13:14
Now we come to the interesting bit! Of course, all this chapter is interesting, but this part causes all sorts of debate and problems, “the abomination that causes desolation”. Let’s start on solid ground, there are three references in Daniel that this is referring to: Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:11. The term “abomination that causes desolation” is a translation of a Hebrew term that means “detestable thing”, and standing where it does not belong means standing in the temple. 1 Maccabees 1:54 refers to Antiochus Epiphanes IV erecting a desolating sacrifice on the altar of burnt offering in 167 BC. Josephesus tells us that pigs were sacrificed. The immediate fulfilment may have been in August of AD 70 when Roman troops made sacrifices in the temple court. However, this is contested. Other possibilities can be seen in Schnabel. This does not mean that related events would not happen later.
13:15.16
The “let the reader understand” in the previous verse shows that the people of the time would, or at least could, understand the meaning.The warning in v14 was not an esoteric comment on the book of Daniel, but a very practical warning, and in these two verses they are warned that when these things happen there is no time to lose. They will need to flee, and it will not be an orderly departure. There will be no time to gather up one’s possessions.
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