I ended the commentary on the final verse of Daniel chapter 11 by saying that the final power on this Earth will come to an end and it will not find any help from anyone. The book of Daniel says that will be the final PROPHETIC end of the last nation in Earth's history. It will not be the final ACT in Earth's history however; those final acts are found in Daniel 12:1-3. I can not end this look into the prophecies of Daniel without finishing off with the absolute final acts in Earth's history. It is extremely important that you know what those will be.
Chapter 11 ended with the final great earthly power of the world coming to its end with no one to help him.
Chapter 12 begins, "At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation." - Daniel 12:1.
According to other prophecies, especially in the book of Revelation, we see that economic ruin is not going to be the only "plague" to strike this Earth in the final days. Economic destruction will only be the beginning of the pains that will result in the birth of God's new kingdom.
A time of trouble came upon the Egyptian Kingdom at the time of the exodus of the Hebrews. It was destroyed, economically and physically but it still had a mighty army at its command and could still do what it pleased by right of force.
The Hebrew people, God's chosen people, came under the intense focus of the Egyptian government during that time of trouble that enveloped Egypt. They were accused of being responsible for all of the destruction that was happening throughout the land. The pharaoh of the mighty Egyptian army decided to annihilate those followers of the God of creation. Those followers of God did not worship according to the laws of the land of Egypt. They refused to bow down to the gods of Egypt and to follow the instructions for worship as dictated by the Egyptian government.
God led those true followers of his out of Egypt, to the edge of the Red Sea with nowhere to go and the mighty Egyptian army closing in on them from behind. Just when the leader of Egypt thought he would soon see the cause of the downfall of his kingdom destroyed, the God of Heaven and Earth opened a way through the sea to deliver his chosen ones. In a desperate and foolish act, the Pharaoh of Egypt followed those people of God into the midst of the sea. He was, after all, a great power who was respected by the gods and if the Hebrews could cross through a sea that was spit in two then he could do the same. Pharaoh and his entire army, however, were destroyed when that divided sea collapsed upon them. God had very effectively delivered his people from a power that felt itself superior to others.
When the final time of trouble begins on the last stage of this Earth's history, there is also going to be a group of people who will follow their creator in the same way that the Hebrews followed theirs. The lives of those final few will very closely parallel the lives of those Hebrews who left Egypt during the exodus. Also, the final great power of the world, during the last days of this Earth's history, is going to closely parallel the power of the Egyptian Pharaoh and his army.
Those who follow their Creator, during the last time of trouble on this Earth, will be blamed for all of the destruction and troubles happening throughout the land; in the same way and for the same reason that the Hebrew people were blamed for what happened in Egypt.
Those who follow their Creator during the last time of trouble on this Earth, will be hunted down by the army of the last nation on Earth; in the same way that the Hebrew people were hunted down by the army of Egypt.
Those who follow their Creator, during the last time of trouble on this Earth, will find themselves under a sentence of death because they will refuse to follow the laws of the land that are contrary to the words and ways of the Creator of Heaven and Earth; in the same way that the Hebrews, who refused to deny their creator, were under a sentence of death as Pharaoh and his army approached them at the Red Sea.
Those who follow their Creator, during the last time of trouble on this Earth will find themselves delivered from the power of death when the weapons of those who are intent on destroying those who refuse to turn their backs on their Creator are very effectively rendered as harmless as straw. Those final few will be delivered from death; in the same way the Hebrew people were delivered at the Red Sea. A divine deliverance is a miracle no matter when or how it happens.
"There shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. At that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book." - Daniel 12:1.
When those final words of Daniel 12:1 are accomplished then the Lord of Heaven and Earth will return as lightning that flashes from the east to the west, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God. How do I know this? Because right after the time of trouble in verse 1, verse 2 describes the resurrection of the dead in the same way that Paul describes it in the first letter to the Thessalonians.
"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words." - 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18.
"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.
There is no need for a commentary on verse 3 because it really needs no explanation; I will quote it though, simply to finish the final act of world history that will also be the beginning of the new life for those who are on God's side in this galactic battle.
"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.
Daniel is now given some final words from Gabriel, the one who revealed everything to him in chapters 10 and 11. He tells Daniel to "shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end." - Daniel 12:4. "Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end." - Daniel 12:9. "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.
Notice the two phrases used in those three verses. The first phrase is repeatedly used in the first two verses. Daniel is told that the words and the book are sealed until "the time of the end." According to the time lines shown earlier, the explanation of the phrase "time of the end" is understood to begin in 1798, after the pope is relieved of his power and taken away in chains by General Berthier. The book of Daniel, by the decree of God himself, was to remain a mystery; the words were to be shut up and the book sealed until the time of the end in 1798. Since that time the book of Daniel has been deciphered and understood in its entirety.
In keeping with the consistency of the word of God Daniel did not die and go to Heaven. In the last verse of those three, Daniel is told, "for you shall rest (die/sleep)." He would not stay that way however. He is told that he would, "arise to your inheritance at the end of the days."
The "end of the days" is not the same as the "time of the end" which begins in 1798. The end of the days is when Daniel and all the other righteous dead will be resurrected. That time will also be when all Earthly kingdoms are destroyed by the Rock that is cut out of the Mountain without hands. When the Rock strikes the nations of this world, in the very toes of time, then Daniel and all those who have died before and after him, will rise to newness of life. When that happens, there will be no more understanding of time as we currently understand it. We will then view time in the light of eternity. In other words, time will last for ever.
This is the end of Daniel. I hope I have been clear on my presentation of what little knowledge I have of Daniel. There are much greater minds out there than mine. I am just an ordinary guy who has decided to take something extraordinary and have tried to turn it into something ordinary so everyone has a better understanding of what this great controversy is all about. It is like a real life Star Wars. A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Now though, the battle for the Empire has been brought to our doorstep. God, because he loves each one of us, has given us a roadmap of history to follow.
We are, right now, at the border of this Earth’s destination. Looking back at where this world has come from we can see that God has been 100% there, 100% of the time. When it comes to the last part of the trip, do we really need to worry that we are going to be led across a bridge that suddenly ends with nowhere to go but down? No, God has not brought us all this way to just abandon us at the border. We can see that he is true to his word to this point and that he always does what he says he is going to do. Do you think you can trust him for the last little bit?
Jesus asked some people a question once. He said, “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread will give him a stone?" We can be some pretty cold hearted people sometimes but there are not very many people who would treat their own children in the way that God has been accused of. If you do not know that God is love, then it is only because you have never taken the time to get to know him. Do not become too busy with stuff and do not just take other people's words as the truth instead of reading and searching for that truth yourself. Hopefully, what you get out of this book will drive you to do a little studying on your own instead of just taking my word for it. Hopefully, you now have a clearer understanding of what this galactic battle is all about.
God is running a clean, honest and open universe. He has no dirty laundry to hide; the other side however…you need to remember what I said earlier in the book; He hates God. In a crazy, freaked-out way he hates God. That is his nature. He was not always that way, but when you separate yourself from the only sanity in the universe, from the only dependable point of reference there can possibly be, you have a tendency to get really crazy and confused.
How is it all going to end? We ended Daniel chapter 11 with what is going to happen to the greatest kingdom of this world in the last days of this Earth’s history. There are going to be many contributing factors that will bring about the demise of the last great nation of Earth. Right now, in 2009, we are going through what some people call a severe recession. Banks, savings and loans, mortgage holders, money managers of every kind and corporate manufacturing companies are turning to the U.S. government to bail them out of the financial disasters they have brought upon themselves. The U.S. government is printing more money to cover those debts of others, while it is…well, let me give you a little news report I ran across on the www.bbc just the other day.
U.S. DEBT CLOCK RUNS OUT OF DIGITS
"Until last month, the clock had enough digits to measure U.S. debt levels. The U.S. government's debts have ballooned so badly the National Debt Clock in New York has run out of digits to record the spiraling figure.
The digital counter marks the national debt level, but when that passed the $10 trillion point last month, the sign could not display the full amount. The board was erected to highlight the $2.7 trillion level of debt in 1989. The clock's owner's say that two more zeros will be added, allowing the clock to record a quadrillion dollars of debt.
Some economists believe the $700 billion bail-out plan for ailing U.S. financial institutions could send the national debt level to $11 trillion."
As a side note, it is now August 2011 and according to usdebtclock.org the U.S. deficit is currently $55 trillion. The interest on that debt is currently $3.5 trillion. President Obama and the rest of our governmental officials are trying to institute a national debt ceiling. The last I heard they were trying to make that limit $127 trillion.
We are involved in a war on terrorism and we have taken that war to the home of those who started it in the first place. From this vantage point there is no end in sight. The war however, will come to its end and according to scripture this country will come to its own end with no one to help us.
Much more will happen to contribute to bringing down the nations of this world. The United States will just be unlucky to be the richest, greatest and most powerful nation on the Earth at the end of time.
Our nation has always prided itself on religious freedom. In the end it is going to enforce some law that are already on the books but are no longer enforced because everything has been going just fine for quite a few years...and we really don't need God…thank you very much.
When it all finally comes completely apart at the seams, and the time of trouble mentioned in prophecy strikes this nation and the world, the major leaders in the fundamental churches of the United States, along with the religious governmental leaders of this country, will decide that it is time to legislate morality upon the masses, in the same way that the papal Roman Church used to legislate morality, by enforcement of laws requiring a weekly day of rest. It will be decided by the moral majority of this country, that all of the trouble happening to this country, during the "time of trouble", is the result of a nation that has turned its back on God. Those who are in disagreement with forced religious obedience will then suffer the consequences of disobeying the laws of the land.
There used to be many laws in the United State that made it a criminal act to work or operate a business on Sunday. Those laws are known as National Sunday Laws, or Blue Laws. When the time of trouble strikes this country those laws will once again be enforced and newer, more insistent laws will be enacted, requiring the people of this country to worship God by going to church on Sunday. You only need to do a www search on "National Sunday Laws" to find how serious many people and denominations are concerning a National Sunday Law.
Remember the prophecy in Revelation 13:11, concerning the beast that came out of the earth; the one with the two horns like a lamb? The end of that verse says that the lamb-like beast is going to speak like a dragon. It goes on to say, "And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed." - Revelation 13:12.
The United States began as a country escaping the powers of an enforced religion. Those enforced religious requirements had found their creation and enforcement during the 1,260 year reign of the popes of the Roman Church. Because of that oppressive church/state relationship, the founders of a new country and government arrived in the new world to live their dream of a life without the interference of the government into their religious beliefs and practices; or their lack of belief and practice.
In 1798 the Roman Church's political and religious powers received a deadly wound when the pope of Rome was taken away in chains by the French army. After its demise, its influence continued to affect the way in which the governments of Europe legislated obedience to religious doctrine. According to Revelation 13:13 the deadly wound would later be healed.
History tells us that it was indeed healed in 1929 when Mussolini signed the “Concordat of 1929” with the papacy, restoring their properties and power. Papal Rome once again became a religious/political power. It would also once again be a tremendous religious influence on the nations of the world.
The United States has always prided itself on the separation of church and state; in the end however, it will be found to speak like a dragon as "he exercises all the authority of the first beast." That first beast was the power that forced religious obedience on the people before the "time of the end"; the United States will speak like that dragon when it too decides to legislate religious obedience because of a "need" to draw closer to God. That "need" will be because of a great time of trouble that comes upon this country and the world.
At first the enforcement of legislated religion will only be by monetary fines for those who refuse to rest on Sunday. As the time of trouble continues and worsens, the Sunday day of rest will be enforced by sending violators to jail. The time of trouble will continue to worsen as the Spirit of God is slowly withdrawn from the lives of those who do not want, or do not allow that Spirit of God to control them. Eventually, the laws enforcing rest on Sunday will become violent and the use of deadly force will be authorized against those who refuse to compromise their conscience in relation to the law of God. When this lamb-like nation, so well known for its religious liberty, speaks like a dragon and authorizes the laws demanding worship to be enforced by pain of death, then this nation will have become guilty of national apostasy; complete national ruin will then be the result. When all of that happens then Daniel 12:1-3 is going to kick in.
“And at that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. 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 12:1-3.
How is it going to end? It is going to end just as Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar his dream of the great image had ended in Daniel 2.
“You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain that filled the whole earth.” - Daniel 2:34, 35.
Chapter 12:1 tells us that when the ministry of Christ is finished in the Most Holy Place in heaven (trust me on this one until the last chapter), he is going to leave his place in the temple and at that time a judgment is given fixing everyone’s destiny. If you are good then that is the way you will stay; if your are bad, well, you will stay that way too. It all has to do with the Spirit of God who is always with each one of us.
A lot of people call the Spirit of God the conscience; the Jiminy Cricket of the soul you might say. A day will come, in the end, when everyone will have made a decision as to whose side they want to be on in this controversy between Christ and Satan. The Spirit of God only goes where he is invited. If you are a person who enjoys God’s company then God’s Spirit will be welcome in your life. If you want to live your life your own way and do not really care to listen to any advice from God, then you have every right to do just that. God’s Spirit will never go where he is not wanted. Your mind is sacred to God and he will never violate your freedom of choice and thought.
This is where we get back into the good staying good and the bad staying bad thing again. When a certain moment is reached in this Earth’s history and only God knows when that moment is, God’s Spirit will have found his permanent home in the lives of everyone who wants him there. Those who have chosen to live their lives their own way will be granted that freedom as well. God’s Spirit will leave them and never return. Then you are on your own.
Daniel 12:1 says, “…there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time.” In other words, it is going to be tooth and claw time again, only this time it is going to be in the human kingdom instead of the lower animal kingdom. Those who have rejected God in their lives will no longer feel any restraint, or nagging persistence of, “maybe I should not do this” going through their mind when they are thinking some violent thought. Or hey, I just don't feel like paying for anything today so I will take what I want. If someonw gives me any trouble then I will just put a bullet in them and leave them dead or dying. Anarchy and chaos will be the rule of the day.
“And at that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book.” – Daniel 12:1
In those last days of this earth’s history it is going to get really tough and the only ones who are going to come through it with their sanity intact are going to be those who have chosen to live their lives in harmony with the God of Heaven. Everyone else, it is going to be dog eat dog to the max, because they have chosen to reject the calming Spirit of God and the only other spirit at work in this world will be the spirit of the one who rejected God’s ways in the very beginning. That spirit does not care in the least bit about your freedom of choice.
In Revelation 3:20 Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” That other spirit does not bother with knocking to see if he is welcome or not. He either breaks down the door or climbs in though the window and does whatever he wants.
If you have followed along so far and have seen the reasonable way that God has laid things out for us, then you also have to know that what he says is going to happen in the very end is actually going to happen as well. It is not a pretty sight for those who want to do it their own way. It is what it is though.
After that time of trouble there is going to be an appearing in the eastern sky that will literally wake the dead. The God who made our first parents at the very beginning is going to return to this Earth just as he said he would. “I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.” – Matthew 26:64.
When he and all those angels who have come with him arrive, there is going to be a demonstration of creation that has not happened since the days of the first creation 6,000 years ago. Those who died with God as their friend are going to be re-created just as Adam and Eve were in the very beginning; then the God who knows the number of hairs on your head is going to replace everything in your brain, just as it was before you died. It is kind of like software installation. He has kept all of the files you have on your personal “hard drive” backed-up and safe, and just reinstalls it into the new super computer of a brain he has just re-created within you…the one with an eternal warranty that goes along with its unlimited gig hard drive. You will never have to be concerned with forgetting anything because you will have perfect recall. Everything will be perfect, just as it was meant to be in the very beginning. Those who have God as a friend and are still alive will be changed too, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.
Those who have decided to do it their own way are not going to suffer eternal torture because of the few years they have existed on this Earth. Yes, they are going to die, because that is the choice they made when they decided to do it their own way. They have made an informed decision to separate themselves from the only source of life in this universe. When that source of life comes back to this planet he is going to take back all that is his. Life is one of those things that belong to him. He will give it to those who want it, but he will also take it back from those who did not want it with his stipulations attached to it. Those stipulations are only for the best good of the entire universe. It is all a matter of choice.
It is about time to end this long-winded narrative about Daniel. God told Daniel in chapter 12:4 to “shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”
We are in the time of the end. We are a people who travel all over the place and what we are learning about science and physics is both amazing and terrifying at the same time.
In Daniel 12:7 the time prophecy- containing all things, including the time of the end, is mentioned one more time. Time, times, and half a time; 2,300 days/years…the longest time prophecy in the Bible. It began, just as all of the other time prophecies we have already studied, in 457 B.C. After 2,300 days/years we arrive at 1844 A.D. We will study the 1844 A.D. date in more detail before the end of this book.
Before we close up Daniel 12 there are a couple of odd time periods mentioned. I will try to make those as clear as I know how.
VERSES 11, 12:
“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. Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.”
The first time period blends in with the 1,260 days/years period, which is the reigning time of the early papal Roman Church. The second time period blends in with the 2,300 days/years period and the time of the end. As far as being able to put them both into understandable language, I will have to admit that I might have met my match in the vernacular.
Neither time period is specifically important as far as anyone alive today is concerned. However, there are a couple of notable events that happened during these two time periods. These time periods were meant for those who were alive during the time that the events happened and were mostly a little heads up notice from God to his people during that time; those who had figured out the prophecies. These two prophecies were meant to let them know that something special was going to happen.
The first, or 1,290 days/years period deals with the starting point of the taking away of the “daily” (pagan Rome) and before the establishment of the “abomination of desolation” (papal Rome). Its ending point is 1798 when the papal Church was done away with by Berthier, so that makes its starting point 508 B.C. Some people see the event happening during this time as being the conversion of Clovis, the king of the Franks, to the Catholic faith. They make it an important stage in the beginning of the rise of the Papal Catholic Church’s supremacy in the west.
The 1,335 days/years period also begins in 508 A.D. because it is mentioned immediately after the 1,290 days/years is mentioned. It also has to begin there because the text says whoever was waiting when this time period ends would be blessed. Starting in 508 A.D. causes it to end in 1843.
During that time, in 1843, there was a great religious awakening that had galvanized the attention of all people in regards to their accountability to God. It was a time when there was a great outpouring of the Spirit of God on those who believed in and who chose to follow, God’s ways. It was a lot like the day of Pentecost during the time of the disciples in the book of Acts. It was a great religious revival/awakening.