(Revelation 12:10-17; 19:10)
The abomination of desolation is not as obvious in the Book of Revelation as it is in the Book of Daniel.
In Revelation 12, the apostle John only describes the flight of the saints from the desolated church: “The woman fled into the wilderness, away from the presence of the serpent.”1Rev 12:14
He concluded Chapter 12 saying, “The dragon was enraged with the woman and went to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus.”2Rev 12:17 This was the war that was described in Daniel 9:26 — “Till the end of the war, desolations are determined.”
The meaning of “having the testimony of Jesus” was explained in verse 11: “They overcame because of the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.” After the Church was desolated by the Antichrist, the saints no longer had the testimony of the spirit of God, and they overcame the accusation of Satan by the word of their testimony. The apostle Paul said, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”3Rom 10:9
In Revelation 19, when the Sanctified Church is restored, the testimony of Jesus is called “the spirit of prophecy.”4Rev 19:10 The spirit of prophecy describes the spirit of God in the Targum.
Throughout the Book of Revelation, John describes two groups of saints: the saints of the Great Tribulation and the 144,000. The saints of the Great Tribulation worship God in the tabernacle in the wilderness.5Rev 13:6 The 144,000, who have the seal of God on their foreheads, worship God in the Sanctified Church, called “the temple” in Revelation 14–16.6Rev 14:15; 15:5; 16:1 They are identified by the sound of many waters and the sound of harps.7Rev 14:2 This is the sound of prayer in the holy spirit that Paul described in 1 Corinthians 14:7.
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