“At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book.
Daniel's last chapter opens with three things at once. A prince stands up, the worst trouble in history breaks out, and a people is rescued. So who is Michael, whose "people" are these, and what is this book?
"At That Time"
The phrase "at that time" points back to the events at the close of chapter 11. One writer follows the clauses to fix the moment:
Edward DennettThe words, "At that time shall arise Michael," point to the period of the events described in Daniel 11:36-45. They are followed by the statement that "there shall be a time of trouble" — the time of unspeakable sorrow for the Jews in the land before Christ appears. Then it says, "at that time your people shall be delivered." As we know from other scriptures, this is at the close of the tribulation, and so after the destruction of both Antichrist and the Assyrian.
Michael Stands Up
Defending this people was already Michael's regular work. What changes here is how he acts:
William KellyUp to now there has been only providential control — Michael resisting this prince or that. Now he will stand up for them, taking up their case and putting down their enemies for good; but even then, not without a terrible struggle. Defending them was his regular task.
Scripture names only one archangel. One writer will not go past what the text says, and points to how God governs now:
J. N. DarbyHe appears to be the prince of the angels, or the archangel. People are used to speaking of archangels, but the word of God mentions only one, the chief of the angels. I say nothing about who he is, because Scripture says nothing; but whatever the answer, God is stepping in here through an angel, in His providence.… Right now God's providence is a hidden government; but later Christ will rule openly and publicly, when everything will be seen — a government direct from God.
The Trouble Behind the Trouble
One writer reads Michael's action alongside Revelation 12. There Michael and his angels throw Satan out of heaven, and the trouble on earth follows:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinMichael, helped by his angels, will throw out the great dragon, the devil, and his angels. They will be forced down to the earth. Once Satan and his angels are thrown out, the great tribulation begins (Rev. 12:12). Michael will then stand up in another sense and take a definite part in delivering Daniel's people.
Yet Satan is not the only one at work. The same suffering has a second cause:
Edward DennettSatan is the prime mover of all the sorrow that Daniel's people will have to pass through. But remember that God uses it as His rod of judgment. He is punishing His people for their crowning sin: the rejection of their Messiah.
A Trouble That Can Only Happen Once
How bad is this trouble? The verse measures it against all of history:
William KellyThe trouble will be not only "great." None before it was so great, and none after it will ever be so great again. Clearly there can be only one such time. This is important. An hour is coming that goes beyond everything the earth has passed through, and no later hour can equal it.
Apply that test to history. Israel has suffered crushing blows, but one thing never followed them:
William KellyYet it is well known that since the captivity in Babylon, whatever trouble has come upon them — and how many and varied their trials have been! — they have never been rescued. Nebuchadnezzar's blows were heavy, and in the end he carried them off into captivity. It was worse still when Titus the Roman destroyed the city and the temple… Can any believer doubt that Daniel reveals a deliverance that has never yet happened?
Written in the Book
Not everyone in the nation comes through. The book decides who does, and the rescue reaches deeper than the nation:
William KellyWhether they are in the land, or come out of the dust of the earth, or come from among the other nations, none will be delivered except those who are the objects of God's purposes, that is, those "found written in the book."… For the rest, this is not a merely national deliverance, but much more. Those who are delivered will be born of God. Their rise will have a spiritual character as well as a national one.
Summary
- Timing. "At that time" ties the verse to the end of Daniel 11 — the last stretch of sorrow before Christ appears.
- Cause. Satan is thrown down from heaven and drives the fury. God uses the same trouble as His rod on a people who rejected their Messiah.
- Defender. Michael has long guarded them quietly in God's providence. Now he stands up and takes their case in hand.
- Scale. Nothing before this trouble matched it, and nothing after it will. So no past disaster fits — not Nebuchadnezzar's, not Titus's.
- Result. Deliverance comes, but only to those written in the book — a rescue national in form and spiritual at its root.