THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION

Christ’s teaching on the abomination of desolation comes from the book of Daniel. The accounts as recorded by Matthew and Mark are practically identical (Mt 24:15-22 cf. Mk 13:14-20) yet they seem to differ sharply from Luke’s version, which we have already studied (Lk 21:20-24, quoted below). We now compare and contrast these two radically different descriptions. We conclude that the two accounts present alternate yet parallel scenarios.

"But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is at hand. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are in the midst of the city depart, and let not those who are in the country enter the city; because these are days of vengeance, in order that all things which are written may be fulfilled. Woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse babes in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land, and wrath to this people, and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled" (Luke 21:20-24).

"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), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; let him who is on the housetop not go down to get the things that are in his house; and let him who is in the field not turn back to get his cloak. But woe to those who are with babes in those days! But pray that your flight may not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath; for then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall. And unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days shall be cut short." (Mt 24:15-22).

Jesus said that the abomination of desolation would stand in the holy place. This unquestionably refers to the man of lawlessness who was to take his seat in the temple and proclaim himself to be God (2 Thessalonians 2:3,4 cf. Daniel 11:36,37). Jesus is here updating Daniel’s scenario given in Daniel 11-12. Instead of an idol abomination being set up in the holy place by the armies of a tyrant prince, the enemy prince himself becomes the representation of God. This event was an alternate sign to flee to the mountains. Instead of time continuing for long ages, the period of tribulation is cut short. In Daniel 11, the final tribulation is limited to the devastation caused by the tyrant prince (11:40-45) and history ends before the global dominion of the Roman kingdom even begins. Clearly this was to have a first century fulfillment.

It appears that Jesus mingled two possible scenarios for the end of the world. Luke’s account follows the way history actually developed. Jerusalem was destroyed. Time will continue until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. And the accounts of Matthew and Mark place an emphasis in another direction — a possible 1st century end of the world. So, in either case, "the holy place" was to be defiled, either by its destruction, as in Ps 74:7, or by its profanation (Da 11:31).

Some hold that these scenarios are indeed parallel because they both refer to the same event. But this is clearly false. Each account would have been understood differently. Clearly, if anyone depended exclusively on Matthew’s or Mark’s version of the end for the signal to flee Jerusalem, they would have died in the siege against the city while waiting for the desolater to enter the temple, proclaim himself to be God etc. We now study Daniel’s shorter scenario from which those versions of the end are based.