Daniel 12:8-13

c. TRIUMPH

TEXT: Daniel 12:8-13

8

And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the issue of these things?

9

And he said, Go thy way, Daniel; for the words are shut up and sealed till the time of the end.

10

Many shall purify themselves, and make themselves white, and be refined; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but they that are wise shall understand.

11

And from the time that the continual burnt-offering 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 shalt stand in thy lot, at the end of the days.

QUERIES

a.

What did Daniel not understand?

b.

When was the continual burnt-offering taken away?

c.

How would Daniel stand in his lot?

PARAPHRASE

I heard what he said but I did not understand when and what it all meant. So I said, Sir, please explain to me in more detail exactly when and how all these things shall finally issue forth! But the angel replies, Daniel, it is now time for you to return to your earthly labors, so go in peace and trust in your God. I have revealed all that God wills shall be revealed and what I have told you will surely come to pass and when they do the words will have the seal of God stamped upon them and be better understood. Those who are wise by faith in God will understand when these predictions begin to come to pass. They will know that God is about to send The Redeemer, The anointed One, and they will prepare for Him by purifying and sanctifying themselves. But none of the impenitent apostates shall understand. They will continue on in the paganism they have adopted from the Contemptible One. But know this Daniel, these terrible times will be coming to an end 1290 days after the desecration of the Temple by the Contemptible One1290 days after he stops the holy people from offering the continual burnt-offering and sets up in their Temple the pagan altar. The man who, during this era, endures it through faith in God will receive further blessed assurance after 1335 days, or after 45 days additional to the 1290, that the terrible times of the Contemptible One are ended. As for you, Daniel, you have a job to do so be at it diligently and do not let what has been revealed to you cause you to lose faith. Be faithful in your appointed labor for the Lord until the end of your life and you shall find the eternal rest and receive your portion of the inheritance which is what will be accomplished for you by the Anointed One at the end of these terrible days predicted.

COMMENT

Daniel 12:8. I UNDERSTOOD NOT. Daniel stood almost 400 years removed from the events being predicted to him. The temple had not even yet been rebuiltthe Jews were still in Persian captivityhow difficult it would be for him to contemplate the things he heard from these angels! How extremely anxious he would be to know every detail of time and manner about the things revealed to him! A vast amount of symbolism and facts had already taxed his powers of comprehensionhis head must have been swimming with facts and dazed with the struggle to understand.

History Is God's Word in the Hand of Time

Daniel 12:9. GO THY WAY. THE WORDS ARE. SEALED TILL THE TIME OF THE END. Perhaps Daniel even entertained some fears that he might have to very soon experience the terrible times just predicted to him by the angel. This verse and Daniel 12:13 seems to indicate this. But the answer to Daniel's perplexity is, Go on in the job you now have to do in Persiathese terrible times are reserved or sealed for the future at the end of the time of preparation for the eternal kingdom of God. It should not be strange to a believing, discerning Jew that the Mosaic administration of the covenant would come to an endthe O.T. itself predicted its own fulfillment (cf. Jeremiah 31:31 ff, etc.).

Daniel 12:10 MANY SHALL PURIFY THEMSELVES. THEY THAT ARE WISE SHALL UNDERSTAND. This is similar to Daniel 12:3. The god-fearing Jews will, by faith, wisely endure and profit spiritually by the terrible experiences to come upon them during the days of the Contemptible one. They will, because they believe that Daniel's record of this angelic revelation is the will and word of God, understand that God's redemption in the Anointed One is drawing nigh. They will therefore sanctify and purify themselves and teach others to do so. They will pass it on to their children and their grandchildren (two generations removed from the Maccabeans would make one an adult at the birth of Jesus) their grandchildren would be anticipating eagerly some stupendous Messianic era to commence (cf. Simeon, righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel in Luke 2:25-35; Anna, of great age, who gave thanks for the baby Jesus and spoke of him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem; and other such references). Now the wicked, apostate Jews who eagerly adopted the life of the pagan Hellenists, both in the Maccabean era and that of Jesus (the Herods, etc.), would not understand that the terrible times of Antiochus IV were preparatory to ushering in the Messianic age, They would go on in their wickedness hoping for a carnal Messiah who would nationalize and free them from foreign control in order to indulge them in paganism. Or perhaps they would not even want or look for a Messiah, content with the pagan sensuality they had learned from Antiochus.

Daniel 12:11. FROM THE TIME. SHALL BE A THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND NINETY DAYS. How is it possible for the continual burnt-offering to be taken away in the Christian dispensation? The only possibility that this prediction is future to the time of Antiochus IV is that it refers to some millenial age when a Jewish system of sacrifices has been reinstituted. In our opinion, such an assumption violates the plain teaching of the N.T. Book of Hebrews. Therefore, we must suppose that the terminus a quo, from the time that continual burnt-offering shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, is the time in (end of May or beginning of June) 168 B.C. when Antiochus IV forced the cessation of Temple services and commanded Appolonius to erect an altar to Jupiter in the Temple. From this time until Judas Maccabeus removed this abomination and purified the temple, December 25th, 165 B.C., the time is 1290 days. We quote Stuart here: The 1290 days are more specific than the phrase -time, times and a half,-' in Daniel 12:7, and also in Daniel 7:25. -The latter (-time,-' etc.) is, as it were, a round number, three and a half first equaling the one half of the sacred number seven, and the fractional part equaling the half of one year. In such a case minute exactness of course is not to be expected. But the thirty additional days here (over 1260 days = forty-two months = three and a half years) are doubtless designed as an exact account of time during which the detestable (desolating) abomination continued in the temple. The terminus a quo is the time when Antiochus first removed the daily sacrifice, which probably was near the end of May or at the beginning of June in B.C. 168. Judas Maccabeus removed this. and purified the temple, Dec. 25th of B.C. 165, making the time in question, i.e., three and a half years, as nearly as history will enable us to compute it. There can hardly be room for doubt that the statement in our text is minutely correct. The work of Judas here is the terminus ad quern of the period in question. In other words, the abomination of desolation is to last, first, in round numbers time, times and a half, or 3½ years (equal to 1260 days or 42 months). Add to this 30 more days, in order to be more exact, and you have 1290 days, the exact time between the time when Antiochus IV desecrated the Temple and Judas Maccabeus purified it.

Daniel 12:12. COMETH TO THE THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED AND FIVE AND THIRTY DAYS. Now, add to the 1290 days 45 more days, and one has 1335 days, the time from the abomination that maketh desolate until the time of Antiochus-' death! Lange writes, ... the meaning (of this verse). can only be as follows: -After 1290 days have expired, the tribulation shall end; it shall not be completely ended, however, until forty-five additional days. have elapsed, hence, until a total of 1335 days has been reached.

In 1Ma. 2:26-37 we have an account of the situation of Antiochus while in the glorious land. His treasury was empty. He had already robbed the Temple of everything valuable in it so he was forced to look to some other source for booty. He left half of his army with Lysias, one of his favorite officers, and marched over the Euphrates in order to plunder the countries of the East. First he subdued Armenia, and then turned off to rob the temple at Elymais, where he met with disgrace, and eventually death.

Not long after the departure of Antiochus, Lysias began the contest in Palestine in serious earnest; but Judas Maccabeus came off victorious in every encounter and so decisive was one such victory, Judas proceeded to purify the Temple and restore its worship. This took place December 25th, 165 B.C. as already noted. The Feast of Dedication of the Jews commemorates this. This would have occupied some months. Of course Antiochus had had sufficient time for his conquest in Armenia and his advance to Elymais before the winter had far advanced. It was in early spring that he undertook the robbery of the temple in Elymais. After disgrace here and during his retreat from Elymais, news came to him of total defeat in Palestine. This contributed emotionally and physically to the sickness already decimating him. In 1Ma. 6:1 ff we have an account of the close of the life of Antiochus and of his disgrace at Elymais. If we now count onward, from the consecration of the Temple by Judas to the time when Antiochus died, we shall see at once that the period of 1335 days is in all probability the period of Antiochus-' death. From the time that the daily burnt-offering was removed by Apollonius, at the command of Antiochus, to the time of the reconsecration, is 1290 days. From the same terminus a quo to the death of Antiochus is 1335 days, i.e., 45 days more than is included in the 1290 days of Daniel 12:11. History has not anywhere recorded the precise day of Antiochus-' death, so we cannot compare the passage before us with that. But we are certain as to the order of events, and as to the season of the year, as well as the year itself, in which the death of Antiochus took place. Of the general accuracy there can be no doubt.

Abomination of desolation set up

First of June, 168 B.C.

Purification of Temple by Judas

December 25th, 165 B.C.

Time expired:

Three and one-half years plus one month, or, 1260 days plus 30 = 1290 days

Death of Antiochus IV

Early spring, 164 B.C. 1335 days after abomination of desolation set up, or 45 days after the 1290 days

We believe this interpretation of the meaning of the time periods in this section is historically and contextually sound, In our opinion it does not present the serious hermeneutical and practical irregularities that other interpretations involve. It seems very clear to us that Daniel's primary mission in recording this angelic revelation was to comfort and strengthen those people of God contemporary with Daniel enduring the captivity and those Jews of succeeding generations as they endured such terrible times as to make it appear the covenant people were about to be exterminated. It might appear to those of Antiochus-' day that God's purpose to bring redemption and the fulfillment of the covenant made with Abraham would fail. They would need to know that the terrible days would end and to know very nearly when they would end! Now what consolation would it be to those enduring the terrors of Antiochus to have a prediction of the eventual overthrow of some unknown Antichrist in some unknown age many centuries future to them? This, then, is why Daniel is told that those Jews who wait with endurance and faith will be blessedbecause they will see definite proof that Divine providence is fulfilling its promises to bring an end to the great persecutions.

Daniel 12:13 BUT GO THOU THY WAY TILL THE END BE. The idea is that Daniel should not let all these awesome predictions paralyze him with fear and anxiety. He is to go on in his labors for the Lord until his labors shall end. Even he shall some day realize the fulfillment of what he has predicted and has heard here from the angel. He will receive the redemption accomplished by the Anointed One (Daniel 9:24-27) which will be accomplished after the end of the terrible things the angel predicted (Daniel 10:1 to Daniel 12:12). Daniel will be raised from the dust of the earth with all the other children of God to receive their inheritance.

QUIZ

1.

What did the angel mean when he commanded Daniel, Go thy way?

2.

How were the words shut up and sealed until the time of the end?

3.

How does the predicted purification of many relate to the time of the end?

4.

What are the 1290 dayswhen do they begin and when do they end?

5.

What are the 1335 dayswhen begin and when end?

6.

Why are they blessed who wait for the 1335 days?

7.

What practical value does all this have for Daniel's future?