Abomination of Desolation

The phrase “abomination of desolation” appears in Daniel, 1 Maccabees, Matthew, and Mark. It refers to a hateful object connected with pagan worship. This object is so offensive to God that he brings judgment and destruction because of it.

In Daniel’s vision, a hateful object would be set up in the temple in Jerusalem (Daniel 11:31). This would happen 1,290 days after a time of sacrilege, which means treating something holy with great disrespect (Daniel 12:11). The object would destroy the temple’s holiness and make it unclean according to religious and moral standards.

First Maccabees records that the Syrian ruler Antiochus Epiphanes invaded Palestine in 167 BC. He set up a “desolating sacrilege” on the altar of burnt offering in the temple. This object was probably a statue of Zeus (1 Maccabees 1:54).

Jesus used the phrase “abomination of desolation” when he answered his disciples’ questions about the destruction of the temple and the events leading up to his return (Matthew 24:1–31; Mark 13:1–27; Luke 21:5–28). Jesus referred to the passages in Daniel and predicted that an event like the destruction caused by Antiochus would happen again.

Jesus applied Daniel’s prophecy in part to the coming Roman desecration of Jerusalem. This took place in AD 70. He warned that the appearance of the abomination of desolation would be a sign for people to flee Jerusalem (Matthew 24:15–16; Mark 13:14).

The Greek version of Ezekiel sometimes uses the word lawlessness in place of abomination. This wording led some interpreters to connect the “man of lawlessness,” or man of abomination, with the hateful sacrilege of the Antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2:3).

A similar theme appears in Revelation. There, the beast from the sea represents the power of evil forces that demand obedience and submission (Revelation 13:1–10).

See also Abomination; Antichrist; Book of Daniel.