Hi there, So I had this idea that the abomination of desolation represented the dead bodies of the Israelites in Israel, at the time of the beheading of those who do not receive the mark of the Man of Sin. The abomination is that they are the elect and should not be dead; the desolation is that without defending the elect, Israel's claim to authority under God, is void. This is what the Devil wants.
So in effect,
Matthew 24:15 means "when you see what the Devil wants, let him who sees the power of the Devil not be afraid of it, let him who overlooks the place of the Devil not provide anything for it (to work) and let him who works for the Devil, not fail to complete his work, question his work or undo his work (a workingly hard saying)" - the point being that as the Holy Spirit begins to work, we are to let holy be holy, righteous be righteous, unclean be unclean and filthy be filthy (
Revelation 22:11).
The following verse, paralleling Matthew 24:15 in the parallel chapter of Luke 21, clarifies the identity of the abomination of desolation:
Luke 21
20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
It was the Roman armies, bearing pagan ensigns considered abominations by the Jews, advancing upon Jerusalem to wreak its desolation in 70 AD.
I tend to agree.
It sppears Luke's Gospel also parallels a lof of verses in Revelation.
If one looks at the Greek, there is no article "the" preceding the phrase "holy place" which could be implying any place that is considered holy by the LORD, which would mainly be in Judea I would think. [I noticed that when I was reading a commentary on this verse, which is shown below]
Matthew 24:15
Whenever then ye may be seeing the abomination of the desolation declared thru Daniel the prophet, having-stood in
a holy place, (the one-reading let him be understanding)...
16 then those in the Judea let them be fleeing! into the mountains
Ezekiel mentions the whole mountain top, which the Temple and Sanctuary were built upon, as being holy.
Eze 43:12
This
is a law of the house:
on the top of the mountain, all its border all round about is most holy; lo, this
is a law of the house.
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I haven't studied on this much, but this appears to be a very controversial topic among Christians along with the 1000yr period.
[I like "biblehub" a lot.]
Matthew 24:15 Commentaries: "Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 15. - In this second strain of the prophecy contained in vers. 15-22, our Lord confines himself almost entirely to the fate of Jerusalem. Therefore. The illative particle carries us back to the signs given in the previous section (vers. 5-14). By saying when ye shall see, he implies that some of his hearers shall behold this mysterious sign, and have the opportunity of profiting by the knowledge thereof. The abomination of desolation (τὸ βδέλυγμα τῆς ἐρημώσεως). The term is from the Septuagint Version (with which Theodotion's agrees) of
Daniel 12:11; in
Daniel 9:27 we find βδέλυγμα τῶν ἐρημώσεων, where the Hebrew gives, Upon the wing [or, 'pinnacle'] of abominations shall come the desolater."
Also in
Daniel 11:31 we have the simple βδέλυγμα. What is meant by the term in our text is a matter of unsettled dispute. The prophecy in
Daniel 11:31 has been generally referred to the doings of Antiochus Epiphanes (see 1 Macc. 1:54), and the present is considered to relate to something analogous. "Abomination" in the Old Testament is generally connected with idolatry or sacrilege; "of desolation" is equivalent to "that causes desolation." Among the many explanation; of this passage which have been offered, two only seem worthy of consideration.
(1) The desolating abomination is referred to the Roman armies encamped around Jerusalem (
Luke 21:20), of which the symbol was the legionaries' eagles, regarded with reverence by the soldiers.
But in opposition to this view it may be said, if the holy place, without the article, signifies the Holy Land, then the presence of the Latin forces would be no new sign to the Jewish people, as they had been familiar with such a sight for many years. If the temple itself is meant, it is plain that it would be too late to fly from that doomed city when the Roman eagles were already in the hallowed courts.
(2) The alternative interpretation, which has seemed to many more probable, explains it of the sanguinary deeds of the Zealots, who, after the war had been carried on for some years, seized the temple, put a stop to the daily sacrifice, deluged the sacred courts with blood, and were guilty of most hideous crimes and excesses,
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This site is fairly good at showing the account of events concerning the Jewish revolt prior to 70ad.
The Destruction of Jerusalem - George Peter Holford, 1805AD
While Jerusalem was a prey to these ferocious and devouring factions, every part of Judea was scourged and laid waste by bands of robbers and murderers, who plundered the towns; and, in case of resistance, slew the inhabitants, not sparing either women or children. Simon, son of Gioras, the commander of one of these bands, at the head of forty thousand banditti, having with some difficulty entered Jerusalem, gave birth to a third faction, and the flame of civil discord blazed out again, with still more destructive fury. The three factions, rendered frantic by drunkenness, rage, and desperation, trampling on heaps of slain, fought against each other with brutal savageness and madness..Even such as brou't sacrifices to the temple were murdered. The dead bodies of priests and worshippers, both natives and foreigners were heaped together, and a lake of blood stagnated in the sacred courts. John of Gischala, who headed one of the factions, burnt storehouses full of provisions ; and Simon, his great antagonist, who headed another of them, soon afterwards followed his example.
Thus they cut the very sinews of their own strength. At this critical and alarming c onjuncture, intelligence arrived
that the Roman an army was approaching the city. The Jews were petrified with astonishment and fear ; there was no time for counsel, no hope of pacification, no means of flight:-- all was wild disorder and perplexity :- nothing was to be heard but "the confused noise of the warrior, " -- nothing to be seen but garments rolled in blood," -- nothing to be expected from the Romans but signal and exemplary vengeance. A ceaseless cry of combatants was heard day and night, and yet the lamentations of mourners were still more dreadful.
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