Daniel 12: Knowledge Is Increasing — And the Time of the End Is Near

Daniel chapter 12 opens with one of the most sobering prophecies in Scripture: a time of trouble unlike anything the world has ever seen. Jesus called it the Great Tribulation. Daniel was told it would come at the time of the end. And today, as prophecy continues unfolding around us, we are watching the stage being set.

Daniel 12 cannot be separated from Daniel 11. The closing verses of Daniel 11 describe the Antichrist and his kingdom. Then Daniel 12 moves directly into the Great Tribulation, the final period of Satan’s rage against the people of God.

The Bible teaches there is a final seven-year period known as Daniel’s 70th week. But the Great Tribulation itself is not seven years long. Scripture repeatedly identifies it as three and one-half years — a time, times and half a time; 42 months; or 1,260 days.

The Great Tribulation begins halfway through that final seven-year period, when the Antichrist stands in the rebuilt Jewish temple and declares himself to be God. Jesus called this event the abomination of desolation in Matthew 24. When that happens, He warned those in Judea to flee.

At that same time, Daniel 12 says Michael will stand up. Revelation 12 gives us more detail: Michael and his angels will fight against Satan and his angels. Satan will be cast out of heaven once and for all, and he will come down to the earth with great wrath because he knows his time is short.

That wrath is the Great Tribulation.

It is important to understand the difference between Satan’s wrath and God’s wrath. The Great Tribulation is Satan’s final fury against Israel and the church. The wrath of God is poured out later in the seven vials of Revelation 16.

During this final three and one-half years, Satan will persecute the woman of Revelation 12, which represents Israel, and those who have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Yet God has a plan of protection. Revelation says the woman is given two wings of a great eagle and nourished in her place for a time, times and half a time.

Endtime Ministries has long taught that this eagle represents the United States, the nation symbolized by the eagle that was “plucked” from Great Britain, as described in Daniel 7. America has been Israel’s strongest ally on the world stage, and prophecy indicates it will continue to stand with Israel to the end.

But what about the church?

Many have been taught that Christians will be removed before the Great Tribulation. Yet there is no scripture that says the church will be raptured before that time. The Bible does say we are not appointed to the wrath of God, but the Great Tribulation is not God’s wrath. It is Satan’s wrath.

So how do believers overcome?

Revelation 12:11 gives the answer: by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony and by loving not their lives unto death.

The blood of Jesus is our defense. Our testimony is our weapon. And our hope is not in escaping every trial, but in standing faithfully on the Word of God until Jesus returns.

This is not a message of fear. It is a message of preparation.

Daniel 12 also reveals another major sign of the end time: knowledge will increase. That includes secular knowledge, which is exploding at an unprecedented rate, but it also includes prophetic understanding. Daniel was told to seal the book until the time of the end. In other words, many of these prophecies were not meant to be fully understood in Daniel’s day.

They were written for the people living at the time of the end.

Today, we can understand things Daniel could not: modern nations, the rebirth of Israel, the rise of global government, the revived Holy Roman Empire, the peace agreement to come and the prophetic timeline leading to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Even so, there are still some details we may not fully understand until they unfold. We do not need to sensationalize or speculate beyond Scripture. We teach what the Bible says, watch what is happening in the world and prepare people for the soon return of Jesus Christ.

Daniel 12 says the wise will shine like the brightness of heaven, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.

That is the mission of the church in the end time.

Preach the gospel. Make disciples. Stand on the Word of God. Lead many to righteousness.

The time of the end is here. Knowledge is increasing. Prophecy is being unsealed. And now is the time to be ready.