But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words
Of the book, in which he had wrote the visions and prophecies delivered to him: this he is bid to "shut up", to keep it from the common and profane people, who would only burlesque it; and to keep it to himself, as a peculiar treasure committed to his care; and though it was not kept from the saints and people of God, from their reading it, yet he was not to interpret and explain it to them; it was to remain a secret until the time of its accomplishment was come, or, however, near at hand; so that this denotes the obscurity of the prophecy, and the great difficulty of understanding it; it being like a book that is shut and sealed, as follows, see ( Revelation 5:1-5 ) : and seal the book, even to the time of the end;
till the time comes appointed for the fulfilment of it, which shows that it reached to times at a great distance; that till these times were come, or near, it would be as a sealed book, and yet the accomplishment of it would be sure and certain, as what is sealed is: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased;
that is, towards the end of the time appointed, many persons will be stirred up to inquire into these things delivered in this book, and will spare no pains or cost to get knowledge of them; will read and study the Scriptures, and meditate on them; compare one passage with another; spiritual things with spiritual, in order to obtain the mind of Christ; will peruse carefully the writings of such who have gone before them, who have attempted anything of this kind; and will go far and near to converse with persons that have any understanding of such things: and by such means, with the blessing of God upon them, the knowledge of this book of prophecy will be increased; and things will appear plainer the nearer the accomplishment of them is; and especially when accomplished, when prophecy and facts can be compared together: and not only this kind of knowledge, but knowledge of all spiritual things, of all evangelic truths and doctrines, will be abundantly enlarged at this time; and the earth will be filled and covered with it, as the sea with its waters; see ( Isaiah 11:9 ) ( Habakkuk 2:14 ) .