(remember, these are unedited/draft show notes, not a transcript — listening is always better…and if you listen AND follow along below, you’ll see why)
Focus Question:
What does Daniel say about the Resurrection? And why is that important?
Intro:
Welcome, and for those of you in the U.S., I hope your Thanksgiving weekend has been a blessing so far.
Today we’re doing something a little different — we’re going to finish off the last three chapters of Daniel. I think they hang together better that way, and it’ll make it easier to catch the big picture. That said, there are three interesting tidbits we’ll begin with, one for each chapter.
In chapter 10 you’ll hear a particularly good descriptor of spiritual warfare (and I’ll point it out as we go). Chapter 11, I’ve heard, has more than 100 prophecies in forty-something verses, and that’s kind of mindblowing. Finally, chapter 12 is the source of today’s focus question, Does the Old Testament talk about the Resurrection?, and I’ll close with one other tidbit there.
OLD TESTAMENT SEGMENT:
Passage: Daniel 10-12
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 79
Words: ~2484
Wisdom SEGMENT:
Passage: Psalm 140
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 13
Words: ~213
The bottom line:
What does Daniel say about the Resurrection?
12:2 Following the deliverance of Israel, there will be a resurrection of many who sleep in the dust. This verse does not imply any kind of soul sleep before the resurrection since the faithful go to be with God instantly upon dying (2Co 5:8; Php 1:21–23) and the faithless go to a place of suffering also immediately upon dying (Lk 16:22–23). The word sleep is used as a metaphor to emphasize the temporary state of bodily death before being physically raised at the resurrection (cp. Jn 11:11–15). Although telescoped together here (as is common in prophecy), the resurrection of the faithful and the unfaithful are two distinct events separated by the one-thousand-year messianic kingdom (Rv 20:4–6). Dn 12:2 contains the clearest statement of resurrection in the OT, but by no means is it the only one (cp. Jb 19:25–27; Is 26:19).(1)
So why is this important? Because while we can get wrapped around the axel on figuring out which horn is which king and a whole lotta other things, it reminds us that God’s plan for redemption was in place before the foundation of the world, and it makes sense that it therefore bubbles up along the way.
Remember, not all prophecy is fore-telling, but where it is, it’s knowing history in advance. We might look across the horizon at multiple mountain peaks as we heard today and not necessarily be perfectly clear about where we’re at on the timeline, but we can be certain we’re on the timeline and that our hope is based on a foundation of the unchanging One in whom we put that hope.
2 Many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to eternal life, and some to disgrace and eternal contempt. Da 12:2, CSB
19 Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For you will be covered with the morning dew, and the earth will bring out the departed spirits. Is 26:19, CSB
25 But I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the end he will stand on the dust. 26 Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet I will see God in my flesh. 27 I will see him myself; my eyes will look at him, and not as a stranger. My heart longs within me. Job 19:25-27, CSB
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Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in digitally-extended communication and connection, an award-winning speaker, award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. Follow him on Twitter -- @RogerCourville and @JoinForTheHope – or his blog: www.forthehope.org.
Sources and resources:
(1) Michael Rydelnik, “Daniel,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1347–1348.