(Proper 28B) Your people shall be delivered
Daniel 12:1-4a, (5-13) Mark 13:14-23
The Lord spoke to Daniel in a vision and said, “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righ teousness, like the stars forever and ever. But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end.”
[Then I, Daniel, looked, and behold, two others stood, one on this bank of the stream and one on that bank of the stream. And someone said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream, “How long shall it be till the end of these wonders?” And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream; he raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven and swore by him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time, and that when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end all these things would be finished. I heard, but I did not understand. Then I said, “O my lord, what shall be the outcome of these things?” He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand. And from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290 days. Blessed is he who waits and arrives at the 1,335 days. But go your way till the end. And you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days.”]
Psalm 16:(1-5), 6-12 BCP 357
Hebrews 10:31-39
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, ”Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
Mark 13:14-23
Jesus said, “When you see the abomination of desolation standing where it ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter his house, to take anything out, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! Pray that it may not happen in winter. For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be. And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days. And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. False christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand.”
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The reading from Daniel 12 is one of the more difficult passages in all of Scripture, and is companion to a similar reading from the Book of Revelation and from the Gospels.
There have been many very loose and often fanciful handlings of these passages.
We begin with a simple reading of what the text says. When I reread Daniel 12, the text for today, I looked into the meaning of the name Michael. OT names have definite meanings. There were 9 men with the name Michael listed in Numbers and the two books of Chronicles. It was a common name in the mid-east. Also a daughter of King Saul was likewise named Michal and became one of King David’s wives.
The name is a an exclamation/question/statement meaning, “Who is like God!?” This was a cry of soldiers going to war very much like Muslim exclamations today Ali Akbar – God is Great.
There are only 4 references to the person now called St. Michale or Michael the Archangel in the Scriptures. In Daniel 10 and in today’s reading from Daniel 12 he is called “Michael the Great Prince who has charge of the people of Israel.” In chapter 10 :20; this Michael says to Daniel in his vision, “Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia. . . .” As the Jews and later the Christians interpreted this passage, the prince of Persia was a Demon that fought against Michael and the Jews in an attempt to win a victory for Satan and the Persians.
There is no mention in Daniel that Michael is an angel. After all, the word angel means “messenger”. This Michael was more than a messenger. In this passage of Scripture he is active in bringing about the will of God on earth The little one page book of Jude contains a one line reference to Michael the Archangel as he quotes from one of the apocryphal Jewish books called the Assumption of Moses. In Scripture, the only time Michael is identified as an angel of any sort is in this quote from an apocryphal Jewish book.
The last we hear of Michael, is in Revelation 12 where John has this wondrous vision that sums up the whole Gospel story and the trials the Church faced on earth during the persecutions in the first century. John saw a woman with 12 stars in a crown, a halo around her head and the moon under her feet. She is clothed with the sun. She gives birth to a son who will rule the nations. The child is snatched up to God. Then there is a war in heaven, Michael and his angels fight against the dragon and cast him down. After that, a voice in heaven sings:
“Now have come the salvation and the power and kingdom of our God, and the authority of Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the lamb.”
Rev 12:10
Note, it is Michael and his angels, not Archangel Michael or St. Michael, who fights against God’s enemies and subdues Satan. It is he who is called, "Who is Like God" that leads the battle against Satan and vanquishes him.
What angel and what saint would accept the acclamation of the saints and the heavenly hosts, “Now have come salvation and power and kingdom of our God and the authority of Christ? To accept such praise would be blasphemous.
Only in Jude, when Jude is quoting from a non-Biblical Jewish book is Michael called an archangel. He is never called a saint. His name means “Who is like the Lord?”
What does this Michael, this one “Who is Like the Lord” do? He defends Israel against the Persians and a demonic being that led the Persians. In the Gospel story in revelation, when the Child of the Woman ascends to heaven he leads the Angels in the battle against the Devil.
How is the description of the work of Michael, this one who is called “Who is Like the Lord?” different from the work of the Messiah?
Consider Isaiah 9:4-7. Consider the name Emmanuel; how is that name different from saying “Who is like God?”
4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor.
5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called, Wonderful Counselor, [a] Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
It is the Christ, the Messiah who fights against the world, the flesh and the devil, including devilish governments and armies bent on destruction.
Jewish literature outside of the Bible picked up many stories about Michael from the pagans of the mid-east in which they lived while in captivity in what is now modern day Iraq.
The most extravagant myths were concocted around the Archangel Michael. The early Christians picked up these stories, repeated them for generations and elaborated on them in the middle ages. The Moslems made much of Michael the Archangel.
Here is a sampling of what has been attributed to Michael in the past and in some quarters, even today.
Quote:
St. Michael also guards the body of Eve, according to the "Revelation of Moses" ("Apocryphal Gospels", etc., ed. A. Walker, Edinburgh, p. 647).
It was from early times the centre of the true cult of the holy angels, particularly of St. Michael. Tradition relates that St. Michael in the earliest ages caused a medicinal spring to spout at Chairotopa near Colossae, where all the sick who bathed there, invoking the Blessed Trinity and St. Michael, were cured.
The Christians of Egypt placed their life-giving river, the Nile under the protection of St. Michael; they adopted the Greek feast and kept it 12 November; on the twelfth of every month they celebrate a special commemoration of the archangel, but 12 June, whan the river commences to rise, they keep as a holiday of obligation the feast of St. Michael "for the rising of the Nile", euche eis ten symmetron anabasin ton potamion hydaton.
Chief among the angel-princes,appearing as such in the Old Testament books of Enoch and Daniel. In Revelations, it is Michael who leads an army of God’s angels against Satan. He is an angel of repentance, mercy, and righteousness, appearing in Islamic, Jewish, and Christian "angelology". He is often depicted with a sword...
The Archangel Michael, whose name means ’who is as God’, is generally considered to be the foremost of the seven archangels and the leader of the Host of Heaven. He derives originally from the Chaldeans by who he was worshiped as something of a god. He is the chief of the order of virtues, Prince of the presence, angel of repentance, righteousness, mercy and sanctification: also ruler of the 4th Heaven, an angelic prince. He is the prince who defended the Israelites and later, it was claimed, the Christian Church, when as guardian he may be called on (sometimes with Gabriel) to defend church doors against the evil angels. According to the Book of Revelations, Michael and his angels’ are described as fighting the dragon and his angels. Hence Michael is often shown fighting or overcoming a dragon armed with spear or sword as God’s Warrior.
Michael is the spirit of the planet Mercury, Governor of the North and the element of Earth. He is ruler over Sunday and Thursday. He is the alchemy of motivation, activation and achievement.
New age religions have these offerings in regard to St. Michael: Michael’s candle colors are orange, white and gold. His color energies are orange, violet, white, crystal, gold, and brown.Invoke Michael in the North for motivation and empowerment in your work. Call on him to protect you from day to day.
Do you see how he evolved into a warrior-hero – a demi god? The archangel, the saint were looked to for defense and inspiration that we seek from God.
This sort of thinking did not stop with the Protestant reformation. There are Moslems, Protestant and Catholic Christians who continue to glorify this figure.
Now you can understand why, at the Protestant Reformation, there was such opposition to the veneration of saints, and many altars were pulled down, and statues thrown out of the churches. Created beings were receiving adoration due to God.
I think this happened in the case of Michael. Who is Like the Lord? The answer is “nobody” except our Lord, the Christ. There are, in the Old Testament, a number of times that persons appear who deliver a message, destroy a village, lend assistance to one in need and leave.
In Genesis 16:17 there is a strange story about “the angel of the Lord” who speaks in the first person as if he were God. Hagar called this being, “You are the God who sees me.”
The well where she saw God is called “The well of the one who sees me and who lives.”
There are 8 other places in the Old Testament where a person appears, speaks as God and leaves the scene. The traditional Christian interpretation is that this”angel” was a preincarnate manifestation of Christ as God’s Messenger Servant.
Don’t the references to Michael in Daniel and Revelation match the traditional interpretation for the angel of the Lord; that this was a pre-incarnate manifestation of Christ as God’s messenger-servant?
It seems to me, that the 4 references to Michael, “Who is Like the Lord” are of a similar nature to the appearance of God to Hagar at the well. I see no justification for postulating a super-being and attributing to him Godly powers as has been done in popular literature, medieval angel-ology and the apocryphal writings of ancient Jews.
There are two fulfillments of the Daniel 12 prophecy. One was the resurrection of Jesus. At that time, according to Matthew, the graves of the Saints of the Old Testament times were opened and they walked in Jerusalem. He led captivity captive and at his ascension according to Scripture, he emptied sheol, hades.
A second fulfillment will be at the time of the General Resurrection of the Dead, when, as Paul teaches in Corinthians, the dead in Christ will rise. Then, those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
How wise will we be in “turning many to righteousness?” That was an aim of my parents, and of many simple righteous people in this country. There is an old Gospel Song my mother and grandmother sang when I was a child. “Will there be, any stars, any stars in my crown? At evening when the sun goeth down? When I wake with the blest in the mansions of rest, will there be any stars in my crown?
Will we shine like the stars, as Daniel says because we have brought the Gospel to this dark world? What will you and I do this next year to accomplish the task of lighting the corner where we are?
The Book of Hebrews was written against the background of a horrible persecution.
Reread those words with me.
Heb 10:31-39
It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37For in just a very little while,
"He who is coming will come and will not delay. my righteous one[a] will live by faith.
And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him."[b] But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
“It is a fearful thing. . . . .” is the warning, coupled with the promise, “when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised you.”
There is, in Mark 13:14-23 a direct reference by Jesus back to the prophecies of Daniel chapter 11 where Daniel tells that armed forces would capture Jersualem, desecrate the temple and abolish the daily sacrifice. This happened when Atiochus Epiphanes set up an altar to Zeus at the temple in 168 B.C. Again, the temple was being profaned in Jesus day, as He declared to the ruling Sadducees that they had made the house of prayer a den of thieves.
Jesus predicted, in today’s lesson, the time when the Romans would invade Judea, conquer fortress Jerusalem and again destroy the temple. He predicted that false Christ’s would arise. That is recorded in secular history. There were scores of false Messiah’s who appeared in that time and over the course of succeeding decades. One such appears in the Book of Acts; the epistles warn of such false teachers. The early Christian writers in the second and third centuries record such, and we have imposters today.
Jesus informed his disciples what to watch for so that they could flee from Jerusalem and save their lives.
All of that happened within 40 years of Jesus death.
Jesus, in that same speech has a word for us not included in today’s lesson.
Immediately after talking to the disciples about the invasion of their country and the destruction of Jerusalem that would happen within their generation, he gave a message that harks back to Daniel. 11 and 12.
Mark 13: 24-36.
Lets do a quick review of where we have been.
That person, who appeared to destitute Hagar, who thought both she and her child would die alone, was that the Christ? She said, “I have seen the God who sees me and lives.”
Weeks ago we read the strange encounter Joshua had as he approached the walled city of Jericho, to take it in battle from the Canaanites.
Joshua 15:13-15
The Fall of Jericho
13 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?"
14 "Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, "What message does my Lord [a] have for his servant?"
15 The commander of the LORD’s army replied, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.
Who was that man who commanded the army of the Lord that Joshua worshipped? Was that the Christ?
That person Daniel saw in his vision, name “Who is like the Lord?” That one who would fight for Israel against the demon led Persians. Was that the Christ?
You ask how could Christ appear before Jesus was born?
Micah the prophet, who lived hundreds of years before Jesus wrote:
From [Bethlehem] will come out to me the One who is to become ruler in Israel, whose origin is from ancient times, from before the Periods of time began.”[Micah 5:2
John the Baptist was also inspired to know that Messiah had a pre-existence. He speaks to the Jews in this manner: “The One arriving after me has gone before me because he existed before me.” [John 1:15, 30] The Baptist repeats this twice. Since John was about six months older than Jesus the Baptist believed Jesus had a pre-existence before his birth.
Jesus himself taught on several occasions that he had a pre-existence. Compare the following statements he made in the hearing of his disciples:
John 3:13 - “No human has ever ascended to heaven but the Son of Humankind who descended from heaven.” If the Son of Humankind “descended from heaven” it strongly infers he had a pre-existence.
John 6:62 - “What if you behold the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?” The Nazarene makes clear he had existed “before” becoming a human being.
[Daniel 7:13] "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.
John 8:58 - “I existed before Abraham came to be.” That translation of John 8:56 is a bit anemic. Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” Not only did he affirm his existence before Abraham, he referred to himself with the sacred name of God.
John 17:5 - “And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
We have reviewed this mysterious Christ who enters history often, coming to the rescue of the helpless, who fights for the people of God against their enemies, who was born in Bethlehem and died on the Cross.
That same Christ will come again and again to call you and me to his service and to rescue us when we are in need. Let us worship Him who Is, Was and Is to Come as we gather at his table.
Charles R. Scott, Pastor
Church of the Good Shepherd, Anglican
2060 E 54th Street
Indianapolis, In, 46176
http://www.goodshepherdindy.org
crscottblu@yahoo.com
