How does Daniel 12:12 relate to end-time prophecy? Text “From the time the daily sacrifice is removed and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. Blessed is he who waits and reaches the end of the 1,335 days.” — Daniel 12:11-12, Berean Standard Bible Immediate Literary Setting Daniel 12 concludes the prophet’s final vision (10:1-12:13). Verses 11-12 amplify verse 7’s “time, times, and half a time” (3½ prophetic years) by adding two precise counts. The speaker is the angelic “man clothed in linen” who swore by “Him who lives forever” (12:7). Thus the period is anchored in God’s unbreakable oath; the numbers are not symbolic only but measurable. The Two Numbers: 1,290 and 1,335 Days 1. 1,290 days = 3 years, 7 months, 15 days (using 360-day prophetic years). It begins with the abolition of the regular sacrifice and the placement of the “abomination of desolation.” 2. 1,335 days = 45 days beyond the 1,290. A special beatitude is attached: those who survive or “wait” that extra 45 days are called “blessed.” Abomination of Desolation: Past Foreshadow, Future Culmination • Historical Foreshadow (167 BC). Antiochus IV Epiphanes erected an idol to Zeus Olympios on the Jerusalem altar (1 Maccabees 1:54-59). Josephus (Ant. 12.5.4) corroborates. The earliest extant Daniel scroll (4QDana, c. 125 BC) predates Jesus and documents the prophecy’s wording, demonstrating predictive accuracy. • Future Culmination. Jesus placed Daniel’s “abomination of desolation” yet ahead of His hearers (Matthew 24:15). Paul likewise speaks of the “man of lawlessness” sitting in God’s temple (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4). Revelation 13 mirrors the image-setting event. Therefore Daniel 12:11-12 principally targets the final tribulation, with Antiochus as a divinely intended type. Relationship to the Great Tribulation Revelation counts 1,260 days/42 months (11:2-3; 12:6, 14; 13:5). Daniel extends this by 30 days and then by an additional 45. Conservative expositors reconcile the data as follows: • 1,260 days = Antichrist’s reign. • Extra 30 days (to 1,290) cover temple cleansing (cf. Antiochus’ precedent: 1,080-15 = 30 days between desecration and rededication, 1 Macc. 4:52-59). • Extra 45 days (to 1,335) complete judgment of the nations (Matthew 25:31-46) and inaugurate Messiah’s earthly kingdom. Survivors enter millennial blessing (Revelation 20:4-6). Blessing Pronounced The beatitude (“Blessed”) parallels Revelation’s seven beatitudes (e.g., 22:14). Perseverance through tribulation into kingdom rest is the reward (cf. Matthew 24:13). The term “waits” (Heb. ḥākâ) conveys patient, trusting endurance—God’s call to saints during persecution. Chronology in a Young-Earth Framework Using Ussher’s dating (creation 4004 BC), the 70th “week” of Daniel 9 remains future. The church age is a revealed parenthesis (Romans 11:25). The 1,290/1,335-day spans sit inside that 70th week’s latter half, circa AD — unknown in exact calendar form, yet literal in duration. Inter-Testamental Confirmation: Septuagint and 1 Maccabees The Septuagint (LXX) Greek of Daniel, dated c. 150 BC, preserves the 1,290/1,335 figures. First Maccabees records the Antiochus event precisely 3 years and 10 days, echoing Daniel’s pattern. Such partial fulfillments validate full future fulfillment. Connections to the Resurrection and Final Judgment Daniel 12:2-3 situates the 1,335-day blessing adjacent to bodily resurrection. Jesus’ own resurrection—historically certified by multiple early eyewitness traditions (1 Corinthians 15:3-8; minimal-facts approach)—guarantees Daniel’s resurrection hope. The empty tomb (attested by the Jerusalem Factor and early creed) stands as God’s pledge that the saints who die in persecution will rise to inherit the promised blessing. Implications for the Church Today 1. Expect literal, measurable fulfillment; prophecy’s past precision argues for future exactness. 2. Anticipate increasing pressure to compromise worship, paralleling past abominations. 3. Cultivate steadfast hope; survival to God’s appointed “1,335th day” may mean martyrdom or miraculous preservation (Revelation 12:11). 4. Evangelize urgently; the timeline underscores finite opportunity. Intelligent-design evidence—from irreducible complexity in molecular machines (Behe, 1996) to the information-rich DNA language (Meyer, 2009)—bolsters confidence that the same Designer who encoded life also scripted history. Practical Pastoral Takeaways • Prophetic numerics are not riddles for hobbyists but anchors for perseverance. • God’s sovereignty over precise day counts assures believers when culture appears out of control. • Blessing is promised to the patient, not the date-setter; wait on the Lord’s timing. Conclusion Daniel 12:12 promises a concrete, post-tribulation blessing tied to the 1,335th day after the final abomination. Historically previewed under Antiochus, textually secured by ancient manuscripts, and theologically ratified by Christ’s resurrection, it summons present-day believers to steadfast hope and holy living while affirming God’s meticulous orchestration of redemptive history. |
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