“No where does scripture say that the “holy place” has to be a temple.”
Actually, I believe you’re right on that. Jerusalem was known to the Jews as the “holy city.”
Quote from Charles Spurgeon (1888): “This portion of our Saviour’s words appears to relate solely to the destruction of Jerusalem. As soon as Christ’s disciples saw “the abomination of desolation,” that is, the Roman ensigns, with their idolatries, “stand in the holy place,” they knew that the time for their escape had arrived; and they did flee to the mountains.” (Matthew: The Gospel of the Kingdom. . p. 215).
Could even be the “Holy Land” Israel. Imagine that
That is pure nonsense, for Jesus in Luke said "when you see the armies surrounding Jerusalem, then flee". The Roman armies let anyone out of Jerusalem who wanted to come out until the actual siege began -- then it was too late. Those who waited until the Roman armies had entered the city were all either slaughtered or sold into slavery -- none of them ever fled to the mountains. So these were not/are not the same event. The abomination of desolation is still future --