SERMON: “The Coming Hope of the End Times” (Dan. 12:1–3)
“The Coming Hope of the End
Times” (Dan. 12:1–3)
Series: “Daniel:
God’s Sovereign Plans” #34 Text: Daniel
12:1–3
By: Shaun
Marksbury Date: September 13, 2026
Venue: Living Water Baptist Church Occasion: PM Service
Introduction
The doctrine of the last things should be an encouragement
to us. As we’ve previously noted,
though, too often it is not. People grow
fearful in their speculations as dates are set and predictions made that are
later quietly abandoned. Rumors fill the
gaps where God has not revealed. Even
so, God has revealed what He did so His people have hope and comfort.
We see that hope in this concluding chapter the Book of
Daniel. It provides additional insight
into the tribulation and more. We see
that this occurs “at that time,” which is “the end time” according to 11:40.[1] This is continuing the same vision from
chapter 10 through 11, so that makes sense.
Those who are facing the horrors of this time can know that
there is a message of hope for those who die in persecution. Daniel, who had lived to see so much, likewise
wants this hope. To keep it simple,
we’ll just consider three aspects of the end times and the hope it brings. First, the crisis of the end times (v. 1). Second, the resurrections of the end times
(v. 2). Third, the glory of the end
times (v. 3).
First, the Crisis of the End Times (v. 1)
Now at that time,
Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will
stand. And there will be a time of distress such as never happened since there
was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is
found written in the book, will be rescued.
This is an unparalleled distress, a severe trial upon the
earth as we considered in the past two messages. Nothing in human history fully describes
it. Yet, even here, there is good news,
for the text immediately introduces Michael. This means that, while the worst suffering
imaginable is happening, it isn’t without divine protection.
Again, this is continuing the career of the final wicked
king who began a policy of persecution. This will include a war against the Jewish people
in particular.[2] We are seeing, even today, a time when the
world is turning more antisemitic, and that may well help set the stage for
these events.
Remember, this is a passage addressed to Daniel’s
people. We saw this earlier in the 70
Weeks prophecy, where we saw that the weeks were decreed “for your people and
your holy city” (9:24). In this
prophecy, we’ve seen all through chapter 11 that the historical focus has been
on Israel. And, lest we forget, most of
the book of Daniel takes place within the Babylonian Captivity. This is a Jewish-centric book, and so, when
we read about a defense here for “your people,” we are reading about the Jewish
people.
The Lord reveals defense for them through Michael the
archangel, who we saw back in 10:13 and 21. Some think he is Christ, but there is no
biblical reason to believe that. Christ
is, of course, the chief protector of His people, but He can certainly charge
and send forth a prince of His angels to accomplish the task (and “prince” can
refer to angels[3]). As MacArthur notes here, Michael “ministers
with special attention to protecting Israel
during that Gentile time (cf. Is. 26:20, 21; Jer. 30:7; Matt. 24:21).”[4] The Lord directs His prince to protect the
Jewish people.
We’ve already seen part of the reason why they need
protection. Michael’s involvement will
give the people of Israel hope that they will not entirely perish in the
successful campaigns of the Antichrist.
Moreover, there seems to be some kind of spiritual protection taking
place, as Revelation 12 discusses. In
that vision, we read about a dragon attacking a woman who is a symbol for the
people of Israel. After her Son is
caught up, the dragon attacks her.
A battle then takes place in heaven. This is during the last half of the
Tribulation, and it’s lead by Michael against Satan and his forces (cf. Dan. 12:7; 12:11–12).
Michael and his angels defeat Satan’s forces at this time so
decisively that they lose their place in heaven. These
heavenly and the earthly realities are more linked than we understand, because
what happens in heaven shapes what happens on earth, as we see in three ways.
First, this battle will result in the ultimate shift in
cosmic authority. In Revelation 12:10, a
heavenly voice announces that salvation, power, and God’s kingdom have arrived
because Satan the accuser has been hurled down to earth. Thus, he can no longer fulfill his role as
the prosecuting voice against believers before God’s throne day and night and
permanently loses access to heaven. Even
the brethren today should be looking forward to this!
Second, Michael’s victory becomes the basis for earthly
triumph. As G. K. Beale notes, “When
there is conflict between the saints and the world on earth, there is
corresponding conflict in the heavenly dimension.”[5] Inversely, because Michael will conquer
Satan’s forces in heaven and cast them out, believers on earth will more
powerfully overcome Satan through the blood of the Lamb and their testimony (v.
11).
Third, and unfortunately, Satan’s expulsion intensifies
earthly opposition (vv. 13, 15, 17). He
will focus on destroying Israel before his eventual defeat at Armageddon. As Revelation 12:12 says, “For this reason,
rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the
devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.” He will try to do as
much damage as possible to the people of God as possible before he meets his
end.
Remember, though, that Michael will be protecting Israel on
earth. We see protection in Revelation
12. When the devil focuses on Israel,
the people are delivered safely as on a great eagle to a wilderness place (v.
14). When the devil then unleashes a
torrential attack that might have swept away others, earth opens its mouth and
swallows the flood (v. 16). It’s clear
that Michael’s involvement provides significant protection for Israel
throughout the remaining 3 ½ years of the tribulation.
Now, you might wonder about Gentile believers, but remember,
this is the end of the “times of the Gentiles.”
Gentiles who come to Christ will benefit from Michael’s activities, but
they are not the focus of them. As the
text says here, “And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred
since there was a nation until that time.”
The term for “distress” in the Greek translation of this verse is the
same Jesus uses in Matthew 24:21 — “For then there will be a great tribulation,
such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever
will.”[6] As we see in Revelation 12:17, the great
dragon will eventually focus on those believers who are not under Michael’s
direct protection, unfortunately. This
is a serious time for everyone upon the earth.
It will also be, as Jeremiah called it, “the time of Jacob’s
distress” (Jer. 30:7). Nothing in the
persecutions under Antiochus IV Epiphanes, as severe as they were, exhausts
this language. As such, Michael’s actions
are needed in redeeming the Jewish people, though, both physically and also
spiritually as they repent and trust in the Messiah. As one author notes, “God will keep His covenant with Abraham and see to it that the Jewish
remnant will enter into their promised kingdom.”[7]
Thankfully, the elect will be delivered, one way or the other.
Now, this obviously includes Gentile Christians, but the
focus is more upon the Jewish people. We
read that “at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book,
will be rescued.” Now, that doesn’t mean
every Jewish person — it’s “everyone who is found written in the book.” There is coming a national deliverance — “all
Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:26) — but those entering the kingdom must
profess Jesus to be the Messiah.
Think about this book: This is a record of saved believers, those
God justifies by faith. We have already
seen this in Daniel 7:10, and Moses spoke of a book God had written (Exod.
32:32–33). The psalmist knew of the book
of the living (Psa. 69:28), and Malachi spoke of a book of remembrance (Mal.
3:16). Jesus told the seventy to
“rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven” (Luke 10:20). John sees the book of life repeatedly (Rev.
13:8; 17:8; 20:12, 15; 21:27), and those whose names are not found there are
thrown into the lake of fire. As such,
this is a record of the redeemed.
God will save his elect in this time of
crisis. One person explains it this way:
Daniel’s people will be delivered by Michael’s intervention, and those who
sleep will be raised.[8] Some will be martyred, especially among the
Gentiles, but also the Jews, for their profession of Messiah. But even they will be rescued, as we see
next:
Second, the Resurrections of the End Times (v. 2)
And many of those
who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but
the others to reproach and everlasting contempt.
Those whose names are written in God’s book will be rescued. This means that survival depends on one’s covenant
relationship with God, not on present circumstances and crises. If a person dies in the Lord, he will awaken
to everlasting life, while those who die in unrepentance will awake to
everlasting disgrace and contempt. This is
the greatest reversal of fortunes in history, with the arrogant and powerful receiving
shame while the oppressed who trusted God receive vindication.
Let’s consider this in a bit more detail. “Sleep” is a euphemism for death, as the
phrase “in the dust of the ground” makes obvious.[9] Now, there is a theory that the soul itself
sleeps in the ground because of language like this. However, that isn’t how we should understand
it.
The soul leaves the body.
For instance, the apostle Paul said to “be absent from the body” is “to
be at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8), and that to depart from the flesh is to
“be with Christ” (Phil. 1:23). Yet, he
also used the euphemism “sleep” for death (1 Cor. 11:30; 15:6, 18, 20, 51; 1
Thess. 4:13–15; 5:10). Scripture uses “sleep”
to symbolize death of the body (not the soul), and the “awaking” then is a
symbol of the body’s resurrection. The
soul does not lose consciousness.
Incidentally, we heard that same hope this morning from 2
Corinthians 5:1–12. The current tent of our dwelling is temporary, but we will
have an eternal building from God. Daniel
is now showing us the day when that tent is not merely folded away, but raised
in glory — or, for the unbelieving, raised to disgrace.
This was an OT expectation.
As Wiersbe notes,
When Abraham went to Mount Moriah
to offer up Isaac, he believed that God could raise his son from the dead (Gen.
22; Heb. 11:19). Job expected to see God
in his resurrection body (Job 19:25–27), and this anticipation was shared by
the writers of the Psalms (17:15; 49:15; 71:20). The prophets believed in a future resurrection
(Isa. 25:7; Hosea 13:14).[10]
This is what the saints of the OT looked forward to
happening.
As such, this is how our Lord Jesus understood it. In John 5:28–29 He said, “Do not marvel at
this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His
voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of
life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.” Similarly, in John 11, as He is about to
raise Lazarus, Martha also states the doctrine — “I know that he will rise
again in the resurrection on the last day” (John 11:24). Jesus not only answers with affirmation, but
says, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even
if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25–26). He then proved the claim by reviving dead Lazarus,
demonstrating that He would personally be the one raising the dead
righteousness to resurrected life.
Our bodies will become like that of the resurrected
Christ. This is the kind of awakening
that the rest of the New Testament develops.
This is the ultimate deliverance
Jesus works for His people.
Before we talk about
that, though, it’s important to note that there’s more than one resurrection
mentioned here. We read that the others
awake “to disgrace and everlasting contempt.” The NASB 95 footnote on “contempt” gives the
literal sense meaning of “abhorrence.” The
Hebrew word occurs only one other time in the Old Testament, in Isaiah 66:24,
where the redeemed “will go forth
and look on the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm will not die and their fire
will not be quenched; and they will be an abhorrence to all mankind.” Isaiah
explains what Daniel means here.[11]
There are a few people
who would really like for hell to be an annihilation of the soul. Some Christians think annihilation is somehow
kinder than eternal conscious torment, and unbelievers who refuse to turn to
the Lord likewise prefer to think they will not have to face conscious
consequences. However, our Lord
illustrated that, when the spirit of an unbeliever departs, it finds itself in a
place of conscious torment (Luke 16:22–23).[12] Daniel here won’t allow for another view — the
contempt the wicked face is just as eternal as the life believers receive. The same word “everlasting” stands over both
destinies, meaning that, if life is unending, so is the disgrace.
Now, this text may make
it seem like these two resurrections occur at the same time. Yet, it’s not unusual for Old Testament
prophecy to present events side-by-side, even if they’re separated by a
considerable span of time. We’ve
already considered this in this series. Daniel
is saying that after the tribulation many — both righteous and wicked — will be
raised, but he doesn’t say these events occur at the same time.[13] As we’ll see, one comes before the kingdom,
while the other happens afterward.
The main point is that death fails to have the last word. The body that sleeps will awake from the grave.
For those who are written in the book,
that awakening is to everlasting life. That brings me to the final point:
Third, the Glory of the End Times (v. 3)
And those who have
insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and
those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
Here, we have the promise that the saints will be vindicated.
There are those with “insight,”
terminology we’ve already encountered in Daniel (Dan 11:33, 35). In this case, these
are those who understand when the time comes (12:10). To be clear, insight isn’t personal
cleverness, but a true knowledge that arises by faith in God’s Word.[14] It belongs to all who recognize the truth of
God and act upon it.
They “shine forth” with God’s glory as a reward for their
faithfulness in the time of crisis and distress.[15] To shine in glory is a privilege of all the
saved,[16]
of course, since the “host of heaven” and
“stars” can symbolize the people of God (Dan. 8:10). Yet, these tribulation saints are noteworthy
for their influence of others for righteousness. Therefore, they will shine like stars in
varying capacities of light.
Of course, there’s a sense in which we can all shine on
earth now, like John the Baptist (John 5:35). “A man’s
wisdom now makes his face to shine
(Eccles. 8:1),”[17] and “he
who is wise wins souls” (Prov. 11:30).
We can display heavenly wisdom by proclaiming the truth and leading
people to righteousness.
That’s what we see with
the saints living through the tribulation: influencing others for the
righteousness of the kingdom. While they
may face persecution and even martyrdom, they proclaim the truth of God. The Lord remembers them.
Where is the potential reward? The resurrection to life begins the Messianic
Kingdom, a reign anticipated throughout the OT.
One author explains this way:
The Father has promised a kingdom
to His Son (Ps. 2; Luke 1:30–33), and He will keep His promise. One day Jesus will deliver that promised
kingdom up to the Father (1 Cor. 15:24). Knowing the Father’s promise, Satan tempted
Jesus by offering Him all the kingdoms of the world in return for His worship
(Matt. 4:8–10); and Jesus refused. Jesus
affirmed the kingdom promise to His disciples (Luke 22:29–30), and when they
asked Him when it would be fulfilled (Acts 1:6–8), He only told them not to
speculate about the times but to get busy doing the work He left them to do. However, He didn’t deny the fact that one day
there would be a kingdom. Paul used the
return of Christ and the establishment of the future kingdom to motivate
Timothy in his ministry (2 Tim. 4:1ff), and this promise ought to be a
motivating factor in our lives.”[18]
No time frame is given to this period in the OT, but in
Revelation, this period is identified as being one thousand years in length six
times. There are, of course, those who
take this round number to be figurative, and they go further to say that the
entire description is an allegory of the present church age. They don’t exactly deny the existence of the
Messianic Kingdom, but because they deny the physical descriptions of it, they
are known as amillennialists.[19] A variation on that amillennialism is
postmillennialism — the belief that we, through our efforts in this age, usher
in the kingdom of peace at some point of full gospel penetration. Both views have Christ returning again after
this age is done.
By contrast, we hold a view that we believe is consistent
with the plain reading of the text.
There will be a period of Great Tribulation followed by the resurrection
of the saints. After that is the
millennial reign of Christ. We also
believe this matches what the Book of Revelation, where the Tribulation of the
earth culminates with the coming of Christ in Revelation 19 and the judgment of
the Antichrist; that is followed by Revelation 20 and the binding of Satan for
1,000 years, with the saints receiving what is specifically called “the first
resurrection” (v. 5). The unrighteous
dead only receive their resurrection after the millennium (vv. 11–15). So, there is tribulation, Christ’s return,
the resurrection to life, the millennial reign, and then judgment of the
dead.
There is more that happens, but those are the overlapping
movements. The resurrected saints (and
those who survive the tribulation) come into the kingdom. It is there that the rewards come: Jesus said
faithfulness to Him today leads to reward and ministry in the future
kingdom (Matt. 13:43; 19:27–28; 25:14–30; Luke 19:12–27), and we will share in
His coming glory.[20]
So, there is a great coming hope for these end times!
Conclusion
We should not be afraid of the end times, disquieting as
they may be. Rather, we should have
assurance and even anticipation!
Daniel 12:1–3 has given us three reasons. Yes, there will be an unprecedented crisis on earth, but Michael will stand and
the people written in the book will be rescued.
While some may die, they can know that their bodies will soon awake, and
the unrighteous will awake to everlasting contempt. Moreover, those who have insight will shine
as beacons forever.
So, don’t be afraid.
If you are, make certain your name is in the book. Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the
life. The question He put to Martha is
the question you should ask of yourself: “Do you believe this?”
If you are a believer, know that your work isn’t in
vain. As Paul said, “For I consider that
the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:18). Take the long view of hardship in this life
as you dedicate yourself to work that will make you shine.
[1] Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald Barclay Allen, and H. Wayne
House, The Nelson Study
Bible: New King James Version, (Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers,
1997), Da 12:1.
[2] Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Resolute,
“Be” Commentary Series, (Colorado Springs, CO: Victor, 2000), 141.
[3] Stephen R. Miller, Daniel,
The New American Commentary, (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers,
1994), 18:314.
[4] John MacArthur Jr., Ed., The MacArthur Study
Bible, electronic ed., (Nashville, TN: Word Pub., 1997), 1249.
[5] G. K. Beale, The Book of
Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International
Greek Testament Commentary, (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle, Cumbria: W.B.
Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 1999), 651.
[6] Miller, 18:315.
[7] Wiersbe.
[8] Miller.
[9] Radmacher, et. al., Da 12:2.
[10] Wiersbe, 143–144.
[11] Miller, 18:317.
[12] Ibid., 18:316.
[13] Ibid., 18:318.
[14] MacArthur.
[15] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s
Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume,
(Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 1460.
[16] MacArthur.
[17] Henry.
[18] Wiersbe, 143.
[19] Ibid.
[20] Ibid., 145.