Daniel 12 is the end of a vision which began in Daniel 10:1. Daniel had wanted a better understanding of the Antichrist and the events that surrounded him. This information was not found in the visions given in chapters 7 and 8, so Daniel had asked for an explanation of some missing details. In Daniel 10, we discovered that an angel had been sent to give these details. The angel had been delayed because a fallen angel or demon had tried to stop him and Michael the archangel had to help him escape. Daniel 10 was an exciting chapter because it was there that we were given an unusual glimpse into an invisible world that surrounds us every day, a world that our invisible God created. Then in Daniel 11 this unnamed angel started giving Daniel the additional information he had wanted. It was a long chapter with many details about the empires of Medo-Persia and Greece. Daniel 11 focused on the portions of history that would help all of us understand this future evil man whom scripture calls the Antichrist. At the end of our last study, the Antichrist was surrounded by armies and was defeated.

Daniel 12:1 is simply saying that Michael will come to the rescue of Daniel�s people, Israel, during the Tribulation. At the end of the Tribulation, there is a final war with evil between the Antichrist and world forces. God will allow His angels and every Christian to participate. But it is Jesus Christ who will come and defeat Satan, the fallen angels, the Antichrist, and the false prophet. It will be a terrible time in the visible and invisible worlds, but Jesus will have the victory in both when He returns again. Now the angel tells Daniel that after this event there will be a resurrection of everyone who has trusted in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins.

Have you ever wondered if some people will go to hell? There are some today who are hoping that God will let everyone into heaven. But this verse says that will not happen. Some will go to heaven and others to hell or ââ?¬Å?everlasting contempt.ââ?¬Â There will also be a second resurrection which is for all non-Christians. It will grieve Godââ?¬â?¢s heart because they will go to hell.

When the vision ends, Daniel sees all of the angels who were present. There had been a total of three. One of the angels is the one to whom he has been talking. Another angel appears to be the one clothed in linen in Daniel 10:5-9, and the last angel is not identified. Was it Michael?

Daniel had an experience that is not recorded anywhere else in scripture. He was able to listen to three angels talk to one another. The angels help us understand when the events of Daniel 11:36-12:1 will occur. The help comes when one angel asks how long these events will take. Then another angel answers with ââ?¬Å?time, times, and half a time.ââ?¬Â That is, these events will occur during a 3.5 year period of time. Jesus called this the great Tribulation (Matt. 24:20-30). That means the events of Daniel 11:36-12:1 occur during the last part of the Tribulation.

Apparently some things are said that are not recorded, because Daniel says that he does not understand. The angel responds by telling him this information is secret and to not write it down.The angel then provides Daniel with more information. This means that Daniel heard more than he was allowed to write.

There are many different views about the meaning of these ââ?¬Å?days.ââ?¬Â Now i am going to give my opinion as to the meaning of ââ?¬Å?1,290 daysââ?¬Â and ââ?¬Å?1,335 days,ââ?¬Â but they are only guesses. Since scripture never explains the meaning of these days, i can only guess. First, we need to remember that the tribulation lasts for 7 years or 1,260 days. This means the 1,290 days is a period of time that lasts 30 days beyond the Tribulation. Now for my first guess. I believe this extra 30 days allows time for the clean-up after the Tribulation war. Next, I believe that the 1,335 days allows time for the judgment of all those who came back to life in the first resurrection before the Tribulation starts.

The believers of all ages are resurrected and their works will be judged when Jesus comes again. This is not a judgment to determine if a person goes to heaven or hell. It is a judgment that determines which rewards they will receive.God knows everything we have done, even things we do not know about. There will also be some things for which we may believe we will receive credit that God will reject. God has told us that He will look for one key characteristic in our Christian life, He will look at our motives. I believe Daniel had a strong passion to please God, just as the apostle Paul did. They both wanted to ââ?¬Å?fight the good fight.ââ?¬Â They were both willing to sacrifice themselves for they knew there was a day of reward ahead. God is not unjust.

All of us will some day be alive again. Non-Christians will go to hell. But for Christians, God ends this book with a promise that is true for all those who are depending on Jesus to forgive their sins. It is the same promise He gave to Daniel. It is the promise of a physical resurrection to life with God forever. What a wonderful promise God gave to Daniel, a promise to live with Him forever. We too can live with God forever. But it comes only by believing in Jesus and depending on Him to forgive your sins. It means a willingness to turn your life over to God. What happens when Christians receive their physical bodies after Jesus� Second Coming? It is time to receive our rewards! But the best is that I can finally see my God face-to-face as a friend knows a friend. It is a time to know God more than I can now.

I have also found a version online so I am just going to point you at that if you wish to find the details of this vision. It is well worth a read as the accuracy of what is brought to Daniel by Gabriel is astounding. (I don�t mean to sound surprised.*smile*)

So this is the jist of what is going on in Daniel 11. Gabriel fulfils his promise to Daniel by telling what will happen to his people in the ââ?¬Å?latter daysââ?¬Â. He goes into great detail about the succession of the Greek and Persian kings talking about such people as Alexandra the Great and plots their path through the futures history.

This whole discourse can be split in five main sections.

• Daniel 11:1-4: A prediction of how the Greek monarchy will be set up on what is left of the Persian monarchy.
• Daniel 11: 5-20: A prediction of how the two kingdoms of Egypt and Syria will interact.
• Daniel 11: 21-29: The future rise of Antiochus Epiphanes (A Greek tyrant, 2nd Century BC) along with the use of his position.
• Daniel 11: 30-39: The damage he will do to the Jews as well as his contempt for all religion.
• Daniel 11: 40-45: His eventual fall.

As I mention above the accuracy of this revelation is astounding. I again encourage you all to read the commentary (and of course the passage) and see for yourself. I certainly found it a real encouragement to learn of God’s reverlation in action.

Once again Daniel is picked out by God because of his humility, his service and his desire to seek after his Lord. A great example he is to us all.

In fact, it troubled Daniel so much that he took a few men and mourned for three weeks, fasted nice foods and did not annoint himself with lotion. Sometime near the end of Daniel’s fast, a man appears to him which leaves Daniel quivering and helpless. The man is described as:

The bible does not indicate who this person is, and while the first reading of the description makes me think that this could in fact be the Son of God, it is my conclusion that this is another angel sent to Daniel for reasons I’ll come on to later. However, I could be wrong on that one…

Daniel goes a bit giddy at this point and falls onto the ground into a deep sleep. The man strengthens Daniel and asks him to stand for he is about to say something to him. The man reminds Daniel once again that he is highly esteemed and that the reason he has come is because Daniel “set his mind to gain understanding and humble youself before God”.

Then the man says something quite interesting – he indicates that he was “resisted by the prince of the Persian kingdom” and detained there for 21 days (3 weeks). My study notes tell me that this probably refers to a demon exercising influence over the Persian kingdom in the interests of Satan – although other commentaries suggest that he may be directly referring to Cambyses (or an agent of Satan working through Cambyses), the son of Cyrus. Whilst the man was detained for a time, he was eventually helped by the archangel Michael so that he could come and talk to Daniel.

If any of you have read any of Frank Peretti’s books (such as This Present Darkness) then this will sound quite familiar to you as Peretti writes fictional stories but with the slant of seeing them with the actions of angels and demons in mind. The bible tells us that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities and it leads me to my conclusion that this man was an angel of heaven – as I find it hard to believe that the Son of God could be held by a prince of Satan and needed help to be released from his power.

Another interesting thing that strikes me is that the man was held by the prince of Persia for 21 days. The man indicates in v12 that he is coming in response to Daniels anguish but could not come instantly because of the resistence from the prince of Persia. So often when I pray and don’t see their fruits instantly I all too often fall into the trap of thinking that my prayers have fallen on Gods ‘bad ear’ and get discouraged. However, in this case the man was coming to answer Daniel – but the heavenly struggle prevented it happening straight away. This comes as an encouragement to me to keep praying for the things which I am not seeing immediate results – for the prayers I may be praying could be affecting the unseen actions of the heavenly armies even though I see no eartly result. As was the case here, the prayers I am praying now may have already been answered (or are being answered) and I may just not be seeing it right now.

The man then proceeds to give Daniel strength as he seems to be slightly lacking in that department before starting to unfold to him the reason why he came to speak to him. That signals the end of this chapter so we will leave it there for now and let the comments begin…