The Abomination of Desolation - St. Marys Coptic Orthodox Church

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SIGNS OF HIS COMING
Tribulation, or the duration of the reign of the Abomination of
Desolation shall be three and a half years, this means that it will be a
time that will not be completed but rather suddenly cut short by the
glorious coming of our Lord. The Lord Himself told us so, “And except
those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for
the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” (Matt 24:22) Similarly,
the ten horns (or ten kingdoms) that should arise after the Romans,
and after which comes the Abomination of Desolation, may very well be
a symbolic number. Here is what Saint Augustine says about this:
As for the ten kings, whom, as it seems, Antichrist is to find in the
person of ten individuals when he comes, I own I am afraid we may
be deceived in this, and that he may come unexpectedly while there
are not ten kings living in the Roman world. For what if this number,
ten signifies the whole number of kings who are to precede his
coming, as totality is frequently symbolized by a thousand, or a
hundred, or seven, or other numbers, which it is not necessary to
recount? 1
In chapters 8, 11, and 12, Daniel is given more revelations but is
instructed by one of the angels, “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words,
and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and
fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” (Dan 12:4) When Daniel tries
to get more information, he is told, “Go thy way, Daniel: for the words
are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.” (Dan 12:9)
From this, one can deduce that the prophecy was kept deliberately
obscure until the “time of the end,” when the seals of the book shall be
opened.
If we read Revelation, chapter 5, we find mention of “A book
written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.” (Rev 5:1)
Later on, we are told that only Christ can open the seals of the book.
(Rev 5:5-9) Hippolytus of Rome comments on this saying:
And that the things spoken of old by the law and the prophets were
all sealed, and that they were unknown to men, Isaiah declares when
he says: ‘And they will deliver the book that is sealed to one that is
1 Augustin of Hippo: City of God, XX: Ch. 23.