The question ought to be slightly reworded to ask: What
will the disgusting thing be? – signifying that it is a future development. This, of course, is contrary to the current view of Jehovah's Witnesses.
To put things into perspective it is important to note that the Bible uses the expression “disgusting thing” in reference to idols. For example, in reference to the idolatry that “wise” king Solomon instituted in Israel, 1 Kings 11:5-8 says:
“And Solomon began going after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after Milcom the disgusting thing of the Ammonites. And Solomon began to do what was bad in the eyes of Jehovah, and he did not follow Jehovah fully like David his father. It was then that Solomon proceeded to build a high place to Chemosh the disgusting thing of Moab on the mountain that was in front of Jerusalem, and to Molech the disgusting thing of the sons of Ammon. And that was the way he did for all his foreign wives who were making sacrificial smoke and sacrificing to their gods.”
From Jehovah’s standpoint anything that is set up to rival or replace his worship is a “disgusting thing.”
In regards to the disgusting thing of prophecy, Jesus foretold that a disgusting thing would stand where it ought not, which in the first century was in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, which was a holy place to God – at least nominally. (Contrary to the Watchtower’s present view that the temple was not holy and hence represents unholy Christendom, Jesus twice cleansed the temple of the money-changers because he recognized it as his Father’s house – a holy place) The disgusting thing proved to be the Roman armies that entered Jerusalem in the year 66 C.E. (Of note: At the time the Roman Empire was acting in the prophetic role of the king of the north)
According to the Jewish historian, Josephus, the Roman soldiers actually entered the temple, thereby desecrating it, and even planted their imperial flags (ensigns) on holy ground. That was the signal for the apostles and all Christians to flee out of the doomed city because three and a half years later the Roman legions returned and completely destroyed Jerusalem. This, of course, was in fulfillment of the prophecy of Daniel 9:27, which reads:
“And upon the wing of disgusting things there will be the one causing desolation; and until an extermination, the very thing decided upon will go pouring out also upon the one lying desolate.”
But the 11th and 12th chapters also foretell of the coming of a disgusting thing that will abolish another sanctuary of God. According to Daniel 11:31, the king of the north
“will actually profane the sanctuary, the fortress, and remove the constant feature. And they will certainly put in place the disgusting thing that is causing desolation.”
Significantly, the 8th chapter of Daniel foretells that a king fierce in countenance will also bring desolation upon God’s sanctuary and holy place and remove the so-called constant feature. This is to occur during the time of the end, when Christ’s kingdom actually comes to power, and is an immediate prelude to the king of fierce countenance’s own destruction by Christ. Obviously, the king of fierce countenance and the disgusting thing are one and the same.
But, what is the holy place that is destined to come to desolation? According to the writings of the apostles the holy place is the congregation of Christ’s anointed disciples, otherwise known as the holy ones. -- See the essay:
What is the Holy Place and the Great Tribulation?
And according to the 7th and 8th chapters of Daniel the holy ones will be given the kingdom but afterwards they will be crushed and brought to ruin by Satan’s political agency then in power on earth. Now the question: If Christ’s congregation is considered a holy place for God to inhabit by spirit, how much more holy will it be to God when once Christ cleanses it of the evil slave and gives the kingdom to the holy ones? So, just as Solomon placed the disgusting idols of Chemosh and Molech as substitutes for the worship of Jehovah, according to the arrangement then in place, the disgusting thing will be installed in place as a substitute and counterfeit of God’s kingdom; since at that time the holy ones on earth will no longer be merely serving as ambassadors for Christ but will actually be kings of God’s kingdom along with Christ.
Likely this will also involve the wholesale apostasy of the Watchtower Society. -- See the essay:
The Apostasy Comes First
So, the setting up of the disgusting thing in a holy place during the time of the end will involve the Anglo-American king destroying itself and the nation-state system and replacing the present system with a one-world government, no doubt administered through the United Nations, which already has the bureaucratic infrastructure in place to serve as a world government. We know this from the 13th chapter of Revelation, which reveals that the seven-headed beast – one head with two horns representing the present Anglo-American dyad – is destined to be slaughtered and afterwards brought back to life.
The death of the beast will result in an unprecedented calamity for the world and will terrify mankind into subservience to the totalitarian system that will arise from the chaos. After the seeming miraculous resuscitation of the political system the revived beast will then advocate the making of an image of itself, which itself comes to life and requires the world of mankind to obey and worship it. This will be the development which gives rise to the symbolic 666 marking of the idolaters.
The image of the beast is the disgusting thing since it will be worshipped as the savior of the world at the very time that Christ will have returned in secret to reveal himself to his holy ones and usher them into the kingdom of his Father.
Jesus foretold that the trampling of the holy place would continue over an interval of time known as the “appointed times of the nations.” The 12th chapter of Daniel confirms that the appointed times for the nations to trample the kings of God’s kingdom by means of the disgusting thing is three and a half years. Daniel 12:11reads:
“And from the time that the constant feature has been removed and there has been a placing of the disgusting thing that is causing desolation, there will be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.”
