At this point in history there are very few subjects that we really need to understand as much as the one I am going to be talking about in this sermon and in the second part to come.  Comprehension of this subject can be at one time an amazing thing to help clear the mind of error, open it to God’s truth, build faith, and at the same time remove fear and anxiety and replace it with peace and joy which surpasses all understanding.  It is something that Christ’s disciples longed to understand 2,000 years ago. We are going to turn to Matthew 24 and read their famous two-part question that they asked Christ about His return at the end of the age.

Turn to Matthew chapter 24.  We are going to start in verse 1:  “Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple.  And Jesus said to them, ‘Do you not see all these things?  Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.’  Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things be?  And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age.’”  These are two distinct questions with two distinct answers.  The fulfillment of these answers would be 2,000 years apart.  The first question: when will the temple be thrown down?  This was the building they were looking at with their own eyes at that time.  What would be the sign of Christ’s return?  Christ answered with prophecy which would use two future fulfillments that would replicate what happened twice in the past.  That is at their point in time, at that very time they were asking Jesus Christ these questions.

Christ used a prophecy based on two events in the past that would happen again twice in the future.  One of them would occur in their almost immediate future.  Let’s look at Matthew 24:15.  Here Christ says, “‘Therefore when you see the “abomination of desolation,” spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place’ (whoever reads, let him understand)…”  So part of His answer was to refer back to Daniel and the abomination of desolation that he would be speaking of.  This is referring to Christ’s second coming, as well as throwing down of the temple building.

In Matthew 24:4 and 5 Christ told them what not to look for.  Let’s back up to verses 4 and 5.  “And Jesus answered and said to them:  ‘Take heed that no one deceives you.  For many will come in My name, saying, “I am the Christ,” and will deceive many.  And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.  See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.’”

Jesus Christ said, do not be deceived by people preaching that signs of My return would be wars, rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes and pestilences.  But He did give a specific sign to look for in verse 14.

THE SIGN OF THE END
Matthew 24, verse 14:  “‘And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.’”  Obviously that could not take place until modern telecommunications, which is why that could not be done until the Philadelphia era under Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong.  It took almost 2,000 years before the gospel of the kingdom could be preached to the world as a witness, which indeed it was in the latter half of the twentieth century.  That was a sign that you could look for before the end would come.  It was a sign to look for before the actual end-time events of the history of the Church and the dispensation that we all live under now would take place.

But Christ also mentioned in Luke 21 that there would be a fulfillment that would have a lot to do with a physical battle.  Let’s turn to Luke 21 which is another rendering of the same answer that Christ was giving here.  Luke 21, verse 20:  “‘But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near.’”  When we see Jerusalem surrounded by armies in physical battle, know that its desolation is near.  That was fulfilled in the apostles’ lifetime in 70 A.D.  Obviously, the preaching of the gospel to the whole world as a witness precedes another abomination of desolation.  It is one at the very end time.

Understanding the subject of the abomination of desolation is incredibly important for those of us who are actually alive at the end of the age.  That is what we are going to try to understand better with this two-part series.

ABOMINATION AND DESOLATION
The first thing I want to do is define the terms “abomination” and “desolation.”  The dictionary definition of abomination is to make hateful, loathsome and extremely disagreeable. In the Hebrew the word is shiqquwts which means disgusting, filthy, especially idolatrous, to be filthy, to loathe or to pollute.  In Greek it is bdelugma which means a detestation, specifically idolatry.  It comes from the word bdelusso which means to stink, to be disgusted, to detest, especially in the form of idolatry.

If you were to look up the word desolation in the dictionary, it means to be destitute of inhabitants or dwellings, deserted, to be made unfit for habitation, gloomy, dreary, to make sorrowful or forlorn.  In the Hebrew it is shamem which means to stun, to grow numb, to devastate or stupefy.  It is related to the Hebrew word shimamah which means to devastate and astonish and semamiyth which means in a sense of poisonous.  It is a poisonous sort of thing like from a lizard or a spider is mentioned.  It is from the superstition of its noxiousness making it a desolate waste.  That is the Hebrew definition. The Greek word is eremosis (which comes from ereremoo) meaning a despoliation.  Ereremoo means to lay waste literally or figuratively, to make desolate or to come to naught.

Utilizing all of these terms for abomination and desolation, we could say an abomination of desolation is something that becomes so filthy and disgusting that it is made unfit for habitation.  It is, therefore, allowed to become destitute of inhabitants or to become a devastated ruin.  Idolatry and poison play a role.  So by God’s definition the process is also stunning, numbing and astonishing.  That is logical because an abomination of desolation means that something that was holy and beautiful had to move toward abomination and desolation.  That is stunning.  To become abominable it must at some point in a previous time not have been abominable.  It must have been acceptable.  The process of abomination and desolation takes a beautiful possession of God (which is therefore holy) and makes it become disgusting, filthy and idolatrous, so much so that He must turn it over to His arch enemy to lay waste to it.  This process is, indeed, astonishing.

I want you to note, before we continue any further, that God will never give up on His holy possessions.  He is not a loser, and He will not allow the enemy to totally gain victory. That does not mean chastisement and correction are not part of the picture in what God is trying to accomplish.  In God’s book all things work to the good, so obviously even abomination and desolation ultimately will make something clean and beautiful by the free-will choices of human beings.

STARTING OUT CLEAN
I want to go over a brief history now of a special people (God’s people) progressing from cleanliness to abomination and desolation.  We have to refer to quite a few Old Testament scriptures.  You will have to bear with me on this as we go through God’s relationship with them.  We will briefly look at it as God’s special relationship with a physical race upon the earth.  As we build this case to show how God cleaned them up and made them beautiful, we can see how they then become abominable and a desolation.

We are going to start by going to Exodus chapter 19.  This is how the nation of Israel became a holy nation.  Read Exodus 19:1-6.  They had an opportunity to become a special treasure in God’s sight.  They had an opportunity to become a holy nation (a holy people) with a special relationship to the Great God.  Continuing in verse 7, we will see that the people found that this was agreeable to them.  They wanted to do this.

Read Exodus 19:7-11.  The people said that they would do all that God commanded them.  They were in agreement.  They wanted to do this.

In chapter 20 we see that God began by giving them the law.  Let’s read the law starting in verse 1.  Read Exodus 20:1-17.  God gave them the law, and the people witnessed all these wonderful events at Sinai.  They saw them with their own eyes, and they heard the voice of God.  Let’s read how they did witness all of this, and it was clearly emblazoned in their minds what was going on.

Read Exodus 20:18-24.  The people were witnessing these awesome events, and they were in total agreement.  They were fearful, but they were in agreement to obey God and to become His special people.  Therefore, they fully ratified this covenant.  Chapter 24 tells us of that.

Exodus 24, verse 1:  “Now He said to Moses, ‘Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar.  And Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but they shall not come near; nor shall the people go up with him.’  So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments.  And all the people answered with one voice and said, ‘All the words which the Lord has said we will do.’”  So they agreed they would do these things.

God intended eventually to actually dwell among His holy people, this special nation.  He wanted to live right with them, and we can see that in Exodus chapter 25, beginning in verse 1.  Read Exodus 25:1-8  He wanted to dwell among the people, and these offerings were being gathered in order to make a dwelling place.

Let’s drop down to Exodus 25:10, and we will see something interesting.  “‘And they shall make an ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits shall be its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height.  And you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and shall make on it a molding of gold all around.’”  God said make this thing incredibly beautiful with these offerings.

Drop down to verse 16.  He is talking about making the ark of the covenant here.  “‘And you shall put into the ark the Testimony [the law] which I will give you.’”

Continue reading Exodus 25:17-22.  He said I want you to build a mercy seat, and from above that mercy seat, I will talk to you.  What does a mercy seat mean?  It means just that.  It is the seat of mercy.  The law is underneath it being stored in the ark of the covenant, which is the agreement of the people, but God wants to dispense mercy.  We will see as we continue that is exactly what was done in the permanent house that Solomon had the privilege and the honor to build God.  It is sometimes called Solomon’s temple. Solomon built this permanent house for God to dwell there, and indeed He did.  He was dwelling above the mercy seat.

Let’s turn now to II Chronicles chapter 3 and read about this house for God where He could dwell with this holy nation, this special people.  II Chronicles 3, verse 1:  “Now Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.  And he began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.”  Solomon began to build this beautiful house with offerings brought by the people.  Within this building was a place called “the most holy place.”  It was the Holy of Holies.

Drop down to II Chronicles 3:8 and read to verse 12.  These two cherubs were once again placed in the Holy of Holies over the ark of the covenant as we will see.  This is inside the Holy of Holies, inside this holy building called Solomon’s temple.

Chapter 5 shows us how once it was all completed, the ark was brought in and was accompanied by the glory of God.  Read all of chapter 5 of II Chronicles.

When the people were singing about God’s mercy and how He was going to dwell at this mercy seat in this beautiful temple, the glory of God actually entered it and dwelt there, so much so that they could not even continue singing or playing their instruments!  The glory and the power of God did, indeed, come to this special building and dwelt in the Holy of Holies inside of it.  At this time, Solomon did a prayer of dedication.  It was a prayer that offered many specific things, but I want to read just a few today.

This prayer of dedication shows us that God had indeed called a special people, Israel.  He had called a special city His own, Jerusalem.  In that special city He had a special home, the temple that Solomon built.  Let’s start in II Chronicles 6 and read verses 1-11.

Solomon said, I have fulfilled what my father wanted to do, and that was to build a house for God and make this people a special people in a special building in a special city.  From that special building and from the Holy of Holies where the mercy seat was with God dwelling above it, sin could then be dealt with.  Intercession could be asked for.  I want to read just part of chapter 6 to get a feel for all the things the people could go to the temple for and get relief from (suffering, sin, privation, attack).  We can only read a few verses for time, but you can get the feel for it and perhaps read the entire chapter later.

I want to start in II Chronicles 6:17 where Solomon is speaking.  Read to verse 21.  In other words, give us mercy when You hear our prayers.

Continue reading II Chronicles 6:22-31.  It is a promise that God has made here to the people to give mercy and forgiveness, and they understood.  They had to come to this holy place and recognize their own faults, shortcomings and sins and ask for forgiveness and relief.  They knew they could go there for intercession from the Great God, for the Great God dwelt there above the mercy seat, wanting to dispense mercy.  He was sitting over the law knowing that the law could condemn people who break it, but wanting to give them mercy if they would recognize their sins and ask Him to do so.  Of course, they had the sacrifices that they would perform in acknowledgement that there is a loss of life when sin is involved.  They would have to have a sacrifice in order to symbolize this loss of life and this loss of blood (shed blood), but God was there to give mercy.

Take note, from this point forward, God’s house (His temple) was a place for the seeking of mercy, forgiveness and intercession, but there was now a place (a nation, a city and a temple) which could now indeed be abominated and desolated.  Now there was a clean place on earth.  There was a sanctified (holy) environment for God to dwell in, and that is what it takes to have an abomination and desolation of a holy thing.  You must have something that is clean and pure to start with.  That is what this building was when it was dedicated by Solomon.  All the people who made this covenant at Sinai had reaffirmed it there and made this place by their offerings.  They now had a building that they needed to do their share to keep clean.  They had to keep repenting.  They had to keep acknowledging their sin.  They had to keep going to that mercy seat and allow God to forgive them and clean them up as a people and as a nation.

THE SPIRIT REALM
This beautiful building has been abominated and desolated three times.  It was totally laid to waste twice.  It was totally destroyed.  It was desecrated on all three occasions. The three occasions that have taken place already were in 586 B.C. when Babylon (under Nebuchadnezzar) tore down Solomon’s temple.  Many of the people were killed, and God’s sacred vessels were hauled off.  Then again in 167 B.C. the temple rebuilt by Zerubbabel was abominated by Antiochus Epiphanes who was a Greek.  In 70 A.D. the empire of Rome through the hands of General Titus destroyed the temple again after abominating it, and killed many of God’s chosen people (the nation of Israel and Judah).

In Daniel chapter 2 we are going to read about these three empires.  We know that these three empires (Babylon, Greece and Rome) are all depicted in the image that Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream.  Let’s just very briefly go back to Daniel chapter 2 and refresh our memories on this incident.  We are not going to read the whole story about the dream.  People are all well aware of that, but let’s just look at a couple of key points.  We will look at verse 32.  This is Daniel explaining to King Nebuchadnezzar what he had seen.  “‘This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze.’”  Daniel had miraculously been given insight into what Nebuchadnezzar had seen in his dream.  He went on to explain starting in verse 36.

Read Daniel 2:36-40.  King Nebuchadnezzar was the head of the first kingdom, and it was Babylon.  That was the head of gold.  Then, of course, there was Medio-Persia.  Medio-Persia did not attack the temple of God.  Moving down to the Greek empire, Antiochus Epiphanes (part of the Greek empire) did, indeed, abominate the temple of God.  The fourth kingdom (the Roman empire) did destroy it under Titus in 70 A.D.  So all three empires were components of this image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.

Let’s go back to Daniel chapter 10 and see how these empires are moved and pushed to do certain things.  We are going to see that there is a spiritual component to this image.  The image itself is a mere shadow of something in the heavens.  There is a spiritual empire that actually rules the earth.  It is a demonic empire.

Daniel 10, beginning in verse 1:  “In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a message was revealed to Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar.  The message was true, but the appointed time was long; and he understood the message, and had understanding of the vision.  In those days I, Daniel, was mourning [that is fasting] three full weeks.”  Daniel was praying for understanding and fasting for three full weeks.

Drop down to verse 10:  “Suddenly, a hand touched me, which made me tremble on my knees and on the palms of my hands.  And he said to me, ‘O Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you.’  While he was speaking this word to me, I stood trembling.  Then he said to me ‘Do not fear Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words.’”  He said, from the very time that you started this prayer and fasting, your words were being heard by God; I am bringing you a message because of your prayer.

Continue in Daniel 10:13.  “‘But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days…’”  During the entire time of this fasting and prayer there was a prince withstanding or holding back this angel from bringing the message.  “‘…and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia.’”  There were spiritual kings of Persia.  They must be demons.  They had the power to actually fight and wrestle with one of God’s messenger angels and slow down the bringing of this message to Daniel!  It is very, very interesting.

If you continue in verse 14 it tells us:  “‘Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come.’”

If we drop down a little further, we will see that when this angel was going to return to Daniel again, he would be fighting through a different prince (the prince of the following empire, that of Greece).

Drop down to Daniel 10:20.  “Then he said, ‘Do you know why I have come to you?  And now I must return to fight with the prince of Persia; and when I have gone forth, indeed the prince of Greece will come.  But I will tell you what is noted in the Scripture of truth.  No one upholds me against these, except Michael your prince.’”

He said, the one who has been helping me fight these princes to get through to you is Michael, another archangel of God.  With Michael’s help I was able to make it through these kings of Persia, but after them comes the princes of Greece.  That is going to require more fighting and more struggling.  Obviously, you see here a spirit realm over the earth that is a picture image on the earth depicted by this image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.

Each of these empires that have gone down in history have the demons in the spiritual heavenly places who move and shake those kingdoms to do their will!  They do Satan’s will.  This is described in the New Testament in Ephesians chapter 6.

If you would, go to Ephesians chapter 6, beginning in verse 10.  “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

We see the earth is divided up into principalities, which are ruled over by demonic spirits in heavenly places who are given charge over these regions.  That is why we can see in Daniel 10 that when God sends a message to the earth, these are the very demons that His messengers must fight their way through.  It is as if the earth has been taken captive by this demonic spirit world, and for God to work through it, He must send messages through this shell that is around the earth.  There are heavenly places that have wicked spirits in them.  That is what your Bible tells you, and that is what is shown in Daniel chapter 2 and Daniel chapter 10.  It tells us these empires would be moved to do certain things to abominate and desolate God’s special people.  Through specific physical empires, that is exactly what Satan did.

Satan killed many of God’s people.  He took them captive and scattered the rest in 586 B.C.  He made the temple area desolate (the city of Jerusalem).  He abominated the temple at different times by having human beings offer swine’s blood on the altar or putting up a false image like the image of Jupiter Olympus that Antiochus Epiphanes put up.  Or he had the holy vessels (special vessels for temple service) hauled off and desecrated.  Of course, he had pagans going into the most holy place.  It was a place that only the high priest could go, and then only once a year.  This made God’s temple abominable.  Of course, it desolated it.  All of this happened because first the people were corrupting God’s temple.  The people themselves who had made the agreement with God had corrupted the place.  They had corrupted its purpose.  They had made it a den of thieves, so to speak.  It was a place where false sacrifices were offered, and buying and selling was taking place.  It was just a situation that God said is abominable to Me, and I will allow these enemies of Mine to chastise My people by causing a physical abomination of desolation.

GOD LEFT THE TEMPLE
None of this could have occurred without God being absent from the place.  If God’s presence had still been in there (His glory), Babylon could not have destroyed it and hauled off the sacred vessels and killed the people.  They could not have gone directly into the Holy of Holies. Neither Antiochus Epiphanes nor Titus of Rome could have done so.  It would have been impossible for them to even touch the interior of the Holy of Holies.  I want to show you just by a few examples that this is so.  We realize that God must have removed His presence from this holy place in order to allow an abomination of desolation.

Go back to I Samuel chapter 4.  This is the story of the ark being captured by the Philistines.  Read I Samuel 4:1-3.  The Israelites understood that if they had the ark of the covenant, who can touch us!  The Philistines have to lose.

Continue reading I Samuel 4:4-7.  The Philistines knew what had happened to other enemies, and they were scared stiff.  Read verses 8-11.  God chose not to intervene, but I want you to see what amazing things happened to the Philistines when they came into the possession of God’s holy ark.

Continuing in I Samuel 5.  The experience of the Philistines was most unpleasant.  Verse 1:  “Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.  When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon.”  Dagon, the fish god, was their carved image.

Continue reading I Samuel 5:3-6.  Cancers are spoken of in verse 6.

Continue reading I Samuel 5:7-12.  If you were to read into chapter 6, you would see they could not wait to return this ark of the covenant, because they saw they should not have touched it.  They should not have taken it into their possession.  It was a holy vessel of God.  That shows you that human beings cannot touch God’s holy things without penalty unless God were to allow it.  If God allows it, it has to be done according to His strictures (what He says).  Only the high priest could go into the Holy of Holies.  Today, of course, Jesus Christ is our High Priest.  We do not want to get ahead of the story.  We want to continue to realize that what happened in the past is going to teach us what happens today in the present.

God’s glory eventually had to depart from Solomon’s temple in order for Babylon to desecrate that temple and destroy it.  He had to be gone when Antiochus Epiphanes got there in 167, and He had to be gone in 70 A.D.  God’s own people first abominated the temple causing God to leave.  When He left, it allowed the physical destruction to take place.  It was a physical abomination of desolation, which is what is normally meant when we refer to the abomination of desolation.

The people themselves who had made the covenant with God were blatantly breaking that covenant.  They were blatantly breaking the law.  They were violating the temple’s sanctity.  As I said, they had made it a den of thieves.  There were temple prostitutes.  It was run by hardhearted lawless men.  Mercy and favor was bought and sold.  It was not dispensed from the mercy seat the way God intended.  God could no longer dwell there under those conditions.  Ezekiel tells us the story.

If you would, turn back to Ezekiel chapter 8.  Ezekiel was shown how horrible in God’s sight the temple had become.  This gives us an idea of how bad it was.  Ezekiel 8, verse 1:  “And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there.  Then I looked, and there was a likeness, like the appearance of fire, from the appearance of His waist and downward, fire; and from His waist and upward, like the appearance of brightness, like the color of amber.  He stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my hair; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the image of jealousy was, which provokes to jealousy.”  This image was provoking God to be jealous.  We will see why.

Ezekiel 8, verse 4:  “And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the plain.  Then He said to me, ‘Son of man, lift your eyes now toward the north.’  So I lifted my eyes toward the north, and there, north of the altar gate, was this image of jealousy in the entrance.”  It was the image of jealousy entering.

Verse 6:  “Furthermore He said to me, ‘Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel commits here, to make Me go far away from My sanctuary?’”  He says, look at what they are doing in My holy place that is making Me leave!

Continue reading Ezekiel 8, verse 6:   “‘Now turn again, you will see greater abominations.’  So He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, there was a hole in the wall.  Then He said to me, ‘Son of man, dig into the wall;’ and when I dug into the wall, there was a door.  And He said to me, ‘Go in, and see the wicked abominations which they are doing there.’  So I went in and saw, and there, every sort of creeping thing, abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed all around on the walls.  And there stood before them seventy men [that is an entire course of the priesthood that serves in the temple] of the elders of the house of Israel, and in their midst stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan.  Each man had a censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense went up.”  They were praying to these abominable images.

Verse 12:  “Then He said to me, ‘Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols?  For they say, “The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.”’  And He said to me, ‘Turn again, and you will see greater abominations that they are doing.’  So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the Lord’s house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz.”  This is a false god.

Verse 15:  “Then He said to me, ‘Have you seen this, O son of man?  Turn again, you will see greater abominations than these.’  So He brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house, and there, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men [priests who should be serving in a holy capacity] with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun toward the east.”  They were directly breaking the covenant that Israel had made with God back at Sinai.  They were to have nothing before the true God.

Here we see them worshiping the sun.  That is like what the Romans and the Babylonians did.  They were worshiping these false idols.  They had let all this creepy stuff into God’s temple, and God said, you see what I am showing you?  This is why I have to leave!

If you go to chapter 9, you will see God pronounces a judgment because of this situation.  This is all preceding the physical abomination of desolation when Babylon came in.  This is the spiritual abomination of desolation, you might say, of the priesthood and God’s people.

Ezekiel chapter 9, verse 1:  “Then He called out in my hearing with a loud voice, saying, ‘Let those who have charge over the city draw near, each with a deadly weapon in his hand.’”  This is God’s holy city (Jerusalem), His special place.

Continue reading verse 2:  “And suddenly six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his battle-ax in his hand.  One man among them was clothed with linen and had a writer’s inkhorn at his side.  They went in and stood beside the bronze altar.  Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub where it had been, to the threshold of the temple.  And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn at his side; and the Lord said to him, ‘Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.’”  He said I want you to look for who is distressed about this situation, and put a mark on their forehead.

Verse 5:  “To the others He said in my hearing, ‘Go after him through the city and kill; do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity.  Utterly slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary.’  So they began with the elders who were before the temple.”  He says to begin at the holy place.

Continue reading Ezekiel 9: 7-11.

I want you to see that prior to this judgment being carried out, Jesus Christ’s presence had to have left that temple.  In chapter 10 it shows us that He left in three phases. We will not read all of chapter 10 and chapter 11 where it goes through that.  But in verse 4 of chapter 10 we are told:  “Then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub…”  We know where that is. We have read that already.  “…and paused over the threshold of the temple; and the house was filled with the cloud…”  That was the same cloud that came in when He came into Solomon’s temple at the dedication.  “…and the court was full of the brightness of the Lord’s glory.”  So He moved out from the Holy of Holies to the threshold of the temple.  Go down to verse 18.

Verse 18:  “Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim.”  So now He has moved a little further away from the Holy of Holies and the ark of the covenant.

Go to Ezekiel chapter 11, verse 23:  “And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain, which is on the east side of the city.”  I believe that would be the Mount of Olives.

Here we see Jesus Christ’s power and glory picking up from the mercy seat, moving out through the threshold, from the threshold to the gate, and then up the mountain out of the city.  Now with His presence gone, the Babylonians could, indeed, destroy the temple of God.  But God had to leave first, and that is what made the abomination of desolation possible.

Israel was, of course, astonished, and so was Judah.  They knew they were a special people.  That is why at that battle they said, go get the ark of the covenant.  Who can touch us with this!  They knew God dwelt with them and that they were a holy people on the face of the earth.  They were a special people dwelling in a special nation, a special city, and they had in their possession a temple where God dwelt.  Within that temple was the ark of the covenant.  If you read the Book of Lamentations, you will find that they were astonished and could not understand how all of this devastation could take place.  Why would God leave and forsake them and let the enemies (these pagans) come in possession of this holy site and of the holy vessels that were there?

Devout Jews to this day have been fasting for the fall of that physical temple.  For 2,500 years they have been fasting, waiting for that temple to get rebuilt!  Many people on the earth who are not Jewish are looking for that physical temple to be rebuilt.  There is a saying among Judaism that all who mourn the destruction of Jerusalem will merit the celebration of her rebirth.  That is much like we just read in Ezekiel chapter 9.  God says who mourns the situation?  Who is saddened by the sin in My holy place?

THE SPIRITUAL TEMPLE
Brethren, we understand better than most people that there is duality to prophecy.  The physical past helps us to understand the spiritual present.  God’s home (the temple and His holy city) in the New Testament dispensation is His Church.  We can see that by turning to a few Scriptures.  We will not go through all the Scriptures that refer to God’s Church as His temple, but let’s go to Ephesians chapter 2.  You can see where this series is going.

Ephesians 2, verse 19:  “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”  The Church is a home for God to dwell in.  It is His temple just like Solomon’s temple was back in the day.

Read Hebrews chapter 3, verses 1-6.  It is undeniable that God’s people (His called people) are chosen by Him to be a house for Him to dwell in.  We are speaking of New Testament people now, the Church.

Let’s read one more Scripture to back this up in I Peter chapter 2.  Read verses 1-10.  The Church is God’s special people today, called and chosen as a holy priesthood, a special nation and a special people to receive mercy.  But we must be obedient!  We must willingly become sacrifices that are acceptable to God.  This is a very spiritual concept, but it lends a whole entire new meaning to abomination of desolation.

It is time, brethren, to be brutally honest with ourselves.  History has, indeed, repeated itself, and there has been a fourth abomination of desolation.  It is a spiritual abomination of desolation because God now dwells in a spiritual building.