The Abomination of Speculation: Pop-Prophecy and Matthew 24:15
By Robert E. Cruickshank, Jr. (March 29, 2026)
Edited by Daniel E. Harden, Reviewed by Brett Prieto
[6-Minute Read Time]
In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus tells His first-century followers to “flee to the mountains” when they see “the abomination of desolation” standing “in the holy place” (Matt. 24:15) where “it should not be” (Mk. 13:14). Simultaneously, Jerusalem would be surrounded by armies (Lk. 21:21). Basically, Jesus was instructing them: “When all of this starts to go down, it’s time to get out of town!”
But according to pop-prophecy pundit Joel Richardson, this wasn’t a sign for Jesus’s original followers at all. Instead, it’s actually a sign for us today – 2000 years later! In a recent video, he claims:
“He expected us, he called us as his followers to pay very careful attention. The single greatest sign of the last days is when you see the abomination that causes desolation standing in or being set up in the holy place… This is the seminal issue that we need to pay attention to. And to anyone who tries to tell you to pay no attention to any of these things, it’s all been fulfilled 2,000 years ago. They are deceivers using bad, horrible arguments. Pay no attention to them.”[1]
Actually, those of us who believe Jesus’s words were fulfilled 2000 years ago encourage people to pay very close attention to what Jesus said. Who did He say it to? When did He say it would happen? Why was He giving them these instructions? We ask people to focus on all of these textual, historical, and grammatical details.
That aside, with Richardson’s dire warning laced with pejoratives still ringing in our ears, a few obvious questions immediately present themselves.
Off the bat, some basic issues about timing and geography come into play. This is true even if we understand the Abomination of Desolation in the pop-prophecy way. In short, things just don’t add up.
Why Are We Still Here, and Where Do We Go?
First, Richardson needs to compare notes with his fellow prophecy pundits. According to the rest of them, we’re going to be raptured out of here 3 ½ years before the Antichrist starts streaming selfies from the newly rebuilt temple – as he’s ramping up to set the Abomination of Desolation up.
For example, Daniel Larimer says,
“By inclusive counting we can interpret Daniel 12 as saying that the Abomination of Desolation should occur by spring of 2028 and that everyone found written in the book will be delivered, raptured, before that time.”[2]
Incidentally, if this is true, the Rapture should have happened already sometime in early 2025 or late 2024. It’s supposed to happen right before the Antichrist signs the peace treaty with Israel (this isn’t in the Bible, by the way) and 3 ½ years before he does his big abomination-of-desolation showstopper.
Nonetheless, the point is that Larimer is looking to get out of here before the whole show kicks off, but it seems Richardson is hoping to get left behind so he can stick around for the Antichrist action.
So, it seems that Richardson’s timeline isn’t in line with what the other prophecy pundits are rolling down the line.
Second, if this is a sign for us today, and we’re not going to get raptured up, up and away (as Richardson seems to say), most of us don’t live in Judea anyway.
What mountains are we supposed to flee to? I live in Ohio, for example. No mountains.
And even if there are mountains where you live, what good would trying to hide in them be with modern drones, satellite surveillance, and the Antichrist’s supposed advanced technology?
The Abomination of Automation
Speaking of advanced technology, Mark McMillion says that what the Abomination of Desolation is really all about is just that – advanced technology. Super advanced, in fact. He writes:
“It is my opinion that ‘the abomination of desolation’ and ‘the image of the beast’ both refer to some kind of very advanced ‘machine’, for lack of a better word. Or I could say computer but one that’s so far advanced that it’s beyond what most regular folks in the world today can imagine. My thought on this is similar to a number of Bible students who’ve looked deeply into the specifics of the Bible’s teaching on the end time.
“And this falls into the realm of reality since we all know just how fast and how far technology is advancing in those fields. Elon Musk is creating bio chips to link our brains into a mega-network that may bring on forms of bio-technical eternal life.”[3]
While all of this might make a great script for a sci-fi movie, it has nothing to do with Bible Prophecy. Jesus isn’t talking to his first-century disciples about biochips, a mega network linking our brains, or even Elon Musk. Such a scenario would have been totally meaningless and irrelevant to Jesus’s listeners, who needed to know when they needed to flee to the mountains.
With that said, let’s move from fantasy to fulfillment, from science fiction to Scripture, from speculation to sanity.
From Microchips to Temple Courts
In context, Jesus was referring to the Zealot takeover of the temple after they displaced the existing priesthood. The takeover of the temple by these radicals was very much considered an “abomination” in the writings of Josephus:
“Those men made the temple of God a stronghold for them, and a place whither they might resort, in order to avoid the troubles they feared from the people: the sanctuary was now become a refuge, and a shop of tyranny” (Josephus, Wars 4.3.7).
“And now, when the multitude were gotten together to an assembly, and every one was in indignation at these men’s seizing upon the sanctuary; at their rapine and murders; but had not yet begun their attacks upon them: (the reason of which was this, that they imagined it to be a difficult thing to suppress these zealots; as indeed the case was), Ananus stood in the midst of them; and casting his eyes frequently at the temple, and having a flood of tears in his eyes, he said, ‘Certainly it had been good for me to die before I had seen the house of God full of so many abominations…” (Josephus, Wars 4.3.10).
“But when any of the zealots were wounded, he went up into the temple, and defiled that sacred floor with his blood. Insomuch that one may say, it was their blood alone that polluted our sanctuary” (Josephus, Wars 4.3.12).
In Luke’s version, his wording concerning the signal is slightly different than Matthew and Mark:
“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are inside the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city” (Luke 21:20-21).
Biblical scholar Joel Marcus puts the pieces together, harmonizing Luke with Matthew and Mark:
“…the reference to the abomination of desolation standing where he should not (13:14) reflects this series of events, specifically the occupation of the Temple by Eleazar son of Simon in the winter of 67-68… it would make sense to flee from Judea during the winter of 67-68, after Eleazar had moved into the Temple but before Vespasian completely conquered the area around Jerusalem and thus isolated the city in June of 68.”[4]
In a nutshell, Jesus was telling His first-century followers: “When you see the Zealots take up shop in the temple and the Romans start surrounding the city, get the heck out of Dodge!” Kendall Lankford puts it this way: “From the atrocities committed by the Zealots to the desecration by the Romans, every aspect of Jesus’ prophecy was fulfilled with precision in AD 70.”[5]
Closing the Loop on Speculation
The Abomination of Desolation isn’t waiting for a future rebuilt temple, powered by microchips, and monitored by satellites. It’s not about twenty-first-century silicone, but first-century temple stones. That temple was burned down to the ground after violent men turned the house of God into a stronghold of bloodshed and tyranny.
Long before anyone ever dreamed of things like artificial intelligence or neural implants, the Abomination of Desolation had already taken place – just as Jesus predicted and Josephus recorded.
That’s why Jesus told them—not us—to flee to the mountains. That’s why that warning made perfect sense to His original audience. That’s why it all but falls apart when stretched across two thousand years of speculation.
Strip away the sci-fi scenarios, the rapture charts, and the conflicting timelines, and what you’re left with is a straightforward, historically grounded fulfillment—not a prophecy waiting for Elon Musk to flip the switch or for Skynet to become self-aware.
So, there’s no need to check your newsfeed to figure out what the Abomination of Desolation was all about. You just need to know a lot about your Bible, and a little bit about history. And most importantly, you need to ditch pop-prophecy!
This will help you avoid the prophecy pundits’ abominations of speculation.
And there are many of them.
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[1] Joel Richardson, The Abomination that Causes Desolation: Burning the Preterist Interpretation to The Ground | Joel Richardson (YouTube) https://bit.ly/4uOiaY6 , 14:56 – 16:10. Judging from the subtitle, Richardson must have been listening to Rock of Ages by Def Leppard when he put this one together. “Rise up, gather ’round, Rock this place to the ground, Burn it up, let’s go for broke, Watch the night go up in smoke” (Rock of Ages [Lyrics] | Song Genius https://bit.ly/4tynfTd). It’s a wonder he didn’t start this video out by saying, “Gunter glieben glauchen globen!”
[2] Daniel Larimer, Rapture, Tribulation Timeline, and the Abomination of Desolation | Temaster Medium https://bit.ly/3PuRpbd
[3] Mark McMillion, “Summoning” and A.I. | Creeds and Deeds, Facts and Acts https://bit.ly/4dhiSac
[4] Joel Marcus, “The Jewish War and the Sitz im Leben of Mark” [Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 111, no. 3 Autumn 1992], 454-455
[5] Kendall Lankford, 12 Reasons the Abomination of Desolation ALREADY Happened! | The Shepherd’s Church https://bit.ly/4dQNEqt
