Daniel's Last and Greatest Vision (Part 8)

So we're going to finish it up here tonight.

This great book, one of the books of prophecy and the Word of God in the Old Testament. I have entitled this last very large section, final section, Daniel's last and greatest vision.

And if you remember, I decided to call it that because, well, because the vision itself is so grand. But also because unlike the other dreams and visions mentioned in the Bible, we even have an appearance of the Lord of glory himself.

And so I think it's safe to call this the greatest vision that he had. And so we looked, first of all, at Daniel's supernatural preparation.

He was prepared. God prepared him for this vision. Then we looked at the vision itself, what I call the spectacular vision. It really, really is.

All the prophecies concerning various peoples and nations and leading up to an infamous leader or king, Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

You've got that name now. Or you should. I should have just a one-question quiz at the end, you know. What was the name of that king?

Yeah, forget it. You can spell it any way you can. Whatever it sounds like, you know. But, of course, it doesn't end with Antiochus. We end, actually, with the most notorious personality that will enter the world stage one day.

And that is the Antichrist himself. Don't know his name. Not yet. Not sure if we'll know his name before we get out of here. I don't know about that.

But, anyway, a lot of speculation about it. Who he may be, will be, but nobody knows. So we ended with that. This great vision.

Prophetic vision. It takes us, really, all the way to the end. All the way to the second coming of Christ. And so, to wrap it up, this last section of the book, we have Daniel's special instruction.

Really ought to be plural, instructions. I guess we could say there's one primary instruction given to him in verses 4 through 13 of chapter 12, which takes us to the end of the book.

And so, when we get to verse 4 of chapter 12, then, the vision proper, the vision proper, the vision itself, has come to an end. It comes to a close.

That is, in terms of its prophetic content, Daniel's still going to see some things, some pretty incredible things, here in this last part of it.

But, as far as the prophetic content, that's come to a close. Even though, in this last section, the Lord himself, I believe, he'll be speaking here, reiterates some parts of the vision, the prophetic part of the vision, because he's asked the question.

So we'll get to that here in a little bit. So you have a sense, then, when you get to this part of the book, that Daniel has been allowed to see to the end of everything.

I mean, you kind of think about this. Here's Daniel. He's, you know, I don't know how old he is. There's a lot of speculation about it. He's certainly up in his 90s. Don't know how much longer he lived after this vision.

There is some mention of him dying, or not really maybe an implication of soon leaving the world.

But he's very old, and he's given this tremendous, I mean, just an incredible vision, and this incredible prophecy. And really, though it's, you know, we can go other places in Scripture, and where the Bible speaks of the very same period of time that this prophecy speaks of, it's not any more clear anywhere than this prophecy given to Daniel.

All right, so he's come to the end of it. He's seen the end of everything. Been allowed to see that. And even though we're going to find out a little bit later, he wants more.

He wants more information. And don't we all want more information, even more than what we've got? Some people want so much, want more information so much that they start making stuff up, you know, and build entire ministries around, making it up, you know, figuring out a way.

Anyway, so there's no more to be added here. In fact, twice we're going to find in this passage that the Lord says it's closed. It's closed. This is it.

Put your pen down. There's no more to be added here, even though Daniel wanted more. So there's no more to be seen, no more to be written down. So the remainder of the chapter, indeed the book, is really instructional.

And I guess we could say informational. All right. So let's see three things. And the first is preservation of the vision required.

The vision has been given, and now there's something required of Daniel, really demanded of him. Even though we're not given the details as to just exactly how he obeyed this command, this requirement of the Lord, but we know the nature of it.

It's to preserve this vision. Preservation of the vision required. So with the vision ended, God threw his spokesman Gabriel.

Gabriel is the mouthpiece here. He now gives Daniel some instructions on what to do with it, with this vision, as well as really extending beyond Daniel.

Well, some instructions, I think, that apply to those who will one day read it. You know, a lot of people have read it. We've read it. But specifically those people who will need to read it when these things begin to occur, the things that are prophesied here.

And so it's to be preserved for them to read it, even though it's very valuable for us as well. All right. So verse four says, 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. That's kind of interesting. So let's break this down a little bit. First of all, there is the completion of the prophecy.

A word about the completion of the prophecy. He said, shut up the words. Now, in today's vernacular, that essentially just means you may put your pen down now.

You know, there's no more to be written here. You can stop writing. That's all there is. Prophecy is complete. It's all right here. Nothing more to be added.

And really, in a sense, this, I think, refers not just to this last and greatest prophecy, but to all of the book of Daniel. In fact, this is kind of a statement of conclusion for the entire book.

So, you know, shut up the words. I mean, it's done. It's over. Second, the preservation of the prophecy.

So we have a word about the preservation. of the prophecy. So when Gabriel says, seal the book. Sorry. So he said, first, shut up the words.

Seal the book. Seal the book. When he says that, he's not instructing Daniel to keep this hidden. I mean, we might, we might kind of gather that meaning from, you know, shut up the words, seal the book.

Especially the term seal the book. You know, seal it, secure it so that it's secret, so that it's hidden. That's, that's not the idea here. Because to this culture, the culture of the ancient near East, the very term, really, it's, it's, it's, kind of, kind of, an idiom, Hebrew idiom.

It means, when it says seal, a seal, it refers to preservation, not, not secrecy, or, or security.

Though there is some implication of security. I mean, if you want to preserve something, you want to keep it secure. Right? But in no way is the idea here one of secrecy.

You know, this, this needs to be hidden. A good example of it is in Jeremiah chapter 32. In fact, you might remember this particular passage, and I'm not going to get into the implication of it, the teaching, you know, what, what's being said here.

But, yeah, have an example of it here. In Jeremiah 32, verse 9, Jeremiah, so I bought the field from Hanamel, the son of my uncle, who was in Anathah, and weighed out to him the money, 70 shekels of silver, and I signed the deed and sealed it.

I sealed it. Took witnesses and weighed the money on the scale. So I took the purchase deed, both that which was sealed according to the law of the custom.

I said, there's the idea of the sealing of it. And that which was open. And basically, what they did is they had a document and the official document, then they would have a, make a copy of it.

You know, they would get, go to the copy machine, run off one, you know, they didn't have that. They had people who did that for a living. They would copy those documents. And one would be sealed in a secure place.

The other would be open so that it could be read. So, it's not talking about sealing it so that nobody can see it or know what's in it. But, it is to secure it so that it would be preserved.

And that's the idea here in Jeremiah. And so, I gave the purchase deed to Baruch, the son of Neriah, son of Masaiah, in the presence of Hanamel, my uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses who signed the purchase deeds, all the parties concerned with this property and the transaction are all present there.

Before all the Jews who sat in the court of the prison, then I charged Baruch before them saying, thus says the Lord of hosts, take these deeds, both this purchase deed which is sealed and this deed which is open and put them in an earthen vessel that they may last many days.

Now, there's the, there's the idea. The sealing of that document, in this case, it was put in an earthen, some pottery type of thing that could be, would protect the document from weather and from, you know, the natural things that could happen to a document like that.

Very likely it was, you know, not paper like we would have paper, probably parchment or animal skin, but it would be prone to corruption and so it would be preserved.

So sealing it wasn't to hide it or to keep it secret, it was to preserve it and that's the idea here that being required by the Lord, required Daniel to preserve this document.

Now, it doesn't tell us how he did it. I guess he did a good job because we have it in our Bibles, okay, we have it today. So it was preserved and, of course, that doesn't somehow minimize the Lord's sovereign work in preserving his word, which he has done down through the ages.

And, so, he says, seal the book. Talking about preservation. So Daniel was to preserve his book so that those living at the time of the end, that's what the passage says, and the idea is so that those people living at the time of the end, the time when these prophecies will begin to occur, so that they could read it and they could be encouraged by it.

And, there, specifically, I think, talking about the Jews who will be alive during the tribulation period, during the time when Antichrist will be ruling on this planet.

Alright, so, the preservation of the prophecy. Third, the investigation of the prophecy. The many who shall run to and fro, it's kind of, you know, when I read that it makes me think of somebody who doesn't know where they're going, you know, and they're just kind of flitting here and there running to and fro.

It's not the idea. It's not talking about people who are traveling or doing anything like that. It's a reference to those living at the time of the end who will be looking everywhere for the truth.

Now, that stands to reason, doesn't it? Can you imagine? I mean, hell has come on earth. We think it's bad now.

But, but, can it even compare to the time of the great tribulation, which is a reference to the last half of the seven-year tribulation. It would be relatively peaceful the first half.

But, when the Antichrist establishes his throne there in the holy place, it will be hell on earth. And, you can imagine being alive during that time.

And, just imagine that you're a Jew. You're people of the covenant. and, and so, you know, you've gotten so far away from God as most Jews have today. I mean, they, they, they, many Jews today are really nothing more than atheists, really.

They have completely abandoned any tradition, any heritage, any, anything of their God. and, and so, all this is going to come upon them and there will be some, many actually, the scripture says here, who are going to suddenly be looking for an answer for this.

And, they're going to be looking for the truth. They'll be going here and there, to and fro. And, in the context of the verse they're going to be looking for answers for what's happening. They're going to be looking for truth, the knowledge of the truth.

And, and so, there will be this kind of investigation. They'll be looking for it and then that leads us forth to the comprehension of the prophecy. Many will find and read this prophecy of Daniel's because it's been preserved, not only for all generations down through the, you know, the centuries, us, so that we can read it and understand it, but primarily for those who will be alive, those Jews alive during the tribulation and so, there will be many who will comprehend that truth.

There will be many who read it and not comprehend it, but there will be many who will because God will make sure that their knowledge shall increase. It will.

All right, so preservation of the vision required. Next, the duration of the vision revealed. The duration of it. let me go ahead and just read the passage verses 5 through 7.

Then I, Daniel, looked and there stood two others, two additional people there, personalities. One on this river bank where he was and the other on that river bank or across the river, so on each side of the river.

And one said to the man clothed in linen, now this is the third personality that Daniel sees, the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the river.

So we can imagine this is what he saw. One person on this side, his side of the river, he sees that person, one on the other side, and then this one floating in midair in linen clothing above the river.

One said to the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the river, how long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be? Then I heard the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the river when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time.

And when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished. So this was an answer. It's not really a quotation. He's relating what the man hovering above the river in the linen clothing said, how he replied to the question.

All right, so let's see several things here. First of all, the spirit beings and their role. I'm talking about the ones Daniel saw, one on one side of the river, one on the other side of the river.

These are spirit beings. These are not flesh and blood people here. Verse 5 again says, I looked and there stood two others. One on this riverbank and the other on that riverbank.

All right, so these two others are clearly angels. They're angels, angelic beings. angels. Now, why were they there?

Their duty, their role. Well, I think they served as witnesses to the truth that is about to be spoken. Spoken by whom?

The one hovering over the river who's going to be answering the question that is posed about how long for the vision. So they're two witnesses to the truth that's going to be spoken completely in line with Deuteronomy 1915 by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established.

So they're two witnesses to the truth that will be spoken. As if the one in linen hovering above the river I haven't said who he is yet but you can guess as if somehow he needed two witnesses but it's in accord to God's revelation two witnesses two or three.

In fact, we could say that there are three. If these two others that Daniel saw are in addition to Gabriel and I believe that they are Gabriel's there standing with Daniel he's the one speaking to Daniel revealing these things he's God's mouthpiece.

So if these two others are in addition to Gabriel then we have three witnesses to the truth there. So two or three of a matter shall be established. All right, so then second we have the speaker the one speaking here and his request his request and again the one said verse six how long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be?

Now I believe the one speaking and it doesn't have to be this way you could say it's one of those two that Daniel saw one of them might have been Gabriel and there are all kinds of possibilities here but I see two angels on each side of the river the one in the linen hovering above the river and I see Gabriel there he's the one speaking to Daniel and so I think the speaker here the one who's asking the question is Gabriel it's Gabriel and so his question what about the question?

The question is not how long will it be before these things take place? I mean you could interpret it that way well you couldn't and do it correctly but one might interpret the question how long is it going to be before this happens?

All this happens the stuff that is revealed in the prophecy that's not the question the question is how long will these things continue when they do begin to take place?

Alright the prophecy has been given for a period of time at the end of time how long will that be? I mean how long a period of time will that be when these things start happening when Antichrist establishes himself and does the things that he does and then you know the culmination of all that war battle and coming of the Lord and all that how long a period of time is that?

That's really the question so it's a question of duration why I call this the duration of the vision revealed so that leads us then to the one who's going to answer the question and it's the sovereign Lord and his reply his reply so that's number three the sovereign Lord and his reply so verse seven says then I heard the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the river when he held up his right hand now this is Daniel he heard this so he heard this man the word man is used there it's been used before to refer to the very same person but it's not man in the sense of a flesh and blood person it's man in the sense of what he appeared to be a man so he said I heard the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the river when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven so we have both hands up and swore or made an oath by him who lives forever that is by his name that it shall be for a time times and half a time all right so the one clothed in linen who was above the waters of the river it's mentioned both in verse 6 and verse 7 who is that it's

Christ well you got it right there in your nose it's the Lord clearly the Lord and so again what a scene for Daniel to behold here you know see these angelic beings and then the Lord himself hovering above the river just kind of suspended out there and all right so now according to really several references in the Bible I didn't put the references in there's one in Genesis I think the other next is it doesn't matter several references to this to this custom of raising your hand and it's really a custom we still still kind of following today when we're about to tell the truth scouts honor you know this is the truth you know I raised my hand it's kind of when I make an oath or you know tell the truth raise my hand and so that was customary but but raising both it says right and left hand and all of that but swearing by the name of God invoking his name

God the father in this case that signifies the greatest possible statement as to the truthfulness of what is said or about to be said again as if the Lord had to have that but he but he used these things all these things the two witnesses three possibly and raising both hands to heaven and invoking the name of God God of heaven it's a statement of the truthfulness of what he's about to say and so he says here's how long all this is going to take to occur the prophecy to be fulfilled the time times and half the time that reveals the duration a duration of three and one half years for the prophetic time period or 1260 days so how do you figure that well it has to be figured on the

Jewish calendar they use 30 days for every month we don't have 30 but you can do the math and it's spoken of in other places we've already looked at another place in scripture in Daniel when this was mentioned and it's a period of time three and a half years 1260 days time times and half a time just three ways of saying the same thing to designate the same period of time and it is defined or identified as the time of trouble in verse one of this chapter we looked at that when we were looking at prophecy the time of trouble or distress some versions have it and that time in which Antichrist will unleash his horrors upon this earth and it will occur in the last half of what we know to be the seven years of tribulation tribulation the last half specifically called the great tribulation a time that has never been before nor ever will be again the great tribulation three and a half years 1260 days all right so the sovereign lord and his reply replied to the request the question and that leads us to one other thing there the separated people and their reproof their reproof verse 7 again the latter part of it when the power of the holy people

I mean he's answering the question how long will all this take place well time times and half a time and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered all these things should be finished that's his answer to the question who are the holy people has to be Israel always refers to Israel the nation Israel specifically during the tribulation those alive during the nation Israel during the seven years of tribulation so God will allow antichrist and his enemies and the enemies of Israel which is about everybody to utterly defeat them it is another place this time is referred to the time of Jacob's trouble this is God judging his people bringing them to the end of themselves so that they can get better

I mean this is part of God's design it's kind of a refining type of fire for Israel they thought they had been persecuted down through their history and they certainly have but nothing will come close to what it will be like for Israel during the great tribulation at the hands of the antichrist and so this is going to be fulfilled as part of God's plan I mean the antichrist thinks that he is calling the shots here of course but this is part of God's purpose for his people Israel and so he is going to allow antichrist and enemies of Israel to defeat them it may also by the way I don't know if I put this in your notes but there is a possibility that you know the words completely shatter or the power of the holy people has been completely shattered it could mean something entirely different there or maybe there's an implication of this as well the result of this and it could be that the meaning here is that Israel will repent and we know they will at the end of the tribulation before Christ comes they will look upon the one they had pierced and as

Paul wrote in Romans all Israel will be saved so they will repent and so this could be a word about that actually that Israel's power what kind of power their sinful power the power they have to resist God that that will be completely shattered you know they have they've been strong against God rejected his Messiah their Messiah rejected their God the one true God the power to resist him will be completely shattered and Zechariah chapter 12 verse 10 and I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication and take the grace of God to shatter the power of sinful resistance to God only by the grace of God can that happen and that's true of every sinner actually that it's the sovereign work of

God that that he would destroy that power in you that will always resist God and his Savior our Savior that it's the grace of God that removes that so that we can be saved and that is going to happen to Israel one day at the end and they will look on me whom they pierce yes they will mourn as one mourns for his only son grieve as one grieves for the firstborn all right so all the power to resist God will be completely shattered rather interesting take on that it could be that that's the idea here if not the direct idea the explicit idea certainly it's implied here all right so preservation of the vision required duration of the vision revealed and then one last thing clarification of the vision requested requested verse 8 although I heard

Daniel speaking of course although I heard I heard all of this I did not understand and I said my Lord what shall be the end of these things that is what's going to bring all this to the end and he said go your way Daniel for the words are closed up sealed till the time of the end many shall be purified made white refined but the wicked shall do wickedly wicked will just do what they always do and none of the wicked shall understand but the wise shall understand that means those who are saved will understand and from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away and the abomination of desolation is set up there shall be 1290 days blessed is he who waits it comes to the 1335 days so we've got a couple more numbers in here but you go your way till the end for you shall rest and will arise to your inheritance at the end of day so what what do we have here well first of all the request from the prophet first of all there's this request verse 8 although I heard I do not understand then I said my lord what shall be the end of these things so what is the request well Daniel's request

I think first of all is likely addressed to the lord himself he does say lord now in my translation it's a lower case l so we know the translators of the new king james are interpreting that this is not the lord of glory but gabriel a little l but I really think it's christ that he's addressing and daniel's question really pertains to how all these things will be brought to an end I mean I want more I mean how's all this going to happen you know you told me what's going to happen how's that going to happen that's his request then we have the reply reply to the prophet and the lord's reply is threefold why why of it verse 9 and he said go your way daniel for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end now this is not a rebuke I mean actually some words have been added there in the english to make it read better it really should read go daniel go daniel go daniel for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end so it's not a rebuke it's really an encouragement to go on with your life don't worry about it don't fret about these things that are going to occur they're going to occur in the very very distant future we know it is because it's still future for us it's been several thousand years since the prophecy was given and still hadn't been fulfilled so don't sweat it it's way out there so go on with your life something I kind of like to tell some of these prophecy nuts today so balled up inside because they're trying to figure out every jot and tittle of prophecy and trying to apply and figure out when it's all going to happen and they write books and they have tv radio shows and have big conferences and they get other people all stirred up and worried about it so the

Lord's saying just go on with your life all right these things are going to happen you don't have to worry about them just go on with your life all right so the reason Daniel still does not understand this is the why of it because it's it's closed it's it's closed up sealed there's no more information to be given at this time and so then the what of it verse 10 many shall be purified made white refined but the wicked shall be wickedly do wickedly none of the wicked shall understand but the wise shall understand and it's just simply talking about what people will be doing in response to the horrors of the tribulation there'll be many different responses there'll be people who will be saved during this time they'll come to Christ they'll come to faith be purified made white refined the wicked or continue to do their wicked thing you know no matter how bad things get they'll never and we we know that's true to life today we have terrorists fly planes into the towers and kill hundreds and hundreds of people and and suddenly it seems like America is brought to her knees you know and even Congress is praying and singing hymn you know but that didn't last but a few weeks and it's over and people go back to their own wickedness so there'll be those who will do wickedly none of the wicked are going to understand any of this wise they will understand they'll be saved and then finally the win of it and here here's a kind of confusing part of it difficult to say definitively what the meaning is but verse 11 and from the time that the daily sacrifices is taken away and the abomination of desolation is set up that's the work of the antichrist he's going to outlaw the sacrifice set up his throne in the temple sacrifice will cease and the place will be desolate that doesn't mean it's going to be destroyed it means there won't be any people there because worship is ended there there shall be 1290 days blessed is he who waits and comes to the 1335 days alright so you have a couple of numbers here an additional 30 days is added to that first number added to the number that's actually given back in verse 7 making it 1290 rather than 1260 remember time times and half a time that's 1260 days in round numbers using the

Jewish calendar 30 days per month but he did say 1260 said 1290 so there are 30 additional days added to the number there what is that I mean if 1260 marks the end of the tribulation which marks the coming of the Lord then what's going to happen the next 30 days well we don't really know it doesn't say but I think it's probably safe to say that additional 30 days may refer to the time of judgment after the tribulation comes to a close time of judgment then this other number another 45 days is added to the end there at the end of verse 12 making a number 1335 so we have 30 days added and then now another 45 days added and it may refer to the official inauguration of the millennial kingdom and it may take a little bit of time to set up the government set up the structure of the government

I mean it will be comprised of people and will take some organization you think well the Lord could just speak and it be done but it's going to operate according to the physical rules and guidelines that he himself has created and it could be just talking about another 45 days to set up the government at least in Archer I think I gave you this quote he said the saints are called blessed because they are about to become citizens of the most wonderful society governed by the most wonderful ruler in all human history the millennial kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ so don't get the idea that you know we've got seven years and a thousand years and there's no time in between the beginning of those things I think the scripture said for whatever purpose the scripture says it'll be 30 days following the tribulation and something's going to happen

I think probably judgment another 45 days going to happen before the actual official inauguration of Christ's kingdom probably to set up the infrastructure for his government and all that's going to take place and blessed are those who make it into that time period you know you know you don't want to make it just to the 1290 days because you may be one of those judged and that will be the end but if you make it on into the 1335 then how blessed you are to be a part of Christ's kingdom one last thing the rest for the prophet the rest verse 13 just quickly but you he says again go your way till the end now he's not talking here about the end of all things as he's been talking about he's talking about your end

Daniel the end of your earthly life for you shall rest and he needed rest but he's not talking about taking a nap he's talking about his body resting from his labor his death but will arise so the body is going to die rest in the grave that's a picture of death doesn't mean that Daniel's spirit will be there but he will arise be resurrected to your inheritance your reward at the end of the days at the end of this present age Daniel will receive his reward as will all all believers