Page 285 - Daniel

Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let
those who are in Judea flee to the mountains” (Matt. 24:15–16). The
fulfillment of this prophecy necessarily requires the reactivation of the
Mosaic sacrificial system in a rebuilt temple in Judea. The apostle Paul
told the Thessalonians about a future time when a “man of lawlessness

… takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God” (2
Thess. 2:3–4); and the apostle John, writing after the destruction of the
temple in A.D. 70, was told to measure a rebuilt “temple of God and the
altar” that will apparently be reconstructed in Jerusalem (Rev. 11:1–2).
The present occupation of Jerusalem by Israel may be a preparatory step

to the reestablishment of the Mosaic system of sacrifices. Obviously,
sacrifices cannot be stopped and a temple cannot be desecrated unless
both are in operation.
The last part of verse 27 seems to describe the temple’s desecration:

“On the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate.” The
Hebrew is rendered “abomination of desolation” in 1 Maccabees 1:54,
Matthew 24:15, and Mark 13:14, and is supported by the most ancient
translations including the Septuagint, Theodotion, and the Vulgate.
identifying this expression in Daniel 9:27 with these other references as
well as Daniel 11:31 and 12:11 makes the meaning here clear.

Many fantastic explanations have been given of the word “wing.” Keil,
following Kliefoth, takes the wing as a reference “‘to idolatry with its
abominations, because that shall be the power which lifts upward the

destroyer and desolator, carries him, and moves with him over the earth
to lay waste’ (Klief.).” Young gives a more preferable view: “The word
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apparently refers to the pinnacle of the temple which has become so
desecrated that it no longer can be regarded as the temple of the Lord,
but as an idol temple…. The wing of the temple (Matt. 4:5; Luke 4:8) is
the summit of the temple itself.” Wood suggests translating the phrase
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“even unto the overspreading of” and suggests that it refers to the
Antichrist “causing an overspreading influence, desolating in nature, for
the whole Temple complex and probably beyond.” 80

The word “abomination” used by Christ in Matthew 24:15 may be the
same word used as an allusion to Antiochus in Daniel 11:31, but in
Daniel 12:11 it clearly refers to the future stopping of the daily
sacrifices, forty-two months before Christ’s second advent. In 12:11 the