12.2 - Discussion of Daniel 12, verse 2 

>>> Verse 2: In this verse it says: “…..Many of those who have already died will live again: some will enjoy eternal life, and some will suffer eternal disgrace”.  The first resurrection and the second death, are being seen here as one event, while there are a thousand years between them, (See Revelation 20 verses 4-6, 14, and 15: “Then I saw thrones, and those who sat on them were given the power to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been executed because they had proclaimed the truth that Jesus revealed and the word of God……... They came to life and ruled as kings with Christ for a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were over.) This is the first raising of the dead. Happy and greatly blessed are those who are included in this first raising of the dead. The second death has no power over them; they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and they will rule with him for a thousand years….  Then death and the world of the dead were thrown into the lake of fire. - This lake of fire is the second death.-  Those who did not have their name written in the book of the living were thrown into the lake of fire”). 

John 5 verse 24 says that the believers will not enter in the judgment. We read there: “I am telling you the truth: those who hear my words and believe in him who sent me have eternal life. They will not be judged, but have already passed from death to life”. It is because they already have “the Life”, and will “appear with Jesus”. See Colossians 3 verse 4: “Your real life is Christ and when he appears, then you too will appear with him and share his glory”. These are the “many” mentioned in the first word of verse 2. Hence: not all, only who have believed in Him.

12.1 - Discussion of Daniel 12, verse 1

>>>Verse1: This chapter starts in verse 1 by saying: “At that time the great angel Michael, who guards your people, will appear”. An explanation of the words: "At that time" and what happens at that moment is as follows:

A) - It is the time when the Antichrist breaks the peace pact.

B) - The time when the antichrist installs himself on Mount Moriah, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

C) -The time when the angel Michael throws Satan and his angels on the earth…, see Revelation 12 versiculos7-9: “Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, who fought back with his angels; but the dragon was defeated, and he and his angels were not allowed to stay in heaven any longer.  The huge dragon was thrown out—that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth and all his angels with him”.

D) -The moment when the “awful horror” will appear at a holy place in Israel.  See Matthew 24 verse15: “You will see ‘The Awful Horror’ of which the prophet Daniel spoke. It will be standing in the holy place”.

Also: 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 4:” He will oppose every so-called god or object of worship and will put himself above them all. He will even go in and sit down in God's Temple and claim to be God”. And revelations 13 verse 6: “It began to curse God, his name, the place where he lives, and all those who live in heaven“.

E) -The time when the great suffering of Israel starts, see Matthew 24 verse 21 and 22: “For the trouble at that time will be far more terrible than any there has ever been, from the beginning of the world to this very day. Nor will there ever be anything like it again. But God has already reduced the number of days; had he not done so, nobody would survive. For the sake of his chosen people, God will reduce the days”. This is the period of three and a half years, mentioned before. 

F) -The moment of the escape of Daniel's people: “those that are written in the book of the living”. See Exodus 32 verse. 32, Luke 10 verse 20, Revelation 3 verse 5: “Those who win the victory will be clothed like this in white, and I will not remove their names from the book of the living. In the presence of my Father and of his angels I will declare openly that they belong to me”. Revelation 13 verse 8, Revelation 20 verse 12 and 15: ” And I saw the dead, great and small alike, standing before the throne. Books were opened, and then another book was opened, the book of the living….. Those who did not have their name written in the book of the living were thrown into the lake of fire”.  Many more places in the bible refer to these events. Verse 1 also mentions: “….Michael, who guards your people…..”. These are the people that are saved because they have believed in Jesus Christ as their savior, and this of course counts also for us. 

12.0- Daniel 12, 1-13, The time of the End

In Daniel 12 verses 1 – 13 we read:

“1The angel wearing linen clothes said, “At that time the great angel Michael, who guards your people, will appear. Then there will be a time of troubles, the worst since nations first came into existence. When that time comes, all the people of your nation whose names are written in God's book will be saved.  2 Many of those who have already died will live again: some will enjoy eternal life, and some will suffer eternal disgrace. 3The wise leaders will shine with all the brightness of the sky. And those who have taught many people to do what is right will shine like the stars forever.”

4 He said to me, “And now, Daniel, close the book and put a seal on it until the end of the world. Meanwhile, many people will waste their efforts trying to understand what is happening.” 

5 Then I saw two men standing by a river, one on each bank. 6 One of them asked the angel who was standing further upstream, “How long will it be until these amazing events come to an end?”

7 The angel raised both hands toward the sky and made a solemn promise in the name of the Eternal God. I heard him say, “It will be three and a half years. When the persecution of God's people ends, all these things will have happened.”

8 I heard what he said, but I did not understand it. So I asked, “But, sir, how will it all end?”

9 He answered, “You must go now, Daniel, because these words are to be kept secret and hidden until the end comes. 10 Many people will be purified. Those who are wicked will not understand but will go on being wicked; only those who are wise will understand.

11 “From the time the daily sacrifices are stopped, that is, from the time of The Awful Horror, 1,290 days will pass. 12 Happy are those who remain faithful until 1,335 days are over!

13 “And you, Daniel, be faithful to the end. Then you will die, but you will rise to receive your reward at the end of time.”

11.4b - Discussion of Daniel 11, verse 41- 45

>>> Verse 41: In the middle of the last “Yearweek”, the antichrist will conquer Israel and break the peace pact. See Daniel 9 verse 27: “That ruler will have a firm agreement with many people for seven years, and when half this time is past, he will put an end to sacrifices and offerings. The Awful Horror will be placed on the highest point of the Temple and will remain there until the one who put it there meets the end which God has prepared for him”. At the end of this verse it says: “But the countries of Edom, Moab, and what is left of Ammon will escape”. The fact that these countries escape is logical, because the antichrist is the seed of Esau, which is part those countries.

>>> Verses 42 and 43: “all those countries”… We see here the vastness of his power. Libya and Ethiopia apparently go with Egypt. These ties are there also at this moment.

>>> Verse 44: Here we see that Ezequiel 38 and 39 (where the big battles from the North and from the orient are described), would fit in very well, when it says that: “news that comes from the east and the north will frighten him”. He will oblige (or convince) these powers from the East and the North to unite with him to gather the nations for the final battle at Armageddon. See Revelation 16 verses 12-16: “Then the spirits brought the kings together in the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon……. “. 

>>> Verse 45: The antichrist will have his “headquarters” in Jerusalem and “the mountain on which the Temple stands”: Mount Moriah. But his end will be in Israel, with “no one there to help him”. This is because God will fight for Israel. See Revelation 19 verse 20: “The beast (antichrist) was taken prisoner, together with the false prophet who had performed miracles in his presence. …..The beast and the false prophet were both thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur”.  The end battle is being described in Joel 3 verses 1-15: “….…..The nations must get ready and come to the Valley of Judgment. There I, the Lord, will sit to judge all the surrounding nations……” And also Zechariah 14 verses 3-7, and Revelation 19 verses 11-21.  

11.3b - Discussion of Daniel 11, verse 37- 40

>>> Verse 37: The words used here that “The king will ignore the god his ancestors served”, indicates that he is a descendant of Abraham and Isaac. Further on it says: “and also the god that women love”. This is a clear indication of worship to the many “queens of heaven” such as: Astarte - Phoenician, Isis - Egypt, Ishtar – Assyrian, Aphrodite –Greek and Diana – Ephesian, and Ashtoreth – Sidon. And also Venus, the roman goddess, whose functions encompassed love, beauty, sex, fertility and prosperity. …. And what about Maria?

See Jeremiah 44 verses 15 – 19: “…….and all…….., including the Israelites who lived in southern Egypt—a large crowd in all—said to me,………We will offer sacrifices to our goddess, the Queen of Heaven, and we will pour out wine offerings to her………….  ever since we stopped sacrificing to the Queen of Heaven and stopped pouring out wine offerings to her, we have had nothing,………..”

And in 1 Kings 11 verse 5: “He (Solomon) worshiped Astarte, the goddess of Sidon”.

>>> Verse 38: “He will honor the god who protects fortresses”, in other words, he is warlike and capable to sacrifice everything for this purpose.  This we recognize also in the present world powers.

>>> Verse 39: This “foreign god” is the god of the wars. He will make himself acceptable through bribes. 

>>> Verse 40. Again there will be war between the antichrist (Great-Syria) and Egypt, with the most probable result that, - apart from conquering Egypt - , he will also conquer Greece and Turkey. The result is the recovery of the Greek-Macedonian Empire. See Daniel 8 verses 8-12: “Out of one of these four horns grew a little horn, whose power extended toward the south and the east and toward the Promised Land.   It grew strong enough to attack the army of heaven, the stars themselves, and it threw some of them to the ground and trampled on them. It even defied the Prince of the heavenly army, stopped the daily sacrifices offered to him, and ruined the Temple………”  In reality this is the beginning of the great tribulation, but also the beginning of the end of the power of the antichrist. 

11.2b - Discussion of Daniel 11, verse 36

>>> Verse 36: This concerns thus the last “Syrian king” of the end times: The small horn. See Daniel 7 verse 8: “While I was staring at the horns, I saw a little horn coming up among the others. It tore out three of the horns that were already there. This horn had human eyes and a mouth that was boasting proudly”. And also Daniel 8: 9, 23, Daniel 9: 27 and Revelation 13 verses 5 and 6: “The beast was allowed to make proud claims which were insulting to God, and it was permitted to have authority for forty-two months. It began to curse God, his name, the place where he lives, and all those who live in heaven”.  It also concerns that what will happen to Israel at that time (during this last Syrian king): See Daniel 10 verse 14:

“I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the future. This is a vision about the future”.

This king that “boasts that he is greater than any god”, is the antichrist. He can be recognized because of:

a) His ties with Syria.

b) Has the appearance of a Jew… otherwise he would not be acceptable to the Jews. He is however an Esau-Jew. (idumae=Edom, refer to Herod, the Idumaean. The “king of the Jews”, who tries to kill the real King of the Jews. …. Exactly like Haman, the Agagite, also of the lineage of Esau).

c) Could very well be a renegade Christian, see 1John 2 verses 18 and 19: “My children, the end is near! You were told that the Enemy of Christ would come; and now many enemies of Christ have already appeared, and so we know that the end is near. These people really did not belong to our fellowship, and that is why they left us….. “. Many Syrian “Christians” are very anti-Jew. 

d) His pride. He will feel himself “superior even to the Supreme God”, it says in this verse. 

11.1b - Discussion of Daniel 11, verse 35

>>> Verse 35: In this verse it is said that “Purification will continue until the end”. From these words on, the vision speaks exclusively about the antichrist. This is clear because Antiochus Epiphanes is already dead, and verse 36 speaks about the (new) “king of Syria”.   And as precise as the prophesies were fulfilled in the past, also these prophecies will be fulfilled in the future.  The “purification” concerns the tribulation time, during three and a half years, for the Jews as well as for the ten tribes of Israel. Many out of those ten tribes have been converted by this time in the “Desert of the Nations”, without knowing their identity. … See about this Ezequiel 20 verses 35-37, 41, and 42: “I will bring you into the ‘Desert of the Nations,’ and there I will condemn you to your face. I will now condemn you just as I condemned your ancestors in the Sinai Desert,” says the Sovereign Lord…...I will take firm control of you and make you obey my covenant….. After I bring you out of the countries where you have been scattered and gather you together, I will accept the sacrifices that you burn, and the nations will see that I am holy. When I bring you back to Israel, the land that I promised I would give to your ancestors, then you will know that I am the Lord”.  And also in Leviticus 26 verses 33, 44, and 45:” After I destroy your towns and ruin your land with war, I'll scatter you among the nations…… No matter what you have done, I am still the Lord your God, and I will never completely reject you or become absolutely disgusted with you there in the land of your enemies. 45 While nations watched, I rescued your ancestors from Egypt so that I would be their God. Yes, I am your Lord, and I will never forget our agreement”. Furthermore in Jeremiah 31 verses 2-11, and Amos 9 verse 9: “I will give the command and shake the people of Israel like grain in a sieve. I will shake them among the nations to remove all who are worthless”, and1 Peter 1 verse 1: “To God's chosen (Israel) people who live as refugees scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia”.