11:35a “And some of those of understanding shall fall,”
Even the most righteous, most helpful, most zealous, will be slain. Here is a warning for us today not to assume anything about church members undergoing persecution for the Lord. He takes home whom He will, when He will, for His own purposes.
Before the story ends, the Maccabean record records the painful deaths of all the sons of Mattathias.
11:35b “to refine them, purge them, and make them white”
That which is happening to Israel , shall, according to 12:10, happen to all of God’s people. Here the suffering is placed before the phrase “time of the end”, but there, after. We are being told that it shall always be the lot of those who know their God, those who do exploits for God, those who understand, to go through the refining processes that produce pure gold.
11:35c “until the time of the end; because it is still for the appointed time”
The purpose of this vision all along has been to tell what will happen to Daniel’s people in the last days, 10:14. The angel begins, however , in the days that are Daniel’s present lot.. Slowly and methodically he leads him, and us with him, to the final stages of history, and now we are there. It is so critical to this study to see that we have indeed arrived at the last generation by the end of verse 35, as he goes from the purgings of Antiochus and with a grand sweep covers also the purgings of Titus in AD 70, and Hitler in our own day, and any other purging of Jews or Christians.
We include Christians in this discussion because Daniel does. He speaks of the resurrection and the judgment in chapter 12. Certainly this is not an event limited to Jews. Thus, Daniel’s people must include the people specifically related to Daniel’s God. Those who have been grafted into the tree called Israel are Daniel’s people and will share in the blessings of Abraham just as surely as he.
6: The Man of Sin and the end of all things 11:36-12:3
The rest of the angel’s prophecy does not compare easily to anything in history. To make sense of it, it is necessary to compare it to other parts of Daniel and even New Testament writers Paul and John. In that context it fits exactly. To explain further the notion that Daniel
11:36 and following does not refer to Antiochus Epiphanes or any known history, I offer the following reasoning:
a.
As indicated above, verses 35 and 36 are connected to the end of the book in such a way
as to make them one thought. In fact the phrase “time of the end” joins this passage to Daniel
7:11-13 and 25-27. Here , the coming of the man described in chapter 11 is tied to the coming of Jesus as it is in chapter 11 tied to the resurrection. The pattern is strikingly similar also in chapter 8, which states specifically that the “little horn” will come in the “time of the end.” (8:17, 19, 23-25).
By the way, there is no reason to think in terms of two “little horns” in Daniel. The one mentioned in Daniel 7 is seen in a Roman context, and the one in 8 is in Alexander’s Kingdom, which came before. If the ten-toed Kingdom is the common market, and the successor nations are still with us today, we need simply to find a place where they overlap. If the antichrist were to appear today, for example, he would come out of Greece, for this is the only Common Market country that is also a successor nation. Turkey is under consideration by the Market, and should be by us, too.
You will see this end-time idea in 10:1, 10:14, 11:35, 11:40, 12:4, 12:9, 12:13. Antiochus Epiphanes does not bring us to the time of “the end” , but the man of sin does.
b.
11:36. “Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify him- self above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done.” Even though Antiochus is the next “king” that reigns over the Seleucid Kingdom,
Daniel never calls him a king. Perhaps to avoid confusion with verse 36, where the man spoken of is called a king. And in 8:23, this same man is described by the same title.
c.
“Then” of verse 36 refers directly back to verse 35, “the time of the end.” The scene that
follows, of a much exalted Epiphanes cannot be found in his life following the Maccabean wars. Antiochus is on his way down at this time.
d.
11:37, 38, 39 “He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall magnify himself above them all. But in their place he shall honor a god of fortresses; and a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things. Thus he shall act against the strongest fortresses with a foreign god, which he shall acknowledge, and advance its glory; and he shall cause them to rule over many, and divide the land for gain.” Verses 37 and 38 specifically state that this ruler shall NOT regard the “God of his fathers.” That he shall promote some other god instead. This too is inconsistent with the record of Antiochus. We have shown in the account of his confrontation with Israel that it is indeed the God of his fathers, the great Greek god Zeus, that he promotes everywhere. His desire is to re-create the glory of Alexander, even the glory of his father, and there is no question which god these ancestors promoted. But in contrast, the one who is to come is opposed to all religion that does not center on himself. Here Paul’s understanding of the man of sin meshes perfectly with Daniel’s description of the same person.
Notice here the term “desire of women” also. While it is true that this is a phrase that can refer to the fact that Jewish women wanted to give birth to the coming King, the Messiah, it seems more likely that the angel is telling us he shall be unusual not only in religious, but in sexual, preference. When he sits in the holy place announcing himself to be God, he will truly be the abomination that makes desolate.
e.
11:40 “At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through.” With this verse the separation between Epiphanes and “someone else” is certain. There
is no question that during and after the Maccabean uprising , Antiochus Epiphanes heads for parts East, not South. Also note that, although Epiphanes is the last in Daniel’s descriptions of “the King of the North”, rising in the place of his father Antiochus to take the Kingdom, in verse 40 the King of the North actually comes against him, proving again that this is not Antiochus at all, but a latter day ruler who is starting to make enemies in the Middle East! There is no record of a Seleucid King threatening Antiochus for the Kingdom at this time of his life. An attack from Egypt, also mentioned in this verse, likewise is absent from the record. Egypt has been subdued for some time.
f.
A quick reading of Daniel 8, like Daniel 11, leads the surface reader to assume
“Antiochus Epiphanes.” But in Daniel 8 we are told by an angel that that cannot be! The angel directs us to the end of all things in that passage, and so even though we see things that look like that ancient king, we must assume that Epiphanes is merely a preview of coming attractions, a tool that Satan wants to use to annihilate the Jews, even as he has wanted to use Titus and Hitler and a lot of other men. The plan all along is to destroy every vestige of the people of God so that the One who promised the eternality of His people will seem to be lacking in power. So lump together all the evil anti-Semites of all time, including the evil Medieval Popes who dared come against believers too, and you will begin to get a picture of just how bad it will be when the Man of Sin arises.
g.
11:41-43 “He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon. He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels.” Verse 41 mentions three countries that shall escape from this king. None of these coun-
tries exist today. They have escaped a long time ago. But Egypt, said not to escape, is still with us. Libya and Ethiopia, “at his heels” are still with us, too. Again, there is no corresponding history that fits Antiochus, who by this time was totally preoccupied with rebuilding his Asian Empire.
h
11:44 “But news from the east and the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go with great fury to destroy and annihilate many.”
Then there is news from the East. Revelation 9:15-16 speaks of a 200,000,000 man army marching from the East, toward the Euphrates. This would be troubling indeed. Time magazine reported 30-40 years ago China’s boast to be able to field such an army even then. Our present coziness with China may yet end in disaster.
i
As to news from the north, we can finally allow those who are dying to put Russia into
the story to do so here. For this could well connect to Ezekiel 38 and 39, the famous “Rosh” passage. This is not the “king of the North” however. God has meticulously revealed, by showing his progress year after year, what He means by “king of the North” throughout this whole chapter. That king in the last days will be the same as he always was, the ruler in Antioch, or at the least in Iran or Iraq. The end time conflict is a Middle Eastern conflict that flares into a worldwide conflict only later.
j.
11:45 “And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him.”
Verse 45 mentions his end, and sounds more like Revelation 19:20 than Antiochus Epiphanes’ actual end, where according to some accounts, people are there, listening to his final confession. More, it seems odd to talk about anyone helping anyone at his hour of death. Help can only come at death from supernatural powers, as death is merely a change of address. When the man of sin comes to his end, that is, his need for a change of address, instead of being lifted to the ultimate glory he desires, he is picked up and thrown into a lake of fire. No one will take him from that fate. (See I Maccabees 6:10 ff and II Maccabees 9:1-29)
k.
12:1-3 “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. 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.”
The key reason that these last verses in chapter 11 are not Antiochus Epiphanes is
12:1, which continues without interruption the story we have followed from chapter 11. At that time… what time? The time of the end, the time of this exalted king running around the planet trying to unseat the very Majesty of Heaven, at that time will be the time of unprecedented trouble on planet earth, spoken of by Jesus in Matthew 24:21, and therefore still in our future. At THAT time period also is the resurrection of the saints, the setting up of the kingdom, ideas already covered in chapter 7 by this same prophet. He sings the same glorious song two times, with the minor chords spelling out danger and trouble, but with the climactic ending each time, the coming again of Christ, the rising from the dead, the Kingdom set up forever. If Daniel 11 were Antiochus, we’d be in Daniel 12 right now. But we are not. Not yet.
7. A description of the end times 12:4, 9-10
12:4 “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.”
The angel closes with yet another reference to the time of the end. This time, he gives a precise definition of that time, so that none can escape the meaning of it who happen to be living it. Let us couple it with still another reference to the same period, in verses 9-10 :
12:9-10 And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. 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.”
Here then is a full description of the end times: Much running about, an increase in knowledge, persecution of saints, great wickedness, and general ignorance of the things of God except among the wise.
Perhaps we live in such a day?
Borrowing freely from an internet site, I offer the following evidence that many run to and fro:
“In 1789, it took George Washington 8 days to travel the 200 miles from his home to his inauguration in New York City. The fact that it took 8 days is not significant. What is noteworthy is that Julius Caesar could have made the same trip just as rapidly in the year 50 BC! No real progress had been made in transportation over the 18 centuries that passed between their lifetimes.
“In those same 8 days now, we could circle the planet in a jet 8 times. A spacecraft could do it in 80 minutes.”
The increase in speed has brought an increase in travel. Many are traveling in these days. The largest industry in the world is the one which enables people to run to and fro, travel and tourism. In 1995 over $3 trillion was spent on it. One in five of the world’s peoples was involved in it. The average American driver racks up 14,000 miles per year. By 2020, traffic related crashes are expected to become the world’s third-leading cause of sickness and death. There were 50 million cars on the road in 1950. There are over 500 million now. In the next 25 years, there could be one billion.
This is the most frantic human era ever. We phone. We fax. We page. We e- mail. Technology, mass media and a desire to do more, do it better and do it yesterday have turned us into a world of hurriers. We have fast food. Fast computers. Fast cars in fast lanes. VCR’s with five fast- forward settings. Sound bites. The rat race. Instant coffee.
Just a century ago, this was a rural nation. Meals took an entire afternoon to prepare. Trips into town ate up whole days. Then in 1903 the first speed limit. That was in England: 20 mph. 1908, the Model T Ford. Top speed 45 mph. 1911, air- mail delivery. 1933, the Boeing 247. 150 miles per hour. In 1947 a test pilot, Chuck Yeager, broke the sound barrier, 700 mph . And in 1969, Apollo 10: 24, 791 mph.
No century has ever been like this.” Sounds like what Daniel was talking about.
As to the increase in knowledge, take communication as an example. In 1874, Bell has an idea for a telephone. Three years later, the public tries it out. By 1913 New York alone has half a million of them. Then come the wireless, the radio, movies, talking movies, color movies, simple computers, TV, color TV, the transatlantic cable. By 1960 there are 85 million televisions in North America. Word processors, cellular telephones, micro- computers, laptops. And the percentages of homes and people that have all the above just continues to escalate year after year until we are the fastest moving, smartest , most communicative people of all time. Could this not be the signal of the end of all things?
Add to the above the astronomical rise in crime of all sort. Wicked people are doing wicked things. Consider the evil music, the motion picture industry, gay rights, abortion, pornography, pedophilia, divorce for any reason, drugs, terrorism, nuclear threats, sexual sins of every sort, rioting, widespread unemployment caused by greedy businesses on one hand and laziness on the other, illiteracy, physical, emotional, and verbal abuse, gangs, wars, rumors of wars, false religions such as Islam, Romanism, Eastern Mysticism, false Messiahs, the rise of the one-world Church, and on and on and on.
Then add to that the gross ignorance of the one antidote for it all, God’s Holy Word. Truly none of the wicked understand.
And then there is the prevalence of antagonism against the Christian faith. Many even now are being purified, made white, and refined.
“Millions of American Christians pray in their churches each week, oblivious to the fact that Christians in many parts of the world suffer brutal torture, arrest, imprisonment and even death– their homes and communities laid waste- for no other reason than that they are Christians. The shocking, untold story of our time is that more Christians have died this century (that is, the 20th century) for being Christians than in the first nineteen centuries after the birth of Christ. They have been persecuted and martyred before an unknowing, indifferent world and a largely silent Christian community.” Nina Shea, Freedom House
“...for millions of Christians in other lands, fear is ever-present. Never before– never before - have so many believers in Jesus been persecuted for their faith… Wherever militant Islam has taken hold and wherever Communist dictators still rule, Christians are in desperate danger…” Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe December 4, 1996
Jeff goes on to relate some gruesome stories . The purification is happening.
In at least 80 countries of this world, worship is restricted, Bibles cannot be found, jobs and homes are lost, lives are lost, bodies are tortured. And it will only increase as the Man of Sin arises.
I believe that this is the time of the end, the days of “preparation” mentioned in Na- hum 2:3-4, the time of the “indignation” , the last days of the last days.
C. Questions and answers about “When?” 12:5-8, 11-13
12:5-6 Then I, Daniel, looked; and there stood two others, one on this riverbank and the other on that riverbank. 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?”
This is not Daniel’s question. It is angelic in origin, and it is addressed to the One Whom we have already identified as God the Son. It is a most important question, and the answer given is of utmost value. In fact this answer has a familiar ring to students of prophecy.
12:7 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.”
The phrase Jesus uses here is used throughout Revelation and elsewhere in Daniel. It refers to a three and one half year period. It is the “time of trouble” alluded to in verse one. It is the second half of the week of Daniel 9. It is the “great tribulation” of Matthew 24. It is the “times of the Gentiles” of Revelation. It is a horrible time of devastation . And in this passage, hear it, it is described in terms of the devastation, not of the heathen, but of the people of God. The man of sin is given authority over the people of God. And these are not backslidden believers who got “left behind” . These are a holy people. Whatever you believe about a pre- tribulation rapture, believe that there will be a holy people of God being tormented for three and one half years, until there simply is no salt and no light left on this planet. A total evacuation, not by rapture- not this group- but by martyrdom.
12:8-9. Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, “My Lord, what shall be the end of these things?” And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.”
Once more Daniel is addressing the man in linen as “Lord.” Once more he is confused. His question is a good and honest one, and an answer is given, but not before he is reminded that the answer is not needed for him personally, for he will be long gone. It has been emphasized to him over and over that this prophecy he is receiving, for which all of Heaven has been engaged in the proper transmission, is for the last days. Our days. The “to and fro” days and the “increased knowledge” days , the wicked days of great persecution.
So the words are sealed. Hidden to the minds of nearly all for centuries. Now, a person here, a person there, gets hold of this and passes it on. And the wise understand it.
12:11-12 “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.”
A bit cryptic for us. We will understand it better as the days unfold. For now we can understand a little. First the 1290 days is just three and a half years again, with another month added on. When the Man of Sin says to Israel, even in these last days, “No more sacrifices, the Temple is mine” , the final clock starts ticking. It is essentially over 1290 days later. But there will be a climax to these climactic days, spelled out a bit more clearly in John’s Revelation, where destruction and devastation and the fire that goes before the Lord in that day will burn so hot and so heavy that any believer still here will be considered blessed if he can, for Jesus’ sake, endure it. After that extra 6 weeks, Jesus will return. 12:13. “But you go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days.”
What a glorious encouragement to the man of God is here offered. Soon he will rest with the Lord. Through the centuries he can look forward to a resurrected body and an inheritance with all the saints when Christ, that even now talks with him, shall come here and set up His kingdom.
Meanwhile, the task is finished. Heaven has communicated to earth its message. Now it is up to us to pass on this wisdom, hope , and joy to all who will hear it.
CLOSING COMMENTS
From time immemorial, and especially since the days of Xerxes and Alexander, man has dreamed of a world Empire, a one-world government where peace and brotherhood would reign. The dream is from God, but it will not come to us until the appointed time. Satan shall counterfeit it, for he desires a similar state of affairs, with God off the Throne and himself upon it. Daniel’s prophecy was given to assure us that when the time is right, and the Man is right, and mankind is ready for it, the Kingdom shall come, and with Christ, His people shall reign. The Kingdoms of this world shall become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. And He shall reign forever and ever. Amen.
