Matthew 24:15

III. A DESCRIPTION OF THE TRIALS OF THE SIEGE, CLOSING WITH A CONTRAST BETWEEN THE COMING OF THE FALSE MESSIAHS AND THE TRUE LIGHTNING-LIKE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN, Matthew 24:15-27.

15. Abomination of desolation The desolating abomination. The Roman army, which was an abomination as being pagan, and desolating as being conquering and devastating. Stand in the holy place Luke says: “When ye shall see Jerusalem encompassed with armies.” Mark says: “When ye shall see the abomination, etc., stand where it ought not.” The amount of the whole would be, that Christians must understand that the beleaguering of the city by the Romans was a sign for flight. They must not for one moment cherish the hope of the false deluders, that the Jews would conquer. By the holy place the temple is usually understood; and such is its meaning here.

Daniel the prophet Our Lord here testifies against some who call themselves Christians, and yet profess to doubt the authenticity of the prophecies of Daniel. Our Lord also authorizes us to hold the celebrated passage in Daniel 9:27, as predictive of his own times. ( Whoso readeth, let him understand) This seems a warning of the evangelist to his Christian reader to note the admonition to escape.