VERSE 1. And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
A definite time is introduced in this verse: “At that time.” What time? The time to which we are brought in the closing verse of the preceding chapter, the time when the king of the north shall plant the tabernacles of his palace in the glorious holy mountain; or in other words, when the Turk, driven from Europe, shall hastily make Jerusalem his temporary seat of government. We noticed in remarks upon the latter portion of the preceding chapter some of the agencies already in operation for the accomplishment of this end, and some of the indications that the Turks will very soon be obliged to make this move. And when this event takes place, then, according to this verse, we look for the standing up of Michael, the great prince.
Who then, is Michael? and what is his standing up? Michael is called in Jude 9, the archangel. This means the chief angel, or the head over the angels. There is but one. Who is he? He is the one whose voice is heard from Heaven when the dead are raised. 1 Thess. 4:16. And whose voice is heard in connection with that event? The voice of our Lord Jesus Christ, John 5:28. Tracing back the evidence with this fact as a basis, we reach the following conclusions: The voice of the Son of God is the voice of the archangel; the archangel, then, is the Son of God. But the archangel is Michael; hence Michael is also the Son of God. But the expression of Daniel, “the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people,” is alone sufficient to identify the one here spoken of with the Saviour of men. He is the “Prince of life,” Acts 3:15; and God hath exalted him to be a “Prince and a Saviour.” Acts 5:31. He is the great Prince. There is no one greater save the sovereign Father.
And he standeth for the children of thy people. He condescends to take the servants of God in this poor mortal state, and redeem them for the subject of his future kingdom. He stands for us. We are essential to his future purposes, an inseparable part of the purchased inheritance; and we are to be the chief agents of that joy in view of which Christ endured all the sacrifice and suffering which has marked his intervention in behalf of the fallen race. Amazing honor! Be everlasting gratitude repaid him for his condescension and mercy unto us. Be his the kingdom, power and glory forever and ever.
We come now to the second question, What is the standing up of Michael? The key to the interpretation of this expression is furnished us in verses 2 and 3 of chapter 11. “There shall stand up yet three kings in Persia;” “a mighty king shall stand up that shall reign with great dominion.” There can be no doubt as to the meaning of these expressions in these instances. They mean, to take the kingdom, to reign. The same expression in the verse under consideration must mean the same. At that time Michael shall stand up, shall take the kingdom, shall commence his reign.
But is not Christ reigning now? Yes, associated with his Father on the throne of universal dominion. Eph. 1:20–22; Rev. 3:21. But this throne or kingdom he gives up at the end of this dispensation, 2 Cor. 15:24; and then he commences his reign brought to view in the text, when he stands up, or takes his own kingdom, the long-promised throne of his father David, and establishes a dominion of which there shall be no end. Luke 1:32, 33.
Into an examination of all the events that constitute, or are inseparably connected with, this change in the position of our Lord, it is not necessary that we here enter. Suffice it to say, that then the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. His priestly robes are laid aside for royal vesture. The work of mercy is done, and the probation of our race is ended. Then he that is filthy is beyond the hope of recovery; and he that is holy is beyond the danger of falling. All cases are decided. And from that time on, till the terrified nations behold the majestic form of their insulted King in the clouds of heaven, a time of trouble such as never was, a series of judgments unparalleled in the world’s history, culminating in the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven in flaming fire to take vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the gospel, accomplish the work of breaking the nations with a rod of iron, and dashing them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.
Thus momentous are the events introduced by the standing up of Michael. And he thus stands up, or takes the kingdom, marking the introduction of this decisive period in human history, for some length of time before he returns personally to this earth. How important then that we have a knowledge of his position, be able to trace the progress of his work and understand when that thrilling moment draws near, which ends his intercession in behalf of mankind, and fixes our destiny forever.
But how are we to know this? How are we to determine what is transpiring in the far off Heaven of heavens, in the sanctuary above? God has been so good as to place the means of knowing this in our hands. When certain great events transpire on earth, he has told us what events, synchronizing with them, transpire in Heaven. By things which are seen we thus learn of things that are unseen. As we “look through nature up to nature’s God,” so through terrestrial phenomena, and mundane movements, we trace the occurrence of heavenly scenes. When the king of the north plants the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain, a movement for which we already see the preparatory steps, then Michael, our Lord, stands up, or receives from his Father the kingdom, preparatory to his return to this earth. Or it might have been expressed in other words, then our Lord ceases his work as our great High Priest, and the probation of the race is finished. The great prophecy of the 2300 days gives us definitely the commencement of the final division of the work in the sanctuary in Heaven. The verse before us gives us data whereby we can judge approximately of its close.
In connection with the standing up of Michael, there occurs a time of trouble such as never was. In Matt. 24:21 we read of a period of tribulation such as never was before it, nor should be after it. This tribulation, fulfilled in the oppression and slaughter of the church by the papal power, is already past; while the time of trouble of Dan. 12:1, is, according to the view we take, still future. How can there be two times of trouble many years apart, each of them greater than any that had been before it, or should be after it? To avoid difficulty here, let this distinction be carefully noticed: The tribulation spoken of in Matthew is tribulation upon the church. Christ is speaking to his disciples, and of his disciples in coming time. They were the ones involved in that trouble, and for their sake, the days of tribulation were to be shortened. Verse 22. Whereas the time of trouble in Daniel is not a time of religious persecution, but of national calamity. There has been nothing like it since there was (not a church, but) a nation. This comes upon the world. This is the last trouble to come upon the world. In Matthew there is reference made to time beyond that tribulation; for there was never to be any like that upon the people of God in the future, after that was past. But there is no reference in Daniel to future time, after the trouble there mentioned; for that closes up the world’s history. It includes the seven last plagues of Rev. 16, and culminates in the revelation of the Lord Jesus, coming upon his pathway of clouds in flaming fire, to visit destruction upon his enemies who would not have him to reign over them. But out of this tribulation every one shall be delivered who shall be found written in the book—the book of life; “for in Mount Zion . . . shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.” Joel 2:32.