In the Old Testament book of Daniel, chapter 12 verse 11, there is an "Abomination of Desolation" prophecy. This enigmatic prophecy was referred to by Jesus in Matthew 24 as one of the signs of the time of the return of his 'parousia'.

(NOTE: The oldest New Testament texts are written in Greek. In the original Greek text of Matthew 24, Jesus refers to the return of the 'PAROUSIA' (pear' oh zee uh). The Greek word 'parousia' means 'presence'. In other words, Jesus was telling His followers how to know the time of the return of the Divine 'Presence' of God.)

The 'Abomination of Desolation' prophecy found in Daniel is one of the most important keys that allows us to unlock the mystery of the time when the Divine 'Presence of God' will once again appear on earth in human form.

The general theme of the Old Testament book of Daniel revolves around the abominable actions of the Jewish people which led to the conquest of Israel by a succession of foreign, non-Jewish empires. And then, even more specifically, Daniel's 'Abomination of Desolation' prophecy pinpoints the time when this centuries long era of the subjugation of Israel will end when the Divine 'Presence of God' will once again appear on earth... or in other words, Daniel's prophecy pinpoints the time when God will again speak to humanity through His chosen Prophet.

To understand these prophecies, we need to go back to the beginning. The nation of Israel was brought into existence by the great Hebrew Prophet Moses. Moses gave his followers a code of laws and a code of ethics which became the unifying force and the generating impulse which culminated in the birth of the nation of Israel.

In the Old Testament book of Leviticus we find the story of how Moses gave this law to his people. Then, in Leviticus chapter 26, Moses warns that if the Jews fall away from God's laws they will be conquered and scattered among the nations. Moses warned

if you will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments... I will chastise you seven times for your sins... I will make your cities waste... I will scatter you among the heathen.

Moses' 'seven times' prophecy took effect for the first time about 676 BC when the evil Hebrew king Manasseh tried to lead the Jewish people away from the religion of Moses by endorsing local pagan cults. Manasseh allowed these pagan cults to erect altars inside the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem where idols were worshipped, sacrifices were offered to pagan gods and, among other abominations, Manasseh was also said to have allowed ritual prostitution to be practiced inside the Holy Temple.

It wasn't long before Moses' prophecy took effect. The Assyrian Empire swept down from the north, conquered Jerusalem, the Jewish people were scattered among the nations and King Manasseh himself was carried off in chains to Babylon. This was the beginning of the seven times era of subjugation foretold by Moses.

After the Assyrians, Israel was next conquered successively by the Babylonian Empire, the Persian Empire and the Greek Empire. In his book the prophet Daniel refers to these foreign empires as "beasts".

The Apostle John, in the New Testament era, also refers to these same beasts. In chapter 17 of the Book of Revelation John speaks of the beast who 'was', 'is' and the beast who was still 'yet to arise'. The beast who 'was' were the Empires who had conquered Jerusalem before the time that John was writing. The beast who 'is' was the Roman Empire that had arisen after the first four beasts to also conquer Jerusalem. Continuing on, still in this same passage, John next refers to yet another beast who, in John's day, was still 'yet to arise'. Who was this last beast? Ask yourself, who was the only empire to arise after the Romans to conquer and control Jerusalem? There was only one . . . the Islamic Empire which was led for most of it's existence by the Umayyad family and later by the Abbasid family.

The conquest of Jerusalem by these foreign, non-Jewish empires which lasted for more than 2500 years was the 'Abomination of Desolation'... the desolating abomination which was referred to by both Daniel and Jesus.

The key to understanding what these prophecies were foretelling lies in their numbers. For example, in Daniel 8:13 it asks how long will this 'abomination of desolation' process last. Daniel answered that it would last for 2300 days.

Before this '2300 day' prophecy can be understood we first must consider an important principle. In Bible prophecy days can equal years. We find this principle stated in Ezekiel 4 and Numbers 14 where it says I have appointed you each day for a year.

One example of how this 'day for a year' principle works can be found in Daniel 9:24 where Daniel says that 70 weeks are appointed from the date of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem then shall Messiah be cut off.

To understand what this prophecy is saying we first need to calculate how many 'days' there are in '70 weeks'. Do the math. . . 70 weeks times seven days in a week equals 490 days. Considering the statements from Ezekiel and Numbers that days can equal years in prophecy this means that 490 days can actually equal 490 years.

Next, let's check the history. Daniel says that 70 weeks are appointed from the date of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem then shall Messiah be cut off. What was the date of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem?

The decree to rebuild Jerusalem was given by a Persian king named Artaxerxes in 457 BC. So, what was Daniel saying in his '70 week' prophecy? There are 490 days in 70 weeks. If the 490 days of this prophecy actually are 490 years... and if you add 490 years to 457 BC, you get the cutting off of the Messiah somewhere around 33 or 34 AD. This means that Daniel's '70 week' prophecy foretold the death of Jesus the Messiah several hundred years before it actually happened. This also proves that days indeed can equal years in prophecy.

How does this relate to Daniel's 2300 days 'Abomination of Desolation' prophecy? If we consider that the '70 week' prophecy and the '2300 day' prophecy are both found in the same context... we can see that they are just two different stages of the same prophecy. So, if we use the same starting point of 457 BC that we used in the '70 week' prophecy and, if this time we count forward 2300 years. . . we get both the year of the end of the 'Abomination of Desolation' and we get the year of Christ's PAROUSIA-- the return of his presence. Once again, do the math. 457 BC plus 2300 years equals 1844 AD.

Keeping this in mind, let's take another look at Moses' prophecy found in Leviticus 26. Here Moses warned

if you will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments... I will chastise you seven times for your sins... I will make your cities waste... I will scatter you among the heathen.

Moses' 'seven times' prophecy first took effect in 676 BC when the Assyrians conquered Jerusalem and King Manasseh was taken in chains to Babylon. If we start at 676 BC and count forward 2520 years we get the exact same year foretold in Daniel's 2300 day/year prophecy.
Moses' "seven times" prophecy also indicates the year 1844 AD.

Returning to the Book of Revelation again. . . in the 11th, 12th and 13th chapters, we are told seven separate times that the last beast referred to by John will control Jerusalem for 1260 years.

This prophecy is stated as 1260 days. As 3 1/2 years or 3 1/2 times ... both of which equal 1260 days. And its stated as 42 months which also equals 1260 days. There are 1260 days in 42 months and there are 42 months in 3 1/2 years.

In his book, the Jewish Prophet Daniel also refers to the 3 1/2 'times of the beast'. (in Daniel 12:7 & 7:25)

How do we know that when the prophecies refer to 'times' they truly do mean years? In Revelation 12: 6 Jesus clearly shows us that 1260 days actually does equal 3 1/2 times. First he says that the beast will tread Jerusalem underfoot for 1260 days. Then, just a couple of verses later, Jesus says that the beast will tread Jerusalem underfoot for 3 1/2 times. Clearly, according to Jesus, 1260 days equals 3 1/2 times... and 3 1/2 times equals 1260 days.

The number 1260 is also repeatedly referred to in the Islamic religion as the time when the messiah will appear.

Muhammad's 'grandson', the Imam Sadiq, when asked when the messiah will appear, replied verily

in the year '60 (1260) His cause shall be revealed and his name shall be noised abroad.

Another collection of Islamic prophecies states that

in Gharsthe tree of divine guidance shall be planted. And again in the year Ghars the earth shall be illumined by His light.

The year 1260 AH of the Islamic calendar is the exact same year 1844 AD of the Christian calendar.

In other words, these Islamic prophecies agree with the prophecies found in Daniel and in the Book of Revelation. They all foretold the appearance of the messiah in the exact same year.

In the Zoroastrian religion we also can find a prophecy which also says that the messiah will appear in the twelfth century after the beginning of the religion of Islam. (the Magi who came to see the infant Jesus were Zoroastrian priests)

In his book, the Dinkird, Zoroaster states when a thousand two hundred and some years have passed from the inception of the religion of the Arabian (Muhammad was the Arabian)... a descendant of the Persian kings will be raised up as a Prophet...

Zoroaster, who lived approximately 1000 years before Jesus' time, also agrees that the 1260 year prophecy should begin with the inception of the religion of Muhammad.

To summarize, that's thirteen separate 1260 year prophecies from four separate middle eastern religions, encompassing four countries and given over a period of almost four thousand years.

These prophecies all state that this beast will control Jerusalem for 1260 years. Who is this beast? It is the only empire which arose after the Romans to conquer and control Jerusalem . . . the pseudo-Islamic Empire under the Umayyads and later under the Abbasids.

What is truly amazing about these prophecies is that four separate and distinct middle eastern religions, spanning thousands of years, each speaking different languages, each with their own different Founder, each with their own Holy Books containing their own separate prophecies all foretold the exact same event in the exact same year.

The year 1260 AH of the Islamic calendar just happens to also be the exact same year 1844 AD of the Christian calendar. Can you see what this means? The '7-times' prophecy of Moses, the '2300 day/year' 'Abomination of Desolation' prophecy of Daniel (referred to by Jesus) and the thirteen '1260 day/year' prophecies all indicate the exact same year . . . the year 1844 AD. That's fifteen separate prophecies which pinpoint the exact same year.

The 'Abomination of Desolation' ended in 1844 when the Edict of Toleration was signed by the Caliph of Islam allowing the Jews to return to Israel ending the 'times of the gentiles.' And even more importantly . . . this was the exact year when the Baha'i Faith began. On May 23rd, 1844 the young 'Bab' (the forerunner of Baha'u'llah) announced to his first disciple that he was the Promised One whose coming had been foretold in the prophecies. The Christ presence had returned as a thief in the night with a 'new name' just as foretold in the New Testament writings.

History tells us that from age to age God sends Prophets to the world. From age to age the presence of God returns and is manifested to a chosen One. Jesus identified himself with the Prophets who had appeared before his time. So did all the other Prophets. Each and every one of these Prophets were motivated by the same Spirit of the same One true God. Jesus clearly identified himself as part of this process and he repeatedly announced that there was still more to come.

In Matthew 24 the Apostles asked Jesus how to recognize the time of the return of the 'presence'. Jesus warned that his will be a time when false teachers will have led people away from the true path. And he warned that when the presence again appears in human form... when God again sends another Prophet, people will oppose him.

Once again, as it has so many times in the past, this cycle of 'return' has repeated itself. It happened again in Israel, in the mid 1800s... right at the exact time pinpointed in the number prophecies of the Bible.

This Promised One appeared just as promised by Jesus. He came both as a thief in the night and as a bridegroom who came at an unexpected time and in an unexpected way and found his bride misdirected, asleep and unprepared. As Jesus promised, the Christ "presence" has once again returned with a "new name". His new name is Baha'u'llah.

Baha'u'llah, the founder of the Baha'i Faith wrote:

The Revelation which, from time immemorial, hath been acclaimed as the Purpose and Promise of all the Prophets of God, and the most cherished Desire of His Messengers, hath now, by virtue of the pervasive Will of the Almighty and at His irresistible bidding, been revealed unto men. The advent of such a Revelation hath been heralded in all the sacred Scriptures. Behold how, notwithstanding such an announcement, mankind hath strayed from its path and shut out itself from its glory.

Say: O ye lovers of the One true God! Strive, that ye may truly recognize and know Him, and observe befittingly His precepts. This is a Revelation, under which, if a man shed for its sake one drop of blood, myriads of oceans will be his recompense. Take heed, O friends, that ye forfeit not so inestimable a benefit, or disregard its transcendent station. Consider the multitude of lives that have been, and are still being, sacrificed in a world deluded by a mere phantom which the vain imaginations of its peoples have conceived. Render thanks unto God, inasmuch as ye have attained unto your heart's Desire, and been united to Him Who is the Promise of all nations. Guard ye, with the aid of the one true God - exalted be His glory - the integrity of the station which ye have attained, and cleave to that which shall promote His Cause. He, verily, enjoineth on you what is right and conducive to the exaltation of man's station. Glorified be the All-Merciful, the Revealer of this wondrous Tablet. -Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, pages 5-6