LECTURE 9
CHAPTER 12: 2-13
In reading this chapter, one is struck with the particular character of the book, and more especially with the care which God evinces to comfort, or rather to show the most entire sympathy with, the remnant in the afflicting circumstances in which they are found. It is certain that Daniel still remained in captivity at Babylon (which, indeed, it appears he never left) when the remnant had returned to Jerusalem. So that typically he far more represents the state of the people in captivity under the Gentiles, than the prophet of the people when God was acknowledging them.
It is quite true that the remnant will escape at last, but this Daniel saw afar off. He represents specially the suffering remnant, and the sympathies of God with them. We find in other prophets, as Isaiah and Zechariah, magnificent promises for this remnant, to whom the Lord will reveal Himself, when Christ has appeared. He shall make " the house of Judah as his goodly horse in the battle," and " he that is feeble among them shall be as David," Zechariah To: 3; chap. 12: 8. There we see the power of God in manifestation among the people at Jerusalem; but it is not so in Daniel. The last thing we see here relative to Jerusalem is that the king of the north " plants his tabernacles in the glorious holy mountain." There is no detail in this book of the subsequent full and remarkable deliverance; but it is rather occupied with the Jewish remnant in the land, beaten by the tempest of the Gentile monarchies. On the other hand, there is still the sympathy of God with them, but He is not with His people after an evident manner (for they are still in captivity); and it is rather an intervention of Providence in a hidden way which delivers and secures in the midst of trials and difficulties. Compare Psa. 44:10, 1110Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy: and they which hate us spoil for themselves. 11Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat; and hast scattered us among the heathen. (Psalm 44:10‑11), where this state of things is described.
Dan. 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). " And at that time shall Michael stand up," etc. He appears to be the prince of the angels, or the archangel. It is a custom to speak of archangels, but the word of God mentions only one, the chief of the angels. I am silent as to who it is, because the Scripture is; but however this may be, the intervention is a providential angelic one. Michael is there in relationship with the people of Israel. By this passage we learn who it is that will stand for the children of Daniel's people, as well as the excellency of this angelic power which God in His providence employs-" who standeth for the children of thy people." It is a time of trouble, as we have seen, and herein consists the difference of God's acting, as I have just considered it. There is now a providence of God which is a concealed government; but hereafter there will be a manifest and public rule by Christ, when everything will appear-a government direct from God. There is now a government of arrangement, by which all things are made to " work together for good to them that love God," and for the accomplishment of His purposes; but this action is usually a concealed one. In Esther we have a remarkable instance. The name of God is not found in the book; the Spirit has wished to show that, whilst the Jews were in captivity, God had His eyes upon them, but that He acted in a hidden manner and would not name Himself in their midst.
In the time of Michael it will be a time of distress. This is the second thought in the chapter, and it is the same in Jeremiah 3o: 7. There could be but one such time-none is to be like it: " For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? " Joel 2: I I. Nevertheless it is the day of deliverance for Israel: " Strangers shall no more serve themselves of him: but they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king [Christ]... but I will not leave thee altogether unpunished," Jer. 30:8, 9, 118For 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 30:8‑9)
11For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished. (Jeremiah 30:11). These promises have evidently never yet had their fulfillment, for it will be a final deliverance.
Dan. 12 I. " At that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book." These are the elect. The days are shortened on their account, otherwise no flesh would be saved. Jerusalem would have been as Sodom or as Gomorrah, except the Lord had left a very small remnant; Isa. 1; Rom. 9. Verse 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." The angel, as it appears to me, speaks in this place of the deliverance of the people brought back from among the Gentiles. " Many of them," etc.; it is only a question of the people of Daniel. No doubt judgments will fall upon the Gentiles, but in speaking of those with whom God is more immediately occupied as the object of His thoughts, the people of Daniel only are intended. I recall to your minds Daniel to: 14, " Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days." The fulfillment of this declaration is taken up in chapters 10, 11, 12. " Many of them which sleep " (namely, a multitude of Jews in general, but not all) will appear on the scene; as for some, it will be " to everlasting life," and as to others, " to shame and everlasting contempt."
The expression " dust of the earth " is common in the writings of the prophets, when a person is in captivity and overwhelmed, as in Isa. 26:1414They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish. (Isaiah 26:14). In pronouncing judgment upon the nations, the prophet says, " They are dead [those who despised the Jews, " other lords besides thee have had dominion over us "], they are deceased... therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them and made all their memory to perish." But in verse 19, speaking of the Jews, "thy dead men shall live; [together with] my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out her dead." Here is the resurrection of the Jews. " Come, my people, enter into thy chambers... hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast." This same indignation of which we have been speaking in verse 21. " For behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth."
God had been, so to speak, concealed; He had allowed the evil to go on: but, dear friends, what a thought! Think of God coming out of His place! When we consider our inability to make head against wickedness-how Christians tremble at the sight of the increase of evil, hardly knowing what to do; while they see, on the one hand, the proud self-will of man, and on the other, this unexpected and inexplicable tendency to superstition-the powers of darkness under this form having invaded even countries which were delivered from it, and who are trembling at it; I say, then, it is precious in face of all this to know that God will come out of His place. True, it will be in anger for the moment-in anger against the wickedness, and to put it away; but also that good may be before His face, and before our eyes who are fatigued with what we behold. On this account we can bear the idea of judgment, and even cry " How long! " And 0 how happy to think of an indignation which will change active evil into rest, blessing, peace, liberty, and freedom from the yoke of sin, as soon as the Lord Jesus shall have executed His judgment! We are not now speaking of the church (although this is the most precious part) but of the poor world laboring under the yoke of Satan. For even when good has been effected, evil gains ground on all sides.
The apostle could well say " The whole creation groaneth," etc. We understand-we who know the secret of the goodness of God-that it groans. " Ourselves also which have the firstfruits of the Spirit " must " groan within ourselves," unless we should withdraw ourselves from the love of God, and from the groanings of the Spirit within us. And the more we observe the progress of evil, the more we shall feel the need of this indignation of God that His power may be felt in executing judgment in this world. And if faith is strong in our hearts, it will engage us in helping out, by the activity of love, all those we can, from this necessary judgment, whether this fearful act is likely to fall on them owing to the natural energy of sin in their hearts, or from the superstitions and errors to which they are attached by education; for it will fall upon whatever seduces the heart, as it is said, " Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins," etc. (Rev. 18). We see then that it is judgment which will take away the power of evil, and for this it is that the appeal is made to the saints, etc., in the Apocalypse, to rejoice in the destruction of Babylon. It will be a terrible judgment; but until it happens, a poison or venom corrupts everything, even when one's own self is withdrawn from it.
I have been led into this digression, on the subject of the judgment of God, on account of the ending of Isa. 26, which I quoted, and to explain the application of the resurrection to the Jewish people. I will mention another passage in Ezek. 37-that of the dry bones-which • will help you to understand this point. It is often quoted as having reference to souls; and morally, no doubt, the same effect happens to those who are quickened of God; but the only subject of the chapter is the nation of Israel, and not at all souls. " Son of man (v. 11), these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say [in captivity], Our bones are dried." This is not what dead souls say; " therefore (v. 12) prophesy... thus saith the Lord God, Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel." The Israelites, when they return, are treated as if they had been buried among the nations. " Then shall ye know that I am the Lord." It would be sad to remain there in the land, if it were a literal resurrection; for the hope of those who are literally raised is far higher.
The prophet continues with the history of the two sticks, Judah and Israel, which are to become one, when " one king shall be king to them all," Ezek. 37:2222And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: (Ezekiel 37:22). Nothing can be clearer than that the subject of the chapter is the deliverance and blessing of Israel by Jesus Christ. Dan. 12 also treats of Israel coming out of the graves-buried among the Gentiles; but it omits the final result under Christ. Many, it says, shall awake (not all), and of these some shall be for everlasting contempt, as some will be for eternal life. This part is added, as I said before, because the main concern of the prophecy was with the holy land and the Jews residing there. Other Jews will be manifested in the actual times before the final deliverance of Israel; and the Spirit of God, consequently, speaks of those latter in this passage.
The contents of these first verses apply in their results to the Jewish remnant, whose deliverance terminates that time of distress during which Michael stood for it, and delineates all that takes place during that period. It is the deliverance of the remnant and that of the people-all those written in the book.
But besides, among those who are delivered will be some who will be in the front of the battle, as being occupied with the things of God, and who will discern the times. Thus, " And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars forever and ever." If you have paid attention to the preceding chapter, you will recognize these wise ones: they are a remnant who have been often mentioned; as in chapter I I: 35, " and some of them of understanding," etc.: verse 33 also, " they that understand," Maskilim. It will be an enlightened remnant-persons who will discern the times, and who will occupy themselves with the welfare of the mass of the people, and that faithfully, according to the light they will possess. " And they that turn [the] many to righteousness " [or rather, " instructed the many in righteousness," this was the object of their labors]. There is no thought about evangelizing, nor of those who are blessed through evangelizing. The prophet is speaking solely of those Jews who shall be engaged in the instruction of the mass of the people, with a view of withdrawing them from the deceitful ways of Antichrist, and from all the evil which he will carry on. Those who have thus labored among the many will " shine as the stars forever and ever." This special remnant is mentioned, as before said, in Isa. 65, and 66. These are the closing circumstances of the remnant: viz., this time of distress; the people delivered, that is, the remnant; many who were buried, as it were, among the nations, who shall awake, whether for good or evil; and the special lot of the understanding ones. There is still, at the end of the chapter, the reply to the question of Daniel as to the duration of these things, of which the solution, for the Jews, was concealed until the time of the end.
We are in the time of the end, for it is to be hoped that all will soon finish; but, in another sense, the church is always in the time of the end, because the church does not belong to 'the present age, as it is said, 1 John 2:1818Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. (1 John 2:18) " As ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time." Now, seeing this, " they that be wise " will apply morally to the church, so far as she preserves the place which the word of God gives her, although she is not the direct object of the prophecy. The church is supposed to know that the last days are arrived, and that the prophetic warnings are important, in order that that day overtake us not as a thief; for to be overtaken is not the proper portion of the church. (Compare 1 Thess. 5:44But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. (1 Thessalonians 5:4), etc., and Rev. 3:33Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. (Revelation 3:3).) And hence also in the Revelation (feeble as we are in the comprehension of it) it is written, " Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand." What is said to Daniel is exactly the reverse of the position of the church, which, having an unction from the Holy One, knows all things; but in Daniel it is said, " shut up the words and seal the book till the time of the end."
Verses 7, 9, to, " And when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. And I heard, but I understood not.... And he said... the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end... but the wise shall understand." Now, so to speak, the church is the faithful remnant; for the church commenced with the understanding remnant of the Jews; such was its beginning. Thus in the Revelation one is encouraged to hear and to keep the words of the book, and intelligence is supposed among Christians. Verse I1: " And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be twelve hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thirteen hundred and thirty five days." There is something striking in this answer as concerns the Jews. The Lord Jesus uses the same date, omitting these days added at the end; otherwise He gives the same point of departure. The date does not begin until the last half-week; because until then there is no event to furnish an epoch from which one can commence counting, the position being then also definite and decided. I judge that in the Revelation there is a previous half-week, during which there will be a peculiar testimony at Jerusalem; but that which notably fixes the time of distress to the Jews (and this is the subject before us) is the abomination of desolation set up in the holy place at Jerusalem; and this is at the beginning of the last half-week. See note page 32.
This being the principal thing, I doubt whether there is any date whatever in the word as to the general course of the prophecy, or for the time which elapses between the rejection of Jesus and His return. That there may have been events adapted to the prophetic facts-analogous in principle-during the interval, I do not doubt; and events most important to recognize in their moral features. Many eminent Christians have sought to calculate these dates, but my conviction is that all these will be found wrong in the fact. Some have indicated 1844, and some 1847; I have made them myself in my time. It is not, then, to blame others, that I say I do not think there is any basis for a true calculation; and I doubt whether the Lord has fixed any other date, than that of the half-week of Daniel, when the abomination of desolation is set up.
The prophecy speaks of seventy weeks, but almost all Christians allow that these have passed, except the seventieth one, and that at the end of the sixty-ninth the Lord was upon earth. Moreover the date, of a time, times, and half a time, has reference entirely to Jerusalem; and it is not a period of years at all, but simply of days. For this date is given us at the end of the chapter, after the sacrifice has been taken away, and after the setting up of the abomination. Now the words of the Lord Himself afford a complete proof that it has no reference to centuries any more than to Christendom: for He speaks of a special time-of certain persons in peculiar circumstances interested in and occupied with what occurs at Jerusalem-of women with child-of the time which it takes to flee to the mountains-of the season of the year suiting that flight-and of the sabbath-day. Neither could we suppose that there would be signs in the sun, etc., etc., during centuries. It is of these things that Matt. 24 speaks, as being identified with " the twelve hundred and sixty days," and " a time, times, and half a time."
I will just recall to your memories my previous division of Matt. 24 We must keep in mind the occasion of the reply of our Lord to His disciples. He had passed judgment on the Jewish people at the end of chapter 23. " Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, etc.... for I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." Here is a positive judgment passed, and upon the nation as such. There is no question of individuals, for He does not say to individuals " ye shall not see me." And so it must be the nation, or a remnant of it at least, and at a time yet to come, who will say to Jesus, " Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." The high priests themselves have never said it; on the contrary, their language was, " Away with him, crucify him." The Lord had previously pronounced their judgment; but it is of the nation that He says, " Ye shall not see me henceforth until," etc. It is a quotation from Psa. 118 remarkable for its prophetic announcement of the rejection of Him who was to be acknowledged at a later time.
Then Matt. 24:11And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to show him the buildings of the temple. (Matthew 24:1), etc., " And Jesus went out and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to show him the buildings of the temple ", for they were yet imbued with a Jewish feeling. Verse 3: " And the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world " (age)? They supposed that what the Lord had said about the temple would take place when the Messiah should return; and they asked when these things should happen. Observe the expression " end of the age." When the Lord uses it, He does not speak of Christianity, which was not then established. When His disciples said " the age," they had no thought about Christianity; they spoke about the Jewish age, in which the Messiah was expected; the age of the law until the Messiah should come for the Jews. Their question was, When shall the end of that age be?
Now from verses 4-14 Jesus tells them the circumstances which should take place: these are warnings. And He adds some circumstances which should happen before " the end of the age." That is to say, He closes the account of the Jewish remnant which should endure to the end. At verse 14 Jesus details another event: " And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world... and then shall the end come "; that is, not only certain things should happen to His disciples, but also, there should be the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom, throughout the habitable world, and then should the end come.
Then He commences His particular instructions to His disciples who should be at Jerusalem at " the end of the age." As He had spoken of the Jewish nation, so here He speaks to His disciples, addressing, in their persons, the remnant which should be found at the end. " When ye, therefore, shall see the abomination... stand in the holy place, then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains." Nothing can be more evident than that the Lord speaks of a precise time, and not of something which happens morally, and which may be distributed, so to speak, over centuries. Thus, " neither let him which is in the field "... " woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck," etc. " Pray that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day." It is impossible not to perceive that the last allusion is to Jews who would not venture to go further than a certain distance on the sabbath-day.
Verse 21. " For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." We are here absolutely in the time of distress (predicted in Dan. 12 and Jer. 30:77Alas! 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. (Jeremiah 30:7)) at Jerusalem, to be followed by the deliverance of the people of Daniel, at least of the remnant, and by the establishment of the Jews in Palestine with David (Christ) as their king. But before this unequaled period of tribulation there will be " the beginning of sorrows," Matt. 24:88All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:8). And whenever the abomination is placed, there will be twelve hundred and ninety days, with forty-five added, before there is a complete deliverance at Jerusalem. The forty-five days added will introduce all that the faithful remnant could desire in order to their happiness. Mark agrees with all this. They both pursue the history until the manifestation of Jesus. " Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, there, believe it not, for there shall arise false Christs.... For as the lightning [v. 27] cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be; for wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together."
There where the dead body of the Jewish people is, the visitation of God will come.
" What shall be the sign of thy coming? " The nation will have no sign for its instruction, although fearful signs will be there. This is the answer to the nation: Christ shall come as the lightning. In heaven only there will be a sign; I do not say what the sign is, but there will be one there when He comes. " They shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory," Matt. 24:3030And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Matthew 24:30).
I will add a few remarks as to Luke 21. There is a difference, for Luke does not occupy himself in the same manner with Jewish details. It is not the gospel of the Jewish kingdom. The only question of the disciples is, " When shall these things be? " It is not about the " end of the age”. It applies only to that which should happen at the destruction of Jerusalem. When Titus took it, more or less of those fearful events took place, similar to what will happen at the end; but it is not the same thing as the time " such as never was." There will be great earthquakes, etc. Read down to verse to.
In Luke's gospel there is more reference to evangelizing in a direct manner, although the result as to testimony is the same: " ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake." " In your patience possess ye your souls." But there is not a word about the abomination of desolation. " When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh." And this was accomplished in the siege of Jerusalem, which has already taken place, as history testifies. Possibly there may be similar features when the nations shall surround Jerusalem; but no mention is made of a time of distress such as never was. All that is said is, " There shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people "; and they " shall be led away captive into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down until the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled." This is altogether another matter. There is no account of any deliverance of the Jews. It is not said " Blessed is he... that cometh to the thirteen hundred and thirty-five days "; but on the contrary, Jerusalem is trodden down until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Things are left in this state by the recital, the events in it being applicable down to the end, but accomplished in the desolation of Jerusalem by Titus. Verse 25: " And there shall be signs in the sun and in the moon." Generally speaking, Luke does not answer to the exact accomplishment of the prophecies of Daniel, but principally to those whose fulfillment is now passed, and which Jesus set forth to His disciples to influence their conduct according to their particular question (v. 7); and the signs which he gives (v. 24, 25) are applicable rather to the Gentiles, than to Jerusalem and the Jews.
But to conclude with Dan. 12:77And 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; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. (Daniel 12:7). " It shall be for a time, times, and a half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished." This is another proof that the date relates to the end, for it is evident that he has not accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people. " And I heard, but I understood not."
We are not to conceive of the " end of the indignation," as if it were the complete and entire re-establishment of the Jews in all their privileges. When the indignation is over, then the Christ-God-and Christ in the name of God, takes Israel as His people to begin to establish them fully. The Jews having again become the people of God, He begins to put them into the enjoyment of all their privileges; and Christ begins to appropriate Himself His rights as Messiah.
" None of the wicked shall understand " (v. 10). It will be the same in the Christian apostasy. " God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie." " But the wise shall understand." " And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away... there shall be twelve hundred and ninety days." I have no knowledge why there should be the addition of these thirty days to twelve hundred and sixty days, unless it be an indication that after the end of the half-week, during which the Antichrist prospers, there will yet be needed thirty days before the final blessing to the Jews comes in. " Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thirteen hundred and thirty-five days "-for then the people will evidently be in a state of blessing. But, as I before said, Daniel gives no explanation or detail of this happiness; because the aim of the book is to show the care which God takes of the remnant during the time of its sojourn (and this was Daniel's case) among the Gentiles. Other prophecies speak of their happy position after their re-settlement; but Daniel limits himself to the expression that they shall be blessed.
" But go thou thy way... and thou shalt stand in thy lot at the end of the days." Thou shalt enjoy all this blessedness, be not troubled; God will take care of this, thou shalt have thy part in it all. We know that it is at the first resurrection- the resurrection of the saints-that Daniel will partake of this in company with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all those who have been faithful in every epoch. We have now arrived at the conclusion of this remarkable book. I have not pretended to give you anything more than its great features, such as God has up to this shown to me. By their help you may be enabled to proceed farther for yourselves. May God bless His word.