Gabriel instructed Daniel to close and seal a book, but what book? The SDA Bible Commentary tells us that this means many of the prophecies in the book of Daniel were to be left unexplained until the time of the end. But, what book is referred to here? Many interpret this to be the book of Daniel. Did Daniel have the book of Daniel? Of course not. Then what book was to be sealed?
There is only one book mentioned in Daniel, and it is found tucked away in an obscure verse which most people completely miss in their haste to get to chapter 11. Daniel 10:21 mentions a mysterious Book of Truth (NIV), also called the Book of the Future (Living Bible), and the Book of the Eternal Plans and Purposes of God (4 B.C. 862). Gabriel informs Daniel that everything that has been revealed to him concerning the future: the four kingdoms represented by the giant image of chapter 2, the four beast kingdoms of chapter 7, the ram and the he-goat of chapter 8, and the 2300 day-year prophecy of chapter 9 is found in this Book of Truth, and Daniel is told to seal it up. How can he do this if it is in the Library of Heaven? This merely means that he cannot or will not divulge the interpretation of the vision. This is to be left to another time called "The Time Of The End."
Since much of the prophetic territory covered in Daniel is repeated and augmented in the book of Revelation, we would expect the Book of Truth to emerge there in a sealed condition. Sure enough, in chapter 5 we find a Book with Seven Seals. When these seals are broken, much of the prophecies of Daniel concerning the political and religious history of the world are repeated in greater detail.
So, according to Gabriel's instructions, the Book of Truth, now called the Book With Seven Seals, has been unsealed in the time of the end by Bible scholars. As a result, knowledge has been increased as to its contents and meaning, and we can see the future unfolding according to God's plans and purposes as outlined therein. How fortunate we are that God has decided to unseal The Sealed Book!
