The absence of the Presence of the LORD is referred to as the “abomination of desolation”. The reason it is referred to as the “abomination of desolation” is because firstly, it is an entirely unnatural phenomenon, thus making it an “abomination”, for any of creation or mankind to exist separate from the Creator. And secondly, for those who do choose an existence of living apart from the knowledge and the rest and the Presence of the LORD, the nature of such an existence is one of complete and utter “desolation”. For all that is creation, gets its beauty from one thing only, and that is the breath of God. And a world without the breath or the beauty of God is a desolate place indeed. “By His breath, the heavens gained its beauty” (Job 26:13). 
 
The plight of a mankind without the Presence of God is a solitary and brutally lonely landscape, like that of an orphan. It is a barren and forlorn heartland laid waste by the devastation of abandonment. The only apt description I can summons out of all that is the mind of God laid naked for man to apprehend is that of “outer darkness”. If any more proof was ever required, the sheer prospect of separation from the Presence of God produced an order and magnitude of terror and travail in the heart of the Son of God sufficient for Him to declare with a loud voice to all the heavens above, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachtini.” “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).
 
It is an entirely unnatural thing for a child to live separate from and apart from his parent. It is a complete perversion of nature, which is why man living separate from God is referred to as “the fallen nature”. Just like the firstborn Son carries the evidence of His own separation from the Father on his body, the evidence of the blemish of man’s fallen nature is carried as a scar on the bodies of all mankind. A scar is a mark left by a wound. In the realm of the unseen, a scar is the lasting after effect or psychological injury resulting from suffering or trauma. It is any blemish remaining as a trace of or as a result of injury. In botanical terms, a scar is a mark indicating “a former point of attachment”, as where a leaf has fallen from a stem. The evidence of that separation is that every man, woman and child has a belly button, being “a former point of attachment”, a scar that is a stark reminder to the severed umbilical man has without God.
 
Whilst the scars of the beating and whipping by men desiring a world separate from the Presence of God upon the body of Jesus are testimony to the trauma of His separation from the Father, the scars Jesus has on both His hands and feet are representative of what it takes for man to be inseparably tied once more to God. Since we no longer have an umbilical to tether us to our God, we are to forcefully nail our bodies to Him, so that never again will we ever be separated from Him again. The Cross is also representative of the corporate body being tied to Christ, for it is only the limbs of the body that are tied to the Cross, with only the head being free (being Christ), telling the entire body that our freedom resides with the head alone (Christ, God with us).
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“Desolation” is a deliberate choice of words by God in describing the abomination that prevails when the Presence of God is removed from man. A desolate place is one that is barren (i.e. bears no child; bears no fruit). As children of God, we are to all bear fruit. For God says a tree is known by its fruit. We are to produce offspring in Christ, being representative of the fertile union of the bride with the husband. A desolated landscape is one completely without trees. We are all to be “trees of righteousness”, meaning we are to produce the harvest or offspring of righteousness wherever we are planted. Which is only available through the Presence of God. Which is why the absence of the Lord is an “abomination of desolation”. For instead of being a womb of life, separation produces instead a desert (no life), which then becomes a tomb. Which is a blemish or blight on the nature of life. Where there are no trees, there is no fruit. Where there is no fruit, there is no life. No offspring represents death. Which, to the fountain of life, the originator of all life, is an absolute abomination. For a nature that produces no life is entirely antithetical to the heart and nature of God.
 
One needs to be in the temple, or on the mountain of the LORD’s temple, to experience the “Presence of the LORD”, whether as a momentary visitation, or as a constant habitation. The Presence of God is considered so important that God commanded Moses to build the tabernacle so that He could be with His people. In fact, the theme of God being with His people is so important to God, that the Father heart of God made provision for His being with us as a “constant habitation”. “Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US." (Matthew 1:22-23).
 
The Fall represents a cataclysmic perversion of our nature, and our inheritance, which is to live in a constant state of being apart from both “the rest” and “the Presence” of God. For it is in the Presence of the LORD itself that we all find our rest. “And He said, "My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest." (Exodus 33:14). The Presence of the LORD is likened to a river bursting its banks, a river that spreads its wings to fill the breadth of your land. ""Now therefore, behold, the Lord is about to bring on them the strong and abundant waters of the Euphrates, Even the king of Assyria and all his glory; And it will rise up over all its channels and go over all its banks. "Then it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass through, It will reach even to the neck; And the spread of its wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.”” (Isaiah 8-7-8).
 
Twice in the history of mankind, this abomination of desolation has occurred. The first time was when the Ark of the Covenant was removed from the temple. The Ark of the Covenant was God's visible presence to the house of Israel. When God permitted the Ark of the Covenant to be removed by Nebuchadnezzar, who was none other than the king of Babylon (being everything that represents a world without the Presence and rest of God), the house of Israel was left without God's Presence… or desolate. This was the first abomination of desolation. It foreshadowed the death of Christ. And then, the second abomination of desolation occurred when Christ who is God with us, was later crucified. The whole world was left desolate, without the presence of God's Son, who is the rightful heir and ruler of the kingdom of God. Which is why Jesus promised in Matthew 24:35 that “this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place”. He was describing the abomination of desolation of a world left desolate by His own crucifixion.
 
Which is why the Ascension is so important. God made a covenant with man that mankind would never be cut off from God by the water again. Jesus had to return to the right hand of the Father so that the Comforter could then come and dwell among us and so fulfill the covenant of the rainbow.  Which is not only the fulfilment of thecovenant of the rainbow, but as a rainbow, it is the mantle of the multi-coloured Joseph coat which we all get from our Father, just like Joseph got from his father, Jacob, one of the fathers of Israel, for we are all special and dear to our Father in heaven, which is both the constant “presence of God” ABOUT us, and the fullness of the “Holy Spirit” UPON us.
 
Which is also why when God closed the doors on Noah’s Ark, which is also representative of the covenant of God of never removing His presence from mankind again, why God closing the doors is less about the rest of “the world being shut out” from God than it is of “shutting God in” with us. Which is representative of the covenant that God will never cut His umbilical with man again. That God will never cut man or creation off from His Presence ever again. “Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you; and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth. “I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood” (Genesis 9:9-11).
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“And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them” (Revelation 21:3).
 
“Moreover, I will make My dwelling among you, and My soul will not reject you. I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.” (Leviticus 26:11-12).
 
Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Timothy 1:17).

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