Daniel 10-12 Final Vision
Daniel has a final vision. After fasting for three weeks, Gabriel breaks through the forces of evil to Daniel. What he shares is for ‘soon’ and the ‘end of days’.
After reading through these three chapters and my bible helps, my mind is reeling! As I have often said, I am NOT one to interpret prophecy. A large portion of the prophecy Daniel received has already come to pass. Some try and say that, Daniel’s prophecy is so spot on that it must have been written after the facts. I am NOT buying into that lie! God KNOWS EVERYTHING that was, is, or ever will be. It is nothing to Him to be able to speak specifically to all that will come.
Prophecies like Daniel’s and its fulfillment show us that God is STILL in control. He didn’t take His hands off when man sinned in the garden. He didn’t stop caring about the people of Israel when He sent them into captivity. And He isn’t looking away today. We can trust ALL that He has said.
I’m pretty certain that I am not one of those who will be able to ‘understand’ all that is happening. That is not the kind of wisdom God has gifted me with. What He has given me is an imagination to be able to see the ‘characters on a page’ and put them into life. I pray I can do that with this last portion of Daniel. Holy Spirit, LEAD THE WAY, for I am lost today.
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Daniel is still bothered by his vision of the 70 weeks. He ponders it often, especially since Cyrus of Persia has released his people to return home. Those who return to Jerusalem are to rebuild the Temple of the Lord. Daniel’s heart sang with this decree, along with many of his fellow countrymen.
Daniel received word from Jerusalem that the opponents of the returnees have made the rebuilding grind to a halt. “What now Lord? What else can go wrong” wonders Daniel. To address this growing unease, Daniel enters into a time of mourning, fasting, and prayer. He is not alone in his calling out to the Lord.
Days turn into weeks without an answer from the Lord. Daniel has never experienced such a ‘dry spell’, but he keeps on praying. It has been twenty-one days since Daniel began his vigil. He has no idea when his prayers will be answered; but God does.
Daniel is walking along the Tigris River with several of his companions. It is a day like any other, except for the earnest seeking the Lord’s favor from this group. That changes in an instant.
Daniel looks up and sees “a man clothed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude” (Daniel 10:5-6).
Daniel’s mouth drops open for a moment. Daniel breaks eye contact for a moment as he hears the sound of those who are with him. They are all running away, as if fleeing for their very lives. Daniel knows that this is a vision from God. His answer has finally come.
Daniel isn’t unmoved by the vision though. His face pales and he falls to the ground, flat on his face. Daniel is so affected that he actually faints. He doesn’t return to his senses until he feels a hand on his shoulder. He rises up to his hands and knees, still trembling in awe inspired fear.
The one who had touched Daniel speaks reassuringly to him. “O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you” (Daniel 10:11).
Daniel stands up, but he is still shaken. The one who stands before him speaks again of God’s love and purpose in Daniel’s life.
“Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to come” (Daniel 10:12-14).
Daniel is dumbfounded at the angel’s revelation of the struggle. He drops his face to the ground and has no words. Another angel, not so terrifying as the first, touches Daniel’s lips and he is finally able to speak. Daniel’s strength is failing him from the awesomeness of this vision. Still quaking and nearly breathless, Daniel speaks to the mighty one who appears before him.
“O my lord, by reason of the vision pains have come upon me, and I retain no strength. How can my lord’s servant talk with my lord? For now no strength remains in me, and no breath is left in me” (Daniel 10:16-17).
The one standing at Daniel’s side reaches out a hand and touches Daniel. “O man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage” (Daniel 10:19a).
Even while this heavenly being is speaking, through his hand flows strength. Daniel no longer trembles or is breathless. He is ready to listen and understand.
“Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me” (Daniel 10:19b) Daniel replies.
The angle standing beside Daniel begins to reveal the meaning of the vision Daniel had received.
“Do you know why I have come to you? But now I will return to fight against the prince of Persia; and when I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come. But I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth: there is none who contends by my side against these except Michael, your prince” (Daniel 10:20-21).
Daniel waits as the angel readies to share with him wonders exceedingly great, awesome, and fearsome. Words of a future of struggles to come. Of the rise and fall of nations. And the end of days.
“And as for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to confirm and strengthen him.
“And now I will show you the truth. Behold, three more kings shall arise in Persia, and a fourth shall be far richer than all of them. And when he has become strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece. Then a mighty king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion and do as he wills. And as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not to his posterity, nor according to the authority with which he ruled, for his kingdom shall be plucked up and go to others besides these.
“Then the king of the south shall be strong, but one of his princes shall be stronger than he and shall rule, and his authority shall be a great authority. After some years they shall make an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement. But she shall not retain the strength of her arm, and he and his arm shall not endure, but she shall be given up, and her attendants, he who fathered her, and he who supported her in those times.
“And from a branch from her roots one shall arise in his place. He shall come against the army and enter the fortress of the king of the north, and he shall deal with them and shall prevail. He shall also carry off to Egypt their gods with their metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold, and for some years he shall refrain from attacking the king of the north. Then the latter shall come into the realm of the king of the south but shall return to his own land.
“His sons shall wage war and assemble a multitude of great forces, which shall keep coming and overflow and pass through, and again shall carry the war as far as his fortress. 11 Then the king of the south, moved with rage, shall come out and fight against the king of the north. And he shall raise a great multitude, but it shall be given into his hand. And when the multitude is taken away, his heart shall be exalted, and he shall cast down tens of thousands, but he shall not prevail. For the king of the north shall again raise a multitude, greater than the first. And after some years he shall come on with a great army and abundant supplies.
“In those times many shall rise against the king of the south, and the violent among your own people shall lift themselves up in order to fulfill the vision, but they shall fail. Then the king of the north shall come and throw up siegeworks and take a well-fortified city. And the forces of the south shall not stand, or even his best troops, for there shall be no strength to stand. But he who comes against him shall do as he wills, and none shall stand before him. And he shall stand in the glorious land, with destruction in his hand. He shall set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and he shall bring terms of an agreement and perform them. He shall give him the daughter of women to destroy the kingdom, but it shall not stand or be to his advantage. Afterward he shall turn his face to the coastlands and shall capture many of them, but a commander shall put an end to his insolence. Indeed, he shall turn his insolence back upon him. Then he shall turn his face back toward the fortresses of his own land, but he shall stumble and fall, and shall not be found.
“Then shall arise in his place one who shall send an exactor of tribute for the glory of the kingdom. But within a few days he shall be broken, neither in anger nor in battle. In his place shall arise a contemptible person to whom royal majesty has not been given. He shall come in without warning and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. Armies shall be utterly swept away before him and broken, even the prince of the covenant. And from the time that an alliance is made with him he shall act deceitfully, and he shall become strong with a small people. Without warning he shall come into the richest parts of the province, and he shall do what neither his fathers nor his fathers’ fathers have done, scattering among them plunder, spoil, and goods. He shall devise plans against strongholds, but only for a time. And he shall stir up his power and his heart against the king of the south with a great army. And the king of the south shall wage war with an exceedingly great and mighty army, but he shall not stand, for plots shall be devised against him. Even those who eat his food shall break him. His army shall be swept away, and many shall fall down slain. And as for the two kings, their hearts shall be bent on doing evil. They shall speak lies at the same table, but to no avail, for the end is yet to be at the time appointed. And he shall return to his land with great wealth, but his heart shall be set against the holy covenant. And he shall work his will and return to his own land.
“At the time appointed he shall return and come into the south, but it shall not be this time as it was before. For ships of Kittim shall come against him, and he shall be afraid and withdraw, and shall turn back and be enraged and take action against the holy covenant. He shall turn back and pay attention to those who forsake the holy covenant. Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate. He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action. And the wise among the people shall make many understand, though for some days they shall stumble by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder. When they stumble, they shall receive a little help. And many shall join themselves to them with flattery, and some of the wise shall stumble, so that they may be refined, purified, and made white, until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time.
“And the king shall do as he wills. He shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods. He shall prosper till the indignation is accomplished; for what is decreed shall be done. He shall pay no attention to the gods of his fathers, or to the one beloved by women. He shall not pay attention to any other god, for he shall magnify himself above all. He shall honor the god of fortresses instead of these. A god whom his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts. He shall deal with the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god. Those who acknowledge him he shall load with honor. He shall make them rulers over many and shall divide the land for a price.
“At the time of the end, the king of the south shall attack him, but the king of the north shall rush upon him like a whirlwind, with chariots and horsemen, and with many ships. And he shall come into countries and shall overflow and pass through. He shall come into the glorious land. And tens of thousands shall fall, but these shall be delivered out of his hand: Edom and Moab and the main part of the Ammonites. He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. He shall become ruler of the treasures of gold and of silver, and all the precious things of Egypt, and the Libyans and the Cushites shall follow in his train. But news from the east and the north shall alarm him, and he shall go out with great fury to destroy and devote many to destruction. 45 And he shall pitch his palatial tents between the sea and the glorious holy mountain. Yet he shall come to his end, with none to help him” (Daniel 11:1-45).
Daniel’s head is spinning by the time all these ins and outs are laid out for him. He is certain that all this cannot happen in his lifetime, but he will record this for those who come after him. He knows too, that when he returns to his room with quill, ink, and parchment, he will need the Lord to refresh all this in his mind. It is too complex to simply take in once and remember it all.
Daniel has little time to contemplate this before the angel begins speaking again. For there is more to come.
“At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. 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” (Daniel 12:1-4).
Daniel’s heart both trembles and soars at these final words. Michael himself will contend for God’s people. But great and terrible trouble is come. And still, those who are faithful to the Lord will have “everlasting life” and “shine like the brightness of the sky above” and “like the stars forever and ever”.
While Daniel is thinking over what he has heard, he looks up and sees two more angels; one on each side of the Tigris River. The one who first appeared is in the air between the two banks.
One of the angels on the bank cried out to the one hovering above the waters. “How long shall it be till the end of these wonders?” (Daniel 12:6).
The one standing above the water raised both hands towards heaven. In a voice like a multitude in chorus as he answers. “By the Lord God I swear that it will be ‘for a time, times, and half a time, and that when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end all these things would be finished’ (Daniel 12:7).
Daniel has no idea what this means, so he asks. “O my lord, what shall be the outcome of these things?” (Daniel 12:8).
Without any anger or recrimination for Daniel’s boldness in asking for more information, the one above the water answers. “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand. And from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290 days. Blessed is he who waits and arrives at the 1,335 days. But go your way till the end. And you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days” (Daniel 12:9-13).
Daniel has learned all he can. The “weeks” and the things to come are in the Lord’s hands. He may ponder the visions again, but the Lord has shown him all that he is allowed to know. He will trust in the Lord to bring about His plan, in His time. And he will write these words in a book for others to ponder as time goes on.
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My head is spinning again! I have no idea how Daniel carried all this in his mind and heart. He must have been given an AMAZING mind or a LOT of reminding when it came time to record all that he had seen.
I wanted to plug in the ‘names’ for the mentioned parties in the first portion of the prophecy, but I decided to stick with the scripture as written. If you are interested in who those named are, history gives us a spot on account of the events from the days of Daniel to the rise of the Roman empire. I’m still at a loss when it comes to explaining how all this fits in the “62 weeks” timeframe. But then, I already said that I am NO interpreter of prophecy.
I just had a wild hair. I wondered how long between Cyrus the Great and the fall of the second sanctuary. According to the dates given by Google, it is 629 years. Interesting, if the 62 weeks represents 620 years. Take from it what you will. I’m probably not the first to ponder this question.
Father God, I KNOW I don’t understand the prophecies You gave to Daniel. I KNOW that my understanding doesn’t change anything either. If You want me to know, YOU will be the one to show me. What I DO know is that YOU have everything mapped out. YOU have a plan that YOU will see to it that it is executed to YOUR exacting word. NONE can derail it or cause ANY part of it to fail. I will wait for the 20/20 hindsight recap when I am in Heaven.
