Daniel 12
About DanielWritten by AI
Daniel is two books in one. Chapters 1 to 6 are stories of Daniel and his friends serving faithfully in the courts of Babylon and Persia. Chapters 7 to 12 are visions about empires rising and falling and God's kingdom that will never end. Part of the book is even written in Aramaic rather than Hebrew.
The traditional view is that Daniel, a young man taken to Babylon in 605 BC, wrote the book during the exile, and Jesus refers to Daniel the prophet. Many modern scholars date its final form to the 160s BC, during the persecution under Antiochus IV. Christians hold different views on the date, and on how the visions should be read.
Watch for one steady theme: God is sovereign over kings and kingdoms. Pagan rulers rise and fall, and faithful people face lions and fire. Yet the Most High rules, and His kingdom will last forever.
Before you read Daniel 12Written by AI
The vision ends with a time of distress, Michael standing for God's people, and the clearest Old Testament promise of resurrection: many who sleep in the dust will awake. Daniel asks how long, and receives numbers still debated today. The book closes with a promise that he will rise to his inheritance.
The End Times
“At that time Michael, the great prince who stands watch over your people, will rise up. There will be a time of distress, the likes of which will not have occurred from the beginning of nations until that time. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered.
And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt. Then the wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever.
But you, Daniel, shut up these words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many will roam to and fro, and knowledge will increase.”
Then I, Daniel, looked and saw two others standing there, one on this bank of the river and one on the opposite bank. One of them said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How long until the fulfillment of these wonders?”
And the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by Him who lives forever, saying, “It will be for a time, and times, and half a time. When the power of the holy people has finally been shattered, all these things will be completed.”
I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these things?”
“Go on your way, Daniel,” he replied, “for the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end. Many will be purified, made spotless, and refined, but the wicked will continue to act wickedly. None of the wicked will understand, but the wise will understand.
And from the time the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation set up, there will be 1,290 days. Blessed is he who waits and reaches the end of the 1,335 days.
But as for you, go on your way until the end. You will rest, and then you will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days.”