MATTHEW 24:15-28
A quick glance at the overall outline of Matthew 24-25 will show the following:
1. The Nine Signs of the Last Days, Mt.24:1-14.
2. The Tenth and Most Terrible Sign: The Abomination of Desolation and The Great Tribulation, Mt.24:15-28.
3. The Coming of Messiah, the Son of Man, Mt.24:29-31.
4. The Time of the Lord’s Return, Mt.24:32-41.
5. The Lord’s Return & The Believer’s Duty: Watch—Be Ready—Be Faithful, Mt.24:42-51.
6. The Warning to Watch & Be Wise, Not Foolish, Mt.25:1-13.
7. The Believer’s Duty to Work Anticipating the Lord’s Return, Mt.25:14-30.
8. The Final Judgment of the Nations, Mt.25:31-46.
Note the Lord’s words: “the abomination of desolation” and “great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the
world.” It is for this reason that the title given to this tenth sign is, “The Abomination of Desolation & The Great Tribulation.”
1. There is the appearance of the abomination of desolation (v.15).
2. There is the warning to flee immediately (v.16-20).
3. There is the great tribulation: unparalleled in history (v.21).
4. There is the promise: the days shall be shortened for the elect’s sake (v.22).
5. There is the frantic search for a deliverer, for an earthly Messiah (v.23-24).
6. There is the truth about deliverance, about Messiah’s coming (v.25-28).
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(24:15) Abomination of Desolation—Antichrist—End Times: there is the appearance of the abomination of desola-
tion. Christ said four things about this sign.
1. It (He) will be seen. Believers can see it take place and prepare for the terrible trials which will follow it (see DEE-
PER STUDY #2—Mt. 24:1-31).
2. It (He) was also prophesied by Daniel (see DEEPER STUDY #1—Mt. 24:15).
3. It (He) will stand in the Holy Place. The sign will take place and be seen in the temple. Some hold that the sign will
be repeated in the end time and literally fulfilled within the temple, just as it was literally fulfilled twice in the past when An-
tiochus and Titus stood within the temple. Others hold the words “the temple” to be representative of all religion. They be-
lieve the abomination will be the desolation of all religion, in particular genuine Christianity.
4. Whosoever reads about the sign, as revealed by Christ, is to understand it. Daniel had said, “Know therefore and
understand” (Dan. 9:25; cp. Dan.12:10). Believers are to study the sign and gain an understanding of it, so that they can be
better prepared to “endure to the end... [and] be saved” (Mt.24:13). There is the idea that a person is to know and understand
the times, to watch and observe the happenings of the times in which he lives.
Thought 1. The terrible desolation that took place upon Jerusalem and that is to take place at the end of the world is
due to sin. Jerusalem cut off the Messiah, that is, killed Him. They committed the most heinous of sins: they rejected
God for centuries and eventually killed God’s very own Son. Therefore, Jerusalem was desolated. There is a critical
warning here for believers: sin results in desolation.
Thought 2. Note two significant facts.
1) Christ predicted the terrible desolation of Jerusalem. His words were spoken somewhere around 30 A.D.
The desolation occurred just forty years later in 70 A.D.
2) Christ has predicted the “abomination of desolation” at the end of the world (cp. the questions of the
disciples, v.3 and v.15). The sign will occur at the appointed time.
Thought 3. Something is of critical importance.
1) If we interpret “the abomination of desolation” only as historical and Christ meant it to be future as well as
historical, we are more likely to miss the sign.
2) If we interpret the sign only as future and Christ meant it to be historical as well as future, we will have already
missed a significant part of the sign and will not be looking at the past to help us understand the future.
Making sure we are accurate in our understanding of the sign is important. It involves the Lord’s words
and the Lord’s people and their testimony. There may be different interpretations, but each one must
humbly secure his understanding bowed in prayer before the Lord.
Thought 4. God’s Word is not a secret; it is a revelation. It is to be searched out and understood.
DEEPER STUDY # 1
(24:15) End Times—Antichrist—Abomination of Desolation (To Bdelugma Tes eremoseos): the abomination that makes
desolate. Note Christ’s words, “the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet.” There are three passages in
Daniel that speak of “the abomination of desolation.”
“Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city...Know therefore and
understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto
the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built
again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be
cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the
sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations
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