Daniel 12:6
And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?
The question asks how long these things will last, how long the sadness and darkness and loneliness will continue. It belongs to Daniel's prophecies about coming events, which were not fully understood even by Daniel himself. The surrounding instruction states that the prophetic words were sealed until the time of the end, when they would be understood.
It belongs to a prophecy with truths hidden from some but opened by God to those ready to understand, with God giving this light to His chosen people without their needing instruction from those in error. It belongs to the warning of Daniel 12 about coming events that all must understand before the time of the end. It is part of Daniel's warning whose bearing on the signs of the times demands urgent attention, calling for special warnings to be proclaimed so people can prepare for the great issues facing the world.
The question belongs to the time when angels are moving swiftly and the four angels are ready to release their hold. It teaches what character God's people must form to pass through the testing and proving of the last days. It rebukes spiritual weakness and backsliding and not knowing what one believes, and warns that ministers who profess the truth without being sanctified by it will, unless changed, conclude that Christ's coming is delayed.
It presses the need to know where one stands, and it is every servant's privilege to know with assurance whether life is hidden in God through Christ. It calls God's people to hurry to save all who can be saved, to act without turning aside for self-pleasing, to move not rashly but only as God sends, and to live for God while holding fast to Christ, with the promise that nothing can harm them in work done for God.