Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake
Fri, 27 October, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.
1 “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. 2 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. 3 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. 4 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.”
The book of Daniel ends with a strange and confusing vision of the future, and its interpretation. The interpretation helps somewhat, but even with being told what the vision means, there is much that is unclear to me. At the conclusion, we are told that there will be a resurrection to eternal life and a resurrection to eternal shame.
What do we learn from this?
There is more to life that what we see. From what we can see, death is our end. But that is not so. There is an after life, and everyone is destined for one of two places. We will go to either heaven or to hell, and these are not just spiritual places. We will spend eternity in our resurrected bodies in either heaven or in hell.
Heaven is a place of eternal life. It is a place where we will be in our glorified bodies, enjoying God forever. But hell is a place of shame and everlasting contempt. It is a place of eternal punishment for the sins we have committed.
Where is Christ in this passage?
Hell is where people pay the price for the sins they have committed. We have all sinned, and so we are all bound for hell as the appropriate punishment for our sins. However, God has provided a substitute to bear that punishment on our behalf. Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the price for the sins of all who come to Him in faith, so that they do not have to spend eternity in hell. Because of the work of Jesus Christ, heaven is open to all who trust in Him for their salvation.
