"Abomination of Desolation"

.. spoken of by Daniel the prophet" (Matthew 24:15).

Encyclopedia definition:

'Abomination of Desolation' is a phrase from the Book of Daniel describing the pagan sacrifices with which the 2nd century BC Greek king Antiochus IV Epiphanes replaced the twice-daily offering in the Jewish temple, or alternatively the altar on which such offerings were made."

Not destroyed

Destroyed

The text of: Daniel 8:11; and Daniel 11:31; and Daniel 12:11-12  links all three of those passages to:-  (a) Daily sacrifices for sin being removed (which is what occurred in the 2nd temple in the days of Antiochus IV); and  (b) An abomination of desolation being placed in the temple (which is what occurred in the 2nd temple in the days of Antiochus IV); and  (c) 1,290 days and 1,335 days. (d) The temple being cleansed (after Antiochus IV Epiphanies was ousted). (e) The daily sacrifices being resumed.

The text of: Daniel 9:26-27  associates the destruction of the city (Jerusalem) and the sanctuary (the temple) with abominations: Daniel 9:26-27 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. 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. Jesus (Location: On the Temple Mount): Matthew 23:37 - 24:2 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

The text of Daniel 12:11-12 links the 1,290 and 1.335 days that the verses are talking about, to both:

(a) daily sacrifices for sin being removed in the temple of God; and 

(b) an abomination of desolation being placed in the temple. 

THE TESTIMONY OF HISTORICAL JEWISH ACCOUNTS

Josephus dates the 2,300 days - which is mentioned in Daniel 8:13-14 - from the time of the apostasy procured through Menelaus, the high priest - from the 142nd year of the Seleucid Empire, the 6th month of that year, and the 6th day of the month.

He dates the abomination of desolation being set up in the 2nd temple on the 25th day of Kislev (the 9th month of the biblical calendar) 145 SE (the 145th year of the Seleucid Empire). 

This matches the account in 1 Maccabees 1:54, which also places the abomination on 25 Kislev, 145 SE.

According to 1 Maccabees 4:52, the cleansing of the 2nd temple took place in the 148th year, the 9th month, and the 25th day of the month.

In Daniel 12:11-12 the 1,290 days period is dated from the taking away of the daily sacrifice by Antiochus IV and the setting up of the image upon the altar (the abomination of desolation). Using the Greek calendar, 1,335 days counted from the same date possibly brings us to the date of the death of Antiochus IV Epiphanes. 

• All of this took place over 200 years before the destruction of Jerusalem and the 2nd temple in 70 A.D.

Therefore any Bible interpreter who applies the abomination of desolation to the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in A.D 70 needs to explain: 

(i) why the abomination of desolation set up in the 2nd temple by Antiochus IV, "Epiphanes" in 167 BC, which was mentioned by Daniel in Daniel 8:11; Daniel 11:31 and Daniel 12:11-12, should be associated with the destruction of both the city of Jerusalem, and the temple; and

Any Bible interpreter who applies the 1,290 days and 1,335 days to the latter days preceding the return of Christ (2,100+ years after the historical abomination of desolation in the temple), needs to explain:

(a) what constitutes those daily sacrifices in the gospel age which the 1,290 and 1,335 days are associated with; and

(b) what constitutes the temporary removal of the daily sacrifice in the years immediately preceding the return of Jesus 

- without engaging in guess-work and speculation and theological inventions.

1 Corinthians 3:17

"If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." 

The New Testament Tabernacle of God cannot be destroyed, but like the 2nd temple which was defiled by Antiochus IV, it can be defiled:

"And then shall that lawless one be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming" (2 Thessalonians 2:8).

TYPE Antiochus IV,  'Epiphanes'	TYPE AND ANTI-TYPE   ← (4th beast) →	ANTI-TYPE Man of sin / son of perdition / lawless one
Daniel 8:11 Daniel 11:31 Daniel 12:11	← (4th beast) →  ↓	Matthew 24:15 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 Revelation 13:2  Revelation 17:8, 11 Revelation 13:11-18
Daniel 11:36-37	↔  Daniel 7:25  ↔  ← (4th beast) →	Revelation 13:5-7
Daniel 12:7	← (4th beast) →	Revelation 10:5-7

The abomination of desolation that was set up in the 2nd temple by Antiochus IV in 167 B.C could plausibly be a TYPE of what is to come at the end of the age, because biblical scripture is saturated with types and anti-types, for example:- 

• Lawlessness and apostasy on the part of the Jews who sacrificed to idols and followed the religion of the ancient Greeks in the days of Antiochus IV, Epiphanes ↔ Lawlessness and apostasy on the part of the saints mentioned as taking place at the end of the age - both by Jesus in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24:9-14); and by Paul in 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2.

• An abomination of desolation being placed by Antiochus IV in the 2nd temple in Jerusalem ↔ The man of sin of 2 Thessalonians 2:4 setting himself up in the sanctuary of God (an idol in the Temple of God).

• Jerusalem was trodden underfoot by a Gentile - Antiochus IV Epiphanes - in the 2nd century B.C ↔ The holy city being tread under foot by Gentiles forty and two months. (Revelation 11:2).

• The King of Babylon's image that all people, nations, tribes and tongues had to bow down and worship or be thrown into a burning, fiery furnace (Daniel Chapter 3) ↔ The image of the beast of Revelation (Revelation Chapter 13).

• The faithful remnant refusing to worship the image, and Nebuchadnezzar ordering the heat of the furnace to be increased seven-fold, which represents completion (to its fullest extent, Daniel Chapter 3) ↔ Jesus told us about a great tribulation that will be greater than anything that came before it (Matthew 24:9, 21-22 & 31-33) that will be shortened for the elect's sake.

• The king of Babylon told the faithful remnant which had been cast into the burning, fiery furnace to "come forth, and come hither", and they came out from the midst of the fire (Daniel Chapter 3) ↔ The two witnesses, after having been killed by the beast "heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither" (Revelation 11:12) - and John saw multitudes from all nations, tribes and tongues in heaven, having come out from great tribulation (Revelation 7:9-17).

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