- 14 But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains: 15 And let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither enter therein, to take any thing out of his house: 16 And let him that is in the field not turn back again for to take up his garment.
- 17 But woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 18 And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter. 19 For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be.
- 20 And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days. 21 And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not: 22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. 23 But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.
- Compare: Matthew 24:1-28; Luke 21:5-24
Jesus and False Messiahs
Up until this point, Jesus has been advising caution to the four disciples — and by extension, that’s what Mark has been advising to his own audience. As bad as things may seem to be, don’t panic because it’s necessary and not an indication that the End is close. Now, though, a sign that the End is about to arrive is given and people are advised to panic.
What is the sign of the End? That’s not clear (something that Mark emphasizes deliberately). The language comes from a passage in Daniel (9:27, 11:31, 12:11) which describes a pagan altar being erected on the site of the Temple by pagan ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 168 BCE. It is possible, then, that Mark is having Jesus refer to a desecration of the Temple grounds that comes at some point after its destruction.
Some scholars argue that this is a reference to the destruction of the Temple and how Titus’ soldiers set up their own standards on holy ground after the building was torn down. Titus himself is said to have marched into the Holy of Holies, an unimaginable abomination to believing Jews of the era. The Greek being used here describes the “desolation” with a masculine participle, suggesting that the “thing” be personified — consistent with the idea of describing Titus’ entry into the Temple.
If Mark is referring to the Roman destruction of the Temple, it would have been appropriate for him to do so cautiously in order not to attract further persecution, thus explaining why it would be written in a deliberately obscure way. This would therefore be one of the most important pieces of evidence that Mark wrote after 70 CE rather than before.
Some, in fact, argue that this is a sign that Mark was written much later than is normally assumed, perhaps as late as 90 CE (and thus the other gospels were written correspondingly later). G.A. Wells argues, for example, that the reference here isn’t to placing Roman banners on the site of the Temple in Jerusalem, but how Seleucid Antiochus Epiphanes erected pagan altars in towns throughout Judea, forcing Jews to offer sacrifices at them.
For Mark’s audience, this would have corresponded with Roman demands that they make sacrifices to the emperor and Roman gods, but only if Mark’s community was a late one because this practice didn’t become firmly established until emperor Domitian (89-96 CE). Christians certainly suffered for their faith earlier than this, but organized persecution by Roman authorities was not the norm (except briefly under Nero, and that appears to have been limited to Rome).
Still, this isn’t quite the End yet — if it were, then flight would be impossible. This is only a sign that the End draws very close and that people should begin preparing themselves. In the meantime, though, they should get away from the “abomination of desolation” (also translated as the “desolating sacrilege”) as quickly as possible because it causes “affliction” worse than anything that has occurred since God created the Earth.
Note that Jesus says “pray ye that your flight be not in the winter.” The comment emphasizes that people cannot count on when the End will or will not occur. If the purpose of the chapter is to discourage eschatological over-excitement, this statement provides balance against a passage that seems almost designed to make people anxious.
Once again we also see a warning about deceivers. In the previous passage Jesus cautioned against believing those who come in his name saying “I am.” Here he cautions against believing those who claim to be the Messiah. It’s possible that the earlier warning meant the same as this one and indicates a very serious problem with false Messiahs — serious enough that Mark has to take extra steps to reassure his audience that Jesus was the True Messiah.
