What Is The Abomination of Desolation In Matthew 24?

What Is The Abomination of Desolation in Matthew 24.15?

Recently I received an email where this question was raised. I thought it might be good to run my answer in this bulletin.

To the question we must look at what the verse says; its immediate context, and its general context.

“Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (Matthew 24.15).

In verse one Jesus is standing outside the temple in Jerusalem . He denounces the Jews for their unbelief and tells them their house will be left desolate, Matthew 23.38. At this point He leaves the temple and his disciples follow Him. Jesus then tells them the buildings they are looking at will be destroyed. “Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down” (Matthew 24.2). This would be similar to saying that every building in Owensboro or Louisville will be destroyed. Such would be stunning and surely a catastrophic event. A natural reaction would be; when will this occur?

The disciples ask two questions: “Tell us, when will these things be?” and “what will be the sign of Your coming, and the end of the age?” (24.3), they related the destruction of the temple and its buildings to the end of the age. The King James Bible does not say the end of the age but the end of the world. In other words they thought the temple in Jerusalem would only be destroyed when the earth was destroyed. Such an assumption was not warranted. The temple was destroyed in A.D. 70 and the earth still spins.

Looking at Jesus’ answer, we must keep in mind that two questions were asked; the first pertaining to the destruction of Jerusalem and the second, end of the age or world. Jesus answers their question about the temple first and then the end of the world. For the purpose of this article we will not delve into the second question.

He tells them not be deceived, verse 4. There would be false signs they would interpret such as a false, Christ would arise (verse 5), wars (verse 6), famines, pestilences, and earthquakes (verse 7) would occur, His disciples would be persecuted (verse 9), they would be offended and betrayed (verse 10), and false prophets would arise (verse 11).

It should be noted that all of the things mentioned occurred before Christ’s time and continues through history. Before the birth of Jesus there were false Christ’s and there have been since His death. Wars occur all the time and so do famines. Earlier this year an earthquake decimated a region of China . My point is these things are not specific enough to signal when Jerusalem would be destroyed.

In verse 13 we go from false signs to words of encouragement and what they can look forward to. Those who remain faithful to the end will be saved, verse 13. In Revelation 2.10 those at Smyrna were told to be faithful until death. Those willing to give up their lives for the cause of Christ will have an eternal reward.

Verse 14 tells us the Gospel will be preached to the entire world and then will come the end, but the end of what? Keep in mind Jesus is still answering the first question of when the temple will be destroyed. In Colossians 1.23 apostle Paul says the gospel has been preached to every creature under heaven. Within thirty years of the Day of Pentecost the Gospel had been preached everywhere.

We have gone from false signs of the end to what would happen before the destruction of Jerusalem . In verse 16 they were told to flee to the mountains, to not go back into their houses or come in from the fields. They were to pray it would not come in the winter or when a woman had a nursing child, since both would slow down their escape. What would be the sign? The “abomination of desolation” as called in the Book of Daniel, verse 15.

“The Roman army carried ensigns consisting of eagles and images of the emperor to which divine honors were paid by the army. No greater abomination could meet the eye of the Jew than the ensigns to which idolatrous worship was rendered” (An Eschatology of Victory, page 102). The word abomination in Daniel 9.27 is used referring to sacrifices made to idols. In 70 AD the Roman army under command of Titus laid siege upon Jerusalem . Normally a siege takes a very long time and no one is able to escape a city under siege without capture.

The terribleness of this event is described in verse 21 when it says “there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time.” Josephus in his writings describes the slaughter of the Jews. Some was actually perpetrated by Jews upon their fellow man as they fought amongst themselves. Many were killed when the Roman army entered Jerusalem . It was reported that people swallowed precious diamonds, and even gold so the soldiers sliced open their bellies to search for riches. The temple caught fire and its gold melted running between the stones. The army pried the stones apart to get to the gold.

However some were able to escape. Titus received word to take his army back to Rome , which allowed some to escape. He received a second message telling him to resume his siege and then the destruction was completed.

Matthew 24 is verse 34 says, “Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.” In this one verse Jesus gives us the time frame for the destruction of Jerusalem . In “that generation” Jesus is refers to those of that generation. It came within their life time. The same idea is expressed in Mark 9.1 “Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power.”

You may not agree that the “abomination of desolation” refers to the Roman army, but we must agree it came in that generation when Jerusalem was destroyed. It does not refer to end of the world or to anything happening today.

To emphasis His point Jesus in verse 35 says, “Heaven and earth will away, but My words will by no means pass away.” The events in verses 22 -33 I did not dwell on because they relate to what Jesus said in verse 34. To those of that generation Jesus gave a definite warning. They would know what to look for. Thus at the end of verse 15 Matthew includes these words, “whoever reads, let him understand.”– Dennis Tucker

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