Friday, June 14, 2013

What is the difference between an "abomination" and the "abomination that make desolate?" 522 - 13-6

As I understand it an abomination would be the false worship of idols rather than of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Idols would include anything/ anybody such as power, money, lust and sexual perversion sought after rather than God. Abomination that make desolate would be where these “idols” were brought into the “Holy of Holies.”
Antiochus IV scored the trifecta of insult to Jewish beliefs:
· He made it a capital crime to read the Torah as well as the observance of all Jewish laws, especially those relating to the Sabbath and to circumcision
· He had a pagan altar built on the Great Altar of Burnt Sacrifices and there slaughtered a pig
· He erected an idol to Zeus in the Holy of Holies and called it the “Temple of Jupiter Olympius” (Abomination that make desolate)
This was a bridge too far for a family in the village of Modein where an old priest named Mattathias lived with his five sons. Mattathias killed both the first Jew who approached the pagan altar to offer a sacrifice and the official sent to preside over the observation. Mattathias and his sons fled to the hills and with a growing band of rebels initiated the rebellion that finally threw off the Greek rule. Under Mattathias’ son Judah Jerusalem was recaptured. After the defiled altar had been demolished and rebuilt there was a re-dedication of the Temple celebrated as Hanukkah. John 10:22, “At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter.”
Jesus used the example of the abomination that make desolate as a future warning to the Jews at the end of days. Matthew 24:15-16, "So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains." Jesus was speaking to Jewish Matthew as he was to a Jewish Mark, Mark 13:14, “But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains." In other words, at the end of days run for your life!
When Jesus spoke to Luke He was speaking to a Gentile. Luke 21:20, "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near." Here the warning was for a few decades in the future and the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.
The abomination of desolation should serve as a warning to anyone/ any country into extreme false worship. In this country millions of babies are sacrificed on the altar of choice. Contemporary idols are greed, thirst for power, homosexuality and many perversions. Our children are being corrupted with non-Biblical teachings. Our churches are so far removed from the teachings of Jesus that they are becoming, IMO, an abomination for which God will hold them responsible.

No comments:

Post a Comment