Daniel 12
COMMENTARY:
: 2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. (1860 “contempt” [d@ra’own] means aversion, abhorrence, loathing, or abhorring.)
DEVOTION: Daniel wants to know about the future. He is told by the angel Michael that there is going to be a time of trouble in the future that has never happened before. During this future time there is a group of individuals that will be delivered among the nation of Israel. Those who will be delivered have their names written in a book that the LORD has in heaven. The book is called the “Book of Life.” These individuals will have everlasting life.
However, there are some that will have everlasting shame and loathing. These are the individuals who reject the message of the Bible. They will spend eternity in the lake of fire with the devil and his angels.
This chapter also explains why those who are going to have everlasting life are still on the earth. They will purified and made white and tried while they are living. This will cause growth. The wicked don’t like these times. The wise will understand why these things are happening.
What about the belief in “soul sleep” that is taught by some. This verse is not saying that when people die they will sleep for a while until judgment day. What is in the grave is the body. However, the soul and the spirit will go immediately to their respective places. What are the respective places? Those who are followers of the LORD in the Old Testament will go into a place called Abraham’s bosom. It is a place of blessing. Those who are not followers of the LORD will go into a place of torment. Not the final place of torment but a temporary one. Neither of these individuals can change places once they die. Their eternal judgment is settled. Everlasting means everlasting. There is no salvation after death. There is no annihilation or universalism taught in the Bible.
We have the responsibility of telling all those around us that there is only ONE WAY to get to heaven and that is through Jesus Christ. God is a God of love but that doesn’t mean everyone is going to heaven or universalism. It does not mean that those without Christ will be annihilated. They are going to join the devil and his angels in the lake of fire for eternity. They are not there yet and they don’t want to go there either. It is going to happen.
We need to get all those we love to understand these truths. Only the wise will understand. We have a hard job in front of us. Are we busy doing our job???
CHALLENGE: The choices are only two. There is no third choice. Hell is not living here on the earth for a lifetime. It is going to be real. Are we crying for the souls of loved ones who are not listening to us now?)
: 4 But you, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. (1847 “knowledge” [da‘ath] means perception, skill, discernment, understanding, wisdom, intelligence, or insight.)
DEVOTION: Daniel was commanded twice to seal the book that he was writing. He didn’t understand all that was given him in the visions he received. He was wise to listen to the angels regarding the fact that he would never understand. He just had to accept the truth that God knows the future.
Now we read that the book was to be sealed unto something new happened. What was the something new? It was the fact that at the end of time there would be two characteristics that would be self-evident.
One characteristic is that “many shall run to and fro.” This means that life was going to move at a faster pace as time continued. This is definitely happening today. We now can travel at a rate never before understood. We have sent men to the moon. We have supersonic jets traveling our skies on a regular basis. Our cars get us places faster than ever before and there is talk that there will be cars that can drive themselves. Impossible to understand but it is going to happen.
The second characteristic is that intelligence will increase. I have grandchildren who can work a computer better than I will ever know how to work one. They are learning more in kindergarten than I will understand regarding what is going on in the world. They can play games at faster rates than ever before. They see more pictures than were around in my childhood.
The computers are getting smaller but the capacity for material is getting larger. Our phones can call anywhere in the world. We can see people any time we want to get on Skype together. In fact, as I was writing this part of the devotional I received a call from Russia and talked with a young lady that was in seminary with me. It is great to see each other rather than just talk into a phone.
Our understanding of what is happening in our world has increased greatly but the worship of the True God of the Bible has decreased here where we have some many blessings we don’t really appreciate. We are to be a thankful people but it seems that all we want is more!
CHALLENGE: Understand the times we are living in and be prepared for what is going to happen next in our world. Share the Word with all you can and encourage all those who know the LORD
: 9 And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
: 10 Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.
DEVOTION: God has a reason for all HE is doing now and has done in the past and what HE will do in the future. Everywhere you look throughout the Word of God it informs of God working HIS plans for a reason. HE just doesn’t do it to hurt us or those who have lived in the past or will live in the future.
All of the trials HE sends our way are for a purpose. If we are believers it is so that we will grow in our relationship to HIM. If we are those who are presently rejecting HIS Word, it is for us to realize that HE is in control and HE will send you to a place called hell for eternity.
Yes HE is a God of love. HE sent HIS Son to die for our sins and if we reject this sacrifice HE has no other choice but to reject us. The wicked seem to keep on doing things that HE considers wicked. They are disobedient on purpose. HE sends warning into each of our lives to help us understand that HE wants us to either repent of our sins and become a follower of HIM or to cause us to repent and restore our fellowship with HIM so that HE can bless us.
During the Tribulation period of seven years after the church is taken to heaven there will be final cleansing of the children of Israel. HE has not forsaken them but has given us a time period called the Age of Grace to have both Jews and Gentiles become follower of HIM.
The book is sealed and closed because the understanding of the words of the book of Daniel will be explained in the future to future generations to understand and act on what is revealed. We have the New Testament to help us understand these prophecies. God adds more details through Christ and the disciples.
HE doesn’t reveal everything at once. No one could handle it. HE gives us just enough information for us to make a good decision.
CHALLENGE: Those who reject are making a bad decision.
:13 “As for you, go your way until the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days, you will rise again to receive the inheritance set aside for you. (5117 “rest” [nuwach] means to settle down, to await, to repose, to set oneself down, or wait.)
DEVOTION: Daniel was a faithful prophet of the LORD. He was faithful in his work in the political world of the Babylonians and Medo-Persians. He didn’t live to see the time period of the Grecian or Roman empires.
He was given some answers but there were things that he didn’t understand but the LORD told him to seal the book that he was writing until the end times. We are not in the end times that he was told about because it is believed that those who live in this present age will be Raptured or taken to heaven before these events take place during what is the seventieth week of Daniel or the time of the Great Tribulation.
The Bible tells us that the angel told Daniel to rest now because he was going to die before these events took place and he would be resurrected at the end of the Tribulation to receive his inheritance.
We will receive an inheritance from the LORD as we live our lives to please HIM. HE wants us to wait for HIS return with patience.
There is life after death. There are rewards and punishment given after death. Those who are followers of Jesus Christ will have everlasting life. Those who reject will receive shame and everlasting contempt. The Bible teaches that those outside of heaven will suffer in a place called the lake of fire for eternity.
CHALLENGE: Those who reject the message of salvation will spend eternity in the lake of fire. Our time to witness to those outside of Christ is NOW!!
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