Jesus was not referring to Antiochus in Matthew 24:15
Matthew 24:15-19
Because of this when you see the Abomination of Desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet Daniel 9:27 stand in the Holy Place 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 [let] the one reading understand Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains Let them who are on the housetops not come down to take anything out of their houses Neither let them who are in the fields return back to take their clothes And woe to those who are with child and to them that nurse [babies] in those days
Comments: Matthew 24:15-19 Jesus made the connection between what Daniel wrote and a catastrophic future event that will be a harbinger of the apocalypse.
Biblical passages can and often do refer to two different literal events or persons—e.g., Joel’s prophecy and Isaiah’s King of Tyre—and Daniel’s prophecy, about the abomination that makes desolate is one of these.
Daniel’s description fits Antiochus, who placed his image in the Jewish Holy of Holies. It also fits the Man of Sin—that Son of Perdition—foretold in in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4. There is little doubt that Antiochus was a type of the antichrist.
Jesus, however, connected what Daniel wrote to an event that, in his day, was still future, an event that after A.D. 70 would not even be possible, as since then and to this day, there has been no Holy Place in Jerusalem that could be made desolate.
But there will be. And when the Abomination of Desolation spoken of by Daniel makes its appearance in a future Holy of Holies, that will be less than 3 1/2 years into its renewed existence, the devastation will come so suddenly and unexpectedly there will be no time for the people to prepare.
Jesus had only one thing to say to those in Israel and most especially in Jerusalem. Run!
He used the word Judaea, because that name described what is now the Nation of Israel. At that time, if he had used the name Israel, the people of Judaea would not have identified with it. In fact, they would have been offended. For centuries, from the time of David’s grandson on, Jerusalem had been located in what Jesus called Judaea, the place the Jews of his day identified as the Kingdom of Judah, and not Israel.
The two nations of Israel and Judah were not unified as one nation again (under the name Israel) until 1948, when God restored his people back to their land. This was predicted in Ezekiel 37:16-19. The restored and unified Nation of Israel marks the first and only time in history that any nation was revived after being dead for 2500 years.
By identifying the event (Daniel’s prophecy about the abomination that causes desolation) and saying, when you see that, RUN!” Jesus both confirmed and interpreted Daniel 9:27, where Daniel said the abomination that will come upon the desolate will come on “wings.” It will fly in swiftly. It will happen suddenly and bring fierce and utter desolation with it. In Paul’s letter to the Out-Called at Thessalonica, more details about this future event are given.
It will be a political and a religious coup, and the reign of the antichrist will cost many people their eternal souls Matthew 15:26:27, Revelation 13:13-14, Revelation 14:9-11, Revelation 19:20.
Jesus’ reference to Daniel and the abomination of Desolation, identifies this as a mid-tribulation verse. This was a prophetic warning to the generation of Jews and Christians who will be living in Israel during the final three and a half years preceding the visible and physical coming of Messiah to earth at the Battle of Armageddon. Since the devastation of Titus’ army in A.D. 70 (well after Jesus’ warning), there has been no Jewish temple in Jerusalem—no HOLY PLACE to be made desolate. So, up to the present time, there has been no way for Jesus’ prophecy in Matthew 24:15 to be fulfilled.
There is only one place on the planet where the Israelis can build their Holy Place, and that place is currently occupied by the Islamic Dome of the Rock Mosque in Jerusalem.
There will be no Jewish holy place on that site without treating with someone powerful enough to pull it off, someone both the Jews and Muslims revere. As of this writing, such a person does not exist. When that person does become politically active, Israel will be betrayed by its leaders, by those “having intelligence with” Daniel 11”30 and treating with Isaiah 28:15 the person the Bible calls, among other things, the Man of Sin 2 Thessalonians 2”3-4.
The world laughed at the prophecies about Israel becoming a nation after being dead for 2500 years. Even Christians scoffed at the prospect. But it happened, just as the scriptures predicted. And at some point, in the not-too-distant future, a leader will arise that the whole world will wonder after. And Israel’s leaders will make a treaty with this man—the treaty Isaiah said would be with death and hell (sheol) Isaiah 28:15—an agreement that will make it possible for Israel’s Holy of Holies to be restored on the only piece of ground the Hebrew scriptures will allow.
Jocelyn Andersen is the author of several non-fiction books, including, Redemption: Bible Prophecy Simplified, a Study of HOPE.
Note from the editor: I read my Bible every day, always picking up today where I left off yesterday. I call this my “on-track” Bible reading. I have been doing this for over 44 years. It was the best advice I was ever given, and it changed my life. If you are not presently doing the same, I invite you to join me. How much you read on a daily basis isn’t important. It only matters that you read, feeding your spirit with a prayerful dose of the living and powerful Word of God.
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