“And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” (Daniel 12:2-3)
These words from Daniel depict the great spiritual warfare that surrounds us. The evil that we see in our world is carried out by human beings but they are inspired and encouraged by Satan the devil and his followers. At God’s appointed time, as Daniel depicts, there will come a final day of judgment. That will be a day of reckoning and punishment for the wicked, those who rejected the Lord and abused and persecuted His chosen ones. But that same day will bring eternal life and everlasting joy to those who have faith in Him. This message of salvation by faith in Jesus is the message we see proclaimed in the New Testament and the message we who are God’s chosen people are to bring to the people in our world.
Daniel shows Michael and another of God’s angels carrying on the spiritual battle in connection with the prophet’s prayers. What this shows us is that while spiritual battles occur all around us, we believers are really on the front lines. We need to spend time in prayer and in the word more so now than ever for it appears that the forces of darkness are prevailing.
Instead, many Christians talk about the end times, about dates, times and events and listen to the voices of those so-called prophets who claim to be able to give the exact details of the end times. Such speculations about these matters cannot and should not be dogmatic. In fact, they are a waste of the believer’s time and resources because we will know only when God chooses to reveal such things. Rather than speculate we must act on what is revealed here. We are told that despite the outward circumstances, despite the pain suffering and persecution that the world and sinful men and kingdoms inflict on God’s people, the Lord is in control. He will set all things right. Therefore we can rejoice in the certain hope of deliverance. Meanwhile, we must tell the people of this world about salvation by faith in Christ alone. Otherwise they face everlasting shame separated from God and all His people.