🔹The outline of Daniel 12
•Daniel 12:1a: The Investigative Judgment ends when Michael stands up (in Daniel 8:13-14 the judgment began).
•Daniel 12:1b: The time of trouble ensues for the members of Christ’s kingdom.
•Daniel 12:1c: God intervenes to deliver His living saints from the king of the north.
•Daniel 12:2: Those who died in the faith of the third angel’s message and those who pierced Jesus resurrect in a ‘special resurrection’.
•Daniel 12:3: Those who understand shine as the stars in the everlasting kingdom.
Daniel 12 verse 1 to 3
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.
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.
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.
🔹“Shall Michael stand up”
The first verse is a continuation of chapter 11. Therefore, the events up to verse 45 of Chapter 11 happen just before probation closes. In verse 1, we witness the end of probation as Michael resigns from His role as mediator, seizes His kingdom, and ushers in a period of turmoil. He is ready to protect His people during times of trouble and save them out of it—those whose names are written in the book of life.
🔹“Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake”
The multitude that awakens or resurrects is a mixed multitude, with some destined for eternal life and others not. These are being resurrected at the same time.
This cannot be the first resurrection that takes place when Jesus comes, as only the righteous dead are raised in it. (1 Thessalonians 4:16)
Additionally, it cannot be the second resurrection, which occurs at the end of the thousand years and only raises the wicked dead. (Revelation 20:4-6, 14–15)
This can only mean that we are experiencing a special resurrection. Does the Bible support this? The answer is yes, it does. We learn from Revelation 1:7 and Matthew 26:63–64 that those who participated in Christ's crucifixion and the high priest will rise to witness Christ's arrival in the clouds of heaven. This ensures the resurrection of those who will face eternal shame and contempt.
The righteous that will be a part of this special resurrection are found in Revelation 14:13. The voice from heaven told John to ’write, Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth’.
Daniel 12 verse 4 to 7
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.
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.
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?
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.
🔹“Shut up the words, and seal the book”
Gabriel tells Daniel to seal the book. Therefore the book of Daniel was to be a sealed book.
🔹“Knowledge shall be increased”
If we look at the world's knowledge today, we see that it is rapidly increasing each day. Also, the knowledge of what is contained in the prophecies is rapidly increasing.
Since 1798, the date of Daniel's unsealing, society has experienced a rapid increase in knowledge. This is a sign that the time of the end is after 1798. After 1798, more inventions emerged than in previous centuries.
The year 1798 saw the manufacture of steam-powered machinery, the introduction of gas lighting and the cast iron plow, and the experimentation with electricity in the laboratory. Subsequently, the steam railway, vehicles, telephones, and the internet emerged.
🔹“Stood other two”
We have no real clear answer to who these beings are. It is possible that they are saints as in 8:13 or angels, there is no clear explanation. One on one side of the river and the other on the other side.
🔹“Bank of the river”
This is the same river as in chapter 10, the Hiddekel, as there is no break in the prophecy thus far from chapter 10. The River Euphrates/Tigris.
🔹“Man clothed in linen”
This man, dressed in linen, was standing on the river's waters as one of the men was talking to him. Looking at this person in linen, we find that it is the same person in Daniel 10:5–6; the person there was Christ. Thus, this is Christ here also.
🔹“A time, times, and an half”
This is 1260 days based on prophetic time. 538-1798 A.D., the era of papal supremacy over Europe.
🔹“When he shall have...scattering the power of the holy people”
The ‘he’ is a reference to God, to he who liveth for ever, as it is He Who is working through the nations of the earth to fulfill His plan to call as many as possible to salvation.
This is the spreading of the message throughout the world. Sometimes persecution is the only thing that will awaken the people of God to seek Him and do the work He has asked of them. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16), and it is this power or gospel that is to go to all the world, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:14) Every nation, kindred, tongue, and people will hear the everlasting gospel, according to Revelation 14:6-7. The glory of the fourth angel's message will lighten the earth in Revelation 18:1.
Daniel 12 verse 8 to 13
8 And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?
9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
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.
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.
12 Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.
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 thy way...sealed till the time of the end”
Daniel wasn’t living in the time of the end of 1798, so he didn’t need to understand all the details of end-of-time developments. Michael’s answer teaches us that prophecy is provided for practical purposes. It is not given to arouse speculation or to satisfy needless curiosity, no matter how spiritual and Christ-centered our curiosity may be. We can see the emphasis that the book was sealed until 1798.
🔹“Many shall be purified and made white”
Through trial and tribulation down through the ages, many would accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour and become part of the everlasting kingdom.
🔹“Wicked shall do wickedly and not understand”
This is a very realistic picture of the attitude of the wicked. They do not understand because spiritual things are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14)
🔹“From the time that the Daily is taken away”
From the time that paganism is taken away and the conversion of Europe to Christianity in 508 A.D. after the conversion of Clovis, king of the Franks.
🔹“And the abomination of desolation set up”
This marginal reading reveals the idea that the daily was taken away in order that the Abomination of Desolation could be set up. Without the removing of the ‘daily’ there would never have been an Abomination of Desolation. Thus the time being looked at here is not the setting up of the Abomination of Desolation but the taking away of the daily which was in 508 A.D.
🔹“Thousand two hundred and ninety days”
Shall be 1290 days - 1290 years from 508 A.D. takes us to 1798 A.D. and the fall of the temporal power of the papacy.
🔹“Thousand three hundred and five and thirty days”
1335 days - From 508 A.D. an addition of 1335 years takes us to 1843-44 A.D.
🔹“Blessed is he that waiteth”
A blessing is pronounced upon those who not only come to the 1798 date, but which are able to also come to the second date at the end of the 1335 days. Why is this? Because in 1798 the papacy received the deadly wound, which was tremendous in itself, but in 1843-44 the messages of the three angels began to be preached to the world about the second coming of Christ. At this time the church was in the period of Philadelphia and the experience was one of tremendous blessing to all who later recalled going through it.
🔹References
Daniel 1 to 12 Secrets Unsealed - Pastor Stephen Bohr
Daniel and Revelation - Meiring Pretorius
www.danielbibleprophecy.org