The Bible

 

Danilo 12

Study

   

1 A u to će se vreme podignuti Mihailo, veliki knez, koji brani tvoj narod; i biće žalosno vreme, kakvog nije bilo otkako je naroda do tada; i u to će se vreme izbaviti tvoj narod, svaki koji se nađe zapisan u knjizi.

2 I mnogo onih koji spavaju u prahu zemaljskom probudiće se, jedni na život večni, a drugi na sramotu i prekor večni.

3 I razumni će se sjati kao svetlost nebeska, i koji mnoge privedoše k pravdi, kao zvezde vazda i doveka.

4 A ti Danilo zatvori ove reči i zapečati ovu knjigu do poslednjeg vremena; mnogi će pretraživati, i znanje će se umnožiti.

5 Tada pogledah ja, Danilo, i gle, stajahu druga dvojica, jedan s ove strane na bregu reke, a drugi s one strane na bregu reke.

6 I jedan reče čoveku obučenom u platno, koji stajaše nad vodom u reci: Kad će biti kraj tim čudesima?

7 I čuh čoveka obučenog u platno, koji stajaše nad vodom u reci, i podiže desnicu svoju i levicu svoju k nebu, i zakle se Onim koji živi uvek da će se sve ovo ispuniti po vremenu, po vremenima i po po vremena, i kad se svrši rasap sile svetog naroda.

8 I ja čuh ali ne razumeh; i rekoh: Gospodaru moj, kakav će biti kraj tome?

9 A On reče: Idi Danilo, jer su zatvorene i zapečaćene ove reči do poslednjeg vremena.

10 Mnogi će se očistiti, ubeliti i okušati; a bezbožnici će raditi bezbožno, niti će koji bezbožnik razumeti, ali će razumni razumeti.

11 A od vremena kad se ukine žrtva vazdašnja i postavi gnusoba pustošna, biće hiljadu i dvesta i devedeset dana.

12 Blago onome koji pretrpi i dočeka hiljadu i tri stotine i trideset i pet dana.

13 A ti idi ka svom kraju; i počivaćeš i ostaćeš na delu svom do svršetka svojih dana.

   

Commentary

 

Time

  

Time is an aspect of the physical world, but it is not an aspect of the spiritual world. The same is true of space: There is no space in heaven. This is hard for us to grasp or even visualize, because we live in physical bodies with physical senses that are filled with physical elements existing in time and space. Our minds are schooled and patterned in terms of time and space, and have no reference point to imagine a reality without them. Consider how you think for a second. In your mind you can immediately be in your past or in some speculative future; in your mind you can circle the globe seeing other lands and faraway friends, or even zoom instantly to the most distant stars. Such imaginings are insubstantial, of course, but if we could make them real we would be getting close to what spiritual reality is like. Indeed, the mind is like a spiritual organ, which may be why physicians and philosophers have had such a hard time juxtaposing its functions to those of the brain. What this means in the Bible is that descriptions of time -- hours, days, weeks, months, years and even simply the word "time" itself -- represent spiritual states, and the passing of time represents the change of spiritual states. Again, we can see this a little bit within our minds. If we imagine talking to one friend then talking to another, it feels like going from one place to another, even though we're not moving. The same is true if we picture a moment from childhood and then imagine something in the future; it feels like a movement through time even though it's instantaneous. Changing our state of mind feels like a physical change in space and time. The Bible simply reverses that, with marking points in space and time representing particular states of mind.