In the book of Daniel, Daniel shared how Gabriel told him about battles between the king of the north and the king of the south, and he said of the king of the north, “he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant. And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that makes desolate. And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days. Now when they shall fall, they shall be helped with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries”, and in chapter eleven and verse thirty-five of his book Daniel shared how Gabriel said, “some of them of understanding shall fall” where we read,
And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.
The verse reads, “And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, …” Daniel began with the words, “and some of them” or “and a few of the people” “of understanding” which means “pertaining to discernment, knowledge and perception” “shall fall” or “will stumble, stagger and totter”, “to try them” which means “to test, refine and purify them, the people who have understanding”, “and to purge” or “and to polish, cleanse, make bright and purify”, “and to make them white” which means “and to cause them, the people of understanding, to be purified”. Daniel shared how Gabriel told him some of the people who have discernment will stumble and stagger for the purpose of testing, cleansing and purifying them.
The verse continues, “… even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.” Daniel added the words, “even to the time of the end” or “indeed until the season or time period belonging to the extremity, boarder and finite process”: “because it is yet” which means “since and on account that the end time remains” “for a time appointed” or “on behalf of a specific season or time period”. Daniel shared how the purifying of the people with “understanding” will remain until the extreme and finite process is completed on account that it remains on behalf of a specific time period.
When we consider the words in this verse, we learn through Daniel how Gabriel told him a small number of the people with discernment will stagger and stumble, however, this will happen to purify and cleanse them until the completion of time comes. This is a specifically “appointed” time which God Almighty knows. Matthew Henry wrote, “Some of those of understanding shall fall, but it shall be for the good of the church and for their own spiritual benefit. It shall be to try them, and to purge, and to make them white. They needed these afflictions themselves. The best have their spots, which must be washed off, their dross, which must be purged out; and their troubles, particularly their share in the public troubles, help to do this; being sanctified to them by the grace of God, they are means of mortifying their corruptions, weaning them from the world, and awakening them to greater seriousness and diligence in religion. They try them, as silver in the furnace is refined from its dross; they purge them, as wheat in the barn is winnowed from the chaff; and they make them white, as cloth by the fuller is cleared from its spots. See 1 Pt. 1:7. Their sufferings for righteousness' sake would try and purge the nation of the Jews, would convince them of the truth, excellency, and power of that holy religion which these understanding men died for their adherence to. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church; it is precious blood, and not a drop of it should be shed but upon such a valuable consideration.” It is certain that those who are believers in Jesus will suffer affliction at this time, (See Revelations 14:15; 17:17) and the purifying process will continue until God’s “appointed time” comes. God wants us to be in a personal relationship with us through His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was resurrected from the dead after three days. When we surrender to Him, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put His Holy Spirit within us to keep us aligned with Him all the days of our lives regardless of the purifying process that He finds necessary for us.
Next time Daniel shares how Gabriel says, “the king shall do according to his will”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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