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Author	: Bill Kochman
Publish	: Jul. 5, 2025
Update	: Jul. 5, 2025
Parts	: 13

Synopsis:



Continuing our discussion from part eleven, the reason why Jesus told the Apostles to flee from Jerusalem when they see the Abomination of Desolation standing in the holy place of the temple where it ought not, is obviously because He saw them as His friends, His chosen, and He loved them dearly. Furthermore, they were NOT "appointed to wrath". That is to say, to the Wrath of God via the hand of the Roman legions. In contrast, the unbelieving Jews who rejected Christ were in fact appointed to wrath, because they were the children of disobedience, as we see by the following verses:

"But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and WRATH UPON THIS PEOPLE."


"But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the WRATH TO COME?"


"Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the WRATH TO COME?"


"For the WRATH OF GOD is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;"


In the previous verse, when Paul writes "men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness", he is apparently referring to the unbelieving Jews who viewed the Gospel of Christ as a heresy against Judaism, or Pharisaism. Thus, as Paul also said in the Book of Acts:

"But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:"


Following are some additional verses regarding "the wrath to come", which befell the hard-hearted, unbelieving, murderous Jews in 70 AD:

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be SAVED FROM WRATH through him."


"For which things' sake the WRATH OF GOD COMETH ON THE CHILDREN OF DISOBEDIENCE: In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them."


"And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from THE WRATH TO COME."


"For God hath NOT APPOINTED US TO WRATH, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,"


Having now thoroughly discussed how the words and phrases "abomination", "abominable", "desolation" and "desolate" are used in the New Testament, let us move on to the Books of the Old Testament. While we have not yet clearly identified what the Abomination of Desolation was, we have come to understand why it was called what it was called, and what it meant for the Apostles and Disciples of the late First Century. It was in fact their life line and green light to quickly flee from Jerusalem in order to escape God's Wrath, just as the Hebrews had to mark their doors with lamb's blood in order to avoid God's Wrath during the Old Testament period. The meaning and identity of the Abomination of Desolation will become even more evident as we continue to explore the Scriptures.

Turning again to the Book of Daniel, the word "abomination" is derived from the Hebrew word "shiqquwts", or "shiqquts". Just like in the New Testament, the Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius Hebrew Aramaic English Lexicon informs us that this word signifies a detestable, abominable thing, or an idol. Out of the twenty-eight times this Hebrew word is used in the Old Testament, it is translated as "abomination" a total of twenty times. In one verse it is translated as "abominable filth". Following are the two verses in the Book of Daniel where it is used:

"And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate."


"And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days."


As you can see, the previous verses sound very similar to the events that the Lord spoke about in the Gospels, and to the events that we've been discussing in Daniel 9. Remember again, as I pointed out to you in part ten, that the word "arms" in the previous verse is referring to military might, or armies. The word "pollute" is derived from the Hebrew word "chalal", which means to defile or to profane. The word "sanctuary" is of course referring to the Jewish temple, and is derived from the Hebrew word "miqdash". It is referred to as "the sanctuary of strength" because the word "strength" is derived from the Hebrew word "ma'owz", which signifies a place or means of safety and protection. That is to say, a refuge or stronghold.

Not only did the ancient Jews believe that God would protect them from their enemies inside the temple, but as I briefly mentioned to you in part eight, the Zealots and the Sicarii had taken over the temple compound -- turning it into their military stronghold -- locked down Jerusalem, and foolishly defied the Romans. To make matters worse, a false prophet had convinced thousands of Jerusalemites to take refuge in the temple, by deceiving them into believing that God would protect them there. However, those who were not killed by the Zealots and the Sicarii, were burned to death when the temple was burned to the ground by the Romans.

So it should be clear to you that all of these verses we have examined thus far in the Old and New Testaments are actually describing the same people -- General Titus and the Romans -- the same war -- the seven-year First Jewish-Roman War -- the same Jewish temple in First Century Jerusalem, the same daily sacrifice and oblation being ceased, and the same Abomination of Desolation. All of these events were prophesied to occur sometime during the 70th week -- the last seven-year period -- of Daniel's Seventy Weeks Prophecy.

In fact, let me mention here that there are a number of other places in the Scriptures where this very same war is likewise mentioned and described to different degrees. As I explained to you in part seven, one reason why it is difficult for some Christians to connect the Scriptural dots, is simply because this same time period is described in various ways throughout God's Word. Let me share that list from part seven with you one more time:

1. "forty-two months"

2. "1,260 days"

3. "time and times and the dividing of time" (3 1/2)

4. "time, times, and an half" (3 1/2)

If you do the math yourself, you'll discover that forty-two months is the same as Revelation's and Daniel's 1,260 days, and equates to three and a half Jewish years. As you should also recall from part seven, a Jewish year equals 360 days. That is why Daniel's seventieth week is divided into two equal periods of the same length, each one being 1,260 days. The Prophet Daniel also mentions a 1,290 day period, as well as a 1,335 day period. This latter time span is the same as 44.4 Jewish months at thirty days each, while the 1,290 days equals exactly forty-three Jewish months.

While I have mentioned that the word "abomination" is used two times in the Book of Daniel, and that it means the very same thing as its New Testament Greek equivalent, let me add that while the word "abomination" is only used four times in the New Testament, it is used seventy-two times in the Old Testament. Furthermore, it is not always derived from the Hebrew word "shiqquwts" or "shiqquts". There are other words which are translated as "abomination" as well. These include "towebah", "pigguwl", "sheqets", "shaqats" and "ba'ash". The last one even means to stink, smell bad, or to become odious and abhorred by one's enemies.

But regardless of which of the Hebrew words is used, they all generally mean the same thing -- that is to say, abominable, detestable, filthy, disgusting or a foul and idolatrous thing -- and they likewise agree with how the word "abomination" is used in the New Testament as well. So insofar as the phrase "abomination of desolation" is concerned, we can safely say that the first part of the phrase means basically the same thing no matter where we look in the Scriptures.

So what about the latter half of the phrase? In the Book of Daniel where the phrase "abomination that maketh desolate" is used, the word "desolate" is derived from the Hebrew word "shamem". According to the Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius Hebrew Aramaic English Lexicon, this word has a variety of meanings. The ones which best fit with what we've discovered thus far include to be desolated or to be made desolate, to devastate, ravage, or to cause oneself desolation or ruin. As we learned earlier, its New Testament Greek equivalent means the very same thing. The word "shamem" is translated a total of forty-nine times as "desolate", three times as "destroy", five times as "waste" and seven times as "desolation". A few places outside of the Book of Daniel where "shamem" is also used include the following:

"I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate . . . And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours. And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it."


"For I will lay the land most desolate, and the pomp of her strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that none shall pass through. Then shall they know that I am the LORD, when I have laid the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed."


"And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword."


"Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy sins."


"I have cut off the nations: their towers are desolate; I made their streets waste, that none passeth by: their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant."


With this word "shamem", what we are witnessing in all of the previous verses -- and in many others which aren't even listed here, is a judgement so strong from the Lord, that a place is not only left destroyed, but it is left deserted, abandoned, empty, without inhabitant. It basically returns to being a wilderness area again for some period of time. That is how fiercely God's judgments fall on it and on its people. This word "shamem" can also mean to appall, stun, stupefy, amaze, astonish, or to show or cause horror, which is precisely what happens when the Lord's judgments do fall. A few other words in the Old Testament which are translated as "desolate" include "yasham", "charab", and "asham".

Other Hebrew words which are translated as "desolation" in the Old Testament include "show'ah", "chorbah", "sh@mamah", "shammah", "shod", "she'th" and "m@show'ah". In looking at the various definitions for each of these words in the BDBG Lexicon, we discover that generally, they can all be used to refer to a place which has been laid waste, to a place of ruin, devastation, destruction and desolation. It is a place without inhabitant, or at least with very few of them. Thus, clear across the Scriptures, we plainly see that the phrase "Abomination of Desolation" means the same thing. It was some detestable, filthy, idolatrous thing which was abhorred by the Jews, which would serve as a warning sign, and mark the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the Jews' beloved temple, leaving the place pretty much deserted.

You may recall that earlier in this series, while discussing the meaning of the word "desolate" in the New Testament, we also examined a few verses which describe the desolation of the mysterious, proud, sinful city which John the Beloved referred to as Babylon the Great. I briefly mentioned to you how I have long believed that Babylon the Great was just a coded name for the city of Jerusalem itself. Let me remind you again that this is a topic which I discuss more in depth in the article "Who is Babylon the Great?". At any rate, keeping in mind what the words "desolate" and "desolation" actually mean in the Holy Scriptures, consider now how the aftermath of Babylon the Great's destruction is described:

"Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her . . . And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all . . . And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived."


We are told six times that Babylon's destruction would be so complete, that she would be found no more at all. All of the things which made her so popular, so rich and so powerful, would all be gone. They would be found no more at all. She would become uninhabited. She would be desolate. She would be an empty, ruinous place of utter devastation once God's judgments fell upon her. In so many words, this is also what Jesus and the Prophets said would happen to Jerusalem during the completion of the 70th week of Gabriel's Seventy Weeks Prophecy. The temple would be utterly destroyed, leaving not one stone upon another, and Jerusalem would be burned and brought to her knees by the armies of Rome, under the cruel command of General Titus, the son of Emperor Vespasian.

Similar to quite a few other Christians, for many years, I erroneously assumed that the Abomination of Desolation was a singular object. However, please notice that in Daniel 9:27, it actually says "and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate". As you can see, the verse says "abominations" and not just "abomination". In other words, there appears to be more than one Abomination of Desolation. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that the prophecy was NOT just referring to one great idol or statue standing in a futuristic third temple, or at any other time in history for that matter. In this case, the word "abominations" finds its origin in the Hebrew word "shiqquwts" or "shiqquts". As we learned before, this implies that it was something that was viewed by both God and the Jews as being unclean, utterly detestable, and idolatrous. So what was it?

At this point in our discussion, let's return to Daniel 9:27 -- which is the last verse in the Seventy Weeks Prophecy -- because there is something else in it which gives us a clue regarding what the Abomination of Desolation was. Here is the last half of the verse:

". . . and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate."


In the previous verse, the word "overspreading" is derived from the Hebrew word "kanaph". We are informed by the Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius Hebrew Aramaic English Lexicon that out of the 108 times that "kanaph" can be found in the Old Testament of the KJV Bible, this Hebrew word is translated 74 times as "wing" or "wings", 2 times as "winged", and 2 times as "feathered". In other words, more than 72% of the time that "kanaph" is used, it is used to describe something that has wings and is feathered. For example, it is used to describe the wings of cherubs -- such as the two cherubs that were placed in Solomon's temple -- and of birds. This is made evident by verses such as the following where the Hebrew "kanaph" is used:

"Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself."


"And within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive tree, each ten cubits high. And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits. And the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubims were of one measure and one size. The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other cherub. And he set the cherubims within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house."


"And in the most holy house he made two cherubims of image work, and overlaid them with gold. And the wings of the cherubims were twenty cubits long: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub. And one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was five cubits also, joining to the wing of the other cherub. The wings of these cherubims spread themselves forth twenty cubits: and they stood on their feet, and their faces were inward."


"Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich?"


"And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind."


"He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea:"


"He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler."


"Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl:"


"And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped."


"In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell."


"And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood."


So in all of the previous verses, the words "wing", "wings", "feathered" and "flying" are derived from the word "kanaph". This same Hebrew word is also used to a much lesser extent to refer to the skirt or border of a garment, or to the end, border or corner of something else. However, as you can see by our previous example verses, its primary definition is in fact the feathered wing of a cherub or bird. This definition of the word "kanaph" provides us with a major clue regarding exactly what the Abomination of Desolation -- or according to the Archangel Gabriel's actual words, Abominations -- really were.

Please take note of the fact that in the previous verse from the Book of Daniel, the phrase "and for the overspreading" is derived from this one Hebrew word "kanaph". In other words, in the original Hebrew text, there are no separate words for each of the other three words in the phrase. What I find very odd here, is that Daniel 9:27 is the only verse in the entire Old Testament where "kanaph" is translated in this manner. In fact, stranger still, this is the only verse in the entire Old Testament where the word "overspreading" is used at all.

This begs the question: If the primary meaning of "kanaph" is wings or feathered, why would the translators not only decide to not use this translation, but in fact translate it as an English word that is found nowhere else in the entire Old Testament? Is it possible that it was simply a translational oversight on their part? Should we consider that they didn't quite know what it meant so they just translated it the best they could? Or is it possible that they did grasp what this Hebrew word means, and decided that "overspreading" was a very appropriate translation, considering what these verses are discussing? As you will come to understand momentarily, there is an important reason why I am highlighting the odd way this verse has been translated.

Just as the English phrase "and for the overspreading" finds its origin in one Hebrew word, in the very same fashion, the phrase "of abominations" is derived from the one Hebrew word "shiqquwts". In other words, the entire phrase "and for the overspreading of abominations" is translated from just two Hebrew words. That is to say, "kanaph shiqquwts". So based on the definitions which are provided by the BDBG Lexicon, what these two words suggest in a very literal sense is "a detestable, unclean, abominable winged or feathered idol". Now, in order to acquire a better idea of what Gabriel is talking about in Daniel 9:27, let us review what Jesus said in the Gospel of Luke:

"And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled."


So while Daniel writes "the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary", "with the arms of a flood", and "arms shall stand on his part", Jesus says "And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh." It is quite evident that Jesus is saying the same thing, because He is in fact referencing Daniel.

As I explain in "Vespasian, Titus and the Fall of Jerusalem", after encamping outside of Jerusalem, General Titus' forces engulfed the city in a great siege wall which was about five miles in length. A very common tactic back then, a siege wall meant that no one and nothing could get in or out, including food, water, military supplies, etc. As a result, people who were trapped inside a siege wall eventually starved to death, turned on each other, and died from different diseases. As I mentioned to you in part ten, according to both Tacitus and Flavius Josephus, somewhere between 600,000 and 1,100,000 Jews were trapped inside Jerusalem during the seven-year war due to the Passover feast and the feast of unleavened bread, which brought pilgrims from all around the Mediterranean region.

According to one source, this siege wall was so wide on top, that a Roman chariot could run along the course of the wall. Furthermore, being as the siege wall surrounded Jerusalem, it probably made the overspreading of abominations even easier. The historical record also indicates that many thousands of Jews were crucified on the siege wall when they endeavored to escape from Jerusalem. On a side note, I have wondered if the KJV translators chose the word "overspreading" simply because the Roman siege wall spread around Jerusalem. However, there is a better reason regarding why the word "overspreading" was chosen, which I will be discussing momentarily.

So again we see that there is clearly a direct association between these Roman armies which compass Jerusalem about and ultimately destroy it, and these Abominations of Desolation. That is to say, the winged or feathered detestable, unclean idols, which would even "stand in the holy place" as Jesus had warned. It was obviously very important for the Jews of First Century Jerusalem to fully grasp the meaning of this ancient prophecy. Because as we have seen, Jesus told His followers "whoso readeth, let him understand".

The Prophet Daniel likewise tells us in Daniel 9:26 "and unto the end of the war desolations are determined", and in Daniel 9:27 "he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation [or end], and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate." In other words, Daniel is informing us that once the war has begun, there will be continuous great destruction in Jerusalem until it ends, and that the city will be left desolate, or uninhabited, for the most part.

Now, if you happen to be a history buff, and particularly if you happen to a Roman history buff, I suspect that the great mystery regarding the actual nature of the Abomination of Desolation has already been solved. After all, I have pretty much already told you what it was, yet without saying the actually words directly. However, for those of my readers who have not yet figured it out, and who may need a little more help, let us proceed to the conclusion of this matter.

The Romans had something in their possession which the Jews viewed as being filthy, unclean, abominable, detestable and idolatrous. We have seen that it would surround Jerusalem -- and in fact stand on the Temple Mount itself -- just prior to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. Furthermore, whatever this mysterious object was, it would also be quite visible to the Jews of that time period, and serve as a warning sign to get out of Jerusalem as quickly as possible.

Please go to part thirteen for the conclusion of this series.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

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