THE SIGN 4: THE ABOMINATION THAT CAUSES DESOLATION MATTHEW 24:15

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL FOR THIS STUDY

Jesus said that the prophet Daniel had spoken about the abomination. In connection with the book of Daniel we must keep in mind that there are two different Greek translations, the Septuagint translation and the Theodotion translation. The fact is that the Theodotion translation of Daniel is much closer to the Hebrew text than the Septuagint translation. And when Daniel is quoted in the Christian Greek Scriptures, in most cases the Theodotion translation is quoted.

A COMPARISON OF THE FOUR REFERENCES OF THE ABOMINATION THAT CAUSES DESOLATION

The desolation that causes desolation is mentioned four times in Daniel, and Table 1.1 shows my transcription and translation of the Hebrew text and of the text of Theodotion and the Septuagint.

Table 1.1 Hebrew and Greek words for “the abomination that causes desolation”

	Hebrew	Greek Theodotion	Greek Septuagint
8:13	happeshsa‘ ‘shomem the transgresion that desolates	he hamartia erēmōseōs the sin causing desolation	he hamartia erēmōseōs the sin causing desolation
9:27	shiqqutsim messhomem abominations causing desolation	bdelygma tōn erēmōseōn abomination causing the desolations	bdelygma tōn eremōseōn abomination causing the desolations
11:31	hasshsiqquts messhomem the abomination causing desolation	bdelygma ēfanismenon (the) abomination being visible	bdelygma erēmōseōs abomination causing desolation
12:11	shiqquts shomem (the) desolating abomination	bdelygma erēmōseōs abomination causing desolation	bdelygma tēs erēmōseōs abomination causing the desolation

We see that the writing of the abomination that causes desolation is slightly different. But it is the same object that is referred to in all four places, though in different contexts.

“LET THE READER USE DISCERNMENT”

This is the only place where Matthew asked his readers to use discernment, and he must have had good reasons for using these words. We need not do much research before we discover something that very likely is the background for the words of Jesus.

The Syrian king Antiochus IV Epiphanes suppressed the Jews, and he used much force to cause the Jews to leave their religion and accept Greek customs and the worship of the Greek gods. He also built a pagan altar above Jehovah’s altar in the temple. Regarding this act, Flavius Josephus says:

The king [Antiochus IV Epiphanes] also built a pagan altar upon the temple-altar and slaughtered swine thereon, thereby practicing a form of sacrifice neither lawful nor native to the religion of the Jews.[1]

The Jews under the leadership of the Maccabees revolted against Antiochus, and the book of First Maccabees, written about 100 BCE, tells about the founding and earliest history of the Hasmonean kingdom. This book interprets the pagan altar in the temple as of the abomination that causes desolation:

On the fifteenth day of Kislev in the year 145 [167 BCE] the king had an abomination of desolation built upon the altar, and in the outlying towns of Judah they built illicit altars, and at the doors of the houses and in the squares they offered illicit sacrifices. [2]

What did the abomination that causes desolation refer to according to the writer of 1 Maccabees? The writer does not tell us. But in his commentary on 1 Maccabees, J. A. Goldstein says:

Antiochus IV takes drastic measures to enforce the imposed cult. “Abomination of Desolation,” a framework containing three meteorites representing the three gods of the imposed cult, is placed upon the sacrificial altar of the temple.

An Athenian expert helps direct the practices of the imposed cult. The practices in the temple include monthly sacrifices on the twenty-fifth, sacred prostitution, and violation of the laws of ritual purity.[3]

This interpretation of the abomination that causes desolation has great ramifications in connection with the inspiration of the Bible. The book of Daniel contains many prophecies. A great number of scholars claim that the prophecies of the book are history in prophetic disguise — the “prophecies” are written after the events happened.

One important part of these arguments is that the abomination that causes desolation and a great number of other “prophecies” were a reference to the actions of Antiochus IV Epiphanes. One problem with this theory is that the ancient sources dealing with Antiochus are few and contradict each other. So, the history of this king is based on much guesswork and conjecture. In my book, When Was the Book of Daniel Written? A Philological, Linguistic, and Historical Approach (2017) I discuss the abomination that causes desolation and other subjects related to Antiochus in detail. And contrary to the universal agreement, I argue that no prophecy in the book of Daniel has a reference on Antiochus.

In view of the wrong interpretation of the abomination that causes desolation that were circulating in the days of Jesus, we understand why he said, “Let the reader use discernment.”

[1]. Flavius Josephus, Antiquities, 12.5.4 § 253, translated by W. Whiston.

[2]. All quotations from 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees are taken from the editions of Goldstein.

[3]. J. A. Goldstein, 1 Maccabees, 163.

THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHECY OF THE ABOMINATION IN THE FIRST CENTURY CE

In connection with many prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures there are few clues in their contexts helping us to find their fulfillment. But the situation is different in connection with the abomination that causes desolation.

THE BOOK OF DANIEL POINTS TO A FULFILLMENT IN THE FIRST CENTURY CE

Table 1.1 above shows that the abomination that causes desolation is mentioned four places in the book of Daniel. One of these places put the abomination into a timeline. Daniel 9:24-27 presents a prophecy about 70 weeks of years during which the Jewish nation had the opportunity to repent and return to Jehovah. The promised Messiah would come after 69 weeks of years, a period that ended in the year 29 CE, and he would be cut off in the middle of this week, which is 33 CE.[1]

Below is my strictly literal translation of Daniel 9:26–27:

²⁶ And after sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off with nothing for himself. And the people of a leader who will come will destroy the city and the holy place. And its end will come by the flood. Until the end, there will be war, and desolations have been decided.

²⁷ He will let the covenant prevail for the many for one week, and in the middle of the week, he will cause sacrifice and gift offering to cease. And upon the wings of abominations, the one causing desolation will come. And this will be until the complete destruction because that which is decided will gush forth upon the one becoming desolate.

I will now in turn make some comments on each clause.

And the people of a leader that will come will destroy the city and the holy place.

These words put the verse in the right time setting. Jerusalem and the temple would be destroyed, and that happened in the year 70 CE.

And its end will come by the flood.

In Daniel 11:22, fighting armies are described as “the flood,” and the meaning is probably the same in 9:27: the end of Jerusalem would be caused by an army that would come like a flood.

Until the end, there will be war.

The destruction of Jerusalem and the temple will be the result of war that would last until the end of the city.

The verb shāmam (“to desolate) is used in all four examples of the abomination that causes desolation in table 1.1. Here the participle of the verb is used, and it stands alone. This shows that it is the abomination that causes desolation that would cause the desolation of Jerusalem and its temple.

And upon the wings of abominations the one causing desolation will come.

Previously, the end of Jerusalem was said to come “by the flood,” which evidently refers to the army coming like the flood. Here, another metaphor is used, “upon the wings.” In Habakkuk 1:8, the Babylonian army is said to “fly like the eagle,” and the army that will destroy Jerusalem and the temple is said to come “upon the wing of abominations” — the army will come quickly just like a flying bird. Later I will show which army the reference is to. And the plural “abominations” may refer to the parts of this army.

The important point is that the abomination that causes desolation is faithful to its name because it is the one that will cause the desolation of Jerusalem and its temple.

And this will be until the complete destruction, because that which is decided will gush forth upon the one becoming desolate.

Here the clause “and its end will come by the flood” may be anticipated because it is said that the end “will gush forth” like water upon the one coming desolate.

In Daniel 9:26, 27, the abomination that causes desolation is connected with the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple that occurred in the year 70 CE.

JESUS POINTS TO A FULFILLMENT IN THE FIRST CENTURY CE

In the last section, I showed that the disgusting thing that causes desolation was the entity that would destroy Jerusalem and its temple. But the identity of the disgusting thing was not given.

THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE DISGUSTING THING THAT CAUSES DESOLATION

Jesus used the words of Daniel as a point of departure, and he also identified the disgusting thing that causes desolation; we can see this when we compare the words of the three evangelists in Table 1.2.

Table 1.2 A comparison with Matthew 24, Luke 21. and Mark 13

MATTHEW 24:15-22	LUKE 21:20-24	MARK 13:14-20
15 “Therefore, when YOU catch sight of the disgusting thing that causes desolation, as spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in a holy place, (let the reader use discernment,) 16 then (tote) let those in Ju·deʹa begin fleeing to the mountains. 17 Let the man on the housetop not come down to take the goods out of his house; 18 and let the man in the field not return to the house to pick up his outer garment. 19 Woe to the pregnant women and those suckling a baby in those days! 20 Keep praying that YOUR flight may not occur in wintertime, nor on the sabbath day;21 for then (tote) there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again. 22 In fact, unless those days were cut short, no flesh would be saved; but on account of the chosen ones those days will be cut short.	20 “Furthermore, when YOU see Jerusalem surrounded by encamped armies, then (tote) know that the desolating of her has drawn near. 21 Then (tote) let those in Ju·deʹa begin fleeing to the mountains, and let those in the midst of her withdraw, and let those in the country places not enter into her; 22 because these are days for meting out justice, that all the things written may be fulfilled.23 Woe to the pregnant women and the ones suckling a baby in those days! For there will be great necessity upon the land and wrath on this people; 24 and they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations;	14 “However, when YOU catch sight of the disgusting thing that causes desolation standing where it ought not (let the reader use discernment), then (tote) let those in Ju·deʹa begin fleeing to the mountains. 15 Let the man on the housetop not come down, nor go inside to take anything out of his house; 16 and let the man in the field not return to the things behind to pick up his outer garment. 17 Woe to the pregnant women and those suckling a baby in those days! 18 Keep praying that it may not occur in wintertime; 19 for those days will be [days of] a tribulation such as has not occurred from [the] beginning of the creation which God created until that time, and will not occur again. 20 In fact, unless Jehovah had cut short the days, no flesh would be saved. But on account of the chosen ones whom he has chosen he has cut short the days.

The green text is similar in all three cases, and the brown text is very similar in Matthew and Mark and quite similar in Luke. The blue text is similar in Matthew and Mark but different in Luke. This is a good basis for identification. When Matthew and Mark mention the disgusting thing that causes desolation, Luke mentions the encamped armies that would surround Jerusalem. This means that these armies are the disgusting thing that causes desolation. This is supported by the fact that the word desolating is used in Luke 21:20 in connection with Jerusalem and the armies. This perfectly corroborates Daniel 9:26, 27. I will now look at the details.

THE BASIS FOR THE NAME “THE DISGUSTING THING THAT CAUSES DESOLATION”

There is something in the words of Luke that seems awkward, namely, the words that when you see Jerusalem encamped by armies, then those seeing this should begin fleeing to the mountains. How could people who were inside a city surrounded by armies leave the city and flee to the mountains?

The historical situation turned out to make the word of Luke logical. In the year 66 CE, there was a Jewish revolt, and after that the Roman army of Cestius Gallus surrounded the city. For five days they attacked the temple wall and succeeded in undermining it on the sixth day. A Roman victory was in sight. But suddenly, for apparently no good reason, Cestius Gallus withdrew his armies, which suffered considerable casualties at the hands of the pursuing Jews while it was retreating.

Now, the Christians understood that they had to flee from a city that was surrounded — now that the armies had retreated. And they fled the city, just as Jesus had said. For three years there was peace. But in the year 70 CE the Roman army of General Titus surrounded the city, and after less than six months of siege the city was conquered and it was destroyed together with its temple.

Why were the Roman armies called “a disgusting thing”? The reason was that the armies “were standing where they ought not” (Mark 13:14); “were standing in the holy place” (Matthew 24:15). What does this mean? The Roman armies surrounded Jerusalem, which was the holy city. They proceeded up to the holy ground of the temple, and they brought with them idolatrous standards to which they sacrificed. On the basis of these actions, the armies were disgusting in the eyes of Jehovah God.

The basis for the second part of the name, “causing desolation” is indicated both in Daniel 9:26, 27 and in Luke 21:20. It was the Roman armies that caused the desolation of Jerusalem. So, the name of the abomination that causes desolation is based on the actions of the Roman army when they desolated Jerusalem.

In connection with the flight, Jesus said according to Matthey 24:17-20:

⁷ Let the man on the housetop not come down to take the goods out of his house; ¹⁸ and let the man in the field not return to the house to pick up his outer garment. ¹⁹ Woe to the pregnant women and those suckling a baby in those days! ²⁰ Keep praying that YOUR flight may not occur in wintertime, nor on the sabbath day

These words stress the urgency of the situation. When the armies had withdrawn, it was important to act quickly. All had to flee, from housetop to housetop, if necessary, and from fields outside the city. Sabbath laws existed in Judea, and it was hard for persons to journey over great distances or carry loads on the sabbath. Moreover, the gates of walled cities were closed. How much more difficult this would make it for Jewish women in pregnancy or nursing babies to go in haste on foot. Also, the wintertime with its bad weather would make it difficult, not only for such women, but for all other persons in flight. All these words stress the importance of fleeing Judea in haste, regardless of the situations that existed.

The Roman armies could be said to be “an abomination” because they entered the holy city of Jerusalem including the holy area of the temple. They brought with them their standards to which they sacrificed. The Roman armies could be said to be those “that causes desolation” because they destroyed Jerusalem and its temple

[1]. See my book, My Beloved Religion — And The Governing Body, pages 66-69.

THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHECY OF THE ABOMINATION IN THE TIME OF THE END

How can we know that the words about the disgusting thing that causes desolation will get a bigger fulfillment than it got in the first century CE. Immediately before the words about the disgusting thing in Mathew 24:15, Jesus said that a part of the sign of his presence was that “this good news of the kingdom” should be preached as a witness to all the nations. This did not happen in the first century CE, but it has happened in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Moreover, the act of causing desolation by the abomination that causes desolation is connected with the great tribulation (Matthew 24:21). The first fulfillment of this great tribulation was in the year 70 CE. But the verse says about the magnitude of the great tribulation, “such… as will not occur again.” But the great tribulation that is mentioned in Revelation chapters 17 and 19 is much greater than anything that ever has happened. Therefore, the future great tribulation is the fulfillment of Matthew 24:21, and the present abomination that causes desolation will play a role in the destruction and desolation in the coming great tribulation.

In order to identify the present abomination that causes desolation, we must look for something that is standing in the holy place, and that will contribute to the desolation of something that correspond to Jerusalem and the temple in the first century CE.

LOOKING FOR THE RIGHT POLITICAL ENTITY

Matthew 24:32-36 says that the followers should understand the sign of the presence of Jesus in verses 5-22, including the abomination that causes desolation. Revelation 1:1 says that God gave Revelation to Jesus in order “to show his slaves the things that must shortly take place”. This means that trying to identify the abomination that causes desolation in the time of the end is something that God’s servants should do.

LEARNING THE KEY TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF PROPHETIC SYMBOLS IN THE BOOK OF DANIEL  

We must look for a political entity that in God’s eyes is an abomination but that will destroy a certain religious entity, in order to find a parallel to the abomination that causes desolation in the first century CE.

Jesus referred to the book of Daniel several times, including Daniel’s words about the abomination that causes desolation. In this book we also find the key to the understanding of symbols in Revelation. I quote Daniel 7:1-8, 13, 14, 17:

¹ In the first year of Bel·shazʹzar the king of Babylon, Daniel himself beheld a dream and visions of his head upon his bed. At that time he wrote down the dream itself. The complete account of the matters he told. ² Daniel was speaking up and saying:

“I happened to be beholding in my visions during the night, and, see there! the four winds of the heavens were stirring up the vast sea. ³ And four huge beasts were coming up out of the sea, each one being different from the others. ⁴ “The first one was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I kept on beholding until its wings were plucked out, and it was lifted up from the earth and was made to stand up on two feet just like a man, and there was given to it the heart of a man.

⁵ “And, see there! another beast, a second one, it being like a bear. And on one side it was raised up, and there were three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and this is what they were saying to it, ‘Get up, eat much flesh.’

⁶ “After this I kept on beholding, and, see there! another [beast], one like a leopard, but it had four wings of a flying creature on its back. And the beast had four heads, and there was given to it rulership indeed.

⁷ “After this I kept on beholding in the visions of the night, and, see there! a fourth beast, fearsome and terrible and unusually strong. And it had teeth of iron, big ones. It was devouring and crushing, and what was left it was treading down with its feet. And it was something different from all the [other] beasts that were prior to it, and it had ten horns.

¹³ “I kept on beholding in the visions of the night, and, see there! with the clouds of the heavens someone like a son of man happened to be coming; and to the Ancient of Days he gained access, and they brought him up close even before that One. ¹⁴ And to him there were given rulership and dignity and kingdom, that the peoples, national groups and languages should all serve even him. His rulership is an indefinitely lasting rulership that will not pass away, and his kingdom one that will not be brought to ruin.

¹⁷ “‘As for these huge beasts, because they are four, there are four kings that will stand up from the earth. ¹⁸ But the holy ones of the Supreme One will receive the kingdom, and they will take possession of the kingdom for time indefinite, even for time indefinite upon times indefinite.’

Here we have a key to the understanding of the symbols of Revelation. As verse 17 shows, each beast is a symbol of a king, standing for a kingdom. Because the vision was given to Daniel who lived during the Babylonian kingdom, we can identify the first beast as the Babylonian Empire, the second is the Medo-Persian Empire, and the third is Greek-Macedonian empire. The fourth beast is the Roman Empire, from which a small horn grew up (verse 8), a horn that represents the next empire.[1]

An important point in Daniel chapter 7 is that the mentioned empires are viewed as beasts in relation to God’s kingdom that is mentioned in verses 13, 14.

THE WILD BEAST MENTIONED IN REVELATION  CHAPTER 13

We must assume that the symbols of Revelation can be interpreted in the same way as the symbols in the book of Daniel, including the beasts of Revelation. I quote Revelation 13:1, 2:

¹ And it stood still upon the sand of the sea. And I saw a wild beast ascending out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, and upon its horns ten diadems, but upon its heads blasphemous names. ² Now the wild beast that I saw was like a leopard, but its feet were as those of a bear, and its mouth was as a lion’s mouth. And the dragon gave to [the beast] its power and its throne and great authority.

The wild beast had characteristics of a lion, a bear, and a leopard.  This suggests that the remnants of the empires symbolized by the same animals in Daniel chapter 7 must be a part of this wild beast. Because it has seven heads, the remnants of all the seven world empires must be a part of it. But there is much more to the wild beast, and I quote verses 7, 8, 16, 17:

⁷ And there was granted it to wage war with the holy ones and conquer them, and authority was given it over every tribe and people and tongue and nation
⁸ And all those who dwell on the earth will worship it; the name of not one of them stands written in the scroll of life of the Lamb who was slaughtered, from the founding of the world.

¹⁶ And it puts under compulsion all persons, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the slaves, that they should give these a mark in their right hand or upon their forehead, ¹⁷ and that nobody might be able to buy or sell except a person having the mark, the name of the wild beast or the number of its name.

Verse 7 shows that the wild beast has authority over every tribe people and nation, and verse 8 shows that all humans worship it[2]; verse 16 and 17 shows that it also has authority over all the people on the earth.

On the basis of all this information, what does this wild beast symbolize? I make the identification on the basis of Matthew 4:8, 9 (above) and Revelation 12:10-12 (below):

⁸ Again the Devil took him along to an unusually high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, ⁹ and he said to him: “All these things I will give you if you fall down and do an act of worship to me.”

¹⁰ And I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come to pass the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ, because the accuser of our brothers has been hurled down, who accuses them day and night before our God! ¹¹ And they conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their witnessing, and they did not love their souls even in the face of death. ¹² On this account be glad, YOU heavens and YOU who reside in them! Woe for the earth and for the sea, because the Devil has come down to YOU, having great anger, knowing he has a short period of time.”

Matthew 4:8, 9: shows that Satan the Devil is the ruler over all the nations of the world. And his rulership stands in opposition to the kingdom of God with the authority of Jesus Christ.  This is the same kingdom as the one that is mentioned in Daniel 7:14, which stood in contrast to the four beasts mentioned in the verses before.

Because the kingdom of God was established in heaven in the year 1914, all other nations are, in reality, rebel governments. Therefore, the wild beast must be a symbol of all the kingdoms in this world that are in opposition to God’s kingdom.

The wild beast in Revelation chapter 13 is a symbol of all the nations on the earth which are ruled by Satan the Devil. They are symbolized as a wild beast because they from God’s viewpoint are rebel governments that do not accept the supreme power of the kingdom of God.

THE IMAGE OF THE WILD BEAST MENTIONED IN REVELATION CHAPTER 17

Another wild beast is mentioned in Revelation 13:11. It has two horns like a lamb but speaks like a dragon. And it deceives the humans on the earth, as we read in 13:14:

¹⁴ And it misleads those who dwell on the earth, because of the signs that were granted it to perform in the sight of the wild beast, while it tells those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the wild beast that had the sword-stroke and yet revived.

What is this image of the wild beast? It turns out to be a color picture of the mentioned wild beast, and it is described in Revelation chapter 17. I quote verse 3:

³ And he carried me away in [the power of the] spirit into a wilderness. And I caught sight of a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored wild beast that was full of blasphemous names and that had seven heads and ten horns.

This wild beast is similar to the one mentioned in chapter 13. Both have seven heads and ten horns. The difference is that the wild beast mentioned in 17:3 is scarlet-colored and is full of blasphemous names. What does it mean to be an image of the wild beast mentioned in chapter 13, which is a symbol of all the nations of the world that are ruled by Satan the Devil?

There is an identification in 17:9-11:

The wild beast that you saw was, but is not, and yet is about to ascend out of the abyss, and it is to go off into destruction… ⁹ “Here is where the intelligence that has wisdom comes in: The seven heads mean seven mountains, where the woman sits on top. ¹⁰ And there are seven kings: five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet arrived, but when he does arrive he must remain a short while. ¹¹ 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.

These words were written at the end of the first century. At that time, five world empires had fallen: Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, and Greece-Macedonia. One existed, namely, the Roman Empire, and one had not yet arrived: the Anglo-American Empire — or we may perhaps say the American Empire.

The Anglo-American Empire and the remnant of the six previous empires represents the seven heads on the wild beast mentioned in chapter 13 and the image of this wild beast mentioned in chapter 17. But what did the wild beast itself in chapter 17 symbolize?

Verse 11 says that it is an eighth king and that “it springs from the seven” or is “out of the seven”. This description fits only one entity, namely the organization of the United Nations. It is an eight “world Empire” with its 193 member nations.

The wild beast “was” from 1920 in the form of the League of Nations, it “is not” and was in the abyss during World War II, and it “ascended out of the abyss” in 1945 as the United Nations.

The wild beast in Revelation chapter 13 is a symbol of all the human governments in the world that are ruled by Satan. The wild beast in Revelation 17 is a symbol of the United Nations. This wild beast is an image of the wild beast in Revelation chapter 13 because it is a “world government” which represents the 193 member states that are symbolized by the wild beast in chapter 13. The kingdom of God, with its king Jesus Christ, has received the power over the world of humans. This means that all human governments are rebel governments. The United Nations represents all these rebel governments. Therefore, it is standing in a holy place — in the place where God’s kingdom should have been standing.  Because of this, the United Nations is an abomination in the eyes of God.

LOOKING FOR THE RIGHT RELIGIOUS ENTITY

In the fulfillment in the first century, the abomination that causes desolation was a political entity — the Roman army, that acted on a religious entity — Jerusalem, representing the people of God. The political entity caused the desolation of the religious entity. We have found the present political entity that is the present abomination that causes desolation — the United Nations. Now we must find the religious entity that will be desolated by the political entity.

This religious entity is mentioned in Revelation chapter 17, and I quote verses 1-6:

 ¹ And one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying: “Come, I will show you the judgment upon the great harlot who sits on many waters, ² with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, whereas those who inhabit the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”

³ And he carried me away in [the power of the] spirit into a wilderness. And I caught sight of a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored wild beast that was full of blasphemous names and that had seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and was adorned with gold and precious stone and pearls and had in her hand a golden cup that was full of disgusting things and the unclean things of her fornication. ⁵ And upon her forehead was written a name, a mystery: “Babylon the Great, the mother of the harlots and of the disgusting things of the earth.” ⁶ And I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the holy ones and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus.

I will now look for the identification of Babylon the Great. Because verse 2 says that the kings of the earth (the nations) committed fornication with her, she cannot refer to political entities. Verses 1, 15 and 18 give us some clues:

¹ And one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying: “Come, I will show you the judgment upon the great harlot who sits on many waters.

¹⁵ And he says to me: “The waters that you saw, where the harlot is sitting, mean peoples and crowds and nations and tongues.

¹⁸ And the woman whom you saw means the great city that has a kingdom over the kings of the earth.”

Babylon the Great is a worldwide entity because the waters on which she sits, are a symbol of the humans in all the earth, and she has the kingdom over the kings of the earth. The wild beast in Revelation chapter 13 has the political power over all the humans in the earth. When Babylon the Great has the power over the same humans on the earth, this suggests that she is a symbol of a religious entity. There are more clues in chapter 18 suggesting this identification, and I quote verses 3,4, 21, 23, 24:

³ For because of the wine of the anger of her fornication all the nations have fallen [victim], and the kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the traveling merchants of the earth became rich due to the power of her shameless luxury.”

⁴ And I heard another voice out of heaven say: “Get out of her, my people,  if YOU do not want to share with her in her sins, and if YOU do not want to receive part of her plagues. ⁵ For her sins have massed together clear up to heaven, and God has called her acts of injustice to mind.

²¹ And a strong angel lifted up a stone like a great millstone and hurled it into the sea, saying: “Thus with a swift pitch will Babylon the great city be hurled down, and she will never be found again.

²³ and no light of a lamp will ever shine in you again, and no voice of a bridegroom and of a bride will ever be heard in you again; because your traveling merchants were the top-ranking men of the earth, for by your spiritistic practice all the nations were misled. ²⁴ Yes, in her was found the blood of prophets and of holy ones and of all those who have been slaughtered on the earth.”

Verse 3 mentions the kings and the traveling merchants. This shows that the harlot neither is political nor commercial. The kings and all the nations committed fornication (porneia) with her. The only meaning of porneia in the Christian Greek Scriptures is sexual intercourse between persons who are not married to each other. But the Hebrew Scriptures speak of spiritual fornication by worshipping idols. The fornication between the harlot and the nations must be spiritual, which is of a religious nature.

Verse 4 speaks of her sins that “have massed together clear up to heaven,” which points to a violation of the laws of God.” Verse 4 says that the harlot will be hurled down like a great millstone that is hurled into the sea, and Matthew 18:6 uses the same words about one who “stumbles one of these little ones who put faith in me.” Verse 23 says that all the nations were misled by her spiritistic practices. Such practices include all kinds of acts by which people are led to come into contact with wicked spirits. It may include the worship of images and idols.

Verse 24 shows that the harlot has the responsibility of the killing “of prophets and holy ones and all those who have been slaughtered on the earth.” The different religions of the world have supported all the wars that have been fought on the earth, and therefore they have the responsibility of all who have been killed. According to Matthew 23:35 Jesus said that the religious leaders in Israel were responsible for “all the righteous blood spilled on earth.”

All the points in the quoted verses suggest that Babylon the Great is religious in nature.

Babylon the Great —   sits over many waters (17:1) which symbolizes peoples, crowds, nations, and tongues. (17:15). —   has a kingdom over the kings of the earth. (17:18) —   all the nations have fallen victim to her fornication. (18:3) —   the travelling merchants have become rich because of her. (18:3) —   because of her injustice, her sins have massed together clear up to heaven. (18:5) —   all nations have been misled by her spiritistic practices. (18:23) —   she is responsible for the blood of all those who have been slaughtered on the earth. (18:24) If we take all these points into account, just as the wild beast in Revelation chapter 13 is a symbol of all the (political) nations on the earth that are in opposition to God’s kingdom, Babylon the Great must be a symbol of all the religions on the earth that are in opposition to the only true religion.

THE UNITED NATIONS WILL DESOLATE BABYLON THE GREAT

The Roman armies showed that they were the abomination that causes desolation when they destroyed and desolated Jerusalem in the year 70 CE. In a similar way, The United Nations will show that it is the abomination that causes desolation when it will destroy and desolate Babylon the Great in the great tribulation.

We read about this in Revelation 17:16-18:

¹⁶ And the ten horns that you saw, and the wild beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her devastated and naked, and will eat up her fleshy parts and will completely burn her with fire. ¹⁷ For God put [it] into their hearts to carry out his thought, even to carry out [their] one thought by giving their kingdom to the wild beast, until the words of God will have been accomplished. ¹⁸ And the woman whom you saw means the great city that has a kingdom over the kings of the earth.”

The wild beast, which is the United Nations, and the ten horns, which symbolize member nations, will make Babylon the Great devastated and naked, and they will burn the harlot with fire so she becomes desolate.

The following tables express the conclusions of this study:

Table 1.3 The abomination causing desolation in the first century CE

Abomination.	The Roman armies that besieged Jerusalem.
Standing in a holy place.	The temple area in Jerusalem.
Causes desolation.	The Roman armies desolated Jerusalem in 70 CE.

Table 1.4 The abomination causing desolation in the time of the end

Abomination.	The United Nations.
Standing in a holy place.	The area where God’s kingdom should be standing.
Causes desolation.	The United Nations will desolate Babylon the Great in the great tribulation.

THE REACTION TO THE SIGNAL

Jesus spoke the words about the abomination that causes desolation to point to a signal that required action. We read in Matthew 24:15-18:

¹⁵ “Therefore, when YOU catch sight of the disgusting thing that causes desolation, as spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in a holy place, (let the reader use discernment,) ¹⁶ then let those in Ju·deʹa begin fleeing to the mountains. ¹⁷ Let the man on the housetop not come down to take the goods out of his house; ¹⁸ and let the man in the field not return to the house to pick up his outer garment.

As I have shown, when the armies of Cestius Gallus retreated from Jerusalem in the year 66, the Christians saw this as a signal, and they fled out of the city. Because of this, they were not among the 1.1 million Jews who were killed when the Roman armies in 70 CE desolated Jerusalem.

In a similar way, when the League of Nations emerged from the abyss in 1945 in a new garb, the United Nations. this was a signal to all right-minded persons to flee from Babylon the Great that the United Nations would desolate in the great tribulation.

In the Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him, and which John wrote down, a similar signal is given to right-minded persons. We read in Revelation 17:4:

⁴ And I heard another voice out of heaven say: “Get out of her, my people, if YOU do not want to share with her in her sins, and if YOU do not want to receive part of her plagues.

The words “my people” are used because John draws a comparison between Babylon the Great and ancient Babylon, where the Jews were in captivity for 70 years, after which they went out of Babylon to travel to their own country. There is a parallel to the situation when the Jews went out of Babylon and the words quoted above in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18:

¹⁴ Do not become unevenly yoked with unbelievers. For what fellowship do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what sharing does light have with darkness? ¹⁵ Further, what harmony is there between Christ and Beʹli·al? Or what portion does a faithful person have with an unbeliever? ¹⁶ And what agreement does God’s temple have with idols? For we are a temple of a living God; just as God said: “I shall reside among them and walk among [them], and I shall be their God, and they will be my people.”

¹⁷ “‘Therefore get out from among them, and separate yourselves,’ says Jehovah, ‘and quit touching the unclean thing’”; “‘and I will take YOU in (eisdekhomai).’” ¹⁸ “‘And I shall be a father to YOU, and YOU will be sons and daughters to me,’ says Jehovah the Almighty.”

The pronoun “them” refers to unbelievers, to those who practice lawlessness, and to those who worship idols. “Get out from among them” are the words of Paul. If someone does this and gets out from those who do not worship God, the last part of the verse says, “I will take you in.” The Greek word here is eisdekhomai with the meaning “to admit; to receive into favor, receive kindly, accept with favor (Mounce); to accept the presence of a person with friendliness — ‘to welcome, to receive, to accept, to have as a guest. (Louw and Nida).

The words of Jesus when they saw the disgusting thing that causes desolation was that his followers had to “begin fleeing to the mountains.” The words of Paul show what “the mountains” can refer to in the time of the end. His people must “get out from among them.” When they do that, they will experience a personal relationship with Jehovah. He will “accept the presence of this person with friendliness and welcome him as his guest.” Persons with the right heart condition “get out,” and they “are taken in.”

[1]. An identification of this small horn and other details are outside of the scope of this study.

[2]. The Greek word peoskyneō that is translated as “worship” can also mean “do obeisance” or “serve”. So, the logical conclusion is that all humans, except a few, support the wild beast in one way or another.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

To understand the fulfillment of the prophecies in the Bible, one has to study the original text in detail. In addition, one has to understand some basic keys for this understanding: When was the kingdom of God established? When is the time of the end? Who are the people of God? These keys have been used in this study of the abomination that causes desolation.

Because only the prophecy is written in the Bible, and we have to find its fulfillment ourselves, we must be open to the possibility that our understanding will at some point of time be changed. But because the Bible itself points to a part of the fulfillment of the abomination that causes desolation, we can have confidence in the interpretation of the abomination that causes desolation that is presented in this article.