I. Prologue
We are approaching the end of the book and the study. Daniel has had quite a ride and our following it has just about worn us out. God’s hand was evident in his life and story from the day Nebuchadnezzar took him and the other young Jews to Babylon. We followed him and his three friends who stayed true to the Lord through many amazing and astounding adventures. Then from Chapter 7 on we have been listening to and interpreting his dreams, visions, and specific pronouncements. Of course, prophecy has been coupled with the events from chapter 2 on.
We saw a rough overview of world history in chapter 2 and then God’s sovereign protection for His followers. This protection was complemented in chapters 3 and 6. The rest of the book has coupled snatches of prophecy, both near and long term, with glimpses of God’s hand at work in world affairs.
Chapter 12 carries on with the prophecy given to Daniel. And here we find the summation of the whole thing–for Daniel. We traced history from the time that he left the scene until the Messiah was cut off, in Chapter 9. There is a big gap in the timeline of Jewish history from then until the prince who is to come makes a treaty with the Jewish people. Not much detail is given about that here, but other prophets and finally John, in Revelation, fill in the details of “what comes next.”
You and I are in the crosshairs of those prophecies. We are in the run-up to the final seven years, the Tribulation, and are working to warn people to be ready when it comes. Noah spent about 100 years warning the people of his day that a flood was coming. And his only “converts” were his own family. But he was faithful, and that saved his life, the lives of his family, and, ultimately, the entire human race. Not a bad 100 years’ work.
We are out about 2000 years from the cutting off of the Messiah and the initiation of the Church. But the urgency of our message is no less compelling than that of Noah. Be ready. Get onboard the Ark of Salvation. When the wrath falls, it will devastate the world in much the same way that Noah’s flood did. Let’s see what Daniel has to say to finish our thoughts.
II. Gabriel’s Message V. 1-4
“Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. 2 Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. 4 But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.”
II. A. Michael Goes into Action
This is Gabriel’s final comment. He begins with some information about Michael, the “great prince” is the guard of Israel. We may not have personal guardian angels, but the Nation of Israel does. And something, probably the rapture, brings him into active participation–if he wasn’t before. (We will have a lesson on the anti-Christ and the abomination of desolation that should clear up any misunderstanding of this issue. I’m convinced, anyway.)
Something will trigger Michael’s actions and this “time of distress, such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time,” will follow his appearance.
II. A. 1 Matthew 24 The End of the age
Jesus talked about this in Matthew 24 in response to the question of, “...when will be the end of the age?” v. 4-8
And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will mislead many people. 6 And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pains.
II. A. 2. Matthew 24 The End
He does not give us a specific date, but, as He said in v. 8, this is leading up to the “grande finale.” Let’s read on: v. 9-14
“Then they will hand you over to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. 10 And at that time many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will rise up and mislead many people. 12 And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will become cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end is the one who will be saved. 14 This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
This could occupy our attention for several hours, but just to summarize, there will be a ramping up of persecution, which we have begun to see and will see in more intensity, and a commentary on events and peoples’ reactions. “Fall away, betray, hate,” and this is only what we would assume to be putative followers. False prophets will mislead many more, amid an increase of lawlessness and apostasy. Does this mean that people are ignoring or trying to change the “law?” Isaiah said that we should beware of people who say good is evil and evil is good: light is darkness and darkness is light. (Isaiah 5:20) And some even say that the Bible teaches such nonsense.
II. B. The Rapture
Somewhere in this milieu, the rapture will remove the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit and the anti-Christ will be revealed. He will be identified by the seven-year treaty that he negotiates with the Nation of Israel. And, at this point, the 144,000 will fan out into the world to “preach the gospel to every creature.” (24:14) then what?
III. Great Tribulation
This “great tribulation” does not begin until the three and one half year mark of the anti-Christ’s reign. Check v. 15 of Matthew 24.
“Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place—let the reader understand— (Jesus did not have chapters and verses, so He could not reference 9:27, but we do.)
By this time, the whole world will be aware that this “great tribulation” is occurring. Some will rejoice, and some will be in sorrow. Now, where were we? Oh, yes, Daniel 12:1. Jesus described it in Matthew 24:21.
For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will again.
But Daniel gets the short version:
and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued.
Good news for the good guys! And then he goes on to give us a Cliff’s Notes version of what will happen. First, as we saw, those whose names are in the Lamb’s Book of Life will be rescued. Some will “escape” in the Rapture, while others will be converted after that event and be “rescued” by martyrdom. (Revelation 6:9) They and we will all gather around the throne in Revelation 7:9. Their song of praise is in 7:11, 12.
IV. Resurrection
Are you ready for v. 2? (We will read it in a minute.) Whether this includes pre-rapture saints and post-rapture saints is not clear. But the consequence or conclusion is. The resurrection seems to have three phases: first, at the Rapture. All of the believers in history up to this point are included, I believe. Then at the end of the Tribulation, the believers who died in this seven-year reign of terror by Satan’s man will be resurrected. Revelation 20:4. These two can be designated, “the first resurrection.” All believers of all time are now alive forevermore. Then in 20:5, 6 we find the explanation of what happens to the rest. It is summarized for us in Daniel 12:2
Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.
A popular phrase today is, “Choose Life.” And that certainly applies here. Those who believed all through history made that choice. And the others.... Choose Life. And verse 3 seems to apply in spades here.
V. Insight v. 3
Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
Insight is defined as those who “lead many to righteousness.” Gabriel says “Choose life, and show the way to others.” It is an everlasting reward. Shine like the stars takes on a new meaning when we think of the expanse of the universe. The closest star is over four light-years or roughly 24 TRILLION miles away. Imagine how bright that must be to reach so far. And some are billions of LIGHT YEARS away. (FYI: One ly = about 6 T miles.)
VI. Encouragement to Daniel
By the way, the idea of multiple authors runs afoul of Gabriel here, too. V. 4
“But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.”
Is someone else wrote the book, Gabe was uninformed. But I digress. By “concealing and sealing,” the angel did not mean to hide the book or the message. His intent was for Daniel to secure, make sure that 1) the book and the message will not be changed or altered, and 2) that they would not be lost or overlooked. There will come a time when this message will be needed.
Then it seems like we get a reprise of Ecclesiastes 12:12. We will just look at the statement and not Solomon’s mindset. “...of making many books there is no end....” Gabriel is merely noting that people will learn a lot. Let’s hope that they are not “educated beyond their intelligence,” as several witty people have observed.
But a better interpretation would be that the “going back and forth,” is by people seeking to learn what Daniel has written. Increasing knowledge is a deeper and fuller understanding of what is and what is about to happen. The angel was not limiting his thought to secular knowledge, but to the need, and perhaps desire, to know what God’s plan is and what His Word says. Good idea.
VII. Daniel Speaks v. 5
Then I, Daniel, looked and behold, two others were standing, one on this bank of the river and the other on that bank of the river.
Well, actually he looks and listens. That is a sure way to avoid the problem of limited intelligence we noted above. Again, we have a confirmation that the author is the old man, himself. (Remember he is about 80 years old now.) Daniel claims to be the author, again. Let’s eavesdrop on the conversation. V. 6, 7
And one said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How long will it be until the end of these wonders?” 7 I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, as he raised his right hand and his left toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time; and as soon as they finish shattering the power of the holy people, all these events will be completed.
This is a three-way conversation. It seems that Gabriel is “above” and one of the other two asked about the time. “How long will these bad times be?” V. 7 And our answer is one that we have heard before: a time, times, and half a time. One, two, and one half. That is three and one half. This answer was 3½ years. Just like 9:27 when the coming of the anti-Christ is predicted and “in the middle of the week” he attacks Israel. This time of Jacob’s trouble will finish the purification of Israel and like 9:24:
...finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. (Or One)
That is the same as we read in Revelation 12:14. The woman in chapter 12 is Israel, and, as Jesus counseled His listeners in Matthew 24, they “got outta Dodge.” The duration of the anti-Christ’s “great tribulation will be three and one half years, 42 months, or 1260 days.
The “swearing” is not like the swearing that Jesus forbade in Matthew 26. Here the angel is affirming that, what he predicted, would indeed proceed to completion.
VIII. Confusion v. 8
As for me, I heard but could not understand; so I said, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these events?”
Can we commiserate with Daniel here? What does it all mean? I am so confused. And, sadly for Daniel he was not told. We now have more information from history and from additional prophecies that help us out. We, like Daniel, know what we need to know, for now. We know more than he did, but there is still a lot of unanswered or unexplained data. Listen to the advice:
IX. Don’t Sweat It v. 9, 10
He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time. 10 Many will be purged, purified and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand.
The words are “concealed.” The interpretation is not clear to Daniel, but read on. V. 11 says that those with insight will understand. We can have our understanding purged, purified, and refined. And with the advantage of about 2500 years of history and fulfilled prophecy, we can make out some of the “figures in the fog.” With the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other, as Adrian Rogers says, we can gain insight.
This is in juxtaposition to the wicked. They refuse the clarification process and continue to act out their character. They will have no understanding because they do not want it.
X. Final Time Explanation v. 11, 12
From the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. 12 How blessed is he who keeps waiting and attains to the 1,335 days!
The meaning of the 1290 days is fascinating. A (IV) (remember him?) was the king for 1260 days when he sent his troops into the temple to desecrate it as we saw in chapter 11. Then the Maccabbees cleansed the temple 1260 days after A (IV) committed the first abomination of desolation. And now it gets very exhilarating.
The anti-Christ will likewise have 1260 days of not much happening, then (the time, times, and half a time) from the time that he commits his abomination until he will be “deposed,” will be another 1260 days. Only this monstrosity will be destroyed in the lake of fire. (Not annihilated, just consigned forever!) Just as A (IV) saw his reign end in history. Jesus will come back on His white horse (Revelation 19) and put an end to the beast.
This time frame is 30 days longer than the one referenced above. Perhaps it includes time for the judgment of the nations after Jesus sets up His kingdom. (Matthew 25:31-46) The 1335 days adds 45 more, perhaps to set up the government of Messiah to rule in the 1000 years.
Whatever it means, it is decisive, destructive to Satan’s plans, and determined. God has it all prepared.
XI. Daniel’s Rest v. 13
But as for you, go your way to the end; then you will enter into rest and rise again for your allotted portion at the end of the age.
Daniel is promised his role in the first resurrection. Gabriel reaffirms his “don’t sweat it” from verses 9 and 10. (IX) Sometimes the Lord does not show us all that we want to know. We do not know if Job ever did discover the full story of his trial. If he did, it was after the fact, when it really did not matter. He passed the test without knowing the “why.” Daniel did not know. Neither do we. Just trust him.
From our perspective, over 2500 years later, we still do not know it all. We like Daniel will wait until the time, for our “allotted portion.” We know that it will happen. We also know that we will have a place. What more do we need?
There is a great day coming. I am ready. I cannot wait. Glory.
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