We’ve come to the end of Daniel. And I want to tell you how pleasantly surprised I’ve been at the relevancy of this book and how the message fits right in -- speaking to us right where we are.
- - - - - - - - -
All scripture is quoted from the New Living Translation.
- - - - - - - - -
As you know, the second half of the book is of the unusual style of writing called apocalyptic -- visions, dreams, and prophecies that use strange creatures, objects, and enigmatic numbers to get their message across.
I’m not really into this kind of stuff. I like straight forward teaching of the Apostle Paul. I like the engaging parables of Jesus.
So I’ve been surprised at just how encouraging these bizarre dreams actually are – once you start to look at them for what they really are.
Well, we’ve come to the end. And I don’t think you’ll be at all surprised if I tell you up front that what is happening in chapter 12 is really about God’s sovereignty. In spite of present appearances, God really is in control.
This morning I want to make four observations from this chapter. I believe that without going into ALL the detail, these will nicely summarize what God is saying to Daniel and to us through these last 13 verses.
So, here they are.
Observation #1 – WE CAN EXPECT THE TOUGH TIMES TO CONTINUE.
If you remember from last week, the dream suddenly fast forwards from a description of ancient kings to a description of “the end”.
Verse 1 -- "At that time Michael, the archangel who stands guard over your nation, will arise. Then there will be a time of anguish greater than any since nations first came into existence...”
Remember, the Jewish people were in exile in Babylon and they were on the verge of returning to their homeland.
They could see it coming. They could feel it. They could taste it. And they were thinking – Wow, once we get back to Jerusalem, everything is going to be A-OKAY.
But all of these lists of terrible kings and conquerors and periods of persecution was probably taking a lot of the wind out of their sails. And then to top it all off the messenger says: “Then there will be a time of anguish greater than any since nations first came into existence...”
You can imagine how Daniel’s heart sank.
Aren’t things suppose to get progressively better?
I’ve been thinking about this during the whole time that we’ve been in Daniel. I am definitely a product of American optimistic positive thinking.
Things can only get better! We can all pull together and we can face any challenges in front of us and we can come out on top.
Look how much we’ve accomplished in just the last 100 years – equal rights, radio, tv, cars, air travel, microwaves, movies, the Internet, Starbucks. We are unstoppable. WE ARE AMERICANS!
Those are the modern suppositions that I bring with me when I read scripture. But then I bump into the kind of stuff we see in Daniel and I realize that in spite of all the progress we’re making technologically and in terms of civilization – things continue to get worse.
“Then there will be a time of anguish greater than any since nations first came into existence...”
Terrorists continue to do their thing – not only in the US, but in Russia, and Israel, and Colombia, and Bali.
We live on the defensive. I mean, even at church we have predator screening for everyone who works with our children.
The point is, we should not expect that somehow everything is going to magically get better and that we’ll all wake up someday and the terrorists will be gone and that the police will all draw early retirement.
From the perspective of the prophet things continue to go to pot.
#2 – SOME PEOPLE WILL BE REFINED THROUGH THE FIRE. THE “WICKED”, HOWEVER, WILL BE SO CAUGHT UP IN THEIR WICKEDNESS THAT THEY WILL “NEVER UNDERSTAND.”
Look at verse 10 – “Many will be purified, cleansed, and refined by these trials. But the wicked will continue in their wickedness, and none of them will understand. Only those who are wise will know what it means.”
This is the positive spin on a nasty situation.
There are two kinds of people in the world – those who find their lives are improved because of the ordeal – and those who are so caught up in the evilness of the era that they will remain clueless for eternity.
These are the people who are so distracted by the wickedness that they never see the train coming while they’re stopped across the track.
You know how some people are in their cars – lost in their own worlds – music blaring, bump, bump, boom, boom, puffing away, chattering with their friends – oblivious to the outside world.
“They don’t understand.”
But the good news is that the tough times – the opposition, the persecution, the marital strains, the addictions -- the trouble in the world will bring out the best in many of us.
Not that we’re looking for trouble as a means of self-improvement but we grow smarter and wiser through tough times than we do through the easy times.
“Many will be purified, cleansed, and refined by these trials.”
Look at the results of the 9-11 tragedy. The terrorists thought that they would disrupt the nation but really it only strengthened the resolve and the character of the country.
True, there has been some disruption – and the economy has continued to struggle in the midst of the uncertainty.
But a lot more good has come from this than the evil that was put into it.
There are people who are asking deep spiritual questions that they were not asking 9-10-01.
Fire has a purifying effect on a lot of people.
In metal shop we used to melt soft drink cans (some of which was authorized and some not) which at that time were bi-metal.
Once we got things hot enough the metals would separate and we’d scrape off the cheap scrap stuff that surfaced. And then we’d pour the purified aluminum into molds to make things out of it. Purification by fire.
#3 – PERSEVERE BECAUSE THERE WILL BE A DEFINITE END TO THE TROUBLE.
Verse 11 – "From the time the daily sacrifice is taken away and the sacrilegious object that causes desecration is set up to be worshiped, there will be 1,290 days. And blessed are those who wait and remain until the end of the 1,335 days!”
Again, I think that the numbers have more symbolic value than literal value. Over the years various people have tried to assign these numbers to specific dates in calendars. Some have made predictions about the end of history and the return of Christ. But nobody has got it right to this point.
And that’s because numbers have more symbolic value than literal value in apocalyptic visions and dreams and they are trying to treat deal with them in an overly literal fashion.
Now, don’t ask me what that symbolic value is! I don’t know. But God knows and that is the message. God has an end in mind. It’s a mystery to us – but he knows. There will come a time when he, and it is in his timing, will wrap things up. Enough is enough!
The point is that there are only so many days of trouble and then when the end comes it’s over. Therefore, perseverance is the name of the game.
Don’t give up – you may be on the the 99th yardline with one to go – but you don’t know it because in this game only God can see how much yardage there is.
So trust him and keep on moving the ball down the field. The goal is down there somewhere.
Then, #4 – LIVE NOW CONFIDENT THAT IN THE END YOU WILL RISE TO RECEIVE YOUR INHERITANCE.
This is the underlying message to Daniel in verses 9 and 13 -- kind of like the charge at the end of the worship service – except it’s at the end of all these visions.
Verse 9 – “But he said, ‘Go now, Daniel...’”
Verse 13 – “As for you, go your way until the end.”
When our kids were little I used to push them on the swing and as I was pusing them I’d always say something like – “Scram – get out out of here – get moving”. But, of course, they kept coming back. Gravity does that. And I’d harass them saying – “I thought I told you to get going – but you keep coming back.” And they’d giggle and giggle.
I was reminded of that when I read these verses because they sound a lot like what I was saying to my kids – except here the message to Daniel isn’t teasing.
Get going... Move out... The dream is over... No more visions... Get on with your life... And your life as the people of God.
And move out with confidence – the confidence that comes from knowing that things really will swing back God’s way – and that God will recall us.
The second half of verse 13 – “You will rest, and then at the end of the days, you will rise again to receive the inheritance set aside for you.”
You aren’t going to see it all now but the inheritance that God has for you will eventually be yours. And you probably won’t see it all until the final resurrection.
Jump back to verse 1 -- "At that time Michael, the archangel who stands guard over your nation, will arise. Then there will be a time of anguish greater than any since nations first came into existence. But at that time every one of your people whose name is written in the book will be rescued.”
If your name is recorded in God’s family registry – you are scheduled for rescue.
And who are these people whose names are in the book? Those who put their faith and trust in God and persevere.
The Apostle Paul in Phil 4:3 – “And I ask you, my true teammate, to help these women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. And they worked with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life.”
The Revelation of John (the book of Revelation) picks up this theme in 3:5 – “All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine.”
Revelation 20:15 -- “And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.”
Revelation 21:27 -- “Nothing evil will be allowed to enter” (that is, the new Jerusalem) “— no one who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty — but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”
Having your name written in God’s book of life seems to be the ticket to the future.
It’s not how good you’ve been -- how many little old ladies you’ve helped across the street -- how long you’ve been sober -- how much you didn’t cheat and steal. But it’s a matter of putting your trust in the author of the book. And when you do that – when you acknowledge him as Savior and as Master of your life –he writes you into the story in his book of everlasting life.
Daniel 12:2 – “Many of those whose bodies lie dead and buried will rise up, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”
The idea of a future life is really kind of muted in the Old Testament. The idea of resurrection is not very explicit – except here in Daniel 12. This, by the way, is the only reference to “eternal life” in the entire Old Testament.
Some will rise to everlasting life because their names appear in the book – but others will rise to shame and everlasting contempt.
So, in John 11, when Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life” Jesus’ listeners were hearing him in the context of this Daniel 12 passage – for this was the most explicit reference to resurrection in the scriptures they had.
Daniel couldn’t have possibly seen or understood the whole thing. But the prophecy is really rooted in the resurrection of Jesus.
What a powerful way to bring this book to a close – by ending with a snap shot of the future resurrection – and a charge to go out and live life to the fullest because you know that there is a resurrection in your future.
Verse 13 again – “...and then at the end of the days, you will rise again to receive the inheritance set aside for you...”
This is the good news.
This is what the Jewish prisoners of 6th century BC needed to hear. And really this is what we need to hear.
There is hope! And it’s rooted in the resurrection.
All of this brings us back to the key point, which really is the key point for the whole book. IN THE END, ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, IT BECOMES CLEAR THAT GOD IS IN CONTROL.
It’s looks like things are spinning out of control now – but that’s only because we lack perspective and because we’re not taking the resurrection factor into account.
Well, actually, that’s no longer true for you. You now know what the book of Daniel says. So let it shape the way you see the world. And let is shape your response to the challenges that the world throws at you.
Let’s pray: Gracious God, way back in Daniel 2 King Nebuchadnezzar honored you when he said to Daniel "Truly, your God is the God of gods, the Lord over kings, a revealer of mysteries...”
We echo that this morning as we thank you for the book of Daniel – the stories and the visions which reveal the mystery of your sovereignty – that you really are in control.
We desire to act on this message and to see life from this new perspective. Help us when we lose sight of this and begin to carry the weight of the world on our own shoulders. Forgive us for taking on that which is not ours – and the same time ignoring what you have clearly revealed about the world and the future.
This we pray with confidence regarding your grace and with passion regarding our Savior – Christ Jesus. Amen.
