Angels' Curiosity

Daniel 12: 5-13

The angel has given Daniel the rest of the story, but there are still a couple more questions to answer.  

(5) Then I, Daniel, looked and behold, two others were standing, one on this bank of the river and the other on that bank of the river. 

Daniel was at the Tigris River, and he suddenly saw two more angels, opposite each other on each side of the river. And then we learn that this angel dressed in linen that he's been talking with since chapter ten is above the waters of the river, he's levitating above the river.

(6) And one said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, "How long will it be until the end of these wonders?" 

One of these new angels asks the original one a question, essentially, "Until when is the end of the marvels?" "When will this despot meet his end?" 

Even the angels are curious as to how God is going to complete His plan, how everything is going to work out, and when. I Peter 1: 12 says that these are "things the angels desire to look into."

(7) I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, as he raised his right hand and his left toward Heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever 

The angel then makes a solemn pronouncement, lifting both hands high.

that it would be for a time, times, and half a time; 

This is "a time" [moed] (a year), "times" [mo a dayim] (two years), and "half a time"; a total of three and one half years.

and as soon as they finish shattering the power of the holy people, all these events will be completed. 

He then added that the power of the holy people would be broken, the brave defenders of Jerusalem would be overwhelmed by the irresistible forces of antichrist and will appear doomed and hopeless, to be utterly defeated and extinct as a people. 

(8) As for me, I heard but I could not understand; so I said, "My lord, what will be the outcome of these events?" 

Daniel heard of the hopeless situation his people would be in, and is concerned that they could be wiped out! So he asks how this will end.

(9) He said, "Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time. 

His question is not answered, but we know that Zechariah 14 tells us that at the last second, the hero will come onstage in the nick of time and rescue the heroine!  

(10) "Many will be purged, purified and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand. 

He says that the "vine" will be "pruned" (purged) and the "gold" will be refined; and that those who refuse God's gracious offer of Salvation will continue to do what they've been doing, with no idea of what's really going on. But the ones who have insight, who have God's Spirit to teach them the truth, will be the ones to recognize what is happening.

(11) "From the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. 

Here's a timetable: 1,290 days is 43 months, three and a half years plus a month. It will be this long after the regular sacrifice is abolished, until Jesus appears to destroy the antichrist and his forces. If he will have the three-and-a-half years, then the sacrifices will stop a month before he sets himself up in the temple to be worshiped.

(12) "How blessed is he who keeps waiting and attains to the 1,335 days!

This is another 45 days, possibly the time our Lord will take to clean up and set up His Kingdom.

(13) "But for you, go your way to the end; then you will enter into rest and rise again for your allotted portion at the end of the age." 

Daniel is told not to worry about it, that he will rest (in the Abraham's Bosom side of Sheol), and then be resurrected after all the persecution is ended, to receive his allotted portion to rule in Christ's authority. 

O my Father, You have planned out the whole course of Mankind's story, from before the beginning to after the end. And in Your written Word You have told us before it happens what You have planned. And You are working out Your plan as we live through the days and weeks and years and generations of time, in the working out of the story. 

O Father, You have done it all. You are our Source and You are our Finisher. We can do nothing without You. Your power and enabling are Your gifts to us to be able to fulfill Your will in our lives and in the world. 

Father, send us out to share with every living person how much You love each one of us, and sent Your own Son to be our Savior and Redeemer. Let all Your embryonic children be brought to the birth into Your family, and allow no one any excuse for rejecting Your gracious and generous gift. 

And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ, our Messiah, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, forever and ever. Amen. 

Even so, come hastily, Lord Jesus!