I had a new thought last night about a verse in Daniel 12 in relation to Revelation 12, but first allow me to review the theme of the entire chapter of Daniel 12, which is ‘Prophecy of the End Time’.
The verse,
“And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time”
seems to be an obvious reference to the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, also known as the 70th Week of Daniel or The Tribulation.
The verse,
“And at that time your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the book”
seems to refer to the righteous saints, or the church, who are those who have recognized the Messiah and repented. Delivered from what? Delivered from the “time of trouble” by means of the Rapture.
The verse,
“And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt”
seems to imply that not all who “sleep in the dust” will awake, only ‘many’ of the dead. This would fit with 1 Thess. 4:16 in that “the dead in Christ will rise first”, not all the dead, only ‘the dead in Christ’.
Now for my new thought… The verse,
“Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament,
And those who turn many to righteousness
Like the stars forever and ever”
also seems to refer to the Rapture. Who are the wise? Are they not the five wise virgins, who keep oil in their lamps, waiting and watching for the Groom? Are they not the wise men from the East who watched the skies for signs of the king, and and in faith traveled a great distance to meet and worship Him? Are they not the servants who the Master finds watching when He returns? (Luke 12:37) But more strikingly, let’s look at the verse which tells of how they “turn many to righteousness“. The word for ‘righteousness’ in Hebrew is ‘Tzedek‘ which also happens to be the name for the planet Jupiter in Hebrew. So could Daniel 12:3 also be read as meaning that the wise servants who encourage many to ‘Teshuva‘ or ‘Turn / Repent‘ towards the King of Righteousness, as represented by Jupiter and the ‘male child‘ or ‘body of Christ’ who is harpazo / raptured in the Revelation 12 Sign, will shine brightly like the sky (firmament) because they are Sons of the Day, Sons of Light which is how Paul described the Church in 1 Thess. 5:5. Note that the Greek word ‘huios’ is correctly translated as ‘sons’ in 12 out of 25 Bible translations on BibleHub.com, and as ‘children’ in 12 out of 25 translations, with the one odd translation using the pronoun ‘You’.
“At that time Michael shall stand up,
The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people;
And there shall be a time of trouble,
Such as never was since there was a nation,
Even to that time.
And at that time your people shall be delivered,
Every one who is found written in the book.
And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,
Some to everlasting life,
Some to shame and everlasting contempt.
Those who are wise shall shine
Like the brightness of the firmament,
And those who turn many to righteousness
Like the stars forever and ever.
- Daniel 12:1-3
The impact of this possible interpretation is even greater after reading the very next verse,
“But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”
- Daniel 12:4
Daniel 12:4 is the verse that states that knowledge of the meaning of the 70th Week of Daniel will be sealed UNTIL the ‘time of the end’. By logical deduction, any interpretation before the ‘time of the end’ would have to be incorrect, because the knowledge was sealed. It is only in the last few years that those who ‘watch’ have become aware by means of astronomy software that a literal reading of Revelation 12 will happen in the skies on September 23, 2017:
“Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.
And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.”
- Revelation 12:1-6
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