The Abomination of Desolation - Gospel of Matthew - Part 69
The Abomination of Desolation
Matthew 24:15-28
Immanuel – 4/6/25
Jerusalem had become like a barren tree, yielding no fruit of righteousness. God in the flesh had come to her and she had rejected Him. More than that, she wanted to kill Him. And if Jerusalem wanted His blood, His blood He would offer. Christ’s spilled blood was the dawning of salvation for His followers; but for Jerusalem, it meant brooding clouds of judgment.
It is Tuesday before the cross, and Jesus has prophesied that present generation would see the destruction of Jerusalem and her temple. After sitting down on the Mount of Olives, the disciples ask Jesus a question regarding these apocalyptic oracles.
Read vs 3
The disciples ask when the temple would be destroyed, and if there would be any signs preceding its destruction. And as we saw last week, the disciples associated two different things with the destruction of the temple:
1. Judgment for the temple would arrive at Jesus’ coming.
2. The destruction of the temple was the end of the age.
Last Sunday I explained that the disciples understood the temple’s destruction meant the end of a covenantal age, the end of an age governed by Mosaic laws and systems. They were not referring to the end of the world – though it was the end of the world as they knew it.
They were also keenly aware that a new age was dawning in Christ. Every time Jesus declared the kingdom of God was at hand, that it had come, Jesus was talking about a whole new age. In just a few days’ time, Jesus would ratify the covenant of this new age with His own precious blood.
The disciples were right: The destruction of the temple was the end of the covenantal age which governed the world from Sinai to Golgotha.
And the disciples also correctly understood that the destruction of the temple signaled Jesus’ arrival. I’ll explain what that is about next week, though we will see a flash of it today as we continue through the Olivet Discourse.
The Olivet Discourse, Matthew 24 & 25, is entirely prophetic. It is the longest recording of Jesus’ prophesies. And as I have said, the whole prophetic discourse is a response to the disciples’ question: When will the temple be destroyed and will there be any signed preceding its destruction?
We’ve already seen how the “signs of the end” – from verses 4-14 – were powerfully fulfilled in the years preceding 70 AD. In verse 15, we are immediately confronted with the abomination of desolation. As you shall shortly see, Jesus’ prophesies have taken us to 70 AD and the events that culminate in Jerusalem’s desolation.
As we step through this passage today, I want you to perceive how Jesus cared for His people. His prophesies were great mercy for His people; and truly, He spoke them in love.
Read vs 15
There are three pieces of information in this verse that opens the meaning of the abomination of desolation.
First: Jesus says, “when you see…” Jesus reenforces the expectation that “that generation” would be present for these things. Jesus in not telling the disciples of something they would have no chance of seeing. In other words, the abomination of desolation would happen within their potential lifespans.
Second: the parenthetical statement “let the reader understand.” This means the original readers of Matthew’s gospel (and all subsequent readers) would be able to understand the abomination of desolation before it occurs. It is not a hidden mystery, and it is not something that only future generations could discern. Additionally, “let the reader understand” indicates that to understand the abomination of desolation you’ll have to think hard, you’ll have to study.
Third: Daniel spoke of the abomination of desolation – and this is what the reader must study. Whatever Jesus is prophesying about, the prophet Daniel has already prophesied. So we must go back some 550 years where we find, tucked into Daniel’s ancient writings, two distinct abominations of desolation prophesied.
The first abomination of desolation is found in Daniel 11. In the time between Daniel and Jesus, in the inter-testament period, this first abomination of desolation occurred. Antiochus IV, king of the Seleucid Empire, made war against the Jews. He thought of himself as “god manifest;” and in honor of himself he had a pig sacrificed in Jerusalem’s temple. This led to the Maccabean Revolt and a miraculous Jewish victory. Hanukah is the annual celebration of this victory and cleansing of the abomination of desolation.
The key elements to remember about this fulfilled abomination of desolation was that it involved an invading foreign army and there was a desecration of the temple.
Daniel’s second abomination of desolation is in chapter 9, towards the end of an enigmatic 70 weeks.
The people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.
-Daniel 9:26-27
Without unpacking this whole prophecy – because there is much to unpack – see those key elements: the city (Jerusalem) and the sanctuary (the temple) will be destroyed by war. This is the prophesied desolation. But before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, there will be an abomination. As Daniel says, “on the wings of abomination shall come one who makes desolate.” First the abomination, then the desolation.
In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus prophesies that Daniel’s unfulfilled abomination of desolations is coming.
Again, here are the three references Jesus gives to the coming abomination of desolation:
1. It will be possible for the disciples to see it in their lifetime.
2. The meaning of the abomination of desolation is understandable; they can discern what it is before it occurs.
3. The meaning of the abomination of desolation is found in Daniel. The temple will be desecrated and then an invading army will destroy Jerusalem.
Luke records a condensed version of the Olivet Discourse which runs in parallel to Matthew. Matthew wrote to Jews, who knew Daniel’s prophecies. Luke wrote to a Greek, and he decided not to us the phrase “abomination of desolation.” What he writes is revealing.
“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains…” -Luke 21:20-21
Instead of abomination of desolation, Luke talks about invading armies. At this point, isn’t the picture clear? The abomination of desolation was an invading army, and before the army destroyed the temple, the temple would be defiled in some way. Jesus informed His disciples beforehand, that they might flee the oncoming disaster.
Now, let us consider the events of 70 AD. Three and a half years earlier, Rome unleashed the full force of their military on the revolting Jews. They burned, killed, and conquered their way through Galilee and Judea. On May 1st, when Jerusalem was swollen with pilgrims for Passover, Roman legions led by Titus descended upon Jerusalem and encircled it. The invading army from the north began a five-month long siege.
These events have been recorded for us with astounding detail by a man named Josephus. Born in Jerusalem, Josephus was a Jewish military commander and zealot that fought against the Romans. During the war he was captured by the Romans and befriended them. Josephus became a historian with insights into both the Romans and Jews. “The War of the Jews,” a huge volume of work, was written by Josephus and we have it in our Book Nook.
Josephus lived and died as a Jew. Though he was aware of Jesus, there is no indication he was aware of Jesus’ teachings. And yet, it is as if God used Josephus to help history see the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophesies.
Nearing the end of the siege, Josephus – on behalf of the Romans – approached temple walls and shouted a plea to the Jews inside. He recorded what he said. It’s a long excerpt.
Titus offers you his right hand for your security. If he must take the city by force, he will not spare anyone, especially if you now reject his offer. The first two walls have already been taken. It is only a matter of time until the third wall falls. Surrender now, before it is too late. Surely, you have to realize that because of your wickedness and abominations that God has left you and is now settled in Italy!
You are all miserable creatures, the whole lot of you! When have we Jews ever been successful in engaging in the sort of things you are now doing? We have been victorious only when we put ourselves in the hands of God! I fear my appeals will only fall on deaf ears, but you must realize that you are fighting, not only against the Romans, but against God Himself! Did our forefathers rise up in rebellion against Pharaoh? No! They appealed to God, and He delivered them. When the Philistines defeated the Israelites in battle and seized the Ark of the LORD, was God powerless in Philstia? No! He toppled their god Dagon and ravaged the Philistines, without the help of Israel! Who saved Jerusalem from Sennacherib? It was the LORD, without need to Jerusalem’s army! The kingdom of Judah was destroyed and sent into exile after we rebelled against Babylon, but once in exile, it was the LORD who worked within the heart of Cyrus and impressed upon him to let the Jew return to Judea! Every time our fathers went to war, they failed! Every time they entrusted themselves to God, they were successful! Yet you persist in these abominations within the city!1
As for the abominations, Josephus wrote
[The Jewish Zealots] invaded the sanctuary with polluted feet and mocked the temple ritual, while the sanctuary was defiled with blood as factional fighting broke out.2
In other words, the Jews fought with each other and defiled the temple with the spilled blood of their brothers. Surely, it was an abomination before the Lord.
A second possible abomination came when the Romans finally took the temple compound. Josephus writes,
The Romans upon the flight of the seditious into the city, and upon the burning of the holy house itself, and of all the buildings lying round about it, brought their ensigns [Roman standards – the eagle] to the Temple, and set them over against its eastern gate; and there did they offer sacrifices to them, and there did they make Titus imperator, with the greatest acclamations of joy.3
The Romans set up an idol and worshipped a false god from within the temple – so similar to what touched off the Maccabean Revolt. Surely, such idol worship within the temple was an abomination before the Lord. In 70 AD, the Romans brought desolation to Jerusalem. Both the Jews and the Romans desecrated the temple.
But before the end came, when Romans were marching on Jerusalem, Jesus gave warnings to flee. Common sensibilities dictated going inside the city, to find shelter behind Jerusalem’s formidable fortifications. But Jesus said, “Flee!”
Read vs 16-20
After three years of destroying and killing their way through the lands of the Jews – the Promised Land, in 69 AD the Romans were finally preparing to attack Jerusalem. Vespasian was the Roman commander at the time, but he was suddenly and abruptly summoned to Rome. This forced the Romans to hold off their attack for a few months.
Eusebius, a 3rd century Christian historian writes that Jerusalem’s Christians used the opportunity to escape to a city in the mountains across the Jordan River.
To Pella those who believed in Christ migrated from Jerusalem; and as if holy men had utterly abandoned the royal metropolis of the Jews and the entire Jewish land, the judgement of God at last overtook them for their abominable crimes against Christ and His apostles, completely blotting out that wicked generation from among men.
The Christians had heeded Jesus’ warning and fled Judea for the mountains.
Read vs 21
You’ve likely heard of the Great Tribulation. Modern Christianity often teaches that this will come at the end of history with terrible war and persecution and disaster. Indeed, that’s how it sounds, saying that the great tribulation will be: such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.
But this is apocalyptic language, a Biblical genre that uses symbols and exaggerated language in reference to judgment. I want to show you that this is not about the end of the world, but a Jewish way of talking about a horrific judgment. Here’s one example.
Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I, even I, am against you. And I will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations. And because of all your abominations I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again.” -Ezekiel 5:8-9
Ezekiel was prophesying the destruction of the first temple by the Babylonians, which happened in 586 BC. Now, was that a judgment like had never been done, and will never be done again? Or was the judgment in 70 AD the one which had not been from the beginning of the world nor will ever be again? They cannot both be the worst ever.
But if you understand that this is typical Jewish apocalyptic language, you understand verse 21 to be about an exceedingly terrible judgment, a great tribulation, not the end of the world. Yet, despite the hyperbolic and apocalyptic use of language, it might be safe to say that this was the worst tribulation to ever come upon covenant Israel in their covenant land.
Read vs 22
If the siege lasted more than five months, no human would have survived. We already heard Josephus say virtually the same thing. Hundreds of thousands of Jew died inside of the walls during the siege, and yet history does not record the death of a single Christian. It would seem they all escaped. And if any remained in Jerusalem, history indicates they survived. God cut short the days of tribulation for the sake of His elect.
The elect is a word synonymous with the chosen people of God. Notice how the identity of God’s chosen people has shifted. No longer are they limited to Jewish bloodlines. The chosen people of God – the elect – have now become those who trust in Jesus. And God Almighty is working all things together for their good, even through great tribulations.
Read vs 23-26
This is the second time Jesus has prophesied false christs and false prophets. The first time was in verse 5. But He raises the warning again in relationship to the abomination of desolation. And indeed, both false christs and false prophets arose during the final stages of the war.
George Peter Holford, summarizing Josephus, writes about one of these notable false prophets:
A false prophet, pretending to be a divine commission, said that if the people would flee to the temple, they should behold signs of speedy deliverance. Accordingly, about 6000 people, chiefly women and children, assembled in a gallery that was yet standing, on the outside of the building. While they waited in anxious expectation of the promised miracle, the Romans, with the most wanton barbarity, set fire to the gallery. Multitudes, rendered frantic by their horrible situation, threw themselves from the gallery onto the ruins below and were killed with the fall. Meanwhile, awful to relate, the rest, without a single exception, perished in the flames.
How merciful of Jesus to issue a warning against following such deluded claimants! For following them was a sure death! As Jesus says in verse 25, “See, I have told you beforehand”
Read vs 27
When lightning strikes, the entire horizon lights up. It’s obvious. It’s clear. It’s unmissable. So will be the coming of the Son of Man. The false christs, which Jesus had just prophesied about, were not so obvious. They were chasing delusions and making promises that never arrived. It will not be so at the coming of the Son of Man. His appearance will be unmistakable.
I grant that Jesus could be talking about His return at the close of history. That day will be glorious beyond measure and no one – not a single person – will miss being thunderstruck by His return. For then will all things be made new in totality and awe.
And yet, there is another meaning in these words. But I will leave that for next week when we study Jesus’ prophesy of the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory (verse 30). But first, Jesus concludes this section on the abomination of desolation with more ominous words.
Read vs 28
Josephus records that 1.2 million Jews died during the war between the Jews and Rome. Modern historians think Josephus over estimated, but they claim at least a quarter of the Jewish population in Palestine was wiped out. Either way, the number of dead was astronomical. Surely, the scavengers received their fill.
It’s also interesting to note that the Greek has no distinction between the word for vulture and eagle. Verse 28 could just as easily read: Wherever the corpse is, there the eagles will gather. Do you know what every Roman legion bore as its Standard? The Eagle – Aquilla. They worshipped Aquilla like a god, which you heard they did as Jerusalem’s temple was burning.
The Roman legions had come to feast upon the Jews, turning the Promised Land into a land of corpses. It was the severest of judgments, a reckoning for shedding centuries of innocent blood. And worst of all, as they demanded the Son of God be crucified like a criminal, Jerusalem cried out,
“His blood be on us and on our children!” -Matthew 27:25
Back to Luke’s parallel account of the abomination of desolation. There Jesus says,
“These are the days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written.” – Luke 21:22
God was bringing vengeance upon that generation for their merciless slaying of His one and only, most beloved, Son. Trust me, I have left out countless wretched details about the vexation of those days. It was horrific beyond imagining: a great tribulation.
The world as it was, was ending. It was the end of the Mosaic age. The words of Jesus – our God and King, the Great Prophet – were precisely and fully fulfilled, just as He said, as only the Alpha and Omega could possible foresee.
Thus, in the midst of Jerusalem’s great tribulation, untold number of Christians were spared, warned to flee by Jesus Himself. The King cares for His people!
And this same King, who sits upon heavens throne today, goes on caring for His people. Though we do not face the great tribulation that came upon Jerusalem, various tribulations ripple through the centuries and meet us in our day.
In verse 24, as Jesus warned of false christs and false prophets, He said they would lead many astray, and “if possible, even the elect.” But I want you to see that it is an ironic statement. For the elect cannot be led astray.
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” -John 10:27-30
Doubts will come, and pain, and eventually death – for Scripture says that this life is filled with suffering and it ends in death. But if you are Christ’s, you know His voice, no one can snatch you out of His hand. No deceiver in this world, no tribulation that afflicts, no death that steals, nothing can snatch you from His mighty and loving hand! God has emptied heaven for your sake, raining down grace upon grace into our hearts.
So as the writer of Hebrews says,
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. -Hebrews 10:23-25
Christ is our refuge and rock. If we stand upon Him, holding fast to the confession of our hope, we shall not be shaken. He has promised it and He is Faithful and True!
So spur one another on to good works. Do not sit idle as time passes you by. Souls are perishing without Jesus! Do not neglect church, for in each other’s presence we commune with Christ. Encourage one another, for the days are hard and the world wars against us. We are bound to one another, you and I, let us carry each other through the few short days of our lives, that we would arrive together safely home. And there we shall stand before the face of our King, in glory and victory, overcomers because He has overcome!
No matter how great the tribulation we face, this is our hope. Let us stand fast to the confession of our hope, and all the more as we see the Day drawing near!
1Josephus. The War of the Jews. Book 5 Chapter 9.
2Josephus. The War of the Jews. Book 4.
3Josephus. The War of the Jews. Book 6 Chapter 6.
