An integral part of Jesus detailed prophecy concerning his return and the conclusion of the system of things focused on the desolation of Jerusalem by a disgusting thing. And it was in that context that Jesus referred the reader to the prophecy of Daniel. An abominable thing, an accursed thing. But more often throughout the Bible abomination refers to major covenant violations, especially idolatry (in Deuteronomy alone, see 7:25, 13:6-16, 17:2-5, 18:9-12, 27:15, 32:16). It may seem to us that they asked three questions: But a close reading shows that Jesus heard and answered two questions. (Reader, pay attention!) So, the they who put in place the disgusting thing is the Anglo-American duo, who are presently in the role of the king of the north and south, respectively. So what affects Babylon the Great must also affect Christendom. Wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.. Christendom and the remainder of Babylon the Great are only a part, the religious part, of this age-old system of things. The system includes also the political, military, secular part, including now the Eighth World Power. Rather, hate will supplant any love for her. Because the emergence of the last kingdom initiates Gods hour of judgment upon the world and the book of Revelation is quite clear that all who give their allegiance to the wild beast after it emerges from a death-like state, from the abyss, do not have their names written in the book of life. (a)What do those quoted words indicate about the chosen ones of now? the constant feature has been removed and there has been a placing of the disgusting thing that is causing desolation.Dan. The apocalyptic picture in Mt 24 verse29 also calls for sobriety of judgment.a. The angel goes on to relate: How long will the vision of the constant feature and of the transgression causing desolation continue, to make both the holy place and the army things to trample on?, This prophecy will have a second and larger fulfillment. But this strange event is part of a bigger thing, namely, the destruction of Babylon the Great as pictured in the last book of the Holy Bible, Revelation chapter seventeen. She is called the mother of the harlots and of the disgusting things of the earth. She holds a golden cup full of the disgusting things of her fornication with the kings of the earth. Though she curries the favor of the earthly kingdoms, sitting on top of a symbolic wild beast composed of such kingdoms, the time comes when this beast refuses to carry her, turns on her, and completely desolates her.See BABYLON THE GREAT. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate (11:31). (Da 9:27) The popular view has generally followed early Jewish tradition in applying this expression to the profanation of Jehovahs temple at Jerusalem in the year 168B.C.E. The abomination of desolation is a prophetic event found in the book of Daniel (Daniel 12:11) and referred to by Jesus Christ (Matthew 24:15). The United Nations will attack Christendom and the rest of Babylon the Great, as also foretold at Revelation 17:16-18. For God put it into their hearts to carry out his thought. (Rev. How could such a numerous, mighty religious organization ever be desolated, be brought to ruin? The angel goes on to relate: Surely any honest-reasoning person who does not have a hidden agenda will discern that when Jesus exhorted his disciples to consider the prophecy of Daniel regarding the desolation of the holy place he had in mind the passages cited above in this article. Tugis life was full of dignity and worth. According to the description there given, this triumphant war on the part of the Lamb of God will bring great tribulation upon the former patronizers and consorts of Babylon the Great (including Christendom). The zealots even triumphantly gave chase. ERV. Down to everlasting desolation will go the antitypical unfaithful Jerusalem (Christendom). Necessarily, then, desolation for Babylon the Great must also include desolation for Christendom. . Indeed, Scripture calls sexual sins like adultery, homosexuality, and bestiality abominations (e.g., Leviticus 18:22, 29-30). . . It should be noted, however, that Daniel 11:31-35 and 12:9, 11 connect a disgusting thing causing desolation with the time of the end. It is reasonable that the development of this latter expression of the disgusting thing causing desolation in the time of the end should follow the general pattern of that in the first century C.E., though not being restricted to the land of Israel. 33. 24:21, 22; 25:46) May they be among those favored ones to whom the great crowd in heaven will cry out: Praise Jah, you people! By what was the League of Nations succeeded, when, and as promoted chiefly by whom? He has written seventeen books on exegesis and biblical ethics, and is the founder and president of Center for Faith and Work, St. Louis. 24:15, 16) In the first fulfillment, the "standing in a holy place" occurred in 66 C.E . Accordingly, concerning the final efforts of the disgusting thing that causes desolation, we read, in Revelation 17:12-14: 22 And the ten horns that you [the apostle John] saw mean ten kings, who have not yet [in Johns day] received a kingdom, but they do receive authority as kings one hour with the wild beast [the international organization for world peace and security; the disgusting thing that causes desolation]. Here is a link to a Watchtower article fleshing out the setting leading up to the desolation of Jerusalem. When you see this (let the reader take note), Daniel 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week 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. Do we mean that the membership of the United Nations will shortly lay desolate the religious organization of Christendom? But Jehovah God has a heavy account to settle with all the rest of the world empire of false religion, namely, Babylon the Great. Most other translations use the expression armed forces instead of merely arms. These forces under the command of the king of the north likely are presently manifest in military alliances such as NATO and various other coalitions, but may also be expressed by militarized police and the oxymoronically named Homeland Security force in the United States, which in the event of martial law will come to the fore as the enforcer of the dictates of the last kingdom of man. (b)Survivors of that series of destructive acts will look back and see that it has all been what, as Jesus called it? What is an abomination? (a)What has that Seventh World Power professed to be religiously, and so what question arises? . Simply put, the Watchtowers teaching regarding the desolation of the holy place cannot stand up to critical examination. (Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures idols and the false gods they represented are depicted as disgusting things. Who says so? 24:15, 16) w74 12/1 pp. Jesus Christ gave his prophecy on the desolating of the Jewish Jerusalem which showed such unbelief toward him as the Messiah or Christ. Truly the Jewish system of things with those features came to its full conclusion with the desolating of ancient Jerusalem in 70C.E. But when ye see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not. 'Now when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION standing where it should not be let the reader understandthen those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. Any possibility that persons continuing in the practice of a disgusting thing might gain entrance into the New Jerusalem, the Lambs chaste bride class, is ruled out at Revelation 21:9, 10,27. 25 What, though, about the remnant of Gods chosen ones on whose account the days of the approaching great tribulation will be cut short in order for some flesh to be saved by not having too long a tribulation? Is it out of affection for God that the scarlet-colored wild beast destroys Babylon the Great (including Christendom)? 3. This act was the abomination of desolation, the abomination causing desolation. (a)Whom, then, does this indicate Christendoms desolator to be? Hence, although not directly named in Bible prophecy, she is typed or prophetically pictured. So, since the Watchtower teaches that Germany was the king of the north during the first half of the 20th century, followed by the USSR, the they is ostensibly understood by Jehovahs Witnesses to be the Anglo-American kings of the south and the Nazi/Soviet kings of the north. And then the sign of the Son of man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in lamentation, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 9 Today this peace-and-security organization is known as the United Nations, which in 1945 became the successor to the League of Nations that had failed to prevent World WarII, it really being killed by that world conflict. (1Cor. Yet, despite this, Christendom has been more forward than all the rest of her partners in Babylon the Great in riding the mightily armed Eighth World Power (The League of Nations and the United Nations), to have a kingdom over it, if possible. The problem is how much time intervenes between the tribulation of those days and the vivid symbolisms of Mt 24 verse29. Therefore, when you catch sight of the disgusting thing that causes desolation, as spoken about by Daniel the prophet, standing in a holy place(let the reader use discernment), then let those in Judea begin fleeing to the mountains.. The word "desolation" means to be in a condition that is uninhabitable and devastated. 36. And discerning students of prophecy well know that this is not the only place in Daniel where these things appear together in context. Concerning this a number of questions come to mind foremost being: What is this disgusting thing? "Desolation" is from the Greek root word eremosis and means something that has been stripped or laid waste. And the prophecy says that the disgusting thing "causes desolation" because the United Nations will play a key role in the destruction of all false religion. . Thus, the causing of desolation by the disgusting thing was imminent, and so this was the final signal for discerning Christians to flee to the mountains. (Mt 4:5; 27:53; 24:15, 16; Lu 19:43, 44; 21:20-22) Following their flight, the desolation of the city and nation occurred, Jerusalem being destroyed in the year 70C.E., and the last Jewish stronghold, Masada, falling to the Romans in 73C.E.Compare Da 9:25-27. Today, Barry Cooper turns to the context of Christ's warning to give clarity to this figure's identity. 24:21,22) That means nothing less than that the entire system of things, including antitypical unfaithful Jerusalem, will be annihilated, never to be restored. Instrumental in executing this judgment of Jehovah God upon her will be the modern-day disgusting thing that causes desolation, the Eighth World Power. And he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet sound, and they will gather his chosen ones together from the four winds, from one extremity of the heavens to their other extremity.. Love of Christendom is not going to deepen or to spread. Therefore, if people say to you, Look! Please make sure all fields are filled out. It states: And arms will stand up, proceeding from him; and they will profane the sanctuary, the fortress, and remove the constant feature. 23 That battle will be the war of the great day of God the Almighty at the world situation called HarMagedon, as foretold in Revelation 16:13-16 and as symbolically described in Revelation 19:11-21. idolatry. In all justice the whole system must end! Not only that, but consider this: If the holy place represents Christendom then how is it possible that false Christs and false prophets are operating after the point at which the disgusting thing brings desolation? 27 Nineteen centuries ago the anointed chosen ones did wait until they saw the disgusting thing standing in the holy place before they found it advisable and urgent for them to flee out of Jerusalem and all Judea, that is, from 66C.E. And discerning students of prophecy well know that this is not the only place in Daniel where these things appear together in context. "When you see the disgusting thing that will cause destruction standing where it should not (let the reader take note), those of you in Judea should flee to the mountains. Here is the Christ, or, There! do not believe it. The eighth chapter of Daniel makes that connection clear, as the context indicates the removal of the constant feature and the trampling of the holy place coincides with the fierce-looking king bringing to ruin the people made up of holy ones. 17:7,8) After World WarII it came out of the abyss as the United Nations, the eighth king or world power. Will Gods chosen ones of today yet have a similar signal to flee and begin fleeing out of the antitypical unfaithful Jerusalem, Christendom? Such tribulation means utter destruction for her! Likewise, to fulfill that prophetic type, great tribulation must come upon her antitype, Christendom. (a)How has this gathering work been done as with a great trumpet sound? The Roman armies were always an abomination because they carried with them idolatrous images of the emperor, whom they worshiped. But, alas, post-WWI Germany did not have anything to do with setting up the League. Now, lets consider Daniel 11:31 more closely. When he came to suppress the rebellion, his forces entered the temple, stopped the regular sacrifices, set up an idol of or altar for Zeus, and apparently offered swine there as a sacrifice. But they make perfect sense if Jesus predicts that another abomination of desolation, like Antiochus Epiphanes of Daniel, is coming. not exist, is not in force anymore. It may well be. . The pagan desecration of the temple altar by Antiochus, however disgusting in Gods sight, did not result in desolationfor Jerusalem, for the temple, or for the Jewish nation. From hos and pou; what(-ever) where, i.e. . It is then, in the future, when the disgusting thing will be put into place. (b)By what time will the full number have been gathered out, allowing for God to do what? It cannot possibly apply to Jesus return. Should they obey literally or metaphorically? Jerusalems desolation in 70C.E. What does the need to cut short the days to save flesh mean for the system of things? There that old religious harlot, Babylon the Great, is pictured as riding a scarlet-colored wild beast that has seven heads and ten horns. What? A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. 15 `Whenever, therefore, ye may see the abomination of the desolation, that was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever is reading let him observe) Read Matthew (YLT) Read Matthew 24:15 (YLT) in Parallel. 26. (a)Who should rejoice at the wonderful prospect ahead? Like other wild beasts that are used as symbols in Revelation and in Daniels prophecy, that disgusting, abominable kind of wild beast stands for a political organization. Given the similar content and wording of the prophecies of Daniel it should be evident to the discerning reader that the holy place that is destined to come to desolation . in the tribulation upon Jerusalem it was the armed forces of the Sixth World Power (Imperial Rome) that acted as the disgusting thing that causes desolation. In the coming great tribulation as it affects the antitypical unfaithful Jerusalem (Christendom), it is the members of the Eighth World Power that carry out the work of the disgusting thing that is causing desolation. And are these members of the Eighth World Power armed? The temple that was built for the worship of Jehovah as God has never been rebuilt, and never will be. These verses come in the context of the Olivet Discourse, which begins with Jesus telling his disciples that the temple will be destroyed (24:1-2). . There will be 1290 days from that time until the time that the terrible thing that destroys is set up. And the wild beast that was but is not, it is also itself an eighth king, but springs from the seven, and it goes off into destruction.Rev. Apparently a primary verb; to run away; by implication, to shun; by analogy, to vanish. Verb - Perfect Participle Active - Accusative Masculine Singular. When therefore ye see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let him that readeth understand), GOD'S WORD Translation "The prophet Daniel said that the disgusting thing that will cause destruction will stand in the holy place. (a)What befell Jewish Jerusalem nineteen centuries ago, and why must the antitype of this affect Babylon the Great? And, as modern history shows, the anointed chosen ones of Jehovah God have been fleeing from bondage to Christendom and Babylon the Great since the year 1919C.E., the year in which the disgusting thing that causes desolation was set up, even though they did not perceive in that year that the League of Nations was then the abomination of desolation or the disgusting thing that causes desolation. But they did understand Gods command, Get out of her, my people, that is, out of Babylon the Great, as including Christendom. Eventually, corrupt priests and kings brought various disgusting things into the very temple of Jehovah. Thereafter how will all other parts of the system of things show that they deserve to be destroyed? From eremoo; despoliation. Matthew 13:51 Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? However, there are still a number of serious problems with Bethels latest, revised interpretation foremost being, that the eighth king, symbolized by the scarlet-colored wild beast from the abyss regardless of what agency ultimately fulfills the role has not begun ruling for the prophesied one hour.. What did the book Light, Volume Two, of the year 1930, identify the abomination that maketh desolate as being? It will bring to an end the total present-day system of things. One that belongs to his generation, or one from the last days? "Abomination of desolation" is a phrase from the Book of Daniel describing the pagan sacrifices with which the 2nd century BCE Greek king Antiochus IV Epiphanes replaced the twice-daily offering in the Jewish temple, or alternatively the altar on which such offerings were made. 10 For more than two centuries this Seventh World Power has professed to be Christian and has been a stronghold of Christendom. In the concluding words of the prophecy Daniel recorded the words of an angel who said: It is apparent that the removal of the constant feature and the placing of the disgusting thing are inseparable. 2 Who, though, suggested such an almost unbelievable thing? standing in a holy place. (Mt 24:15) In 66C.E. Is the Watchtowers interpretation that the disgusting thing is presently the U.N. correct? 15 Gods angel, who said to the apostle John: And the ten horns that you saw mean ten kings, . Jehovahs Witnesses are well aware that the disgusting thing originally appeared in the form of the Roman armies, which was foretold in the 9th chapter of Daniel. 16 Necessarily the fulfillment of this prophecy means great tribulation for Christendom, the most reprehensible part of Babylon the Great. 6:9,10) In fact, in December of 1918 the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America publicly came out in favor of the then-proposed League of Nations as being the political expression of the kingdom of God on earth.. This is an abomination because it is idolatry, and it brings desolation because it defiles the holy place at the heart of Israel. (a)We look forward to see members of the United Nations act together as what toward Christendom? A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc. Scholars generally agree that the first reference of these prophecies is the Seleucid king Antiochus Epiphanes IV, who ruled Palestine from 175-64 B.C. (Space forbids that I address double and partial fulfillments of elements of 24:3-35. Feminine of Ioudaios; the Judaean land, a region of Palestine. (b)What was the reason for this? Properly, to stare at, i.e. (The Answer May Surprise You). 7. Now, though, Jehovahs Witnesses expect Jesus words to be realized in the future, coinciding with the attack of the beast upon the harlot. (b)Is it at the desolation of Babylon the Great (including Christendom) that that system of things ends? But under the title of League of Nations this organization did not destroy Christendom. But how is it even possible that the chosen ones could be misled by the clergy or anyone not associated with the leadership of the trusted Watchtower organization? Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular. Then he says, When you see standing in the holy place the abomination that causes desolation . Also, those called and chosen and faithful with him will do so.. 26 Fleeing out of the antitypical unfaithful Jerusalem (Christendom) has been the right thing for them to do at any time since the end of World WarI in 1918. tsim] on her. When you see this (let the reader take note), 16 those of you in Judea should flee to the mountains. After all, this prophecy alerts God's Named People to the timing of Vindicating Jehovah's Sacred and Holy Name. "The daily sacrifice will be stopped. These will battle with the Lamb, but, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, the Lamb will conquer them. As regards the proper identification of the they who put in place the disgusting thing, we must look to the 13th chapter of Revelation, where we are informed that a two-horned beast will ascend from the bowels of the earth and authoritatively speak as a dragon commanding that an image of the seven-headed beast be made, which then comes to life. Indeed, the parallel account in Luke 21 makes this point explicit: when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies . Verse 11. An entity needs to have a linkage with food, have contamination potential, and also a sense of 'offensiveness' in order to . Well, the United Nations of today cannot be called a Christian organization, for about half of the 127 member nations of which it is composed do not profess to be Christian. This is what is symbolized in Revelation the 17th chapter where the 10 kings, symbolizing all the national governments, give their kingdom to the wild beast until the will of God is accomplished. For he has executed judgment upon the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he has avenged the blood of his slaves at her hand.Rev.
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