Sign 57
The Abomination of Desolation
When a nation or people collectively engages in serious abominations, they are cut off from the Lord, his true church, and the ordinances of salvation. If they continue until they are “fully ripe,” they will be destroyed. This is the natural consequence of committing the most abominable sins. In the days leading up to the coming of Christ, this will be the condition of the world generally among all people who have not fled to Zion. All nations will be “full of abominations and filthiness.” (Rev. 17:4) The servants of the Lord in the latter-days are commanded to go forth “reproving the world in righteousness of all their unrighteous and ungodly deeds, setting forth clearly and understandingly the desolation of abomination in the last days.” (D&C 84:117) They are to warn the world that “desolation and utter abolishment… await them if they do reject [the gospel].” (D&C 84:114)
When serious abominations are committed by those who are supposed to be the chosen people of the Lord, it is especially serious. Their consequences are compounded by the fact that Satan “desires to have [them], that he may sift [them] as wheat.” (Luke 22:31) If they do not speedily repent, they are left alone and unprotected against the darkness, devastation, and destruction of the devil. They are “encircled about by the bands of death, and the chains of hell, and an everlasting destruction [awaits] them.” (Alma 5:7)
Daniel the prophet lived during a period of time when the people of Israel were taken captive, left desolate, and destroyed because of serious abominations. The city of Jerusalem and the beautiful temple of Solomon were destroyed by the Babylonians, and many (including Daniel) were carried away captive into Babylon. Daniel spoke prophetically of a day when there would again be “the abomination that maketh desolate” (Dan. 11:31, Dan. 12:11), and the Savior alluded to that prophecy in the New Testament when he spoke of “the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet.” (Matt. 24:15) The Savior explained that in addition to the abominations that led to the desolation inflicted on the Jews by Babylon, this “abomination of desolation” would occur twice more. It would occur during the time of the ancient Apostles, and it would occur a final time after the “Gospel of the Kingdom [is] preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations.” (JS-M 1:31-32) It is from this prophecy that we come to understand that the preaching of the gospel to the Jews will come first, and then the prophecy of Daniel will again be fulfilled.
A Shadow of Things to Come
During the reign of Manasseh king of Judah, the idolatry and abominations of Israel reached their peak. Led by Manasseh himself, Israel began again to worship false gods and to commit brazen acts of idolatry and rebellion against the true and living God. The king reinstituted the worship of Baal, the idolatrous symbol of Satan. He “made a grove” where the people could practice the fornication rituals of goddess worship, and even “set a graven image” of Asherah, the fertility goddess, in the house of the Lord. He set up “high places” to worship various idols representing the “host of heaven,” and built altars to these false gods in the temple. Manasseh and his people practiced wizardry and enchantments, and dealt with evil spirits, and turned the once holy temple into a brothel and a shrine for a Satanic cult (see 2 Kgs. 21:1-9).
As horrible as all that was, Manasseh and his people were guilty of something even worse. They began to sacrifice their own children to the Canaanite god Molech. Instead of giving offerings in the similitude of the Only Begotten, the people would take their offerings, including their own infants and babies, and “pass them through the fire” of an idol. Manasseh was responsible for the murder of countless innocent children and even “caused his [own] children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom.” (2 Chr. 33:6)
During his fifty-five year reign, Manasseh turned the righteous kingdom of his father Hezekiah into a profane, filthy, and idolatrous nation that was even more wicked than “the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel.” (2 Kgs. 21:9) The magnificent temple of Solomon was plundered, polluted, and desecrated by Judah’s own king. Israel became a children’s death camp and a land full of “the abominations of the heathen.” (2 Kgs. 21:2) Because of the evil of the Jews during the reign of Manasseh, the prophets prophesied that the kingdom of Judah would be forsaken and delivered into the hand of their enemies.
After the abominations of Judah, came the desolations of Babylon. Less than forty years after the death of Manasseh, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, laid siege to Jerusalem. “In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah,” (Dan. 1:1) Nebuchadnezzar, captured Jehoiakim and carried him captive into Babylon. Many others, including many children, were also taken captive. Daniel, who would later become a prophet himself, was among those children that were carried away with Jehoiakim.
Nebuchadnezzar also ransacked the temple and “carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord… [and] cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord.” (2 Kgs. 24:13) He carried these sacred items to Babylon and “put them in his temple at Babylon.” (2 Chr. 36:7) The sacred items that had for so long been used in holy worship became spoils of war and instruments of idolatry.
Jehoiakim’s son, Jehoiachin, inherited the throne, but after only three months and ten days he, too, was carried captive into Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar then appointed Zedekiah, Jehoiakim’s brother, to be the King of Judah. Zedekiah also “did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.” (2 Kgs. 24:19)
Although he was set up as a puppet king to Nebuchadnezzar, Zedekiah unwisely “rebelled against the king of Babylon.” (2 Kgs. 24:20) This rebellion ignited the fury of Nebuchadnezzar who killed Zedekiah’s family in front of his eyes, then blinded him, and then carried him to Babylon where he was imprisoned for the rest of his life. In his wrath, Nebuchadnezzar sent his armies against Jerusalem a second time and destroyed the city and killed millions of Jews. The “city of the great King” (Ps. 48:2) was left desolate and smoldering because of the abominations the kings of Judah had committed against the Lord. The Babylonians plundered the remaining treasures of the temple, and then the temple of Solomon, once the glorious holy mountain of the Lord, was burned to the ground. Thus we see that once the children of the covenant defile themselves with abominations and pollute their temple, they are cut off from the presence of the Lord “until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate.” (Isa. 6:11)
Spoken of by Daniel the Prophet
After seventy years of exile, the Jews returned to Jerusalem and built a second temple on the site of the first. Like Solomon’s temple, this temple stood for centuries. The city was also rebuilt, and by the time of Herod the Great, Jerusalem was becoming a beautiful jewel once again in Judea. Unfortunately, as the wealth and reputation of Jerusalem grew, so did the pride, apostasy, and wickedness of the Jews. Although they no longer sacrificed children in the fires of Molech, the new kings and priests of Judah had no problem sacrificing innocent blood in the quest for political power and financial gain. Herod in particular was an evil man who killed some of his own family members to preserve his power. Even more heinously, he killed all the infants in and around Bethlehem to prevent the rise of Messiah. (see Matt. 2:16) A few years later, Herod Antipas (also called Herod the Tetrarch), was responsible for the murder of John the Baptist, a holy prophet.
The priests of the Jews, and the scribes and Pharisees, were even worse than the Herods. The Savior described them as a “den of thieves,” (Matt. 21:13) a “generation of vipers,” (Matt. 23:33) “hypocrites… [and] whited sepulchhres… full of dead men’s bones, and all uncleanness.” (Matt. 23:27)
These Jews would be guilty of “all the righteous blood shed upon the earth,” because they were guilty of conspiring to shed the most righteous blood of all, the blood of their very own Messiah. They literally tried to arrest the Lord of Glory in the house built to his name (see John 7:28-30). When Jesus left the temple for the last time, on his way to Gethsemane and Calvary, he took the glory of his house with him. The Jews and their temple were once again cut off from the presence of the Lord. Because they had conspired to shed the blood of The Innocent, Jesus declared, “your house is left unto you desolate.” (Matt. 23:38)
To his disciples, Jesus explained that the desolation he had pronounced upon the temple was a foreshadowing of the desolation prophesied by Daniel. Some of the disciples would live to “see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, concerning the destruction of Jerusalem.” (JS-M 1:12) Just like when Jerusalem was destroyed by Babylon, there would be “great tribulation on the Jews, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, such as was not before sent upon Israel, of God, since the beginning of their kingdom until this time; no, nor ever shall be sent again upon Israel.” (JS-M 1:18) Just as the desolation came within 40 years after the death of king Manasseh, the royal sponsor of abominations, so the desolation by the Romans would come within 40 years after history’s greatest abomination, the crucifixion of the Son of God for the outrageous accusations of blaspheme against God and treason against the king.
We cannot give a full account of the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in 70 AD as it is out of the scope of this work. We only mention that the Jews in the path of Titus were mown down even more mercilessly than those who stood before the Babylonians. The leadership of the Jews was woefully outmatched militarily and the defenders of the city were nowhere near as skilled as the legions of Roman soldiers. There were no captives, only casualties. The siege began at Passover, and Jerusalem was completely under Roman control within six months. Josephus, the historian, recounts the scene:
Now as soon as the army had no more people to slay or to plunder, because there remained none to be the objects of their fury (for they would not have spared any, had there remained any other work to be done), [Titus] Caesar gave orders that they should now demolish the entire city and Temple… [The wall] was so thoroughly laid even with the ground by those that dug it up to the foundation, that there was left nothing to make those that came thither believe it had ever been inhabited. This was the end which Jerusalem came to by the madness of those that were for innovations; a city otherwise of great magnificence, and of mighty fame among all mankind. (Flavius Josephus. The Wars of the Jews or History of the Destruction of Jerusalem. Containing The Interval Of About Three Years. From The Taking Of Jerusalem By Titus To The Sedition At Cyrene. Book VII. Chapter 1.1)
And truly, the very view itself was a melancholy thing; for those places which were adorned with trees and pleasant gardens, were now become desolate country every way, and its trees were all cut down. Nor could any foreigner that had formerly seen Judaea and the most beautiful suburbs of the city, and now saw it as a desert, but lament and mourn sadly at so great a change. For the war had laid all signs of beauty quite waste. Nor had anyone who had known the place before, had come on a sudden to it now, would he have known it again. (Flavius Josephus. The Wars of the Jews or History of the Destruction of Jerusalem. BOOK VI. Containing The Interval Of About One Month. From The Great Extremity To Which The Jews Were Reduced To The Taking Of Jerusalem By Titus.. Book VI. Chapter 1.1)
After the abomination came the desolation. The prophecies of Daniel and of Jesus Christ were clearly fulfilled.
The Beast Shall Overcome Them and Kill Them
Through the inspired translation of the Bible, we learn that the prophecy of Daniel would “again… be fulfilled” in the latter-days before the second coming of Jesus Christ. When the “Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations… then shall the end come, or the destruction of the wicked.” (JS-M 1:31) In order for this to happen a third time, will there be innocent blood shed again?
In ancient times, the greatest abominations included both the killing of prophets and the murder of innocent children. When the abomination of desolation occurs for the final time, this will be the case again. In fact, in the latter-days, we have already seen the murder of prophets and apostles, and more recently, we have seen the abominable practice of abortion become nearly as commonplace as birth itself. Kings and congresses, presidents and parliaments, judges and jurists have willingly acquiesced to and even endorsed this abomination. Millions of children have been slaughtered in utero. Tens of thousands have been legally “terminated” in late-term procedures even after being born and taking their first breaths. These innocent babies have had their body parts sold for research or have had their bodies discarded completely as biomedical waste. A large portion of the world accepts and embraces these practices as morally imperative, and many vehemently defend the practice as merciful to the mother. Tens of millions of children are aborted every year. For such wickedness, we can only imagine the desolation that will come upon the world.
As we have seen before, when the hundreds of millions of horsemen lay siege against Jerusalem, the two anointed prophets sent to prophesy, minister, and protect the Holy City will repel them. After 3½ years, the armies of the wicked will overcome the prophets.
After the two prophets have finished testifying to the Jews, somehow the armies of “the beast” will gain an advantage. They will overcome the prophets and kill them. John expressly compares the death of these anointed ones with the crucifixion of the Lord. He also compares Jerusalem spiritually to Sodom and Egypt. Sodom, of course, was destroyed by God for sexual abomination, violence, and utter disregard for the poor and the needy. Egypt was known for its idolatry, worldly wealth, and persecution of the people of God. While the work of God will progress rapidly and miraculously, the secret combinations, idolatry, and worldly pride of Jerusalem will again lead to the shedding of innocent blood. These prophets, who will put at defiance the armies of nations and defy the wicked with plagues and fire, will be betrayed into the hands of the wicked.
Like the ancient prophet Zacharias who “perished between the altar and the temple,” (Luke 11:51) it is possible that these prophets will also be killed within the walls of the temple. This great abomination will leave the city of Jerusalem unprotected and it will fall into the hands of Satan and his minions.
We must remember that it was not the Babylonians that polluted the house of the Lord with abominations, and it was not the Romans who polluted the temple in the days of Titus. It was the abomination of the Jews that led to the desolations of Babylon and Rome. Likewise it will be the abomination of the Jews that will lead again to the abomination of desolation as spoken of by Daniel the prophet.
When the wicked take the city, they will be angry with those who have made covenants with the Lord. They will “have indignation against the holy covenant” and “have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant.” (Dan. 11:30) As we have mentioned before, it will be the apostasy and treachery of covenant-breakers in Jerusalem that will lead to the death of the two prophets. The traitors will work with the leaders and spies of the wicked to feed them intelligence, betray the prophets, and ultimately, turn over the city to them. This betrayal of the holy covenant will lead to a great desolation upon Jerusalem and the nations of the wicked.
A Great Earthquake
After the world joins in grand celebration the death of the prophets for 3½ days, their rejoicing will be cut short in terror. The two prophets will be resurrected before their eyes and taken up into heaven. In that same hour, a tenth of the city will fall and 7,000 people will be killed in a giant earthquake.
This is the second earthquake mentioned in the book of Revelation and is a precursor and a type for the earthquake yet to come when Christ sets his foot upon the Mount of Olives, shakes the whole earth, and destroys the armies of the nations who have gathered to Armageddon to fight against the Lamb of God.
This earthquake is more than a destructive force to destroy the armies of the wicked. It will also mark the beginning of the period of resurrection. Although the morning of the resurrection began at the resurrection of Christ, the day of resurrection will come again, and all who “have chosen the good part” in the “days of [their] probation” (2 Ne. 2:30), as the prophets have done, will be counted worthy to be lifted up with them, and all the saints, and receive a crown of glory, “… and all this by the voice of the sounding of the trump of the angel of God.” (D&C 88:98) The “great voice from heaven” will be the same voice that calls all people from the dead, even the voice of the seventh angel.
The Fall of Jerusalem
After the two prophets have been taken into heaven, the army of Satan will turn their wrath back to the Holy City. Although their numbers will have been drastically depleted, they will still have an astounding force to overtake the city.
Of those that remain in Jerusalem, two-thirds of them will either be taken captive or killed. The women will be ravished and the city will be taken. Having been taught by prophets and powerful missionaries, many of those that remain in the city will be converted to the gospel, and after they have been refined for a time in the furnace of affliction, they will be saved.
The Daily Sacrifice Shall Be Taken Away
When the wicked overcome the prophets and the city of Jerusalem is overrun by the nations of the Gentiles, what will happen to the Holy Temple? After years of waiting, the Jews will have finally rebuilt the temple, dedicated another House of the Lord, reinstituted true temple worship, restored the daily sacrifices offered by the sons of Levi, and become converted to the true Messiah. But even after all of this, the devil will have a small moment of victory. Satan—the Prince of Darkness, the Antichrist, the Man of Sin, the Son of Perdition—will overcome the prophets, the city, and even the temple itself. The evil army will pollute the sanctuary, take away the daily sacrifice, and set up an abomination in the holiest part of the temple.
Satan himself will lead his armies, perhaps in the form of an angel of light, and after the wicked take control of the city, he will sit in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
Although it will be clear to the saints that Satan is in command of this massive army of nations, those that participate in this war and these battles will not realize fully who is leading them. They will, of course, be following generals and commanders who will inspire and infuriate them against the Jews and the saints, but these leaders will ultimately be led, deceived, and controlled by Satan and his four “angels” loosed from the bottomless pit.
The wicked one will be allowed to work until it is time for him to be taken out of the way. When that time comes, Satan will be revealed and the great dragon will be consumed with the brightness of the coming of Christ.
According to the scriptures, Satan will control the city and the temple for about the same amount of time that the two prophets of God minister there.
If we do the math, 1290 days is the equivalent of 43 months or 3½ years. This is the time period between the last daily sacrifice and the return of the Messiah. John gives a further witness that the nations of the Gentiles will trample over the holy city during this time.
John’s period of time is shorter by one month and appears to be the time from when the city is overtaken to when the Lord returns to save the Jews by his mighty power. The period given by Daniel is how long the temple ordinances will be taken away. It appears, then, that temple work, or at least the daily sacrifice, will end a month before the city is overtaken.
Therefore, the timeline appears to be in this order:
- The ministry of the two witnesses (prophets) begins and lasts for 1,260 days (42 months) – Rev. 11:3
- The daily sacrifice by the sons of Levi is reinstituted at the very beginning of the ministry of the two prophets
- One month before the fall of Jerusalem, the daily sacrifice will be “taken away” for 1,290 days (43 months) – Dan. 12:11
- Jerusalem will be controlled by Satan and trodden down by the Gentiles for 42 months – Rev. 11:2Revelation 11:2
- After these 7 years of holy war over the city of Jerusalem, Christ will appear and set his foot upon the Mount of Olives – Dan. 9:25-27
We must remember that while Satan is raging in the hearts of men, and the city of Jerusalem seems doomed to ruin, the work of the Father will continue among the Jews. They will be refined like silver and gold to become the people of the Lord once again (see Zech. 13:9). There will be seven years of conversion (a week of years) in which millions will be baptized and confirmed to receive the blessings of the everlasting covenant.