Therefore when you see the Abomination of Desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; let him who is on the housetop not go down to get things out that are in his house; and let him who is in the field not turn back to get his cloak, (Matt. 24:15-18).

Before we can deal with this passage in Matthew, we must go back in time to the Old Covenant. The “abomination of desolation” has a long history in connection with the Jews.

The Abomination of Desolation, according to most commentators, is armies surrounding Jerusalem, circling before the city's final fall in A.D. 70.17 This is based upon Luke 21:20-22: “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is at hand. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those in the midst of the city depart, and let not those who are in the country enter the city; because these are the days of vengeance, in order that all things which are written may be fulfilled,” (Luke 21:20-22). On the surface, this seems a reasonable conclusion, but extended study of the meaning of “abomination of desolation” reveals that the Roman armies cannot be the abomination itself. Rather Jerusalem's destruction is the inevitable result of that abomination of desolation. Rather, the abomination of desolation is that which is standing in the Holy Place that brings God's judgment to Jerusalem, this time in the form of the armies of Rome. To understand this more, we must look at the words “abomination” and “desolation” and how they are used throughout the Bible. The word for “abomination” is to'eta, and the word for “detestable/desolation” is sheqets.

First off, we find that “abomination” has a very precise theological meaning in the Old Testament, a meaning which eliminates either Roman armies or Edomite armies a priori from being the abomination spoken of. One of the big problems with English translations of the Bible is that they use the terms “abomination” and “desolation” as if they were interchangeable and referred to the same general idea. They don't.

The Hebrew word translated “abomination” is to'eba, and it means “those persons, things, or practices that offend another's sensibilities. ... in most cases to'eba has reference to that which is repugnant” to God (ISBE). An abomination was something found personally revolting, a personal opinion that something was horrible or aesthetically displeasing. The word translated “detestable/desolation” is sheqets. “Whereas to'eba includes that which is aesthetically and morally repulsive, its synonym sheqets denotes that which is culturally unclean, especially idolatry.” (TWOT). Further, the idea of “detestable” has connection to religious curses, where an “abomination” is simply a personal horror. “Abomination” is traditionally connected with the Holy Land; an abomination defiles the land of God's people. “Detestable” is much more technical, referring to the defiling of God's sanctuary, the Throne-Presence of God (such as the Temple or Tabernacle). It is when the two are combined that we reach the level of Daniel's “abomination of desolation,” more properly translated as the “detestable thing of desolation” (Dan. 9:31). This “abomination of desolation” implies the entrance of an abomination, something considered personally abhorrent, into the sanctuary of God, and becomes detestable. We discover this connection in Deuteronomy:

The carved images of their gods you shall burn with fire. You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, lest you be ensnared by it, for it is an abomination to the LORD your God. And you shall not bring an abominable thing into your house and become devoted to destruction like it [lit. become banned like it]. You shall utterly detest and abhor it, for it is devoted to destruction [lit. it is banned], (Deut. 7:25-26).

The word here most appropriately translated “ban” is harem, the opposite of sacrifice. The sacrifices were given to God's fire for food, the banned items given to God's fire for destruction. We find that because the idol is an abomination in the eyes of God, it is to be cast out, and the person who does not cast it out will be cast out himself. To'eba, the word for “Abomination” is used in a number of passages. It refers to homosexuality and idolatry (Lev. 18:22-30; 20:1-5, 13, 22-23). God abominates images (Deut. 27:15), their gold and silver (Deut. 7:25), the wages of prostitution (Deut. 23:18), those with a perverse mind (Pro. 11:20), lying lips (Prov. 12:22), sacrifice of the wicked (Prov. 15:8), arrogant people (Prov. 16:5), the lawbreaker's prayer (Prov. 28:9), unethical incense offerings (Isa. 1:13), and more. Any violation of the first commandment qualifies as an abomination: covenantal idolatry and unfaithfulness. The result of committing these abominations? God's people will be driven from the Holy Land (Ex. 18:22, 26, 27, 29, 30; 20: 13; Lev. 18:26-28; 20:3-5).

It is clear from this discussion that an “abomination” is a cultural sin, it is unfaithfulness to God and covenant, compromising with foreign idols.

A “detestable” thing (the Hebrew word sheqets) is a religious action that results in being driven from the sanctuary of God's presence, such as the Temple or Tabernacle. A detestable thing is liturgical idolatry, is done in the sanctuary. Something detestable is something that is done to God's face, in His presence. Violations of the second commandment are in view here.

And if anyone touches an unclean thing, whether human uncleanness or an unclean beast or any unclean detestable creature, and then eats some flesh from the sacrifice of the LORD's peace offerings, that person shall be cut off from his people,” (Lev. 7:21)

Becoming unclean was itself not the biggest deal in the world. Usually you simply waited until sundown and were cleansed. It did mean, however, a mild form of excommunication. You were temporarily sent out from the camp of Israel into the outer camp of the Gentiles. However, if you were in a state of uncleanness and ate a sacrifice while unclean, the punishment was total excommunication. The only solution was repentance and a Compensation Offering.
In Leviticus, a “detestable” act is not used of idols, but only in connection with the dietary and animal laws. Outside of Leviticus a “detestable” act is used in reference to ritual idolatry (Deut. 7:26; 29:17; 1 Kings 11:5, 7; 2 Kings 23:13, 24; 2 Chron. 15:8). “Detestable things” are rituals of faithless worship (Isa. 66:3) and unclean meals (Isa. 66:17). Jeremiah announces:

“If you return, O Israel,” declares the LORD, “to me you should return. If you remove your detestable things from my presence, and do not waver, and if you swear, 'As the LORD lives,' in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory,” (Jer. 4:1-2)

“For the sons of Judah have done evil in my sight, declares the LORD. They have set their detestable things in the house that is called by my name, to defile it,” (Jer. 7:30)

“I have seen your abominations, your adulteries and neighings, your lewd whorings, on the hills in the field. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! How long will it be before you are made clean?” (Jer. 13:27)

“But first I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations,” (Jer. 16:18).

Ezekiel argues that the “detestable” thing is exclusively cultic – something religious (Ezek. 5:11; 7:20; 11:18, 21; 20: 7, 8, 30; 37:23). The detestable thing was the corruption of worship in God's house. Because Israel's worship had become idolatrous, God departed from the Temple, leaving it desolate and empty (Ezek. 8-11). This resulted in the Temple's destruction. Israel's adultery at Baal-peor resulted in making them detestable (Hos. 9:10). God with throw the detestable thing over harlot Nineveh (Nah. 3:6). God says “I will remove their blood from the mouth, and their detestable things from between my teeth,” (Zech. 9:7). What is in view here is apostate Israel.

Again, what is clear is that both Israel and the gentile nations could do abominable things in God's sight: these are violations of God's general moral commands (Lev. 18:24-29). Only Israel could commit a detestable act (Lev. 20:22-26) because only Israel was allowed into God's sanctuary-presence. “The land will vomit them out if they commit general moral abominations. General moral abominations are symbolized by specific detestable acts, primarily having to do with eating the flesh of unclean animals. That which is detestable is a concentrated symbol of that which is abominable.” Leviticus 18 says that both Israelite and pagan could become abominable, where Leviticus 20 is looking only at Israel. In Leviticus 18, the land itself will drive the abomination away (whether Israelite or pagan abomination), whereas Leviticus 20 says that it is God who will drive the Israelite abomination out. And Leviticus 20 tells us why they would be sent out from the land: failure to be faithful, failure to carry out God's penalties (Lev. 20: 4-5). Israel was in a different position from the gentile nations, they were God's chosen people, they were in the sanctuary, commanded with guarding the bloodline until the Messiah. Only they could defile God's presence by committing detestable acts of idolatry, because only they were in God's presence.

We can now turn our attention to Daniel. Keeping the conclusions of this survey in our minds will make more clear what exactly the Abomination of Desolation really is.

And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator,” (Dan. 9:26-27).

I would like to tackle this passage a bit at a time, to make sure we cover everything.

First is “And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing,” (Dan. 9:26a). The one translated “anointed one” is in the Hebrew messiah. This is obviously Jesus, and moreover, it is two chapters after Christ's ascension to the heavenly Throne (Dan. 7:13-14). The Messiah's being “cut off and shall have nothing” is most likely a reference to the crucifixion (Phil. 2:7). The reference to being “cut off” is a reference to Christ being condemned for blasphemy by the apostate High Priest.

Second is “And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.” We now have a picture of the resurrected and ascended Messiah, who is now enthroned as the Prince. Furthermore, it is the people of this Prince who destroy the city (Jerusalem) and the sanctuary (Temple). How do they do this? Through liturgical prayer. In Revelation we discover that the petitions of the Church are brought down onto the earth: “And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake,” (Rev. 8:1-5). Liturgy effects history. What we bind on earth is bound in heaven, and what is loosed on earth is loosed in heaven (Matt. 16:19).

Third is “Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed.” The City and the Sanctuary's end will come with a flood, just like Noah (Luke 17:26), just like the curses of Deuteronomy 28, just like the locust flood of Joel (Joel 1). Desolations are decreed. Recall that a desolation is not an abomination, it is an idolatry. Israel will abandon the God of their fathers and reject the Messianic Prince. Even to the end of the desolations there will be war, the war of 66-70 A.D.

Fourth is “And he shall make a strong covenant with [the] many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering.” The Princely Messiah will fulfill the Old Covenant and transform it into the New Covenant. He will make this covenant with “the many” the Church during the 70th week of Daniel's prophecy. The last clause of the sentence is often mistranslated as “for half of the week.” A more accurate translation is “But in the middle of the [70th] week.” Thus it is that the last half of the week is without sacrifices and offerings. This in itself precludes any kind of reestablishment of sacrifices in some future literal millennium. Indeed, it is through Christ's work on the cross that the sacrifices are no longer needed. In fact, this is jumping the gun, but continuing sacrifices and offerings at the Temple after Christ's eternal sacrifice is idol worship – a detestable abomination, if you will.

Fifth is “And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.” As I mentioned earlier, most commentators not looking for a future “Abomination of Desolation” ascribe this to either the Edomite or Roman attacks on the City and Sanctuary. But recall our study of abominations and detestable things earlier. Gentiles like Edomites and Romans can become abominations, but they can never become a detestable thing. They are not in the sanctuary. God only ever leaves the Temple desolate after Israel abandons God's worship and rule.

While Moses was on Mount Sinai, the Israelites turned to idolatry. This included Aaron the High Priest. God responded by departing from the camp and setting his “tent” far outside of it (Ex. 33:7-9). The camp of Israel was now in danger of attack, they were weak. God did not defend them, until Moses convinced God to return (Ex. 32-34).

The book of Judges describes a continual pattern of maturing rebellion and apostasy among Israel, apostasy that does not reach its climax until the apostasy of Eli's sons. Again we find the representatives in the sanctuary. Eli's sons steal God's sacrifices and commit ritual fornication (1 Sam. 3:12-17, 22), and Eli refused to keep them from this. Because of this, God went into exile and left the Temple desolate. The priests were killed and Eli's house eternally cursed (1 Sam. 3-4). Then God brought in the Philistines to punish Israel. However, while in exile, God defeated the false gods and returned to Israel a victor (1 Sam. 5-6), and the covenant was renewed (1 Sam. 7).

Then there is the apostasy during the time of Ezekiel. The full climax of Israel's maturing evil wasn't seen until the years right before their exile. The people commit every kind of idolatry imaginable right in God's face, in the Temple. The priests were again the leaders, like Aaron had been. God departs from the Temple in Ezekiel's vision and leaves it – again – desolate (Ezek. 8-11). Nebuchadnezzer was sent to punish Israel for their detestable actions. Again the pattern is repeated, and God goes to war with the false gods of the pagan nations and is victorious (Dan. 4-5). Then God eventually allows Israel to return home and renews the covenant with them.

The forth apostasy came in the days of the Maccabees. Ezra, a new Moses, restores Israel but immediately she falls into sin (Ezra 9-10; Neh. 13; Mal.). God was again gracious and restored them. But, just like always, their sinfulness and faithlessness continued. It finally reached climax during the Maccabeean era, as prophecied by Daniel (Dan. 11) and recorded in 1 & 2 Maccabees and Josephus. The High Priests purposefully adopted Greek religion in the Temple, right to God's face. The Jews ask Antiochus Epiphanes to come to the city and give them power. Because of this, God left the Temple and City desolate (once again) and punished Israel. They angered Antiochus, who returned and enslaved them to a reign of terror. Antiochus defiled the Temple, its true, but his defilement was only the result of what the Jews had already done to the Temple, something far worse. Being a gentile, Antiochus could not really do anything to the Temple. He was not of Israel.

Returning to Daniel, we read “and on the wings of abominations shall come the one who makes desolate.” We need to study this phrase “the wings of abominations.” What on earth does this mean? Before we start making things up, we need to again return to the Old Testament. We must remember that every Israelite was to wear a blue tassel on his robes to remind him of the Law (Num. 15:37-41). These tassels were called “wings.” Most translations render this as “corner” but corner literally means wings. Further, these wings are “wings of holiness,” (Num. 15:40). Israel was a heavenly people (Ex. 19:5-6) and thus with these blue (heavenly) wings they were ushered into the Glory-Cloud of God. Recall that God sits upon the wings of the cherubim. Having wings on the people's robes then meant that they too were cherubim, instructed to guard God's holiness (and not defile it). The High Priest is called a cherub (Ezek. 28:11-19). Further, there are false cherubs carrying a false Ark to a false Temple as well (Zech. 5:5-11). If the wings of the Israelites/Cherubs were wings of holiness, the wings of the false cherubs are “wings of abomination.” In Revelation, Jerusalem is pictured with the images of unclean birds (Rev. 18:2). Anything unclean is “detestable” in the sight of God, and therefore an abomination. Something that will provoke God into leaving His house desolate (Matt. 23:38). What then is the “abomination of desolation?” Nothing less than apostate Israel, who rejected their own Messiah, nailed Him to a tree, and continued making idolatrous sacrifices [detestable abominations] in the Temple after Christ's eternal sacrifice.

After Christ made Himself the eternal sacrifice for the sins of humanity (John 1:29), continuing the Old Covenantal animal sacrifices was like offering “swine's blood” to God (Isa. 66:3). It was like Cain's offering of fruit as a sacrifice (Gen. 4:3-5). After Christ's death and resurrection, He became the Temple (John 2:13-22), and no longer is Jerusalem a focal point of worship (John 4:21-26; Gal. 4:21-31). In light of Christ as the Eternal Sacrifice, any other sacrifice, no matter how earnest or well-meaning, is an offense to God. Israel apostized and made idols of their sacrifices, and as a result God spat them out of His mouth. Later, God warns the Church not to do the same thing or He will vomit us out of His mouth as well (Rev. 2-3).

So who then is the “one” said to be coming on the wings of abominations? This “one” is said to be the one who “makes desolate” the Temple (Dan. 9:27b). Who was it that made the Temple desolate in every other instance that God departed? The High Priests who led the people into idolatry. Aaron (Ex. 32-34), Eli's sons (1 Sam. 3-4), the Priests of Ezekiel's time (Ezek. 8-11), and High Priests Jason and Menelaus of the days of the Maccabees (Dan. 11).

Thoughts? Comments? Fellow preterists, what do you think?

I have always thought that the rejection and regicide of the Messiah was the best candidate for the AoD. However, the "time text" that speak of the AoD seem to indicate something much closer to the destruction of the Temple:

Matthew 24:15-16 ESV emphasis added

15"So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

AND

Mark 13:14 ESV emphasis added

14"But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

And of course the verse from Luke that you mentioned:

Luke 21:20 ESV

"But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.

All of these seem to me to be speaking of an event observable right before the destruction of the temple that believers could use as a sign to high tail it out of town.

If you can resolve this apparent conflict, I will be on board 110% (as I said the regicide of the Messiah would be the default candidate for me absent these "time text")

Originally posted by Faramir fo fizzle

All of these seem to me to be speaking of an event observable right before the destruction of the temple that believers could use as a sign to high tail it out of town.

If you can resolve this apparent conflict, I will be on board 110% (as I said the regicide of the Messiah would be the default candidate for me absent these "time text")

If I may be so bold, perhaps we should consider the language a bit. The AoD is a noun, not a verb. Thus to suggest it is an event requires further explanation, in that events are generally actions, described by verbs.

Rather, if we consider the AoD to be a "desolating sacrilege," consistent with the Hebrew in Daniel, it can either be a "thing" or an action. Thus, without further development, we could see it as perhaps an idol in the temple or some action of extreme defilement within the temple.

Next, does the AoD have to be singular, or can it be a representative of a genus? I heartily agree that it is observable, but my studies have suggested that it is a description of a genus of sacrileges, such that it is not just a single event or thing. Certainly one example was present around AD70, but in my reading of Daniel 11-12, there is to be another example at another time. Given that AD70 is very concrete, it's entirely possible that it is the type (perhaps derived from Antiochus IV), pointing forward to an antitype within the church, just as the AoD in AD70 was within the physical cultus of the Temple.

Ted

Originally posted by Ted

If I may be so bold, perhaps we should consider the language a bit. The AoD is a noun, not a verb. Thus to suggest it is an event requires further explanation, in that events are generally actions, described by verbs.

Rather, if we consider the AoD to be a "desolating sacrilege," consistent with the Hebrew in Daniel, it can either be a "thing" or an action. Thus, without further development, we could see it as perhaps an idol in the temple or some action of extreme defilement within the temple.

Interesting, and furthermore, I think this supports my interpretation. I see the AoD to be generally the Jewish sacrificial system, but it has to be more than this since the AoD stands in the Holy Place. Clearly then, the conclusion is simple: the AoD is the general system (just as the Beast is generally the Roman Empire), and the AoD is represented by its leader, the High Priest (just as the Beast is specifically Nero). The High Priest stands in the Holy Place to make pardon for sin, and after Christ this would have been religious idolitry, to try to take sins away apart from Christ, this would be a detestable action, a desolating sacrilege in God's eyes. When the Christians saw this idolitary right in the very face of God, they were to realize that God was soon to depart and the consequences of this idolitary would come crashing down on Israel, and therefore to flee.

Originally posted by ChosenOne66

Thoughts? Comments? Fellow preterists, what do you think?

Excellent study! Do you see a connection with Hebrews 6 where apparently some believers had left to commit the AoD?

Originally posted by RanRan

Excellent study! Do you see a connection with Hebrews 6 where apparently some believers had left to commit the AoD?

There are specific differences between the AoD and the Anti-Christ. The AoD, like I talked about, I believe to be apostate Judaism. The Anti-Christ are the Christians who abandoned the faith.

The antichrist was not really a person as much as it was a belief-system that denied the person and work of Jesus Christ. They worked with the false prophets (1 John 4:1), they taught that Jesus was not the Messiah (1 John 2:22), they denied the Incarnation (1 John 4:3; 2 John 7, 9), and rejected the teaching of the Apostles (1 John 4:6). Further, they were members of the Christian church who fell away from the faith (1 John 2:19), and were trying to get other Christians to do the same (1 John 2:26; 4:1; 2 John 7, 10).

This would match with Heb. 6:4-6 - "For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt."

The false prophet I see as being apostate Judaism as well.

Originally posted by ChosenOne66

Thoughts? Comments? Fellow preterists, what do you think?

I will comment as an observer of our times . . .

The organized churches are in great doctrinal decline these days, abandoning biblical truths, creeds, and the historical faith, to the point that the true believers are fleeing and resorting to forming small groups in homes, in order to worship in spirit and truth.

This has become so widespread, that I am at the point of thinking the abomination has taken rule in the churches at large.

That "abomination" being false teachings by false prophets, who come in the spirit of Satanl.

The "holy place" is the congregations meeting in the name of Christ.

"Judea" is the corporate visible church.

It is the believers, who recognize Satan ruling in the churches through false teachers and false prophets, who "flee to the mountains."

They will flee in the spirit of Lot fleeing Sodom, not looking back.

The removal of God's children from the corporate churches, will cause a great religious apostasy, which will result in delusions sent from God, spiritual confusion and decline, a silencing of the gospel of Jesus Christ via the (spiritual) killing of His messengers, bringing great tribulation throughout the world.

I say this in very simple fashion, without getting into the Scriptures that support what is observable, because I do not know if anyone else on these forums is seeing the same, or has the same concerns.

If so, I would be pleased to discuss further, If not, I have testified to what I am seeing.

Nang

Originally posted by ChosenOne66

Interesting, and furthermore, I think this supports my interpretation. I see the AoD to be generally the Jewish sacrificial system, but it has to be more than this since the AoD stands in the Holy Place. Clearly then, the conclusion is simple: the AoD is the general system (just as the Beast is generally the Roman Empire), and the AoD is represented by its leader, the High Priest (just as the Beast is specifically Nero). The High Priest stands in the Holy Place to make pardon for sin, and after Christ this would have been religious idolitry, to try to take sins away apart from Christ, this would be a detestable action, a desolating sacrilege in God's eyes. When the Christians saw this idolitary right in the very face of God, they were to realize that God was soon to depart and the consequences of this idolitary would come crashing down on Israel, and therefore to flee.

I'm glad you clarified your earlier post, since God commanded the sacrificial system. If I follow you, you would be saying that the Jews were involved in sacrifice for form, not for substance.

As for the specifics, I think there can be several variants of the AoD. Luke identifies the Roman Army. Josephus comments about the Zealots and their abominations in the Temple grounds. And I would lean toward the latter as the specific intention, since in Daniel 9:27 the literal Hebrew says that the desolator would come "on the wing of abominations." This is a Hebrew idiom referring to great speed and inevitability. Thus, the Zealots fit better than an on-going Jewish apostate priestly activity.

Ted

Originally posted by Ted

[snip] ,,, in Daniel 9:27 the literal Hebrew says that the desolator would come "on the wing of abominations." This is a Hebrew idiom referring to great speed and inevitability.

Daniel 9:27 (NRSV)

He shall make a strong covenant with many for one week. And for half of the week he shall make sacrifice and offering cease; and in their place shall be an abomination that desolates.

Daniel 9:27 (Good News Bible/Today’s English Version)

The Aweful Horror will be placed on the highest point of the Temple and will remain there until the one who put it there meets the end which God has prepared for him.

Daniel 9:27 (New Jerusalem Bible)

[...] and on the wing of the Temple will be an apalling abomination until the end, until the doom assigned to the devastator.

Daniel 9:27 (Revised English Bible)

And in the train of these abominations will come the perpetrator of desolation; then, in the end, what has been decreed concerning the desolation will be poured out.

Ted,

Do you have any idea why there is no consensus among scholars regarding how to render the text of Daniel 9:27b into English?

Do you have any idea why the Hebrew word rendered "wing" in some English versions is not rendered in the LXX?

Originally posted by Ted

I'm glad you clarified your earlier post, since God commanded the sacrificial system. If I follow you, you would be saying that the Jews were involved in sacrifice for form, not for substance.

Kind of. Form and not substance is involved in Israel's apostasy, but Christ took away the sins of the world, and so for the Jews to continue trying to use animals to take away sins is to claim that Christ is not the messiah. They are trying to approach God improperly. When Christ came, He fulfilled all of the sacrificial system and it ended. To continue using the sacrificial system is to deny the work of Christ, and thus for anyone to claim to worship God but to do this wrongly is guilty of idol worship. For the Jews to do this in God's sanctuary, right to His very Face, qualifies as a "desolating abomination."

Originally posted by Ted

As for the specifics, I think there can be several variants of the AoD. Luke identifies the Roman Army. Josephus comments about the Zealots and their abominations in the Temple grounds. And I would lean toward the latter as the specific intention, since in Daniel 9:27 the literal Hebrew says that the desolator would come "on the wing of abominations." This is a Hebrew idiom referring to great speed and inevitability. Thus, the Zealots fit better than an on-going Jewish apostate priestly activity.

Ted

As I noted briefly in the OP, the Zealots and the Roman armies are not the desolation themselves, but the result of and the sign that God had left Israel desolate. Part of being left desolate or empty was that something always fills the void. God departs from Israel and does not protect it from its enemies any longer, and these enemies come in and fill the desolate place, and overrun Israel.

As to the "wings of abomination," I wrote, "Returning to Daniel, we read “and on the wings of abominations shall come the one who makes desolate.” We need to study this phrase “the wings of abominations.” What on earth does this mean? Before we start making things up, we need to again return to the Old Testament. We must remember that every Israelite was to wear a blue tassel on his robes to remind him of the Law (Num. 15:37-41). These tassels were called “wings.” Most translations render this as “corner” but corner literally means wings (M. Kline, Images of the Spirit). Further, these wings are “wings of holiness,” (Num. 15:40). Israel was a heavenly people (Ex. 19:5-6) and thus with these blue (heavenly) wings they were ushered into the Glory-Cloud of God. Recall that God sits upon the wings of the cherubim. Having wings on the people's robes then meant that they too were cherubim, instructed to guard God's holiness (and not defile it). The High Priest is called a cherub (Ezek. 28:11-19). Further, there are false cherubs carrying a false Ark to a false Temple as well (Zech. 5:5-11). If the wings of the Israelites/Cherubs were wings of holiness, the wings of the false cherubs are “wings of abomination.” In Revelation, Jerusalem is pictured with the images of unclean birds (Rev. 18:2). Anything unclean is “detestable” in the sight of God, and therefore an abomination. Something that will provoke God into leaving His house desolate (Matt. 23:38). What then is the “abomination of desolation?” Nothing less than apostate Israel, who rejected their own Messiah, nailed Him to a tree, and continued making idolatrous sacrifices [detestable abominations] in the Temple after Christ's eternal sacrifice."

Originally posted by ChosenOne66

There are specific differences between the AoD and the Anti-Christ. The AoD, like I talked about, I believe to be apostate Judaism. The Anti-Christ are the Christians who abandoned the faith.

The antichrist was not really a person as much as it was a belief-system that denied the person and work of Jesus Christ. They worked with the false prophets (1 John 4:1), they taught that Jesus was not the Messiah (1 John 2:22), they denied the Incarnation (1 John 4:3; 2 John 7, 9), and rejected the teaching of the Apostles (1 John 4:6). Further, they were members of the Christian church who fell away from the faith (1 John 2:19), and were trying to get other Christians to do the same (1 John 2:26; 4:1; 2 John 7, 10).

This would match with Heb. 6:4-6 - "For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt."

The false prophet I see as being apostate Judaism as well.

What I was getting at was the contempt they were heaping on Christ as they returned to looking for propitiation from a COW!