Daniel 12: 1-13 DANIELS LAST PROPHECY 5-18-13
Today I want to talk for a few minutes to do with some of the great truths we find in Daniel chapter 12, so I want you to pay close attention, but first let me give us a few facts about this great Prophet.
The name Daniel in the Hebrew means, "God is my Judge" he is one of the major prophets of the Old Testament.
His prophecies are mainly about the heathen nations, that is the gentiles.
In the third year of the reign of King Jehoiakim, about 605 B.C., the Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar, besieged Jerusalem, looted the original Temple that had been built by Solomon and took a number of the people of Judah into exile in Babylon. (Dan.1:1-3)-- Among them was the teenage Daniel.
* This was the fulfilling of Isaiah's prophesy that he gave to King Hezekiah around 100 years before Daniel's time.
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~ Daniel and the Prophet Ezekiel both lived during the same time.
Ezekiel and Daniel were about the same age. Both men were about twenty years younger than Jeremiah who was ministering in Jerusalem.
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Let me say right here, that most of the time when we see "el" at the end of the name of a person, especial in the O.T. the name is connected to God.
"Daniel" means "God is my Judge" -- "Ezekiel" means "God will strengthen" -- "Israel" means "the prince that prevails with God" -- "Emmanuel" means "God is with us"
"Michael" means, "who is like unto God?"
~Jesus cried out from the cross in;
>>Matthew 27:46--Eli, Eli, -- that is to say, My God, my God, -- and there's many others. -- Lets get back to Daniel before we stray off too far.
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~ Ezekiel was taken into the Babylonian captivity in 597 BC (around seven or eight years later than Daniel).
~ Ezekiel mentions Daniel three times in his book (Ezk.14:14 & 20; -- 28:3).
~ Although the prophet Ezekiel referred to Daniel, he didn't describe his death,
It is believed that Daniel died in Babylon in his late nineties, a faithful and obedient servant of God, and one of the greatest prophets that has ever lived.
~ Daniel must have been around 85 to 90 years of age when he pinned down his last visions.
~ Much of Daniels prophecy corresponds to that given to the apostle John in the Book of Revelation, & Jesus referred to events recorded in The Book of Daniel.
>> Matthew 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, -- this would occur just prior to His return.
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* Listen as we look into Daniel chapter 12:
1And at that time--
"At that time" identifies the time frame as the time of the end, the time to do with the last half of the tribulation, what chapter 11: was primarily about, the antichrist and the horrible times he will bring on Gods people Israel.
1-b--And at that time-- shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people:--
~ Michael; is the guardian angel of Israel, During the Great Tribulation there will be an all out attack on Israel, trying to exterminate the Jews, but they will be delivered by Michael the archangel.
~ There was a death angel sent to destroy the army of the Assyrians that had boasted of destroying the Jews in;
>>2 Kings 19:35 And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: (185,000) and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
~ The Angel of the Lord is often thought to be the Second Person of the Trinity in a preincarnate form.
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~ Michael is the only angel in the Bible that is referred to as "the archangel"
>>Jude 9 Yet Michael the archangel, 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.
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1-c -- and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time:
~ This is the Great Tribulation, the time of Jacob's trouble (Jer 30:7), the final half of Daniel's seventieth week that we read about in Daniel 9:27.
~ The 1st 3 ½ years of the 7 year tribulation will be a time of false peace because of the covenant made between Israel and the man of sin, the antichrist, but in the middle of the 7 years the antichrist will break his agreement with Israel, he'll go into the then rebuilt tribulation temple and declare himself to be god, this is the beginning of the last half of the 7 years, also God starts pouring out His wrath on the earth dwellers, those that will still be here after the True Church is raptured away. This will include horrors like this world has never seen, there has never been a horror movie that's ever been made that can come close to what will happen during the last 3 ½ years.
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1-d-- and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
"thy people" is talking about Daniels people.
* There will be 2/3's of the Jews killed during this horrible time.
>>Zechariah 13: 8 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.
* There is coming a day of great deliverance and salvation for Israel.
>> Zechariah 12:9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
* King Jesus will reign forever over Israel and all the earth.
>> Zechariah 14:9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
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~ We have all heard of the battle of Armageddon, which in those words are not in the Bible, but Jesus returns in Revelation 19, it will be most lop sided battle in world history; Jesus simple speaks the Word and their destroyed.
>>Revelation 19: 11-16 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: (not His blood, but their blood) and his name is called The Word of God.
14And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
(We read nothing about the saints participating in the massacre)
15And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, (the Word of God) that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. -- What a day that will be!
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~ Paul said that all Israel shall be saved, speaking of the remnant, the 1/3rd that will be brought through the tribulation.
>> Romans 11:26-27 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: "from Israel" 27For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
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* This 1/3rd will be safe during the last half of the tribulation in the fortress of Petra now waiting in Jordon, which at this very hour I have read has running water.
>>Revelation 12: 12-14 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
13And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman (the woman is Israel) which brought forth the man child. (The man child is Jesus, born of the tribe of Judah)
14And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, (Petra) where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
(a time, and times, and half a time) 1 time is 1 year, times is two years, half a time is half a year, = 3 ½ years, the last half of the 7 year tribulation.
~ "The wings of a great eagle" are known for their strength; here they represent God's empowerment to deliver His people too safety.
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* LISTEN; this is a promise found in Gods Word, nothing can change it, it is sure to come to pass, just as sure as your listening to my voice, ain't we glad we're saved? ~~ And let me remind us, that we'll not be here when all this is under way; the Church is raptured back in chapter 4 of the Revelation, verses 1 & 2.
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2And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life,--- and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
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~ The resurrection of the just in the O.T. -- too everlasting life will occur immediately after the Great Tribulation.
Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: these are the O.T. Saints.
Then the latter part of Rev 20:4 says,
-- 4-b-- and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
~ These are the saints that we're martyred during the tribulation. But be sure to notice that both groups are raised after the tribulation.
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~When the church is raptured out of the world, the Old Testament saints will not yet be raised at that time, and the reason is, the time to enter the Kingdom is at the end of the Great Tribulation period when Christ comes to establish His Kingdom on the earth. --- The Old Testament saints will be raised after the 7 year tribulation. -- What would be the point in raising the O.T. Saints at an earlier time?
~Listen-- Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will all be raised to enter the Kingdom on this earth at that time.
~But the unjust dead will not be raised until one thousand years later.
>> Revelation 20: 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.
~ These will be judged at the Great White Throne judgment of all the lost. (Rev 20:11--15).
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* Remember, Israel is not part of the N.T. Church, only the True Church goes in the rapture. When the church is raptured out of the world, the Old Testament saints will not be raised at that time.
* Remember the Church has heavenly promises.
>> Philippians 3: 20 For our conversation * (citizenship) is in heaven --
* Israel has earthly promises.
>> Genesis 15: 7And he said unto him, (God said to Abraham) I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. Notice, it says land.
* LISTEN, Jesus said in;
>> Matthew 8: 11And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
~The kingdom of heaven will be here on earth, when the King of heaven returns and sits it up.
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~ Those of the Old Testament, Jews and gentiles alike who died as believers in the One True God, will be raised to everlasting life at the end of the Great Tribulation.
* I can think of no greater example than Job.
>>Job 19: 25 -27 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 26And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 27Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another -- Job was not a Jew, every body that's not a Jew is a gentile.
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v 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.
~ Out of that great period of destruction and in every period of history, people that win souls to Jesus shall shine as the brightness of the heavens.
>> Philippians 2:15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; --
~"turn many to righteousness" is a reference to Jesus Christ the Righteous.
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4But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end:
Not the end of the world, I believe this is telling about the days we're now in as we can see and know by the signs of the times that we're surely nearing the last days of this grace age, and since that's true we find much in the Bible about these last days, we have more light on the scriptures today than at any time in history. Daniel didn't have the N.T. that he could read, today we have the complete Word of God, all 66 books, there's no excuse for people today to be totally in the dark about the last days.
~4-b-- many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
~ This certainly could be a reference to our modern computer era, we can run to and fro in our many avenues of information and our Bible knowledge shall be increased.
~ There's much that could be said about the numerous inventions that have been invented in just a few short years, people have to be knowledgably to go to the moon and safely return, all the many surgeries that are done routinely every day, but I personally believe this verse primarily is talking about Bible understanding.
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~ For the sake of time let's look at verses 11-12.
11And 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.
~ We're told both in the Revelation and Daniel as well, that the last half will be 1260 days; so that can not be changed, here in verse 11 we see 30 more days.
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* LISTEN; here is the best explanation that I found.
The 1290 days mentioned here probably refer to the last three and one half years of the Tribulation Period, (1260 days) -- plus an additional thirty days to be used in the Lord judging the qualifications of those who will enter the Millennium, the judgment of the nations as it's called --goats and sheep as their called, these made it through the tribulation alive. (Mat. 25:31--46).
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12Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. -- 1335 days.
~ The 1335 days probably signifies an additional forty-five days before the actual beginning of the Millennial Kingdom, these 45 more days may be required for setting up the governmental machinery of the millennial period.
All new governments require a transition period; and the saints who will rule and reign with Christ must be given their assignments and instructions as to how to operate during the new Kingdom age.
> Isaiah 9: 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, --
