This is an excerpt from my book “40 Moments From Christ’s Final Days.” Click here to get it from Amazon using my affiliate link.
Find this moment in: Mt. 24:15–26, Mk. 13:14–22, Lk. 21:20–24
After giving a broad overview of what the end times will look like for Israel and the world, Jesus focuses on one sign that will make it clear that the end is coming.
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 those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. (Matthew 24:15-16)
This “Abomination of Desolation” is a confusing figure. Israel must know that they need to flee for their lives when they see him standing in the temple. The name itself is a reference to a prophecy in Daniel.
And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will make sacrifice and grain offering cease; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate. (Daniel 9:27)
Daniel uses “week” as metaphorical language for seven years. Whoever this abomination is, they will have some important features that Israel must be aware of. First, he will make a peace agreement with Israel meant to last seven years, then break the agreement halfway through. Second, he will stop the offerings in the temple. Third, this abomination will ruin the temple (making it “desolate”) by either standing in the temple himself or putting something idolatrous in it.
There have been two periods in history that seemed to partially fulfill Daniel’s prophecy. The first was in 156 BC when Antiochus Epiphanes built an altar to Zeus and sacrificed an unclean pig in the temple. The second was in 70 AD when the Roman army destroyed the temple and profaned it by bringing their idolatrous imagery inside.
However, both instances lack the other feature of Christ’s sign that He was coming soon. Neither had created a peace agreement with Israel, then broke it at the halfway point. This means that, while the temple has certainly been profaned and left desolate by pagan rulers, this one particular person hasn’t yet fulfilled the prophecies of Daniel or Jesus.
Most people have heard of this person before. He’s often called “the Antichrist,” based on the language in 1 John 2:18. This is the rider on the white horse holding a bow, fooling others into worshipping him as the true Jesus. Christians today won’t see his rise to power during these seven years, but there’s no doubt that he is coming to deceive the entire world.
Stop and think: Jesus warns Israel that they must be very aware of someone who has the appearance of their Messiah but is against everything He truly taught. Although Christians will be raptured to Heaven when this particular person arrives, the Antichrist will just be one of many false Christs in the world. What versions of Christ, or Christianity, exist today that seem genuine on the surface but, on closer inspection, are counterfeits?
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