And he said, Go thy way, Daniel; for these words are closed and sealed till the time of the end.
Daniel has just heard his last vision, and he admits he cannot follow it. He gets no further explanation. He is sent on his way with a promise: the words stay shut until a set time comes.
Daniel asked an honest question in the verse before. The reply confirms his limit instead of lifting it. He wrote down truth he could not explain himself.
Now look for a moment at another scripture: "I heard, but I did not understand." We see that Daniel wrote what he did not understand. He was not allowed to understand what he wrote, because the Lord said: "the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end" (Dan. 12:8-9).
The act of sealing itself says something about timing.
Sealing these prophetic revelations supposes that the end is a long way off. If the end is near, then the prophecies are not to be sealed. In one case the words are sealed, for the end is far off (Dan. 12:9); in another the sayings are not sealed, for the end is near (Rev. 22:10).
The phrase is not vague. It repeats through Daniel, and one writer ties its era to the rise of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon.
The end refers to the close of the age that began when Nebuchadnezzar rose to power. That age will go on as long as Gentile rule stays on top and Israel is servant to the nations… In Daniel the phrase "the time of the end" comes up again and again (Dan. 8:17; Dan. 11:35, 40; Dan. 12:4, 9). So the end means the close of that period called elsewhere "the times of the Gentiles."
The last chapter of the Bible reverses the instruction given here, and commentators treat that reversal as the key to the verse. Daniel is told to close the book; John is told to leave it open.
The sealing of the book (Dan. 12:9) points to the end of the age among Jews, in contrast with the portion of the Christian in the truths now revealed, as we see in Rev. 22:10… A fuller revelation comes by John to us, not to Daniel (Dan. 12:8-9).
The same writer puts the same contrast in terms of who was waiting for what:
Until then the words were shut up and sealed for the Jew as such until the time of the end. But we Christians know the Incarnate Word. We believe that when Jew and Gentile rejected Him, He accomplished redemption and has given us life eternal. So meanwhile a fuller revelation was given for us to a greater prophet: "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near" (Revelation 22:10). Until that time arrives, Daniel was to rest… He was assured, as all saints should be, of standing in his allotted place at the end of the days.
The answer to Daniel runs on into the next verse. It sorts people by character, not by cleverness.
In a later verse, Daniel asks, "What shall be the outcome of these things?" And the answer is, "Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand." This clearly shows us that understanding the words of God is a spiritual thing, not a matter of mere intellect. If it were, the wicked might understand as much as the righteous.
If understanding is spiritual, the question for us is not how much we have studied. It is who lives in us.
The Christian, even if you take the weak and ignorant, has the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. So John says to young believers, "You have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge." All the learning in the world can never make a man understand the Bible. But if a soul is born of God, he is capable of understanding anything that God reveals. He only needs to be led on and taught more fully.
Older translations of that line read, "you know all things."
- Sealed — Daniel wrote words he could not understand. God shut the meaning and sent him on his way.
- Sealed because far off — a sealed prophecy means the end is a long way off. An open one means the end is near. John got the opposite order.
- Sealed until an era closes — "the time of the end" is the close of the age of Gentile rule. Then Israel stops being servant to the nations.
- Sealed to Israel, open to us — the Christian has the fuller revelation given to John, with the order not to seal it.
- Opened only to the wise — when the seal breaks, character decides who understands. The wicked will not. Learning cannot replace a soul born of God.
Many shall be purified, and be made white, and be refined; but the wicked shall do wickedly and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.
Daniel had just admitted that he heard but did not understand, and asked what the end of these things would be (v. 8). Instead of a date, verse 10 gives him this answer. The last crisis will do opposite things to two kinds of people. It also says who will make sense of it.
The verse belongs to the "time of trouble" described earlier in the chapter. One writer sets both halves of the verse side by side, and the same days produce opposite results. He quotes an older translation: where the ESV reads "Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined," his has "many shall be purified, and made white, and tried."
The reference is clearly still to the "time of trouble" in the last half week. What we learn is this: the Lord will take up the sorrows and trials of that time. He will use them as needed discipline for those who wait on Him — His faithful remnant, surrounded by wickedness and apostasy. So whatever their sufferings, "many shall be purified and made white and tried." God always acts on this principle. The apostle teaches that God disciplines us "for our good, that we may share his holiness" (Heb. 12:10). But while God clears His people of their dross in this way, the wicked "shall do wickedly" — the wicked among the Jews, we take it. Under the leadership of Antichrist they will sin openly, throw off all restraint, and fall into declared apostasy.
Another writer explains why. The sealing was a matter of timing, not a fault in Daniel:
Daniel was a godly Jew of a representative sort. To such a man at that time the real meaning was "closed up and sealed." 1 Peter 1:12 tells us how Old Testament prophets spoke of things they themselves did not understand. In their day redemption had not yet been accomplished, and the Holy Spirit had not yet been given. What Daniel was to know was this. God would still keep a people for Himself. He would purify them, make them white and "try" them, or "refine" them, by all His dealings. Meanwhile the wicked would still pursue their evil way in darkness. Only the wise would have the capacity to understand. 1 Corinthians 2:14 states this solemn fact very clearly.
A Bible dictionary traces "the wise" to a Hebrew word used in the headings of several Psalms:
Maschil is a Hebrew word found in the headings of several Psalms. It means "instruction," and these Psalms give instruction to the remnant, which they will understand. The same word in the plural (maschilim) means "the wise, or the instructed ones." See Dan. 11:33, 35; Dan. 12:3, 10.
The verse does not divide people by education. It divides them by wickedness and wisdom:
This shows us clearly that understanding the words of God is spiritual. It is not a matter of mere intellect. If it were, then the wicked might understand as much as the righteous. It is expressly said that "none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand."
Another writer turns this into a warning for anyone who opens the Bible today:
Take care that you do not come to the Scriptures with an unholy heart. If you are ever to know the mind of God in His word, the Spirit must give it to you. And will He who is so holy take you by your dirty hand to lead you into truth? No — your sentence is fixed: "None of the wicked shall understand" (Dan. 12:10). Go to God in prayer for a key to unlock the mysteries of His word. It is not the plodding soul but the praying soul that will get this treasure of Scripture knowledge.
To Daniel the words were closed up and sealed. One writer shows what changed after that, and where it leaves a reader today:
Then Christianity comes in, and not one of the words is sealed — not one shut up. They are all open... "But the wise shall understand." The Church is always meant to stand in these privileges. By its very nature it stands above the mere discoveries or progress of the age.
- Same fire. The last great trouble is one furnace with two outcomes: it refines the faithful and exposes the wicked.
- Purified. God does not waste the suffering of His people. He uses it as discipline, for their good.
- Wicked. Those who reject Him harden under the same heat. Under Antichrist they fall into open apostasy.
- Wise. "The wise" are the instructed ones — taught by God, not clever by nature. Understanding Scripture is spiritual, not merely intellectual.
- Open. The words were sealed to Daniel; for us they are open. What unlocks them is a holy heart and prayer, not a sharper mind.
And from the time that the continual [sacrifice] is taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, [there shall be] a thousand, two hundred, and ninety days.
Daniel ends with a countdown. It starts the moment the daily sacrifice stops and an idol takes its place — so what is this "abomination," and why 1,290 days when verse 7 gave 1,260?
Jesus told His followers to watch for "the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel." Commentators say this verse is the one He meant.
It is the very verse that our Lord quoted in Matthew 24: "So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains." The question is, Where does Daniel speak of this? I answer, in verse 11 of this chapter. It is the only verse that properly answers to the one in Matthew.
Daniel 11 also speaks of a similar act. Another writer explains why the Lord did not mean that one.
Our Lord spoke of "the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel" before He described the "great tribulation" (Matt. 24:21). In this He meant verse 11 of Daniel 12, not verse 31 of Daniel 11. Verse 31 describes something of the same kind, but it clearly refers to what took place under Antiochus Epiphanes.
What exactly gets set up, and who sets it up?
"Abomination" means an idol (1 Kings 11:5-7). It is called "the abomination of desolation" because the mass of Jews who have turned away from God will accept it. In return God brings "the desolator" on them — that is, the king of the North... It is the image of the Beast (Rev. 13:11-18). The last head of Western Gentile power will set it up in defiance of the God of Israel, helped by his partner, the Antichrist, King in Jerusalem... It is interesting to observe how the Lord quietly assumes the rebuilding of the temple in the last days.
Why does the daily temple sacrifice stop? One writer points to a broken agreement, and to a rival worship moving in.
But now in the middle of the week, the Roman prince breaks the covenant. The purpose is plain: to replace the Jewish sacrifice with the worship of himself and of the antichrist in the temple... It seems unavoidable that this must be the "abomination of desolation" which Scripture predicts will stand in the holy place. Another verse of Daniel somewhat confirms this view. It makes the two events happen at the same time, since it gives them together as the point from which a certain number of days is counted.
Three figures stack up across the chapter, each measured from the same event.
Verse 7 had already said "a time, times, and half a time" — that is, 1260 days. Verse 11 adds thirty days, one month more. Then verse 12 gives a further point: "Blessed is he who waits and arrives at the 1,335 days." That adds a month and a half more. So we have 1260 days; then 1290; then 1335. From what time do we count them? "From the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate is set up."
Commentators differ on what fills the surplus thirty days. Some see unfinished judgment.
These days exceed by a month the tribulation and the forced interruption of Jewish worship... The extra month is needed to complete the destruction of Israel's enemies. The prophet does not speak of blessing during this period. Judgment must clear the scene of evil and evil men, and the people themselves must be made ready in heart for the full tide of millennial blessing. The days are literal, of course.
Others decline to settle it.
The reason for this is not clear, but it may be to leave time for the gathering of all Israel after the judgment of the Antichrist. The day will make clear the exact meaning of these numbers.
If the countdown began at Jerusalem's fall under the Romans, the promised outcome should already be here.
Has that been the case? Take some past event — say the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. Count 1335 days from the time the Romans took the city. Has the blessing really come? It matters little how you take the days. Suppose they are 1335 years from that destruction of Jerusalem. Do you have the blessing of the Jews and the blessing of the saints that God's word describes here? Nothing of the sort. So you have dated it from a wrong starting point.
This number is not decoration. Believers in that day can use it to measure the distance to their rescue.
Note that the setting up of the abomination is the sure signal. It marks the very day. From that event the Jews who believe God may count the very days to their deliverance and final blessing.
- Signal. The idol set up in the holy place is the sign the Lord told His hearers to watch for, and this verse is the one He pointed them to.
- Stop. The ruler of that day halts the temple sacrifice and puts his own worship in its place. Both happen at one moment.
- Start. From that moment — not from any past siege of Jerusalem — Daniel counts every number in this chapter.
- Stretch. The count runs thirty days past the 1,260, and forty-five days beyond that. Some writers give reasons; others leave it open.
- Blessing. The clock does not end in ruin but in the blessing pronounced on the one who waits and arrives.
Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and thirty-five days!
This verse marks a third date at the close of Daniel's book: 45 days beyond the 1,290, and 75 beyond the 1,260. A blessing belongs to whoever lives to reach it. Why does the count run on past the 1,260 days, and what is the blessing at the end? Commentators take up both questions.
The numbers only make sense beside the earlier figures in the same chapter. All three run from one starting point.
What do the "days" at the close of the chapter mean? Verse 11 says, "And from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290 days." In verse 7 the man clothed in linen had already said it would be "for a time, times, and a half" — that is, 1260 days. Verse 11 adds thirty days, or one month more, to the 1260 days. Then verse 12 adds a further point: "Blessed is he who waits and arrives at the 1,335 days." That is a month and a half more. So we have first 1260 days, then 1290, then 1335. From what time do we count them? The answer is, "from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up."
The blessing hangs on the count. So the verse tests any claim that the prophecy is already history.
Apply it to anything past — say, to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman general Titus. Count 1335 days from the time the Romans took Jerusalem: has the blessing come? It matters little how you take the days. Suppose they are 1335 years from that destruction of Jerusalem. Even then, do you have the blessing of the Jews and the blessing of the saints that the word of God describes here? Nothing of the sort. What follows? That you have dated it from the wrong starting point. "The abomination that makes desolate" has not yet come. When it does come, in the sense our Lord speaks of, 1335 days follow, and then comes the full blessing.
One explanation is that Israel's enemies fall in more than one blow, so the last of them falls after the 1260 days are over.
The blessing of Israel will not be brought in all at once. The first great turning point will be the destruction of "the king." That takes place when the 1260 days expire. But as we saw in Daniel 11, the king of the north has to be dealt with after "the king." So there is another period of delay. Whether that will coincide with the extra thirty days (1290), or with the further 45 days (1335), I am not prepared to say.
Others say the same gap holds more than judgment. The nation is also cleansed and restored.
Here 45 days are added to the earlier number, so 75 literal days in all come before Israel's full blessing is secured. What a busy two and a half months! The account of judgment will be finished, "the filth of the daughters of Zion" washed away, temple worship restored under new conditions (Ezek. 40), and the people morally cleansed from all defilement in heart and life. Then "blessed is he" who waits and reaches that moment of wonderful blessing for Israel and the earth.
Commentators differ on the reason for the added days, and some admit they do not know.
I do not know why these thirty days are added to the twelve hundred and sixty. The one reason I can see is this: after the half-week ends — the 1260 days during which the Antichrist prospers — thirty more days will still be needed before the final blessing to the Jews comes in. "Blessed is he who waits and arrives at the 1,335 days" — for then the people will clearly be in a state of blessing. But, as I said before, Daniel gives no explanation or detail of this happiness. The aim of the book is to show the care God takes of the remnant while it lives among the Gentiles… Daniel limits himself to saying that they shall be blessed.
The verse gives no picture of the coming happiness, only a reason to hold on.
What Daniel could know was this: the one who waited in patience to the end of the longest period would enter into blessing… God's judgments on man's evil are searching. Yet for the humble and patient there is always blessing at the end.
The one told to wait is not excluded from what he waits for.
The accomplishment of 1335 days has still to be waited for; there shall be full blessing to him who waits and arrives at their fulfilment. Daniel himself shall have his part in this time of glory.
- Count — All three figures start from one event: the regular burnt offering taken away and the abomination set up. 1260 days, then 1290, then 1335.
- Delay — Blessing does not arrive the moment the 1260 days end. Through the extra 75 days enemies still fall and the nation is still cleansed.
- Test — Date the count from any past event, and the blessing never appears. The starting point is still ahead.
- Silence — Writers admit they cannot explain the added days. Daniel learns only that the one who waits is blessed.
- Reward — The blessing belongs to the one who waits and reaches the day — and Daniel, told to wait, is given his own share in it.