©Michael Player
Chapter 12:1-4 (ESV) - “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. 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. But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”
Question to consider: What does it mean that those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake?
What the LORD described to Daniel as “at that time” referred to the end of yesterday’s passage when the fourth beast would pitch its palatial tents between the sea and the glorious holy mountain. The sixth horn of this beast (Caesar Nero) would commit suicide and three horns would be plucked up by their roots— Caesars: Galba, Otho, Vitellus. (see Daniel 7:8) The tenth horn of the beast, Caesar Vespasian, would lead the battle against Jerusalem.
Jesus spoke of these things in His Olivet discourse. It would be helpful for you to go through my studies on this discourse in Matthew 24, Luke 21 (the study on Luke 21:20-24 specifically described this scene), and Mark 13.
The 3 ½ years leading up to the fall of Jerusalem were a time of untold persecution of the church. Nero had successfully blamed Christians for the burning of Rome, and he used this as an excuse to torture and murder them. During this time, Nero had Paul beheaded and Peter crucified upside down.
The people who were delivered in today’s passage would have been all of those in the early church who heeded the warning of Christ in the Olivet discourse and fled the area instead of seeking refuge inside the city where they would have been slaughtered. Daniel in particular would have understood it this way since he followed the same advice from the LORD given through Jeremiah when he fled Jerusalem and went into exile.
The most difficult part of this passage is the description of those who slept in the dust being raised up. It is an obvious reference to resurrection. I know there are plenty of people who will challenge me on this, but in John’s revelatory vision describing the reign of Christ, he said something similar, “I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection.” (Revelation 20:4-5)
I realize that many associate the first resurrection with our baptism according to Romans 6:4-5 and Colossians 2:12, but this doesn’t negate the fact that Matthew recorded a seemingly cryptic statement upon the death of Christ, “And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.” (Matthew 27:51-53)
If you look closely at Matthew’s statement, the earth shook at the death of Jesus and cracked open tombs, but those who came out of the tombs did so at some point after Christ’s resurrection. In Ephesians 4, Paul used Psalm 68 to prove that Christ died, arose and ascended on high, but it also described the train of captives Christ led in His ascension. I would submit that this train of captives was the people who came to life in today’s passage, and reigned with Christ in the Revelation passage. It especially makes sense in light of the heavenly Jerusalem being described by Ezekiel at the end of his book.
The most difficult part of this idea is the almost forty years that took place between Christ’s ascension and the fall of the earthly temple. However, this was the time given to that generation to repent before the judgment was to come. Again, this concept would not have been foreign to Daniel, for Jeremiah prophesied judgment for an entire generation before it occurred. Even so, the LORD told Daniel to shut up the words and seal the book, for this wouldn’t happen until long after he was gone.
Dear heavenly Father, thank You for the promise of resurrection that You have given to us in our baptism and for Christ who is the first fruits of that resurrection. May this promise give us peace in this life as we look forward to a life to come which is imperishable and unfading. Amen.