Rev 1:3 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.
In our last segment we left off with the repentant prayer of Daniel and his people in Chapter 9.
Let us now return to Daniel 12, verse 3:
Dan 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.
But notice what follows the wake up call. Daniel is given specific instruction to shut up the words, and seal the book, even until the time of the end. The question is: “The time of what end? The end of what?”
Dan 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.
Ok, there are four things happening in this verse. (1.) The words are to be shut up… while (2.) the book is sealed… even being sealed until the time of the end! In other words, the words are to remain a mystery until the “book” is sealed! Then the “revelation” of what was “written”, sealed in the book, shall come!
Do you know what the “book” is that is sealed? Oh, if you’re thinking it’s the book of Daniel or maybe even the Bible… well think again, re-think! Because this book is going to appear in Rev. chapter five, all “written within and without”, or “from the inside out as we would say”, sealed with “seven” seals. If you are thinking this book is made of paper and ink, your mind has not been quicken yet. Hint! Where does God write the New Covenant? Correct, in living books. You are His workmanship and He is the author of your salvation.
And so what shall be happening during this time until the end, during the time the words are shut and the book is sealed? Well, (3.) many shall run to and fro. That would be the unwise virgins running to and fro in the “earth”, trying to get to the other side with their carnal minds, going about their church business “buying and selling” as usual. I love Dr. Strong’s definition of “to and fro” which is to lash or row with oars upon the sea. And so they row and row upon the sea “striving against the wind, against the spirit” and will surely not get to “the other side” in that mode.
The fourth thing we see happening is (4.) “knowledge shall be increased”. What kind of “knowledge” shall be increased. Brown, Drivers, and Briggs (BDB) definition of increased is: to be or become great, be or become many, be or become much, be or become numerous? And here’s the definition of “knowledge”:
da’ath
BDB Definition:
1) knowledge
1a) knowledge, perception, skill
1b) discernment, understanding, wisdom
That’s right. During this time, though the words themselves are shut up, the wise virgins shall be filled with understanding and wisdom, sealed with the knowledge of God… which shall come to light at the revelation.
Again, there were two groups that awoke when the archangel sounded the trumpet, when the cry went forth that the bridegroom cometh. Angel signifies “message” and archangel signifies “chief message”, a major BIG TIME message indeed, of something profound. Haven’t you read the Lord Himself shall descend with a “shout”, with the voice of the “archangel”, the trump of God, i.e. when the midnight cry goes forth to the virgins?
1Th 4:16 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God:”.
Here’s Strong’s definition of “shout” in 1 Thes. 4:16:
keleuma
kel‘-yoo-mah
From G2753; a cry of incitement: – shout.
Oh yes, it is indeed a cry that causes incitement!
So again, we have two groups that were awakened. Now let’s see another parable concerning the end of what are called “wonders”!
Dan 12:5 Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river.
Dan 12:6 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?
There is so much revealed here that time will not permit in this already lengthy segment to properly address it all. And rightfully so, for it encompasses the entire 10th chapter of Daniel and the “vision” which he saw… at the time of the great quaking. And he was told the vision (the SEEING of it) was yet for many days… yea, even until the 1335th day.
You see, the man clothed in linen here in Daniel 12 is the same man clothed in linen that Daniel saw in chapter 10:5-6. And you know what else? The description Daniel gives of him is EXACTLY the same as John sees in Rev. 1:13-15 where he is now standing in the midst of the Seven Golden Candlesticks.
Rev 1:13 …(I saw) one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
Rev 1:14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
Rev 1:15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
Dan 10:5 …behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz:
Dan 10:6 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.
So in Daniel chapter 10, Daniel is standing on the bank of the Hiddekel River, a river that flows from Eden, and he is the only one at the time to see the man clothed in linen… at the time of the great quaking, after which his strength was taken from him, neither was there any breath left in him. You will also find at that time there were men with Daniel who felt the great quaking but did not “see” the vision. Sound familiar? Note: The rest of Daniel chapter 10 is quite remarkable in light of what has happened and what is happening now. We will be going there before we finish chapter one of Revelation… and you’ll see why.
Then in Daniel chapter 12, during the time, times, and an half, Daniel sees two others, one on either side of the bank of the river, and they are standing, enduring, in waiting (check the defs. if you like). They see the same man clothed in linen as did Daniel. And one of them, who was yet on the other side of river (waiting in transition to “cross over” to the other side)… said to the man clothed in linen, and I’m going to paraphrase here, more of the way I said it and heard others say, ”Oh dear Lord, how much longer is this ordeal going to last? Will it ever end? Please deliver me from this death.”
So the question is and therefore the subject here is, “How long until the end, the end of these wonders?” For when the end of wonders is accomplished, it will be “time” for the vision… the SEEING, the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
Perhaps the following Hebrew definition of wonders will shed some light on this for you:
pele’
BDB Definition:
1) wonder, marvel
1a) wonder (extraordinary, hard to understand thing)
1b) wonder (of God’s acts of judgment and redemption)
Now, when the man in linen is seen again in Rev. 1:13, by one who bares record of these things, that means the end of the “wonders”, and I’m going to call them the Seven Wonders of the Old World, shall have taken place. And look, behold, the man in linen is standing in the midst of the Seven Golden Candlesticks. That means the purification by fire, the trying, and making white, the end of the wonders has now taken place! The crossing over, which is the coming over, or overcoming, of the 7 Churchisms in Rev. 2 and 3 has been accomplished!
And you know what? After that, after this has happened (and not until)… you we be able to look and SEE and HEAR HIS VOICE and He will show you the things which must be hereafter! What is the very first verse after Revelation chapters two and three?
Rev 4:1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
Back to Daniel 12 where Daniel now HEARS the man clothed in linen:
Dan 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.
We see here another description of that which is to be accomplished during this period? It is the scattering, the dashing in pieces of the power, of the strength, called the “hand of man” by BDB, of His separated ones… the group of the wise, the holy people (the set apart ones)! It is even the judgment of the great whore, the demise of the wicked one, and I could on and on… and will later on. Nevertheless, I can tell you from personal experience, and have on occasion, and others so clearly relate to this and have described this and so “bare record” of it, that the boldness and confidence and self reliance I used to have in world has so totally been stripped away in the last 3 ½ years, that sometimes along the way I thought I was losing my mind… and lo and behold… my strength was gone. And many times did I cry out.
I explained in one of the first segments of this series that my mind was scrambled (I’ll use scattered from here on out). The “earth”, my mind, truly became a desolate place and I descended into the abyss, crawled in the cave, the bottomless pit… i.e. I “hit bottom” as we say today. You may want to take another look at the crucifixion, the renting of the veil, and the rising from the grave? It didn’t just happen historically, it’s a happening in you… i.e. you don’t just read about it… you experience it and bare record of it!
So again, what is happening here with these other two is the period and process of the “crossing over” to the other side… aka the renting of the veil, going back to Eden! I mean, he’s holding up both his right hand and left hand unto heaven. That should give you a big clue. Nevertheless, we are given the “how long” until it ends… a time, times, and an half. And I’ll add it’s about time, thank God.
Let’s continue in Daniel 12 because we are now going to be given even more information concerning what is happening during this time, times, and an half.
Dan 12:8 And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?
Before the sealing, even at the time of the shout before these succeeding events have all taken place and the time allotted for the judgment has expired, there is no understanding, no knowing, no reading with understanding of what Daniel spoke of concerning the abomination of desolation and the things he saw. Only after the writing of the book from the inside out can “The Revelation” begin to take place.
Dan 12:9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
… Till the time of the end! … Till the end of the wonders! …Till the end of the scattering of the power of the holy people!
Ok, the next verse again tells us more about what shall be going on during this time, even more detail of what the wonders are that eventually end.
Dan 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.
There are those two groups again. The wise, even the wise virgins, those who are purified, by fire indeed, and thus whose candlesticks are now pure gold, and they are made white… as in now have fine white linen on… and the unwise, which simply means the “un-knowing” who haven‘t yet “seen” the abomination of desolation and so continue doing all the carnal things that the wise confessed as iniquitous and came to “see” as abominably abhorrent along with Daniel in chapter 9. So for them, the unwise, it’s church as usual.
Dan 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.
From the time we “see” the abomination of desolation (set up before our eyes), standing in the holy place (God’s house), sitting in the temple of God (whose temple you are), even the image that is smashed by the stone cut out without hands, and we begin to flee to the high ground and turn from our wicked ways, which is the ceasing and desisting of the daily sacrifice we once made, there shall be 1290 days.
Perhaps we’ll delve more into these days when we get to the 11th & 12th chapters of Revelation where the 1260 days are talked about. Of course, that is subject to change and direction by the spirit. But keep in mind that the numbers in Revelation are also “signified”, representations of something other than what they appear to be, but for sure we are dealing with periods of the “unveiling”, which is a process, even as the veil is sequentially rent from the top down. What is the top, what is up? It’s heaven, your heart. And it is rent to the bottom, which is the earth, your mind. Another way you can say it is that in you, it is rent from the inside out! You see, there are intervals from the crucifixion, to the rising, to the revealing to the disciples, to the ascension.
Nevertheless, it is sufficient to the point of this discourse, which is to understand that it is those who bare record of these things that are being “Blessed” beyond what words can describe when they read and HEAR the words they already bare record of, words that heretofore have been shut up. For they now “readeth with understanding” (with knowing) concerning the abomination of desolation spoken of here by Daniel the prophet.
Dan 12:12 Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.
So, if you have now stood, endured, and “waited”, you must now also “come” and “SEE” and He will show you… because this 12th verse in Daniel chapter 12, brings you right to verse 3 in Revelation 1, where it is said unto you… “the time is at hand”!
… to be continued.
