Daniel 12.6-One of the Elect Angels of God Asks the Man Dressed in Linen a Question Regarding the Duration of the Prophetic Events in Daniel 11.36-12.3
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday September 4, 2014
Daniel: Daniel 12:6-One of the Elect Angels Asks the Man Dressed in Linen a Question Regarding the Duration of the Prophetic Events in Daniel 11:36-12:3
Lesson # 378
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 12:6.
Daniel 12:6 And one said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How long will it be until the end of these wonders?” (NASB95)
Daniel 12:6 Next, one said to the man dressed in linen who was apart from, above with respect to the river’s waters, “How long will these extraordinary events take place?” (My translation)
Daniel continues his account of what took place after he received his fourth and final prophetic revelation from God during the third year of Cyrus the Persian.
He informs the reader that the man dressed in linen who appeared to him before he received this revelation appeared to him again after he received this revelation.
This time this man dressed in linen was miraculously standing above the waters of the Tigris indicating that he was no ordinary human being.
Daniel 10:4-9 presents Daniel’s first encounter with this man dressed in linen.
Daniel 10:1 During Cyrus’s third year, king over Persia, a message was revealed to Daniel who was called by his name Belteshazzar. Specifically this message was truth and concerning a great conflict because he understood this message, yes he possessed understanding concerning this revelation. 2 During those days, I myself, Daniel caused myself to enter the state of mourning for three weeks. 3 I never ate expensive choice food or meat. Also, wine never entered into my mouth likewise I never anointed myself with oil until the end of the three weeks. 4 Then, on the twenty-fourth day of the first month while I myself was beside that great river, namely the Tigris. 5 While I lifted up my eyes, I then stared as behold there was a certain man dressed in linen. Specifically, his waist was girded with gold from Uphaz. 6 His torso like chrysolite, his face like a glittering appearance, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms as well as his legs like the appearance of polished bronze, and in addition the sound of his words like the sound of a large crowd. (Author’s translation)
So this same man dressed in linen who appeared to Daniel in Daniel 10:4-6 prior to receiving his fourth great prophetic revelation from God appears again to him after receiving this revelation.
Many Bible scholars believe that Daniel 10:4-7 is what we call in theology, a “theophany” or “Christophany” which are theological terms used to refer to either a visible or auditory manifestation of the pre-incarnate Christ.
Others interpret this as a vision of an elect angel of God such as Gabriel but if one compares the account in Daniel 10:4-11 with the account of the apostle John’s vision of the resurrected, glorified Christ in Revelation 1:13-16, it appears that Daniel saw a vision of the preincarnate Christ.
John’s description of the glorified resurrected Christ is similar to Daniel’s description of the supernatural being he saw.
So here in Daniel 12:6-7 we have another Christophany.
Genesis 16 contains a Christophany since it records Hagar coming into contact with the angel of the Lord who is the preincarnate Christ.
Genesis 18:1-8 records the appearance of the preincarnate Christ and two elect angels before Abraham and in turn, Abraham showing hospitality to them.
The preincarnate Christ appeared to his son Isaac (Genesis 26:23-25).
Also, there was Jacob wrestling with God in Genesis 32:28.
The angel of the Lord appearing to Moses in the burning bush is also another theophany or Christophany (Exodus 3).
There was Joshua confronting the captain of the army of the Lord before the conquest of Jericho in Joshua 5:13-15.
In Judges 6, Gideon and his wife entertain the angel of the Lord for dinner.
Daniel chapter 3 records God delivering Daniel’s three friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from Nebuchadnezzar’s hand by protecting them from the intense heat and flames in the blazing fiery furnace.
King’s statement in Daniel 3:25 “Furthermore, his appearance, specifically the fourth is like a son of the gods!” is a reference to the fact that the king saw the preincarnate Christ.
The Shekinah Glory mentioned in the Old Testament is also a reference to the preincarnate Christ.
The meaning of the word “Shekinah,” “the One Who dwells” emphasizes that God seeks to live with man and not vice versa.
The term “Shekinah” originally was used in the Jewish Targums (Aramaic translation of Hebrew Bible) and rabbinic literature whenever the Hebrew text would mention the presence of God.
In John 1:14, the apostle John draws the parallel between the Shekinah glory in Old Testament Israel and the incarnation of the Son of God.
Hebrews 1:3 teaches that Jesus Christ is the “Shekinah” glory.
In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul alludes to the fact that Jesus Christ is the Shekinah glory that was with Exodus generation of Israel.
Paul calls the Lord Jesus Christ, “the Lord of glory.” (1 Corinthians 2:7-8)
This same Shekinah glory indwells the body of a believer in the church age (Colossians 1:24-27).
Now, in Daniel 12:6, Daniel tells the reader that one of the angels posed a question to this man dressed in linen who was standing above the waters of the Tigris and who was in fact the preincarnate Christ.
He asks the Lord “how long will these extraordinary events take place?”
The fact that the angel has to ask this question indicates that the elect angels are not always fully informed as to how God’s prophetic promises will be fulfilled or when which corresponds to 1 Peter 1:12 which reveals that elect angels are eager to learn how God’s prophetic promises will be fulfilled and when.
In Daniel 12:7, the Lord answers by saying that they will be for a time, times and a half time which is three and a half years.
This is a reference to the last three and a half years of the seventieth week which according to Daniel 9:27 begins with the Antichrist’s treaty with the leadership of Israel and will end with the Second Advent of Jesus Christ.
This is indicated by the fact that the “time, times and a half time” in Daniel 12:7 correspond with the “for a time (one year), times (two years), and a half time (six months)” in Daniel 7:25 and the “one thousand two hundred and sixty days” in Revelation 12:6 and the “forty-two months” in Revelation 11:2.
All of these are references to the last three and a half years of the seventieth week.
The fact that the Lord tells the angel that it will take three and a half years to fulfill the prophetic events in the revelation communicated to Daniel indicates that He is speaking of the prophetic events recorded in Daniel 11:36-12:3.
This is indicated by two factors.
First, Daniel 11:36-12:3 speaks of prophetic events that will take place during the last three and a half years of the seventieth week and those associated with the Second Advent of Jesus Christ.
The second is that the last three and a half years of the seventieth week ends with the Second Advent of Jesus Christ.
History records that the prophetic events recorded in Daniel 11:2-35 have all been fulfilled in history, from 530-164 B.C.
However, the prophetic events recorded in Daniel 11:36-45 will take place during the last three and a half years of the seventieth week.
Also the prophetic events recorded in Daniel 12:1 also speak of the last three and a half years of the seventieth week.
However, the prophetic events recorded in Daniel 12:2-3 are associated with the Second Advent of Jesus Christ.
In Daniel 12:2, the prophesy that many who are dead will be raised again to everlasting life is a reference to the resurrection of regenerate Israel which would include Old Testament saints in Israel as well as regenerate Jews who were martyred during the last three and a half years of the seventieth week.
Daniel 12:3 contains a prophecy of these saints in Israel receiving rewards for faithful service to God while enduring underserved suffering.
This too will take place at the Second Advent of Jesus Christ.
Therefore, the extraordinary events mentioned in Daniel 12:6 are a reference to the prophecies in Daniel 11:36-12:3 because the last three and a half years of the seventieth week ends with the Second Advent and the prophecies in this passage speak of events taking place during this Tribulation period and the Second Advent.