Matthew 24:15

"Therefore" or "So" (Gr. oun) ties this pericope very closely to the preceding one. It does not indicate, however, that what follows in the text will follow chronologically what Jesus just finished describing, namely the end of the Tribulation. In view of Daniel’s chronology, it seems to occur in the middle of the seven-year Tribulation.

The "abomination of desolation," or "the abomination characterized by desolation," is a term Daniel used in Daniel 8:13; Daniel 9:27; Daniel 11:31; and Daniel 12:11. It describes something that because of its abominable character causes the godly to desert the temple on its account. [Note: C. E. B. Cranfield, "St. Mark 13," Scottish Journal of Theology 6 (July 1953):298-99.] In Daniel 11:31 the prophet referred to Antiochus Epiphanes as an abomination that caused desolation. He proved to be this when he erected an altar to Zeus over the brazen altar in Jerusalem and proceeded to offer a swine on it. In the Bible the Greek word translated "abomination" (bdeluyma) describes something particularly detestable to God that He rejects. [Note: Toussaint, Behold the . . ., p. 273.] It often refers to heathen gods and the articles connected with idolatry. [Note: Cranfield, p. 298.] In the contexts of Daniel’s references it designates an idol set up in the temple.

Jesus urged the reader of Daniel’s references to the abomination of desolation, particularly the ones dealing with a future abomination of desolation (Daniel 9:27; Daniel 12:11), to understand their true meaning. Jesus further stressed the importance of these prophecies by referring to Daniel as "the prophet." Matthew’s inclusion of the phrases "the abomination of desolation," which Luke omitted, and "the holy place," which Mark and Luke omitted, were appropriate in view of his Jewish audience.

Daniel 9:24-27 predicted that from the time someone issued a decree allowing the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem until the coming of Israel’s Messiah, 69 weeks (lit. sevens) of years would elapse. This 483-year period began when King Artaxerxes issued his decree, and it ended when Jesus entered Jerusalem in the Triumphal Entry (Matthew 21:8-11). Because Israel refused to accept Jesus as her King, the events that Daniel prophesied would happen in the seventieth week (i.e., the remaining seven years in his 70-week prophecy) would not follow immediately. What Daniel predicted would happen in those seven years was unique national distress for Israel (Daniel 12:1; cf. Jeremiah 30:7). It would commence when a wicked ruler would sign a covenant with Israel (Daniel 9:27). After three and a half years, the ruler would break the covenant and terminate worship in the temple. He would end temple worship by setting up an abominable idol there (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:4; Revelation 13:14-15).

Some interpreters have concluded that we should not take Daniel’s prophecy of the seventieth week literally and or as still future. Some of them believe the abomination of desolation refers to the Zealots’ conduct in the temple before the Romans’ destroyed it in A.D. 70. [Note: E.g., Alford, 1:239; and Lenski, p. 938.] This view seems unlikely since the Zealots did not introduce idolatry into the temple. This view seems to water down the force of "abomination." Another view is that when the Romans brought their standards bearing the image of Caesar into the temple and offered sacrifices to their gods they set up the abomination that Daniel predicted. [Note: E.g., J. Marcellus Kik, Matthew Twenty-Four, An Exposition, p. 45; Carson, "Matthew," p. 500; Morison, pp. 467-68; Shepard, p. 517; and Vincent, 1:128.] The main problem with this view is that Jesus told the Jews living in Jerusalem and Judea to flee when the abomination appeared in the temple (Matthew 24:16-20). However when the Romans finally desecrated the temple in A.D. 70 most of the Jews had already left Jerusalem and Judea. Thus Jesus’ warning would have been meaningless.

". . . there is reasonably good tradition that Christians abandoned the city, perhaps in A.D. 68, about halfway through the siege." [Note: Carson, "Matthew," p. 501.]

There are several reasons why the abomination of desolation must be a future event in God’s eschatological program. First, Matthew 24:15 is in a context of verses that describes events that have not yet happened (Matthew 24:14-21; cf. Matthew 24:29). Second, Daniel’s seventieth week, with its unique trouble, has not yet happened. Third, Mark described Jesus saying that the abomination of desolation would stand (masculine participle estekota) as a person who set himself up as God in the temple (Mark 13:14). This has never happened since Jesus made this prophecy. Fourth, other later revelation points to the future Antichrist as the abomination of desolation (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4; Revelation 13:11-18). [Note: Toussaint, Behold the . . ., pp. 274-75.]

"An interesting parenthesis occurs at the end of Matthew 24:15 -’whoso readeth, let him understand.’ This statement indicates that what Jesus was teaching would have greater significance for people reading Matthew’s Gospel in the latter days." [Note: Wiersbe, 1:88.]