Daniel 12 Commentary
By Bill Weather - 6000thyear.com - Prophecybase.com

V1 – And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, everyone that shall be found written in the book.

This parallels Christ’s words in Matthew 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation,

such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

Both Daniel 12 and Matthew 24 are telling of the same era of time, that time of the Roman abomination of desolation armies, which was at the time of the AD 66 to AD 70 siege and destruction of Jerusalem.

The deliverance of the people spoken here is when the Roman armies were about to lay siege of Jerusalem, but mysteriously went away. The Jewish Christians there then saw this and remembered the Lord Jesus’ warning, to flee –

And when you see Jerusalem encompassed about with armies, then know that the desolation

thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee into the mountaints… Luke 21:20,21.

Soon after, the Roman armies returned and the gates of the city were shut up so no one could come or go in or out of the city. The Christians were delivered from its soon coming destruction.

V2 – And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,

some to everlasting life and some to shame and contempt.

This is clearly speaking of the resurrection. In prophecy, it sometimes speaks of the heavenly status of the people, not a chronology. The resurrection doesn’t come until the very end, at the 6000th year. The Preterists here, like to use this to make a claim that the resurrection has already taken place, but reading through Revelation, if that were so, there would have been several resurrections taking place (Rev 5:10-13, Rev 6:11, Rev 7:15-17, Rev 10:7, Rev 14:1-5, Rev 14:14), but in plain, non metaphorical language, Revelation 20:5 describes only one resurrection for the just, which clearly does not happen until all the other events of Revelation are complete. This verse is declaring status, not chronology.

V3 – And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament;

and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever.

This status description encourages us to be wise and with tactfulness, shall the gospel, so those lost may be found and those in sin, may repent and become righteous in Christ.

V4 – But thou, Oh Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book,

even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall be increased

Here we are told these words would not be understood till the time of the end when knowledge would be increased. That the words would be sealed up. The many running to and fro speaks of increased travel in our modern age, like no other time in history and that during this time knowledge would be increased.

V6,7 – How shall it be to the end of these wonders?… it shall be for a time, times and half:

and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people,
all these things shall be finished.

Here we have a vague time frame given, time, times and half. This is also spoken of in Revelation 12:4, which we historicists believe is the same as 1260 days/42 months given in Revelation 11-13. That would be the 1260 years of the dark ages. Is this that same time frame? The subject matter seems to change when verse 11 is spoken…

V11-13 – And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate set up, there shall be 1290 days. 12 Blessed is he that waits and comes to 1335 days. 13 But go thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.

    Historically, Josephus records the events of AD 66-70 Jerusalem that have a perfect match to these events. The daily sacrifice refered to here was the daily sacrifices they would make in honor of the Roman emperor. It was a way of showing Rome allegiance. It is recorded that Eleazar, son of the high priest Ananias ordered the stoppage of these gentile sacrifices and offerings to Caeasar. This is what stirred the Romans to begin to lay seige of the city. From that time, to when the Roman armies first came was 1290 days. It is recorded that for some mysterious reason, the Roman armies left for a time and then came back. It may be because they saw what the Jews of Jerusalem did to arm up and defend the city, so it may be that the reason they left for a time was because the Romans assessed the situation and saw they needed more military might to get control of Jerusalem, so they went away to prepare to be better equipped to deal with the size of the task. Then the Christian brethren who saw this, knew it was time to flee Jerusalem. After the 1290 days, 45 days later, was the 1335 days and the destruction of Jerusalem fulfilled. The ones who escaped, saw and heard at the 1335th day what had happened to Jerusalem and considered it a huge blessing that they escaped its destruction, thankful to the Lord for giving his words of prophecy that saved their lives. Thus, Daniel 12 is fulfilled and is not a futuristic time of trouble to come, but there is a WW3 time of trouble to come.

See 6000thyear.com on that