Unsealing Daniel

At the close of his visions, an angel commanded Daniel “to close the words and seal the book until the season of the end.” In contrast, in Revelation, the “scroll” is unsealed, revealing its contents for all to see. Daniel was told to “seal the scroll,” but John is commanded NOT to do so. The verbal parallels are deliberate and telling.

The first word in the Greek text of Revelation is apokalupsis (Strong’s - #G602). It means an “unveiling, disclosure, revelation.” God gave the visions of the book to Jesus so he would show His “servants what things must come to pass soon.”

Thus, the visions in the Book of Revelation disclose previously hidden information. They are not designed to veil information or to mystify the reader.

At the end of his vision, Daniel “wondered but none understood it.” Its significance remained a mystery even to the prophet. In contrast, anyone who hears and heeds the “prophecy” of Revelation is pronounced, “Blessed.”

DISCLOSURE

(Daniel 12:4) – “But you, Daniel, close up the words and seal the book until the time of the end; many will run to and fro, and knowledge shall abound.”

(Revelation 1:1-3) – “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him to point out unto his servants THE THINGS WHICH MUST COME TO PASS with speed… For THE SEASON IS NEAR.”

The purpose of Revelation is declared in its opening paragraph - To “show God’s servants by signs WHAT THINGS MUST COME TO PASS soon.” In the immediate context, the plural noun rendered “servants” refers to the “seven churches of Asia,” and the first verse alludes to the interpretation of the dream of the “great image” provided by the prophet Daniel to King Nebuchadnezzar:

“There is a God in heaven that reveals mysteries and has shown the king WHAT THINGS MUST COME TO PASS in latter days” - (Daniel 2:26-28).

In the Septuagint version, the Greek clause is an exact match to the one recorded in the Greek text of Revelation, only the original term “latter days” has been changed to “soon.” In other words, what was in the distant future for Daniel is now imminent for John and the “churches of Asia.”

The declaration that “THE SEASON is near” echoes the angel’s instructions to Daniel: “But, you, Daniel, close the words and seal the book until the SEASON of the end. In both Daniel and Revelation, the English term “season” represents the Greek noun kairos (Strong’s - #G2540), meaning “season, a set time.”

As before, Revelation changes the time reference from “end” in Daniel to “near” or engus (Strong’s - #G1451). The latter is a Greek term for something that is “near, imminent, proximate; that which is at hand.” In other words, what was in a remote future for Daniel is imminent for the reader of Revelation.

DO NOT SEAL

At the conclusion of Revelation, the angel tells John NOT “to seal the sayings of the prophecy of this book, for THE SEASON IS AT HAND.” This is a deliberate contrast to the command given to Daniel. What the latter was commanded to seal, John is ordered not to seal. Thus, the time of disclosure has arrived - (Revelation 22:10).

And in Revelation, Jesus is the “faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.”  He became the “faithful witness” in his death, the “firstborn of the dead” through his resurrection, and he has been the “ruler of the kings of the earth” since his exaltation.

Thus, with his death, resurrection, and exaltation, the “last days” have commenced in earnest.

What was hidden and enigmatic in Daniel’s visions becomes clear with the resurrection and enthronement of Jesus. In fact, his first act upon arrival before the throne is to take the “sealed scroll” and break its “seven seals” - (Revelation 1:17-18, 3:21, 5:5-10).

In him, the “season” of the “end” has dawned, the time to unseal the “words of the scroll” that were sealed centuries ago by Daniel. In Jesus, the era of fulfillment has arrived and is now well underway.