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Matthew 24 – The Abomination Resulting in Desolations
“And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, ‘O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 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.’ ” Daniel 9:22-7.
“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:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.” Matthew 24:15-18.
I said in an earlier post that we’d come back to this passage. Notice the post’s title is based on Daniel’s wording not Christ’s, although they are both clearly referring to the same event. Notice that in the same Daniel passage we have timing verses, timing about the Messiah and the destruction of Jerusalem. Interesting that Daniel should put them together.
The word “abomination” is used to describe idols (Deut. 7:25; 12:31; 13:14; 29:17), unclean foods prohibited by the Lord to the Israelites (Lev. 11), perverse sexual practices (Lev. 18:22; 20:13; Deut. 22:5; I Ki. 11:5), perversion of marriage (Deut. 24:4), fraudulent business practices (Prov. 11:1), injustice in the legal system (Prov. 17:15), lawlessness (Prov. 28:9), and honoring the things of man above the things of God (Lu. 16:15).
Jesus Christ and Daniel are clearly talking about the same event, but Daniel’s use of the words indicates that the desolation is a consequence of the abominations. They are not merged into one title as to what’s happening during the event, as if the abomination equates to desolation. There’s probably some overlap, but someone is participating in abominations, and those abominations result in desolation. It’s not solely about some individual political figure who is desolate and an abomination, even if there did exist such a figure at that time. In other words, neither Jesus nor Daniel is applying this appellation solely to a human political figure in the past or the future who is abominable.
More likely, the two prophets are speaking about a time when abominations multiply in all aspects of the time to which they are referring, and that abominable behavior by multitudes of people results in a desolating judgment. Where does judgment begin? In the house of God. See I Peter 4:17. And throughout the bible, judgment began with His people – the Jewish people. They represented Him on earth, and when they did well, things went very well for them, but when they did not, things went very badly.
So how do the abominations stand in the holy place? We know this event can’t be future. I’ve already shown how ridiculous that theory is. And the “holy place,” which was the Jewish temple standing at that time, will never be rebuilt. God will not allow it. See Hebrews 9:6-10. But we still need to know what Jesus meant. He told us this prophecy for our benefit. No scripture is without effect. John 10:35.
Remember that we must interpret scripture using scripture. Daniel’s words and particularly Jesus’ echo the words of Moses. “Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you: (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;) That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you.” Leviticus 18:26-8.
It’s not just the use of the word abomination that is striking; it’s the fact that their abominations would result in the spewing out of the Israelites, just as they would later be spewed out in 70 AD. Leviticus 18:24-8; Matthew 24:3 (the end of the world for the Jews of that time).
Another strikingly similar passage is Ezekiel 9:4-7: “And the LORD said unto him, ‘Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.’ And to the others he said in mine hearing, ‘Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary.’ Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house. And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.” Ezekiel 9:4-7. See also Ezekiel 5:1-12.
Not only is this passage reminiscent of Matthew 24, but it also reminds the reader of the marks of the book of Revelation, where people are marked based on their allegiance either to the Lord or a beast.
[Cont’d next post.]