Seal the Book, Daniel!

Rev. Sudha Mehta©

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Daniel at the river by theharvestatearthsend.com

Daniel 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. 2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.  4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.(KJV)

Once again we look at the convergence pattern. 

The prophet Daniel was given much “future news ” to declare. Some of it was fulfilled very quickly, in fact, one of the “BIG” prophecies he was made privy to was fulfilled that very night. A regime change took place right as he was called to decipher the handwriting on the wall. The hand that wrote on the wall was that of God Himself! (Daniel 5:5). There were prophecies that were fulfilled in his life time . . . and then there were those that are yet to be fulfilled. There were prophecies that will not be fulfilled until after the rapture, but there is one that is being fulfilled right now in front of our eyes.  

In our scripture above, vs 1-3 are yet future. At the time Daniel wrote these words, they were in the distant future, but now, they are near future, since all signs indicate that the Rapture is near.

Vs 4 is the “now” verse. It is the sign that is important for us to note.

The instructions from God were that Daniel was to seal up this book(scroll) and set it away for it was not intended for his lifetime. It would be unsealed and understood at a futrure time.  The sign itself was that there would be an era when  “many shall run to and fro” and  “knowledge will increase.”

The Aramaic Peshitta puts it this way:

Daniel 12: 4 But you, Daniel, seal these words and be silent and seal this book until the time of the end. Many shall seek and knowledge shall be multiplied(ARA)

Daniel was given this prophecy and was told that this information was to be sealed for it was not meant to be for his generation. There would come a time in the future when this would be opened and understood.

This is a good time to remind all of the following:

Amos 3: 7 Because The Lord of Lords does nothing unless he reveals his secret to his Servants the Prophets (ARA)

To be honest, I love this verse! God Himself chooses to reveal what He plans to do, before He does it. He calls holy men (and women like Deborah in Judges 4:4) as His chosen prophets and reveals His plans to them. How remarkable is that?!

As the Bible tells us in:

2 Peter 1: 20 While you first know this: No prophecy is its own exposition of the Scriptures. 21The prophecy came not by the will of man in the ancient times, but when holy men of God spoke, being compelled by the Holy Spirit.(ARA)

And also this:

2 Timothy 3:  16 All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work.(NASB)

Daniel was given this and other prophecies while he and his people were in Babylon as  captives. Israel had gone through horrendous times, the divided nation had been ransacked and pillaged by invaders. It was a punishment from God for continued disobedience over the centuries.

Daniel and friends from wol.jw.org

The making of a Prophet:

Daniel and some other boys were taken as young teenagers from their homes, separated from their families and brought to Nebuchadnezzar’s court. Children of noble families were to be trained in the ways of Babylon. This was common practice amongst conquerors in history. This way, they managed to convert young minds, and use their talents at the same time.

Interestingly, Daniel and his three friends rose in the ranks due to their faithfulness to the God of the Hebrews, and their righteous walk. They never converted to idolatry or the occult,  but showed strength in their beliefs. This earned them respect and favor from the king, but jealousy and hatred from other political hacks of the day.

Their righteous walk and stand for their God also won them favor from God Himself who showed up personally to defend them all at different times. When His friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown, bound with ropes into the furnace, the preincarnate Jesus showed up in the flames to rescue them. When Daniel was cast into the lions den, God sent an angel to close the lions’ mouths. No harm came to him.

It should not surprise us then, that Daniel found so much favor with God and man that he became the Prime Minister under Nebuchadnezzar, and served under the Medes and Persians as well. His friends served as governors of provinces with the same favor. None of them ever lost sight of their God, or the longing for the captivity to end so Israel could once again be home to their people.

Daniel never did get to go home, but God’s favor remained upon him his whole life. In light of eternity, his mission became to record the prophecies for posterity.

So, what does this little sentence (vs 4) mean to us?

Some look at the modern technological advancements and see a fulfillment of this prophecy, and I see no wrong in that. I believe this speaks of our time when the Globe seems rather small, and getting smaller. Travel is easy and people are getting around the Globe in a matter of hours by plane. Even though with the pandemic these last two years things slowed down a lot, it wasn’t that the planes didn’t work, or that cars couldn’t run . . . was it?!

Furthermore, when work was hindered due to the plague, people decided to do more via internet. The World over, corporate meetings happened via Zoom, schools and colleges transformed education by using the internet as well. Knowledge kept growing even though many things were hampered in daily life. Mankind adapted to adverse conditions.

The prophet was told this would happen and it has!

However, there are many scholars that believe this has to do with the preaching of the Gospel itself.  I see great merit in that understanding as well. Technological advancements have made it possible for the Word to be carried to the far corners of the World.  Christian radio came first and that was amazing in itself. That one could listen to Christian sermons on the radio was something that Daniel never imagined. TBN started about 40 years ago and changed the World. There were others like Dr. Robert Schuller of the Crystal Cathedral, and Dr. Charles Stanley, that started using TV as an outlet for the Sunday Service, but the arrival of TBN was transformative. Others followed, such as God TV and Daystar. In a short span of time they have managed collectively to cover the Globe 24/7 with the Word of God. Today I look on YouTube and find all kinds of Christian programming. Roku is used by numerous ministries to put their own programing on.  Big and little churches from many nations use the internet to broadcast the message of the Gospel.

I listen to Christian preaching/teaching and music on my phone, and in the car.

In summary, no matter what denomination you belong to, or who your favorite preacher may be, you can find them on your phone, computer, or TV, and even in your vehicle.

Combine this together with all the other signs I have addressed in this series, and we can agree that since this is now fulfilled, the rest is also about to be.

Now, an interesting shift occurs in the time Daniel speaks of, right before the coming of the Lord to Earth to set up His Kingdom. Daniel is the only prophet in the Old Testament who was given an exact timeline to the day of the beginning and the ending of the Tribulation period.

In verses 1-3  Daniel is told that there is yet a future suffering for his people again. It did happen again and again. Yet this time would be different, it would be worse than any other time before, but it will result in the salvation of his people as a Nation. Enmasse, the eyes of the Nation will be opened and they will see the truth. They will know whom they had rejected and crucified, they will regret, repent together with deep mourning and come to accept Yeshua as their Savior.

Jesus second coming from theheavenandhell.net

The knowledge of the Word (and more) would increase exponentially and people will go to and fro leading upto this time of intense suffering, 

We believe this is that time. Along with the convergence of other signs, this also becomes one to point to the soon coming not just of the Lord Jesus, but the time of Tribulation as well.

So, what does this have to do with the church?

For this we return to Matthew 24 again:

Matthew 24: 21 For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will again. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘He is over here,’ do not believe him. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and will provide great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. 25 Behold, I have told you in advance. 26 So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. 27 For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.(NASB)

Jesus spoke of it in Matthew 24 that in the last days when there will be many false prophets, the love of many will grow cold.  I have addressed the false prophets in previous posts. Understand the false prophets serve only to derail people from the true. 

blacknose lambs from chrisjames.com

Don’t be fooled by shepherds who instead of tending to the sheep’s needs, tend to feed their own lusts. Enroute to their own inevitable and impending judgment when the Lord returns, they manage to enrich themselves at the cost of the unsuspecting. The sheep are fleeced, starved for the true Word, and in essence become dinner served at these false leaders tables.

Lamb dinner from shepherdexpress.com

Be discerning, be alert, be ready . . . walk godly!

Next post I will talk more about the rapture!!

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