The Abomination of Desolation (The Olivet Discourse Part 2)
Notes
Transcript
Still on the subject of the end times.
Last week Pastor Dexter gave a great message on the second coming of Christ and the millennial kingdom.
Today I am continuing on the Olivet Discourse. Or what I call the end times “according to Jesus”.
Recap:
The Olivet discourse is about events coming in the future, it is focused on the nation of Israel and it describes the tribulation period.
I also presented the almost 10 signs of the end of the age. (just quickly go through)
1. False Christs or Messiahs.
2.Wars and rumors of wars.
3. Famines
4. Pestilences
5. Earthquakes
6. Severe Persecution
7. Lawlessness
8. False Prophets
9. The Gospel will be preached as a testimony to all nations.
15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 19 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.
The Abomination of Desolation
The abomination that makes desolate.
What is the abomination of desolation?
We get a clue from Jesus’ words - he said the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, so to understand this we have to go back to what the prophet Daniel said.
27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”
I have a clear diagram here that also shows the millennial kingdom ps Dexter preached last time.
Daniel’s 70 weeks chart here.
one week is seven years (say aloud)
The pause
The 70th week - The Great Tribulation, the rise of the antichrist.. who will establish a covenant with Israel for 7 years,
“for half of the week” the middle of the seven years or after 3 and a half years, this antichrist will put an end to the sacrifice and offering.
“And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”
Turn to:
11 And from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290 days.
The Abomination of Desolation will be carried out by the Antichrist by:
1. Putting an end to the sacrifice and offering.
2. Setting up an Abomination in its place.
The word of God is a double-edged sword,
Daniel was pointing forward in his prophecy
Antiochus Epiphanes image here. Prototype of the AntiChrist.
Greek King who ruled Syria, Antiochus Epiphanes captured Jerusalem in 167 B.C. ,
replaced the altar of God with an altar to the Greek idol Zeus and offered a pig.
Thus the abomination of desolation.
So this was before the time of Christ, so when Jesus made the same prophecy also pointing forward, to an abomination of desolation, there now is an event in the future...
Problem is..
There is no longer any daily sacrifice, there is also no longer any temple..
The temple was destroyed and has not been rebuilt since Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.
Image Timeline here
This is why some Bible scholars believe that the events Jesus was referring saw its fulfillment with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.
The New Testament authors clearly point to a future time, and the events with Antiochus Epiphanes in 167 BC and the destruction of Jerusalem are a foreshadow of a future event.
Several Sundays ago, I tackled the prophecy from 2 Thessalonians 2 written by the apostle Paul:
3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
So this also talks of the Antichrist, the man of lawlessness, something like this did not happen with the destruction of Jerusalem. This is a future event..
In the book of Revelation the Antichrist is referred to as the Beast, but there is a second beast which is the false prophet. (remember the unholy trinity)? The role of the false prophet will be to deceive the world to worship the antichrist.
The Unholy Trinity image here.
13 It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, 14 and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived.
while Antiochus Epiphanes set up and idol of Zeus to be worshipped, the AntiChrist will set up worship of himself.
Talk through, are these going to be actual events or imagery? I would be careful in my study of the word to dismiss this as just symbolisms, these have been written to the church (not fairy tales). There will be a demonic spirit that will prevail at the time of the great tribulation that will lead mankind to worship this world leader - the antichrist.
Counterfeit - Just as the Holy Spirit came to glorify Jesus, this false prophet is a demonic spirit that will glorify the antichrist.
The abomination of desolation is the worship of the antichrist itself.
There will be a global delusion that will infect the world! (talk thru that)
There are Christians who interpret this abomination of desolation as the shutting down of churches or any form of public worship, similar to what happened to churches in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.
My problem with that this assumes, the church is not yet raptured by the time of the great Tribulation, that true worshippers will still be present on earth, assuming they are, then the church is not the building.. the true worshippers worship in Spirit and in truth. So it has to be a real temple.
Which leads us to the next problem. There is no temple at the present time.
There is actually a movement in Israel to rebuild the temple.. led by the temple institute.
That they already have the sacred objects of worship..
There are even rumors that the ark of the covenant has already been found and it was found by this man..
Indiana Jones picture here..
I am just kidding.. just making sure that you are still with me..
According to an article from the Jewish voice:
Rabbi Richman, also a member of the Sanhedrin, has been heading a project to restore the sacred Red Heifer to Israel. According to Numbers 19, the ashes of the Red Heifer mixed with water are a necessary element for purifying Jews to enable them to do service in the Temple. During the time of the First and Second Temples, a span of approximately 1,000 years, only nine Red Heifers were used in preparing the waters used to purify Jews. According to Jewish tradition, the tenth one will be used by the Messiah.
Image of the Red Heifer here.
Even if there is a remote possibility of the temple being built, the political situation in Israel makes the rebuilding of this temple a far-fetched dream. why?
That place is a holy site to the muslims and is under their control.
Image of the mosque Al-Aqsa here.
I believe if a leader would rise and be able to bring about an agreement between Jews and Muslims that will lead to the rebuilding of the temple, he will be like the Jewish messiah, and this is most likely how this man, the antichrist will deceive the Jewish people into entering a covenant with him.
Why Abomination of desolation?
The true Messiah Jesus, brought up the abomination of desolation as a warning to the Jewish nation, that when they see the abomination of desolation, standing in the holy place..
16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 19 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
This will be dreadful days..
These words are comforting because Jesus remains in charge. He knows the end from the beginning
You do not have to be part of God’s wrath!