THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION TIMES TWO
There are actually two Abominations of Desolation. Both of them are mentioned in Daniel. The first one is mentioned in Daniel 11:31. If you go from Daniel 11:1 to 11:31 you will find that it matches every single battle and skirmish from the time Alexander the Great conquered Persia until the time when Antiochus IV, bitter at the Jews, overthrew the Temple and set up a pagan altar.
To see a detailed timeline of Daniel 11:1-31, I recommend you check out truthnet.org. You will be astounded at its accuracy!
Daniel 11:31 "And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation."
Josephus records the event:
. . .However, in that citadel dwelt the impious and wicked part of the [Jewish] multitude, from whom it proved that the citizens suffered many and sore calamities. And when the king [Antiochus IV] had built an idol altar upon God’s altar, he slew swine upon it, and so offered a sacrifice.This would be considered the only abomination of desolation if Jesus had not spoken of it as being an event in the future.
Mark 13:14 "So when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not" (let the reader understand), "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains."
Here we find that it is two-fold. The first abomination of desolation, the pagan altar in the temple happened in 167 B.C. When does the second abomination of desolation take place? Let us look at the second mention of it in Daniel.
Daniel 12:11 "From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days"
Notice that in this passage there is no mention of defiling the temple fortress. That is because the second time happens on the Temple Mount without a Temple present.
So, when does this 2nd Abomination of Desolation take place? Daniel said that there are 1,290 days between when the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up. Since there is no mention in John’s Revelation about daily sacrifices being abolished, we need to look at when it actually happened in the past. There have been three times when this has happened. The second time that the daily sacrifices were abolished was in Daniel’s time in the year 583 BC. The third time was when Antiochus IV abolished them and enforced the sacrifice of swine upon the pagan altar.
Let us look at the second time. Since we know that years in prophecy are many times represented as days, the 1,290 days can actually be years. Not only that, but you will see that both lunar and solar years can apply to this date. First, we will look at the lunar years. How many days are in a lunar calendar year? 360 days are in a lunar calendar year. This is 5 and ¼ days less than the solar calendar year goes by which is what most of the world uses today. So, if these years are lunar years, then we need to use a solar to lunar year converter. What percentage is 360 of 365.25? The answer is 98.56% or .9856. How do we change the 1,290 lunar years into solar years? It’s simple.
We multiply 1,290 by .9856 and we come up with 1,271. So, 1,290 lunar years are equal to 1,271 solar years. If we add 1.271 years to 583 BC, that takes us to the year 688 AD. What happened in 688 AD that was a historical event in the history of Israel? 688 AD is the year that Islam began the construction of the Dome of the Rock upon the Temple Mount. Now, we are beginning to see the fog clear a little on the context of the prophecy in Revelation 11.
What happens if we don’t convert the figure 1,290 into solar years? What if we treat 1,290 as solar years instead of lunar years? Let’s try that. Add 1,290 years to the year 583 BC and you come to the year 707 AD. Is there anything special about that year? Yes, there is. This is the year that Islam began construction of the second mosque in the Gentile Court of the Temple Mount named al-Aqsa, meaning "farthest from Mecca." So, both times, 688 AD and 707 AD, match perfectly with the times of the construction of the two Muslim Mosques on the Temple Mount. The Dome of the Rock was built almost directly over where both Solomon’s and Herod’s Temples were built, while al-Aqsa was built in the Gentile or Outer Court area.
Click the link below to go to the next section.
Josephus records the event:
. . .However, in that citadel dwelt the impious and wicked part of the [Jewish] multitude, from whom it proved that the citizens suffered many and sore calamities. And when the king [Antiochus IV] had built an idol altar upon God’s altar, he slew swine upon it, and so offered a sacrifice.This would be considered the only abomination of desolation if Jesus had not spoken of it as being an event in the future.
Mark 13:14 "So when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not" (let the reader understand), "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains."
Here we find that it is two-fold. The first abomination of desolation, the pagan altar in the temple happened in 167 B.C. When does the second abomination of desolation take place? Let us look at the second mention of it in Daniel.
Daniel 12:11 "From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days"
Notice that in this passage there is no mention of defiling the temple fortress. That is because the second time happens on the Temple Mount without a Temple present.
So, when does this 2nd Abomination of Desolation take place? Daniel said that there are 1,290 days between when the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up. Since there is no mention in John’s Revelation about daily sacrifices being abolished, we need to look at when it actually happened in the past. There have been three times when this has happened. The second time that the daily sacrifices were abolished was in Daniel’s time in the year 583 BC. The third time was when Antiochus IV abolished them and enforced the sacrifice of swine upon the pagan altar.
Let us look at the second time. Since we know that years in prophecy are many times represented as days, the 1,290 days can actually be years. Not only that, but you will see that both lunar and solar years can apply to this date. First, we will look at the lunar years. How many days are in a lunar calendar year? 360 days are in a lunar calendar year. This is 5 and ¼ days less than the solar calendar year goes by which is what most of the world uses today. So, if these years are lunar years, then we need to use a solar to lunar year converter. What percentage is 360 of 365.25? The answer is 98.56% or .9856. How do we change the 1,290 lunar years into solar years? It’s simple.
We multiply 1,290 by .9856 and we come up with 1,271. So, 1,290 lunar years are equal to 1,271 solar years. If we add 1.271 years to 583 BC, that takes us to the year 688 AD. What happened in 688 AD that was a historical event in the history of Israel? 688 AD is the year that Islam began the construction of the Dome of the Rock upon the Temple Mount. Now, we are beginning to see the fog clear a little on the context of the prophecy in Revelation 11.
What happens if we don’t convert the figure 1,290 into solar years? What if we treat 1,290 as solar years instead of lunar years? Let’s try that. Add 1,290 years to the year 583 BC and you come to the year 707 AD. Is there anything special about that year? Yes, there is. This is the year that Islam began construction of the second mosque in the Gentile Court of the Temple Mount named al-Aqsa, meaning "farthest from Mecca." So, both times, 688 AD and 707 AD, match perfectly with the times of the construction of the two Muslim Mosques on the Temple Mount. The Dome of the Rock was built almost directly over where both Solomon’s and Herod’s Temples were built, while al-Aqsa was built in the Gentile or Outer Court area.
Click the link below to go to the next section.