This past week a dissertation was forwarded to us that addressed a particular point in Daniel's vision - a point concerning which he, himself, related: "I heard but did not understand. So I asked, 'My Lord, what will the outcome of all this be?' He replied, 'Go your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end'" (Dan. 12:8,9).
The article contained several valid points including Scripture's lack of total disclosure regarding certain aspects of prophetic outline and detail (e.g., "times and seasons" concerning which "it is not given you to know," Acts 1:6,7). If for no other reason, the article observed, this precludes the all too likely fact of humanly initiated endeavor to effect the fulfilling of such.
The author further foresees a coming move of the Spirit in the interests of both bringing Christ's Body to that completion of which Paul speaks in Ephesians 4:11-13; 5:27 ("until we all attain to...etc."; "a glorious church, without spot, wrinkle, or any such thing...holy and blameless"), and preparing the Church for coming engagement with evil end time powers. To this we would also agree.
At the same time, there were aspects of the article that left us uneasy. Emphasis focused particularly on the Church's attainment of a "higher level" of insight in consequence of the disclosure of Daniel's previously sealed words. Equating the "sealed book" of Daniel 12:4 with the book whose seals Christ breaks in Revelation 5:1ff and the "little book" that John is instructed to eat in the interests of his continued ministry (Rev. 10:8-11), it is proposed that the apostle here represents the end time Church in possession of the heretofore sealed words of Daniel's prophecy. His eating of the book and its resultant upsetting of his stomach (vs. 10) is, in turn, alleged to signify the Church's final proclamation of the Gospel. According to the author and his apparently associated team of traveling expositors, the time of disclosure is now here.
Given the appeal of the new and/or exotic to many Christians, (unfortunately, not always unrelated to a certain sense of self focus), we do well to recall the apostolic injunction to "Prove all things" (I Thess. 5:21). As demonstrated by the past, the vulnerabilities attendant "new," or "previously unrevealed," revelation can prove considerable in that restraints of the biblically attested are oftentimes diminished - and in some instances, eventually ignored. In other words, by what standard of measure is the proposed impending revelation of Daniel's sealed words to be evaluated?
Do prophetically related events and realities exist of which we are not yet fully apprised...or, if so, concerning which we have yet to grasp all implications? Of course. At the same time, the believer should proceed with caution. There is, in many instances, need for a "healthy skepticism," such as that for which the Bereans were commended in Acts 17:11.
Burl Ratzsch
