Chapter 12
Introduction
Many weeks ago when we began to study the Book of Daniel I tried very hard to understand this prophecy but I think what God would have us to keep in mind is that God is on His throne, and He is in control, that nothing happens in the way of accident before God.
Kingdoms may rise and fall. Babylon comes and goes; the Medes and the Persians come and go but the Kingdom of God continues to abide throughout time.
When we look at our world and the chaos everywhere, wars and rumors of wars, sometimes we wonder if the whole thing is out of kilter, but Daniel would say to us, and he has been saying to us throughout each chapter, God is still in charge and He will continue to rule in a sovereign way until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord.
I really believe what Daniel would have us understand, having completed the study of his prophecy, is this: that we have a great God. He is the God of gods: He ruleth in the heavens and He ruleth in the kingdoms of men. Throughout the Book we have seen it, God’s sovereignty, from the beginning of the captivity of the people of the Jewish city, along with Daniel and all the other young captives, in their teens, age 14, possibly. It looked like so many bad things were happening and that the wicked were winning, but we just kept studying and in a few chapters we discovered that God has been in charge all along, and that He has had His hand upon the scene of this world. I think that if we gain nothing else, from this book than a settled assurance that we have a sovereign God, it will be well worth our time spent.
God is also teaching us that in these last chapters of the Book of Daniel that God is also in charge of that kingdom, when The Antichrist will be upon this earth and God will watch over until ultimately the reign of that evil man has come to a conclusion and when God’s time is finished, allowing the Antichrist to reign, not one day too long, or one day too soon, God will bring down the curtain of Satan’s program and his kingdom will terminate. That’s what he’s telling us in the 10th, 11th and 12th chapters in the last vision that God gave to Daniel.
I think it would be helpful by way of introduction to these few verses to realize that Daniel confesses twice in this section of Scripture, that there’s a whole lot that God’s been teaching him that he doesn’t understand. I don’t know if that helps you but that surely makes me feel better. There are some things in this Book that I’ve wrestled with that I don’t understand yet.
Daniel had some of the writings of the old prophet, but he didn’t have the Olivet Discourse from the lips of Jesus. He didn’t have the Book of Revelation. You and I have it all, but we don’t study it like we should. We have all the minor prophets and the major prophets that we can read and study.
Now to Daniel Chapter 12 . . .
Daniel has been talking about some very difficult days that are coming for his people. I wish I could tell you without leaving the Book of Daniel that we could get it all straightened out and end right, but I can’t tell you that.
Because we’re going to have to go to some more passages of Scripture to finish it and understand more clearly, we are going to take another direction in how it all ends and I want you to follow in your Bibles and your thinking as we develop three things:
1. A period of time
2. The Prince of Israel
3. The people of God.
In the first verse there is a phrase that is repeated.
Daniel 12:1
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, every one that shall be found written in the book.
Whenever you see that term in the Word of God: at that time, you need to stop and ask the question, At what time?. Obviously, as we go back into the 11th chapter what Daniel is doing is tying the 10th, 11th, 12th chapters together and the time is concerning the Battle of Armageddon.
We talked about the fact that all the nations are going to gather together, and the nation of Israel, to do battle against each other and ultimately when the Lord comes back in glory, they’re going to forget about fighting one another and they’re going to turn their attention on their Lord and His armies, and that’s going to be the ending to the time of trouble: the time of Jacob’s trouble.
So, when Daniel writes the 12th chapter, at that time, he’s focusing in on that same period of time: The Great Tribulation. I want us to look at some of the Scriptures that tell us about what is to happen at that period of time.
Let’s look at Jeremiah 30:3-9 . . .
Jeremiah 30:3-9
3For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers and they shall possess it. 4And these are the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah. 5For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. 6Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? Wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? 7Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it; it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. 8For it shall come to pass in that day saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him: 9But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.
Jeremiah the prophet says that the “time of Jacob’s trouble” is going to be like a nation in labor, like a nation experiencing the pains of birth. It will be a terrible time of agony and travail; the Scripture says it is a time like the world has never known.
You can take the terrible things that have happened to the nation of Israel under the Herods, the Hitlers and you can magnify them to their greatest extent, and you cannot imagine what will happen during that future time. Jeremiah says it’s like a nation under travail.
Matthew 24:21-28 (Jesus is speaking)
21For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. 23Then if any man shall say to you, Lo here is Christ, or there, believe it not. 24For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 25Behold, I have told you before. 26Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. 27For as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 28For wherever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
In the Book of Matthew our Lord describes the Great Tribulation period as a time of trouble, such as has not been known from the beginning of the world, nor ever shall be, until that time.
“At that time” is a period of great distress for the Jewish people. If you want to know more about this Great Tribulation, next week read Revelation Chapters 6 through 19. Those chapters discuss the period of tribulation in graphic terms that you cannot misunderstand.
It talks about war and famine and twenty-five percent of the world being killed and the collapse of the heavenly bodies and one-third of the earth being destroyed and one-third of the sea being destroyed, and the creatures in the sea and the ships on the seas being destroyed and one-third of the fresh water being polluted and the release of hell’s demons to overrun the earth, and the slaughter of the Beast and False Prophet, and body sores all over human bodies and scorching sunlight that burns people to death, and darkness covering the earth and pain, and on and on it goes.
I want to impress upon you that the Great Tribulation is not just more trouble than we know now; it’s not even in the same category. No one can even comprehend the awful pain and agony of the “time of Jacob’s trouble,” when all hell will break loose on this earth.
Now, this brings us to the prince of Israel.
Daniel 12:1
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, every one that shall be found written in the book.
Here we are introduced to Michael, the prince. During this study of Daniel, we have learned that Michael is God’s super angel. He is God’s most powerful angel. He is given power over Israel, and he is the super angel from heaven and when you see conflict you always see Michael involved in the conflict.
Look in your Bibles to Jude. There is just one chapter.
Jude 1:9
Yet Michael, the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses*, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.(* Moses, the Law Giver)
I want to remind you of verse 13 in the 10th chapter.
Daniel 10:13
But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me, one and twenty days, but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
Look at verse 21.
Daniel 10:21
But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things but Michael*, your prince.(* Reminder: Michael is an angel.)
(Now, back to the 12th Chapter of Daniel)
We’re in the Great Tribulation period and all of the stops of Satan’s fury have been poured out on the nation of Israel and in the midst of that, the Bible says that at that time the great prince Michael will stand up and defend the children of Israel.
And how does he do that?
Revelation 12:1-9
1And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: 2And she being with child cried, travailing in birth and pained to be delivered. 3And there appeared another wonder in heaven, and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. 4And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. 5And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. 6And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. 7And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8And prevailed not; neither was there place found any more in heaven. 9And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
What’s going on here? Let’s identify the woman in verses one and two. This is a reference to Israel and the twelve stars referring to the twelve Tribes of Israel, so in those two verses we see Israel travailing to bring forth the True Messiah, the Lord Jesus. Verses three and four, we see another wonder in heaven and this wonder in heaven is Satan, a great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, referring to his government involvement and notice in verse four And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven and did cast them to the earth. I believe that’s a reference to the fact that when Satan fell one-third of the angels fell with him, to the earth.
Now the Scripture says that something happened when the nation of Israel, verse four, was about to bring forth the man child, who was the Messiah. It says that the dragon stood before the woman to devour her child as soon as it was born. Do you remember what happened to Jesus as soon as He was born? The adversary determined in every way possible to try to rid the world of its Redeemer.
Satan was waiting for the Messiah to be born, so He could be destroyed. Verse 5, He was caught up unto God and to His throne…the ascension: He went back to heaven.
Satan hates the nation of Israel because Israel brought the Savior into the world and everything he could do, he tried, to keep the Redeemer from being born—and everything he could do to destroy Jesus, he did and now we are studying The Tribulation Period. Satan will pour out his wrath on the Jewish nation. Satan hates the Jewish nation and he will do anything that’s within his power to destroy that race.
Satan’s final attempt to get even with the woman, that brought the Savior into the world, and the war that’s taking place in verses 7-14 we read that Michael and his angels are going after the dragon to keep that from happening. We’ve got the same picture that we had in Chapter 10. While The Tribulation is going on down here on this earth and all hell is breaking loose down here, up there Michael and the dragon are having a war, to keep Satan from doing any more damage to the Jewish nation.
The period of time is The Tribulation and the Prince of Israel is Michael. Now the third point: There are some of the Jews that will be saved. There will be many hundreds of thousands of Jews who will be killed in The Tribulation Period but some of the Jews will be saved and preserved.
They will become the people that God uses when He goes into His Kingdom. In order for us to understand this better, let’s look at several other passages.
Jeremiah 30:10-11
10Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the Lord; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid. 11For I am with thee, saith the Lord to save thee, though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet I will not make a full end of thee, but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.
God is saying that even though I stamp out all the nations that come against you I’m not going to stamp you out altogether. I will deal with you in measure, and I will not let you go unpunished and uncorrected but I am going to save a part of you.
Jeremiah 30:17
For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.
This is the way we can put all this together.
Ezekiel 20:33-38
33As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you: 34and I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out. 35And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face. 36Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD. 37And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant: 38And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
Here’s what God is saying. In The Tribulation Period, the unbelieving Jews, the rebels, the disobedient, those who do not honor God are going to be purged out of the nation. They are going to be destroyed. The apostate Jews will be killed so that only a certain number of Jews are going to be left. How many? The Bible tells us how many Jews are going to be left at the end of The Tribulation Period, who are pure, who have not been purged out as rebels.
Zechariah 13: 8-9
8And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. 9And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.
When I figured this out this week it answered a question that has puzzled me ever since I’ve been studying prophecy. I think one of the hardest verses in all of the Bible is the verse that says “all Israel shall be saved.”
We hear about national salvation. Israel will be saved as a nation. As I study the Bible in the New Testament that puzzled me. God doesn’t work that way. God doesn’t save nations. God saves individuals.
What God is telling us is that in that particular time in The Tribulation, all Israel shall be saved because the only Israel that’s left are those who have been refined in the judgment fires of God and the rebels and the disobedient are gone and the apostate are gone.
And the only ones that are left are the ones who believed in their Messiah and so all Israel shall be saved.
You know, when you read your Bible, you get a lot of questions answered. When you study God’s Word, then a lot of things begin to make sense.
These are some verses in Malachi; it puts it all in a beautiful setting.
Malachi 3:16-18
16Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon His name. 17And they shall be Mine saith the LORD of Host, in that day when I make up My jewels, and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. 18Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.
In the Jewish nation they think everybody served God and what God is saying is when I get done with the Jews you’re going to find out the ones who served God and those who did not.
Malachi 4:1-2
1For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. 2But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
God is saying that the purpose of The Tribulation Period, as far as the Jews are concerned, is to purge out that rebellious section of the Jewish nation and to do away with the apostate Judaism, until what is left at the end of that period is the righteous nation of Israel, that will ultimately go into the Millennial and as Jesus Christ as their King will rule and reign for one thousand years.
