DANIEL - CHAPTER 12 - "AT THE TIME OF THE END"

DANIEL – CHAPTER 12

‘AT THE TIME OF THE END”

Pastor Carolyn Sissom

Sunday Evening Service, January 29, 2012

After the prediction in chapter eleven, of the troubles of the Jews under Antiochus as a type of the troubles of the Christian church and Israel under the anti-Christian power of the anti-christ, this closing chapter is a comfort to God’s people of His support in those troublous times.

The Angel of the Lord is still speaking by vision to Daniel.  This is a continuation of the Great Vision which began in chapter 10:5 at the Hiddekel River.  

12:1:  “Now at that time (the same time as 11:40-45-“the time of the end”) shall Michael stand up the great prince which stands for the children of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time; and at that time your people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.”

Michael, the great prince, will stand for Israel, “The children of your people” unlike the anti-christ in 11:45 “who will come to his end with none to help.”  We too are children of Daniel’s people because we are grafted in through the Blood of Jesus Christ, our elder brother.   Throughout the Book of Daniel, the term  “your people” used by Gabriel and the Angel of the Lord refers to the Jews. 

When Christ appears whether at His Second Coming, or by visitation, he will recompense tribulation to those that trouble His People.  There shall be a time of trouble threatening to all.    Historically this is applicable to the destruction of Jerusalem which Christ calls such a great tribulation as was not since the beginning of the world to this time.  (Mt. 24:21- Rev. 12-19).  Prophetically it speaks of the judgment of the great day that will be such a day of trouble at the time of the end.  To those who are walking after the Spirit and the Word of God, it will be a day of rejoicing.  To those that are wicked, it will be a day of darkness, “sudden destruction shall come upon them.” (1 Thess. 5: 1-5). 

“Every one that shall be found written in the book”, seems to refer to Daniel 7:10- at the throne of God…ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the judgment was set, and the books were opened.”  

12:2-3:  “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.  And they that are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.”

This is speaking of the Second Coming of the Lord (1 Thess. 4:13-18):  “I would not have you to be ignorant brethren, concerning them which are asleep…even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him…those who are alive and remain shall not go ahead of them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel (Michael), and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first.”

There will be a resurrection of those that sleep in the dust.  This is meant of the general resurrection of the last day.  It may also imply an awakening glimpsed in Ps. 13:3:  “Consider and answer me O Lord my God; lighten the eyes of my faith to behold Your face in the pitch like darkness, lest I sleep the sleep of death.”  Jer. 51:39:  “In their heat(revelries) I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, says the Lord.”  51:57:  “I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men; and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, says the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.”

1 Thess. 5: 6-8:  “Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.  For they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.  Let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.”

  At the Coming of the Lord, there shall be a glorious reward conferred on those who are children of the light.  Rev. 21:12:  “Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.”  They that are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament and instruct many.  Those that turn men to righteousness; that turn sinners from the errors of their ways and help to save their souls from death will share in the glory of those they have helped to heaven.  Those who are outstanding in earth in God’s sight will have a glorious reward in Heaven.

12:4: “But you, 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.”

This prophecy of those times, though sealed up now will be of great use to those that will live “at that time of the end”.  Daniel was told to preserve his writing because its relevance was far in the future.  Here it is to be closed and sealed, authenticated and protected from tampering.  Isaiah 29:11 “And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray you; and he says, I cannot; for it is sealed; and the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, read this, I pray thee; and he says, I am not learned. Wherefore the Lord said, forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men; behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.”

At the end of time men will be vainly seeking to discover God’s plans, as Amos foretold to Amos 8:12:  “They shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.”.  Men will be seeking to increase knowledge then the only answer will lie in God’s word.  This is one of the reasons I have felt the need to do an in depth study in the Book of Daniel without pre-conceived ideas.  As prophesied by Isaiah, men will seek to presumptuously open the seals of God.  Many doctrines of eschatology the precepts of men and not of the Holy Spirit.  

Those things of God which are now obscure will one day be made clear and easy to be understood.  Truth is the daughter of time.  Scripture prophecies will be expounded by the accomplishment of them.  Daniel’s prophecies have been fulfilled to exact time and date.  We can expect this to be true of those designated as “at the time of the end.”

12:5-7: “Then I Daniel looked, and behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river.  And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?  And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and swore by him that lives for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.”

Daniel had been made to foresee amazing revolutions of states and kingdoms, as far as the Israel of God was concerned in them.  Salvation is from the Jews.  The Holy Scriptures are from the Jews.  Jesus Christ was born of the seed of Abraham, the seed of David and from the womb of a virgin of the House of Israel.  Through our inheritance of salvation he also have seen troublous times to the church in the war between evil and good.  Here Daniel is given another scene within the great vision.  (Vs.5) “And I, Daniel, looked and behold there stood two others, the one on the brink of the river on this side and the other on the brink of the river on that side.  And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?    The positioning of Christ from the Angel of the Lord in discourse with Daniel has changed to “the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river.”  The location of this river is important to the vision.  However, it is now vague to us.   In chapter 10:5, Daniel was praying at the river, Hiddekel (in present day Iraq).   Matthew Henry describes this as between the banks of Ulai (a river in Iran).  In Chapter 8, Daniel was translated to the Ulai River (Tigris in Iran) by vision.  It does not seem the location of the vision ever changed from the Hiddekel to the Ulai.  In view of the present threat of Iran to the nation Israel, it would be very significant.  The location of the river is inconclusive.

  “When shall the end be” And, What shall the end be?  The question, When shall the end be? is asked by an angel.   

The “man clothed in linen” (Christ) raised both hands and swore by Him who lives forever.  Oaths were sworn with one hand raised (Dt. 32:40); the Mighty One stood with both feet on the water and swore with both hands lifted up, and swore by Him who lives forever.  This then is another precise and exact time that is especially binding because He who lives forever will ever enforce it.  As we have consistently noted, all of Daniel’s prophecies historically have been precise as to the exact number of days and years to date. 

They shall continue for a time, times, and a half, that is a year, two years, and half a year.   Some understand it indefinitely, a certain time for an uncertain; it shall be for a time (a considerably time), for times (a longer time yet), and yet but half a time; when it is over it shall seem not half so much as was feared.  Dispensationalists believe this refers to the second period of three and a half years in the tribulation, during which the antichrist and his soldiers “finish shattering the power of the holy people,” that is, the Jews.

Josephus says that Antiochus surprised Jerusalem and held it three years and six months, and was then cast out of the country by the Maccabeus.  Christ’s public ministry continued three and a half years, during which time he endured the contradiction of sinners against himself, and lived in poverty and disgrace; and then, when at his death, his enemies triumphed over him, he obtained the most glorious victory and said, it is finished.  Then three and one-half years later, there was a sharp separation between the Christian church and Judaism at the death of Stephen.

12:8-9: “And I heard, but I did not understand, then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?  And he said, go thy way, Daniel; for the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end.  Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.  From the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.  Blessed is he that waits and comes to the thousand three hundred and thirty five days.  But go your way until the end for you shall rest and stand in your lot at the end of the days.”

No more would be explained to Daniel.  Go your way: or simply “Go!” meant the matter was closed.  From that point, or at the time of the events, there will be saints and there will be sinners; the ways of God will be made known to the wise, to the wicked they will grow more obscure.  Verse 11 re-iterates the relatively short span of the final outrage given here as 1290 days or 3-1/2 years of 360 days each, with one leap-year.  That this is another time set separate from the vision of the 70-weeks is certainly a matter of debate among theologians.  The 70-week vision was given five years prior to this vision.  The fact that the Mighty One dressed in linen said, “the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end” tells me that revelation has still not been totally revealed to those who consider themselves wise (Isa. 29:11).

If the time of the trouble is to be dated, from the taking away of the daily sacrifice by Antiochus, and the setting up of the image of Jupiter upon the altar, which was the abomination of desolation, 1290 days or the beginning of the trouble was in the 145^th year f the Seleucia, and the end of it in the 148^th year.  If the 1290 days began after the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D., then that would be 73-74 A.D.

Then there is a time fixed for the termination of the church’s troubles, and the bringing about of her deliverance.  This time must be waited for with faith and patience.  When it comes, it will abundantly recompense us for our long expectation. 

Daniel must content himself with the discoveries that had been made to him:  “Go your way, and record what you have seen and heard for the benefit of posterity, and covet not to see and hear more at present.  He must not expect that which was said to him would be fully understood until it was accomplished.  As long as the world stands, there will be in it a mixture of good and bad.  God will secure to himself a remnant of good people.  Many shall be purified and made white and tried, by their troubles.  The word of God shall do them good.  The wicked will not understand, and will stumble at the word, but the wise shall understand.   1 Thess. 1:5:  “You brethren are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you as a thief.  You are all the children of light, and the children of the day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness.”

Whatever our lot is in the days of time, we shall have a happy lot at the Second Coming of the Lord. 

Daniel was bidden turn to other affairs until the end of his life. 

With all this in mind, what are we to say?  We who have received knowledge;  who know the Son of Man as the living, loving Lord; who have the Holy Spirit and His precious gifts;  can take the words of Paul, If God is on our side, who can be  against us?’ and find their truth in Daniel’s experience, and in his visions the promise that nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Taught by:  Pastor

Carolyn Sissom

Eastgate Ministries, Inc.