Final Promises



Daniel 12:5-13
5Then I, Daniel, looked, and behold, two others stood, one on this bank of the stream and one on that bank of the stream.
6And someone said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream, “How long shall it be till the end of these wonders?”
7And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream; he raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven and swore by him who lives forever that it would 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.
8I heard, but I did not understand. Then I said, “O my lord, what shall be the outcome of these things?”
9He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end.
10Many 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.
11And 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.
12Blessed is he who waits and arrives at the 1,335 days.
13But go your way till the end. And you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days.

As the book draws to a close, the conversation that Daniel is having with “the Son of Man” is joined by two others – probably angelic. This trio resembles the trio that visited Abraham in the book of Genesis (chapter 18). The Pre-Incarnate Christ visits with Abraham, accompanied by 2 angels. These added angels could be witnesses to the vision that God is showing Daniel as a promise that what he is seeing will indeed come to pass, just as shown. The “time, times, and half a time” indicates that period between the coming of Jesus as an infant and His second coming. All that God has promised will take place, just as He said.

While the last few chapter of Daniel have been shrouded in a little bit of mystery, they are fascinating and full of hope. God’s plan is in full swing and going just as He has decided it should go. There are no surprises for God and we need never fear that things will fall from His grasp. Daniel is assured in the last verse that he too will rise to receive his inheritance, just as we will as well.

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