Daniel 12:5

Daniel 12:5 says, Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river.  Daniel had seen and heard one angel, Gabriel, but he now saw two others.  One was on each side of the river.  I believe that what we need to realize is that God is not limited in the number of angels that can be at work in the world at any one time.  I believe that we also need to realize that we will never be angels.  Angels were created as angels before mankind existed.  We will always be simply people redeemed by Christ.  Verse six adds, And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?  Matthew Henry says the man clothed in linen stranding on the waters was Christ.  Since I believe Daniel was now seeing into the future to the time of the second coming, I believe this would be accurate.  There  is no king to associate what Daniel was seeing with.  The angels asked how long it would be before they saw these wonders.  Matthew Henry says their question was out of concern for the church and not just idle curiosity.  Verse seven continues, And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.  The answer came from the One clothed in linen.   Matthew Henry said there were various interpretations of how long this time would be, but one is an indefinite period of time.  He then attempts to associate the time with a particular period of time around the end of the rule of Antiochus, but states that no time in history aligns perfectly.  We do know that God's people will have been scattered, then all these things will be finished.  Whether we see this as a time in history that has already occurred or a prophecy about the second coming of Christ, we know that the church has been scattered and that at the second coming all things of this earth shall end.  We need only to remain faithful to God until He calls us home.