What Is the Abomination of Desolation — Meaning Explained

The phrase 'abomination of desolation' originates in the book of Daniel, where it describes an act of sacrilege that would cause the temple to be desolate. Many see a partial fulfillment in 167 BC, when the Greek ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes erected a statue of Zeus in the Jerusalem temple and sacrificed a pig on the altar. Jesus, however, speaks of a still-future abomination of desolation, telling His disciples that when they see it standing in the holy place, they should flee to the mountains. Most futurist interpreters connect this with the Antichrist desecrating a rebuilt temple in the final years before Christ's return, as Paul describes in 2 Thessalonians. Whatever the exact form, it is the climactic act of rebellion that triggers the great tribulation.