Since our last study in the book of Daniel was September 6th, we should probably review a little bit before jumping into chapter twelve.
Chapters one through six detailed Daniel's life historically and chronologically from the time he was a teenager until his days as a very old man. Chapter seven began detailing the dreams and visions that Daniel was given throughout his life. The most recent vision began in chapter ten.
Daniel had been mourning for three weeks and had been denying himself pleasurable food. While he was by the bank of the Tigris River, he looked up and saw an angel. The angel told him that he'd been on his way to Daniel for three weeks, but had been in battle with spiritual forces. He wasn't able to break through until Michael the Archangel came to help him.
Now that he had gotten to Daniel, he began to give him an understanding of what would happen to the Jews in the future. The entirety of chapter eleven was a detailed prophecy. Although it was all future to Daniel, from our perspective in time, the first 35 verses have now already been fulfilled. The rest of the chapter still remains as future events.
In those final ten verses, we read about the antichrist. He will commit the abomination of desolation - standing in the temple of God claiming to be God. We read about his rise to power and the world-wide conflicts and wars he is a part of. The final statement that the angel made about him was,
Dan. 11:45 "...yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him."
At his end, no one will be able to help the antichrist. He will be thrown alive into the lake of fire.
Michael is the one who had come to the aid of the angel giving Daniel this prophecy. As we learned back in chapter ten, he is of the highest order of angels, possibly the highest ranking angel. According to the book of Jude (1:9), he is an archangel. Daniel's angelic messenger said that he is one of the chief princes (10:13). More specifically, he was described as "your prince" (10:21), meaning the angelic prince over the Jews. Again here, he is called, "
Dan. 12:1 "...the great prince who stands {guard} over the sons of your people..."
Michael has always been, and continues to be, standing guard over the Jews.
At that time, Michael will arise. At what time? Well, the last time frame referenced was that the antichrist was going to come to his end. We read of this in the book of Revelation, when John writes,
Rev. 19:19-20 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies, assembled to make war against Him who sat upon the horse, and against His army. And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.
It is at that time that Michael will arise. The question then comes up, "Why would he need to arise once the antichrist and his false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire?"
It may surprise you to find out that the end of the antichrist is not the end of the Great Tribulation. At least not quite. You see, the devil is not destroyed simultaneously with his two human puppets. There is also the rebellion of man that has to be dealt with.
As we continue reading in Revelation, we see that more happens:
Rev. 20:1-3 And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the abyss, and shut {it} and sealed {it} over him, so that he should not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.
Once the antichrist is done away with, there is more to be done. Jesus smites the armies of the nations that have gathered together against Him. An angel, lays hold of satan and binds him.
Now, I'm going to make a logical assumption here. We know that satan has made himself the enemy of Israel because they are the chosen people of God.
1Chr. 21:1 Then satan stood up against Israel...
And Michael, who is the chief prince who stands guard over the people of Israel, has been shown two times previously as being in battle with satan.
After the death of Moses, it was Michael who contended with the devil over his body.
Jude 9 But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, "The Lord rebuke you."
Then, in Revelation, halfway through the final seven years of man's reign on earth...
Rev. 12:7-9 ...there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. And the dragon and his angels waged war, and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
The devil will finally be thrown out of heaven for good, at Michael's hand. Three and a half years later, satan will be thrown into the bottomless pit at the hand of an angel with a great chain. I'm making an educated guess that this will also be Michael.
When describing the Great Tribulation that the Jews will suffer, Jesus said,
Mark 13:19 "For those days will be a {time of} tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created, until now, and never shall.
When the Great Tribulation comes, what happens to the Jews will be more terrible and extreme than anything that has ever happened before. But notice this. The antichrist rallies his armies together in fulfillment of the prophecy,
Acts 4:26 ‘THE KINGS OF THE EARTH TOOK THEIR STAND, AND THE RULERS WERE GATHERED TOGETHER AGAINST THE LORD, AND AGAINST HIS CHRIST.'
The antichrist and the false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire. Michael arises to defend Israel and satan is thrown into the abyss. It is said of this time now that...
Dan. 12:1 "...there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time..."
What will happen to the Jews will be paled in comparison to the judgment that Christ will bring to the nations that have rejected Him.
Rev. 19:11-18 And I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it {is} called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war. And His eyes {are} a flame of fire, and upon His head {are} many diadems; and He has a name written {upon Him} which no one knows except Himself. And {He is} clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white {and} clean, were following Him on white horses. And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations; and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, "Come, assemble for the great supper of God; in order that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great."
Rev. 19:21 And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat upon the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.
This will truly be a time of distress like the earth has never seen before.
At this time, every Jew who is found written in the book will be rescued. We talked about this in detail last Thursday as we looked prophetically at Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The Jews hiding in Petra will humble themselves, afflict their souls, and confess their sin. They will realize that Jesus is their Messiah and will cry out to Him. It is that action that will prompt His return. They will be rescued. As Paul wrote,
Rom. 11:26 and thus all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB."
Most of the time when you read the term "sleep" in the Bible, it is describing the physical sleep that we experience each night. But sometimes it is speaking of something else. For example, it is occasionally used to describe the slothful spiritual state that some people live in (Rom. 13:11; Eph. 5:14; 1Ths. 5:6). And sometimes it is used as a term for death. Jesus used it (John 11:11-14), Paul used it (1Cor 15:51), and David used it.
Ps. 13:3 Consider {and} answer me, O LORD, my God; Enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the {sleep of} death
Is is clear that the Bible teaches that consciousness is retained after death. Whether someone is in heaven with the Lord, or in torment in fire in the center of the earth, they are awake. But our bodies lie in the earth, appearing to sleep.
When Christ returns victoriously to the earth, those that are appointed to everlasting life will be resurrected. They have not been unconscious, but their bodies have been "sleeping." It is at this time that everyone who has been saved from the rapture of the church until the second coming of Christ will receive their glorified bodies.
During those final seven years, those that had been martyred had been crying out to God. Their souls were in heaven - John saw them.
Rev. 6:9-11 ...I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt Thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until {the number of} their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, should be completed also.
John saw when these believers were finally given their glorified bodies.
Rev. 20:4 ...And I {saw} the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Those bodies that do not awaken at this time are destined for everlasting contempt. In a thousand years, they will be resurrected to stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
Rev. 20:11-15 And I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is {the book} of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one {of them} according to their deeds. And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
The angel tells Daniel that to be thrown into the lake of fire is to suffer everlasting contempt and disgrace.
The angel tells Daniel about the reward that people receive in their glorified bodies based on having insight - Godly wisdom - and leading people to righteousness.
We often think of our reward as something given to us that we can hold, like money. But it would seem that our rewards are not so much what we will HAVE but what we will BE. In our glorified bodies, there will be varying degrees of brightness. Paul told us this plainly as he was telling the Corinthians about our glorified bodies in 1Corinthians 15. Of this brightness, he said,
1Cor. 15:39-42 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one {flesh} of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the {glory} of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead.
Our glorified, eternal bodies are not all going to be created equal.
After giving all of these revelations of the Jews' future, the end of man's rule on earth, and the reign of Christ, the angel says, "conceal these words. Seal up the book."
This is an amazing statement. You see, for years the meaning of the prophecies contained in Daniel and Revelation have been a complete mystery. But recently, our understanding of them has grown exponentially. Why? Because God is revealing their truth by His Spirit to a degree that He never has before.
We are rapidly approaching the end of time, we are in the last days. Two verifications of this are:
Many will go back and forth: Travel has increased to such an amazing degree in the last few decades.
- There are thousands of airplanes in the sky at any given moment.
- Tens of millions of cars are produced every single year.
Knowledge will increase: The knowledge base of mankind has increased dramatically in recent years.
- More information has been produced in the last thirty years than in the entire 5,000 years previously!
- A single daily edition of the New York Times now contains more information than someone living in the 17th century would have encountered in a lifetime!
We are in the last days, approaching the end of time. How then should we live? Jesus said,
Mark 13:33-37 "Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the {appointed} time is. {"{It is} like a man, away on a journey, {who} upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, {assigning} to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert. Therefore, be on the alert - for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, at cockcrowing, or in the morning - lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all, ‘Be on the alert!'"