The American Wisdom Series

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Daniel Chapter 12

Daniel chapter 12 the angel told Daniel to close the book, to seal up the words until the time of the end and then the wise would understand.

Note: Verses 1-3 in chapter 12 are not the beginning of a new subject but rather the conclusion of the prophecy given by the angel which began back in chapter 10 (see the marginal note in the Companion Bible).

Daniel 12:1
And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy 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 thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
Few people know that there are two tribulations, the great tribulation that occurs when Michael casts Satan and his angels out of heaven to this earth at the sound of the 6th Trump, and the tribulation that occurs at the 7th Trump when Yahshua Messiah returns and crushes the image of the beast and pours out the cup of wrath reserved for the ungodly!

To wit, we are fast approaching that final hour, the great tribulation that occurs from the time Michael casts Satan and his angels out of heaven to this earth until that "little horn" comes to his end.

It will be at that time Jesus Christ shall deliver His people, every one that has the seal of God in his or her forehead whose name is found written in the book of life.

Those who do not have the seal of God in their foreheads, and thus whose names are not written in the book of life, shall surely stumble and fall in the great apostasy and worship, Satan,  the beast when he comes to earth claiming to be God.

It is written and so shall it be.

Rev. 13:8
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
We have been reading in this great Book of Daniel about "the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth (Rev. 3:10)."

As we have documented time and again, this is the time Jesus Christ told us to watch for when the abomination of desolation, that entity spoken of by Daniel the prophet, would come stand in the holy place (Mat. 24:15) claiming to be God and spread his desolations throughout the world.

For then shall be great unparalleled tribulation such as never was:

Matthew 24:21-22
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Notice in the next verse that we are given understanding concerning the duration of time of this great tribulation.
[22] And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
Jesus Christ just said that the time of the great tribulation, which is the span of time that the abomination of desolation (the subject being discussed) is given to come stand in the holy place, has been CHANGED!

It has been shortened.

Keep this in mind for we will be discussing "how long" a few verses hence.

Now back to the time of delivery at the sound of the 7th Trump.

Daniel 12:2
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.
Make no mistake about it!

There is a great spiritual awakening coming.

The good news is that some are beginning to "wake up" now and some shall be awakened during the great tribulation of false christ, the final hour of this flesh age, and shall come out of Babylon when they see God's elect delivered up and take a stand.

And those who are awakened to the truth of their Father's Word shall be blessed and rewarded at the first resurrection with eternal life!

Unfortunately though, many shall continue to sleep through the night until the sound of the 7th Trump when Yahshua Messiah returns, at which time the veil of this flesh age shall be taken away and all that is spiritual shall be exposed to the light!

The problem is however, if that is the time when you are "awakened", then you are in big trouble for you will have missed out on the blessings of the first
 resurrection to eternal life and will be ashamed and naked (spiritually) at His coming.

By the way, do not let the statement "sleep in the dust of the earth" lead you to believe that people are dead and unconscious until the return of Christ, because nothing could be farther from the truth.

For openers, Paul states in 2 Cor. 5:8 that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord and he confirms that in 1 Thes. 4:13-18 where he explains where the dead in Christ presently are.

2 Cor. 5:8-10
We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
Whether we are here in the flesh or home with Him, we still labour as workman to show ourselves approved.
[9] Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him.
God is judge and Jesus Christ is coming to mete out just recompense to all.

That means reward to those who are His at His coming... but woe to those who are found wanting!

You "see", Jesus Christ is the righteous Judge which means He judges with complete fairness!

Therefore each and every person shall receive exactly what he or she deserves.

[10] For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
We see from Paul's instruction that judgment is both good and bad, depending on what one has coming to him!

Furthermore concerning where the dead are, Ecclesiastes 12:6-7 makes it quite clear that when we die, our flesh which is made of the dust of the earth returns to the earth as it was and we return to our Father in our spiritual body.

Eccles. 12:6-7
Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.
These are all figures of speech just like our saying "he kicked the bucket", meaning "when a person dies"!

Here is what happens when he or she kicks the bucket:

[7] Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
And so Dan. 12:2 simply states that at that time, which is at the 7th Trump, the first resurrection, the first raising to the status of eternal life (not to be confused with being raised from your flesh to your spiritual body, 1 Cor. 15), some "make it" and some don't.

Hopefully those who do not "make it" will get their act together during the Millennium, that thousand year period that precedes the Great White Throne judgment (Rev 20).

The good news is though, that those who now become "wise" in their Father's Word and continue to labor in the field bringing forth fruit and who endure until the end, shall shine as the brightness of the firmament!

Dan 12:3
And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.
Many of the "wise" whose names are written in the book of life have planted seeds of truth and have been (and yet will be) instrumental in turning souls to righteousness, which is to turn them to their Father's Word.

Many of those seeds shall yet sprout forth for as it is written in Revelation 7:9, there will be a great multitude of people of all nations, and kindreds, and tongues who shall come out of Babylon (confusion) during the reign of the false christ.

This occurs when God's elect are delivered up before councils and synagogues at which time the gospel of the kingdom, the announcement that the King of kings and Lord of lords is coming with His saints to smash the wicked beast, shall be proclaimed throughout the world via the modern miracles of satellite and cable TV.

[4] 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.
The words spoken by the angel to Daniel were not for his time but rather for the time of the end, our time, the time when people would "run to and fro" which in Hebrew means to swerve, turn aside, apostatize,not run around in cars, planes, and other things, though we certainly do that on a grand scale in these end times.

You may have read in Job 1:7 that when Satan was ask by God as to his whereabouts, he flippantly replied: "...Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."

In other words, he was doing his thing "turning aside" as many as would allow themselves to be led astray.

And as it is was written concerning these last days, the knowledge and ability to promote craft and deceit has increased greatly!

knowledge, da`ath, dah'-ath, Hebrew 1847; from Hebrew 3045 (yada`); knowledge :- cunning, [ig-] norantly, know (-ledge), [un-] awares (wittingly).
The good news is that the knowledge of our Father's Word has also been increased in these last days.

Daniel was instructed to close the book and "seal" it until the time of the end at which time the "seals" would be broken and the knowledge of that which is written would be understood by the wise (vs. 10).

Of course it is only Jesus Christ, the Word of God, who is able to open the seals and reveal truth and wisdom to your mind.

Therefore you must go to Him,to His Word, to receive that wisdom and understanding.

Rev. 5:2
And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?
If you want to be "in the know" concerning what is happening in the world at this late hour, do not look to the main stream media or even to preachers and ministers!

There is only one place to turn and that is to Jesus Christ the Word of God for He alone can unlock the words that have been sealed and give you rich understanding. 

Rev. 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
So let us return to Daniel who has now been standing by the river Hiddekel, which is the Tigris River, since Dan. 10:4. He has just been told to seal the book for the time of the end, the time for which it was written, and now he sees two other angels standing, one on each side of the banks of the river!
Dan 12:5
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.
These angels are not identified, but do not be surprised if they turn out to be those two angels of the churches of Philadelphia and Smyrna in Revelation chapters 3 and 2 respectively, whose members are the sons and daughters of Acts chapter 2, even the watchmen of these last days who would "see" (understand) the visions of the prophets and teach them to their brothers and sisters and whosoever will open his or her eyes and ears to see and hear.
[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?
To be clothed in linen is to be clothed with righteousness (Rev. 19:8) which tells us something about this one standing upon, or rather above, the river.

 Now notice that this first of two questions asked to the angel standing upon (above) the waters of the river is,   "How long shall it be to the end of these wonders", which would better be translated, "How long will these wonders continue?"

It is important to remember that the "wonders" Daniel is asking about go the whole way back to the expository begun by the angel in chapter 10!
[7] 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 sware by Him that liveth 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.
First of all, a "time" is one solar year or 360 days. So a time (1) and times (2) and an half (1/2) would be 360 + 720 + 180 = 1260 days or three and one half years.

Now pay close attention to the answer given by the man clothed in righteousness because after he stated with certitude that it would be for a time, times, and half a time, he then said "and when" he (the little horn, Satan) shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.

When does the power of the holy people get scattered? During that "shortened period of time" when the abomination of desolation comes and stands in the holy place claiming to be God and plucks up the power of all nations under his supernatural control and that of his 10
 kings!

Now let's recap what we learned back in Daniel 9:27 concerning the 70th week of Daniel and put all this into perspective, keeping in mind what Christ said in Mat. 24:22 concerning the time change of Satan's defacto stand in the holy place.

Daniel 9:27
And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
The one-world system, the first beast of Rev. 13, the New World Order, continues for a time, times, and an half, until it comes into "full bloom" at the entering in of Satan as the spurious messiah who causes the sacrifice and the daily oblation to cease.

 In Revelation we read about this same time period concerning the first beast.
Rev. 13:5
And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
Prophecies concerning God's children, the children of light, are given in solar terms while prophecies concerning Satan and the children of darkness are given in lunar terminology.

Nevertheless, this is talking about the same 3 1/2 year period of the beast system (42 months x 30 days in a month = 1260 days). Notice that this is the same period of time the angel in Daniel 12:7 gave in answer to the question, "How long shall these wonders continue?"

And how long do the two witnesses (two chief bruisers) prophesy (kick dragon) at the end?

Rev. 11:3
And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
Again we have the same period of 1260 days.

 And how long is the woman nourished in the wilderness?
Rev. 12:14
And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
For the same time, times, and half a time... i.e. 1260 days!

Amazing, isn't it?

However, Daniel "heard" what the angel said but he didn't quite understand the "how long", so he now asks "what" shall be the end of these things.
Daniel 12:8
And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?
Before the angel gives answer to this question, he again informs Daniel that the words given unto him concerning the wondrous things that would happen were not for his time, but rather for the time of the end.
[9] And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
The words are given for the time of the 6th Trump, the time of testing, the great tribulation, "the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth (Rev. 3:10)."
[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.
Many shall be purified and made white by overcoming the wicked one for they who are "wise" know that the spiritual fiery furnace of the king of Babylon will not harm those who have the gospel armor on and in place. You "see", fire purifies gold and silver while at the same time it consumes and turns to ashes that which is stubble!

Now let's consider the age-old questions asked by men and women of God throughout recorded history. It was just asked by Daniel the prophet in verse 8 and it was asked by the disciples of Jesus in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21.

The questions are "When" and "What?"
Mark 13:4
"Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?",
One of the signs Jesus gave us in His answer concerned the appearance of the little horn, the false-christ.
Mark 13:14
But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains: ...
If you have followed with us in this Book of Daniel to this point, then you should have no doubts about who the "abomination of desolation" is.

It is an entity, not a thing, who comes and stands where "he" ought not (as Dr. Moffat translates it). He is none other than (hang in there one last time)
 the king of Babylon, the little horn, the vile person, the king of fierce countenance, the wilful king, the prince that shall come, the man of sin, the son of perdition, the beast, the dragon, the serpent, Lucifer son of the morning, Satan himself, the devil.

Remember though, the wise have been given to understand and are to consider that there is a caveat, which is defined as an explanation to prevent misinterpretation, concerning the duration of time that the abominable one is given to "stand where he ought not". That caveat is given by our Lord and Savior in Mark 13:20 and Matthew 24:22 which we read earlier. Let's continue in Mark 13 where Jesus Christ is giving us instructions about what to do when the false-christ appears and then we will see again what He said concerning the "how long" of the standing in the holy place by the abominable one.

Mark 13:15
And let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither enter therein, to take any thing out of his house:

[16] And let him that is in the field not turn back again for to take up his garment.

Jesus is telling us that when we see the abomination who makes desolates standing in the temple, where he ought not, that time is short. He is not saying it is now time to start getting your affairs in order because there is now three and one-half years to go, because there simply won't be!

In fact, there will be, at most, 5 months as per Rev. 9:4, so there is an urgency noted in these instructions.

Let's continue...
[17] But woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
The Bridegroom (Jesus) has gone away for 2000 years and when He returns He is expecting to marry a virgin bride. But when He returns and finds His bride-to-be nursing a child (spiritualy), He will know she has not faithfully waited for Him but rather has been "taken" already by another (Satan), even as the first woman taken in the field, and He surely will not be happy with her! Would you? Woe!
[18] And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter.
This means do not be "harvested out of season" as in pray that you are not "caught in the (spiritual) storm" when Satan and his angels are cast out of heaven.
[19] For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be.
When Satan, the spurious messiah, and his angels are here in person there shall be great affliction and much spiritual desolation, for it will be the greatest time of apostasy ever there was.
[20] And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.
What days has Christ just said would be shortened? Again, those days when Satan stands in the holy place claiming to be God.

He has not shortened the time, times, and half a time that the beast of Rev. 13 would flourish, but if you have understanding of the reason He just gave in verse 20 and couple that with Rev. 7:1-4, you will know why?

You "see", He has actually lengthened the time of teaching by God's elect in order to seal the 144,000 and plant seeds of truth to the multitudes of Rev. 7:9 who shall come out of the great tribulation.

If it weren't for the teaching, i.e. if God's elect were not sent forth to teach the truth of His Word in these last days, then the harvest at the end of this age would be nil... as in no flesh would be saved! In other words, no one would be spared the desolation because Satan is so good and so powerful that if one does not know ahead of time who he is, he or she will be overflown and swallowed-up by his flood of lies and deception.
[21] And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not:
They will say "Isn't it wonderful that Jesus has returned?" Remember though, you can be certain from your Father's Word that if you are still in your flesh body, the true Messiah has not returned!

Paul showed us this "mystery" in 1 Cor 15:52 where he told us that at the sound of the last (7th) trump, in a moment in the twinkling of an eye, ALL people who are alive and remain in the flesh to that time, i.e. both the (spiritually) dead and those who are Christ's at His coming, will be changed from their corruptible (flesh) bodies to their incorruptible (spirit) bodies.
[22] For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.
The spurious messiah along with his angels will shew great signs and wonders to spiritually seduce our people. This will be of such great magnitude that without the "sealing" and the prior teaching of His Word, only God's elect, those chosen from before the foundation of the world, would remain!
So take heed! (Note: The Greek "if it were possible" implies that it is not possible to deceive God's elect. See note in the Companion Bible.)
[23] But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.
He has foretold us all things, including the length of time of the "shortening"! We find that in Revelation chapter 9.
Rev. 9:3-4
And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

[4] And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.

The locusts are Satan's army! They are people... NOT giant insects. And you can readily see from this verse that those who do not have the seal of God in their foreheads are in big trouble. But the wise who do have understanding of their Father's Word shall not be harmed.
Rev. 9:10
And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.
How long" does the locust army, Apollyon's troops (Rev. 9:11), have to deceive and hurt men, causing their spiritual death?
FIVE MONTHS!

There's your answer.

The time of this earthly reign of Satan has been shortened to a five month period.

Is God good to us, or what?

By the way, the book of Joel gives us the four stages of the locust and the encyclopedias give us the "time" of the swarming stage of the locust, which is from May to September.
Daniel 12:11
And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.
It is fine, instructive, and even a lot of fun to work with the dates and times given in the Bible concerning the return of Christ.
 In fact they are given to us to help us watch.

Only a fool, however, would set a date and teach others when Jesus Christ Himself said no man knows the exact time, only the Father. This makes good common sense too, because human nature being what it is, people would cash in their retirement funds, sell their homes, and do all sorts of unwise things if they knew the precise moment. But we have been given the benchmark commencing the final season, the final generation of the fig tree which began on May 15, 1948, and that means that there will be "Baby Boomers" who will see the return of Jesus Christ. Matthew 24:34 "Verily I say unto you, This generation [the generation of the fig tree] shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled."

So what do we make of this 1,290 days which is longer (not shorter) than 1260 days? Well, if one takes the "daily sacrifice" in this verse to refer to the time of Christ's crucifixion, and uses 33 AD as the date of the crucifixion unto the "setting up" of the abomination, which would be the planting of the fig in 1948, and then divides the number of those years by the 1290 days of vs. 11, that would give one a ratio to determine the length of one of Daniel's days, e.g. (1948-33)/1290 = 1.484. In other words, one of Daniel's prophetic days would be 1.484 of our days. Then by understanding when the sanctuary was cleansed the last time in the book of Joshua (1434 BC) and adding to it the 2300 days of Dan. 8:14 multiplied by the 1.484, one would arrive in the "season" of the fig tree generation at the year 1981. One could also take the 1335 days in the next verse and multiply it by the same 1.484 factor and arrive at the year 1981. This may seem a little complex to some, but it does serve to confirm the season.

The point to remember however is that we are not given to know the precise moment when the longsuffering of our Father (2 Pet. 3:9) has ended and he sends the king of Babylon at the sound of the 6th Trump.

That is why Jesus Christ said we are to watch, as in "When you see the abomination of desolation..." and later "When you see these things come to pass..." then we know we are near and then we know what instructions He has given us to follow through with at those times.

Again, He has informed us that He has shortened the time of the defacto reign of Satan while at the same time He has commanded the Four Winds in Rev. 7 to be held back for the elect's sake to seal the 144,000+.

That means He has lengthened the time of teaching and shortened the time allotted the abomination of desolation to stand in the holy place.

Now notice what we are given in the next verse concerning "time"!

[12] Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.
Blessed means "how happy" is he that waits.
Waits for what?

Waits and remains a virgin during the reign of Satan until the coming of the true Messiah!

In other words, blessed are the barren (Luke 23:29), those who do not go to the first wedding and become one of those who is "taken out of season" to the false messiah.

Check out the Hebrew for the words "waiteth" and "cometh" and see how it fits with not being seduced by the false messiah before the true bridegroom returns.

Of course 1335 days is 75 days longer than 1260 days which would have been the original duration of the "standing in the holy place" by the abomination of desolation. 75 days is 60+15 or 2 1/2 months, which is "about the space of half an hour (Rev. 8:1)!"

As the saying goes,
"A word to the wise is sufficient!"
[13] But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.
Go live out your natural life, Daniel, knowing that you shall surely stand together with the rest of the servants of God at the great family reunion spoken of by Paul in 1 Thes. 4:16-17!

And so it is that we shall also continue to live our lives as obedient servants, not by being obsessed with the "when", i.e. the precise moment, for we surely already know the "how" and the season we are in, and by watching the events that are written of come to pass we know that we are very late in that season.

Therefore let us "be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might" by being sure to "Put on the whole armour of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil (Ephes. 6:10-11)" and continue steadfast, unswervingly, serving our brothers and sisters and loved ones until the end when that wicked abomination of desolation is destroyed by the brightness of the coming of our Lord.

 Here is what we are to continue doing, remembering always that we have the victory in Christ.
Ephesians. 6:18
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplicationfor all saints.
We thank our Father for giving us the great Book of Daniel for these last days! We love Him dearly for all He has done for us.

Amen

Live Link to- The Book of Daniel Table of Contents
It is important that YOU Read it all!

Jesus said, "the book of Daniel was where one could go read and gain understanding"

Jesus Christ told us in Matthew 24 and Mark 13 when He sat upon the Mount of Olives and gave His disciples the seven seals concerning the knowledge and the events that would transpire during the final generation of the fig tree, that the book of Daniel was where one could go read and gain understanding concerning the abomination of desolation, that abominable desolator (antichrist) who would come stand in the holy place claiming to be God.
The book of Daniel is the Apocalypse of the Old Testament
and a sister book to the Apocalypse of the New Testament,
the book of Revelation.
To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits; to understand it, the highest of all goals.
We pray that with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you accomplish both.

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