From our Sunday service on July 20, 2025, Daniel 11-12. This is part 11 of our Daniel series. Watch the full message: The Time of the End – Daniel Series #11 on YouTube.
Please turn to Daniel chapter 11. Today we finish up our Daniel series by covering both Daniel 11 and Daniel 12. Last week I mentioned that most of chapter 11 deals with what we already talked about in Daniel 8. Daniel 10 through 12 is a continuation of the prophecy that started in chapter 8, where Gabriel told Daniel what would come to pass in the future. We talked about Antiochus Epiphanes, and about how Hanukkah came from this prophecy.
Daniel 11 is the more detailed breakdown of everything that happened between the giving of the prophecy and Antiochus actually fulfilling it. Rather than spend a whole week on just the history, I’ll read through a summary of it and conclude our lesson. There’s not a lot of practical application from chapter 11 for our lives, except that God keeps his promises.
Remember the context. This prophecy gives us a timeline of events leading up to Daniel’s seventy weeks being fulfilled through Jesus Christ. Daniel had been praying, “Reveal to me how you’re going to fix this nation.” They had been in exile seventy years, and he knew his people would soon return. He prayed, “Prepare our hearts, God. You need to transform your people. How is it going to happen? Show me.” So the angel Gabriel came and began to reveal what would happen over the next few hundred years as God prepared the world for the Messiah. Jesus Christ would come and fix what was broken. No longer would God’s people be separate from him, because his Spirit would come and dwell in them.
The prophecy came to Daniel in 535 BC, when he was around ninety years old. Jeremiah’s prophecy had already been fulfilled. The first exiles had returned and begun to rebuild Jerusalem, and it wouldn’t be long until the walls and the temple were rebuilt and worship began again. But Daniel wasn’t worried about the walls, the temple or the sacrifices. He was worried about the heart of his nation. For humanity to change, something outside of humanity needed to come, and that was Jesus Christ. Today we see Daniel’s answer fulfilled.
Last week Gabriel told Daniel that God gave him this message but he was delayed, because of an angelic argument over whether Daniel should receive the prophecy. Today we’ll wrap up that divine council thing, wrap up the prophecies of Daniel, and say a little about Revelation. Through all of it our application is pretty clear: God wants you to know that he always accomplishes his goals.
Four Kings, Summarized
We start in verse 1, to remind you where we left off. This is the angel Gabriel speaking.
Also I in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I, stood to confirm and to strengthen him.
Daniel 11:1
Gabriel is revealing that even though Daniel couldn’t see it, God’s plan was unfolding all around him. When Darius the Mede and Cyrus marched into Babylon and conquered the city, Gabriel was standing alongside Darius. That didn’t happen by accident. God sent Gabriel to fulfill the promise to Israel, and Gabriel has been working ever since, because the Messiah, the anointed one, needs to come and the way is being paved.
And now will I shew thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia.
Daniel 11:2
Verse 2 is basically the entirety of chapter 11. It’s about how Greece will be conquered and the Romans set up so that the world is ready to receive the gospel. The Romans were famous for their roads and their language, and at that time the world was more connected than it had ever been. When the Messiah came, the news had to get out. So here we’re told through prophecy that all these things will fall into place so that, when the Messiah comes, the world can hear about him.
Instead of reading the passage line by line, I’ll summarize it. There will be four kings. Normally I tell you, “This is debated, this isn’t.” In my studies on chapter 11 no one really argues about it. These prophecies are so clear that there’s no debate about who these people are, even though they were written hundreds of years before the fact. That is pretty amazing. Everything I’m about to read, they all agree on.
King one was Alexander the Great. A mighty king arises and rules with great dominion, but his kingdom is quickly broken and divided among four of his generals rather than going to his children. The king of the south, the ruler of Egypt, becomes powerful, along with a prominent prince who surpasses him.
King two, Antiochus I, takes over and tries to create a political alliance with Egypt. Antiochus II and Egypt’s leader Ptolemy II’s daughter Berenice are given in marriage, in the hope that this will join the two kingdoms. It falls apart. Antiochus III later returns with a larger army, captures all the fortified cities, and Egypt is unable to resist. A military occupation of Israel begins.
King three is Antiochus III. He attempts another alliance by offering his daughter Cleopatra the First to Egypt. This is not the Cleopatra you’re thinking of. She isn’t here yet. Antiochus hopes to corrupt Egypt, but it backfires, so he shifts his focus to the western coast of the Mediterranean. He conquers many, but a commander opposes him and he retreats, losing his reputation. He returns home and dies mysteriously outside of battle. A tax collector, Seleucus IV, takes his place, but is shortly removed.
Then king four shows up: Antiochus IV, whom we met in Daniel 8, also called Antiochus Epiphanes. He is a disliked person who rises to power through intrigue and flattery. He knows how to smooth talk. Antiochus Epiphanes foreshadows the Antichrist, who will also be a smooth talker, using flattery and doing unpopular things while having a way with words to convince people it’s the right way to go. He overcomes his opposition by lying and deceiving, and becomes strong and powerful even with a small group of supporters.
He invades wealthy provinces in peace, distributes the loot and devises strategies against the strongholds. He wages war against Egypt, which rises to fight him, but he is betrayed by Ptolemy and defeated by internal conspirators, and both Antiochus and Ptolemy plot together. Antiochus returns with wealth, invades Israel again, and goes home. At a set time he returns to Egypt, but Roman ships oppose him. Frustrated, he lashes out at the Jews. Those who forsake the law side with him. In other words, people who aren’t faithful Jews, who don’t care about Jewish law or about worshiping God, take Antiochus’s side because he tries to enforce Greek culture.
His forces desecrate the temple, remove the daily sacrifice and set up the abomination of desolation. Wise teachers teach others, yet many are persecuted, killed, burned, captured or plundered for many days. During the persecution some receive help, though some join under false motives to undermine the movement, and God uses this time to refine his faithful followers. The book of Maccabees records the history of all this chaos under Antiochus Epiphanes and how the faithful rebelled to overthrow him. And so we’ve caught back up to Antiochus Epiphanes. Aren’t you glad I didn’t spend forty minutes on that? We would have had history class and nothing about the Bible.
Refined to the Time of the End
So let’s pick up at verse 35, where that summary left off. Faithful believers are rising up against this pagan king.
And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.
Daniel 11:35
God is saying, “Some of them will fall. Some will die in this conflict. But it’s not pointless. I have a plan in all this chaos.” It seems chaotic: four kings fighting for power and glory, king against king, kingdom against kingdom, ideology against ideology. But God says there is a point. My people I’m going to purify through this. I’m going to purge them and make them white to the time of the end.
This is phrasing from forging metal. If you have impurities in your metal, it becomes brittle. You can’t make a sword out of iron mixed with impurities like too much carbon, or when you swing it and hit another sword it will shatter into a thousand pieces. God is preparing for the Messiah. Some things have to happen to prepare the hearts of the people to listen to him. It won’t be easy for the faithful during this time, and this is also foreshadowing the end times, a double prophecy that gets built on in Revelation. It won’t be easy to follow the Messiah, or popular. God needs people who are faithful, who are willing to risk and lose some things for the kingdom. They need to be purged of impurities so they don’t break in adversity, and tested for good quality.
“To the time of the end” isn’t talking about the end of the world. It’s talking about the end of the period Daniel is prophesying about, the seventy weeks. What happens at the end of the seventy weeks? Jesus is ascended into heaven, the last prophecy comes in Revelation, and Rome rises up and tries to snuff out Christianity. Those first Christians face adversity for some three hundred years before the Romans accept Christianity as the official state religion. Nero will burn them alive and slaughter them, throw them in the coliseums, and they’ll risk their lives for the gospel. So before that, God sets up this difficulty so people are ready to fight for the truth when it comes. We too as believers have to be ready to fight for the truth, because the Bible says multiple antichrists will come. Antiochus Epiphanes is just the first of many before the final Antichrist.
The King Who Magnifies Himself
Verses 36 through 38 foreshadow the Antichrist even more.
And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
Daniel 11:36–38
The king here is literally Antiochus Epiphanes. There’s no debate. But he also typifies the Antichrist. Just as John the Baptist is said to come in the spirit of Elijah, so will the Antichrist come in the spirit of Antiochus Epiphanes, with the same perspectives and the same attitudes. We learn a few things about both.
First, he is a big talker and blasphemer. He exalts and magnifies himself above every god and speaks marvelous things against the God of gods. He wants credit for everything, to be praised by everyone and to be the most popular man in the room, and he is quick to slander the true God and throw true believers under the bus. He always has the right words to say to get what he wants, and he brags that he’s greater than anything in the universe, even God.
Second, he answers to no one. We’re told of three groups he ignores. He ignores the God of his fathers, the religious teachings of his father. His father, Antiochus III, was not a good person, but apparently he was better than Antiochus IV, and he gave his son advice about ruling and how not to make the Israelites angry. Remember that Daniel 8 said what happens under Antiochus IV had never happened before in Israel’s history. Every force that exiled Israel never said you can’t worship your God. Antiochus goes against his father’s advice. He says, “Jews, you can’t worship your God anymore. It’s illegal. Any copy of the law you have, burn it. If I find you with it, you’re dead.”
Number two, he ignores pleas for mercy from women. He does not regard “the desire of women.” The women around him, whether his wife or the noble women, will say, “Antiochus, you’re too cruel. Show some mercy.” He says, “I’m in charge. I don’t care what you have to say.” The Antichrist will be the same. When people cry out, “Mercy, it’s too much,” he’ll say, “No, I know better.”
And third, he worships no god except himself. “In his estate,” in his office, “shall he honour the God of forces.” That refers to two things. The god of forces means he worships only one thing, power. And he sets up a god his fathers did not know. We know from history that Antiochus Epiphanes worshiped Jupiter. A Greek would normally worship Zeus, but Antiochus wasn’t like a regular Greek. He said Jupiter was the best god. I believe “god of forces” ties into the idea that Jupiter was one of those false gods of power. So Antiochus and the Antichrist say, “I don’t answer to anything but power alone. Your opinion doesn’t matter unless you have the ability to force me to listen to it.” These are horrible qualities of an evil, wicked man. For Antiochus the new god was Jupiter. For the Antichrist it will be Satan himself.
Now Antiochus’s fall, in verses 39 through 45.
Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain. And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
Daniel 11:39–45
He takes Israel and gives it to his commanders as a reward for their conquests, and “the king of the south” is Egypt. It seems nobody can resist Antiochus, and that his cruelty and oppression of the Israelite people will never end. But he grows anxious about the other powers and makes foolish decisions. While he is camped outside Israel, he dies, and there is nobody to help him. Now we reach the end of the four kings and the beginning of the end of the seventy weeks. Things are prepared for the Messiah to appear. Antiochus falls, Rome comes to power, and after a short time gap we move to Daniel 12.
A Resurrection During the Seventy Weeks
And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
Daniel 12:1
“At that time” is not literally right after Antiochus’s death. It means the same general time period. Michael the archangel will stand up. We know Michael from previous chapters as the angel in charge of the divine council, the top angel in God’s host, with the veto power. He told Gabriel to go to Daniel even though the other angel told him not to. He represents believers, and Daniel is a believer who wants this answer. That’s how we got here.
Notice the wording “a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation.” When we talk about the great tribulation, we say there will be a time of trouble like there never was and never will be. This is a double prophecy, so it doesn’t say that. Remember how in Isaiah the word for “young woman” can mean both a virgin and a young woman, and Isaiah needed to fulfill the prophecy in the short term so God could fulfill it in the long term. The same thing is happening here. It is fulfilled around the first century, but it’s also foreshadowing the future time in Revelation. Antiochus caused a difficulty Israel had never experienced, a foreign god set up in their temple. But the prophecy can’t say “nor ever shall be,” because in the great tribulation Israel will face something even worse. God carefully worded this so as not to imply it’s the worst that will ever happen.
And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 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.
Daniel 12:2–3
These verses confuse people, because they think the resurrection is the end times. But read the double prophecy carefully. It doesn’t say all that sleep in the dust will rise. It says “many of them.” So there should be a short-term fulfillment and a long-term fulfillment. When was there a resurrection during the seventy weeks? I propose the short-term fulfillment is in Matthew 27.
Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
Matthew 27:50–53
Ever wonder why that verse is in the Bible? It seems to come out of nowhere. Matthew knows his Old Testament and the book of Daniel, and he knows there was a prophecy of a resurrection during the seventy weeks. So he records the short-term fulfillment: during the seventy weeks the dead would rise, but not all. When Christ died on the cross, he told the man with him, “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” The dead rose, and the believers were allowed to enter heaven for the first time. Some rose physically and walked through Jerusalem, and all the believers could enter the gates of heaven, where Jesus would meet them. So this double prophecy is fulfilled in the short term within the seventy weeks, and it also foreshadows the second coming, when Christ will return and all will awake and have their final judgment or eternal reward.
The hint is that those rescued are “written in the book.” In Revelation that’s the book of life, so this resurrection and salvation is only for those who believe in Jesus Christ. And then comes a beautiful line in verse 3: those who are wise “shall shine as the brightness of the firmament.” Those who received salvation and the gift of the Holy Spirit could shine the light of Christ to the world. They spread throughout the empire, taking advantage of those Roman roads, telling the world about Jesus and turning many to righteousness. That light would shine forever, and thousands of years later it still shines. We’re here today because of the light that began with the disciples.
Michael Stands Up
Verse 1 says there is a time that Michael shall stand up. I thought for sure I would see this mentioned in my study, but I couldn’t find one commentary that mentions it. I always tell people when I teach something I don’t find anywhere else. There’s only one other place in the Bible that talks about Michael this way, so let’s look at Revelation 12. I feel there’s a big connection most people overlook. It uses the same phrasing as Daniel 11 and 12, some of the same numbers, and it’s one of the only places that speaks of Michael the archangel.
Revelation 12 is what I like to call the Revelation timeline. It shows up right in the middle of the book, the timeline resets, and it goes back to the beginning of history and tells us about the spiritual battle behind the scenes. Michael’s defense of the righteous is a fixed point for both Daniel and Revelation, so we can synchronize the prophetic timelines by comparing them. Both use three and a half times and a period of roughly twelve hundred days to reveal periods of prophetic history, and both use the phrasing “like a flood.” I just thought it was interesting that these passages have so much in common and no commentary seemed to talk about it.
As in Daniel, John introduces the vision in verses 1 and 2.
And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
Revelation 12:1–2
John tells us what the vision is about before he tells us what happens. There are two representations here, a woman and a child. The woman has a crown with twelve stars. Stars suggest Israel, twelve suggests the tribes of Israel, and aren’t there twelve disciples too? The woman represents believers, the faithful, depending on the time period either the nation of Israel or the church. She is trying to give birth to the Messiah. That’s the struggle of believers as they wait for him. Boy, does that relate to Daniel. He really struggled waiting for the Messiah, and that’s why the visions came.
And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
Revelation 12:3–4
Now we have two more images. The great red dragon is Satan, and his entire evil scheme is displayed here. And we meet the stars of heaven. In the Old Testament, stars are a common picture of angels, the shining ones. So Satan took his tail and threw a bunch of stars to the earth. We talked about the divine council: angels in heaven given jobs, some of whom said, “I don’t want to answer to God for my job. I want to run this my way.” These sided with Satan, who wanted the authority of God, and they were cast to the earth. Their scheme was, “We’ll go down to earth and stop the Messiah. God’s going to try to save humanity, and we want to doom them with us.” Satan waits for the Messiah to be born so he can kill him. In Matthew we hear how Herod was told the Messiah was to be born and said to kill all the children. Satan has him try to kill Jesus as a baby, but Jesus escapes into Egypt.
And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
Revelation 12:5–6
Israel produces the Messiah and Mary gives birth. He is to rule all nations with a rod of iron, but he is caught up to God and to his throne. Jesus dies on the cross, comes back, gives the Holy Spirit and ascends to heaven, and he is back on his throne. The woman flees to the wilderness, where she is fed and provided for for twelve hundred and threescore days, which is 1,260 days. That’s close to the 1,290 days referenced in Daniel. Don’t ask me how to figure out the exact days. I don’t know what the prophetic days represent, and you could read a hundred commentaries and they wouldn’t know either. It likely represents the time of persecution right after the gospel first came, when Rome and Nero tried to persecute believers.
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. 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. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
Revelation 12:7–13
This is where it gets really connected. Notice it’s talking about the same things as the last two verses, only in more detail. This is not chronological. It’s a more detailed account, and that happens all the time in the Old Testament.
In our Daniel passage it says Michael the archangel would stand up for the children of Israel, there would be a time of trouble, and thy people shall be delivered, everyone found written in the book. Do you not agree there’s a connection? Same numbers, same phrasing, same topic. There would be a time of trouble. People will be delivered, everyone written in the book. Michael stands up with the angels, Jesus gives victory over sin, and Satan persecutes on earth because his time is short. I believe these are talking about the same event.
What the War in Heaven Means for Us
What do we learn? In verse 7 Michael goes to battle with Satan, which is our common ground between Daniel and Revelation. Sometimes we think of Satan as the opposite of God, as if there are two powers on earth, God and Satan. That’s not how it works. God and Satan are not equal. God is way up here and Satan is way down here, so low you can’t even see him. A better comparison to Satan is Michael, the leader of God’s spiritual army, while Satan leads the army that opposes God. Jude says Michael the archangel fought over Moses’s body with Satan. They’ve been in this struggle all this time, and here we see the final blow that ends the battle forever.
When Jesus died on the cross, his blood immediately defeated Satan, and Satan lost some privileges. “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony.” Satan could no longer remain in heaven. All his power in heaven was removed. “The accuser of our brethren is cast down.” Why can’t he accuse anymore? If Christ has paid for our sins, what’s left to do in the court of law?
We talked about how Satan sometimes showed up at the divine council in the Old Testament to take advantage of the situation. He messed with King Ahab, with David, and with Job. He went before God’s throne in the book of Job and said, “Have you considered your servant Job, how he’s perfect? I want to mess with him.” Revelation tells us that when Jesus died on the cross, Satan couldn’t do that anymore. He can’t go back to heaven. He’s kicked out for good. If he went to heaven now and tried to accuse a believer, saying, “Oh, this one sinned this week. Shouldn’t you make his life hard? He’s only praising you because he gets a church paycheck,” God would answer, “It doesn’t matter how many times he’s messed up. I’ve already paid for it. There is no punishment, Satan, that you can give him, because it’s paid in full.”
Remember I said people argue whether the angels of Greece and Rome were fallen angels or God’s angels. We don’t have to worry about that anymore, because Revelation 12 tells us the fallen angels aren’t allowed to attend the divine council meetings anymore. They have no place. Satan can’t accuse the believer like he did with Job, because the believer’s sins are paid in full. He can’t mess with believers like he did with David. He’s excluded fully. He doesn’t even have insight into God’s plans anymore, since he can’t be in heaven to hear them. Now he has to do everything on his own. That’s the good news.
Here’s the bad news. “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.” Satan has been defeated. He tried for thousands of years to stop the Messiah from coming and he failed. He knows it’s only a matter of time until he’s cast into the pit of hell, so he will go through this world making as much chaos and distraction as he can, to bring as many people down with him.
So believers have a challenge. We have to shine brighter and teach and lead stronger than ever. Satan is desperate. He can hear the clock ticking down to the day of wrath, so he won’t waste time. If you’re trying to do something for God, expect him to show up and try to discourage and undermine you. He wants people to say, “I had a bad experience in church. These people said this. It burnt me out. I don’t want to serve anymore.” Or, “I tried to help this person, but they made a mistake, and it was a waste. I’m never going to try to help them again.” That’s what Satan wants. He wants us to give up the fight because his time is ticking down.
But it’s also ticking down for us. There’s only so much time we have on this earth to do something important for Christ, make a difference and point other people to Jesus. So don’t waste your time.
We don’t have time to go through all of Revelation, but the next thing on this prophetic timeline is the arrival of the Antichrist. How long will that be? It says 1,290 days. What is that? I don’t know, guys. Stop. No one knows the day or the hour. I could make a guess. From Jeremiah’s prophecy to Daniel’s, it got seven times longer, so it’s possible that from Daniel’s to Revelation it also gets seven times longer. But that’s probably not the news you want, because that’s over 3,000 years, and we’re not making it that far. We have no idea when it will be. It could be tomorrow, but time is ticking down. It may not be for a thousand years, but everybody in this room won’t be here in a thousand years, nor everybody in your hometown, in Ohio, in America or in the world. It doesn’t matter if it’s today or a thousand years. Time is ticking down for everyone, and time is short to make a difference.
Daniel Is Told to Seal the Book
Let’s go back down to Daniel and close this up. God talks to Daniel.
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.
Daniel 12:4
We just looked at the revealing of it, but Daniel was told the rest isn’t coming. He is told to seal the book. The book of Revelation says the opposite.
…Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.
Revelation 22:10
John was living in the last week of the seventy weeks. He says, “It’s over. It’s time to talk about the next thing, the end of the world. I’m sealing my prophecy. The next thing is that the Antichrist will come. I’ll return, set up my kingdom, and eventually make a new heaven and new earth, and everything will be right.”
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. 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? 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.
Daniel 12:5–7
This man clothed in linen, whom we met in Daniel 10, is Jesus. Jesus appears to Daniel and he passes out. The two standing on either side of the river represent angels from the divine council of Greece and Persia, and they ask, “Jesus, when is the time of your arrival?” He gives an answer to the divine council: after this, all things will be finished.
And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. 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. 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. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.
Daniel 12:8–13
Daniel says, “I don’t get it. I don’t get the timeline.” God tells him, “Daniel, you don’t have to. You’re not going to be here. A lot is going to happen, but I’m purifying, purging and preparing my people to do a work, and that work will be done. My plan will come to pass. For now it’s closed and sealed, but I’ll give the rest later, as we just read in Revelation. Eventually everything will be revealed and set right. There will be hardship. But those who make it to the end are going to see Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of the law and the prophets, and everything is going to change.”
Daniel is also told some good news. Despite the difficulty, he can rest in death. He won’t see the events unfold, but he will awaken at the end of the days. “Thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot.” That means their reward or inheritance at the end of days. At the end of these seventy weeks, Daniel, you’re going to catch up, because Jesus is going to die on that cross and many who sleep in the dust will awake to everlasting life. When Messiah comes, you’ll wake up and it will all make sense. The next thing you need to worry about is meeting Jesus face to face.
This double prophecy points us toward a future, and we have the same lesson. Are we going to make it to everything in the future? I don’t know. But we can have rest, because one day we will rest in the Lord, and the next thing we’ll see is the same thing Daniel saw: our Lord and Savior face to face. So we need to be faithful in our time on the earth.
God Accomplishes His Goals
Daniel 11 and 12 pull back the curtain so God’s people can see that every rise or fall of kings and kingdoms, every event, every persecution, every act of desecration or rebellion has failed to derail God’s plans. The visions of Daniel have shown us that God always accomplishes his goals. He does so precisely, through specific rulers and sequences of events. He does so patiently, through persecution that he uses to refine the wise. He does so powerfully, setting limits and appointed times. And he does so pastorally. He doesn’t leave us without hope. He promises us a resurrection, a reward, and ultimate vindication and justice.
Antiochus Epiphanes is a pattern of an arrogant, self-exalting opposition that foreshadows the Antichrist, the final man of lawlessness. Yet even in his fiercest attack he only accomplished one goal, purifying the wise for the soon coming of the Savior. The wicked will always do wickedly, but their attempts will never put God on the defense. God is always acting on the offense. The abomination, the removal of sacrifices, the scattering of the people and the numbered days all testify that history is not random. God’s sovereignty and his ability to turn bad into good are so comprehensive that even periods of apparent defeat are used to purify, purge and refine a people prepared for his plans.
We live on the far side of the cross and the empty tomb, with more light than Daniel ever received in his lifetime. Yet we have the same call: be faithful, be wise, turn many to righteousness. We are not called to write down dates or create timelines. We are called to discern patterns and take lessons from them, to endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, to keep our testimonies clean, to trust that the limited fury of evil only hastens its own end, and to rest in the promises of the resurrection and eternal reward.
So from everything we’ve read in Daniel, what do we do?
One, marvel at God’s sovereignty. Let fulfilled prophecy anchor your confidence that God’s remaining promises will stand and ultimately be fulfilled.
Two, embrace refining. Hard seasons of your life are never wasted. God uses them as tools to purge and purify you.
Three, reject counterfeit worship. Power, security and self-glory are still altars that seek our hearts today. Refuse them, reject them, and set your eyes on Christ.
Four, hold tightly to your testimony. The wise will turn many to righteousness, so be sure you stand for Christ and represent Christ well even in difficult times. That is part of God’s divine plan.
Five, rest and hope. Daniel was told he would rest and stand in his allotted inheritance in the resurrection, and that same promise still stands for each and every one of us. History bends as God intends. So lift your eyes from the chaos of this world and look up to the God who writes history and to the Messiah who anchors our final end.
God wants you to know that he always accomplishes his goals. So live, serve and endure in confidence that God will finish what he started.
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