Bible Passage: Matt 24:15

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St_Gabriel

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Hello,

I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on this passage. It’s been driving me nuts.

"Therefore when you see the [Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:11] ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in [Mark 13:14; Luke 21:20; John 11:48; Acts 6:13; 21:28] the holy place ( [Mark 13:14; Rev 1:3] let the reader understand),

What on earth is ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION?
 
I guess I should also ask, where is this holy place that Jesus is talking about?
 
St_Gabriel said:
Hello,

I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on this passage. It’s been driving me nuts.

"Therefore when you see the [Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:11] ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in [Mark 13:14; Luke 21:20; John 11:48; Acts 6:13; 21:28] the holy place ( [Mark 13:14; Rev 1:3] let the reader understand),

What on earth is ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION?
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Let try to me clarify:
St. Luke 18:8- “But yet the Son of man, when he cometh, shall he find, think you, faith on earth?”

The Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ+ indicates clearly that in the last days the true Faith, the Catholic Faith, would hardly be found on the earth. Christ+ informs us lucidly that “in the holy place” itself there will be “the abomination of desolation” (Mt. 24:15), and a deception so profound that, if it were possible, even the elect would be deceived (Mt. 24:24).

St.Matthew 24:15- “When therefore you shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place:*** he that readeth let him understand.”***

St. Matthew 24:24-25- “For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect. Behold I have told it to you, beforehand.”

2 Thess. 2:3-5- “Let no man deceive you by any means, for unless there come a revolt [apostasy] first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, Who opposeth, and is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself as if he were God. Remember you not, that when I was yet with you, I told you these things?”

Pope St. Pius X, E Supremi (# 5), Oct. 4, 1903: “… there is good reason to fear lest this great perversity may be as it were a foretaste, and perhaps the beginning of those evils which are reserved for the last days; and that there may already be in the world the ‘Son of Perdition’ of whom the Apostle speaks **(2 Thess. 2:3).”1 **

In the New Testament, we are informed that this deception shall occur in the very heart of the Church’s physical structures, in “the Temple of God” (2 Thess. 2:4) and “in the holy place” (Mt. 24:15).
It will arise because people receive not the love of the truth **(2 Thessalonians 2:10). **

In 2 Thessalonians 2, St. Paul utters that the last days shall be indicated by a great apostasy that will be the worst ever.
 
A great apostasy? But won’t there be a remanent of believers?
 
It has also been suggested that:

“…the abomination of desolation…standing in the holy place…”

could point to the destruction of the temple that occurred (I think, i’m probably way out on this) at the hands of the Romans around 30 years after Jesus died, and also in the times of the crusades when the Muslim forces built their temple over the site of Solomon’s original temple. Sorry for the sketchy historical facts there, i’m in a hurry at the moment.

I may be tangling this piece of scripture with Matt. 24:1. However, this passage deals with the return of Christ and not explicitly the destruction of the temple by gentile forces.

Yet this passage, along with others that deal with the second coming, describe signs of vast destruction, which has been alluded to by scholars as also being a prophecy from Jesus of the fate of Jerusalem in the future, not just as a face value description of the last judgement. Sorry if this is confusing or muddled, i’m a little hazy regarding this!

Matt
 
From Haydock’s commentary:
The abomination of desolation was first partly fulfilled by divers profanations of the temple, as when the image of Cæsar was set up in the temple by Pilate, and Adrian’s statue in the holy of holies, and when the sacrifices were taken away; but will be more completely fulfilled by Antichrist and his precursors, when they shall attempt to abolish the holy sacrifice of the mass
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Read more from Haydock here…
 
Interesting. I wonder if the temple could refer to the temple of our body and the abomination to idolatrous thoughts which plague the soul?
 
St_Gabriel said:
Interesting. I wonder if the temple could refer to the temple of our body and the abomination to idolatrous thoughts which plague the soul?
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It certainly can be one way to see it. There are 4 senses in which Scripture is interpreted–from the CCC:
The senses of Scripture
115 According to an ancient tradition, one can distinguish between two senses of Scripture: the literal and the spiritual, the latter being subdivided into the allegorical, moral and anagogical senses. The profound concordance of the four senses guarantees all its richness to the living reading of Scripture in the Church.
116 The literal sense is the meaning conveyed by the words of Scripture and discovered by exegesis, following the rules of sound interpretation: "All other senses of Sacred Scripture are based on the literal."83
117 The spiritual sense. Thanks to the unity of God’s plan, not only the text of Scripture but also the realities and events about which it speaks can be signs.
  1. The allegorical sense. We can acquire a more profound understanding of events by recognizing their significance in Christ; thus the crossing of the Red Sea is a sign or type of Christ’s victory and also of Christian Baptism.84
  2. The moral sense. The events reported in Scripture ought to lead us to act justly. As St. Paul says, they were written “for our instruction”.85
  3. The anagogical sense (Greek: anagoge, “leading”). We can view realities and events in terms of their eternal significance, leading us toward our true homeland: thus the Church on earth is a sign of the heavenly Jerusalem.86
    118 A medieval couplet summarizes the significance of the four senses:
    The Letter speaks of deeds; Allegory to faith;
    The Moral how to act; Anagogy our destiny.87
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119 "It is the task of exegetes to work, according to these rules, towards a better understanding and explanation of the meaning of Sacred Scripture in order that their research may help the Church to form a firmer judgment. For, of course, all that has been said about the manner of interpreting Scripture is ultimately subject to the judgment of the Church which exercises the divinely conferred commission and ministry of watching over and interpreting the Word of God."88
But I would not believe in the Gospel, had not the authority of the Catholic Church already moved me.89
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I Macc 1

54 Now on the fifteenth day of Chislev, in the one hundred forty-fifth year,f they erected a desolating sacrilege on the altar of burnt offering. They also built altars in the surrounding towns of Judah, 55and offered incense at the doors of the houses and in the streets. 56The books of the law that they found they tore to pieces and burned with fire. 57Anyone found possessing the book of the covenant, or anyone who adhered to the law, was condemned to death by decree of the king. 58They kept using violence against Israel, against those who were found month after month in the towns. 59On the twenty-fifth day of the month they offered sacrifice on the altar that was on top of the altar of burnt offering. 60According to the decree, they put to death the women who had their children circumcised, 61and their families and those who circumcised them; and they hung the infants from their mothers’ necks.
62 But many in Israel stood firm and were resolved in their hearts not to eat unclean food. 63They chose to die rather than to be defiled by food or to profane the holy covenant; and they did die. 64Very great wrath came upon Israel.

hope.edu/bandstra/BIBLE/1MA/1MA1.HTM
 
The answer is in Luke 21:20-21 Jesus says “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, know that its desolation is at hand. Then those in Judea must flee into the mountains.”
History explains the first seven signs and the eighth in Matt24:15 All the earlier signs were warnings, the eighth is the last.
I paraphrase from David B. Currie’s book “Rapture” which explains the book of Revelation and debunks “The Left Behind” series

In the summer of 66 A.D., the Roman General Cestius Gallus attacked Jerusalem in response to them stopping the sacrifices for Nero in the Temple. The soldiers were up to the gates and the temple was about to fall when the Romans retreated for some unknown reason. THe Jews pursued and killed many and thought God would continue to protect them.
When Nero found out he was furious and sent General Vespasian in 67 A.D., but when Nero committed suicide Vespasian withdrew to seize the emperors thrown. Then Vespasian’s son Titus finished destroying the temple in 70 A.D.

What does this have to do with the escape of the Christians? During the initial withdrawal of troops at the news of Nero’s death Jerusalem was entirely free from being seiged. Jesus knew the margin for error would be small. read (Matt 24:17-20)
Jesus admonition to His disciples was diametrically oppossed to the instincts of every Israelite who always fled to the safety of the well fortified city. But, the christians did flee and they survived.

Don’t think this all refers to future events for us to look for. Jesus said in (Matt24:30, 34) “They will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of Heaven with power nad great glory… Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all these things take place”. Jesus is refering to a judgement of the Sanhedrin of his generation for what they had done to him. His judgment is carried out through the seige of the Roman army.(Matt 26:64) also (Luke19:41-44) and (Matt 16:27-28) This is not primarily a reference to the final judgment, but to the judgement of the Sanhedrin.
Confussed read “Rapture”
 
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