Olivet Discourse 5:
14“When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ standing where it does not belong—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15Let no one on the housetop go down or enter the house to take anything out. 16Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 17How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 18Pray that this will not take place in winter, 19because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now—and never to be equaled again.
20“If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them. 21At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. 22For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 23So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.
24“But in those days, following that distress,
“ ‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light,
25the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’
26“At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.
Mark 13:14-27

1st October 2025: Horsham
Alternative Readings of this Prophecy
We’ve seen that there are various interpretations of these verses. Many people see in these verses, particularly vv 17-23, a direct prophecy of the brutal fall of Jerusalem which took place in 70AD (see Olivet Discourse 4). In this post, I’m reflecting on the alternative reading of this prophecy of the Second Coming of Christ.
The Second Coming of Christ
Scripture tells us that Christ was crucified. He died. He was buried. He rose from the dead and during his resurrection was seen regularly over a period of 40 days. At the end of this period, he was taken up into heaven. At the moment of his resurrection, Christ declared that he would return.
10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
Acts 1:10-11
It is this predicted event, the ‘coming back’ of Jesus (v11), which is referred to as the Second Coming of Christ.
The phrase ‘abomination that causes desolation’ leads us directly to the prophecies of Daniel, which are closely referenced in the words of Revelation, which in turn speak of the return of Christ.
The connection between this prophecy and the anticipated future return of Christ is not new. From the very beginning, followers of the risen Christ believed that this prophecy heralded his imminent return. This is strongly implied in Matthew’s version of this discourse, which includes the phrase 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened (Matthew 24:34), yet this has greater application when taken to refer to the fall of Jerusalem in 70AD. The verses which follow affirm that no-one will know the time or the hour of his return (Mark 13:32-34), and Jesus confesses that nobody – even the Son, knows the hour of His return (Mark 13:32; Matthew 24:36).
So, do we now have a problem. If this prophecy is to be regarded as referring to the return of Christ, how do we respond to those who believe that it relates to the destruction of the Temple?
Single Fulfilment
There are those who contend that any prophecy can have only a single fulfilment. And so there are those for whom this prophecy must apply either to the fall of Jerusalem, of to the second coming, but cannot apply to both..
Dual Fulfilment
It seems to many commentators that the broad context of this section of Scripture is the destruction of the Temple. In the first verses of Mark 13, we have seen that Jesus appears to be prophesying the fall of Jerusalem. We have seen that this came to pass in 70AD, when the Roman Titus brutally crushed the Jewish uprising. This reading can suffice throughout the Olivet Discourse, and there are those who believe that this is the only valid interpretation. However, the latter part of the narrative under review here, can be taken to make the case that the current verses also speak of the Second Coming of Christ.
Multiple Fulfilment
For completion, some writers assert that there can legitimately be multiple fulfilments of prophecy, and this is an obvious case for consideration.
In addition to the widely discussed Fall of Jerusalem and the Second Coming of Christ, the original prophecy of Daniel relating to the ‘Abomination which causes desolation’, which is referenced in these verses by Jesus, some writers point to an earlier ‘fulfilment’. In 167BCE, Antiochus Epiphanes IV entered Jerusalem and set up a statue of the Greek god Zeus in the Temple, and sacrificed a pig on the altar.
And then, of course, there are those who regard the presence of the Al Aqsa Mosque, the Dome of the Rock and Dome of the Spirit on the ancient Temple Mount in Jerusalem as the most clear and powerful fulfilment of Daniel’s and Christ’s prophecy. The identification of these Islamic places of worship as ‘the Abomination’ is even explored by some Islamic writers. (Note: Construction of the Islamic sites started in around 638CE under the Umayyad Caliphate)
End Piece
In researching this section, I’ve been disappointed that some major evangelicals will state firmly that this prophecy relates only to the fall of Jerusalem, whilst others insist that it relates in its exclusively to the second coming of Christ (eg John Macarthur). Whilst the preceding sentence greatly oversimplifies the position of both Christian theological thinkers and writers, my point is simply that I am always counsel caution when anyone claims to have identified the truth about Jesus, and suggests that those who disagree with them are in the wrong.
For myself, I am comfortable to find that I am in good company when I say that it seems to me that this particular prophecy can have more than one fulfilment. It seems to me that this prophecy fits well with Antiochus Epiphanes IV desecration of the Temple in 167BCE, and the fall of Jerusalem and the Second Temple in 70CE, when the Temple was thoroughly desecrated and ultimately destroyed. It is as possible that Christ was predicting the future Second Coming at a date as yet unknown.
This is a prophecy which transcends a single moment in history.
Ah, the mysteries of faith!
Richard Jackson, West Sussex: LifePictureUK