grows unto an holy temple in the Lord:

Eph 2:22 In whom you also are built together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

• Jesus refers to his disciples as His household spiritually. And that is why He refers to the Jews’ household as being desolate because they refuse to believe in Jesus as master having the holy spirit in him. They are not part of the real spiritual Holy Temple and have to be left desolate without the master and the holy spirit.

Mat 10:25 It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?

3^rd CONSUMMATION.

con·sum·ma·tion noun

The point at which something is complete or finalized.

What was the something that needed to be complete?

Of course the unbelieving Jews don’t understand what Jesus is saying to them, because He mostly speaks in parables and only explains parables to His believers. Mat_13:13 Therefore I speak to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

Having surveyed the original meaning of “abominations that cause desolation” in Daniel, we now turn to Matthew 24:15-16, first looking at the larger structure of Matthew 24. These verses come in the context of the Olivet Discourse, which begins with Jesus telling His disciples that the temple will be destroyed (24:1-2).

The disciples then asked Jesus to explain: “When will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” (24:3). They understand that the destruction of the temple would be the end of an age. It would be the end of the Old Testament age ! Which is the point at which consummation is complete or finalized !

Once the Old Testament age is finished the new age or New Testament is in effect.

Jesus gave them many clues, one of them being Mat 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

Act 1:6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

Act 1:7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

Act 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

So there it is, the something that has to be finished or complete. the Consummation was the fulfilling all these things mentioned in Mat 24, all had to complete or finalize in the last generation over a 40 year period before the last and final Judgment was determined. That is when the kingdom of heaven would be fully restored. So they knew it would happen before the generation that they lived in at their present time was ended. But then Jesus said Mat 24:36 But of that day and hour no man knows, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But we now know when that day was that no stone would be left upon another because the temple was destroyed in 70 AD. God gave them one generation to repent (realize their mistake ) and turn to his son for forgiveness. Then, in 24:36, Jesus starts to speak exclusively about “that day”—that is, the last day for those who didn’t enter into the spiritual kingdom of God before the door was shut and Jesus would say I don’t know you. When the almighty God came with Judgment on Israel and Jesus did not know you, you would be Crying and gnashing your teeth.

4^th THAT DETERMINED

de·ter·mined adjective

having made a firm decision and being resolved not to change it.

We know now today what Gods firm decision was from history, He let come one (A prince of Rome) to destroy the Physical desolate Temple alone with spiritually desolate unbelieving Jews in Jerusalem and the area surrounding it in Judea. All because they stood in the physical temple as well as the temple of their body in Jerusalem acting as if they knew better than God himself changing the laws that prohibit idol worship (putting money over God) in the holy place of the temple and changing the times of the Messiahs return and saying the time was not at hand for Jesus to be the Messiah. By condemning and sentencing to death the most innocent man ever to walk the earth (Jesus), Gods most favored son ever.

The man teaching righteousness which proved he was of Abraham and cleansed his fathers house from the unclean money loving idol worshiping thief’s. All these abominations lead to the end of the unbelieving Jews and their laws, sacrifices and all the traditions that went along with the Old Testament Covenant. But the Jews were acting as if they were with God without Jesus but Jesus said if you don’t have me you don’t have the father so the Jews were acting on their own behalf, It is shown in Mar 11:18 And the scribes and chief priests heard it, (that he chased out the money changers) and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine. It should be obvious that if they are seeking to kill the almighty God’s Son, that they certainty did not have the Almighty creator God as their God at this point. Jesus knew they planned on killing him in Joh_8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. Jesus also pointed out that they were justifying themselves through men’s wisdom not God’s.

The disciples probably thought they were asking one question. They were aware that the abomination was taking place in the temple and that the Jewish leader ship was now desolate of Holy Spirit because they could not understand what Jesus was saying. The fall of Jerusalem or it’s destruction, Jesus’ return, and the end of the age were one complex event in their minds. It may seem to us that they asked three questions:

1. When will the temple fall?

2. What is the sign of Jesus’ return?

3. What is the sign of the close of this age?

But a close reading shows that Jesus heard and answered two questions. Evangelical scholars will disagree about how much of this passage is devoted to each question, but they generally agree that 24:3-35 mostly refers to events leading up to the fall or destruction of the desolate Temple and Jerusalem in AD 70. The segment ends with Jesus promising “this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place” (24:35). A generation normally lasts 40 years in Scripture, Jesus was about 30 years old and Jerusalem and its temple did fall within 40 years, as Jesus said. So his core prediction was fulfilled by AD 70. (Space forbids that I address double and partial fulfillments of elements of 24:3-35. Then, in 24:36, Jesus starts to speak exclusively about “that day”—that is, the last day for the old testament people to have completely transferred into the New Testament of Jesus, with Jesus being the only way to be a part of the Heavenly Spiritual Temple from there on, forever, which can not be defiled or destroyed.  Joh_2:19  Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Joh_2:21  But he spake of the temple of his body. This was the last spiritual temple to ever be built and it was built in troubles times indeed.

In 24:4-14, Jesus is preparing his disciples for events—most of them extremely difficult—that will take place in their lifetime. These troubles are signs of the end of the Old Testament and the time of their visitation by the Messiah that were prophecies long ago in the scriptures that the chief priest of the Temple should have been aware of. This time would also be the start of the New Testament; the disciples must be ready to “stand firm” through these events. They thought Jesus was there to take over ruler-ship of the world in a physical state so they were not expecting him to die. (24:4-8, 13). Then Jesus says, “When you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation . . . ‘—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

If the abomination was the high priests of the temple changing God’s law to allow the worship of idols (money) in the Holy Place and then hauling Jesus off to murder him, then we need to understand who really is Judea and what is meant by mountains. Psa 36:6 Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; your judgments are a great deep: O LORD, you preserve man and beast. Isa_2:2 In the last days the mountain of the LORD’S Temple will be the highest of all mountains. It will be raised higher than the hills. There will be a steady stream of people from all nations going there. Here are good examples of mountains being thought of in a spiritual sense as righteousness and the mountain of God’s temple which Jesus said he was because Joh_2:19  Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Joh_2:21  But he spake of the temple of his body. 

Jesus became the highest of all mountains to all his followers through those troubled times of the last days of the Old testament age, as well as us believers from all nations that go to him to worship God the father in these last days of the New Testament. The mountains to run to are The Father and the Son to escape destruction. Do not run to the Great Deep of judgments where the unbelieving Jews of the impostor Israel in the middle east are today.

The apostles were going to see their messiah be beat beyond recognition and die hanging on a cross. The apostles ran for their lives but Peter tarried and ended up denying Jesus 3 times out of fear for his life before he ran  for safety.  The reason it said, let the reader understand, was because the highest Jewish priests of the temple in Jerusalem were plotting not only to Kill God’s Son, but the chief priest also wanted dead the apostles. This was because they were spreading truth of what Jesus was teaching about, the New temple of the body of Christ which they were collectively in now and considered the New spiritual Jerusalem or the real Judea. The apostles ran not to physical mountains but into houses and locked the doors and spiritually ran to the mountains by praying to the Father and the Son.

All these prophecies make sense only with reference to the period between 30AD and 70AD. It cannot possibly apply to Jesus’ second coming. When he comes it will be pointless for an unbeliever to try to flee. And a believer will not want to flee. For the same reason, the following command not to go back to get a cloak and the woe for nursing mothers who must flee, cannot refer to Jesus’ return.

Behold Joh_2:19  Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Joh_2:21  But he spake of the temple of his body.  Jesus did raise up. The New Temple has now been built in times of trouble and has been available for us to worship God in the Spiritual Temple of Jesus since Jesus rose from the dead and went up to heaven to sit on his Throne at the right hand of the Almighty Creator God right after he rose from the dead. He has been and forever will be the high priest of the spiritual temple that comes down from heaven through the holy spirit that he sends to help you if you put your faith in this. Don’t wait for the Jews to build a temple to replace Jesus with another messiah.

A new temple built by non believing Jews can not cause a abomination because it is not going to be a holy place that God will ever reside in again, they still hate God’s Son, it is only the spiritual temple of Jesus that has been made holy and kept cleansed by Jesus forever that keeps it from ever becoming defiled again. When you walk into this temple of Jesus he cleanses you. But faith in him is the only way in to Jesus’ temple. Pretend that you are a christian all you want, he knows your heart. There are many Christians today that are deceiving people by saying a new temple has to be built in the middle east, by a group calling themselves Israel (that DO NOT believe in Jesus) before he can come back.

Jesus himself called the highest Jews of Israel that did not believe in him the children of the devil. Don’ t be deceived. Jesus is the temple and the impostor of Israel is back at it again deceiving the whole world. The saints are not the unbelieving Jews, the saints are all in many nations that believe in Jesus and most churches have been deceived and have surrounded believers with the false beliefs that this impostor (calling itself Israel) is of God. They will tell you, you should give honor to it. It Just so happens that from the birth Jesus to the destruction of the deceiving Israel in 70AD was 70 years. The time between this deceiving Israels birth of 1948 and 2018 will be 70 years, will we see a repeat of 70AD?

Rev 20:7 And when the thousand (long period) years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

That time is up, Israel has been let out again and the following is about to happen, keep watching.

Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

Rev 20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.