Message of the Week

The Little White Community Church

Scripture:  Daniel 12: 1-4 Oct. 27, 2024

Message: “The Resurrection of the Living and the Dead!” 

by Pastor George Gnade

Introduction:

1. Today we come to the last chapter in the Book of Daniel. I have found this book to be a very interesting and important book for various reasons. 

2. To begin with, of all the books in the O.T., Daniel tells us more about the angelic world than any other. 

A. Let us take a few minutes to review some of the things Daniel teaches us about angels.

1. In Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Dan. 4: 13, a “messenger,” a watchman sent from God came from heaven and commanded “the tree be cut down,” a tree that represented the king himself. Clearly this watchman was an angel. Do we have angels watching over us as well?

2. In Dan. 6 we have the story of how God saved Daniel from the lions. In vs.21, he said to King Darius: “O king, live forever.  My God sent His angel and he shut the  mouths of the lions” so “they did not hurt me.” Does God use angels to protect us?

3. In Dan. 7: 9- 10, Daniel has a vision where “thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took His seat…

Thousands upon thousands attended Him, ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him…” Obviously these were all angels who were serving God. 

a. In Dan. 8: 13, in another vision, Daniel described  how one “holy one” spoke to another “holy one.” Then in vs. 15 -16, it says: “Someone who looked like a man stood before him” and said: “Gabriel, tell (Daniel) what this vision means.”

b. I believe the “One who looked like a man” was Jesus commanding the archangel “Gabriel” to explain the vision to Daniel. 

c. This is very similar to the experience of the apostle John when he wrote the Book of Revelation. In Rev. 1, Jesus commands an angel to assist Him in explaining the contents of the revelation to John as Jesus directs him. 

4. In Dan. 9: 21, in answer to Daniel’s prayer for help, he wrote: “While I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in an earlier vision, came to me in a swift flight… to instruct me…”  

a. And in Dan. 10, more angels appear to Daniel and describe to him a spiritual war going on in heaven at the same time as these events were happening on earth.

b. This reminds me of Eph. 6: 12, where Paul wrote: “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against rulers and … the powers of darkness and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Amazingly we find all of these truths in this interesting book.

5. Today we come to chapter 12. In vs. 1, Daniel begins by sharing how in the latter days, “Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened since the beginning of nations until then.”

a. In Dan. 10: 13, Daniel was told: “Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to assist (Jesus)” in protecting  His people until Christ was born in Bethlehem. 

b. Now in Dan. 12: 1, we are told that Michael will also play a great role toward the end of history during a time of great tribulation just before Jesus returns. Once again he will be sent to assist Jesus and His people in their war against the powers of darkness.

6. Do you believe that Jesus and His angels are at work in Israel right now seeking to bring many of them back to their faith in Christ? Do you believe Jesus and His angels are also at work though Christians everywhere to help and strengthen us in these last days? These are wonderful promises God wants us to claim in faith. 

B. Secondly, in Dan. 12, God tells us about “the Book of Life.”

1. Dan. 12:1 continues: “But at that time, your people – everyone whose name is found written in the book – will be delivered.” What book is this? 

a. In Rev. 20:12, John writes: “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life.”

b. Everything anyone has ever done is written in the books God keeps in heaven. But there is a special book, called the book of life.

c.. And in Rev. 20:15, it says: “If anyone’s name was not written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.”

2. This book of life is not just for the Jewish people who come to love the Lord. It is for Gentiles too.  In John 10: 16, Jesus said: “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.”

a. Everyone, Jew or Gentile, who listens to and believes in Jesus shall have their names written in God’s book of life.

b. Daniel 12: 1 is the very first place where we learn about this book.

C. Thirdly, in Dan. 12: 2-4, we have the clearest description of the resurrection given to us in the O.T. 

1. After telling us about the special book that includes the names of all God’s people who come to believe in Jesus, in Dan. 12:2-4 it goes on to say: “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life; others to shame and everlasting contempt.”

2. Jesus speaks of this in John 5: 27- 29. He says: “God has given (me) the authority to judge because (I) am the Son of Man. Do not be amazed at this. For the time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice and come out – those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.” 

In conclusion:

1. The whole Book of Daniel concerns the conflict between God’s people and the powers of darkness. 

a. In the very first vision that Daniel interpreted, we learned how Babylon would be followed by the Medes and the Persians. Then the Greeks would rise to power, and finally the Romans.  They were all enemies of God’s people.

b. But in the days of the Romans, Jesus would come, pictured as a Rock formed without human hands, who would become great and crush God’s enemies while His own kingdom would grow and grow till it filled the whole earth. 

2. This book described the many conflicts that would go on between the two groups, and how Jesus would always lead His people to victory. 

a. If you remember, Jesus is called “the Rock”

in Dan. 2: 34. He is called the “Son of God” in Dan. 3: 25. He is called “the Son of Man” in Dan. 7:13. And He is called the “Anointed One,” another name for the Messiah,  who would be “cut off” for our sins in Dan. 9:26. 

b. No other book in the O.T. uses all these names to describe Jesus.

3. So this book tells us more about Jesus and more about the angels and more about the book of life and more about the resurrection than any other book in the O.T. I pray it has been a blessing to you.