Daniel 12:11And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. (Daniel 12:1) indicates that this is the time of the great tribulation. This verse, Jeremiah 30:4-94And these are the words that the Lord spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah. 5For thus saith the Lord; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. 6Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? 7Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. 8For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him: 9But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them. (Jeremiah 30:4‑9), and Matthew 24, all refer to the same time of trouble, “such as was not since the beginning of the world.”
This process of awakening is described in Ezekiel 37, and details of it are vividly portrayed in Zechariah 12. These Scriptures we propose to treat in more or less detail further on.
In this awakening two classes are disclosed—those who awake to everlasting life, and others to shame and everlasting contempt: in other words, those who receive the Gospel of the Kingdom, and thus are ready for the advent of the Messiah; and those who reject the message.
Daniel 12:33And 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. (Daniel 12:3) tells us how the wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and how they will turn many to righteousness, evidently an allusion to the labors of the Lord's earthly brethren, the godly Jews, who will evangelize the nations, and the results of whose mission are seen in Matthew 25:31-4631When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. (Matthew 25:31‑46), in the sheep who go into everlasting life; the rejection of their message seen in the goats, who go into everlasting punishment. In verse 4 Daniel is bidden to seal up the book till the time of the end.
Finally, Daniel sees “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.” The question is asked, “How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?” The answer is given solemnly, “It shall be for a time, times, and an half,” that is, for one thousand two hundred and sixty days, or three and a half years, that is, during the great tribulation.
Daniel himself heard this, but failing to understand, asked, “O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?” He is bidden to go his way, as the words are closed up and sealed till the end of time. The two classes are again referred to. The wicked shall not understand, but the wise will understand.
Evidently the blow of judgment does not fall in all its entirety at the end of one thousand two hundred and sixty days, as verse 11 tells us from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away and the abomination of desolation set up, answering to Matthew 24:1515When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) (Matthew 24:15), should be one thousand two hundred and ninety days, or a month later, and blessed is the one that waits and comes to one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days; that is, forty-five days still later, or a month and a half.
Daniel is to go his way; he should rest, that is pass off the scene, but stand in his lot at the end of the days; that is, in resurrection he will find his place in the scene of glory which the Lord shall bring in, and be awarded his position in the glorious kingdom then set up.
The instruction to Daniel to seal up the sayings of his prophecy even to the time of the end stands in contrast to the Apostle John, who is bidden, “Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand” (Rev. 22:1010And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. (Revelation 22:10)).
In truth the rejection of Christ brings us to the threshold of the time of the end, and the Christian gifted with the Holy Spirit of truth is encouraged to know all these things.
May God help us all to a true and spiritual knowledge of this prophecy.