The final vision of Daniel spans three chapters (Daniel 10–12) and begins and closes with the preincarnate Son of God. The first appearance of the Son yields undeniable parallels between Daniel 10:5–9 and other passages that clearly identify the Son of God (Ezekiel 1:26–28; Acts 9:4a, 7; 22:9; Revelation 1:12–17). On the bank of the river, Daniel looked up, saw the Son of God, and fainted. Then, while still on the bank, an angel (likely Gabriel) strengthened Daniel and told him of Israel’s future for years to come (esp. Daniel 11:1–12:3). Towards the close of his vision, Daniel looked up to see the Son again—“the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream” (Daniel 12:6).
Not only does this description of the Son in Daniel 12:6 recall Daniel 10:5–9, but other features in Daniel 12:6–13 indicate that this is the Son as well. First, an angel directed his question to the Son of God and asked how long it would be until the end would come (Daniel 12:6). The angel did not know all, but the omniscient Son did. Second, the description of the Son (His posture, His oath, and the announcement of the end) parallels His description in Revelation 10:1–11, a passage that describes the Son as “wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over His head, and His face was like the Sun, and His legs like pillars of fire” (Revelation 10:1). His “loud voice” was “like a lion roaring” (Revelation 10:3). These features correspond to other prophetic visions of the Son or descriptions of God in the Old and New Testaments (Ezekiel 1:28; Jeremiah 25:30; Daniel 7:13; Joel 3:16; Amos 1:2; Revelation 1:15, 17; 5:5). Though called “another mighty angel,” “angel” could be translated “Messenger” and identify the Son, similar to Malachi’s prophecy of the coming of the Son as “the Messenger of the covenant” who will one day come with divine vengeance to purify and refine His nation Israel (Malachi 3:1).
Amazingly, the duration of Israel’s suffering in this Daniel 12:7 parallels the same time referenced in Revelation 10:7, “the days” in which “the mystery of God would be fulfilled.” The Son did not identify when “the shattering” of Israel would take place in Daniel 12:7, the event that will precipitate “all these things would be finished.” However, He did identify the duration of this “shattering”—“a time, times, and half a time” (Daniel 12:7), a duration that lasts half of seven years (cf. Daniel 7:25; 9:27). In Revelation 10, the Son likewise announces that “the days” in which “the mystery of God would be fulfilled” would take place after “the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel” (Revelation 10:7). Once this trumpet is blown, Israel’s suffering (pictured as a woman fleeing into the wilderness) is specified as 1,260 days and “a time, and times, and half a time” (Revelation 12:6, 14). The angel’s question in Daniel 12 is finally answered. The final shattering of Israel takes place after the seventh angel blows his trumpet. Thus, what the Son announces in Daniel 12 is announced again at the end of this age to indicate that there will be no more delay.
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