Daniel has learned that a figure will appear who will be the great final enemy of the people of God; and that figure, that enemy will “come to his end, with no-one to help him” (11. 45)
So the first couple of verses of Daniel are about “that time.” What CS Lewis called “The Last Battle” in the adventure of human history. It's easy to get all excited about “the end times... Daniel gives us three key New Testament themes to help keep us on track.
1. It is a battle. Michael rises to defend God's people, but the time of conflict gets worse. And Michael brings deliverance in suffering not from it. Victory in spiritual warfare does not eradicate the need for commitment & sacrifice nor the possibility of going through a difficult time.
2. It's final. It ushers in not just a new chapter in history. It brings history to its end and opens the door on eternity. “Many who have been long dead and buried will wake up” (v. 2, the Message) The “many” or “Multitudes” means everyone. There's a general resurrection. Isn't that amazing?
3. It's followed by judgement. Some will rise “to eternal life, others to eternal shame.” Verse 10 contrasts the “Wicked and the wise” and says in the final judgement it will become plain: the wicked continue to be wicked. The Message translates the second half of verse 3, “Men and women who have lived wisely and well will shine brilliantly, like the cloudless, star-strewn night skies. And those who put others on the right path to life will glow like stars forever.” We need to be the wise – living God's way and spreading his light, helpign others to live that way too.
That's it. The last instalment of Daniel's longest vision. The rest of the chapter is about what we do with all that. Daniel is told to “seal up the words of the scroll” i.e. until they are needed. Not that they are to be untouched; just kept safe – and perhaps one of the best ways of doing that is to avoid “cutting and pasting” our interpretations into these words. Just as interbreeding can contaminate the genetic code of rare animals, so human interpretations can infiltrate the way we read Scripture. l When these prophecies are needed, their meaning will become plain.
But... This business of the future leaves us with questions. What's it all about? When is it going to happen? How will we know? And it is OK to have questions. Daniel's mind is filled with questions. These visions each had painful, unsettling effect on Daniel. And even the angels have questions.
Standing by the Tigris river, with al his questions, Daniel is still seeing the figure of a man clothed in linen – this figure we recognise as Jesus. The future that is revealed to Daniel, God's plan for the climax of hsitory, is all connected with jesus – his person, his coming into the world; his life, death, resurrection; and his gift of the Spirit to God's people.
So the end of the chapter is a question and answer session. And the first questioner is one of the angelic figures. The angel asks "How long?” [that is, “To the end”] Clearly, it was not going to happen at the time of Antiochus Epiphenes (about whom we have heard a lot in Daniel)... Antiochus was a bad lot but he never succeeded in breaking “the power of the holy people” (v. 7). i.e. the Jews. Quite the opposite: they defeated him!
When was the power of the holy people broken? How about 70 a.d. with the final destruction of Jerusalem? The Romans defiled, decommissioned and destroyed The temple. It seems like “the power of the holy people” was broken then. But it wasn’t; it had already been transformed and enlarged, because Jesus had come and said ““The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near” (Mk 1. 15). The purpose for which God created the nation was fulfilled when Jesus came. From the time of Jesus, the “Holy People” is expanded to include not just one nation but people from every tribe and nation. (Rlatnn 7.9) We are part of it.
That's the good news. The bad news is that “The Holy people” have still to go through these times of warfare and global persecution.
How long will that last? Daniel is told “time, times and half a time”. Some people want to make that “years” which gives you a nice timetable. But there is no reason for that, apart from it being convenient. “Times” means “feasts, assemblies, meetings or seasons”. But not “Years.” Feasts and assemblies, meetings and seasons will come and go. God answers the angel, quite deliberately, with a bit of mystery. The end will happen at just the right time. Jesus says in Mk 13. 32 that the angels still did not know the answer to that question ( and neither did he!)
The second questioner is Daniel. He asks "what will be the outcome?" (v. 8) “What's going to happen? How will it all pan out?” But the answer is flatly denied! “Go your way” (v. 9). One your bike Daniel. There's one crumb of information: “Days” instead of the undefinable “times” puts a limit on the time of trouble (v. 10) Nobody will get more than they can bear.
The disciples once asked Jesus a similar question: “Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now? Is this the time?” (Acts 1. 6)
And Jesus answer was similar to that given to Daniel: “You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s business. What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world.” (Acts 1. 7)
We live between Jesus first coming and his coming again. And what we get is the Holy Spirit. What we get is his power to be wise and put others on the right path to life. (v. 3) The Spirit is given to help us live for the Kingdom, until the Kingdom comes.
Like Daniel, we go our way, in the power of the Spirit.
Like Daniel we are promised “you will rise”. We will shine like stars!
Be content with the Spirit God has given us.
Be content with hope!
© Gilmour lilly November 2016
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