“Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” – Luke 10:20
A few years ago in early 2020, most people will remember as, one by one, events were deleted from the calendar. Birthday parties, sporting events, even weddings were postponed and canceled and people seemingly had nothing to look forward to.
Daniel 12, the final chapter of this incredible book, looks at five things in succession that we can look forward to that won’t be erased from our calendars.
At this point, Daniel is an elderly man, and he’s peering into the future. God gives him a vision beyond the horizon of his life and shows Daniel that for him, and also for you and me if we believe in and belong to Jesus Christ, there are things God has on the eternal calendar that cannot and will not be erased.
We will discuss three of those things today.
- God Rescues the Troubled (12:1)
At the end of human history, the angel Michael will arise. There will be conflict, turmoil, or, as some would call it, tribulation. Things will get worse as the conflict between God and His Enemy ultimately escalates into the finality of history. But God’s people will be delivered. Those whose names are in the Book of Life, also known as the best guest list in the history of the world, will be saved and have eternal life in God’s Kingdom. You get your name on this guest list if you turn from your sin and trust in God.
God’s people will be delivered, and this chapter is trying to help Daniel have the long view of his life and the lives of all Christians. Most people get scared by what happens in their lives because they have no concept of life beyond this life.
- God Raises the Dead (12:2-3)
Daniel is an old man and gets a glimpse into resurrection. He sees Heaven and Hell, the eternal fate of all humanity. There are many false views of what happens to us when we die, but Heaven or Hell is what awaits us. The worst thing is not to die but to die and not know Jesus. For the believer, once we die, our body and soul will be reunited as we spend eternity with Jesus. This is the hope of the believer. Our glorified, resurrected body will no longer have sickness, suffering, or sadness.
- God Rules the Future (12:4-9)
The man clothed in linen here is possibly the angel Gabriel. Daniel is suffering; tribulation is coming, and he gets a visit from a divine being who tells him what’s forthcoming. He asks, “How long?” and they won’t tell him. When we’re suffering, we ask God the same thing.
The angel says that the words are “sealed until the time of the end.” In those days, if there was a legal document, they would roll it up and seal it so no one could open it. Here, this means that God knows and rules the future, and what He intends for His people is all sealed, certain, and confirmed. As the angel said, “Go your way, Daniel,” God wants us to do the same: to go on and live our lives knowing that God knows and rules the future, but we don’t need to know, worry about, or be burdened by all the details right now.
In tomorrow’s devotional, we will finish the book of Daniel by discussing two more things we can certainly look forward to in the future.
How does knowing about the return of Jesus, the crushing of all evil, the raising of the dead, and the establishment of an eternal kingdom change your perspective on what you endure in life?
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