Daniel Ch12

Daniel 12:1

In the closing verses of chapter 11 we witnessed a coming world ruler, a coming world religion, and a coming world war. Now we told of the forthcoming Great Tribulation as spoken of by Jesus in Matthew 24: “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop [again, this applies to the Jews who have their patios on their rooftops] not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter , neither on the sabbath day : For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” (Matt 24:15-24)

Daniel 12:2

Daniel is now told of the coming resurrections; Jesus spoke of the resurrection of the just (Luke 14:14), and the resurrection of damnation: Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. (John 5:28-29)

According to the Apostle Paul, the resurrection of the just is not a single event, but rather a category comprised of various separate events: “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end…(1 Cor 15:20-24)

In Revelation 19, we find that the resurrection of the just is complete: “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them , and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they [i.e. both the church and the martyrs] lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.”

Daniel 12:3

“Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world” (Phil 2:14-15)

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matt 5:16)

Daniel 12:4

Many have understood this to mean, that in the last time, general knowledge and understanding will be increased – and certainly we have seen a technological explosion in the last 100 years unlike anything the world has previously seen. However, in the context of this verse, it is the book that Daniel is to seal, until the time of the end, at which time, knowledge of the book will be increased.

Daniel 12:5-6

6 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?

The angel has now finished talking to Daniel, and as Daniel looks up he now sees two angels, one on each side of the river. Yet in the midst of the river, ‘walking on the water’ Daniel sees the ‘man clothed in linen’ whom he had previously seen in a vision at the beginning of chapter 10. We have already put forward the case that this is a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus (see notes on Dan 10:5-9); and here we not only see Him walking on the water, but also being asked a question – by an angel – that only God could possibly know- the future.

It is interesting, that the angel started, back in chapter 11, by telling Daniel that what he was about to reveal was all recorded in the scripture of truth. Now the angel himself wants to find out more, thus showing that the angel knew only what had been revealed to him up to this point.

Daniel 12:7

Daniel 12:8

Daniel 12:9-10

10 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.

Once again Daniel is told that these words are ‘closed up’ until the time of the end. That clearly implies that at the time of the end they will be understood. We however are now living in the time spoken of, and as we read God’s Word, those of us who have been purified by the blood of the Lamb and our sins made as white as snow, are seeing the pieces of the jigsaw falling into place at an incredible pace.

Daniel 12:11-12

12 Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.

• The removal of the Abomination of Desolation
• Antichrist is resurrected (firstfruits of the second resurrection)
• Antichrist & False Prophet cast alive into the Lake of Fire
• Satan bound for the Millennium
• The resurrection of the tribulation saints
• The setting in place of the thrones for the saints (to rule with Christ)
• The judgement of the living Gentiles (pro-Semitic sheep & anti-Semitic goats)

The Seventy-Five-Day Interval

The removal of the Abomination of Desolation:

Antichrist is resurrected (firstfruits of the second resurrection):

Antichrist & False Prophet cast alive into the Lake of Fire:

Satan bound for the Millennium:

The resurrection of the tribulation saints / The setting in place of the thrones for the saints:

The judgement of the living Gentiles (pro-Semitic sheep & anti-Semitic goats):

The second passage is well know, although it is often overlooked that the basis of the following is how the nations have treated Israel – Jesus brethren, according to the flesh.

“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” (Matt 25:31-46)

Daniel 12:13

In other words: ‘keep on going in the way you have known; don’t give up and you will receive your reward in the end’.

What was Daniel’s way?

From the time as a young teenager, when he was carried away from all he had known to the awe and splendour and sensual pleasures of Babylon, Daniel had just one way of living: “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.” (Dan 1:8). This incredible man serves as a challenge and an inspiration to all of us; a man who “went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.” (Dan 6:10)

Daniel did not just ‘talk the talk’, he really ‘walked the walk’, even though it could have cost him his job, and more importantly, his life. Yet where now are those who tried to take his life in chapter six? We don’t even have a record of their names; yet of Daniel we are told he was a man ‘greatly beloved of God’ – and that is recorded in the Word of God for eternity!

Jesus said:“If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you”. (John 15:18-19) “For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.” (Luke 9:26)

“Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.” (Matt 10:32)

Therefore, may we ‘walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God’; and may we live lives walking ‘worthy of the calling wherein we are called’. For we were bought at such a high price: ‘therefore let us glorify God in our bodies, and in our spirit, which are God's’. Let us purpose in our hearts to be like Daniel, who, as we have seen, knew the scriptures and lived his life according to them, rejecting the fleeting pleasures of sin so as to not be entangled in them, that we may please the One who has enlisted us as a soldier in His army. And ‘let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.’ (Col 1:10 / Eph 4:1 /1 Cor 6:20 / Heb 11:25 / 2 Tim 2:4 / Gal 6:9).

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…” (Heb 12:1-2)

May you be blessed and encouraged by this study.