Thoughts on Daniel by Uriah Smith

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jul 27, 1882

Thoughts on Daniel.

By Uriah Smith

BY ELD. U. SMITH.

CHAPTER XII.—CLOSING SCENES.

VERSE 8. And I heard, but I understood not; then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? 9. And he said, Go thy way, Daniel; for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. 10. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.

How forcibly are we reminded, by Daniel's solicitude to understand fully all that had been shown him, of Peter's words where he speaks of the prophets inquiring and searching diligently to understand the predictions concerning the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow; and also of the fact that not unto themselves but unto us they did minister. How little were some of the prophets permitted to understand of what they wrote! But they did not therefore refuse to write. If God required it, they knew that in due time he would see that his people derived from their writings all the benefit that he intended. So the language here used to Daniel, was the same as telling him that when the right time should come, the wise would understand the meaning of what he had written, and be profited thereby. The time of the end was the time in which the Spirit of God was to break the seal from off this book; and consequently this was the time during which the wise should understand, while the wicked, lost to all sense of the value of eternal truth, with hearts callous and hardened in sin, would grow continually more wicked and more blind. None of the wicked understand. The efforts of the wise to understand, they call folly and presumption, and ask, in sneering mockery, Where is the promise of His coming? And should the question be raised, Of what time and what generation speaketh the prophet this? the solemn answer would be, Of the present time, and of the generation now before us. This language of the prophet is now receiving a most striking fulfillment.

The phraseology of verse 10 seems at first sight to be rather peculiar: "Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried." How, it may be asked, can they be made white, and then tried (as the language would seem to imply), when it is by being tried that they are purified and made white? Answer: The language doubtless describes a process which is many times repeated in the experience of those who, during this time, are being made ready for the coming and kingdom of the Lord. They are purified and made white to a certain degree, and in comparison with their former condition. Then they are tried. Greater tests are brought to bear upon them. If they endure these, the work of purification is thus carried on to a still deeper degree—the process of being made white is made to reach a still higher stage. And having reached this state, they are tried again, resulting in their being still further purified and made white; and thus the process goes on till characters are developed which will stand the test of the great day, and a place is reached beyond which there is no need of further trial.

VERSE 11. And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.

We here have a new prophetic period introduced, namely, 1290 prophetic days, which would denote the same number of literal years. From the reading of the text, some have inferred (though the inference is not a necessary one) that this period begins with the setting up of the abomination of desolation, or the papal power, in 538, and consequently extends to 1828. But while we find nothing in that year to mark its termination, we do find evidence in the margin that it begins before the setting up of the papal abomination. The margin reads, "To set up the abomination, etc." With this reading the text would stand thus: "And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, to set up [or, in order to set up] the abomination that maketh desolate, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days." The daily has already been shown to be, not the daily sacrifice of the Jews, but the daily or continual abomination, that is, paganism. See on chap. 8:13. This had to be taken away to prepare the way for the papacy. For the historical events showing how this was accomplished in 508, see on chap. 11:31. We are not told directly to what event these 1290 days reach; but inasmuch as their commencement is marked by a work which takes place to prepare the way for the setting up of the papacy, it would be most natural to conclude that their end would be marked by the cessation of papal supremacy. Counting back, then, 1290 years from 1798, we have the year 508, where it has been shown that paganism was taken away thirty years before the setting up of the papacy. This period is doubtless given to show the date of the taking away of the daily, and it is the only one which does this. The two periods, therefore, of 1290 and 1260 days, terminate together in 1798; the one beginning in 538, and the other in 508, thirty years previous.

VERSE 12. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. 13. But go thou thy way till the end be; for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.

Still another prophetic period is here introduced; denoting 1335 years. The testimony concerning this period, like that which pertains to the 1290 years, is very meager. Can we tell when this period begins and ends? The only clue we have to the solution of this question, is the fact that it is spoken of in immediate connection with the 1290 years, which commenced, as shown above, in 508. From that point there shall be, says the prophet, 1290 days. And the very next sentence reads, Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the 1335 days. From what point? From the same, undoubtedly, as that from which the 1290 date, namely, 508. Unless they are to be reckoned from this point, it is impossible to locate them, and they must be excepted from the prophecy of Daniel, when we apply to it the words of Christ, "Whoso readeth let him understand." Matt. 24:15. From this point they would extend to 1843; for 1335 added to 508, make 1843. Commencing in the spring of the former year, they ended in the spring of the latter.

But how can it be that they have ended, it may be asked, since at the end of these days Daniel stands in his lot, which is his resurrection from the dead? This question is founded on a misapprehension in two respects; First, that the days at the end of which Daniel stands in his lot, are the 1335 days; which we think is a mistake; secondly, that the standing of Daniel in his lot, is his resurrection; which also cannot be shown. The only thing promised at the end of the 1335 days, is a blessing unto those who wait and come to it; that is, those who are living at that time. What is this blessing? Looking at the year 1843, when these years expired, what do we behold? We see a remarkable fulfilment of prophecy in the great proclamation of the second coming of Christ. Forty-five years before this, the time of the end commenced, the book was unsealed, and light began to increase. About the year 1843, there was a grand culmination of all the light that had been shed on prophetic subjects up to that time. The proclamation went forth in power. The new and stirring doctrine of the setting up of the kingdom of God, shook the world. New life was imparted to the true disciples of Christ. The unbelieving were condemned, the churches were tested, and a spirit of revival was awakened which has no parallel in modern times.

Was this the blessing? Listen to the Saviour's words: "Blessed are your eyes," said he to his disciples, "for they see; and your ears, for they hear." Matt. 13:16. And again he told his followers that prophets and kings had desired to see the things which they saw, and had not seen them. But "blessed," said he to them, "are the eyes which see the things which ye see." Luke 10:23, 24. If a new and glorious truth was a blessing in the days of Christ to those who received it, why not equally so in A. D. 1843?

It may be objected that those who engaged in this movement were disappointed in their expectations; so were the disciples of Christ at his first advent, in a tenfold degree. They shouted before him as he rode into Jerusalem, expecting that he would then take the kingdom; but the only throne to which he then went was the cross, and instead of being hailed as king, in a royal palace, he was laid a lifeless form in Joseph's new sepulcher. Nevertheless, they were blessed in receiving the truths they had heard.

It may be objected further that this was not a sufficient blessing to be marked by a prophetic period. Why not, since the period in which it was to occur, namely, the time of the end, is introduced by a prophetic period, since our Lord in verse 14 of his great prophecy of Matt. 24, makes a special announcement of this movement, and since it is still further set forth in Rev. 14:6, 7, under the symbol of an angel flying through mid heaven with a special announcement of the everlasting gospel to the inhabitants of the earth? Surely the Bible gives great prominence to this movement. We do not half realize its blessedness and importance.

Two more questions remain to be briefly noticed: 1. What days are referred to in verse 13? 2. What is meant by Daniel's standing in his lot? Those who claim that the days are the 1335, are led to that application by looking back no further than to the preceding verse, where the 1335 days are mentioned; whereas in making an application of these days so indefinitely introduced, we think the whole scope of the prophecy should be taken in from chap. 8. Chapters 9, 10, 11, and 12, are clearly a continuation and explanation of the vision of chapter 8; so that we may say that in the vision of chapter 8, as carried out and explained, there are four prophetic periods; namely the, 2300, 1260, 1290, and 1335 days. The first is the principal and longest period; the others are but intermediate parts and subdivisions of this. Now when the angel tells Daniel, at the conclusion of his instructions, that he shall stand in his lot at the end of the days, without specifying which period was meant, would not Daniel's mind naturally turn to the principal and longest period, the 2300 days, rather than to any of its subdivisions? If this is so, the 2300 are the days intended. The reading of the Septuagint seems to look very plainly in this direction; "But go thy way and rest; for there are yet days and seasons to the full accomplishment [of these things]; and thou shalt stand in thy lot at the end of the days." This certainly carries the mind back to the long period contained in the first vision, in relation to which these subsequent instructions were given.

The 2300 days, as has been already shown, terminated in 1844, and brought us to the cleansing of the sanctuary. How did Daniel at that time stand in his lot? Answer. In the person of his Advocate, our great High Priest, as he presents the cases of the righteous for acceptance to his Father. The word here translated lot, does not mean a piece of real estate, a lot of land, but the decisions of chance, or the determinations of Providence. At the end of the days, the lot, so to speak, was to be cast. In other words, a determination was to be made in reference to those who should be accounted worthy of a possession in the heavenly inheritance. And when Daniel's case comes up for examination, he is found righteous, stands in his lot, is assigned a place in the heavenly Canaan. Does not the language of the psalmist have reference to this time, when he says, Ps. 1:5, "The ungodly shall not stand in the Judgment?"

When Israel were about to enter into the promised land, the lot was cast, and the possession of each tribe was thus assigned it. Each tribe thus stood in its lot, long before it entered upon the actual possession of the land. The time of the cleansing of the sanctuary corresponds to this period in Israel's history. We now stand upon the borders of the heavenly Canaan, and decisions are being made, assigning to some a place in the eternal kingdom, and barring others forever therefrom. In the decision of his case, Daniel's portion in the celestial inheritance will be made sure to him. And with him all the faithful will also stand. And when this devoted servant of God, who filled up a long life with the noblest deeds of service to his Maker, though cumbered with the weightiest cares of this life, shall enter upon his reward for well-doing, we too may enter with him into rest, behold his rapture, and share his joy.

We draw these Thoughts on Daniel to a close with the remark that it has been with no small degree of satisfaction that we have spent what time and study we have on this wonderful prophecy, and in contemplating the character of this most beloved of men, and most illustrious of prophets. God is no respecter of persons; and a reproduction of Daniel's character will secure the favor of God, as signally even now. Let us emulate his virtues, that we, like him, may have the approbation of God while here, and dwell amid the creations of his infinite glory in the long hereafter.