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.
Daniel was a Jewish prophet who lived during the Babylonian exile, roughly 600 years before Jesus. He received a series of visions about the distant future — things he didn't fully understand himself. In this closing verse of one such vision, an angel instructs him to seal the scroll: the full meaning of what he has seen is not intended for his time or generation. The phrase "many will go here and there to increase knowledge" is interpreted in different ways — it may describe a future era of widespread travel and information, or it may picture people searching desperately for understanding that eludes them. Either way, Daniel is being told: this isn't for you to fully grasp yet.
God, I don't always understand what you're doing or why. I chase answers and sometimes come up empty. Help me trust that the sealed things are sealed for a reason — and that you see the whole scroll even when I only hold a fragment. Give me peace in the not-knowing. Amen.
We live in the most information-saturated era in human history. You can access more knowledge on your phone in five minutes than most people encountered in a lifetime a thousand years ago. And yet — does anyone feel wiser? More settled? Less anxious at 3 AM? The angel's words to Daniel feel strangely contemporary: many will go here and there to increase knowledge. We scroll, we search, we consume — always hunting for the explanation that will finally make sense of things. There's something both humbling and freeing about a God who says "seal it up." Not everything is meant to be figured out now. Some things are written for a later time, a fuller picture, an understanding we aren't yet equipped to hold. Daniel's response to divine mystery wasn't frustration — it was trust. He closed the scroll. That's worth sitting with if you're someone who lies awake running calculations on questions that have no answer yet: God isn't withholding to be cruel. Some things are sealed because you aren't ready to carry them yet — and that might be its own kind of mercy.
Daniel was told to seal up wisdom meant for a future time. What does that suggest about how God works across generations — and does it change how you think about what you don't understand in your own life?
Where are you most desperate for answers that haven't come yet? What is the unanswered question that quietly follows you around?
Is trusting without full understanding a genuine virtue, or can it become a way of avoiding hard questions? How do you tell the difference in your own life?
How does our culture's obsession with information and instant certainty make it harder to sit with mystery — and how has that shaped your own faith or doubt?
What would it look like for you to close the scroll on something you've been trying to force an answer on — to genuinely release the need to fully understand it right now?
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
Matthew 24:14
Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Revelation 14:7
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
Isaiah 11:9
But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.
Daniel 12:13
And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.
Revelation 10:4
And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
Habakkuk 2:2
And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.
Revelation 5:1
And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
Revelation 14:6
But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the scroll until the end of time. Many will go back and forth and search anxiously [through the scroll], and knowledge [of the purpose of God as revealed by His prophets] will [greatly] increase."
AMP
But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”
ESV
'But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.'
NASB
But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.”
NIV
“But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”
NKJV
But you, Daniel, keep this prophecy a secret; seal up the book until the time of the end, when many will rush here and there, and knowledge will increase.”
NLT
" 'This is a confidential report, Daniel, for your eyes and ears only. Keep it secret. Put the book under lock and key until the end. In the interim there is going to be a lot of frantic running around, trying to figure out what's going on.'
MSG