He Who Lives Forever

 Daniel 9:24-27, 11:35-45, 12

Welcome! Today we finish our series on the Book of Daniel, looking at Chapter 12 as well as portions of Chapters 9 and 11. In case you have not been going through this series with us, or have missed some of the lessons, let me give you some context. Daniel was taken away from Jerusalem, from Israel, from everything he had known, during a series of terrible events known as the great exile. The people of Israel, from the days of Moses, had been given this land and had also been given the Law, and in the Law, it was explained that the gift of the land, the blessings of the land, and God’s blessings on the people, was conditional on their remaining true to God, loving Him and following His decrees and commandments. Over the centuries, the people had again and again strayed terribly far from God, and in the years leading up to the exile things had only become worse and worse. And so finally, God removed His hand of protection from Israel, and Daniel, with many others, was taken as slaves to Babylon.

Daniel was probably only a teenager when taken away, and yet, he remained true to God, praying daily and seeking to live for Him to the best of his ability. Daniel was a model of character, and he was raised up to a position of great influence in the foreign government to which he was subject. Daniel ended up serving as a counselor to not one but two world emperors, and through a series of events orchestrated by God, led both to a measure of faith in God. His faith was tested on multiple occasions, including being protected while spending the night in a den of lions trained to tear apart people. And God used Daniel repeatedly as a prophet, giving him special visions and dreams for both the foreign leaders he served and for the Jewish people as a whole. Many of these visions and dreams dealt not only with immediate events, but also events that would transpire long after Daniel and his contemporaries would pass on, and in this series we have seen how the remarkable and miraculous details of these prophecies have come true in the centuries after Daniel. In some cases these prophecies go beyond even the present day in 2011 to events yet to happen. In particular, the last two prophetic experiences for Daniel are recorded in Daniel 9 and in Daniel 10-12, and today, as we finish the book of Daniel, we are going to look at the parts of these prophecies that look to our future.

“Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy." – Daniel 9:24

We looked at this passage back when we went through Daniel 9. I don’t have time to go through the detailed explanation we went through then. You can listen to this message online if you missed it then. But we explained how comparison with other scriptures give credence for these weeks being sevens of years, and we also explored the Biblical support for the idea of a 360-day “prophetic year.” We also talked about each of the items in this list and how they find fulfillment in Jesus. Ultimately, Jesus does put an end to the free reign of sin and He breaks the power of sin (the literal meanings of “finish transgression” and “put an end to sin”), He atones for wickedness; that is, He reverses the separation from God caused by sin. And He brings everlasting righteousness; that is, a time is coming when there simply will be no more sin forever and ever. And He seals up vision and prophecy because the conflicts of history (pretty much all caused by sin) will be over forever. New revelations will cease because conflict will be over. And the anointing of the most holy refers to Jesus taking the throne as the King of kings and Lord of lords, reigning forever.

“Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing." – Daniel 9:25-26a

We explained when looking at Daniel 9 that the decree most likely refers to the one in Nehemiah 2, and how the math works out that after the 7 and 62 weeks of years comes Jesus. He truly is the Anointed One, and in two distinct senses He was cut off and had nothing. The first sense refers to His coming into the world as a human baby, limited in power and ability to a degree that we simply cannot imagine. He was God; He was with God. And now, He was a crying baby, cut off from the former intimate fellowship He had had with God the Father and truly, in comparison, with nothing. And of course at His experience on the cross makes being cut off and having nothing to a level we cannot even imagine.

"The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.” – Daniel 9:26b-27

This ruler or prince who will come refers to the antichrist. Now, there is a gap here; at least, this is the interpretation that most commentators give. The phrase “who will come” implies a future position in time compared to the sentence before. Gaps can be found elsewhere; in fact, the description of the succession of kings and battles that we looked at in Daniel 11 last week had multiple gaps using the same type of wording that we have here. And the phrase “continue until the end” also implies something that is happening prior to the resumption of the “clock” of sevens.

Regarding the gap, which by the way can be found in many passages, one way to understand it is that this entire prophecy has focused on the history of the Jews; the same is true in Daniel 11. We are currently in the age of the church, the church age, and it can be thought of as a pause in the history of the Jews. But as the end times come into fulfillment, the clock restarts on the history of the Jewish people; the focus moves back on these people and the integral role they play in the final events of history.

Now this person we call the antichrist (that term is not found in scripture but describes this person well) has been mentioned in past prophecies of Daniel. In Daniel 7 he was the little horn that boasted. In the interpretation it said that he would speak against the Most High and try to change the set times and laws. That is, he would institute a new religion through attempting to usurp the laws already there. And in Daniel 7 it said the saints would be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time; that is, half of a “seven.” Here it says that in the middle of the seven he will put an end to sacrifice and offering and set up an abomination that causes desolation.

In Daniel 8 he was the horn that grew in power and set himself up as prince of the host. Here it says he would again change the sacrifices, and would trample the “host.” In the interpretation it says he would cause astounding devastation and destroy the mighty men and holy people and take his stand against the Prince of princes. And it says he will be destroyed but not by human power.

And so the description here is similar. He will change the law; he will set up an abomination that causes desolation. And he will be destroyed.

Let’s jump to Daniel 11 to see what is said of this person here. All of Daniel 10-12 is one scene, one situation in which Daniel receives his final recorded vision. Chapter 10 deals with events leading up to the vision, and Chapter 11 gives a long sequence of detailed historical events that, as we saw last week, have already happened.

Now, beginning with verse 35, we see a character that in some ways sounds like a terrible king in Israel’s past but in others sounds very like the antichrist. And it is possible that it refers to both. Many good events in Israel’s past have been foreshadows of the coming of Christ, and it also appears that many terrible events have also been foreshadows of the coming of the lawless one, the antichrist. One of these we looked at last week: the terrible exploits of Antiochus Epiphanes, who did desecrate the Temple and also kill many, many Jews at the time of the Maccabees.

Another foreshadow of the coming terrible days in Jerusalem and Israel occurred in AD 70 when the Romans destroyed the rebuilt Temple, desecrated it, and laid siege to Jerusalem and killed thousands of Jews and forced thousands of others to starve to death.

And so in verse 35 of Daniel 11 we have this:

“Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time.The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined must take place. He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the one desired by women, nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself above them all." – Daniel 11:35-37

In some ways this describes Epiphanes, but there are also things that don’t fit him very well. And the verse 35 talks of the time of the end, so it seems like the entire narrative has moved forward to final events. The behaviors described here do perfectly describe the antichrist.

"Instead of them, he will honor a god of fortresses; a god unknown to his fathers he will honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts. He will attack the mightiest fortresses with the help of a foreign god and will greatly honor those who acknowledge him. He will make them rulers over many people and will distribute the land at a price." – Daniel 11:38-39

The god unknown to his fathers is probably Satan; the antichrist will honor Satan and worship him. And he will take over and create a new world order, a hierarchy where those loyal to him will work for him. And he will redistribute land; he will have absolute political and economic power. This reminds me of the description in Revelation of the requirement of the mark in order to buy and sell.

“At the time of the end the king of the South will engage him in battle, and the king of the North will storm out against him with chariots and cavalry and a great fleet of ships. He will invade many countries and sweep through them like a flood. He will also invade the Beautiful Land. Many countries will fall, but Edom, Moab and the leaders of Ammon will be delivered from his hand. He will extend his power over many countries; Egypt will not escape." – Daniel 11:40-42

As we have seen previously, the “Beautiful Land” is Israel. And he will sweep through most of the Middle East and North Africa. We are looking at future events, so it is pretty difficult to guess why the lands known in Daniel’s day as Edom, Moab, and Ammon will not. Perhaps it is due to some sort of treaty in which he rules them indirectly anyway.

"He will gain control of the treasures of gold and silver and all the riches of Egypt, with the Libyans and Nubians in submission. But reports from the east and the north will alarm him, and he will set out in a great rage to destroy and annihilate many. He will pitch his royal tents between the seas at the beautiful holy mountain. Yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him." – Daniel 11:43-45

Possibly the part about pitching his royal tents many refer to the gathering of armies at Armageddon described in Revelation. The beautiful holy mountain likely refers to Mount Moriah, the site of the Temple Mount. And the prophecy ends with the good news that the antichrist’s reign will come to an end, that there will be a future time when there will be no more antichrist, or pre-antichrists, an age beyond war.

“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. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt." – Daniel 12:1-2

This description of the angel Michael may correlate with the description in Revelation 12 of the great war in heaven, Michael and his angels against the dragon. Jesus in Matthew 24 says that after you see the abomination that causes desolation in the Temple there will be a great tribulation such has never been seen before. This seems to be referring to the same event. By the way, the Greek word for tribulation used in Matthew 24 is thlipsis, whose original meaning is describing the squeezing of olives in a press to extract the juice. I find that a pretty vivid picture for what this time will be like. But as it also says in Matthew 24, this time will be cut short; if this would not be so, none would survive. And so, as it says here in Daniel, those whose name is written in “the book” will be saved, delivered, rescued.

And here you have – in the Old Testament – a crystal clear description of resurrection. If anyone ever tells you that resurrection is a theological concept only found in the New Testament, point them to this verse. And not just resurrection, but resurrection to either eternal life or eternal contempt; that is, eternity in heaven or eternity in hell. This is exactly what we find in the New Testament. It is likely on the basis of this verse that Martha told Jesus in John 13 that she knew that Lazarus would rise again in the resurrection on the last day. To which Jesus replied, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

And in contrast we are told of those who experience everlasting shame and contempt. The word for contempt is used only one other place, in Isaiah 66:24, where it is translated “loathsome.”

"And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind." – Isaiah 66:24

This is a sobering description. Hell is real. I was reminded of this as the student mission team from North Carolina reached out on campus this week. They were engaged in battling for people’s souls. Eternity was at stake. Watching them and praying for them on campus, I was struck with the heroic nature of what they were trying to do. We rightly view firefighters who rescue people from burning buildings as heroes; how much more so from those who, empowered by God’s Spirit, rescue men and women from hell. Continuing on in Daniel:

"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. But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.” – Daniel 12:3-4

The wise can be translated “those who have insight,” that is, those who know and follow Christ. I love this description of those resurrected for heaven – they will shine like the brightness of the stars. I also love how it says “lead many to righteousness” rather than “speak many to righteousness” – yes the gospel is spoken, but it is also lived. We are called to lead others to Christ not only in the words we say, but in our actions, through our love, through our yielding our lives fully to Christ so that He can remake us and empower and equip us to be like Him.

Now, what does the messenger mean by telling Daniel to close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end? First of all, inherent in closing up is the idea of preservation, of preparing something for storage in such a way that it survives and doesn’t become lost or destroyed. To seal a scroll you often used a bit of melted wax, and to verify authenticity you would stamp an identifying seal or mark in the wax. Until when?  Until “the time of the end.” That phrase was used in Chapter 11 to describe a great war, what we can call the time of the Great Tribulation. To seal these words until then implies that the words are to be preserved, saved until then, when at last the final parts will be fulfilled. Only at that time will it all begin to make sense; until then, we can look at it and gain general ideas about what will happen, but then, when it is really happening, it will start to all make total sense. At that time, all the remaining passages about end-time prophecy will become clear, including the book of Revelation and Jesus’ words in Matthew 24-25. This is also an assurance to Daniel that it is not necessary for him to understand everything; he is to be the messenger, the prophet, but he does not have to understand the details.

What about the phrase “many will go here and there to increase knowledge”? Some think this describes the modern age of science in which we now live, implying that one of the signs at the end will be this explosion of science. But I think this somewhat takes the verse out of context. The context is the sealing of the scroll. So what I think it is saying is that at those end times, people will be desparately hunting for knowledge, to understand what is going on in those crazy times, and at that time, those who remember the Book of Daniel will turn to it freshly and, through it, come to understand their place in history and in what will soon come for them.

And of course the scroll was preserved, because we are reading it. Through all the turbulence of the centuries after Daniel, we don’t really have any idea what this scroll went through. But Daniel did his part; for his remaining days, he preserved the scroll, and after he reached the end of his days, God did His part, ensuring that the scroll made it to Jerusalem and survived all of the events that Jerusalem went through in the following centuries, many of which we read in Chapter 11 of Daniel last week.

"Then I, Daniel, looked, and there before me stood two others, one on this bank of the river and one on the opposite bank. 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?'” – Daniel 12:5-6

We don’t know much about these two others, although they are probably angels. Why two? Again, we don’t know much, but I do think about the established rule that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or more witnesses. You see this in Deut. 17:6 for death penalty trials and in Deut. 19:15 for general crimes and you also see Jesus mention this with regards to discipline among believers (Matt. 18:16). Paul also quotes this principle multiple times, in 2 Cor. 13, I Timothy 5, and Hebrews 10. It’s also in Revelation 11. And so it is interesting to me that the angels, or angel-witnesses, if that is what they are, don’t know the answer to their question. Even angels don’t know the future, except in general terms. By the way, this applies to demons, which are fallen angels, too.

What is their question? It is how long will it take? How long will what take? The question is how long it will take from the rising of Michael (Daniel 12:1) at the great tribulation until the last things just said here.And who are they talking to? The man clothed in linen. This person was described back in the beginning of Daniel 10, and as I shared last week, his description is nearly identical to that of Christ in Revelation, and for that reason I suggested that although he may be an angel, he may be the pre-incarnate Christ.

"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.'” – Daniel 12:7

The fact that the angels ask the man in linen for an answer about the timing, and the fact that that this man in linen has an answer, also suggests to me that he is the pre-incarnate Christ. And he raises his hands, a sign of giving an oath, and he swears by God Himself, the everlasting God, that the terrible time of the Antrichrist, the Tribulation, will last for 3 and a half times, or years. Who are the holy people? In the context of everything we have seen in the Book of Daniel, these are the Jews. And all these terrible things will happen until they have finally been broken.

I think the following verse from Zechariah refers to this moment:

"On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem. And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spiritof grace and supplication. They will look onMe, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son." – Zech. 12:9-10

You find this 3 and a half year tribulation described again and again in Scripture. We saw it earlier in Daniel. In Revelation it is described this way in Chapter 11 and again in Chapter 12 and again in Chapter 13. And the final result is a turning to Christ, a mourning over their sin, true repentance and salvation. Paul hints at this in Romans 11. Jesus talks of this in Matthew 24. It would seem that, at least in part, a purpose of this terrible history is in fact exactly this, at last to see the nation of Israel, the people of Israel, come to Christ not as a relatively small number of individuals, but as a whole, as a nation.

"I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?” He replied, “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end. 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." – Daniel 12:8-10

I find Daniel’s question very interesting. Let’s try to think about all of this from Daniel’s point of view. His whole life he has been longing for the day of the restoration of the Jews. He knows of the 70 years prophecy and knows the time is about up. But as he has heard, it is not happily ever after for “God’s people;” in fact, it is century after century of persecution, attack, misery, and so on. And Daniel has just heard that, after all of this, at last, the people are “broken.” That is all he has heard, “broken.” And so he asks, how will it all turn out? How will it turn out for my people?

And the answer from the man in linen is, well, that the details are not for Daniel to know. “Go your way, Daniel,” because the details of how it turns out are for a later time. But it doesn’t end there. He goes on to say that many will be purified, made spotless and refined. I love the verb tense. It doesn’t say they will make themselves pure, make themselves spotless, refine themselves. It says these things will happen to them. This is a key part of the gospel right here in Daniel. Man is not able to purify himself, to become pure and righteous. God provided us Jesus, who died for our sins, reconciling us to God. But not only this, He promises to perfect us, to make us spotless and pure, beginning this process right here and now and finishing it in a moment when we are about to come before the Lord. We have a role in this, but He has the responsibility and the power, and He will make it come to pass if we have truly given our lives over to Him.

But those who do not turn to Christ will not purify themselves. As it says, the wicked will continue to be wicked. And they won’t understand – they won’t understand the times they are in, they won’t understand the significance of what is going on, they will merely continue on in their wickedness. But the wise, those who turn to Christ, will understand in those last days.

“From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days. “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.” – Daniel 12:11-13

Now, I have looked at multiple commentaries to try to understand these day counts. We know of the 3 and a half years, or 1260 days, until the great tribulation ends and Christ returns. So what’s with the extra 30 days, and then, after that, an extra 45, bringing us to 1290 and then 1335 days? Nobody knows for sure – this is the future. Some have suggested that 30 days are for the return of people to Jerusalem after Christ returns, and 45 days are for the separation of the sheep from the goats, described in Matthew 25 and elsewhere. Or maybe the 30 days are for the separation of the sheep from the goats and the 45 are for Christ setting up His kingdom after this. We don’t know. But we know that those who make it to day 1335 are blessed, that is, favored, happy. After all the turmoil and suffering and pain, regardless of how the details work out, a time is coming when an eternal kingdom is established, and we will be with Him forever. If you are in Christ, you are outrageously blessed, even, if I may say it, scandalously blessed. That is probably the term demons would use to describe it. They think everything about Christ is a scandal. Dying for poor, miserable, worthless humans! It’s outrageous! But God loves us. God is love. And it is His white-hot, unfathomable love for us that gives up His own Son so that we, who deserve nothing but wrath, will instead experience unimaginable, eternal love as we spend forever with Him.

As for Daniel, as this wonderful book of the Bible ends, he too is given good news. Permit me to paraphrase it very loosely: “You, Daniel, have worked tirelessly your whole life for God. You have not indulged in selfish pleasures. You have been a model of good character and wisdom and living by faith. You have shared the truth of who God is to two world dictators and seen them both come to a measure of faith. You have cultivated a habit of daily prayer. And you, again and again, have turned to God in faith when thrust into impossible situations. You, Daniel, will at last receive your rest. Well done, good and faithful servant, Daniel! At the end of days, after what is written in this sealed scroll comes to pass, you too will rise and will receive the desire of your faith, an eternity in the loving presence of God.” May we all dare to be a Daniel!