Daniel 12:5-13

 Daniel 12

Prophecy: The End Times

Daniel 12:5-13

Can you sing this glorious hymn, and mean it?

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long

We are living in the last times. The time when the trumpet sounds, together with the voice of archangel and the loud command of Our Lord, the dead in Christ rise from their graves, and we depart from this earthly abode to heaven with Him, is nearer than ever before. 

There are plenty of signs that show us the time is near. I am not talking about a special calculation of some number of years, loosely based in a prophecy taken out of context. Our Lord Jesus Christ told us that nobody knew the day or the hour of His coming, and I will not pretend I know better than He. The clues He gave us were the many events that would take place before His coming. Matthew 24, and its parallels in Luke 21 or Mark 13, give us enough to understand. Let's see only one among the signs:

"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me"

Matthew 24:9

Why is that? In a world which is supposedly trying to reach perfect peace and coexistence, why would someone persecute the ones believing in Jesus, and even putting them to death?

Probably you don't know anything about it, because the persecution of Christians - the most hated and persecuted minority in the world - doesn't make headlines. Nor in the mainstream media, our politicians or academia. The tragedy that Christians endure in North Korea, Nigeria, Pakistan or Somalia is not exactly the talking point of our talkers. Why?

Both questions have their answer in the keyword we began with: ASSURANCE. All of the people previously named share a common narrative, and talking about things that question their narrative is avoided. They think that:

⦁ they have to stop the "bigotry" of Bible believers (both Jews and Christians)

- this is why they support every antibiblical position (about abortion, LGBT issues, etc.). It would be common sense to disprove the delusion of a child or teenager thinking that they are "in the wrong body", and it is even the humane and compassionate thing to do. But there are billions in gains for the transgender industry that they are salivating over already, at the cost of ruining the lives of your children. And Genesis 1:27 is a myth to them, as even  the biological reality based in our reproductive systems is. 

⦁ they have to stop love of country - aka patriotism or nationalism

- that's why they particularly hate America and Israel. They know those countries will never sacrifice their political, cultural and religious identity in the altar of globalism, unless their identity is demonized and labeled as "racism", "white supremacy", etc. When you are a Bible believer, there is such a thing as "right and wrong", not "moral relativism". That's something globalists can't accept, and that's why they support any America hating group and the terrorist organizations trying to obliterate the Jewish State.

⦁ they have to stop the use of fossil fuels or the world will burn

- this is the most succesful satanical activity in the globalisers agenda. It doesn't matter that there is no evidence at all that the earth's climate is "dangerously" changing (the climate has been changing since the earth exists, and unlike dinosaurs, who got extinct, we are able to live and thrive both in Greenland and Ethiopia). It doesn't matter that the war on fossil fuels has generated the inflation we are living in. It doesn't matter that the industry of renewables is helping China to become the first superpower of the world - meaning, a Communist Party will be in the position of imposing its ideology and its will on the free world. It doesn't matter that for the undeveloped countries with highest poverty and infant mortality, fossil fuels are the only option to provide them with the energy they need for their development. They cling to a false narrative and suffocate any debate about that, ignoring qualified voices of the scientists calling for such debates. 

⦁ they have to kill the western society and its organizing principles

- that's where we are experiencing a war against free speech, a war on free market economy, the demonization of political adversaries and an obsession with race and "oppression" (leading to the transformation of the term "judicial system" from the system that fights crime to a system that fights "social injustices")

⦁ they have to create the "multicultural society"

- that's why they support unlimited illegal immigration, including millions without real reasons to migrate, and do nothing to integrate them - they rather promote their "cultural" traits in the most narcisistic way - in order to dilute the national identity and law system of western countries.

"If we achieve all of these goals" (they think) "then we will have assurance, eternal peace and love among all the peoples of the earth, and at the same time we will save the planet". In this world view, the narrative that "western society is the greatest villain", and the dictatorships around the world are the "victims of the white oppressors", trumps reality, that democracy - especially the one born of, and nurtured by biblical principles - is a better and fairer way of life, and a better organizing principle than sharia or communism, that only lead to dictatorship and real oppression. 

How did we get here?

The Word of God tells us that in the end times, a global tyranny will rise. It is called the reign of the Antichrist. This abominable regim appears in the prophecies of Daniel, Paul and John, among others. And it doesn't come to power on it's own; power is surrended to it by the ones who were not supposed to do it, namely political leaders. The Bible tells us that: 

"The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings - and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers"

Revelation 17:12-14

The "beast" is the name John gives to the Antichrist (or his regim) and the ten kings represent political leaders, "powers". Observe that they "give their power and authority" to the Antichrist with one purpose, to "wage war against the Lamb" - this is a title for Jesus Christ Our Lord, the "Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world". 

How is it possible that political leaders from powerful nations - we've seen in other messages that this regim's embryo is the European Union* - will give the authority and power their peoples gave them to a dictator those voters didn't elect? How will the leaders from powerful democratic countries betray their peoples and give away their freedom? The principle of democracy is that the people vote for the candidate they approve, because his way of thinking and acting, or his agenda, is the right one in their eyes. "Democracy" means the govern of the people, which is why we talk about the democratic world as the "free world". The leaders that receive power from their peoples should answer to them, not to foreign powers or institutions. How could those peoples see the betrayal of their elected representatives, and do nothing about it?

* See Daniel 7:23-27 about the European Union and the rise of the Antichrist

The Word of God has the answer to this incredible development. Observe these verses:

"The god of this age [aka Satan] has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God"

2 Corinthians 4:4 

"And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light"

2 Corinthians 11:14

"The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons"

1 Timothy 4:1

To "blind the minds of unbelievers" is Satan's way to hinder them to come to the faith in God. All of the points we saw before about the "assurance" that the so called "intelligentsia" tries to thrust down our throats are antibiblical, aka false, and they work only in atheists or apostates. Satan disguises himself "as an angel of light" by presenting all of those lies as the gospel of truth, the assurance we need. And even former believers in the Bible - Jews or Christians - have "abandoned the faith" and are "following deceiving spirits and things taught by demons". 

It doesn't mean that the politicians, mainstream media or academia are satanists. It means they follow satanical principles, with or without knowing that those ideas come from Satan, who has engaged in the fight of the last times. Revelation 12:12 says, "...woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short". The most radical Satan becomes, the more we know that the end is near.

If you are lost in this madness, let me tell you that you have a soul, and a precious one that Jesus gave His life for. You're not created by God to be in confusion about your gender, ashamed for being the citizen of a western country, trembling about the weather or constraining your words and opinions - which means to constrain your freedom of thought - to "not offend" the followers of the one who is disguised as "angel of light". God created us free, and Satan will try by any means necessary to take away our freedom and transform us in his slaves. 

In the previous message - under the title Daniel 12:1-4 - we spoke about the apocalyptical prophecy of Daniel concerning the "last times". The assurance God gives us about an eternal kingdom of peace and justice, and about us living in that kingdom, is in that prophecy. And the continuation, from verse five to the end of the book of Daniel, gives us revelations about the timing of these final events and their duration. Let's read them:

This is Daniel 12:5-13 in the New International Version:

"Then I, Daniel, looked, and there before me stood two others, one on this bank of the river and one on the opposite bank. One of them said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How long will it be before these astonishing things are fulfilled?"

"The man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, lifted 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, times and half a time. When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed' "

"I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, 'My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?' "

"He replied, 'Go your way, Daniel, because the words are rolled up and sealed until the time of the end. Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand. From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days. As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance' "

The original Hebrew is this:

5 - וְרָאִ֙יתִי֙ אֲנִ֣י דָנִיֵּ֔אל וְהִנֵּ֛ה שְׁנַ֥יִם אֲחֵרִ֖ים עֹמְדִ֑ים אֶחָ֥ד הֵ֙נָּה֙ לִשְׂפַ֣ת הַיְאֹ֔ר וְאֶחָ֥ד הֵ֖נָּה לִשְׂפַ֥ת הַיְאֹֽר׃

6 - וַיֹּ֗אמֶר לָאִישׁ֙ לְב֣וּשׁ הַבַּדִּ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר מִמַּ֖עַל לְמֵימֵ֣י הַיְאֹ֑ר עַד־מָתַ֖י קֵ֥ץ הַפְּלָאֽוֹת׃

7 - וָאֶשְׁמַ֞ע אֶת־הָאִ֣ישׁ׀ לְב֣וּשׁ הַבַּדִּ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֣ר מִמַּעַל֮ לְמֵימֵ֣י הַיְאֹר֒ וַיָּ֨רֶם יְמִינ֤וֹ וּשְׂמֹאלוֹ֙ אֶל־הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וַיִּשָּׁבַ֖ע בְּחֵ֣י הָעוֹלָ֑ם כִּי֩ לְמוֹעֵ֨ד מֽוֹעֲדִ֜ים וָחֵ֗צִי וּכְכַלּ֛וֹת נַפֵּ֥ץ יַד־עַם־קֹ֖דֶשׁ תִּכְלֶ֥ינָה כָל־אֵֽלֶּה׃

8 - וַאֲנִ֥י שָׁמַ֖עְתִּי וְלֹ֣א אָבִ֑ין וָאֹ֣מְרָ֔ה אֲדֹנִ֕י מָ֥ה אַחֲרִ֖ית אֵֽלֶּה׃ פ

9 - וַיֹּ֖אמֶר לֵ֣ךְ דָּנִיֵּ֑אל כִּֽי־סְתֻמִ֧ים וַחֲתֻמִ֛ים הַדְּבָרִ֖ים עַד־עֵ֥ת קֵֽץ׃

10 - יִ֠תְבָּֽרֲרוּ וְיִֽתְלַבְּנ֤וּ וְיִצָּֽרְפוּ֙ רַבִּ֔ים וְהִרְשִׁ֣יעוּ רְשָׁעִ֔ים וְלֹ֥א יָבִ֖ינוּ כָּל־רְשָׁעִ֑ים וְהַמַּשְׂכִּלִ֖ים יָבִֽינוּ׃

11 - וּמֵעֵת֙ הוּסַ֣ר הַתָּמִ֔יד וְלָתֵ֖ת שִׁקּ֣וּץ שֹׁמֵ֑ם יָמִ֕ים אֶ֖לֶף מָאתַ֥יִם וְתִשְׁעִֽים׃

12 - אַשְׁרֵ֥י הַֽמְחַכֶּ֖ה וְיַגִּ֑יעַ לְיָמִ֕ים אֶ֕לֶף שְׁלֹ֥שׁ מֵא֖וֹת שְׁלֹשִׁ֥ים וַחֲמִשָּֽׁה׃

13 - וְאַתָּ֖ה לֵ֣ךְ לַקֵּ֑ץ וְתָנ֛וּחַ וְתַעֲמֹ֥ד לְגֹרָלְךָ֖ לְקֵ֥ץ הַיָּמִֽין׃

And it sounds like this:

5 - Veraíti aní Daniel vehiné shnáyim axerím omedím, exád héna lisfát hayeór veexád héna lisfát hayeór. 6 - Vayómer laísh lebúsh habadím asher mimáal lememéy hayeór ad-matáy kets hapelaót? 7 - Vaeeshmá et-haísh lebúsh habadím asher mimáal lememéy hayeór vayárem yeminó usemoló el-hashamáyim vayishavá bexé haolám ki lemoéd moadím vaxétsi; uxexalót napéts yad-am-kódesh, tixléna kol éle. 8 - Vaaní shamáti veló avín. Vaomrá, adoní, ma axarít éle? 9 - Vayómer, lex Daniél, ki setumím vaxatumím hadevarím ad-et kets. 10 - Yitbararú veyitlabenú veyitsarefú rabím, vehirshíhu reshaím, veló raínu kol-reshaím, vehamaskilím yavínu. 11 - Umeét usár hatamíd velaéts shikúts shomém yamím élef matáyim vetishím. 12 - Ashré hamexaké veyagía leyamím élef shelósh meót sheloshím vaxamishá. 13 - Veatá lex lakéts vetanúax vetaamód legorálxa leéts hayamín. 

The translation of the New International Version is a pretty good one, but there is a little mistake which becomes a vital issue, because it is the most meaningful information for the understanding of the timing of this prophecy. It is in verse 7 where we read, "when the power of the holy people has been finally broken". The holy people is Israel, and it's power was broken in the year of the Lord 70, when the Roman Empire destroyed the temple and Jerusalem, crushing the Jewish rebellion and transforming a vassal state in a Roman province. This event forced the Jews to remake their society and religion to live in the diaspora, without temple sacrifices, High Priest or the Levitical ministry, and Judaism became Rabbinic Judaism. 

The obliteration of Israel by the Romans, starting in 70 AD and utterly accomplished in 136 AD, is correctly seen as the fulfilment of the phrase "when the power of the holy people has been finally broken". And this interpretation has prompted a whole eschatological school (eschatology being the study of "end times" or "apocalyptic" prophecy) which considers 70 AD as the year of the arrival of the Kingdom of God. The problem is that the Kingdom of God didn't came with the destruction of Jerusalem, nobody rose from the dead then, Jesus didn't come back to reign, and Israel was not restored at the time, but utterly destroyed. The reason for the failure of this eschatological school is that the translation of the phrase, "when the power of the holy people has been finally broken", is wrong. This mistake has crept in not only in NIV but in other translations.

The original Hebrew, as we read before, is " וּכְכַלּ֛וֹת נַפֵּ֥ץ יַד־עַם־קֹ֖דֶשׁ " (pronounced "uxexalót napéts yad-am-kódesh") which literally means "when the destruction of the power of the holy people is finished". " כַלּ֛וֹת נַפֵּ֥ץ " (xalót napéts) is better understood as "when the [act of] breaking ... comes to an end". This is the translation of the Tree of Life version, adopted also in the Complete Jewish Bible and other English versions. The time when "these astonishing things would be fulfilled" is not when the destruction of Israel was accomplished by the Roman Empire, but when this destruction was finished and Israel was restored. This event began in 1948 with the rebirth of the Jewish State of Israel, and will be completed with the inclusion of the whole territory prophesied by Ezekiel (Ez 47:13-21) and the erection of the third temple, prophesied by Ezekiel as well (Ez 40:1-44:31).  

There are three prophecies we need to take into account in order to understand the timing that Daniel "heard but did not understand". One of them is in the same book of Daniel, and the other two were delivered by Our Lord Jesus Christ in his stunning prophetic speech which we read in Matthew 24, with a parallel rendition in Luke 21. These prophecies are:

1. The Seventy Weeks Prophecy: Daniel 9:27

2. The Times of the Gentiles Prophecy: Luke 21:24

3. The Fig Tree Prophecy: Matthew 24:32-35

Why do we have to take into account these three prophecies?

There is such a thing which is called "context", if you want to understand the meaning of the prophecies and the times they are pointing to. The gospels are rich in references to the Kingdom of God (54 times in the NIV) or Kingdom of Heaven (31 times in the NIV). But those references point seldom to the meaning of these concepts. There is a spiritual kingdom which is the church and those who have received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and this kingdom exists since the church was born in Pentecost (even Our Lord told His disciples that it was already among them, because it is a spiritual one). And there is the physical Kingdom of God that will come when Our Lord Jesus Christ, Israel's Messiah, arrives in His Second Coming and rules upon the whole world from Jerusalem, in a restored and eternal Israel. That's why every time you read "Kingdom of God" or "Kingdom of Heaven", the first question is, "which kingdom, the spiritual one which came with the Messiah's Advent, or the physical one which shall come with the Messiah's Second Coming?". And it is the context in first place that can lead you to the proper answer. 

The context of the three prophecies we mentioned above is the arrival of the physical Kingdom of God, when the Messiah is coming back to reign upon the whole world, defeating Israel's enemies in a last war. 

Which are the reasons that these prophecies have to be understood in that context?

Observe the timing given in every prophecy:

"Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy One".

Daniel 9:24

The end of sin, the completion of prophecy, and the anointing of the Messiah ("Most Holy One") as King of the World, point to the arrival of the physical Kingdom of God - meaning that this Kingdom would come after the 70 weeks. .

"Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled".

Luke 21:24

These "times of the Gentiles" began with Israel's destruction in 70 AD, and finish with the rapture of the church, when God's instrument of salvation is Israel, the Jewish country is totally restored and the Temple has been rebuilt - in a time when Jerusalem is no longer "trampled on" by any Gentiles. The death of Jesus happened at the end of the 69th week of Daniel, and a few decades later was Jerusalem destroyed and "trampled on by the Gentiles" until 1967. This situation has not yet dissapeared totally; for instance, to build the 3rd temple now would cause a war with the islamic world, in spite of being Jerusalem under the administration of the State of Israel. That's because many Muslims believe they have total right to the Temple Mount because of Al-Aqsa mosque (never mind that islamic terrorists burnt Notre-Dame in Paris and have destroyed hundreds of Christian temples around the world, and transformed another ones in mosques).

"Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door".

Matthew 24:32-33

The fig tree is an allegory representing Israel. It's blooming means the restoration of the nation of Israel, previous to the arrival of the Messiah. Our Lord wouldn't come back to save a non existing Israel, i.e. the "Syria Palaestina" of the Romans, the "Jund-Filastin" of the Arab Muslims or the "Ottoman Syria" of the Turks. But He will certainly come to defeat the enemies of the State of Israel, as it is prophesied by Himself, by His apostles and by several Jewish prophets in the Old Testament.   

Pay atention to this concept we read about in Our Lord's prophecy: "times of the Gentiles". The prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27 (seventy weeks prophecy) makes a distinction between 69 weeks (previous to the Messiah's Advent) and a last one, when the leader of the same people that destroyed Jerusalem - thereby a remake of the Roman Empire - will cut a deal with Israel "for a week" and betray them "in the middle of the week". The leader of this new Romans is called the Antichrist, and is defeated in Daniel's prophecy ("he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him", Daniel 9:27; also "he will come to his end, and no one will help him", Daniel 11:45). The fact that Daniel 11:36 to 12:4 is apocalyptical prophecy means that there is a period of time between the 69th week, when the Messiah was crucified, and the 70th week, when He will come back to reign in the Kingdom of God. Because the events of the week 69 are fulfiled, but not those of the week 70. And the fulfiled events of the week 69 took place 2000 years ago; the Messiah was crucified and Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans. 

The period of time in which Israel was destroyed and non-Jews were in control, is called "times of the Gentiles" by Our Lord Jesus Christ, and is called the time of "the breaking of the power of the holy people" by Daniel. Both concepts are one and the same, and point to the fact that in the times when Israel's power was broken, the Gentiles would "trample Jerusalem". I guess I don't have to remind you that Jerusalem was "trampled" by Romans, Persians, Arabs, Crusaders, Ayyubids, Mamluks and Ottomans, all of them "Gentiles". And it returned to its rightful owner, the Jewish people, partially in 1948 and almost totally in 1967 - "almost" because of the controversy about the Temple Mount, and the disputed territories that those living in deception call "Palestine". 

As we saw before, Daniel 12:7 is to be read "when the breaking of the power of the holy people comes to an end", because it is the proper meaning in Hebrew and the translation of NIV gave us a misleading prophecy. The main point of Daniel 12:5-13 is the revelation of the time when all the apocalyptical events would take place, so it is crucial that we get this right. 

The rest of the passage has been accurately translated. The "man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river" has been talking to Daniel since chapter ten, verse five, where He was identified as Our Lord Jesus Christ. He answers the angel's question in two ways: how long would the period be - until those things would take place - and how long the time of the events themselves would take. The duration of the events is prophesied as "time, times and half a time", prophetical expression that means 3 1/2 years, and the point of time when they begin in history is the 70th week of Daniel 9:27, that would start somewhere after the restoration of Israel ("when the breaking of the power of the holy people comes to an end"). 

The duration of the events, 3 1/2 years, matches the "second half week" of Daniel 9:27, when the Antichrist will "put an end to sacrifice and offering" and put the "abomination that causes desolation". When Daniel received the prophecy of the "time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then" (Daniel 12:1), it was about this last week (for some Bible scholars, the second half). This time of distress is prophesied by Our Lord Jesus Christ as well: "For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now - and never to be equaled again" (Matthew 24:21). And it is called "the Great Tribulation". This tribulation, that some think means the last week of Daniel 9:27 and others the second half of the week, is the theme of most of the book of Revelation, the great prophetical book of the New Testament. There is no real conflict between those two groups, because the tribulation for Israel begins "in the middle of the week" as Daniel wrote, but for the rest of the world is taking place during the whole week (worsening in the second half). 

In the first half of the week 70 the Antichrist will cut a deal with Israel, as we can read in Daniel 9:27, and Israel will have peace. But it doesn't mean that everything is OK in the rest of the world. The book of Revelation shows us the rise of the Antichrist (as a rider on a white horse in Rev 6) which is followed by war (a rider on a red horse) economic crisis (a rider on a black horse) and pandemics, accompanied by other causes of death (the rider on the pale horse). Chapters 6 to 18 in Revelation have to do with the Great Tribulation, but only in Revelation 12 we read about Israel and the final war between Michael (the guardian prince of Israel) and the dragon (Satan), which is started by the Antichrist - Satan's servant - against Israel. In this chapter, the Jewish people is represented as the "woman" who gave birth to the Messiah, and will be kept by God in the desert in the second half of the tribulation, for "1260 days" (Revelation 12:6) or "time, times and a half time" (Revelation 12:14).

The rise of the Antichrist in the first half of the week is vividly depicted in Revelation 6 to 11 by the opening of a prophetical book which was sealed with seven seals, and the judgments of God on mankind - except Israel - represented by the seven angels blowing seven trumpets. However, the "trumpet judgments" are partial ones, and their purpose is to lead sinners to repentance. Their unwillingness to repent causes the pouring of the seven vials of God's wrath (Revelation 16) and the fall of "Babylon", the mystical name for both the regime of the Antichrist (Revelation 18) and the apostate religion which supports it (Revelation 17). Those last judgments of God precede the defeat of Satan at the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ (Revelation 19) and the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom, or Kingdom of God (Revelation 20). 

In Daniel 12:10 we read a prophecy about us (" יִ֠תְבָּֽרֲרוּ וְיִֽתְלַבְּנ֤וּ וְיִצָּֽרְפוּ֙ רַבִּ֔ים ") which is pronounced "yitbararú veyitlabenú veyitsarefú rabím", meaning "many will be purified, made spotless and refined". There are three verbs here (yitbararú, yitlabenú, yitsarefú) meaning respectively "purify" (or polish), "whiten" and "refine". 

"[they] will be purified" (yitbararú, יִ֠תְבָּֽרֲרוּ) comes from the Hebrew verb barar (ברר) which means to cleanse (by selecting the grain and take away the chaff, or by polishing - as in metals - and cause to shine, or by testing people to find out those who are accepted). "[they] will be made spotless" (yitlabenú, יִֽתְלַבְּנ֤וּ ) comes from Hebrew labán (לבן) which means to be white or to make white (as when we use bleach or chlorine to whiten fabrics). "[they] will be refined" (yitsarefú, יִצָּֽרְפוּ֙ ) comes from Hebrew tsaráf (צרף) which means to purify as in smelting metals, in order to take away impurities. 

There are two groups of people in Daniel 12:10, the "wicked" and the "wise". The wise shall be purified, whitened and refined as the metal in the melting furnace, and the wicked will continue to be wicked. The reason is that the last ones will "not understand" God's purpose and God's ways, but the wise ones will, and thereby will repent their sins and follow God. This is why we read in Revelation 22:11, "Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy". God wants everyone to be saved, but those who double down on their sins and iniquities are commiting rebellion against Him, and the Lord doesn't save us against our will. 

Verses 12:11-12 come with two mysterious numbers which are related to the 3 1/2 years of the second half in the Great Tribulation. The first one is "from the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up"; the second one is 45 days later and declares a blessing on those who wait until that day. Those periods are:

1290 days - the second half of the week plus one month.

1335 days - the second half of the week plus 2 1/2 months. 

The "abomination that causes desolation" was set up in the temple by Antiochus IV Epiphanes, and will be set up again by the Antichrist. This event occurs - according to Daniel 9:27 - together with the cese of the sacrifices, in the "middle of the [70th] week". That's the fulfilment which Our Lord Jesus Christ predicted in Matthew 24:15. And there are some clues in the book of Revelation about the developments which will take place in the second half of the week, after the desecration of the temple:

⦁ Israel will be betrayed and persecuted, but God will protect them so that the judgments of the Great Tribulation don't destroy them. This protection will endure for 3 1/2 years (Revelation 12:6, 14). Observe "1260 days" and "time, times and half a time" are one and the same period, the second half of the week.  

⦁ The temple will be given to the Gentiles, who will "trample on the holy city for 42 months" (Revelation 11:2). "42 months" is the same as 3 1/2 years. That event takes place in the second half of the week as well, for the first half is about a total restoration of Israel, with the third temple and the sacrifices. 

⦁ The triumph of the Antichrist - who began to gain power in Revelation 6:1 - is depicted in Revelation 13, where we see the features of his dictatorship and the satanical treats of his person. He received power "to exercise its authority for forty-two months" - 3 1/2 years again - and used his power to blaspheme, wage war against God's people and to govern the whole world, which will worship him (Revelation 13:5-8)

Now we find a new detail, two new periods that were not accounted for in the prophecies about this second half (time, times and half a time) but are related to it. The first one ends one month later, and the second one, other 45 days later. The Messiah returns at the end of the Tribulation and the Millennial Kingdom begins, but there are 75 days between the Second Coming and the fulfilment of "all these things". 

What happens one month after Jesus' Second Coming, and another 1 1/2 months later?

There are some events happening at the Second Coming. They are not exactly supossed to happen in one day, but obviously after the Messiah has come, and previous to the existing status quo that will define the Millennium:

⦁ The judgment of the sheep-goat nations (Gentiles; Mt 25:31-46). In this prophecy, "all the nations" is the translation of "παντα τα εθνη" (pánta ta éthne) where éthne means "peoples" - that's the Greek word from which "ethnic" and "ethnicity" come - and not "countries", as we understand "nations" most of the time. The Lord will not judge countries, but peoples - even so, not everyone pertaining to those peoples. He will do it on the basis of their service or disservice they gave Him - being understood as their treatment of His servants ("brothers of mine"), both from the church and from Israel - that will receive Him as Lord and Savior in the Great Tribulation. See Note at the end for further information.  

⦁ The judgment of the first resurrection (Israel and the faithful of the GT, Rev 20:4-6). When the Messiah comes, the faithful of the church and OT Israel are coming with Him, but there are many more believers that will come to the faith in the Great Tribulation. That's why the Jewish people, which has been protected from the Antichrist by God, and the faithful who didn't worship the beast, will experience resurrection and "come to life and reign with Christ a thousand years" (Revelation 20:4)

⦁ The bema judgment (2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 Corinthians 3:10-15). We know that salvation is "by grace, through faith" (Ephesians 2:8). But it doesn't mean that our works have no bearing in eternity. There is a reward for us after our resurrection, and the amount of it is determined by our works in the present earthly life. Every believer will stand before God to receive this reward, after being risen from the dead in the first resurrection. 

These three judgments that will take place at the coming of the Lord are huge events that involve all of mankind. Any of these events, or all of them, can account for the 2 1/2 months that will take to fulfill the prophecies related to the Second Coming (which is the time of their fulfilment). 

The last verse of the book of Daniel includes a command to persevere, and the personal prophecy that he would die - without seeing the fulfilment of all these things - and that "and the end of days" -  the times of the fulfilment - he will rise and receive a reward after the resurrection. That's why he was told to "seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end" in 12:4 and that these words were "rolled up and sealed until the time of the end" in 12:9. 

There are promises of God about He rewarding us because of our obedience, warnings about the consequences of not obeying Him (aka sin), and commandments of God about how to live. They have to do with our FAITH, in the present time. There are also promises and prophecies that we will only experience at the Second Coming of Jesus, in the "time of the end", as it was prophesied to Daniel. They are more related to our HOPE. 

Our faith is subject to many things, mostly to our response to trials of this life, God's answer to our prayers, and many more. That's why the Lord said to Peter, "I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail". And that's why our hope is vital. The Second Coming of the Lord, our resurrection and our eternal life in the presence of God, where "He will wipe every tear from our eyes" and "there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away", are promises that don't change at all because of the fluctuations of our faith. Our faith includes our participation in God's will, meaning some degree of activity to reach goals, and that's why it is influenced by triumphs or failures, but our hope needs only to be believed. There's nothing we can do to ensure our blessed hope, and nothing we can do either to spoil it. God, who has promised, is faithful, truthful and totally dependable. 

Daniel was going to die without seeing Israel's restoration, or even the fulfilment of most of the prophecies he received. His prayer about his people would be answered more than two millennia after his death - and even that is not fully accomplished yet. But God promised to him "you will rise" and "you will receive your alloted inheritance", after telling him that he would die, because there is a dimension in hope that surpasses human expectations. There is supernatural strenght to endure any circumstances when God Himself has promised you a happy ending. 

Daniel knew, because of this prophecy, that he would be among those that will "awake to everlasting life" (Daniel 12:2) and would receive his reward in his eternal life. Do you?

As we saw before, eternal life in the presence of God or eternal death in hell with Satan are determined by God, and there's nothing we can do to change that layout of eternity. The Second Coming of Jesus Christ - or the arrival of Israel's Messiah - the defeat of the Antichrist, the resurrection of the believers to eternal life and the unbelievers to eternal death, and the Kingdom of God, all of these and more are prophecies about the future that God will not change, and we can't certainly change either. They will be fulfilled if we want and if we don't. 

However, there is something we can change. We have here and now the opportunity to choose our place on eternity. God has determined the things that will take place, but He didn't create you to go to hell, and He doesn't want you to do it. That's why He sent His only Son to die on a cross on mount Calvary, and through His Holy Spirit He rose Him from the dead on the third day. He was performing the perfect sacrifice for our sins, because He wants every one of us to repent our sins and to receive Jesus Christ as Our Lord and Savior. To obey and follow Satan is called "sin", and the wages of sin is dead. 

If you think that you are not doing Satan's will but yours, that's wrong. Our decisions and our actions are inspired by, and give service to, either God or Satan. There is only good and evil. That's why we have all sinned, and deserve eternal death, because none of us has lived his whole life as God commands. The gift of God, however, is that the blood Jesus shed on mount Calvary has the power to vindicate us, and present us in the day of judgment as holy and perfect as Jesus is. Jesus' righteousness will be ascribed to us, Jesus' holiness will be ascribed to us, and Jesus' life will be instilled in us. 

Maybe you wonder, how is it possible? 

God knew from eternity that we would sin. And God is our Heavenly Father. If you are a toddler's parent, then you know that he will fall, hurt himself, reject some foods or beverages, try to disobey you and more. And it will continue when he becomes a kid, even when he becomes a teenager. But you know also that he is endowed with the ability to do good, and most probably you will raise him properly. 

We have been created in God's image and likeness. But we have chosen not to obey Him, which is called sin. Sin is the reason we belong in hell. Nevertheless, the God and Father who created us devised our salvation as well. In sending His only begotten Son to die on Calvary, He paid the price for our sins, and provided for us the possibility to be adopted as His sons and daughters. And this is only the beginning. When we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to abide in us. He will act as a parent, showing us God's ways, giving us discernment about good and evil; in a nutshell, He will restore God's image and likeness in us, the same Jesus shows, because He will transform us so that we become more Jesus like. 

The only thing we have to do is to acknowledge our sins, repent them - meaning renouncing to them - and ask God for forgiveness, receiving Jesus as our Lord and Savior. He eagerly wants to forgive us, so that we become His children again. That forgiveness is granted by accepting the blood of Jesus as the price for our sins - a price He paid because we can't. To receive on us God's forgiveness on Jesus' blood, and to receive Him as our Lord and Savior, after repentance, transform us to children of God. The Holy Spirit will come to us and lead us to live as God intended, not as Satan wants. The Bible says: 

"If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord', and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved". 

Romans 10:9-10

That's the prayer God wants to hear from you, and the change of mind and heart He expects from you. His Spirit came to guide you, and to empower you to do it. Don't wait any longer! God want's you to be saved, and to have the assurance this world can't give you - because it doesn't even know it - but God can. 

In the love of God in Jesus Christ

Your brother Israel Leonard

PS. Jesus is coming soon!

Note:

We can't take the prophecy on Mattew 25 about the nations literally, because those who raise from the dead to eternal life will do it before the millennium, and those who raise to eternal death, after it (Revelation 20:4-6). Besides, it is a rather strange image that of the Lord with all billions inhabitants of the earth before Him, on His right and on His left. But this prophecy is classed with two parables in the same chapter, which makes it most probably another parable, not to be understood literally but by the meaning of the message. We don't understand the saved ones literally as five virgins, or the ones serving the Lord - right or wrong - as three literal servants which were entrusted whith their master's wealth. The "virgins" and the "servants" are millions.