Daniel 12:12

"Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. But go thou thy way till the end be; for thou shalt rest, and shall stand in thy lot, at the end of the days."

It is strange that the "thousand three hundred and five and thirty days" should have been identified by the definite article "the," as if this time period had already been mentioned earlier. This is the grounds upon which many hold this to be merely a variable of the "the time, and times, and half a time," featured in these final verses, and in the Book of Revelation. However, as Barnes pointed out, "The article is not used in the original."[16]

"There is much apparent abruptness here. What the angel said in these closing communications has much the character of being fragmented...hints, or detached and unexplained thoughts thrown out, upon which the angel did not elect to enlarge, or explain."[17]

It is simply a mystery to us as to why these variable time-periods are used here; and our conviction remains that in some general sense, at least, they appear to have reference to the whole Christian dispensation, exactly as does "the time, and times, and a half a time."

THE BLESSED PROMISE TO DANIEL

"Thou shalt rest, and shall stand in thy lot, at the end of the days ..."

Young's beautiful comment on this is, "Daniel himself is assured of his salvation, and that he shall stand in his lot at the end of the days. May this same destination be that of all who read these words!"[18]

Our studies in Daniel remind us of those done in the Book of Jonah. Both books have come under the most vicious fire of the critics; but it turns out that both afford very rich rewards for the student. Both Daniel and Jonah were approved and endorsed, quoted and made applicable to the ministry and kingdom of Christ by the Lord himself. There is no intelligent reason for rejecting a single line of either book. Each one of them carries its own imprimatur of the Holy Spirit.