The Abomination that Makes Desolate
In Leviticus 26, God informed Israel of the blessings of obedience and warned of the curses for disobedience to His Law, for idolatry, neglect of His sabbaths and disrespect to His sanctuary should their lack of sanctification or unholiness make it unclean and desolate.
Leviticus 26:31, "I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will not receive your offerings of incense".
The purpose of the Law and its ordinances was to separate unclean from clean, for without holiness no man shall see God. Should the altar become profaned, the continual sacrifice must cease to be offered, precluding intercession by the priest before the golden altar of incense, and the removal of the national and individual sin guilt. of Israel.
Nebuchadnezzar had made the temple desolate as foretold by the prophet Jeremiah (25:1-18). So when he prayed, Daniel implored, "Hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and cause Your face to shine upon Your sanctuary that is desolate" (Daniel 9:17),
The Babylonian empire was succeeded by Medo-Persia under whom Judah was free to return to Jerusalem. Medo-Persia were succeeded by the Greek empire of Alexander the great which, upon his death, was divided among his four generals.
Antiochus Epiphanes IV ruled Syria, and he desolated the temple by sacrificing a sow, making a broth of its carcass and scattering it about the sanctuary. He burned the Torah, forbad circumcision, and in 167BC, dedicated the temple to Jupiter Olympium, or Zeus, whose incarnation he claimed to be.
Daniel, 8:9-13, "He challenged [Michael] the prince of the saints, stopped the continual sacrifice, and profaned God's sanctuary. It was because of their transgressions, that God gave up His people and their sacrifice. And the wicked prospered and cast down the truth to the ground."
"Then Daniel heard one saint ask another, 'When will the daily sacrifice be restored, and for how long will the transgression of desolation cause both the sanctuary and the people to be trodden under foot'?"
Daniel 11:31 also alludes to Antiochus Epiphanes "polluting the sanctuary of strength, by taking away the daily sacrifice, and placing the abomination that makes desolate." He was a type of the final antichrist and as we read through this Chapter, the prophecy points to that end-time prince of Rome.
The Hebrew word "shamen" means to appall or cause horror, hence "the abomination that makes desolate" is some detestable thing, like swine or an idol, that profanes the sanctuary.
I am endeavoring to show you that throughout Scripture we find there were many abominations that have desolated God's sanctuary in the times of the Gentiles. In Matthew 24, for instance, the disciples asked Jesus, "When shall the temple be overthrown so that there is not one stone on another"?
Jesus replied, "When you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (who so reads, let him understand): this is the signal for those in Judea to escape to the mountains: anyone on the housetop should not come down to take any thing out of his house: neither let he who is in the field return back for his clothes. And woe to them with child, and to they who give suck in those days! But pray that your flight be not in the winter (when the hills are full of snow), neither on the sabbath day" when the City gates are closed for you will be trapped (Matthew 24:3, 15-20).
"The abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel" would be perpetrated by Rome, the fourth Gentile world empire. And he foretells two desolations by Rome.
Daniel 9:26-27, "After three score and two weeks (or 434 prophetic years of 360-days) Messiah will be executed, but not because He is guilty or for self-gain: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a military overthrow . . ."
(The Roman prince of whom Daniel speaks is the one to whom Jesus referred in Matthew. This first desolation by Rome was when General Titus whose armies destroyed the City and temple in AD70. He later became Caesar).
". . . and unto the end of the war desolations are determined."
This "war" speaks of "the times of the Gentiles" which commenced in 606BC when Nebuchadnezzar defeated Judah, placed the kingdom under tribute and transported the first contingent of Judeans to Babylon. He returned, looted and destroyed Solomon's temple. The times of the Gentiles, and consequently the "desolations" will continue to the consummation at Armageddon. So this "war" alludes specifically to the 2,100-year long conflict between Rome and the Jews.
Luke 21:24, "The Judeans shall fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations [after Titus destroys the City]: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles [which outlast the Gentile dispensation] are fulfilled" (when the Stone cut out of the mountain without hands destroys all earthly kingdoms. See Revelation 11:2 and Daniel 2:44-45).
Daniel 9:27, "And the prince of Rome (who is the Pope incarnate by Satan in the last week of Daniel's Seventy Weeks after the end of the Gentile dispensation, the last seven years of the times of the Gentiles) shall covenant with the Jews for one week [refinance the US dollar]: And in the midst of the week [after three and a half years] he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate."
The second Roman desolation of the Temple will be caused when the Pope profanes the temple that will have been erected on Mount Moriah. He will do away with the animal sacrifices that have been restored, seat himself in the temple, and force the mark of the beast which is Roman Catholicism, on those Jews as has the Gentiles (Isaiah 14:12-15; Revelation 12:8-17; 13:4-18).
I'll paraphrase what Paul wrote in II Thessalonians 2:1-12, "We implore you, brethren, by the "parousia" coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him; that you don't become nervous and unsettled if you hear of visions from Fatima, superstitious rumors or secret revelations contrary to the Word, that the day of Christ (or the end of the Gentile dispensation and Daniel's Seventieth Week) is at hand."
(Christ's "parousia" Coming is His Presence in the fullness of His Word He unfolded to us by revealing the mysteries hidden under the Seven Seals which He opened in 1963. The revelation of the Seals brought the fullness of the Word (Christ) back to earth, not in the flesh, but in WORD form (I Corinthians 13:10). Christ's "parousia" is not His second physical return which takes place after Armageddon has destroyed all life on earth (Malachi 4:1-3), It is the Word.
This explains what Jesus meant when He said, "If they say I am in Jerusalem, Rome, or some secret place, believe them not. My "parousia" Coming will be universal and can not be observed by the eye but must be seen (or understood) by faith" (Matthew 24:23-28).
Look up the word "coming" in your Greek lexicon and learn to distinguish between the words "parousia" and "erchomai." In II Thessalonians 2:1-2 Paul is telling us to remember that this is a "parousia" Coming and not the physical return of a Man. So there is no need to chase rumors or visions because His Presence will be manifest to all of the saints individually by their faith or understanding of the mysteries that were hidden under the Seven Seals.
Christ's "parousia" is God's Presence made known personally to His saints in the fullness of His Word through the revelation of the Seven Seals. It is this common understanding that calls both the wise and foolish virgin OUT from "her", (Rome and her once Protestant harlot daughter churches) into "Him", the Word (Matthew 25:1-13; I Thessalonians 4:16; Revelation 18:4).
Remember, Jesus sees the Roman Catholic church as a woman "whose forehead bore the caption: mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth" (Revelation 17:5). Rome is the final desolator whose Pope becomes abomination when he sits as God in the temple).
"Let no man deceive you by any means: for Daniel's Seventieth Week shall not commence until the whole world becomes apostate, then that man of sin, the son of perdition will be publicly revealed; who defies all gods and tears down all objects of worship or adoration until he enters the temple of God, claiming himself to be God."
"You should remember I told you this when I was with you. And know that it is only the Presence of the Holy Spirit that prevents him from revealing himself now. For the mystery of iniquity is already at work: however the Holy Spirit will continue to restrain him until He leaves the earth in Christ's Bride."
"After the first resurrection the Wicked One shall be made known to the world, whom the Lord shall consume with the Word (Revelation 19:15), and render powerless with the brightness of his "parousia" (because Light disperses darkness, he cannot stand before faith). His "parousia" will be by the working of Satan and accompanied by miracles, signs, lying wonders and in all of the deceitfulness of unrighteousness in his followers who will perish (Revelation 13:3-4, 8); because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved."
(Satan has been incarnating himself gradually through the spirit of antichrist in deeds of the nicolatains which became doctrine when the Roman Catholic church was organized at the First Nicea Council of AD325; then the false prophet was made pope and crowned with a triple crown, and very soon he will be incarnate by as the beast, and worshipped by the LOST).
(Jesus said, "Thy Word is truth" and these perish because God did nor receive their advances. God's love is elective love. He loves whom He will because He is sovereign, and He is perfect. It is not that the Man of Sin and his followers don't love God; but God hates them because they do not receive His love, the Word. And to reject faith and the seal of God is to take the mark of the beast. The evidence of God's love is communion or fellowship with Him by faith (John 16:13). Spiritual revelation is God speaking to us, expressing relationship with us.
"Because they have rejected relationship with Him by faith, God shall send them a strong delusion, causing them to believe the lie [Satan told Eve?that God loves everybody, so it matters not what you believe so long as you love Jesus]. And those who take pleasure in unrighteousness [by reasoning against the faith, receive the mark of the beast] and are damned for not being restored to the truth" (Malachi 4:6; Revelation 22:10-19).
Peter said, "It shall come to pass, that every soul, who will not hear that prophet, with the ministry that restores the fullness of the Word spoken by the mouth of all God's holy prophets since the world began shall be destroyed from among the people" (Acts 3:21-23).
The last abomination that makes desolate will be Rome's final Pope incarnate by Satan who will unite the world in Roman Catholicism against the Word. Together with his deceived followers, he will be cast into a lake of Fire after Armageddon.
Revelation 19:20, "And the beast [or last pope] was taken, and with him the false prophet [former] who performed miracles in his presence [claiming infallibility in Peter's chair], with which he deceived all who received the mark of the beast [Trinitarianism], and who worshipped his image [Protestantism]. These were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone" (Revelation 2:20-23).
The "abomination making the sanctuary desolate" today is es Sakhra, the Mosque of Omar, which prevents Israel reviving the sacrifice and temple worship.
Mohammed died in AD632, and Omar was a convert to the new religion that bears his name. Omar took Jerusalem in AD638, leveled the temple site and commenced construction of the Mosque known as the Dome of the Rock in AD 685. The Mosque was completed in AD691 and dedicated the following year.
The Mosque of Omar or Dome of the Rock stands on the place where Abraham was to offer Isaac, a type of Christ who was sacrificed on this mountain for all of Adam's race. This is God's only provided place of worship for all those under the Old Covenant (Deuteronomy 16:2, 5-6). God requires all adult male Israelites to assemble on this mountain three times in the year to observe the feasts of Unleavened Bread and Passover, Pentecost and Booths.
So long as the Mount Moriah is profaned by the abomination of the Mosque es Sakhra, God cannot deal with the Hebrew people. Until they observe the Old Covenant they claim to believe, He cannot open their eyes to the New, and Daniel's Seventieth Week can not commence.
This interesting impasse is without geopolitical or diplomatic resolution. To Christians it is of historic and prophetic interest only, for unlike the Moslems, Hebrews and Roman Catholics, who are mutual enemies, we have here no continuing city. We are sojourners on earth; ours is a Spiritual Kingdom with Headquarters in heaven.
In His time the hand of God will cleanse the temple site of this abomination, as prophesied in holy Scripture. This will be related to the New World Order under the Roman Catholic Church ruling from Jerusalem.
Zechariah, 14:1-4, "Behold, the day of the LORD comes, when God will gather all nations to fight against Jerusalem; the city will be taken and the houses rifled, the loot divided, and the women raped; half the city shall go into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city."
Jerusalem was made an international city by UN Resolution 181 of 1947. When the State of Israel was proclaimed at midnight, May 14, 1948, Palestine was already partitioned, with the Eastern half or Old Jerusalem in Jordan (as Jordan's King is responsible for maintaining and protecting es Sakhra, the Dome of the Rock. See Newsletter 28.
The Six-Day War (June 5-10, 1967) saw the whole of Jerusalem brought under Israeli sovereignty, igniting religious and multilateral conflicts that have blazed ever since.
In 1975, the Houston Chronicle reported that Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, proposed "that Jerusalem become an international city with the control of holy places and the religious administration being given to the pope." Since then, the Vatican has itself proposed moving from Rome to Jerusalem, and has held numerous meetings to that effect with high-ranking Ashkenazim-Jewish officials of the Marxist State of Israel.
In a story broken first by La Stampa in Italy and Shishi in Israel, and verified with documented proof in Haaretz, in May 1993, Shimon Peres promised the pope hegemony of the Old City of Jerusalem by the end of the year 2000.
In July, 1997, the powerful Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) finally revealed its plans for Israel in its Middle East Task Force report, headed by Henry Seigman. It was recommended that Israel withdraw to its 1948 lines, that Jerusalem be divided and that half the city be the capital of a Palestinian state. See Jerusalem in the Midst of the Nations).
On March 6, 2000, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat declared, "The year 2000 is the year for the Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. . ." Under the terms of the new peace accord signed in with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, September 2000 is the target date for completion of final status negotiations. See israelwire.
"Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is east of Jerusalem, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south".
September promises to be interesting month this year. While the world is preoccupied with the Olympic Games and the Jewish New Year, Rome should be opening her offices in Old Jerusalem where Palestinians will be establishing their capitol.
All of Israel's enemies: the self-styled non-Semitic, anti-Semitic Jews, Moslems and Rome, will surround the temple site. The scene will be set for "great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to the time when Titus destroyed the temple nor ever shall be. And except those days are shortened, there should be no flesh saved for the rapture but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened" (Matthew 24:21-22).
Brother Branham taught that "Israel is God's time piece." When the earthquake splits the Mount of Olives, it will demolish the Mosque of Omar that continues to desolate the temple site and prevent the restoration of the daily sacrifice and the temporary cleansing of the sins of Israel, according to the Torah. He taught that the Mosque will continue to stand on the temple site until the Gentile dispensation ends. Jesus said, "Who so reads the prophecy of Daniel, let him understand".
After the Mosque is destroyed the Gentiles will continue to tread down Jerusalem. Which non-Hebrews will these be? All of Israel's enemies encamped around the temple?the non-Semitic, anti-Semitic self-styled Jews, the Moslems, and Rome. See israelwire.com and har-habayt.org.
As happened in the days of Ezra, Israel will build an altar and restore the daily sacrifice as soon as the earthquake has destroyed the Mosque; "even before the foundation of the temple is laid" (Ezra 3:1-6).
The last reference to "the abomination that makes desolate" found in the Book of Daniel does not refer to the Dome of the Rock, but to the Pope who cancels the daily sacrifice the Hebrews will have restored, and enforces Roman Catholicism by his image (Revelation 13:8; 15-18).
Daniel 12:11-12, "And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days."
Refering to this final abomination that makes desolate, Jesus "saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the Christian martyrs: . . . and in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth" (Revelation 17:6; 18:24). bb000702.htm
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