Chapter 4
Puzzle Pieces 10 & 11
Let’s take a look now at the Abomination that causes Desolation and see how the prophecies about this event were fulfilled on March 22, 2013.
“That leader will make firm an agreement with many people for seven years. He will stop the offerings and sacrifices after three and one-half years. A destroyer will do blasphemous things until the ordered end comes to the destroyed city.” Daniel 9:27
“His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation.” Daniel 11:31
“From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.” Daniel 12:11
"So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel--let the reader understand…” Matthew 24:15
“When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ standing where it does not belong— let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” Mark 13:14
OK, so let’s put all of these verses together to get a picture of what this “abomination” will actually be. It will take place at 3 ½ years into the final 7 years. It will involve daily sacrifice and offering being stopped. It will happen in a temple fortress that was desecrated by armed forces. It will involve this person who strengthened his promise or covenant standing in the holy place where he does not belong. And it will be 1290 days before a significant date.
I believe this prophecy has been fulfilled in TWO stages. The first part was fulfilled in April/May 2002, when Palestinian armed forces rose up and desecrated the temple " fortress" and abolished the daily sacrifice (daily communion took place in the Church of the Nativity until the Palestinians took over the building - so what was taking place "daily" was stopped on that day). Now, 11 years later, the abomination that causes desolation has taken place. We know that this is the HOLY PLACE that Jesus was talking about, because it is a temple fortress that was desecrated and is referred to as the HOLY PLACE.
Needless to say, the seizure of the 1,677-year-old church by 250 guerrillas affiliated with Islamist terror factions has hardly roused the armies of Christendom. Crusades, Christian-soldiering and all that went out in the last millennium.
UNESCO Turns The Same Church Over To Palestinians That PLO Desecrated During Intifada While Muslims have responded with deadly outrage to the now-retracted report by Newsweek of alleged Quran desecration by U.S. interrogators, there was little outcry three years ago when Islamic terrorists holed up in Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity reportedly used the Bible as toilet paper.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said at the time, “The world needs to remember that the Church of the Nativity, which is sacred to Christianity, has been desecrated in the past by Palestinian terrorists.”
The Church of the Nativity in the heart of Bethlehem marks one of Christianity's most sacred sites -the birthplace of Christ.
Situated on Manger Square 8 kilometres (5 miles) from Jerusalem, the church is built over a grotto where the Virgin Mary is said to have given birth to Jesus. The church's large fortress-like exterior stands as a testament to its turbulent history. For centuries, it was one of the most fought over holy places. It was seized and defended by a succession of armies - including Muslim and Crusader forces.
"So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel--let the reader understand”-- Matthew 24:15
"When you see 'the abomination that causes desolation' standing where it does not belong--let the reader understand--then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains." Mark 13:14
We have just witnessed a prophecy from 2500 years ago fulfilled: Daniel 11:31 - " His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. THEN they will set up the abomination that causes desolation."
Definition of THEN:
a : soon after that: next in order of time
b : following next after in order of position, narration, or enumeration
Amid high security, Obama toured the church with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. They stopped at the Grotto of the Nativity, which is said to stand where Jesus Christ was born. About 20 children waving U.S. and Palestinian flags greeted Obama in a courtyard outside the sanctuary.
Notice that Jesus says, "When you see STANDING in the holy place..." Obama did not kneel down at the grotto. Matthew 2:11 - "On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they BOWED DOWN AND WORSHIPED HIM. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh." This is the appropriate response – kneeling before the King. Obama did not kneel, he just stood there, as Jesus prophesied that he would. One day, he will bow his knee. This ABOMINATION that we have all just witnessed will cause the desolation to take place. The abomination causes the desolation. Obama is an abomination to the Lord. DESOLATION = A STATE OF COMPLETE DESTRUCTION, DEVASTATION, AND RUIN.
While he was in Israel, the President said in Hebrew, “So long as there is a United States, you are not alone” So, if there is no United States, Israel stands alone. In chess, you need to knock out the Queen to get to the King. Revelation 18:7-8: “In her heart she boast. ‘I sit enthroned as queen. I am not a widow; I will never moun.’ Therefore in one day her palgues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her” During his speech, US President Brack Obama said “Israel is the most powerful country in the region, and has the unshakable support of the strongest nation in the world.”
After studying each word in the original language, this is a possible interpretation for this verse:
“And he shall strengthen the covenant/pledge/agreement with many for one week: and in the middle of the week he shall cause the thank offering and the tribute to stop or be held back from, and at the wing of the detestable abdomination he shall cause horror and desolation, even until the end or completion, and that determined shall be poured or melted upon the desolated.”
Obama made a covenant on January 20/21, 2009, with the American people, on the 7th day of the "Gentile Feast of Tabernacles" (21st day of the Gentile New Year), as well as with the world leader of the greatest and most powerful nation on earth. On strengthened, when Obama was chosen to be the Nobel Peace Prize winner on the 7th day of the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles. This is the ONLY day of the year when the Israelites would cry out "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" and look for their Messiah and wave palm branches. On this day, Obama was chosen as the Obama STOOD in the HOLY PLACE, the same place that armed forces had DESECRATED on April 2, 2002, the temple FORTRESS.
Daniel 12:11 says that from the time the daily is stopped or put aside, there will be 1290 days . This word "daily" is "tamiyd" and it simply means "daily" or "continual" - something that happens everyday (daily). Daniel 9:27 tells us that the sacrifice and offering will be stopped. Everyday, people line up at the Church of the Nativity to bow down at the grotto and offer thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ for coming to the earth to be a sacrifice for their sins and to give them eternal life. This is a sacrifice of praise and offering of thanksgiving being offered to the Lord. On March 22, 2013, this daily sacrifice of praise and offering of thanksgiving was stopped when Mr. Obama came to the grotto and did not offer thanks to Jesus for what he has done. Rather, Mr. Obama went there to proclaim to God that the world is now looking to him as the peacemaker and to defy the Lord Jesus Christ. On March 22, 2013, no offering of thanksgiving or sacrifice of praise was made to the Lord from this spot. This happened exactly 1260 days after Mr. Obama was chosen as the Nobel Peace Prize winner on the 7th day of Tabernacles. Since Mr. Obama had not done anything up to that point to usher in peace, it must be assumed that the award was being given in the hope that he would become the peacemaker for the world.
I am fully aware of the traditional teaching of how the end-times will play out, and also aware that probably over 90% of Christians believe a scenario that goes something like this: The Rapture will happen. Christians will be taken from the earth. Right after the Rapture, a 7-year peace treaty will be signed by the Antichrist and Israel, allowing Israel to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. Animal sacrifices will start daily when this temple is built. In the middle of the 7 years of Tribulation, the Antichrist will ride into Jerusalem (probably on a white horse) and sit in this Temple and tell the world that he is God and stop these animal sacrifices. When this happens, the Jewish people need to flee to the mountains because this is the abomination and desolation will take place. Three and a half years later, Jesus will return to earth on a white horse with all the Raptured saints who have been partying in heaven for 7 years. We will then rule and reign with Christ for 1000 years.
You know, when Jesus came the first time, people also had preconceived ideas of how everything would play out. John 7: Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.” Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.” But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders…At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah? But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”
You see, the Jewish people were expecting a King, like David, who would save them from the Romans and establish Israel as the most powerful nation in the world. After all, their God was the One and Only true God, and He had chosen Israel to represent Himself to the nations. This Jesus, He wasn’t doing anything the way they had expected, so they were so confused. And very few believed.
Prophecies are rarely, if ever, fulfilled in the way we expect them to be. The Lord gets all the glory when He fulfills prophecies in a way that no one is expecting. The disciples’ eyes were only opened AFTER Jesus had risen from the dead, even though Jesus had told them many times that he would be killed in Jerusalem and raise from the dead on the third day. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Do we really expect that He will do it differently this time? Do we think it will be so obvious that everyone can see it? No, He will choose to open the eyes of those whom He chooses, those who are not so set in their preconceived interpretations of the prophecies that they are willing to listen and hear what the Spirit is saying.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 – “Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that DAY will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God.”
I think we can all agree that there has been a “falling away” in America and that Mr. Obama is a man of lawlessness, who thinks he is above the law. He opposes God and what God stands for. What about this part of the verse: HE SETS HIMSELF UP IN GOD’S TEMPLE, PROCLAIMING HIMSELF TO BE GOD?
So, that means that he will ride into Jerusalem and stand in a newly built 3rd temple and tell the world that he is “god”. Right? Well, that would be one possibility, but seems a little too obvious to me. Jesus didn’t ride into Jerusalem and go to the Temple and start screaming out, “I am the Messiah, worship Me! I’m the One who was to come! Here I am!” No, He came in on a donkey, humbly, as the Prince of Peace to the world. The world rejected Him. Israel rejected Him. He was not the great Messiah they wanted. Jesus stood up and cried out in a loud voice on the 7th day of Tabernacles, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them." He was telling them right on the 7th day of Tabernacles that He was their Messiah. But they rejected Him. The world has rejected Him. Instead, they have chosen a mere man, one of lawlessness, to be their peacemaker.
Just as Jesus had young children waving palm branches to Him and worshiping Him, so Obama has children waving flags. Obama “wept” on the 7th day of Hanukkah on December 14, 2012. The main headline on CNN that day read, “Obama weeps”. This was very likely the same day that Jesus “wept” when Lazarus was dead (see John 11). The 7th day of Hanukkah is another important piece of this puzzle that we will look at later on in chapter 11.
Jesus spoke to His disciples about the abomination that causes desolation on the 11th day of Nisan, the day after He rode into Jerusalem. The abomination actually took place on the 11th of Nisan on the Jewish calendar.
John 1:14 - The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. (NIV)
John 1:14 - And the Word became flesh, and did tabernacle among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of an only begotten of a father, full of grace and truth. (Young’s Literal Translation)
Jesus was the Tabernacle, or the Temple. He was God in the flesh. He is now building us, His body, to be the Temple, or Tabernacle, in which His Spirit lives. Where was the first place that God chose to have His Son, His Tabernacle, born? In Bethlehem. The Lord was building a new Tabernacle, starting a New Covenant, with the people of the world. The place where Jesus was born is a Holy Place. It’s the very first place where HIS TABERNACLE, Jesus, started on earth.
But just as when Jesus rode into Jerusalem, only those with eyes to see and ears to hear really understand what is happening. Most do not have the spiritual discernment to understand how the Scriptures are being fulfilled because of too many preconceived ideas that have become set doctrines in their minds. Obama knows exactly what he is doing and who he is trying to imitate. It’s unfortunate that Christians cannot see this.
"From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days." Daniel 12:11
If we count 1290 days from March 22/23, 2013, we end up on October 3, 2016. This is the start of the Feast of Trumpets in 2016. Daniel tells us that there will be 1290 days from the day the daily sacrifice is stopped and the abomination is set up (when Obama stood in the holy place, and the daily offering of thanksgiving and sacrifice of praise at the Church of the Nativity was put aside). So, this 1290-day count ends on the Feast of Trumpets in 2016. This day starts the Jewish New Year and will be the beginning of the year when Jesus returns to earth to set up His Kingdom for 1000 years.
You may be wondering why I am spending so much time on this puzzle piece… the abomination that causes desolation. The reason is because it is such a crucial piece of the puzzle. If the abomination took place on March 22, 2013, then we are about to being the final year of Daniel’s 70th week, a.k.a the “Day of the Lord”. If what took place on March 22, 2013, was in fact the abomination spoken of in Daniel and by Jesus in Matthew 24, then it should be able to answer yes to the following questions in fulfillment of the prophecies:
Question: Did what took place happen in the middle of a possible final 7-year period, wherein an agreement was strengthened at the beginning of this 7-year period and was it also 1290 days before a significant date? ( That leader will make firm an agreement with many people for seven years. He will stop the offerings and sacrifices after three and one-half years…Daniel 9:27…From the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be 1290 days… Daniel 12:11.)
Answer: Yes, it was exactly 1260 days after Mr. Obama was chosen as the Nobel Peace Prize winner on the 7th day of Tabernacles, representing the strengthening of his agreement with many to be the peacemaker for the world. It also took place 1290 days before the Feast of Trumpets in 2016, which starts the Jewish New Year, the year in which Christ will return to earth to rule and reign for 1000 years.
Question: Did what took place involve this one who strengthened his covenant with many going to a holy place and standing where he did not belong? ( When you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel… Matthew 24:15.)
Answer: Yes, Mr. Obama stood at the grotto, the place where Christ was born. Here are some quotes from various news articles about the Church of the Nativity:
a. For centuries, it was one of the most fought over holy places.
b. The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is a major Christian holy site, as it marks the traditional place of Christ's birth
c. The holy site, known as the Grotto, that the Church of the Nativity sits atop, is today associated with the cave in which the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth occurred.
d. No wonder Mr. Sharon told the Israeli Parliament he would "expect the international community to demand that they the terrorists lay down their arms and leave the holy place."
e. One of Christianity's most holy places, the site's focal point is the Grotto of the Nativity, a rectangular cavern beneath the church that has been considered the site of Christ's birth since at least the 2nd century.
Question: Was this holy place ever desecrated by armed forces? (His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation…Daniel 11:31.)
Answer: Yes, the Church of the Nativity was taken over by armed forces on April 2, 2002, and they desecrated the place. Here are some quotes from news agencies about this event:
a. Still, it's a shock to realize that this desecration of the ancient church built over what's believed to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ has brought down neither Christian wrath nor international pressure on the desecrators to lay down their arms and leave.
b. Palestinians celebrate Church of Nativity win, Israel notes they desecrated the site.
c. UNESCO Turns The Same Church Over To Palestinians That PLO Desecrated During Intifada
d. While Muslims have responded with deadly outrage to the now-retracted report by Newsweek of alleged Quran desecration by U.S. interrogators, there was little outcry three years ago when Islamic terrorists holed up in Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity reportedly used the Bible as toilet paper.
e. The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said at the time, “The world needs to remember that the Church of the Nativity, which is sacred to Christianity, has been desecrated in the past by Palestinian terrorists.”
Question: Was there a daily sacrifice of some sort that was stopped on the day when this abomination took place? ( That leader will make firm an agreement with many people for seven years. He will stop the offerings and sacrifices after three and one-half years… Daniel 9:27 …From the time the daily sacrifices are stopped, that is, from the time of The Awful Horror, 1,290 days will pass. … Daniel 12:11.)
Answer: Yes, everyday there are visitors who come to the Church of the Nativity from around the world to visit the grotto and bow down to worship Jesus, thanking Him for coming to the earth to pay the sacrifice for their sins. This worship is a sacrifice of praise and offering of thanksgiving. This could not take place on the day when Mr. Obama visited because all daily activities at the church were rearranged in order to accommodate his visit. Mr. Obama and his entourage did not go there to worship Jesus or bow their hearts or their knees before the Lord. Mr. Obama stood in the holy place where he did not belong and did not worship Jesus. He stopped the daily sacrifice and offering.