[GMark] "The Abomination that Causes Desolation" Mk. 13:14

HStaiti at aol.com HStaiti at aol.com
Mon Jul 10 13:44:44 EDT 2006


For the  author or authors of Mark 13 (the Little Apocalypse) their 
apocalyptic teaching  served a pastoral function. The author reasoned the persecution 
of the righteous and their time  of distress in the first century would serve 
the larger purpose of salvation  being preached to all nations, and then the 
return of the Son of Man would  happen. 
 
It didn't  happen, and the absence of this type of Apocalyptic literature 
from the early  apostolic fathers is telling. 
 
But New Testament authors, like the author of Mark 13, didn't write or  
believe the world would continue long after their lifetime. They believed they  
were living in the final days before the return of the Son of Man. When it  
didn't happen, these types of teachings surfaced to explain the delay and  
alleviate fears of the Son of Man not returning as promised. 
 
It didn't happen, and they died with failed Messianic expectations. 
 
Regarding the  question of v.14, “The abomination that causes desolation,”  
this  references an object or a person that profanes the temple sanctuary. One 
of the  keys to understanding this verse is in the phrase “Let the reader  
understand…” v.14. This is an allusion to Dan 12.9-10 – the prophecy sealed  up 
until the end time. 
 
I see two  possibilities to this reference:
1.    Since Daniel, when  referring to the desecration of the temple by 
Antiochus !V (9.27; 11.31; 12.11),  uses this phrase to describe an alter for pagan 
sacrifice, the reference may be  directed at the statue of himself that 
Emperor Caligula ordered set up in the  temple 
 
2.    However, he died  before this order was carried out.
 
3.    Therefore, this  may refer to the revolutionary activities that took 
place during the revolt  which immediately preceded the destruction of the 
temple (Josephus The Jewish  War 4.3.10),
 
Whatever the  reference, the urgency to flee means there will not be time for 
the simplest of  preparations. This time of unprecedented horror is shared 
from Daniel’s prophecy  (Daniel 12.1). 
 
It was  something they feared and wrote would happen in their lifetime. 
It never  happened, and it will not in ours.
 
 
 
Harry
_http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Theology_ 
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Theology) 
 
"You don't  need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows."
 

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