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ABOMINATION — anything that offends the spiritual, religious, or moral sense of a person and causes extreme disgust, hatred, or loathing. Among the objects described as an “abomination” were the carved images of pagan gods (Deut. 7:25–26), the sacrifice to God of inferior, blemished animals (Deut. 17:1), the practice of idolatry (Deut. 17:2–5), and the fashioning of a “carved or molded image” of a false god (Deut. 27:15; Is. 44:19).
Other abominations were sexual transgressions (Leviticus 18), the adoption of the clothing of the opposite sex (Deut. 22:5), and the practice of magic, witchcraft, and “spiritism” (Deut. 18:9–12). Most of the Hebrew words translated “abomination” have the meaning of “impure,” “filthy,” and “unclean”—that which is foul-smelling and objectionable to a holy God.
ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION — a despicable misuse of the Temple of the Lord during a time of great trouble—an event foretold by the prophet Daniel.
The phrase is found in Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14 as a quotation from Daniel 11:31 and 12:11. In Daniel, the words mean “the abomination that makes desolate.” In other words, Daniel prophesied that the Temple would be used for an “abominable” purpose at some time in the future. As a result, God's faithful people would no longer worship there—so great would be their moral revulsion, contempt, and abhorrence at the sacrilege—and the Temple would become “desolate.”
According to the verses in the gospels, a similar misuse of the Temple would take place in the future. This would show that a time of great trouble was coming on Judea. People should take warning and flee to the mountains (Matt. 24:16; Mark 13:14).
Some believe Daniel's prophecy was initially fulfilled about 165 B.C. when Antiochus IV (Epiphanes), Greek ruler of Syria, polluted the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem by sacrificing a pig on the holy altar. This sacrificing of an UNCLEAN pig was the worst kind of abomination that could have taken place. A more complete fulfillment, however, occurred when the Romans sacked the Jewish Temple about A.D. 70 (Luke 21:5–7, 20–22). But others insist that the final abomination of desolation refers to the idolatrous image or the “man of sin” who will take over God's place in the Temple and make people bow down and worship him (2 Thess. 2:3–4). According to this interpretation, this will be the final act of sacrilege that marks the beginning of the end time.
Matthew 24:15
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
KJV Commentary on Matthew 24:15
Ye must be taken generically, since the disciples have not lived to see this take place. The abomination of desolation refers to Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11; where Antiochus Epiphanes' profanation of the Jewish temple worship would foreshadow a similar and more severe act by the eschatological Antichrist. Whereas Antiochus offered a pig on the sacred altar of the Temple, the Antichrist will offer himself (II Thess 2:4)! The action of desecration by Antiochus, which David had predicted, will now be repeated in the future by the Antichrist as the signal of the beginning of the Great Tribulation and the breaking of the covenant “in the midst of the week” (Dan 9:27), i.e., the seventieth week of Daniel's prophecy, whose length is forty-two months (Rev 11:2), 1,260 days (Rev 12:6), or “time, and times, and half a time” (Dan 7:25; Rev 12:14). The holy place, i.e. Temple, which will be rebuilt. Kent (p. 86) rightly observes that this cancels limitation of Daniel's prophecy to just the days of Antiochus (Allen, p. 256) since Jesus, in His day, was still awaiting further fulfillment, and it likewise goes beyond the catastrophe of a.d. 70 (Stagg, p. 200), since it is called the greatest tribulation of all time (Mt 24:21).
Daniel 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.
KJV Commentary on Daniel 9:27
And he. He refers back to the prince that shall come of verse 26. It predicts the coming of the Roman Antichrist during the Tribulation Period after the Rapture of the church. He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week. The Antichrist will pledge protection of Israel for a seven-year period, but in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. After three and one half years, the Antichrist will break his covenant with Israel and defile their new Temple. The New Testament confirms this in II Thessalonians 2:4 where Paul declares that the Antichrist, the man of sin, will sit “… in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” Up until that point the Antichrist will have seemed to be Israel's protector. His true intentions will then be known. Revelation states that power was given unto him to continue forty and two months (Rev 13:5). He will have only one half of the seven-year period left after he breaks his compact with Israel. As a result, Israel will be forced to flee and to hide under God's protection “… for a time, and times, and half a time …” (Rev 12:14), again a reference to the last three and one half years of Daniel's final seventieth week of years.
Other abominations were sexual transgressions (Leviticus 18), the adoption of the clothing of the opposite sex (Deut. 22:5), and the practice of magic, witchcraft, and “spiritism” (Deut. 18:9–12). Most of the Hebrew words translated “abomination” have the meaning of “impure,” “filthy,” and “unclean”—that which is foul-smelling and objectionable to a holy God.
ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION — a despicable misuse of the Temple of the Lord during a time of great trouble—an event foretold by the prophet Daniel.
The phrase is found in Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14 as a quotation from Daniel 11:31 and 12:11. In Daniel, the words mean “the abomination that makes desolate.” In other words, Daniel prophesied that the Temple would be used for an “abominable” purpose at some time in the future. As a result, God's faithful people would no longer worship there—so great would be their moral revulsion, contempt, and abhorrence at the sacrilege—and the Temple would become “desolate.”
According to the verses in the gospels, a similar misuse of the Temple would take place in the future. This would show that a time of great trouble was coming on Judea. People should take warning and flee to the mountains (Matt. 24:16; Mark 13:14).
Some believe Daniel's prophecy was initially fulfilled about 165 B.C. when Antiochus IV (Epiphanes), Greek ruler of Syria, polluted the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem by sacrificing a pig on the holy altar. This sacrificing of an UNCLEAN pig was the worst kind of abomination that could have taken place. A more complete fulfillment, however, occurred when the Romans sacked the Jewish Temple about A.D. 70 (Luke 21:5–7, 20–22). But others insist that the final abomination of desolation refers to the idolatrous image or the “man of sin” who will take over God's place in the Temple and make people bow down and worship him (2 Thess. 2:3–4). According to this interpretation, this will be the final act of sacrilege that marks the beginning of the end time.
Matthew 24:15
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
KJV Commentary on Matthew 24:15
Ye must be taken generically, since the disciples have not lived to see this take place. The abomination of desolation refers to Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11; where Antiochus Epiphanes' profanation of the Jewish temple worship would foreshadow a similar and more severe act by the eschatological Antichrist. Whereas Antiochus offered a pig on the sacred altar of the Temple, the Antichrist will offer himself (II Thess 2:4)! The action of desecration by Antiochus, which David had predicted, will now be repeated in the future by the Antichrist as the signal of the beginning of the Great Tribulation and the breaking of the covenant “in the midst of the week” (Dan 9:27), i.e., the seventieth week of Daniel's prophecy, whose length is forty-two months (Rev 11:2), 1,260 days (Rev 12:6), or “time, and times, and half a time” (Dan 7:25; Rev 12:14). The holy place, i.e. Temple, which will be rebuilt. Kent (p. 86) rightly observes that this cancels limitation of Daniel's prophecy to just the days of Antiochus (Allen, p. 256) since Jesus, in His day, was still awaiting further fulfillment, and it likewise goes beyond the catastrophe of a.d. 70 (Stagg, p. 200), since it is called the greatest tribulation of all time (Mt 24:21).
Daniel 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.
KJV Commentary on Daniel 9:27
And he. He refers back to the prince that shall come of verse 26. It predicts the coming of the Roman Antichrist during the Tribulation Period after the Rapture of the church. He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week. The Antichrist will pledge protection of Israel for a seven-year period, but in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. After three and one half years, the Antichrist will break his covenant with Israel and defile their new Temple. The New Testament confirms this in II Thessalonians 2:4 where Paul declares that the Antichrist, the man of sin, will sit “… in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” Up until that point the Antichrist will have seemed to be Israel's protector. His true intentions will then be known. Revelation states that power was given unto him to continue forty and two months (Rev 13:5). He will have only one half of the seven-year period left after he breaks his compact with Israel. As a result, Israel will be forced to flee and to hide under God's protection “… for a time, and times, and half a time …” (Rev 12:14), again a reference to the last three and one half years of Daniel's final seventieth week of years.
