Daniel 12:5–7

“Then I, Daniel, looked, and there before me stood two others, one on this bank of the river and one on the opposite bank. 6 One of them said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How long will it be before these astonishing things are fulfilled?”

7 The man clothed in linen, who was above the water of the river, lifted his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by him who lives forever, saying, “It will be for a time, times and half a time. When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed.”

A new scene now appeared before Daniel’s eyes. On the banks of the river, apparently still in Babylon, Daniel saw “two others,” two angels, in addition to the Angel, the Lord himself, who had been giving Daniel the heavenly information contained in the preceding chapters. In the next verse the Angel is described as clothed in linen. One of the angels asked, “How long will it be before these astonishing things are fulfilled?” that is, the amazing events mentioned in the opening verses of the chapter. His question really amounts to this: “How long will it be to the end of time?”

The divine speaker lifted both hands to heaven. Among the ancient Jews, lifting one’s hand was a gesture that accompanied taking an oath. Raising both hands would seem to indicate double assurance. To assure Daniel of the utter truthfulness of this answer, the Angel took an oath. He swore by himself, “by him who lives forever.”

His answer, given under oath, is mysterious. The times of distress leading to the great deliverance would be “for a time, times and half a time.” We met that unusual expression once before in the book of Daniel, in 7:25, where we learned that the people of God would be handed over to the power of Antichrist for that period of time, which we understood as a period of time appointed by God.

“A time”: the opposition to God and his people will begin and will last for a certain measured period;

“times”: this opposition will increase and seem to be successful;

“half a time”: its fury will be reduced and suddenly will end when all opposition to God collapses.

This unusual expression, then, refers to the duration of the times of persecution predicted in earlier chapters of the book of Daniel.

One of the angels had asked, “How long will it be to the end of time?” The answer given was this: That will come at a time when “the power of the holy people has been finally broken,” when the Christian church is apparently near annihilation. With seductive false teaching attacking the very heart of the Christian religion, the Antichrist will have come close to destroying the very people of God. At this critical time, when it seems the church of God cannot possibly survive, God will return to destroy the Antichrist and deliver his faithful people.

Who of us has not wondered, “How long will it be to the end of time?” It’s worth noting that God’s answer does not specify a particular number of years. We don’t need to know that. For God to spell out the precise number of years until the end would not really help his people. It might even be a temptation for them to be careless and frivolous toward his call to repentance.