Daniel 12:1-13 — The Light Will Shine Brightly Out From The Darkness; Blessed Is He Who Waits

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Dan 12:1-13  

Daniel Ch 10 – 12 all have to do with the word that was revealed to Daniel in Ch 10:1, 14:  the message in that word is true, and he saw a large army; and it had to do with his people in the last days.  Jesus told us in the Gospel of Mark that He has told us all things beforehand about what is coming before He comes again.  Daniel gives us much, as directed by the Lord and the Holy Spirit, about what to expect in the end-times.  Are we paying attention?  Don’t we ask even now, “What’s going on, and what do you think is going to happen?”, about the corona virus and regulations; and we want someone with authority to tell us clearly.

We ended last time with the end of the Antichrist.  This beast who put fear in the hearts of man through power and manipulation, comes to his inglorious end by the breath of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah/Jesus Christ at His glorious coming.  The mere breath of God is much too strong for any man of dust!  The Light comes into the darkness, and the darkness cannot hide or abide!  And we know from the end of the Bible that this most evil man, along with the false prophet, are cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.  They know what they are doing, and are summarily judged and condemned.  They are not given the dignity of appearing before the Great White Throne. (Rev 19:19-20

v 1   At that time refers to the time of the rise and demise of the vile king of v 21, the Antichrist, during which the archangel Michael, who is the guardian angel of Daniel’s people Israel, stands up during this time of unprecedented distress for the Jewish people.  At that time, at the end, the people will be delivered, all whose names are found written in the Book [of Life]. 

This is that time when Michael casts out the great dragon — that serpent of old, the Devil and Satan — from heaven.  This marks the beginning of his end, but there are 1260 days determined for his great wrath to be unleashed. (Rev 12:6-17

Jacob’s Trouble/Great Tribulation is Satan’s wrath:  a time of unprecedented and unparalleled suffering also for Christians, New Covenant followers of Yeshua/Jesus.  This did not happen in 70AD; nor was it the Holocaust, which occurred before the sign of the fig tree.  The Jewish people are back in the land as a sovereign nation since then.  There still remains the restoration of animal sacrifices, which the Antichrist halts, and the abomination of desolation in the holy place.  The Great Tribulation/Jacob’s Trouble are the 3 ½ years from that abomination until the return of the Lord.  This word which Daniel received is all of a piece, and leads to the resurrection of the dead, which has not yet occurred in history. (Rev 12:6-9; Dan 11:30-33; Joel 2:2; Jer 30:7; Mt 24:21; Rev 20:4-6; Rom 11:26; Dt 4:29-30; 30:1-6; 32:36; Is 26:16-17; Zech 12:8-14

v 2   There are two separate destinies for human beings:  either a resurrection to everlasting life, or else a resurrection to everlasting existence in shame and contempt.  Both are forever.  (The Hebrew word is exactly the same.)   One is with Yeshua/Jesus forever; the other is separation from God forever.  The Creator has put the choice before every human being:  either we repent and believe the gospel; or we condemn ourselves, according to the Word of YHVH.  We either choose to love Him more than all else and have life everlasting, or we choose to exist with the others who have chosen not to. (Rev 21:27; Jn 5:24-30; Acts 24:14-15; Is 26:18-19; Dt 30:15-20

v 3  As I have mentioned many times during this series (for we can also know the beginning from the end), God is wanting us to know what He is doing, that we can shine as the brightness of the firmament and the stars, and be useful to Him to turn many to righteousness.  This is the revival that we all want to see, and it will come through the darkest period of history.  The repentant thief in his suffering on his cross saw his Savior-King in His redemptive agony on the cross.  I believe that this is the baptism of fire at the end of the age that Yeshua will baptize us with to purify His holy Bride and people. (Dt 32:28-29; Jer 9:12; Hos 14:9; Judg 5:31; Mt 13:41-43; 3:10-12

v 4  While true that our generation has seen an explosion of international travel and of worldly knowledge, for the believers we will go back and forth in Book of Daniel, and the rest of the Bible, and knowledge will increase as the events of the time of the end take place, as they are written.  God has opened up the book for us, which had been closed and sealed until these last days.  It was written about 2550 years ago!  There are many details to strengthen our faith as we see them happening.  Continue reading Daniel for further knowledge and understanding and wisdom in the fear of YHVH (ctr Rev 22:10; Rev 10:8-11; Ezek 12:26-28)   

v 5-6  How long until the end of these wonders, these terrible things?! (Ps 94:1-3; Rev 6:9-11; 13:5)

v 7   One of the two men/angels that Daniel saw on either side of the river, stood above the water, lifted his hands towards Heaven, and swore by the Ever-living One, that it would take a time times and a half (3 ½ years; 1260 days; 42 months).  It would only end when the holy people are completely without strength.  This is what Moses also wrote when telling the people of Israel what their covenantal relationship with YHVH would look like. (Dt 32:36-43

This utter weakness is brought about by the LORD through the evil doings of the satanic Antichrist who is intent on total genocide.  The brothers of Joseph knew their troubles and despair when they first met him in Egypt were because of what they had done to him, their father’s beloved son.  God the Father weeps for His chosen first-born son Israel to confess their transgression against Him, and to receive His forgiveness. (7:25; 8:24; Gen 42:8-24; Rev 13:5; Zech 4:6; 12:10-14; Lev 26:40-45; Hos 5:15; Mt 21:33-44; 23:37-39)   

v 8-9  Daniel heard, but did not understand. “What is the end of these things, my Lord?!”  And he was told that it was not for him to know, for the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end. (Acts 1:6-7; Rev 22:10

We again see that what is written has its focus on the future, not on the past.  It is for us living today in this generation who have been witnesses to the fig tree – Israel — blossom. 

v 10  Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly.  None of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. (11:33-35; Hos 14:9; 3:4-5; 2Tim 3:10-15; Rev 13:18; 22:6-15)   

A serious time for taking a position is coming for all humanity, but firstly to the Jews and the Christians – those in covenant relationship with YHVH God.  To us have been delivered the Word of God in the Bible; and for Western believers, and here in Israel, we have the entirety of the Scriptures available to us in many languages.  We have no excuses!  We must choose to steadfastly follow Jesus, wherever the Lamb should lead us.  There is hope.  There is light above the darkest clouds, and that Light is going to come!  In the meantime, we are here as lights in this darkening world.  Let us shine until that Day to the glory of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ/Yeshua the Messiah.  

v 11  There will be 1290 days from the time that the daily sacrifice – the evening and morning – is taken away and the abomination of desolation is set up.  Why are there 30 extra days to the 42 months of 1260 days?  Perhaps this is the period of the wrath of God to be poured out? (9:27; 11:21, 31; 8:8-17; Rev 15)  The wrath of God does not take seven years, not even 3 1/2.  It is a relatively short period compared to the whole of the 70th week of years. 

v 12   Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the 1335 days. 

Here is another extra 45 days, for a total of 75 days — 2 ½ months — from the end of the great tribulation/Jacob’s Trouble.  Maybe these extra 45 days are for Yeshua to judge the sheep and goat Gentiles, prior to establishing the Millennial Kingdom?  (The sheep are not born-again believers, who have been either resurrected or raptured by now.  Believers are saved by faith; these righteous Gentiles are being shown mercy and compassion because of their righteous works, risking their lives, towards the least of Yeshua’s brethren, in their darkest period.) (Mt 25:31-46; Lk 21:34-36)     

v 13  “But you, go till the end, for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days.” (Is 57:1-2; Jn 11:23-27; 1Thes 4:13-18

The whole vision of the word revealed to Daniel in Ch 10 brings us to the resurrection of the righteous at the end of the days.  The whole of the Book of Daniel looks to the end-times, as we have seen from the very first dream of Nebuchadnezzar.  The individual stories that are told in the book help us to know how to live as people of faith in the Most High God, who rules in Heaven and on the Earth, in the days of trouble that are coming in accord with the prophetic word that we have studied in Daniel, and that are confirmed throughout the Old and New Testaments. 

Prophecy, as we have said, is not given just to have knowledge – which can puff up – but is given so that we can live in the light of God’s eternal purposes and plan, which He has revealed to us through the Scriptures.  It also is given to strengthen our faith in the truth of God’s word, who knows the end from the beginning, as it is fulfilled, even right in front of our eyes and under our noses.  Yeshua came to tell us that all will be fulfilled; He did not come to cancel out anything that has been written in the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them in full. He will accomplish all of the Father’s objectives of the 70 Weeks.  He wants us to be watchful and in prayer, as was Daniel, as we discern the times in which we are living:  in the generation that will [probably] see the return of the Lord Jesus Christ in great power and glory to totally annihilate all of the kingdoms of this world that oppose the love and the truth of YHVH God.  Do we stand with Him, or against Him?  Or are we double-minded between two opinions, and just don’t know?  We must answer these questions for ourselves! (Lk 11:16-23

We have seen how exact the prophecies in Daniel are about Messiah’s first coming.  In Judaism the Book of Daniel has been moved from the Prophets to the Writings. Also very exact prophecies are given concerning the Antichrist and the abomination of Desolation, great tribulation, and the return of Messiah to establish the Kingdom of God – with the saints — in Israel and over the nations.  The Book has been opened in these last days of the end-times.  Jesus said that when we see the fig tree blossom – the Jewish people back in the promised land as a sovereign nation in the last days —  and when we see the abomination of desolation in the holy place – a place where the Jews are offering up animal sacrifices — that we should know that this generation will see the fulfillment of these prophecies and of His glorious return.

Daniel was twice offered gifts and great honor… and refused; Abraham was offered spoils of war from the king of Sodom, and refused; Moses chose to identify with his people rather than with the treasures of Egypt; Esther was offered half the kingdom, but decided to risk her own life in order to save her people from genocide; Yeshua refused Satan’s offer of all the kingdoms of the world (the Antichrist will accept).  We are offered the whole kingdom of God with Messiah/Christ; God is working through history, and He has not only a purpose for each individual or nation, but He is also producing a corporate person – the Bride of the Lamb, the Body of Christ, one new man in Messiah.  All Israel will be saved, not only the saved remnant from the Tribe of Judah, but from among all of the tribes of the children of Jacob.  We, who have the privilege of living as the end of the age draws near, represent all of those saints who have preceded us, finishing the work that they began and continued to do.  It can be likened to a relay race:  some have planted; others have watered; God will bring the increase and the harvest at the end of this present evil age.  We have entered into the labors of those before us.  Let us finish the race, and the good fight, as we patiently wait for the harvest to enjoy its fruitful bounty! (Heb 11:39-40)  To God be the glory, and to the Lamb upon the Throne! 

I myself still have a number of questions, but the framework has been clarified for me – and I pray for you – from our study:  the Book of Daniel speaks about the last days, future days in which we are currently living; the Kingdom of the Antichrist is Middle Eastern and Islamic; the times of the Gentiles is until the return of Yeshua/Jesus; the Body of Messiah will go through the Great Tribulation/Jacob’s Trouble with the Jewish people, and suffers because of our covenantal relationship with the true God and Savior; God wants us to be His good and faithful servants during these darkest hours, shining through our good works of faith, hope, and love; our hope is in the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ, which brings the resurrection of the righteous, and the establishment of the Kingdom of God on Earth, centered in Jerusalem, Israel, with the saints ruling with the King of kings, and the Lord of lords.  Maranatha! 

Recap in pictures:

Ch 1
Ch 2 (not Rome, but Islam) 
Ch 3

Ch 4 
Ch 5 
Ch 6 
Ch 7
Ch 8 

Graph more fully concerning the time of the end: 

 

Ch 9 
Ch 10 
Ch 11 
Ch 12 
Even so, come, Lord Jesus! 

 

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