I've always thought the abomination to be islam which set up the Dome of the Rock Mosque on the Temple grounds. Every people enslaved by islam becomes desolate despite billions in oil revenue.
You said -- "I've always thought the abomination to be islam which set up the Dome of the Rock Mosque on the Temple grounds. Every people enslaved by islam becomes desolate despite billions in oil revenue."
Well, Jesus pointed back to Daniel when He said the "abomination of desolation". I'm going to quote a big part of what Jesus said, to put the "abomination of desolation" in context to what is going on around it and as to the time frame.
Matthew 24:4-22
4 And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you.
5 For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.
6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.
10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.
11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.
12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.
13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
15 "Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand),
16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house.
18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.
19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!
20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.
21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened.
Then, following are the references in Daniel, for what Jesus was saying about the "abomination of desolation"
Daniel 9:27
27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate."
[note: a "week" here has the meaning of 7 years. According to what I've read elsewhere, it's a word that means a group of seven, and taken in context, it means a group of 7-years, that is a "week of years" -- sort of like what we would say when we say "decade", except that is a group of ten years.]
Daniel 11:31
31 And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation.
Daniel 12:11
11 And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.
[note: we see a counting of days, in some places, it refers to 1,260 days, or to 42 months, which is 3.5 years (half of 7 years). Then, in other places we see a counting of days for 1,290 days, and then 1,335 days. So, there are two periods of 1,260 days (42 months each, amounting to 7 years), and then there is a particular time period of 30 days additional and then 45 more days (the 1,290 days and the 1,335 days -- each extensions from the 2nd 1,260 days -- adding 30 days and 45 more days, respectively). So, this time period is counted *down to the very day* that it goes on. The "abomination of desolation" comes at the midpoint of the Tribulation, the last "week" (i.e., week of years = 7 years), meaning it happens at 42 months into the Tribulation. With the additional 30 and 45 days, these are time periods for which something else is happening, going on, at the time of Christ's return to earth.]
And then, the Apostle Paul gives further insight into this event --
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
Now, this puts it in the Temple of God. And when Jesus referred to the Holy Place, this is not a reference to the grounds (i.e., the Temple Mount area), but to the Holy of Holies.
You see, about 200 years before Jesus was speaking this, a Greek Syrian King, Antiochus Epiphanes, did what Jesus was talking about. He put a statue of the Greek god of Zeus in the Holy of Holies and declared that this false god was to be worshipped.
Well, that forms the backdrop to what Jesus said to the people who were listening to Him. They understood from their history what Jesus was talking about. And so, Jesus was referring to a future time when such a man would come on the scene -- as told in Daniel, and expanded by Paul -- and demand to be worshipped as a god (as the One True God, no less...). This is what brings immediate judgement from God. This is why Jesus says to "get out" and get out now, when you see this.
Regards,
Star Traveler
P.S. -- Now, the Antichrist may very well be connected to Islam in some way. Who knows, perhaps the Antichrist is the Mahdi that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (President of Iran) keeps talking about. He says that the Mahdi is supposed to come on the scene very soon. And it appears that the Antichrist will be coming on the scene very shortly, too. Maybe they are one and the same. Perhaps the Mahdi is the one who sets up the 7-year peace agreement with Israel and then desecrates the holy place that Jesus speaks about, and then declares himself to be god. This would work... (in terms of fitting into prophecy, depending on how you "flesh out" all the details).
I've also had the thought that the Dome of the Rock is possibly and logically the Abomination of Desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel. I can think of no greater "desolation standing in the Holy Place". Lately, I've found that there have been in history and are now those who agree. I think Sir Isaac Newton was one of them if what I read in some of his purported religious writing was truly from him. - Taking that premise, supposedly he had counted the year / days of that prophecy in the book of Daniel and came up with an approximate time that would encompass the tribulation period and Jesus Christ of Nazareth would return to the earth to execute judgement and receive His own. - Considering the catastrophic events of the past several years, it isn't difficult to see that we may just be living in the tribulation period, hidden by the mindset that the capital "T" Tribulation we're looking for may well just be hidden in plain sight and not just compressed into seven literal years. - I'm looking up, for my redemption draweth nigh. A dear Christian man we all loved at church, the personification of I Corinthians Chapter 13's description of "Charity", died last Monday, and it's getting to the point where I know more saints Christ will bring with Him when he comes back than I do here in this mortal coil.