July 30: WORLDLY RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY (part 3)

“He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand For a time, times, and half a time.” Daniel 7:25

Continuing with a focus on the spurious attempt to change times and law… The apostolic church kept the seventh-day Sabbath (Matthew 24:20; Luke 23:56; Acts 13:13-14; 42-44; 16:13; 17:2; 18:4). But since that time, one of the attempted changes was done in a slow-motion shift from the seventh day Sabbath to Sunday. The “inspiration” for this change did not come from the Spirit of God, but He knew it would happen and communicated it to Daniel for our benefit. The LORD God set apart the seventh day and blessed it for rest and uninterrupted time with Himself, which we all need (see Genesis 2:1-3, Exodus 20:8-11)—and no man can reverse it (Numbers 23:20). This special time of rest with God begins at sundown on Friday and ends at sundown on Saturday.

Another aspect of changing times (plural) is the heavy Roman influence in the reckoning of each day. At creation, God ordained that the days were evenings/mornings, with each day ending and beginning with sunset. Such beauty to mark the dividing between days displays His tender care and the gift of God to find and appreciate beauty. But isn’t it just like the devil to attempt to override this precept of God by marking the ending and beginning of every single day at the darkest hour of the night?

For a time, times, and half a time…  The time period here is described in an unusual, attention-getting way. We may look back to Nebuchadnezzar’s humbling experience, and see that his mental illness was for a duration of seven times (Daniel 4:16). History shows this experience lasted seven years, making a time and a year synonymous. In our opening verse, the phrase time, times, and half a time could mistakenly be understood as only three and a half years. However, we are now in the prophetic half of Daniel’s book (recall that Daniel arranged the content of his book out of chronological order to accomplish a historical context for the first half and a prophetic context for the last half). In prophetic time, a day equals a year (Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6). Jesus confirmed the day/year principle of prophecy (see Luke 13:31-33).

Therefore, this prophecy of a time, times, and half a time refers to as many days (1260) to symbolize years. It is a period of terrible darkness in the history of our fallen world. The Lord wants us to understand this period, both its beginning and its end, due to the foreshadowing it provides of end-time perils just before the return of Christ to gather those who are His. The Author of Scripture, the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:19-21), confirmed this to us with a seven-fold mention: Daniel 7:25;12:7; Revelation 11:2,3; 12:6,14; 13:5. Time marches on, therefore history plays out and becomes the fulfillment of the prophetic Scriptures. The thoughtful reader who is a serious student of both will recognize when prophecy and history meet face to face.

…searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in [the prophets] was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into. 1 Peter 1:11-12