The Antichrist and the Abomination of Desolation

YahooNewsAC: Within Solomon's Temple, the "most holy place" (I Kings 6:16-36) housed the Ark of the Covenant. This sanctuary was the place God dwelt among the Israelites (Exodus 25). The Ark (made of shittim wood overlaid with gold) housed the two tablets of the Ten Commandments, Aaron's rod, and manna. Upon the Ark's mercy seat, the sprinkled blood of sacrificed animals atoned for all of Israel. It stood as a symbol of the blood of Jesus Christ, which would one day be shed and remit the sins of the world. The priests abided by many details of dress, conduct, and worship. When the priests performed these rituals, God met with the children of Israel and sanctified the Temple by His glory (Ex. 29:43). All of these details and acts symbolized the Messiah, who was to come and be the propitiation for sin. In that most holy place, God reaffirmed His promise to His people.
Three and a half years after the Antichrist agrees to his covenant (i.e., peace treaty) with Israel, he invades Jerusalem with an army (Joel 1:6, Dan. 11:31, 9:26). He then enters the most holy place, sits in the Temple and declares himself a god (II Thes. 2:4). The Antichrist terminates the worship and sacrifice, and commits sacrilegious acts, desecrating the Temple. He places some abominable thing in the Holy Place. His true character reveals itself as he lays siege to Israel, occupies its territory, and wages war against Christians and Jews, undertaking their annihilation (Dan. 11:33-35, 12:10, Rev. 6:10-11, Jeremiah. 50:33, Joel 1:6, Matt. 24:9, Mark 13:9-13). Only a third of the Israelites will survive. Zechariah 13:8 declares: "And it shall come to pass, in all the land, says the Lord, two in it shall be cut off and die; but one third shall be left in it ."

Jesus warns Jews of the abomination of desolation and also marks it as dividing the Tribulation into the Great Tribulation. Paul the apostle elaborates on the abomination of desolation in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, and states that the Antichrist "sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." Jesus refers to the Antichrist standing in the most holy place (Matt.24:15,Daniel 8: 10-14.) The abomination of desolation is such a significant event in Bible Prophecy that Daniel details and cites it in four different passages. Paul the Apostle mentions it and Jesus refers to it in two of the Gospels as the event which separates the Tribulation period into two parts, the early Tribulation and the Great Tribulation ( Daniel 8: 10-14,9:27,11:31, 12:11). The Great Tribulation is the time of cataclysmic natural disasters and the ruthless reign of Antichrist, which ends in the battle of Armageddon and the second coming of Jesus Christ.