(Prophecy)
The angel Gabriel states that Daniel was to seal the long prophecy of the kings he just go through telling him up, because no one would understand it until ‘the time of the end’ (which at the very end of the prophecy itself, is specifically stated to be the time period after the final fall of the king of the south in the promised land and the great time of trouble the world has never experience) then he gives two characteristic that would define humanity at this time of the end:
Daniel 12:4
“But you, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scroll (prophecy) until the time of the end. [at this time] Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.”
Two characteristics seem to define this time: that is “many will go here and there” And because of this “knowledge will be increased”
So, what is Gabriel saying about the last generation(s)/time period at the end of the age here? Humans have always been traveling across the world and knowledge has in general been increasing as humans learn more and more about reality. So, what’s different about the traveling and knowledge of the generation(s) that will live during this time period of the time of the end compared to the generation of Daniel (or any generation)?
The key to understanding this end time generation seems to be in how it increases:
How will knowledge increase?
Gabriel says the last generation in the end times would have an increase of knowledge: by what exactly does Gabriel define an increase of knowledge?
“increase” here is the original Hebrew world “רָבָה” (raw-baw') which means “great increase” or “multiplied”[1] this same word is also used to describe how the waters increased on the Earth when God was flooding the world:
Genesis 7:17-18
“ For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth...The waters rose and increased(that’s Rabah) greatly on the earth,…They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered.”[1]
Here we get an idea of what ‘increase’ means: the water during the flood increase for a period of forty days: at the end of the forty days soo much water had flooded the earth that it covered the highest mountain!
So we see increase means A LOT coming FAST in a VERY SHORT PERIOD in other words it not just any growth it’s describing exponential growth.
This same word is also used to describe Abraham’s descendants multiplying and there even compared to being like stars in the sky and sand on the seashore (that is descendants/number in the billions+!) just to show how massive of an increase this is describing:
Genesis 22:17
“I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous(that’s also Rabah) as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.”[1]
Abraham’s descendants (including his descendants through Ishmael,Jokshan,Dedan,Midian,Israel and Esau) increased exponentially in a relatively short period of time to include millions of millions of people and many different nations spread across the middle east (roughly only 200-400 years later).
All this seems to specifically describe the increase of knowledge (and possibly travel) of the generation(s) at the time of the end as increasing exponentially during a short period of time Gabriel is talking about:
So according to Gabriel, the human Generation(s) during this time period (that is the time period after the king of the south/and his kingdom has finally fallen in the promised land and during the great time of trouble) will experience/be characterized by a massive exponential increase of knowledge due to a (possible exponential) increase of travel.
Did this happen after 550 B.C.?
An exponential increase in traveling and then knowledge from 550 B.C.
According to this statement we can know when the time of the end spoken about in the prophecy of Kings is, when there is an exponential increase of traveling and then knowledge: Has this happened so far?
Beginning at 550 B.C. all the way to 1400 A.D. (well over 1,000 years of time passed) nothing really changes about travel (and nothing really tremendous about knowledge either)
However, that began to change around 1400 A.D. when the age of exploration began [2]: traveling increase slightly and then knowledge increased slightly with the scientific revolution about a century after the age of exploration began in 1500 A.D.[3]. This began to get much faster during the age of industrialization in the late 1700's A.D. which sped up travel through steam engines such a trains and steam ships which then helped to greatly increase knowledge in more scientific discoveries [4] but this exponential increase of traveling and knowledge did not really happen until 1900 A.D.:
when 1900 A.D. came, travel and then knowledge began to grow exponentially at the beginning of the 1900’s like never before seen in all of human history:
to show how exponentially rapid traveling and then knowledge massively increased during this time just consider what life was like at the beginning of 1900 A.D. compared to the end of it ,at 1999 A.D.:
"at the beginning of the...1900's...only the rich could afford to travel very far by any means....the masses could [not] afford to travel widely at a moment’s notice....The 20th century began with mankind using horse-drawn wagons and by the 1970s mankind regarded moon missions as too passé to merit live TV coverage. European militaries still had horse cavalries at the beginning of World War I and by the end of the 20th century (1999 A.D.); major nations had either hundreds or thousands of nuclear weapons. At the beginning of the 20th century, land-based howitzers hurled cannon balls as far as a charge of gunpowder could propel them. At the end of the 20th century, large missiles could hurl nuclear payloads between continents....All scientific disciplines have experienced '[an exponential] increases in knowledge' that would have seemed sheer science fiction to people who lived when the 20th century(1900's) began! People alive at the end of the Viet Nam War (that is 1975 A.D.) would have been dumbstruck if they could know that the entire world would be linked via the internet within a few decades...." [5]
amazing! it's like looking at two very distant times 1,000's of years apart: yet in reality it has only been a mere 99 years: this is very significant; more advances in traveling and knowledge had happened on Earth in these mere 99 years compared to the 1,000's of years of all of known human history combined!
thus, according to the characteristic of the last generation(s) 'time of the end' Gabriel gave, this time of the end period began roughly around 1950/1980 A.D. and was completely fulfilled at the end of the 1900's by 2000 A.D. :
therefore, these characteristics has been completely fulfilled in full at this point(2020's A.D.): this modern generation has experienced (and is still experiencing) the massive exponential increase of both knowledge and travel like never before seen in all of human history combined: therefore, this is the time of the end/time of trouble of the prophecy of kings right before the dead are raised (Jesus returns to Earth)!
therefore, the prophecy of kings is completely open to understanding (and now it can be completely understood with all the knowledge available in this time of the end, just as Gabriel said it could) and we can pretty much safely say this is the time of the end/time of great trouble right before Jesus returns, the dead are raised, and the total prophecy of kings will soon be completely fulfilled!
Sources:
[1]
Strong's Hebrew #7235.--רָבָה(raw-baw') --to be or become much, many or great by Biblehub
Website:
https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7235.htm
[2]
Thoughco A Brief History of the Age of Exploration By Amanda BrineyLEARN ABOUT OUR EDITORIAL PROCESS
Updated on January 23, 2020
https://www.thoughtco.com/age-of-exploration-1435006
[3]
Scientific Revolution by Mark Cartwright on 08 November 2023
Website:
https://www.worldhistory.org/timeline/Scientific_Revolution/
[4]
Chapter IV “The age of Industalization”
Website:
https://ncert.nic.in/textbook/pdf/jess.304.pdf
[5]
“...mankind’s “knowledge” will be increased in the “time of the end” as exponentially as the waters increased on the earth during the Deluge of Noah’s time! The 20th century began with mankind using horse-drawn wagons and by the 1970s mankind regarded moon missions as too passé to merit live TV coverage. European militaries still had horse cavalries at the beginning of World War I and by the end of the 20th century; major nations had either hundreds or thousands of nuclear weapons. At the beginning of the 20th century, land-based howitzers hurled cannon balls as far as a charge of gunpowder could propel them. At the end of the 20th century, large missiles could hurl nuclear payloads between continents. All scientific disciplines have experienced “increases in knowledge” that would have seemed sheer science fiction to people who lived when the 20th century began! People alive at the end of the Viet Nam War would have been dumbstruck if they could know that the entire world would be linked via the internet within a few decades. ”
Steven M collins "ARE WE LIVING IN THE BIBLICAL 'LATTER DAYS?'" (A “KNOWLEDGE EXPLOSION” AT THE END OF THE AGE) BY STEVEN M. COLLINS
Website:
https://stevenmcollins.com/articles/are-we-living-in-the-biblical-latter-days/