Deeper Reflection
We must grasp a twofold vision of God given in Daniel. The sovereign God of miraculous salvation (Dan 1-6): We trust in God for His deliverance in tribulations (Dan 3:28; 6:20-23). The sovereign God of mysterious silence (Dan 7-12): We trust in God with tenacity in tribulations when deliverance is absent, and we “fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder” (Dan 11:33). God may be covertly silent, but He has clearly spoken in His Word. When God is silent, we live by what God has spoken and trust in Him with tenacity.Tenacity is being faithful to God with perseverance until the end. It is not without significance that it is only in Daniel 7 to 12 that the question, “How long?”, is being asked: “How long” will the “time of distress” be when God and His people are trampled underfoot by evil human powers? (v.13; Dan 12:1, 6). “How long?” calls on faith to wait for God with tenacity.We are enabled and encouraged to wait with tenacity by two assurances from God. Divine limitation in tribulations: God will give His people “into the hand” of the little horn to “wage war” against them, to “wear down”, “overpower” and “shatter” them – but only “for a time, times, and half a time [3.5 times],” or “1,290 days [3.5 years]” (Dan 7:21, 25; 12:7). Divine termination of tribulations: “The end is still to come at the appointed time” (Dan 11:27). So, we must “keep waiting and attain the 1,335 days” (Dan 12:12), “until the end time” (Dan 11:35) and “until the Ancient of Days came…” (Dan 7:22).