Daniel 12:1

The book of Daniel has much to say that makes one wince. We who live under a government that guarantees us religious freedom shudder involuntarily when we read some of the historical portions of the book. Think of how Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were sentenced to being burnt to a crisp in the king’s furnace because of their loyalty to God, or of how Daniel remained faithful to God at the risk of being mangled by hungry lions. Besides these historical portions, there are prophetic portions of the book that terrified Daniel—chapters which speak of nations being crushed and of the horrors facing God’s people in the 400-year period between the Old Testament and the New Testament.

But although most of the book of Daniel contains a somber and sobering message, the keynote of its closing chapter is joy. Here God describes the climax of his work. God’s final word to Daniel is a word of cheer. He speaks to his beloved prophet of the help that the archangel Michael will provide for God’s people, of their resurrection, of their deliverance from judgment, and of the eternal glory awaiting them.

“At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered.

The opening words “at that time” connect this passage with the preceding one, which had pictured the destruction of the Antichrist at the end of the world. The Angel who revealed this information to Daniel described “a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations.” Jesus quoted from this verse in speaking about the events leading up to the final judgment: “There will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive” (Matthew 24:21,22).

Perhaps you have heard somebody describe this world as a madhouse. Actually, the world is not a madhouse but an arena, a battlefield where a war is constantly raging between the forces of God and the forces of those who oppose God. There is not a single area of life that has not been claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan and his henchmen.

Here we are assured, first of all, that this struggle will continue and even intensify down to the end of the world. When the last evil days break upon the world, the Antichrist will lash out in desperate fury to seduce the people of God and to undermine their faith in Christ. The world, during its tortured centuries of existence, has seen distress of many kinds, but nothing like this last distress. These words remind us that being a Christian does not mean putting on rose-colored glasses so that everything looks pink and pretty. Daniel makes it clear that as we contemplate the future, there’s no reason for overconfidence.

But there’s no reason for despair, either. Not only is there trouble ahead; there’s triumph too. “At that time Michael . . . will arise.” Chapter 10 pictured Michael as the great angelic prince who was active behind the scenes of history, working against Satan’s agents in the Persian government. Michael was God’s agent to overthrow those satanic schemes and to guarantee that God’s good will for the returning exiles would be carried out. Here we learn that when the final great distress overtakes the world, Michael, God’s angelic champion, will again intervene on behalf of God’s people.

“Your people . . . will be delivered.” Michael will be successful in defending God’s people, his Israel, the spiritual children of Abraham who have been gathered from the east and the west. The huffing and puffing of the enemies will stop when God sends final deliverance to “everyone whose name is found written in the book.” God’s book is his family register, containing the names of those who have been loved and chosen from all eternity (Exodus 32:32; Psalm 69:28).