scenario also typically included the belief that the destined tribulations would culminate in the greatest national catastrophe possible: the desecration of the temple.24 Once so profaned, the standing temple was useless for worship and its destruction was imminent. Conversely, once the faithful Jew observed apostasy within the temple, ‘the abomination that causes desolation’, necessitating ‘the end of sacrifice and offering’ (Dan. 9:27; 11:31; 12:11), he or she could only conclude that tribulation