Commentary on Daniel: Chapter 12

Daniel 12

1 “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time; but at that time your people shall be delivered, every one whose name shall be found written in the book. 2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. 4 But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”

The most important words in understanding this section of the vision are the first three in verse 1: “At that time.” They provide the time frame for this part of the vision, which of course is crucial to understanding the vision.

What is the time frame? The items mentioned here in Chapter 12 will occur at the time when Chapter 11 came to an end. What was happening when Chapter 11 came to an end? Rome had just established its authority in Palestine. The angel is telling Daniel (very plainly) that this part of the vision applies to the time when Rome would be in charge of the Holy Land.

But, we do not have to rely on this clue alone to determine the time when this prophecy would occur. We can also look at what the angel said would happen, and then look elsewhere in the Scripture to see when it happened. Let’s consider these other clues:

(1) At this time, the angel Michael would arise. Here he is called the “great prince who has charge of your people.” In Daniel 10:21, he is called “your prince.” Just like Persia had a prince in Chapter 10, the Jews also had a prince; Michael. The fact that Michael is involved here indicates that this vision involves the Jews.

This also fits in well with what we were told at the beginning of this vision. Daniel 10:14 told us that this vision would tell us about the Jews in the latter days. (Recall that Acts 2 tells us that the latter days spoken of by the prophets occurred in the first century.)

(2) At this time there would be “a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time.” As we have already discussed, this was a common way of describing a very terrible calamity. Did such a calamity befall the Jews at this time? Yes. Read the description of Jerusalem’s destruction found in Matthew 24:21.

Matthew 24:21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.

You might also compare Josephus’ description of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans.

It is impossible to give every instance of the iniquity of these men [the Romans]. I shall therefore speak my mind here at once briefly: that never did any other city suffer such miseries.

(3) Verse 1 tells us that at that time all of the faithful Jews (i.e. those of Daniel’s people whose names are in the book) will be delivered. Did that happen in the first century? Absolutely.

Jeremiah 33:14-16 Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfil the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring forth for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16 In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: 'The Lord is our righteousness.'

Luke 1:68-70 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people, 69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, 70 as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old.

Verses 2–3 talk about a resurrection. Is this the final resurrection at the end of the world? Well, despite countless sermons to the contrary, I do not think that this is the final resurrection.

If this is the final resurrection, then we must conclude that the vision includes the end of the world, and hence we must conclude that the Jews have a special role to play in the end of the world. This is clearly in conflict with other scriptures that tell us there is no distinction between Jew and Greek in the church.

Which resurrection does it apply to then? It is the resurrection of the Jewish nation. It is the time when a Jewish Messiah would come to bring blessings to the entire world. The Jewish nation would be resurrected under Christ.

What happened to the Jews at this time?

Those Jews who followed Christ were saved. Here they are pictured as awakening to everlasting life. This is the resurrection of the faithful Jewish remnant who were taken from foreign domination and ushered into the kingdom of God under the rule of their Messiah.

Those Jews who rejected Christ were lost. Here they are pictured as awakening to shame and everlasting contempt.

Is this resurrection spoken of elsewhere in the Bible? You bet!

Ezekiel 37:12-13 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you home into the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.

John 5:25 Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

Ephesians 5:14 Therefore it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.”

Luke 2:34 and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel…

A very puzzling event to many has been the actual resurrection of some that occurred at the death of Christ. Recall:

Matthew 27:52-53 the tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

I think that this actual resurrection of faithful Jews in Jerusalem was a sign that all of the faithful Jews still living would be resurrected as well at this time. That is, this physical resurrection reminded the people of the spiritual resurrection that occurred at this time.

Many use this passage to apply to the end of the world. I think they are taking it out of context. (How many times have you heard both Daniel 12:2 and Daniel 11 discussed in the same sermon?) If you want to apply Daniel 12:2 to the end of the world then you should be aware of the logical consequence that the Jews must then have a future role to play in God’s plan.

Finally, Daniel is again told to seal up the vision, which means that it pertains to a future time and a future people. (Recall that John was told just the opposite in the book of Revelation!)

5 Then I Daniel looked, and behold, two others stood, one on this bank of the stream and one on that bank of the stream. 6 And I said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream, “How long shall it be till the end of these wonders?” 7 The man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream, raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven; and I heard him swear by him who lives for ever that it would be for a time, two times, and half a time; and that when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end all these things would be accomplished.

Daniel asked how long it would be until the end of the events in the vision. He is told that it would be “a time, two times, and half a time” and that everything in the vision would be accomplished when “the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end.”

First, nowhere is there a clearer statement than here that the vision ends in AD 70 with the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. That was the shattering of the power of the holy people. This vision ends with the Romans and the Romans are the ones who shattered the power of the holy people. (If we take Daniel 12:2 to apply to a still future event then we must conclude that this shattering is still future as well.)

The “time, two times, and half a time” is a broken 7, and we have seen this symbol before. The angel is telling Daniel that while the Jews will be oppressed, it will not be a permanent oppression. The power of Rome would end one day, and the faithful remnant of true Jews would be victorious in Christ.

God’s promises to the Jews have always been conditioned on their faithfulness to him. The true Jew was always the faithful Jew. The prophets said this. Jesus said this. Paul said this.

The faithful Jews were saved at the time of Christ. (Jeremiah 33:14–16 and Romans 11:26.) The faithless Jews were completely cut off during the time of Christ. (Matthew 21:43 and Acts 3:22–23.)

8 I heard, but I did not understand. Then I said, “O my lord, what shall be the issue of these things?” 9 He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until 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 those who are wise shall understand. 11 And from the time that the continual burnt offering is taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. 12 Blessed is he who waits and comes to the thousand three hundred and thirty-five days. 13 But go your way till the end; and you shall rest, and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days.”

As you might suspect, Daniel is confused. This story does not seem to have a happy ending. How can God’s plan for the Jews end with the complete destruction of Jerusalem and the temple? Daniel asks the angel for an explanation of this seeming discrepancy.

Now, here is an important point. At this point, Daniel does not understand the point of the vision. Yet, in Daniel 10:1, Daniel said that he did understand the vision. Thus, the explanation from the angel that we are about to read gave Daniel the extra information he needed to understand the point of the vision.

First, the angel reminds Daniel that the end of the vision would not occur for some time. He would not be personally affected by these events. Many good things and many bad things would happen before it came to pass.

Those who were wicked would not understand; that is, they would not know that they were playing a part in the plan of God. Those who were wise, however, would know that they were playing a part in the plan of God. Indeed, they would know that the events that were occurring had been spoken of here in Daniel 11 and 12.

In verse 10, the angel is assuring Daniel that God will bless those who are good and the wicked will perish. This is just what Daniel needed to hear since this vision ended with the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. That is, it appeared that at the end of this vision the wicked were blessed and the good perished. The angel assures Daniel that just the opposite is true.

The angel then says that from the time that the burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1290 days. Further, those who wait for 1335 days will be blessed.

Note that the 1290 days occur after both the removal of the burnt offering and the abomination that makes desolate. In particular, the 1290 days do not separate these two events.

Are this removal of the daily sacrifice and this abomination of desolation the same ones that we read about in Daniel 11:31? They cannot be. Jesus pointed to a prophecy of Daniel in Matthew 24:15 regarding the abomination of desolation and said that it had not happened yet, but that it would happen in the first century (Matthew 24:34). The abomination of desolation in Daniel 11:31 happened nearly 200 years before the birth of Christ. Since Daniel only mentions the abomination twice, Jesus must be referring to the one mentioned here.

We have another clue that this is the fact. Look at Matthew 24:15.

Matthew 24:15 So when you see the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand).

Do you see the phrase “let the reader understand”? Why did Jesus say that? He wanted us to know that he was pointing back to Daniel 12:11 because almost the same phrase is found in Daniel 12:10 where we read “those who are wise shall understand.” (A similar phrase is found in Daniel 11:33 but there it refers to the Maccabeans.)

Which abomination is this then? It is the desecration of the temple by the Romans in AD 70. The vision ends with the Romans. Jesus was talking about the Romans in Matthew 24. In Matthew 24:15,34 Jesus said that the abomination he spoke of would occur in the first century. The desecration by Antiochus IV occurred long before the birth of Christ.

What about the 1290 days and the 1335 days? What do they denote?

What would we expect then to denote? Daniel doesn’t understand how God’s plan for the Jews could end with the destruction of the Jews. After he hears this, though, he understands God’s plan. What must God have told him?

God must have told him that God’s plan for the Jews did not end with the destruction of the their city and their temple. He may also have told him that those who destroyed the city and the temple would themselves be destroyed, and thus would not ultimately be victorious.

How do these symbols denote that?

Revelation 13:5 uses 1260 days to describe the temporary power of Rome. Since 1260 days is 42 months (30 days each), we have 3.5 years. Thus, 1260 days points to a broken 7.

But here we have 1290 days. Why the extra month? I think that God is telling Daniel that while the Roman persecution will be temporary, it will be longer and worse than other persecutions. It will be a broken 7 plus a little bit more.

What about the extra 45 days between the 1290 days and the 1335 days? What would we expect it to denote? The context suggests that it denotes the time after Rome during which God’s followers must continue to persevere.

Why would 45 denote that? No one knows for sure, but we can speculate. The number 5 is said by some to symbolize the grace of God. (The number 5 and multiples of 5 occur all throughout the tabernacle.) The number 9 is said by some to denote finality and judgment. (The 9 judgments of Haggai 1:11, for example.) [See the book You Can Count On It by Eli Borden.]

Thus, 45 being 5 × 9 may denote the grace of God leading to the final judgment of the world. This is just speculation, however. It is possible that the number 45 had some significance that has been lost to us but was quickly understood by Daniel. (While we cannot be certain of the meaning of this number, we can be certain of the meaning of the message that Daniel received.)

One other possibility is that the 45 days (month and a half) is simply God’s way of telling Daniel that after Rome, God’s people will need to persevere a little longer. This would fit in well with our explanation of the extra 30 days in the 1290 days.

Finally, Daniel is assured that while he will not live to see these events (“and you shall rest”), he will be present at “the end of the days.”

And the “end of the days”? What does that refer to? I think that we have at last come to the end of the world! The vision is over. The Romans are gone. God’s grace has been extended to the final judgment. Daniel is again present and standing in his allotted place. This is the final judgment of the world. (Recall that the vision dealing with the end of the Jewish age ended in verse 4 of this chapter. Thus, it does not violate the time frame of that vision to say that Daniel is now hearing about the end of the world.)

Thus, while Daniel 12:2 does not refer to the final resurrection, I think that Daniel 12:13 does. Daniel goes to his rest in verse 13, but then we see him standing again.

Another possibility is that the end of the days is the fall of Jerusalem and that Daniel stands up and figuratively takes his place when the events in his book come to pass. This view is not as appealing since verse 12 seems to take us past the end of Rome.

The book ends with a complete confirmation of one of the book’s principle themes: the absolute and total sovereignty of God. God is in control of this world and this universe and he has a plan to bless the entire world through his son Jesus Christ. This book has given us a glimpse of just what was involved in bringing that plan about.

1 Peter 1:18-21 You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was destined before the foundation of the world but was made manifest at the end of the times for your sake. 21 Through him you have confidence in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

We are looking back over 2500 years of history, and during that time we have seen virtually everything in this book come to pass. But there is one thing that we have not yet seen. We like Daniel are waiting for that day when we will stand up and take our allotted place among the people of God.

---

God's Plan of Salvation