DANIEL - CHAPTER TWELVE

   I.       INTRODUCTION - A part of the same vision starting at chapter 10

  II.       THE TRIBULATION (v. 1)

A.   The time of the end (v. 1; cf. 10:14)

B.   The time of trouble

C.   The time of terror (“such as never was” Cf. Matthew 24:21)

 III.       THE TRIUMPH (vs. 1b, 2)

A.   The rescue - national deliverance of Israel from annihilation by the Beast        (Cf. Revelation 12:14-16)

B.   The redeemed

1.    The elect of Israel, specifically (Isaiah 45:4; Matthew 24:22; Revelation 7:4; Romans 11:26; Jeremiah 30:7)

2.    Those whose names are written in the “Book of Life”

a.    A record of spiritual genealogy (Exodus 32:31, 32)

b.    A record of the redeemed (Revelation 20:12; 13:8; 17:8; 21:27)

C.   The resurrection (v. 2)

1.    Three kinds of resurrections

a.    Spiritual (Ephesians 2:1; 5-6; 5:14; Romans 6:11)

b.    Physical (Matthew 28:1-15; 1 Corinthians 15:51-55; 1Thessalonians 4:13-18)

c.    National (Cf. Isaiah 26:12-19; Ezekiel 37:1-28)

2.    The national resurrection of Israel is in view here

a.    From the graveyard of the nations (Jeremiah 16:14, 15; Ezekiel 37:12)

b.    Refers to the regathering of Israel to the Land (Isaiah 43:5, 7; Amos 9:14)

c.    A regathering predicated on re-birth (Ezekiel 37:13, 14; 36:24-27; Jeremiah 3:33, 34)

IV.       THE TEACHERS (vs. 3, 4)

A.   The sealed ones (v. 3) - “they” = “teachers” (ASV) (Daniel 11:33-35; Revelation 7:4-8; 11:2-12; Matthew 24:14)

B.   The shining ones (v. 3)

C.   The seeking ones (v. 4)

1.    “Many” refers back to the many of v. 3

2.    The reference is to the Jews who seek out the truths of Daniel’s prophecies during the Tribulation

a.    Fausset - “Many shall scrutinize it, running through every page.”

b.    Leupold - “Many shall diligently persue it, and knowledge shall be increased.”

c.    Pember - “Many shall search it through and through, and knowledge shall increase.”

3.    The day is coming when the sealed book of Daniel will be understood by the Jews (Matthew 24:15; Daniel 12:9)

 V.        THE TIME (vs. 5-7)

A.   The season (v. 7)

1.    “A time, times, and a half time” - the last half of the Tribulation

2.    “The midst of the week” (Daniel 9:27)

3.    “1260 days” (Revelation 11:3)

4.    “Forty and two months" (Revelation 13:5)

B.   The shattering (v. 7)

1.    The prophecies in the vision will find their complete fulfillment when Israel’s rebellion against God is finally broken.

2.    Then the nation will acknowledge Him (Romans 11:26)

 VI.       THE TERMINUS (vs. 8-13)

A.   Final outcome (v. 8)

1.    The prophet did not fully understand all that was yet future; thus, his question.

2.    God did not choose to reveal to him all the final details.

B.    Finished people (v. 10)

1.    The future of redeemed Israel (purified, white, refined)

2.    The fate of rebellious Israel (They will continue on in their rejection until their judgment at the end of the Tribulation [Armageddon].)

C.   Further mystery (vs. 11, 12) - We are not told to what these two measures of time refer.

D.   Future blessing (v. 13)

1.    The work God gave Daniel to do was finished. He is to go to his home and rest there until the summons came for him to make his exodus from Babylon to the Heavenly Land.

2.    An inheritance awaited him for his godliness and faithfulness (cf. 1 Peter 1:3, 4)

                                                                         End of Chapter 12