Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Daniel 12:2
Tuesday, December 16, 2008 |
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.
This is a very interesting chapter, our extended reading for the devotions today. This 12th chapter of Daniel’s prophecy is somewhat understood by the reader, but it does have several verses that I will not try to explain, because I don’t have any idea what it is speaking about, verses 11 and 12.
However, there are a number of issues that we can discuss after we have read the passage. Verse 0ne, for example, is a prophecy of the “time of Jacob’s trouble” and how “bad” it will be during the last half of the Tribulation Period.
The “time of the trouble”, verse 1, “such as never was since there was a nation”, is describing the Jewish nation and saying that they will face “trouble” like they never have before. This is an awesome statement if one knows the entire 4,000-year history of the Jews.
In fact, it will be so bad that the Lord will dispatch the Arch Angel Michael to intercede to protect His “chosen people”. “At that time” the Jewish people will be delivered from total destruction at the hands of the Satanic Trinity, Satan, Antichrist and the False Prophet.
The “resurrection” spoken of in verse 2 is the resurrection of “Old Testament saints”, those who trusted the Lord for their salvation during the time before the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is the “source” for everyone’s salvation.
At this resurrection, at the end of the Tribulation Period and before the Kingdom Period begins, humankind from the Old Testament will be resurrected from the dead, both those that had been saved and those that were “lost”, without Jesus as their Saviour.
The saved ones will be raised to “everlasting life” and some, the lost, to “everlasting contempt”, or death, separation from God, forever. Those who are saved will enter the Kingdom that was always promised to the Jewish people.
The others, the “lost” Jews will be held in “hades” until the Great White Throne Judgment when they will appear before Jesus to be sentenced to the eternal “lake of fire”.
This much about the prophecies of Daniel that I’ve shared in this chapter should create a desire to study the Word of God, as it relates to Bible Prophecy. As you study this whole last chapter of Daniel I pray that somehow we have been an encouragement to you to better understand God’s prophet word.
As we continue these devotionals on the prophetic passages in God’s Word we can only come to one conclusion, Jesus is coming soon, and it could today. Keep looking up.
PRAYER THOT: Thank you Lord for the “more sure word of prophecy” that you have given to us, so that we can prepare ourselves for your soon return. Help me to live in light of theses bits of evidence pointing to the Rapture, an event that can happen at any moment.
For further study - Daniel 12:1-13
This is a very interesting chapter, our extended reading for the devotions today. This 12th chapter of Daniel’s prophecy is somewhat understood by the reader, but it does have several verses that I will not try to explain, because I don’t have any idea what it is speaking about, verses 11 and 12.
However, there are a number of issues that we can discuss after we have read the passage. Verse 0ne, for example, is a prophecy of the “time of Jacob’s trouble” and how “bad” it will be during the last half of the Tribulation Period.
The “time of the trouble”, verse 1, “such as never was since there was a nation”, is describing the Jewish nation and saying that they will face “trouble” like they never have before. This is an awesome statement if one knows the entire 4,000-year history of the Jews.
In fact, it will be so bad that the Lord will dispatch the Arch Angel Michael to intercede to protect His “chosen people”. “At that time” the Jewish people will be delivered from total destruction at the hands of the Satanic Trinity, Satan, Antichrist and the False Prophet.
The “resurrection” spoken of in verse 2 is the resurrection of “Old Testament saints”, those who trusted the Lord for their salvation during the time before the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is the “source” for everyone’s salvation.
At this resurrection, at the end of the Tribulation Period and before the Kingdom Period begins, humankind from the Old Testament will be resurrected from the dead, both those that had been saved and those that were “lost”, without Jesus as their Saviour.
The saved ones will be raised to “everlasting life” and some, the lost, to “everlasting contempt”, or death, separation from God, forever. Those who are saved will enter the Kingdom that was always promised to the Jewish people.
The others, the “lost” Jews will be held in “hades” until the Great White Throne Judgment when they will appear before Jesus to be sentenced to the eternal “lake of fire”.
This much about the prophecies of Daniel that I’ve shared in this chapter should create a desire to study the Word of God, as it relates to Bible Prophecy. As you study this whole last chapter of Daniel I pray that somehow we have been an encouragement to you to better understand God’s prophet word.
As we continue these devotionals on the prophetic passages in God’s Word we can only come to one conclusion, Jesus is coming soon, and it could today. Keep looking up.
PRAYER THOT: Thank you Lord for the “more sure word of prophecy” that you have given to us, so that we can prepare ourselves for your soon return. Help me to live in light of theses bits of evidence pointing to the Rapture, an event that can happen at any moment.