Daniel 12

And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people:



“At that time” means at the end of that time, or shortly after these events. Michael (Michael = who is like God- Strong's Concordance) otherwise known as Jesus, appeared as his church’s protector. Though Syria no longer had the power to persicute the Jews, from this time on they had to deal with Rome and its many campaigns in the area. Also, this is the time the pharassies came to power. They persecuted anyone who truly believed God instead of them. Christ is that great prince, for He is the King of Kings. He stood up for our salvation and still stands as an intercesser for us today.



and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time:



This is the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, which Christ refers to in Matthew 24:21. “Thy People” are those that love God as much as Daniel does. We are delivered through Calvary; all of us that are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Also, those that listened to Christ knew to leave the city and were spared the great persecution of that time.



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.



Ezekiel, in chapter 37, compares Israel’s return from Babylon as a resurecction. The Jew’s release from Antiochus here is also being called a resurecction. Being freed was like being woke up or coming alive again.

Those resurrected to everlasting life are the many Jews that accepted Christ in the first decade or so of the Church Age; those wise enough to recognize Messiah and teach others about Him. Those resurrected to shame and contempt are those that rejected Christ.



4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end (of the Jewish nation; the subject of all these prophecies): many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.



This prophecy wouldn’t be understood or of much use to those alive in Daniel’s time so he was told to seal it up for the future. It would be about 200 years until these writings would help anyone. At that time these writings were opened and searched for knowledge. They were a great comfort to those in Antiochus’ time and the searching of them caused the other scriptures to be searched and knowledge of God grew. There were many who were expecting Christ at the proper time because of these writings.



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;



A time is a year, so this is a year, two years, and half a year. Josephus tells us in his “Book of the Wars of the Jews,” that Antiochus Epiphanes surprised Jerusalem by force, and held it three years and six months, and then was thrown out of the country by the Maccabees.



8 and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things (prophesies) shall be finished (fullfilled).



God allowed him to prevail untill he had scattered the power of Israel. God would allow him to do his worst and then Israel’s time is done.



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



10 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end (of the time of the Jews, the time these writings will be needed).



11 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.



12 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. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days .



From the time Antiochus set up the idol in the temple (the abomination of desolation) and stopped the daily sacrafices until the end of these troubles will be 1290 days or three years and seven months. This is when Antiochus left to fight in the north-east and the idol was destroyed, the temple cleansed and the sacrafices resumed. This is the event that was being celebrated in John 10:22, the Feast of Dedication. It is believed Antiochus died about forty-five days after leaving Jerusalem, or 1335 days after he profaned the temple.



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.



“Don’t you worry about all this Daniel. You will die before it happens and will stand before God on judgement day.”



I have spent a great deal of time on Daniel because many take verses out of Daniel to prove the futurist/dispensationalist interpretation of prophecy when the whole book speaks of the end of the Israelite time frame. To take verses here to prove something in Revelation is not dividing the Word of God correctly.



Anything you read referencing “seven years,” the abomination of desolation,” “a country to the north attacking Israel,” or anything else mentioned in Daniel has already happened, either at the time of Antiochus, the time of Christ, or AD 70. The scripture makes no mention of a second fulfilling of these same events. There is no reason to believe that they will happen again.



I have had some point out to me that certain scriptures in Revelation and one in Daniel are almost word for word the same. This does not mean they are speaking about the same event, but two separate though similar events.



If I had prophesied in 1900 about World War I and then about World War II it would have sounded very much like I was talking about the same war. They were very similar. I believe this is what has happened with Daniel and Revelation. They both tell of times of great tragedy and persecution and sound very much the same. But it makes no sense to say prophecy given in 500 BC could not have been fulfilled in 200-150 BC because those events don’t match prophecy given in AD 60 that in no way links itself or is linked anywhere in the Bible to the first prophecy. The ONLY link is the similarity of events. And the events in AD 70 do bear a resemblance (in terms of human suffering) to the events at the time of Antiochus IV. Two separate times of tribulation, both prophecied in the Bible.