Daniel 12:10
Many will be purified, made spotless, and refined, but the wicked will continue to act wickedly. None of the wicked will understand, but the wise will understand.
Sermons
A Virtuous Mind the Best Help to Understand True ReligionS. Clarke, D. D.Daniel 12:10
Ability to Understand Moral Rather than an Intellectual QualityH. Grattan Guiness.Daniel 12:10
The Great ConsummationJoseph A. Seiss, D. D.Daniel 12:1-13
Precept and PromiseH.T. Robjohns Daniel 12:4-13
Certainty Among Many UncertaintiesJ.D. Davies Daniel 12:5-13
The Epilogue to the VisionWilliam M. Taylor, D. D.Daniel 12:5-13














Among many shifting factors in the great problem of human life, one factor at least is fixed, viz. that the interests of the righteous are secure. Their fate is linked to God's. All events shall have but one effect on them. This is the granite rock that retains its stable glory amid the restless, seething sea.

I. IT IS A CONSOLATION TO KNOW THAT THE ANGELIC RACES ARE INTERESTED IN HUMAN WELFARE. As Daniel looked with a more intent gaze, he perceived other angelic forms in close proximity. So when God opened the eyes of Elisha's servant, he saw a host of heavenly cavalry encircling his master. Devout research is ever well rewarded. The angels have not attained one common level of knowledge. They inquire one of another; become each other's teachers and each other's helpers. The same topics that interest good men interest angels also. The same impatience to penetrate future events, which men feel, angels also in some measure cherish. They especially take an interest in the Church of God. They sympathize with us in trial, persecution, and suffering. They desire to see God, in the progressive revelations of himself.

II. FORMS OF SOLEMN ASSEVERATION ARE EMPLOYED BY THE ANGELS TO GIVE US STRONG ASSURANCE. This illustrious angel raised himself to a particular posture, employed special gesticulation, and uttered a special form of words, with this one view, viz. to persuade his auditors of the authority with which he spake, and of the certainty that his words should be performed. Thus God commands his highest servants to accommodate themselves to human infirmities. Nothing on his part shall be wanting to enlighten and ennoble men. The eternity of God is pledged for the fulfilment of prophecy. As the eternal God lives, it shall be done.

III. OBEDIENCE ENLARGES THE CAPACITY TO RECEIVE, To hear and to understand are not identical. Perhaps we really understand nothing. We see not things as they are, but only as they are related to us. Feeling, affection, inclination, assist greatly the understanding. It is possible that God might tell us fully and lucidly the future course of this world, and still we might be only bewildered. It is the voice of fatherly kindness that says to his child, "Go thy way." Perform all thy common duties. The future is "closed and sealed." "A good understanding have all they that keep his commandments." There is solid happiness for every man who can calmly wait the larger unfoldings of God's will. Food for real hunger there always shall be; but provision for imaginary wants will not be forthcoming.

IV. TRIALS HAVE THE MOST OPPOSITE EFFECTS ON THE RIGHTEOUS AND ON THE WICKED. No amount or severity of outward trial is, in itself, competent to improve or soften men. "Though a fool be bruised in a mortar, yet will not his folly depart;" "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?" The hottest fire of suffering cannot. Hence God saith, "Why should ye he stricken any more? Ye will revolt more and more." Notwithstanding exile, bondage, defeat in war, desolations of every kind," the wicked will still do wickedly." The voice Divine at last will speak. "He that is filthy, let him be filthy still." But the effect upon the righteous is the very reverse of this. The fire, that hardens clay, melts the wax. Not a few shall discover that the fire only removes the dross - separates vile elements from the sterling - and produces lustre and renown. Under this severe and searching discipline, true Israelites shall be purified and made whiter than snow. Purity of character shall bring with it greater clearness of vision; while, on the other hand, persistence in sin will tend to darken intellect more and more, until it shall be submerged "in the blackness of darkness for ever."

V. LOSS OF RELIGIOUS ORDINANCES IS THE GREATEST OF EXTERNAL CALAMITIES. This is, in reality, a greater calamity than the desolations of a war or the ravages of a plague. God's calculations of human epochs date from his withdrawal flora his temple. The suspension of the daily sacrifice - this marks the commencement of an era. Men are wont to reckon epochs from the rise or fall of human dynasties. Not so God. His interest in human affairs centres in the temple. The profanation of the temple by setting up idol-worship there - this marks the opening of a dark and tempestuous day. This chastisement is a fitting type for a yet greater woe. The number seven has long time been a signature and symbol for perfection and rest; therefore the broken period of three times and a half betokens the very opposite - disquietude, turmoil, woe.

VI. ASSURANCE TO THE RIGHTEOUS OF PERSONAL AND PERFECT SECURITY. Whatever disasters shall befall the wicked, or whatever tempests may roll over the heads of the righteous man, this is certain - "Thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days." This is a fixed and definite end, which the Divine Being has set before him, and every arrangement of Providence is adjusted with a view to this end. This is the inheritance which God himself has chosen for us, and secured by promise, oath, and blood. If Israel, in possession of the earthly Canaan, could sing, "We have a goodly heritage," much more can the redeemed in heaven chant that joyous strain. The lot is already apportioned unto us. The Divine attributes are pledged to us for its enjoyment. No event, nor force, nor personal being, in the broad universe, can prevent the grand consummation, "Thou shalt stand in thy lot." The kingdom has been prepared for us "before the foundation of the world." "If children then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ." - D.

And none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.
To seek a man's true and final interest, by parting with some present and inconsiderable advantages for the sake of more and much greater ones to come, is the proper act of wisdom; and the general character of folly is the purchasing of soma trivial present benefit at the hazard of much better and more valuable things in reversion. Folly is but another name for sin. To "understand" may be taken in two senses. Either the understanding of particular providences, or the understanding the true nature of religion in general. Consider the text, according to the latter interpretation. The proposition they contain is this — A virtuous disposition of mind is the beat help, and a vicious inclination the greatest hindrance, to a right understanding of the doctrine of true religion. What is there in the nature of things themselves, and what there is in the positive appointment of God, which makes a virtuous disposition so great a help, and a vicious inclination so great a hindrance, to a right understanding in matters of religion.

1. There is something in the nature of things themselves, something in the very frame and constitution of the mind of man, something in the nature and tendency of all religious truths, which helps to verify the general proposition. In a mind virtuously disposed, there is a native agreeableness to the principles of true religion; in like manner as in a healthful body the organs are fitted to their proper objects; and as in the frame of the material world, everything is suited to its proper use and employment. In the study of every human science there is some particular previous temper, some certain predisposition of mind, which makes men fit for that particular study, and apt to understand it with easiness and delight; generally and specially, a love to that particular science, and a high esteem of its value and usefulness. The same holds true in proportion in religious matters likewise. A general love of virtue, an equitable, fair, and charitable spirit, and a just sense of the necessity and reasonableness of obeying God's commands, is the first principle and beginning of religion. Practice and experience in the course of a virtuous life, and in the obedience of God's commands, is in continuance the best information and perpetual improvement of a man's understanding and judgment in the knowledge of Divine truths. "He that keepeth the law of the Lord, getteth the understanding thereof," says the wise Son of Sirach. He that practises what he knows, improves his knowledge continually by that practice. "By actions, even more than by speculation and study, is the understanding of practical truths enlarged. There is a spirit and a life in the discourse of a righteous man, proceeding from the sincerity of an upright heart, which no skill or art can imitate. In religion, there is no man truly wise and knowing but he that has lived like a Christian, instead of disputing about it. On the other hand, a vicious disposition blinds men's eyes, corrupts their principles, and subverts their judgments. It prejudices men against the truth, and causes them even to hate it, and become professed enemies to it. Now we consider what there is in the positive appointment and constitution of God, by which we are assured that none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise (righteous) shall understand.

1. In general, God will take care that righteous and piously-disposed persons shall attain to so much understanding as is necessary for their own particular salvation.

2. By the secret influence and assistance of His Holy Spirit, God will peculiarly direct and enlighten those that are truly sincere. But where there is a vicious inclination, and an affection to wickedness, there men's minds are not only blinded by the natural consequence of such a disposition, but God moreover withdraws His Spirit from them, and the Holy Ghost will not dwell in a heart that takes pleasure in unrighteousness. Indeed,, God justly permits wicked men, when they obstinately refuse to hear Him, to be deceived by the Evil One to their own destruction. From what has been said, we may infer:(1) That wicked men have no reason to complain for their not being able to understand religion, and infidels no excuse for their not believing it.(2) From hence appears the reason of our Saviour's speaking so much in parables.(3) We may observe how it comes to pass that faith ,which is generally looked upon us an act of the understanding, and so not in our own power, is yet in the New Testament always required and insisted upon as a moral virtue. The reason is, because faith, in the Scripture sense, is not barely an act of the understanding, but a mixt act of the will also, consisting very much in that simplicity and unprejudicedness of mind which our Saviour calls "receiving the Kingdom of God as a little child."(4) There is then no need of an infallible guide on earth, or of an unerring Church. All necessary truth is sufficiently made known in Scripture.(5) Yet this must be so understood as to be a security, not against all, but against fatal mistakes. The best and most pious persons may in many things err, but their errors cannot be dangerous, or of final ill consequence; for in things absolutely necessary to salvation the wicked only can be void of understanding.

(S. Clarke, D. D.)

This passage seems to warrant three inferences of importance.(1) That though God for certain reasons saw fit to give this revelation of the future to Daniel at a certain date, He did not intend it to be understood for centuries; since, whatever may be the exact limits of the "time of the end," it could not include more than the course of this dispensation, the commencement of which was several centuries distant when Daniel wrote.(2) That even when in the lapse of ages the men, nine of this prophecy should become apparent to some, even when knowledge "should be increased," and the wise understand, it was the will of God that it should still remain a dark mystery to others, that "none of the wicked should understand."(3) That the comprehension or ignorance of this prophecy, when the time for its being understood at all arrived, would depend rather on the moral than on the intellectual state of those who should study it. The wise alone should understand it; the wicked should not.

(H. Grattan Guiness.)

People
Daniel, Michael
Places
Tigris River
Topics
Act, Acting, Clean, Clear, Continue, Evil, Evil-doers, Insight, None, Purged, Purified, Purify, Refined, Spotless, Tested, Themselves, Till, Tried, Understand, Wicked, Wickedly, Wise, Wisely, Yea
Outline
1. Michael shall deliver Israel from their troubles.
5. Daniel is informed of the times.

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Daniel 12:10

     4324   dross
     4351   refining
     8322   perfection, human
     8365   wisdom, human
     8459   perseverance
     9140   last days

Daniel 12:8-13

     4112   angels, messengers

Library
April 5. "Many Shall be Purified and Made White and Tried" (Dan. xii. 10).
"Many shall be purified and made white and tried" (Dan. xii. 10). This is the promise for the Lord's coming. It is more than purity. It is to be made white, lustrous, or bright. To be purified is to have the sin burned out; to be made white is to have the glory of the Lord burned in. The one is cleansing, the other is illumination and glorification. The Lord has both for us, but in order for us to have both, we must be put into the fire to be tried, and to be led into difficult and peculiar places
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

A New Years Message
'But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.'--DANIEL xii. 13. Daniel had been receiving partial insight into the future by the visions recorded in previous chapters. He sought for clearer knowledge, and was told that the book of the future was sealed and closed, so that no further enlightenment was possible for him. But duty was clear, whatever might be dark; and there were some things in the future certain, whatever might be problematic.
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Glory of the Doctors and Confessors.
Let us now turn our eyes to another bright throng. It is composed of the Doctors and Confessors of the Church. These too, as well as the martyrs, enjoy the high honors of haven. Here we meet again the Apostles, who were filled with the Holy Ghost, and instructed the infant Church in all truth. There, too, are their worthy successors in the ministry--such men as St. John Chrysostom, St. Augustine, St. Gregory, St. Thomas, and a multitude of others--whose vast intellects were stored with the knowledge
F. J. Boudreaux—The Happiness of Heaven

The Recovery and Revival of the Blessed Hope Itself.
In Daniel 12:4, 9, 10 we read--"But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. ** And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the Time of the End. 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." [9] As we shall yet seek to show this prophecy is a composite one
Arthur W. Pink—The Redeemer's Return

The Dry Bones and the Spirit of Life
1. The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, 2. And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. 3. And He said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, Thou knowest. 4. Again He said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5. Thus
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

How to Preach the Gospel.
Text.--He that winneth souls is wise.--Proverbs xi. 30. ONE of the last remarks in my last lecture, was this, that the text ascribes conversion to men. Winning souls is converting men. This evening I design to show, I. That several passages of Scripture ascribe conversion to men. II. That this is consistent with other passages which ascribe conversion to God. III. I purpose to discuss several further particulars which are deemed important, in regard to the preaching of the Gospel, and which show
Charles Grandison Finney—Lectures on Revivals of Religion

The Golden Calf
'And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. 2. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. 3. And all the people brake off the golden
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Sanctions of Moral Law, Natural and Governmental.
In the discussion of this subject, I shall show-- I. What constitute the sanctions of law. 1. The sanctions of law are the motives to obedience, the natural and the governmental consequences or results of obedience and of disobedience. 2. They are remuneratory, that is, they promise reward to obedience. 3. They are vindicatory, that is, they threaten the disobedient with punishment. 4. They are natural, that is, happiness is to some extent naturally connected with, and the necessary consequence of,
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

Of Certain Temptations of Satan. Instructions Relating Thereto.
1. I have thought it right to speak of certain temptations I have observed to which beginners are liable--some of them I have had myself--and to give some advice about certain things which to me seem necessary. In the beginning, then, we should strive to be cheerful and unconstrained; for there are people who think it is all over with devotion if they relax themselves ever so little. It is right to be afraid of self; so that, having no confidence in ourselves, much or little, we may not place ourselves
Teresa of Avila—The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus

Watching the Horizon
"Thy Kingdom Come." "Thou art coming! We are waiting With a hope that cannot fail; Asking not the day or hour, Resting on Thy word of power, Anchored safe within the veil. Time appointed may be long, But the vision must be sure: Certainty shall make us strong, Joyful patience must endure. "O the joy to see Thee reigning, Thee, my own beloved Lord! Every tongue Thy name confessing, Worship, honour, glory, blessing, Brought to Thee with glad accord! Thee, my Master and my Friend, Vindicated and enthroned!
by S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks on the Crowned Christ of Revelation

Appendix xix. On Eternal Punishment, According to the Rabbis and the New Testament
THE Parables of the Ten Virgins' and of the Unfaithful Servant' close with a Discourse on the Last Things,' the final Judgment, and the fate of those Christ's Righ Hand and at His Left (St. Matt. xxv. 31-46). This final Judgment by our Lord forms a fundamental article in the Creed of the Church. It is the Christ Who comes, accompanied by the Angelic Host, and sits down on the throne of His Glory, when all nations are gathered before Him. Then the final separation is made, and joy or sorrow awarded
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Christ's Exaltation
'Wherefore God also has highly exalted him, and given him a name above every name, &c.' Phil 2:2. We have before spoken of Christ's humiliation; we shall now speak of his exaltation. Before you saw the Sun of Righteousness in the eclipse; now you shall see it coming out of the eclipse, and shining in its full glory. Wherefore God has highly exalted him;' super exaltavit, Ambrose. Above all exaltation.' Q-28: WHEREIN CONSISTS CHRIST'S EXALTATION? A: In his rising from the dead, his ascending into
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Order of Thought which Surrounded the Development of Jesus.
As the cooled earth no longer permits us to understand the phenomena of primitive creation, because the fire which penetrated it is extinct, so deliberate explanations have always appeared somewhat insufficient when applying our timid methods of induction to the revolutions of the creative epochs which have decided the fate of humanity. Jesus lived at one of those times when the game of public life is freely played, and when the stake of human activity is increased a hundredfold. Every great part,
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus

Death by Adam, Life by Christ
For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. F rom Mr. Handel's acknowledged abilities as a composer, and particularly from what I have heard of his great taste and success in adapting the style of his music to the subject, I judge, that this passage afforded him a fair occasion of displaying his genius and powers. Two ideas, vastly important in themselves, are here represented in the strongest light,
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

A Clearing-Up Storm in the Realm
(Revelation, Chapters vi.-viii.) "God Almighty! King of nations! earth Thy footstool, heaven Thy throne! Thine the greatness, power, and glory, Thine the kingdom, Lord, alone! Life and death are in Thy keeping, and Thy will ordaineth all: From the armies of Thy heavens to an unseen insect's fall. "Reigning, guiding, all-commanding, ruling myriad worlds of light; Now exalting, now abasing, none can stay Thy hand of might! Working all things by Thy power, by the counsel of Thy will. Thou art God!
by S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks on the Crowned Christ of Revelation

The Third Day in Passion-Week - the Last Controversies and Discourses - the Sadducees and the Resurrection - the Scribe and the Great Commandment - Question
THE last day in the Temple was not to pass without other temptations' than that of the Priests when they questioned His authority, or of the Pharisees when they cunningly sought to entangle Him in His speech. Indeed, Christ had on this occasion taken a different position; He had claimed supreme authority, and thus challenged the leaders of Israel. For this reason, and because at the last we expect assaults from all His enemies, we are prepared for the controversies of that day. We remember that,
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Purity and Peace in the Present Lord
PHILIPPIANS iv. 1-9 Euodia and Syntyche--Conditions to unanimity--Great uses of small occasions--Connexion to the paragraphs--The fortress and the sentinel--A golden chain of truths--Joy in the Lord--Yieldingness--Prayer in everything--Activities of a heart at rest Ver. 1. +So, my brethren beloved and longed for+, missed indeed, at this long distance from you, +my joy and crown+ of victory (stephanos), +thus+, as having such certainties and such aims, with such a Saviour, and looking for such
Handley C. G. Moule—Philippian Studies

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