“So when you see the abomination of desolation–spoken about by Daniel the prophet—standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),” (Matt 24:15 NET)
The vast majority of biblical scholars take Matthew 24:15 to refer to the fulfillment of the destruction of the temple in AD 70. Prewrath does not share this assumption, but instead reads Matthew’s account as Jesus intending a futurist abomination of desolation associated with a future Antichrist in proximity to the second coming. Ironically, the most scholarly English commentary on Matthew argues that it is likely that this abomination refers to a future abomination. In the paragraph below, notice his three reasons for this conclusion:
But it is no less likely that our evangelist had in mind some future, eschatological defilement and destruction, and perhaps even activities of an anti-Christ; for (i) 2 Thess 2:3-4 (which may depend upon the Jesus tradition) shows the early existence of such a tradition within Christianity, [canonical] (ii) Marks’ personifying hestekota (standing) suggests such [synoptic], and (iii) Didache 16 (which has so many close ties to Matthew) speaks of ‘the world-deceiver’ who makes himself out to be the son of God [historical] (A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on The Gospel of According to Saint Matthew by Davies and Allison, Volume III, page 346).
In other words, there is explicit biblical support in 2 Thess 2:3-4. There is confirmation for a real person reflected in Mark’s account of the Olivet Discourse. Finally, in the writings of the early fathers, there is solid evidence for the idea of a yet future literal fulfillment of the prophetic prediction in Matthew 24:15. Only those who spiritualize or allegorically interpret the text come to a different conclusion.
