In His most detailed prophecy of the end time, Jesus said, "When you see
the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing
in the holy place…, then let those who are in Judea flee to the
mountains" (Matthew 24:15-16). What was He talking about?
He was referring to Daniel 11, which foretold what would occur in the
powers that would vie for control of the Holy Land for centuries to come.
For much of the prophecy these kingdoms were Syria to the north and Egypt
to the south, both under Greek rulers following Alexander the Great. Eventually
the prophecy describes one of these rulers from Syria, Antiochus IV, also
known as Antiochus Epiphanes. He would "act deceitfully" by a false peace
agreement with the Jews and later come "in rage against the holy covenant,
and do damage" (Daniel 11:23-24,30).
The apocryphal book of 1 Maccabees, although not Scripture, provides us
with history of the period. It describes how Antiochus set himself against
the Jews, massacred many of them and plundered the temple at Jerusalem
(1 Maccabees 1:20-33).
The temple defiled
Then came the worst. Daniel's prophecy warned of Antiochus: "And they
shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily
sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation" (Daniel 11:31).
