What is the abomination of desolation?
Jesus points His disciples to a sign so specific that He tells the reader to stop and take it in: something Daniel foretold will be standing where it has no right to be. Commentators treat this as the trigger of the final crisis for Jerusalem — but they ask first what the phrase actually means, and whether anything in history has yet answered to it.
An Idol, Not an Army
The word "abomination" has a fixed sense in the Old Testament, and that sense controls the phrase here.
W. W. Fereday"Abomination" is the Scripture title for an idol. So we read of "Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites," and "Chemosh the abomination of Moab" (1 Kings 11:5-7). It is, therefore, an idol set up in the holy place at Jerusalem. This has never happened in the past. True, the temple was defiled by Antiochus Epiphanes (Dan. 11:31), but this was long before the Lord's prophecy.
Why an idol should be called the thing that "makes desolate" is explained by what idolatry is.
The Bible TreasuryOf all iniquities, that which is pre-eminently abominable to God is idolatry, for it is the formal, open denial of His Godhead, and the putting of the creature in the place of Himself, the Creator.
A Temple That Does Not Yet Exist
"The holy place" is read as the temple — and that raises a problem, since Jesus had just said the temple standing then would be levelled. The same writer draws the conclusion:
The Bible TreasuryThe "holy place," of course, means the temple. The Lord had announced with reference to the temple then standing, "There shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down" (ver. 3). Hence it follows that in the interval the temple will have been rebuilt.
Which Passage in Daniel
Daniel uses the expression more than once, and the commentators insist on separating the two uses.
William KellyTwo passages of the prophecy (Dan. 11:31 and Dan. 12:11) speak of this abomination; but I have no hesitation in saying that the former was a foreshadowing of the doings of Antiochus Epiphanes centuries before Christ, and that the latter is the one referred to here, and still unaccomplished. Entirely distinct from the time of Antiochus, Dan. 12 speaks of another idol which brings desolation in its train, and this expressly "at the time of the end."
Not the Roman Siege of AD 70
Many have tied this to the destruction of Jerusalem under Titus. One writer answers from the order of events in the chapter itself.
J. N. DarbyNote too, the tribulation comes after the placing of the abomination of desolation. If it be referred to Titus, as some would, and to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, then the placing of it closed the tribulation. It is merely one among many reasons which show that this application of the passage is impossible.
A second test is applied to the timing given in Daniel: the days that follow the setting up run out in blessing, and no such blessing followed AD 70.
William KellyLet them be thought of as 1335 years from that destruction of Jerusalem: still, have you got the blessing of the Jews and the saint's blessing according to the word of God here? Nothing of the sort. What then follows? That you have dated it from a wrong starting point.
Who Sets It Up
Commentators differ on the precise identity of the idol, though all connect it with the man of sin and the Roman power. One suggestion links it to the image described in Revelation:
A. J. PollockProbably the image of the first beast set up in the temple will be "the abomination that makes desolate," spoken of by Daniel (Dan. 12:11), and referred to by our Lord in Matthew 24:15, and which will occur at the beginning of the second half of Daniel's seventieth week.
Another distinguishes two things that can be confused:
Edward DennettTo prevent confusion, it must again be recalled that, in addition to the image which Antichrist will make and cause to be worshipped throughout the Roman Empire, he will himself sit as a god in the temple at Jerusalem.
A Signal to Run
The sign is not given as a puzzle but as an order to leave. It is also aimed at a particular people in a particular place.
William KellyIs this a description of the position of the Christian or the Church? What in present circumstances could bring the Church back to Judea? … The Jews, few or many, are supposed to have a temple in Jerusalem, and, of course, to be in their land; and some of them will be godly men.
Let the Reader Understand
The parenthesis is treated as a deliberate warning against skimming.
William KellyIt is clearly implied that many who read it might not understand; at least our Lord particularly cautions those who read to see that they enter into His thought. "Whoever reads, let him understand." Never does He discourage reading; but He would have understanding.
Summary
- Abomination — the standard Bible word for an idol, so the sign is an object of false worship, not an army or a banner.
- Placed — it stands in the holy place, which means a temple rebuilt in Jerusalem after the one Jesus condemned was destroyed.
- Pending — commentators read it from Daniel 12:11, still unfulfilled; Antiochus foreshadowed it, and Titus did not fulfil it, since the tribulation follows the setting up rather than ending with it.
- Provoking — idolatry openly denies God's Godhead, so the idol that is set up brings the desolation down.
- Prompting — it functions as a starting gun for godly Jews in Judea to flee, and the parenthesis tells the reader to understand it rather than skim past it.