The Abomination of Desolation: The Central Focus Of The Coming Tribulation

FULL MEETING WITH MIDRASH HERE

NOTE: THE TRANSCRIPT IS NOT EXACTLY LIKE THE RECORDING.

Believers are looking for one central event which will tell us where we are in regard to the amount of time before Yeshua will return to save us and restore His Kingdom. The only event that can time His return is the fulfillment of the “abomination of desolation” spoken of by Daniel the prophet (Matthew 24:15). This is because the preceding explanation given by Yeshua in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 does not begin with a specific prophetic event. Rather, we are told to watch for wars, rumors of wars, famines, pestilences and false prophets with no event to watch for that kicks these off at the start of the coming 7-year Tribulation. And then Yeshua said these things are just the beginning of sorrows before He launched into the persecution of His followers.

The first 3.5 years of the 7-year the time period is commonly referred to as “Jacob’s Sorrows”; Jacob being sorrowful over what his sons do to each other.

Matthew 24:9 Then they will deliver you up to oppression, and will kill you. You will be hated by all of the nations for my name’s sake.

Mark 13:9 But watch yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils. You will be beaten in synagogues. You will stand before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them.

Luke 21:12 But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for my name’s sake.

The persecution to come will not be marked with a specific event which we can be watching for to tell us when the exact time of the 7-year Tribulation has arrived. There are days, months and years counts provided by Daniel and John for the second half of the Tribulation but not for the first half. Believers have been persecuted for 2,000 years so it will be unknown to us when the first half commenced. The lack of “an event” for the beginning of Jacob’s Sorrows means we must continue watching, praying and being occupied with Yeshua’s Kingdom business until the only event which will tell us where we are in the timeline appears. That one specific event which will be our sign that we are only 3.5 years away from His arrival is the “abomination of desolation” found in Daniel 9:27.

The interpretation I will present here will likely be very different to what you have been taught. Please just consider the information. I will post this on TheMessianicMessage.com so you can refer to it again.

Also, be aware that I will be using the term “the Jews”. This term does not mean ALL Jews. It means the Jews who deny Yeshua as their Messiah, God and King and those Jews in political and religious leadership who will be leading the way for Jerusalem to rule the world. There are many Jews who accept Yeshua’s Messiahship and that He is God and King over all Israel. I don’t mean these folks.

THE FIRST “HE”

There are 2 “he”s in Daniel 9:27 in the Masoretic text. The Jerusalem altar will be central to everything else that happens during the Tribulation both for believers and non-believers. The second “he” will do something different than the first “he” in regard to the altar in Jerusalem.

Daniel 9:27 He will make a firm covenant with many for one week…

We will study 2 words from this sentence: “confirm” and “many”. Let’s start with “confirm”.

The word “confirm” is Strong’s H1396, the Hebrew word ‘gabar’.

H1396
גָּבַר
gâbar
gaw-bar’

A primitive root; to be strong; by implication to prevail, act insolently: – exceed, confirm, be great, be mighty, prevail, put to more [strength], strengthen, be stronger, be valiant.

It can also be translated as “strengthen” or “prevail”. Which word, of the 3, is correct? I suggest the best word is “prevail”. Here is what the sentence says when using “prevail” instead of “confirm” or “strengthen”.

Daniel 9:27 He shall prevail in a covenant with the many for one week…

Why is “prevail” the best word? Because it describes something that has happened in the family of Jacob in the past, something that must happen again because YHVH always works in patterns so we can understand what we witness.

1 Chronicles 5:1 And the sons of Reuben, the first-born of Israel (for he was the first-born; but since he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel, and the genealogy is not to be counted according to the birthright;
1 Chronicles 5:2 For Judah prevailed among his brothers, and from him came the chief ruler, but the birthright was Joseph’s);

How will Judah prevail in the end of days? It will happen because of the Revelation 13 Judeo-Christian beast.

Revelation 13:11 And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. And it had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke like a dragon.

The only 2 religions that claim the lamb are Judaism and Christianity, and they each claim Him differently and in perverted ways. These 2 horns, then, tell us this beast is Judeo-Christian.

Revelation 13:12 And it exercises all the authority of the first beast before him, and causes the earth and those dwelling in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
Revelation 13:13 And it does great wonders, so that it makes fire come down from the heaven onto the earth in the sight of men.
Revelation 13:14 And it deceives those dwelling on the earth, because of the miracles which were given to it to do before the beast, saying to those dwelling on the earth that they should make an image to the beast who had the wound by a sword and lived.
Revelation 13:15 And there was given to it to give a spirit to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might both speak, and might cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
Revelation 13:16 And it causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark on their right hand, or in their foreheads,
Revelation 13:17 even that not any might buy or sell except those having the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of its name.
Revelation 13:18 Here is the wisdom. Let him having reason count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. And its number is six hundred and sixty-six.

The Jewish beast man aka Antichrist will operate from Jerusalem. After the rise of this beast with cooperation between the Jews in Jerusalem and the Christians in America, Judah will rise up once again trying to prevail over Joseph.

Who is Joseph in the end of days? Joseph is also known as the House of Ephraim and that House represents believers in Jesus/Yeshua, i.e. Christians. For the context of when Judah prevailed of Joseph, we must return to Genesis when Judah prevailed over Joseph by sending him to Egypt. The beast from the tribe of Judah will again try to prevail over Joseph in the end of days.

This brings us to “the many”. The word for “many” is ‘rab’ (Strong’s H7227).

H7227
רַב
rab
By contraction from H7231; abundant (in quantity, size, age, number, rank, quality): – (in) abound (-undance, -ant, -antly), captain, elder, enough, exceedingly, full, great (-ly, man, one), increase, long (enough, [time]), (do, have) many (-ifold, things, a time), ([ship-]) master, mighty, more, (too, very) much, multiply (-tude), officer, often [-times], plenteous, populous, prince, process [of time], suffice (-ient).

This is the same word used for the ‘ereb rab’, the multitude, that left Egypt with the Israelites in Exodus 12:38.

‘Rab’ is a contraction, a shortened version, of this 3-letter Hebrew root word:

H7231
רָבַב
râbab
raw-bab’

A primitive root; properly to cast together (compare H7241), that is, increase, especially in number; also (as denominative from H7233) to multiply by the myriad: – increase, be many (-ifold), be more, multiply, ten thousands.

‘Rab’ is a people that are cast together, all lumped together in one word, in other words a Biblical stereotype. For the purposes of the beast, everyone who is not of his ethnic group, the Jews, will be “cast together” into another category called “non-Jews”. The beast will make covenant between the Jews and non-Jews in which Christians don’t fit.

YHVH’s altar must exist and be operational in Jerusalem so that the events of Daniel 9:27 can come to pass. At this altar, some kind of a covenant will be made by the beast man described in Revelation 13. He will make a covenant between Jewish religious Mystery Babylon and the ‘rab’, the non-Jewish multitude. This may take the form of a mimicking of Exodus 24 in a similar ceremony at the altar on Temple Mount.

Exodus 24:3 Moses came and told the people all Yahweh’s words, and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, “All the words which Yahweh has spoken will we do.”
Exodus 24:4 Moses wrote all Yahweh’s words, and rose up early in the morning, and built an altar under the mountain, and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.
Exodus 24:5 He sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of cattle to Yahweh.
Exodus 24:6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
Exodus 24:7 He took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, “All that Yahweh has spoken will we do, and be obedient.”
Exodus 24:8 Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Look, this is the blood of the covenant, which Yahweh has made with you concerning all these words.”

Here is the mockery:

Exodus 24:3 The beast came and told the people all Mystery Babylon’s words [found in the teachings of Judaism], and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, “All the words which Mystery Babylon has spoken will we do [either by converting to Judaism and denying Yeshua or agreeing to adhere to the Noahide laws].”
Exodus 24:4 The beast wrote all Mystery Babylon’s words, and rose up early in the morning, and built an altar under the mountain, and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel [the 12 tribes will be represented somehow, perhaps through the 12 tribes’ flag that adorn every synagogue].
Exodus 24:5 He sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of cattle to Mystery Babylon.
Exodus 24:6 The beast took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
Exodus 24:7 He took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, “All that Mystery Babylon has spoken will we do, and be obedient.”
Exodus 24:8 The beast took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Look, this is the blood of the covenant, which Mystery Babylon has made with you concerning all these words.”

But there will be disagreement about this covenant which will set up a conflict with believers who do not want to be included in the beast’s covenant which will deny Yeshua as Messiah, God and King of all Israel. This disagreement will result in the persecution of believers in Yeshua. Those opposed to the beast man’s covenant worldwide will be represented by the 2 witnesses in Jerusalem whose purpose will be:

Revelation 11:3 I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”

It is here that Matthew 24:14 will be fulfilled.

Matthew 24:14 This Good News of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

The Good News will be preached before the mid-point of the Tribulation which starts in Matthew 24:15 which tells us the “event” that will show us where we are in the timeline of the 7 years. We won’t truly know until this happens.

After the covenant has been established and the persecution and killing of Yeshua’s believers and the 2 witnesses has taken place, the second “he” of the Masoretic text will attack Jerusalem.

THE SECOND “HE”

The “abomination of desolation” is the event that will mark the second 3.5 year time period frequently referred to as the GREAT part of the Tribulation and it will also be the event which triggers the ingathering. Only Daniel and Yeshua spoke of this.

Matthew 24:15 “When, therefore, you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),

Mark 13:14 But 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,

The sentence structure based in the Masoretic texts references the word “he” twice in Daniel 9:27. But should the word “he” even be there at all? The Brenton doesn’t use the word “he” at all.

BRENTON SEPTUAGINT
Daniel 9:27 And one week shall establish the covenant with many: and in the midst of the week my sacrifice and drink-offering shall be taken away: and on the temple shall be the abomination of desolations; and at the end of time an end shall be put to the desolation.

These are very different wordings between the Masoretic and Septuagint texts. The Brenton says the covenant with the many will be established without using the word “he” and then announces that YHVH’s sacrifice and drink-offering shall be taken away without using the word “he”. Neither text tells us how the sacrifices and drink offerings will be taken away unless we examine another word – “overspreading” or sometimes “wing” as translated from the Masoretic texts but which does not exist in the Septuagint. We will get a better understanding if we study both texts together.

What is that “overspreading” or “wing” in the Masoretic text? This is the word ‘kanaph’.

H3671
כָּנָף
kânâph
kaw-nawf’

From H3670; an edge or extremity; specifically (of a bird or army) a wing, (of a garment or bed clothing) a flap, (of the earth) a quarter, (of a building) a pinnacle: –  + bird, border, corner, end, feather [-ed], X flying, + (one an-) other, overspreading, X quarters, skirt, X sort, uttermost part, wing ([-ed]).

‘Kanaph’ is something that spreads out and has something to do with either a bird spreading its wing or an army spreading out over a specific area depending on context. It is something that spreads over something else. ‘Kanaph’ is more probably an army.

First, we must understand that Daniel 9:27 prophesies this desolation only for the end of days and this has not yet been fulfilled. But Daniel 11:31 gives a little more detail about the definition of the “abomination of desolation” and how it comes about. And Daniel 11:31 has been fulfilled so we can understand what will happen again at the end of days.

Daniel 11:31 “Forces will stand on his part, and they will profane the sanctuary, even the fortress, and will take away the continual burnt offering. Then they will set up the abomination that makes desolate.

History tells us how Daniel 11:31 was fulfilled by Antiochus Epiphanes IV when he shut down YHVH’s altar by sacrificing a pig on it and setting up a statue of Zeus next to it. The act of a foreign invader stopping the sacrifices followed by setting up its god next to YHVH’s altar is the “abomination that makes desolate”. Babylon and Rome both shut down YHVH’s altar but without setting up a statue of their gods. YHVH did not declare they had made an “abomination that makes desolate”. What Antiochus Epiphanes did set the pattern and defined what the “abomination of desolation” is: stopping the sacrifices (abomination) and standing up that which desolates.

It came about by the “overspreading”, the attack by the Greek army which allowed Antiochus Ephiphanes IV to set up Zeus next to YHVH’s altar. That sign not only conquered Jerusalem, it also conquered and subjugated YHVH in favor of Zeus! This specifically shows that YHVH either does not exist or is just one god of many! The end times “abomination of desolation” will also come from an outside invading force and its sign of conquering will subjugate YHVH to their god.

There is a building, the Dome of the Rock, that now stands on Temple Mount which will play a role in bringing the invading army. That building along with the Al Aqsa Mosque will be the reason the invading army will come to destroy YHVH’s altar.

But before I tell you which army will do this, I want to explain why the Masoretic text’s 1st and 2nd “he”s are 2 different figures, not one as is explained in all commentaries and in all pulpits. There is a fundamental misunderstanding of how the Jews behaved regarding YHVH’s daily offerings. Never in scripture did the any King of Judah, or any Levitical priest or Jew stop the sacrifices and offerings at YHVH’s altar. They did some horrible things around it. They stood idols next to it and even moved it out its place (2 Kings 16, the story of Ahaz). And then, Ahaz’s grandson, Manasseh, did even worse than Ahaz. But no Jew ever stopped the sacrifices! We must follow adhere to the patterns YHVH gave us for our understanding. The Jewish beast will follow this pattern to not desolate the altar halfway through the 7-year Tribulation period!

Let’s read about the worst King in Judah’s history.

2 Kings 21:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign. And he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hephzibah.
2 Kings 21:2 And he did the evil in the sight of Jehovah, after the abominations of the heathen whom Yahweh cast out before the sons of Israel.
2 Kings 21:3 For he built up again the high places which his father Hezekiah had destroyed. And he reared up altars for Baal, and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel did. And he worshiped all the host of heaven, and served them.
2 Kings 21:4 And he built altars in the house of Yahweh, of which Yahweh said, In Jerusalem I will put My name.
2 Kings 21:5 And he built altars for all the host of the heavens in the two courts of the house of Yahweh.
2 Kings 21:6 And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times and used fortune-tellers. And he dealt with familiar spirits and wizards. He worked much wickedness in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke Him to anger.
2 Kings 21:7 And he set a graven image of the Asherah which he had made in the house, of which Yahweh had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever.
2 Kings 21:8 And I will not again make the feet of Israel wander any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will be careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the Law that My servant Moses commanded them.
2 Kings 21:9 But they did not listen. And Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than the nations ever did, whom Jehovah destroyed before the sons of Israel.

Why didn’t YHVH say Manasseh had caused an “abomination that made desolate” when he actually did put an idol next to the altar? It is because Manasseh still kept the morning and evening burnt offerings going.

There is a religion in Iran that has a Messiah figure who believes Jerusalem belongs to him. Iran, which is ancient Persia in scripture, is the leader of a modern coalition of Middle East nations who are the “King of the North” in Daniel 11:40-45. This is the same chapter where Antiochus Epiphanes IV was prophesied to perform the “abomination of desolation” that I read to you from Daniel 11:31. The attack prophesied in Daniel 11:40-45 has not yet been fulfilled but Iran will fulfill it and will bring with them the Shi’ite 12th Imam Messiah to Jerusalem. They won’t bring a statue. Rather most probably, they will bring the Iranian” flag of conquering”, the “Lion and Sun” flag. This flag has an image of a lion on it which is also a pointer to Babylon. The sun rising from the lion’s back is the same sun worshiped in ancient Babylon.

THE GREAT ESCAPE

The attack on Jerusalem will end the Jewish persecution of Christians only to replace it with the Shi’ite Islamic version of Christian persecution. But YHVH has a plan for His people’s escape!

Matthew 24:15 Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand).
Matthew 24:16 Then let those in Judea flee into the mountains.
Matthew 24:17 Let him on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house;
Matthew 24:18 nor let him in the field turn back to take his clothes.
Matthew 24:19 And woe to those who are with child, and to those who give suck in those days!
Matthew 24:20 But pray that your flight is not in the winter, nor on the sabbath day;
Matthew 24:21 for then shall be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world to this time; no, nor ever shall be.

Both Matthew and Mark have further instructions which I don’t have time to address here. Just know that when the “abomination of desolation” is set up in Jerusalem, you are to flee from wherever you are!

Yeshua said to flee to the mountains, but not the mountains of Israel west of the Jordan river aka the West Bank. Those will also be under the control of Shi’ite Iran. No! Flee to the mountains east of Jerusalem where Ezekiel 20:33-38 tells us YHVH will separate rebels from righteous, those whom He won’t allow to enter the Land from those who will enter, and where He says the people will escape from the King of the North. This will happen in the wilderness of the peoples, in Edom and Moab.

Jeremiah 16:14 “Therefore behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that it will no more be said, ‘As Yahweh lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;’
Jeremiah 16:15 but, ‘As Yahweh lives, who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the countries where he had driven them.’ I will bring them again into their land that I gave to their fathers.

That is the Greater Exodus. But just as in the first Exodus, YHVH’s people will take the same route as before – through Edom and Moab.

Ezekiel 20:33 As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, I will be king over you.
Ezekiel 20:34 I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you out of the countries in which you are scattered with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out.
Ezekiel 20:35 I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face.
Ezekiel 20:36 Just as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you,” says the Lord Yahweh.
Ezekiel 20:37 “I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.
Ezekiel 20:38 I will purge out from among you the rebels and those who disobey me. I will bring them out of the land where they live, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.”

Edom and Moab is the wilderness where YHVH’s woman will flee to.

Revelation 12:6 The woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that there they may nourish her one thousand two hundred sixty days.

So there will be another Exodus, but there will be some from Judea who will not flee.

Isaiah 4:2 In that day, Yahweh’s branch will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the beauty and glory of the survivors of Israel.
Isaiah 4:3 It will happen, that he who is left in Zion, and he who remains in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even everyone who is written among the living in Jerusalem;
Isaiah 4:4 when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from within it, by the spirit of justice, and by the spirit of burning.

Ironically, after being among the Jewish leadership that tried to kill the 2 witnesses and who orchestrated the persecution of believers in Yeshua, these will find themselves in the same position the 2 witnesses were in. How is that!? They will find Yeshua and the 2nd “he” will likely try to persecute and kill them, too.

Zechariah 12:10 I will pour on David’s house, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they will look to me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son, and will grieve bitterly for him, as one grieves for his firstborn.
Zechariah 12:11 In that day there will be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.
Zechariah 12:12 The land will mourn, every family apart; the family of David’s house apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;
Zechariah 12:13 the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of the Shimeites apart, and their wives apart;
Zechariah 12:14 all the families who remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.

The Jews that stay behind in Jerusalem will accept Yeshua as Messiah, God and King and they will call on Him saying, Baruch habah b’shem Yeshua! “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of YHVH”. But they will need supernatural help to keep from being killed for their testimony about Yeshua being Messiah, God and King! What a plot twist, eh? YHVH will protect them in Jerusalem as He will also protect all of His other people wherever they are on the earth as they flee and even after they get to Edom and Moab.

Isaiah 4:3 It will happen, that he who is left in Zion, and he who remains in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even everyone who is written among the living in Jerusalem;
Isaiah 4:4 when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from within it, by the spirit of justice, and by the spirit of burning.
Isaiah 4:5 Yahweh will create over the whole habitation of Mount Zion, and over her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy.

THE “WHEN”

There is a secondary number of months for the second half of the Tribulation – not 1260 days as when the woman of Revelation 12:6 flees, but 1290 days.

Daniel 12:11 “From the time that the continual burnt offering is taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate set up, there will be one thousand two hundred ninety days.

1290 days corresponds to the start of the time that the Jews flee Jerusalem, probably around Purim since, historically, it was at Purim when the Amalekite, Haman, wanted to kill them. This 1290 days will be the signal to the exiles in the diaspora – that’s everyone who believes in Yeshua but does not live in Israel – that they also need to flee. The journey will be longer for them, though, so they need to get started as soon as possible.

Revelation 12:14 And two wings of a great eagle were given to the woman, so that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time (1260 days), from the serpent’s face.

…To the wilderness of the peoples as foretold by Ezekiel 20:33-38:

Daniel 12:10 Many will purify themselves, and make themselves white, and be refined; but the wicked will do wickedly; and none of the wicked will understand; but those who are wise will understand.

The place where YHVH’s people will gather is also the place where we will purify ourselves and prepare to enter the Promised Land to live forevermore and eternally with Yeshua as our ruling God and King on earth!

Until then:

Matthew 24:42 Watch therefore, for you don’t know in what hour your Lord comes.  

Matthew 24:44 Therefore also be ready, for in an hour that you don’t expect, the Son of Man will come.

Mark 13:23 But you watch. “Behold, I have told you all things beforehand.