23: World News & Prophecy - Daniel 12:1-13

[Darris McNeely] We have now come to chapter 12 of Daniel, the final chapter. And it's been a good journey through the book of Daniel, again for me. And I hope that those watching this online have benefited from it. We'll wrap up chapter 12 today. And then in the next class, we’re planning to continue on with the book of Revelation. But that's future here. Let's look at chapter 12 of Daniel. Keep in mind, again, we are continuing what began in chapter 10. Technically, the first four verses of chapter 12, in a sense, wrap up the prophecy of chapter 11.

So let's look at what is said here. At that time—and again, the time we are talking about is the time of the end. Go back to Daniel 11:40. The setting is the time of the end, the events that really are kicked off with what happens in Daniel 11:40. And I might mention just again here that where I am today in late November 2024, Daniel 11:40 hasn't occurred yet. We're not there, which means that subsequent events in prophecy—great tribulation, movements of armies, unfolding of seals and trumpet plagues—haven't begun. Other than the four general first seals of Revelation 6 of false religion, war, famine, and pestilence—which have always been with us—but that's kind of a preliminary setting. We'll talk about that at that point.

But we're not in the tribulation. We are not at that point. But in many ways, we can say that we are at any time leading up to that time of the end when these events take place. But we'll know that. We will know when we are in that point. And as problematic as the world is right now with the potential of World War III, as many are saying, we aren't yet at this point. That doesn't mean we couldn't be there at some point soon or whatever. I don't know. I've never been one to try to set time frames of five years, ten years, or whatever.

I grew up in the Church of God from age twelve, and I've been through all the different scenarios of the end of the age. I've heard them all. And one thing I have learned is: don't set dates and don't even try to set frameworks, okay? Five to fifteen short years, or whatever you might hear somebody say—that just doesn't work. I've come to the conclusion we should be ready and prepared, watching, understanding. We don't know the hour or the day. We don't want to be caught off guard like a thief in the night. That is true.

But some of the other approaches—I’ve just learned it's best to stay away from that. And with my last paycheck and with my next paycheck, I will make deposits into my retirement account. And you should too. And so plan for the future, the rest of your life, while at the same time you keep an eye on the world and events. So that's my mantra, and I'm sticking to it.

Daniel 12:1 So at that time, “Michael shall stand up.” We've already been introduced to Michael as this powerful angelic being, one of what I call at times the archangels. He's big. He stands. “He is the great prince,” it says, “that stands watch over the sons of your people.”

Michael is mentioned twice in the New Testament—in Jude 9 and also in Revelation 12:7. And so you see him elsewhere. He seems to be a leader, if not the head of the angels, as some seem to put it. But he's called here one who stands watch over the sons of your people. So he seems to have a very protective, dominating role over Israel—both the nation of the Old Testament and the Israel of God, the Church today. And he occupies that role. He is said to participate in the angelic warfare that we encountered in chapter 10 of Daniel.

And he is directed now to Israel at this time of trouble, which it says “there will be a great time of trouble.” It goes on to say, “such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book”

Now, in Matthew 24:21, Jesus makes the comment, “For then there will be great tribulation,” And that's kind of what gives us this term “The Great Tribulation”—a period of three and a half years at the end of the age of great trial and testing.

We also equate Jeremiah 30:7, where it speaks of what is called Jacob's trouble—a time of Jacob's trouble. Now you know who Jacob was. Jacob was the father of the twelve sons whose descendants became the twelve tribes of Israel. And so Jacob, if you recall, back in Genesis 48—well, actually, his name was changed earlier when he wrestled all night with God. His name was changed to Israel. And then in Genesis 48, he puts his name upon the sons of Joseph—Ephraim and Manasseh. And yet he still has that patriarchal name of Jacob.

Jeremiah talks about a time of Jacob's trouble. And it is an end-time setting of Jeremiah 30:7. And so we equate this time of great trial that Daniel 12:1 speaks of. We equate that with this time of trouble—this time of tribulation. And it will be so powerful, unlike any in the past.

That's hard to imagine. When you read of any epic of history and great wars—World War II in our time, World War I before that—which were truly global wars, especially World War II, and the millions and millions who died. And we are still dealing with the impact and the aftereffect of World War II today. That was a great war. But there have been other times of trial—the Thirty Years' War in Europe in another period of time, the Crusades of another time. And we've studied different wars and battles from the ancient world.

There have been times of trouble. There have been times of great famine. There have been times of great pestilence—the Black Death that swept through Europe in the 1300s. And though those periods were continent-wide, region-wide, worldwide—this is said to be even greater than all of those.

And with what we read when we were in chapter 11—and what we'll see in Revelation with the outpouring of seals, the wrath of Satan, the wrath of God, the Day of the Lord—this ending chapter of human history will be dramatic. It will be tragic. It will be controlled by the hand of God. Humankind will not be exterminated by nuclear war or any spin-off from that. That won't happen.

When we read the Scripture, we can be comforted that humanity will survive. That's why—look—the scenarios, the environmental scenarios that are painted in a dire way today about destroying mankind, destroying planet Earth, they don't, you know, it's not going to happen. Mankind will survive. This earth will survive.

That doesn't mean that, you know, environments can't be degraded and have problems. And, you know, we should give a hoot, not pollute. When it comes to that too, we should—you know, we need to dress and keep and take care of our planet. But we don't need to be scared into, you know, whatever fit we might be by dire predictions about climate change.

It's just—I've already commented on that at another time. Or even nuclear war. I grew up at a time when nuclear war was the problem. All right? We weren't worried about the environment when I was a kid, but we had nuclear war hanging over us. We had fallout drills. We had fallout shelters in my middle school, and we would have drills as to what would happen should a nuclear bomb go off—like you're going to survive it by ducking under a desk, as some of the things were. But that was hanging over the world at that time.

I grew up with that. You're growing up with, you know, environmental catastrophe. The Bible shows us how it's all going to play out, and God's people will survive, humanity will survive, God's purpose will endure.

Daniel 12:1 Daniel here says that "at that time your people will be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book." We interpret that to be "the Book of Life" that we can find in other locations to be described. But "God's people will be preserved."

This time of trouble is going to be a very difficult period of time, and it will parallel what we studied in the last class with Daniel 11:40–45. And in that general sense—and much more that we will get into detail with in Revelation.

And so this time of great trouble is parallel there in those references. It says then in verse 2, "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt." (Daniel 12:2)

Now here's a direct reference to the resurrection. And we would refer to that as the first resurrection—in a sense, "those who will sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt." The "everlasting life" would be that of the first resurrection. The "shame and everlasting contempt" would be the later event described in Revelation—"the lake of fire." We call it the third resurrection—not explicitly mentioned, but an event that is there that would include those who will be a part of, would be the "incorrigibly wicked."

But let's focus on those who "sleep in the dust of the earth and will awake." This would be a parallel later when Paul writes 1 Thessalonians 4, where death is described: "those who sleep, who are the dead in Christ." We understand death to be like a type of sleep, and to enter into that—out of which they will be awakened through a resurrection. And "those who are in the graves will come out at that particular time." (1 Thessalonians 4:16)

And so here's a very direct reference to it. And Daniel receives it in his age, in his time in the sixth century BC. Now again, by the time you come—this develops within Israel, later Jews and Judaism. And as we have studied already, and will study later in the  book of Acts, there were different camps among the Jews in the first century. Pharisees believed in a bodily resurrection while the Sadducees did not. So they developed differing lines of thought about that.

But here Daniel receives it, and it's very clear for us in the Old Testament—a reference to a distinct bodily resurrection for those who are the "Israel of God" or the "dead in Christ." Other scriptures give us more information that we would fill in on this particular doctrine or teaching in the Bible about the resurrection.

But let's keep moving here. Verse 3: "Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever." (Daniel 12:3)

This is a reference to the people of God that carries on with other references going back into chapter 11—those who perform mighty works, historically among them the Maccabees, but also the prophecy references those who fall by the sword, who are refined through trial and tribulation. "Those who turn many to righteousness will be like the stars forever." (Daniel 12:3)

And so this is a description of really us. We should take this to heart. We're called today. We've talked about that in terms of the judgment and the resurrections. The calling of those who are like those that sleep and will awake to everlasting life—we will be among those. And we're called today in advance of this time to prepare for the role that will take place at the return of Christ, to live and reign with Him for a thousand years.

And we prepare today through a life of overcoming and living righteously—preaching the gospel, supporting the work of the Church. In that way, as we live righteously, as we are examples, and in other sometimes even direct ways—as we live righteously—we will "shine like the brightness of the firmament," (Daniel 12:3) reflecting the glory of God and the way of God being made white.

And be a part of a work—or the work of the Church—in turning many to righteousness through the preaching of the gospel, the gospel of truth, the gospel of the kingdom, the gospel of Jesus Christ. And to influence people in that way, and to be among those who are wise and understand. This is where we are.

So Daniel is kind of—there’s a summing up that is taking place here. The resurrection is mentioned, which comes at the culmination of these prophetic events. But then in verse 4, something is said: "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." (Daniel 12:4)

So we will take this to mean the book—his book—the book of Daniel. At some point, after this vision concludes, Daniel goes about the job of shutting up the words and finishing the book that we have now called the book of Daniel. This is how we should understand this.

And he said, ” Seal it until the time of the end.” Well, that's our day and encompasses all these other events. "Many shall run to and fro, knowledge shall increase." (Daniel 12:4) That's pretty self-revelatory, that particular verse that kind of fits to a T, our modern world. We run to and fro.

We can jet anywhere we want. We are very mobile. Information, knowledge, data, goods and services can be transferred across, around the world, depending on what they are—data, money, things—instantly. We all understand that. We all know that. And so with that in our mind, we understand this time; we understand where we are in terms of a very global world, a very global society.

And so knowledge will increase. Where are we with knowledge in our world today?

Where are we? Well, look at the internet. Look at the increase in knowledge, and it's continuing to expand. I mean, we actually—you and I—are living on the cusp of a major change right now.

For the last 30 years, it's been, “Wow, look at the internet.” You've grown up with that. I didn't grow up with that. I grew up with an encyclopedia on a shelf. And you pulled that off—wow, there's a lot of knowledge there. Books of knowledge.

You didn't grow up with that. You grew up with it instantaneously on your phone and your computer—easy to access. And now we are moving into AI. And we're all beginning to understand and deal with that and what that means, in terms of knowledge growth exponentially outside of the internet.

And I know all the fears and all the concerns. And we're in the wild, wild west stage of the AI aspect of knowledge. I don't know how far it will go. I don't think machines will take over the world. I don't see that because of, again, what I read in Scripture.

Look at the futuristic predictions that are available to us and study that, be aware of it. I'll be honest—with a biblical worldview, I don't look at machines taking over the world. Now, technology can bring us to the brink of destruction—yes, nuclear and otherwise.

But God's word is true, and it is. And God's prophetic narrative tells us what we need to know. We're not going to see these great science fiction things take place. Now, how far will technology alter human existence? I don't know. I mean, there are great predictions about uploading our brain to the cloud, so to speak—or transhumanism.

I mean, this is a part of the discussion. Some of those discussions are quite scary. I don't know how far that will go. I don't even pretend to predict that. But I know that knowledge about that is growing exponentially.

And when you look at what Daniel is told here in verse 4, this verse just keeps developing—"knowledge increasing, people running to and fro." (Daniel 12:4) And it opens up whole new vistas in this.

And so, this is where, in a sense, the prophecy comes to an end that began in chapter 10, as we move into verse 5. Because it says, "Then..."—so we have the natural transition—"Then I, Daniel, looked; and there stood two others, one on this riverbank and the other on that riverbank. And one said to the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the river”—this would put us back to chapter 10 and this first being that he saw. I said then, I’ll repeat now: some think that that is a theophany or a vision of the one who became Christ. Others don’t.

So among interpreters, there’s a distinction. I don’t know that we have a firm interpretation ourselves in the Church on that. But we’ll leave it at that. But that’s where it returns to the one who’s clothed in linen, “Who was above the waters of the river. And one said to them, how long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be?" (Daniel 12:6)

The eternal question: How long before it all wraps up? Before the end of the age or return of Christ? The Millennium, etc.?

“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." (Daniel 12:7)

All right, now here’s where again we see a period of "a time, times, and half a time." And we’ve studied that already in terms of the biblical record back in chapter 5. And we will see that again in chapter 12 of Revelation—that this is referring to a period of 1,260 days or three and a half years—"a time, times, and half a time"—"when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished." (Daniel 12:7)

And so here we have a time marker and a time delineation. Now we’re getting into a section here that does have some more times and lines here, okay? But before we get to  that, let me comment on—it says "the power of the holy people has been completely shattered." Who are the holy people? God’s people. It would be Israel of old. It would be the Church of the New Testament, all right?

So let’s look at this futuristically. We’re talking about "the power of the holy people," "the power of the Church has been completely shattered." What kind of power do we have?

You know, as we study through the book of Acts, we find that the only power that the Church had in the early Church was the power of God’s Spirit—to go out and do the work, to preach the gospel, to heal, to raise the dead in some cases. Through prayer—the only power they had was God’s Spirit in them, and collectively the resurrected Christ doing His work through them.

And that’s the same today and will be to the end of the age. But he says that that power that the Church has is completely shattered. Now, this ties us back directly to Daniel 7:25, where we saw there that "the saints are given into the hands of this persecuting horn," this little horn that comes out of the fourth beast.

And we identified that as the papacy. And again, keep that in mind. We talked about that in the last class. This is a matter of helping to understand the interpretation of many prophecies—and Daniel is no exception to that. That horn "persecutes the holy people," that horn "seeks to change times and seasons." (Daniel 7:25) And the saints are given into the hands of this persecuting little horn. And so, encompassed in this "time, times, and half a time," which we refer to as the Tribulation, there is a persecution of the people of God.

All right? And so, we have again—go back to verse 5 and the end of verse 6—"How long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be?" (Daniel 12:6) Again, the question: What will be the end of this? And this is given—that it will be for a "time, times, and half a time." (Daniel 12:7) All right, so I’m going to put on the board some lines right now. We’ll put this one right here, and we’re going to call this perpendicular line Christ’s return. All right, and we don't know when that is, but that is our terminus. That's our end. That is when "these wonders will be fulfilled." (Daniel 12:6) Okay? That's the return of Christ.

Now, we have here a time called "time, times, and half a time." (Daniel 12:7) Now, we know from Revelation 12 that this is referring to a time of tribulation and great tribulation. So, you can put that down. And I'm going to put that down right here at the bottom, okay?

Here's a timeline that stretches out, and we're going to give this "time, times, and half a time"—three and a half years, 12 months of 30 days each, 1,260 days, etc.—and we're going to put down 1,260. So, at the end of this time, times, and half a time, we come to the return of Christ. And we'll be fulfilled, okay? So, let's look at that right there.

Now, verse 8: "Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, 'My lord, what shall be the end of these things?'" He said, "Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand." (Daniel 12:8–10)

Okay, now verse 9 again—there’s a lot in here. It's kind of the hallmark of Daniel: "The wise shall understand." (Daniel 12:10) We're trying to understand so many aspects of God's purpose and prophetic understanding as we've gone through Daniel and other prophetic books of the Bible. The wise will understand, all right?

But they're in this process that would also include this time of the 1,260 days. But even before then, there is a time of purification where people are made white—and that’s a symbol of righteousness: righteous works and deeds—and "refined." (Daniel 12:10)

So not only made white, but refined. Refining speaks to a process where impurities are extracted from silver or gold—other metals—to be made pure. That's usually done by heat. And so, trial, times of difficulty, can make us stronger, make us pure—refiners do that. And so it's speaking of the ongoing work of God's Spirit within and among His people here.

But notice again, he says in verse 9, "Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end." (Daniel 12:9) Now we've already—verse 4—Daniel's told to "shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end." (Daniel 12:4) And then he says, "these are closed and sealed till the time of the end." (Daniel 12:9)

Now, what does that mean? "Till the time of the end." Oh, they're sealed till the time of the end. In other words, there are things that are not understood until the time of the end.

Now, we've been going through Daniel and I've given you all kinds of historical understanding that helps us to understand Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and everything there, correct? And I've labeled it what we can understand from the Bible, from history, and the speculation.

I think we understand more than Daniel did when he sealed up the book. I do think we do, as we look back on the history from the time of Daniel. Do we understand it all? No. And "they're sealed till the time of the end." (Daniel 12:9)

All right, so as I've said—and I’ll say it many times in Revelation—we're not going to know what some of those things really do mean until we're looking back on them, kind of like we're looking back on aspects of Daniel today. Always keep that in mind. It's a mark of humility so that we don't get puffed up with pride and knowledge.

And I'll make one more comment: Don't get ahead of Daniel. And if you hear some speculation from any source—in the church, other groups, other books on prophecy, or whatever—then ask yourself: Are they trying to get ahead of Daniel?

In other words, they think they've got it all figured out—timelines, dates, events. And oh, look, I can show you—I didn’t bring them down—but I can show you charts that I've got that have been handed down from others that try to lay it all out.

And that can be a useful exercise. But at the end of the day, I put down at the bottom—as a footnote—possibilities, or what we understand based on what we know now. Don't get ahead of Daniel. This is what I've said to some of my friends: Don't get ahead of Daniel. Things are sealed, and we're not going to know until… It's an interesting discussion, my good friend, I will say. That is an interesting scenario that you have in your sermon or your paper. It's an interesting thought. But you're trying to get ahead of Daniel.

And the way I read the Scripture—"Go your way, Daniel… the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end." (Daniel 12:9) Some things are sealed. Remember that, and it will serve you well in evaluating sermons, speculation—well-meaning, noble, sincere—and even me. In that way, if I ever get ahead of Daniel, I hope that I can be pointed out to that. "The words are closed." (Daniel 12:9)

All right, so let's move on now. "And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days." (Daniel 12:11) Uh-oh, got another timeline there—1,290 days. Let's draw that in here. That goes out a little further—1,290.

What does it say about it? From the time the daily sacrifice is taken away—the abomination of desolation. We've already studied that. Remember what that was? Antiochus Epiphanes going into the temple, desecrating the temple with an offering of a pig on the altar, and very likely—as the historians feel—setting up a statue of Jupiter Olympus (Zeus) in the Holy of Holies. Desecrating, abominating the temple, to which the Maccabees had to clean it all up three-plus years later.

And so—but we're not at the time of Antiochus Epiphanes—we're at the time of the end. "Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days." (Daniel 12:12) Oh, got another one right here—1,335. So let's go up here and put that line out here. It goes out further.

All right, 1,335. So if you've done the math, there's a 45-day gap between this line and that line, and there's a 30-day gap between this line and that line. 1,335 to 1,290 to 1,260. We've already identified this concurrent with the tribulation—time of tribulation. We've got our perpendicular line here, which is Christ's return. And I'm showing you how we look at and interpret these particular numbers—these days—here at the very end of the book of Daniel.

Now, there are other interpretations by other interpreters—evangelical and all—but what I'm going to give you is what we have traditionally within the Church, just so that you have this. Keep in mind that all of them, as we understand it, all of them end at the return of Christ—which we don't know exactly—but then we're into the Millennium over here.

So keep this kind of... So something happens here, something happens here, and something begins here. This is the beginning of the tribulation. This, we are told, is the time when "the daily sacrifice is taken away." (Daniel 12:11)

What can that mean? Well, in Daniel and also in Revelation, we've studied—and will study again—that the prophecies show that there certainly will be sacrifices. Will there be a temple? We'll talk about that later—in Jerusalem—at the time of the end. That's going to be a part of all of this mix that's taking place with the King of the North coming in and the geopolitical structuring of that particular time. But with 1,290—it is referenced here as a time when an "abomination is set up." (Daniel 12:11)

Now, we're not looking for pigs and statues of Jupiter or Zeus in a temple again. In fact, if you look at Luke 21 and verse 20: "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near." (Luke 21:20)

A little different twist as we project to the end of the age: "Jerusalem surrounded by armies." (Luke 21:20)

We just read in Daniel 11, in the last class, that this King of the North comes into "the Glorious Land" and camps there. (Daniel 11:41)

That's going to be "armies surrounding Jerusalem." That will be, as Christ said, "then know that its desolation is near" (Luke 21:20).

Now, we've looked at this in the Church in the past, and one interpretation has been that the "abomination of desolation" here of Daniel 12:11 could be Jerusalem being surrounded by armies. I would reference Matthew 24:15 as well, where Jesus made the reference: "when you see the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place..." (Matthew 24:15).

So we've got that as well. I'm telling you how we have interpreted this. And so from that time, there seems to be a 30-day period when the tribulation begins—a time of Jacob's trouble—and Israel and a complete geopolitical reversal of the current world scene.

Because there are now armies of this power called the King of the North—or the Beast, as we'll study in Revelation—that have now come into the Middle East and have begun to make changes and alliances and begin to impact prophetically the whole flow of history as it is developing at that particular time.

Now, we have one other line to at least consider here. And it says, "Blessed is he who waits and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days" (Daniel 12:12). Something begins at this point. In the past, we interpreted this particular event as being "the power of the holy people has been completely shattered" (Daniel 12:7)—in other words, the work of the Church would conclude. This has been an interpretation that we've had. I would submit that could be open for further evaluation, but that has been at least our traditional teaching here.

And then 45 days later, armies move into the Middle East. And then there's another one-month period from this to here, when with that, we now have a power in place that begins what is described as Jacob's trouble or the tribulation. I want to turn to one verse in the book of Hosea. Have you gone through Hosea in your class yet? So this may be a review to you if Dr. Dunkle brought that out.

As we have looked at Hosea 5:5–7, there's an interesting passage here: "The pride of Israel testifies to his face; therefore Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; Judah also stumbles with them." (Hosea 5:5)

Now we have three references—Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity. Judah also stumbles with them. Now we know Judah refers to those people who are the Jews. And today, in this age, we would refer to them as the state of Israel—Judah.

Israel and Ephraim—well, from our studies of Genesis, we understand that Ephraim, one of the sons of Joseph inheriting the name of Israel, is paired with Manasseh. And in our interpretation of that part of the Abrahamic story and the promise, we've interpreted that those blessings put upon the sons of Joseph—Ephraim and Manasseh—are reflected in the abundance of power and wealth of the Anglo-peoples, let's call them: the English-speaking nations of the modern world, led by Great Britain and America historically.

That is a part of our prophetic narrative. We'll study that more when we get to the promises of Abraham. And so as we look at this here, we have interpreted that to possibly mean that America, Britain, the entire English-speaking world—which would include Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and contiguous states probably—will be brought low and stumble in their iniquity.

This time of Jacob's trouble is a time of revisiting God's displeasure with the peoples of Abrahamic descent through Joseph, receiving this period of trial. And so possibly…

"...with their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the Lord, but they shall not find Him; He has withdrawn Himself from them." (Hosea 5:6)

"They have dealt treacherously with the Lord, for they have begotten pagan children. Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage." (Hosea 5:7)

A new moon—30 days, a month. From one new moon to the next, we're looking at 30 days. So could it be that Hosea 5:5–7 is giving us an indication—or at least a hint—that the difference between 1,290 and 1,260 could be a period when the complete collapse of the English-speaking nations in the modern world comes about, and we have now the rise of this Beast power that incites a tribulation for three and a half years, terminating in the return of Christ? That's been our traditional teaching and understanding on that. Now, a lot more could be said and explored there.

I do want to point out before the conclusion of our class that the one thing we do know is this line here: Christ's return. And this is pretty fixed. This gives us specificity—this (the timelines) less so. And so, as we seek to put this together—a blessing to those who come to the end of the 1,335 days.

I will tell you other interpreters—evangelical Protestant scholars, for a long period of time—they take these two timelines and flip them. They put them into the Millennium.

Follow me? "Blessed is he who waits and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days." (Daniel 12:12) And they say that Christ returns, and then 1,335 days later, it comes to that period of blessing. And they have various interpretations as to what might happen during that time. The wedding supper is one of them for some, all right? And other things.

So they interpret these two as happening after Christ’s return—into the Millennium. Everybody brings the 1,260 to the close at Christ’s return. This is not our interpretation, so I’ll kind of cross that out there. Now, as we saw in the 70 Weeks Prophecy, we do have an interpretation: the last half-week of Daniel’s 70th week will be fulfilled—three and a half years—in this period of time. But we take that out of the 70 Weeks Prophecy in our particular interpretation.

But when it comes to these days of Daniel 12, this is where we are—all of them happening, in a sense, this side of the Second Coming, and chronicling certain events, and then Christ returns. And then we’re into the thousand-year period.

That may be—that is—a lot to digest. But they’re thrown in here. It’s almost like we’ve had a lot of images of horns and heads and beasts... and now: let’s just give them a little bit more to think about as God sums it up with Daniel. And then we come to the last verse, Daniel 12:13: "But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days." (Daniel 12:13)

I love that phrase. "You, go your way till the end." (Daniel 12:13)

And that’s probably the best message for us all to have as we conclude our study of Daniel. Go your way. Live your life. Be refined. Be made white. Continue to live with light, wisdom, and understanding. We saw back in Daniel 5 the hallmark description of Daniel—"in whom was light and understanding and wisdom." (Daniel 5:14)

"Go your way till the end, Daniel." (Daniel 12:13)

We don’t know how many more years he lived. We don’t know how many years all of us will go on. But we are to go our way. "You go your way." "You shall rest and will arise in your inheritance at the end of the days." (Daniel 12:13)

We’ll study more about that inheritance in the book of Revelation. There is a reward to us all for our lives—called as firstfruits today. It is a promise to Daniel. I love that phrase as it sums up the book: "Go your way till the end." (Daniel 12:13)

And if we can take that as a model for how to live—and keep our eyes on this world, keep our eyes on the Word of God, keep our eyes on our own lives, and coordinate all of that together—then, when we do rest, we can be assured that "we will arise in our inheritance at the end of the days." (Daniel 12:13)

That’s good advice that God gave to Daniel. It’s passed on—and it’s very good advice for us here. That brings us to the end of the book. It’s always kind of a rewarding time to come to that.

And we will begin our study in our next class into the book of Revelation, which kind of follows right on—in ways that will be shown at that particular time.

So that is a time for us all to "go our way," because it is the end of the class.