Why did the angel ask Daniel to shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end?
Daniel 12:1 - 4
ESV - 1 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. 2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
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Asked October 10 2017
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mike maina
Supporter
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Tim Maas
Supporter
In my opinion, the instruction to Daniel in these verses was not intended to imply secrecy, or a desire to keep the revelations that Daniel had been given from being known by any particular person or group of persons. Instead, since the events revealed to Daniel were to occur in the end times (that is, in the far distant future at the time that Daniel was writing), the instruction pertained to assuring the safety and security of the written account of what Daniel had been told, so that it would still be available and accessible to refer to at such time when those events began to occur.
Aurel Gheorghe
Supporter
In Daniel 12:4, the prophet was told to seal parts of the book till "the time of the end." In verse 6 an angelic voice asked, "How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?" Verse 7 says, "It shall be for a time, times, and an half" - 3 1/2 times. The Jewish calendar is based on the lunar year of 360 days. A day in prophesy = 1 year (Num 14:34). Time = 1 year (360 days) Times = 2 years (720 days) ½ time = 180 days which total 1260 prophetic days or literal years. That’s exactly the period of time in which the papal power dominated the religious and political world and persecuted God’s people (Daniel 7:25). The angel assured Daniel that the section of the book dealing with end-time prophecies would be opened after the end of the 1260-year period of Church persecution. Revelation 12:14 makes reference to the same time period. In the Bible, God's Church is represented by a pure woman, wilderness represents sparsely populated areas and the serpent represents Satan. Daniel uses the phrase "time of the end," (the period just before the Second Coming of Chris) five times: Daniel 8:17; 11:35; 11:40; 12:4; 12:9 and tells that the period would arise at a very specific time appointed by God. Many Bible scholars believe that came in 1798 when on February 20 Pope Pius VI was deposed and arrested. He died in arrest few months later. Bible scholar also believe that in Revelation 10:8-11, John is talking about the same sealed book, but now the book was unsealed.
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