Daniel Chapter 12

VERSE 5 and 6 “Then I, Daniel, looked; and there stood two others, one on this riverbank and the other on that riverbank. And one said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be?”

In antitype the “river” was the French Revolution. One proof is Rev 10:2, “And he [Jesus] set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth.” This verse is telling us that Jesus exercised authority, miraculous power, to keep the French Revolution from getting out of hand. Another proof is Rev 12:15,16, “And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.” The time period of Satan’s casting out of his mouth a flood of water was also the French Revolution.

Comment: The Diaglott (containing the original Greek texts) has “river” instead of “flood” in Revelation 12:15,16.

In the vision here in Daniel, the personage standing “upon the waters of the river” was the Logos. To call him “the man clothed in linen” is a low-key description. (Another example of a low-key description is Dan 7:9, which pictures Jehovah in symbol as the Ancient of Days.) Since standing on the waters was a supernatural posture, we know immediately that the individual was very unusual.

Four principal characters are in the vision: Daniel, one on one side of the river, one on the other side of the river, and one on top of the river.

The two individuals, one on each side of the river, represent the saints both before and after the French Revolution. On one bank were the saints looking forward to the French Revolution, and on the other bank were the saints looking back at the French Revolution. The consecrated who were living at the time of the French Revolution (from 1789 to 1799) thought it was the great Time of Trouble, and those who lived after the French Revolution (around 1801 to 1802) were confused and puzzled. They did not know how to coordinate the event with prophecy. When the end evidently had not come because they were still on the scene, they wondered what was happening.

In examining this subject, the Pastor properly equated the French Revolution to a mini earthquake that was a precursor of the real Time of Trouble. In 1 Kings 18:44, the French Revolution is pictured as a cloud that appeared like a man’s fist. Elijah saw this phenomenon after the 1,260 days of famine. “And it came to pass … that he said, Behold, there arises a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand.” A great rainstorm followed.

Comment: There are several Scriptural precedents for two individuals being on either side of an event or time period.

(1) On the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus was in the middle between Elijah (picturing the Little Flock) and Moses (picturing the Ancient Worthies).

(2) Two Ancient Worthies have been preserved in the Garden of Eden: Enoch lived BEFORE the Flood (he came from the world that was), and Elijah lived AFTER the Flood (coming from the present evil world).

(3) With their Tabernacle sacrifices the Israelite’s (unknowingly) looked forward to Christ, and in the Kingdom with the Third Temple, Israel and the world will look back to Christ.

Reply: Yes, the same principle is shown. In the vision on the Mount of Transfiguration, Elijah and Moses (the two) on either side of Jesus (the one in the middle) were speaking about Jesus’ death. Of that conversation, only a fragment is recorded.

We move on to Verse 7 in our next post.