Daniel 12.4a-The Angel Orders Daniel to Preserve in Writing and Seal Up in a Scroll the Revelation Up to the End Time
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday August 28, 2014
Daniel: Daniel 12:4a-The Angel Orders Daniel to Preserve in Writing and Seal Up in a Scroll the Revelation Up to the End Time
Lesson # 375
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 12:4.
Daniel 12:4 “But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.” (NASB95)
“But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time” presents the result of Daniel receiving this great prophetic revelation which is recorded in Daniel 11:2-12:3 indicating that the angel wants Daniel to preserve this great prophetic revelation as a result of receiving it from him.
Some like the NASB, NET, ESV, NIV and TNIV interpret this statement as adversative meaning that it is presenting a contrast between these two statements, thus, this would indicate that despite receiving this revelation Daniel was to seal it up until the end time.
So the contrast would be between Daniel receiving this revelation and sealing it up until the end time but this interpretation is incorrect because the angel is not ordering Daniel to “seal” up the revelation but rather “preserve” it in writing.
The angel does not mean that Daniel was to keep this revelation secret but rather he must preserve it in his mind and eventually in writing.
Therefore, these translations are interpreting this statement here in verse 4 as presenting a contrast between the angel giving Daniel the revelation and his sealing up the vision.
The implication being he was to do something unexpected, namely instead of sharing it, keep it sealed and keep it secret.
However it is better to interpret this statement as presenting a result since the angel is not commanding Daniel to keep the vision secret by sealing it but rather he wants him to preserve the revelation in writing.
Therefore, this denotes that as a result of Daniel receiving this revelation from God through the elect angel, Daniel must preserve it in writing, which of course he did.
“Conceal” is the verb sā·ṯǎm (סָתַם) (saw-tham´), which means “to preserve” the words of the prophecy in the sense of preserving it in writing.
Therefore, the angel is ordering Daniel to preserve the revelation he received from him in writing and not to conceal this information which is indicated by the fact that historically Daniel did in fact write down this revelation on a scroll and it became a part of the Old Testament canon.
Further indicating this interpretation is correct is that if the angel wanted Daniel to conceal the vision he would have used the verb sā·ṯǎr (סָתַר) (saw-thar´), which means “to hide or conceal.”
God gave Daniel this revelation to warn the faithful remnant in Israel who would live during the last three and a half years of the seventieth week when the Antichrist will wield absolute military and political and religious power over the entire world.
God wanted to encourage those Jews who will live during this worst period in human history that Antichrist would only persecute them for a relatively brief period of time, namely three and a half years.
Therefore, this verb refers to the ancient practice of making a scroll secure and preserving it by sealing it with a wax seal.
“These words” refers to the prophecy recorded in Daniel 11:2-12:3, which contains revelation regarding God’s prophetic program for the nation of Israel during the Times of the Gentiles.
“Seal up” is the verb ḥā·ṯǎm (חָתַם) (khaw-tham´), which means “to seal” but in the sense of making something secure and does not mean “to seal” in the sense of keeping secret or concealing information but rather it means to make the contents of a scroll secure by placing a wax seal upon it.
Therefore, ḥā·ṯǎm is speaking of Daniel placing a wax seal upon the scroll which contains the revelation from the angel in writing in order to secure it in the sense of preventing tampering or accessibility by enemies.
“The book” is the noun sē∙p̄ěr (סֵפֶר) (say-fer), which means “scroll” and not book since books were non existent in Daniel’s day in the sixth century B.C.
It refers to the scroll which contains the prophetic revelation Daniel received from God through the elect angel regarding God’s prophetic program for the nation of Israel during the Times of the Gentiles and after it.
It does not mean “books” since they were not invented until the first century A.D.
Scrolls were used in sixth century B.C.
“Until the end of time” is composed of the preposition ʿǎḏ (עַד) (ad), “until” and its object is the noun ʿēṯ (עֵת) (ayth), “the time” which is followed by the noun qēṣ (קֵץ) (kates), “end.”
The noun ʿēṯ means “time” in the sense of a period of time and the noun qēṣ means “end” referring to a point of time marking the completion of a period of time.
The noun ʿēṯ is the object of the preposition ʿǎḏ, which indicates a continuous extent of time up to a point.
This would indicate the angel is ordering Daniel to preserve in writing the revelation and then seal up it “up to” the end time which is the last three and a half years of the seventieth week.
Therefore, the angel is telling Daniel that he wants the revelation he communicated to him to be preserved in writing up to the last three and a half years of the seventieth week.
Daniel 12:4a “Therefore, as for you, Daniel, preserve these statements and then seal up in a scroll up to the end time.” (My translation)
After communicating to Daniel, God’s prophetic program for the nation of Israel during the Times of the Gentiles and after it, the angel orders Daniel to preserve this revelation in writing in a scroll and then to affix a wax seal to this scroll so as to protect its contents.
Daniel received the same instructions from the elect angel Gabriel in Daniel 8:26 after receiving his second great prophetic revelation from God.
In the ancient Near East, people wrote official documents and then, after making copies for reference, deposited the original in a safe and secure place.
The angel is not telling Daniel to conceal this revelation he received from God through him since this revelation is now in the book of Daniel which was published in Israel and throughout the world.
The angel simply wants Daniel to preserve this revelation in writing for future generations of people who will trust in the Lord, whether they are Jews or Gentiles.
Constable has an excellent comment, he writes “Also it was customary for the scribe who recorded important documents such as contractual promises to run his cylinder-seal across the bottom to guarantee authenticity. That is what the angel instructed Daniel to do with this contractual promise. By sealing it, Daniel would certify that what stood written was exactly what God had revealed to him and had promised would happen (cf. Rev. 22:18-19).”
Now, here in Daniel 12:4, the angel wants the revelation he communicated to Daniel which is recorded in Daniel 11:2-12:3 to be preserved up to the end time which speaks of the seventieth week and in particular up to the last three and a half years of the seventieth week and beyond.
In other words, the angel wants Daniel to preserve this revelation for future generations in both Israel and among the Gentiles who would trust in the Lord for salvation.
This fourth and final great prophetic revelation Daniel received from God contains prophecies that were fulfilled between 530-164 B.C. and these are recorded in Daniel 11:2-35.
It also contains revelation regarding the last three and a half years of the seventieth week and after it and it contains revelation regarding events taking place at the Second Advent such as the resurrection of Old Testament saints and receiving their rewards and these are recorded in Daniel 11:36-12:3.
God wants future generations in Israel and among the Gentiles to receive this revelation.
He wants those who trust in Him who live in the period between 530-164 B.C. to have this revelation so that they can derive encouragement from it.
He wants them to have it so as to produce faith in them to trust in Him as sovereign over history and over the Gentile rulers who will oppress and persecute them.
God wants those who trust in Him during the seventieth week to have this revelation for this same reason and will encourage them as they endure persecution from the Antichrist.
It will encourage them and make clear to them that this persecution is only for a brief period of time.
This revelation was also designed to produce faith in them in the sense that it is designed to cause them to trust in Him because it shows that He is sovereign, omnipotent and omniscient and all wise.
The fact Daniel received this revelation from God and then was ordered to put down in writing and preserve for a future generation in Israel demonstrates that Daniel was a prophet of God (cf. Amos 3:7)
Therefore, not only was God warning the faithful Jews in the second century B.C. about Antiochus Epiphanes IV with this fourth and final great prophetic revelation Daniel received from God but He is also warning the faithful Jews who will be living during Daniel’s Seventieth Week.
So we can see a spiritual principle emerge that God gives His people revelation about His character and nature and will for their lives in order to encourage His people that He is sovereign and in control of history.
He gives them revelation so that they can orient their lives to His will.