10 Till a number are tested and make themselves clean; and the evil-doers will do evil; for not one of the evil-doers will have knowledge; but all will be made clear to those who are wise.
And some of those who are wise will have wisdom in testing themselves and making themselves clean, till the time of the end: for it is still for the fixed time.
Let the evil man go on in his evil: and let the unclean be still unclean: and let the upright go on in his righteousness: and let the holy be holy still.
He who is a child of God gives ear to the words of God: your ears are not open to them because you are not from God.
As it was said in the holy Writings, God gave them a spirit of sleep, eyes which might not see, and ears which have no hearing, to this day. And David says, Let their table be made a net for taking them, and a stone in their way, and a punishment: Let their eyes be made dark so that they may not see, and let their back be bent down at all times.
My son, if you will take my words to your heart, storing up my laws in your mind; So that your ear gives attention to wisdom, and your heart is turned to knowledge; Truly, if you are crying out for good sense, and your request is for knowledge; If you are looking for her as for silver, and searching for her as for stored-up wealth; Then the fear of the Lord will be clear to you, and knowledge of God will be yours.
For the foolish man will say foolish things, having evil thoughts in his heart, working what is unclean, and talking falsely about the Lord, to keep food from him who is in need of it, and water from him whose soul is desiring it. The designs of the false are evil, purposing the destruction of the poor man by false words, even when he is in the right.
And those who are wise among the people will be the teachers of the mass of the people: but they will come to their downfall by the sword and by the flame, being made prisoners and undergoing loss for a long time.
And I will make the third part go through the fire, cleaning them as silver is made clean, and testing them as gold is tested: and they will make their prayer to me and I will give them an answer: I will say, It is my people; and they will say, The Lord is my God.
And he said, O foolish men! how slow you are to give belief to what the prophets have said.
If any man is ready to do God's pleasure he will have knowledge of the teaching and of where it comes from--from God or from myself.
But God has given us the revelation of these things through his Spirit, for the Spirit makes search into all things, even the deep things of God. For who has knowledge of the things of a man but the spirit of the man which is in him? in the same way, no one has knowledge of the things of God but the Spirit of God. But we have not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which comes from God, so that we may have knowledge of the things which are freely given to us by God. And these are the things which we say, not in the language of man's wisdom, but in words given to us by the Spirit, judging the things of the spirit by the help of the Spirit. For the natural man is not able to take in the things of the Spirit of God: for they seem foolish to him, and he is not able to have knowledge of them, because such knowledge comes only through the Spirit. But he who has the Spirit, though judging all things, is himself judged by no one. For who has knowledge of the mind of the Lord, so as to be his teacher? But we have the mind of Christ.
And with every deceit of wrongdoing among those whose fate is destruction; because they were quite without that love of the true faith by which they might have salvation. And for this cause, God will give them up to the power of deceit and they will put their faith in what is false: So that they all may be judged, who had no faith in what is true, but took pleasure in evil.
And we are certain that the Son of God has come, and has given us a clear vision, so that we may see him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
And the rest of the people, who were not put to death by these evils, were not turned from the works of their hands, but went on giving worship to evil spirits, and images of gold and silver and brass and stone and wood which have no power of seeing or hearing or walking: And they had no regret for putting men to death, or for their use of secret arts, or for the evil desires of the flesh, or for taking the property of others.
And they said evil things against the God of heaven because of their pain and their wounds; and they were not turned from their evil works.
And the armies which are in heaven went after him on white horses, clothed in delicate linen, white and clean.
Then Pilate said to him, Are you then a king? Jesus made answer, You say that I am a king. For this purpose was I given birth, and for this purpose I came into the world, that I might give witness to what is true. Every lover of what is true gives ear to my voice.
Make me free from sin with hyssop: let me be washed whiter than snow.
(The wise man, hearing, will get greater learning, and the acts of the man of good sense will be wisely guided:)
Come now, and let us have an argument together, says the Lord: how may your sins which are red like blood be white as snow? how may their dark purple seem like wool?
The wet places and the pools will not be made sweet; they will be given up to salt.
And those who are wise will be shining like the light of the outstretched sky; and those by whom numbers have been turned to righteousness will be like the stars for ever and ever.
May the Lord be judge between me and you, and may the Lord give me my rights against you, but my hand will never be lifted up against you.
And such were some of you; but you have been washed, you have been made holy, you have been given righteousness in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
Who gave himself for us, so that he might make us free from all wrongdoing, and make for himself a people clean in heart and on fire with good works.
For they truly gave us punishment for a short time, as it seemed good to them; but he does it for our profit, so that we may become holy as he is.
And as you have made your souls clean, being ruled by what is true, and loving one another without deceit, see that your love is warm and from the heart:
If you are wise you will get from me gold tested by fire, so that you may have true wealth; and white robes to put on, so that your shame may not be seen; and oil for your eyes, so that you may see.
And one of the rulers made answer, saying to me, These who have on white robes, who are they, and where did they come from? And I said to him, My lord, you have knowledge. And he said to me, These are they who came through the great testing, and their robes have been washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Daniel 12
Commentary on Daniel 12 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 12
After the prediction of the troubles of the Jews under Antiochus, prefiguring the troubles of the Christian church under the anti-christian power, we have here,
Dan 12:1-4
It is usual with the prophets, when they foretel the grievances of the church, to furnish it at the same time with proper antidotes, a remedy for every malady. And no relief is so sovereign, of such general application, so easily accommodated to every case, and of such powerful efficacy, as those that are fetched from Christ and the future state; thence the comforts here are fetched.
Dan 12:5-13
Daniel had been made to foresee the amazing revolutions of states and kingdoms, as far as the Israel of God was concerned in them; in them he foresaw troublous times to the church, suffering trying times, the prospect of which much affected him and filled him with concern. Now there were two questions proper to be asked upon this head:-When shall the end be? And, What shall the end be? These two questions are asked and answered here, in the close of the book; and though the comforts prescribed in the foregoing verses, one would think, were satisfactory enough, yet, for more abundant satisfaction, this is added.