The decree to rebuild Jerusalem has nothing to do with the stopping of the daily sacrifice and the setting up of the abomination. This is history and fits very well into the "prophecy" in Daniel. Although, some say that Daniel might have been written during the time of some of these events and then made into a story that took place centuries before.
But believing this as the start of counting the days, instead of the decree in 457BC, blows the whole thing of getting to 1844. So I don't expect you to care or do any reading up on it... you know personal investigating truth rather than just believing what your religion tells you.
The prophet
Daniel prophesied of an “abomination of desolation” (
Daniel 11:31) within a long, detailed prophecy about the Greek kings who ruled over portions of the Greco-Macedonian empire after the death of Alexander the Great.
The kings of the North it focuses on (from
Daniel 11:4-35) are known in history as rulers over the Seleucid Empire. They are named after one of Alexander’s generals, Seleucus I Nicator (approximately 358 to 281 B.C.), who emerged as one of the strongest generals after Alexander’s death. He ruled over a large swath of Alexander’s old empire that included the city of Babylon, Mesopotamia and central Asia (land generally to the north of Jerusalem).
Daniel’s prophecy of the “abomination of desolation” describes events that occurred in Jerusalem around 168/167 B.C. during the rule of the eighth Seleucid king, Antiochus IV. He is better known in history as Antiochus Epiphanes (Greek for “manifestation of god”).
Daniel’s prophecy described it this way: “Forces shall be mustered by him [Antiochus Epiphanes], and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation” (verse 31).
Antiochus Epiphanes was hostile to Jewish worship and attempted to Hellenize (or enforce the adoption of Greek culture and religion on) the Jews in Judea. He outlawed all forms of Jewish worship and placed a Hellenized high priest over the temple who was sympathetic to his rule. He eventually outlawed practices like circumcision, the biblical dietary laws and Sabbath observance.
While Antiochus was on a military campaign in Egypt in 168 B.C., a group of Jews revolted against the high priest that Antiochus had appointed and took control of Jerusalem. Antiochus returned to Jerusalem and violently put down the rebellion, killing thousands of Jews and selling others into slavery.
In 167 B.C. Antiochus erected a statue of the Greek god Zeus in the Jerusalem temple. He also ordered that swine, biblically unclean animals, be offered on the temple altar, desecrating the holy place (fulfilling Daniel’s prophecy). These acts were loathsome, abhorrent and detestable to the Jewish people and were the first fulfillment of the abomination of desolation.
The history of this tragic event in Jewish history, and the Maccabean revolt it inspired, are recorded in the noncanonical books of the Maccabees. These books give some useful history, though they aren’t considered part of the inspired Scripture.
