THE ABOMINATION THAT CAUSES DESOLATION AT THE TEMPLE

DANIEL 7–12

Although Daniel lived during Babylonian and Medo-Persian periods, the Lord gave him a glimpse of the coming Greek and Roman Empires. Of particular interest is the prophecy regarding a future enemy of God’s Kingdom: “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” (Dan. 11:31). This occurred in Jerusalem’s Temple in 168 BC under the Greek ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175–164 BC), and it happened where it did for a reason.

Following the desires of his father, Alexander the Great led the Greek army in a bid to overcome the Persian Empire. Combining superior military tactics with winning leadership, Alexander marched across the Dardanelles in 334 BC and did not stop his conquest until the Greek army had reached the Indus River. During this conquest, the Promised Land came under the control of the Greeks.22

At the death of Alexander the Great, the time of the Ptolemies and Seleucids began. His “successors” (diadochoi) fought for the right to govern what Alexander’s conquests had won. Two of those successors come into the spotlight of history—Ptolemy and Seleucus. Each formed a dynasty ruling in separate portions of Alexander’s empire. The Ptolemies ruled Egypt while the Seleucids ruled Syria and Mesopotamia. Because both these ruling dynasties wanted to dominate the other and because the Promised Land resided between them, Israel became a battleground on which these two kingdoms fought for decades. At first the Ptolemies enjoyed control over the land of Israel. They were interested in building a united Greek state, but they allowed those living in the Promised Land relative independence in exchange for nominal loyalty and the payment of taxes.23 But following a seventy-five-year war between the Ptolemies and Seleucids (the Syrian Wars), the latter won a defining victory at Panias (later known as Caesarea Philippi), located on Israel’s northern border at the base of Mount Hermon—a victory that established Seleucid rule in the Promised Land.24 While the Seleucids were fighting the Ptolemies, they were also fighting with Rome and losing. The Peace of Apamea treaty (189 BC) ended the Greek war with Rome and in turn ended the Seleucid control of Asia Minor. The Romans imposed a serious war tribute on the Seleucids that weighed heavily on Antiochus IV (175–164 BC).

King Antiochus III of Syria (223–187 BC).

Seleucid and Ptolemaic kingdoms, ca. 323–198 BC

In a bid to unite his kingdom and improve revenue, Antiochus IV began a program of oppression. The plan of Antiochus IV was to Hellenize Jerusalem and Judea, a process that would take place over a number of years. As those years unfolded, we find an increasing imposition of Greek culture in the Promised Land. This king’s need for power and influence quickly turned to the high priesthood. He deposed the legitimate priestly family of the Zadokites, who had led God’s people since the time of Solomon. In their place he appointed priests who promised to provide him with the most income and who were willing to support his efforts to Hellenize the Jewish regions.25 When he needed even more money than the corrupt high priest could offer, Antiochus himself entered the Temple and looted its precincts and treasury.26 But not even this was enough for Antiochus. He demanded resolute loyalty from Jerusalem, which in his eyes meant that the people there had to adopt all the ways of Greek culture. Torah scrolls were burned, the Sabbath was not observed, the distinctive Jewish diet was outlawed, and those who circumcised their children were executed.27

Bronze statuette of a sacrificial boar. Antiochus IV desecrated Jerusalem’s Temple by sacrificing a pig on the Temple altar.
© Dr. James C. Martin. The British Museum.

The so-called “Alexander Sarcophagus” (fourth century BC) portrays Alexander the Great fighting against the Persians at the Battle of Issus.
© Dr. James C. Martin. The Istanbul Museum.

Silver tetradrachm of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (215–164 BC) wearing the royal diadem.
© Dr. James C. Martin. The Eretz Israel Museum.

The “abomination that causes desolation” happened at the Temple in Jerusalem for a reason. In a culminating act meant to deal a deathblow to Jewish identity and strengthen the Seleucid Empire, Antiochus IV renamed the Lord’s Temple in honor of Olympian Zeus and ordered that a pig be sacrificed in the sanctuary.28 Thus the prophecy of Daniel was fulfilled: “the abomination that causes desolation” came to Jerusalem’s Temple (Dan. 11:31).