People in Exile - Endurance

Endurance
Daniel 12:5-13

A marathon runner trains for months in order to make it to the finish line: speed workouts, weekly mileage increases, and muscle development. Then in the midst of the race, the muscles ache, lungs scream for relief, and another step seems like an impossible dream. The choice lies before the runner – take that next step toward the finish line or quit. With each gradual moment the end of the race nears. Finally, the runner crosses the finish line – victory!

Too often, the life of the godly feels like a marathon. The faithful train through Scripture reading, prayer, gathering together, and other disciplines. Then somewhere in the midst of the race the competition and the challenge overwhelms. Tired and weary souls start crawling. Struggle, fear, doubt, and exhaustion overwhelm the person attempting faithful living. The end seems further and further away. Will victory ever come?

“How long until the end?” seems to be the enduring question in the closing verses of Daniel. How long do we have to wait until God overcomes evil? How long do we live in this situation? How long until resurrection? How long will it be before these astonishing things are fulfilled? After a figure, presumably an angel asks the question that is certainly on Daniel’s mind and likely on the mind of every person who has followed the revelation given to Daniel, the heavenly being reveals an answer that still leaves us in mystery. With hands raised toward heaven, a gesture that accompanies the taking of an oath, the heavenly being declares that the time will come: “it will be for a time, times and half a time.” [1]

These words leave us still in curiosity as do the numbers in verses 11-12. The mysterious answer that comes from the heavenly being reminds beholders of the prophecy of the answer given in Daniel 7:25. The intention of this answer may not be to give a precise time period, but to help the faithful understand that just as wickedness seems to be gaining a foothold in the world, it will lose its footing through God’s miraculous intervention, in God’s time.[2] Deliverance from evil will come! God will bring victory at the most unlikely time – when all seems lost. This is a promise for the final end and all moments between now and then. God’s victory is assured! God will overcome the powers, both human and spiritual, that seek to destroy!

Two other numbers appear in the closing words of Daniel. Verse 11 informs Daniel and us that from the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. Then in the very next verse, it is announced that those who reach the end of 1,335 days will receive blessing. Why these two different numbers in quick succession?

It is possible that two different calendars were used to designate a singular time period. A lunar calendar, based on 354 days per year could have been used to calculate the first number. A solar calendar, based on 365 days per year could have been used to calculate the second number.[3] This would result in very close dating when calculating when the end will come, right around 3 ½ years. Thus, the author used parallel ideas in order to express God’s imminent victory. God’s victory will come soon.

Another possibility is that the various numbers represent later additions to the original text. After the events of abolishing the sacrifice and the setting up of the abomination that caused desolation occurred, the end did not come as predicted so a second number was added to justify the fact that God’s final victory and the establishment of the kingdom had not yet occurred.[4] This seems illogical based on the fact that both numbers are left in the text. If one number was proven incorrect then it would make sense to remove it. Therefore, the placement of two numbers in the text must have deeper significance.

The most obvious features of these two numbers is the fact that 1,335 is greater than 1,290. This could indicate that the blessed are those who have made it through an intense time of persecution, symbolized by the cessation of worship offered to the true God and the setting up of a false idol. Those who emerge from the 1,290 days have endured through great hardship, reaching the end of 1,335 days. In this act of endurance, God has sustained them, bringing blessing. There are many theories behind these numbers, but they seem to point towards God’s victory, which includes many people that endure through persecution and trials of many kinds.[5]

All these numbers may have deeper symbolic meaning, as numbers in apocalyptic literature often do, but that deeper symbolism is lost to time and our lack of understanding of the literary medium. This leaves us with the truth behind the numbers: God brings victory. The faithful people who are wise in the ways of the Lord, receive blessing due to their ability, through God’s grace, to endure.

So while we wait, while we endure, while we pray for God’s victorious return, how should we live? First, we should do as the heavenly being suggests to Daniel, we should go on our way. In other words, we should keep living life as God intends. We should not wait and linger with our eyes to the skies. Instead we should faithfully serve God and love those whom God places in our lives. Daniel most likely continued to serve in Babylon until the end of his days. He served foreign kings, but did so with the intent to honor God through faithfully praying, worshipping and sharing God’s message. We should do likewise. We should go our way, faithfully honoring God wherever He places us.

We should also rest in the promises declared in Daniel 12:10. Many will be purified, made spotless and refined. God will bring the faithful to righteousness! He will refine us. Sometimes, this process of refinement will cause pain. After all, God needs to remove the dross so that He might recreate us into His holy people. Know that suffering and tribulation, while not caused by God, can be used by God to transform the faithful into His image. Endure through the struggle so that you can testify to God’s mighty work in your life!

Finally, know that the wise will understand. Those who live faithfully before God will know God and how He accomplishes His work in the world. We will not know the precise time of God’s victory over evil, but we will have wisdom on how to live while we wait. We will also understand the fact that God gives strength even in the impossible moments. When we face those moments, that may indeed lead to persecution and pain and death, we will know God’s presence and the promise of life.

These are the blessings that await those who endure: victory through God’s grace, righteousness through refinement, and understanding of God’s amazing wisdom. As you wait, please endure by faithfully serving and worshipping God in the place where you are. As you wait, please endure, knowing that the struggle means victory. As you wait, please seek out God’s word and direction so that you might understand how to live in the meantime. Through God, the faithful know victory!

Prayer: Enduring Lord, we praise you and thank you for your faithfulness! Empower us to live faithfully as we await your victory! Help us to faithfully witness to you as we go about this life you have blessed us with. May each step, each word, and each action express our worship of you. As we expectantly wait, refine us so that we might live in right relationship with other people, serving them so they might come to know you, understanding the fullness of your grace. In Christ’s eternal name, Amen!

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[1] Dale Ralph Davis, The Message of Daniel. (Downers Grove: IVP, 2013), Scribd.com edition, 209.

[2] Tremper Longman III., The NIV Application Commentary: Daniel. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999), 286.

[3] John H. Walton, et al., The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament. (Downers Grove: IVP, 2012), Scribd.com edition, 2223.

[4] Carol A. Newsom, Daniel. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2014), Scribd.com edition, 752-754.

[5] Davis, 212-213.