“Does Daniel 12:4 describe the increase in knowledge that we see today?”

“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”

We are living in the time of the mystery (Eph. 3:1-9), not in the time of the fulfillment of prophecy, so nothing in the prophetic book of Daniel describes anything that is going on today.

Since the previous verses say that the saved in Israel will rise from the dead (v. 2) and “they that be wise” shall shine in the kingdom of heaven on earth and “turn many to righteousness” (v. 3), the “knowledge” of verse 4 must refer to knowledge of the Scriptures, the only knowledge that can turn people to righteousness. In that day, “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD” (Isa. 11:9) since knowledge of Him will be increased.

The subsequent context bears this out as well. When Daniel is told that “the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end” (v. 9), it is in the end times that “the wise shall understand” (v. 10), and it is then that knowledge of the Scriptures shall be increased, and God’s people will use that knowledge to turn many to righteousness (Dan. 11:33).

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

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