The eleventh chapter of Daniel tells the story of the rivalry between two kings: the king of the north and the king of the south. Bible students generally agree that prophecy covers a considerable period of time, at least several hundred years, during which the identity of the two kings also changed. However, the subject of the commentary is not an analysis of the entire chapter, but a very specific fragment: Dan. 11:31-35. This interest also has its special source, which is Dan. 11:31 and the reference in this verse to the desolating abomination. We read about the desolating abomination (or the abomination of desolation) in several places in the Scripture. It is also mentioned in Dan. 9:27, Dan. 12:11, and above all, our Lord Jesus in Mt. 24:15,16. Since Jesus' words are part of a composite sign given to the disciples concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, the second advent, and the end of this age, a proper understanding of the meaning of the abomination is of great importance not only to the Jews hearing Daniel, but also to the Christians hearing Jesus (Mt. 24:3).
Desolating abomination - type and antitype
What the desolating abomination is, in fact, is spoken of by the same Dan. 11:31. It is not difficult to notice a certain parallelism in the description of the first and second parts of this verse. The desolating abomination is so called because of (1) the desecration of the Sanctuary (desolation) and (2) the removal of the daily sacrifice (abomination). If we speak of the Sanctuary and the daily sacrifice, the first association is that of the Law Covenant, under which there was a temple (Sanctuary) in which sacrifices were offered. If we link the fulfillment of Dan. 11:31 to the Law Covenant, there is no doubt as to when and how this prophecy was fulfilled: in 70 CE the temple in Jerusalem was desolated, putting an end to the sacrifices offered there (the taking away of the daily sacrifice), at the hands of the pagan Roman armies (an abomination that caused desolation). Already here we see a pattern which will be repeated exactly in the antitype of this event: paganism (abomination) removing the continual sacrifice and using civil authority (means of coercion) to destroy God's temple.
But how do we know that such an antitype was to take place? This is directly indicated by two premises. First, the Sanctuary and the continual sacrifice under the Law Covenant have their antitype under the New Covenant: the daily (Hebr. tāmîḏ H8548 - continual, perpetual) sacrifice is the once-and-forever made, efficacious sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Heb. 7:27, 8:6, 9:28); the temple of God are the elect in whom God's spirit is at work (1 Cor. 3:16,17). The second clue comes from Dan. 11:31, which speaks of the abomination. Namely, there is a certain ambiguity there, which, depending on the translation, will indicate abomination in the type or the antitype. If, therefore, we take the Good News Bible, we find that "some of his soldiers will desecrate the temple" - "his soldiers" meaning the army of the king described in the preceding verses, which is Rome. This prediction is fulfilled in the type when in 70 CE the Romans destroy the temple in Jerusalem and put an end to the continual sacrifice offered there.
However, there is a second option for translating Dan. 11:31 that the translators of the New World Translation have chosen: "And arms will stand up, proceeding from him." An arm in the Bible may mean an army, as we have seen above (cf. Ezek. 30:24,25), but it may also mean a representative; someone connected with the ruler and fulfilling his plans. In this sense Christ is called the arm of God - He is God's instrument, but not God Himself (Isa. 40:10,11). Today we will also say that one organization can be an armed arm of another, for example, today's Islamic State is an arm of the Sunnis – it is connected with Sunnis and expresses their interests, but these are not identical entities. Thus the prophecy of Dan. 11:31 shows that the line of Rome which 'has fury against the holy covenant' (Dan. 11:30) will be continued by another king - a king whose power goes back to the roots of the empire and who, like Rome, is against God's people, but is not identical with Rome.
Polluting the Sanctuary and taking away the daily sacrifice in the antitype
The activity of the other king is described throughout Dan. 11:31-35, and his identity becomes clear if we consider what the antitype means is the destruction of the Sanctuary and the taking away of the continual sacrifice. First of all, let us note the order: it is the abomination that is the cause of desolation, not the other way around. On the other hand, abomination is often identified in the Bible with spiritual apostasy, or even idolatry (Deut. 29:17; 1 Kgs. 11:5,7; 2 Kgs. 23:13; 2 Acts 15:8). The temple, as we have already noted, is God's chosen people who believe in Jesus Christ. Its desolation is described in Dan. 12:7 as "scattering [of] the power of the holy people." Revelation leaves no doubt that this "scattering" is also the physical annihilation of the saints "who had been slain for the Word of God, and for the testimony which they held" (Rev. 6:9). The cause of this persecution (desolation) of the Church was to be "the desolating abomination" (Dan. 11:31).
It is interesting to note the connection of the abomination with the subtraction of the continual sacrifice. When Israel departed from God Yahweh to other gods, it was always associated with the subtraction of the continual sacrifice, i.e. sacrifices, instead of being offerred the One God, began to be offered to other gods. The same is true of spiritual Israel. The dismantling of the continual sacrifice began in the first centuries of Christianity, when instead of the One God, the Triune God was brought into the antitypical temple. Later came the time for further deviations with the crowning error that from now on the only sacrifice of Jesus Christ is no longer sufficient and must be offered every day anew during the mass. These and many other errors caused the abomination of false doctrine to stand in God's temple.
At the same time, the prophet Daniel points out that the appearance of the abomination in the Holy was to open the way to its desolation. In the type, the havoc was wrought by an army under the secular authority of Rome, and similarly in the antitype. At some point, the apostate church would also seize the secular power and use its influence for "scattering the power of the holy people" (Dan. 12:7). The Roman church's assumption of secular power thus completed the work of establishing "the desolating abomination." The further description in Dan. 11:32-35 describes a time when the Papal system enjoyed full authority and God's people were driven to "fall by the sword, and by flame, by exile, and spoil, for days" (Dan. 11:33). It is worth taking a closer look at some of the details that the prophet Daniel included in Dan. 11:32-35:
Desolating abomination and scattering the power of the holy people
"And he will ruin by flattery those who do evil against the covenant" (Dan. 11:32) - those of the called who did not remain faithful to Jesus Christ were easily led into even greater disobedience by the promise and prospects of power, honor and wealth associated with participation in the system of civil-religious authority (cf. Lk. 16:10);
"But the people who know their God will be strong and will work" (Dan. 11:32) - God's adversary has not succeeded in deceiving one hundred percent of believers at any time in history. There have always been men who were primarily concerned with obedience to God as evidenced by the Scriptural record, and such have 'remained strong and worked', doing the work of evangelizing, teaching, and in later centuries also translating and spreading God's Word;
"And those who understand among the people shall teach many; yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by exile, and spoil, for days" (Dan. 11:33) - "those who understand" are said in verse 32 to 'remain strong and work.' They, of course, were the greatest threat to the Church of Rome, and were therefore persecuted, imprisoned, and killed;
"And when they stumble, they shall be helped with a little help, but many will join them, with hypocrisy" (Dan. 11:34) - the Reformation proved to be of a little help to God's struggling people. Those who were faithful to God's Word could be given refuge from the Inquisition in Protestant lands and a little more freedom in their spiritual activities. Sadly, in the fight against the Reformation, the Adversary used methods that proved effective in corrupting the early Church ('hypocrisy'), introducing the Reformers to secular power, honor, and wealth (cf. Dan. 11:32);
"And many of those who understand shall stumble, to refine and purge them, and to make white, to the time of the end. Because it is still for the appointed time" (Dan. 11:35) - stumbling the faithful by the persecutions orchestrated by the Church of Rome and her Inquisition also had the effect of 'refining and purging them, and making them white' - by remaining faithful to the end, they secured their place in the glory with Christ, where they receive long white robes - a symbol of purity (Rev. 6:9-11). The 'purging' of God's people was to continue until the time of the end, i.e. until the beginning of Christ's second presence (parousia) at the end of this age, when the last member of the Lord's Bride would be sealed (see commentary on Rev. 14:1-5).