God’s Word for You

Daniel 11:31-32 Abomination

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Tuesday, January 20, 2026

31 His soldiers will advance and profane the temple, the fortress.

When a government sends its army against its own people, then the king or tyrant has made the entire population the enemy, whether he understands this or not. Antiochus may have wanted to intimidate his people, to force them into agreeing with his disagreeable policies, but he did nothing at all to convert them or convince them. He only made decrees and threats. A leader cannot hide behind threats and hope to succeed.

This advance was against the temple in Jerusalem. After Cyrus the Great sent the Jews home from Babylon, he allowed them money and resources to rebuild the temple that had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar’s army. This second temple (as it is still called) was not as spectacular as Solomon’s had been, but it served its purpose. In the days of Nehemiah, the city walls had been restored (see Nehemiah 3:1-32). Now in Daniel 11:31 we have evidence of another addition: “the fortress.” The temple was now surrounded by additional walls and gates, and there was a barracks on the north side of the courtyard (Acts 21:34). By now it very much looked the way that it would when Jesus was teaching there (John 7:14, 8:2) and during his trial (John 19:13).

They will abolish the regular daily sacrifice and set up the abomination that causes desolation.

The fortification of the temple didn’t keep out the soldiers of Antiochus. The daily sacrifices (1 Chronicles 16:40) were accompanied by worship and music, so we know that it was not only the sacrifices that were stopped, but the singing of Psalms and hymns and sacred songs, the singing of the liturgy that they used, the reading of Scripture, and worship and prayers were now forbidden. The temple courts fell silent.

Here in the temple, something terrible was set up. Daniel is told that it was going to be “an abomination that causes desolation (or, that causes horror).” It is often thought to be a statue of Zeus, but there is no historical reference to such a statue until hundreds of years later, by commentators who were making a good guess. What things might we say about this abomination?

1, It was to come from “the little horn” of Daniel 8. That horn grew “toward the south, the east, and toward the Beautiful Land (Israel)” (Daniel 8:9).

2, The little horn claimed authority even over “the host of heaven” and some of the stars it cast down, trampling upon them (Daniel 8:10). While these things point to the arrogance of the Antichrist, could they also foreshadow an intermediate event, the work of this Antiochus, claiming religious authority that involved worship of heavenly things (an astrological cult), or that used items that fell from the heavens (chunks or fragments of meteorites)?

3, The abomination was certainly an item of false worship; perhaps a statue, perhaps some less definite thing (such as a hunk of meteorite, which sometimes may have been used in Canaanite worship).

4, The abomination certainly was an offense to godly Jews. Its exact description may have been omitted from writings (such as 1 Maccabees) because of the degree of shame and offense it caused.

5, The verb used in 1 Maccabees 1:54 is ᾠκοδόμησεν, aorist of oἰκοδoμέω, “to build” (lit. “build a house”). This suggests that the thing was erected, or that a little shrine was erected for it.

6, The verb here in Daniel is natan, “placed, put, set,” which does not imply a construction project, but does not mean that such a construction project did not happen.

7, To insist that this was a meteorite (or a group of such stones) or something like a statue of Zeus is probably going too far. What we know is that it was placed on the altar of burnt offering: “they (will) set up the abomination that causes desolation” (Daniel 11:31).

What “desolation” would be caused? It is the desolation of unbelief. When people are turned away from Christ toward other pathways to eternal life, or when eternal life is denied altogether, there is only the dry desert of philosophy without the promise of the resurrection or the forgiveness of sins. It is desolation of every kind. Souls, bodies, and families are destroyed by it. Whether this abomination was a statue, an idol, a mini-shrine, or a hunk of rock, it did not point anyone to Christ.

32 He will seduce wicked men of the covenant with smooth words, but some people who are loyal to their God shall stand firm and take action.

One of the actions that the loyal, godly people took at about this time was the increased fortification of the temple courts. The walls around the temple, whether damaged or not by this “advance of soldiers,” were strengthened and built up some months later, which is recorded in 1 Maccabees 6:7, when “they surrounded the sanctuary with high walls as before.”

The early church took these warnings to heart. They told each other: “In the Last Days there will be more and more false prophets and seducers. Sheep will be turned into wolves; love will change into hate.” (Didache 16:3). They were vigilant against any false teaching that they heard; they urged one another to hear and learn the Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments. There we also learn that they were paying close attention to the prophecies of Daniel: “Daniel says that ‘a little horn came up among them, and three of the first horns were uprooted before it.’ You need to understand this.” For them as for us, the church and the doctrines taught in Scripture are things to be defended, fortified, taught and proclaimed. For the real fortification against the enemies of God has more to do with the heart than with the hands. We build up our faith with the word of God. We share our faith as Philip did in Samaria (Acts 8:5). But we also explore and dive deeply into the Word of God to learn everything that the Holy Spirit has revealed to us; to mine every treasure we find there. What Beethoven said about music we can equally apply (and we can better apply) to the study of Scripture: “Don’t only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets. Art deserves that, for it and knowledge can raise man into the divine.”

Stand firm in your faith. Take action when there is an opportunity for sharing the gospel. And do not forget to apply the word of God every day to the one that you see in the mirror.

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

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