The Abomination of Desolation Set Up: A.D. 66
Revised: 2011 Oct 17
The prophet Daniel foresaw an “abomination that makes desolate.” It would be “set up” at the “time of the end” (Dan. 12:9, 11, ESV throughout unless otherwise noted). Many claim this means a future antichrist will place an idolatrous image in a yet-to-be-built temple in modern-day Jerusalem. A brief, systematic investigation of Scripture and the historical record exposes such speculation as completely unnecessary.
Jesus Christ referred to Daniel’s abomination of desolation:
15“So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. (Matt. 24:15–16)
Notice three important clues here:
- Jesus indicated the very people he was speaking to would witness the event;
- The abomination would stand, or be “set up” in something called the “holy place”;
- It was the sign to flee.
Christ’s first-century contemporaries, i.e., his disciples, or at least, some of them, would live through the fulfillment of the abomination of desolation. So, any suggestion of a future fulfillment can be dismissed at the outset.
It is usually assumed “holy place” refers to a temple. Granted, the Temple at Jerusalem was referred to as “this holy place” twice in Acts. (See ch. 6:13-14; 21:28.) However, the term had a broader scope in the ancient Jewish mindset as revealed by the author of 2 Maccabees:
[God] As he promised in the law, will shortly have mercy upon us, and gather us together out of every land under heaven into the holy place (2 Macc. 2:18, KJV).
This is referring to numerous Israelites returning to the Promised Land. The “holy place” mentioned here could not be something as small as a temple. It is described as an area God’s people “out of every land under heaven” could fit into. Therefore, Christ’s reference to a holy place in Matthew 24 should not necessarily be limited to a temple. Jesus could have meant the entire Holy Land, or more likely, the city of Jerusalem where the population would swell to over three million when Jews from “every nation” gathered for annual holy days. (See Acts 2:5; Flavius Josephus, The Wars of the Jews 2.14.3.280).
The appearance of the abomination of desolation was the signal to flee, but from Matthew’s account the nature of the event is far from clear. Fortunately, Luke illuminates the issue by referring to the sign more specifically:
20…when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. 21Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it (Luke 21:20-21)
What Matthew refers to as the “abomination of desolation,” Luke calls “armies.” What Matthew refers to as the “holy place,” Luke calls “Jerusalem.” We know Matthew and Luke are writing about the same event because both references are from their accounts of the Olivet Discourse, and both were the sign to “flee.”
We can now conclude the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel refers to armies surrounding Jerusalem in the first century. This occurred in the fall of a.d. 66 under the command of the Roman General, Cestius Gallus.
The problem for Christians in all this was, How could they be expected to flee when the city was surrounded by thousands of Roman soldiers? As it turned out, just when Roman success was virtually guaranteed, Cestius withdrew his army for no apparent reason, providing an opportunity for escape. Josephus describes these events:
Cestius…had he but continued the siege a little longer, had certainly taken the city (Josephus, 2.19.6.538-539)
But then, a most remarkable thing occurred: “…he retired from the city without any reason in the world” (v. 540). This gave the Jews confidence to give chase. They killed 5,680 Roman soldiers before Cestius and the rest escaped. (See v. 555.)
Josephus continues:
After this calamity had befallen Cestius, many of the most eminent of the Jews swam away from the city, as if from a ship when it was going to sink (v. 556)
This was the time for Christians to heed Christ’s warning to flee. Eusebius says they fled to the city of Pella across the Jordan River in Perea (Eusebius, The Church History 3.5). After Jerusalem was finally surrounded by forces under Titus in the spring of a.d. 70, no further opportunity to escape was afforded. Those not recognizing the fulfillment of the abomination of desolation in the autumn of a.d. 66 were destined to suffer starvation, death and most significantly, the destruction of their temple. This was the fulfillment of Daniel’s “time of the end”: the end of Old Covenant sacrifices forever.
Objection: Your interpretation can’t be right. The book of Daniel in the NASB says the abomination of desolation would occur at “the end of time” (Dan. 12:4). Obviously, we have not reached that point.
Answer: This is an unfortunate rendering. Evidently, the translators allowed their flawed eschatological beliefs to corrupt their translation. Furthermore, they were inconsistent. Only five verses later, they refer to “the end time.” No other Bible in common use translates the phrase in Dan. 12:4 as “the end of time.” The correct translation is “the end time” or “the time of the end.”