Rev. Don Campbell
Daniel 10-12
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, September 17, 2019
“DON’T WORRY; I’VE GOT THIS”
Most—if not all—of the events in Daniel 10-12 are now history. Those which aren’t are not easy to understand. Daniel asked, “O my lord, what shall be the outcome of these things?” (Daniel 12:8). The divine response was “Go now, Daniel, for what I have said is kept secret and sealed until the time of the end. Many will be purified, cleansed, and refined by these trials. But the wicked will continue in their wickedness, and none of them will understand. Only those who are wise will know what it means” (12:9-10). Daniel had been told, “Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge will increase” (Daniel 12:4).
Although knowledge has increased exponentially since the day of Daniel, even today, there are some things that even the most faithful of God’s servant do not know. Clearly, the righteous will be refined by trials and the wicked will only become more hardened by them, for the sun that melts wax will harden clay.
Hear the word of the Lord: “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:12-17).
As the world around us grows more and more evil, we should heed the advice given to Daniel: “As for you, go your way until the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days, you will rise again to receive the inheritance set aside for you” (Daniel 12:13). Stay the course: Fight the good fight, finished the race, kept the faith, for there is a crown awaiting us (2 Timothy 4:7-8).
In today’s parlance, God says, “You stay the course; I’ve got this”: “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
CONNECTIONS
1. What effect would it have on some people if they knew the day of their death or the day of Christ’s return?
2. Are some people playing Russian roulette with death and the judgment?
