The End of the Age and the Beginning of Forever Text: Daniel 12:1-13
Introduction: Reading the Map in the Right Century
When modern Christians come to a passage like Daniel 12, they often bring a set of assumptions that have been shaped more by newspaper headlines and dispensationalist charts than by the grammar of the New Testament. They read "time of distress" and think of the European Union. They read "abomination of desolation" and start looking for a supercomputer in Brussels. But this is to read the Bible with a profound historical dislocation. It is to assume that the apostles and the Lord Jesus Himself were primarily concerned with events two thousand years in their future, while being quite vague about the cataclysmic, world-altering events that were breathing down their own necks.
The New Testament is saturated with a sense of imminence. "The time is near." "The Judge is standing at the door." "This generation will not pass away until all these things take place." A consistent, Bible-believing Christian must therefore ask a simple question: what was "the end" that was so near for them? Was it the end of the space-time universe, or was it the end of the age, the end of the Old Covenant world, centered as it was on the Temple in Jerusalem? The overwhelming testimony of Scripture is that it was the latter. The prophecies of Daniel, particularly this culminating chapter, find their primary fulfillment not in our future, but in our past. They were fulfilled in the convulsive death of the Judaic age and the glorious birth of the Christian aeon, which occurred in the events surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
This does not mean the passage has nothing to say to us. Far from it. But what it says to us can only be understood when we first understand what it said to them. Daniel was given a sealed prophecy. He was told to shut up the words because the time was not yet. Centuries later, the apostle John, in the book of Revelation, is told the exact opposite: "Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand" (Rev. 22:10). The time that was distant for Daniel was immediate for John. The events described here are the "great tribulation" that Jesus spoke of, the climactic judgment on covenant-breaking Israel that brought an end to the sacrificial system and unleashed the gospel to fill the whole earth. This chapter is about the end of that world, the resurrection of the New Covenant people, and the vindication of the saints who trusted in the promises of God.
The Text
"Now at that time, Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will stand. And there will be a time of distress such as never happened since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to reproach and everlasting contempt. And those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the time of the end; many will go to and fro, and knowledge will increase.”
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. 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?” And 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 that it would be for a time, times, and half a time; and as soon as they complete shattering the power of the holy people, all these events will be completed. As for me, I heard but could not understand; so I said, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these events?” Then he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the time of the end. 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. But from the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. How blessed is he who keeps waiting and reaches the 1,335 days! But as for you, go your way to the end; then you will enter into rest and stand again for your allotted portion at the end of the days.”
(Daniel 12:1-13 LSB)
The Great Tribulation and the Great Rescue (v. 1)
We begin with the celestial conflict and the earthly crisis.
"Now at that time, Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will stand. And there will be a time of distress such as never happened since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued." (Daniel 12:1)
The timing here is crucial. "At that time" refers back to the events of the previous chapter, which detail the persecutions under figures like Antiochus Epiphanes, who serve as a type, a foreshadowing, of the greater conflict to come. Michael, the archangel, the guardian of covenant Israel, will "stand." This is a posture of war, of rising to action. This is not a reference to some distant battle at the end of time, but to the heavenly reality behind the earthly events of the first century. The war between Rome and Jerusalem was a manifestation of a deeper spiritual war, the one described in Revelation 12, where Michael and his angels cast down the dragon, that ancient serpent, the accuser of the brethren.
This standing of Michael coincides with "a time of distress such as never happened." Jesus quotes this very phrase in Matthew 24 and applies it directly to the destruction of Jerusalem. "For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be" (Matt. 24:21). This is not hyperbole. The historian Josephus, an eyewitness, describes the siege of Jerusalem in language that makes the stomach turn. The famine, the cannibalism, the factional infighting, the crucifixions, the sheer scale of death and suffering were unparalleled. It was the complete unraveling of a nation.
But in the midst of this covenantal holocaust, there is a promise of rescue. "Your people... will be rescued." But which people? Not every ethnic Jew, for many of them perished in the judgment. It is "everyone who is found written in the book." This is the book of life, the registry of the elect, the true Israel. This refers to the remnant who heeded Christ's warning to flee the city when they saw the "abomination of desolation." The early church historian Eusebius tells us that the Christians in Jerusalem, remembering the Lord's words, fled to the city of Pella before the final siege began. They were rescued. The ethnic branches were broken off, and the wild olive shoots, the Gentiles, were grafted in, but the holy root remained. God preserved His true people through the judgment.
The Resurrection of the Age (v. 2)
This next verse is one of the most contested in Old Testament prophecy, but it becomes clear when we read it through the lens of the New Covenant's arrival.
"And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to reproach and everlasting contempt." (Daniel 12:2)
Our dispensationalist friends want this to be the literal, bodily resurrection at the end of the world. And while the Old Testament does teach a final, bodily resurrection, that is not what this verse is primarily about. The context is the end of the Old Covenant age. This is a resurrection of a different sort. The language of "sleeping" and "waking" is used throughout Scripture to describe spiritual states. The "dust of the ground" here is a metaphor for the state of death and impotence under the Old Covenant system, which was passing away.
This "awakening" is the result of the gospel going forth. With the destruction of the Temple, the final nail was hammered into the coffin of the Judaic system. The New Covenant age burst forth in power. Those who came to Christ through faith were "awakened" from the sleep of spiritual death to "everlasting life" in the kingdom of God. This is the resurrection John speaks of: "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live" (John 5:25). This was a spiritual and covenantal resurrection.
But the awakening was twofold. For those who rejected the Messiah and clung to the old, dead forms, their "awakening" was to the horrifying reality of their judgment. They awoke to "reproach and everlasting contempt." Their city was gone, their temple was rubble, their covenant was obsolete, and they were left in shame before the nations. This was the great separation, the great division at the changing of the ages.
The Wisdom of the New Age (v. 3-4)
The fruit of this new age is wisdom and the spread of righteousness.
"And those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the time of the end..." (Genesis 12:3-4)
"Those who have insight" are those who understand what God is doing in history. They are the ones who understood that the kingdom had come in Jesus Christ. They are the teachers, the evangelists, the apostles of the early church who took the gospel to the nations. Their work is to "lead the many to righteousness," and in doing so, they shine like stars. This is the Great Commission in prophetic form. The destruction of Jerusalem unshackled the gospel from its provincial, Jewish context and sent it out to conquer the world. The stars that had governed the old world fell, and new stars, the leaders of the church, were set in the sky to give light to the world.
But Daniel is told to "seal up the book." Why? Because these events were still far in his future. The vision was for an appointed time. It was not for his immediate generation to fully understand. The meaning would be unlocked "at the time of the end," that is, the end of the age Daniel's prophecies pointed toward. At that time, "many will go to and fro, and knowledge will increase." This is not about airplanes and the internet. In the context, it refers to the frantic searching of the Scriptures that would occur as these events drew near. The apostles and the early Christians poured over Daniel and the prophets, and as the events unfolded, knowledge of God's plan increased dramatically. They finally understood what it all meant.
The Sealed Timeline (v. 5-13)
The chapter concludes with a cryptic timeline that baffled Daniel but which points directly to the crisis of the first century.
"How long will it be until the end of these wonders?... it would be for a time, times, and half a time; and as soon as they complete shattering the power of the holy people, all these events will be completed." (Daniel 12:6-7)
The "time, times, and half a time" is a symbolic number representing a period of intense persecution, roughly three and a half years. This corresponds to the period of the Jewish War with Rome, from roughly A.D. 67 to A.D. 70. The key to the timeline is the final clause: it all ends when "the power of the holy people" is shattered. What was the power of the "holy people," that is, apostate Israel? It was their political and religious authority centered in Jerusalem and the Temple. That power was definitively and utterly shattered by the Roman legions under Titus in A.D. 70. That was the end of "all these events."
Daniel hears but does not understand, which is the point. The book is sealed. The answer he receives is that the wicked will not understand, but "those who have insight will understand." The unbelieving Jews of the first century were blind to what was happening. But the Christians understood. They saw the armies, they remembered the prophecies, and they fled.
The final verses give two more numbers.
"But from the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. How blessed is he who keeps waiting and reaches the 1,335 days!" (Daniel 12:11-12)
We should be careful not to be overly dogmatic with prophetic numbers, but they clearly point to this same period. The "abomination of desolation" was not a Roman act, but rather the desecration of the Temple by the Jewish Zealots during the war, which was the final sign for the Christians to flee. The daily sacrifice was stopped in August of A.D. 70 due to the severity of the siege. The 1,290 and 1,335 days likely refer to specific periods within that final, terrible conflict, marking stages of the judgment and the subsequent vindication and blessing for those who endured and escaped. The blessing was for those who waited, who trusted God's prophetic word, and who reached the other side of the judgment, entering into the full light of the New Covenant age.
Daniel is told to go his way. He will rest, and he will stand for his allotted portion "at the end of the days." This is a promise of his own personal, bodily resurrection at the true end of all things, the end of history itself. While the prophecy he delivered was about the end of the Old Covenant age, his personal hope was fixed on the final consummation, as ours should be. He participated in the covenantal resurrection by faith, and he will participate in the final resurrection in person.
Conclusion: Living on the Other Side of the Rubble
So what does this mean for us? It means we are not waiting for the great tribulation. It is past. We are not looking for the abomination of desolation. It has happened. The power of the old, ethnic, sacrificial system has been shattered forever. We live on the other side of the rubble of that old world.
The resurrection of Daniel 12 has happened. The kingdom of God has been established. The age of the Spirit is here. And because of this, "those who have insight" are still called to "shine like the stars." We are called to lead many to righteousness. The task given to the first-century church is now our task, but on a global scale. The stone that struck the statue in Daniel 2 is now a great mountain, and it is in the process of filling the whole earth.
The wicked still act wickedly, and they still do not understand. They look at the world and see chaos. They look at the church and see a failed institution. They do not understand that the King is on His throne, that His enemies are being made His footstool, and that the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. But we who have insight, we who are written in the book, we understand. We know how the story ends. And so we labor with confidence, shining as lights in a dark world, knowing that our allotted portion is secure, and that we will stand with Daniel at the end of the days.