Welcome and thank you again for taking a bible break to test your knowledge of God's word.
This week's question:

Men have queried for generations the last days upon this earth. Many are looking for the physical battle of Armageddon (Har-mageddon Revelation 16:16), and then the one thousand year reign of Christ (Revelation 20:4).

And so it is that many watch for the signs of His coming, but the Lord says concerning this, "Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone." (Matthew 24:35-36) Does this seem like a fruitless effort to guess the day?

But that does bring us to our question of the day, "What is the 'Abomination of Desolation'?" and may put to rest why some believe that the Lord will leave us some signs concerning His second coming. As Jesus talked to the multitudes and His disciples, He warned them of the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees who strive to appear religious as they are like whitewashed tombs, very clean on the outside but are full of dead men's bones (Matthew 23:1-28), and even wash and clean the tombs of the prophets of old and say they would not have killed them if they had been there, and yet they do not even recognize that the Messiah is standing right before them. (Luke 19:41-44)

 Then He says, "So you testify against yourselves, that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell? Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechia, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation." (Matthew 23:31-36)

 Indeed they did come upon that generation as they killed not only the Christ but also Stephen (Acts 7:58-60). Jesus laments, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold your house is being left to you desolate" (Matthew 23:37-38). That introduces us to one of the more difficult chapters to understand concerning the "Abomination of Desolation" as the disciples point out the great buildings built by man, then Jesus prophecies, "…Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down." Matthew 24:1-2), and His disciples ask when this would happen and about the signs of His coming (verse 3). Then Jesus then foretells that the prophecy of Daniel will soon be fulfilled concerning the "Abomination of Desolation" (verse 15). If this is referring to the second coming, then ask yourself why one who was on the rooftop or in the field should not go back to get his things or cloak and to flee to the mountains (verse 16-18), unless time was of the essence for escape.

 How does one escape the second coming? Would it matter to the one who was with child, unless escape would be more difficult, or if it comes in the winter as travel would be difficult, or on the Sabbath as the gates would be shut and they were prevented from traveling long distances (verse 19-20). But if the "Abomination of Desolation" is concerning the Roman armies surrounding the city, and you see them coming, and before they completely surround it, the time of escape is "now"! Jesus says concerning these signs, "Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that the summer is near; so, you too, when you see these all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation shall not pass away until all these things take place." (verse 32-33)

 And so, to finalize our answer, we turn to Luke 21:20-24 "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city; because these are the days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to the people; and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until all the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled."

 So there we have the answer to our question as it is the destruction of Jerusalem that takes place according to historic record about 70 AD when the Roman armies did surround Jerusalem during that generation of people, inflicting a persecution upon those people that the world has never known and would not know again (Matthew 24:21), and destroyed the city as well as the temple and took many captive who were led into other nations. Jesus does refer to His second coming in Matthew 27:30-31 & 35-51, which may help in the understanding of that chapter.

 May we be prepared for that day ourselves that we too may receive His promise, "And this is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life." (1 John 2:25)!