For many, a future Jewish temple is central to their understanding of Bible prophecy. They rightly recognize that Israel’s rebirth was necessary for the fulfilment of end-time prophecies. By the same logic, the temple must also be rebuilt, as passages in Daniel, Matthew, and Revelation appear to require it.
What if these prophecies have been misinterpreted? Daniel, though familiar with the concepts of the abomination of desolation and the removal of the daily sacrifice, admitted he didn’t understand their meaning:
“I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?
And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.” (Dan. 12:8–9 KJV)
If today’s interpreters use the same method that left Daniel confused, the meaning remains sealed. Viewing the “abomination of desolation” and “daily sacrifice” as an idolatrous image and temple sacrifice leaves the true meaning just as hidden today as it was for Daniel.
If the phrases “abomination of desolation” and “daily sacrifice” are to be understood in the context of the end times, what might they signify? The Holy Spirit provides a significant clue in the Gospel of Matthew:
“Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand) (Matt. 24:15, NKJV).
For Daniel, the phrase “abomination of desolation standing in the holy place” likely referred to an image or idol set up in the Temple. However, since the meaning was said to be “closed up and sealed” until the end times, the Holy Spirit encourages discernment. In the end time, we are called to seek a situation or event to which these words could apply, something relevant to the end time.
Under the Old Covenant, the τόπος ἅγιος (holy place) was primarily the physical temple as it was the locus of God’s presence. However, in the New Covenant God’s presence is in the Church:
“Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16, NKJV).
Both Paul and Peter transfer Temple imagery, its priesthood and the Daily Sacrifice to the church. The Church is the Temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16-17; 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:21), its members are Temple priests (1 Pet. 2:5). Christians offer up “the Daily Sacrifice” (1 Pet. 2:5; Rom. 12:1; Lk. 9:23; Heb. 13:15).
Therefore, the “abomination of desolation” would be the Antichrist “Man of Sin Son of Perdition” standing up in the Church claiming to be God:
Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. (2 Thess. 2:3-4 NKJ)
And when the “fallen away” church accepts his claim, it removes the daily sacrifice of taking up the cross for the real Jesus Christ.
In the NT the apostle Paul never calls the Christ rejecting Temple in Jerusalem the “Temple of God?” because God’s presence left during Christ’s crucifixion (Matt. 27:51) and then resided only in the Church.
In similar fashion, the “sacrifice ( זֶבַח zebach) and offering ( מִנְחָה minchah)” the Prince ends after 3.5 years in Daniel 9:27 are not “the Daily ( תָּמִיד tamiyd) offered by the Jews, but those given worldwide to “all that is called God” (2 Thess. 2:4). The Antichrist breaks his covenant with all the religious people of the world when he demands everyone worship him.
So also Revelation 11:1, the Church of God is the Temple being measured, the wheat at the altar are true worshippers and their being measured is symbolic of divine protection away from the tares trampling the courtyard outside of God’s presence:
Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. “But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months. (Rev. 11:1-2 NKJ)
The Temple’s desolation remains permanent until Israel acknowledges Christ. In Matthew 24, Jesus links the Temple’s destruction to end-time events, continuing until the sign of His coming:
“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?’” (Matt. 24:1–3 NKJ)
God destroyed the Temple because Israel rejected Christ. Allowing another temple to be rebuilt before Israel accepts Him would contradict that message.
Therefore, all waiting for a future Temple in Jerusalem as a sign of the end should reconsider. If the building of a Temple does begin, it won’t have any real connection to Bible prophecy and therefore would signify nothing.
The Desolator is the Abomination of Desolation who stands up in the Church