Daniel 12:1 - Meaning and Application

Prophets often do this: when they warn God’s people about coming trouble, they also give them the right comfort for it. And the best comfort comes from Christ and the life to come, because it fits every need and has great power. That is where the comfort in this passage comes from.

Jesus Christ will appear as his church’s protector and defender. “At that time,” when persecution is at its worst, “Michael shall stand up” (Daniel 12:1). The angel had already told Daniel that Michael, the great prince who stands for God’s people, was a faithful friend to the church (Daniel 10:21). Christ is that great prince, since he is the Prince of the kings of the earth (Revelation 1:5). If he stands up for his church, no one can stand against it.

But this is not only about God helping Israel in that time of danger. It also points forward to Christ’s work for our eternal salvation. The Son of God would come in human flesh and appear to destroy the devil’s work. Christ stood for his people when he was made sin and a curse for them, taking their place as a sacrifice and bearing what they deserved. He still stands for them now in his intercession, because he lives forever to plead for them within the veil, the holy place beyond the curtain.

After the destruction of antichrist, of whom Antiochus was a type, Christ will stand at the last day on the earth. He will appear for the full rescue of all who belong to him. When Christ appears, he will also repay trouble to those who trouble his people. There will be a time of trouble, a suffering that threatens all, but brings ruin to God’s stubborn enemies, such as has never been seen before in a nation. This may apply to the destruction of Jerusalem, which Jesus described as a great tribulation unlike anything before it (Matthew 24:21). It may also point to the final judgment, that day that burns like an oven and destroys the proud and all who do evil. For those whom Michael our prince stands against, it will be a day of unmatched trouble.

He will also save his people. “At that time your people shall be delivered” from the ruin Antiochus planned for them, including all those marked out for preservation, those written among the living (Isaiah 4:3). When Christ comes into the world, he saves his spiritual Israel from sin and hell. At his second coming, he will finish their salvation, all whom the Father gave him, all whose names are in the book of life (Revelation 20:15). Their names were written there before the world began, and they will still be found there when the books are opened at the end.

There will also be a special resurrection of those who sleep in the dust (Daniel 12:2). When God delivers his people from persecution, it is like a resurrection. The return from Babylon was pictured that way, and so was the rescue from Antiochus and other times when the church was restored to outward peace. It was as if life had come from the dead. Many who had long lain in the dust of shame and suffering would awake, some to lasting life, honor, and comfort, but others to shame and contempt. When people receive prosperity and then use it to return to sin, that prosperity only exposes them and ruins them.

When Michael our prince appears and his gospel is preached, many who sleep in the dust, both Jews and Gentiles, will be awakened to profess religion and rise out of their old unbelief. Yet because hypocrites are always mixed in with true saints, only some of those raised to life will find the gospel to be life leading to life. Others will find it to be death leading to death, and Christ himself will become the cause of their falling. The gospel net catches both good and bad.

Still, the main meaning must be the general resurrection at the last day. “Many” who sleep in the dust shall awake, meaning a great multitude, indeed all. The Jews themselves understand this as the resurrection of the dead at the end of time. Christ seems to point to it when he speaks of the resurrection of life and the resurrection of judgment (John 5:29). Paul also says that the Jews expected a resurrection of both the just and the unjust (Acts 24:15). This fits the setting well. Under Antiochus’s persecution, some people shamefully gave up their faith, while others bravely held fast. It would have been hard for the faithful to think that, once the storm passed, the one group could not be rewarded and the other could not be punished. So God assures them that both will be repaid according to their deeds in the resurrection. The writer of Hebrews says that the suffering Jews who were tortured under Antiochus accepted no release, because they hoped for a better resurrection (Hebrews 11:35).

A glorious reward will also be given to those who were wise in the day of trouble and distress and taught many others. The earlier prophecy of persecution had already singled them out (Daniel 11:33). They did great service, yet they fell by sword and fire. If there were no life after this one, they would be the most miserable of all people. But here we are told that they will be rewarded in the resurrection of the just (Daniel 12:3). Those who are wise, that is, those who teach wisely and help others learn wisdom, will shine like the brightness of the sky. They will shine in heavenly glory, the glory of the world above. Those who use their wisdom and teaching to turn others to righteousness, especially many others, will shine like the stars forever and ever.

This teaches that glory is kept for all the saints in the life to come, for all who are wise for their souls and for eternity. A person’s wisdom now makes his face shine (Ecclesiastes 8:1), but it will shine far more in that future state, where its power will be complete and its service rewarded.

The more good people do in this world, especially for souls, the greater their glory and reward will be in the next life. Those who lead others to what is right, who turn sinners from their wrong ways and help save their souls from death (James 5:20), will share in the glory of the people they helped bring to heaven. That will be a great addition to their own honor.

Ministers of Christ, those whom he has shown mercy to, made faithful and successful, and set up as burning and shining lights in this world, will shine very brightly in the world to come. They will shine like the stars. Christ is the sun, the source of all light in grace and glory. Ministers shine like stars with a light they receive from him, and their light is small compared with his. Yet for those who are like earthen vessels, weak and plain in themselves, this will be a glory far greater than they deserve.

They will shine like stars of different brightness, some with less glory and some with more. But the day is coming when the stars will fall from heaven like leaves in autumn. These stars will shine forever and ever. They will never set, and they will never be darkened.

This prophecy about those times, though sealed up for now, would be very useful to those who lived then, Daniel 12:4. Daniel must shut up the words and seal the book, because a long time would pass before these things were fulfilled. It was some comfort that the Jewish nation, though still young after returning from Babylon, and though they were few and weak, met with resistance in their work, but were not persecuted for their religion until much later, when they had grown stronger and more mature.

He must seal the book because it would not be understood, and so would not be valued, until the things in it came to pass. Still, he must keep it safe as a treasure of great worth, stored up for future generations, to whom it would be very helpful. For many will run to and fro, and knowledge will increase. Then this hidden treasure will be opened, and many will search into it and dig for its meaning as for silver. They will run to and fro to look for copies of it, compare them, and make sure they are true and reliable.

They will read it again and again, think deeply about it, and go over it in their minds. They will talk about it and compare notes, so that, if possible, they may work out its meaning. In this way, knowledge will increase. By studying this prophecy in its time, they will be led to search the rest of Scripture, and that will greatly help their growth in useful knowledge. For then we know if we keep pressing on to know the Lord (Hosea 6:3).

Those who want their knowledge to increase must work for it. They must not sit still in laziness and empty wishes. They must run to and fro, use every means of learning, and take every chance to have their mistakes corrected, their doubts answered, and their understanding of God’s things improved, so they may know more and know better what they already know.

From this, we may hope for two things. First, the things of God that are now dark and hard to understand will one day be made clear. Truth is the daughter of time. Scripture prophecies will be explained by their fulfillment. That is why they are given, and that is why they are kept for later explanation. They are told to us beforehand so that, when they happen, we may believe.

Second, the things of God that are now despised, neglected, and treated as useless will one day be honored. They will be found very useful and greatly sought after. Divine revelation, though ignored for a time, will be made great and honored, especially on the great day of judgment, when the books are opened, and that book among them.