Daniel 12:1-13, The Time of the Great Tribulation

Beginning in chapter 10 Daniel has been given a vision or revelation about the near and far future of his people who have returned from Babylon/Persia to their homeland Israel. He has been told by the angel of Yahweh, who is the Son of God taking on human appearance, about the spiritual war that has been going on among the angels who are responsible for the various nations of earth. Their behind the scenes actions are determining what happens with each nation and the affect on his people Israel. He has seen the immediate future (the next couple of hundred years, and then given a glimpse of the end days and a great tribulation they will go through before the kingdom of God comes.

^12:1 “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. ² Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. ³ Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. ⁴ But you, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.”

We’re told in the book of Revelation (chapter 12) that Michael will war with the evil angels and Satan right before the final three and a half years before the end, forcing them to the earth, where Satan will make his last stand. Satan will inspire the antichrist and the false prophet to desecrate the temple and wage war against the saints. Jesus uses the words of Daniel’s prophecy terming this a great tribulation unlike any before on earth (Matthew 24:21). Michael’s protection of Israel does not mean many won’t be martyred, though the 144,000 Jewish witnesses will be sealed for protection (Revelation 7). For sure, much evangelism will take place and many will be lead to righteousness. At the end there will be a resurrection of the dead, righteous and unrighteous, the righteous to everlasting life, the unrighteous to shame and judgment (Revelation 20).

⁵ Then I, Daniel, looked, and there before me stood two others, one on this bank of the river and one on the opposite bank. ⁶ One of them said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How long will it be before these astonishing things are fulfilled?”

⁷ The man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, lifted his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by him who lives forever, saying, “It will be for a time, times and half a time. When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed.”

⁸ I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?”

⁹ He replied, “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are rolled up and sealed until the time of the end. ¹⁰ Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.

¹¹ “From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. ¹² Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days.

¹³ “As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance.”

Daniel wants to know from the “man clothed in linen” (Jesus, the angel of Yahweh) how long this tribulation will last, and the answer is three and half years (time [year], times [2 years], and half a time [6 months]). This is the last half of the 70^th seven of Daniel 9, the last half of what was a seven year covenant the antichrist made with Israel. In Jewish calendar years (360 days, a lunar calendar) that would be 1260 days, but there is another 30 days added for some reason to accomplish something, and then another 45 days tacked on to that, perhaps, as the Expositor’s commentary suggests:

What is destined to take place in that short period can only be conjectured. It may be the time when the thousand-year earthly rule of Christ will be officially inaugurated, as he takes his seat on David’s throne. The intervening time may well be devoted to repairing the devastation and burying the bodies left by the Armageddon campaign (cf. Eze 39:12).

The angel assures Daniel that he may now go his way (he is perhaps near 90 years old), that his purpose in God’s plan is over, and that he may await the resurrection to everlasting life.

[For a more complete description of end time events, see my free downloadable book, Apocalypse Then]