Daniel Chapter 12 Vs. 4

The Time of the End

Daniel 12:4 "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, [even] to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased."




shut up the... Close up the words, seal the book, for the main purpose of the book concerns things at the time of the end (Dan. 2:28-29, 2:43-45; 7:17-27; 8:17, 8:19, 8:23; 9:27; 10:14; 11:35, 11:45).

many shall run... A prediction of increased travel and knowledge.

Knowledge Shall Be Increased


Modern inventions are being referred to almost universally as fulfillment of prophecy. The only sense in which this is true is by fulfillment of Dan. 12:4—"knowledge shall be increased." One can list all present or future inventions and all increase of knowledge under this heading in a general way; but when it comes to finding every new invention in particular in Scripture, we immediately enter the realm of speculation and sensationalism and and become unscriptural. It will be seen that such interpretations are fully out of harmony with the Bible.

and knowledge shall... Is not Dan. 12:4 sufficient in its teaching that we are to have increase of knowledge in the last days?

The time referred to is Daniel’s 70th week which is the tribulation.

World knowledge is at an all time high right now. We have no problem seeing people running to and fro. The freeways are full of cars carrying people to different places. We are running to and fro at this very time.

This message was not for Daniel's time. It is for our time. His book has been sealed to full understanding from his time to now. It is easier to look back over history, and see what Daniel talked about in the first few chapters of this book.

This 12th chapter looks into the future. The book of Daniel is easier understood today than ever before, perhaps because we are living in the time of the end. This better characterizes this time than all of the rest. This is the age of the coming of the Lord.

The “back and forth” – “to and fro” contains a Hebrew verb form always refers to the movement of a person searching for something. In the tribulation, people will search for answers to the devastation and discover increased knowledge through Daniel’s preserved book.

Conclusion

Sealing of the book

Understandably Daniel and his immediate readers could not have comprehended all the details of the prophecies given in this book (cf. Dan. 12:8). Not until history continued to unfold would many be able to understand these prophetic revelations. But God indicated that an increased understanding of what Daniel had written would come. People today, looking back over history, can see the significance of much of what Daniel predicted. And in the time of the end (cf. Dan. 12:9, and note “ the end” and “the end of the days” in Dan. 12:13) the words of this book that have been sealed (kept intact) will be understood by many who will seek to gain knowledge from it. This will be in the Tribulation (cf. Dan. 11:40, “the time of the end”). Even though Daniel’s people may not have fully understood this book’s prophecies, the predictions did comfort them. They were assured that God will ultimately deliver Israel from the Gentiles and bring her into His covenanted promises.