These words of Jesus spoken during His Olivet discourse are of great significance for this last-days generation. He was referring to prophecies given by the prophet Daniel 500+ years earlier, telling us to read and watch for them in the future-our day. Importantly, He said that the one reading these prophecies in Daniel could “understand” them. Daniel himself had difficulty understanding what was being told to him even though Gods messenger was sent to make him understand. “Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come.” (Daniel 10:14). Daniel later stated: “Although I heard, I did not understand.“(Daniel 12:8). God’s messenger then told Daniel; “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end….The wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.” (Daniel 12:9-10)
When Jesus told his disciples (and us) that we could understand Daniel’s prophecies, Daniels extensive use of the term ‘understand’ should jump out to us as I’m sure it did to His disciples, as they would have been familiar with the scroll of Daniel. Here’s the direct quote from Jesus; “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place, whoever reads, let him understand. “ (Matthew 24:15)
Therefore, based on Jesus’s words, from the time they were uttered in 30AD, it’s been possible to comprehend Daniel’s prophecies-if we are wise; that is, apply wisdom from the Holy Spirit. When Jesus said, “let the reader understand,” He was either making a proclamation, uttering a prayer to His Father, opening the minds of His followers to understand Daniel, or all of the above. I believe this was the occasion Daniel’s words were unsealed by Jesus and made understandable to the church. He subsequently poured out the Holy Spirit a few weeks later giving Christians the most important tool necessary for understanding the things of God.
We are living in prophetic times. Don’t make the mistake of setting prophetic scriptures aside as complicated or not understandable. In fact, these scriptures should be prominent in your studies, so they are recognizable when they are fulfilled. Quoting Daniel, “the wise will understand.”
Maranatha, Jim