Conclusion

By the preponderance of evidence in scripture, the setting up of the abomination of desolation will be the beginning of the end. This event, which will cause God's elect to flee from the adulterous Church, precedes the return of Christ on the clouds of glory. The reason that the Church is brought to desolation is because of its unfaithfulness. The growing apostasy in the Church caused the house of God to be divided (mark3:25) and overcome by those with the spirit of antichrist. God expressly told us of these things before.

When the people of the Churches take heed to seducing spirits of antichrist (1st John 4:3), and depart from obedience in the doctrines of God, they become the man of lawlessness. And this is the establishment of the man of sin ruling in the Holy Temple of God. The pastors are no longer teaching faithfully, He causes the Church to commit spiritual fornication in going after false doctrines. This is what will ultimately bring the house to desolation.

You cannot have a house where the Spirit of Christ and the spirit of antichrist dwell in peace. Because it is a house divided, and it must fall. The Church is to be the light of the world, and if that light were darkness, and then the lawful man of God must flee from it. And this is how the unfaithful Church will fall. The lawless man, moved by the spirit of antichrist, comes professing the name of Christ. But his actions give him away as he spiritually silences the true witnesses (Revelation 11:7) in the Churches so that they are spiritually as dead. The wolves in sheep's clothing will have deceived so greatly that the true doctrines and testimonies are silenced there.

The people there will hate the faithful witness, because their faithfulness to the doctrines of Christ is like torment to the unfaithful church. By rebuking and exhorting the Church to keep the laws of God faithfully, they offend many because those under deception don't want to hear of obedience to God's laws. They want to be ruled in accordance with the imaginations of their own heart, "as if" they were their own gods. They don't want God's word alone to be the authority, and so they silence the believer's testimony.

Jesus placed an extraordinary emphasis on the prophecy of the abomination, instructing that those who read should also "understand." By allowing the Word of God to define and explain itself, we have the understanding God exhorts us to. Popular authors, political interpretations, or carnal and worldly ideas about the nation of Israel cannot be allowed to mislead us.

Even if those interpretation "appear" right, appearances are deceiving (Mark 13:22; 2nd Corinthians 10:7; Revelation 13:11). Our understanding will come from the authority of scripture in the wisdom of the mind of Christ, as His Spirit witnesses with ours (Romans 8:16). We cannot do or follow whatever "seems" right in our own eyes. We follow, and are in obedience to, the authority of the word of God.

It is truly amazing that so critical an expression as, "abomination of desolation," has been so misinterpreted. These are words that have been used repeatedly and extensively in scripture. Abomination is almost exclusively used in scripture to signify "God's people" going after the false gods of the unbelievers. Likewise, Desolation is an unambiguous word. It illustrates their ruin. So why have these obvious truths been so neglected and ignored in many theological circles in favor of a political or physical understanding of the phrase? Could it be that the Biblically validated conclusion contradicts much of Judaic and Premillennial Church tradition? Nevertheless, the fact is, the Holy Temple after the cross is Christ, those in Christ, and the assembly of those saints (Church). Clearly, the stones of the Holy Temple were not in the building destroyed in A.D. 70. For in A.D. 70, the holy Temple, the Holy Place, the Jerusalem of God, was the Church.

Luke 20:16-17
"He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid.
And he beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner?"

Head stone for a rebuilding of the Holy Temple, not the pile of bricks destroyed in A.D. 70. The New Testament Holy Temple could not have been that building, nor have God call it a Holy Place where abomination would make it desolate at that time. It already was left desolate in God's eyes by the death of Christ. If we read and understand as Christ instructs, then we must come to the knowledge that earthly Jerusalem was left desolate of God at the cross, not years later in A.D. 70. That is to say, according to the Biblical narrative. The judgment of God (blindness in part) had already occurred, and there is not a single word in scripture about a second judgment in A.D. 70.

Yes, there are a few scriptures "privately interpreted" to mean that, but once examined in the light of the whole Bible, they don't hold up under the light. Christ spoke not of a temple (which wasn't of God or Holy) made of physical stones, He spoke of abomination in a Holy place. He spoke of something far more important than a pile of physical bricks falling in the Middle East. He spoke of those who were spiritually bricks, and how many would be deceived and be brought to desolation. The countless examples of such judgements of God for such abominations are illustrated vividly in Old Testament Israel.

Daniel 11:31-33
"And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.
And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days."

Here we see the characteristics of this time of the abomination of desolation. Many that are disobedient to break God's covenant are being deceived by flatteries. They pollute and profane the sanctuary, unconcerned with doctrine. In other words, by the pastors and teachers giving praise for their unlawfulness, representing them favorably when they transgress, that is the Church being corrupted by flatteries. Pastors telling them things that they want to hear, instead of the truth.

Isaiah 30:9-11
"That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us."

They are in essence calling for sacrifice and offering to cease. They don't want to hear the man of law; they want to hear the man of sin or lawlessness. And the pastors give them what they want, as this is the flattery of abominations to God. i.e., the Church wants to hear that they can be saved by free will, that divorce is not a sin to God, that abortion can be justified. They want to hear that our own faith "in" Christ saves us, that children are not really a blessing, that women can rule as pastors in the Church, that an earthly kingdom of Christ is coming, that the salvation of Israel was postponed, etc., etc.

2nd Thessalonians 2:9-11
"Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders; And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:"

It is for this reason that God will judge the Church and bring it to desolation. What many Christians fail to fully understand is that Satan is the great deceiver. And if everyone could "see" this and knew his methods, then he wouldn't be the great deceiver. That's the "whole point" of God describing him as Deceiver, Liar, Seducer, Flatterer, etc.

These are the deceptive ways that the spirit of antichrist comes in and fools people of the Church into thinking that the doctrines that they hold are the truth. Satan comes with a doctrine (1st Timothy 4:1) so mimicking the true gospel, that it would even deceive the elect of God, if that were possible. The "Man of Sin" is not Satan incarnate, he is not a supernatural being, he is not one man to be born sometime in the future, he is the man of transgression of the law. When the man of sin comes, he will come by great multitudes. Literally, the Greek phrase is "man of lawlessness" or lawless man. It's not a single person. And the man of lawlessness is antithetical to the man of lawfulness. e.g.,

This is the way Satan comes revealing himself. And even more so in the latter times when God says He that retrains iniquity shall be taken out of the midst (2nd Thessalonians 2:7). Then will the elect see Satan come in the full power of the spirit of antichrist, and as a wolf in sheep's clothing. Then will the man of sin rule in God's place.

The end of the matter is that those who receive Satan's spiritual mark (signifying their servitude), are those who are polluting the sanctuary of God with abominations that make desolate. They are the disobedient who cause the gift and offering to cease. It is their unfaithfulness that brings the Holy Temple to desolation. This is what the scriptures are "signifying" in telling the reader to understand.

Popular books may titillate and intrigue, but they are neither authoritative, nor divinely inspired. And Church tradition is not the deciding factor, and neither are historians, no matter how faithful they may appear to be. The Word of God is the final authority on what the abomination of Desolation is, so let the reader both hear and understand what the Spirit says to the Churches concerning it.

The signs of Church degradation will be there for faithful Christians to "see" this abomination in God's house, and know that it's desolation is nigh. But as Christ said, we must be watching.

Matthew 24:42-44
“Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this that if the Goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh."

There is nothing more sacred to an honest mind than truth. It's true Christ will come as a thief in the night, but "not" for the faithful who are watching (1st Thessalonians 5:2-4 ). If we are not (spiritually speaking) watching, then our house will be broken up and the Lord will come in judgment upon us when we think not. But if we watch and pray, we will be accounted worthy to escape all these things that will befall the house of God and to stand undefiled and righteous before God.

The signs Christ spoke of in Matthew 24 are the spiritual precursors of His return. They are not people physically starving, or predictions of physical wars, which things we have with us always and thus could never be signs of anything but normality. The signs are of spiritual declension where the love of God grows cold and iniquity (sin or lawlessness) abounds.

The opinions, interpretations and suppositions of men cannot be allowed to conceal the truth of scripture concerning things that were, are, and will be. Eschatology is simply the revelation of the gospel of the kingdom of Christ of the last things. It entails Christ's promises, death, resurrection, our assurance and endurance, our hope, and His coming again. And thus it should never be looked upon as a non-essential.

Consequently, the abomination of desolation is not an unimportant side note, it is the declaration of Christ, which He obviously wants us to read and understand. The Abomination of Desolation is the beginning of the end, and God does not give warning just to take up space in the Bible. For judgment must begin at the house of God.

Are we really watching and ready?

Will we be able to recognize abomination standing in the holy place, or will we chalk it up to a few weeds in the field?

Do we really understand, or are we deceived into thinking Christ spoke of the relatively insignificant happenings in A.D. 70? Those are the questions that we need to be prepared to answer, and answer honestly and authoritatively.

May the Lord who is Gracious above all, grant us the wisdom and knowledge in wide open eyes to see when abomination stands in the Holy place. May He bless us in the study of His Holy Word, and guide us into a clear understanding that His thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are your ways our ways (Isaiah 55:8). We pray that God will grant us sound judgement in the mind of Christ, by His Word, through His Holy Spirit.

################################

This is what we have been watching for...Satan has invaded the Church and will take it over completely very soon. For surely this is the Holy Place that is experiencing this "Abomination of desolation". I pray we all have eyes to see this and are fleeing to the Most High, His Word, and His love and protection.

JESUS IS ALL AND EVERYTHING!!

Patti C.

Hi Patti,

Great find! I was blessed by your post of this article. I felt a deep sense of peace while reading it and was truly moved. I witness the spirit of God within his word and believe this to be the TRUTH! With Love, Michael

Dearest Michael,

What a blessing it was to read your message this morning. I am so glad that you took the time to read and absorb this article. I felt the same way when I read it, so much truth in it. The great falling away within the Church, so many turning from the Truth and falling for "religious" lies. It is as if mankind, like Adam and Eve, are being tested by the "subtle serpent", as he stands in the "Holy place", declaring he is God.

Thanks for making my day with your encouraging comments, dear brother.

Agape!

Patti C.

Hi Patti,

What is going on in the churches today is truly an abomination, that causes spiritual desolation!

I must say, one MUST "come out from amongst her", in order to hear, receive and believe the truth when it is exposed. And when it is! I read an interesting quote that is appropriate to use here.

"When a person who has been honestly mistaken receives the truth, he either ceases to be mistaken, or he ceases to be honest." Steve Coerper

Stay in His service,

Blessed Be His Name

Hi Linda!

Thanks for the comments and the great quote!! How true! Until recently I had not considered the Church as where the abomination of desolation would take place, but once I did, it just fit so well, and is reflected so clearly in the worldly end time churches!! Wow!

So glad to see others are coming to the similar conclusions, especially those I trust and admire.

Agape!

Patti C.

Bump