Prophecy of the End Time

Shalom brothers and sisters.

Today’s Bible Verse: Daniel 12:8-10

Title: Prophecy of the End Time

Verse Text: [Daniel 12:8-10 NKJV] 8 Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, "My lord, what [shall be] the end of these [things]?" 9 And he said, "Go [your way], Daniel, for the words [are] closed up and sealed till the time of the end. 10 "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.

In context: [Daniel 12:1-13 NKJV] 1 "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, [Even] to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the book. 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. 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. 4 "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." 5 Then I, Daniel, looked; and there stood two others, one on this riverbank and the other on that riverbank. 6 And [one] said to the man clothed in linen, who [was] above the waters of the river, "How long shall the fulfillment of these wonders [be]?" 7 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]; and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these [things] shall be finished. 8 Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, "My lord, what [shall be] the end of these [things]?" 9 And he said, "Go [your way], Daniel, for the words [are] closed up and sealed till the time of the end. 10 "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. 11 "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. 12 "Blessed [is] he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days. 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."

It is my firm belief that Michael is Jesus. There is plenty of evidence in the Bible for this and I leave that as an exercise for you. Some evidence is in verse one; Jesus stands watch over us all.

Verse one is 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17: [1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 NKJV] 16 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. 17 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.

Verse two is partly 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 and partly Revelation 20:11-15: [Revelation 20:11-15 NKJV] 11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is [the Book] of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

Verse three describes the teachers down through the ages.

Shut up in Hebrew is catham; it means to hide. The words were not hidden from us but their understanding was until now; the time when knowledge has increased. This is not knowledge in general, it is knowledge of scripture.

Who is the man clothed in linen? This man swears by the Father. The one that has the power to swear by the Father is Jesus.

Shattered in Hebrew is naphats. It means to shatter, break into pieces, scatter, or disburse. Verse seven is then telling us that when the power of His Holy people has been completely disbursed then all the things will be finished.

All what things? The things referenced in verses one through three.

Looking at verses eight to ten, again, we are told that these things are sealed until the end times; that is, our time. We are also told that between then and now that there would be those that are wise and understand.

To understand verse twelve we must go back to this: [Daniel 8:9-14 NKJV] 9 And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Glorious [Land]. 10 And it grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down [some] of the host and [some] of the stars to the ground, and trampled them. 11 He even exalted [himself] as high as the Prince of the host; and by him the daily [sacrifices] were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down. 12 Because of transgression, an army was given over [to the horn] to oppose the daily [sacrifices]; and he cast truth down to the ground. He did [all this] and prospered. 13 Then I heard a holy one speaking; and [another] holy one said to that certain [one] who was speaking, "How long [will] the vision [be, concerning] the daily [sacrifices] and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot?" 14 And he said to me, "For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed."

Notice that the word sacrifice is in brackets. This means that it was added by the translators. Remember, this is being written by Daniel in exile; it is a time when the sacrifices did not happen but he could still keep his appointments with God, including his daily appointment to prayer.

[Leviticus 6:20 NKJV] 20 "This [is] the offering of Aaron and his sons, which they shall offer to the LORD, [beginning] on the day when he is anointed: one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a daily grain offering, half of it in the morning and half of it at night.

We cannot offer the grain but we can offer our prayers in the morning and afternoon as Jesus and the apostles did. This is what Daniel was doing.

From Tom Stapleton in his article The Daily Sacrifice:

As we examine these texts more closely, in Daniel 11:32, 33 we see two groups of people: Those who do wickedly against the Holy Covenant and the people who know their God.

Those who do wickedly against the Holy Covenant end up persecuting those who know their God. The people who know their God must be those who are faithful to the Holy Covenant, for they find themselves in conflict with those who are against the Holy Covenant. In other words, when the "daily" is taken away, the people who know their God remain faithful to their God, by maintaining their close connection with Him, by meeting with Him at His appointed times which He has specified in the Holy Covenant. This obedience on the part of the people who know their God has a strengthening effect on them. They will not worship at the little horn's appointed times. It has been said "if you want to sever the relationship between two parties be it a man and his wife or a boy friend and girl friend or a father and his son, just take away their special or intimate times that they spend together. If the appointed times of closeness between two parties is terminated, it will only be a matter of time before the relationship between those parties terminates. This seems to be the plan of the little horn power.

The Holy Covenant: [Deuteronomy 4:13-14 NKJV] 13 "So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone. 14 "And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might observe them in the land which you cross over to possess.

More references to the commandments:

[Revelation 12:17 NKJV] 17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

[Revelation 14:11-12 NKJV] 11 "And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name." 12 Here is the patience of the saints; here [are] those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

Looking at the word daily we see that it is the Hebrew word tamiyd which also means continual or regular. It was the custom of Daniel, Jesus, the apostles, and all of God’s people to meet with Him at regular, appointed times. We still have that call to meet with him daily. At the time of the apostles these times were 9 Am and 3 PM, so, why not set them?

Note what Revelation 14:11 says: and they have no rest day or night. Prayer is a time of rest from the world and it allows us to reconnect with God. We need this time of rest with Him.

From Tom Stapleton in his article The Daily Sacrifice:

Morning and evening worship is a vital part of the experience of every child of God. This special time is when the Christian makes his or her connection with the Most High God: YHWH. This connection sustains him or her through the day; its effect is continual. As the smoke for the morning sacrifice arose until the evening sacrifice the effect of the morning worship sustains the Christian until he meets with his God in an intimate way at the evening worship. If you desire a closer walk with the Almighty, try the "daily" and "taste and see that the LORD is good." I believe that the time approaching is a time in which our daily connection with our God will be vital.

In this world of hustle and bustle that we live in, God knew what we needed to help us keep Him in focus "daily."

I hope this has been a blessing to you. May the rest of your day be blessed. Walk Torah-ly. Shalom.

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