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EARNESTLY CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH:
CLARENCE LARKIN:
THE BOOK OF DANIEL:
CHAPTER 11:36-12:13
THE TIME OF THE END
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The sudden and abrupt appearance of “THE KING” in verse 36 implies that he is one of whom we have heard before, and is not a new character, and therefore does not need to be again introduced. Notice that it does not say “a” King, but “THE” King. There are some who claim that there are THREE Kings introduced to us in the Book of Daniel. First, the “LITTLE HORN” of the “Fourth Wild Beast” (Dan. 7:8), or the last Roman Emperor. Second, the “LITTLE HORN” that came up on one of the “Four Horns” of the He-Goat (Dan. 8:9-12), that represented Antiochus Epiphanes. And third, the “WILFUL KING” of the chapter we are now considering, who represents the “Antichrist.” If this be true, then there is no “progressive revelation” of the Antichrist in the Book of Daniel, as we have tried to show. That these three Personages, the two “Little Horns,” and the “Wilful King,” appear and reign at the same time, the “TIME OF THE END;” that they display the same “Wilful disposition,” and shall be destroyed in the same manner, implies that they are one and the SAME PERSON. The fact that this “Wilful King” appears on the scene at the close of “THE GAP” between “Messiah the Prince” and the “Time of the End” (verses 33-35), and which corresponds, as we have seen. with the “interval” between the “69th” and “70th Week” of Daniel’s “Seventy Weeks,” identifies him with the “PRINCE THAT SHALL COME” of Dan. 9:26-27. And as the “Prince that shall come” shall be the last Roman Emperor, it identifies the “Wilful King” as the last Roman Emperor, and therefore the “Little Horn” of Daniel’s “Fourth Wild Beast.” Again in verse 40 this “Wilful King” is called the “King of the North.” Some dispute this, claiming that the statement– “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,” that the pronoun “him” stands for the “Wilful King,” and that the Kings of the “North” and “South” are “colleagues” banded together against him. But this is disproved by verses 42-43, where it says that the “King of the North” shall treat the “King of the South” as an enemy and shall spoil Egypt. What verse 40 means is, that at the “Time of the End,” the “King of the South” shall push at him (the Wilful King): and the King of the North (the Wilful King) shall come against him (the King of the South). That is, the “King of the North” will return the attack of the “King of the South.” We know from our study of chapter 8, that the “Four Kingdoms” into which Alexander the Great’s Empire was divided are to be revived, and that in the “latter time of their kingdom” a King of “Fierce Countenance” shall stand up. Dan. 8:21-23. Now one of those “Four Kingdoms” was SYRIA, known as the “Kingdom of the North,” and as the “Little Horn” of chapter 8 appeared on the “Syrian Horn,” then the King of “Fierce Countenance” of chapter 8 must be the “King of the North” of the revived “Syrian Kingdom.” or the “WILFUL KING,” the “King of the North.” of chapter 11. Here again we have proved that the “Little Horn” of chapter 7, the “Little Horn” of chapter 8, and the “Wilful King” are one and the same person. Those who claim that the “Wilful King” is “Antichrist,” and not to be confounded with the last Roman Emperor, and that the “Beast” that comes up out of the sea, of Rev. 13:1-10, is the last Roman Emperor, while the “Beast” that Comes up out of the earth (Rev. 13:11-18), and called three times the “False Prophet” (Rev. 16:13, 19:20, 20:10), is the Antichrist, forget that the “False Prophet” is not a King. His Office-work is to exalt the first Beast. So as he is not a King, and the “Wilful King” is, then if the “Wilful King” is Antichrist, the “False Prophet” cannot be, and vice versa. The “Wilful King” shall do according to his will. He shall “exalt” and “magnify HIMSELF above every god,” and shall speak “marvellous things” against the “GOD of Gods” (Jehovah), and he shall prosper until the “Indignation” (The Great Tribulation) is accomplished, for that which God has “determined” for the TIME OF THE END “shall be done.” He shall not regard the “God of his fathers,” the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That means he will be a JEW. Neither shall he regard the “desire of women.” If this means the desire of Jewish women to be the mother of the Messiah, and we must not forget that to the Jews the Messiah has not yet come, then he will not regard THE SON, and this characteristic of the Antichrist is foretold by the Apostle John, who says – “He is Antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.” 1 John 2:22. But in His place (Jehovah’s) he shall honor the “God of Forces,” or “Fortresses.” That is, he shall depend on the “god” that can secure for him the Kingdoms of this world, and that is the “God of this World (Age)”-SATAN, who offered the “Kingdoms” of the world to Christ. Matt. 4:8-9. Christ refused them at the hand of Satan, for He knew that He would receive them at the hand of the Father (Dan. 7:13-14, Rev. 11:15) bhut the Antichrist will accept, for we read that – “the DRAGON (Satan) shall give him (the Beast) his power, and his seat (Throne) and great authority.” Rev. 13:2. By the help of this “strange god” the “Wilful King” shall secure the “strongholds” (Fortresses), or the fortified cities, of the Ten Federated Kingdoms, and shall garrison them with Imperial troops on pretense of maintaining peace and concord. Thus he shall “increase the glory” of all who acknowledge him, and give them authority, and for “graft” (gain) he will divide the land. At this time the “King of the South” reappears. Who he will be we do not know. But he will be one of the “Ten Federated Kings,” for he is to appear after the “Four Kingdoms,” into which Alexander’s Empire was divided, shall reappear, and he will be some future King of Egypt who will oppose the claims and military success of the “Wilful King,” the “King of the North.” The “King of the North” will lose no time in opposing the “King of the South,” and will swoop down on him like a “whirlwind,” with chariots, and horsemen, and a large navy, and shall overflow many countries. But Edam, Moab, and the land of Ammon shall escape. But the “Glorious Land” and Egypt shall not escape. He shall confiscate the treasures of Egypt, and the Libyans and Ethiopians shall fall at his feet. But in the midst of his conquest of Egypt bad tidings shall come to him from the East, from Babylon. his Capital City, and from the North. These will fill him with rage, and he will depart from Egypt with “great fury” and will plant (pitch) the “Tabernacles of his Palace;” that is, the “Royal Tents” in which he . dwelt while in the field, “between the seas,” the Mediterranean and Dead Seas, on the “GLORIOUS HOLY MOUNTAIN.” And there, with none to help, he shall come to his end. See Zech 14.
Here again we see that there should be no chapter division, for there is no break in the subject treated. The twelfth chapter begins with the words, “And at THAT TIME.” What TIME? The time of the “Wilful King,” which we have seen is the “TIME OF THE END.” Dan. 11:40. At that time Michael shall stand up. Stand up for, and take the part of Daniel’s People. Who is Michael? He is mentioned three times in Daniel (Dan. 10:13, 21; 12:1), where he is called a “Prince” who stands for Daniel’s People-the Jews. He is called in Jude 9 the Archangel. He has his angels, and in Rev. 12:7 he is seen in command of the “Angelic Army” of Heaven. His work seems to be to deliver God’s people, particularly the Jews, from the power of Satan, and finally to oust him and his angels from the Heavenlies, and cast them down on to the earth. Rev. 12:7-9. He also has something to do with the resurrection of the dead, for he is associated with the “Resurrection” mentioned in Dan. 12:1-2, and he contested with the Devil the resurrection of Moses (Jude 9), and the “voice” of the Archangel that will be heard when the “Dead in Christ” shall rise (1 Thess. 4:16) will be the “voice” of Michael, for he is the only Archangel mentioned in the Scriptures.
The Scriptures speak of a “Great Tribulation” that is coming on the earth. Christ in his “Olivet Discourse,” uttered on the Mount of Olives on the Tuesday evening before His Crucifixion, said –
That the “Great Tribulation” spoken of by Christ was not the terrible sufferings that befell the Jewish people at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem in A. D. 70 is clear. That was local, and fell upon the Jews only, while the Tribulation that Christ foretold is to come upon the whole world, and is to be immediately followed by great physical changes, and the return of the Son of Man in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Now none of these things happened immediately after the Destruction of Jerusalem, nor have they happened as yet. It will not do to say that the “physical changes,” such as the darkening of the sun, etc., are figurative, and represent the downfall of. rulers, governments and authorities from the Political Firmament, for such “physical changes” have happened before, and they will happen again. They happened in the days of Moses, when there was “Darkness” in Egypt for three days (Ex. 10:21-23), and they shall happen again when the “Vials” of the Book of Revelation are poured out, as they will be during the “Great Tribulation” (Rev. 16:1-21), for four of the “Vial Plagues” are repetitions of four of the Plagues of Egypt. And if they were literal so must the “Vial Plagues” be. Christ also said that at that time, the time of the “Great Tribulation,” the “Powers of the heaven shall be shaken.” Now these “Powers of the Heavenlies,” the “Principalities and Powers of Evil,” of which the Apostle Paul warns us (Eph. 6:12), have not as yet been shaken, but in the Middle of Daniel’s “Seventieth Week,” when the “Great Tribulation” begins, there will be “War in Heaven,” and Satan, who is the PRINCE of these “Evil Powers of the Air,” will, with them, not only be shaken, but “shaken out” of the Heavenlies onto the earth, and it will be his presence, incarnate in the Antichrist, that will cause the Great Tribulation. Once more, immediately after “The Great Tribulation” the “Sign” of the “Son of Man” will be seen in the heavens. That “Sign” is a “cloud.” He ascended in a “cloud” and He is to return in the “clouds.” Matt. 24:30. But as the “Son of Man” (Jesus) did not return immediately after the destruction of Jerusalem in A. D. 70, then the destruction of Jerusalem was not the “Great Tribulation” spoken of by Matthew. But our Lord’s Prophecy does not stand alone. It is backed up by other prophecies both in the Old and New Testaments. Turning to the Old Testament, we find that there were other Prophets beside Daniel who spoke of a “Time of Trouble” for Israel. Jeremiah called it the time of “Jacob’s Trouble,” and compared its sufferings to the “birth-pangs” of a woman. Jer. 30:4-7. Ezekiel speaks of it as the time when Israel shall “Pass under the Rod,” Ezek. 20:34-38; and when God shall gather Israel into the midst of Jerusalem, and cast them into His “Melting Pot,” where they are to be refined as silver is refined. Ezek, 22:18-22. See also Zech. 13:9 and Malachi 3:1-3. While the Old Testament Prophets. and Christ. foretell of this “Time of Trouble,” the Apostle John in the Book of Revelation (Rev. 12:1 to 19:21) gives us the details. From these references we see that the “Great Tribulation” will be a time of JUDGMENT for the Jews. through which, as a “refining process,” they will be made fit to again be God’s chosen people. The “Great Tribulation” is not for the “perfecting” of the Saints. It has nothing to do with the Church. The Book of Revelation is written in chronological order, and the Church is “caught out” through the “Open Door” in chapter 4:1, before the “Tribulation Period” begins, and is not seen again until she reappears with Christ at His Second Coming as the “Lamb’s Wife.” Rev. 19:6-9. If the Church is to pass through the “Great Tribulation,” then the Church should be watching for the Tribulation, and not waiting for His Son from Heaven. 1 Thess. 1:10. During Daniel’s “Time of Trouble” all of Daniel’s People whose names are written in the Book will be miraculously “delivered.” These will be the “godly remnant” of the “END TIME.”
The Scriptures speak of three kinds of resurrection. 1. SPIRITUAL. This refers to those who are spiritually dead in “Trespasses and Sins.” Eph. 2:1-16; 5:14. Rom. 6:11. This is a “Present Resurrection” and is going on continually. Every time a soul is “born again” there is a passing” from “death” unto “life,” this is a “Spiritual Resurrection.” John 5:24. 2. PHYSICAL. This is of the dead body. The “Spirit” of man does not die, it goes back to God who gave it. All that goes into the grave is the body, and all that can come out of the grave is the body. The bodies of both the “Righteous” and the “Wicked” shall rise. but not at the same time. There will be a thousand years’ difference. The “Righteous” shall rise to the “Resurrection of LIFE” before the Millennium, and the “Wicked” to the “Resurrection of DAMNATION” at the close of the Millennium. John 5:28-29.* [*See the Chart on “The Resurrections” in the writer’s book on “The Spirit World.”] 3. NATIONAL. This refers to Israel who are now nationally dead and buried in the “Graveyard of the Nations,” but who are to be revived and restored to their own land. Jer. 16:14-15. When the Children of Israel shall be restored to their own land the whole “Twelve Tribes” will return. Paul says-“ALL Israel shall be saved.” Rom. 11:26. Ezekiel, in his Vision” of the “Valley of Dry Bones,” was told that the bones represented the “Whole House of Israel.” Ezek. 37:11. There are some who teach that what is here meant is, that previous to the Millennium God will resurrect all the descendants of Israel and put them back in the Land of Palestine, and they base it on the statement in Ezek. 37:12 –
Now such an interpretation cannot be true for several reasons. First, the Land of Palestine is not large enough to hold and sustain such a multitude, and secondly, this is 110ta description of a physical resurrection of dead bodies, but of a “National Resurrection” of a People. The cry of the “bones” (verse 11), where they say-“Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts,” is not the cry of individual dead Israelites, but the cry of a DEAD NATION that has been “cut off” from its own land. It is the cry of a Spiritually and Nationally dead People. By the word “graves” we are not to understand “literal graves,” for the bones were not in graves but scattered over the Valley. Ezek. 37:1-2. What the passage means is, that God is going to bring back His People Israel, who are figuratively buried in the “Graveyard of the Nations,” and place them again in their own land. This is clear from what follows –
Notice that nothing is said here of the opening of any graves in the Land of Israel, where the Patriarchs, Judges, Prophets and Kings of Israel were buried. This therefore could not be a “General Resurrection” of all the DEAD OF ISRAEL, but only of those who died in other lands. But the next two verses settle the question, for the Lord says –
This is in exact accord with other Scriptures that teach that Israel is to be gathered back into their own Land (Jer. 16:14-1.5. Isa. 43:5-7. Amos 9:14-15). where they are to pass through the “Fiery Judgment” of the “Tribulation Period” (Ezek. 20:34-38; 22:19-22. Zech. 13:9. Malachi 3:1-3), the sufferings of which will cause them to call on the Lord for deliverance. and He will pour out upon them the “Spirit of Grace and Supplication” (Zech. 12:10), and they shall “Nationally Repent” (Zech. 12:11-14), and be “Converted”–
Then will be fulfilled Isa. 66:8 –
Then a “Nation,” the “Jewish Nation,” shall be converted, or “Re-born” IN A DAY. This interpretation of Ezekiel’s Vision of the “Valley of Dry Bones” is confirmed by the “Object Lesson” of the “Two Sticks” that follow it. Ezek. 37:15-28. The Prophet was told to take a stick and write on it- “For JUDAH and for the ‘Children of Israel’ his companions.” Which means the “Two Tribes,” Judah and Benjamin, known as “Judah.” Then he was told to take another stick, and write on it-“For JOSEPH, the stick of Ephraim.” Ephraim was the son of Joseph, for whom the “Ten Tribes” were sometimes called after Jeroboam’s insurrection. When the Prophet had marked the “Sticks,” he was told to join them together “end to end,” so as to make ONE STICK, which when He had done, the Lord said –
From this we see, that the “WHOLE HOUSE OF ISRAEL,” that is, the Whole Twelve Tribes, are to be gathered back to their own land, and redistricted upon it, according to the manner described in Ezek. 48. Then will be fulfilled the words of Jer. 3:18-
Now we must not forget that in these “Scriptures of Truth” the Angel Gabriel was trying to make Daniel understand-“What shall befall his PEOPLE (the Jews) in the LATTER DAYS” (Dan. 10:14), or the “TIME OF THE END.” Dan. 11:35; 12:4. Naturally therefore we should expect the Angel to have something to say about the “National Resurrection” of the Jewish Nation, and as it is to follow the “Time of Trouble” (Tribulation), how better could it be foretold than in the words of verse 12:2 – “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.” If we claim that the words mean a “physical resurrection of dead bodies” we will find that the verse conflicts with the teaching of the New Testament as to the Resurrection. While, as we have seen, the New Testament teaches that there is to be an OUT Resurrection of the “Righteous” before the Millennium, and a thousand years before the “Wicked” rise, the verse we are considering declares, that while many (not all) shall rise, thus ‘making it an Out Resurrection, some shall be to “Everlasting Life,” and some to “Shame and Everlasting Contempt,” thus making it a resurrection of a mixed character. Again the time of Daniel’s Resurrection is a~er the “Time of Trouble,” while the New Testament declares that the “First” or “OUT Resurrection” of the Righteous precedes the Tribulation. But you say, there is to be a Resurrection of the “Righteous” after, or at the close, of the Tribulation, the Resurrection of the “Tribulation Saints.” Rev. 20:4-6. This is true. But it is not a mixed Resurrection. It is only of those who died during the Tribulation, and who were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and who did not worship the Beast. In other words, a Resurrection of Righteous persons. Some commentators try to get over the difficulty by paraphrasing the text. For instance, Tregelles translates the verse thus, “Many from among the sleepers of the dust of the earth shall awake; these shall be unto everlasting life, but those (the rest of the sleepers) shall be unto shame and everlasting contempt.” But this is neither satisfactory or Scriptural, for it is only a separation into two classes of the “many” that rise, leaving the vast majority of the dead in the grave. While the words-“sleep in the dust of the earth” seem to imply physical death, and under ordinary circumstances would so mean, we must not forget that the verse refers to a condition of Daniel’s people in their “latter days.” Not a condition of “death,” but of “National Existence.” If therefore we interpret the words “sleep in the dust of the earth” to mean the same as the words of Ezekiel– “I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves” (Ezek. 37:12), which we saw means a “National Resurrection” of the Jewish People of the “End Time,” the meaning of the verse is clear. That is, it means not a Physical or Spiritual, but a “National” Resurrection of the Jewish People after the Tribulation, and before the Millennium. That is where Christ in His Olivet Discourse puts it –
The “Elect” here are not those of the Church. They were caught out before the Tribulation. These are caught out after the Tribulation, and as the passage is Jewish, they must be the “Elect” of Israel. Notice it is not a “catching up,” but a “gathering together.” The scene is earthly. The Jews are looked upon at present as those that “dwell in dust,” but who are yet to “awake and sing.” Isa. 26:19. The Apostle Paul says of them-“If the casting away of them (Israel) be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving (back) of them be but LIFE FROM THE DEAD?” Rom. 11:15. Israel, while lost, is not dead. The Prodigal Son, while lost, was called “dead,” but when he returned home his father said of him that he was “alive again.” Luke 15:24. If we accept this interpretation of Israel’s Resurrection, then the “many” that shall awake reveals the fact that not all the Jews in the world will return to Palestine, and that the “some to Everlasting Life” will be Righteous, while those to “shame and Everlasting Contempt” will be Unrighteous.
[Clarence Larkin here tries to correct the King James Bible using the perverted English Revised Version. We have removed his comments] We must not forget that the “Gospel of the Kingdom” shall be again preached, for it must be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the END COME (the End of this Dispensation). Matt. 24:14. We must not forget that there are “Four Gospels” spoken of in the New Testament.
The word “Gospel” means “Good News.” The “Gospel of the Kingdom” is the “Good News” that God is going to set up a Kingdom of the earth over which David’s Son, JESUS, shall reign. Luke 1:32-33. This Gospel was proclaimed by John the Baptist and Jesus and His Disciples, in the words – “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” The call to repent was not to individuals but to the Nation. The Nation refused, rejected the King, and crucified Him. But before the King’s death the “Gospel ‘Of the Kingdom,” which up to that time had been preached only in Palestine, and not to all the world, was withdrawn. It is to be preached again after the Church has been “caught out,” and then not only in Palestine but in the whole world. And as it is a call to Israel as a Nation to repent, and a proclamation that Christ is coming to set up the “STONE” (Dan. 2:34-35,44-45) or Millennial Kingdom, the Kings of the earth, particularly Antichrist, will hate such a “Gospel” that proclaims the downfall of his Kingdom. This will account for Antichrist’s hatred of the Jews, and his persecution of those who preach that Gospel. Between the two preachings of the “Gospel of the Kingdom” we have the preaching of the “Gospel of the Grace of God.” It is the proclamation of Salvation through faith in the “Atoning Sacrifice” of Christ on the Cross. The “Glorious Gospel is the Gospel of the “Glorious Appearing,” or “Second Coming” of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Titus 2:13. The “Everlasting Gospel” will be preached by an Angel just before the “Vial Judgments” are poured out on the earth, and it will be “good news” to all who are passing through the “Great Tribulation,” because it declares that their sufferings will soon cease, and it will be “bad news” to Antichrist and his followers because it will proclaim that the “hour of God’s judgment” for them has come. Rev. 14:6-7. There is also “ANOTHER GOSPEL” (Gal. 1:6-12, 2 Cor. 11:4), which is not another and which Paul repudiated. It is a perversion of the true Gospel. and has many seductive forms, and in the main teaches that “FAITH” is NOT SUFFICIENT to Salvation, nor able to keep and perfect, and so emphasizes “GOOD WORKS.” Col. 2:18-23, Heb. 6:1; 9:14. The Apostle Paul pronounces a fearful “Anathema” upon its preachers and teachers. Gal. 1:8-9. The “wise” teachers of the “End time” will be like the children of Issachar, “which were men that had understanding of the Times.” 1 Chron. 12:32. They shall understand the Scriptures, and being mostly Jews, the Old Testament; particularly the prophecies relating to Israel. So prominent and noted will they be, they will shine as the brightness of the firmament on a clear winter’s night, and as “stars” in the “Prophetic Heavens,” and like the great Prophets of old, Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel and Daniel, they shall shine forever and ever. So true and clear and forceful will be their exposition of the Wore! of God, that it will convict the hearers and they shall turn many to righteousness.
Notice the difference in the command to Daniel the Prophet, and John the Apostle. Daniel was told to “SEAL UP” the revelations given to him, while John was told to “SEAL NOT” the prophecies of the Book of Revelation. Rev. 22:10. And the reason is evident. When the Disciples came to Jesus and said –
From these words of Christ we learn that the Jews of His time were “wilfully ignorant” of the Prophetic Scriptures. They had ears to hear, but they did not understand, because they did not want to. And so, not to add to their sin, Christ had to unveil the “Mysteries” of the Kingdom of Heaven in Parables. And the reason was because the “Veil of Unbelief” was on their hearts. Of the Children of Israel, Paul says –
Therefore, as far as the Jews are concerned, the Book of Daniel is a “sealed book.” But it is only sealed up to them until the “Time of the End.” When that “Time” comes many of Daniel’s People shall “run to and fro,” and their “knowledge (of the Book) shall be increased,” and they shall be comforted and sustained amid the sufferings and trials of that “Time of Trouble.” But the Book of Daniel is no longer sealed to the Christian believer. He has seen its prophecies being fulfilled in history. And now that the Book is being better understood, it is more and more studied, which is a sign of the near approach of the “Time of the End.”
We must not forget that Daniel was still standing by the side of the River Hiddekel (Tigris), and that chapters 10 to 12 inclusive are one “Vision.” Therefore the “Man Clothed in Linen” is the same mentioned in chapter 10:5-6, and has been already described. But at this point in the “Vision” Daniel noticed two other ang-elic beings, one on each side of the river. One of them addressed the “Man Clothed in Linen,” supported in a cloud over the River, and asked – “How long shall it be to the END of these Wonders?” And the “Man Clothed in Linen” lifted up both hands and sware by the Almighty, that it should be for a “TIME, TIMES, AND A HALF,” or three and a half years. Now there are two things in this answer, the “Oath,” and the “Length of the Time,” that remind us of Rev. 10:1-6. And as the Book of Revelation is the interpreter of the Book of Daniel we turn to the reference.
As the description of this “MIGHTY ANGEL,” in His appearance and actions, harmonizes with that of the “MAN CLOTHED IN LINEN” (Dan. 10:5-6; 12:6-7), they must be one and the same, or the Lord Jesus Christ. The description corresponds to that of Him as He stands in the midst of the “Candlesticks” in Rev. 1:12-16, and we know that in the Old Testament He was called the “ANGEL OF THE LORD” (Ex. 3:2-18), and that the “I AM” of the Old Testament is the same as the “I AM” of the New Testament. John 6:35; 8:12; 10:9. Now as these closing chapters of Daniel deal with Israel, and as Christ was to them the “ANGEL OF THE LORD,” what more appropriate title could He have in chapters 6 to 19 of Revelation, that also deal mainly with Israel, than that of a “MIGHTY ANGEL?” The fact that He cried with a loud voice, as a “Lion roareth,” identifies Him as the “LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH.” Rev. 5:5. This “Mighty Angel,” like the “Man Clothed in Linen,” swears by the Almighty, that there shall be “TIME NO LONGER,” or as the margin of the King James Version translates it – “DELAY NO LONGER.” And as the “Mighty Angel” uttered these words in the “Middle” of Daniel’s “Seventieth Week,” there was only three and a half years to run or forty-two months (Rev. 13:5), which is the exact time given by the “Man Clothed in Linen,” for forty-two months is equal to Daniel’s “TIME, TIMES, AND A HALF.” Verse 7. Thus we see that Daniel and Revelation agree as to the LENGTH of the “Time of the End,” and that it is given by the same Person, the Lord Jesus Christ. While Daniel heard the answer, he did not understand the meaning, so he himself repeated the question, but no explanation was vouchsafed him, and he was told to go his way, for the words were “closed up and sealed” till the “TIME OF THE END,” when the “WISE shall understand.” Then two other measures of time were revealed to Daniel, 1290 and 1335 days. These days were to elate from the time when the “Daily Sacrifice” was taken away, and the “Abomination of Desolation” set up, which we know will be in the “Middle” of Daniel’s “Seventieth Week.” Dan. 9:27. Thus we have three measures of time given in Daniel, all dating from the “Middle” of his “Seventieth Week.” First, the 2300 days of Dan. 8:13-14,and these two measures of 1290 and 1335 days. The termini of these three measures of time are respectively 1040, 30, and 75 days beyond the “End” of Daniel’s “Seventieth Week.” The 2300 days have to do with the cleansing of the Sanctuary, but we are not told what events the other two measures of time lead up to. But we do know that after the return of the Lord at the “End of the Week” there will be other events of national importance to the Jews, that will precede the setting up of the Millennial Kingdom.
Daniel was over ninety years of age. He had lived in Babylon, away from his beloved Land and City, for over seventy years. His life had not been an idle one. He had been active in the public affairs of two Empires. His religion had received the severest tests. God had honored him by taking him into His confidence, and revealing to him the history of the “Times of the Gentiles.” In his last Vision he had the blessed privilege of seeing and hearing the voice of his Lord. But his work was done. The time for rest had come. So he was told to “go his way,” depart to his home. and rest there until the summons came for him to make his “Exodus” from Babylon to the Heavenly Land. Then when the “Times of the Gentiles” have run their course, Daniel will stand in HIS LOT. What that “Lot” is to be we are not told. But if the Apostles are to be raised and sit on “Twelve Thrones,” judging the “Twelve Tribes” of Israel (Matt. 19:28), what may not Daniel’s lot be, who participated in the affairs of Empires, and was the trusted adviser of kings. |
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