Dan 12:1 | KingComments | STEP | The words at the beginning of the verse, “at that time”, make it clear that we are still in the same time of the previous verses, that is the end time. At the end of the previous chapter, we saw how much “the sons of your people”, the people of Daniel, the faithful remnant, will be oppressed. On the one hand, they are severely persecuted by their apostate fellow countrymen, which are the antichrist and the unbelieving mass. On the other hand, life is made unbearable for them by an enemy outside the people, the king of the North, who besieges and distresses Jerusalem. This oppression is called here “a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time”. It will be a time of unprecedented distress. The Lord Jesus, who calls this time the time of “a great tribulation”, also speaks of the fact that this time is unparalleled in world history ( ; ). While the distress of the faithful remnant is great because of the siege, that remnant receives support from the invisible world. To his encouragement, Daniel was told that his hard-tested fellow countrymen were being assigned someone who “stands” over them. That he ‘stands’ there, means that he is reliable and makes their case his own. He is there for them and is committed to them. They are not alone. With this announcement it becomes clear that the faithful remnant is not a plaything of the evil powers, although it may seem so. The actual warfare takes place in the heavenly places, as we saw in Daniel 8. The outcome for “your people” is also given: they will be rescued. That too is a great encouragement. The salvation from all misery will happen. However, this salvation does not apply to all those who belong externally to God’s earthly people. The wicked mass will perish. The salvation, the rescue, is only the part of “everyone who is found written in the book”. These are those who are known to God as His own and whose “names are recorded in heaven” ( ), “in the Lamb’s book of life” ( ).

‏ Daniel 12:1

A Time of Distress

The words at the beginning of the verse, “at that time”, make it clear that we are still in the same time of the previous verses, that is the end time. At the end of the previous chapter, we saw how much “the sons of your people”, the people of Daniel, the faithful remnant, will be oppressed. On the one hand, they are severely persecuted by their apostate fellow countrymen, which are the antichrist and the unbelieving mass. On the other hand, life is made unbearable for them by an enemy outside the people, the king of the North, who besieges and distresses Jerusalem.

This oppression is called here “a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time”. It will be a time of unprecedented distress. The Lord Jesus, who calls this time the time of “a great tribulation”, also speaks of the fact that this time is unparalleled in world history (Mt 24:21; Jer 30:7).

While the distress of the faithful remnant is great because of the siege, that remnant receives support from the invisible world. To his encouragement, Daniel was told that his hard-tested fellow countrymen were being assigned someone who “stands” over them. That he ‘stands’ there, means that he is reliable and makes their case his own. He is there for them and is committed to them. They are not alone. With this announcement it becomes clear that the faithful remnant is not a plaything of the evil powers, although it may seem so. The actual warfare takes place in the heavenly places, as we saw in Daniel 8.

The outcome for “your people” is also given: they will be rescued. That too is a great encouragement. The salvation from all misery will happen. However, this salvation does not apply to all those who belong externally to God’s earthly people. The wicked mass will perish. The salvation, the rescue, is only the part of “everyone who is found written in the book”. These are those who are known to God as His own and whose “names are recorded in heaven” (Lk 10:20), “in the Lamb’s book of life” (Rev 21:27 ; Rev 13:8).