The Abomination of Desolation
Scriptures concerning the Abomination of desolation
Matthew 24:15-21
"When ye therefore shall see, the Abomination of Desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand) Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the house-top not come down to take anything out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And wo unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be in the winter, neither on the sabbath-day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be."
Daniel 11:31
"And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and they shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate."
Daniel 12:11-12
"And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days."
Daniel 9:27
"And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations, he shall make it desolate, even unto the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate."
what is the abomination of desolation?
What we know so far is that the desolation is carried out by an armed group, like in Daniel 11 when it says arms shall stand on his part, and in Matthew 24 when it says them which be in Judea flee to the mountains, them which are in Judea would be fleeing from this armed group. As to what the abomination is, the Alphabetical and Cyclopedic Index of the KJV says that image worship is one of the many abominations to God. In 2 Thessalonians 3:4, it reads, "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition: Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, , shewing himself that he is God." This leads me to think that the Abomination could be image worship, such as worshiping the man of sin who calls himself God. The abomination could also be blasphemy which is committed when the Man of Sin claims to be God. I personally believe that blasphemy is the abomination, that the Man of Sin leads an armed group, and that his armed group would carry out the desolation of Jerusalem. This would have to be yet future because the temple has to be rebuilt for all these things to happen.