Then and Now

Daniel 12

4 And thou, Daniel, close the words, and seal the

book, till the time of the end. Many shall run to

and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
(Darby OT)


There has never been a time in recorded history

when travel was as common as it is today. The

travel industry, from my vantage point, looks

like a huge circus act, in spite of which, they

manage to attract wide interest. I'd have no

idea what percentage of travel is business and

what percentage is leisure, but verse four seems

to imply that there is commercial interest in the

increased volume of travel that characterizes the

times. It's not a big deal anymore, to fly all

over the globe in order to conduct business or

for leisure.


In addition to that, there is the proliferation

of this medium that allows me to entertain myself

with blogging activity. Who would ever have

forseen at the beginning of the age of the

personal computer (remember that VIC-20?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VIC-20) that it

would come to the point that anyone who can type,

can self-publish whatever their heart desires?

More than that, we live at a time that we not

only have the technical ability to communicate

with the world, but also the social and political

freedom. Thank you U.S. Constitution, George

Washington, Ben Franklin, Samuel Adams, Thomas

Jefferson and all you other dead white guys. And

thanks to all those guys who just couldn't give

up on the idea of personal computing.


In fact, someone coined the phrase 'the

information age' in order to describe the times

in which we live. Between the freedom to travel

and the proliferation of electronic devices, the

people of the world have never known a greater

freedom to communicate. In the early days of the

cellular phone, there was some ambivalence toward

that technology as well. Now, cellular provides

full-fledged mobile data access to the WWW, with

audio and video interface. The only question to

ask then, to what purpose? And how long will we

be able to enjoy this liberty? You have to

imagine that there are those, somewhere, who

would prefer that these freedoms were curtailed

to their personal advantage, simply because

knowledge is power, and those who long for power

don't always wish to share it. It's a pleasure

to have a library, and instant unedited news and

commentary at your fingertips. And I'd hope that

the information age continues to progress.


So, given the current technical, social and

political context, it's easy to see that Daniel's

first requirement -- increased travel -- has been

satisfied. But in the other requirement, I have

to wonder exactly what is meant by the use of the

word 'knowledge'. In other words, is the meaning

of this prophecy to say that the prophecy will be

sealed until the end, when there will be further

knowledge about THIS prophetic message, or is the

word used in a less restrictive sense with the

idea that a general proliferation of a technical

type of knowledge will increase? Or is it both?

Or another type of knowledge, as in Eden, when

man gained knowledge of 'good and evil', much to

our great loss? In more recent historic context,

it seems that social enlightenment always begins

with spiritual enlightenment as in the period of

enlightenment that followed on the heels of the

protestant reformation. Could Daniel be refering

to a final episode of spiritual awakening just

prior to a final episode of Divine judgement? Is

the apocalypse an episode of the final revival of

the christian religion just prior to the end of

time, that's paralleled by a revival of pagan

religion?


Another quote from Walvoord:

'The revelation of Daniel is not only essential

to understanding Old Testament prophecy but it is

in a particular sense the key to understanding

the Book of Revelation.' p.279

The word 'apocalypse' is from the greek

apokalypsis, meaning to 'uncover' or to 'unveil'.

It's the greek word translated as 'revelation'.


Verse four seems to provide another hint about

the timing of the 'time of the end'. It will be

a time charcterized by the fact that 'Many will

run to and fro, and knowledge shall be

increased'. There is nothing that characterizes

modern times more than this statement by Daniel.

It's the idea that 'many' implies that it's not

just the exclusive few who are able to travel

widely, but that it will be a common experience.


And the last phrase in that verse, 'knowledge

shall be increased', applies to modern times as

never before in recorded history. We are in the

season of this 'time of the end'. Jesus made

mention of paying attention to the 'signs of the

times'. He did not say explicitly what the

timeframe was. He just pointed out that people

paid more attention to the weather than they did

to the words of scripture.


Matthew 16

16:1 The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came,

and tempting desired him that he would shew them

a sign from heaven.

16:2 He answered and said unto them, When it is

evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the

sky is red.

16:3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather

to day: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye

hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the

sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?


This passage kinda' makes his opponents look

silly. It's something that Jesus did on a fairly

regular basis. Not that it was so hard to do

that. His opponents seemed to have a knack for

walking right into their own obstacles. And

based on my understanding of the social situation

in Israel at that time, the average folks were

probably pleased to see that someone was willing

to standoff against their tormentors. These

religious leaders were a tough bunch, and they

held way too much power. Knowing the future,

Jesus saw that the end of that game was just

around the corner. So, in that context, I am

thinking that what he did with his sharp remarks

was to make some of those knuckleheads take a

look at themselves and see that they weren't what

they thought themselves to be. His manner was

direct and it certainly got their attention. No

doubt some of them were responsive to Jesus'

message, though not willing to make targets of

themselves. We know that the Apostle Paul was

formerly among their ranks, and his defection to

christianity was not overlooked. The Apostle

took up his calling with fervor, no matter how

silly it made him appear in the eyes of others.


In Daniel's time as it is now, things haven't

changed a whole lot. We see in scripture that

there are only a few prophets and followers who

are willing to speak to the issues of their time.

The rest have faded away without further mention.

The record of the sovereignty of G-d and his

ability to direct and preserve his message and

his messengers provides us with the assurance

that as far as Providence is concerned, there is

no difference between then and now.