Not Right Now | Daniel 12:5–13

Opening Remarks: Turn to Daniel 12 and Revelation 11. t’s been a few weeks since we were in Daniel. Actually, this is probably our last message in it (sermon #37). I’ve enjoyed the study. The prophecy has been a challenge, especially when it comes to application.

Our last message covered the first four verses of Daniel 12. The lesson there was that following God requires a willingness to take it one step at a time. God’s Word For Today.

As we come to the last 9 verses I couldn’t help but thinking about how, as a parent, I find myself saying, “Not Right Now!”

“Dad, can you help me…NOT RIGHT NOW!”

“Mom, can we do this…NOT RIGHT NOW!”

“I’m hungry…NOT RIGHT NOW!”

We often use “NOT RIGHT NOW” as a tool to delay something inconvenient.

But sometimes God tells His children (us) “Not Right Now,” and it’s not about inconvenience. It’s about timing.

God doesn’t just work in the “Whats.” He also works in the “Whens.”

Timing matters to God. And specifically in regards to information that He reveals to us. Sometimes we want answers and God says, “NOT RIGHT NOW.”

One person that heard that a lot was Daniel. That’s essentially the message in Daniel 12.

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TITLE: “Not Right Now”

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As I read the book of Daniel, I can’t imagine how confused he felt receiving these prophesies. He didn’t the revelation we have. So there have been plenty of times that Daniel receives a revelation, then asks a question, and God essentially tells him, “Not Right Now.”

I wonder if he ever got tired of it. Because it happens again here in chapter 5.

As we look at chapter 5 as a whole, there are two things that jump out to me.

1. God doesn’t reveal everything when we want Him to.

It won’t be until history unfolds that the Jews understand these prophetic revelations. Everything Daniel wrote was future for him, but most of it is past for us, which means it makes more sense to us. Hindsight is 20/20.

We can’t know the timeframe, but it sure does seem that we are seeing the buildup to the Great Tribulation with the explosion of Antisemitism and unrest. It seems clear that Israel will soon face a time greater than the holocaust.

The closer we get, the more we see these things coming into view. And apparently, as we saw last time, this book will be what helps those in that time of great tribulation to have confidence that God is still in control. Vs. 4 says they will run to and fro and seek for knowledge and their knowledge will be increased.

They can have confidence that their suffering won’t last forever. God will ultimately deliver Israel from her enemies and keep His covenanted promises.

That’s part of God’s messaging here. He won’t reveal everything up front.

The second is this:

2. God does promise comfort when it’s needed.

Daniel’s 70th week is still coming. But He tells them they can find comfort in God’s promises, even in a situation like that.

God reveals His ways and will one step at a time.

He doesn’t tell us everything up front, but He has enough concern for us to give the comfort we need in the moments.

Like headlights when you’re driving at night. The light shines only on the parts you need to see in that moment. You don’t see the destination, but you have light for that step.

God’s Word For Today. That’s all I’m promised, so that’s all I need.

I don’t need answers for next year or next month or even next week. I just need light for today.

So every day I’ll wake up and seek God’s light to shine on the steps I’m taking right now and leave the rest up to Him.

That’s the baseline leading into verse 5.

But the focus shifts from God’s messaging to Daniel’s questioning.

It starts with a vision that Daniel has of two angelic beings.

Daniel writes in vs. 5 that he sees two more angelic beings, one on one side of the river and the other on the other side of the Tigris river.

Then one of the angels speaks to a man clothed in linen. Who is that? Well, back in Daniel 10, the man clothed in linen was Gabriel who said he had been hindered by Satan to come and help Daniel.

So the description here sounds a lot like Gabriel again.

Vs. 6 says he was “upon the waters.” So you have Gabriel standing above the waters, and you have these two other angels on each bank. And one of the angels on the bank asks Gabriel a question in vs. 6:

II. “How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?”

“These astonishing things, how long till they’re over?”

I bet Daniel was glad the angel asked that. I’m glad for people that ask the tough questions everyone is wondering about.

Illustration: In calculus, we’d get a lesson, no one was keeping up, there was one girl who was willing to say what everyone else was thinking, “I don’t get it.”

Daniel is probably wondering. “How long will we have to deal with what you’re saying will be the worst part of our history?”

Vs. 7 - So, we’ll call him Gabriel, as he stands above the waters, raises his hands and answers the question.

Raising one’s hand was customary of stating the truth or taking an oath. It was customary to lift up one hand. This angel lifts both as if to signify the certainty of what he is about to say.

Then he says, it will last “time, times and half a time.” Okay, great. Cleared that right up! What in the world does that mean?

In Daniel 7, when Daniel was giving a prophesy of the antichrist, said in Daniel 7:25 “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.”

So you have one unit of time measurement called “time.”

Then you have two units called “times.”

And then you have a half a unit called “the dividing of time.”

The same thing is mentioned here in Daniel 12:7 “…it shall be for a time, times, and an half.”

So what is this measurement? Well, it seems based on comparison to other Scriptures that one time is one year.

So time would be one year.

Times would be two years.

And half a time would be half of a year.

So one year plus two years plus a half a year is = 3 1/2 years. How is that significant?

Revelation gives some time measurements as well. (Revelation 11).

Revelation 11:3 “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.”

1,260 days = 3 1/2 years when you consider that the Jewish calendar was made up of 360 days. 360 x 3.5 = 1,260 days

Revelation 12:6 “And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.”

1,260 days = 3 1/2 years

Revelation 12:14 “And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.”

This connects to Rev. 12:6, which was 1,260 days, which equals 3 1/2 years. If it does, then time = 1 year, times = 2 years, and half a time = 6 months, which equals 3 1/2 years.

Revelation 13:5 “And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.”

What does 42 months equal? 3 1/2 years.

So these measurements are all interchangeable:

1,260 days = 42 months = Time, times and half a time = 3 1/2 years

And when you compare that to Daniel’s 70th week, which remember a week is a period of 7, and in this case, a period of seven years, then the timeline starts to really fall into place.

Half of seven = 3.5. 3.5 years = 1,260 days. 1,260 days = 42 months. 42 months = Time, times and half a time.

Specifically, this is referring to the second half of the tribulation. The first 3.5 years of Daniel’s 70th week will be relatively smooth for Israel.

But look back in Daniel 9:27 “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week (7 years): and in the midst of the week (what’s halfway through 7 years = 3.5) he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”

The Antichrist breaks the covenant with Israel and sets up idolatry in the Jewish Temple. Then begins what Daniel 12:1 describes as the “time of trouble.” The worst period of human history.

So how long? That’s the question. Well, it will last the length of time it takes for the Antichrist to scatter the power of the holy people. (v. 7b)

What does that mean? Well, the holy people is referring to God’s people during the time of trouble, which is Israel.

Jeremiah, prophesying of the Great Tribulation, wrote in Jeremiah 30:7 “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: It is even the time of Jacob’s trouble…”

Jacob’s trouble, the time of great trouble, the Great Tribulation. It’s all the same. At the 3.5 year mark, Israel will be scattered, and when that has sufficiently taken place, all these things shall be finished. Israel will finally come to the end of herself and cry out to God. It is then that Jesus will appear in power and great glory to establish His Kingdom.

Daniel 7:13–14“I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”

There will come an end to the Awful, Terrible Suffering of God’s people. It will last 3.5 years, then they will finally come to the end of themselves and say, “Enough. God, we want you and your promises.”

This isn’t easy to understand, but it’s much easier for us because we have God’s complete Word to study and compare passages.

But Daniel is still confused. Look at vs. 8.

Daniel didn’t understand the conversation, so he asks a second question.

The first was, “How long?”

The second is…

II. What is going to happen?

He wants some details. Who can blame him? He’s concerned. He’s curious. He’s worried. He just wants to know.

Illustration: Kids asking lots of questions

“Why dad?”

“How does that work?”

“When is this happening?”

“Why? How? When? What? Who?”

It just about drives a parent crazy.

But we do the same thing with God.

And although sometimes I, as a parent, will dismiss the question and not answer, I love God’s patience.

Vs. 9 - Daniel is told, “The fulfillment of this vision is set for that time. It’s sealed. It’s certain. It’s set in stone. But it’s not for you to know right now.”

This is the answer we get very often when we face life’s difficulties.

God often says, “I have a solution. This will work out. There is a plan in place. But it’s not for you to know right now.”

This is one of the hardest parts about the Christian life: “Not Right Now.”

It’s hard because:

We want to know how things are going to work out.

We just want to be informed.

We simply want to be part of the plan.

We want to know so we can stop worrying.

That’s why “Not Right Now” is so hard.

But think about it - without this element of the Christian life - “It’s not for you to know right now” - how could we practice faith?

Knowing the details is a product of wanting to live by sight.

Not knowing the details and trusting God to have the answer is what it means to walk by faith.

Friend, whether or not it’s easy, walking by faith requires taking steps on a what is often an invisible pathway.

Illustration: Indiana Jones movie - stepping onto a bridge he couldn’t see.

That is a great picture of what it means to walk by faith and not sight.

You take a step, not because you’ve seen the path, but because you have clearly seen a trustworthy Savior.

And you know you can trust Him. “It’s not for you to know right now.” But you know the most important thing - you can trust Jesus.

Daniel was given some universal truths:

1. When you don’t know what to do, do what you know.

Daniel is told to “Go thy way…” in vs. 9.

He didn’t have to understand everything to keep going.

He simply had to trust God to take care of those things that were beyond his control.

What Daniel controlled were his steps. God controlled everything else.

And then God says, “If my people will just operate by faith, look at the results that take place.”

2. There is no growth without struggle.. (v. 10)

Revelation 7:14 “And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

The tribulation purged God’s people. The suffering prepared them to meet the Lord.

Stepping by faith is a purging process. It takes us through the parts we don’t want so we can enjoy the benefits we would otherwise miss.

Illustration: Pastor Spencer talking about removing a butterfly from a cocoon before it was ready and essentially killing it in the process. The strength it gained from the struggle was essential to its survival.

Those that refuse to walk in God’s wisdom miss all the lessons. They trade easy now for hard later.

But following Christ is an exercise in hard now to enjoy better later.

3. God always finishes what He starts. (v. 11)

There’s an extra 30 days mentioned here, and we’re not told what happens during that month. All we know is from the time that the Antichrist commits the abomination of desolation until the actual end of things is 1,290 days.

Perhaps those 30 days is when judgment takes place. There are a lot of nations and individuals to be judged, according to Matthew 25 and other places.

Then a blessing is declared upon those who come to the 1,335th day. This is another 45 days after day 1,290. Again, we don’t know exactly what will be happening. Maybe that’s when God prepares His millennial kingdom. Maybe there’s an inauguration ceremony for the great King, God Himself.

All we know is those who enter the kingdom will be blessed.

And all of this is simply a neat bow wrapped nicely around the book of Daniel.

Because it tells us this: What God starts, He always finishes.

And there are plenty of things we may not understand, but we can trust in that truth.

God finishes what He starts. If He promises, He’ll always do it.

So what about Daniel? this faithful servant through it all? What became of him?

Conclusion:

Daniel was told to just keep living for God the rest of his life (v. 13).

He wasn’t supposed to fret about what he didn’t know. He was simply challenged to finish his time on earth and come to rest. He would stand in his lot (inheritance) at the end time.

This speaks of Daniel’s future resurrection. Daniel will be rewarded and have part in the coming kingdom of Christ.

And he’s not alone. You will too.

If you will continue to take steps, not because you’ve seen the path, but because you have clearly seen a trustworthy Savior.

We’ll be tempted to ask questions, that’s natural.

But when we don’t get answers, just:

Do what you know.

Accept that there’s no growth without struggle.

And believe that God always finishes what He starts.

So when God says, “Not Right Now,” practice this answer, “That’s Okay.”

How can you say that? Because even when you can’t see the path, you can clearly see a trustworthy Savior.