SATURDAY, JUNE 30
Daniel 12:8-13
Matthew 25:31-46

“… he shall separate them one from another,
as a shepherd divideth
his sheep from the goats.”

THE END OF THESE THINGS

Through Daniel God reveals the “Grand Finale” of world events. To the world’s wise men, spiritually blind, Daniel’s book makes no sense. We need the spiritual insight which God gives to the humble.

1,290 DAYS

Daniel 12:11: 1,290 days will elapse. The starting point: when the daily sacrifice is taken away and the abomination of desolation set up in the Temple of God in Jerusalem in the middle of the seventieth week. This marks the beginning of Antichrist’s rule of 1,260 days. The end point stretches thirty days beyond the end of Antichrist. What is the purpose of these extra thirty days? Antichrist’s rule will terminate abruptly at Jesus’ glorious return (1,260 days from the beginning of Antichrist’s rule). The thirty days will be for the restoration of the Temple of God. A similar period of cleansing and purification was observed by King Hezekiah (2 Chron 30:2-4).

1,335 DAYS

Daniel 12:12: The 1,335 days exceed the 1,290 days by a further forty-five days, after the cleansing of the Temple. Whitcomb commented: “Surely this period … is necessary for the judgment of the living nations to determine publicly who is qualified to enter Messiah’s Kingdom. Prophetic Scripture has much to say about this confrontation. Joel placed this future judgment in ‘the valley of Jehoshaphat (Kidron),’ where Gentile mistreatment of Jews will finally be dealt with (Joel 3:1-17) ... The clearest New Testament passage describing this event is Matthew 25:31-46. Here Christ tells us that Gentiles will be judged in that day according to their treatment of Israelite witnesses (‘these my brethren,’ Matt 25:40). The fate of those who reject God’s messengers … is stated in terms of death and eternal judgment (Matt 25:46). What then? Then Christ’s Millennial Kingdom begins!

THOUGHT: Do I have a place in that glorious Kingdom?
PRAYER: Father, I thank Thee for revealing the future to me.