The Time of the End in The Book of Daniel
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Anyone writing a commentary on the book of Daniel could use copious footnotes and clouds of references of little relevance to the prophecy. Many writers go to great lengths doing so. Many such books are available that quote other sources but explain nothing new. The present study uses an approach that is the exact opposite to these practices. Many may regard any comment on the prophecy of Daniel as dull, dry and unprofitable reading. For that reason excessive wordiness has been avoided in the present study because brevity and conciseness of explanation have seemed, to the present writer, of paramount importance. The clear, brief and logical explanation of the total prophecy in an intellectually satisfying manner, consistent with biblical and historical references bearing on the subject, has been a primary objective. The present study could easily have extended to double its present size. For that reason, the present writer has been very selective in the material used. The number of references has been kept to the barest minimum consistent with the need for historical proof. The explanation of the prophecy in this study is written for the layman. Thus this study has been edited several times to simplify the language and curtail its length. Prophecy Never Fully Understood The prophecy of the book of Daniel has never been completely explained in a satisfactory manner by any commentary written to date. The book seems to be an enigma wrapped in a riddle. The prophecy appears to be utterly impossible to fully understand. This situation has obtained from the beginning. There are several reasons that have contributed to this situation. 1. The first reason seems to be the "sealing" or concealing of the meaning of the vision of 8:1-14 and, indeed, the total book. (See 8:26b and 12:4 & 9). 2. The second reason the prophecy is not better understood has been the failure of scholars to find the correct historical meaning of the "indignation" as well as the historical identity of the "willful king" of the 4 verses of 11:36-39. 3. The third reason, a most important one, is the failure of scholars to realize the existence of, and explain, the two separate "times of the end" in the prophecy. (See 8:17-11:35-11:40, 12:4 & 9. 4. )A fourth reason has been the apparent inability of scholars to recognize the dividing line between past and future prophecy in the book. 5. A fifth reason is the centuries long "gap" between 11:39 & 40. The inability to recognize the existence of this "gap" in the prophecy has been caused by the failure to identify Vespasian as the "wilful king" of the "indignation" of 11:36-39. That "indignation" was the wrath of God against the Jewish nation during the Roman/Jewish war of AD 66-70. The Sealing of the Prophecy Apparently, the primary reason the prophecy of Daniel is not better (and perhaps fully) understood has only been hinted at by some writers in the history of Danielic literature. However, that reason is quite obvious. The book has been "shut up" or "concealed." The Hebrew word translated as "shut up" means "to conceal or make secret." The obvious thing about "concealing" the prophecy is that its meaning has been concealed. That is, the meaning of the prophecy has been concealed or "kept secret" from the understanding of mankind. However, it is clear from the text that the deliberate "concealing" of the prophecy was according to the order of Heaven. That situation will last until sometime during the second and last "time of the end." That also is according to the prophecy. Thus it appears that, by Divine order, the book has been made impossible for anyone to correctly understand until very near the end of human history. This is clearly evident in the book because of Gabriel's command to Daniel in 12:4. That command was to "...shut up" (make secret)...the words and seal (or authenticate) the book until "the time of the end." This verse seems to imply the book would be "unsealed" or revealed when human history reaches the time period of the "time of the end." The exact time period referred to in that expression has never been known until the writing of the present study. That time period is the second "time of the end" of the prophecy and it truly "borders on eternity." The "shutting up," "concealing" or "secreting" of the meaning of the vision (Hebrew = chazown) of 8:1-14 is mentioned in 8:26b. The concealing or making secret of the total prophecy of the book is mentioned in 12:4 & 9. Thus it is quite obvious that one should approach any attempted explanation of the prophecy in a cautious manner. Because of the "concealing" of the meaning of the prophecy, it seems a truly correct understanding of the prophecy has been a futile undertaking. At least, that was true before the beginning of the second and last "time of the end" and the writing of the present study. Most writers do not mention the "concealing" of the total vision (chazown) of 8:1 to 14. Nor do many writers mention, the "shutting up, closing up, or concealing" of the book in 12:4 & 9. The clear implication of these references means to conceal the meaning of the prophecy. If a writer mentions the "concealing" of the vision or book at all, no attempt is made to explain the implications of that "sealing." Thus most writers proceed as if the "sealing" or "concealing" of the vision of 8:1-14, and the meaning of the total prophecy in the book has not occurred. This problem appears to be the very heart of the reason the book of Daniel has never been completely understood to the present time. In fact, that is probably the major reason the prophecy is not fully understood at this date in history. Joyce Baldwin has written a recent and excellent commentary on Daniel. Dr. Baldwin places a great deal of stress on the "shutting up" or "concealing" of the prophecy. (1) That is as it should be, because the meaning of the prophecy has truly been "shut up" or concealed from the understanding of men until the SECOND and last "time of the end."
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The purpose of this volume is to "unseal" or reveal the mysteries in the prophecy of Daniel. The book of Daniel is the ONLY example in the entire bible of a prophecy that was "shut up" and/or "sealed" in antiquity. This is a mysterious phrase and is the reason the book is NOT well understood to the present time. The "shutting up" or "sealing" of the book must mean that the full and complete MEANING of the prophecy would NOT be revealed to the understanding of men. That is, until the arrival of a time period called "the time of the end." (See Dan. 12:9) This appears to be the exact case because there are things in the prophecy that clearly have NOT been correctly understood to this very day. Examples of these misunderstood things in the prophecy include: (1) The meaning of the phrase, "the time of the end." (2) The historical identity of the "willful king" of Dan. 11:36. (3) The true meaning of the word "indignation" in 8:19 & 11:36. (4) The historical connection between the "sale of the land" in 11:39 AND the "willful king" of 11:36. (5) The separation of the prophecy between ancient and modern. This approximate1900 years time span is seen between 11:39 and 40. . The first mention of "sealing" is seen in 8:26, where the Archangel Gabriel instructs Daniel to "shut thou up the vision, for it shall be for many days." Gabriel is referring to Daniel’s vision of chapter 8. It seems the "shutting up" of that vision contributes to the later "sealing" of the entire book. In 12: 4, the Archangel Gabriel instructed Daniel to "shut up the words and seal the, BOOK ( even) to the time of the end." (KJV) Note: The word "even" is a suppled word as it does not appear in the original. The Septuagint (LXX) uses the word "to" instead of "even." Gabriel instructed Daniel to seal the book in 12:4, but he tells Daniel in 12:9 to-- : "Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end." Gabriel must have assumed that Daniel had effectively "sealed" the book according to his previous instructions. The mysterious phrase "the time of the end’ is mentioned 5 times in the prophecy. Some writers have said this is a short period of several decades time that will occur just before the end of human history on earth. However, one must assume from these verses that the TRUE MEANING of the prophecy would then be fully understood at or during the "time of the end." Most writers have assumed the existence of only ONE "time of the end" in the book. However, it is easily proved there are two such periods and they are parallels of each other. The first period occurred at the end of the Jewish "era." The second period will occur at the end of the Gentile "era." The present volume is a calculated attempt to "unseal" the prophecy. One reason for this idea is that the world now "lives" in the last "time of the end." After all, the prophecy states that it would be "sealed to the time of the end." The clear inference is that it would be "unsealed" at (or during( that time period. Because of a decades long, prayerful and diligent historical search, every mystery in the prophecy has now been revealed in the present volume. The prophecy can now be fully understood for the first time since the archangel Gabriel (and Daniel) "sealed" it over 2000 years ago.