DANIEL 12: MICHAEL STANDS UP

 Delivered—to escape, to release or rescue¹

“At that time shall Michael stand up”

But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. (Daniel 10:13)

But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince. (Daniel 10:21)

Yet Michael the archangel, [a chief angel, first in rank or power] when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. (Jude 9)

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. (1 Thessalonians 4:16)

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels. (Revelation 12:7)

The only angel in Scripture who is named is Gabriel, and he is not called an archangel. In John 5:28, Jesus said it was His own voice that would call the dead from the grave. So it is He who will come with the shout or voice of the archangel. Christ is our Prince. He has authority over the dragon and his angels (Satan and the fallen angels; see Revelation 12:9) and indeed over all of creation.

“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds” (Hebrews 1:1–2). Michael is one of the many descriptive names of Christ used in Scripture to help us understand His character.

What does it mean that Michael will “stand up”? Daniel 12:1 describes the time when Christ will cease His work of intercession on behalf of men a short time before He comes to redeem His people and destroy the incorrigibly wicked. Christ will then lay aside His priestly robes in preparation to come as “King of kings, and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:16).

The work of mercy will be finished and the door of salvation will close forever for the human race. “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be” (Revelation 22:11–12).

When Michael stands up, each person’s destiny will be fixed forever. Every person living on earth has been given an opportunity to repent and accept the redeeming blood of Christ. However, at this time, mercy has been rejected for error and men are confirmed in their rejection of truth; thus, further intercession is no longer needed.

Michael stands up and leaves the sanctuary. The time of trouble begins, and it continues until Christ comes in the clouds of heaven. The nations will be broken as with a rod of iron, dashed in pieces like a potter’s vessel. There will be a series of judgments upon men who have rejected God, referred to in Revelation 16 as the seven last plagues.

“The great prince”

Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. (Daniel 9:25)

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. (Acts 5:31)

But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses. (Acts 3:14–15)

Christ is the one who is like God, the chief or ruler of all the angels of heaven. Christ is the messenger of God to mankind. He is our Prince and Savior, and He shall stand to protect His people, those whose names are in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

“Standeth for the children of thy people”

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. (Psalm 91:1–10)

The Lord standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people. (Isaiah 3:13)

This prophecy carries us thousands of years beyond Daniel’s day and encompasses the whole world, not just a single race or country. The people of God who are delivered are all the true descendents of Abraham. “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:26–29).

“There shall be a time of trouble”

For then there will be great tribulation (affliction, distress, and oppression) such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now—no, and never will be [again]. (Matthew 24:21 AMP)

And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. (Revelation 16:1)

The time of trouble that comes upon the world is a short space of time beginning when the door of mercy forever shuts, and Christ (Michael) ceases His intercession for mankind. Then begins the pouring out of the seven last plagues upon the impenitent of the world.

As in Noah’s day, the end will come with apparent suddenness. Life will apparently continue as before while the day of salvation has passed away unnoticed by the lost, until the wrath of God in the plagues are poured out. Then too, as in Noah’s day, some will cry out to the Lord for deliverance, but it will be too late. “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the Word of the Lord, and shall not find it” (Amos 8:11–12).

The righteous who were in the ark of safety, and, in the end, the sealed ones who have made Christ their refuge and strength, are equally troubled by the great upheaval upon the earth, but are sustained by God. “For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion: in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me; He shall set me up upon a rock” (Psalm 27:5).

“The salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: He is their strength in the time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them: He shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in Him” (Psalm 37:39–40).

“Thy people shall be delivered”

I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. (Daniel 7:21–22)

Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; and to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day. (2 Thessalonians 1:6–10)

God’s deliverance of His people is manifested in three ways: first, He protects them from the wicked who are enraged against them. Second, Christ delivers or shields His people from the seven last plagues. Their final and complete deliverance comes when Christ appears in the clouds of heaven to take them to Himself, nevermore to be afflicted by the evil of this world.

“Every one that shall be found written in the book”

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Revelation 13:8)

And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. (Revelation 17:8)

And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15)

The deliverance that Michael (Christ) has promised here is for the saints—those who have been made and pronounced morally clean by the blood of the Lamb. They are found in the Lamb’s Book of Life, sealed for eternity and safe from the wrath of man and from the seven last plagues, and are soon to enter into their eternal inheritance. For those who are found outside of God’s book at this time, there will be only woe, lamentation, and sorrow.

Daniel 12:2

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.

Sleep—to be slack, or languid i.e. (by implication) sleep (figuratively, to die)²; to be dead, to rest in the grave for a time³

“Sleep in the dust of the earth”

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. (Genesis 3:19)

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 the dead. (Isaiah 26:19)

One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet. And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure. They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them. (Job 21:23, 25–26)

Consider and hear me, O Lord my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death. (Psalm 13:3)

Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. (John 11:11–14)

For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption. (Acts 13:36)

Those who “sleep in the dust” are the dead of all ages. Though “the memory of them is forgotten” (Ecclesiastes 9:5), and though they have decayed and returned to the very elements of dust, God does not forget them. The same God who originally formed man out of the dust will gather together His elect from the four corners of the earth, “and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:53–54).

“Shall awake, some to everlasting life”

So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep. O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands. (Job 14:12–15)

Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:51–52)

At the coming of Christ the righteous shall receive eternal life. The awakening from the dead is not speaking of the body only, but body and soul together are raised out of the sleep of death from the dusty graves of the earth to be forever with the Lord.

“And some to shame and everlasting contempt”

The resurrection to shame and contempt foretold here is limited to those who played a prominent role in the crucifixion of Christ. For the Bible reveals that at the coming of Christ, the wicked shall be destroyed, only to be resurrected [the second resurrection] at the end of one thousand years, at which time they will face the great white throne judgment and be cast into the lake of fire. (See Isaiah 11:4; Revelation 20:11–15.)

Notice the order of events. The king of the north shall set himself up in the place of God as he shall “plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain” (Daniel 11:45). Soon thereafter Christ stands up and leaves His work as our Intercessor and High Priest. Then commences the great time of trouble and the pouring out of the seven last plagues, though in the midst of this time of trouble God’s people shall be protected. Soon Christ comes and forever delivers His people from the sorrows of this sin-cursed earth.

When Christ comes to put an end to sin and rebellion, His children who have passed away in death shall be resurrected. John, in the Revelation, adds insight to the words of Daniel as to the identity of the ones who are resurrected to shame: “Behold, He [Christ] cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen” (Revelation 1:7).

Those who led out in the murder of Jesus shall see Him come in the clouds of heaven. For them it will not be resurrection unto life but only shame. Thus shall be fulfilled the words of Christ to His persecutors: “I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven” (Matthew 26:64).

Daniel 12:3

And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

And those who are wise—the people of God—shall shine as brightly as the sun’s brilliance, and those who turn many to righteousness will glitter like stars forever. (Daniel 12:3 TLB)

“And they that be wise”

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise. (Proverbs 11:30)

Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not. (Proverbs 8:33)

A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil. (Proverbs 14:16)

Whoso keepeth the law is a wise son. (Proverbs 28:7)

Where is the wise man (the philosopher)? Where is the scribe (the scholar)? Where is the investigator (the logician, the debater) of this present time and age? Has not God shown up the nonsense and the folly of this world’s wisdom? For when the world with all its earthly wisdom failed to perceive and recognize and know God by means of its own philosophy, God in His wisdom was pleased through the foolishness of preaching [salvation, procured by Christ and to be had through Him], to save those who believed (who clung to and trusted in and relied on Him.) (1 Corinthians 1:20–21 AMP)

“Shall shine as the brightness of the firmament”

Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. (Matthew 13:43)

But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. (Proverbs 4:18)

The wise are those who were humble enough to believe in a Savior, wise enough to understand and “know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing” (Romans 7:18). The glory and joy of the redeemed is compared to the natural glories of this world. The glory and wonderful awe we experience when we behold the heavens is but a foretaste of the glories of eternity and the everlasting reward that will be for the redeemed.

Daniel 12:4

But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

Shut up—figurative, to keep secret⁴

Seal—to close up; especially to seal⁵

To and fro—by implication, to travel⁶

But Daniel, keep this prophecy a secret; seal it up so that it will not be understood until the end times, when travel and education shall be vastly increased! (Daniel 12:4 TLB)

But you, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the Book until the time of the end. [Then] many shall run to and fro and search anxiously [through the Book], and knowledge [of God’s purposes as revealed by His prophets] shall be increased and become great. (Daniel 12:4 AMP)

“Shut up the words”

And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days. (Daniel 8:26)

“Many shall run to and fro”

And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord God; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty. Dan also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy fairs: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market. (Ezekiel 27:3, 19)

For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth. (Zechariah 4:10)

Not all of Daniel’s prophecy was sealed, for Jesus encouraged the people of His day to study Daniel. “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand)” (Matthew 24:15).

Portions of Daniel’s prophecies pointing to the end were kept a secret, or closed up. This is not to say that the entire book was a secret, for God sent an angel messenger to explain certain portions, which have been understood by believers for centuries. But those portions of the book dealing with the end times were not opened to man’s understanding until the appropriate time had arrived.

The time of the end starts with the close of the 1,260-year prophecy, the “times, time, and half a time” of Daniel 7:25. Since 1798, the commencement of the time of the end, both human knowledge and travel have increased. The knowledge and understanding of the book of Daniel, and indeed the entire Bible, have greatly increased as men run to and fro through the Word of God even as men literally run to and fro in traveling throughout the earth.

Daniel 12:5–6

Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood [two others], the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river. And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?

The phrase I looked and I saw in Revelation is indicative of a new vision or a new phase or explanation of what had gone before. It is used in a similar fashion here. In verse 6 the expression how long begins the concluding remarks of Daniel’s vision.

“Man clothed in linen”

And they made coats of fine linen of woven work for Aaron, and for his sons. (Exodus 39:27)

He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on. And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall put off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there: And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest’s office in his father’s stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments. (Leviticus 16:4, 23, 32)

And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. (Revelation 15:6)

Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. And he spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between the wheels, even under the cherub, and fill thine hand with coals of fire from between the cherubims, and scatter them over the city. And he went in in my sight. (Ezekiel 10:1–2)

Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz: His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. (Daniel 10:5–6)

The priests were clothed in linen. In the New Testament, angels associated with the temple are depicted as clothed in linen. In Ezekiel 9 and 10 a being is seen clothed in linen, which came forth from God to execute judgment. When people or beings are described in Scripture as being “clothed in linen,” we are to understand that they are set apart as servants of God, like the priests on earth and heavenly beings who come forth to do God’s will.

Here in Daniel 12 it is clear that this man “clothed in linen” is Christ, as we compare Daniel 12:6 with the description of the man in linen given in 10:5–6 at the beginning of this vision.
Christ and an angel messenger, who appeared and spoke to Daniel at the beginning of this vision in chapter 10, appear again at the end of the vision.

Daniel 12:7

And 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.

“He held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever”

And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer. (Revelation 10:1, 5–6)

The 1,260 years mentioned in Daniel 7:25 is again shown to Daniel, taking us to the time of the end. But as we read in Daniel 12:9, the conclusion of these things was not for Daniel to know—they were “sealed unto the time of the end.” John saw the same being Daniel saw in Revelation chapter 10, when Christ declared (verse 6) that there was to be time no longer. It appears that Christ is telling us that the 1,260-year prophecy has no further application in the future, for the prophetic time of the 1,260 days has come to an end or “shall be finished.”

In Revelation 10, the time is referring to the 2,300-day/year prophecy in reference to the work of our great High Priest. In both cases these prophetic periods are at an end. Thus, the time that is no longer is prophetic time. No definite time remains—we are now living on borrowed time, the end of which is known only to God. We are not waiting for any specific date for a particular event to happen.

The final scattering or persecution of God’s holy people by the king of the north, and the finishing up of all the things shown to Daniel, will take place after the 1,260 years, during the time of the end described from Daniel 11:40 to 12:4. The “he” who works “for a time, times, and an half” in verse 7 is the little horn of Daniel 7 and called the king of the north in Daniel 11:31–45.

Daniel 12:8

And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?

And I heard, but I did not understand. Then I said, O my lord, what shall be the issue and final end of these things? (Daniel 12:8 AMP)

I heard what he said but I didn’t understand what he meant, so I said, “Sir, how will this all come out?” (Daniel 12:8 TLB)

As in Daniel chapter 8, Daniel did not fully understand the answer to the question “How long?” In verse 7 the question was only partially answered, as he was taken up to the time of the end at the termination of the 1,260-day/year prophecy. In verses 40 to 45 of chapter 11 and the first four verses of chapter 12, we are given an overview of events to transpire after the time of the end has begun.

Chapters 10 through 12 contain one long vision that lasts from Daniel’s day until the resurrection and the second coming of Christ. Indeed, as the angel declared, “The time appointed was long” (Daniel 10:1). Daniel, after seeing the panorama of events spanning more than 2,600 years, wanted to know “How will this all come out?”

Daniel 12:9

And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.

Closed up—figurative, to keep secret⁷

Again it is repeated to Daniel that the words that are spoken are closed up and sealed until the time of the end. It was now time for Daniel to lay down his work, to go his way and trust in God’s grace and providence, that he and his people would be delivered.

Daniel 12:10

Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.

Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be tried, smelted, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but the teachers and those who are wise shall understand. (Daniel 12:10 AMP)

“Many shall be purified”

Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently. (1 Peter 1:22)

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. (1 John 3:2–3)

And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. (Malachi 3:3)

“Made white”

And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed. (Daniel 11:35)

And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. (Revelation 6:11)

And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (Revelation 7:14)

“Tried”

But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. (Job 23:10)

Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. (Psalm 17:3)

For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried. (Psalm 66:10)

That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried [tested] with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:7)

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, [approved], he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. (James 1:12)

The wise are those who turn many to righteousness and those who gain understanding through running to and fro through the Scriptures. The blood of Christ purifies the wise, and through tribulation and trial their characters are tested and refined. This purification is God’s purpose for the long times of tribulation spoken of in this final vision. He is working to prepare His people for eternity and the last generation for His soon coming.

“The wise shall understand” speaks of God’s servants, who shall understand the visions of Daniel that were to be unsealed in the latter days; and of the Revelation that Christ gave to His servant John for the guidance of His people through the centuries. “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein for the time is at hand” (Revelation 1:3).

The overview of the long night of this world’s history was given to Daniel and through him to us. The time is long, but during this time the true people of God have undergone purification, trying, and testing while the wicked continue to do wickedly. But God has assured us that “evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate” (Psalm 34:21).

Daniel 12:11

And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.

The “daily” (continual) that is taken away is paganism, or imperial Rome, allowing the consequent setting up of the papacy, which was to desolate the truth of God. In Daniel 8 this same work of the daily being taken away resulted in spreading transgression or abomination and the truth being cast to the ground. The powers that accomplished this desolation were first pagan Rome and then papal Rome. In Daniel 11:31 the same power is again said to take away the daily and set up the abomination, and this power is papal Rome. The events of Daniel 12:11 represent the same time and work as those of the little horn in Daniel 7:25.

We are not told what event the 1,290 days or years points to, but we are told of the event that marked the beginning of this period—the “taking away” of paganism, which allowed the papacy to grow and prosper. Thus we can conclude that the end of the 1,290 years would be marked by the cessation of papal supremacy. Counting back, then, 1,290 years from 1798 (the year the papacy was temporarily abolished), we come to the year A.D. 508. What significant event took place in A.D. 508 that led to the setting up of the abomination that was to make desolate?

In A.D. 496 Clovis, the king of the Franks or modern day France, converted to Catholicism, and set about to conquer all of the nations that would not accept his religion. In A.D. 508 Clovis defeated a stronghold of resistance, the Visigoth kingdom. Historians tell us that Clovis sought “to unite all the elements from which the new social order was to be formed,—namely, the barbarians, whom he established in power; the Roman civilization, to which he rendered homage by receiving the insignia of patrician and of consul from the Emperor Anastasius; and finally, the Catholic Church, with which he formed that fruitful alliance which was continued by his successors.⁸

In him [Clovis] met two religions, and two ages of the world. At his birth the Roman world was still a power; his death marks the dawn of the Middle Ages. He stepped into the vacant place of the Eastern emperor, and paved the way for what Charlemagne perfected—the fusion of Roman and German civilization, the alliance of church and state.⁹

Daniel 8:11–12 and 11:31 speak of the power that shall seek to take away the continual (daily) ministration of Christ by falsehood. This power was papal Rome. The desolating effect of false worship, and the corruption brought about by this church-state union, is seen in this desolating abomination. The effects of sin and false worship did not start in A.D. 508 or end in 1798. The battle between the truth of God and the error of false worship has been going on since the fall of man, and it continues to this day. Therefore, the admonition is given:

Daniel 12:12

Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.

If 508 and 1798 are the correct beginning and ending times for Daniel 12:11, the blessed day of the 1,290-year prophecy would reach down to 1843. This was the height of the adventawakening, when the blessing of new truth and new opportunities were unfolded to many of God’s children.

The only other way to interpret these times are to place them back in history with reference to issues concerning the Jews, or to place their fulfillment in the future as literal time, beginning sometime around the implementation of the mark of the beast, and ending a short time before Christ comes in the clouds of heaven. Yet it is clearly stated in Daniel 12 and Revelation 10 that there will be no more prophetic time after the close of the 1,260- and 2,300-day/year prophecies. The 1,290 and 1,335 are linked with the 1,260-day/year prophecy and the time of the end, and must therefore have their fulfillment in relationship to that time.

Regardless of the ultimate meaning of these two time periods, it is wise to wait upon the Lord, hold on to the truth we do know, and rest in the assurance that Christ is soon to deliver His people. The admonition is to be wise and wait for the salvation of the Lord. Then we, with Daniel, will stand in our place with the redeemed of all ages.

Daniel 12:13

But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.

As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance. (Daniel 12:13 NIV)

Christ, our Redeemer and our “high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens” (Hebrews 8:1), will determine Daniel’s destiny or portion. The time of Daniel’s resurrection, with the faithful saints of all ages, is not revealed to us. We are only given this wonderful promise: “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them” (Revelation 14:13).

Daniel’s faithfulness and fidelity to God still speaks to us now. May you choose this day to be like faithful Daniel, with the assurance of God’s deliverance at the end of the days. Praise God, our day of redemption is drawing nigh!


Endnotes

1.  James Strong, LL.D., S.T.D., Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1987).

2.  Ibid.

3.  Noah Webster’s First Edition of an American Dictionary of the English Language, (1828; reprint, San Francisco, Calif.: Foundation for American Christian Education, 1967).

4.  James Strong, op. cit.

5.  Ibid.

6.  Ibid.

7.  Ibid.

8.  Victor Duruy, The History of the Middle Ages (New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1891), 32. Cited by Uriah Smith, Daniel and the Revelation (Southern Publishing Association, 1944. Printed in USA), 328.

9.  Julius von Pflugk-Harttung, A History of All Nations, vol. 7, 72. Cited by Uriah Smith, ibid., 329.