12<\/strong>. Happy<\/strong> is he that waiteth, and<\/em> attaineth<\/strong> to<\/em> a<\/strong> thousand three hundred<\/em> and five and thirty days<\/em> ] Happy is he who waits (cf. Isa 30:18<\/span>, ‘happy are all they that wait<\/em> for him,’ Isa 64:4<\/span>), not giving up his trust in Jehovah, for 45 days (= 1 month) beyond the 1290 days mentioned in Dan 12:11<\/em><\/span>. Why this further limit is assigned, it is impossible to say with any certainty. All that can be said is that the turning-point (whatever it may have been), marked by the close of the 1290 days, was not pictured by the author as introducing at once the period of complete blessedness this he did not conceive as beginning for 45 days afterwards. What he imagined as the cause of the postponement must remain matter of speculation: if the 1290 days are rightly interpreted as ending with the death of Antiochus, he may have thought, for instance, that its full effects would not appear at once, and that true rest would not begin for the Jews till after a short interval more.<\/p>\n Blessed is he that waiteth – <\/B>This indicates a patient expectation of an event that was to occur, and the happy state of him who would reach it. The angel refers to another period different from the time, and times, and an half, and different also from the twelve hundred and ninety days. He speaks of this as the consummation – as the desirable time; and pronounces him blessed who shall be permitted to see it. The idea here is, that of one looking out for this as a happy period, and that he would be regarded as a happy man who should live in that age.<\/P> And cometh to – <\/B>literally, touches. That is, whose life would reach to that time; or who would not be cut off before that period.<\/P> The thousand three hundred and five and thirty days – <\/B>The article is not used in the original, and its insertion here seems to make the period more distinct and definite than it is necessarily in the Hebrew. There is much apparent abruptness in all these expressions; and what the angel says in these closing and additional communications has much the appearance of a fragmentary character – of hints, or detached and unexplained thoughts thrown out on which he was not disposed to enlarge, and which, for some reason, he was not inclined to explain. In respect to this period of 1335 days, it seems to stand by itself. Nothing is said of the time when it would occur; no intimation is given of its commencement, as in the former cases – the terminus a quo<\/I>; and nothing is said of its characteristics further than that he would be blessed who should be permitted to see it – implying that it would be, on some accounts, a happy period.<\/P><\/p>\n Verse 12<\/span>. Blessed<\/B><\/I> is <\/B>he that waiteth<\/B><\/I>] He who implicitly depends on God, expecting, as his truth cannot fail, that these predictions shall be accomplished in due time.<\/P> <\/P> And cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty<\/B><\/I> <\/B>days.<\/B><\/I>] This is seventy-five<\/I> days more than what is included in the three<\/I> years and a half<\/I>, or the time, times, and a half<\/I> in the seventh<\/I> verse; and as we have met with so many instances of prophetical days<\/I> and years<\/I>, this undoubtedly is another instance; and as a day<\/I> stands for a year<\/I>, this must mean a period of one thousand three hundred and thirty-five<\/I> years, which period is to bring all these wonders to an end<\/I>, Da 12:6<\/span>. But we are left totally in the dark relative to the time from which these one<\/I> thousand three hundred and thirty-five years<\/I> are to be reckoned. If, however, we reckon them from the above epoch, A.D. 612, when Mohammedanism<\/I> arose, they lead us to A.D. 1947, when the fullness of the Gentiles<\/I> shall be brought in; and thus a final closure of vision and prophecy be made, as then all the great events relative to the salvation of men shall have taken place. Wars and contentions will probably then cease over the whole world; Jews and Gentiles become one fold, under one Shepherd and Bishop of souls; and the triune God be properly worshipped and glorified, from generation to generation, over the face of the whole earth. But all these conjectures may be founded in darkness. We have not chronological data; and “the times and seasons God has reserved in his own power.”<\/P> <\/p>\n These days are either, <\/P> 1. Natural days, and properly so called, and so the times of Antiochus are hereby noted. Or, <\/P> 2. Prophetical days, a day for a year, Eze 4:6<\/span>; and thus one thousand two hundred and ninety days is forty-two months, which if we multiply at thirty days the month make the sum one thousand two hundred and ninety. Here many learned expositors fall in together to that opinion of calculating these years by days, beginning the one thousand two hundred and ninety days from the profaning of the temple to the letter of king Antiochus to the Jews, 2Ma 11:27, and so make them to end exactly then: and concerning the abomination of desolation, whereof see what is said Dan 7:25<\/span>; 8:14<\/span>; 9:25<\/span>, being the epoch from Apolloniuss coming, who was called the prince of abominations, or from the worship of God forbidden by Antiochus, and at last restored by Judas Maccabeus, and confirmed by Antiochus, from thence to the death of Antiochus are fortyfive days, which added to one thousand two hundred and ninety make one thousand three hundred and thirty-five; but this is a false account, and contrary to the scope of this place, and to history and chronology, which the learned Joseph Mede hath proved at large, Lib. Oper. III. p. 882. The Jews make these days, i.e. years, to end at the coming of Christ, but uncertainly when to begin their reckoning, but have been often and grossly deceived. Sound Christians refer it to the second coming of Christ. Mr. Mede makes the chief revelation of antichrist to be in 1123. The latter number of one thousand three hundred and thirty-five ends in anno Christi 1168; and so the type of antichrist, which is Antiochus Epiphanes, leads us by the hand to the revelation of antichrist, which fell out anno 1106 to anno 1120; between which time the papal power was highly mounted, the church greatly persecuted, after that great numbers of them had separated from the abominations of Rome, openly declaring it to be antichristian. Therefore the angel saith, the saints by their trials <\/P> shall be purified and made white, that is, by those cruel persecutions which befell them, from their ignorant and enraged enemies, who went on to do wickedly and did not understand. How this is further cleared, and why the angel makes use of the Roman supputation in this case, namely, by indictions, and how it answers and resolves the case, see in the forecited author. <\/P> <\/p>\n Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the one thousand three hundred five and thirty days.<\/strong> Which is an addition of forty five days or years more, beginning at the end of one thousand two hundred and ninety, and make up this sum; during which time the vials will be poured out upon all the antichristian states, and the Turkish empire be destroyed, and all the enemies of Christ and his church removed, and clear way made for the setting up of his kingdom in the world in a more visible and glorious manner; and therefore happy is the man that will be found waiting for these times, and live to enjoy them. There are various ways taken in the computation and application of these one thousand three hundred and thirty five days by Jews and Christians. Lipman p the Jew makes them to be the same with “time”, and “times”, and “half a time”, Da 12:7<\/span>, “time” he supposes, designs the space of four hundred and eighty years, from the Israelites going out of Egypt to the building of the first temple; times the space of four hundred and ten years which is as long as that temple stood; and “half a time” half of these two spaces, that is, four hundred and forty five years; all which make up one thousand three hundred and thirty five; but strange it is that time should signify a larger space than “times”. Much more ingenious is the computation of Jacchiades on the text, who makes the account to describe the space of time from the days of Daniel to the end of the world. He supposes there were three thousand three hundred and ninety one years, from the beginning of the world to Daniel; he then takes and joins the one thousand two hundred and ninety days in the preceding verse, which he understands of years with the one thousand three hundred and thirty five days or years in this, which make together two thousand six hundred and twenty five; and, added to the above, the whole is six thousand and sixteen years; which agrees with the opinion of Elias, in the Talmud q, that the world shall stand six thousand years. Many Christian interpreters r apply it to the times of Antiochus; and reckon them thus, understanding them of days; and not years; from the time of his taking away the daily sacrifice, to the restoration of it by Judas Maccabaeus, were three years and a half and some days, in all one thousand two hundred and ninety, as in the preceding verse; during which time the temple was profaned by idolatrous worship, the altar demolished, and the daily sacrifice ceased, and was a time of great distress with the Jews; and which, though greatly alleviated by the success of Judas, yet their calamities were not over until the death of Antiochus, which happened forty five days after; and these, added to the above number, make one thousand three hundred and thirty five days; at the close of which it was happy times with them, being delivered from so cruel and powerful an enemy; and therefore blessed were they that waited and came to this time. This passage Mr. Brightman applies to the Turkish empire; and thinks that time, and times, and half a time; Da 12:7<\/span>, measure the space of the power of that empire; “time” signifying one hundred years; “times” two hundred years; “half a time”, fifty years; in all three hundred and fifty years; which added to one thousand three hundred, when that empire began, the date ends in one thousand six hundred and fifty, when he supposes, it would begin to decline; to which, if you add forty five days or years, as here, it will bring it down to one thousand six hundred and ninety five, when he thought it would be utterly extinct; but time has shown this to be a mistake. Mr. Mede s thinks these numbers are to be reckoned from the profanation of the temple by Antiochus; and that the first number, one thousand two hundred and ninety, ended in the year of Christ one thousand one hundred and twenty three, when antichrist was come to his height, and was discerned by many to be the person that was prophesied of as such; and the latter number, one thousand three hundred and thirty five ended in the year of Christ one thousand one hundred and sixty eight, when the Waldenses, Albigenses, and others separated from the church of Rome as antichristian, upon which violent persecutions were raised upon them: but then not happy, but miserable times, followed on these; unless this blessedness spoken of is to be applied to the martyrs that died for the sake of Christ, as in Re 14:13<\/span>. Another learned man t was of opinion that these numbers are to be counted from the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus Vespasian, A.D. 71, from whence the first number fell on the year 1361, at which time the school at Prague was founded by Charles king of Bohemia, and the errors and tyranny of antichrist began to be openly opposed by the same; and the second number ended in the year 1406, when the light of the Gospel broke out more clearly; so that the angel here pronounces those blessed who overlived these first seeds of the Gospel being brought to light; but something of great importance and cause of more joy, is here intended. Wherefore, upon the whole, it seems best to interpret these numbers as at first, of the date of the reign of antichrist, and as showing the full and certain end of it; when there will be blessed times, halcyon days indeed!<\/p>\n p Nizzachon, No. 332. q T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 97. 1. r Broughton in loc. L’Empereur, Not. in Jacchiad. in loc. Huls. Theolog. Jud. par. 1. p. 77, 78. s Works, B. 3. p. 720. t Henr. Wolphius lib. de tempore apud Brightman in loc.<\/p>\n HOMILETICS<\/em><\/p>\n SECTION LI.WAITING AND WORKING. (Chap. Dan. 12:12-13<\/span>.)<\/p>\n Doctrine is to be followed by practice. Knowledge brings reponsibility. Faith evidences itself by works. Light is given, not that we may sleep, but work. The word of prophecy, made sure by its continual fulfilment, was given that we might take heed to it as a light shining in a dark place till the day dawn, and the day-star arise in our hearts. The communications made to Daniel closed with an intimation as to the use to be made of them. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days: But go thy way till the end be; for thou shalt rest and stand in thy lot at the end of the days. [372] The latter verse is thus paraphrased by Brightman: But thou, Daniel, go thy way and rest content, till all these things shall come to pass, towards or before the end; and although they seem to be long delayed, yet the tediousness thereof shall not be grievous unto thee: for thou in the meantime shalt yield to nature, and go the way of all flesh, and being freed from the miseries of this life, shalt quietly rest, and be partaker of that happiness which those enjoy who die in the Lord: and at length also shall thy body be raised up out of the grave, in that lot and condition which God shall give unto thee, that thou mayest be partaker of unspeakable joy with all the rest of the saints, and so reign with Christ for ever and ever. These concluding verses suggest<\/p>\n [372] Go thy way till the end be<\/em>. Keil, with Theodoret and most interpreters, understands the words to mean, Go to the end of thy life; the angel of the Lord thus dismissing the highly-favoured prophet from his lifes work, with the comforting assurance that he should stand in his own lot in the end of the days. Daniel was to rest, that is, in the grave, and to rise again, to enjoy his part in the inheritance of the saints in light (Col. 1:12<\/span>), to be possessed by the righteous, after the resurrection of the dead, in the heavenly Jerusalem; in those last days when, after the judgment of the world, the kingdom of glory should appear. According to Calvin, he was to be content with his lot, and expect no more visions. Bullinger understands the words as an exhortation to persevere and continue to the end. According to Junius, he was to set all things in order, and make himself ready for his end, without curiously searching further into these things. Brightman understands the words as intimating that what the Lord might have further to reveal, He would do it by other prophets, as He did by Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.<\/p>\n 1. The duty of securing with all earnestness a personal interest in the blessedness predicted in the prophecy<\/em>. We have been told, with Daniel, of the resurrection to everlasting life that shall follow the last great tribulation, and the kingdom of glory with and under the Messiah, when the wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. It was Daniels happiness to be assured of his interest in that predicted blessedness; and with that assurance quietly to wait till the time for the full experience of it arrived. It is for us who read or hear the words of this prophecy, to make sure our participation in the same blessedness. It is for us to secure in time our place among the wise, making sure that with the lamp of an outward possession of faith in Christ, and an intellectual knowledge of the truth, we have the oil of saving grace and spiritual light in the vessel of our hearts. Unless the Bridegroom come speedily, we too, like Daniel, shall lie down to rest in the grave till the resurrection trump shall awake us out of sleep. The question is, How<\/em> shall we do so? Shall we, like the man greatly beloved, lie down renewed in the spirit of our mind, and made accepted in the Beloved; or as those who, unforgiven and destitute of the holiness without which no man shall see the Lord, awake only to shame and everlasting contempt; like the foolish virgins who, satisfied with the present, delayed to secure the needful supply for the future till it was too late? Let us make sure that we have gone to Him who has the oil of the Spirit of life and peace to sell, or rather to give freely to those who are willing to buy without money and without price; and let us not rest till with Simeon we are able joyfully to say, Now, Lord, lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace; for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.<\/p>\n 2. The duty of patient waiting for the future blessedness<\/em>. The man pronounced blessed, who waiteth and cometh to the happy period predicted in connection with Israels restoration, the resurrection of the dead, and the future glory. That period was in Daniels day far distant. It is now two thousand four hundred years nearer than it was then. There must be much less time to wait. That time may be very short. But whatever it may be, it is still to be one of patient waiting. It may, and doubtless will, be one of peculiar trial, temptation, and distress. It will be one in which the enmity of Satan and the world against Christ, His truth, His people, and His cause, will reach its utmost violence; the time in which the great enemy will come forth with great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time. It will be the time of the last manifestation of Antichrist, in which all that has been predicted of the two Little Horns, of the Wilful King, and of the Man of Sin, will be fully developed, summed up, and concentrated. It will be the time to which the Church has looked forward for eighteen centuries, as that of the great outbreak of wickedness and of Satanic power, that will call forth and be only terminated by the manifestation of the Lords coming. There will, therefore, be need of patient waiting. In patience believing men will need to possess their souls. The period will probably be short, though severe. Its end will be glorious. From the throes and birth-pangs of the period shall come forth a new and beauteous creation, the long-looked for and prayed for regeneration, the new heavens and the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness, when the petition long presented shall be at length fulfilled, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. It is worth a long time of patient waiting for it. Like Daniel, we who are now living and working may have to go our way and rest in the grave till the end be, and our waiting be completed there in the dust. But others will follow and have their waiting time on earth, it may be for another generation or two, or perhaps more. Perhaps it may be less. Apparently we are entering upon an age of scientific, as well as grosser, atheism.[373] These are the days of rapid development. As England and the world have recently been reminded, immense strides have been made in the advance of science during the last fifty years; and the outcome seems to be an upsetting of notions hitherto entertained regarding God and His works; so that a prelate of the Church, in a discourse on the occasion, could ask, Will there at last, when the problem is solved, be any place left for God, or Christianity, or prayer, or conscience, or free-will, or responsibility, or duty, or faith in the unseen? and observed that the remarks of many scientific men showed that these questions were not superfluous, and that consequently alarm and anxiety had taken possession of many minds, and his own among the rest. Thus evidently is the time of patient waiting not only still existing, but intensifying. Faith and patience will doubtless yet be severely tried. When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth? Because thou hast kept the word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth (Luk. 18:8<\/span>; Rev. 3:10<\/span>). The proper attitude of the Church in these days in which we live, as it was in those of the Apostles, is that of a patient waiting for Christ. As the Old Testament Church was found waiting for the first Advent of Him who was the Consolation of Israel, so is it to be with the New Testament Church in relation to the second. This waiting posture is described by the Apostles in such language as, Looking for the blessed hope<\/em>, the glorious appearing of the great God, even our Saviour Jesus Christ; Our conversation is in heaven, from whom also we look for the Saviour<\/em>, the Lord Jesus Christ; Waiting<\/em> for His Son from heaven; Looking for and hasting unto<\/em> the coming of the day of God; To them that look for Him<\/em> shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation (Tit. 2:13<\/span>; Php. 3:20<\/span>; 2Th. 1:10<\/span>; 2Pe. 3:12<\/span>; Heb. 9:28<\/span>).<\/p>\n [373] Fifty years ago, said Sir John Lubbock in the presidential address at the late Jubilee of the British Association, it was the general opinion that animals and plants came into existence just as we now see them. This is represented as the general opinion no longer. We perceive that there is a reasonand in many cases we know what that reason isfor every difference in form, in size, and in colour; for every bone and every feather, almost for every hair. We can now see precisely, says the Christian World<\/em>, where the old opinion differs from the new. The modern biologist professes to understand better than his predecessors those forces or processes by which birds have become different from reptiles, and animals that suckle their young different from both. To put it still more pointedly, the modern doctrine affirms that, leaving out of consideration the unknown beginning (of which science takes no account), nature in the world of life, animal and vegetable, has always worked with the means and methods employed at this hour. Elephants and alligators, sharks, kangaroos, and humming-birds are blood relations. Again a writer in the same journal says: The two chief springs of that inspiration with which Christianity has quickened the cold, dead heart of humanity, are, without question, the love of God, and the boundless possibilities of that future which the Gospel opens to man. It is an inspiration which it seems that in these days our wise ones are doing their very utmost to destroy. Of God they tell us that we know nothing, and can know nothing; while of the things which are before us we know as little. Gods love, we are now taught, is no more than the mere yearning of the sad human heart to find a living expression in that awful world-system which surrounds us, and whose cruel sternness drives great nations of our fellow-men to long for annihilation, as the supreme benediction which the universe can offer to its intelligent child; while the hope of immortality, by the same rule, is the vain effort of that faculty of our nature which looks before and after, to construct a future which may soothe its imagination, but which is baseless and fruitless as its idlest dreams. It is without doubt, the writer goes on to say, a very dread aspect of these times, especially for the young who are nursed, as it were, in its atmosphere. But instead of wild denunciations of it, it is wiser for us to study the way in which it comes to be; how it is possible that this ghastly creed could have grown up in the heart of Christendom, in the very age and region in which the triumph of Christian truth and civilisation ought to be most complete. The saddest result of this theological abuse of the world-systemwe can call it nothing elseis to make men believe that it has no meaning or method that man can discover; that all its movements are all mechanical, and that man is but the most highly-finished part of the machinery; like the rest of it, sprung from and returning to the dust. The idea that the universe is guided by a living Intelligence, and that the development of mans life is an object which the Intelligence that guides the universe has ever in sight, would be banished to the limbo of worn-out superstitions, effete idolatries, if some of our keen thinkers had their way.<\/p>\n 3. The duty of working as well as waiting<\/em>. Daniel was told to go his way till the end be. It is said of him that, after his recovering from the fainting and sickness consequent on a former vision, he rose and attended to the kings business (chap. Dan. 8:27<\/span>). Although now considerably older, he might still be able to do the same. At the beginning of the present vision we find that he had been engaged for three full weeks in special prayer and fasting. Whatever he might be able to do in the business of his earthly master, he was still in a condition to serve his heavenly one. Whatever his hand found to do in that service, he was to go and do it with his might, before he was called to rest from his labour; whether that work might be in comforting his brethren with the consolation wherewith he himself was comforted of God, communicating to them the knowledge which he himself had just received, or exhorting them to a steadfast faith themselves and fidelity in strengthening the faith of others in the prospect of the trials that were yet before them. Daniel was to wait, but, so long as the Lord gave him strength, he was also to work, showing Gods strength unto that generation, and His saving power to every one that was to come (Psa. 71:18<\/span>). The waiting in the text is not to be an idle, indolent one. Looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God our Saviour, is associated by the Apostle with the denying ourselves to all ungodliness and worldly lust, and living soberly, righteously, and godly in the present world (Tit. 2:12-13<\/span>). On the ground of the same hope, Paul exhorts the Corinthian believers to be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that our labour is not in vain in the Lord (1Co. 15:58<\/span>). While looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life, we are to have compassion on others, and to seek to save some with fear, pulling them out of the fire (Jud. 1:21-23<\/span>). To be waiting for the Masters return will naturally move us to diligence in doing the Masters work. It is the servant who says in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming, that begins to beat his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken (Luk. 12:45-46<\/span>). The use to be made of the study of the prophetic word, is, with the eunuch, to go on our way rejoicing in the blessed hope that it has set before us. That hope is one of a bright hereafter, not only for ourselves as faithful believers, but for the Church and the world. Like Daniel, we are to be attending diligently to the kings business, till we<\/em> also shall be called away from the field, as so many before us have been, to hear from the Masters lips that blessed plaudit, Well done, good and faithful servant! thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee faithful over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.[374]<\/p>\n [374] Let us, says Auberlen, who love the word of prophecy, not forget the present, and what has been given us already in thinking of the things we hope for; lest our study of prophecy degenerate to a mere favourite pursuit of our infancy, and unspiritual excitement. Let this hope of the kingdom take the same place in our heart as is assigned to it in the Divine Word; and let us not change the proportion in which Holy Scripture has placed it to the fundamental truths of Christianity. Let the apostolic word be our motto: For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men; teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world; looking for the blessed hope, the glorious appearing of the great God even our Saviour Jesus Christ (Tit. 2:11-13<\/span>). All Christians of the present day find it difficult to lay to heart the words which apply to our days, as well as to the days of Isaiah: In quietness and confidence shall be your strength. But let us remember that we are living in a time when judgments are preparing; and our only duty is to be ever watchful and prayerful witnesses of the coming of the Lord. We are, for this reason, not slothful; we do not fold our hands; only we do not cherish illusive hopes and expectations from our work. Let us be faithful in the little things intrusted to us; as for the great things, we cannot take them to ourselves; but we wait till the Lord will bring them to us. What our generation wants is, witnesses who can lift up their voice in the spirit and power of the prophets; men who can stand in the breach in the hour of temptation which is coming over the whole earth. In that hour we need to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, so that we may achieve the victory; then we must lift up our heads in blessed hope and joy, knowing that our redemption draweth nigh. May our merciful God prepare us for that hour, by teaching us to understand aright and to practise faithfully the word of the Apocalypse: Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.<\/p>\n (12) Blessed is he.<\/strong>Last words to Daniel. He shall rest in the grave, and stand up in his own lot at the end of the days.<\/p>\n ‘Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty five days.’<\/p>\n This suggests that it is this final period which is the most important of the two. The one thousand two hundred and ninety being a stage on the way to this final figure. But what can the one thousand three hundred and thirty five days refer to? It indicates a further one and a half months onto the one thousand two hundred and ninety days. If the end of the one thousand two hundred and ninety days refers to the recommencement of sacrifices then this could be the period of building the fortifications of the walls.<\/p>\n Those who saw that work completed would certainly count themselves as blessed. True worship would not only have been restored, but would also have been firmly secured.<\/p>\n But if the one thousand two hundred and ninety brings us to that point we can only see the extra one and a half months as due to a period which cannot be explained. Perhaps then the one thousand two hundred and ninety days can be seen as a stage in the process, possibly referring to the date of completion of some important section of it, clearly recognisable then, and thus as itself building up to the final day of blessing.<\/p>\n But the important lesson that comes from this is the need for the people of God to endure with perseverance under all persecution, because they can be sure that a time limit has been put upon it by God. He has even numbered it in days. The advancing lengths of time indicate the need to persevere that little bit longer even in the darkest hour, because even though God might allow it to go on longer than we expect, we can be sure that finally it will all come to an end.<\/p>\n Dan 12:12 Blessed [is] he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.<\/p>\n Ver. 12. But blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.] Here are forty-five days more than in the former number; and probably they were, from the restoration of God’s service until the death of Antiochus – a blessed time to God’s poor persecuted people, as was here the death of Queen Mary – or else until some other signal mercy, as the victory that Judas Maccabaeus and his brethren had about that time over the Edomites, Ammonites, and Moabites, who thought to root Israel quite out.<\/p>\n Blessed = O the blisses! See Psa 1:1. The only Beatitude in this book. <\/p>\n waiteth = is steadfast. Compare Mat 24:13. Mar 13:13. Rev 2:26. <\/p>\n the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. See App-90. The Hebrew accent suggests the rendering: “Blessed is he that expecteth and shall reach [the goal: he shall reach] to day, 1335. “<\/p>\n Dan 12:12<\/p>\n Dan 12:12 BlessedH835 is he that waiteth,H2442 and comethH5060 to the thousandH505 threeH7969 hundredH3967 and fiveH2568 and thirtyH7970 days.H3117 <\/p>\n Dan 12:12<\/p>\n Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.<\/p>\n Many have tried to unravel the mystery of these added extra days and many have only further confused it. Daniel has already been told that it would be for a “time, times and half a time” for these things to occur. It is a vague and unspecified amount of time for which Daniel was made aware of. He was told of events to come but the precise timing of them was shrouded in apocalyptic language. <\/p>\n To unravel the mystery of these added extra days, we first need to recognize that there are two separate events being predicted. The first was to be fulfilled in 1290 apocalyptic days and the second one would be in 1335 apocalyptic days. That is a difference of 45 days and probably means nothing whatsoever to the actual time periods for which it refers. These are apocalyptic time periods and are unspecified periods of time. What is significant to our understanding here is that there are two events noted herein. <\/p>\n The next step in unraveling the mystery is to go back and examine the preceding text of the vision and try and determine of there are two events described therein which can be separated from one another. The scattering of the holy people was accomplished in 1290 apocalyptic days. Here in Dan 12:12, Daniel is told, “blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the second period of time. There were no blessings pronounced on those who were scattered. The blessings were given to those who waited beyond the 1290 apocalyptic days to the fulfillment of the second period of time. <\/p>\n The amount of time is not significant in this context. What is significant is that there are two time periods and that those who persevere beyond the first to the second are the ones who receive the blessing.<\/p>\n So what went on that dated beyond the destruction of the temple, the abomination that made desolate and the taking away of the Jewish daily sacrifice? What went on past that event that if endured resulted in the blessings of God? Going back to the text in verse 10 we see the words, “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly”. Paying special attention to the words “and tried” keep in mind that the Romans who destroyed the temple were also instrumental in the terrible Christian persecution. <\/p>\n “Blessed is he that waiteth” Compare this to Rev 14:12, “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” The entire book of Revelation was written to those Christians who would live through the terrible Christian persecution by the Roman Empire. The temple was destroyed in 70 AD but the trials of the Christians went on beyond that. It is this Bible student’s conviction that the period of time denoted in Dan 12:12 is an apocalyptic reference to the Christian persecution of the Roman Empire. <\/p>\n “Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the” second apocalyptic period of time, parallels with Jesus words in Rev 2:10-11, “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.”<\/p>\n thousand three hundred and five and thirty days <\/p>\n Three periods of “days” date from the “abomination” (i.e. the blasphemous assumption of deity by the Beast, Dan 12:11; Mat 24:15; 2Th 2:4. <\/p>\n (1) Twelve hundred and sixty days to the destruction of the Beast Dan 7:25; Dan 12:7; Rev 13:5; Rev 19:19; Rev 19:20. This is also the duration of the great tribulation (See Scofield “Dan 12:4”). <\/p>\n (2) Dating from the same event is a period of 1290 days, and addition of thirty days Dan 12:11. <\/p>\n (3) Again forty-five days are added, and with them the promise of Dan 12:12. No account is directly given of that which occupies the interval of seventy-five days between the end of the tribulation and the full blessing of Dan 12:12. It is suggested that the explanation may be found in the prophetic descriptions of the events following the battle of Armageddon.; Rev 16:14; Rev 19:21. The Beast is destroyed, and Gentile world-dominion ended, by the smiting of the “Stone cut out without hands” at the end of the 1260 days, but the scene is, so to speak, filled with the debris of the image which the “wind” must carry away before full blessing comes in Dan 2:35. <\/p>\n Rom 11:15, Rev 20:4 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Psa 102:13 – the set Eze 4:6 – each day for a year Dan 7:25 – a time Dan 12:7 – that it Mat 10:22 – but Mar 13:13 – but Joh 13:7 – What Rev 1:3 – Blessed Rev 11:2 – forty Rev 15:1 – is filled Rev 20:6 – Blessed Rev 22:14 – Blessed<\/p>\n TROUBLOUS TIMES TO CEASE<\/p>\n How long shall it be? Blessed is he that waiteth.<\/p>\n Dan 12:6; Dan 12:12<\/p>\n It is evident that in this chapter Daniel passes from the political resurrection of the Jews under the Maccabees to the literal resurrection, which will ensue on the final overthrow of Antichrist at the coming of the Lord. The time of trouble, similarly, is applicable not only to the days of Antiochus, who was pre-eminently the persecutor of the Chosen People and the subverter of their religion, but to the last times, when the saints of God shall suffer as never before (Mat 24:21).<\/p>\n I. Whatever tribulations may await the Church, there is one clear issue to which we may all devote ourselves, namely, the turning of men from darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto God.For this the blood of the Cross was shed, and the Spirit given, and for this we are continued in the world. This work of soul-winning needs wisdom of the highest order, which can only be communicated by the Saviour Himself, Who is made unto us wisdom.<\/p>\n II. It is not within our power to explain the references of these epochs, which are herein described.For my part, I believe that the time, times, and a half, refers to the rule of Mohammed over the Holy Land (Rev 11:2-3; Rev 11:9). Whilst the 11th verse definitely refers to the tyrannous outrage of Antiochus on the Holy City, it has probably an ulterior reference to the reign of Antichrist, which shall overlap the long desolations to which the Mohammedan rule has subjected the Chosen Race. But at the best, we can only guess at the meaning of these words, which will be made plain when the Church comes to need them. Our duty is clear to go on doing the will of God, and looking for the blessed hope, when we shall stand in our lot, at the end of the days.<\/p>\n III. Let us gather two lessons.(1) Whatever we do, let us make sure of our part in the First Resurrection. May we live ever in the light of that blessed Hope. (2) Let the glory of our reward stimulate to all patience and energyto shine as the brightness of the firmament, and as the stars (Rev 11:3)!<\/p>\n Illustrations<\/p>\n (1) Two periods (at least), of supreme suffering and final deliverance are here alluded to: (1) The persecution of the Jews by Antiochus Epiphenes (about 148 b.c.); and (2) Israels crowning sorrow yet to come from the Antichrist. Michael, the great prince, which standeth for the children of thy people (Rev 11:1)not the Lord, but Israels Archangel guardian (Jud 1:9). Again we see that in each case the transactions on earth affecting Gods people have their correspondencies in heaven in the conflict between good and bad angels. And many of them that sleep, etc. (Jud 1:2)Tregelles translates, with the support of Jewish commentators: Many from among the sleepers these shall be unto everlasting life; but those, i.e.the sleepers who do not awakeshall be unto shame. The righteous only shall arise (Rev 20:3; Rev 20:5-6; 1Co 15:23; and 1Th 4:16). Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased (1Th 4:4). This refers, not to modern locomotion and science, but to the deepened interest in prophecy, and fresh insight into it, that will come as the end draws near. They will run to and fro in their eagernesswhich is very much what we are seeing to-day.<\/p>\n (2) For however brightly and powerfully the Gospel moves, and however strong the Church may be, there must still be heretics and false teachers to prove her, in order that the approved ones may be manifest; and these same heretics are fond of taking sides with kings and great lords. Consequently the heretics will continue to the end. But to the godless he (the prophet, or, rather, his prophecy) is of no service, as he himself remarks: the wicked shall remain wicked, and not regard it. For this prophecy and similar ones were not written that we might (beforehand exactly) know history and the troubles of the future, so as to feed our curiosity as with an item of news; but that the pious might comfort themselves and rejoice over them, and that they should strengthen their faith and hope in patience, as those that see and hear that their wretchedness shall have an end, and that they, delivered from sin, death, the Devil, and every evil, shall come to Christ in heaven, in His blessed eternal kingdom.<\/p>\n (3) Luthers comment on 1Th 4:1, is as follows: This does not signify physical sufferings, which were far greater at the destruction of Jerusalem, in Rome, and in many other cities and countries; but the suffering of souls, or the spiritual affliction of the Church, as prefigured by the sufferings of Christ. For physical sufferings are temporary, and cease with the body. But the question here is whether the Church shall fall or stand, which the Devil had attacked in two directions through the agency of Antichrist: on the one hand, by an Epicurean contempt for the sacraments and the Word of God, on the other, by the terrors and despair of conscience, in which no proper comfort of the graces (was found), but only wretched tortures, which vexed men with the sufficiency of their own doings and with their works (of which, however, the Epicureans and heathen know nothing); hence, that it was time that Michael should arouse himself, and not suffer Christendom to be destroyed at its last gasp, but to comfort and collect it again by his beneficent word of grace. <\/p>\n Dan 12:12. When the work of Luther and his co-laborers got well underway, the clergy of Rome and leaders of the temporal dominions of the State that formed the union known as Babylon the Great, began to see what it was all about and began to persecute the reformers. For some time they were subjected to bitter experiences, comparable with the ones suffered by the Maccabees, and the distress was so great that some yielded and gave up the struggle. There were others, though, who waited and came through until the battle of the Reformation was won, which the passage sets at the end of 1335 days (years), and a blessing is promised to those who endured to that time. Of course the number of years indicated is only approximate, but it gives the general idea of the great epoch.<\/p>\n 12:12 Blessed [is] he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and {n} five and thirty days.<\/p>\n (n) In this number he adds a month and a half to the former number, signifying that it is not in man to appoint the time of Christ’s coming, but that they are blessed that patiently wait for his appearing.<\/p>\n The Lord said that those people will be blessed who keep waiting, presumably for God to rescue them (Dan 12:1), and attain to the 1,335 days. Why did he mention this particular number of days, and when will this period end?<\/p>\n The 1,335-day period is 45 days (one and a half months) longer than the 1,290-day period just mentioned (Dan 12:11). Evidently this period will end after the Tribulation has ended, namely, after the millennial reign of Christ has begun or at least after He has returned to earth. We can only speculate about what these 45 days following the Tribulation will hold for people living on the earth then. One view is that Jesus Christ will appear in the clouds at the end of the Tribulation (Mat 24:30), and 45 days later He will descend to the earth. [Note: Pentecost, "Daniel," p. 1374.] <\/span> A better option, I think, is that it may take 45 days for Jesus Christ to accomplish the necessary judgments and set up His kingdom after returning to the earth. [Note: Archer, "Daniel," p. 156; Walvoord, Daniel . . ., pp. 295-96; Showers, p. 58; Feinberg, p. 187; Whitcomb, p. 168; Campbell, p. 143; Wood, A Commentary . . ., pp. 328-29; Culver, "Daniel," p. 799.] <\/span> Some interpreters favor the view that these 30 and 45-day periods reflect the use of different calendars from the one that earlier prescribed the length of the three and one-half years as a period of 1,260 days. [Note: Goldingay, pp. 309-10.] <\/span> Young took the numbers symbolically depicting a limited period of trouble. [Note: Young, p. 263.] <\/span> Whatever the explanation, clearly this verse will encourage believers living during the Tribulation to remain faithful to the Lord. It encourages us likewise.<\/p>\n Blessed [is] he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. 12. Happy is he that waiteth, and attaineth to a thousand three hundred and five and thirty days ] Happy is he who waits (cf. Isa 30:18, ‘happy are all they that wait for him,’ Isa 64:4), not … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Daniel 12:12”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22104\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"