Daniel 12.4b-The Prophecy of Many Faithful Regenerate Jews Increasing in Their Knowledge of the Prophecies in Daniel 11.2-12.3 After Diligent Investigation
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday September 2, 2014
Daniel: Daniel 12:4b-The Prophecy of Many Faithful Regenerate Jews Increasing in Their Knowledge of the Prophecies in Daniel 11:2-12:3 After Diligent Investigation
Lesson # 376
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)
At this point in the angel’s dialogue with Daniel, we have the figure of “asyndeton” in order to emphasize the angel’s statement that many will go back and forth and knowledge will increase.
This statement indicates that God is promising Daniel that His people can increase in their knowledge of prophetic Scripture when they apply themselves to understanding prophetic Scripture.
It emphasizes that many faithful regenerate Jews who will live during the events prophesied about in Daniel 11:2-12:3 will increase in their understanding of what the angel prophesied to Daniel in Daniel 11:2-12:3.
“Many” is the adjective rǎḇ (רַב) (rab), which refers to an undefined number of Jewish individuals who will live during the times of the Gentiles and will increase in knowledge of the prophetic portions of Scripture.
It speaks of faithful regenerate Jews who will live during the period of time prophesied about by the angel in Daniel 11:2-12:3.
They will be regenerate because they could not understand this fourth and final prophetic revelation given to Daniel without the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit who is only given to believers or those who are regenerate.
They will be faithful because only those who are faithful believers will take the time to gain understanding regarding this fourth and final prophetic revelation given to Daniel.
Therefore, rǎḇ speaks of faithful regenerate Jews who will live during the period of 530-164 B.C. which is prophesied about in Daniel 11:2-35.
It also refers to faithful regenerate Jews who will during the seventieth week which is prophesied about in Daniel 11:36-12:3.
“Will go back and forth” is the verb šûṭ (שׁוּט) (shoot), which means “to roam about, to wander about.”
But is the word being used in a literal or a figurative sense.
Some interpret this word in a literal sense as referring to increased travel in modern times.
However the context does not support this since the angel is using this word in relation to knowledge of the prophecy he just communicated to Daniel which is recorded in Daniel 11:2-12:3.
Further support for this interpretation is found in Amos 8:11-12 where this same verb is used of people who go to and fro to seek the Word of the Lord but not finding it.
This verb šûṭ is in the reciprocal polel stem which indicates that these faithful regenerate Jews who will live during the events prophesied about in Daniel 11:2-12:3 will interact with the prophecies recorded in Daniel 11:2-12:3.
“And knowledge will increase” presents the result of the previous prophetic statement that many faithful regenerate Jews will diligently investigate the prophecies from God which were communicated to Daniel and are recorded in Daniel 11:2-12:3.
“Knowledge” is the articular form of the noun dǎ∙ʿǎṯ (דַּעַת) (dah-ath), which means “knowledge, understanding” and pertains to the application of knowledge regarding a particular subject.
Here it is used in relation to the prophetic revelation given to Daniel from God by an elect angel and is recorded in Daniel 11:2-12:3 which is indicated by its articular construction which is anaphoric meaning that it is pointing back to this prophetic revelation.
Therefore, this noun dǎ∙ʿǎṯ speaks of faithful regenerate Jews who will live during the events prophesied about in Daniel 11:2-12:3 applying the knowledge they received from these prophecies as a result of diligently investigating these prophecies.
Daniel 12:4 “Therefore, as for you, Daniel, preserve these statements and then seal up in a scroll up to the end time. Many will diligently investigate so that this knowledge will be increased.” (My translation)
The elect angel of God continues to speak to Daniel regarding the prophesies he communicated to Daniel in Daniel 11:2-12:3.
He reveals to him that many will increase in their understanding of this great prophetic revelation.
“The many” is a reference to faithful regenerate Jews who will during the events prophesied about in Daniel 11:2-12:3.
They are Jews because the angel is speaking of Daniel’s people in relation to this prophetic revelation which is regarding God’s prophetic program for the nation of Israel during the Times of the Gentiles.
They will be regenerate because they could not understand this fourth and final prophetic revelation without the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit who is only given to believers or those who are regenerate.
They will be faithful because only those who are faithful believers will take the time to diligently investigate this fourth and final prophetic revelation given to Daniel.
As we noted the verb šûṭ is not used in a literal sense meaning “to roam about, to wander about” referring to increased travel in modern times because the context does not support such an interpretation.
The verb is used in a figurative sense for diligent investigation regarding the prophecies recorded in Daniel 11:2-12:3 because the angel is using this word in relation to knowledge of this prophecy he just communicated to Daniel which is recorded in Daniel 11:2-12:3.
Further support for this interpretation is found in Amos 8:11-12 where this same verb is used of people who go to and fro to seek the Word of the Lord but not finding it.
Amos 8:11 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord God, “When I will send a famine on the land, not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, but rather for hearing the words of the Lord. 12 People will stagger from sea to sea and from the north even to the east; They will go to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.” (NASB95)
Therefore, in Daniel 12:4, the verb šûṭ is used in a figurative sense for the frenetic study of prophetic Scripture by those faithful regenerate Jews who will live during the events prophesied about in Daniel 11:2-12:3.
Consequently, this verb speaks of a diligent investigation or study of the prophecies recorded in Daniel 11:2-12:3.
The cataclysmic events prophesied in Daniel 11:21-35 will cause faithful regenerate Jews living during the time of the events prophesied in this pericope to diligently study the prophesies contained in it.
Daniel 11:21-35 contains prophecies related to Antiochus Epiphanes IV persecuting the Jewish people because of their worship of Yahweh and adherence to His Law.
The cataclysmic events prophesied in Daniel 11:36-12:3 will cause faithful regenerate Jews living during the time of the events prophesied in this pericope to diligently study the prophesies contained in it.
Daniel 11:36-12:3 contains prophecies related to the Antichrist’s future persecution of faithful Jews during the seventieth week because of their faith in Jesus Christ, the King of the Jews.
“Knowledge” is the noun dǎ∙ʿǎṯ which as we noted is used in relation to the prophetic revelation given to Daniel from God by an elect angel and is recorded in Daniel 11:2-12:3 which is indicated by its articular construction which is anaphoric meaning that it is pointing back to this prophetic revelation.
Therefore, this noun speaks of faithful regenerate Jews who will live during the events prophesied about in Daniel 11:2-12:3 applying the knowledge they received from these prophecies as a result of diligently investigating these prophecies.
Consequently it does not refer to the explosion of knowledge in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Although the angel is speaking in the context of faithful regenerate Jews who will during the events prophesied about in Daniel 11:21-12:3, the angel’s statement that many Jews will diligently investigate so that knowledge of these prophecies will increase can also be applied to faithful regenerate Gentiles.
Faithful regenerate Gentiles during the church age have diligently investigated this great prophetic revelation in Daniel 11:2-12:3 and have thus increased in their knowledge of these prophecies and have applied this knowledge to their lives.
This knowledge has motivated many in the church age to evangelize both unregenerate Jew and Gentiles during the church age.
The faithful regenerate Jews who lived in the second century B.C. during the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes IV fulfilled this prophetic statement in Daniel 12:4 that many will diligently investigate so that they will increase in knowledge of these prophecies in Daniel 11:2-35.
They gained understanding of Daniel 11:21-35 which prophesies of this persecution and they applied this knowledge in the sense that they continued to be faithful to God by obeying His Law despite this persecution.
The 144,000 Jews who will be saved through faith in Jesus Christ during the seventieth week will also fulfill this prophetic statement in Daniel 12:4.
They will diligently investigate the prophecies recorded in Daniel 11:36-12:3 which pertains to the Antichrist’s persecution of Israel during the seventieth week.
They will apply this knowledge of these prophecies by remaining faithful to God by obeying the Word of God, both Old and New Testaments.