The End Times
1 "At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered.
Great suffering is still in store for God's people throughout the years ahead. Jeremiah also described the future this way (Jeremiah 30:7), as did Jesus (Matthew 24:21-51). Yet God tempers the great suffering of his people by giving a great promise of hope for all true believers. Every single person whose name is "written in the book"—that is, everyone who has put his or her faith, trust, and hope in Jesus—will be rescued. Take comfort that no matter how evil the days may seem—filled with persecutions, war, and even death—God will ultimately rescue his people from the clutches of both sin and death. The apostles preached this hope for all believers (see Romans 5:5; Colossians 1:27; Hebrews 6:19). We have the promise of the hope of resurrection in the new heaven and the new earth.
2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.
This is a clear reference to the resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked, although the eternal destiny of each will be quite different. This was a turning point in God's revelation. Up to this point in time, teaching about the resurrection was not common, although every Israelite believed that one day he or she would be included in the restoration of the new Kingdom. This reference to a bodily resurrection of both the saved and the lost was a sharp departure from common belief. Although God rescued Daniel many times, this promise would be the greatest rescue of all (12:13). (See Job 19:25-26; Psalm 16:10; and Isaiah 26:19 for other Old Testament references to the resurrection.)
3 Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.
Many people try to be stars in the world of entertainment, only to find their stardom temporary. God tells us how we can be eternal "stars": by being wise and leading many to his righteousness. If we share our Lord with others, we can be true stars—radiantly beautiful in God's sight!
4 But you, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge."
Sealing up the book meant that it was to be kept safe and preserved until God's proper time. God wants believers from all times to look back on his work in history and find hope. Daniel did not understand the exact meaning of the times and events in his vision, and the whole book will not be understood until the climax of earth's history. Hindsight can be a beautiful tool for understanding events in our lives; however, we must depend on God as we live day to day.
5 Then I, Daniel, looked, and there before me stood two others, one on this bank of the river and one on the opposite bank. 6 One of them said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, "How long will it be before these astonishing things are fulfilled?"
7 The man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, lifted his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by him who lives forever, saying, "It will be for a time, times and half a time. When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed."
"Time, times, and half a time" is usually interpreted to mean three and a half years, though some interpret it figuratively (see the note on 7:25).
"The holy people" have been shattered and crushed again and again throughout history. God's recurring purpose in this is to break the pride and self-sufficiency of his rebellious people. He has always wanted his people to accept him as Lord.
8 I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, "My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?"
9 He replied, "Go your way, Daniel, because the words are rolled up and sealed until the time of the end. 10 Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.
Trials and persecutions make very little sense to us when we experience them. Sometimes loved ones are taken from us, disease destroys our quality of life, and evil situations arise. A happy ending or a specific lesson learned may not always occur as the result of suffering. Sometimes, however, God does want to teach us through suffering. If we endure and are open to his work in us, he can use trials to purify and refine us. (See Romans 5:3-5 for how God works through us in suffering.)
11 "From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.
"The sacrilegious object that causes desecration" set up in the Temple is the altar of Zeus, where Antiochus IV Epiphanes sacrificed a pig. This prophecy may have another fulfillment in the Antichrist and one of his horrible acts of evil (see Matthew 24:15). This and the predictions in the early part of the chapter, however, may refer specifically to Antiochus IV Epiphanes, and the rest of the prophecy may refer to the end times.
12 Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days.
Either these are further calculations related to the persecution of the Jews under Antiochus IV Epiphanes or they refer to the end times. The abolishing of the daily sacrifices means the removal of worship of the true God as well as the oppression of believers. Many people speculate about the meaning of these numbers. The point is that this time of persecution will end, God controls what happens through it all, and he will be victorious over evil.
13 "As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance."
The promise of resurrection was reaffirmed to Daniel. He would one day see the fulfillment of his own words, but he was not to spend the rest of his life wondering what his visions might mean. Instead, he was to rest in the comfort of God's sovereignty and look forward to the time when he would rise to receive and share eternal life with God. God does not reveal everything to us in this life. We want to know what lies ahead, but instead he shows us what he is like, gives us wisdom and understanding, and touches us with his love. We must be content with the partial picture until he wants us to see more.
Daniel stands tall in the gallery of God's remarkable servants. Born of noble heritage yet taken into captivity when only a teenager, Daniel determined to remain faithful to God in the land of his captivity. Even at great personal cost, Daniel spent his entire lifetime advising his captors with unusual wisdom. God chose him as his servant to record some of the events of the captivity and some significant events concerning the future. As an old man, having been faithful to God throughout his years, Daniel was assured by God that he would rise from the dead and receive his portion in God's eternal Kingdom. Faithfulness to God brings a rich reward, not necessarily in this life, but most certainly in the life to come.