The River

Daniel 12

5 Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood

other two, the one on this side of the bank of

the river, and the other on that side of the bank

of the river.

6 And one said to the man clothed in linen, which

was upon the waters of the river, How long shall

it be to the end of these wonders?

7 And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was

upon the waters of the river, when he held up his

right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and

swear by him that liveth for ever that it shall

be for a time, times, and an half; and when he

shall have accomplished to scatter the power of

the holy people, all these things shall be

finished.

8 And I heard, but I understood not: then said I,

O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?


Look at the setting of this passage. This part

of the vision begins in 10:4.


10:4 And in the four and twentieth day of the

first month, as I was by the side of the great

river, which is Hiddekel;

10:5 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and

behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose

loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz:

10:6 His body also was like the beryl, and his

face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes

as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet

like in color to polished brass, and the voice of

his words like the voice of a multitude.


The river Hiddekel is also known as the modern

Tigris. Daniel provides an exact time, location

and a full description of the figure that appears

to him as he is standing along the bank of the

Tigris river. The detail allows us to

chronologically and geographically place this

event accurately. And the description given by

Daniel of the character that appeared to him is

similar to what John saw during his visions

recorded in the book of Revelation. John also

records that he saw another river in his vision.

You would expect that there is a symbolic

significance to this setting along the river.


The person that appears in the vision, is thought

to be another theophany -- a pre-incarnate

appearance of Jesus. This figure is standing in

the middle of the river, with one angel standing

with Daniel and another angel standing on the far

side of the river. In other passages a river is

used to symbolically represent the barrier

between the two dimensions, the physical

dimension of this earth and the spiritual

dimension of heaven. So I take this setting to

show that Daniel is still in this world, there is

the symbolic representation of the other

dimension shown by the angel on the opposite

river bank (in heaven) and the figure of the

theophany standing between these two dimensions .

In my mind, this represents among other things,

the role of Jesus as the mediator between G-d and

man, the one who has traveled among both

dimensions. He is there to demonstrate to Daniel

that he is the one who has the ability to travel

at will between these two dimensions, and control

access along this boundary and is in command of

this 'river of time'. See verse six for the

question by Daniel about the timing of these

events that he saw while standing along the river

bank. It seems to imply that Daniel was able to

recognize that the person appearing in the middle

of the river, has the ability to control the

element of time, or at least to have full

knowledge of all events taking place in the

dimension of time.


Another metaphorical use for a river, is that

water is used over and over in scripture to

represent life and to represent the Holy Spirit,

the 'breath' (life) of G-d.

John says that in the new heaven and earth, he

sees a 'river of life' flowing out of the

'throne' of G-d. In that setting, the metaphor

is clear at the most immediate symbolic level.

The river is there flowing out from the throne to

represent the fact that G-d is the author of all

life.


Also, in Daniel's time and into the present time,

rivers are used as a mode of transportation.

They were the 'highways' of the past, and also

used as geographical boundaries. The setting

that Daniel is in seems to display these symbolic

qualities.


Then, in verse seven, is this mysterious

reference to three and a half years 'to scatter

the power of the holy people'. It's a statement

that comes right out of the blue. But looking

into John's apocalypse (unveiling), we see that

this refers to the final three and a half years

of earth time, when the 'antichrist' will be

given the opportunity to persecute believers for

a three and a half year period. Yes, the setting

is metaphorically significant. The one standing

on the water knows what lies ahead in the river

of time. But the fuller revelation of these

future events will not be given to Daniel. We

have to wait until John is on the isle of Patmos

before we get a glimpse into these events. After

this look at the setting of Daniel's final

vision, it begs the question as to what

significance is seen in the place where John

receives his vision of what's to come, from his

place of confinement on a small island out in the

sea.


In verse eight, Daniel admits that he has no idea

as to the significance of these things that he's

hearing while standing on the river bank of the

Tigris. 'And I heard, but I understood not...'

As I look at scripture, I'm often left a little

frustrated by the fact that it seems things are

left out. Daniel voices that same concern. We

don't like the idea that we can only have access

to just enough information to capture our

interest, but not fully satisfy our natural

curiosity. It's something about the nature of

man that no matter what you have at hand, there

is always a latent desire to have more. We

always seem to be struggling with our own

limitations. As soon as we get past one hurdle,

we are looking for the next. However, even

though Daniel was left without a fuller picture,

it was that man standing on the river that gave

to us a more complete picture of what Daniel was

getting first glimpse of. Jesus stands above the

flow of time, and has given us a glimpse of

what's to come. It something to whet our

appetite for the other dimension, and to remind

us while in this dimension, that he is the one

who commands 'the river' of time, life and access

to other dimensions.