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Abomination of Desolation (view source)
Revision as of 23:37, March 24, 2009
, 23:37, March 24, 2009→Future
Under these conditions it is not surprising that Antiochus should have had both the inclination and the courage to undertake the total eradication of the Jewish religion and the establishment of Greek polytheism in its stead. The observance of all Jewish laws, especially those relating to the Sabbath and to circumcision, were forbidden under pain of death. The Jewish religion was set aside, and in all cities of Judea, sacrifices were ordered to be brought to the pagan deities, with representatives of the crown everywhere enforcing the edict. Once a month a search was instituted, and whoever had secreted a copy of the Law or had observed the rite of circumcision was condemned to death. In Jerusalem on the 15th of Chislev of the year 145 aet Sel, (December, 168 B.C.) a pagan altar was built on the Great Altar of Burnt Sacrifices in front of the Temple, and on the 25th of Chislev, sacrifice was brought on this altar for the first time (1 Maccabees 1:54, 59). This evidently was the “abomination of desolation.” The sacrifice, according to 2 Maccabees, was brought to the Olympian Zeus, to whom the temple of Jerusalem had been re-dedicated. This act of Antiochus was considered so revolting that Mattathias, a former priest of the course of Joarib (1 Chronicles 24:7), overthrew the pagan altar and summoned any who would follow him to drive away the pagan deities, leading to the revolt under Judas the Maccabee.
Under these conditions it is not surprising that Antiochus should have had both the inclination and the courage to undertake the total eradication of the Jewish religion and the establishment of Greek polytheism in its stead. The observance of all Jewish laws, especially those relating to the Sabbath and to circumcision, were forbidden under pain of death. The Jewish religion was set aside, and in all cities of Judea, sacrifices were ordered to be brought to the pagan deities, with representatives of the crown everywhere enforcing the edict. Once a month a search was instituted, and whoever had secreted a copy of the Law or had observed the rite of circumcision was condemned to death. In Jerusalem on the 15th of Chislev of the year 145 aet Sel, (December, 168 B.C.) a pagan altar was built on the Great Altar of Burnt Sacrifices in front of the Temple, and on the 25th of Chislev, sacrifice was brought on this altar for the first time (1 Maccabees 1:54, 59). This evidently was the “abomination of desolation.” The sacrifice, according to 2 Maccabees, was brought to the Olympian Zeus, to whom the temple of Jerusalem had been re-dedicated. This act of Antiochus was considered so revolting that Mattathias, a former priest of the course of Joarib (1 Chronicles 24:7), overthrew the pagan altar and summoned any who would follow him to drive away the pagan deities, leading to the revolt under Judas the Maccabee.
==Future==
==Future or Futurism Christian Eschatology==
In Matthew 24:15, Christ told His disciples that during the last days, those who would see the abomination of desolation as spoken by Daniel the prophet needed to flee to the mountains. This event is to occur once again in the re-built [[Third Temple]] during the seventieth week (Daniel 9:27; 12:11) when the [[anti-Christ]] breaks his 7-year covenant with Israel and erects an image to himself in the sanctuary.
In Matthew 24:15, Christ told His disciples that during the last days, those who would see the abomination of desolation as spoken by Daniel the prophet needed to flee to the mountains. This event is to occur once again in the re-built [[Third Temple]] during the seventieth week (Daniel 9:27; 12:11) when the [[anti-Christ]] breaks his 7-year covenant with Israel and erects an image to himself in the sanctuary.
Much more elaborate forecasting which connects the Abomination of Desolation to both Antichrist and to the desecration of a rebuilt [[Third Temple]] is held by Futurism-style eschatologists.
Some [[Evangelical]] (viz., Futurism (Christian eschatology)-interpreters of the [[End Times]] see in {{bibleverse||Daniel|7-12|NKJV}} the repeated references to the desecration of the temple under Antiochus IV Epiphanes as a prototype of the latter-days' Antichrist or ''the Beast'' - that there are two future applications: (1) The future desecration of a rebuilt Jewish [[Third Temple]] by the Antichrist known as the Abomination of Desolation (i.e., "earthly"); and (2) The desecration of the body of Antichrist {{{bibleverse|II|Thessalonians|2:3-9|NKJV}}) through the incarnation of [[Satan]] wherein the parody of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ takes place (i.e., "spiritual" or "heavenly") and the Antichrist is from then on entitled ''the Beast''({{bibleverse||Revelation|11:7|NKJV}} and {{bibleverse||Revelation|13:1-8|NKJV}}), (See: the Antichrist and Whore of Babylon, i.e., ''Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth'').
Futurist Christians consider the ''Abomination of Desolation'' prophecy of Daniel mentioned by Jesus in {{bibleverse||Matthew|24:15|NKJV}} and {{bibleverse||Mark|13:14|NKJV}} as referring to an event in the end time future, when a 7 year peace treaty will be signed between Israel and a world ruler called the ''Man of Sin'' or the ''Man of Lawlessness'', or the ''Antichrist'' affirmed by the writings of the [[Apostle Paul]] in {{bibleverse|II|Thessalonians|2|NKJV}}.
Premillenialism-style futurists like Arthur Pink in his classic work ''The Antichrist'' attribute vast portions within the Old and New Testament to this future figure. Doug Krieger, in his e-books entitled ''Antichrist Reflections on the Desolator''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.the-tribulation-network.com/ebooks/antichrist_reflections_on_the_desolator/antichrist_intro.htm|title=''Antichrist Reflections on the Desolator''}}</ref> (January 22, 2008) and ''Antichrist and the Gog-Magog War''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.the-tribulation-network.com/dougkrieger/antichrist/index.htm|title=''Antichrist and the Gog-Magog War''}}</ref> (March 27, 2005) identifies the future [[Antichrist]] as the product of Greco-Roman man or a future leader of [[the West]] (viz., the United States of America)--tracing the portions of {{bibleverse||Daniel|7-8|NKJV}} to the Beast of {{bibleverse||Revelation|11|NKJV}} and {{bibleverse||Revelation|13|NKJV}}, yet to ascend from the sea as a composite of a final [[Gentile]] World Power with the same animal-empire descriptions found in Daniel ("Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion" - {{bibleverse||Revelation|13:2|NKJV}}).
Krieger claims that the title of ''Antichrist'' (found only in {{bibleverse|I|John|2:22|NKJV}},{{bibleverse|I|John|4:3|NKJV}} and {{bibleverse|II|John|7|NKJV}}) is given to this future figure who will parody [[Jesus Christ]] in his death and resurrection when, as the leader of the West, he will feign himself as a [[Messiah]]-like figure to both [[Jews]] and Gentiles for the first three-and-one-half years of Daniel's yet future Prophecy of Seventy Weeks{{bibleverse||Daniel|9:24-27|NKJV}}. Paul states in {{bibleverse|II|Thessalonians|2:3-4|NKJV}}: "...the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." In his thesis, Krieger cites Donald Barnhouse in his commentary on Revelation (1971, Zondervan) who affirms that ''the Beast'' of Revelation is the incarnation of Satan into the body of Antichrist and that the ''Abomination of Desolation'' is this future event. This revelation of the "man of sin" is two-fold: (1) he is assassinated in a rebuilt Jewish Temple (the so-called [[Third Temple]]) when religious Jews become outraged over his self-deification and declarations of godhood--a blatant desecration; and (2) whereupon Satan incarnates himself into Antichrist's body and feigns the resurrection (i.e., "temple" as when Jesus said: "Destroy this '''temple''', and in three days I will raise it up...he was speaking of the temple of his body" - ({{bibleverse||John|2:19-21|NKJV}}). John the Apostle in {{bibleverse||Revelation|11:7|NKJV}}; and {{bibleverse||Revelation|13:3|NKJV}} describes the Antichrist transformed into The Beast for the final half of Daniel's Prophecy of Seventy Weeks: "And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast." Paul's description of the "man of sin" as the "son of perdition" in {{bibleverse|II|Thessalonians|2:2-3|NKJV}} parallels the account when "Satan entered into Judas" ({{bibleverse||Luke|22:3|NKJV}}; {{bibleverse||John|13:27|NKJV}}) to commit the act of betrayal. Jesus entitled Judas as "the son of perdition" ({{bibleverse||John|17:12|NKJV}}); therefore, the incarnation of Satan into the body of Antichrist in the middle of Daniel's Prophecy of Seventy Weeks ({{bibleverse||Daniel|9:27}}) terminates the sacerdotal rites of the Third Temple ({{bibleverse||Daniel|8:11-14|NKJV}}; {{bibleverse||Daniel|11:31-32|NKJV}}; {{bibleverse||Daniel|12:11|NKJV}})- this is the Abomination of Desolation or Transgression of Desolation ({{bibleverse||Daniel|8:13|NKJV}}; {{bibleverse||Daniel|9:27|NKJV}}; {{bibleverse||Daniel|11:31|NKJV}}; {{bibleverse||Daniel|12:11|NKJV}}) - both the desecration of the literal [[Third Temple]] and the desecration of the Antichrist, whereupon he is entitled '''the Beast'''t (i.e., without divine capacity to fellowship with God - the "son of perdition" or "destruction" and "utter damnation"), are considered as the Abomination of Desolation ({{bibleverse|II|Thessalonians|2:2|NKJV}}).
The [[typology]] of the [[Holy of Holies]] or the innermost sanctuary of the Jewish Temple is, according to many Evangelicals (especially among the [[Plymouth Brethren]]) the picture of a man's being: spirit, and soul and body ({{bibleverse|I|Thessalonians|5:23|NKJV}}) which is likened to the Jewish Temple's "outer court" (i.e., the body); the "Holy Place" (i.e., the soul) and the [[Holy of Holies]] (i.e., the spirit of a man). Jesus taught that unless a man were "born anew" he could not see the kingdom of God. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" ({{bibleverse||John|3:6|NKJV}}). The desecration of the Holy of Holies would be likened to the desecration of the human spirit - this is the part of man that would be entered into by [[Satan]] as Satan in {{bibleverse||Revelation|13|NKJV}} would enter into the lifeless body of the Antichrist. Once this act of interior desecration occurs, Antichrist takes the title of the Beast ({{bibleverse||Revelation|11:7|NKJV}} and {{bibleverse||Revelation|13:1-10|NKJV}}). A beast, affirmed by orthodox Christianity, is not made in the "image of God" - cannot fellowship or commune with God; therefore, as the entitlement of the "son of perdition" the Beast has no possibility of salvation or fellowship with the Almighty. It is the "temple" of the body of Antichrist that is desecrated in the "spiritual realm" - as it is the future [[Third Temple]] in Jerusalem (i.e., earth) which awaits the final confrontation and desecration. (See: [[Daniel's Prophecy of the 2300 Days]] - Sacrifice and Desecration - Futurism (Christian eschatology) and the Prophecy of Seventy Weeks)
Some within Premillenial Futurism affirm that the 2300 days of {{bibleverse||Daniel|8:14|NKJV}} have not yet occurred and refer to the future sacerdotal rites of a yet future Third Temple to be built during Daniel's Prophecy of Seventy Weeks - which also is yet future. The "reign of the Beast" commences at the mid-point of Daniel's Prophecy of Seventy Weeks{{bibleverse||Daniel|9:24-27|NKJV}} and thus ensues in ''days'' (lit. ''evening and morning'' {{bibleverse||Daniel|8:14|NKJV}}) the 1290 days of "desolations" or "abominations" ({{bibleverse||Daniel|12:12|NKJV}}). These "desolations" or "the host to be trampled underfoot" ({{bibleverse||Daniel|8:13|NKJV}}) must be calculated by adding the days of the "daily sacrifices" in a restored [[Third Temple]], yet future, to the "days of desolation" or 1010 (days of sacrifice) + 1290 (days of desolations-({{bibleverse||Daniel|12:11|NKJV}}) = 2300 days: "'How long will the vision be, concerning the '''daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation''', the '''giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot'''?' and he said to me, 'For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.'" ({{bibleverse||Daniel|8:14|NKJV}})
Donald Barnhouse, [[Hal Lindsey]], John Walvoord and many other premillenarian futurists affirm that the prophecies of the Antichrist and the Abomination of Desolation are futuristic, based upon the many citings found in {{bibleverse||Daniel|7-12|NKJV}}; likewise, these prophecies were not fulfilled by the destruction of the [[Second Temple]] in 70 AD, which is the claim of [[Preterism]]. These eschatologists conclude that the Prophecy of Seventy Weeks is directed to [[Jews]] in a regathered [[Israel]] in the "latter days" ("Seventy weeks are determined for '''your people''' and for '''your holy city'''" - {{bibleverse||Daniel|9:24|NKJV}}). Premillenialism-style futurists like Arthur Pink in his classic work "The Antichrist" attribute vast portions within the Old and New Testament to this future figure and see the 1260 days of the first part of the Prophecy of Seventy Weeks as literal days, as well as the additional 1290 days or period of the ''days of abomination''.
It is within the context of a future Prophecy of Seventy Weeks that the final week is separated out from the original 69 weeks (just as the first and second comings of Christ have a "gap" - even so, the final week is separated from the original 69 weeks; hence, the "gap." The final week is broken up into two parts (the initial 1260 days of the prevailing testimony of the [[Two Witnesses]] (which mirrors the time frame of Jesus' earthly ministry) until the "middle of the week" being the Abomination of Desolation and the final 1260 days (or 42 months; time, times and half a time; 3.5 days ({{bibleverse||Rev.|11:9-11NKJV}}) of the ''reign of the Beast'' being the latter half of the week, with 30 days unto the 1290th day ({{bibleverse||Daniel|12:11|NKJV}}) being the period known as the ''Wrath of the Lamb'' or ''Wrath of God''{{bibleverse||Revelation|14:17-20|NKJV}} and {{bibleverse||Revelation|16:12-21|NKJV}}). It is this Beast - now inhabited by Satan as the second ''son of perdition'' who shall desecrate the Third Temple and begin his beastly reign for 1290 days ({{bibleverse||Daniel|12:11|NKJV}}). But, as Antichrist, prior to his reign as ''the Beast'', he will "make a covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering" ({{bibleverse||Daniel|9:27|NKJV}}). The final 45 days beyond the 30 days (comprising a total of 75 days beyond the final week of Daniel's Prophecy of Seventy Weeks commences with the Second Coming of Christ and the unveiling of [[Messiah]] to Israel prior to the literal Millennium or 1,000-year rule and reign of Messiah - this is the time of "Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty five days" ({{bibleverse||Daniel|12:13|NKJV}}).
''Text used in part from the 1913 International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, a work in the public domain.''
''Text used in part from the 1913 International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, a work in the public domain.''
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