Postrib,
I'm sure you are a nice guy and a good Christian. But I see little point in discussing most of these things with you. You have already reached strongly held conclusions on all of or at least most of these matters. You may even be convinced you are a special prophet of God. Besides, these things are not really worth arguing about. I don't believe that how we understand Daniel and Revelation will affect our salvation. So I am going to skip over much of what you wrote. Some of which we have argued before.
You asked: Do you agree then that "the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet" (Matthew 24:15) in Daniel 11:31, 36 ...
I believe Jesus was referring to the abomination Daniel spoke of in Daniel 9:27, not to the one Daniel referred to in Dan. 11. I believe Daniel referred to two different "abominations."
I believe the "abomination" spoken of in Daniel 11 was the one that desolated the Jewish religion and its temple between the years 168 and 165 BC.
The following information can be easily obtained by reading a few Jewish history books and Bible commentaries.
In 174 BC Jason, the brother of High Priest Onias III, secured the High Priesthood for himself by bribing Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes. Jason's actions thereafter, such as promoting Jewish participation in athletic competitions dedicated to the Greek god Hercules and sending silver from the temple treasury to be sacrificed to that false god, caused the temple priests to neglect the sacrifices which were required by Jewish law. History records the fact that this corrupted Jewish worship, which began with the appointment of Jason as High Priest, was not completely cleansed from the temple until mid December of 168 BC when it was forcefully removed by the military forces of the king of Syria, Antiochus Epiphanes, with the very willing and active assistance of Jasons successor as High Priest, Menelaus.
Though history does not record the exact month and day of Jason's appointment as High Priest in 174 BC, I believe Daniel's prophesies and Jewish history combine to tell us that his appointment took place 2,300 days before the temple was cleansed of corrupted Jewish worship in mid December of 168 BC.
Some 400 years earlier Daniel had prophesied, "After 2,300 days (or evenings and mornings) the sanctuary will be cleansed." (Dan. 8:14 KJV) Many Bible commentators believe that the "evenings and mornings here spoken of refer to the evening and morning sacrifices which began to be neglected after the appointment of Jason as High Priest.
In 171 BC, Menelaus, a Jew not born of the line of Aaron, managed to have himself appointed as High Priest in place of Jason by offering Antiochus a larger bribe than Jason had previously paid. Since Menelaus was not of the line of Aaron, in fact not even a Levite, his being set up as High Priest was no doubt "an abomination" to God. And since he was not permitted by Jewish law, as were other High Priests, to "daily offer up sacrifices, first for their own sins and then the sins of the people" (Heb. 7:27), it is understood that "the daily sacrifice" was then "abolished" in God's eyes.
Though history does not record the exact month and day of Menelaus' appointment as High Priest in 171 BC, I believe Daniel's prophesies and Jewish history combine to tell us that 1,290 days passed between the time Menelaus became High Priest and the time he finished assisting Antiochus Epiphanes in bringing about the total "desolation" of the Jewish religion.
Some 400 years earlier Daniel had prophesied, "From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up there will be 1,290 days." (Dan. 12:11)
History tells us that it was in mid December of 168 BC that Jerusalem's Temple was completely cleansed of corrupted Jewish worship brought about by the actions of Jason and Menelaus. This cleansing took place when Antiochus Epiphenes completely outlawed all practices of the Jewish religion. Jewish history indicates that some 2,300 days of corrupted Jewish worship then came to an end, a corruption which began with the appointment of High Priest Jason in 174 BC. Jewish history also indicates that some 1,290 days had also then passed since Menelaus, the "abomination" who had "abolished the daily sacrifice" and caused the "desolation" of the Jewish religion, had first been "set up" as High Priest.
Three years later, in mid December of 165 BC, the revolt of the Maccabees finally reestablished undefiled Jewish worship in Jerusalem's temple. In the year 164 BC Antiochus Epiphanes died and was succeeded by his son, Antiochus Eupator. Later that same year Antiochus Eupator made a peace treaty with the Jews which guaranteed them religious freedom.
Though history does not record the exact month and day that Eupator made that peace treaty with the Jews, I believe Daniel's prophesies and Jewish history combine to tell us that this peace treaty was made 1335 days after Antiochus Epiphanes, with the assistance of High Priest Menelaus, completely cleansed Jerusalem's Temple of all corrupted Jewish worship.
I believe these are the events and the "abomination that causes desolation" which Daniel prophesied of in Dan. 11 and 12. I believe that, like the Roman armies led by General Titus in AD 66 - 70 acted as the abomination which caused the desolation of Jerusalem and the Jewish religion spoken of in Dan. 9:27, Antiochus Epiphanes with the assistance of High Priest Menelaus in 168 - 165 BC acted as the abomination which caused the desolation of the Jewish religion spoken of in Daniel 11. I believe both of these abominations were meant by God to prefigure a greater abomination which is yet to come, an abomination who will cause a similar desolation to come upon Christianity in the few years before Christ returns.
You wrote: Can you quote the entire entries under both words, and indicate your source? Do all Hebrew dictionaries say the same thing?
Again, I'll let you do some of your own homework.
You asked: What about Strong's Hebrew dictionary?
I answered that question in another "70 weeks" thread on this board.
Mike
Thanks for sharing your depth of knowledge on this thread.
