Luke 21: 20 – 24
Jerusalem's Desolation
20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. 22 For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. 24 And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
The apostle Matthew was the first one to write down what our Lord said regarding this teaching, let’s see what he said, “15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.”
When Luke penned his Gospel things in the world were heating up. The Roman Empire were fed up with all the problems being constantly stirred up by the Jews so they sent their army to deal with this rebel nation. This is why during the time of our Lord Jesus when Matthew was in our Lord’s very presence and heard these words where our Lord spoke of the near future disasters as described in chapter 24.
Now what we read in chapter 12 of the Gospel of Luke takes on some new understanding. Our Lord has warned all the people now reading both Luke’s and Matthew’s Gospel that Jerusalem was going to be destroyed. If the people wanted to save their families lives then they needed to flee soon. Put yourselves in their position. Will the destruction come in their lifetimes or is it speaking about some distant period in human history. The people were concerned about all that they had invested in with their property, positions, and possessions. So, our Lord is teaching them about how to think properly look again at what He says about all the worldly pursuits. – “22 Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. 23 Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? 25 And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 26 If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? 29 “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. 30 For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. 31 But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.”
What is more important than life?
I like to watch the history channel and it amazes me how evil humans have been to each other. I am especially dumbfounded over the rise of the Nazi’s. How could an entire nation follow such a demonic person who came out of no where and imposed such brutal dealings with other human beings. If you were a Jew during this time would you really be concerned with earthly items. No, you want to get somewhere safe. You do not want anything to weigh you down.
This is what our Holy Jehovah Elyon – The Lord Most High – was preaching to the people. He was saying to them, ‘Trust Me. I AM telling you ahead of time of what evil is going to happen. Listen and follow My directions and you and your family will be safe. Seek Me, My Kingdom, and My Righteousness, and I will take care of all your needs.’
This is why I believe that He goes on to encourage the people to ‘Trust’ Him. To me this is our biggest problem and that is turning over everything to His Rule and Authority.
Our Holy Jehovah Jireh – The Lord our Provider – is telling these people and to us to not hold onto things that will weigh us down. For we also are not suppose to take up root and settle in. For we are passing through unto a city whose Maker is our God.
Many scholars say that these passages apply to a future time. What they say is that there will be a man of evil who comes on the scene in the near future who is called the ‘antichrist’. He is going to make a peace treaty with Israel { which the bible never says } then in the midst of 3 and ½ years into this agreement, he is going to violate it by walking into a rebuilt Temple [which the bible also doesn’t say. The bible does speak of a new Temple listed in the book of Ezekiel chapter 40 through 48 which is built by our Lord Jesus Christ.] Anyway, they say that this ‘antichrist’ will walk into this rebuilt Temple and declare himself to be God and that all the world will see it.’ These scholars say that the Jews will have camera’s installed or that the antichrist will lead cameramen into the rebuilt temple to do this. Again this is not in the bible. No, I believe the prophecy that Daniel is referring to which our Lord also warns the people in Luke chapter 12 is the future destruction and Abomination which will occur when the Roman army comes up against Jerusalem and destroys the Temple in 70AD.
What is the ‘abomination of desolation’? Well this is the story that has been given out by the majority of bible teachers. As I mentioned, there is a future evil man coming on the scene that is identified as The Antichrist. He will be a man chosen by Satan to be an imitation of the true Son Of God, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Satan has always wanted the position of God as the prophet Isaiah informed us in chapter 14 of his book, “ 12“ How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! 13 For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’
So, the teaching goes without any other scripture backing that Satan wants to establish his own version of our Blessed Holy Trinity. He will try to take on the position of God The Father, The Antichrist will be an imitation replacement of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and the False Prophet will be a phony match of our Precious Holy Spirit. Hymm?
We will do a future study on the Antichrist and I will tell you the Antichrist’s identity. Yes, again you heard right. You will know the Antichrist’s identity. Anyway, back to the Abomination that makes Desolate. As the current teaching goes, the Antichrist will come onto the scene as a great man of Peace. There will be the Rapture where all believers will disappear from this earth. There will be great confusion as planes, boats, cars, trucks, etc are suddenly without pilots and drivers. The world will be in great confusion so the Antichrist will come to power and be elected as the world leader. [By the way, none of this is in the Bible]. The Antichrist is going to make a 7 year peace treaty with the nation of Israel. He is also going to allow the Jews to rebuild their Temple. Once this Temple is rebuilt The Antichrist is going to walk into the ‘Holy Of Holies’ and declare that he himself is God and is to be worshiped as God. This according to this rendition is the Abomination of Desolation that was spoken by Daniel the prophet. [ Please note that Daniel says nothing about any idol or pig being offered as the actual ‘Abomination. Daniel’s account and this Futurist point of view do not match up]. The Jews upon seeing this incident reject the Antichrist as God so he now goes after them with a vengeance. They have to flee to Petra which is in the country of Jordon. The advice in the Gospel is interpreted that the people need to flee before the Antichrist gives the orders and locks down the city and the country of Israel. He will then begin a killing of the Jews similar to what they have experienced in WWII. Wow! Some story. However, it isn’t true. It is all made up.
Now let’s back up a little and see what Daniel said in chapter 9 of his book that the Gospel of Matthew is quoting. “ 1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the LORD through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4 And I prayed to the LORD my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, 5 we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. 6 Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. 7 O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You. 8 “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. 10 We have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. 11 Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. 12 And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem. 13 “As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. 14 Therefore the LORD has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice. 15 And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have done wickedly! 16 “O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us. 17 Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. 18 O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. 19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.” 20 Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God, 21 yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering. 22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. 23 At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision: 24 “ Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. 25 “ Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. 26 “ And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.”
I know that you are probably saying, ‘Wait a minute. There are a lot of information that we want to talk about here.’ Yes, I know there is. In our next study we will look at the whole chapter 9 by itself, then come back to the rest of the Gospel of Matthew chapter 24. But for now please notice the reference to the ‘abomination that makes desolate.’ In prophecy our Lord seems to do two things with the same message. The prophecy will happen shortly and also happen again in the future.
In the book of Daniel chapter 11, we read of the first fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy. There was a guy by the name of Nebuchadnezzar who rose to power and He was the one that did the horrible things prophesied by Daniel chapter 11, “29 “At the appointed time he shall return and go toward the south; but it shall not be like the former or the latter. 30 For ships from Cyprus shall come against him; therefore he shall be grieved, and return in rage against the holy covenant, and do damage.“So he shall return and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant. 31 And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation. 32 Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits. 33 And those of the people who understand shall instruct many; yet for many days they shall fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plundering. 34 Now when they fall, they shall be aided with a little help; but many shall join with them by intrigue. 35 And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them, and make them white, until the time of the end; because it is still for the appointed time. 36 “Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done. 37 He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall exalt himself above them all. 38 But in their place he shall honor a god of fortresses; and a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things. 39 Thus he shall act against the strongest fortresses with a foreign god, which he shall acknowledge, and advance its glory; and he shall cause them to rule over many, and divide the land for gain.
Now, what was the actual ‘Abomination of Desolation’? Was it a pig offered on the altar? What do the words ‘Abomination’ and ‘Desolate’ mean?
abomination
n
1. a person or thing that is disgusting
2. an action that is vicious, vile, etc.
3. intense loathing
desolation
n
1. the act of desolating or the state of being desolated; ruin or devastation
2. (Psychology) solitary misery; wretchedness
3. (Earth Sciences / Physical Geography) a desolate region; barren waste
Now in addition to the definition of these two words, we want to take in fully the words of our Master, Lord, and Savior Jesus Christ. Besides Matthew recording these words are you aware that Mark and Luke also report our Lord’s answer. Let’s look at all three again.
Matthew 24, “15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.”
Mark 13, “14 “So 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.”
Luke 21, “20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. 22 For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. 24 And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”
Okay, let’s see if we can put this together. The abomination is done by an individual, or more than one individual. It is an action or reaction to something that is done with intense loathing [strong feelings of dislike]. In my vernacular, ‘You purposely hurt me because you really hate me and I feel the same toward you.’ The desolation is misery because of total devastation. A good description is what we saw in Missouri lately due to the Tornado that wiped a whole town off the map.
If we look at the description in Daniel we read, “31 And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation” There was a king in Babylon by the name of Nebuchadnezzar. He attacked the nation of Judah on three (3) occasions. On the first occasion he took Daniel as one of the captives. On the second he took Ezekiel as one of the captives. On the third, which Daniel is talking about as the near future fulfillment of this prophecy, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the Temple. He stopped the daily sacrifices as predicted.
What did Luke point out is the Desolation? - “20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near.” We see from these verses that it is not the ‘Temple’ but the city of Jerusalem that would become a desolation. Let us take another look at Daniel chapter 9 and we see, “And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined.”
Please note that everything is being destroyed in the city which includes the Temple and is referred to as a whole – desolations. Looking at our definitions, these are hateful acts committed by Israel’s enemies where they do not want to just win or conquer; they want to totally destroy the people, their city, and their nation. The fanatic Muslims echo these feelings when they say that they want to drive the Jews into the sea.
The land of Israel belongs to God. It is Holy or ‘separate’ from all other lands. Therefore, Jerusalem is God’s Holy city, Canaan is the holy land as we read in the bible, and Mount Moriah where the Temple stood is holy ground. If any enemy encamped on this land it would be the abomination that makes desolate for no foreign army could do this unless the city was no longer under Jewish control.
As we review again the prophecy first by Daniel we see its fulfillment by the armies of Nebuchadnezzar and then we see not from a Preterist or Futurist but from a historic point of view that the Roman army as our Lord Jesus Christ warns His disciples will be the second fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy.
I have not heard of any third fulfillments of prophecy but see throughout the bible as mentioned previously, two fulfillments one soon after a prophecy is given and one in the future.
