Daniel Chapter 12 Verse 1a

• “At that time Michael shall stand up…” Now I mentioned this last week. What we concluded with in Chapter 11, the demise of the Anti-Christ, does not precede what we are about to read in Chapter 12. Remember, the angel is speaking contextually to Daniel, not chronologically. How do we know for sure?
• Because what we’re about to see in Chapter 12 is without any doubt a description of a time period during the Great Tribulation and what we saw at the end of Chapter 11 was the demise of the Anti-Christ and that gives us a problem if we’re reading this in chronological fashion…for it to be the Great Tribulation, the Anti-Christ must be on the scene…so when the angel begins Chapter 12 with, “At that time…,” it means what is described here in this chapter happens in the same era of the previous chapter.

Daniel Chapter 12 Verse 1b

• So, “At that time Michael shall stand up…” Now many Bible commentators link this to Revelation 12 where we have the account of Michael battling with the Dragon (Lucifer) and casting him and his fallen angels out of heaven once and for all and I’m ok with that however I’m not convinced that this is what the angel is pointing to specifically.
• All he says is that Michael stands up…now let’s take it in context…

Daniel Chapter 12 Verse 1c

• “At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people and there shall be a time of trouble. Such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time.” So now the angel is getting specific. I love the details!
• There are so many in that little bit of this verse! First, and we’ve seen this before in Chapter 10, there are angels assigned to specific nations, great cosmological order is revealed to us in Scripture…we see the Prince of Greece (an unnamed angel), the Prince of Persia who many perceive to be Lucifer himself, and the Prince of Israel who is…Michael! And during the time of the Great Tribulation, who gets it the worst? Yes of course the Christians have it bad but how many of them are there? VERY FEW…only those that have miraculously come to faith after the start of the Great Trib! (The Christians are all gone, raptured prior to the start…)
• And so who are the bulk of the people of God in the Great Tribulation? The Jews! Of course! And where does the Anti-Christ hail from? Bagdad? Iran? China? New York City (in my best Pace Picante sauce voice)? NO! From Jerusalem, man! And halfway through the Great Tribulation he commits the Abomination of Desolation, just like we saw Antiochus Epiphanies do last week…he goes into the third temple and proclaims himself to be god…and the Jews scatter…they are killed, they are murdered, they are imprisoned…they are starved, they are hunted, they are public enemy #1…
• As the time of trouble such as never was falls upon them…just like Jesus said, and I mean word for word just like Jesus said in Matthew 24:21. And so, Michael stands over his nation…Just like an eager uncle at his nephew’s wrestling match…or maybe to make it more real…the relatives of those who worked at the World Trade Center in 2001. As they watched the time of trouble man…those planes slamming into the building, maybe their best friend, their cousin, their neighbor at work that day on floor 100…and as the news reported, they stood…
• Just like Michael, he stands as his nation catches the flood waters of the persecution of the Anti-Christ…

Daniel Chapter 12 Verse 1c

• Again, “At that time,” meaning during that same era…at the end of the Great Tribulation period, just as we see in Revelation Chapter 19 and into 20, 21 and 22…the Satanic rebellion and rule on the earth will finally come to an end and everyone found written in the Lamb’s Book of Life shall be delivered from what? The final judgment man…the Great White Throne judgment where sin is once and for all judged and thrown out forever and ever…we covered all this at the end of our verse by verse study in the Book of Revelation…
• So how do you get your name in this Lamb’s Book of Life…little secret here…every name ever assigned, every soul ever created, every person ever conceived, every name is in the Lamb’s Book of Life…For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
• Jesus did not die for the sins of some…He did not die for the sins of those who would choose Him…God does no half-jobs…He died for all sin, of all mankind, for all time, past, present and future and so in this Book of Life were no names, yet written in the blood of Jesus is every name…and yet, we see a terrifying phrase several times in the Bible…names shall be blotted out…it is man who condemns man…God does not. God only saves. Period. We condemn ourselves when we reject the free gift of salvation…

Daniel Chapter 12 Verse 2

• Did you see that? How many “everlastings” did you count? Let’s look together. TWO! Two everlastings, zero “never-lastings!” Therefore all people, ever from any time in history, today in the present and any time in the future, everybody…eternal beings man. Made in the very image of God with the breath of life that does not fade away with death but continues on forever…
• The question is though, which everlasting will YOU choose? This is not soul sleep, this is speaking of their bodies man…because we know, the Bible plainly teaches, that at the minute you breathe your last breath on earth you take your first either in the presence of Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:8, as well as the thief on the cross next to Jesus) or you take your first breath in hell as we see in Luke 16 with the rich man being dead and buried yet we find him where…in hell…not asleep in the dirt…that’s just his body…his spirit, who we really are does not ever see the grave man…
• And so which do you choose…the next verse is somewhat sobering…or could be super encouraging depending on where you fall in the question of everlasting…

Daniel Chapter 12 Verse 3

• Doesn’t sound sobering, Matt…that sounds awesome! Well hold up, wait a minute…it’s just a detail…and I love those…the angel says if you’re wise bling bling…shine time! Everlasting life awaits you…the resurrection of life is yours and who on this earth would not claim wisdom? Yet the angel defines it for us…
• It’s the word there translated for us “turn.” “Those who turn many to righteousness…shine like the stars forever and ever…” That word because of its context is something that bears much more responsibility than if found on its own…context that reveals much more the truth of the matter. More literally, contextually, that word should be translated “lead.” Here’s why. The angel doesn’t just say those who cause others to turn…by teaching, by knowledge, by understanding…but the angel says those who turn folks towards righteousness…that implies leadership…
• Now the complete picture…everlasting life, wisdom, Book of life roster, even deliverance (both today and in the life to come) here is the qualifying mark…are you leading people to righteousness? Whoa! You see Jesus died for you, yes. Grace and salvation must be received individually, true…but the Maker’s mark that He is within you is wisdom. The fear or presence of God is the beginning of wisdom we find in the Proverbs…and the proof of that wisdom, you leading others to righteousness…